A Case Against Meat

My attention was caught by an add on Facebook today; the head of an orangoutang in cling wrap ready to be sold in supermarkets. I clicked the link which took me to a page that warned meat sold in Albert Hjein was soy fed, soy which is grown in plantations in South America that are not only damaging the environment but are also the cause of human rights violations. 

I googled around a little and found this video which was part of an investigation by The Economist into Europe's cheap meat, click here to read the full article or watch the video below.

Friends of the Earth in The Netherlands has an ongoing campaigning about this apparently The Netherlands is the world's second largest importer of soy.  If you feel as sick as I do right now please read and sign their petition.  

We have already cut down drastically on meat mostly because we've found the quality of meat here pretty shocking, after reading this though, there is just no way we will be going anywhere near soy fed meat and instead aim at organic and free range. Can that even be found here in the Netherlands? Eating for me is getting harder and harder by the day. I am now a gluten free, sustainable fish only, extremely strictly non cephalopod, organic/free range meat eater. Bloody great...

Autumn in Amsterdam

Every morning for the past month I have biked through Vondelpark on my way to work and watched as the leaves on the trees slowly turned yellow and orange and fell to the ground. I have only ever experienced a real autumn once before (when I lived in Canada all the way back in 2005) and although I often like to complain that my fingers freeze as I ride my bike, I actually really love experiencing this season.

Vondelpark in November

Autumn for me is synonymous with cosiness, warm candle lit homes, dinner parties in with friends and warm cafe's with rain drops on the windows and Amsterdam is the perfect setting for all these things. So so gezellig...

Where has Summer gone?

I hate to admit it, but it happened today, a pang of wanting to be living back by the beach. A pang bad enough to even make me want to be living back in Manly Beach, Sydney. My expressed wish, my "big dream" has always been to live on one of the isles of Hawaii. I feel so far away from all of that right now.

I love Amsterdam and I love liberal European ideals but the cold in combination with the early darkness and the high density urban sprawl was a little gloomy today. I want sun and beaches and nature.

Sunny days followed by torrential rain

I miss clear blue water and waves. I even miss almost being killed* several times while trying to learn to surf "Ang!!! PADDLE PADDLE PADDLE" as a wave the size of me comes crashing down, tosses me around and sends my board slamming into my face.

The Bower Break. Just off our local  Shelly Beach

Secret trails to secluded beaches

I miss early morning swims before work, and cracking open a coconut for breakfast at a secluded beach not many people venture to.

Collins Beach, will always remain as Little Penguin Beach to us

I miss smoldering weekends, packing our boards and heading up or down the coast with friends. BBQ's on the beach and the music of guitars with a Corona in hand and our bare feet in the sand.

The mini mal I hardly got to use

Looking at the tropical birds in the trees 

I love Amsterdam and I love my life here. But being here is part of a road that will eventually take me away. Until then all I can do is dream of the tropics and enjoy the ride in what I think is the most beautiful city in the world.

* I may be exaggerating a little.

Free Cat

Free to a good home*

*Also willing to trade for another cat

Of course this is a joke and I would never abandon or palm off my sweet little kitty just because she has picked up some annoying behaviours (probably from me) lately.

The last couple of weeks she has been seriously bullying us.  She has been waging biting wars against our unsuspecting feet and Jumping up on chairs and our bed to bite our arms. We have been trying several things suggested by cat behaviourists to stop this behaviour, spray bottle, yelling "ow", putting our palm in front of her face and forcing her to back off... It just has her coming back for more.

It has crossed my mind that she is suffering a little from separation anxiety because I am no longer here with her all day. Before leaving for work she sits between me and the door and meows very sadly. My aim this weekend is to invest in a lot of kitty toys to keep her entertained during the hours i'm at work, hopefully it helps and I have my happy kitty back before too long!

Brussels Weekend Snap Shots

Last weekend we jumped on a train over to Brussels (something we have been meaning to do for a while now). From Amsterdam, Brussels was only 3hrs away and cost €44 for a return ticket. We treated ourselves (because of my new employment status) and stayed at the Grand Metropole which had some incredible French Renaissance mixed with Art Deco architecture. 


One of the things we noticed during our first stop in Brussels a few months ago was the amount of street art and murals all around the city, Belgium also has a big comic book culture and a lot of these characters can also be found painted around the city too. 

 

 

Inside the Comic Trip Center.

As well as waffles, chocolate and Beer, apparently Belgium is also famous for having fantastic moules mariniers - mussels cooked in a delicious broth of  white wine, butter and herbs and served with a side of fries. It seemed like they were all the rage too, restaurants were full of people eating them and we couldn't resist either. 

 

 

 

We strolled through a little antique market, I was hoping of finding some original Art Nouveau or Art Deco jewelry or home wares but instead I got the same feeling I often get at antique markets - that it's just people's old junk they no longer wanted :)

 

Before heading home we made sure to pick up some speciality Belgian beers and chocolate. Then we spent 3 hours standing up in an over booked train while first class carriages were empty. Apparently Benelux Weekend tickets don't even entitle you to a seat on the train. Thanks a lot NS Highspeed.

Early Autumn at the Bloemenmarkt

Autumn is here and the Bloemenmarkt is stocking up on winter hard plants and selling off the last of Summer's sunflowers.

 

Beautiful!

Amsterdam Drug Dealers

The other week Mats and I were out on the town and stopped outside a "Smart Shop" to see what sort of mushrooms they had on display, it was the first time we had been approached by a drug dealer in Amsterdam...

Drug dealer: "Hello there, I noticed you were looking at drugs, that shop is closed but I am open, would you like some drugs, cocaine?"

Mats: "No, we're OK"

Drug dealer: "OK, no worries! (smiles) Well, have a good night" Walks off whistling.

50 metres down the road we walk past him; he smiles, waves and says "hello!"