holiday.tune..

perhaps it is the weather, perhaps it is the time of the year, perhaps the office is getting empty as some started their summer vacation already. i am really quite into holiday mood already..... i have started to....

imagining myself setting at the terrace..

sipping a glass of chilled wine and enjoying an alfronso meal

like this i had this duck salad at rouen and it tasted so good, duck cooked in 3 different styles with a bit of canard pate too, heaven!

or indulging myself in some fine or haute cuisine

a course of seafood (yiam..yiam)

satisfying my sweet bud by macarons...

no laduree, no pierre herm�, no artisan patisserie but there are plenty of macaron stores that taste as fresh and as good as the signature brand and come in just small fraction of price

and many pretty, sexy parisian patisseries like eclair and a pear tart

in reality my three weeks holiday only start in the second half of august, even then i still have no idea on what am i going to do, where am i going for the first two weeks. we kind of have an idea where we want to go on the third week but even then nothing is final. we have to play by the situation and let my good Lord surprise us....

where are you going this summer holiday?

super.sunday

super sunday, another super warm day, in fact today is even warmer than yesterday... after the church service a couple of us decided to dine out at one of the fish restaurants in scheveningen old port...

after the dinner, we walked to the other side of the beach... we manage to sweet talk S that it is only 20 min walk and so she walked with us with her little heels...

the walk way is crowded, full of people and cars in both directions

the ladies joining the crowd...

and the men too!

the beach is almost deserted at this hour, perhaps everyone has enough of their share throughout the day...

and now is the dinner time, terrace and the caf�s are filled with crowds at the beach

and also at the promenade

after 30 min walk, we finally reached the kurhaus... we are here for a secret mission *wink*...

and ended up with a rather sinful indulgence, each of us ordered a big glass of ice cream, sweet and rich... thankfully we have slightly more than an hour walk from the old port to the promenade, this should help burning the undesired calories off..

and the sunset, a perfect ending note to an action pack weekend...

have a blessed week ahead...

feeling.lomo

i took some photos with lomo lca+ during the long weekend trip to upper normandy, france in may. i took a lot of photos at the garden of monet at giverny. and of course i finally developed the 35mm film.

it took me awhile to accept the result of the photos. it is not as sharp or as clear as any digital camera print but after i stared at these photos for some moments, i beginning to feel lomo and addicted to lomo again
there is something about lomo that digital camera cannot give, this is just a garden (and so happened to be a famous painter's garden), frankly speak the look of the photo doesn't depict the actual mood of the reality (weather, sunlight) of that day but it accentuates the reality into some forms of dreamy and retro mode...

like this reflection of the plants on the pond, this is the sort of effect (feel/mood) that truly only lomo can give...

i still love digital camera, in fact i have been dreaming of an digital SLR but there is something about lomo that digital couldn't give....

i think i am falling in love with lomo again....

how i wish sometime life doesn't reflect the reality (harsh, stress, busy,etc...) but in return reflecting the lomo feel life (soft, surreal, laid back, etc...)

well, it is saturday, i guess i am allow to keep lomo-ing by feeling lomo and dreaming lomo...

vlaggetjesdag

annual herring day at scheveningen

old ladies dressed up in their authentic and traditional scheveningen costumes

a big wheel at one side of the old harbour

looking up and deciding...

finally we are up in the air, the view is superb

a concert, apparently an old famous dutch uncle singer is singing

time for food, fresh new herring as starter of course...they are really fresh...

time to kick off the additional calories by kiting

while preparing the kite

the weather is sunny but rather cold, we actually ended up warming ourselves at the terrace while the guys enjoying the kiting...

team.outing

the weather is not perfect. but nothing can stop you from going to the beach even you have to drive for an hour to reach there. there is an team event that you don't want to miss out. you lost your way as you are approaching the dunes but after awhile you finally reached your destination.

a little cottage at the other side of the beach

it's windy and drizzling...

you looked at this and you feel the challenge but you know you are not here for this

but these... the blowkart is awaiting for you...

you stand there and waiting happily because you know you are the next in line to try the blowkart

you enjoy the ride, the wind is your best friend because it gives you green energy but the sand is your enemy because you get stuck due to wet sand... nonetheless you enjoyed the ride even though you are completely wet...

then you have some serious meeting and then while waiting for the bbq to be set up, you watched the first match of world cup on the big screen with your colleagues

then the huge fire place waiting for you to put some meats for grill and BBQ

your colleagues are standing around waiting to attack the sizzling food

it's an enjoyable afternoon and you are glad you made it even though there is some consequences lying ahead next monday but this is just exactly what you needed after a rather bumpy week at your work.

happy friday, a much needed weekend for me and for you too!

a.bicycle.ride.to.high.tea

i started today by marathon ironing, i ironed all the backlog of clothing's since may... so you can imagine a hug pile of clothes at the attic... but i got it all done including sorting out the final bit of my summer wardrobe...

then we set off for a cycling trip around our neighbourhood in search for some wall photos. we didn't have a lot of success except the one above that close to my satisfaction.

some wild summer flowers that i saw for two weeks already every day when i drive passed in the evening after work but never got time to take the photo till this afternoon

water lilies - reminds me of monet's japanese garden

spring/summer view along the pathway

on our way to the lake, we saw more daisy wild flowers and so we stopped again for some photo opportunity

along the cycling route, some cows also take the moment to sun bathing like many others... we were briefly at the lake before we turned back for our high tea at a terrace just at a converted barn nearby to our house

the cow is the signage of this restaurant

like many others, we have our high tea at the terrace

the high tea start with a glass of rose procesco

and then the tea sandwich, the petite fours, the muffins, cream puff, bonbons and many other sweeties...

and also a plate of savory with quiche, kroket all nicely done and not oily

and of course the scones with clotted cream, strawberry jam and marmalade

not forget the tea, the main spotlight of the tea and my favorite revolution tea, there is no lack of selection and refill is free!! i will be back next time with my girlfriends...

then i did a quick round of the interior

high ceiling with chandeliers

the interior of the converted barn, quite a taste decorated

while he waited for me under the sun, then we cycled further after the rather heavy high tea and on our last leg, we came across another old barn...

like this with broken windows...

and now i need to get ready for the women's revival meeting at our church tonight!!