Remembering

A colleague invited me and several others to join her in this Herinnering Verlicht in Amsterdam. This is an annual event held at the Niewe Ooster where people commemorate their loved ones who have passed away.

Time

I got an email from a very good friend of mine asking why I have been quiet lately. The simple explanation is that I have been very busy and it seems that 24 hours is not enough to juggle family, work, social obligations, etc. Sometimes I hardly even have time for myself. I really have to make more effort to respond to (personal) emails or even update my social network sites.

A Tragedy

Fortunately, my family was spared from any devastation of this super typhoon called Odoy. However, I know a few friends who live in the areas of Marikina and Cainta who really suffered from this tragedy.

Kazimierz

This year, we have had more opportunity as a family to take several short city breaks. Thanks to the low budget airlines, where if you are quick enough to book ahead, you could really cheap (i mean dirt cheap) air tickets within Europe. Sometimes, I just make a quick search what's in the offer and book straightaway.

We also find it important to also expose our three year old daughter at this stage to different cultures and places. Once she told the carers at her nursery how she enjoyed Riga, and they were not sure what she was talking about, until we explained that Riga is a city in Latvia where we just spent a long weekend. We love taking these short city breaks where we would usually leave on a Thursday or Friday and come back by Sunday. Somehow it also compensates for the long working hours during the week and by being away we could really bond as a family.

Last week, we went to Krakow, Poland since it was highly recommended by my Polish colleague. We loved it. While there is the UNESCO Heritage Old Town of Krakow, we stayed at the Kazimierz area, the old Jewish quarters. After most of the Jews who lived in Kazimierz vanished after the holocaust, this area just dilapitated until Schindler's List was filmed here and opened the area again to the outside world. In fact, you can even visit the real Schindler's factory. The area has a very disturbing history and while there are still a lot of traces of the Jewish heritage, the area has lost its real soul.

I have seen Kazimierz pictures 15 years ago when you would not even think that they would even be able to revive the area again. This for me was very interesting as I have always been interested in urban regeneration. Somehow I could not help think about how we in the Philippines could do something about our Old Manila, like the area in Escolta or Chinatown where there are a lot of nice buildings but unfortunately left to just fade away.

We plan to go back to Krakow next year when my family comes for their usual visit. My husband said, it will be very easy to please my mom--just let her join the "In the footsteps of Pope John Paul II" (who before becoming Pope was the Archbishop of Krakow) tour, and she would be perfectly fine.

Spring Reunions

Nice to have my family from the Philippines visit us this spring. My brother and family started their European tour with us. It was really special to be with my nephew and nieces who are visiting Europe for the first time. Whenever I visit the Philippines every year, I am always surprised how much they have grown. I used to babysit a lot these kids and would even drag them along my friends' children's parties. And now they are just so grown up. Despite the age difference, my daughter bonded very well with them.

My cousins from the U.S. also visited us for a week together with a friend who is now based in Finland. We used to hang out a lot when I was based in Boston. It was nice to catch up and goofy around.

I had several "mommy" night outs as well with my friends here in the Netherlands. These are the girls I met while learning the Dutch language. We (8 of us) shared our struggle with the language, finding our way in this flatland, the Dutch culture and just re-establishing our own career. We even all had the same driving instructor! As soon as they learned about my brother's death, the girls just immediately planned to see me. Sometimes it is very difficult to even find time to be all together with work, kids and family. But yes, we try to manage to find time to have a mommy day off or plan some kids playdate. This network of mommy friends has also been my support group especially whenever we need some help in babysitting.

In two weeks time, we're expecting another family visit, this time all the way from Australia.