When the Dutchman is away

the Malaysian girl will play...


Frambeien (Strawberry- Raspberry Hybrid) I bought from the market

I'll be the first to admit that I am not very good at cleaning after myself. After baking or cooking, I tend to just throw the non-durables into the dustbin and leave the dishes til tomorrow. This annoys the Dutchman senseless but really, after an hour or more cooking/baking, all I want to do is watch TV or read a book ^^ He always cleans after dinner but insists that it's only fair that I should clean after I bake as that is something I do for fun. I agree, I do! I just prefer to do it later :D

Sometimes, I feel guilty when I bake so I'll try to do it quietly (while he's out or when he's playing a game with headphones on haha) but he always finds out (cheap mixing gadget will wake up any sleeping beast). He's usually really nice about it though and even thinks it's 'cute' 0_0

Anyhow, Dutchman went out for drinks with friends today. I didn't feel like going out so I stayed home, went online, ate Indian leftovers (I LOVE INDIAN! I MISS NASI KANDAR AND BANANA LEAF RICE!!!!!!!!! Sorry, had to scream a little there), watched TV, read "The Host" by Stefanie Meyer and baked Espresso Sablés (in the freezer now).

Will let you know how it tastes!

It crossed my mind today that I wouldn't want to uproot myself to a foreign country with a foreign language anymore. I found it really surprising because I've always enjoyed and wanted to do that. I lived in Japan for a year and was MUCH more isolated than in The Netherlands. In Japan, I lived in a small town, attended Japanese high school (where I was the ONLY foreign student) and lived with Japanese families for a whole year. It's not the same as The Netherlands because an end was in sight. I was smothered and didn't have much freedom but I was also sheltered from anything bad as I had gone under an organization. I knew that once my year was up, I could leave- not to mention, as an exchange student, I didn't have any real responsibilities (didn't have to work, no worries about money, didn't have to study and so on).

I can't say I feel AT HOME in The Netherlands but I am content. I feel comfortable, I'm used to how things work, I've slowly built my life here, I have made new friends and acquired a new 'family' (in-laws). I can sort of understand Dutch (enough to read almost everything, understand conversations, participate a little, fill in tax papers etc.), I am familiar with the culture- I know how it works, how I should act and react, what should be said to achieve what.

I had to struggle to get to this point. I wasn't very happy the first 1.5-2 years. I hated feeling like that so perhaps you can understand why I don't want to move again. I'm still very open to a country where English is widely spoken but I don't think I want to live in France, Switzerland, Turkey, Germany, Spain, China, Korea ...you get my point! Not for a long period anyway (internships, study abroads, 1-year assignments abroad no problem!).

Some meals we had since my last post (as usual, have been eating out a lot)



One of my favourite pastas in the whole world- Crab spaghetti (I usually use linguine but I ran out)



Steak, potatoes with yoghurt dressing, leafy salad from a bag



Mee Goreng! Very yum. Almost as good as the Mamak Mee Goreng back home. I have to figure out what's missing. Bought the Asian Home Gourmet spice mix from the Asian store.