A weekend in Amsterdam - 2

Now one of the things about travelling with friends (to my limited knowledge of Asian friends), we NEVER sleep before 2am. And if it's a 'long lost' friend who's not been in close contact recently, then the sleeping time just gets delayed by staying up talking, card playing, trash talking and junk food eating (sometimes also some booze). 

Being a grown up for some years now (working makes one feel old), I really miss those times and I am so glad we're on this trip because what that is lost in 'adulthood' is found again :) Having said that, it also means we have a hard time dragging ourselves out of bed in the morning. If not for the nice complimentary breakfast that stops serving at 9.30am, I don't think we'll get up before noon. 

The day starts with a self-timer photo snap in the tram. It's a result of wide angle camera, good timing with the tram stopping time & lack of others to help to take picture. Where we sit in the picture, is OUR daily seat while in Amsterdam. Nobody seems to like to move all the way to the back of the tram so we happily take up the three seater. Any more horizontal growth from any one of us, we'd have to seek for alternatives. Well, luckily that day hasn't come.

Trio in tram

We went to Van Gogh Museum without any reservation and were of course scared off by the street long queue and move on to Rijkmuseum, which also has a queue but not as long. Walking through the front green area of the museum, passing by a big pool, we found a very happy dog chasing tennis ball thrown into the water by its owner. On a sunny day, everything seems so relaxing with laughter in the air.

Spotted the 'I amsterdam' sign that everybody is taking pictures with, we simply have no chance. So we took the alternative shoot on the reversed side, not bad huh? Gosh I wish I'm a few inches taller, I look like a fat midget in between.

Then comes Rijkmuseum, totally recommend it, especially if you're Rembrandt fan or admirer of Dutch impressionist. Some interesting stuffs besides the wonderful paintings as well, like the clock that seems to have a hidden man in it. Every 5 minutes, he'd wipe off the minute hand and draw a new one, neat!

Also these gorgeous hand made baskets from craftsmen in Canton region, the Dutch brought them back for trades to the nobles. Then I realized apparently photo taking is forbidden in Rijkmuseum, oopsss...

After a good 2 hours in the museum (if my legs are not tired, I can definitely stay longer), we skipped out to a nearby square and fell in love with this little red car, it's actually a 2 seater, how cute is that?

Not hungry but very thirsty, we found ourselves into Hard Rock Café. With canal view (outdoor seats are full in such beautiful day), a cocktail in hand, the best buffalo wings I've had in a long time and in best friends' company, life is great!

We got inspired by the water cycled boats while sipping our cocktail. So immediately afterwards, we 'trail' the water cycles to the rental place and took up a boat for an hour. If you think I'll be the lucky lady being chauffeured around by my dear friends, you couldn't be more wrong. I have to do a lot of pedalling & controlling, tough luck. The view from canal is nice, slightly different from street level, and we had a great laughter fun filled ride to remember (especially when we started out paddling in circle and hitting onto boat docking at the sides :p)

On the rare occasions that I'm being chauffeured, of course I have to document it with a picture :)

With tired legs, we walk around the city a bit more, bought some cheese, chocolates & liquorice (surprise, Dutch liquorice can be really nice too), and then pay a visit to a recommended coffee shop for a last hash experience. Do I like it? umm...I can hardly feel the hash's power and I really don't like the tobacco. Maybe we got the tourist dosage but I have better ways to keep myself calm & relax (say reading?) :)

Amsterdam is a nice decent size city to walk around exploring. Way pass dinner time, just few minutes before ordinary restaurant's last order time, we checked into a Japanese restaurant, ordered a load of food and feast ourselves. Strangely though, I don't feel full at all even though the food intake is way more than what I normally do. The effect of hash? my friend is convinced it is.

Remember I mentioned they have the intention to make me drunk? after our huge Japanese dinner, we went for a pint of beer at a nearby bar, listening to free open concern music. Part of the reason for the drink is also because the tram is filled with people at 11pm, so now we know the peak traffic hour in Amsterdam is 11pm ;). When the crowd started to reduce an hour later, we took off to our hotel and had 2 shots of tequila each (last order, so no more).

Did we go to bed afterwards? of course not. Remember the 2am rule? we manage to get up for breakfast the next day and then it's goodbye. It might seem like the most purpose-less and boring trip to others; but to use, it's one of the most memorable trip and I truly enjoy myself.

Our last self-timer picture 

A weekend in Amsterdam

I consider myself lucky to have my old college buddies also working in Europe, and as a by-product, we get to travel to places together. A short 2 weeks notice that goes 'hey, let's go to somewhere together this summer, a short weekend'; and we found ourselves on our ways to Amsterdam.

Our trip was not planned with detail itineraries, more of a 'see as we go' trip, not necessarily covering all essentials of Amsterdam but we had great great time. Honestly, I miss travelling with friends, not that Mr.T is not a good travel companion but being in old friends' company where I'm also comfortable with, is a precious experience.

We started walking around Rembrandt Square, scouting for the recommended Indonesian restaurant but to find that it's not open for lunch. So we had some Argentinian mixed grill with a bottle of red Argentinian wine instead. My friends set off with plans to make me drunk but one of them has even lower alcohol tolerance level than me, so he always ended up the one pulling the stop sign, so much for their ambition :)

After a satisfying meal, we went for a walk (in the drizzle) along one of the many canals, and then eventually switch to shopping street which leads to the palace. The weather is not our side, so we decided to take the tram back to hotel to take a pit stop. I've never try to take a metro yet but the tram is really really convenient and provides a good view on the street, no reason to skip the scenery, isn't it?

Well our supposed 'rest' turns out to be rounds & rounds of card games (winner gets to use the toilet first) and some internet surfing. The hotel room can accommodate 3 guests (2 on the double bed & 1 on the sofa bed), so we have more time to get 're-acquittance', talking from daily life to non-sense, and sharing old time jokes. Oh, I already miss the times!!

When it's getting late for dinner, we set off again to the recommended Indonesian restaurant - Indrapura, to try their infamous rice table. Apparently rice table is just the conventional way we eat rice back home, where lots of dishes were served to be shared among diners. Why Indonesian food? well, simply because there're so many Indonesian immigrant (Indonesia being an old Dutch colony and all) in Amsterdam, some of their restaurant is bound to be good.

We went for the spiciest option available, a bottle of rosé, and had a great 2hours dinner. Food is great and service is good. We started practising a bit of Malay/Indonesian with the waiter :) When asked about recommendation of coffee shop, he pointed us to one just around the corner from the restaurant, so we thought we'd give it a try some time during our stay.

Well, if you have been to Amsterdam, or have read about it somewhere, you'd probably know that coffee shop in Amsterdam sells more than just coffee, they sell weeds too. The only thing they cannot sell is alcohol, hence naming the shops as 'coffee shop' rightfully reflect their side products :). Magic mushrooms are also available, at 'souvenir shops' or 'smart shop'.

Instead of trying weed, we went to the red light district. Women dressed in skin revealing illuminating bikinis or luring under-gourmets poses themselves in front of glass windows. Curtains down, then business is on. I never know the price and my friends don't seem to be interested to try (maybe because I'm there?). The quality of the 'show women' differs, although most of them seems to posses silky smooth skin under the special lighting effect, and almost all of them have perfect figures, argh!!! I'm not sure if photography is permitted but I don't want to try my luck, so no photos to share.

After our round of 'window shopping', we caught the last tram back to hotel, feeling too tired to continue the day after having to get up at 4am in the morning (to catch the plane). And the next day is to be continued...