First Month Living in Amsterdam

First thing I have to get off my chest... I can't believe I am living here in Amsterdam.  

2 years ago when I first set foot on Amsterdam soil, I would have never dreamed of living here, but now that I am here, it feels quite comfortable here.  No fighting for a seat on the tube, no black boogers coming out of my nose and generally a bit more relaxed then I was in London.  

I always felt a bit more aggressive in London.  It got to the stage where I was pushed a little and I would push them back harder.

I do like living in London, it was a fun. Things were cheaper than average once you know where to buy stuff (sorry to all the tourists that get ripped off), and there is a lot of variety for everything.

But now that I've started to live in Amsterdam, I have to say I am starting to enjoy it more and more (although at first I was scared of the language barrier).  I mean where in the world do they let you grow Cannabis at home.  I am ready to buy some seeds and grow a plant at home.

Fashion is a bit strange, I haven 't really managed to find any nice clothes, but eventually I will.  I might end up buying clothes from the big brands if I get desperate :)

My new job is pretty cool.  People seem pretty nice.  Almost have my own office, although I like this configuration, because its much better then sitting in a room by yourself.  I share a large office with a Romanian guy.   At the moment, the .Net developers decide how the application is to be made, that is the two of us.  :)

I guess life is good for the time being... Oh, and I have lost count of how many haring's I've eaten since I've got here.

1 Year Later

Can't believe it has been one year since I've updated my blog.

I need to do this more often, wish me luck...

One Massive Update

Boy has a lot happened since I last added a blog.

Work at Aspiren is awesome! I first starting fixing bugs on one of the products, but that changed to implemented reporting services in the application. As part of that task, I wrote an application to release reports and data sources with a click of a button. Did a release of all that one month later, but ran into permission problems because of different environment settings. The day after we figured out what the problem was and released it the night after. No complaints so far, only more work with reporting services.

The Christmas parties with Aspiren was awesome! We where taken to Bristol to join the parent companies Christmas party, there were theme park games, dancers and a casino. I won a little teddy bear from the hammer thing. We also had a Christmas party in London and there was drinking and eating. :)

I spent Christmas in Rome and the food is awesome. The coffee, pizza and gelati was soooo good. The best place to get pizza is Naples and there are a few big gelati stores near the patheon. Saw all the usual sites like the Colosseum, Fontana di Trevi, Spanish Steps, San Pietro and of course Cheppella Sistina. The paintings of the Sistine Chapel is a must see. I am not a big fan of paintings, but I could not help but stare at these paintings. It seems like some of it pops out of the wall when you know it is flat. I guess that is the brilliance of Michelangelo.

Also Howan and I discovered a more efficient way of travelling. Without any check in luggage! We did the entire Rome trips with just back packs that is small enough to take on the plane with us. The amount of time we saved is great and we didn't have to take this massive suitcase around with us.

I also started dragon boating in London. I am caught in trying to decide which team to join. Raging Dragons or the Thames Dragons. Choices! Either one, I will be trying out for the GB team once I am fit again.

January has been a pretty busy month at work. Made version 2.0 of the report services deployment app and also learnt ExtJS. Also found out on the 16th of January that I was to stop at India before heading back to London from Hong Kong.

Shopping is always great in HK, especially cameras and accessories and small electronics. The bank account took a hit this trip:
1. Canon Telephoto Lens 70-200mm f/2.8 IS L - $13000 hkd
2. Shure SE530 - $3000 hkd
3. PSP Slim + 4gb memory card - $1800 hkd
4. Maglite LED Torch - $185 hkd
5. Nintendo Wii - $2300 hkd

Total damage = 20285 hkd or in gbp

I had the opportunity to take some photos with the new lens at my cousins wedding (Congratulations Joyce and Eric!) and I am very happy with the results. I am glad I spent the extra money on the Image Stabilizer version of the lens, because without it, I am sure all my photos at 200mm will be blurry. The only downside is that it is heavy and another thing to carry when I go on holidays. Oh well, at least I will have awesome photos now.

Shure SE530 is steep in price, but I have justified it because I use it everyday at work (mmm, or a poor excuse to buy the best headphones). The sound that comes out of this thing is awesome. The bass is clear, the highs are crisp and the mids are very defined. I guess thats what you get with three different speakers in the headphones and plus the sound isolation feature, you can't go wrong. The only problem is that I now hear imperfection in any mp3s below 192kbps. You can hear where the highs are chopped off. I will now have to encode all my CD's in 320kbps and above.

Which brings me to India, where I am sitting in my hotel room digesting all the fantastic food that I've already had in the last 2 days I've been here.

I was supposed to work on the brand new interface for one of the products, but it was decided back in London that it will not be included in this version and will be included in the next version. So now I am implementing reporting services into this product to replace what the product currently uses.

Life goes on......

First Week @ Aspiren

What a fantastic first week at work, but busy at the same time. I have been given many tasks already, but there is no deadline on it. The philosophy here is take however long it takes you to do your work; quality is the focus. This is the real method to producing a quality I.T. system.

My workplace is pretty good, close to many restaurants and cafes and the people I work with are all very supportive. My boss is Australian too amazingly and not only does he do a lot of admin work for the team, he also gets down and dirty and does some of the programming tasks.

Pretty happy so far, hope it stays like this.

The Netherlands

One thing for everyone to try is to travel without any carry on luggage onto the plane. I had the most relaxed flight knowing that all I had to do was jump on and off the plane. No need to get the bag out from the over head storage just walk straight off. :)

Anyway it was a really nice trip to The Netherlands. Howan picked me up from the airport with her old Mercedes Benz and we travelled to the uni campus where she parked her car for free.

After a short ride to the Amsterdam I started my first binge eating of herring. Oh yea! This was in a fish shop, it wasn't the best herring but it was a good way to start. Had 2 anyway and gobbled it up in no time.

I got thirsty sometime later and decided to get a drink, but I think myself going straight for the herring stand. hmmm... bought 2 and gobbled it up in no time again. This time I also have the nice juice that can only be found in Holland.

Day 1 herring count 4.

Day 2 started out even better. Had some raw ham missed in with some kind of cheese and sauce and also some Stroopkoeken for breakfast. Such a nice breakfast. Just relaxed in the house by looking at the view of river rein and enjoying the fresh air that Elst gave.

Howan's Family, Howan and I went to a local market to do some seafood shopping. Her dad decided to take us on a herring hunt around that market. I finally tasted some really good herring and also learnt that the best time for herring is late June when they are caught.

The first store we herring store we visited I had 2 and a bit herring. This herring was the best I've have tasted to date. It was soo creamy and it kinda melted in my mouth and it was only 5.50 euros for 4. Bought 4 extra herrings for later consumption. The second store I went to was an interesting. We got to see the herring being prepared, as in gutted and the skin removed before being served. As you may have guessed by now, herring is pretty much raw when consumed. Had 1 herring and this herring has a fresh taste, not as creamy as the first store, but still very good. Also had some fried fish cheeks which was really nice and soft. yummy.

Went back home with all the shopping for the chef at Howan's family restaurant to cook a feast. There was freshly made roast duck, squid, scallops and some of the biggest prawns I've ever seen! That was a good lunch, but too bad I was already filled on herring.

Went to Vennendal to do some window shopping and had some of that really nice juice again and discovered that the Nintendo Wii's in Holland were actually a lot cheaper then the UK, that got me thinking that I should buy the Wii. After two laps around the shopping mall, I decided to buy one, but at the counter when I was about to pay for it, I discovered that they don't accept credit card. No where I can find accepted credit card. How disappointing!

So I went back home to the herring that is waiting for me. Luckily Howan wasn't feeling hungry that night so I was able to have most of the four herrings... hehe..

Day 2 herring count 7.

The next morning I woke up with a heavy stomach after such a massive herring injection of the previous day, so I decided I shouldn't eat much today. How wrong was I, more on that later.

We went to Amsterdam and found the smallest house that is inhabited which is about 1.9 m across and also found the smallest house which is no bigger then the width of a standard door. I started to imagine how they actually fitted a bed in there. Along the way though, I also found a herring stand and bought one herring, only because it was expensive.

Howan had arranged to meet her sisters for dinner that night at a Japanese all you can eat. I don't think I have ever eaten that much sashimi in one go! My god was I full of fish that night. I weighed myself that night and discovered that I had eaten 2kg's of sashimi. Oh yea!

Day 3 herring count 1. Total sashimi consumed 2kg's.

It was a good trip. I know I will be going back in June next year for the fresh herring. I will be very hungry for it, as a matter of fact, I already miss it.

Total herring count 12 in three days. mmm. No wonder why my love handles seem bigger, and plus all that sashimi, I am looking forward to the gym.

The Two Signatures

The day I have been waiting for since I arrived. Signing of the accommodation lease, and signing of work contract. This also means that my life for the next year or so is owned by this people. Oh Well, that's life.

I may also get another contract as something on the side to work for my landlord to redevelop their website. Going to meet up with them in two weeks time to discuss this opportunity. Who knows what I can end up getting. :) Just pay me with your BMW!

Job aswell!

Got a call from the agent today with an offer for a job with Aspiren! Start work on the 6th of November!

Its a permanent role with Aspiren. The salary is really good, lots of benefits including gym membership and private health care and in a great location too. Oh did I mention that it is only 6 stops from the place I have rented.

Next week, I am off to Amsterdam!

Finally got my own place!

After 3 days of searching, finally got the contract in my hand. :)

The rental market here is insane! Basically as soon as it is advertised, it is gone by the afternoon., especially the really good places.

So my plan of attack was to go on gumtree.co.uk at 6 in the morning and write a list of all possible places I might be interested. As 8am approached, I called people to make appointments for viewings. If you like a place, and think its good, you have to take it.

Unbelievable!

The current tenant is real nice, they are offering a range of stuff for us for 40 pounds because they can't be bothered moving it, which I might as well take because I need everything she said :)

Anyway, moving in date is on the 28th of this month.

First Week in the UK

Still jet lagged and awake at the oddest times of the night, I reflect on the first week of being here for the first week.

From day 1, as soon as I arrived at Joe's place, I started hunting for a place without much success. Didn't find anything but discovered I needed a lot of information just to be able to rent a place, which didn't help.

Had an interview with Bite Consulting and was told of their services, but after some research I discovered that their services costed too much.

Finally found a really nice place on Wednesday and now just waiting for approval from the landlord. For 190 pounds pw inclusive of all bills and Internet and in Canary's Wharf, who could resist.

Had a record long interview (3.5 hours) with Aspiren on thursday, and it was all positive from them and the agent. It all depends on the remaining candidates.

Also had an interview on Friday with Accenture and it was all positive from them too.

I should hear back next week as to whether I have a job(s) or not.

Also got my bank account setup. I can get paid when I get a job!

All in all, a productive week, when I thought I had nothing much to do.

Just some random pictures from the first week of life in the UK.

A thing for Islamic people living in Britain at Trafalgar square.

Thousands of motorbikes going through the city. Guessing to raise awarness for motor bikes on the road.

Going out to watch the Rugby World Cup.

Random picture.

London china town.

New Phone, K800i

Death to the O2 Atom!

For some reason as soon as I landed in Heathrow, my atom decided to play up. Touch screen stop working, phone turns itself off and crashes all the time! It had to happen when I needed my phone the most!

So out I went and bought an El Simple phone! no more touch screens just a phone with buttons and one that can do the main function, make and receive calls, something which my Atom couldn't do.

The more I play with this phone, the happier I am with it. The interface is quick and responsive, it has all kinds of connections and it has a 3.2 mp Cybershot camera with xenon flash! Perfect for taking photos when I don't have my real camera.

The quality of the photos are really good too! Here are some examples...

The voice calls are also amazingly clear, unlike that atom where I have always had broken up conversations.

In my opinion its a great buy.

btw, for my friends at work in DEWR reading this, check it out, Kings Cross Station.