21st Oct (Thurs) - Amsterdam
Oh man... 2.5 days in Amsterdam was certainly not enough. I should have stayed on for like 5 days or something so that I can spend at least 3 full days around the vibrant city and another 2 days at the minimum to explore the outskirts or countryside. Oh well, now I know.
I was fortunate enough to stay with my sis' friend at a village some 45mins away from Amsterdam city centre. So not only did I get to explore bits of the city, I also got to catch a glimpse of the outskirts/ countryside as well. And more interestingly, I got to stay in a Dutch house with huge windows. I like~ (^o ^) If only SG has houses like this. Hmmm... then again, even if SG does have it, I won't be able to afford them anyway. Oh bother.
Things that I did while I was in Amsterdam:
1) Played with the cute kid...
... who kept saying "dodo" instead of "photo". (^o ^)
2) Did the free walking tour in the rain and in hail.
The weather in Amsterdam was freaking weird. It was bright and sunny one moment, and the next, I would find myself fumbling for the umbrella. And just as it cleared again, it would start drizzling some moments later. So it was quite annoying to keep opening and closing the umbrella throughout the 3hr tour. It even hailed at one point. And oh! My umbrella was not of any good when used against the gusty wind of Amsterdam. Sudden breeze would swept by and threatened to ruin my umbrella every now and then. And it did succeed once. Only once.
3) Had frites aka fries from the roadside stall.
I hate it when they put too much mayonnaise with the fries. The fries alone was crispy but a little too salty. Next time, I shall try Vlaamse Frites for comparison.
4) Searching for Miffy aka Nijntje
Apart from the Nijntje baby cookies I got from the supermarket, it was pretty hard to find it anywhere else in the city centre - even if it's just a postcard. Surprisingly, I found more traces of Nijntje in areas outside of the touristy district. Even then, there wasn't a huge variety. Japan has more. How strange.
5) Went to the red light district as part of the free walking tour
Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take any pictures 'coz I may just end up taking a picture of a display window (which houses skimpily-clad women/ prostitutes) unwittingly and the woman/ women would have every right (irregardless of whether they are really in the photo or not) to delete that photo or worse still, destroy your camera totally. But I did learn from the tour guide that most of these women were there by choice and the government, in a bid to clam down human trafficking, has began to cut down the number of windows around the area and limit to only a handful of streets. Which in turn means that, if the government is successful, the red light district facade would totally change.
And one more interesting thing that I'd learned of was that there's a panic button in every of these windows. So if a pervert, psycho or a bad customer tried something funny on the prostitute, she would press that button and all the other fellow workers on the street would gather to clobber that guy. And after some time, the security would show up, drag the guy into safety before interrogating him (perhaps with physical "persuasion" as well). And then some time later, the police would show up and take the guy (or whatever that's left of him) into custody. Hahahhaha.
Oh well, there were other stuff that the guide had mentioned but I'm too lazy to type. :P
6) Got shown around some of the more reputable coffeeshops (these were places where you could get soft drugs like marijuana and not the coffee houses where you drink real coffee)
It's not legal to blatantly mention you are selling it. So these coffeeshops often have imagery or names that you could indirectly associate with. For instance, smoke rings as part of the shop logo design.
7) Went into quite a few souvenir shops...
... and was surprised to find that they even sold instruments or kits that aid you in the inhaling of those soft drugs, and even kits that could help you determine the purity of the drug and etc. What an eye opener... Too bad i wasn't allowed to take pix of them :(
8) Open-air market - stumbled there by chance
9) Van Gogh Museum
I'm not sure about The Sunflower. I personally preferred his other works. The museum however, was one of the few museums that really took pain and effort to plan its exhibits and its boutique. It really carried out a consistent theme - unlike The Atom which I'd visited while I was in Brussels. The latter looked great on the outside but crap in the insides.
10) Anne Frank Huis
It was hard to tell that it was the Anne Frank Huis (aka Anne Frank House/ Museum) from its exterior. It looked really modern (after the renovation) and the only tell-tale sign was a small signage (which was hidden in the long queue) at the entrance. Unfortunately, photography wasn't allowed inside so I couldn't show you how the rooms looked like. But I do have a photo of the exterior. To be honest, I've almost forgotten the content of Anne Frank's book though I vaguely remembered the gist of her documenting her life whilst hidding in the hidden annex. Initially, I wanted to buy a copy of her book so that I could read it along my trip, but it was (1) rather expensive and it would cost about the same or cheaper in SG and (2) it was a rather thick book. In the end, I decided to scrap the idea. But I will get the book someday in SG.
I'm itching to go back to Amsterdam already. Next time, I would probably split my time staying within the city and also some time at a local countryside farm. Lalalalala~
Usual random shots segment :P
I was fortunate enough to stay with my sis' friend at a village some 45mins away from Amsterdam city centre. So not only did I get to explore bits of the city, I also got to catch a glimpse of the outskirts/ countryside as well. And more interestingly, I got to stay in a Dutch house with huge windows. I like~ (^o ^) If only SG has houses like this. Hmmm... then again, even if SG does have it, I won't be able to afford them anyway. Oh bother.
Things that I did while I was in Amsterdam:
1) Played with the cute kid...
... who kept saying "dodo" instead of "photo". (^o ^)
2) Did the free walking tour in the rain and in hail.
The weather in Amsterdam was freaking weird. It was bright and sunny one moment, and the next, I would find myself fumbling for the umbrella. And just as it cleared again, it would start drizzling some moments later. So it was quite annoying to keep opening and closing the umbrella throughout the 3hr tour. It even hailed at one point. And oh! My umbrella was not of any good when used against the gusty wind of Amsterdam. Sudden breeze would swept by and threatened to ruin my umbrella every now and then. And it did succeed once. Only once.
3) Had frites aka fries from the roadside stall.
I hate it when they put too much mayonnaise with the fries. The fries alone was crispy but a little too salty. Next time, I shall try Vlaamse Frites for comparison.
4) Searching for Miffy aka Nijntje
Apart from the Nijntje baby cookies I got from the supermarket, it was pretty hard to find it anywhere else in the city centre - even if it's just a postcard. Surprisingly, I found more traces of Nijntje in areas outside of the touristy district. Even then, there wasn't a huge variety. Japan has more. How strange.
5) Went to the red light district as part of the free walking tour
Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take any pictures 'coz I may just end up taking a picture of a display window (which houses skimpily-clad women/ prostitutes) unwittingly and the woman/ women would have every right (irregardless of whether they are really in the photo or not) to delete that photo or worse still, destroy your camera totally. But I did learn from the tour guide that most of these women were there by choice and the government, in a bid to clam down human trafficking, has began to cut down the number of windows around the area and limit to only a handful of streets. Which in turn means that, if the government is successful, the red light district facade would totally change.
And one more interesting thing that I'd learned of was that there's a panic button in every of these windows. So if a pervert, psycho or a bad customer tried something funny on the prostitute, she would press that button and all the other fellow workers on the street would gather to clobber that guy. And after some time, the security would show up, drag the guy into safety before interrogating him (perhaps with physical "persuasion" as well). And then some time later, the police would show up and take the guy (or whatever that's left of him) into custody. Hahahhaha.
Oh well, there were other stuff that the guide had mentioned but I'm too lazy to type. :P
6) Got shown around some of the more reputable coffeeshops (these were places where you could get soft drugs like marijuana and not the coffee houses where you drink real coffee)
It's not legal to blatantly mention you are selling it. So these coffeeshops often have imagery or names that you could indirectly associate with. For instance, smoke rings as part of the shop logo design.
7) Went into quite a few souvenir shops...
... and was surprised to find that they even sold instruments or kits that aid you in the inhaling of those soft drugs, and even kits that could help you determine the purity of the drug and etc. What an eye opener... Too bad i wasn't allowed to take pix of them :(
8) Open-air market - stumbled there by chance
9) Van Gogh Museum
I'm not sure about The Sunflower. I personally preferred his other works. The museum however, was one of the few museums that really took pain and effort to plan its exhibits and its boutique. It really carried out a consistent theme - unlike The Atom which I'd visited while I was in Brussels. The latter looked great on the outside but crap in the insides.
10) Anne Frank Huis
It was hard to tell that it was the Anne Frank Huis (aka Anne Frank House/ Museum) from its exterior. It looked really modern (after the renovation) and the only tell-tale sign was a small signage (which was hidden in the long queue) at the entrance. Unfortunately, photography wasn't allowed inside so I couldn't show you how the rooms looked like. But I do have a photo of the exterior. To be honest, I've almost forgotten the content of Anne Frank's book though I vaguely remembered the gist of her documenting her life whilst hidding in the hidden annex. Initially, I wanted to buy a copy of her book so that I could read it along my trip, but it was (1) rather expensive and it would cost about the same or cheaper in SG and (2) it was a rather thick book. In the end, I decided to scrap the idea. But I will get the book someday in SG.
I'm itching to go back to Amsterdam already. Next time, I would probably split my time staying within the city and also some time at a local countryside farm. Lalalalala~
Usual random shots segment :P
Labels: Amsterdam - 2010
posted by ikan bilis at 2:02 AM
Comment (1)
