2009年8月29日 星期六

Aug 29 Den Haag
















It's Saturday again. Plan to explore another city of the Netherlands.






Den haag was a reasonable choice. Historical, cultural, natural, and not far from Rotterdam.











It took less than twenty minutes on the train from Rotterdam Centraal to Den Haag HS(Holland Spoor). I jumped on tram9 to Scheveningen, the famous seaside resort. On the way to Scheveningen, I enjoyed the beautiful street view of Den Haag. Compared to Rotterdam, there are more trees, waters, and old buildings; less cars and people. It took about half an hour to Scheveningen. You could feel that it's a place for vacation: hotels, casino, and beach.











The Kurhaus hotel is its landmark. It looked like a palace. Behind the hotel is the beach. There are many outdoor restaurants on it. Because it's windy and cloudy, there were not many people there enjoying their brunch. I walked on the pier, the largest one in the Netherlands to feel the North Sea waves and had a different viewpoint to see Scheveningen.











Then I went to Vredespaleis (Peace Palace), where the International Court of Justice located. There were also other tourists. Because it was closed, we just took pictures outside. Outside the gate there's an "eternal peace flame." I believe that most people have the same wish: "May peace prevail on Earth", the slogan on a stick outside the gate.











I had McDonald's for lunch(simple and fast). Then I walked to "Binnenhof" and "Ridderzaal", the political center of this country. The historic buildings, plaza, and the fountain created a majestic view.











I visited Mauritshuis, an art museum next to Binnenholf. It exhibits paintings mainly from Dutch artists, such as Rembrandt, and Vermeer (I don't know if Rubens can be counted in).






The most famous paintings are Vermeer's "Girl with a pearl earring"and "View on Delft", Rembrandt's "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp" and his last "self-portrait." Vermeer really mastered portraying light and shadow. When I stood in front of the painting with a small distance, I felt the light and the shadow were so real. But when I stood closer, I found that the reflections on the earring were only by two brushes: one was the reflection of the light source; the other one was the reflection from her cloth. So amazing!





Rembrandt's two paintings belonged to different levels of his life. "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp" was done when he was around middle-age, with fame and wealth. He portrayed every detail with delicacy. But his last self-portrait was a different style. I found an old, exhausted old man with a little sorrow. There are also other famous paintings from other painters, most of them are Dutch. Among them, I like Carel Fabritius' "The goldfinch." The composition is simple. A goldfinch with the bright yellow marking on its wing was attached by a chain. If it was hung in someone's house, it would look like a real goldfinch on the wall.










After leaving Mauritshuis, I went to the shopping street to buy my Lush shampoo and conditioner. In my opinion, I think the shopping street of Den Haag is more worth to visit. I'm sure to come back again. I finished my schedule today earlier than I expected. I took tram back to Den Haag HS, and then took train home. I came home around 6:30pm.










Den Haag is really a beautiful city.












2009年8月22日 星期六

Aug 22, 2009 Trip to Kinderdijk






After lunch, I took a walk from my dorm, crossing Erasmusburg to the pier. On the bridge, there were people making a film. It took me about half an hour to the pier.

I sat on a bench on the riverbank to wait for the waterbus. Temperature was around 20C. I felt very relaxed and comfortable sitting there with moderate wind. Life should be easy like this.

The water bus was like the one we took in Kaohsiung. Many people took their bikes with them as well. In the begining, on the left side of the river, there are tall buildings at downtown Rotterdam. On the right side is residential area. Then I saw Erasmus U. Soon it changed into country scene. Around half an hour later, I took of at Ridderkerk to change smaller ferry to Kinderdijk.

When arriving the pier of Kinderdijk, next to us is another ferry. It took cars, motocycles, bikes to cross the river because there is no bridge near by. It took only few minutes to cross the river and it kept coming angd leaving. It is new to me.

I walked about 15 minutes to Kinderdijk. There were many tourists. There are total 19 windmills at Kinderdijk. They were used to avoid flood. Among them #2 is open to public. I spent 3.5 euro to take a look the inside. The space is rather small. But there are still people living in windmills. Some of windmills are working. When approaching a fan, I clearly understood its size and felt its power. I didn't visit all windmills because time was limited and I was tired as well.

I left Kinderdijk around 4pm. From Ridderkerk to Rotterdam, the ferry had engine problems, so all passsengers needed to get off it at next stop and took another ferry. Overall it was an interesting trip.

2009年8月21日 星期五

A long journey to new life

Aug 18~19
From Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
To Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Aug 18
19:35 Say goodbye to my family, journey begins
20:30~21:15 Kaohsiung to Taipei
23:05 Leave Taipei
Aug 19
1:40(Bangkok time) Arrive at Bangkok
2:55~9:32 Bangkok to Schiphol (Amsterdam)
10:06 Enter the Netherlands
10:43~11:30 Schiphol (Amstrdam) too Rotterdam Centraal Statin (by Train)
18:30 Arive at African Inn, my dorm

From home to my dorm, I took nearly 36hours. This long journey brought me into a new life.

After saying goodbye to my family, I stepped forward to the custom, then to the gate. I felt a little bit nervous. The feeling that I didn't want to leave my family was strong until the plane took off.
My emotion was calm when I was in Taoyuan airport.

I a lucky to have an isle eat. TThe plane to Bangkok was with many vacancies. Two seats next to me were empty that I could put my legs straight. Next to the isle was a Taiwanese travel group. You could tell that they were excited anticipating the trip. The movie played was Star Trek XI, which made me happier. After having a meal and no longer after the movie ended, I arrived at Bangkok. It was midnight at Bangkok. There were still several flights at that time. Two of them were heading for Dubai. You could see many passengers are Arabians.

After nearly one hour stay, I continued my trip to Amsterdam. From Bangkok to Amsterdam, the plane was full. About half of passengers were Taiwanese, others are Europeans and Thais. There was a woman with her children sitting next to me. After a short sleep, a meal was served again that I was awoke by the noise. Afte the dinner, I tried to sleep again but failed. When I gave up, it was about half of the 12hr flight. The only thought in my mind was: I want to get off the plane!
In the rest 6 hours, I fell asleep for less than a hour. I read, wrote, watched a weird movie, and had a breakfast and another meal. Finally, the plane landed.

Outside the gate, the passport and the visa were checked. I was asked about my destination, purpose, how long to stay, when would my program start. Then passing through the custom, I had my first step on the Netherlands. After picking up my luggage, the officer checked it. It was my second time to be checked when using this large suitcase.

Train plarforms and ticket booth were easily found. On the platfrm,, an Indonesia women helped me bring my luggage onto the train and found a sit for me. She got off at first stop, Leiden. She said goodbye and wished goodluck to me. I appreciated her help. Outside the window, I saw many needle-leave trees, grasslands with cows on them, and watercourses flow through the lands with boats on them. It's a beatiful country picture.

I arrive Rotterdam Central Station after 55 minutes. It didn't have elevators or escalators. I tried hard to bring my luggage downstairs. Someone helped me. I think it was because he could not bear I abused my suitcase. All public telephones were out of order. I went to tourist infomation center to borrow a phone to phone Jasmine, who should pick me up. However, I couldn't reach her because it was said that the number was no longer used. For a while, I sat in the center, thinking of my next step. From mail I found that the number was correct. I decided to put one of my luggages in a locker and picked up my key by myself. But I didn't know how to use the locker. So I dragged my luggage and wanted to take a taxi. At this moment, Jasmine found me. I was lucky at last.

I bought strippenkart, and then we took tram #21 to Avenue Corcodia, where the agency and I-house located. I met other 2 Taiwanese students, Joy and Lucy there. Joy cooked noodles for us to be lunch. After taking a rest, I picked up my key at Stadswonen then headed for my dorm. I changed tram at Beurs, where you can see as downtown. Crossed Erasmusburg into south Rotterdam. I got off at Vuurplaat. It took me sometime to find my dorm. I was so tired at that time. Finally, I found it. My 36 hour journey from my home in Kaohisung to my dorm in Rotterdam came to an end.

The first impression of my room was a little bit old. But the view was not bad and it equipped many stuffs. The internet didn't work, which depress me a lot. I wanted to talk to Henry so much.

Quickly I went to Albert Heijn to buy a brocolli and juice. I cooked instant noodles to be my first meal here. But I had no appetite at all. The sunset was at 9pm. Then I went to sleep around 11pm.

2009年8月12日 星期三

Last Night in Hsinchu

It's my last night in Hsinchu.
I have been here for nearly 8 years.

I still remember the first two year was full of unpleasant memories. I hated here. I felt so lonely here. I still remember the feeling.
I escaped, then came back.
I found a way to live. I can't remember from when I got used to the life, the weather, the people here. I am familiar with Hsinchu more than my hometown, Kaohsiung now.

My university life was very boring. I hope I can have a happy school life in Rotterdam, to create some wonderful memories.

My graduate school life was much happier. I had friendly lab mates. I had Henry to be with me on weekends. These two yearwas the happiest time for me in Hsinchu.

The two-year work life was a precious experience. I had a chance to work at a global company, learning to become a qualified engineer. Although I don't like the long working hours, I can't deny I have learned much, both professional and personal. I realized how real society works. I have to appreciate my superiors and coworkers.

Yesterday was my last work day. I left the office. The door closed in front of me. Maybe in the rest of my life, I won't able to sit in there again. Handed out my badge, rode my motorcycle to leave the office building. The feeling was hard to tell. In order to begin a new life, even though there are things want to keep in the old one, I have to give up.

Tonight I rode through 清夜. It was crowded as usual. I had clear feeling that I no longer belong to here.

Now sitting in my room, tomorrow I will leave here, and will not come back in a short time. I didn't remember the feeling I had at the night of my last day in Kaohsiung before I went to Hsinchu to become a freshman.

Next Monday will be my last day in Taiwan before I go to Rotterdam. What will I feel? I don't know. But I believe it will be hard for me to fall asleep.