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29/02/2012

Amsterdam Window Reflections


Last year I found myself on a gruelling 5 day academic travel trip to Sweden which included only 3 nights in Sweden and two nights spent on aeroplanes. It takes about 22 hours to fly from Penang to Scandinavia. Aaaaack. I also had a couple of hours to kill at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam and decided to make a mad dash out of the airport and into the city. I simply love Europe and want to throw a hissy fit every time we explore working opportunities further East, further away from Europe but as a friend mentioned, we are merely working our way right around the world and the time will come where further East will bring me closer to Europe albeit approaching it from a different side as intended.

To all the great Dutch hookers, knitters, crafters and bloggers out there, you are lucky, very lucky to be living in such a nice country. Jullie zijn gelukkige mensen!



My family left the Netherlands about 110 years ago and it was great to finally explore my roots, I felt so at ease in Amsterdam, understanding Dutch provided a lovely experience, recognising so many of our family's facial expressions and body language among the Dutch actually gave me an immense sense of belonging. Exploring the city early morning when the shops were still closed meant I enjoyed a great breakfast, checked out the windows and cruised the canals - which was probably a good thing for the wallet or else I would have been tempted to empty out the shops, stocking up on all sorts of nice to haves . . . Mind you, I took the opportunity in Sweden to fill the suitcase with new pieces for my wardrobe. Penang offers a poor selection of clothes, shoes, bags and accessories for the fashion forward. Cutting edge, on trend, vintage, modern classic or even refreshing cottony wearables suited to tropical island living - none of those are available here. Penang fashion is downright 'meh'. 

 


6 comments:

  1. nice pictures!!
    ♥XO♥Martina

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  2. it was an amazing morning - clear blue skies and sunshine until about 11 - spring time! android phone pics ;-)

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  3. The picture with dolls in the window: was that a 'vintage' shop? The doll on the left looks like one I used to have as a girl, made in Canada, which I recently discovered worthy of being displayed in a local museum! Intriguing to find the same (well, not THE same, but same looking doll) in your photograph of an Amsterdam shop window. I am now wondering whether my family got that doll from Holland or in Australia...

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  4. Wow I wish I had an answer for you but I have no idea. I literally ran through the city for a couple of hours on my way to Sweden and this was about 7 in the morning when the shops were still closed. The shop was near the huge central train station - I guess about within 500m from it. Here is a bigger photo of the dolls http://amsterdamlomo.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-06-26T11:21:00%2B08:00&max-results=500&start=10&by-date=false and the blog is this one http://amsterdamlomo.blogspot.com/ Perhaps it did come from Amsterdam! The shop was packed with dolls, that is all I remember from taking a peep.

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    1. Oops, on the first link it is the photo right at the end of the blog

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  5. Hoi Magda !
    Ek het jou blogpost oor Amsterdam gevind ! Die fotos lyk baie op my fotos - dis amusant te sien dat mense soms dieselfde idee kryg, sonder dit te besef van mekaar !
    Die foto met die sonneblommetjies is pragtig !!
    soentjie & 'n drukkie, Ingrid

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