If you’ve been in Amsterdam to celebrate King’s Day, you’ll know it’s an experience if ever there was one!
I had the pleasure a few years ago when I stayed with my best friend, Chris, at his home in Rotterdam.
King’s Day, or Koningsdag, is celebrated on 27th April to mark the birthday of King Willem-Alexander and it happens all over the Netherlands. People dress in orange – the colour of the Dutch royal family – and there are street parties up and down the country. Chris had bought me a small orange hat to wear – he, in his ever extravagant fashion, wore an orange bunting around his neck!
We took the train to Amsterdam along with plenty of others making their way there to celebrate the day. Amsterdam is busy at the best of times, but the streets were heaving with people everywhere. We were making our may to meet up with some of Chris’ friends who lived in the city.
Along the streets there were pop up bars and food stalls, the atmosphere was fabulous.
Once we’d met up with Chris’ friends, we stayed with them for a while enjoying the music and dancing on the street.
We walked around the city some more and joined in with all the street parties that were going on.
Everywhere you looked, there were friends all together enjoying the party atmosphere. There were even parties on the passing boats.
It was so much fun!
King’s Day is not just about celebrating the king’s birthday, it’s about different people coming together in harmony – being with friends and loved ones, having fun together and making memories. There was a lot of laughter and music to lift the soul and, let’s be real, everyone could do with a bit of soul lifting now and again – and this is the perfect day to do that!
There are flowers in Spring, breezes in Summer, moon in Autumn, snows in Winter. If there is nothing worrying over you it will be the best seasons al all times – Buddha
Tiger Lilies and Roses are two of my favourite flowers, so I was very happy when I received them for Valentine’s Day a few years ago.
I think these beautiful blue Tiger lilies are bold in their form, their energy leaps off every petal and stem. The colour blue is indicative of calmness and quietness which reminds me how I like to live my life.
Blue Tiger Lilies are not found in nature, they are created by dying the petals, but they are striking nonetheless. This makes them different from the naturally occurring pink and orange varieties and being different is OK. OK to bloom and to shine in their own way.
Like the lilies, rainbow roses are created artificially rather that naturally, but they are eye-catching and colourful and instil joyful feelings. When I look at these roses and see the different colours, I see a mirror of myself – many hues, many stories, all woven into me and I embrace who I am.
There’s something soul-raising about these roses, each vibrant petal a reminder that life doesn’t have to be ordinary, that colour can return even after darker days. They inspire me to create and to have the courage to shine brightly.
In Every Petal, a Little Light. In Every bloom, a Brighter Day.
Every year, our town has a balloon festival when lots of hot air balloons take to the sky – weather conditions allowing – and bypass overhead. From my balcony I get a brief but beautiful glimpse of them as they rise above the rooftops and slip quietly out of sight.
There’s something incredibly calming about the way they move – quiet, steady, and peaceful. It’s like the world has stopped to watch them pass.
Quiet, steady, and peaceful is how I live my life and seeing this balloon flying passed reminds me of that.
Since I took a break from writing for talkingthailand, I haven’t been sitting idly staring out of the window in my free time. I’ve been busy with other projects and one of those was a second book in my Flying Solo series. It didn’t start out as a series, but I wrote Still Flying Solo and I’m currently working on Only Flying Solo. Who knows if there will be more – how much flying solo can I do? My mind is full of ideas bouncing around at all times!
still Flying Solo. memories to be treasured
I sometimes wonder how I have come to be living in my hometown again after spending so many years living in Thailand. I sometimes think I was living my best life, especially when I returned to Thailand in 2014 and made Bangkok my home.
But, we make choices in life and my choice was to return to the UK. Everything happens for a reason, right? And my reason was I wanted to be closer to family and friends because living halfway across the world from those you love means I missed out on so many things.
My life in Bangkok was great and I never thought I would see the day that I started to think of leaving, but a conversation with my best friend, Chris, was what set the ball rolling for my move. If we had never started talking about it, both of us wonder whether it would have actually happened – me moving back home and him moving to Rotterdam. Who knows, but we must accept the choices we’ve made.
I’ve been home since 2019 and I feel settled. I have a job I love, I get to see my family and friends as often as I like, but I often think about Bangkok and all the special times I had there.
My new book is a compilation of memories and stories of the wonderful years I spent in the city I called home for 4 years.
Still Flying Solo: Memories to be Treasured is available to buy on Amazon and Amazon Kindle.
It’s been 2 years since I wrote about my Tales of 2022 and one of the last thing I posted on here before I took a break, so in the spirt of picking up where I left things, here’s my Tales of 2023!
January
I took a trip to London with my mum and sister to see Cirque Du Soleil’s Kurios at the Royal Albert Hall which, as a venue, is simply stunning. The show was thrilling with crazy acrobatics and contortionists, great costumes and fabulous music. I could have sat and watched it all over again.
February
Celebrating Valentine’s Day with some gorgeous flowers. I love the different variety and colours – I often buy myself a bunch so I can enjoy them. When I walk passed and smell their fragrance it makes me smile.
March
In March, the snow came. Never underestimate the British weather! It always gets colder before it gets warmer.
April
I took the Eurostar to Rotterdam to spend a few days with my best friend, Chris, to celebrate my birthday. We always have so much fun together, but I had to get this money shot (if only) of the signs at the train station!
May
I’m always on the look out for flowers to photograph, but this was an added bonus because I spotted a bee as well and I managed to capture it without it flying off!
June
I finished this colourful painting by numbers of a Spanish Dancer. I can’t get enough of doing these kind of paintings. For me, I find it very relaxing and it’s a great way to take care of mental wellbeing.
July
A trip to Nottingham to meet up with a couple of friends who I used to teach with in Bangkok. We found a fantastic Thai street-food restaurant called Zaap. The food is delicious and it brought back some good memories. We loved it so much, we have since gone there again.
August
I tried open water swimming for the second time in the lake at Castle Ashby. The water temperature was 19 degrees which sounds warm, but it isn’t. The cold water took my breath away and once my body had calmed down, I managed to swim round twice. It is such a great feeling and really blows the cobwebs away!
September
My friend and I had a day out at Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings – a fabulous outdoor space with beautiful buildings, re-enactments, and a cute coffee shop. If you like history and architecture and learning about the past, it’s worth a visit. We had a great time exploring the grounds.
October
I love spending Saturday afternoon’s crafting with my friend – we do it a lot. In October, we carved pumpkins for Halloween.
November
When the Christmas lights go up in our town centre, it looks almost magical (almost!) They make Northampton look pretty!
December
All suited and booted for Christmas Day with my family. If Northampton looks magical with its Christmas lights (see November), the day spent with my nearest and dearest is even more magical.
I can’t believe this was 3 years ago. A lot has happened since then, but more on that later.
Well, what a start to 2020! The very first day of the new year, I got to spend a glorious day with my best friend and life partner – Chris! (He loves it when I call him my life partner! Hee hee)
Chris and me
I was on a trip to Brussels and Chris came to meet me for the day. We had such a lovely day together – reminiscing about the past, making new memories for the future, but more than that – we had a lot of fun, as always. You know when you just get on with someone – that’s Chris and I!
I also went to Bruges for the day and spent 4 hours wandering around, snapping away with my camera.
Canal Spiegelrei, Bruges
February
On the TV, news of a virus made me really think about whether I should go on my trip to Barcelona, but I was glad I did, it would be the last time I went anywhere for a while. It was my first time there and I had a fabulous time wandering around the city. I was especially ‘wowed’ by the Sagrada Familia.
Sagrada Familia
March
We all found ourselves in lockdown! What surreal times those were! Now, it seems a lifetime ago and I still can’t believe it actually happened. Not much else to do apart from exploring the garden!
Exploring the garden
April
My birthday in 2020 was probably the quietist on record, but I celebrated with wine and a curry and spent time with my brother and sister-in-law.
I went for a walk most days which kept me sane while we were locked up. Sometimes I just walked along with music in my ears and sometimes I took lots of photographs. Who would have thought there was a waterfall in the woods behind my brother’s house.
Waterfall in Little Billing
May
Still in lockdown, we had to find new ways to amuse ourselves and my brother Trev came home with his hair dyed blonde! We took to calling him Slim Shady. Now, will the real one please stand up!
The Real Slim Shady?
Trev then decided he was going to go one step further and dye his hair all the colours of the rainbow, so I ordered some hair dye. This is how it turned out. Rocking the rainbow bro, and his tribute to the NHS. Thank god it was temporary and washed out!
Hair dye number 2
June
Still off work, I went to meet my mum, sister and niece in the park for a picnic. It was lovely to spend time with them, enjoying the sunshine, playing Frisbee and looking at the birds. For me, the simple pleasures are always the nicest.
A trip to the park
The biggest news of the month was that I have moved into my own place. A lovely little duplex apartment near the town centre. I was anxious about moving whilst in lockdown, so I waited until things had eased a bit. Then I was worried about finances, so I waited some more. In the end, I decided to take the risk and just go for it. I have always said, if I become unhappy I will do something about it. I loved living with my brother and his fiancé, but it was time to move on.
First night in my new flat
July
I took a trip to Newark to visit my friends – Doyle and Mel. It was so lovely to see them and their kids again. Mel and I went out to the garden centre and, on the way back, we went to the marina in Farndon and had a cheeky drink by the river.
Photo Credit: Melody Armstrong
The following weekend, I went to Rotterdam to visit Chris.
We had such a fun weekend, as we always do when we get together. Chris was an exceptional tour guide and he took me to new parts of the city. It was such a lovely couple of days making new memories!
Exploring Rotterdam
August
I had been on furlough since the end of March with no clue as to when I would be returning to work, but then we were asked to attend a meeting. We were told that, due to the virus, there would be redundancies.
With this news, I took up painting by numbers to try and stop the constant sick feeling in my stomach.
Painting by Numbers – Amsterdam
September
I was made redundant! My boss came right out with it… “we have to let you go.” Even though I kind of knew, it was still horrible to hear it. I could feel the tears coming, but I didn’t want to cry in front of her – it wasn’t her fault. I got back into the car to drive home and I cracked!
I got home and immediately set about looking for a job.
I have never felt so stressed, I felt sick every day with a feeling of dread in my stomach. I lost all motivation to do anything – even exercise! I was applying for 2-3 jobs a day, every day, and feeling very frustrated because NO-ONE replied!
October
I was finally offered a job! It turned out, it was all just a matter of time! Time that I didn’t think I could bear to wait! I could not be happier and I felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders!
To celebrate, I went out with my sister which was fun, albeit strange. Groups of people absolutely plastered at 6pm on a Saturday night, temperature checks and ID checks before you went into a pub and bouncers telling people ” YOU CAN’T PASS WITHOUT A MASK!” which I thought was quite amusing and that became the quote of the day.
My sister and me
November
I went for a wintery walk in the park with my lovely mum. She is always great company to be around.
A walk with my mum
December
We came out of a mini-lockdown at the beginning of December and I made my own Christmas wreath. I was quite proud of my creation!
My homemade wreath
Christmas day came around and, although everyone was under a 1-day restriction, I was lucky enough to be able to have a lovely day with my mum, dad, sister and niece – memories to be treasured.
My sister and I on Christmas Day
Then, on New Year’s Eve, I spent the evening at home, talking with Chris online. I even got to celebrate two New Years – one in Rotterdam and one in the UK because of the time difference.
Then, we were back in lockdown or tier 4 until at least mid-February 2021.
Despite 2020 being a strange year, I still managed to experience many moments to be grateful for.
We all have plans in life – whether that’s going on holiday, buying a car or a house, going abroad to live or buying the latest fashion – but most of the things we wish for cost money!
Wouldn’t it be nice if we all had a money tree which provided us with the funds to do what we wanted? I have a money tree at home and, unfortunately, the funds are still not materialising.
Living costs too are so expensive – ever increasing bills and prices makes it very difficult to save anything.
But, there are ways – small changes you can make – to save money for something big.
Make a list of your outgoings and whatever you have left that’s your spending money. Transfer that to a separate bank account and that’s how much you have to spend each month. This strategy works for me because I know that I have enough money for bills and I can easily see what I am spending my money on.
Depending on how much spending money you have each month, work out how much you have on a weekly basis. If you don’t spend it all, transfer it to a savings account each week.
However tempting this might be, try not to dip into your savings. You have worked hard to build it up. There are many times when I have thought to myself, “oh well it’s only £20,” but that’s the danger – before you know it, that £20 has turned into £100.
Remind yourself why you are trying to save money, regularly, and if you are tempted to buy things such as new clothes or magazines, ask yourself, do you really need the thing you are about to buy? I almost guarantee that your answer will be “no.”
This depends on whether you have enough time to fit extra work in, but if saving for something big is your main goal, then getting a part time job might work for you. I sometimes write in my spare time and the extra income is very welcome.
When I was saving to return to Thailand a few years ago, I sacrificed many nights out and became a bit of a recluse, preferring to stay in rather than going out all the time. I made saving my priority because I knew I really wanted to travel and settle abroad again.
This is the one I struggle with the most! Being in debt is stressful and it can be impossible to save anything when your credit card bill is looming every month. Cut those cards up! Resist spending that £20! Do your best to reduce your debt! That way, you’ll have money to put aside for that important plan in your life.
When I was moving back to Thailand, I sold books, DVDs and CDs on Music Magpie. The items have to be in pristine condition and you won’t earn that much, but it’s a simple and easy way to raise cash (even a small amount will help). These days, there are other many other ways to sell your stuff – EBay, car boot sales, Facebook marketplace – you just have to choose the most suitable way for you.
If you are able to save even the smallest amount of money, it’ll do wonders for your motivation (and stress levels) and you will be one step closer to making your plans a reality!
I don’t purport to be an expert on any of these topics, I just want to share some of the things that have worked (or are working) for me.
At the end of 2019, I took a trip to celebrate the new year in the lovely city of Brussels.
On New Year’s Eve, I took the Eurostar and arrived at Brussels Gare-du-Midi station mid-afternoon. I caught the metro to Madou and walked the short distance to my hotel on Rue du Nord.
My first glimpse of Brussels
Hotel Sabina wasn’t the most attractive place I have ever stayed, but the owners were friendly, my attic-room was comfortable and there was a free breakfast every day. In any case, I wasn’t there to stay in my room the whole time.
Hotel Sabina
I checked in, dumped my bags and went off to explore the city.
The city centre is a 15-minute walk from the hotel and there is lots to see on the way. As this was December, there were lots of Christmas trees to see – although artificial, I thought this one looked pretty in the tree-lined square..
Christmas in Brussels
Walking along Rue du Congres, you will see the Congress Column..
Rue du Congres
..with its statue of Belgium’s first monarch, King Leopold I at the top..
Congress Column
Next, a quick hoof around St Michael & St Gudula Cathedral..
I love the traditional Belgian buildings..
Traditional buildings
There are so many pretty little squares in Brussels – like Agoraplein..
The streets are busy which makes for a lively atmosphere..
Rue de la Montagne
Finally, at one of Brussels top sights – the Grand Place with its spectacular buildings..
The courtyard of the Gothic town hall is also beautiful..
There is a lot of street art in the city like this staircase on Rue de I’Etuve..
Street art
One of Brussels top attractions is the Mannekin Pis – a 17th century bronze statue of a little boy peeing!
Mannekin Pis
Onwards through the streets getting busier by the minute – don’t forget it’s New Year’s Eve..
Lovely buildings around every corner..
I came across this long line of people eager to try some delicious, traditional Belgian fries at Fritland..
Queuing for traditional Belgian fries!
In December, Brussels hosts its very own Christmas market with stalls full of traditional food and drinks, crafts and souvenirs..
The Bourse – the Brussels Stock Exchange – housed in this grand building located in the second-most important square after the Grand Place..
Brussels Stock Exchange
Exploring some more, I found Halles Saint-Gery a cute building which used to be the old market hall, but now used as a bar/restaurant and events venue..
Halles Saint-Gery
There is an animal counterpart of the Mannekin Pis – the Het Zinneke or The Mutt..
There is also a female version – Jeanneke Pis..
Jeanneke Pis
I decide to walk away from the city centre to see the only canal that runs through Brussels – the Brussels Canal which separates the city from the district of Molenbeek. The streets grew relatively quieter the further I walked..
Brussels Canal
Back in the city, I head to Place Saint-Catherine which was buzzing with people enjoying the market stalls and getting ready for the evening’s celebrations..
After exploring for a few hours, I went in search of food before settling in a bar with a bottle of red..
New Year Eve drinks
I was more than happy sitting outside on the street people watching, but it was bloody freezing. I went inside to warm up and got chatting to the owner. After a while, everyone had left and I was the only customer. The guy had already told me that it wasn’t that safe at night and that I had to be careful on the way back! That was just before he pulled the shutters down and I was alone with this guy and his brother. I started to feel really uncomfortable. He then started ranting about politics – that’s all you need on New Year’s Eve – so I made my excuses and walked quickly back to my hotel.
I don’t think I stayed up to see the New Year in, but I was happy that I was safe and warm again!
That little incident didn’t mar my trip to Brussels, it really is a lovely city and the best thing about it, I was spending the next day with my friend Chris!
