photo's Amstelveen

Amstelveen

To-day we cycled to amstelveen. I had to take my camera in to be checked because it is playing up after my Australian trip.
The lens and camera will cost +/- 300 euro''s to fix.
We had a great cycle and I managed to take a couple of photo's (the camera jams after every 2 or 3 shots...)
We had a nice lunch in Amstelveen and stopped at a playground on tyhe way back.
Once at home all 4 of us took a swim in the pool. EVERY easy going day.

Photo's on the way...

Lunch @ Danielle

Photo's from yesterday.
They are not as Great as I would like. But my camera is playing up on me.... sorry guys.

Tagged

Hmmmm I was try to get out of these things..... But because Danielle is soooooo COOL I will do it.
So Daan this is for you;-)

1. Have you ever been searched by the cops?
;-) yes but he wasn't on duty.

2. Do you close your eyes on a roller coaster?
NO way too much FUN

3. When's the last time you've been sledding?
January 2006 in Austria, with Riley and Caden

4. Would you rather sleep with someone else, or alone?
With JOS !

5. Do you believe in ghosts?
Yes and spirits

6. Do you consider yourself creative?
Never did but I guess I am

7.You think O.J. killed his wife?
Oh yes !

8. Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie? (silly, I know ... but very "now")
I'm HUGE friends fan so I have to go with Jennifer (plus Angelina knew Brad was married....)

9. Can you honestly say you know ANYTHING about politics?
Enough to get by

10. Do you know how to play poker?
No and don't want to know either;-) I've seen that dude on the HC ad. Really don't want to look like that.

11. Have you ever been awake for 48 hours straight?
YES who needs drugs no sleep is a buzzz really not the best feeling i LOVE my Sleep I NEED my sleep ( could someone PLEASE explain this to my boys????)

What's your favorite commercial?
HP out the picture into the frame and the sony one with all those AMAZING coloured BALLs

13. Who was your first love?
Ross my high school sweetheart in South Africa.

14. If you're driving in the middle of the night, and no one is around you, do you run a red light?Depends on which country I am in ;-))

15. Do you have a secret that no one knows but you?
No I SUCK at keeping secrets

16. Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees?
NY Yankees cause I love New York

17. Have you ever been Ice Skating?
I used to work in a skating ring in South Africa and I used to play Ice hockey.

18. How often do you remember your dreams?
Too often, my dreams can be really freaky and sometimes scary.

19. What's the one thing on your mind?
The perfect picture. Work and Scrapping

20. Do you always wear your seat belt?
Always, no exception.

21. What talent do you wish you had?
A good singing voice

22. Do you like Sushi?
LOVE sushi

23. What do you wear to bed?
Nothing

24. Do you truly hate anyone?
Wow Hate is a STrong word can't say I Hate anyone. There are some people I really do NOT like had some neighbours that almost had me in the HATING bit but luckly they are now gone and life is good again.

25. If you could sleep with one famous person, who would it be?
this is hard. I guess it would be george clooney or Robbie Willams

26. Do you know anyone in jail?
No.

27. What food do you find disgusting?
Sour Kraut

28. Have you ever made fun of your friends behind their back?
Naaw always in front of their faces that way they also get to have a laugh.

29. Have you ever been punched in the face?
Yeah by Jos but I guess it doesn't count cas he was asleep and got the fright of his life when I yelled. He turned over in his sleep and his hand landed hard on my nose ;-(

30. Do you believe in angels and demons?
Yes absolutely.

Well that way painless I guess ;-)

I will tag Ineke and anyone else who feel the urge t0o share.

Daan thanks for a cool afternoon, i will post the photo's I took later,. Need to have my camera checked it's playing up on me.....

Last day of School First day of Holidays

Yesterday was the last day of school for Riley.
I cleaned some of the class toys for the school and after school Nancy, Asiha and Pawan came over to play. The Kids had a Blast in the POOL. Sven was also here but Caden was with Oma and Opa at the beach. The Kassies stayed and we had Hot Chips and other snacks for dinner. Good Start to the holidays for Riles.
This morning is easy going.... Caden has gone back to bed and Riles is playing on his "new" computer. Jos called this morning to tell me his car broke down.... We were just discussing it last noght trying to decide what to do car wise... guess it make the decision easier...

HERE are some PHOTOS of yesterday and this morning

CRAZY week and now Holidays

Well what a crazy week I've had. The weekend was cool, saturday we went car hunting... and sunday was RELAX day outside in the pool, braai in the garden general chill. BUT in the back of my mind was the up coming training and what needed to be done.
So monday till yesterday were 3 days of HARD work and long hours but that is now DONE.
Tuesday was my nephew's birthday Roan. He is now 6 years old! I haven't seen him in almost a year. Again I tried to call but no answer left a message usaual but also no reaction. Oh well!
SO Roan Happy Birthday hope you had a good day.

I am now on HOLIDAY 3 weeks of no HAVE TOOOOOOO YEAHHHHH

here are some pictures of the weekend MY SURFER BOYZZZZZ.

Lunch out

Today was so nice out that I decided to pick up Riley for his lunch break with the bike, Only problem with that is the distance. I would never have made it from school to the house, have lunch and then get back. So I took lunch with. We found a nice spot under some trees behind the city hall in Uithoorn. After lunch the boys started running around. Riley had a game where he does ienie minie mynie moe but then in Dutch ienie mienie mutte .....de baas and the baas (boss) is allowed to run.
I happend to look at the ground and saw the dog poep....ewwwwh and of course Riley had stood in it... so I had to try and clean his shoes.
Took him back to school and then took Caden home, he fell asleep on the bike poor thing. I put him into bed for a bit and then woke him up just before we had to pick up Riley.
Took some cool photo's of a very cute little girl named Silver she is stunning.

project finished

YEAH, I have managed to finish a project. Love that I could combined digital scrapping with traditional scrapping.
I first made 22 digital layouts then had them printed twice, and to-day I made two books. One for each of Riley's teachers. I used the new basic grey magnetic snap to close the book. I am happy with the results. Only really silly but I didn't take photo's of the second book. Here are some of the first one I finished for Juf Bernadette.

Home

I have been home now since tuesday, so that is cool. Starting to get over my jet lag.
Wednesday I went with the boys to pick up our kittens.
They are very cute and are starting to warm up to the boys nicely.
Saturday we had a braai. It was great fun all the kids in the swimming pool. Got to catch up with Astrid and Sas. I didn't take any pictures can you believe that???

Here is a photo of the boys and the kittens
Blacky is Riley's and Tiger is Caden's.

\STUCK

Well I'm at the airport and the plane is "delayed" it is only going to leave tomorrow morning at 13.30 \(that's not delayed that is cancelled)
I am now waiting to see if I can go with other flight and otherwise I stay here in a hotel...... So not what I had in mind...
Well that wasmy quick update from the airport lounge.

Moments in Sydney

BYO..... Yip that what you can do at the restuarants here. Instead of buying wine in the restuarant you bring you own! What a good idea. More people go out because it is affordable and you can really drink the wine you like.
I walk through the streets of Sydney to-day watching the people, seeing the sights, Had a great time just walking.
Tomorrow I leave, I have to be at the airport at 12.00 so I can't really do much before hand. I want to try and sleep in if at all possible cos I am pretty tired and I have a 24 hour flight ahead of me. First to Kuala Lumpur then to Amsterdam.
So guys 2 more sleepies.

Here are some photo's from my day in Sydney.
Plus a photo of Thijs and Sieglinda from last night
Street music, markets, opera house, bridge, park, parade, people (ENJOY I did)

Day in Sydney

Well today I spent the day walking around the shops with Sieglinde. We started at Paddy's market where we bought some t-shirts for the boys and necklaces for ourselves. She also needed to get some fresh fruit and veggies. What a fantastic market everything looks so yummy. The atmosphere is also really great.
After that we came to the hotel to drop off some stuff and carried on walking, we looked in all sports stores for a scoccer outfit Riley and Caden but had no luck. Did manage to buy a shirt for Jos.
Also bought a good suitcase that has (15 year garantee) so that should last abit longer then what the others have done so far. We meet up with Marthijs for dinner at a tappas restuarant. The food was REALLY good. We talk about all sorts. I am happy I got to spend the day with them, it was really good to get to know them a better and to let them in to our lives more so they also know me and us better. I stopped at woolworths on my way back to the hotel surprised they were still open at 21.00 but it seems they only close at midnight every night...... Easy going. Just spoke to Jos and Riley using the web cam so that was good. I will post more photo's just now

Last day of training

Well today was the last day of training. I was nervous before the training for the first time in the trainings cycle. Maybe because I wasn't able to set up the computer until this morning that always makes me a bit uneasy. The training went really well it was the fast group I've had in this cycle. Maybe they understand my english better then the rest did....
Also almost no issues with the laptops so that was good.
The people were really nice and very friendly, also offering to help if anything happend on the weekend and we needed assistance. The office cool (forgot to take pictures which is too bad) Afterwards there was a end of month drink so we got to meet more of the people there. Walked back to the hotel and I can now chill.
I have called room service, so my dinner should be here soon. I am going to eat and then go to bed I am finished. Tomorrow is a new day and I plan to walk around the city. So stay tuned tomorrow I should have some cool new photos.

Japan and Australia

Well I arrived in Australia this morning and it was COLD 7 degrees....
I was happy to leave Japan. The training went well and the evaluations were good but it is just not my country. You would think it's organised but it's not.
They have more starbucks places then in New York. A vending machine on every street corner. A smoking section on the streets wher you can sit/stand and smoke..... Very funky toilets.
We took the bus to the airport that was a lot cheaper then a taxi (wish I knew that on the way there) Got to the airport early so that Erwin could see if it was possible to still get a first class ticket but it was FULL. I finaly managed to find postcard so I bought 3 and quickly wrote them to my guys....
The flight to Australia was okay, we left on time and arrived on time but I was unable to sleep even though I had a chair that could lay flat.... VERY COOL, I watched 3 movies and waited to land.
Got to the hotel checked in (had to wait for my room) once the room was sorted we walked over to the Aus Star office where I will be giving the training tomorrow. We could not set up because there was a meeting going on, so we could come back at 17 or come in early in the morning, they said that it would proberly be beter to come early and that it was not a good idea to leave the laptops in the board room over night. So we walked to toward Darling Harbour (close to our hotel) On the way we came across some amazing birds HUGE. In the parking lot.... UNREAL soooooo COOOOOOOL. We had some lunch outside in the sun I think it is now about 20 degrees with the sun out (it's winter time here) This place really reminds me of RSA I love it here already and I have only been here a couple of hours. Jos I think you should see what shell has in Australia and I will find out if Hyperion here needs trainers;-)))
I can't take the smile off my face it is sooooooo cool here. Erwin is really lucky cos his girlfriend arrives tonight and then after the training they are here for another 2 weeks holiday.

IMPORTANT NEWS: Jossie's Birthday today..... Happy Birthday Honey I love you loads and miss you loads really wish you could be here with me now!!!!

Photo's day 3

Day 3 Japan

Well I went with Erwin to the J:Com office to day to set up the laptops. We first had to figure out where we needed to be once the cab driver kicked us out of his cab and pointed said AIH took his money and left, we first thought he had enough of us and just kicked us out anywhere but turn out his finger was just pointing in the wrong direction.

The laptops had arrived safely and had been given the code name the ROCK by the assistant Abe-san. I saw why it was HUGE. In the "rock" were all the needed computers, pens, bloknotes and workbooks. Missing was YIP the adaptors.. So off we went to find some adaptors not a easy job when everything is in Japanese and people don't understand much English...
Managed to find 10 (need 15) oh well beter then nothing will have to make it work.

Braved the subway system again (cheaper the taxi's but give no receipt so that will be fun when try to reclaim the cash back from work)

Managed to get a bit lost... but had the good sense to ask someone which way we should go and then managed to find our way back to the hotel. Saw some funny things along the way it's a very different culture.

There are more restuarants the clothing stores in the city, they have vending machines with cooldrinks and cigarettes at every street corner, you can only smoke outside in assigned smokig area's so funny. When you have dinner you have to order everything you want to eat and drink from the start cause while ou are still eating they bring you the check.
Fashion here is also different to say the least.

Tomorrow I have a day of training, they have a staff meeting first so we can only start at 10.30 am, plus they have to have an hour lunch and to work after 18 could be a problem. Can you beleive it. All the way from Holland to give a training and they plan a staff meet that can't be changed on the day of the training.... I am shocked.

Unable to load photos will try and add photos tomorrow. Have a great day all

Bummer

Just got up had a shower and went to see how Holland did. I don't real care too much about football but this was important to loads of people so I care.

First checked my mail cos Jos would let me know the score, nothing (not a good sign)

I was right they lost what a BUMMER! Sorry guys.

Day 2 of Japan

Well I was woken up by some banging going on in the hall way..... The cleaners "hint" that I should get up and out so that they could do my room I guess..
So I got up, checked mail to see who read my blog ;-) (happy Elma sent me a mail and Danielle left a comment...)
Dressed and went to the gym. Ran for 21 minutes without stopping on the treadmill!!!! New record for me.... then walked for 2 minutes and ran the last 7 so I was totally happy with myself.

After having a shower and getting dressed I went down to see if Erwin (UPC trainer) had arrived yet. No not yet. OKAY then off I go. Asked the lady at reception what the best way to walk would be to get to Electric City (yip they have a whole section of the town dedicated to things like computers, tv's etc... She laughed and said it would be better to take the metro....
Hmmmmm okay which one? G line. That sound doable. So off to the metro station just outside the hotel!

The walk to G line metro was 300 meters underground, I have never seen such a CLEAN subway before in my life. No graffitti, no rubish even though there was also no rubish bins in sight. Then buy a ticket. Now there is a challenge. It's all in Japanese. YIP ahhhhhhh wait I see a machine and it has a button that says ENGLISH, I'm saved.
Now which ticket to take? I have NO IDEA, so to play it safe I buy a one day ticket.
In the metro (CLEAN) I take a seat the next station it on a board so you can see exactly where you will stop next very cool.

Out of the subway I walk towards the electric city. Loads of shops with camera's and computer and tv's. I went into one shop that was 7 floors up and 2 floors down, 9 floors of GAMES I have never seen so many computer games in my life. They also had the dolls that go with the games unreal.
Next shop was a computer shop. There I bought a web cam so now I can see Jos, Riley and Caden when I call and they can see me. Very cool. I also bought a iPod, it was 80 euro's cheaper then in holland and I couldn't resist. Jos will not be impressed (sorry honey, I love you but I need the music for my running).
Walking back towards the metro I took some time to look at the people. They are strange, there are halls that have only grabbing machines you know the types that you find at a fair where you can drop some money in and then direct a arm to grab a toy and hope that you get it but mainly it misses. Not one but hundereds and they are all try to get something out of them.

I was back at the hotel at 14.00, Erwin had arrived so we had something to drink together and at 16.00 I went up for a reflexology and facial.

At 18.00 went out for a walk around the hotel, the houses here that are stuffed inbetween all the HUGE buildings are small, the streets are grey. It's not my kind of place. I don't know where the problem is. New York is also a big City, with dirty streets etc but I loved New York, Tokyo I don't like to much yet. Maybe it's because I was in New York with Jos.
Well I have 3 more days in Tokyo maybe I will find some stuff that I do think is cool. I'll keep you posted.

Tomorrow I go to the UPC office here to set up the computers and then the afternoon I can walk around some more.

Good Night.

How cool is my JOB

How cool is my Job????
I get to fly to Japan and Australia to teach.
(okay let's forget about the weekends of work that had to be done to be abe to get here..:-) )

After a long flight I arrived in Japan. We had a 2 hour delay because they had o fix an engine!!!!
I was glad to be riding business class....that was really cool!!!! A chair that folds down so low it's almost a BED. Fresh orange juice, peanut in a real bowl! movies when you want!!! yip very easy going... tried to look like this was very normal for me ;-)

Arrived in Japan at 11.20 went to get a bus to the hotel but it was only due at 12.30 so I decided to take a taxi instead. Hmmmmm that was not the best idea price wise 176 euro's later I was at my hotel. After checking in I had a nap in my very cool room!!!!


Afterwards I took a walk around the hotel area. One big city so far I'm not impressed! All High skyrises not very pretty. Tomorrow I will take a longer walk around to see how the rest looks, I got a map at the reception and see that there is a park close by so I will go there tomorrow to have a look. Hope I can find my way cos most of the signs I cannot read......

I spoke to Jos and the boys using Skype cos my cell doesn't work here. Skype worked VERY well and Jos got the web cam from Sandra and Richard, so I could also see them that was really the BEST. Tomorrow I will see if I can get a web cam for my notebook so they can see me too. MISS and love my men loads.

I am going to bed it is 23.55 here and I am really tired!
Good night everyone.