Oranje Homecoming!

The national Dutch football team came home today. And there was a HUUUUUGE homecoming welcome for them! Since there was going to be a celebration in Museumplein (again!), the authorities didn't want people jamming up the streets to get there.

So what did they do?

They held a boat ride through the Amsterdam canals for the National team, so that we could jam up ALL the streets in town instead to get a glimpse of them! HAHAHA.

It was a super AMAZING vibe to be out in the streets. We were fortunate that our office is along one of the canals they passed through, so all we did was step outside and we were right in the action.

2 hours before the canal parade, people were already starting to reserve spots on the canal banks.


Cops on horseback were also making their way into the canal centre.


Lots of silly orange gear in town today!



2 hours later, just before the parade was due to start, it filled up some more.


Our office got into the vibe too, decorating the windows with banners!




We got the speakers out and were playing typical Dutch (cheezy) music. Er... We blew the speakers within the first 10 minutes! I managed to shoot some video while the sound was still going.


I love this shot! Just says it all.


People-watching while waiting for the parade to come our way...







An accordian band!


People were in their boats but they weren't allowed down the canals. So they just chilled in them while parked on the side.


Check out this bewildered duck couple in the middle of the chaos!


PAAAAAAAAAAAAARP!


We were fortunate to be standing next to these goons, prepping to MOON!! (I reckon we might just make it in tomorrow's papers, on the edge of the frame where their butts are!)





Every once in a while, a loud cheer would come up through the crowds, and everyone would think the parade had come our way. Turns out people were taking turns jumping into the filthy canal!


The crowd was getting bored, so people attempted to start a human-wave. It didn't get too far, about 50 metres and then it would stop. Then people on the other side of the canal started a Dutch cheer, jeering us on the other side. Here's a workmate explaining that they were goading us for being too quiet:


Then there was some commotion up ahead of the canal and about 4 or 5 helicopters circling closer to us... Ooh, the anticipation! Turns out they were police/ coast guard boats, just making sure the coast was clear for the VIPs.


(These rockstar coastguards were having a ball, making spins in the canal, splashing everyone on the canal banks. Then they spotted the mooning-goons and were cracking up, taking out their cameras and taking pictures of them! Dudes... THE COPS WERE TAKING PHOTOS OF THE MOONERS!! Can you believe it?!) (Sorry, I come from Singapore where they would've been arrested!)

More coastguard boats (with more cops with cameras, snapping away at the naked-bum-boys)...




The Dutch National team finally appears! (I like how they're on a touristy canal boat that says "Lovers". HAHAHA!) They were also cracking up at the naked-bum-boys.


They were followed closely by another HUGE boat of... PAPARAZZI!

(For a few seconds, all their cameras were turned our way when they too spotted the naked-bum-boys. HAHA!)

And then a whole convoy of boats followed in hot pursuit...







And a convoy down the streets too...


And then guess who pops up down the canals? The Soccer WAGS! (That's "Wives And Girlfriends") I only knew coz some of them are "famous" and some people around me recognized them.



Interviews in the streets...


It was middle of the afternoon on a work day, but some of us played truant and decided to jump into a workmate's boat and go cruising.







Then we came across another barricade. But our boat was small enough to squeeze through!



And then we came into a massive traffic jam on the canal. Mind you, we were on a TINY boat and at certain points, we had to reach our arms out and push the other big boats out of our way (it was either that or capsize!)








(Orange sofas on a boat?! HAHAHA!)

And then we came across the rockstar coastguards - the first ones down the canal who were spinning around and splashing everyone!


And that pretty much wraps up my super long post with... 98 photos and 3 videos in total. So what if Holland didn't win? They sure know how to keep the party going! (I ended up working late today coz of the afternoon break. But WHO CARES?!)

Art Wank, Noordemarkt, Twilight & Pre-Finals

This has been a PROPER Summer so far. HOT. HOT. HOT. Makes me feel like I'm on holiday!

What I love about Amsterdam is the close proximity you are to EVERYTHING. On Friday evening, I went to check out an art installation with a workmate and his friend. It was in an old (read: decrepit) Dutch house along the canal. They called it the "Extempore Temporary Contemporary Art Museum Amsterdam". Seriously. It's even got a hard to remember link of the same name here.

It was only in existence for that ONE day, for 5 hours. This blurb taken from their press release:

"History exists. The Contemporary exists. Museums are Contemporary Art history making machines. Our Museum is a Contemporary Art making machine. The only history it writes is its own."

Ahhhh... Gotta love the art wank! Every single floor had individual rooms with lightboxes spelling out each word. Y'know... Ground floor was "Extempore". First floor was "Temporary". Second floor was "Contemporary"... and so on and so forth.

The fact that I wasn't moved enough to take photos of it shows you how I feel about it.

Ah... Art Wank. :)

Then on Saturday, I went and checked out Noordemarkt, or "North Market". It's up the road from where I live (but then again, everywhere in the city centre is so close it's just up or down the road from where I live). HA. This market probably isn't as famous as the Albert Cuyp market that's in every single tourist must-see brochure of Amsterdam, but it's probably 10 times bigger and better. Even the locals shop here, so that's gotta say something about it. Right?

Where I come from in Asia, many of the outdoor markets just seem so... touristy. Y'know... the stuff they have for sale is run-of-the-mill, seen-it-before, only-tourists-would-buy-that-SHIT type of stuff. Here, every time I ask someone where they got something cool, they'd always say "at the markets".

So... Guess it's time I stopped being a mall-rat and checked out the markets. Not like there are malls here anyway, but you know what I mean. Noordemarkt is basically a market down a really loooooong street that used to be a canal. Two rows of stores facing each other, not unlike the Albert Cuyp market, but just loads more stuff with more variety.

A gazilion varieties of fresh herbs. A gazilion varieties of olives. A gazilion varieties of bread.



People rummaging through clothes.


Trinkets from exotic places. There was even a store that sold all kinds of recycled glass turned into jewelry ("from Ghana" she said). I bought a wooden beaded necklace because the lady said "I made this in the winter". I love it when there's a story behind my purchase.


Here's what I found really cool, and made me think of Liz... There were many, many stores selling stuff for crafting, like ribbons, buttons, findings, lace, beads... just so many bits and pieces, it was like a treasure trove!



Not sure who would want this bronze gymnast statue, though.


My favourite - shopping bag of the First Family. (Couldn't bring myself to buy it coz... I dunno... Just seems so wrong!)


Never seen these flowers ever before. Weird and pretty at the same time!


I got myself a pretty summer dress "from the market" (now I can say the locals' phrase! Heh.)


And guess what I wore the dress to today?

Hehe. It was too hot to be outdoors and I wanted to hide away in airconditioning this afternoon. So of course I did the most natural thing any girl would do.

I went to watch Twilight Eclipse. All by myself. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Again, I thought of Liz and her recent review (and even sent her a message while waiting for the movie to start). Was too embarassed to ask anyone if they wanted to come watch it with me - it's one of my guilty pleasures in life.

And you know what I think of the Twilight series. I HATE IT. But I also LOVE TO HATE IT. Bella can still kiss my sorry ass, the little insipid twat! I guess she still needs yoga in her life. How much manipulation can one constipated-looking chick put two HOT guys through?! And it's annoying storylines like these that perpetuate the whole myth of "I need a knight in shining armour to rescue me". Or in this case TWO knights. One who's topless all the time and the other in a soccer-mum's Volvo.

To her credit though, she was a lot less constipated-looking in this film. Sorry RPatz, you're ultra-hot but you've still got loads more acting skillz (with a "z") to catch up on. That constipated face must go! Take a tip from Dakota Fanning - she was bad-ass, icy-cold, but not once did her facial reactions make me wonder what was going on with her bowel movements. HAHAHAHAHAHA!


Ooh look! Found a better smiley shot of him! HAHAHA!


In about an hour, Holland will slaughter Spain. I hope. I had grand plans to join the work crew down at the Museumplein again, y'know, where we watched the semi-finals. BUT... all day, the streets have been overflowing with drunk and loud crowds in orange.


People having barbeques on top of houseboats.



I don't really fancy getting crushed by the Orangemania again. My living room beckons.

Oh yeah, I even managed to squeeze in a led Primary class today! Yeah yeah, moon day and all but I've been a bad yogi and need to get back into the swing of my practice. I figured some practice is better than none.

Quite a perfect weekend. Holland just needs to win to top it off with a cherry on the top.

HUP HOLLAND HUP!! (I have no idea what it means, but it's fun to say it). :)

[UPDATE: We didn't win. Awwwww! I'm glad I stayed home now. Heh.]

Back On The Mat: A Boring Practice Report

I *FINALLY* dragged my sorry arse outta bed at 6am today to get to the new shala. I had to resort to the old mantra I used in Sydney to get myself outta bed at 4.45am in the middle of winter: "Don't think. Just go. Don't think. Just go. Don't think. Just go."

So I guess compared to 4.45am, I'm having it good here by getting an extra 1hr 15mins of sleep!

This was my first official morning Mysore practice at a shala in Amsterdam. Whoop! Whoop! They've just started morning classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Guess what?

...the teacher was late.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

What is it about the Dutch and early mornings that just don't go together?

To her credit, she was only a couple minutes late, but I had that sinking feeling in the pit of my belly... y'know... "Oh no. No class today? What am I gonna do now? Go back to Beige Heaven and practice on my slanted living room floor?"

Turns out I was the only student in class today.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

See what I mean about the Dutch and early mornings?

I'm not complaining at all! It was like having a private session all by myself. Since it's Friday and I haven't really been practising much Ashtanga (just a few vinyasa-flow classes now and again)... it was purely Primary series today. I had been dreading this day. Y'know... the first day back on the mat after a looooooooong break from it.

Surprisingly, I wasn't too wiped out and all the binds are still there (YAYYYYYYYYY!)

This teacher is only here during the summer, but I like her. She left me to my own devices a lot of the time, and what impressed me was she left me alone in Utthita Hasta Padangustasana too. There've been many other blog posts by other Ashtangis about how this asana is probably one of the most over-assisted poses, and I agree. Sometimes you just need to be left alone to have time to figure out how it works and how you'll do an asana on your own.

I was expecting she'd come over to hike my leg higher in UHP, but nope, she just sat and observed. I liked that. But then when it came the left side, I got distracted and as I was swinging the leg out to the left, I kept falling over. Then we both started laughing and I said "Too much pressure!" Hehe. I just kept thinking of Susan's comment way back when I realized Beige Heaven's living room floor is slanted on an incline... And Susan mentioned wouldn't it be funny if I got used to practising on a slope, then once on level ground I'd tip over to the left.

Well... That happened today! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

(Dudes, that picture is from an awesome site, Bush Yoga. "Here, you will find the ex-leader of the free world demonstrating a variety of ancient yoga poses." HAHAHA!)

The only other observation about practice today was with dropbacks. I am picking up a nasty bad habit with this. Because I haven't practiced dropbacks all these weeks, I was afraid of bonking my head on the floor. And I've taken to lifting the heels up as I'm going down. I never used to do this before, but coz it makes the descent easier (Look Ma! No need to ground the legs!) and also takes less work in slowing the descent... I've been lazy and cheating.

Also couldn't nail the standing-up-from-backbends. The first attempt I just collapsed back down on the mat. The second attempt, I came up and landed on my knees. The third attempt, I kinda got up but had a major dance around the mat looking for my balance. So... I guess they got better at each attempt and if I'd pushed a fourth time I might have got there. But... Fuck it, it's Friday and my first time back on the mat in a few weeks. GO EASY! (and I'm lazy too). ;p

I just kept thinking of a Twitter-pal's comment on backbends. @ruechel has said "Backbends are like pancakes. The first two are no good." HAHAHA!

By the time I was packing up to go, 2 more students walked in to start their practice. I guess Amsterdammers really prefer a later start to their day.

Have a Happy Friday and get blasted this weekend, everyone! (On Sunday, we will SMASH THEM SPANIARDS. Listen to me, I think football is retarded but I'm getting into the vibe here already.)

Uruguay, Eat My Shorts!

Holland is on a roll! WE WON AGAIN! And now we're in the World Cup finals. Holy hell - Hup Holland Hup indeed!

Our entire office decided to head down to the Museumplein - a big square behind the Van Gogh and Rijks museums where they were screening the match on a huge screen. Remember my picture from the middle of the winter? This is what it looked like then.


This is what it looked like yesterday, just before kick-off.



See the screen? There in the distance. It's a giant close-up of a player's eyes during the national anthems.


For such a huge space, this was the ONLY screen.


Because a couple of us were late, we couldn't find the rest of our friends. It was too manic. But being part of the huge crowd was pretty amazing. Right after the first goal:


People were also firing off flares:


Halfway through the match, extremely randomly, a bunch of boys came drumming through the crowds, Brazilian-drumming style. There's no way anyone else could've got through the crowd, but just for them, the crowds parted and they drummed their way through. (they're the guys in the middle, all in orange)


Right at the end, when we scored the 3rd goal and pretty much had the game in the bag, someone started throwing toilet rolls in the air. One roll became 3 rolls, which became 20 - 30 rolls. As they started unravelling while sailing through the air, it looked like party streamers in the sky. It was SPECTACULAR! They were thrown from the back of the field, and every time they landed, someone else would pick up the rolls and hurl them forward again, so by the end of it - it was almost like the ending of a Blue Man Group performance, where there's bog roll EVERYWHERE, and there were still streams of toilet roll flying through the air all over the field!!


(You can see more way in the distance, amongst the cranes)

Before the game was even over, more people were letting off fireworks. More like little firecrackers that popped in the sky. My camera ran out of battery, so the Blackberry camera was too slow to catch any action!


More flares were lit up all over the Museumplein.


And the ensuing MAYHEM after the game was officially over. Oh yeah, don't forget, this is Amsterdam where pot is legal. So there was lots of that in the air too! ;)


Of course it was impossible to cycle anywhere with the mass exodus of people. We had to walk with our bikes through the crowds. The trams, buses and cars were probably the worst places to be coz people were shaking them, climbing on top of them and cheering, and right when I took this shot, a spontaneous roar rose from the crowd, with people punching their fists in the air. ALL AT ONCE!


It was kinda like Queen's Day but at night, with people who were so over-the-moon they couldn't give a flying-fat-ass-frog what they did! (Cops on horseback were just laughing at the scene playing out in front of them).


It's pretty rad living in a country that's winning. Now... Looking forward to more madness at the finals this Sunday.

PS. My ashtanga practice is practically non-existent at this point. I've been meaning to get to the shala this week for early practices, but my good friend I.N.S.O.M.N.I.A. has struck again and I'm averaging 2 - 3 hours sleep a night. Just can't roll outta bed when the alarm hits. Still trying to get into a new kind of routine here. Sigh.