Amsterdam, Netherlands

Back to work for a full five day work week… and it didn’t start in the best of ways because it was raining in the morning. I hadn’t planned on going for a swim, which was good, because that meant I could take the metro at work. Especially in the mornings, if it’s busy in the metro, it sometimes happens that I first take a metro down to Central Station, one station further down the line in the wrong direction, and then just stay on the train waiting for it to return towards Amstelveen in the opposite direction – which usually is not more than a minute’s wait. That’s what I did this morning, and that meant that I had a seat on the train as it departed Central Station. Behind me, a woman was coughing quite a bit and without politely holding a hand before her mouth. I was hoping that I wouldn’t catch a cold from her as we travelled through the metro tunnel towards the Zuid area.

The picture is of the residential area just north of our office building. As you can see, these houses all have gardens – front and back. This is Zuid, a very affluent area of the city and these aren’t even the most expensive houses. Those would be the ones two streets down, on Minervalaan. In any case, I took this picture because especially in this block there were a lot of Japanese cherryblossom trees in various colours and they looked so pretty – even from high up. No other reason. I spent the evening at home and at around nine thought that I was getting a cold. Fingers crossed that that’s not the case, but it sure feels like it…

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Yes! It worked! Not once, but twice! I finally was able to use my Cineville pass today, and for good measure I didn’t see just one but two films today. After a lazy Sunday morning at home and in the Coffee Company store, I walked over to Rialto in the early afternoon. I went to see Wuthering Heights there, based on the Emily Brontë novel. It was a stunning film, though once more with that horrible handheld shaky camera effect just a bit too often. For most of the film I was wondering where it was shot. Despite the fact that none of the actors had a real Scottish accent and Liverpool was mentioned at some point in the film, I was thinking it might have been filmed somewhere in Scotland, but the closing titles revealed that it was actually filmed in the Yorkshire Dales. In any case, it looked stunning… quite possibly worth a visit!

After Wuthering Heights I walked over to Zuiderbad for a swim, then back home for a quick meal, and on to the next film theatre, The Movies. Once more I tried to go and Intouchables… and once more I didn’t succeed. Sold out. I saw that A Dangerous Method about the interaction between three of the most famous psychotherapists at the beginning of the 20th century, Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud and Sabina Spielrein (herself a severe psychiatric patient at the start of the film) was showing at the same time and got a ticket to go and see that one. It was a great film, wonderfully filmed in Vienna and Zurich, with a story line that was sometimes a bit on the heavy side… but very interesting none the less. The picture is of Cafe ‘t Smalle on Egelantiersgracht and it was taken as I walked back home through a beautiful looking Amsterdam.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Second attempt at using my new Cineville cinema pass… and again it didn’t quite work out as planned. I had some shopping to do in the morning and decided that I would also already get cinema tickets for tonight while I was out and about. Sean and Mike had suggested going to see The Hunger Games tonight in Eye, the new Film Museum just north of Central Station on the other side of the IJ water (hence the name Eye, not just referring to the part of your body you use to watch but also to the way IJ is pronounced by English speakers.)

So, at around 11 in the morning I crossed the IJ by free ferry and walked over to the extremely modern looking building (the one in the picture above) to get tickets. I showed my Cineville pass, expecting to get one ticket for free but was told that free tickets are only available from 1.5hrs before starting time of the film. Sigh. OK, well never mind… I just got three paid tickets then. But I will need to start using my pass properly soon, because after this second attempt also failed, 18 euros a month suddenly seems a lot of money for an unused piece of plastic.

The weather in the morning was absolutely dreadful, as the dark clouds in the picture will tell you. It started raining not soon afterwards. But in the afternoon it all cleared up, and the early evening was actually quite sunny and pleasant. I met up with Sean and Mike as they were having a burger in a burger bar (I didn’t enter because of my low carb diet and also because the air seemed so greasy that it was as if I was inhaling carbs) and together we walked to Central Station, took a ferry to Noord and walked the short distance to Eye. The interior of the cinema was also stunning, with big windows allowing wonderful vistas over the IJ, and a big bar and restaurant area. We saw The Hunger Games in the main auditorium which had a very big screen and excellent sound – it was a great film despite the sometimes annoying ‘shaky camera’ syndrome that so many films seem to suffer from these days. As we crossed the IJ again by ferry close before midnight, Amsterdam looked beautiful. There’s something special about using those ferries, especially when it’s dark. Not much later, I was back home – 30 minutes door-to-door, including the ferry ride. Not bad!

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.