dutch invasion

the dutchies @ the roofdeck

the dutch are back in town. city's no longer called new amsterdam though coz them dutchies committed one of the biggest OOPS of all time—exchanging this city for suriname to the bloody english back in the 17th century. good job! but anyway, elvira and barbara, who are here as exchange students, got in the city monday night. great to see the energy, humour, and excitement unmistakably dutch (although barbara really is originally from croatia but has lived in NL for the past 3 years so she might as well be dutch).

especially seeing how the 2 were very excited to see the city, must say it's good to have some fresh dutch blood again in new amsterdam, er new york. til now i'm still amazed at how the dutch are some of the greatest storytellers of all. lots of energy. and stories are always mixed in with quite accurate impersonations and equally as accurate and entertaining sound effects. hilarious. very funny people. and very fun actually, just what this city badly needs. very easy to get along with, although their sharp humour and honesty could easily be mistaken for rudeness (especially for us quite "sensitive" filipinos). very simple people; abhors things overdone, artificial and unnecessary (eg. gas-guzzling SUVs, vegas casinos, fast food). let's see what elvira and barbara think of new york then. oh, it's not LA, i forget; they should be fine then. very open people. they could have the strongest opinions on things though. always up for a lively conversation. have a great appreciation for life and good things (funny to see again how a glass of water could last for 10 minutes sipped; and not guzzled down). great people to have around.

video greetings from zi dutch donald

unfortunately though, the 2 dutchies didnt pack the great il cone in their suitcases. but he did however send his christmas/new year/birthday presents over. which i must say are over and beyond what i had expected. nice nice. i got a nice packet of seeds (which could have gotten elvira punked at customs obviously), a nice bottle of bombay sapphire, some nice rotterdam souvenir, and a nice homemade video of the apprentice, which has quite the big budget feel to it obviously. nice nice.

time for some much-needed party hearty. well, after this jetlag's over maybe.

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post-war-stricken-look apartment

APARTMENT update: managed to clean up the apartment just in time for the guests' arrival. ok, ok, i had them waiting 6.5 minutes outside in the cold coz i wasnt going to let them see that filth in the toilet. but overall, good to see the apartment nice, clean and organized again—with the dirty laundry where they're supposed to be (stuffed in the cabinet and not scattered all over the place).

JETLAG update: still recovering from it. not a 100% still. made me miss (read: saved me from) last night's client party all the way in pennsylvania. i did do some yoga last night though and must admit it's done quite some good. i could definitely feel the blood finally back in the brain. im sleeping a little better at night. the interruptions are now down to 99 so that's good.