Dutch Farmstay @ Monnickendam, Holland

As dear E has not stayed in a farm before, we thought it will be good to stay in a farm during our trip to the Netherlands. On researching, we found lots of farm stay in Holland. 

We chose Overleekerhoeve located in Monnickendam (Waterland) as we wanted a working farm.

It was a great choice! Overleekerhoeve is a charming a working farm only 10 km from Amsterdam. It is a dairy farm with ponies, ducks, chickens and barn owls (sadly we did not see the owls). 

It has 6 bedrooms and has a skybox in the living room and you can see the cows and calves from the living room, separated by a huge glass panel (very cool).

We settled in one of the rooms with a jacuzzi, kitchenette and 4 single beds. It has a pretty window overlooking the vast grassland with lots of birds. We were able to cook our breakfast and dinner in the kitchen. As it was the low season, I think only 2 rooms were occupied.

We were welcomed by Jenny our host who graciously showed us how they mechanically milked like 30 cows in a short time. The farmer (her husband) first ushered the cows to the parlour and clean the cows’ teats before attaching the milking equipment to the teats. Milk is automatically sent to a cooling tank for refrigeration. The cows are milked twice a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year! Jenny gave us a pitcher of the milk and fresh milk never tasted so heavenly.  

The kids had fun feeding the cows and calves the next day.

The farm has a beautiful terrace where dear T did his quiet time by the canal.

There was a motorized boat that one can use during summer. However, in winter, we did not explore the water vehicles. The kids were contented playing with the manual cars?  

Really peaceful place

We really love the farm stay and the peace and tranquility was priceless and so was the fresh air we enjoyed.

Delft - Home of Delftware

Delft is a picturesque town with pretty canals and a historic town centre. It is also the town famous for the blue and white pottery called Delftware. Some of pottery is inspired by Chinese Ming porcelain.

We loved the canals and bridges and found it very charming to walk along the canals with cafes and shops by the canal. 

We toured the Delft factory and the 1^st stop was a craftsman was putting final finishing touches to a Miffy pottery. The Japanese tourists there were pretty excited to see a modern touch to the age old craft.

We were impressed with The Nightwatch by Rembrandt that was recreated into a pottery art. 

Plates commemorating each year's Christmas

We had a quick lunch at Mr Fish where they sell all kinds of fish and shellfish items and we ate at the shop enjoying the fresh seafood and crisp winter air. We loved the herrings with the pickles and onions.We had fried oysters, anchovies, surimi....

It was a good day out.  

Aalsmeer Flower Auction in The Netherlands

Aalsmeer Flower Auction is half an hour’s drive from Amsterdam. 

Aalsmeer in The Netherlands is where millions of flowers from all over the world are traded every day.  The flowers are sorted and graded before being auctioned off. In the old days before technology advancements, the flowers carts are placed on trolleys and are paraded through a track for the buyers to view and bid for the flowers. 

The Auction system works on a Dutch Auction system where it goes from the highest to the lowest bidder. The auctioneer will set the price and bidders will hit the button if they wish to buy the flowers.

Nowadays, little actual flowers are paraded for the auction. Buyers will bid base on pictures and one can bid for the flowers anywhere. There is less logistical requirements in this and flowers can reach buyers in a shorter time.

Good little educational trip for us!

Visit to Nestle Chocolate Factory - Maison Cailler in Broc

On 26 December 2012, we visited Maison Cailler in Switzerland for a chocolate workshop.  The maison was in the town of Broc and near the town of Gruyeres so we plan to combine chocolate and cheese tours. 

We took a 2 hour train to reach Broc and it was a short walk to the factory.

On arrival, we visited the café and had hot chocolate and café with cream. Tasted great on a cold winter morning!

We proceeded to the chocolate shop to load up on different varieties of chocolates.

We proceeded with the workshop and our chocolatiers introduced us to the 3 base chocolate mixture – white, milk and dark. There were different moulds we can use and different toppings including chilli, cinnamon, sea salt and silver and gold dust. We proceeded with making our own chocolate creations which were really fun. We even piped wordings on our chocolates.

Whilst waiting for the chocolate creations to hardened up, we took a tour of the chocolate factory. We learnt the history of Cailler and how chocolates were made. The tour took us from one room to the next and it was about an hour, ending with chocolate tastings. That was the best part as we got to taste the different chocolates.

It was a really wonderful bonding time for the family and we enjoyed the tour very much.

Harry Potter Warner Brothers Studio Tour

One of the highlights of our UK trip was visiting the Harry Potter Warner Brothers Studio in Watford which is 1 hour away from London. Tickets have to be pre-booked and the excitement of the tour starts at the entrance. For Potter fans this is a must do.

This tour takes about 3 hours and the sets are the actual sets used in the movie. We were first ushered into the grand dining hall with a sumptious spread of food (models of course).

Harry Potter's Bed in Hogwarts

Handpainted

We saw special effects used in the movie, costumes etc.You get to have hands on try at using the magic wands and practicing your spells.  You can also try the green room where you wear a cloak and try out the broomstick. They superimpose the picture and you see yourself flying to Hogwarts and town. You can

get a set of photos and a thumb drive.

There are outdoor sets - where you get to ride the motorbike and drink butter beer. It tasted quite nice. You get to see the three tier Knight bus.

We walked down the town set which was cool as they show how the footprints in the snow was created. It was really a magical experience for the kids and us.

Model of Hogwarts

Shanghai Food Trail

Compared to our first trip to Shanghai 9 years ago, we had excellent food recommendations this trip. We were delighted with the food which was done well and fresh.

Ye Shanghai - we chanced upon this restaurant and decided to have dinner there. The decor was excellent and we sat on the second floor and there was a lady and a musician entertaining us with old chinese songs. The food we had were quite healthy and tasty.

We went to Lao Ji Shi twice for dinner. Every dish we ordered was really good. The best was the hairy crab which was in season and the crab meat vermicelli. The spring onion cod fish head was excellent too.

Crab meat vermicelli sheet - yums

In season - hairy crab - nicely done!

full of flavour - cod fish head deep fried with spring onions

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Jelly fish with wild veg

Yummy pork ribs

Fish was nice

dessert pancake

We also had a whole peking duck to ourselves at this famous branch of Beijing restaurant.

Bones for porridge