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Paris City Tour and The Louvre Paris City Tour and The Louvre
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Paris City Tour and The Louvre
Travel & Adventure
February 13,2017
Clayton
Road Trip to Paris Road Trip to Paris
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Road Trip to Paris
Travel & Adventure
February 12,2017
Clayton
Almere, Enkhuizen, Artis Zoo and Rijkmuseum Almere, Enkhuizen, Artis Zoo and Rijkmuseum
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Almere, Enkhuizen, Artis Zoo and Rijkmuseum
Travel & Adventure
February 6,2017
Clayton
Stream of Passion live in Duycker Stream of Passion live in Duycker
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Stream of Passion live in Duycker
Concerts & Shows / Music / Travel & Adventure
February 5,2017
Clayton
Departure PBM – Destination AMS Departure PBM – Destination AMS
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Departure PBM – Destination AMS
Travel & Adventure
February 3,2017
Clayton
Travel & Adventure

Paris City Tour and The Louvre

Posted on February 13, 2017

By Clayton

Date: February 13, 2016

The next morning we went for a city tour. Our main destination was The Louvre Museum, but we took our time to explore the city a bit first and started off with a real French breakfast.

Notre-Dame
First stop on our Paris city tour was: Notre-Dame. This cathedral is big and ethereal.
I was looking to see if I could see Quasimodo lurk behind of the pillars :p
Actually before entering Notre-Dame, we went to this underground museum right in front of the cathedral that displays a history of the Notre-Dame.

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Travel & Adventure

Road Trip to Paris

Posted on February 12, 2017

By Clayton

Date: February 12, 2016

On the early morning of February 12th, 2016, Farid, Ryan and I did a road trip in Farid’s VW Polo car to Paris. This was my very first time in Paris, so I was very excited. However it was very early though.

We drove from Amsterdam, via Rotterdam to Antwerp, Belgium.
We arrived just after sunrise in Antwerp. We decided to explore the city a bit and go grab some breakfast.

Antwerp
First thing we visited was the Antwerp train station. That building is ginormous and gorgeous. We had coffee near the Antwerp Cathedral and walked around the shopping area.

Brussels
After Antwerp we drove to Brussels see the Atomium. Another ginormous construction.

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  • Travel & Adventure

    Almere, Enkhuizen, Artis Zoo and Rijkmuseum

    Posted on February 6, 2017

    By Clayton

    Date: February 6, 2016 – Almere and Enkhuizen

    The following day we drove to Almere to visit my aunt that lives there. I needed to bring a few things over, which I brought from Suriname and she also knows Farid from a long time ago and this is the first time they saw each other again.

    After the visit in Almere were drove to Enkhuizen. A place I have never visited nor heard of before, but it was very historical to put it in words. The entire town looked like a damn painting.

    We also visited this pub that has an official “hofleverancier” status. Places with this status are places that have been visited or provided services to the Dutch royal family.
    So wait, what? I peed in the same toilet as the current reigning Dutch King? Awesomeness! 😀

      
      

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  • Concerts & Shows Music Travel & Adventure

    Stream of Passion live in Duycker

    Posted on February 5, 2017

    By Clayton

    Date: February 5, 2016

    We started the next day off by grabbing lunch at this Turkish restaurant where I had a good “kapsalon” after a long time. There wasn’t much we did besides just wander around the city.

    Later that evening I had to be in Hoofddorp for a Stream of Passion concert.

    This was my second SOP concert, but also my last, because later that year it was announced that the band was about to disband. That was not known at the time, but it was a great show.

    Not too crowded, which made it better for the band to engage with the crowd. I also saw a lot of my Dutch concert and Facebook friends at the show and it was also nice to meet the band after the show again. I have to of the members on my Facebook, so I think the recognized my face.

    Farid and Ryan weren’t at the show, but they picked me up and dropped me off before and after the show.

        

     

     

  • Travel & Adventure

    Departure PBM – Destination AMS

    Posted on February 3, 2017

    By Clayton

    Date: February 3, 2016

    The day that Ryan (RSA) and I would fly off to The Netherlands to enjoy a well-deserved vacation had finally arrived. This was Ryan’s first time in Europe, so I can imagine the excitement.

    We first started the day off by visiting a friend and former colleague as it was her birthday and later that day we met at the airport. At the airport we first helped out one customer in the duty free shopping area that had just started using our software. We even took some time to read and write a few mails in the airport lounge, where I made the blunder of wrongly sending an email to the wrong person, but let’s not get into that.

    As night fell it was time to board. The flight as usual feels never-ending. I think we played a few games on an iPad, maybe even some shut eye, but eventually we landed.

      

    In Holland we of course had to go through the annoying security procedures. Which was easier for me than Ryan. Maybe I look less like a suspect. Joking!!! After finding our baggage we went outside, where we were met by Farid, Patrick and Raymill. It felt great to see them again, especially Farid whom we hadn’t seen over 1.5 year since he moved to Holland. Patrick I also hadn’t seen in a while as he didn’t visit Suriname during Christmas 2014 as he has been doing since 2011.

    Patrick and Raymill had to go to work, so Farid, Ryan and I made our way to Farid’s place. He lives with his partner in a very nice apartment with a gorgeous overview of Amsterdam. There we just caught up on life and other chitchat.

    After that we went into the city center to do some shopping. It was mid-winter and Ryan needed some winter gear. Also we have planned to do a road trip throughout Europe, so we needed to make sure no one was about to catch a cold.

      

    At night time we decided to go all out the first night. We had some drinks on the couch of Farid’s rented apartment, which he never even slept in and only still rented it so Ryan and I had a place to sleep. This was quite an emotional evening as the alcohol did its work and tears started to flow as things that were bottled up were laid on the table. Not exactly for me, because as you know I am very frigid, but we laid all cards on the table and discussed the whole issue of the group of friends that was slowly falling apart.I will not repeat the things said, but I think we all needed that to mend things again. We all understood each other’s own personal struggles a lot better and were able to move on.

    But the day wasn’t over yet as we still needed to shock Ryan in the red light district.
    I regret not filming the reaction on his face when he saw his first “ladies of the night” under the red lights, behind those glass doors. That was hilarious… from what I can remember.

    I think we bar-hopped in the city until we almost started falling asleep in the bars. I remember doing shots with a hot American, entering a very sleazy bar that was another culture shock for Ryan and then we knew it was time to head home. For the sake of alcohol we took public transport and made our way to the rented apartment and Farid went to his living place. We were about to meet up again the next day.

  • Travel & Adventure

    Eurotrip 2016 – Recap

    Posted on February 3, 2017

    By Clayton

    In the next few days I will post daily blogs about my Eurotrip last year. And by daily I mean, I will try to post as often as I can… I hadn’t written about it yet as I was constantly on the road, without internet or too busy just having a great time to write. But everything is on Facebook, so most of you already read the stories and seen the pictures, but I gotta use this blog for something, now don’t I? 😀

    So enjoy and feel free to comment as much as you want.

  • Clay's Personal

    A little less sober 29th Birthday

    Posted on February 2, 2017

    By Clayton

    So that was my 29th birthday…. One more year and I am officially old.
    Again, my birthday was very mild, but fun. Unlike last year, I was not sober. 😀

    The day started off with me picking up this amazing cake, which I had been planning for week now. It was baked by a friend / former classmate, whom also had baked a cake for my niece’s first birthday last December. It was her idea to add my signature to the cake, which was printed on edible paper. The cake was a lot larger than I had imagined, but that was good, because I had enough for everyone to get a piece and it was DELICIOUS!!!

    At work we ate about 1/4th of the cake, I bought lunch for everyone at one of our famous Chinese restaurants and from my colleagues I received a bottle of Sambuca. I haven’t bought this in a very long time, but I have had many interesting nights from Sambuca.

    Once I was home I needed to sleep before I could receive guests. Not that I really invited anyone, but everyone is always welcome. The thing is, the night before I barely slept. I was dead tired from the busy day I had before that, was late up, because someone was about to pick something up at my place, but as soon as he left, I took a shower and went to bed at 12.30 am. Hoping I would have a very nice rest on my birthday.

    WRONG!!!

    I was wide awake as soon as my head touched the pillow.
    I was still exhausted, but I couldn’t sleep. Nothing is more frustrating and annoying than being exhausted and unable to sleep. It also stormed that night. The wind blew so hard that it can be considered a real storm.

    When I woke up, I felt even more exhausted than rested. After I showered, I picked up the cake and went to work. Luckily it was a very slow day, so I could take it easy. I also took a pill to ease up my headache. Or maybe I am just getting too old.

    As I already said, when I got home from work, I just wanted to sleep. My older brother and his family came over, but I excused myself for an hour. After my nap, I felt a bit better.

    Over the course of the evening more guests (family and close friend) came and we ate and drank… lots of red wine. Which is why I had a massive hangover this morning, but that felt GREAT, because I haven’t had a real hangover in a very long time. So not a crazy wild birthday, but still a nice one.

  • Clay's Personal

    29th Birthday Eve

    Posted on January 31, 2017

    By Clayton

    It’s the eve of my 29th birthday and I am here sitting alone in my room, drinking a glass of Smirnoff Ice, listening to Lana Del Rey’s album Born to Die and writing this blog obviously. There is a scented candle burning in front of me… there is no real reason for that. It just smells good and I like that. There also is no purpose for this blog post yet. I decided to just write and let the words write themselves.

    I just finished wrapping 2 gifts. No not for myself. I’m not THAT lonely.
    But wait… it’s almost your birthday… shouldn’t YOU be getting gift is probably what you are thinking.
    Yes, you are correct, but I just like to spoil others, so I have decided to give gifts to 2 people. Both spontaneous, both for various reasons.

    Carmen just started playing… I love this song.

    Oops, sorry, got distracted. Still have no idea what this blog is about.

    I do not feel like reflecting on my life right now. Feels a bit like a waste.
    Not my life… the reflecting at the moment. I think I am about to finish this glass and go watch some YouTube videos until I fall asleep.

    Good night world!

  • Clay's Personal

    Happy New Year 2017

    Posted on January 15, 2017

    By Clayton

    2016 has ended and it’s time for my annual summary of the past year.
    I guess we can all more or less agree upon the fact that 2016 kinda sucked A LOT, but we are all hoping for a much better 2017.

    I don’t know about you, but 2017 is already treating me well. For starters I am working hard on completing my thesis. I want to graduate in February so there is no more time for procrastination and other bullshit. Let’s get this ball rolling and race towards the end.

    The other day I had also won the lottery 😀 yay. It was SRD 12, which equals 1.5 USD/EUROS, but I never win anything and I usually do not take part in lotteries. I believe in making your own luck in life.
    I bought this one while I was in the tank station shop two weeks ago and forgot about it until I was in there again. It may be just be a small amount, but it’s just the idea that luck may be on my side and I hope it stays with me for the rest of the year.

    But back to 2016. As already mentioned it kinda sucked.

    I did have a highlight, which was the Eurotrip I went on. Visited 11 countries within 4 weeks with my friends. I still need to write blog posts about that. I will do so over the course of next month when it will be one year later.

    The lowlight of 2016 was that I lost my best friend. No, none died! Things just fell apart and all efforts of me to salvage that friendship were avail. There is no real reason for it, I guess maybe the 18 plus years of friendship suddenly wasn’t meaningful anymore. That or we have just grown up. I don’t know, but I admit that this has depressed me a lot. Maybe I haven’t shown it or said anything, but on the inside it did. And it still does. But I have somehow accepted this and keep myself occupied with my work.

    In 2016 I have also worked my ass off way more than I ever have before. I admit the money came rolling in, but that also meant little to no sleeping. So it’s a 50-50 thing. I still have 2 freelance jobs to finish from last year. I want to do that, but after that take a break from freelancing. I am exhausting and need to find a way to balance it all out with my regular day job (which is also very hectic) and also find a way to sleep more. I am getting older and it all goes downhill from here.

    The love department as usual is lacking. In 2016 there was someone that finally made me feel the sensation of “butterflies in the stomach” again. I haven’t had this feeling since 2013, since… you know.
    I guess it has been a one year small crush that kinda blossomed into a bigger one in rapid pace, but having said that, this also went nowhere nor will it. I am stuck in the friendzone and I have decided to step back. It’s not gonna happen. Best is to retreat fast.

    So the beginning of 2016 was great (the Eurotrip) after that very crappy months and finally a great ending again when Farid and Patrick whom were both in Suriname on vacation. That was a nice few days, with little sleep, but new memories. Also some broken or fading friendships were mended.

    So for 2017 I have decided, no more BS, get that diploma and just steer of to a better future.

  • Music

    Universal Search Squad

    Posted on November 6, 2016

    By Clayton

    As soon as the “The Holographic Principle” album was available for pre-order I knew I had to get the Earbook version of it. I had also purchased that earbook version of the previous album “The Quantum Enigma” and I think these are a must-have for all die-hard fans. In case you do not know what an Earbook is, it’s exactly what it sounds like: it’s a book, with lyrics and pictures and the CD’s in it.

    epica-the-holographic-principle-earbook-mit-labelprintsThe print is amazing and it has exclusive pictures. Okay, I think in the normal version of the CD you can find all these in the booklet, but bigger it looks better.

    I thought I would wait till the end of the month to order the earbook, but what I didn’t realize was that unlike my country, the rest of the world is not dealing with a financial crisis. So by the time I was ready to order the earbook…. It was sold out. 🙁

    I first had a minor panic attack, then quickly went to search for it on the Nuclear Blast webshop and it was also sold out. I almost broke down and immediately was filled with sadness and regret. After some intense searching I found the earbook still available on the UK webshop of Nuclear Blast. I immediately sent Patrick an email and he was able to order me a copy. I was utterly relieved and could finally relax when he sent me the order confirmation mail.

    I only had to wait a few more minutes for another friend to fly the earbook over from Amsterdam to Paramaribo and now it is finally hear. I was just flipping through the pages and I could just feel the music come to live. It’s truly a piece of artwork.

    Thanks to everyone for helping me get my hands on this 🙂

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