Amsterdam, Netherlands

I am now the proud owner of a Cineville pass. That's a pass for free entrance to 11 film theatres and art houses throughout Amsterdam, at a cost of 18 euros per month. Given that I typically spend more than 18 euros on cinema tickets each month I figured that this would save me some money. The pass give access to those theatres that do not just show Hollywood blockbuster films but are more specialised in independent and alternative films - exactly to my liking.

This evening, after work, I found the actual plastic card in my mailbox (I had to use a temporary paper card till today) so at around 8:30 I decided that I was going to use the permanent pass for the first time. I walked over to The Movies, a film theatre on Haarlemmerdijk, west of the centre, determined to go see Intouchables, a French film that had some great reviews. When I got to The Movies it turned out that the film was already sold out. So, the first attempt at using Cineville didn't quite go as planned. I wasn't tremendously disappointed though because it was a beautiful evening. I walked back via Brouwersgracht, the canal in the above picture, and a couple of years ago winner of the 'most beautiful canal' election of a local newspaper. I can see why...

Amsterdam, Netherlands

The picture was taken in the morning, after my morning swim. The new daily rhythm is remarkably pleasant, and even though I never used to swim on Thursdays, I love these early morning swims so much that I even went today. Typically I get up at 6:20 (still without setting an alarm - I've not set any alarms since 1996) and after shower and breakfast at home I get on my bike at 7:25. The bike ride to the pool takes exactly two songs of the Confessions Live album by Madonna and after changing into my swim gear I enter the pool at 7:40. I swim 60 normal laps (always breaststroke) plus some additional laps with arms-only or legs-only, as well as two underwater laps. I get out of the water again at 8:30, shower and get dressed and I leave the building at 8:45 to get on my bike to work, where I will arrive at 9. It's the same rhythm practically every day - and I love it. Today's swim was once more very enjoyable and I'm sure I'll be back tomorrow morning.

In the evening I met up with Sean and we went for a meal in the Lion Noir restaurant on the street with the most confusing name for foreigners, Reguliersdwarsstraat. It's a street with a large number of gay bars and an even bigger reputation, but to be honest I never really liked it. I can't remember when was the last time that I went to a gay bar in this street. I have my own hangout (Spijker) although I've only been there once so far this year, and don't bother about the bars in this street. There are some good quality restaurants here as well though, and Lion Noir was definitely one of them. Nice and spacious, stylish, friendly service, and what's most important, excellent food (I had white asparagus, which I still consider to be God's gift to mankind) but of course also a bill to match that... it was 75 euros per person that we had to pay, probably one of the most expensive restaurant bills I ever paid for myself. It was worth it though - it was a great evening and indeed we did end up in a gay bar in this street as well for some more drinks. Not that I will be returning to that bar, Tabu, any time soon though.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Remember all those years that blog posts on this blog that took place in the office had 'Amstelveen, Netherlands' at the top of the post? Well, this picture was still taken in Amsterdam, but it shows that very office in Amstelveen that I worked in for just under twelve years. It's the Parktoren building in Amstelveen, as seen from our 26th floor office in Amsterdam. The distance between the two buildings is 4.8 kilometers (3 miles) as the crow flies, again showing the pretty amazing zoom qualities of my compact camera. My eyes are not good enough to see this building without the use of binoculars... but my camera picks it up quite nicely.

Günter came over in the evening for some food, drinks, and chatting, and it was very nice as always to catch up with him. Nothing much else to report on this Wednesday other than that, as expected, my weight this morning was considerably lower again than yesterday with further decrease expected tomorrow - if my daily forecast is reliable. I shall become a diet guru!

Amsterdam, Netherlands

As I stood on the scales this morning, as I do every morning these days, I was reminded that it's Tuesday. You see, ever since I started recording my weight daily, and putting all data in a spreadsheet, I have noticed that Tuesdays are the 'heaviest days'. There is normal fluctuation from day to day, but on average, when measured over several months, Tuesday records the highest weight. I'm not sure why that is, though the return to office life may be partly to blame for that, but there is one comfort as well; Wednesdays and Thursdays typically show the biggest decreases in weight in the week. So, even though my weight this morning was actually 0.7 kgs more than on Good Friday eleven days ago, the fact that that was a Friday and today is a Tuesday still means there is no reason to get a stricter diet. I went swimming in the morning, worked, and in the evening sat at my computer, editing some pictures in PhotoShop Elements. That was Tuesday.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

This is what my life evolves around a lot these days. Vegetables. What you see in the picture above is the inside of a cut open green pepper, with the camera held towards the light. I took the picture as I was preparing boxes with cut vegetables and fruits (for the pepper is a fruit of course) that I will use for lunch throughout the week. Typically, these days, you will find boxes with cut peppers, cut tomatoes, boiled beans, boiled carrots, etc. in my fridge and every morning I will fill a lunch box with a several of these ingredients - all low carb, of course. My weight has stabilised a bit after the Easter weekend sharp increase and sharp decrease, and that's not a good thing. It needs to continue going down again, so fingers crossed that that will happen soon again. Hopefully the green pepper in the picture will help to do that, because it was cut up in tiny cubes two minutes after this picture was taken.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

I went for a breakfast coffee and blueberry muffin in the Coffee Company store across the street in the morning. As I was sitting there, looking outside at my building, I got really annoyed again by how the façade is looking. There's scaffolding on the street side of the building now, but the canal side outer wall is clear of scaffolding and just looking horrible. I will need to get in touch with the guy who ordered the repointing tomorrow, but I'm not looking forward to that. I hate these legal and procedural issues, not just because they take a lot of time (and more of my energy) but also it reminds me all the time that this attempt at a renovation already cost me a lot of money... with more money most likely to follow.

I went to see Weekend in the afternoon, the British film about the brief encounter (one weekend long, hence the title) between two gay guys in Nottingham. At one point in the film I thought to myself "oh no, not again a film about the struggles of coming out, of acceptance in society, of self-acceptance... but I must say that all in all it was a moving film, with some nice cinematography as well. I can actually recommend it. Afterwards I went swimming in Zuiderbad and I got home in the early evening, only to spend the rest of the night at home.

The picture shows a pair of shoes that I bought yesterday. It's only an exceptional picture because for the first time in ages it was taken with my Nikon D200 DSLR rather than my compact. For half a year the DSLR, which is more than five years old and thus by current digital standards 'ancient', was in my cupboard and every picture on this log since was taken with the S9100 (or sometimes even with my iPod) but after Nikon released the amazing D800 recently, the thought of buying one has been haunting me. Of course, that is absolutely no option at the moment (see my earlier comments on the state of the house) so instead I will try to revive my love for the D200 for the time being. Until I win the lottery, that is.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

A sunny Saturday though not very warm... and I didn't do much today. Of course there were the usual weekend chores, such as shopping for groceries (where I spend most time in the supermarket in the vegetables section these days) and cleaning of the apartment, but there was also time for a stroll through the city in the afternoon, and even a visit to Deco. I used to go to Deco a lot in previous years but today's visit was only my second one this year. The reason is mainly a financial one. A visit to the sauna costs around 30 euros (including something to eat or drink) and that's a bit more difficult in austere times. The picture shows some bikes in Warmoesstraat in the afternoon sun.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Friday the 13th today, but fortunately no bad luck to speak of. On the contrary, in the evening I played host to a dinner with Ian and Ana. Both had been to my new apartment before, but they'd never had dinner here. Both arrived within a minute of each other just after 7 in the evening and all of us had a wonderful evening. The picture shows part of the meal, namely cod with added rosemary, dill, lemon, and other spices in an oven dish. It turned out to be a delicious meal, served with rice, veggies and a greek salad. Sound familiar? Well yes, admittedly it was a remarkably similar meal to the one I had served to Günter and Rob a couple of weeks ago (with the cod replaced with salmon)... but as the saying goes, never change a winning horse. Well, not tonight anyway.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

The good news is that yesterday's sharp decrease of my weight continued today, and that meant that I have nearly reached my pre-Easter weekend weight again. So it was a temporary increase after all, and that is great to know. Not only do I know that I can actually diet, I also now know that if my weight increases for whatever reason, I can pick my diet up again quite effectively afterwards. That gives me a bit of confidence.

The other good news is that I went swimming again this morning. When I swam after work, I did not go swimming on Thursdays, for the simple reason that the pool is closed on Thursday evenings. But now that I've switched to morning swims (and loving them) there is no reason not to go on Thursdays either. It turns out that I don't mind getting up at 6:15 (and I can hardly believe that I'm writing this) and it turns out that I enjoy early morning exercise (ditto) so... off I went! It has the added advantage that cycling through Amsterdam at 7:15 is so much more enjoyable than cycling (or rather avoiding accidents) at 8:30.

And some more remarkable news is that I have quit eating chocolates again. The Easter weekend was exceptional, but all the leftover chocolates in the office (see picture above for Exhibit A) have remained untouched by me, and again that's something I had never expected. Maybe I had a stroke or something because I sure don't recognise myself. Very pleasant stroke though.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

I didn't mention it in yesterday's post, but my weight, measured early in the morning, before I went for a swim, was even higher then than what it was on Monday morning. Half a kilogram more still! The Easter weekend sure seemed to have caused havoc in my diet plan. So, I was very relieved this morning, again before I went for a morning swim, that my weight had gone down considerably. More than a kilogram less than yesterday. It's fascinating how your weight can fluctuate so heavily. Let's hope that the decrease continues and that the Easter weekend increase was just a temporary one.

I met up with Günter tonight, and this time we went to the Bekeerde Suster, a lovely old-style pub on Nieuwmarkt, just a stone throw away from my place. I was relieved to find that today's special was a tuna salad with fresh cuts of raw tuna. Delicious! And definitely low carb! The beer maybe wasn't as much low carb, but it's home brewed and simply divine, so I ordered that as well. Everything needs to be done with moderation - even dieting. The picture is of some new office buildings in the Zuidas financial district, as seen from our own office on the 26th floor. Just as a rain shower descended over Amsterdam. Luckily I managed to stay dry as I left the office a bit later.