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It has been a while, but I finally managed to find some time to write a short story about the unforgettable experience I had during my 5 weeks stay in South Africa. It was great to be back in the country I like so much and it seemed like nothing had changed at all. Only the people move on, but buildings, streets, habits, traditions and even the pubs all stay exactly the same.
Together with Stefanie and Yvonne we flew to South Africa on the 15′th of June, right after seeing the opening ceremony on TV in the Netherlands. After arrival at OR tambowe had to collect our two tickets (NED-DEN and NED-JPN), together with over 1000 other soccer fans. It was a bit chaotic, but seeing flags, vuvuzelas and fifa logos everywhere it all contributed to the cheerful atmosphere at the airport, as if it was telling us that South Africa was ready for a great worlcup.
After fetching our Hyundai Getz rental car (crappy car btw) we drove to Potchefstroom where I studied 2 years ago and we met Carlijn and Ettienne; two friends of mine where we would stay the rest of the time. Some quick lunch, shopping and snacks and we drove to Ettienes farm just outside Potch. The next day we went to the first Dutch match in Johannesburg together with a big group of Dutchies and Africans to see the game. In a hired bus we were driven to Joburg, while we were partying in the bus like we had never done before. And when we finally took a sight at the huge Soccer City stadium, I started to realize that it was actually happening; the first World Cup on African soil. And I was there!
Continue reading World Cup South Africa 2010 (II)
In just 2 days I will fly to Johannesburg to support the Dutch Soccer team during their matches against Denmark and Japan. I am really looking forward to go back to South Africa, wondering how it developed itself in the two years I was not there.
I’ll keep you updated on my waarbenjij.nu page.
Huray! I’m a qualified ice diver! Last weekend I went back for some more ice dives and to become a qualified ice diver. In order to do so, I had to make another two dives in the very cold water, with only a single 7 mm wetsuit. I was prepared and ready to get cold, but it turned out the be quite ok and I made to nice 15 min dives just below a 5 to 10 cm ice layer. Very cool!! And, as all of you know, pics or it didn’t happen…
  
More pics
Last weekend I did 2010 first dive, which turned out the be my first ice dive, since the pool (Wythmenerplas, Zwolle) was covered with a 2 cm ice layer. Turned out to be very cool to dive under a small layer of ice, and because it was still thin, you could easily push through in case of emergency. At this time of the year there is not much to see, since all marine life is hiding in the mud, but the ice-layer in combination with the sun gives you quite something to look at.
The only downside of this dive, diving with a wet-suit instead of a dry-suit. Changing clothes at -3 C is not fun, and hypothermia is a risk. During the dive it was quite OK, i managed to spend 10 minutes in the +2 degrees Celsius water. But it was worth it, and I might go back next week, for some serious ice diving including my ice-diving specialty.
Hii all!
My last post ended with my stories of Miri, so this post will start with the story of Kuching! After a short flight from Miri to Kuching, with a stopover in the Bario Highlands I arrived in Kuching. Kuching means Cat in Malay, and because of that the whole city has cat statues all over the place. So after checking in in my hostel I took a short walk across town to see the famous stuff.
Too bad, cuz the statues weren’t that impressive, but hey, I’ve seen them anyway. I also went to check out the famous tourist crap, like the mosque, city hall, waterfront and so on. All the default stuff you do as a stupid tourist  The next day I woke up early to visit the 3 museums of Kuching.
  
Continue reading Kuching “Cat” City
Hi all!
It’s time for a new update! After Brunei I continued my trip to Miri, a large border town near the Brunei-Malaysia border in Sarawak, Malaysia. From Miri I made several trips, to Gunung Mulu National Parkl, a day of diving and one day of Miri sightseeing. My original plan was to travel overland to Kuching, but it turned out that the plane was just as cheap as the bus, but much faster. And after my long bus adventure in Kota Kinabalu I wasn’t really looking forward to spend another 16 hours on the bus.
Goed, de laatste dag in Brunei heb ik nog eens even de moskeeen bekeken en ben ik nog even gaan wandelen door Kampung Air; een dorp gebouwd op palen boven de rivier. Zeker grappig om wel een keer te zien. Overigens was mijn plan om bij de Sultan op de koffie te gaan een beetje mislukt, en het leverde mij nog bijna een arrestatie op ook! Zie je, iedereen is hier panisch van de vogelvarkenspestmexicanengriep, dus een keer niezen voor de poort van de Sultan was niet zo’n strak plan. Twee strenge bewakers kwamen gelijknaar mij toen en vertelde me dat ik weg moest. En snel ook! Helaas, geen koffie dus…
  
Continue reading Brunei, Miri, Mulu and Miri again
Hoooi allemaal!
Een grote schok, maar twee berichtjes 1 week, het moet niet gekker worden! De reden voor dit bericht is een nieuw land, dus daar moet evne een berichtje geschreven worden! En; niet te vergeten, ik heb wat foto’s online kunnen krijgen van het duiken en van de jungle verblijven. Helaas voor jullie zijn de foto’s die andere mensen van mij gemaakt hebben alleen te zien op facebook; dus dat is nog eens een extra reden om een facebook profiel aan te maken 
Goed, Brunei! Voor diegenen die denken; waar ligt dat nu weer; Brunei is een poeprijk, streng Islamitisch sultanaat omgeven door Maleis Borneo. En eigenlijk is het een heel erg gek land… De Sultan is de machthebber en bepaald compleet wat er allemaal gaat gebeuren. Voor de rest is het redelijk veel pracht en praal; allemaal betaald met geld uit de opbrengsten van olie die men hier uit de zee haalt. Afgezien van een moskee met gouden koepels, een paleis met 200 WC’s en shoppingmalls met marmer all over te place; is het eigenlijk stiekem toch best nog wel een beetje Maleis en zie ik zeker nog wel veel bekende dingen terug… En ohwja, morgen ga ik langs het paleis om te kijken of ik een kop koffie kan krijgen; al vrees ik het ergste want het paleis is alleen aan het einde van de Ramadan open voor bezoekers… Verdorie, ik had er nog wel zo m’n baard voor laten staan om niet op te vallen!
Continue reading Visiting the Sultan of Brunei
Hii All,
Just to give you a small idea of where I am right now. Imagine, sea, stretched out as far as you can see. Imagine, a small bounty island in that blue sea, being a protected marine park. Next to it, an into a dive rig converted oil platform with a big sun deck. And Mr. Patrick with his laptop and a nice cold beer. Seeing a very pretty sunset. Got the picture? Keep it, cuz I am doing the same
Continue reading From blue heaven to 7th heaven
Het is al weer een tijdje terug dat ik een reisupdate heb gepost, dus bij deze maar weer een berichtje van mijn kant! Zat ik in het vorige bericht nog heerlijk in het vertrouwde Kuala Lumpur, niet vlak daarna zat ik in het vliegtuig naar Kota Kinabalu (KK), een stad in Sabah, Borneo. Nadat ik hier aangekomen was heb ik eens even goed na zitten denken wat ik nu eigenlijk wilde gaan doen, chaoot als ik ben had ik namelijk nul komma nul gepland of geboekt. De dagen in KK heb ik doorgebracht met door de stad slenteren (1 dag) wildwater-raften (1 daG) en duiken (1 dag). Nadat k de eeste dag KK zelf onveilig had gemaakt kwam Arwen, een meisje dat ik ken vanuit Kuala Lumpur aan en zijn we de voglende dag samen gaan wildwater raften. Supervet, flinke golven en goed als we waren zijn we geen enkele keer omgeslagen! De dag erna ben ik gaan duiken met Gekke Gary van Sabah Divers, zoals m’n duikbuddy het beste was te omschrijven
Continue reading Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan
Hi all!
Its been a while since my past post, so its time for a big update about the past 2 weeks traveling. Finally the big trip has started.
After my previous post I went to pack my bags, and after a final goodbye-dinner Friday evening, I went to pick up Jessica who arrived early Saturday morning. She came to visit me for a short 2 weeks holiday. After she finally got off the place, we went for a quick street dinner and drink, after which we went to get some sleep. The next day we did a short sightseeing in Kuala Lumpur, all the things that were so normal to me, but were so surprisingly different to Jessica.
On monday we had to wake up very early, because we had to get on the 6′oclock bus to Taman Negara, one of the oldest (primary) rain forests in the world. It took us about 6 hours by bus, but we still weren’t there yet. A 3 hour longboat trip took us to a small village in the middle of the jungle (Side note; you can also get to that village by car, its just more fun to do the longboat trip )
Continue reading From the green hell to blue heaven
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