A Kindred Surprise

Giiiirls

 The cold wind swept through my hair as we rushed along the quiet roads. On the back of T’s scooter, I hung on to his notorious beige leather jacket as we rode a

C, L and I

long the arching robot-like bridges. It was just over a year ago when I was in the same position with T and the gang in Laos and even longer with J and the girls, but with a bit of effort and some productive Facebook time, I’d made it to a very different part of the world and T's home country, The Netherlands. Bittersweet is the only adjective I can think of how to describe the ending. You can't be too down when your soul's so lifted. I looked next to me at the faces that I’d spent the last few beautiful days with… a chirpy Aussie, a feisty Swiss Latino, a sexy Spaniard, a cool German, a fist pumping Welshman, a gorgeous Canadian, a lovely Dutchman and a flower girl, what a mix! It was as though someone had brushed everyone over with a layer of serenity. Expressions were soft, movements were slow and the odd giggle would always peep out of someone every few minutes, the rest of the group either laughing or moaning together in response. It was the day after the deep house festival DGTL (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXgwjSfaNSk) and instead of sulking in bed with the curtains closed; we took advantage of the sunny skies, though it took a while to actually reach that conclusion. I’m sure everyone knows how long big groups can take to get their act together, especially when no one’s too eager to move… So a few of us assigned everyone roles to get things going, we'd decided ours should involve the least amount of movement - that idea didn’t pass and we compromised by all agreeing to get up, treat ourselves to brunch and coffee (after all the hardship we’d gone through) and have a lie in the park. 20 minutes turned into an hour or two, I don’t know how exactly us girls always seem to take so long. In the fibonacci spiral, the golden ratio can either go the fastest root in a straight line (usually described as the masculine line) or the scenic route in a curved line (the feminine line) yet both end up in the same

The fibonacci spiral

place. This was definitely evident in our methods of getting ready, the boys would be at the door 5 minutes after talking about it and the girls would sit and suggest something on our to-do list... after another 15 minutes of all continuing with our minor routines we’d look up and discuss doing something about it… 15 minutes later, it would start getting done... a few hours later, we all ended up at the door, some just a little more agitated than others... With all the piles of girly clothes, make-up and rolling material that trailed around us, we can’t say we didn’t leave our mark J

Morning snuggles

So we found our breakfast spot and happily sat down outside on that sunny morning of 4/20 in Amsterdam. With our tummy’s grumbling we sipped on OJ and coffee, holding in the moans as 2pm struck, the thought of breakfast seeming so distant and each second feeling like hours. All of our desperate heads turned as the waitress finally walked through the door with plates of English breakfast, burgers and mozzarella sticks mmm, I think that was one of the few moments of silence during the holiday as everyone zoned into the bliss of long-awaited deliciousness. Before splitting the bill, B (an old welsh travelling mate from Asia) joined me in an all too familiar ATM hunt that lead us 20 minutes away through the city to the ‘nearest cash-machine’, on return we were told with a grumpy look that there was a closer and easier option 5 minutes away, haha! 

‘Regression Sessions’ is a great night in London that takes you back to your childhood with ball pits, bouncy castles and altered mind states. The day at the park felt exactly the same, lining up for ice cream, sipping on soft drinks and appreciating each other’s company. The sun danced in front of our eyes and shone through the gaps in the spring leaves that cast funky shadows onto our toes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fmKGQ-1we0

Wine night

The day before had been quite the opposite vibe. We’d woken up fairly late after a group breakfast and a pre-festival preparation sesh, made our way on/ off various modes of transport to get to T’s, hurriedly caught up with D and our fellow festival goers and began the day of madness. How great is it when a negative weather forecast is wrong?! ‘Cloudy skies’ were nowhere to be seen as we all got sunglasses out, slipped past security and the wagon-wheel like tables/ chairs and over to the booming stages where Soul Clap, Ben Pearce and Skream were just a few of the names playing (not that we knew who anyone actually was). Flowers, glitter and red lipstick were out so we dropped with desperados and spent the rest of the festival between the fire-hut and the various stages, dancing, laughing and having odd cuddles and deep and meaningfulls with strangers. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXgwjSfaNSk) It struck 11pm and the festival timer dinged so we went from semi-naked to fully clothed as the winter winds blew through the flat plains. We were herded like cows through the industrial-looking grounds, past the coffee shop and up to the beautiful apartment that overlooked a canal with about 15 people on toe. Day festivals are great because you can actually get to sleep at a reasonable hour, so curled up in sleepy snuggles, music and flower fumes, we slowly sunk into slumber, C, T and I spooning each other over the one pillow that we happily shared.

Hot tubs

But that was all before the journey! Getting to Amsterdam had been a struggle and a half. The complaints were kept to a minimal as we worked through the re-occurring obstacles… A morning of cleaning up from the party the night before took longer than expected, as did breakfast/lunch that got pushed back to about 3pm. Our ideal plan was to leave at 6pm so we get to the station only to realise that the train tickets needed to be printed off at home so J and J won the ‘most productive couple of the day’ award in sorting that out, having to de-tour as the internet wasn’t working etc. etc. etc. Loooord almighty.

B!

Meanwhile… the rest of us sat quite happily in the sun surrounded by flowers outside of Groningen station, looking fairly hobo-esque but keeping it casj with a few tunes on the computer and hot drinks from Starbucks. It took us about an hour of huddling up against the wind and watching the sun slowly disappear as we covered ourselves with super thin hippie cloths until someone suggested that to stay out of the cold, we could actually sit inside Starbucks, so for the last 10 minutes we regained a bit of the lost warmth until the others returned. Hours later we were on the train, trekking through Amsterdam with our big backpacks, bags of blankets and festival gear. A coffee shop was our second-last/ essential destination… ahh we made it! We then realised there were 3 ‘dampkring’s’ in the city and our friend ‘A’ who was collecting us, was at a very different one in a very different location… just our luck. We lay on the street outside the coffee shop at 11pm, the flash of C’s polaroid lighting up the scene for a brief moment to capture the excitement in our faces as ‘A’ stayed true to his  Dutch roots and rolled around the corner on his bicycle. We all shared long hugs, feeling with slight confusion how manly 'A' was after a year out of high school.

Balcony sesh's

Festival spider

The green peace boat that had been
freed from Russia

With laughs of exhaustion and hysteria we lunged with the weight of our bags and stopped at the nearest, yummiest looking pizza place that was soon followed by a flowery SLUMBER PARTYY. Before falling asleep, the OG kush rode with the laughter wave that passed through the room and bounced off the walls, hitting us all multiple times until exhaustion was our only defence. I woke up in the living room of A’s new furniture-less house, groin to groin in the centre of the blow-up mattress that was concave in the centre, somehow touching the ground because of our weight and inflated on the periphery leaving us all lying at very awkward angles. M was curled up on the armchair with all his clothes on from the night before and J & J had slipped off the padded beanbag and onto the floor below… the laughter resonated in the room and healed the broken sleep.

DGTL

There’s something about catching up with friends after high school that’s never quite the same. Well, either it is or it isn’t. It’s so easy to get along with people you’re taking the same subject/ course as because conversation can revolve around it, but once that common denominator’s lost, you really feel who you’re able to re-connect with when conversations can go beyond small talk… The talk of this holiday went above and beyond small, on our first night in, after a cycle around the city and a few warming rays from the afternoon sun, J and I picked up C and got into our bikini’s, B (another friendly KL face) told us of her amazing project that she described as a ‘human library’, an event enabling people to talk face-to-face with individuals who’ve experienced prejudice, they get to tell their stories and the audience gets to soak it in.

The journey to Amsterdam

Multi-coloured vino flowed and we soaked into the bubble filled hot tub with fairy lights draped on the outskirts of the room until a very drunk C returned from his frat-party and joined in. Dancing, polaroid’s, naughty snap chats and old cheesy 90’s tunes were soon cranked up as we drifted off in the wee hours of the timeless morning.

Venturing out the following day, our coins stayed buried in the bottom of our wallets during a slightly failed festival-shop but did leave the shopping mall with something, speeding out of there as the next victim to enter the bathroom held an impressively composed expression… Coffee shop next for a civilised puff and a coffee. It’s always interesting watching the people that go into coffee shops, is this their break from work, a sesh with their friends or a date? It’s so nice that the paranoia and grungy atmosphere turns into a… Buddha bar of sorts… Losing track of time, yet again, dinner took a while to sort out, and just as the house-party guests began to trickle in (3 hours late), us girls were just sitting down to a dinner of black bean chicken and a glass of wine. The sex divide was evident as boys hovered around the beer pong table in the corner and we all tuned into the girly vibe, getting deep and dirty. Plates cleared and we commenced the mingling. Party chat went from questioning ones identity to the structure of our political system to whether one would rather be a tree or a cloud until my brain could take no more so boogie, love, desperados, down.

The group!

Polaroidss

I hope the lack of chronology emphasizes the timelessness of a holiday. I have 2 hours to go out of a 17-hour journey via buses, trains, scooters and ferries but it was only £50 return J. I will say, to anyone making the megabus journey to Amsterdam go in the day as the Euro tunnel is open and the journey’s a lot smoother. Somehow I made each bus about 5 minutes before departure, gained back my passport after misplacing it twice and re-kindled flames with my girls and a few new friends. I’ve just been turfed out of the best seat on the bus by a persistently rude man who I have no energy for, so instead I let down my guard, move back a seat and gaze over the lush English countryside on Easter Monday of 2014, thinking how beautiful life is and how sometimes it just takes a holiday to remember it again.

Airy Fairy I

Wanderer

Dancin with the fairies

It amazes me what an intense effect stress has on the brain, I watch my amazing housemate work through a full-time masters and a half-time job, buzzing along the mood spectrum from calm to hysteria, those of us with slightly less stress showing pretty similar symptoms (if living in a house of girls is a reliable reference point ;) ) … it makes the importance of finding something to calm you down whether it be meditating or monging out to TV so important. Without the balance we’d all end up in asylums or …slow-down camps. The point of the stress rant was what has just happened yet again, on the start of an Easter adventure to Holland to catch up with a few of my favourite girlfriends from high school.

Just about where my head's at

Tralalala

I woke up this morning with a foggy head that soon vanished after a long sesh of yoga, a scattered feat of packing and a run in the spring sunshine. Packing always takes so much longer than anticipated doesn’t it? Doing it the night before is what we’re been taught for so many years but for me, it still hasn’t sunk in.

So of course, I look at the time, hoping it’ll be 2pm (I actually learnt the psychological phrase for this the other day… ‘false hope syndrome’, ha) but of course it’s 3pm instead and as I sit leisurely blow drying my hair, the cortisol levels rapidly rise and I realise I have 30 minutes until the bus leaves and I still wasn’t ready... so trying to get my priorities in check, I put down the hairdryer...

It's never seemed more
appropriate that both our
names begin with J .. for
this holiday at least <3

Chuk mung nam moi B! See
you in Dam B <3

Fast-forward mode began, what a familiar feeling. A taxi it had to be. A gulp of coffee and a regrettable puff of a J and the taxi arrived. Bags in, door shut and finally, feeling somewhat reassured we were on our way, 5 minutes down the main road. Shit. Please don’t tell me I just put my phone down on the kitchen table. 20 minutes left. Arghhhhh. After a brief inner-battle as to how necessary a phone was compared to a new bus ticket to Holland, we turned around. Run in, grab phone, back in the taxi. We arrived at the megabus to London with 10 minutes to spare; I check in and sit down. Realising I’ve put my laptop under the bus … um a 3 hour bus ride isn’t going to entertain itself. Gawwwd. The bus driver mutters under his breath and lets me climb into the luggage compartment and start rummaging while he eyes me suspiciously. I manage to awkwardly pull out my laptop bag, lying on everyone else's bags in the process and rolling onto the pavement next to the driver who was tapping his foot and shaking his head, making sure the items in my hand had actually come out of my bag. There's not much trust left in the world is there... but then again, after just watching 'the pursuit of happiness' and seeing the peace and love looking hippie run away with Will Smiths scanning machine, I can understand the association :p. I sheepishly walked back onto the bus, straightening out my clothes to then receive a call from the taxi driver notifying me that I had left my only warm jacket in the taxi. Eeek. As a lovely gesture, he was going to come back to

From Laos to Amsterdam -
Seeing these travellers soooon

A long awaited reunion
with these 2 beauts <3

return it to me. So I get back out of the bus, repeating ‘thank you’ in my head every time a late-comer walked up to the bus driver with their reservation numbers. Oh my god pleeease hurry up!! I stood, biting my fingers nervously with a foggy head, my inner-clock getting louder and louder as the minutes ticked on. The taxi driver arrives, I breathe a sigh of relief, run to grab my jacket, thank him and then scramble onto the bus. The engine finally starts. Ahh J we’re about to leave. The engine stops… I could hear the bus driver storming back onto the bus. “Who’s lost a black wallet?”. I laughed in my head… how bad would that be. He comes up to the 2^ndfloor and what do I recognise in his hand but my.black.wallet containing my passport, bank cards, bus tickets and money.

So now I sit on the bus that’s finally moving, cringing behind my seat and feeling successful at having ticked every box on the ‘what not to do when you start travelling’ list. Let’s hope the rest of the holiday gets better from here… :p

17 hours later at a (real) coffee shop
... AMSTERDAM

Recipe of the day: Easter egg fairy cakes
http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/7083/easter-fairy-cakes.aspx

The last of the Amsterdamage

T. and I

Leiden

Woke up in yet another strange room, it was still dark so I dashed to the loo to try to get back to bed before my mind officially announced itself awake. I bumped into my mate in the hallway and sighed at the thought that the day had started and bedtime would have to wait a few more hours. The miserable rainy weather made it feel early but we were going on midday by the time all the breakfast was on the table. We made a huge fry up, recycling the one available frying pan to make eggs, baked beans, bacon, mushrooms and the rest of the essentials. We wrapped up tight with our rucksack for the day and set off. Dressing for winter is an effort and a half. First you deal with the pain of getting out of whatever warmth you have on you, pushing through the cold to get into the shower and then layering up, tights, jeans, vests, t-shirts, jumpers then coats, gloves, socks, thicker socks, boots - and then you stuff yourself through the door feeling slightly like a Michelin man yet losing all insecurities about what you look like when you can still feel the cold through a million layers. It's the very end of October and the temperature has already gone below 0 - I'm terrified to think about how much worse it will get. 

Crystals at a local market

Our day was action packed, on our way down to the beach we made friends with a  'fun guy that made the rest of the journey slightly more colourful and silly - luckily the clouds had drifted away leaving a pristine blue sky. We took full advantage of enjoying the moment, rolling down sand dunes and hiding from the wind in cave-like indentations in the sand. We bought crisps, grapes and pears from the supermarket to munch on later and then began our stroll towards the little town of Leiden - I experienced 'kibbling' on our way down the windy beach front -- fresh cod fried in batter eaten with mayo. It was the perfect warm snack, followed by apple pie and hot chocolate in the closest café we could find, we sat there enjoying the luxury of the warmth in total defeat from the cold. We considered the 1.5 hour walk home, but decided to clink a few more coins and get the bus instead. A quick bite of a pizza, a little dance to 'Clint Eastwood' by the Gorillaz and we were off to the bus stop. We made sure we'd have at least 10 minutes so as not to miss the bus, as it was the only one coming in our direction for 40 minutes. This bus was essential to catch as one of my mates A. had another bus to catch back to London from Amsterdam and we were already running short on time. We teared up a little waiting for the bus to come, I lay on our pile of bags looking at the two boys in front of me who I'd watched grow into men over the past 3.5 years - wondering when the next time I'd see them again would be. We all looked defeated, but soon saw the bus lights approaching on the dark empty road. Our hearts dropped when it drove straight passed us, tactically ignoring the three teenagers that stood waving their arms in the middle of the road. We panicked and fretted for about 5 minutes, sharing our annoyance towards the dick bus driver before getting practical and working out what to do. We ran to the closest bus station that was 10 minutes away, and managed to catch the bus that was late for its post - thank god we made it. 

By the canal

We all hugged goodbye, A. went off towards Amsterdam and I journeyed onwards to the Hague to see an old friend that was waiting for me as soon as I arrived.  The evening sweetened up as we bought some banana's from the supermarket, in preparation for one of my new favourite snacks, purely due to it's convenient preparation time - banana milkshakes! 2 banana's, a cup of milk, water or ice cream if you want, blended - done. We snuggled up in bed with our shakes, a buzz from a light spliff and breaking bad on full screen  I don't know whether it was the series itself or our mental states but there were some points of the series that were beyond ridiculous, leaving us in stitches. A bathtub full of a decomposing body falling through 2 stories because the acid used to dissolve the body dissolved through the tub and the floor - It's an entertaining series so far, I'll give it that. We fell into a 14 hour peaceful slumber - the next morning the clocks turned back, winter has officially set in, yelp!

Popeyes

The sun rose slowly and we had a lazy morning in bed watching more breaking bad, munching on scrambled eggs, and pondering what we'd do for the next few hours together. Our pro-active minds kicked in soon enough and we went off exploring the Hague on the back of my friends scooter -- free transportation still comes with a price though, as the speedometer rose, the harshness of the wind could be felt on our faces as our eyes streamed. We made our way to a beach about 10 minutes away, the wind picked up as we approached the sea but at least it was fresh air? We walked through the main shopping centre for shelter, popping into T's mums shop for a little hello and having a light coffee and a cigarette for a pause. We walked passed the buildings that were responsible for imprisoning war criminals and laying down the laws on dangerous chemicals etc. -- this country's got such a high moral standard that it made so much sense that it would be the place where crimes etc. were put in question. We returned home and T. left his bike unlocked and leaning against the wall outside his house - apparently it's safe enough to do so! Something I'm not used to at all. It makes me think how sad it is that one has to assume the worst  from people in order to take precautions. After a quick milkshake at home, I jumped on the train back to Centraal station in Amsterdam. That evening we walked to another coffee shop 'Abraxas', picking up a bag of hot chips and mayo on the way, and returning home later that night with a stick of candy floss  crisps and an apple pie - using 'I'm on holiday' to justify my unhealthy eating habits.

Street art

The days are trickling down and we're down to only 2. The next morning began with a spot of yoga, followed by another coffee shop 'Popeye'. We began with a huge breakfast, that was closely followed by a Shawarma, 2 bars of chocolate and lots of tea. I'm fascinated as to how my stomach is coping with all of this, but it'll get it's break soon. Popeye's was a laugh, one mate A. from London sat for the majority of the time squirming over the cute Scottish waitress who stood at the bar seductively licking cream off her fingers and flashing him cheeky smiles - we were entertained. I decided one thing I needed to do while in Dam was buy a winter essential, so I chose boots given that every shop we passed had about 50 pairs on offer and all for fairly reasonable prices compared to London. So I left the others and set off to choose a pair. I spent the next hour stumbling all over the shop floor, stressing out over varying prices - leather or no leather, fur or no fur, heel or no heel ah! The trip was not successful  so we went home, with the mental promise of completing the boots mission the following day. 

Street art:
"We eat the poor to feed the west"
- scary message

That evening we made a full on meal using whatever ingredients we had in our fridge, and a few others. Make-shift ratatouille was the result, with bread and salad. Followed by an chocolate and vanilla pudding! We ate our happy muffins about an hour before we started cooking, and by the time we'd finished, the giggles had kicked in. We'd set up our night, loaded Ice Age 3 on the laptop, made a delicious meal, and got into our PJ's - it was all timed perfectly for once. The idea of watching a movie is always better conceptually, as our non-stop laughing and short attention span that didn't outlive 5 minutes at a time, didn't help us understand what we were watching at all - and failed to distract us from the white/ milk chocolate ginger biscuits, apparently they're a Dutch speciality, and I see why. After we'd ploughed through a huge meal that should have left us with leftovers for at least lunch and dinner, and the vanilla and chocolate pudding AND the bag of white/ milk chocolate ginger biscuits - we were literally left immobile, struggling not to laugh as our stomachs dealt with the immense amount of food that needed to be digested, yet somehow the drive for more more more beat the pain and we finished the entire bag. Eugh.

Street performer

Self explanatory?

I waved goodbye to Amsterdam as we made our way to Eindhoven the next day, I managed to buy boots in the morning which felt like an accomplishment in itself- munching on rye bread and brie (my staples for the week) we packed everything up and left the apartment. Returning to L's home with a warm home-cooked meal awaiting us, made us smile and appreciate the little things. The next morning was a struggle, getting out of bed and beginning the stressful journey to the airport. I stood in line as everyone was checking in, watching countless people in front of me being turned away as they were too late for their flight. I find that no matter how much time you give yourself, travelling is always a stressful process. On my way to the departures gate I found myself in an 'all day breakfast' restaurant that proved as quite a distraction. But I finally made it on to the plane with no extra costs and I zoned out to my tunes with a cup of English Breakfast tea - So what have I taken with me from Amsterdam? It's beautiful canals, flat grounds and beaches. The proof of a successfully functioning city that has legalized and controlled weed consumption, and a beautiful variety of Art, from the graffiti on the walls, to the street performers, to the huge museums and galleries that are scattered all over the city. Dutch food is one thing I don't particularly warm to however, processed meats and cheeses, lots of bread with a weird variety of spreads, and fairly bland accompaniments..  But that's was a minor flaw. Right now I lie in bed on an overcast Saturday morning, snuggled up with a comfy duvet, wearing my old school hoodie with a cuppa, back 'home' in London town.

Centraal station, infront of a big old crowd ♩ ♫

Recipe of the day: Ratatouille

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2903/ratatouille