r a n d o m << s c r i b b l i n g s >>: March 2014

Day 4

Arrived at Schipol Airport around 2+pm. And we made our way down to Amsterdam Central station via the Direct Rail Link. We then took a tram from the tram station (CS Tram Westzijde Amsterdam) just right outside the central station and headed down to Koningsplein Amsterdam to collect the keys to our apartment.

So there we were lugging our luggages through the canal lined streets to Herengracht 451 for our keys and then onward bound to Jordaan Flower Canal Apartment via a tram where we finally settled! Brr. Being a city lined with many canals, Amsterdam was really cold compared to London thanks to the bitter cold winds.

Our apartment was really cosy though, it overlooks the picturesque Bloemgracht canal in Jordaan. It came with a fireplace, a beautiful bedroom and a huge sofa bed. The management even gave us a complimentary wine. I guess for the price of S$785 for 3 nights, they could have well afford to give us a few more bottles.

tadah. complimentary wine.

speaking of which, we never managed to drink.

shucks, we should have just brought it with us to Paris.

Alas, by the time we'd settled down, the sun was setting and the view outside was so pretty. It was made much more beautiful with the quaint streets in our neighborhood.

we went to this restaurant nearby, which in my personal opinion had the best tasting food in our entire trip.

unfortunately, i forgot the name of the restaurant.

>.<

so typical of me.

our tapas platter. came with an awesome spicy concoction of tomato soup, buns, red pepper stuffed with cheese, mackerel pâté, olives, salmon pâté, hams, barbecues prawns, amongst other stuff which i can't quite remember (my memory these days is failing me)

Colin's duck confit.

which was amazing.

Leonard's steak.

And i ordered fish! yums.

when the night was finally over, we headed over to a coffee shop. not your typical starbucks/ indie coffeshop. but the kind you find only in Netherlands.

tadah!

our "brownies" and "muffins" with very very tiny amounts of cannabis.

it was so pathetic, we didn't even get high.

we also visited the Anne Frank Musuem that was really close to our apartment. Try to head there during the night, that's when it's the least crowded. Trust me, it's not worth queuing an hour in the morning just to see a tiny house.

Day 5

Half a day trip out to Zaanse Schans!

Was quite excited to see the windmills which is characteristic of Netherlands. Zaanse Schans is located in a neighborhood of Zaandam, near Zaandijk in the municipality of Zaanstad in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.

Zaanse Schans is littered with smatterings of well-preserved historic windmills and houses. And to those who prefer a less touristy sorta holiday, this would be a place to avoid.

Nonetheless, it was a beautiful place (though it probably would have looked even more spectacular in spring/autumn).

Trivia:

do you know miffy originated from?

HOLLAND!

Surprised?

Well, you're not the only one. I actually thought for a long time that miffy came from Japan. arh! i know you probably think how incredibly shallow i am; characterizing and stereotyping things like that but honestly, hand upon your heart and speak of the truth and only the truth, did you not think so too?

went to a michelin star french restaurant for lunch - De Hoop Op d'Swarte Walvis Restaurant.

A stellar restaurant with a mouthful of a name borrowed from a 19th-century local whaling ship, the "Hope for the Black Whale" occupies a refined brick building that now stands amid Zaanse Schans's green-painted houses, having been originally constructed as an orphanage in nearby Westzaan. Its glass pavilion and memorable outdoor terrace overlook the Zaan River and the waterside villas on the far bank. Gastronomes can expect an unforgettable treat from the hands of master chef Jan Willem Teunis, with subtle mixtures of superior produce prepared to perfection.

dear with his mustard soup.

i know. it sounds disgusting right.

i had the same sentiments before i actually tried it.

it was surprisingly good.

the mustard taste wasn't overpowering but gave the soup just that right amount of flavor.

Rosé gebraden, dun gesneden. Met pesto brioche, Peccorino, macadamia nootjes

en kruiden olie / Roasted, thinly sliced with pesto brioche, Peccorino cheese,

macadamia nuts and herb oil

cod fish with beetroot and creamy mustard gravy on top of a spoonful of risotto.

i was in heaven.

give me fish any day and i'm a happy girl.

we went to check out this house which sold traditional wooden dutch clogs.

so quirky eh?

after we got back from Zaanse Schans, we headed over to Singel Flower market. It's amazing how much flowers they sell even during winter.

i can totally imagine myself living in Amsterdam. smelling the scent from all the beautiful flowers as i walk back home every day. taking in the sight and sounds of the canals and quiet neighborhoods (safe for the infamous red light district which smelled of weed at each and every nook and corner)

now that's what i call life.

haha. the drug store. couldn't resist the urge to take a photo of all the weird stuff they sell.

headed for beer that night. this awesome pub sells hundreds types of beers with about 20-30 beer from tap, amazing.

that night was when we tried the infamous ash cakes.

instructions were that if we are inexperienced, we should take 1/4 of the ash cake and if we were experienced, we should take 1/2 of it.

being the kiasee, i only took a 1/4. I was worried i would foam from my mouth like in those movies.

C ate half of it and dear took half as well.

we were all deadbeat by the time we took, not from the cake itself but from sheer fatigue of walking continuously for so many days. it was already 10+pm by the time we took and apparently it does not take effect until approximately 2 hours later (when your body has digested and absorbed the substance).

C started getting really high and he started calling out to us "the lights are becoming very bright, i'm feeling floaty, you guys should join me, it feels so good!"

lol.

I just laughed while dear took another half in despair that he didn't have any sort of sensation yet.

by the time we got to bed, he started confessing that he too felt the lights were getting brighter.

and whaddya know, he puked in the middle of the night. onto the carpet of our bedroom.

good thing, i hadn't taken much. otherwise, the three of us would not have been in any state of mind to clean up the puke.

poor baby though. didn't even get any sort of high before he puked.

i guess it'd probably be his first and last time eating ash cakes.

Day 6

we woke up at 12+pm the next day and missed our free Sandeman walking tour. I was pretty upset that i didn't manage to tour the city and so dear, being the ever awesome bf, searched on all the attractions which we could visit and designed a walking tour for us.

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100% for effort.

breakfast was smoked salmon with mackerel pâté.

see what i told you.

i'm a fish type of gal.

lol.

went to stroll the shopping district.

and visited the Begijnhof Convent. Begijnhof is one of the oldest inner courts in the city of Amsterdam. A group of historic buildings, mostly private dwellings, centre on it.

The Begijnhof is the only inner court in Amsterdam which was founded during the Middle Ages, and therefore lies within the Singel — the innermost canal of Amsterdam's circular canal system. The Begijnhof is at medieval street level, which means a meter below the rest of the old city center.

It is unclear when exactly the Begijnhof (Beguines' court) was founded. In 1346, the beguines still lived in a house (a document of that time mentioned one beghynhuys). A courtyard was only first mentioned in 1389, probably after the religious status of the city rose due to the Amsterdam Eucharistic Miracle of 1345.

visited Dr Blend and bought a health fruit shake. the service staff were so incredibly nice, they offered us another free drink seeing that we were tourists who wanted to just try out the food in Amsterdam.

kudos to their awesome service.

And in honor of their kind act, i shall advertise for them.

see below pic.

haha.

the narrowest house in Amsterdam at Singel 7.

With a width of only one meter (about 3 ft., 3 in.), the house is barely wider than its own front door. In all fairness, it should be said that this is actually the rear façade of a house; the front is a bit wider. A better title for the house at Singel 7 would be the house with the narrowest façade in the world.

Amsterdam red light district

we also visited the infamous red light district with its numerous "fish tanks" filled with skimpily clad prostitutes awaiting business from lustful, testosterone pumped up men. It was indeed an eye opener for me as i've never seen so much sex shops, naked girls, sex shows and drug stores all clustered in one common area before.

it was almost like a show in itself. and i can see why it's a tourist attraction in itself.

(....to be continued in Paris)