wanted salmon, seared in hot oil until the skin is crispy but still pink in the middle, drizzled with home-made teriyake sauce, served with steaming white rice and stir-fried vegetables, wash down with a glass of Vermentino di Sardegna.

If I’m not following the recipes of my mother or Casa Veneracion, my cooking is basically just winging it. Unlike my husband who likes to involve complicated Japanese methods, my home-cooked meals are simple, easy and fast. And usually delicious, if not healthy all the time. With the help of the internet, winging your cooking is easier these days.

ravelling with kids is always a conundrum, and oftentimes parents sacrificed their enjoyment to focus on kid-friendly travel. I’m not one of those parents and I’ve never been a fan of vacation parks with their enormous indoor pools with water slides and children’s theaters. Parent or not, my preferred travel destination involves huge, open spaces, with little interaction with kids and other human beings as much as possible. There’s really not many of these places in the Netherlands. But then, you have Texel.

Texel is the biggest of the five Dutch Wadden Islands, that includes Vlieland, Terschelling, Schiermonnikog and Ameland. It’s also the most popular, especially among Germans and Belgians. You wouldn’t want to come here in the summer, particularly during the school vacation. With only 463.16 sq km welcoming at least one million tourists each year, it is suffocating.

But between the first week  of spring until the end of April, Texel is the most ideal place for a long weekend getaway, for grown-ups and kids alike. We’ve been here several times, as a couple and after our daughter was born.

Texel offers a diverse landscape unique in Europe. Whether you are a solo traveller, couple, and couples with kids, big families, or picky parents like us, there are loads to do on the island.

Here are my Top 10 things to do on Texel:

I’m one of those annoying people who still list down New Year’s goal. It’s a tradition of sorts that started when my father used to promise every new year that he’d stop drinking, ironically amidst the holiday’s (drunken) revelry. As for my part I would promised to understand him better, become a better student, better daughter blah, blah, blah. It’s been a while since my father and I had one of those “heart-to-heart” year-end talks. When I’ve matured into the daughter with own salary, own apartment, own life, and own money to buy my own alcohol, I realized that a promise to break up with bad habits is always easier than done. Unfortunately for my father, it took an episode of aneurysm before he finally made good with his promises. I, on the other hand, kept the tradition of listing down New Year’s goals.

nder the shadow of the massive Dome Cathedral, Le Dome fish restaurant is easy to miss. In stark contrast with the well-lit and bigger restaurants around Dome Square, its modest facade betrays the culinary magic happening in its kitchen.