Handling Holland.. (and now aidan too!)

I’d never thought i’d miss it this much but i do.

I miss doing my things. I miss preparing for people’s weddings. i miss the scouting around, the planning, putting things together, doing table settings, i honestly miss it. i miss holding ribbons, i miss tieing them, i miss decorating, arranging flowers, i miss my tool box and my glue gun.. i miss them all.

It was quite hard for me to leave my toolbox behind but i had to. i was only allowed 20 kilos! it was quite difficult to leave what i love doing most but it most certainly wasnt a choice. in whatever case, my husband comes first.

Its may now. 4 more moths to our fasting month. i’m normally busy by this time, scouting for materials for my Hari Raya Hampers. going round, getting inspired, seeing whats in the market, the latest stuff they carry and try to avoid the common ones… i miss it.  I was blessed with many contacts since i started this tiny little business of mine. i met new people, i’ve made new friends and i’ve learnt how to handle each every comment or critisicms they had. i totally enjoy each experience.

I knew right from the beginning that i wasnt into working 9-5, in an office, with pilles of files around me. i’d rather be working with pilles of boxes or ribbons, or fabrics, even if it wont give me that much money to shop for shoes or clothes! but the satisfaction that you get from turning something plain to something beautiful (to me), is just pure rewarding. its not so much of the money, its hearing people say "its beautiful" or "i love it" or simply a plain "thank you" does it for me. i like building relationships. 

I’ve learnt the business through the hard way. i’ve learnt how to handle failure, i’ve learnt how to handle huge orders, demanding requests, how to handle royalties, i’ve learnt how to handle a 58 year old man and understanding his perspective and outlook in business (quite successful businessman who once was on the board of major companies back home. with his background, one might thought he had the right attitude on business, but sad really, he was all about pride and money!) and i will never ever do business with him again. its tough if you have a business partner, let alone a relative business partner, an uncle for example! take my word for it! most definitely! no more partnering! (bear in mind not all uncles are like mine, this one’s an exceptional case people!) serik! one trully special partner of mine was k.liza, whom i trully respect.

Yes there has been ups and downs. but there were more ‘ups’ than ‘downs’ for me.

If i were to have it all again, i’d do it right this time. my mum and my dad were my pillars, and how i miss spending time with them doing all the stuff! its good bonding! mum has exceptional taste and dad is ever so supportive in everything i do!

There’s a few nice shops here, altho their craft shop is nothing like our SSF back home (altho i dont get everything there, even with my discounts). nonethless, there’s plenty of materials here to work with. once i have the space, i’ll start working on them!

We went to Roermond last couple of weeks ago and as hardy was browsing the tools they had at BLACK & DECKER, i was going round browsing the less heavier tools till i came across a glue gun!!

All i have now are just some of the photos i managed to save on my thumb drive. apart from the one i have in my photos selection on friendster! i will start building my toolbox again… first thing’s first, i need to get a toolbox!

I wish i can be at home for my cousins weddings… helping out.. with shariff’s and hannah’s..

I miss it. i really do

YES! a pasar malam! here! there were signs all over Sittard and neighbouring towns. my mouth were almost wide open when i read ‘Pasar Malam Asia’ (asian night market). but we told ourselves not to put our hopes too high. not to expect any laksa penang, laksa johor, jagung rebus. but we were sure there’s other plenty things to look forward to.

So last friday, after our visit to MAKRO (yes, we have makro here as well), we went to Geleen. our neighbouring town. the pasar malam was held in the staidum. the first thing i saw as i entered the entrance was a Malaysian Airlines poster and banners. it was such a shame not to see any representitive promoting the name. it would have been nice to have a rep there as the crowd was almost 60% locals. maybe they saw Geleen as a small town thus, not worth to send a rep in promoting Malaysia and its galore! not enough attempt to promote Visit Malaysia Year 2007!! but anyway…

One of the stalls at the entrace were selling indonesian kuih lapis. i’ve tasted indonesian lapis and think theirs is way better than us. the taste is richer. but to spend 8euros for a 4 x 5 (approximately), i’d pass. besides, i wasnt craving for kuih lapis. or maybe the craving stage is over? hmm..

There were lots of stalls inside. some are selling minyak urut (massage oil), one tukang telek (palm reader), indonesian crafts, clothes, some selling kuih-kuih (cakes), and one long table selling fruits: buah salak, durian, durian belanda, kelapa muda, pisang emas (this one i like but the tiny bananas costs a fortune! the cheapest banana in malaysia is the most expensive one here!). but walking through the stall, it gives a nice smell

We browsed through the stalls while having eis kelapa and hardy had cendol. it was too sweet for me but hardy didnt complain!

We headed to where there restaurants were. and there we saw one guy grilling the sate, one girl frying the bananas - goreng pisang, and another guy tengah tebar murtabak! we both stood infront of the murtabak stall with such ammusement like we’ve never seen it before! hahaha. i think we missed the atmosphere. we werent tempted to have anything until hardy saw the huge menu on the wall with the word HALAL! we then took our place and studied the full menu. i ordered soto ayam while hardy ordered sate ayam and daging. i was hoping they’d have nasi impit (pressed rice) in the soto, just like how our k.ana back home would do it, but they served the soto with rice. we then enjoyed our supper with a band playing in the background - they call themselves Quint Band. quite a good band, they play good music! there was this petite indonesian girl who sang some english and chinese songs, and i must say she was rather good! better then the dutch idols!

The pasar malam here is not a weekly affair like the ones back home. its more of an annual affair. it goes from cities to cities. July will be at Eindhoven and Groningen, August in Tilburg, September in Niew Loc and Maastricht (i dont think i can go by that time) one of its sponsors, Malaysian Airlines and the organiser is this indonesian guy by the name of S.Ali (a drawing of him and his wife on the huge menu board, see picture). he owns a restaurant in Stein, another close town to Sittard. he must be really rich! we saw him, he was the emcee and know most of the people there at the stadium. his name and contact number was everywhere! posters, banners, leaflets, signboards! he must be a popular guy!

As we discovered more and more of Sittard, i’m beginning to feel much comfortable and at home here. We’re really lucky to be where we are, with huge Outlet Shopping places, with just 10 mins to Belgium and 10 mins or less to Germany, we have the benefit to go ‘luar negeri‘ anytime. when people ask me where do you get your halal meat? i would say "in belgium". they’d reply "what? you have to go all the way to belgium to get halal meat? jauhnyaa!" then i explained, its just 10 mins drive to belgium!

It’s a big deal for me to feel like home here. i guess settling down takes longer time then i expected. Its becoming more and more like home now that we’ve found our house. we’ve put up an offer and now we’re in the stage of negotiating. we really love it. please pray we’ll get the house! we really need it! hardy has started buying DIY stuff and i’ve started collecting kitchen and some other stuff! i was cooking tandoori chicken last week and the smell didnt go off for a week, and i couldnt sleep at night! we need a house!!

Its good to know there’s little little things like the pasar malam held every year and the asian supermarket nearby. with the weather more like home now, chances of getting a house we love looks warmer too! wish us luck!