Surviving Winter Wonderland

Last week, the “Beast from the East” visited Europe and temperature plummeted to below freezing. Of course this was un-seasonally cold. In Eindhoven, the temperature dropped to around -10 ºC most morning, and of course we had to bite the bullet and cycle to work. Enjoying the Nature Outside Phil and Hayley are known to…

An Autumnal Walk in Mariënborn, Netherlands

As autumn was due to set in, Hayley and I headed to the countryside Mariënborn, a village near Arnhem with a local hiking group. What better way to enjoy the autumn than going out for a weekend stroll in the countryside. Indeed, we had a lot fun.   Strolling In the Woodlands Hiking in the…

Cinderella & Her Pumpkin Kayak

Disney has it that Cinderella dressed up nicely and rode a horse driven pumpkin carriage to meet her Prince Charming at the ball. These days with rising water level as the result of global warming, she can no longer travel in a pumpkin carriage. Instead, fairy godmother has to make her a pumpkin kayak which…

Getting Lost In the Desert of the Netherlands

Yes, we are being serious! There is a desert in the middle of the Netherlands. It is a vast area full of fine white sand with small shrubs growing around the sandy area. On a lazy September Sunday afternoon, Hayley and I got our bike out and enjoyed the nice Indian summer. Welcome to the…

Roaming Around the Luxembourgish Ardennes

Last weekend, Hayley and I went to Luxembourg for a weekend mountain retreat. Apart from visiting Vianden castle and finding mythical creatures, we also spent one full day hiking to explore what the Ardennes has to offer.    Chair Lift? Aren’t you cheaters? After playing with the ducklings in the morning, we hiked to the…

Camping Weekend In the Land of Castle and Mythical Creatures

This weekend, Hayley and I celebrated our three year wedding anniversary. Both of us have lived in the Netherlands for a few months and we are already missing the mountainous terrains, hiking and scrambling over rocks, so to treat ourselves we headed south to the Vianden in the Luxembourgish Ardennes to cure our Mountain Withdrawal…

Day Out in the Hoge Kempen National Park, Belgium

After living in the Netherlands for a few months, Phil and Hayley are getting some mountain withdrawal symptoms. We are beginning to miss the hills and mountains that we grew to love when we live in Hong Kong. So last weekend, we decided to head to Belgium to get a dose of hills on the bike….

Hol(e)y Bike Ride to Belgium

Bikes – check Map – check Puncture repair kits – check Passports??? – Errr… maybe… just throw them into the bike bags just in case  In many of our previous adventures, we have crossed an by planes, by buses, by ferries and rickety boats, and on foot. So the thought of crossing an international border on bikes…

Exploring Brabant, Netherlands On Bikes With Friends

Last weekend, a few of our friends came and visit us. It was really nice to see them again, and we decided to go out for a long bike ride and explore the Netherlands in a very Dutch way. Since there are so many places in Brabant that we haven’t yet explored, we decided to…

Random Evening Bike Ride Around Eindhoven, Netherlands

The weather in the Netherlands has been quite nice lately, so Hayley and I decided to go out for a spontaneous bike ride around where we live in a summer evening. We simply looked at the local map and decided to go somewhere random. And it was a surprise to us. We came across all…

Happy 2nd Blogversary

I can’t believe when WordPress told me that I have been blogging for two years as of this month! Yippee! To put the icing on the cake, one of my hardcore coasteering blogposts has recently been featured on an article called “10 Highly Adventurous Activities You Had No Idea Were Available Near Singapore” on The…

A Day Hike at South Limburg, Netherlands

Well before I came to the Netherlands, I thought the country is as flat as a pancake. But I was proven wrong! The south of the Netherlands is full of rolling hills. Last weekend, I joined a local hiking group to explore the countryside of the Limburg Province, which the southern-most areas of the Netherlands. …