Asnida seems keen on torturing me with supposedly unintentional spicy dinners on every Wednesday. At some point I won't even blink anymore while eating hot chilis like snacks.
Last week we were having an Orphaned Land DVD viewing with my Israeli friend Shay on my birthday when all of a sudden a group of friends/colleagues crashed our party. Definitely a fun night and now I have a mechanical darts board to play with :-)
A few nights later we hosted an X-mas party with dinner and movie ("Arthur Christmas") which was a blast. Asnida cooked two Malaysian dishes which were unanimously praised.
On 2nd X-mas day I broke my longest dive record with a 63 minute long shore dive with Monchu and Shay. We saw plenty sealife and the visibility was still pretty decent. The water temperature wasn't too cold but I was glad that I wore two wetsuits. Still, after more than an hour underwater my bladder was about to explode so good thing I didn't have much air left anyway.
The last few days we've booked everything for our London trip, flights, hotels and so on. We'll be spending about 7 days in London from 2 to 8 of April. But we'll also attend a gig in the Netherlands on April 1 so that will be a very quick mini-trip within the London trip :-)
The only thing still missing are the Boltfest 2012 e-tickets which have been mailed to both my yahoo and gmail accounts yet have not arrived in either inbox or spam folder. I have a credit card statement as proof that I did pay so let's see how this will unravel.
No big plans for New Year's Eve other than staying in and watching the fireworks from either our balcony or the building's roof (if it's opened). I'll try to shoot some vids with my camcorder so we'll find out whether the often highly praised Madeira fireworks are indeed magnificent.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Back in Funchal
Last week went by like a whirlwind :-)
We had a bit of quiet time while staying with my parents the first few days but as soon as we headed out on Wednesday morning things got sped up significantly. Our hotel in Rotterdam was very close to the central train station so after checking in we headed out to the Euromast. I can't remember ever having visited it so after a short tram ride we ended up halfway up the Euromast with the wind blowing rather hard. Due to the wind they had closed the top since it would be too dangerous up there.
The view of Rotterdam was still very good regardless.
Just as we got to our hotel we ran into Bas so we headed up for some drinks to wait for Ed to show up. If I remember correctly the restaurant was called Humphrey's, which was quite enjoyable and close to train station Blaak from where we hopped on a train to Lombardijen to catch Cynic in the Baroeg.
On Thursday we headed to A-dam and stayed at the hostel in the Vondelpark for 3 nights. After buying some groceries we went to see "Puss in boots" which is a fun movie. We had to visit The Hague very briefly on Friday to pick up the translated and legalised marriage document at the Portuguese embassy.
In the afternoon we caught "Hysteria" (movie about the evolution of vibrators) and followed with dinner with Alexander and Steven at the awesome O-cha Thai restaurant near the Nieuwmarkt.
We slept in on Saturday and caught an evening screening of "Drive" which is an awesome movie! After a quick Thai meal we headed over to visit Joost and meet his girlfriend Aaltsje. His hair is fairly epic these days but obviously no competition for the epic beard I had in 2008 ;-)
The trip back to Funchal on Sunday went fine but I found out the hard way that booking a return trip while not actually flying on the first flight leads to cancellation of the return flight. So I had to buy another ticket for Asnida or else I would've had to leave her at Schiphol haha.
Asnida shot a whole bunch of pics last week but I don't think she's posted them online yet. We'll get to that asap.
We had a bit of quiet time while staying with my parents the first few days but as soon as we headed out on Wednesday morning things got sped up significantly. Our hotel in Rotterdam was very close to the central train station so after checking in we headed out to the Euromast. I can't remember ever having visited it so after a short tram ride we ended up halfway up the Euromast with the wind blowing rather hard. Due to the wind they had closed the top since it would be too dangerous up there.
The view of Rotterdam was still very good regardless.
Just as we got to our hotel we ran into Bas so we headed up for some drinks to wait for Ed to show up. If I remember correctly the restaurant was called Humphrey's, which was quite enjoyable and close to train station Blaak from where we hopped on a train to Lombardijen to catch Cynic in the Baroeg.
On Thursday we headed to A-dam and stayed at the hostel in the Vondelpark for 3 nights. After buying some groceries we went to see "Puss in boots" which is a fun movie. We had to visit The Hague very briefly on Friday to pick up the translated and legalised marriage document at the Portuguese embassy.
In the afternoon we caught "Hysteria" (movie about the evolution of vibrators) and followed with dinner with Alexander and Steven at the awesome O-cha Thai restaurant near the Nieuwmarkt.
We slept in on Saturday and caught an evening screening of "Drive" which is an awesome movie! After a quick Thai meal we headed over to visit Joost and meet his girlfriend Aaltsje. His hair is fairly epic these days but obviously no competition for the epic beard I had in 2008 ;-)
The trip back to Funchal on Sunday went fine but I found out the hard way that booking a return trip while not actually flying on the first flight leads to cancellation of the return flight. So I had to buy another ticket for Asnida or else I would've had to leave her at Schiphol haha.
Asnida shot a whole bunch of pics last week but I don't think she's posted them online yet. We'll get to that asap.
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
Being married in 2011: sitting next to each other, each of us on our own laptop :-)
Asnida playing some diamonds game which has her full attention.
Yesterday was fun. The ceremony was concise, just a good length for a small intimate gathering of some family. Also did some paperwork for the Portuguese embassy in The Hague so we'll go there on Friday to get the translated and legalised version of our marriage document. Then Asnida will be able to be registered in Funchal.
The weather in the Netherlands isn't so good with all the rain and cold temperatures. But it's a nice change from all the constant sun and 20 degrees Celsius in Madeira :-)
We're leaving Limburg tomorrow morning for Rotterdam. Hoping the weather forecast is wrong since they predict thunderstorms. Either way, we'll do some walking, get dinner with friends and finally catch Cynic in the Baroeg venue.
Then on Thursday we're off to A-dam and stay there until Sunday. Plenty of indoor activities to do there so it won't matter whether it rains.
Being married in 2011 redux: Asnida turned off her laptop and then realized she needs to do something with her 2nd online banking account. So I have to hand over my laptop now ;-)
Asnida playing some diamonds game which has her full attention.
Yesterday was fun. The ceremony was concise, just a good length for a small intimate gathering of some family. Also did some paperwork for the Portuguese embassy in The Hague so we'll go there on Friday to get the translated and legalised version of our marriage document. Then Asnida will be able to be registered in Funchal.
The weather in the Netherlands isn't so good with all the rain and cold temperatures. But it's a nice change from all the constant sun and 20 degrees Celsius in Madeira :-)
We're leaving Limburg tomorrow morning for Rotterdam. Hoping the weather forecast is wrong since they predict thunderstorms. Either way, we'll do some walking, get dinner with friends and finally catch Cynic in the Baroeg venue.
Then on Thursday we're off to A-dam and stay there until Sunday. Plenty of indoor activities to do there so it won't matter whether it rains.
Being married in 2011 redux: Asnida turned off her laptop and then realized she needs to do something with her 2nd online banking account. So I have to hand over my laptop now ;-)
Thursday, December 01, 2011
drag
Got sick on Tuesday night but still went into work yesterday. Bad idea so I left before lunch time. Sucks because we were supposed to go to a Turkish restaurant in the casino area. Well, at least the others still went and hopefully had a good time.
I think I've packed pretty much everything I need for the trip. Hopefully there won't be any delays in the trip and my flu will get left behind in Lisbon.
Next week's weather forecast for the Netherlands seems to be rain all week long. Oh well.
Back to my tissues!
I think I've packed pretty much everything I need for the trip. Hopefully there won't be any delays in the trip and my flu will get left behind in Lisbon.
Next week's weather forecast for the Netherlands seems to be rain all week long. Oh well.
Back to my tissues!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Hectic few hours this morning :-)
First cheaptickets.nl had changed the departure date from December 3 to December 4 which raised all kinds of red flags. Emailed them yesterday but no reply so tried calling them this morning. However, the phone number listed on their website doesn't work. Good thing Asnida still had a phone number that does work. I explained the situation and now have new e-tickets with departure date December 2.
That way I have a two day buffer if I run into delays.
So, it's now 11 days to go before W-day I think :-)
I also just submitted a big European research proposal which I've been working on for the last 1,5 month or so. Let's see if they like it enough to fund me. At least now I can catch my breath a bit and start thinking about writing more proposals.
The weather is turning colder with every week it seems. Sadly, no more shorts and t-shirts for the time being.
First cheaptickets.nl had changed the departure date from December 3 to December 4 which raised all kinds of red flags. Emailed them yesterday but no reply so tried calling them this morning. However, the phone number listed on their website doesn't work. Good thing Asnida still had a phone number that does work. I explained the situation and now have new e-tickets with departure date December 2.
That way I have a two day buffer if I run into delays.
So, it's now 11 days to go before W-day I think :-)
I also just submitted a big European research proposal which I've been working on for the last 1,5 month or so. Let's see if they like it enough to fund me. At least now I can catch my breath a bit and start thinking about writing more proposals.
The weather is turning colder with every week it seems. Sadly, no more shorts and t-shirts for the time being.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
The weather this weekend is pretty good so I went diving yesterday morning. Got separated from my group because I saw my dive buddy staying behind a bit. But when I saw the others turn a corner and looked back my dive buddy was gone. Then I looked ahead and the others were gone too. Oops!
Good thing I've dived at Garajau many times so I kind of know the area. Still, my heart beat and breathing increased quite a bit. I still had half a tank of air (100 bar) left so no worries about that. Then it was just about making a decision, go left or right around a big rock formation. I knew the anchor line was along the left side somewhere so I opted to go left. Then after maybe 30 seconds I saw bubbles (others divers!) and swam over to them. Turned out to be the 2nd group of divers that was on the same dive boat as my group. Then I looked to my right and saw my own group appear as well. Signalled OK to our dive guide, checked my air (still had 85 bar left) and settled down in terms of heart beat and breathing.
While at the moment of realizing that I was alone I thought "this f*ckin' sucks!" it was a good learning experience. I didn't panic, I kept thinking and made the correct decisions and managed to rejoin the group. Great success! ;-)
Managed to buy tickets for the gig with the old The Gathering line-up:
After talking to Asnida she said she wants to go to London so since the Exivious tour also plays in London we'll probably head there on April 2 or 3. We'll have several days to explore London, catch the Exivious gig on April 4, and hopefully the Bolt Thrower anniversary gig on April 7.
I haven't been to London since 1995 and I don't remember the city being all that great haha. But I'm sure I'll like it more this 2nd time around :-)
Good thing I've dived at Garajau many times so I kind of know the area. Still, my heart beat and breathing increased quite a bit. I still had half a tank of air (100 bar) left so no worries about that. Then it was just about making a decision, go left or right around a big rock formation. I knew the anchor line was along the left side somewhere so I opted to go left. Then after maybe 30 seconds I saw bubbles (others divers!) and swam over to them. Turned out to be the 2nd group of divers that was on the same dive boat as my group. Then I looked to my right and saw my own group appear as well. Signalled OK to our dive guide, checked my air (still had 85 bar left) and settled down in terms of heart beat and breathing.
While at the moment of realizing that I was alone I thought "this f*ckin' sucks!" it was a good learning experience. I didn't panic, I kept thinking and made the correct decisions and managed to rejoin the group. Great success! ;-)
Managed to buy tickets for the gig with the old The Gathering line-up:
I haven't been to London since 1995 and I don't remember the city being all that great haha. But I'm sure I'll like it more this 2nd time around :-)
Thursday, November 17, 2011
April 2012 concert heaven
There are three very cool gigs coming up in April 2012 and I wish I could go to all of them!
First up, on April 1 (not a joke!) The Gathering's "Always" era line-up will reunite to perform their debut album!!! Also on the bill are Acrostichon and Pentacle.
Then there's a very cool tour with Obscura, Gorod, Spawn of Possession and Exivious which are playing in Belgium on April 5 and in Haarlem on April 6.
And finally, there's Bolt Thrower's 25th anniversary party in London on April 7.
Ah to be rich...
First up, on April 1 (not a joke!) The Gathering's "Always" era line-up will reunite to perform their debut album!!! Also on the bill are Acrostichon and Pentacle.
Then there's a very cool tour with Obscura, Gorod, Spawn of Possession and Exivious which are playing in Belgium on April 5 and in Haarlem on April 6.
And finally, there's Bolt Thrower's 25th anniversary party in London on April 7.
Ah to be rich...
Monday, November 14, 2011
only 3 weeks left...
And then we'll be married :-)
Another nerve wrecking game by the Steelers last night but at least they won. So this week starts on a positive note!
Also watched "Bol" last night which is a pretty good movie from Pakistan and proves to be quite ballsy as well. To make a movie which doesn't shy away from criticizing social problems and religion in your own country deserves respect. A bit strange to see some Bollywood-ish songs in this movie but the small romantic side story makes the tougher parts a bit easier to swallow.
All in all recommended!
Finally, I was chatting with a friend yesterday who tried to persuade me to join facebook. So much peer pressure haha.
While talking to him about metal music I realized that I've been listening to metal for 20 years now. Ah, those early formative years were so much fun. I had a classmate who had started buying metal albums earlier than me so he gave me a list of everything he had. Then I frequently gave him some empty TDK 90 minute cassette tapes and requested 2 albums. He'd fill up the remaining space with some random songs by bands he thought I would like. There were a few more school mates who I also traded tapes with but this guy was the go-to guy for many years.
When I started buying the Aardschok Metal Hammer magazine back in 1992 I also started buying my own metal CDs. Every month I would check the reviews by Wim Baelus and choose the 2 albums that he gave the highest score (often a 8.5 or 9) and then would call Music Machine in Sittard. This was pretty much the only music store which had a decent supply of metal albums in the vicinity of my parents' hometown. I remember the first time I went there was with my mom haha.
When I turned 18 I got a OV card from the Dutch government so it became easier (read: cheaper!) to hop on the bus to Sittard to browse the CDs in Music Machine and hopefully find those 2 albums I had marked down. Sometimes they had to order CDs and it could take a few months before they got it in stock. Ah, the current instant-generation will never know the built-up anticipation caused by having to wait for so long.
For Christmas 1992 my parents let me buy 4 metal CDs at Music Machine and these were then put up in our Christmas tree. I vividly remember the excruciating waiting and my clever brain figuring out a way to get to listen to the 4 albums before Christmas. Basically I persuaded my parents to replace each CD with an envelop with 40 Guilders from my own pocket. Of course it helped that my birthday was just a few days prior to Christmas haha!
The 4 metal CDs in our tree are etched into my memory: Asphyx-Last one on earth, Bolt Thrower-The 4th crusade, Gorefest-False, Vader-The ultimate incantation.
Good memories!
Another nerve wrecking game by the Steelers last night but at least they won. So this week starts on a positive note!
Also watched "Bol" last night which is a pretty good movie from Pakistan and proves to be quite ballsy as well. To make a movie which doesn't shy away from criticizing social problems and religion in your own country deserves respect. A bit strange to see some Bollywood-ish songs in this movie but the small romantic side story makes the tougher parts a bit easier to swallow.
All in all recommended!
Finally, I was chatting with a friend yesterday who tried to persuade me to join facebook. So much peer pressure haha.
While talking to him about metal music I realized that I've been listening to metal for 20 years now. Ah, those early formative years were so much fun. I had a classmate who had started buying metal albums earlier than me so he gave me a list of everything he had. Then I frequently gave him some empty TDK 90 minute cassette tapes and requested 2 albums. He'd fill up the remaining space with some random songs by bands he thought I would like. There were a few more school mates who I also traded tapes with but this guy was the go-to guy for many years.
When I started buying the Aardschok Metal Hammer magazine back in 1992 I also started buying my own metal CDs. Every month I would check the reviews by Wim Baelus and choose the 2 albums that he gave the highest score (often a 8.5 or 9) and then would call Music Machine in Sittard. This was pretty much the only music store which had a decent supply of metal albums in the vicinity of my parents' hometown. I remember the first time I went there was with my mom haha.
When I turned 18 I got a OV card from the Dutch government so it became easier (read: cheaper!) to hop on the bus to Sittard to browse the CDs in Music Machine and hopefully find those 2 albums I had marked down. Sometimes they had to order CDs and it could take a few months before they got it in stock. Ah, the current instant-generation will never know the built-up anticipation caused by having to wait for so long.
For Christmas 1992 my parents let me buy 4 metal CDs at Music Machine and these were then put up in our Christmas tree. I vividly remember the excruciating waiting and my clever brain figuring out a way to get to listen to the 4 albums before Christmas. Basically I persuaded my parents to replace each CD with an envelop with 40 Guilders from my own pocket. Of course it helped that my birthday was just a few days prior to Christmas haha!
The 4 metal CDs in our tree are etched into my memory: Asphyx-Last one on earth, Bolt Thrower-The 4th crusade, Gorefest-False, Vader-The ultimate incantation.
Good memories!
Wednesday, November 09, 2011
fridge works again!
Yesterday the new thermostat finally arrived and was installed into my frigerator. I waited until this morning to see if it would start cooling again when it should. Then I finally went on a shopping spree for groceries :-)
I love to shop in the morning since there's almost nobody in the stores so you can easily get what you need and get out without having to wait.
I finished "A Dance with Dragons" last night and it ended with a lot of cliffhangers. No idea when book 6 is supposed to be released but it might be some years.
Oh well, at least I can catch up on watching all those movies I downloaded. Watched the prequel "Rise of the planet of the apes" last night which was fun.
The weather has turned pretty crappy. Strong winds and frequent rain with an occasional half sunny day. The outdoors temperature is still around 22 Celsius so it's not cold.
We'll see if today's football game will happen or be cancelled again due to bad weather. Same for diving on Saturdays. I hope I can get 2 more dives before the year is over so I'll have 50 dives in total.
I love to shop in the morning since there's almost nobody in the stores so you can easily get what you need and get out without having to wait.
I finished "A Dance with Dragons" last night and it ended with a lot of cliffhangers. No idea when book 6 is supposed to be released but it might be some years.
Oh well, at least I can catch up on watching all those movies I downloaded. Watched the prequel "Rise of the planet of the apes" last night which was fun.
The weather has turned pretty crappy. Strong winds and frequent rain with an occasional half sunny day. The outdoors temperature is still around 22 Celsius so it's not cold.
We'll see if today's football game will happen or be cancelled again due to bad weather. Same for diving on Saturdays. I hope I can get 2 more dives before the year is over so I'll have 50 dives in total.
Monday, November 07, 2011
ouch
Stayed up late to watch the Steelers vs Ravens games which turned out to be a thriller. Fortunately this time the Steelers didn't get their ass kicked but Joe Flacco pulled a Big Ben comeback that covered 92 yards and ended in a Ravens touchdown in the final 8 seconds of the game.
Time will tell whether the Steelers can make the play-offs as a wildcard team now.
Time will tell whether the Steelers can make the play-offs as a wildcard team now.
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Monday, October 31, 2011
I just received part of my amazon order which included "A Dance with Dragons"! So after tomorrow's dive I can continue reading the "A Song of Fire and Ice" saga!
Also in the package were the following albums: Piano Magic-Ovations, Arch/Matheos-Sympathetic resonance, and Steven Wilson-Grace for drowning. I've listened to these on mp3 before so it's about time to replace the digital files with actual CD versions.
Also in the package were the following albums: Piano Magic-Ovations, Arch/Matheos-Sympathetic resonance, and Steven Wilson-Grace for drowning. I've listened to these on mp3 before so it's about time to replace the digital files with actual CD versions.
Steelers surprised me last night by beating the Patriots with 25-17 at Heinz Field. Always a pleasant surprise when they manage to beat a team which has so consistently kicked their ass throughout the years.
Seems I'll have to do a bit more paperwork to get Asnida registered here in Funchal. I found a phone number for the Portuguese embassy in The Hague so I'll give them a call soon. We need the marriage document translated and legalised (aka stamped), just like Asnida had to do with her Malaysian documents for the NL government to process our marriage request.
Shouldn't be a big deal but let's hope the embassy can do it easily in the week that we'll be in the NL.
The best way the avoid the Monday depression? To have a holiday on Tuesday! :-D
I'm going diving again tomorrow morning, probably going to Garajau again which is always a nice spot. I think that will be dive number 47 so I should be able to get to 50 dives before the year is over!
Seems I'll have to do a bit more paperwork to get Asnida registered here in Funchal. I found a phone number for the Portuguese embassy in The Hague so I'll give them a call soon. We need the marriage document translated and legalised (aka stamped), just like Asnida had to do with her Malaysian documents for the NL government to process our marriage request.
Shouldn't be a big deal but let's hope the embassy can do it easily in the week that we'll be in the NL.
The best way the avoid the Monday depression? To have a holiday on Tuesday! :-D
I'm going diving again tomorrow morning, probably going to Garajau again which is always a nice spot. I think that will be dive number 47 so I should be able to get to 50 dives before the year is over!
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
The documents arrived in Stein safely so everything is arranged now. Once they tell me how many witnesses we need I'll have my dad make copies of the passports and hand them in.
I'll be flying to the NL in 5 weeks from now. Time is marching on!
Now that I have no more book to read I started watching movies again. I've been downloading several the past few weeks but barely watched any. Herzog's "Cave of forgotten dreams" is another great documentary and "Trespass" with Nicole Kidman and Nicolas Cage is horrible.
Let's see if we get enough guys together to play football tomorrow evening. Only 6 so far...
I'll be flying to the NL in 5 weeks from now. Time is marching on!
Now that I have no more book to read I started watching movies again. I've been downloading several the past few weeks but barely watched any. Herzog's "Cave of forgotten dreams" is another great documentary and "Trespass" with Nicole Kidman and Nicolas Cage is horrible.
Let's see if we get enough guys together to play football tomorrow evening. Only 6 so far...
Monday, October 24, 2011
We had the first rain storm since March or so yesterday. Howling wind, rain falling for most part of the day. So my car finally got washed again :-)
These storms will happen more frequently now and I'm sure they'll have an impact on whether or not I can dive each Saturday. Guess we'll see how it goes.
I finished "A Feast for Crows" yesterday morning and straight away ordered book 5 "A Dance with Dragons" (plus some CDs) from Amazon. I read the first four books of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series in about 7 weeks, that's pretty fast!
I just called the Stein city hall and apparently the documents from The Hague haven't arrived yet. It's been a week since they emailed me that everything was ok and would be send to Stein...
If the documents don't show up in a week then The Hague might've send them to the other Stein town. Which I explicitly told them not to do... typical.
Either way, I could still book the date and time so now it's official: we'll be married on December 5 at 10am.
For our week in the Netherlands I've booked a hotel for one night in Rotterdam and a hostel in A-dam for three nights. We'll go see Cynic in the Baroeg in Rotterdam on Wednesday December 7 so we can spend the afternoon checking out the city center. Maybe have dinner with some friends.
Once we get to A-dam the next day we can do a few more touristic things that we haven't done yet and also try to have dinner with a few friends maybe.
It will be interesting to see what the Dutch weather will be like in the first week of December. Asnida's hoping for snow... I guess she forgot the blisters that she got last winter :-)
These storms will happen more frequently now and I'm sure they'll have an impact on whether or not I can dive each Saturday. Guess we'll see how it goes.
I finished "A Feast for Crows" yesterday morning and straight away ordered book 5 "A Dance with Dragons" (plus some CDs) from Amazon. I read the first four books of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series in about 7 weeks, that's pretty fast!
I just called the Stein city hall and apparently the documents from The Hague haven't arrived yet. It's been a week since they emailed me that everything was ok and would be send to Stein...
If the documents don't show up in a week then The Hague might've send them to the other Stein town. Which I explicitly told them not to do... typical.
Either way, I could still book the date and time so now it's official: we'll be married on December 5 at 10am.
For our week in the Netherlands I've booked a hotel for one night in Rotterdam and a hostel in A-dam for three nights. We'll go see Cynic in the Baroeg in Rotterdam on Wednesday December 7 so we can spend the afternoon checking out the city center. Maybe have dinner with some friends.
Once we get to A-dam the next day we can do a few more touristic things that we haven't done yet and also try to have dinner with a few friends maybe.
It will be interesting to see what the Dutch weather will be like in the first week of December. Asnida's hoping for snow... I guess she forgot the blisters that she got last winter :-)
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
finally!!
Asnida's birth certificate finally arrived in The Hague and our marriage request has been reviewed & approved! :-D
So now we're officially in "ondertrouw" and the documents will be forwared to the city hall (Stein) where we want to get married. Let's hope the docs don't get lost in the Dutch mail system haha.
I've already emailed the Stein city hall to see if I can book the date and time via email.
As soon as that's arranged I can book the flights.
Now I need a bachelor party....
So now we're officially in "ondertrouw" and the documents will be forwared to the city hall (Stein) where we want to get married. Let's hope the docs don't get lost in the Dutch mail system haha.
I've already emailed the Stein city hall to see if I can book the date and time via email.
As soon as that's arranged I can book the flights.
Now I need a bachelor party....
refrigerator issue found
So someone looked at the refrigerator, determined the thermostat is broken and needs to be replaced. It can take up to 2 or 3 weeks before they'll have the replacement part.
Then he charged me 20 euro and left haha.
Then he charged me 20 euro and left haha.
refrigerator issues
The refrigerator stopped working again last week and after trying out setting it higher and lower it still didn't do its job properly so I've finally given in and called my land lady. Always a challenge talking in English and trying to explain. Let's see when they can come and fix it. It would be nice to buy and eat some food again that I've had to throw out.
As usual I was browsing Asnida's facebook and sometimes I type in the name of some old high school friend, whom I haven't seen or talked to in years. Found one of them who's now married with kids :-)
While it would be nice to say hi and do a bit of catching up it probably would sizzle out soon enough. Kinda funny how easily you grow apart and then talking to each other again after so many years only to realize you don't have anything in common anymore. Such is life.
At least it's good to know that they're doing well.
As usual I was browsing Asnida's facebook and sometimes I type in the name of some old high school friend, whom I haven't seen or talked to in years. Found one of them who's now married with kids :-)
While it would be nice to say hi and do a bit of catching up it probably would sizzle out soon enough. Kinda funny how easily you grow apart and then talking to each other again after so many years only to realize you don't have anything in common anymore. Such is life.
At least it's good to know that they're doing well.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
We went to the Bowbelle wreck again and as I feared the water was too murky and most of my pics turned out crap. I shot 48 pics and uploaded 24 of these which are still crappy but with some imagination they're slightly decent. I've added them to the same album, and they start from page 4: http://s10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/Saldiac/scuba%20divings%20pics%20October%202011/#!cpZZ4QQtppZZ16
Fortunately I didn't have to pay for the pics since there is way too much back scatter caused by the sediment in the water. An example:
All those spots and dots are caused by suspended sediment in the water. After the dive I was told that I should've turned off the flash though I'm not sure that would have helped a lot. We were at a depth around 28 meters and without the flash the pics would be much darker.
Anyway, I'll get another chance with the digital camera on a future dive. I'll make sure it will be on a dive at the national park Garajau where the visibility of the water has been great on all dives I did there. Plus there's a wide variety of sea life which should make for some great pics.
Fortunately I didn't have to pay for the pics since there is way too much back scatter caused by the sediment in the water. An example:
Anyway, I'll get another chance with the digital camera on a future dive. I'll make sure it will be on a dive at the national park Garajau where the visibility of the water has been great on all dives I did there. Plus there's a wide variety of sea life which should make for some great pics.
Friday, October 14, 2011
1 year anniversary
Today it's been a full year since I arrived here in Madeira. While this in itself might be reason to celebrate the additional cuts by the Portuguese government are anything but celebration worthy. Another 5% cut in salary and no summer and Christmas bonuses. Soon enough I won't be able to afford living comfortably anymore.
It seems I'll have to start applying for other jobs soon so I'll add that to the 'to do-list' with the research grants I'm working on.
It seems I'll have to start applying for other jobs soon so I'll add that to the 'to do-list' with the research grants I'm working on.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
divine intervention?
So Asnida's birth certificate arrived in the Netherlands, then they said the recipient moved, then s/he wasn't home and after a week of not being claimed the document was returned to Funchal...
Frustrating doesn't even come close to the annoyance level.
I now send the document again but to a different address and I added the person's name who is handling our marriage request in the Netherlands.
If the document is still returned then it must be divine intervention! (another good reason to be an atheist lol)
Frustrating doesn't even come close to the annoyance level.
I now send the document again but to a different address and I added the person's name who is handling our marriage request in the Netherlands.
If the document is still returned then it must be divine intervention! (another good reason to be an atheist lol)
Sunday, October 09, 2011
I was supposed to do the 2nd training dive of the digital underwater photographer course yesterday but the digital camera came back too late from the dolphin trip. So I just did a regular dive with Sergi and Monica during their 4th/final open water dive to get certified. I still got 57 minutes underwater and experimented with breathing and buoyancy so definitely a useful dive.
I've rescheduled the training dive for next Saturday morning since the dolphin trips are always at noon. So nobody will have taken the camera when I get to the Divepoint.
I was told that we'll either go to the national park or to the Bowbelle wreck, I'm hoping for the national park since there's a lot more fish :-)
I've rescheduled the training dive for next Saturday morning since the dolphin trips are always at noon. So nobody will have taken the camera when I get to the Divepoint.
I was told that we'll either go to the national park or to the Bowbelle wreck, I'm hoping for the national park since there's a lot more fish :-)
Thursday, October 06, 2011
A Song of Fire and Ice
After finishing "A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow" aka book 3 part 1, I was wondering why the body count of main characters was so low. Well, now that I'm reading "A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold" and on page 358 already 3 main characters have died haha.
Then again, a few of the characters who died earlier in the books have either survived or been resurrected. I guess that's a benefit of the fantasy genre, you can do whatever the hell you like and then pull a trick to smack the reader over head yet again :-)
Good wicked fun!
Then again, a few of the characters who died earlier in the books have either survived or been resurrected. I guess that's a benefit of the fantasy genre, you can do whatever the hell you like and then pull a trick to smack the reader over head yet again :-)
Good wicked fun!
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
Monday, October 03, 2011
A Song of Ice and Fire
I've been calling this book series "Game of Thrones" since that's the title of the first book and the TV series but I guess after reading books 1, 2 and 3 part 1, I should call it by its rightful name "A Song of Ice and Fire".
I read book 1 in two weeks, book 2 in one week, and book 3 part 1 in four days :-)
I guess you could say I'm pretty hooked on this epic tale!
In contrast to, for instance, the Harry Potter books, the "A Song of Ice and Fire" books don't wrap up the story line nicely at the end of each book. They just end like a regular chapter and you're left wondering what the hell is going to happen next. Since there are so many story lines you get used to having to wait what happens with a certain character but with each book ending you just want to dive into the next book to continue reading.
So, I'll probably start reading book 3 part 2 "A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold" tonight! There have been a few very cool twisted events which I love so hopefully George R. R. Martin doesn't let up in the next books.
I already have the paperback edition of book 4 "A Feast for Crows" so I'm still good for quite some time. It seems that book 5 has only been published in hardcover so far and I'll see if I can be patient enough to wait for the paperback version to be released. Probably not haha!
And after book 5 I'll have to endure the wait until books 6 and 7 will be out...
Winter is coming!
I read book 1 in two weeks, book 2 in one week, and book 3 part 1 in four days :-)
I guess you could say I'm pretty hooked on this epic tale!
In contrast to, for instance, the Harry Potter books, the "A Song of Ice and Fire" books don't wrap up the story line nicely at the end of each book. They just end like a regular chapter and you're left wondering what the hell is going to happen next. Since there are so many story lines you get used to having to wait what happens with a certain character but with each book ending you just want to dive into the next book to continue reading.
So, I'll probably start reading book 3 part 2 "A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold" tonight! There have been a few very cool twisted events which I love so hopefully George R. R. Martin doesn't let up in the next books.
I already have the paperback edition of book 4 "A Feast for Crows" so I'm still good for quite some time. It seems that book 5 has only been published in hardcover so far and I'll see if I can be patient enough to wait for the paperback version to be released. Probably not haha!
And after book 5 I'll have to endure the wait until books 6 and 7 will be out...
Winter is coming!
almost anniversary time
I've been in Madeira for almost 1 year. I arrived on October 14, 2010 so only 11 days before I can have a party of one to celebrate the anniversary :-)
Seems my left thigh is getting old and injury prone. After the July injury I pulled (separate) muscles in that thigh over the past 2 weeks. Interestingly, it only happens when I kick the ball, not while running, turning or whatever. While it's good that I've learned to use both legs for soccer while I was a teenager it's hard to avoid the automatic action to kick with my left leg when the ball is perfectly placed in front of my left foot. Either way, I'm taking a break for a few weeks from playing soccer now. If I pull yet another muscle in my left thigh the next time I play then I'll go see a doctor.
It's good that despite the thigh issue I can still scuba dive without any problems. I guess I use different muscles to kick my fins underwater which don't hurt or cause injuries :-)
We did a fun shore dive on Saturday while the waves were pretty strong and the swell kept shoving us left and right, back and forth. I felt pretty comfortable though and getting more and more into my buoyancy. We stayed underwater for about 54 minutes which is quite long. Although our maximum depth was 14 meters we stayed in shallower depths (around 7/8 meters) for most of the dive.
Since it's been a while since I did any speciality scuba dive course I will start doing the digital underwater photographer course on Wednesday and probably finish it on Saturday. After that I'd like to do the night diver and underwater videographer specialties. Once I have done those I will do some more challenging courses: search and recovery diver, cavern diver, and rescue diver. Each of these 3 more advanced courses consists of 4 dives while the usual specialty course is 2 dives.
Finally, after I get the rescue diver certificate I'll go for Master Scuba Diver which is "the highest non professional level in the PADI System of diver education". I don't expect to go pro after that but the top level of fun diving seems pretty effin good in its own right!
Seems my left thigh is getting old and injury prone. After the July injury I pulled (separate) muscles in that thigh over the past 2 weeks. Interestingly, it only happens when I kick the ball, not while running, turning or whatever. While it's good that I've learned to use both legs for soccer while I was a teenager it's hard to avoid the automatic action to kick with my left leg when the ball is perfectly placed in front of my left foot. Either way, I'm taking a break for a few weeks from playing soccer now. If I pull yet another muscle in my left thigh the next time I play then I'll go see a doctor.
It's good that despite the thigh issue I can still scuba dive without any problems. I guess I use different muscles to kick my fins underwater which don't hurt or cause injuries :-)
We did a fun shore dive on Saturday while the waves were pretty strong and the swell kept shoving us left and right, back and forth. I felt pretty comfortable though and getting more and more into my buoyancy. We stayed underwater for about 54 minutes which is quite long. Although our maximum depth was 14 meters we stayed in shallower depths (around 7/8 meters) for most of the dive.
Since it's been a while since I did any speciality scuba dive course I will start doing the digital underwater photographer course on Wednesday and probably finish it on Saturday. After that I'd like to do the night diver and underwater videographer specialties. Once I have done those I will do some more challenging courses: search and recovery diver, cavern diver, and rescue diver. Each of these 3 more advanced courses consists of 4 dives while the usual specialty course is 2 dives.
Finally, after I get the rescue diver certificate I'll go for Master Scuba Diver which is "the highest non professional level in the PADI System of diver education". I don't expect to go pro after that but the top level of fun diving seems pretty effin good in its own right!
Friday, September 23, 2011
The documents package arrived in The Hague but it turns out they also need Asnida's original birth certificate and legalisation. So I quickly went home and to the post office during my lunch break.
The person in The Hague who's processing our request is going on a 2-week holiday so after October 10 we should get the final okay. And then I can book the date and a time with the Stein town hall :-)
The person in The Hague who's processing our request is going on a 2-week holiday so after October 10 we should get the final okay. And then I can book the date and a time with the Stein town hall :-)
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Game of thrones
Forgot to talk about "Game of thrones" which I first saw in the TV series format during the last week of Asnida's visit. Both of us liked it a lot so when I had to kill some time at Gatwick airport recently I came across the first book. I finished it in about 2 weeks and the TV series stayed very close to the original source material.
Since I liked the first book I ordered books 2, 3.1 + 3.2, and 4 from amazon. Can't wait to plunge into the Seven Kingdoms again, especially since now I won't know what is going to happen to any of the characters and how the story will unfold!
"Winter is coming..."
Since I liked the first book I ordered books 2, 3.1 + 3.2, and 4 from amazon. Can't wait to plunge into the Seven Kingdoms again, especially since now I won't know what is going to happen to any of the characters and how the story will unfold!
"Winter is coming..."
marriage docs are travelling
to the Netherlands! :-)
Finally received the statement from the NL embassy in Lisbon on Friday and posted all the documents for The Hague yesterday. Now we'll have to wait and see if everything is ok and whether we can contact the Stein town hall to book the civil wedding date and time.
Fingers crossed...
Started teaching the Research Methods course last week and I think both the students and me are still finding the most comfortable interaction :-)
Today will be the first hands-on SPSS session so at least I won't have to talk for 2 whole hours. Let's see how they will do with it.
Still diving on Saturdays now, we're scheduled to dive at the cave on the divepoint's house reef. Should be lots of fun. Sergi and Monica will be going for their 3rd certification lesson too so at some point they'll join us diving for fun :-)
The weather in September is the hottest of the year it seems (around 26 -28 Celsius). Still sunny with some occasional clouds and we had 5 minutes of slight rain on Saturday night. That's not enough to be even called rain though. My car can use a big ass raining day to wash all the dirt off haha. From what I remember when I got here in October last year there were some decent rain showers in that month so let's hope this will be the case again next month.
Finally received the statement from the NL embassy in Lisbon on Friday and posted all the documents for The Hague yesterday. Now we'll have to wait and see if everything is ok and whether we can contact the Stein town hall to book the civil wedding date and time.
Fingers crossed...
Started teaching the Research Methods course last week and I think both the students and me are still finding the most comfortable interaction :-)
Today will be the first hands-on SPSS session so at least I won't have to talk for 2 whole hours. Let's see how they will do with it.
Still diving on Saturdays now, we're scheduled to dive at the cave on the divepoint's house reef. Should be lots of fun. Sergi and Monica will be going for their 3rd certification lesson too so at some point they'll join us diving for fun :-)
The weather in September is the hottest of the year it seems (around 26 -28 Celsius). Still sunny with some occasional clouds and we had 5 minutes of slight rain on Saturday night. That's not enough to be even called rain though. My car can use a big ass raining day to wash all the dirt off haha. From what I remember when I got here in October last year there were some decent rain showers in that month so let's hope this will be the case again next month.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
ouch Steelers....
Last night I had a few friends/colleagues over to watch the first Steelers game of the new NFL season. It was supposed to be a tough, exciting and close game with their arch rivals the Baltimore Ravens.
But it turned into a massacre. The Ravens butchered the clueless Steelers with 35-7....
No sign yet of the embassy's package with my documents but I'm hopeful it will arrive this week.
Teaching a Research Methods course starting tomorrow but we haven't been assigned our classrooms yet. Oops.
We'll see how it goes :-)
But it turned into a massacre. The Ravens butchered the clueless Steelers with 35-7....
No sign yet of the embassy's package with my documents but I'm hopeful it will arrive this week.
Teaching a Research Methods course starting tomorrow but we haven't been assigned our classrooms yet. Oops.
We'll see how it goes :-)
Friday, September 09, 2011
just another day in paradise
Again clear blue skies today. By now it's become pretty much normal though the other folks at the Earli conference reminded me of how appreciative I ought to be of Madeira's weather :-)
Seems that there's still going to be more painting work in the courtyard of my apartment building for 7 days starting today. I never see much difference between pre-painting and post-painting from the previous 3 times that they closed the courtyard. I guess they just need to keep the money flowing to the painting company ha!
The embassy in Lisbon replied to my email informing me that they had received my package and that they would add the statement about my current address, nationality and civil status and send everything back. That was yesterday so let's see how fast my documents will be back in Funchal.
Once I get that package I can send all my documents plus Asnida's documents to The Hague and wait for their inspection to see if our civil marriage proposal will be accepted. Or whether more documents have to be provided. Or whatever.
Either way, it will be nice to get to the stage where we only have to worry about The Hague and not about local/non-Dutch authorities.
Definitely to be continued....
Seems that there's still going to be more painting work in the courtyard of my apartment building for 7 days starting today. I never see much difference between pre-painting and post-painting from the previous 3 times that they closed the courtyard. I guess they just need to keep the money flowing to the painting company ha!
The embassy in Lisbon replied to my email informing me that they had received my package and that they would add the statement about my current address, nationality and civil status and send everything back. That was yesterday so let's see how fast my documents will be back in Funchal.
Once I get that package I can send all my documents plus Asnida's documents to The Hague and wait for their inspection to see if our civil marriage proposal will be accepted. Or whether more documents have to be provided. Or whatever.
Either way, it will be nice to get to the stage where we only have to worry about The Hague and not about local/non-Dutch authorities.
Definitely to be continued....
Thursday, September 08, 2011
Trying to get used to the new blogger interface system. Looks less cluttered but will take some time to get used to it.
The weather here is 30-plus Celsius and clear blue skies which is pretty impressive for September. We're hitting the highest temperatures in the year these past few days. Apparently it was 39 Celsius in downtown Funchal yesterday. Good thing I was working at home and had my airco thingie on the entire day :-)
Diving again on Saturday morning, going to the Bowbelle wreck for the 2nd time. This time a colleague (Monchu) will join me. We'll see how good (or bad) the visibility is once we get to the wreck.
Should be a good dive!
PS: one of the new features is being able to tag your location for each post :-)
The weather here is 30-plus Celsius and clear blue skies which is pretty impressive for September. We're hitting the highest temperatures in the year these past few days. Apparently it was 39 Celsius in downtown Funchal yesterday. Good thing I was working at home and had my airco thingie on the entire day :-)
Diving again on Saturday morning, going to the Bowbelle wreck for the 2nd time. This time a colleague (Monchu) will join me. We'll see how good (or bad) the visibility is once we get to the wreck.
Should be a good dive!
PS: one of the new features is being able to tag your location for each post :-)
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
back from Exeter, UK
Was hoping to get some rain in Exeter but alas. Apparently the weather in Madeira was crappy last week. Well now that I'm back on the island it's sunny and around 27-28 Celsius...
The conference was good, plenty interesting talks and reconnecting with a whole bunch of people, meeting some new people too. Lots of walking too. From the hotel to the campus was 30 minutes and the campus was quite big and hilly so going up and down in between sessions to make it to the next session.
Typically, the final Dutch document arrived last week so I couldn't send all the required documents to the Dutch Embassy in Lisbon until yesterday morning. I sent it with express mail and it looks like it has arrived in Lisbon by now. Hopefully the Embassy will process it quickly since I also had to send my passport and Funchal registration document.
Undoubtedly to be continued....
The conference was good, plenty interesting talks and reconnecting with a whole bunch of people, meeting some new people too. Lots of walking too. From the hotel to the campus was 30 minutes and the campus was quite big and hilly so going up and down in between sessions to make it to the next session.
Typically, the final Dutch document arrived last week so I couldn't send all the required documents to the Dutch Embassy in Lisbon until yesterday morning. I sent it with express mail and it looks like it has arrived in Lisbon by now. Hopefully the Embassy will process it quickly since I also had to send my passport and Funchal registration document.
Undoubtedly to be continued....
Friday, August 26, 2011
I'm going to the wrong Exeter LOL
Instead of going to the Earli conference in Exeter (UK) I ought to be going to Exeter in New Hampshire to attend the Exeter UFO Festival haha!
Monday, August 22, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Unanimated - Ancient god of evil
Brilliant music never gets old! I've always loved this CD and thanks to youtube I can listen to it even though my actual CD copy is back in the Netherlands.Good memories too... one morning many aeons ago singing along with all the songs with Steven back when he was still studying in Eindhoven haha!
Thursday, August 18, 2011
improved my longest dive record :-)
The scuba diving is paying off well the last few weeks. First I managed to get as much time underwater as the longest dive before the 5 years break, which was 44 minutes. Then recently I got two dives with 50 minutes and I wondered if and when I would break that record.
Well, today I managed to spend 61 minutes underwater with a maximum depth of 9.5 meters. Great success!
Let's see if I can beat that at some point in time :-)
Well, today I managed to spend 61 minutes underwater with a maximum depth of 9.5 meters. Great success!
Let's see if I can beat that at some point in time :-)
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Friday, August 05, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
neverending story? lol
So, as it turns out the statement about my current address, nationality and civil status is rather complex.
The Dutch authorities told me they really need this statement or else I need to get a Portuguese document and have it translated.
So I called both the Dutch consulate in Funchal and the Dutch embassy in Lisbon. Now the Funchal consulate doesn't even speak Dutch and told me to go to local parish to get a Portuguese document. So that led to the more troublesome solution also mentioned by the Dutch authorities.
The Dutch authorities told me they really need this statement or else I need to get a Portuguese document and have it translated.
So I called both the Dutch consulate in Funchal and the Dutch embassy in Lisbon. Now the Funchal consulate doesn't even speak Dutch and told me to go to local parish to get a Portuguese document. So that led to the more troublesome solution also mentioned by the Dutch authorities.
Thus I called the embassy in Lisbon again and after explaining the situation again the woman started ranting about how retarded this request is and that the person in The Hague doesn't know jack sh*t about anything lol.
Eventually she told me to forward the email from The Hague and to attach my passport scan and Portuguese document of my local registration. One of her colleagues is supposed to get back to me on Monday.
Fingers crossed.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
bureaucracy
Asnida and I have started the procedure to get married in the Netherlands. We need to gather a bunch of documents for both of us and with bureaucratic procedures hanging left and right.
The passport copy is the easiest one. Already had that so check. Then I needed a birth certificate from my birth place. Fortunately my dad could request it and collect it. Check.
Now my final document should be a statement about where I live, my nationality and civil status (unmarried). At first I was told I had to request this from the Dutch embassy in Portugal. But when I called them they said they only issue that for people who've lived for longer than 1 year in Portugal. And I've only been here since October 2010 so less than 1 year.
They informed me that I should get this statement from the last place in the Netherlands where I've lived. My dad tried to get it but was given an email address for me to contact. Which I've done so now I wait and hopefully will get what I need.
Though this is adventurous I'm sure Asnida will face bigger adventures to obtain all the required documents, to have them translated and legalised by both Malaysian authorities and the Dutch embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
To be continued I guess.
The passport copy is the easiest one. Already had that so check. Then I needed a birth certificate from my birth place. Fortunately my dad could request it and collect it. Check.
Now my final document should be a statement about where I live, my nationality and civil status (unmarried). At first I was told I had to request this from the Dutch embassy in Portugal. But when I called them they said they only issue that for people who've lived for longer than 1 year in Portugal. And I've only been here since October 2010 so less than 1 year.
They informed me that I should get this statement from the last place in the Netherlands where I've lived. My dad tried to get it but was given an email address for me to contact. Which I've done so now I wait and hopefully will get what I need.
Though this is adventurous I'm sure Asnida will face bigger adventures to obtain all the required documents, to have them translated and legalised by both Malaysian authorities and the Dutch embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
To be continued I guess.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
when cinema becomes art
The movie exceeded my expectations. I'm so very glad I could watch it on the big screen at a local cinema. I honestly cannot remember the last time I've been this awestruck by a movie. I had goosebumps for the entire 2.5 hours and frequently felt my eyes welling up with tears. Such brilliant film making made a profound impression on me. Honestly, each frame is breathtakingly beautiful and the film's flow is ever so gentle yet never slow. What wondrous celebration of life and earth shattering honesty.
I've always been a great admirer of Terrence Malick's work but this movie might be his magnum opus. Apparently it has a fair amount of autobiographical elements which would explain why every single shot is so amazing. This is a masterclass in film making and I salute Malick for bestowing his genius upon us.
It is rare cinematic experiences like this that made me a movie addict many years ago and I rejoice knowing that there are still visionaries out there who have the balls to make such mindblowing, limitless movies.
Of course an extraordinary cinematic experience like "The tree of life" will invoke a wide variety of responses. Many people dislike it, find it boring, slow, plotless. The two old ladies who started watching the movie with me left during the interval break and never returned. Who's to say whether art speaks to you or whether you deem it worthless?
All I know is that Terrence Malick spoke to me through this magnificent movie. He touched my very soul and shook my very foundation...
Monday, July 04, 2011
Working at home since the heat in my office is a bit too much for me. Reviewing student papers and grading them, done about 6 or 7 and 4 more to go.
It's a bit cloudy today but still warm regardless.
Had a random thought about how splintered people have become on the Internet. I guess it's similar to TV back in the day. When I grew up everyone watched the some TV programs and movies since there simply weren't many TV stations. Then cable TV exploded and people started watching whatever.
When we went online globally there were chatrooms and a few chat programs like ICQ, msn messenger, aim. Nowaday every email account and social network has its own chat feature so people have spread out over all of them. Trying to keep up with people and/or chatting with them has become rather arduous.
While social networks are competing and trying to obtain a monopoly I don't think any of them will ever eradicate the others. Leaving us with all the splintered mess.
I'm pretty splintered too. Skype, msn/windows live messenger, 5 or 6 email accounts, photobucket, blog, youtube. Still glad I haven't joined the Facebook madness... (yet?)
I rather like having this blog. There are no ads anywhere. No idea if anybody reads my crap but it's always nice to have an outlet. No peer pressure to "Like" someone's posts haha. No limitation on how many pics and vids I post on my photobucket/youtube.
Yesterday I got some comments on 1 photobucket vid from complete strangers. Funny how that works.
Enough rambling, time to find some crumbs for lunch.
It's a bit cloudy today but still warm regardless.
Had a random thought about how splintered people have become on the Internet. I guess it's similar to TV back in the day. When I grew up everyone watched the some TV programs and movies since there simply weren't many TV stations. Then cable TV exploded and people started watching whatever.
When we went online globally there were chatrooms and a few chat programs like ICQ, msn messenger, aim. Nowaday every email account and social network has its own chat feature so people have spread out over all of them. Trying to keep up with people and/or chatting with them has become rather arduous.
While social networks are competing and trying to obtain a monopoly I don't think any of them will ever eradicate the others. Leaving us with all the splintered mess.
I'm pretty splintered too. Skype, msn/windows live messenger, 5 or 6 email accounts, photobucket, blog, youtube. Still glad I haven't joined the Facebook madness... (yet?)
I rather like having this blog. There are no ads anywhere. No idea if anybody reads my crap but it's always nice to have an outlet. No peer pressure to "Like" someone's posts haha. No limitation on how many pics and vids I post on my photobucket/youtube.
Yesterday I got some comments on 1 photobucket vid from complete strangers. Funny how that works.
Enough rambling, time to find some crumbs for lunch.
Saturday, July 02, 2011
more diving :)
Did two dives this weekend, one yesterday and one today. Dove with enriched air both times and managed to get 45 and 43 minutes underwater respectively.
The thumb is fine, even my back seems ok with all the physical activity of late. Football on Thursday and diving on 2 subsequent days is enough exercising for me so I'm going to chill out tomorrow.
My next dive will be next Saturday morning when they will probably go out to the Bowbelle wreck so that should be a marvellous site. Will ask the guys to make it a training deep dive for me so it will count towards another certification card :)
The thumb is fine, even my back seems ok with all the physical activity of late. Football on Thursday and diving on 2 subsequent days is enough exercising for me so I'm going to chill out tomorrow.
My next dive will be next Saturday morning when they will probably go out to the Bowbelle wreck so that should be a marvellous site. Will ask the guys to make it a training deep dive for me so it will count towards another certification card :)
Friday, July 01, 2011
Asnida should be home by now. Haven't heard from her yet but the Kuala Lumpur airport website lists her flight as landed.
Since TAP and KLM are not in bed together she had to run in Lisbon to get her boarding pass as well as on Schiphol. The layover in Lisbon was 3 hours though, in Amsterdam she only had 1 hour.
She did text me when she had boarded each of the three planes so I know she managed to get the boarding passes and hop on the planes. She also said that her Malaysian prepaid sim-card might not work anymore since it only was valid for 3 months or so.
I'm sure she'll send an email or something when she has rested a bit :)
As for me, I'm going to do a peak performance buoyancy scuba dive course this afternoon. The weather looks really nice so it should be a lot of fun. Probably a good way to have some distraction from thinking of Asnida being back in KL.
Time to get some breakfast...
Since TAP and KLM are not in bed together she had to run in Lisbon to get her boarding pass as well as on Schiphol. The layover in Lisbon was 3 hours though, in Amsterdam she only had 1 hour.
She did text me when she had boarded each of the three planes so I know she managed to get the boarding passes and hop on the planes. She also said that her Malaysian prepaid sim-card might not work anymore since it only was valid for 3 months or so.
I'm sure she'll send an email or something when she has rested a bit :)
As for me, I'm going to do a peak performance buoyancy scuba dive course this afternoon. The weather looks really nice so it should be a lot of fun. Probably a good way to have some distraction from thinking of Asnida being back in KL.
Time to get some breakfast...
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Asnida's 3 months visit is over :(
I drove Asnida to the airport earlier this morning and she's on her way to Lisbon now. After spending 3 months together it's rather hard to leave each other so it's a sad day.
Here's a vid to cheer myself up...
Here's a vid to cheer myself up...
Friday, June 24, 2011
enriched air nitrox diver :)
Did the theory exam for enriched air nitrox (EAN) diver yesterday and passed with flying colors :)
I didn't have to dive so getting anxious to get underwater again. The thumb is close enough to 100% by now. Next up is the multilevel diver course, will have to see when I can do it. I'll wait until Asnida has left so we can spend the last 6 days together.
We're going on a levada walk tomorrow morning, it's called "25 fountains" so I'm curious if we'll indeed see 25 waterfalls...
I didn't have to dive so getting anxious to get underwater again. The thumb is close enough to 100% by now. Next up is the multilevel diver course, will have to see when I can do it. I'll wait until Asnida has left so we can spend the last 6 days together.
We're going on a levada walk tomorrow morning, it's called "25 fountains" so I'm curious if we'll indeed see 25 waterfalls...
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Finally managed to edit and convert the Flower Parade vids so I uploaded them HERE. YouTube flagged the vid for copyright infringement but that's probably due to one of the songs that people used in the parade. Not much I can do about that.
We dropped off Barbara at the airport last night and Asnida grabbed a free info booklet with info on Madeira. It also showed a pic of the Nucleo do Dragoeiro das Neves which is located in Sao Goncalo but a b@tch to find haha!
Eventually after some annoyance we finally found them: PICS.
We did a lot of shopping yesterday. Even bought a standing airco system thingie to help cool off now that the weather is around 25 Celsius. We also bought a flotation seat for Asnida which we might use next weekend to go swimming :)
Her time here is rapidly coming to an end, only 11 days left...
We dropped off Barbara at the airport last night and Asnida grabbed a free info booklet with info on Madeira. It also showed a pic of the Nucleo do Dragoeiro das Neves which is located in Sao Goncalo but a b@tch to find haha!
Eventually after some annoyance we finally found them: PICS.
We did a lot of shopping yesterday. Even bought a standing airco system thingie to help cool off now that the weather is around 25 Celsius. We also bought a flotation seat for Asnida which we might use next weekend to go swimming :)
Her time here is rapidly coming to an end, only 11 days left...
Thursday, June 16, 2011
weather = two thumbs up
It's been sunny the whole week with temperatures between 23 and 25 Celsius. My right thumb is feeling better with each next day so I'll play football again tomorrow :-)
Asnida is leaving in exactly 2 weeks. Time definitely has been flying by. I wonder if anyone in KL will still recognize her when she gets back lol.
Asnida is leaving in exactly 2 weeks. Time definitely has been flying by. I wonder if anyone in KL will still recognize her when she gets back lol.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Almost forgot to mention that the Madeira Divepoint also offers swimming with dolphins and only for 35 euro per person. I told them that they should advertise this a lot more because that's a lot less than what Asnida and I paid with the other company (which was 60 euro).
It's funny how easily tourists are convinced to spend an XX amount of money on something thinking it's a good deal while in reality you're just being fooled. Gotta love the tourism branch!
It's funny how easily tourists are convinced to spend an XX amount of money on something thinking it's a good deal while in reality you're just being fooled. Gotta love the tourism branch!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Porto Moniz trip
We went to Porto Moniz yesterday and had a short stop in Sao Vicente on the way there. The weather was good, bit cloudy but fairly warm. Went to the tiny aquarium in Porto Moniz and also swim in the natural outdoors swimming pool. PICS!
On the way back we opted to drive the scenic route back and we covered most of that but once we got to Ponta do Sol we were running out of time. We had to be at a dinner party at 8pm so we switched to the highway and got back to Funchal in less than half an hour. Then we had to find a store which sells showerheads since ours died yesterday morning when I dropped it in the bath tub. After Sergi told us to go check out the AKI store we quickly found a new showerhead and installed it when we got back home.
After a quick shower we headed over to Barbara and Valentina's apartment and weren't even the last ones to arrive :-)
Today we accompanied Sergi, Monica and Barbara who did the discover scuba diving program and shot some pics of them. Asnida posted some of the pics on her FaceBook.
I think they all enjoyed it and maybe they'll even get certified as divers.
As for me, my thumb is slowly feeling more normal again. Started putting a little bit of pressure/weight on it and feels okay so far.
I already arranged my next scuba course which is the enriched air course. Especially since it doesn't require me to do any dives it's perfect to tie me over until my thumb is fully healed. Got the manual, several dive charts and an instructional DVD so should be good times :-)
On the way back we opted to drive the scenic route back and we covered most of that but once we got to Ponta do Sol we were running out of time. We had to be at a dinner party at 8pm so we switched to the highway and got back to Funchal in less than half an hour. Then we had to find a store which sells showerheads since ours died yesterday morning when I dropped it in the bath tub. After Sergi told us to go check out the AKI store we quickly found a new showerhead and installed it when we got back home.
After a quick shower we headed over to Barbara and Valentina's apartment and weren't even the last ones to arrive :-)
Today we accompanied Sergi, Monica and Barbara who did the discover scuba diving program and shot some pics of them. Asnida posted some of the pics on her FaceBook.
I think they all enjoyed it and maybe they'll even get certified as divers.
As for me, my thumb is slowly feeling more normal again. Started putting a little bit of pressure/weight on it and feels okay so far.
I already arranged my next scuba course which is the enriched air course. Especially since it doesn't require me to do any dives it's perfect to tie me over until my thumb is fully healed. Got the manual, several dive charts and an instructional DVD so should be good times :-)
Thursday, June 09, 2011
The thumb is still slowly healing so no football today. Yes, I said today (Thursday), not tomorrow (Friday) because tomorrow is a public holiday :-)
To celebrate that we're going to Porto Moniz on the north side of the Madeira island to check out the town and the aquarium. Should be fun!
Tomorrow night is a dinner party at Barbara and Valentina's place so no need to cook for ourselves.
On Saturday a few more colleagues (Monica, Sergi, Barbara wants to repeat it) will do the discover scuba program. Asnida and I will go along to plan my next scuba courses and take some pics.
I read that recovery from a dislocated thumb can take 3 to 6 weeks. I wore the glove for 2 weeks which just stabilized/immobilized the thumb. So this week is the first week I'm doing daily exercises to get rid of the stiffness and get the flexibility and refined motor skills back.
Let's hope it will feel close to normal after 4 weeks!
To celebrate that we're going to Porto Moniz on the north side of the Madeira island to check out the town and the aquarium. Should be fun!
Tomorrow night is a dinner party at Barbara and Valentina's place so no need to cook for ourselves.
On Saturday a few more colleagues (Monica, Sergi, Barbara wants to repeat it) will do the discover scuba program. Asnida and I will go along to plan my next scuba courses and take some pics.
I read that recovery from a dislocated thumb can take 3 to 6 weeks. I wore the glove for 2 weeks which just stabilized/immobilized the thumb. So this week is the first week I'm doing daily exercises to get rid of the stiffness and get the flexibility and refined motor skills back.
Let's hope it will feel close to normal after 4 weeks!
Sunday, June 05, 2011
The dolphin watching (link to pics and vids!) yesterday was fun, took a while to find any but eventually we got to see bottlenose dolphins (like Flipper) and common dolphins. I tried to swim with the common ones but they were too shy. Saw about 4 of them who vanishes in like 10 seconds so we got refunded for the swimming with dolphins part.
Might do this again some other time in the summer. But then I'll make sure to bring a hat. My head's looking like a lobster today haha.
Here's one of the vids Asnida shot:
Might do this again some other time in the summer. But then I'll make sure to bring a hat. My head's looking like a lobster today haha.
Here's one of the vids Asnida shot:
Friday, June 03, 2011
Almost been 2 weeks of wearing the love glove now. It's starting to really irritate me so I'll leave it off tomorrow. Can't wear it when hitting the water with the dolphins anyway. Will bring it just in case.
The thumb is still very stiff but by wearing the glove the stiffness obviously won't go away. It's getting less sensitive too. Sometimes I'd wake up in pain during the past 2 weeks when my thumb hit my pillow or my mattress while sleeping.
I'll try to start doing some thumb exercises from Monday on. I'll check to see if I can use the shifting gear in my car 'cause I'm tired of catching the bus to and from work.
If there's not much progress next week then I'll contact my chiropractor who helped me with my back issues.
At some point it will feel like normal again... I hope haha.
The thumb is still very stiff but by wearing the glove the stiffness obviously won't go away. It's getting less sensitive too. Sometimes I'd wake up in pain during the past 2 weeks when my thumb hit my pillow or my mattress while sleeping.
I'll try to start doing some thumb exercises from Monday on. I'll check to see if I can use the shifting gear in my car 'cause I'm tired of catching the bus to and from work.
If there's not much progress next week then I'll contact my chiropractor who helped me with my back issues.
At some point it will feel like normal again... I hope haha.
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
I already mentioned it yesterday but this morning we went to the Rota dos Cetáceos office to book a whale/dolphin watching trip for this Saturday at 12:30pm. We're also signed up to swim with the dolphins. There's a maximum of 4 people per trip who can go swimming with the dolphins.
Of course they cannot guarantee seeing whales or dolphins but they will give us a free 2nd trip if we don't see any. Pretty good deal I'd say :-)
After we booked the trip we ran into someone who was selling fruit out on the street. Asnida's strawberry addiction forced her to buy more strawberries again. She might start to get serious detox symptoms once she's back in KL...
Of course they cannot guarantee seeing whales or dolphins but they will give us a free 2nd trip if we don't see any. Pretty good deal I'd say :-)
After we booked the trip we ran into someone who was selling fruit out on the street. Asnida's strawberry addiction forced her to buy more strawberries again. She might start to get serious detox symptoms once she's back in KL...
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
back from Porto Santo :-)
The Porto Santo trip was fun. The ferry boat was pretty nice and took about 2 hours and 15 minutes to get to Porto Santo. Asnida got sea sick though so she went to sit down after a while and felt ill for the remainder of the boat trip. While I was happily walking around on the ship rocking in the waves out on open sea ;-)
It was raining on Friday night when we arrived but we just wanted to check in anyway and relax a bit. The Hotel Torre Praia is located right at the beach and in the city center so very convenient. We tried to book an island tour for Saturday morning but apparently the tour operator didn't have a driver or whatever so we booked it for Sunday morning.
Upon waking up on Saturday the weather seemed decent, cloudy but not too cold or too warm. So we decided to explore the city on foot. Since it's a small town we found ourselves walking to the airport soon. We went up a staircase outside the airport and noticed several photographers and a TV camera crew waiting for a plane to arrive. Five minutes after we got there the plane actually arrived and the passengers were welcomed by a group of people in traditional attire and dancing. We initially thought someone famous was on board but a colleague told me today that it was the first direct flight from Poland. Hence the special welcoming committee :-)
We walked back to the hotel to get some rest and after a while the sun came out so we decided to go for a walk on the 9 km long sandy beach. I should've eaten something prior to this but I didn't so I was starving and grumpy for a few hours. There weren't any places to get food along the beach once we got about 1 km from our hotel so we just kept walking and walking. Enjoying the scenery and walking into the waves with our feet.
Eventually after 1,5 or 2 hours we reached the end of the beach at Ponta da Calheta which is a beautiful end point and it also had a restaurant! So after some decent food and some rest we slowly started walking back to our hotel. In total we probably walked about 14 km (7 km x 2) from our hotel to Ponta da Calheta and back. In addition to the walk earlier in the day I estimate we walked around 20 km on Saturday!
We didn't go anywhere that night, we stayed in and watched the Champions' League final between Barcelona and Manchester United.
Sunday morning started out cloudy and a bit colder. While we were waiting for the tour guide to come pick us up it started to rain but fortunately it didn't last long. The island tour was quite nice and we visited several good high points with good views of the Porto Santo island. The tour ended at Ponta da Calheta from which we could actually see Madeira! The distance between the two island is about 50 km so on a good clear day you can see Madeira :-)
After the tour we went for a nice lunch at a place called restaurant Forno which also served rice with our meal so Asnida was happy. Afterwards we went shopping and bought some souvenirs, amongst others a bracelet for Asnida. Fortunately the hotel gave us another room to shower and get changed into other clothes even though we had already checked out in the morning. (Tour started at 10am, check out time was 12pm.)
Asnida made sure to take a pill to avoid getting sea sick again and she didn't move at all on the ferry boat trip back to Funchal haha. We arrived in Funchal around 9:15pm and it was slightly raining. The walk back home covered a short distance but was all uphill.
I think we watched "Mission impossible III" before falling asleep quickly.
Good times! (yes this is a hyperlink to the pics!!!)
Next thing we might do here is go dolphin/whale watching. If my thumb heals soon we can also drive around the island again and visit the aquarium and outdoor pools in Porto Moniz.
It was raining on Friday night when we arrived but we just wanted to check in anyway and relax a bit. The Hotel Torre Praia is located right at the beach and in the city center so very convenient. We tried to book an island tour for Saturday morning but apparently the tour operator didn't have a driver or whatever so we booked it for Sunday morning.
Upon waking up on Saturday the weather seemed decent, cloudy but not too cold or too warm. So we decided to explore the city on foot. Since it's a small town we found ourselves walking to the airport soon. We went up a staircase outside the airport and noticed several photographers and a TV camera crew waiting for a plane to arrive. Five minutes after we got there the plane actually arrived and the passengers were welcomed by a group of people in traditional attire and dancing. We initially thought someone famous was on board but a colleague told me today that it was the first direct flight from Poland. Hence the special welcoming committee :-)
We walked back to the hotel to get some rest and after a while the sun came out so we decided to go for a walk on the 9 km long sandy beach. I should've eaten something prior to this but I didn't so I was starving and grumpy for a few hours. There weren't any places to get food along the beach once we got about 1 km from our hotel so we just kept walking and walking. Enjoying the scenery and walking into the waves with our feet.
Eventually after 1,5 or 2 hours we reached the end of the beach at Ponta da Calheta which is a beautiful end point and it also had a restaurant! So after some decent food and some rest we slowly started walking back to our hotel. In total we probably walked about 14 km (7 km x 2) from our hotel to Ponta da Calheta and back. In addition to the walk earlier in the day I estimate we walked around 20 km on Saturday!
We didn't go anywhere that night, we stayed in and watched the Champions' League final between Barcelona and Manchester United.
Sunday morning started out cloudy and a bit colder. While we were waiting for the tour guide to come pick us up it started to rain but fortunately it didn't last long. The island tour was quite nice and we visited several good high points with good views of the Porto Santo island. The tour ended at Ponta da Calheta from which we could actually see Madeira! The distance between the two island is about 50 km so on a good clear day you can see Madeira :-)
After the tour we went for a nice lunch at a place called restaurant Forno which also served rice with our meal so Asnida was happy. Afterwards we went shopping and bought some souvenirs, amongst others a bracelet for Asnida. Fortunately the hotel gave us another room to shower and get changed into other clothes even though we had already checked out in the morning. (Tour started at 10am, check out time was 12pm.)
Asnida made sure to take a pill to avoid getting sea sick again and she didn't move at all on the ferry boat trip back to Funchal haha. We arrived in Funchal around 9:15pm and it was slightly raining. The walk back home covered a short distance but was all uphill.
I think we watched "Mission impossible III" before falling asleep quickly.
Good times! (yes this is a hyperlink to the pics!!!)
Next thing we might do here is go dolphin/whale watching. If my thumb heals soon we can also drive around the island again and visit the aquarium and outdoor pools in Porto Moniz.
Friday, May 27, 2011
thumbelina
The swelling in my right hand is almost gone, and I'm starting to get some more agility in my fingers, besides the thumb obviously. Let's see how it feels after the weekend.
Speaking of the weekend, we're hopping on a ferry boat (Porto Santo Line) later today and spending the weekend on Porto Santo. The weather forecast is not so good but we'll see what it's like when we get there. We'll come back with the same ferry boat on Sunday night so we're spending 2 nights and 2 days on Porto Santo.
We could've considered diving if I hadn't been so stupid but we'll make up for it by doing other fun stuff :-)
Speaking of the weekend, we're hopping on a ferry boat (Porto Santo Line) later today and spending the weekend on Porto Santo. The weather forecast is not so good but we'll see what it's like when we get there. We'll come back with the same ferry boat on Sunday night so we're spending 2 nights and 2 days on Porto Santo.
We could've considered diving if I hadn't been so stupid but we'll make up for it by doing other fun stuff :-)
Monday, May 23, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
scuba diving & a dumb tough man
The scuba diving was fun and Asnida and Barbara enjoyed their first scuba experience.
To check the pics click HERE.
Unfortunately I pulled another dumb act due to stupidity, impatience and over-excitement. When I got to the pool with my scuba gear on I still needed to put on the boots (error 1). Once I had put them on I was too impatient for someone to help me get up (error 2). So I over pushed my entire weight off with my right hand (error 3). Resulting in a dislocated right thumb!
Like some tough Hollywood action star I immediately pushed it back into place but obviously the muscles and ligaments were shot. During the subsequent pool and sea dives I was annoyed and battled the pain/discomfort. Afterwards the swollen thumb was my tough man trophy haha.
Didn't go to the hospital yesterday but there was more swelling this morning so we decided to have it checked out. After spending a few hours in the hospital the X-rays showed no fracture and no dislocation so it's "just" ligaments that need time to recover. The doctor prescribed me an immobility glove which I need to wear for 2 weeks. I've already been using lots of ice so when the doctor recommended ice I told him I was way ahead of him ;-)
As a consequence of my dumb act I can't drive the car so will have to take the bus again for a while.
Asnida took a few pics of my glove and we'll post them asap too.
PS: typing this with one hand...
To check the pics click HERE.
Unfortunately I pulled another dumb act due to stupidity, impatience and over-excitement. When I got to the pool with my scuba gear on I still needed to put on the boots (error 1). Once I had put them on I was too impatient for someone to help me get up (error 2). So I over pushed my entire weight off with my right hand (error 3). Resulting in a dislocated right thumb!
Like some tough Hollywood action star I immediately pushed it back into place but obviously the muscles and ligaments were shot. During the subsequent pool and sea dives I was annoyed and battled the pain/discomfort. Afterwards the swollen thumb was my tough man trophy haha.
Didn't go to the hospital yesterday but there was more swelling this morning so we decided to have it checked out. After spending a few hours in the hospital the X-rays showed no fracture and no dislocation so it's "just" ligaments that need time to recover. The doctor prescribed me an immobility glove which I need to wear for 2 weeks. I've already been using lots of ice so when the doctor recommended ice I told him I was way ahead of him ;-)
As a consequence of my dumb act I can't drive the car so will have to take the bus again for a while.
Asnida took a few pics of my glove and we'll post them asap too.
PS: typing this with one hand...
Friday, May 20, 2011
laptop trouble
About a week after my own laptop died my work laptop has also started to have serious problems.
Good times :-S
Fortunately football this afternoon and scuba diving tomorrow. Physical exercise > hanging behind the laptop!
Good times :-S
Fortunately football this afternoon and scuba diving tomorrow. Physical exercise > hanging behind the laptop!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Madeira scuba diving
Finally getting back underwater. Been 5 long years without scuba diving. This video is by the company where we'll do a review/discover scuba program on Saturday.
Getting goosebumps just watching all the beautiful footage! :-)
Friday, May 13, 2011
Entombed cross
Came across these 3 pics taken back in 2007 when we visiting the famous cross that featured on the back cover of Entombed's "Left hand path" album.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
laptop died
It seems my personal laptop died, only about a month after my work laptop arrived haha. There were no warning signs really, the laptop can be turned on but the screen remains black. Nasty surprise but what can you do?
Asnida won't be online as much anymore due to this mishap.
Asnida won't be online as much anymore due to this mishap.
Monday, May 09, 2011
busy bees
Pretty active weekend. Played football on Friday evening with my new indoor shoes, scored 4 times so they're approved :-)
We went swimming for an hour on Saturday, then went shopping in Madeira Shopping and Forum Madeira malls. Also caught "Fast five" which was pretty entertaining popcorn galore.
Yesterday we walked around downtown Funchal to check out the flower festival and subsequently watched the flower parade. I'll transfer and process the vids and post them on my youtube channel asap.
The weather is rather nice these days. Around 22 Celsius with a little wind, only a few clouds. We're planning to go to Santana on Saturday so hopefully the weather stays this good.
We went swimming for an hour on Saturday, then went shopping in Madeira Shopping and Forum Madeira malls. Also caught "Fast five" which was pretty entertaining popcorn galore.
Yesterday we walked around downtown Funchal to check out the flower festival and subsequently watched the flower parade. I'll transfer and process the vids and post them on my youtube channel asap.
The weather is rather nice these days. Around 22 Celsius with a little wind, only a few clouds. We're planning to go to Santana on Saturday so hopefully the weather stays this good.
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
back from short NL trip
Last Thursday Asnida and I went to the Netherlands for a few days to attend the Neurotic Death Fest in Tilburg. The weather was pretty good, the music loud and the atmosphere relaxed and fun. On Sunday we went to the amusement/theme park Efteling with my sister. Always fun to trick people into rollercoasters and sickening attractions ;-)
We flew back yesterday without a glitch in the itinerary. Got home after 1am and briefly celebrated Asnida's 37's birthday before we went to sleep.
I got up at 7am since I had to teach class at 9am, can't wait to go home and go for dinner tonight. We're going to a different Indian restaurant than the Taj Mahal place I've been to several times already.
This one is called Sabor da India and their menu can be found at http://sabordaindia.webs.com/menu_en.html
Can't wait to feast on some yummy Indian food again!
We flew back yesterday without a glitch in the itinerary. Got home after 1am and briefly celebrated Asnida's 37's birthday before we went to sleep.
I got up at 7am since I had to teach class at 9am, can't wait to go home and go for dinner tonight. We're going to a different Indian restaurant than the Taj Mahal place I've been to several times already.
This one is called Sabor da India and their menu can be found at http://sabordaindia.webs.com/menu_en.html
Can't wait to feast on some yummy Indian food again!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Luciferion movie sample
We just watched a pretty crappy movie called "Xtro II: The second encounter". The reason why I'm posting about it is because of the movie's ending music. I immediately recognized it as the ending music of "The Voyager" song on the "Demonication (The Manifest)" album by Luciferion. Until now I always thought the sample was taken from "The Exorcist III". In fact, another Luciferion song from the same album does indeed contain the John Donne quote from the movie.
It's funny how you can run into these obscure movie samples that metal bands often use. The "Demonication (The Manifest)" album originally came out in 1994 so it only took me 17 years to find the movie sample!
I will check the CD booklet next week when we visit my parents again. I know for sure that the band listed a bunch of movies that have inspired them in making that album. Curious to see if "Xtro II" is also listed...
It's funny how you can run into these obscure movie samples that metal bands often use. The "Demonication (The Manifest)" album originally came out in 1994 so it only took me 17 years to find the movie sample!
I will check the CD booklet next week when we visit my parents again. I know for sure that the band listed a bunch of movies that have inspired them in making that album. Curious to see if "Xtro II" is also listed...
Friday, April 15, 2011
Came across the new Septic Flesh album and it's great as expected. Ordered it with a bunch of other good CDs from Amazon. Should be here around Easter I think.
I'm also still waiting for my Tim Tams order which should arrive any day now.
Going to play football/soccer with some colleagues at 6pm today. Haven't played since June 2009 so muscle ache will be inevitable. Let's see if my body will be in a decent enough shape to go swimming tomorrow :)
I'm also still waiting for my Tim Tams order which should arrive any day now.
Going to play football/soccer with some colleagues at 6pm today. Haven't played since June 2009 so muscle ache will be inevitable. Let's see if my body will be in a decent enough shape to go swimming tomorrow :)
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
work laptop
After 6 months my work laptop finally arrived :)
It's one of the charms living and working in Portugal haha.
I'm now in the process of installing Windows 7 OS on the new MacBook Pro. I know, sacrilege to some but I'll keep the Mac OS on it as well. Then I'll install all programs and transfer data and files.
Good times!
Asnida will soon be able to use this old MacBook Pro at home and email, browse the internet and update her facebook whenever she wants to.
It's one of the charms living and working in Portugal haha.
I'm now in the process of installing Windows 7 OS on the new MacBook Pro. I know, sacrilege to some but I'll keep the Mac OS on it as well. Then I'll install all programs and transfer data and files.
Good times!
Asnida will soon be able to use this old MacBook Pro at home and email, browse the internet and update her facebook whenever she wants to.
Sunday, April 03, 2011
Saturday, April 02, 2011
Friday, April 01, 2011
Thursday, March 31, 2011
2 days remaining :)
Asnida has a long travel ahead, of roughly 28 hours. She'll have to take 3 flights of which the first two are operated by KLM. First from Kuala Lumpur to Schiphol, then from Schiphol to Lisbon. The third and final flight from Lisbon to Funchal is operated by TAP.
Her ETA is 8:30pm so we'll see how tired she will be. At least she has a lot of lay over time between the flights so I would be surprised if she runs into any delays.
Asnida has a long travel ahead, of roughly 28 hours. She'll have to take 3 flights of which the first two are operated by KLM. First from Kuala Lumpur to Schiphol, then from Schiphol to Lisbon. The third and final flight from Lisbon to Funchal is operated by TAP.
Her ETA is 8:30pm so we'll see how tired she will be. At least she has a lot of lay over time between the flights so I would be surprised if she runs into any delays.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
FINALLY!!!
I finally picked up my car today!
Now I'll need a lot of practice to park in the building's basement garage since it's rather small with narrow turns :)
Hopefully I'll be able to maneuver out of the garage tomorrow and go for a decent ride to get comfortable with the car. I can also finally get groceries without having to walk up and down the hill :)
Now I'll need a lot of practice to park in the building's basement garage since it's rather small with narrow turns :)
Hopefully I'll be able to maneuver out of the garage tomorrow and go for a decent ride to get comfortable with the car. I can also finally get groceries without having to walk up and down the hill :)
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
car update
Things are getting close to me having the car finally!
I signed the lease contract last week and today the license plate number was finally transferred so we could arrange the car insurance.
Hopefully I'll be able to pick up the car tomorrow or Thursday, fingers crossed....
I signed the lease contract last week and today the license plate number was finally transferred so we could arrange the car insurance.
Hopefully I'll be able to pick up the car tomorrow or Thursday, fingers crossed....
Monday, March 21, 2011
12 days to go and Spring has officially started :-)
For Hindu's the colorful Holi Festival celebrates the beginning of the Spring season:
"Play of Colors
Great excitement can be seen in people on the next day when it is actually the time for the play of colours. Shops and offices remain closed for the day and people get all the time to get crazy and whacky. Bright colours of gulal and abeer fill the air and people take turns in pouring colour water over each other. Children take special delight in spraying colours on one another with their pichkaris and throwing water balloons and passers by. Women and senior citizen form groups called tolis and move in colonies - applying colours and exchanging greetings. Songs, dance on the rhythm of dholak and mouthwatering Holi delicacies are the other highlights of the day." (from http://www.holifestival.org/holi-festival.html)
For Hindu's the colorful Holi Festival celebrates the beginning of the Spring season:
"Play of Colors
Great excitement can be seen in people on the next day when it is actually the time for the play of colours. Shops and offices remain closed for the day and people get all the time to get crazy and whacky. Bright colours of gulal and abeer fill the air and people take turns in pouring colour water over each other. Children take special delight in spraying colours on one another with their pichkaris and throwing water balloons and passers by. Women and senior citizen form groups called tolis and move in colonies - applying colours and exchanging greetings. Songs, dance on the rhythm of dholak and mouthwatering Holi delicacies are the other highlights of the day." (from http://www.holifestival.org/holi-festival.html)
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Im Westen nichts Neues. Not much news. Still trying to acquire a car, put in the paperwork with the bank to get a lease contract. Once they finish their paperwork I can arrange the car insurance and pick up the car. Might take a while though.
Started teaching this week and so far things are going well enough. The students seem to have accepted the fact that the course is in English so it should be fun for the next 3 months :-)
Still counting down until Asnida gets here. It will be exactly five weeks from tomorrow. The weather is slowly picking up with less rain and slightly higher temperatures so it should be nice once April starts.
Movie night at my place tonight. We'll be watching Monsoon wedding. It's also listed on http://www.icheckmovies.com/ so my nerdiness shall be pleased :-)
Started teaching this week and so far things are going well enough. The students seem to have accepted the fact that the course is in English so it should be fun for the next 3 months :-)
Still counting down until Asnida gets here. It will be exactly five weeks from tomorrow. The weather is slowly picking up with less rain and slightly higher temperatures so it should be nice once April starts.
Movie night at my place tonight. We'll be watching Monsoon wedding. It's also listed on http://www.icheckmovies.com/ so my nerdiness shall be pleased :-)
Thursday, February 03, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
back in back
Small update time. After a week of taking pills I figured it was time to go see a chiropractor. Have been there twice so far, 3rd appointment on Thursday. The back is pretty much back to normal but still has the usual stiffness and slight soreness. My chiropractor says she wants to correct my posture now ha. Good luck with that seeing how I can't avoid sitting behind the computer a lot.
Steelers are going to play their 8th Superbowl on February 6 :-)
I'm trying to convince some colleagues to watch the game but the kick off time (11:30pm local time) might be a tough sell. Either way, I'll be watching and let's hope the Steelers get to 7th heaven!
Steelers are going to play their 8th Superbowl on February 6 :-)
I'm trying to convince some colleagues to watch the game but the kick off time (11:30pm local time) might be a tough sell. Either way, I'll be watching and let's hope the Steelers get to 7th heaven!
Thursday, January 06, 2011
Back pain...
I'm really getting old. Since early last week I developed a serious lower back pain/soreness which didn't want to heal. So I went to the hospital today and after being given a muscles relaxer shot in my ass they prescribed me 3 different meds and no sitting allowed the next few days.
No idea what caused the back pain. Maybe just old age, maybe my sister's bed, maybe too much sitting around, maybe too much sex (mat salleh! besar gajah!), maybe too much air travel crap. Either way I'm glad to finally have gone to the hospital. Pain killers are awesome!!!
No idea what caused the back pain. Maybe just old age, maybe my sister's bed, maybe too much sitting around, maybe too much sex (mat salleh! besar gajah!), maybe too much air travel crap. Either way I'm glad to finally have gone to the hospital. Pain killers are awesome!!!
Monday, January 03, 2011
air travel fun and X-mass break
I had already read the weather forecast for Funchal on December 17 predicting heavy thunderstorms and the NL weather forecast for extreme snowfall. To keep things short, I spent 12 hours at tiny Funchal airport before I could fly out to Lisbon. My original flight got cancelled after 4 hours so rebooked new flight which also got delayed but eventually did leave Funchal. Spent the short night in a hotel in Lisbon and early morning December 18 flew to A-dam where I arrived with a 18 hour delayed. Good thing my girlfriend's flight was not delayed and she was strolling through Schiphol airport for 5 or 6 hours window shopping waiting for me to finally arrive.
Fortunately the 2 weeks together were well worth the trouble. She had never seen snow and since a LOT of snow was falling in the NL the first week we walked around the first few days. Since she's not used to wearing (new) hiking shoes she got blisters on her ankles so we took it a bit easier.
We went to Thermae 2000 which was awesome since we could swim in the outdoor pool while the snow was falling on us. Well worth the money and due to the extreme winter weather it wasn't that crowded in the pools and the sauna.
Drove to Heerlen and Maastricht to show Asnida a bit of other Dutch cities (though all pale in comparison to A-dam) and we shopped a bit. Also visited the X-mass fun fare on the Vrijthof which wasn't as crowded as expected. On first X-mass day we went for a nice Greek dinner and on 2nd X-mass day Asnida met my grandmother as well as one of my uncles.
We went to visit some friends of mine last Wednesday which was a lot of fun. Throughout these last 2 weeks we watched a lot of movies, mostly DVDs but also went to see "Rapunzel/Tangled", "Burlesque" and the 3rd "Narnia" movie.
Many pics of our 2 weeks together can be found HERE.
And of course my travel back to Funchal also was done in dubious style. Since I had packed 2 suitcases I was expecting to pay some extra money for the excess baggage. What I wasn't counting on was that they decided that my carry on luggage was overweight and had to be checked in too. After paying 240 euro for excess baggage the only thing on me was my laptop. I had forgotten to take out my house keys and Portuguese cell phone from my original carry on luggage...
My flight from A-dam to Porto ended up having a 2 hour delay so since my connecting flight was only 55 min after the original landing time I assumed I missed it. Even checked with the flight crew on the first flight who said my connecting flight had left Porto. Imagine my surprise when I eventually found out that my connecting flight had a 2.5 hour delay and that I actually was on it haha.
When I got to Funchal airport it was a nice surprise to actually see all 3 baggage pieces made it too. Grabbed a cab from an insane cab driver who felt like he was racing in Formula 1. Eventually made it home around 5am local time, exhausted yet happy to have my own bed again.
Fortunately the 2 weeks together were well worth the trouble. She had never seen snow and since a LOT of snow was falling in the NL the first week we walked around the first few days. Since she's not used to wearing (new) hiking shoes she got blisters on her ankles so we took it a bit easier.
We went to Thermae 2000 which was awesome since we could swim in the outdoor pool while the snow was falling on us. Well worth the money and due to the extreme winter weather it wasn't that crowded in the pools and the sauna.
Drove to Heerlen and Maastricht to show Asnida a bit of other Dutch cities (though all pale in comparison to A-dam) and we shopped a bit. Also visited the X-mass fun fare on the Vrijthof which wasn't as crowded as expected. On first X-mass day we went for a nice Greek dinner and on 2nd X-mass day Asnida met my grandmother as well as one of my uncles.
We went to visit some friends of mine last Wednesday which was a lot of fun. Throughout these last 2 weeks we watched a lot of movies, mostly DVDs but also went to see "Rapunzel/Tangled", "Burlesque" and the 3rd "Narnia" movie.
Many pics of our 2 weeks together can be found HERE.
And of course my travel back to Funchal also was done in dubious style. Since I had packed 2 suitcases I was expecting to pay some extra money for the excess baggage. What I wasn't counting on was that they decided that my carry on luggage was overweight and had to be checked in too. After paying 240 euro for excess baggage the only thing on me was my laptop. I had forgotten to take out my house keys and Portuguese cell phone from my original carry on luggage...
My flight from A-dam to Porto ended up having a 2 hour delay so since my connecting flight was only 55 min after the original landing time I assumed I missed it. Even checked with the flight crew on the first flight who said my connecting flight had left Porto. Imagine my surprise when I eventually found out that my connecting flight had a 2.5 hour delay and that I actually was on it haha.
When I got to Funchal airport it was a nice surprise to actually see all 3 baggage pieces made it too. Grabbed a cab from an insane cab driver who felt like he was racing in Formula 1. Eventually made it home around 5am local time, exhausted yet happy to have my own bed again.
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