Edition 17, November 2010

Hello everyone, Here we are again, already getting ready for Christmas, full of ideas and plans for a wonderful festive season. Yes, the early bird catches the worm! This year De Suikertuin is offering great Christmas baskets, filled with home-made goodies: check them out, they are unusual! For those who wish to celebrate with a group of employees, colleagues, co-workers or friends there is the possibility of a Christmas cocktail party at De Suikertuin, complete with hors d’oeuvres and `mini oliebolletjes en appelflapjes’ (Dutch treats). And if you do not want either of the above, you can rent De Suikertuin as the location of a party of your own. We’re here for you! Recapping the month of October, there is a lot to tell you about. First of all there was the lecture of relationship therapist Diana van Hulten, who spoke about the wide range of emotions, expectations, actions and reactions that make up a relationship. It’s an intricate subject, different for everyone involved because of differences in character, background and interaction. Some twenty people listened intently to Diana’s lecture – hopefully they left a bit less befuddled! Our other activity was the Bike Ride through Arikok National Park. An early, 8.30 am start preceded a great ride. Some twenty people, among them four tough kids, started off in a downpour. They then cycled, wet to the bone, via San Nicolas, Lago Heights and the north coast to one of the caves. The idea was that an early lunch would be waiting for the tired athletes, but no such thing happened: the catering team of Gaston and Isabella got lost! Fortunately they surfaced after a while and provided the group with a super lunch and awa di lamoenchi, so everyone was enough revived for the hot, high and heavy return trip to the Marinierskazerne, our starting point; the amazingly beautiful scenery made up for any hardship whatsoever. Everyone was really enthusiastic, even afterwards, and we are sure that another De Suikertuin bike ride will be in the planning soon. Arikok National Park is stunning, especially after the unusual amount of rainfall of recent weeks. If you missed the ride, plan a hike through the park soon. And now our activities: an interesting, fun idea has come up: send your picture postcards to your friends via De Suikertuin. Joa Beke is designing the postcards, Willeke will be providing the stamps and a real post box will shortly be placed at De Suikertuin to post your messages to your loved ones the `old-fashioned way’. What a great, almost `retro’ idea. On Sunday, December 5 Ronchi de Cuba will be showing his Holiday Collection during a high tea. His previous showing was a sell-out success, with rave reviews for our local designer Ronchi and his Trash label as well as for the festively decorated De Suikertuin. December 5 will be super special as well, so make your reservations early! Quite a few people had to miss Ronchi’s event, so they will be the first to put their names down, we expect. And before we wish you a great pre-holiday November, we would like to mention that we are talking to Dr. Carlos Viana and to Anton Isaac about their sharing a bit of their vast knowledge regarding health, food and the human body (not in that order) in upcoming lectures. We hope you are fine, see you soon at De Suikertuin. Best wishes, Willeke