Selena turned 24 on November 17th! She started off her day by giving two presentations at school, definitely not the thing birthday's are supposed to be made of. We quickly made up for it by going to our friend Valerie and Alex's place that night for dinner. They made a very special dinner in honour of Selena, with sweet and sour pork, kung pao chicken, sticky rice, spring rolls, and this special noodle just for the birthday girl (it's a Chinese tradition). They also lit their entire place with candles and had a fruit cake with stroopwaffle on it, they know her all too well! We ended off the night by watching Ever After, such a classic chick flick. It was a great night overall. When we got back to our place our neighbour Jonna brought her a plant and stroopwaffle as well! She is so thoughtful.
The next day her birthday continued. We got all dressed up and I took her to the Oh Land concert! If you have not heard Oh Land, please download her music. She is a singer from Denmark and is absolutely amazing, Sel and I fell in love with her and were ecstatic to hear she would be playing in the Dam! We went with Jonna and our friend Mary from Germany. It was a much needed girls night out. We headed back home after the concert because our friends Suzi and Aura were getting in from England that night as well! They gave Sel a card and bought her earrings! They are such wonderful girls, we had a great weekend with them. We toured all over Amsterdam on Saturday, showing them the sights, shopping, and eating everything Dutch. The city is also being decorated with Christmas lights now and it is even more beautiful than before!
Saturday night Sel had to stay in because her parents were arriving very early the next morning and she wanted to meet them at the airport. Suzi and Aura wanted to go into town, so I joined them, along with one of our other friends from school and his 6 friends in from England as well! We started the night at a low-key pub and then moved on to a crazy dance party where they were pumping Mariah Carey Christmas music, which Suzi and I belted out. It was the first time I felt like Christmas was on its way! We ended the night at what they all called, "an old man's pub", which I understood upon entering. Everyone in the place was over 40. Within 5 minutes though, this group of women was singing along to "I will survive", and some men were jumping up to join in and dance. The place erupted, we joined in, and the rest is history. We danced and sang into the wee hours of the morning, getting back to our place at 3:30am.
The next morning Sel went to get her parents from the airport at 6am, and then brought them back home and the four of us went to Hillsong church together while Suzi and Aura slept in. After church we met the girls, along with Mariel and Lorenzo (friends from C3) at The Pancake Bakery. It was SO amazing. Sel and I shared a huge omelet and an Indonesian curry crepe. It was one of the best meals we had here so far.
After breakfast we parted ways with Mariel and Lorenzo, and the six of us headed into the city so that Helen and Ewald could see the centre. We took some pictures, did some shopping, showed them the red light district, and went to the famous IAmsterdam sign with them. It was a lot of fun, despite the fact that it was pretty cold and really foggy! We were going to go on a canal cruise, but the fog was so thick you wouldn't have been able to see anything. Sel and I also figured at this point that we're better tour guides than the boats anyways. Oh and we also stumbled upon a concert for the Occupy Amsterdam movement, they are seriously everywhere.
Suzi and Aura flew back home that night, and the next morning Selena and her parents went to Austria and Germany for four days. Overall, it was a very successful weekend, and a great weekend for Sel's birthday!
The next day her birthday continued. We got all dressed up and I took her to the Oh Land concert! If you have not heard Oh Land, please download her music. She is a singer from Denmark and is absolutely amazing, Sel and I fell in love with her and were ecstatic to hear she would be playing in the Dam! We went with Jonna and our friend Mary from Germany. It was a much needed girls night out. We headed back home after the concert because our friends Suzi and Aura were getting in from England that night as well! They gave Sel a card and bought her earrings! They are such wonderful girls, we had a great weekend with them. We toured all over Amsterdam on Saturday, showing them the sights, shopping, and eating everything Dutch. The city is also being decorated with Christmas lights now and it is even more beautiful than before!
Saturday night Sel had to stay in because her parents were arriving very early the next morning and she wanted to meet them at the airport. Suzi and Aura wanted to go into town, so I joined them, along with one of our other friends from school and his 6 friends in from England as well! We started the night at a low-key pub and then moved on to a crazy dance party where they were pumping Mariah Carey Christmas music, which Suzi and I belted out. It was the first time I felt like Christmas was on its way! We ended the night at what they all called, "an old man's pub", which I understood upon entering. Everyone in the place was over 40. Within 5 minutes though, this group of women was singing along to "I will survive", and some men were jumping up to join in and dance. The place erupted, we joined in, and the rest is history. We danced and sang into the wee hours of the morning, getting back to our place at 3:30am.
The Old Man Pub
After breakfast we parted ways with Mariel and Lorenzo, and the six of us headed into the city so that Helen and Ewald could see the centre. We took some pictures, did some shopping, showed them the red light district, and went to the famous IAmsterdam sign with them. It was a lot of fun, despite the fact that it was pretty cold and really foggy! We were going to go on a canal cruise, but the fog was so thick you wouldn't have been able to see anything. Sel and I also figured at this point that we're better tour guides than the boats anyways. Oh and we also stumbled upon a concert for the Occupy Amsterdam movement, they are seriously everywhere.
Amaazing cheese store with samples!
Occupy Amsterdam Movement
Red Light District
No comments:
Post a Comment