This time I will report about my trip to the Netherlands in the form of a Journal. Here is part 1. I booked a KLM trip this time, because they have now a direct flight from KLIA to Schiphol. I will stay almost 7 weeks, hoping Aric could join me for 1-2 weeks, but he couldn’t take leave from his laundry business.

Monday 22 April

We decided to go to KLIA early, and have “dinner” there after check-in. There were still nice Hari Raya decorations at the airport.

After taking leave from Aric, he watched me passing passport control.

As I expected, it was a full flight (starting from Jakarta)

Departure was at about midnight, supper was served. Not bad.

Here is the flight route we took, a bit longer than usual because of adverse weather conditions. I can never sleep well in a plane, but I was still reasonably fit on arrival. The pilot announced that ground temperature was 0 degrees! I decided not to take a taxi, but the train to the Amsterdam Zuid station. Here I am in the train.

Tuesday 23 April

It’s a 20 minutes walk from the station to my apartment. Cold, but a beautiful blue sky.

View from my apartment. Of course I had to switch on the central heating 😉 .

After a few hours sleep I went to the nearby AH supermarket to buy food. Herring, Dutch cheese, strawberries. buttermilk. And flowers. I bought two bunches of tulips, later my friend Yolanda came to say hello and brought another bunch. Tulip country!

Wednesday 24 April

Still very cold. My apartment is on the 13th floor, with a good view of the surroundings.

A recovery day, although I had no jetlag problem. But I had a problem with my local network. Aric helped me (from Malaysia!) to solve it. Shopping again. for dinner, traditional Dutch fare. Wine and whisky are much cheaper than in Malaysia.

Thursday 25 April

Start of my “social” agenda. I try to avoid two “dates” on the same day, but that is not always possible. My soul mate Inez came to my apartment for lunch and I went to my brother Pim for dinner. He had prepared asparagus with smoked salmon. Strawberries with cream as dessert. Delicious.

Friday 26 April

Another double date. My former student Wim visited me in Backershagen for lunch. Later I had dinner with Yolanda, It has become a tradition that we have a “luxury” dinner during my Dutch trips. She selects a restaurant, this time it was De Plantage next to Artis, the Amsterdam Zoo. A popular venue, you have to book a time slot! Very relaxed atmosphere.

An unusual starter, octopus. Delicious. Main course was “diamanthaas” (Google translates it as chuck tender)And the dessert was “Heavenly Mud” With aperitive, wine and coffee we paid 135 Euro. Really a place to visit again.

As we had a lot to talk about, our time slot expired, but no problem, we had our dessert and coffee in the adjoining cafe.

Saturday 27 April

King’s Day, when the birthday of the King is celebrated is the most popular holiday in the Netherlands. . An estimated 1 million (!) people visit Amsterdam that day, making the city center too overcrowded for me. But I always like to visit the Vondelpark, where kids sell their toys and collect some coins by playing music. Also crowded but still acceptable.

Many people are wearing orange, or the colors of the Dutch flag. I have some decorations at home, but I am too shy to wear them in public. Actually I am against the monarchy, although I like the festivities.

Kids playing music.

Friends of mine are living next to the park and always sell objects they don’t need anymore in their household. I had coffee there, before I walked back through the park to the place where I had parked my bicycle.

There was some rain in the morning, but in the afternoon it became pleasant weather.

Everything is well organised by the town council. Extra large rubbish bins are placed everywhere, and there is medical post. just in case.

One last impression. I was lucky to find back my bicycle (the left one with the red cable lock).

Sunday 28 April

A well-deserved rest day

Monday 29 April

Visiting Lambert, an old friend. Slowly the weather is getting better. Tulips everywhere and a real sunset.

Tuesday 30 April

By train to Utrecht where I met another Yolanda, a former student, for lunch. Utrecht is one of my favourite towns, with its terraces along the canals. Suddenly this day it was almost summer, we had lunch outside.

For lunch we had a very typical Dutch speciality, kroketten (croquettes) on bread.

We walked back to the station, enjoying the festive atmosphere.

Wednesday 1 May

Labour Day! The Netherlands must be one of the few countries where it is not a holiday. I had invited former student Raoul and his Thai husband Aunn for dinner at my apartment.

Time for a selfie, taken by Raoul.

I had prepared my “famous” meatballs. Unfortunately we had so many things to chat, that I forgot to check the roast potatoes. Rather overburnt 🙁

Thursday 2 May

Another rest day

Friday 3 May

Inez had booked two tickets for the Frans Hals exhibition in the Rijksmuseum and asked me if I would like to join her. When we arrived at the museum we were shocked by the crowd and then realised that it was school holidays. There was such a long queue for the cloakroom, that I decided to skip it. I had to carry my backpack on the front 😉

Even with time slots it was still crowed in the exhibition rooms. Not easy to take pictures.

Sometimes I had to wait quite some time until no people were blocking my view.

I liked the portraits. Here are a few. Many show people enjoying a drink.

Frans Hals was famous for his schutterstukken (group portraits of civilian militias). Here is a beautiful one.

I will probably visit more museums during this trip and may write a separate blog about them. After our visit we had lunch with a traditional “broodje halfom”, a sandwich topped with slices of liver and pickled meat.

Saturday 4 May

The 4th of May is Remembrance Day in the Netherlands. At 8 pm there are two minutes of silence all over the country. When I was a student, I always went to the Dam Square where the Queen laid a wreath at the national monument. Nowadays I prefer the smaller, more intimate ceremony near my apartment. A pity that it had started raining. There were a few speeches.

Then the Last Post is played, while everyone is standing.

After the Last Post the street lights turn on, to signal the two minutes of silence. Then the National Anthem is sung. Wreaths are placed at the small monument. I am not a nationalist, but I always find this ceremony moving.

To be continued