tanya in holland

God Bless Australia

2010-07-08T03:33:00.000-07:00

You know where I'm gonna be during the Netherlands v Spain final?
On a flight back to Sydney from Amsterdam.
My flight takes off when the match begins....

Ps. HOW IS THIS NOT OUR NATIONAL ANTHEM??????? If you do not watch the above video and boogie down to it, you are un-Australian.
Pps. Everyone whose emails and blog comments I didn't reply to in the past year can feel free to bitchslap or knife me when I get back. The choice is yours.

Did I forget to mention . . .

2010-06-08T15:34:00.000-07:00

that I was featured in a Dutch newspaper...?
Pretty much I am like a celebrity over here. Hottest thing to come outta Holland since prostitution was legalised and the Government collapsed again for what is it, the 4th(???) time.
I just cant help that I'm so stunningly attractive so people chase me down the street asking for my autograph and taking my picture.
ALSO I got to wear AN ADULT SIZED ELEPHANT COSTUME FOR THE SHOOT.
THIS IS PRETTY MUCH ALL MY DREAMS COME TRUE IN ONE PHOTOGRAPH (refer to past blog posts with Jens Lekman song and scary demonic animals chillaxing in the mall)

Familiar faces

2010-06-08T15:22:00.001-07:00

Damnnnnnnnnn check out that height difference ( YES I AM THE SHORTEST ONE FROM MY TEENAGE COUSINS WHO I USED TO GIVE PIGGY BACKS TO AND WATCH SAILOR MOON WITH AND PLAY NINTENDO 64 WITH)

Easter met de kinderen ♥

2010-06-08T14:51:00.000-07:00

Welcome to 2010

2010-03-26T05:15:00.000-07:00

Uhh what's that I hear you say, 2010 actually started 3 months ago...? Well being the tardy blogger I am, my posts are always running late. Plus life moves at lightening speed here (how the hell is it March already?! MARCH?! January just feels like yesterday...)

I thought better late than never, so expect image heavy posts soon, where I just upload pics of all the random happenings in my life over the last few months. Would love to write huge chunks of text accompanying em with tales of whats been going down, but if i did, i fear i'd never finish any of my blog posts, so photos will have to do. Plus a picture is worth a thousand words, right? ;)

So spent New Years in London. Went to go visit my lovely English cousins there. Haha that was my excuse, but really I was there to visit the Holy Grail of retail shopping that is TOPSHOP (I swear I had heart palpitations when I walked into the Oxford St Circus store).

Had a great time with the cousins who all have delightful English accents and got to eat MOMO (DEAR GOD SO GOOD) and proper Nepali food after what felt like a lifetime. Not that I dont enjoy the food that my hostparents cook (they are amazing chefs, each meal is like gourmet Italian and French cuisine - uh Beef Bourguignon for dinner? Yes please!) but I miss ma Mama's Nepali cooking which is really just the best food on Earth, so t'was great having a slice of home.

Since my cousins are also miserable English sods, (hey they freely admitted it themselves! Babs, Myun, Mamta - you know i love you guys :) like all English people (will just take the opportunity to say I love London - it is one of my favourite cities I've been to and this was my second time going back there - and I love England but I strongly dislike English people for a variety of reasons which I shan't go into in this already too long post) who decided to stay at home and watch the news instead of going out and celebrating, I joined Ishan and his friends who were also in town.

We had the best viewing location right across The Thames from the London Eye where we could also see Big Ben. There were massive speakers all across the city and Radio 1 was running a New Years special playlist to try and start a dance party on the streets of London which was such a great idea. Tis such a shame that English people apparently hate dancing and much prefer to stare at their toes in utter misery. Bloody poms :P

Can you spot me looking deliriously happy in the above photo? ;)

As we were making our way back towards Trafalgar Square, right after the fireworks had ended it started snowing. It was absolutely magical. Can't believe it started snowing right at that moment. Ishan and I went insane. What an amazing start to 2010. Still so many good things to come this year!

I miss Aussie TV

2010-03-04T16:05:00.000-08:00

Possibly as embarassing as getting kicked out of your own birthday party?
*cough cough*

This was today

2010-01-06T13:39:00.000-08:00

This was today from tanya s on Vimeo.

Things to note:
1. Me chucking a snowball in the air and managing to hit myself. This happened multiple times today. I is totes pro. Ummm who doesn't remember my PE skillzorz? Didn't I win gold at the last Olympics? Prits much have already won Vancouver 2010.

2. Stach just dumping a load of snow on Phenna.

3. This is me wearing 8 layers of clothing in case you're wandering why I'm waddling around like I have the entire Liberal front bench hidden under my jacket. I kid you not. The bottom 3 layers are just 3 thermals heaped on top of each other. Survival guide for Dutch winter = 3 thermals + 1 t-shirt + 1 long sleeve shirt + 1 sweater + 1 jumper + massive eskimo yellow ski jacket = lekker warme. And that's just my top half. Don't even get me started on how many layers I was wearing on my legs.

4. Ok so the question "Do you have this in Australia?" is slightly rhetorical. Wasn't meaning to sound smug or summat. No need to rub my face in the fact that y'all can actually leave the house without having to strap on an external heater just to stay alive. Actually they do have these heater shoes in Holland where there actually is a heater built into the sole of the shoe. Perfect for when you have puddles of snow/dirty slushy water inside your boots. Last time this happened to me I couldnt feel my toes and probs walking barefoot on the snow woulda been a better option.

5. Suffice to say, I think I had much more fun than the kids today.

6.
I was just searching for the song that accompanies this video and stumbled upon this instead. I love that Jens Lekman works on so many levels. My favourite part of this video is between 2:38-3:24. Take note. I think this video gives a clue as to what goes down when Liv and I have a sleepover. Liv I shotgun the strangely demonic, kinda scary, poncho-wearing, donkey/horse/racoon hybrid.

Wine and cheese, if you please

2009-11-30T16:35:00.000-08:00

Photos from a long time ago...

Never got around to posting 'em thought I might as well post them now.

Back from when the sun still shone in Holland.

Although the definition of sunshine is a bit different in Holland. Sunshine here means 5 minutes of lovely weather then sudden storms, hail, imminent death and then a little peek of the sun from behind a rain clound.

The weather here is destroying my soul.

We had a 'Wine and Cheese' picnic in Vondelpark with some of the au pairs making the trek from Utrecht and all over Holland for some fun in the sun.

<---------------------------------------Staple diet of au pairs

Finnish girls! Ik hou van Finnish meisjes!!

With my American friend Jenny

Click to enlarge pics if you want close-ups of our mugs :)

Ps. If you left a comment on my Italy video trip it has been replied to. Check the comments from that post for replies.

Hope your Tuesday's treating you well. Tony Abbott's sure having a good one.

It's a love story baby just say yes

2009-11-19T15:02:00.000-08:00

A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to ma big sis,

BIG M.

BIG UP, Y'all!!!!!

Taylor Swift - Love Story
Uploaded by Taylor-Swift. - Explore more music videos.

Happy Birthday Mima!

Will be drinking some charty just for you :)

As you can see in the vid below, Our Lord and Saviour, His Greatness the Manitee, already had a few too many

Love love love tiny t/pumpkin

(Aww yeah unky ren that be my name! You's now Princess!)

xxx

You can do me up like Woodrow Wilson, carry my children, exit the building

2009-11-09T18:57:00.000-08:00

Ok who's the best blogger in the world?
Obvs me since it's currently 3:45am here and I've been up making you guys the most amazing video you will ever see. I actually started this video a while ago but studying for Dutch exams kind of took precedence over blogging duties but that didn't really matter since my video program that I was using crashed multiple times so I had to START ALL OVER AGAIN. And you know what the most fun part of it was? I had to individually adjust EVERY SINGLE PHOTO on the timeline for the right time duration. Yup all 553 of them. That's right FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-THREE photos, FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-THREE photos, VIJFHONDERDDRIEENVIJFTIG photos (just writing it in Dutch to make sure it's absolutely clear to everyone), each one painstakingly placed on the timeline of my video and then altered so the video didnt end up being 17 hours long.
As expected, I now have bleeding stumps for fingers and there is blood all over my keyboard.

Y'all better be leaving me comment love on this post, due to the massive amount of effort it took me to put this post up. Whoever doesn't comment gets no clogs, windmills, postcards, or presents when I get back or get to taste the magical goodness that is stroopwafels and pindakaas (omg SO GOOD. Now THIS topic deserves a post of it's own).
In addition, Lord Manitee will pay them a lil night time visit in the fuzzy tingle times.
Now who'd like to wake up with this sitting beside them in bed?

Yeahhhhhhh that's what I thought.

If appropriate attention is not paid to this post, I think I'll make this blog private on a password only access basis. Haha been wanting to do that for a while now anyway but I cant figure out/be bothered to learn how to do it.

I expect my inbox to be flooded with messages of love, adoration and devotion tomorrow. You have been warned...

Also making a video was a sneaky way to force you to listen to The Greatest Band of Our Time. Start listening to them now before they get signed to label and they start getting played on every bloody station and every store you go into (on this note: thank you to everyone that's started listening to Phoenix since the release of the last album. Of course Im happy for the band getting the recognition they deserve, but I really DO appreciate hearing the same album in every single shop I enter. For this I have you to thank so nee, really, dank u wel. As long as y'all realise there are better songs than 'Lisztomania' and maybe you should listen to their other 3 albums to find them) plays their songs.
Any way Boy Crisis are about to head the way of Phoenix, MGMT, Passion Pit et al since I think they're about to be signed (well theyre releasing video clips atm so that must mean something) Have been sitting on them for but since they're about to break out, thought I might as well add some fuel to the hype machine and become part of the process that will end up with me not being able to stand listening to their songs one more time.
Err apologies for the mini rant on nothingness. I put it down to it being past 4 am.

So here they are in all their glory.
Bez you will like them.
Becky you will like them.
Nushi you will like them.

Krisha you will hopefully like them..? Dressed to Digress always reminds me of that Hellogoodbye song...
Puj you will like them when they get featured on Gossip Girl :P

Mima if i was burning you a new driving mix cd I'd put all their songs on it :)
Tav, Sugs and most of the boys will possibly dislike them...? I definitely think they fit the 'Ladies Man' stereotype ;)

Haha how could you not like a band that has lyrics like "I was up in Chinatown, Tryin to buy a lamp, Smells like dung, Very familiar" and "All up in my spaghetti like you're parmesan"?

Dirtydirty+stupid funny ridiculous lyrics = instant love.

Lol theyre not even that good. Just fun to listen to. One of those bands you eventually get bored of and then seek solace in the comforting arms of Bon Iver.

Turn the music up loud and enjoy :)

Im going to bed.

Stumpy Manitee ventures forth to Italy from tanya s on Vimeo.

PS. All comments will be replied to in this post. Sorry for being lazy and not replying earlier. I shall aim to amend my bad behaviour.

A love letter

2009-10-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

Dear Paris,

Okay fine I admit it, you won me over. I wasn't even too bothered with coming to see you. All I really wanted to do was go to Versailles and recreate 'Marie Antoinette' there and attempt to somehow genetically transform myself into Sofia Coppola through the remnants of DNA that she left there after filming the movie. So that didnt exactly go according to plan but you, YOU, completely surpassed my expectations.

I was expecting angry, unfriendly, snobby Parisians that refuse to speak English and give you directions, ridiculously overpriced food with tiny portions, rude waiters, just another city with pretty buildings and really, just one big cliché because when you've heard so much about a city for your whole life and are constantly bombarded with slogans like 'Paris - the city of love' the city becomes a caricature of itself. But Paris you are so much more than that.

That moment when I first walked out of the Hotel du Ville Metro station and actually saw the city for the first time my heart actually skipped a few beats. I didnt even think that was possible and was only some stupid line that only exists in the universe of Sweet Valley High books. Even though it was still dark and the streets were almost completely empty and I'd had no sleep the night before and I was so worried about not being able to find my hostel, it was such an incredible sensation.

There is no use even trying to describe you to all my friends and family back home. There are no words to describe the way the light filters through the trees and makes the whole city glow or the smell of the hundreds of creperies, bakeries and patisseries that line your streets or winding streets of Montmarte that form a beautiful maze to the Sacre Cour or the sight of the city glittering at night.

You simply just have to GO to Paris to experience it. Im gonna sound stupidly corny and pretty much like a big wanky cliché but Im just gonna type it anyway, Paris you aren't just a city, you're an experience.

Love always,
Tanya xx

ps. I left my heart in Montmarte. Please mail it back to me when you get a chance.
pps. Back in amsterdam for one night and flying out to Pisa, Italy tomorrow :):):)

France + Italy

2009-10-13T16:20:00.000-07:00

Heading to Paris and Italy for mij Herfst vakantie so I'll be gone 'til the end of October.

Looking for tips on places to see and things to do in both countries, mainly in the bigger cities - Paris en Roma.
What should I eat?
Where should I go?
Where's the best place to go to get some cheap escargot?

France - mmm birthplace of beloved charty :D

Italia - Already got the important phrases downpat - Uno martini bianco per favore!!!

Am staying in the scummiest hostels - there have been reports of bed bugs. Looking forward to it :)

Also anybody know of any souvenirs I can get which aren't dinky little metal recreations of the Eiffel Tower/Colosseum. Looking for more unique keepsakes, tho am not really a souveniry person - just need to get summat nice for mum :)

One of my favourite clips ever.
Made right after the race riots in paris. So, so good (err the clip obvs not the riots).
Anybody have any thoughts on the video?

Am hoping all french people are this friendly.

Lol mum and dad you might want to turn the volume off. T'will probably assault your ears.

Deze mijn kinderen (Am totes fluent in Dutch already. Am pretty much Hollish now. Yes danudie i am one of THEM now :)

2009-10-13T15:33:00.000-07:00

Brecht, Phenna and Stach REPREZENT

Grachtenfestival

2009-10-01T16:45:00.000-07:00

From a while ago...

Free festival in Amsterdam aka. the canal festival where the stages are floating on the canals.

Tarantino eat your heart out.

(Haha only Hayley will understand this, if she reads my blog that is, can someone - Bez or Liv text message/call her and tell her about my blog - i dont think she ever checks her emails. Duuuuude I really wanted to watch Inglourious Basterds but it was only shown here with the French and German parts subtitled in Dutch rendering it useless for me to watch. How was it?)

(Gabi this song always reminds me of you, you festivalhead you! What festivals are you going to this year? Line up for BDO is one of the worst I've ever seen - such a hodgepodge of random acts - haha not that I've ever been!)

FOR ALL YOU NON-BELIEVERS (IM LOOKING AT YOU SHRISTI ARYAL)

2009-10-01T14:52:00.000-07:00

The jumpers (l-r: France, Canada, Tanya, French-speaking part of Canada)

Dayyumm I look good in a harness

Should prits much make this my full-time look

Confession time:

Forgive me Father for I have sinned... ok so the pics I posted last time of bungee jumping were not actually of me. I'd given may camera to a friend to take a video but the stupid camera didnt work (anyone want to buy me a new camera? - an SLR would be preferable - I hear Christmas is around the corner, or better yet, it's currently Dasain :), so had to rely on getting pics off others and i finally got a hold of these.

Perhaps next time Jean Bob and Piccolo would care to join? LOL

(Hey Puj remember our prettymuchbestconcertever that we put on? Have been involved in similar events recently. Shall put up video evidence soon :)

So this happened on my first weekend here in Holland, wait that was a lie, it was actually my second weekend where i went to the beach at Den Haag (The Hague - for all those whose Dutch language skills are not as highly developed and sophisicated as mine :P) with a bunch of people, mostly au pairs. I knew there was a bungee jumping thing at the beach but i definitely hadnt planned on doing it. It was a more of a spur of the moment kinda thing - my reasoning was "the ABSOLUTE WORST thing that could happen is that I'd die" - you know which wouldnt be be such a bad thing as I'd drop into the ocean and be reunited with Our Lord Almighty, the Mighty Manitee.

So was up there on the crane and the guy who was talking me through it was said:

Guy: So I'll count to three and you can jump

Me: Okay

Guy: 1-2-3 -

Me: Wait, wait, WAIT! Do I jump ON the three or AFTER you say three?

Guy: Umm, well you can jump now if you want

And so I did.

The worst part was actually stepping off the metal cage/crane and plunging straight down towards the sea in a free fall thinking that i was going to die and then you bounce back and you actually start enjoying it. I LOVED it, would do it again in a heartbeat. Wanna try skydiving now, then perhaps base-jumping ;)

So i was bouncing and swinging in the air, loving it and feeling great, when i realise that the guy on the platform where i was meant to eventually land up was shouting at me in Dutch

Me (thinking): Shit, shit, SHIT!!!! Something's gone wrong!! Im gonna die!!! FAAAAAARRRRKKK!!!

So there I am swinging in mid-air above the North Sea and I shout back

"I DONT SPEAK DUTCH!!!!!!!"

And he's just like, "Oh," and then he starts shouting in English, telling me to bend my upper body upwards, towards my toes, and grab on a rope so that they can start lowering me onto the platform

Den Haag is such a beautiful city, my photos do it no justice.

I used to be obsessed with this song as I'm sure Tav remembers. It always reminds me of a summery, beachy day, Love the video too - all the colours used to get me so excited as a child.

Ps. How good is the original?

PPS. By this time next week I'll have proper internetz! :):):) Took long enough, right? The following should expect replies soon: Mum, Dad, Tav, Big M, Shristos, Gabi, Lauren, Puj, NeighNeigh, Sexbud, Bez, Pali, Unky Ren, Schwets and others that i cant remember - thanks for writing to me y'all!

2009-08-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

Ahhh where to begin with Amsterdam? Well firstly, to be honest, Amsterdam is definitely not what I was expecting. I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting but I guess I was just expecting….more? I don’t know, I guess I just prefer the vibe of my town Haarlem. Amsterdam is so touristy and doesn’t have half the historical magicness of Haarlem. Not sure if I could ever live in Amsterdam but I much preferred the beauty of Den Haag, The Hague (now THAT’S what I call an amazing city but more on that later). That being said, Amsterdam is still a great city as there’s always so much on. Lololol Amsterdam reminds me a little bit of Melbourne minus the gigantic evil penguins with the addition of ten billion more pigeons (the pigeons here are more brownish and their feet are more pink but they still have that evil “IM GONNA MAKE YOU WEAR A DRESS AND HURT YOU REAL BAD” look in their eyes.)

The day I snapped these pics was my first time into the city where I checked out The 9 Streets with Winona, our neighbours daughter (who’s actually 14 but looks and seems like she’s the same age as me. In my opinion, Dutch teens are way more mature than Aussie teens). At first the city was daunting, and as Winona doesn’t come into the city that often, we got lost a few times and went round a circle until I asked some friendly Dutch ladies for directions. In my adventures I’ve been lost so many times, but it’s never a problem as people are always willing to point you in the right direction (haha unless you’re trying to pronounce the Dutch name of the place you’re trying to get to and the Dutch people cant understand your terrible pronunciation – try saying ‘houtplein’, ‘wagenweg’, ‘bakje’, ‘kruidvat’ and ‘grote markt’. Haha I get a lot of laughs from people I ask for directions thanks to my mastery of the Dutch language :P

As it’s summer, every weekend there seems to be a free festival in Amsterdam. I’ve already been to the Canal Festival last week, where there was a floating stage on the canals that we got to sit on and this weekend there’s a huge free cultural festival that I’m going to. Will report back!

Destroyed feet after Amsterdam. The skin is actually peeling off my feet as i type this. Sidestepping those bikes and them cobblestones is nasty.

Ps. Suggestions for places for me to travel to on my 2 weeks off? Probably wont do somewhere close ie. Paris/London/Antwerp that I could do in a weekend. Somewhere farther afoot? At the mo’ I’m keen on Sweden, Spain, Greece, Prague… perhaps Budapest? Suggestions please!

Pps. Sorry I fixed up the comment thing so now anyone can comment and you don’t need a google account to comment so leave me comment love peeps :)

The flight

2009-08-28T05:25:00.000-07:00

So summer in Holland is kinda ridiculous. One day it can be nice and sunny and the next day it’s raining all over the place. Hmm I wouldn’t really describe the weather here as warm since there’s always a raging windstorm going on…for serz, that day I went to the beach it felt rather chilly and none of us were game enough to go in the water. But all the Dutch people and the Pommie tourists (swarms of ’em around) were frolicking about like it was a heatwave. Hollish summer definitely has nothin on Aussie summer. Btw there are no flies in Holland in summer which makes for a nice change…

This is actually an old post, as I typed this on Microsoft Word a while ago, meaning to put it up but never getting around to it. So as im rather lazy and cant be bothered writing a new post, I shall stick this one up instead.

---------------------------------------------------------

Well I’ve reached Amsterdam in one piece safe and sound. I didn’t end up in North Korea or on a plane to

Bahrain

. Actually the flights from Sydney to Seoul and from Seoul to Amsterdam were quite easy and flying by myself wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be, I guess coz I’ve flown to Nepal quite a few times. On my Sydney to Seoul flight I was sitting next to a Korean girl, Amy, who’d come to Sydney to study at Griffith University and she became my plane buddy. Argh the worst thing about the flight from Sydney to Seoul was there was no small screen tv built into the back of the headrest so I had to make do with the big screen tv. It didn’t really matter since I didn’t watch tv at all. I spent most of the flight asleep anyway…

Me and Amy werkin it for the camera

When I got to Seoul I was confronted with people in white plastic space suits and I was tested for the SWINEEEEE. From there I had to find the Korean Air desk so I could get to my hotel. Damn Korean Air kept me waiting for ages and I was getting worried and thinking I’d have to sleep in the airport for the night as they all kept talking to each other in Korean and getting me to move from bench to bench. While this was happening I befriended an old Italian Jehovah’s Witness from Milan who tried to convert me. BTDUBZ. Did you know Jehovah is a name for god? I had no idea…

After about half an hour, Korean Air finally got me to my hotel which was the Hyatt Regency, which is a 5 star hotel that I totally wasn’t expecting. It felt a bit weird to have an entire hotel room to myself – hehehe I even wore my fuzzy white bath towel which made me feel like I was either charlotte/bill from Lost in Translation (you should probably watch this movie if you haven’t already. Lost in Translation = Me). Breakfast and dinner was an all you can eat buffet and I got to try some tasty Korean oolong tea recommended to me by my new friend, the Mr Korea aka. the waiter. Haha they had a Karaoke Bar in the hotel and i was planning to show off my stellar singing prowess but when i wandered down the dark hallway to the Karaoke Bar, I found they only had Karaoke rooms which were closed off. As i was making my way back - a group of Korean businessmen all laughing and whispering excitedly in Korean opened the door to one of the karaoke rooms and i saw a bunch of scantily clad girls squealing, singing and partying inside, with the men quickly filing in. Methinks the girls were there to "entertain" the businessmen :P

The hotel room

Raiding the minibar

Herrrrrro Virginia Tivoli and that other guy from the ABC Breakfast Show

Lol they had an 'Australia Network' channel where all they showed was this and RPA - which reminded me of Kanooooo ;)

Spent the evening watching Korean MTV (was hoping to catch the Wonder Girls - still love em Krisha, recommend some of their other songs to me!) and 'Friends' which I've never really watched before in my life - ugh hate Chandler

Back on my flight from Seoul to Amsterdam I got to eat cool Korean food called bibimbap which was rather tasty and reminded me of Sarahn (dude i am totally coming to your house for Korean food when i get back - Korean food is yummmm :) In no time in was at Schipol Airport. I got picked up by my host mum Thessa and we had no problem recognising each other. We drove back to their house and met the rest of the family. Patrick, the dad, was at home with the kids Brecht (8) Phenna (7) and Stach (5). The kids were pretty excited to see me but were a bit shy in the beginning. Their house is ahhhhhmazing will take some pics when I get the chance. It was built some time in the 1800s. I’ve just been settling in atm and am still feeling so tired with the jetlag. I’ve been getting up at 5am and haven’t been able to get back to sleep…

---------------------------------------

Argh i had more photos i wanted to upload but Blogger is going way too slowly. Hmm okay that was the end of the first post about ma flight. Shall write again whenever I can letting y’all know what I’ve been up to.

Ps. I know i have a mountain of emails to get back to and will get back to each and everyone of you asap x

Pps. Due to popular demand i might make a reappearance on Facebook but am still iffy about it... You can add me if you want but im not sure when ill be on...

2009-08-22T14:31:00.000-07:00

Today i jumped off a crane into the ocean.

Life is good :)