Spring in Amsterdam - Day 1

first thing we did when we reached amsterdam was, of course, search for our boat. it was no easy feat, since we took the longer path due to our ignorence of the geography of the city. our heavy bags and sore feet did not help either. we finally found our boat (noorderzon) amongst all the others.



saw some unique food vending machines along the way...


not to mention some cute modes of transportation..


the flats along the riverside are seemingly quite famous too.. they reminded me of venice actually, making me like amsterdam even more. however, the roads here totally freak me out. not only do you have to look out for cars on your left and right, but also trams and bicycles. plus, the bicycle tracks look no different from pedestrian pavement to me.



we went to the sex museum for 3 euros. it was kinda obscene and disgusting, but i'll consider it... exposure??



we had a go with the famous fries of amsterdam. really nice! especially when eaten with mayonaise. the mayo tastes... cheesy? not surprising since the cheese in amsterdam is fabulous.


we paid a visit to St. Nicolaaskerk where we heard the choir sing. we also roamed the streets of amsterdam.. just to get the feel. later on, we went to the red light district where prostitudes put themselves on display along the roads surrounding the church Oude Kerk. such irony. i didn't really like the red light district much, nor did i like the smell of weed which occasionally wafted over when we passed coffee shops. we also saw shops selling magic mushrooms. the red light district is really a place where everything wrong is legal.





we walked all the way to the national monument where there was a massive pillow fight, a fun fair up and going, and not to mention food...


but there was no lack of food, even along the lanes of the city. malaysian food, indonesian food. chinese food.. they were everywhere.


we had our dinner at de Keuken van... quite a nice place.




the guys had beef steak, which was nice. we ordered beef stew, but somehow it turned out to be beef salad.. oh well, with the mayo here everything is nice. i tried a sip of amstel beer too, one of the famous beers in amsterdam. it was surprisingly sweet.



after dinner, we saw more night views of amsterdam before going to the red light district again with tiger's group.




it was finally time to go home and crash after our first day in amsterdam.

night view of the bridge and nemo science centre beside our boat

Spring in Amsterdam - Day 2

our second day was spent in keukenhof -- the famous tulip garden out of amsterdam. you can buy the bus tickets plus the entrance fee at the tourist information centre (vvv) for 23 euros. we bought the ticket to the anne frank museum too, but did not manage to get there on time, which was kinda a pity. but the day was still very much enjoyed, since keukenhof was a very pretty place.

me with the giant music box playing at the entrance

tulips and more tulips!

love the colours!

ducks were everywhere

flowers made the place bokeh heaven

our very own scottish representative - the scottish terrier

rainbow stripes of tulips in full bloom!

all too soon, it was time to go...

we wanted to stop at leidseplein in hopes of catching a tram to the anne frank museum. somehow, we ended up near musiumplein... where the famous I amsterdam letters were.

bicycle.. the most common mode of transport in amsterdam.. was so busy taking pictures that we didn't see the bus coming. actually i thought it would automatically stop, but it just zoomed past us. next time, flag it down.

this is what happens when humans are supposed to stay still for 30 seconds. you can obviously see who moves about the most. haha.. it's a pity though.. since it's our only group photo other than during meal times. the stars are pretty though.

night view on our way in search for food

we ended up at burger king. partly thanks to the tantalising posters of burger king burgers that we've been walking past since we reached amsterdam. advertising really works... since we went and ordered burgers more expensive than those advertised. Lols..