Sao Lao

I went out to do some grocery shopping on Thursday afternoon at the China town in Rotterdam. There was nothing going on as far as I can see. At my favorite Chinese grocery store there were a few people promoting Western Union using a bicycle taxi all, Chinese style. The girl told me they do this every Chinese New Year and asked me if I want my picture taken. She also asked if she could take some pictures of me using her camera. I didn’t protest and she asked me where I came from. She thought I was Chinese and told me that there is not that many people that came from Laos in this country. As far as I know I am the only Lao person walking around Rotterdam for the time being.

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Happy Chinese New Year, the Year of the Rat. The Chinese Community in Rotterdam also takes part in this annual festivity. I bet the celebration started already for today. I have to prepare for school so I can’t be out there taking photos and eating great food. Good thing for the internet because I will find some good clips later.

Here are some clips from last year’s celebration. 2007 was the year of the Golden Pig.

Chinese New Year 2007 in Rotterdam

I was out shopping yesterday, trying to find a good deal on after Christmas sale. I didn’t buy anything except for food and added on more calories with an apple pie at Bijenkorf department store. It was crowded in the city center with people looking for a good bargain. At least there was a sort of carnival set up all over town to cater to young children. I did run into a sign that made me think of Nye and took a few pics for her. NYE stands for New Year’s Eve but to me it was like Nye talking to me in hidden language.

The sun came out on last Saturday and the trees were dropping the snow on the ground. I thought it was a good day to do some grocery shopping in China town, stocking up on some chili peppers and shrimp paste, as well as other essentials. I ran out of shrimp paste more than two weeks ago but didn’t have the need for it yet since I couldn’t eat any tum for awhile. It was a bit cold so I bundled up like an Eskimo and went shopping with Johan.

He had to do some Christmas shopping for his family and I was looking for a good bargain on winter coat and maybe an outfit or two. We went to my favorite department store, the Bijenkorf and shop and shop and took a break for some coffee and cake. I had green tea and coconut cake for a late afternoon snack. After getting more energy I went through racks and racks of clothes and found a white blouse and a pants set with matching blazer at 50% off. I decided to be good to myself and bought them.

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Last Saturday I had an appointment with a Travel Doctor for my second shot of Hepatitis A vaccine at Beursplein Shopping Center. The first shot I took was on 12/07/2006 and lasted only one year. Since I will be going to Laos again in the near future it was recommended that I go back for a follow up. It was a year and a day later for the anniversary shot but it was quick and painless for 60 Euros. Not bad since I won’t have to get vaccinated again for this type of vaccine until 25 years from now.

Afterward, Johan took me for my favorite illy coffee and some windows shopping at Bijenkorf Mall. I saw one denim skirt that I like but didn’t buy it since I didn’t really need one at the moment and would rather send my Grand-Mama the money that I could have paid for the skirt. There wasn’t really anything that grab my attention in the entire store except for one black dress (above on the left). When I saw it I was like nice I could wear it. But after I saw the price for 549 Euros I had to walk away. I could feed my Grand-Mama for a few months in Laos for that dress.

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On Thursday, November 08th, we were given a warning for a heavy storm to hit in the late afternoon. It was such a strange weather day with sun shining as I left for school in the morning. Then I got home as the storm was coming in with fierce wind hitting my face when I got off the train. I wanted to take the train to Hoek Van Holland beach to see if I can take some pictures for Dallas Lao. But since it was so cold and windy and me having a cold, I thought it would be better to just go hide inside my apartment and wait for some pictures from brave people on the net.

This was in the news about the big storm since 1953 from the Associate Press:

A powerful North Sea weather system triggered tidal surges and ferocious winds Friday, prompting fears of flooding, but left Britain and the Netherlands largely unscathed.

In the Netherlands, Rotterdam Port halted all ship traffic until Friday evening. The Maeslant Barrier protecting Europe’s largest port was closed Thursday for the first time under storm conditions since its construction in 1997.

Now and then I like to have a take out order at my favorite Chinese (Dim Sum) restaurant at Beurs Plein shopping center in Rotterdam. It’s a good exercise to walk to the restaurant and then do some people watching on the street corners while waiting for the dinner to be prepared. The Netherlands reminds me so much of Laos, especially Vientiane with all the outdoor shopping area and sidewalk cafes. Somehow it feels like a second home and I don’t mind being here so much.

After a dinner like this, I just want to run around the block for a few hours to get rid of the fat. However, it’s more fun to just sit behind the computer and blog.

I thought it was kind of funny when Johan took me out to dinner and forgot what time he has reserved a table. We thought we had an hour left to spare so we walked to Dudok for a slice of apple pie. Dudok is located in Rotterdam and is famous for the best apple pie in NL. I’m not an apple pie fan but I ate a slice with a cup of green tea. Afterward we went for our favorite Chinese restaurant for Dim Sum Menu.

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Rotterdam is one of the world’s largest ports, located on the Nieuwe Maas, 30km or 19 miles from the North Sea. The city was almost completely destroyed during the Second World War. Rotterdam has been entirely rebuilt and has a great deal of important modern architecture.

The Erasmus Bridge (Erasmusbrug) was completed in 1996. It links the old and and new center of Rotterdam. The bridge also has a nickname of the Swan bridge and that’s how I tend to refer to it.

It’s quite a view at night time. You be the judge. I took these photos on August 25, 2006 at 21:13 hour. It’s not quite dark yet.

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Last night I went shopping with my date at Bijenkorf Rotterdam for Biotherm moisturizer. Afterward we went out for Sushi and Sashimi. I told my date that I will pay for dinner if he will be a good sport and doesn’t complain too much about me taking too long to shop. Actually we were in and out in less than 20 minutes. The only thing I did after buying the moisturizer was browsing the undies and pantyhose section, checking for the latest trends.

This is the second Friday in a row that we ate sushi and sashimi. I didn’t know I like fish, especially raw fish until now.

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