It is Giveaway Time !

On February 13th Greetings From Holland will be completing 2 years ! My sincere "thank you" to all followers and those bringing their "two cents" !

With my blog I have met virtually and/or personally many bubbling personalities and discovered many interesting blogs made by creative, enthusiastic, critic, passionate and very opinionated people around the world. I have done a lot of research and learned even more interesting things about the Dutch culture and myself...

In order to celebrate the two years of G.F.H. I will be giving away two books. The title is "Dutch Cooking Today" and has easy-to-prepare, modern interpretation of traditional Dutch recipes. Thus no granny food - although one can label Dutch food as "comfy food". The book is in ENGLISH. I have gotten one as a present many years ago and prepared so far many yummy recipes. So I bought two units and decided to give them as presents this month.

Above, zebras. It is a starter made of rye bread and a mixture paste consisting of cream cheese, dill and salm. No frying, no cooking - and you can prepare it with a certain advance in time. If you do not like to use salm you can use a white fish of cooked chicken instead - it is goingto look even whiter and become more "zebra-ish" !

Above: chicken and salm soup. Very low fat, very surprising ! Please explore my blog clicking on the labels "restaurants", "recipes", "food"  on the right side of this page if you are not familiar with Dutch foods/meals/delicacies/street food.

Above: pear stewed in red wine, cloves and cinnamon. I prefer curd with prunes - also found in the book !

"Poffertjes": tiny pancakes. Found in all Dutch supermarkets and also during fairs and quermesses around the country, during the whole year. Serve them topped with butter and sugar. Notice the recipe has three paragraphs. I told you: the Dutch recipes are simple AND the Dutch cuisine is so much more than just mashed dishes and pea soup ! The brilliant thing about this book concept is that there are NO Indonesian foods (it is a very strong ethnic cuisine in Holland), NO Belgian foods (which is very lovely cuisine from a neighbouring country and uses liqueurs and beers) or from other countries  at all - and these days Italian and French have lots of influence on Dutch cooking styles. The book is all about pure ingredients and honest flavors in a 1-2-3 step.

Book contents: classic basic sauces, breakfast/brunch/lunch, cakes with tea or coffee, appetizers and snacks, soups, one-pan dishes, main courses, vegetables and side dishes, desserts. All recipes come with a photo. There are also art photos in the book with Dutch themes / landscapes / sceneries.

And the lucky winners get also one plastified bookmarker with magnets, so that you can place it on your chosen recipe page. You can also write some notes inside the bookmarker.  Everyone, living in any part on planet Earth can participate on it. Here are the simple rules to participate in this draw, step-by-step:

1) Become a follower of Greetings from Holland right now if you are not one;

2) Place a quick comment in English (on this post only) up to 16th February, not forgetting to mention your name, city and country. Example:
Hi there Anita ! I just discovered your blog, and I already love it !  I also would love to win one of the books. I am really interested in preparing some Dutch food. My fingers are crossed ! Good luck with your blog. Nigella, London, UK;

3) You can also write about this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, Orkut page or Tweeter. After that you can come here and publish the link (do not forget to mention your name, city and country). Like that you can participate as many times as you wish !

4) When I publish on the lucky winners' names on the 16th February they have two days to react, placing a thank you comment. In case one or both winners do not react then I will make another draw. The presents will be sent via mail as soon as I get the winners addresses.

This is so exciting ! Good luck to all participants !

Ushi, Ushi !

Old videos but good stuff from the Dutch telly: Japanese Ushi Hirosaki interviews famous American artists while they are visiting the Netherlands. Donny Osmond is initially very irritated and tense. He tries to keep himself polite but ends up laughing uncontrolably.  Probably his worst interview ever. Keep watching the second part below - nothing is what it seems to be.



Lionel Richie was very calm and kept himself cool up to the end.


Just try to ignore the Dutch subtitles and watch how good Ushi is.


Arriving from a tour in Japan, Jamie Oliver gave this interview to Ushi while spending a couple of days in the Netherlands. He was then promoting his book "The Naked Chef". I found it weird he fell in the trap.



Ushi plays a lot with the embarrassment of Americans about sex related questions.


There are many, many other videos on Youtube with "Ushi Hirosaki". International stars such as Ronan Keating, Shannen Doherty (who got very confused), Jamie Cullum, Gino Vannelli, Larry Hagman, La Toya Jackson (who calls Ushi a nymphomaniac) ... Enjoy !

Wendy van Dijk between her characters Lucretia and Ushi.

Only in the Netherlands

Reading the Dutch papers on line today, I learned about a man who called the police because his wife has during years and years sexually assaulted him in the middle of the night. He was exhausted and "needed some sleep". He made a formal complaint about it and "two police agents were sent to talk to her". The couple has been married for 18 years and has two kids. The paper gave emphasis to the importance of talking about sexual violence against men at own homes - even if the victims were men in the hands of own spouses ("the last taboo").

The note was followed by hillarious comments from the readers:  "A bit strange story. Why talk to police agents ? She should go to a doctor due to hormonal inbalance, too much testosterone... Send me a photo of her: if she doesn't have a mustache I will treat her from being oversexed"/ "I have always dreamed about a cougar like that" / "The world is so unfair. I have to beg it to my wife every night" / "I know this sort of problem, my wife is also like that. But she has gotten two lovers now, who can take this heavy obligation out of my hands. Unfortunately, they are sometimes not enough." /  "Why only during the evenings ? Is she a kind of wolf or something like that ? It is okay when my wife wants to have it during the day. When she wants only during the evenings, I tell her: Hey ! A man has also to sleep..." / "Ah, she should just become a member of the local rugby or football club" / "This is a proof that headaches are just excuses."
_______________

**** Dutch men can be so light and cynical like no other ****

Tweet

Shell... what a shame !

"Amnesty International and Friends of the Earth said on Tuesday they had filed an official complaint against Anglo-Dutch firm Shell for shirking responsibility for oil spills in Nigeria and wreaking havoc on the environment (...)". whole story here...

Shell: 50 years damaging the Nigerian environment. What a shame !

The Come Back of "The Wheel Clip" in Amsterdam

Bilingual post English - Portuguese

If you are planning to rent a car while visiting Amsterdam, you should pay a lot of attention when parking your car. Once you do it in a forbiden zone, you run the risk of having one of the wheels locked with a wielklem: a wheel clip (see photo). The hated "yellow little monster" forces Amsterdam drivers to collect and pay a fine within 48 hours.

Banned in 2008 due to the excellent behaviour of the local drivers during the previous years, the wheel clip was re-introduced in 2009. In 2010 it was applied 462 times in cars irregularly parked - and most of them belonged to European foreigners visiting the city.  According to today's edition of the newspaper De Telegraaf almost 97% of all foreigners who received a fine last year travelled back to their country of origin withouth paying them. The Town Hall studies now together with the European Community some measures to oblige citizens from a list of ten countries to pay the fines for parking in forbidden areas.

I personally think a wheel clip to be extremely unpleasant and aggressive - but I do see a point in the decision of the Town Hall in re-applying it. It is already complicated to find a vacant place near your home when you live in Amsterdam. Garages and parking zones are rare or almost non-existent in certain areas in the city. I guess Amsterdam would become a chaos if everyone driving a car could park it wherever they whished to do so. And with a public transport system that is quick, frequent and cheap, why would you do tourism driving your own car ?
(Psst ! Check here how an irritated driver removed with a hammer the wheel clip from his car. A parking ticket would have cost him only 2 euros...).

Photo: De Telegraaf

Se você vai turistar em Amsterdam com carro alugado, muita atenção nos lugares probidos para estacionamento. Se você distraidamente estacionar em locais proibidos, arrisca-se a ter o carro presenteado com uma "trava de roda" (veja a foto). O tão odiado aparato amarelo impede que você circule até que a multa seja retirada. Banido em 2008 devido ao excelente comportamento dos motoristas locais, a trava de roda voltou a ser aplicado 103 vezes em 2009 em Amsterdam. E em 2010 fez-se 462 necessária. A razão ? Muitos estrangeiros retiravam a multa na delegacia e não pagavam ao retornarem aos seus países de origem. Segundo o jornal De Telegraaf de 25 de janeiro, mais de 97% dos estrangeiros não pagaram as multas. A prefeitura de Amsterdam estuda agora medidas junto a Comunidade Européia para obrigar os cidadãos de dez países (Polônia, Itália, Irlanda, Inglaterra, Áustria, Suíça, Dinamarca, Noruega, Suécia e Finlândia) a pagarem as multas. Até agora a obrigatoriedade da multa só tem sido eficiente na Bélgica e Alemanha.


Apesar de eu ser uma pessoa um pouco perdida no trânsito garanto que nunca recebi multa por estacionar em Amsterdam. Simplesmente porque me recuso a dirigir carro lá sozinha, no meio daqueles bondes e bicis todas. Só dirijo se marido estiver ao lado me dando uns toques/alarmes/broncas ("Aqui não da pois e' proibido, para do outro lado"; "Vamos dar mais umas voltas para achar local permitido..."). E meu marido só usa o carro para ir la aos domingos se queremos eventualmente dar umas voltas no Vondelpark, pois nesse dia o estacionamento e' gratuito em certas áreas perto o parque. Mas ele fica sempre de olho bem atento pra não ganhar de presente uma trava ("o monstrengo amarelo" segundos os moradores de Amsterdam).


Eu acho bem desagradável essa medida do bloqueio da roda. Mas vamos e venhamos: a cidade seria um caos completo se todos motoristas pudessem estacionar onde bem entendessem, concordam ? Lembrem-se que os prédios na cidade não tem garagem, e os próprios moradores estacionam ao ar livre e tem geralmente uma certa dificuldade para estacionar perto de casa. Em Amsterdam transporte fácil e eficiente e' transporte público.

(Beeem diferente do Brasil, né gente ?)

Psst ! Assista aqui como um motorista irritado retirou um monstro amarelo da roda do seu carro utilizando apenas um martelo. Eu prefiro prontamente comprar um bilhete de estacionamento por apenas 2 euros...

Rio, Movie Trailer

I have already talked about a Carlos Saldanha's film trailer before.
Above, you can watch a new one.
It seems it is going to be released in mid April. Looks cute and funny !
However, I hope it doesn't present all those esterotypes from Rio and Brazil, we Brazilians are so "used to" when living abroad (Grrrr !).

New posters for “Rio”. The movie features the voices of Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway , Neil Patrick Harris, George Lopez, Jemaine Clement, Tracy Morgan, Leslie Mann, will.i.am, and Jamie Foxx.

Algum brasileiro por ai com alguma estorinha de ter vivido uma experiencia ruim por causa dos estereotipos a nosso respeito ?

Randoms

* Sometimes, just sometimes...
I think it is indeed scary I live below the sea level...
 ... and in the only country that expands every year.

* I stock a reasonable quantity of canned food in the attic...
... just in case.

* This makes me think...
... I have to stock some toilet paper too.

* Funny that my children dream in Dutch...
 ... and weird that I have already done that as well.

* I have been in Amsterdam today...
 ... and I was filmed 13 times;
I have read 3 free newspapers while in the buses;
4 people bumped into me;
3 of them said sorry;
all of them were male;
I have photographed 6 people without them noticing;
I spoke 4 languages within 5 hours;
I didn't speak English at all.

Wall decoration

When in Amsterdam: look left and right for unexpected trams and bikes, watch your back for pick pockets, look down into the canals...  

And above all, look up for unexpected surprises. 

(Somewhere in de Elandsgracht, Jordaan area, Amsterdam)

Rio 2016

During the New Year's Eve at Copacabana Beach, the logo for the 2016 Olympics Games was announced.

Three interconnected human figures, embrancing the diversity of races and differences, where you can see the Sugarloaf silhouette:

To visit the official site (in English) with photos and job opportunities click here.
For an interesting article above the Olympics on the Economist go here. But I have to disagree that the international airport in Rio is "operating above capacity": most of the times I have been there the flux of passengers was pretty okay, compared to other overcrowded airports in the world. I disagree with some other points from the article as well.

(Source: well, how do I know all that ? I follow The Adventures of a Gringa in Rio... on the Facebook. Go there ! I have also supplied Rachel twice with links to documentaries... )

The video above is pretty, although I think the institutional video from 2009 is far more energetic and charming:



And recent 360o degrees photos of Rio and Brazil you can enjoy clicking on this link.
And ten facts about Brazil that will blow your mind here, on a short article.

Amsterdam for Children: VOC Ship

Bilingual post, English-Portuguese.

From nearby the Central Station in Amsterdam...

Passing by the most beautiful Chinese restaurant in the city...

There it its: the Amsterdam VOC ship.

The Amsterdam:  a 18th century cargo ship of the Dutch East India Company. The ship started its maiden voyage from the Dutch island of Texel to Batavia (Jakarta, in Indonesia - as it was called during the Dutch colonial era) on January 1749, but was wrecked in a storm on the English Channel, near Hastings. It is still there. A replica of the ship is on display in front of the science center NEMO.  (The replica was built between 1985 and 1990 in Amsterdam and given to the National Maritime Museum in 1991. Because the museum is now closed, the ship has been moved to near the center NEMO).

O AMSTERDAM: um navio de cargo do século 18 da Companhia das Índias Orientais. O navio iniciou sua viagem a partir da ilha de Texel com destino a Jakarta, na Indonésia em janeiro de 1749, mas naufragou durante uma tempestade próximo a Hastings, Inglaterra. O navio continua lá. Uma replica foi construída entre 1985 e 1990 e oferecida ao Museu Nacional Marítimo em 1991. Mas porque o museu está atualmente fechado, o navio foi temporariamente alocado próximo ao centro de ciências NEMO.

Above: yes, that is the restroom.

Foto acima: o "banheiro" do navio.

Photo below: a cruise ship, as seen from the Amsterdam VOC ship. Amazing views from the Amsterdam VOC ship !

I have said on the title of this post "for kids". However, I have only seen adults visiting the ship - the only kids there were mine. My parents visited it years ago and liked it very much. If you wish to visit it with your kids then do not forget to also visit the building next to the ship: Nemo. It is an awesome science center for kids I will blog about it another time in the future. Or just take the free lift at Nemo and go to its roof. It is an amazing place to chill out during spring/summer: there are chairs, water ponds, a bar (you can also take your own food and drinks) and incredible views of Amsterdam  !

Eu disse no título do post “para crianças”. No entanto, quando eu o visitei, as únicas crianças lá eram as minhas. Meus pais visitaram o navio há muitos anos atrás e gostaram muito. Se você tiver crianças e for visitar o navio, combine o programa com uma passadinha pelo centro de ciências NEMO. Ou apenas tome o elevador do NEMO e vá até o telhado. E’ um lugar excelente para relaxar durante a primavera e verão. Há muita água, um bar, cadeiras gratuitas... você também pode levar seus próprios drinques e comida. As vistas de Amsterdam a partir do telhado do NEMO e’ simplesmente incrível (e gratuita!).  

I will be surelly visiting the roof of Nemo again on spring/summer !

O telhado do Nemo e' um ótimo lugar para relaxar durante a primavera e verão !

Diving into the New Year (Lavando o Ano Velho)

Bilingual Post, English - Portuguese

Unox girl 2009/2010: Luca-Prins. Photo: Martijn Mooi.

A new Dutch tradition: diving into cold waters during the 1st of January in order to welcome the new year. 28 thousand people have done that on the 01/01/2011, diving into beaches, canals and lakes in more than 100 spots around the country.

The most important event happens in Scheveningen (near to The Hague) and is sponsored by Unox company, a soups and sausages producer. The company distributes hoods, provides hot soup to participants and hires photographers to click potential "Unox girls" each year. In 2009 the elected was teenager Luca-Prins (17y.) who quickly got some popularity - but gave up her career of a model and advertising sausages. Unox girl 2010 is Marlou Bakker, 17 years and - differently from Luca-Prins - no vegetarian.  

Such tradition of diving in icy cold waters is not old. Reading the papers I discovered it was started in 1920 in Vancouver, Canada. In Holland it started in 1960 - and it has been sponsored by Unox in Scheveningen since 1987. In Canada 2thousand people still celebratee yearly the event (in Holland it is estimated about 28 thousand divers - and the numbers are growing).

The popularity of such big event has intrigued anthropologists and those interested in popular culture. One may guess that diving among unknown people would give the experience of feeling like just one body - one nation. I guess the colective diving gives you the strength to face the adversity (the cold waters) with open arms, washing out the old vibrations and embracing the new vibes. It would work like a ritual, maybe ?  And I observe the Dutch like to think about themselves as "tenacious", "assertive", "sportive". During a cold and dark winter day amusement is created with lights, candles, music and hot food/drinks. This diving (and the pre and post celebrations during the day) serves as a symbol and image of the Dutch people, I guess.  

Several embassies around the world organize such divings as well. The general impression of foreigners interviewed by the Dutch press (and acquaintaces I have asked about) declared to consider such New Year's Diving something "very peculiar", "a histeric mass celebration" and "out of reality". The participants on the video below consider such diving "lekker", "heerlijk" and a "fris begin" (delicious, very delicious and "a fresh beginning"). Of course.

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Maluquice de holandês: um mergulho em águas geladas no dia 1 de janeiro para lavar as más vibrações do ano velho. E não vão tiritando de frio não! Mergulham com muita alegria num mar gelado. Esse ano todos os recordes foram batidos: mais de 28 mil pessoas mergulharam em praias, canais e lagos em mais de uma centena de pontos no país.


O maior evento acontece em Scheveningen (próximo a Haia) e é patrocinado pela empresa Unox, que fabrica sopas e salsichas. A empresa distribui gorros e sopa gratuitamente e contrata fotógrafos para descobrir “a garota Unox” de cada ano. Em 2009 foi a adolescente (17) Luca-Prins, que se tornou famosa da noite para o dia – mas dispensou a carreira de modelo de sopas e salsichas. Esse ano a favorita do fotografo foi  Marlou Bakker, também de 17 anos. Mas, diferentemente de Luca, Marlou não e' vegetariana e adora sopa de ervilhas com salsicha defumada.


A tradição de mergulhar em águas geladas não é antiga, começou em 1920 em Vancouver, no Canadá. Na Holanda, surgiu em 1960, e é patrocinada pela Unox desde 1987. No Canadá cerca de duas mil pessoas ainda participam do evento até hoje, e na Holanda estima-se quase trinta mil.


A popularidade do evento vem intrigando a cada ano antropólogos e estudiosos de cultura popular. A conclusão dos académicos é que os holandeses ao mergulharem com milhares de desconhecidos sentem-se como um só corpo, uma só nação. Assim, o mergulho coletivo oferece uma ideia de enfrentamento das adversidades de peito aberto, e lavagem do antigo – num ritual de renovação. No meio de um dia frio e escuro de inverno, diversão é criada com luzes, musica e comida. O mergulho serve como um símbolo e imagem do povo holandês.


Diversas embaixadas holandesas ao redor do mundo organizam também esse mergulho. Alguns estrangeiros entrevistados pela imprensa holandesa declararam achar o mergulho de ano novo “peculiar”, “histérico” e “fora da realidade”. Os participantes no video acima consideram tal mergulho "delicioso" e um "começo fresco do ano novo".

Unox girl 2010/2011: Marlou Bakker. Photo: Harold Versteeg