Another great story to tell :) This time we took even more photos (well since the trip was 6 days hehe) and whilst I'm typing, the boys are watching the final Champion's League between Barcelona and Manchester United...

And if you can't be bothered, the videos and pictures can be checked out here. Heh.

Wednesday, 20th May 09 (Tze May's birthday)
We flew in at night, and took the train into the city (took 20mins). The frustrating bit was that all the machines only took credit cards! And not cash. We found only ONE machine that takes coins and we only had enough for one. So we then bought the other ticket from the counter which costs 50 cents more. Haha. Anyway, the train was double storey just like a double decker which was super cool so we sat on the top of course.

When we arrived the train station, the next challenge was to buy public transport tickets. So we randomly bought this strippenkaart (which we found out was a concession card by the hour rate). Took 2 trams to our hostel, checked in and headed out to look for food. Feeling aimless, lost and clueless, we went out in the dark in attempt to get food. Everything was going fine until we missed the last tram back. So the next thing we had to do was to see where the night buses run. To our dismay as well, the card we bought didn't apply and so we had to pay a hefty fee :(

And the story keeps going. We told the bus driver to let us know where and when to get off and he misunderstood us! So we pretty much went all the way to the last stop and back. By the time we got home, it was almost 3am. But hey, we had a 6 bunk bedroom all to ourselves ;)


Thursday, 21st May 09
Today was superbly challenging, specially when we both forced ourselves to wake up for free breakfast. The hostel we stayed is actually quite nice, built to cater a lot of people as it was initially a school building / unit. So we ate in a cafeteria area




We headed to the Kuekenhof Garden on the first day, which was out of the city. So it was taking another bus again. I guess we can say that every single day we were here, we paid a HUGE tuition fee about learning the public transport since everything was written in dutch. There are pretty much 3 different companies operating and the strippenkaart can be used for all except for night buses but each have their own day passes. Not onl that, some day cards can only be used in a day, some 24 hours, and some can't even be used at night! Super complicating.





Anyway, back to the garden. I went with high hopes to see the amazing flowers since it was the last and final day ( I pretty much re-booked our tickets for this) but to our dismay most of the tulips were already gone!! SOB~



We did manage to see lovely large lilies and Orchids on display though as well as the garden is very pretty in general. More pictures here


They were pretty much playing this huge sized musical box except that it gets wound by a motor and plays heaps of different instruments!











Lilies..I think we went crazy taking alot of photos as one would think it would just be another display of flowers but if one actually stops and stare at them, they looked slightly more special, more taken care of and each of them had ratings on them too! Either that we are probably missing the gardens since there isn't many of those in London...










More pictures here (heh heh)

ORchid area (this one is for you mum). Yeah, thought about mum alot more while I was here and I wanted to take every single one since they were so different.




















Towards the end of the journey, I tried the all famous dutch mini pancakes called 'Poffertjes' but to my dismay, they taste like any ordinary pancakes. Paid crazy 8 euros for a small dish, when I bought the mix from the market for 70 cents!

When we got back, we checked out bits of Red Light District and ate in Chinatown.


Red Light District was really interesting to me in terms of concept. Each 'potential' lady had a room to herself, but it's displayed to the whole world to peek into it. So think of that in all the alleys you find, as well as alleys are narrow too! We even spotted Asian ones. Too bad we weren't allowed to take photos, so I'll leave it as there in memory ;). We headed back to the hostel and had a cocktail at the bar. An american couple came in to stay with us that night, through the rest of our holidays.


Friday, 22nd May 09
We headed out to two places, one of them being Zaanse Chan (oh we didn't realise how to pronounce the 'g' in Amsterdam until we found out it was 'ch' but not what you think, it's like someone is clearing his throat or you're about to spit) to see the windmill and cheese farm.



It was superbly windy in general and I wasn't prepared for it (yes, skirt) and I found it slightly over-rated as well as one had to pay 3 euros to go see the inside the windmill.




We then headed back into the city to head out to Volendam, known as the Fishermen's village. It was interesting to see how the port was form but it reminded me about NZ, only the boats being different. But D had a great deep fried fish.







Oh, and we hired our bikes just before we went out too. So we pretty much biked around when we got back! Had yummy noodles in the box for dinner




Saturday, 23rd May 09:
We spent 2 days cycling around the city, it was amazingly fun and so convenient. In Amsterdam, 4 out ouf 5 people cycle, as well as all bikes have double lock mechanism on them. One can buy a bike for 20 Euros but bike chains costs at least 50! As well as 20,000 bikes fall into the Canal every year...talk about interesting facts.




hehe, cool pic eh? with the windmill in the background.

First stop: Van Gough museum.




Queueing up was crazy! We took about an hour an a half to get in but there was a guy who entertained us in the mean time. He was so flawless and with a care-free spirit like him, the museum could have paid him a full time job for his lovely humor and talented music. Being stingy, I actually gave him a few of my extra change because he was that good



Once in the museum, in which we paid about 15 each for, I felt like it was a bit over-rated too. But hey, it's Van Gough and his life so I'm guessing we are paying for his tribute hehe.


For the sake of the money we paid, I took some photos inside :P. But I won't show it here out of respect (cheh wah)


After spending about an hour in the museum, we headed off to the Albert Cuymarket (street market) nearby. I saw an accident where this guy zoomed pass me as I was slowing down for a car to pass and he rammed into the side and flew almost over the car! But the funny part was that he screamed at the driver something, and the driver said like a 2 word to him and they both part their ways...didn't sound angry at all. Crazy.

The market was quite nice, with a mixture of food, fruits and veges and clothes. There weren't many authentic things to see nor souveniers but stuff was quite cheap. I bought 2 tops for 11 euros in which could have cost twice the value if I bought it back home. Nice material too.





We biked off to Waterloopien's famous and largest flee market in Europe (so they say) after.







Remember, if you're bored of reading, you can just look at the videos and pictures we took here :P

The market wasn't as big as I thought, felt like a typical 2 pasar malam size in Malaysia and I am keen to wonder what it'll be like in Thailand where I heard many stories of how it'll take 2 days to finish the place! Anyhoo, it was nice to spot some things we don't normally see and of course biking around.

Btw, something we stumbled across as we were leaving the market (video of the group cycling) Hehe





Film museum, where a wedding was held. The bride wore some red indian hat when she left. And while we hung around, there were a group of tourist (5 people) sat near us. A dutch lady came by and gave them 4 bottle of wines and some coke and juice for free as they couldn't finish it!Talk about the dutch people being so nice...


Another take-away place for dinner. Sells indonesian sort of food. Yeah, people in Amsterdam usually want to eat foreign food for a change when they go out. Hence, we couldn't find a reasonable restaurant that sells dutch food. Either that, we are not looking at the right place.










More piccies here!

Sunday, 24th May 09
We started off to the flower garden and this garden is worth going if anyone wants to buy plants, seeds and bulbs for cheap!






We then biked to Anne Frank museum but didn't go in, as we knew it was a tad bit depressing. Queue was unsuprisingly long...so off we head to the toture museum. Took only half an hour but another chunk out of our Euros.



Determined to try Dutch food, we went to one of the book's recommended Pancake place :D but I felt like savoury pancake that particular day and I don't think I can handle a huge dessert pancake!




We went back to Centraal Station to return our bikes and when for a canal boat ride after. Was quite nice for a change.


Video of the view from the boat


It was an interesting ride...started off with us and a swedish couple and a baby. Then along came a guitarist who could play shakespear themed songs and a lady who talks alot and wants to make things more exciting. As it was the driver's last shift, he asked if he could pop by home to check on something. We were fine and out he came with all the drinks in his fridge, and snacks for free! Wow, talk about more fun on the boat. As we got off, one guy asked the lady with the baby whether she was an artist since she had dreadlocks, wore hippie sort of clothing and did really look like an artist. She said she's an engineer! Wow, the couple are really pretty especially her.

We explored the city after, with more random photos



Monday, 25th May 09 (Last day)
Exchanged details with our American couple, had our last breakfast, checked out and dropped our bags at the lockers at the station. We took on the canal boat ride again and road to the Historical route instead. The driver was very passionate about the art and history of Amsterdam and told us alot of interesting stories such as there was a prison built near the amsterdam entrance, how amsterdam city is actually under sea level and how the ring canal forming the city expands as the city grew.





After the boat ride, we checked out the equivalent of 'Queen Street' with the usual clothing shops but didn't buy anything except for food. Killing more time, we shot into an alley that led us to the History Museum. As usual, we had to pay a fee (why can't they be free like the ones in London) so we skipped and killed more time walking back slowly to the train station. We headed off to the airport with our kiwi friends we bumped into who so happened is flying on the same plane. We were delayed by an hour and a half due to a storm near London. So by the time we got home, we had to wash immediately as there was a spill in the bag and got into bed about 1.30am

The trip was exhausting but amazing, and by far the nicest city I've been so far. I want to go there again, definitely and this time earlier to make sure I won't miss out on the tulips again!

Oh and of course, check out the extra videos and photos too ;)