X-mas shopping

Yesterday we still had to do our X-mas shopping. Just like every year we always postpone it right till the last minute. It seems like it has become a tradition or something. I had bought most of the gifts on Friday already, but we still haven't bought anything for the most important person in our lives, our son Alec. Yeah, I know, I am so ashamed. We have been doubting what to buy for him. Well, I have to be honest, I have been doubting. YuMei (my wife) wanted to buy a nice kids kitchen-set we saw in one of the local chainstores, since Alec always is goofing around in the kitchen, emptying drawers, pretending to cook, and so on. For me, I had second thoughts about it, since it is a BOY we are talking about, and not a girl. BUT, on the other hand, it is a bit sexist of me to think in a boy/girl way. Alec obviously like cooking, kitchen stuff etc. So why not give him something he really likes. Still, the manly man in me keep on resisting the idea, and I have been looking at a lot of alternatives. Since I couldn't find any, I have given it a rest, and decided to go along with the kitchen idea.

YuMei came up with the idea of going to Amsterdam first to have lunch in our favorite DimSum restaurant. Which I thought was a good idea, since somehow I felt these 2 days, yesterday and today, are also a bit special. Maybe it's because the fact that X-mas is on Monday and Tuesday this year (we have 2 x-mas days in Holland). Anyway, we went to Amsterdam to a restaurant called "Oriental City" (O.Z. Voorburgwal 177-179, no, I don't get money for mentioning this).
We sometimes go there with friends, and are never disappointed with the food, and this time was no exception. Below are pictures of the things we had:








As you can see, the names of the dishes are written on the pictures, so I'll try to explain what everything is:

Lap Mee Loh Pak Koo = Fried cake of rice flour and turnip
Ho Yauw Cha Sieuw Pao = Bread filled with Beef
Ma Lai Koo = Steamed Sponge Cake
Saam Si Tja Chon Kuun = Springroll with meat and Chinese mushrooms
Qian Si Juan = Battered Paste of Shrimps and Scallops
Lap Mee Loh Mai Kuun = Roll of Steamed Dough with Sticky Rice and Meat
San Sie (served cold) = Mixture of Seaweed, Beansprouts Carrot in Sweet Vinegar

I must admit, the Lap Mee Loh Mai Kuun was a bit dissappointing, so we won't have that anymore. But the rest was great, as usual.

After that we went to Hoofddorp to check out Toys 'R' Us, which suppost to have a lot of toys for sale, so , you might think that we finally found the right present for Alec. Well...we spend about 1 1/2 hour there, and still hasn't come up with anything. Meanwhile Alec had the time of his life. Playing with all the toys, looking around, seeing other kids. So, we left empty handed, very tired and very dissapointed.
Well, today we finally found the perfect gift for him. A "little people pirate ship"



I will let you know what he thought of it Tuesday.