Istanbul

Am using awesome iphone at lovely cafe with view of aya sofiya. Having at good time! See you in wednesday

No Food Pictures

Yep. No pictures for now. Haven't been cooking. The weather's been great so we've been eating out a lot (what's new.... ). We should probably try to save money!

I am in love with Turkish food which I suppose, doesn't really surprise me. I love aubergines. I love tomatoes and I love meat. :)

I'm really excited about going to Istanbul this weekend. Heard the weather will be terrible though.

Guess what.. The Dutchman actually joined the gym last week and we have been going every other day. This obviously works for me as well as the hardest part for me is actually leaving the house:D I joined Healthcity with Melissa in February but went only about once every 2 weeks, despite having an 'all-inclusive' pass. Dutchman and I have been pretty healthy the last week or so;)

Some bad news: The mother of the little girl I care for was laid off last week. I still have my job but I wouldn't be surprise if I were to lose it if she doesn't find something soon. I guess we won't starve or something but I like being able to eat out, go on holidays and do fun stuff so I guess it 's time for me to keep an eye out for another position (but I'll take it ONLY if I lose this one!).

Whoops, movie. BBL

Sorry

Haven't been updating. Will be as soon as I have time:)

Sleepy Saturday

I literally slept all day. I was reading '19th Wife', fell asleep at 2, woke up at 6 and forgot to meet Marie and Nicole at the park! Oops. Oh and drama... I agreed to help Silje look for her new au pair (I found their first au pair) and all was fine. The au pair (American) was supposed to arrive yesterday but sent an email that very morning that she is no longer coming. WTF right? Would have been lovely if she'd told us months ago. Now, the family's stuck without childcare and I have to do more work. Stupid girl.

Yesterday:

Barbecue on the balcony. Time to buy some plants again


Breakfast:
Homemade Ham and Gouda Cheese Croissants


Dinner:
Jamie Oliver's Macaoni Cheese Bake (boring)

My Sad Cake

I am a midnight baker. I bake after midnight as a way to relax. Last night (or this morning?), I tried to make a Honey Kasutera (Castella) which is a cake I ate often in Japan. I thought the recipe looked somewhat strange (more like a soufle than a cake)but hey, it was easy and I had all the ingredients.

The cake looked and smelled absolutely gorgeous. There's just something about looking at a perfectly formed cake.

I went to use the computer.

Went to the kitchen to check if it had cooled down. My poor cake. Oh, my poor,poor cake had shrivelled up into a sunken, strange looking mass. I went to bed, grumpy.

I woke up this morning and wanted to throw it away but of course, a cake is a cake and you never not try cake. That was probably the best decision I made all morning. It tasted AMAZING. It's the fugliest cake you'll ever see (the moist sediment thing at the bottom is just honey) but it was so good. The Dutchman lapped it up like a starving dog (the Dutchman is NOT a dessert person). We scarfed the entire loaf;) Mmm MM MMmmmmmm

Yesterday's Dinner


Roast Chicken with garlic bread and a balsamico salad

Tonight: Sushi with the girls again!

Marzipan Cake

A few months ago, I bought a block of mass produced (Dr. Oetker) marzipan for only 1 euro (too cheap to resist mah). It's about to expire so I decided to make Marzipan cake!

It's really moist and goes really well with raspberries, currants ..most fruits, really! It is very easy to make, not pretentious but looks awfully 'purdy' with a dusting of icing sugar and fruits. This cake is perfect when you have someone over for coffee.

Guess what I found?:D

I was shopping in Utrecht last week and found this lovely pattiserie called Bond&Smolders. I had a Lemon Meringue Tart (probably my favourite tart in the whole wide world and you can't find it in NL)!! I haven't had one for YEARS!

They also sold these:


Valrhona chocolates! At 3.50 euro per 70g, these don't come cheap. I decided to bake Korova cookies with a bar. I would have posted pictures but I went to my room and when I came out, the Dutchman was wiping crumbs off his chin in the kitchen. I only had ONE cookie!!!

As usual, we haven't been eating home. Here's what I cooked last week (both below 5 euro each;) ):

Lamb Chipolata with Brussel sprouts and burnt potatoes;) You might've noticed that sprouts appear quite often in my photos. We both like Brussel sprouts but not THAT much. Truth is, I have the memory of a goldfish and so I bought 6 boxes of sprouts (on 3 different occassions) because I'd forgotten buying the earlier boxes...


Tortelini with bacon and leeks

The weather's been brillant! It's nice to watch everyone frolicking in the sun.

The little girl:


Other things:

i) I submitted my resignation today. WOOO HOOOOO
ii) We're going to Brussels shortly after Istanbul yay! Just a short trip (1 night).
iii) My iPhone is here!


iv) Back to school on Monday:(

ANGRY

This company is.. unbelievable.

I worked 17 hours for them last month (17 hours minimum- I didn't even count the time I spent on preparing for class). Guess how much was banked into my account: 50+ euro!! I BURST OUT LAUGHING. I was like WTF?! How is that possible? 50 euro?! That's like HALF of what I get in ONE day at my other job!

So I called them. They said sorry, they should've paid me 2 hours more but that's it because apparently, the training session isn't paid (4 hours which is like 1 whole week's pay. Every idiot knows that training sessions are paid when you're paid hourly, especially when this training session is done every 6 weeks).I had to skip a class (my own, not the one I'm teaching)to meet the director of a school for one hour. She says that's not paid too!

I have to start at 3pm instead of 3.15 (not because I want to but because I am MADE to pick up the children who are let out at 3pm) and leave well after 5.15 because we have to clean up the mess. Those extra hours aren't paid to. Huh?! This is NOT a salaried job! You receive an HOURLY rate so why shouldn't I get paid??

YET, they docked 30 minutes off my time sheet because I was 15 minutes late (I wasn't supposed to be there on that day but they asked me to do them a favour. I was late because I was in school but of course let them know before agreeing to do it). It was a favour to teach that school (3 classes total) because I have to commute 1.5 hours each time to teach a 2-hour class. In other words, 20 euro for 1.5 hours travel, 2 hours class and 30 minutes (pick-up kids, wait for parents to pick kids up after class as they are not allowed to stay alone, clean-up etc.). That's just stupid.

I am going to contact the labour office to see if this is even legal. Oooh and she had the GALL to tell me that I "am lucky to receive such a high hourly rate" (so high that it's lower than what I receive per hour at my other job and 400% more work and stress).

I am going to quit. I am a student with a bright future. I am NEVER going to be in that field so I have nothing to lose. I am supposed to give one month's notice but it's a 0-hour contract so I'll just not go. Fuck me and I'll fuck you back. This company is unethical and exploits foreign/poor people. I am disgusted- absolutely disgusted. I guess they thought I was desperate for the position.

I'm just steaming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!