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Ingrid

Pirates of the Caribbean: Ascension Day

Friday, May 26, 2017 by Tse Moana Leave a Comment

Continuing on with what seems to be the theme of this week: do all the things! Wednesday Nienke came by for lunch and trying on some of Mom’s left over clothes I’d kept apart. She had made soup, I made an omelette and bought tasty bread and fried fish. We were so stuffed after that 😀

Around two I (gently) kicked Nienke out, I was getting so sleepy. Besides getting home late the night before, it also took a while to fall asleep and I didn’t sleep well. So after she’d gone, I stretched out on the sofa, set my alarm for a good hour later and was gone in minutes. I woke up on my own a few minutes before the alarm. Monkey then decided that the pillow my head was on would fit him perfectly as well 😀

Taking that as a sign, I got up and got ready to go the city again. This time to go to the movies with Ingrid and her friend Romana. We met up in the centre and headed for cafe De Oude Wacht to eat something. It was cheap but good cafe food. I had satay which came with fries and a good salad. The movie didn’t start until eight, so when it was getting colder after dinner, we traded the cafe terrace for the inside cafe in the cinema for a drink and a cookie.

The movie was a pre-premier of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. We’d all gone to the supermarket before to stock up on a drink and such for during the movie. But it turns out that, as this was an event-thing, we could all pick a bottle of soda and got crisps for during the movie. Good deal 😀

The movie itself was pretty good. The gimmicks are getting old (although the bank robbery is hilarious), but structurally I found this a better movie than the previous one. I liked the throwbacks to the original trilogy with Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, and seeing more of Jack’s past.

I wanted to stay seated throughout the credits but the others we’re more eager to leave. Luckily they (and I, too) had to use the bathroom. I was done quickly, but the ladies’ always has a much longer line. So, fortunately, I was still near the screen when the inevitable after credits scene came on. It was brief, and definitely hints at another sequel. After that, we split up quickly as their buses we’re almost coming. I strolled to the station, taking the opportunity to catch me a great many Pokémon 😀

Yesterday was Ascension Day. And as is tradition, we go to the annual Ascension Day Market in my previous town Eenrum. Ingrid always comes over to go with. This year Nienke and Kim also agreed to go. We convened at my place at ten. The other three then left to go there by car. I went by bike. I decided, two weeks ago, to try exercising again. But the gym and all that doesn’t really work for me. I do like cycling, though. So I installed an app (Strava) and did two rides that first week. The week after I didn’t get around to riding because of a zit on my sit 😀 This week I’m good to go, though. So the trip to the market was to be my first workout of this week. Unfortunately I mistapped and it didn’t record the way to Eenrum.

We met up again and took a gander down the market. We decided to check out one side of the road first, and then at the end turn around and do the other side. That way we would end up back were we started. I bought some new pairs of ankle socks, some plants for the empty pot in the front yard and, as usual, traditional sausage.

Mellien and Bas were also coming, but they came later. So we didn’t get to meet up until we were already halfway on the way back. They joined us for that bit, and at the end we all got something to eat for an impromptu lunch. I’d already had my traditional spring roll and decided on churros for dinner 😀 After that, it was time to go home again as Kim had to work in the afternoon. We split up and I got back on my bike.

For the way back I chose a different route. There’s basically three main ways to get to Eenrum from Winsum (and vice versa). The first two I’d already done and tracked in my first week of using Strava. So now I went for the third route. I knew this was longer, but as it turns out, the difference is 3 km. I made good time, though. Did the 8,2 km in 23 minutes. The others were home before me, but not by much.

Kim and Nienke then went home and Ingrid stayed. We chatted and played board games. First the gold rush edition of Carcassonne. It’s a different version of Carcassonne (versus an expansion). The base rules are the same but the theme is different and it has specialty rules that fit with it. In this case, cities are mountains with gold in it. As you build them, you place gold tokens and can mine for them. At the end, the tokens are turned and scored which is added to your regular score. Because the amount of points on the tokens is hidden until the end, it keeps things exciting. Other difference is that monasteries are, sort of, replaced by named cities where railroads end. You score points when all railroads leading out of the city are finished. The field, prairie in this case, also scores differently. It’s not the amount of completed somethings, but how many Indian settlements or horse herds (drawn on the tiles) are present. I really like this version of the game.

After that we played Rummikub and then decided to do something about dinner. Quick trip to the shop later we had easy food to stick in the oven. We waited it out with a few games of Tea Time (an Alice in Wonderland inspired tile taking game). After dinner we played a quick best-of-three set of Pesten (similar to Crazy Eights). We tied two for two between all games as I won Carcassonne and Rummikub and Ingrid won Tea Time and Pesten. Ingrid then went home.

Today is one of two days during my time off that I had no plans. So this morning I got on my bike again and went for a longer route, 21 km as it turns out. It took me a good 57 minutes. Which is faster already than the first week.

Posted in: General, Photos Tagged: Board Games, Cycling, De Oude Wacht, Eating Out, Eenrum, Food, Friends, Ingrid, Kim, Mellien & Bas, Movies, Nienke, Pathé, Photos, Review, Workout

Om Nom Nom

Wednesday, June 22, 2016 by Tse Moana Leave a Comment

Today treated us to good weather, so we had a barbecue over at Mellien & Bas.

In the same vein I hung out with Nienke and Kim yesterday. I went for tea at Nienke’s place, and then later Kim came by here. She made pancakes and we watched Guardians of the Galaxy. I love that movie. And the pancakes were great.

 

Posted in: General, Photos Tagged: Eva & Jarig, Food, Friends, Ingrid, Mellien & Bas, Photos

Glorious Spring

Sunday, May 8, 2016 by Tse Moana Leave a Comment

Ascension Day was Thursday, so as is our tradition, Ingrid came over. We went to the annual market in my old town and played board games. The weather was real nice so we headed to the market on bike. Excellent opportunity for a few quick pics.

The good weather continued so Sunday I headed over to Nienke for lunch. Nom!

Posted in: General, Photos Tagged: Animals, Food, Friends, Ingrid, Nature, Nienke, Photos

💀💩L and Caesar

Saturday, February 20, 2016 by Tse Moana Leave a Comment

20160217_132530Wednesday Gert and I went to see Deadpool. We had some time before so we first had lunch at Wadapartja. A few years ago it would never have worked, but now it does. It’s a very vintage-retro-hipster place. Furnished with old formica tables and chair, mis-matched lights. A lot of wood and brick and signs everywhere that if you see something you like, you can buy it. They have a lunch and dinner menu and fall in the mid-range when it comes to price. I went for a brown seeded bun with slices of pear, blue cheese, walnuts, honey and arugula. It was very tasty, but it could’ve been a wee bit larger for the price.

Then came the movie, and it is fantastic. I don’t want to spoil it, but I enjoyed the movie so much, I want to see it again. The movie regularly breaks the fourth wall. It occasionally uses bullet time during which Deadpool converses with the audience. He also references other superhero movies, points out stereotypical bits, names actors by name and so on. The story is thin, but as an origin story it gives insight in who Deadpool is and what makes him tick. Also, Ryan Reynolds is awesome.

I also wanted to see Hail, Caesar. Except it only plays on ridiculous times either in the middle of the day, or late at night. Saturday would then be the best option so I decided to go. Gert said he might come. The next day I got texting with Ingrid and she suggested she return the moving boxes on Saturday. Catching two birds with one stone, I proposed she come here in the early afternoon with the boxes, and then go to the movies with me.

And thus Ingrid showed up today, with tasty bread for lunch. I was still in the middle of doing the litter boxes when she got here but after finishing that, we had lunch. Gert texted that he would like to join for the movie also. Ingrid and I then played some Fluxx and some Scrabble before driving to the city. We met up with Gert at the cinema and got our tickets.

Hail, Caesar is a weird movie, but a fun one. It is set in the fifties, the time of big movie studios pumping out film after film with stars they had under contract. The movie takes the pacing of films from that age and has about three or so major plot lines. They all interconnect and all have a similar level of importance. Because of that, combined with the calmer pace and the low level of action a lot of the events are unexpected. There’s also the occasional laugh-out-loud fun in small moments and dance routines mostly.

After, we went to Subway for dinner before splitting up. Gert to find his bike, and Ingrid and I to catch the bus.

Posted in: General, Photos Tagged: Board Games, Eating Out, Food, Friends, Gert, Ingrid, Movies, Photos, Review, Subway, Wadapartja

Foodstuffs

Sunday, January 31, 2016 by Tse Moana Leave a Comment

20160130_185547labrasse   Ingrid called, earlier this week, if I wanted to go out for dinner and go with her to pick out a new fridge on Saturday. Of course I said yes 🙂

We settled on dinner at Chi-Chi’s, a Mexican place. We could only get a reservation for 20:30 so we turned the order around. Fridge shopping first, dinner second. Only, during the day Ingrid found out that the Mediamarkt isn’t open on Saturday evenings any more…

We still headed to the city at the agreed upon time. Except instead of shopping, we went to La Brasse for drinks and a pre-dinner snack. Cue cappucino and cheesecake 🙂

We stayed there for about an hour and a half just chatting and talking. Then we crossed the street to go to Chi-Chi’s. I’d never been there before but I enjoyed it. A nice location, looking pretty modern and not like a stereotypical Mexican place. They had choices between actual Mexican stuff like burritos, taco, quesadillas and more Mexican-American inspired burgers.

20160130_210013chichi 20160130_212811chichi

I went with a spicy burrito as a starter, a steak burger for a main course and fried ice cream with whipped cream and honey. It was very tasty!

20160130_215140chichi

Posted in: General, Photos Tagged: Chi Chi's, Eating Out, Food, Friends, Ingrid, La Brasse

Ice, Joy

Tuesday, January 19, 2016 by Tse Moana Leave a Comment

20160116_185112Saturday Ingrid had her housewarming get together. In the morning I took a quick trip to the town centre to pick up a small gift. I found a pretty vase, vaguely diamond shaped, and a jar of coloured stones to fill it with. I then added a fake flower from my collection for a pleasing little arrangement. In the afternoon I headed over there and had a pleasant time with Ingrid and friends. We all ate together as Anne and her boyfriends made a huge pile of pancakes. Nom!

Gert recently got a train card thing that lets him travel for free during the weekends. So, on Sunday he came over. We had planned to play some games, but we ended up just talking and drinking tea and such. He stayed for dinner and we played with the Monty Python fridge poetry before he had to head back home. I grabbed my bike to accompany him to the station.

20160117_181123It was still cold and occasionally icy outside, so I was pretty careful when leaving. Nevertheless, the ice won. As I turned on to the road from the path beside my block, down I went. Fortunately I wasn’t going fast so I didn’t get hurt. Gert had walked ahead so didn’t even notice. I got back up on the bike and caught up with Gert. He had heard the noise of my bike padlock rattling in the basket when I fell, but figured I rode over a bump 😀

Yesterday was mostly uneventful. So, to compensate for that, my padlock decided to freeze up and stop me from unlocking my bike. I couldn’t even get my key in. I carry a small container of lock anti-freeze in my bag, but that didn’t help. So I had to walk home dragging the bike with me… To say I was ill-pleased is putting it mildy.

Today I went to the movies after work. I’d wanted to see Joy for a while now, but I couldn’t quite make it work time-wise until this week. I was a bit disappointed by the movie. Id’seen trailers and they made it seem like a family drama kinda thing set in the sixties (ish). Plus, Jennifer Lawrence.

A few times during the movie I checked the time, or wondered how far along we were. That’s not a good sign. I didn’t expect the actual plot where she is a regular sort of dead-end housewife who does an invention. The invention goes on TV and becomes popular, then she has to fight over the patent and all’s well that ends well.

There were definitely good bits. Especially the interaction between Joy and her ex-husband is nice. However I didn’t really understand the reasoning behind letting grandma be the narrator when she’s not around for most of the movie. The other family members annoyed the crap out of me. I also didn’t like how jumpy the story became where they would meticulously show everything that happened when it wasn’t really interesting, and then skip parts that I wanted to see. In the end, it’s the kind of movie you watch when you happen to come across it during channel surfing.

Posted in: General, Photos Tagged: Food, Friends, Gert, Ingrid, Me, Movies, Photos, Review, Winter

I Want a Rolling Robot

Sunday, December 20, 2015 by Tse Moana Leave a Comment

20151216_092751Wednesday I had another check-up after my surgery earlier this year. I took the bus there, and as such got there early. I had breakfast at the cafe in the hospital. Bread with ham, pineapple, grilled cheesse and apple chutney. Very tasty 🙂 Then I headed for the clinic for the appointment. The scars look really nice, the nipple grafts look good. The left one is even responsive. The only thing that bugs me is that the end of the scar, under my arm, is pointing outwards. The doctor agreed and we decided to get that fixed. Luckily that’s a small job that can be done at the clinic with just some local anesthetic. Just have to wait a while for it to be scheduled.

I then went to work for a few hours after which I met up with Gert to go see Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I really enjoyed the movie. I’ve seen the other Star Wars movies once, years ago. I can’t remember everything anymore but I know enough to be aware of the general story. Plus, with Star Wars being so ingrained in pop culture, it’s hard to miss.

The new movie introduces new main characters while leaving some room for golden oldies to return. I like Rey and Finn and I love the new robot. I’m definitely keeping the BB-8 plushie from last year’s Nerd Block 🙂 The sequences with the golden oldies, Leia, Hand, Chewie, were charming and I hope we do see more of them in the next movies. I’m less impressed with Kylo, he seems too wimpy. But maybe he’ll grow into his boots. Other than that it was a fairly straight forward story with fun action sequences and good visuals.

Then yesterday Ingrid and I went to the Oosterpoort for a concert show by The Kik. We’d been talking about going to this, and then Ingrid gave me the ticket for my birthday. I’d not heard of them before, but the description of what they do sounded fun. They’re a band that plays music from and inspired by the fifties, sixties and seventies. They write their own stuff, but also cover existing songs from that time. The show wasn’t just a concert but a way of walking through their inspirations.

The stage was dressed with a handful of doors in the back, and a cabinet with vinyls at the front. They would pick a record from the cabinet and tell something about the artist or the song and then play a song by that artist, or something of themselves inspired by. Occasionally a doorbell would ring and there’d be a cutout of an artist behind one of the doors as an introduction to another song or bit of talking. It was an energetic and fun show, and I got to hear a new side of Dutch music.

Posted in: General, Photos Tagged: Food, Friends, Gert, Ingrid, Me, Medical, Movies, Music, Nerd Block, Oosterpoort, Photos, Review, Transgender, Transitioning

Interning for the Last Witch Hunter

Thursday, November 5, 2015 by Tse Moana Leave a Comment

Ingrid had suggested, a while ago, that we go to the movies with the three of us. We didn’t get around to it for a long time, but yesterday we finally made it happen. Ingrid, Nienke and I went to see The Intern. I’d already seen it, but I loved the movie so I didn’t mind watching it again.

After the movie we sat at the Pathé cafe for a drink and something tasty. While there, I noticed there was a late showing of The Last Witch Hunter. I wanted to see that one also. Nienke and Ingrid declined so I texted Gert if he wanted to come, which he did.

We stayed at the cafe for a while longer until it was near bus departure time. Then Ingrid and Nienke left, and I waited for Gert to show.

20151104_142314The Last Witch Hunter is a fun but not particularly good movie. The visuals and effects are good, the action sequences are fun but the plot is meager and Vin Diesel doesn’t really impress here.

Outside of fun things I’m also studying. Through work I’m taking two LOI courses on PHP and Java. I’m doing the PHP one first, and Monkey  makes for an excellent study buddy.

Posted in: General, Photos Tagged: Cats, Friends, Gert, Ingrid, Learning, Monkey, Movies, Nienke, Pathé, Photos

Arnie, Joy, Food

Sunday, July 19, 2015 by Tse Moana Leave a Comment

BBQI’ve never been a terminator fan. I’ve never seen any of the movies beyond bits and pieces during channel surfing or online maybe. But after seeing the trailers for the new Terminator Genisys I was intrigued enough that I wanted to see it. So that’s what Gert and I did Wednesday. The movie was fun and entertaining, not particularly special, but I enjoyed it. And I liked seeing Schwarzenegger reprising his role and poking fun at himself and his age.

After that we went on to see Inside Out, which is a really good movie. The themes were really quite heavy, which I wasn’t expecting. It shows well how depression affects a person. The layering is pretty good, in that it has something for both kids and adults, but I would’t directly recommend it for really young children.

Friday I headed over to The Farm for a barbecue with Eva, Mellien, Ingrid and Julius. The food was glorious, the company was great, and the weather fantastic.

BBQ2 BBQ3

Market DayThen yesterday, we had a market in town. Mom and I took a stroll around. I didn’t really find anything that struck my fancy. Since the weather was still fantastic, Mom and I decided to hit the cafe and get a drink and something tasty. She went for apple pie, the standard snack for cafes, and I picked strawberry tiramisu. It was delish!

Posted in: General, Photos Tagged: Eva & Jarig, Food, Friends, Gert, Ingrid, Mellien & Bas, Mom, Movies, Pathé, Photos, The Farm

Minions and Music

Sunday, July 5, 2015 by Tse Moana Leave a Comment

Minions snack pack

Bananaaaaaaaaaa! Thursday I went to see the Minions movie with Ingrid and Nienke. I love Minions 🙂 And to keep in the spirit of things I had a kid’s snack pack to go with it. Tiny packet of popcorn, tiny packet of candy, a capri sun and a tiny toy.

Friday, Gert and I went to the Oosterpoort. A little while ago Gert showed me an announcement for a free concert at the Oosterpoort. It was a graduation performance for the National Master Orchestra Conducting. The two people graduating each conducted two classical pieces played by the North Netherlands Orchestra.

NNO Master ConductingThe first candidate was Huba Hollóköi and he conducted Bela Bartok’s first violin concerto and Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet fantasy overture. Then, after the break, Konradin Herzog conducted Dutilleux’s Sur le même accord for solo violin and orchestra and Schumann’s Symphony no. 4.

The pieces were really good, but I preferred the works chosen by Herzog.

Posted in: General, Photos Tagged: Friends, Gert, Ingrid, Movies, Music, Nienke, Oosterpoort, Pathé, Photos
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