Sao Darly

As we were leaving Hoek van Holland beach, I noticed quite a few yellow flowering trees along the streets around the green house area. These bright and beautiful flowers captured my attention and I thought they were Dok Koon. I made Johan turned around the car and we went looking for a few trees so I can take some photos. It was only 7:30 PM so there was plenty of light to take some decent photos. It was worth a stop.

Read the rest of this entry »

Since I am going to Laos this month I ordered Acer Aspire One A150-Bb Netbook from Dynabyte.nl to take it with me. At first I was going to get Medion Akoya Mini E1210 for 399 Euros but decided at the last minute to order Acer Aspire One A150 instead. Why did I decide to go with Acer UMPC? Take a look at the specs from both UMPC and you can see for yourself why I chose Acer over Medion and there is more reason than to the choice of color.

Akoya Mini E1210 specs:

CPU type: Intel Atom (Diamondville)
CPU speed: 1600 Mhz
Graphics: Intel GMA 950
OS Windows options
Display Size: 10.2″ 1024 X 600
RAM: 1024 MB
Hard Disk: 80 GB
Keyboard: YES
Mouse Pointer: YES
Battery capacity: 24 (Wh)
Weight: 1191g
Size (w/h/d mm): 259/180/31 mm

Physical Interfaces
Ethernet 10/100
VGA
MIC-in
Line-out / Headphone
USB2.0 (x3)
SD card slot

Wireless Interfaces
802.11b/g
802.11n
BT 2.0 (On some models)
No Wireless WAN (e.g. 3G cellular)

Read the rest of this entry »

After three weeks of waiting, my new digital camera finally arrived two weeks ago. I saw the massive ads for Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 a couple of weeks before the European Football matches and decided to do some reasearch on the brand and model. I have been thinking about getting a new camera this year but was not sure if I would be faithful to the Ixus line from Canon.

Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t spend money on beauty or fashion magazines. The only time I get to read magazines is when I babysit some children. I spend most of my time reading home and garden magazine, architecture design, and then flip through the fashion magazines. The mother of these children likes to read Elle magazine so I get to see what’s hot and what’s not. Elle Netherlands listed various summer 2008 trends. These are some of the examples of must have summer look.

Scuba Blue is in for summer 2008.

Little White Dress is always cool for summer.

Read the rest of this entry »

From the Today Show with Today’s Style: Fashion for a Road Trip will help you dress in comfort and style.

I have to confess that I have no sense of style. I was a tomboy so most of my clothes in high school were sporty and if not there were mostly black. I started to wear dresses and skirts during my undergrad years but still went for black color mostly. Later I added blue and white to my shirts and blouses. You can’t go wrong with a white shirt and a pair of blue jeans I think.

I don’t wear jewelry unless I have to for special event. To this day I still can’t pick out my clothes properly because I don’t know what match and what doesn’t. I take Johan shopping and he picks out my clothes, LOL.

I don’t think I’ll be in style for this spring and summer. These are the must have accessories for those that want to dress in style. I think I will just stick to my two years old pair of sunglasses.

Great accessories:

5. Hats, make a statement with yours.
4. Goggle Glam. Go bigger with your sunglasses.
3. Necklace. Make people notice you.
2. Platform shoes. Add a few extra inches.
1. More bling for your bag. Go flashy and shinny with your purse.

Clothes shopping in the Netherlands is something that I hardly look forward to. I always wait till I go home for clothes and shoes shopping. In the US, my favorite shopping stores are Gap, The Limited, Express Clothing, and of course the local Dillards and Macys, which finally showed up in Kansas City last year.

I like to shop at Bijenkorf, Dutch department store which reminds me of Dillards or Macys. Now and then I can find brands from the US for 30% more in price. The problem is that if I wait for the sale price to kick in, then there is nothing in my size anymore. So, I can only look at the clothes and then talk myself out of not buying anything since to spend money on something that I can buy at half price in the US would bring too much guilt on me. I’m a poor student and having to send money to my Grand-Mama on a regular basis means setting a priority for myself.

Since I have found out about Steps Womenswear last year, I have become a regular member of this clothing company. They actually have size 34 for me most of the time. I have noticed how many foreigners are hanging out at the store, whether Asians or other ethnic groups that are about the same height and size as me.

I was at Steps for their summer sales and got me a couple of skirts for my next trip to Laos. When I saw those skirts I was like yeah these will be perfect for Laos next year. I can’t wait to wear them in Vientiane and Pakse.

After a short walk around Nam Phu area I was picked up by my aunt for some shopping at the Morning Market.

Read the rest of this entry »

We didn’t stay too long at Patouxay Monument because we were called home for dinner. After dinner, my aunt took my parents and I to do some shopping at the Lao International Trade Exhibition and Convention Center (Lao-ITECC). It was Sunday and the last day of some sort of trade convention.

My mother was busy looking for clothes to take back as gifts for family members and friends. When my aunt told my mother about the owner of the clothing store was a daughter of my mother’s friend, it made her spend more money. I wouldn’t mind wearing some of the above dresses.

Read the rest of this entry »

Clash is a very popular Thai band in Laos. It was not a surprise for me to hear their latest CD while driving around with my male cousins. They were surprised to know that I like the same band as they do since their wives and girlfriends don’t care much for their taste in music. I have one cousin who even named his son “Bank” as the lead singer of the band “Bank”.