welcome to holland

Astrid arrived last Saturday, much to the delight of my heart which falls victim to sporadic homesick attacks. It is always great to see a familiar face from home.

And so begins my ongoing role to be Astrid's tour guide while she's here, too. Holland is undergoing an Indian summer, which supossedly means that we'll be having hot days until October. Of course "hot" is relative. At 25 degrees, the Dutch head out to the beach, while we tropical-born people wonder why it's so cold to stand in the shade even with the sun shining.

Nevertheless, this is still a very pretty country with its wide open spaces (yeeeaaah... a place to make your own mistakes... -dixie chicks), and biker-friendly landscape (read: flat). Flowers are all abound... in supermarkets, by the road, in the street islands and of course, in gardens. The Dutch are also very friendly, probably the friendliest English-speaking population in Europe (apologies to my British friends... nyehehehe).

Anyhoo, I'm currently working on my biking skills to get around. Sometime soon I should get myself a digital camera because it's a crying shame that i can't capture some pretty moments. Abangan.