Category: Travels

the places we’re going to, and the places where we’ve been

Wooden shoe-making in Netherlands

PhotoHunt 98: Wooden
These are some of the photos I took in Netherlands during our trip last October. These are in the countryside where life still rolls with the wooden shoes and windmills. The wooden shoe factories gained it’s reputation across the world and gathered display collection as far as Korea and Japan. One thing with wooden shoes is that they warm the feet when its cold and cool the feet down when its hot.

Netherlands shoe factory

A wooden shoe-maker showing us the traditional shoe making using the same tools as old as the use of clogs themselves.

wooden shoe maker

These are the finished products. Colorful and Imeldific shoes.

wooden shoes

One more. This is what the unpainted old shoes look like:

wooden shoes of the Netherlands

In India now

I am glad I finally heard from hubby and that they landed safe in Mumbai this morning. He has been traveling trans-atlantic since yesterday, and now I am peaceful. I know. He has been traveling a lot for so many years now. It is just good to know all is okay. Much okay because he will be gone for just three weeks. He is flying the Houston-Netherlands-India route.
USA-Netherlands-India flight

Juhu Beach Hotels

Mumbai hotels

This was the hotel we stayed in Mumbai in 2006. Situated on Juhu beach, this was taken one afternoon along the shore where thousands of Indian passed their time. A silhouette of the hotel gave obscure view of the building painting.

Juhu beach, an indispensable part of the city of Mumbai, is one of the largest and frequently visited beaches in India on the shores of the Arabian Sea. Not exactly an ideal place for a quiet swim and a sunbath, the beach has a charm of its own, attracting legions of Mumbaikars every day.

juhu beach view from the hotel

How to get there:
Juhu is 20-25km north of the city centre; by air, it is not far from Mumbai airport, and which is also well connected by rail and roads, 15 Kms From Dadar Bus Stand.

For accomodations along the Juhu Beach, check here.

Castle-restaurant in Amsterdam

Amsterdam castle

It was our night out in the heart of Amsterdam. This is De Waag, an old castle long since converted to a restaurant. De Waag, or old weighing station, was originally a gate in a castle built in 1488, but became a weighing house in 1614. It’s now a restaurant where you can get a fine pastry or coffee in the morning or a dinner at night. Dinner late at night is especially seductive because the place is lit by hundreds of candles in chandeliers.

“De WAAG” (formerly called “Sint Anthoniespoort”). Dutch WAAG = English “Weight”.
It was build in 1488, and it is located on “De Nieuwemarkt”. The building is remarkedly well preserved. Here in ancient times the products from the VOC-ships (nutmeg,cotton,pepper and the like), were supplied, weighted out by poorly verificated measures and sold by auction to merchants and the public. The building looks somewhat like a mediaeval castle and (see the Weeping Tower above) it was part of the Old City Wall. It was the Oldest Place of Communication in Amsterdam and to day it is still a marketplace.The Waag functioned as a city-gate. Rembrand van Rijn frequently visited this building and it is in this building that he painted “The anatomical lesson of Dr. Tulp” (1632). To day inside “De Waag” a good restaurant flourishes. Behind “De Waag”, on a distance of about 200 meters, and alongside the water, the Weeping tower was build.

Going back to the USA

It would be a very long and exhausting days of traveling. But I am happy at least I am going back to hubby, though sad for leaving my family. My flight from Davao to Manila was good except that it was so early relative to my next flight to Guam. But it was okay to have layover for eight hours for I saved some with that and just spend some time in the airport. The advantage of being a Green Card holder is that a Filipino does not have to pay over a thousand peso travel tax, for if otherwise, I would have to change some currency to pay. I was so glad I was free. I was anxious a bit with security, because you see, I was bringing food items with me, boiled eggs, sandwich and spaghetti, that my sister and mother send with me so I could munch while waiting for departure. I was hailed and set aside for special inspection once in the three security level in Ninoy Aquino International airport in Manila. They have to tighten more, maybe because just recently an advisory was flagged against Philippine airlines’ safety. The food saved me though, but they were plenty that I still have them back to our house in the USA. Hubby checked me in through the internet and the elite airline access really helped me because of the baggage I was carrying.

Philippines to USA

Hafa Adai! Glad we made it safe to Guam. I enjoyed the experience when I went down to a wrong place, I was the first to go through immgration inspection and so I went out first. When I made it back, I was glad that security tolerated what I brought with me. Of course they were okay. It was a good trip, we just stopped there for few hours until Hawaii.

Aloha! The time we landed Hawii we have to pick our baggages up and check it through again with security and immigration. I will not lie, I had to declare what I was bringing with me so I was put into agricultural check. The thing with bringing my baggages was that, their heavier than me. It is really nice to have good people who care to assist. I made it through okay. Food is alright as long as there are no fresh meat, fruits, and other products. I was saved the eggs I carried in my bag were cooked.

Welcome to Houston. That time it felt so long a flight, and it really was, and I was hurrying up to catch an earlier flight to Alexandria, Louisiana. I did not make it in the 20 minute layover so I have to wait my own scheduled departure which was eight hours away! That was killing me! I was so sleepy during the time, poor me, I was so tired. Thank God my flight to Alexandria was on-time. I am back to the USA!

Singapore overnight

Of the fourteen hour layover, got online for a while, but I had not dozed off good, so I was exhausted, and again, can’t sleep in the plane, but I could and did bear it. Did not mind them all as long as I arrive home from what seemed to be a very very long flight from Singapore to Cebu. What an experience. Singaporean airport guards inspected our passports and boarding passes around three in the morning, and for the second time during the layover, someone said “Pinoy”, guessing we are Filipinos. Sikat talaga ang mga Pinoy, hehe. I met there two Indonesian women, one being so talkative, the other so peacefully sleeping on the chair, and some Filipinos. These are the photos we took around the airport. Just sharing our snapshots.

Singapore photos
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