UK and Europe Travelogue Part II

Alright! Part II of the travelogue is starting..
Hai, Ikimashou!!

 

Sixth Day

This is our flight.. bmi baby! Hehe.

On the sixth day we flew with bmi from Heathrow to Amsterdam.
I’m very excited. I’m going to Netherlands, yeah!
Cat got us the flight tickets after intensive search online.  Thanks again..
Total fares is RM340 per person – and that’s the cheapest and available at that time.
Our flight was scheduled at 4pm. 

For more info on bmi: http://www.flybmi.com/bmi/en-gb/index.aspx

Amazing sight from above - notice the wind turbines below?

The shoreline of Netherlands - Cool!

Arrived at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol at around 5pm plus.
Haha.. What a short flight and it went well too.
The immigration process was smooth and much more relaxed compared to London.

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport - Tergeliat lidah nak menyebutnya. 😛

Schiphol Airport Tower. Used to be the tallest.

After everything has been sorted out, we took a taxi to get to our hotel.
Ehem, all the taxis here are Mercedes. Peh! Dahsyat… Harga pun.. Dahsyat..
Hahaha. Siap ada GPS lagi. Total taxi fare from Schiphol Airport to hotel – EUR31.
Hotel arrangement in Amsterdam is courtesy from Nurul. Thanks ye!! Pandai pilih..

Nice location. Nice hotel. Cold weather.

The hotel is very very nice. Unique and strategically located.
Eden Amsterdam American Hotel.
For more info about this hotel, you can check it out here: http://www.edenamsterdamamericanhotel.com/en/overview.aspx

This shot was taken from our suite room's window. Nice!

This shot is from the opposite side - saw the tram? Cool kan!?

Nurul requested for an upgrade to a bigger room since the room that she booked is too small to fit all 4 of us.
Actually, I don’t really mind the small room but hey.. she wants it. We just follow lah.
They gave us a suite which is really spacious and comfy plus an extra bed for me. Hehe.
By the time we checked in, unpacked our stuffs, it’s already late evening.

The hotel’s official car. Sweet!

Dinner time – I had fish and chips. Huge portion. Price: okaylah..
After dinner, we walked around the hotel area a lil bit. 

The famous canal.. right in front of the hotel.

End of day six. Phew! I’m beat!

Seventh Day
Had our breakfast at one of the cafe nearby. Bagel & Beans.
One thing new is the Hot Choc that I ordered. I love it!!
I had a bagel with omellete.. I can’t do bagel.. seriously. Tekak orang Jawa Melayu.

The milk is hot. Just stir the chocolate till it melts. Cool!

We met Shanky’s friend (yeah, they’re everywhere) – Wouter (Did I spelt it right?) and his girlfriend, Sanne (Apa nama dia ek Shanky? Tak ingatlah! ).
He unofficially has become our tour guide for half day. Thehehe.. Bestnya..
It’s amazing to see him wearing just shorts,t-shirt and flip flops. Macam nak pergi pantai aje.

Meet the locals.. Keciknya u Shanky.. Hehehe

Cat, Me and Shanky.. 1 Malaysia. Hehehe.

One of the alleys in Amsterdam.

Dutch most famous snack. Herring = a type of fish.

Traditionally, the fish (after cutting off its head) is eaten by grabbing it by the tail, throw your head back, and then gently lowering the fish into your mouth.. Macam tak senonoh sikit la tapi.. it’s their culture back then.
Search la online if you want to know more. It’s not raw like sushi. Something like ikan perkasam kot?

Some sort of street musical show. Frans Hal is a famous painter.

Similar shot like Big Ben in London. 🙂

Stroopwafels. Tengah2 dia ada fillings. Yum!

Wouter introduced this snack to us.
It’s called Stroopwafels. He said it’s popular among the tourists.
Is it a biscuit? cookie? waffle? Heck, I don’t know.
Just in case someone is looking for the recipe, here you go. Senang jer la nak buat.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Stroopwafels/Detail.aspx

Cat and Nurul, you can try if you want. Hehe. It’s too adventurous for you guys maybe. 😛

This is a cafe actually. A small one. Yellow colour. Cute

This is Royal Palace of Amsterdam. Located in Dam Square.

Also in Dam Square. The National Monument. For WWII victims.

From Dam Square, we walked to Nieuwmarkt. We passed by Chinatown (there’s even a temple here tau!)  and Red Light District (daerah lampu merah kata orang melayu).
Interesting place but the square are packed with tourists.
It’s too crowded. Wouter did mentioned about a street there that he said the worst street in Amsterdam. Huh?I can’t remember the name and the reason why.
Something to do with tourists and stuffs I guess.

De Waag

This building is called De Waag.
Used to be a weighing house way back those days. Now transformed to a really cool looking cafe.

Another canal shot. Private boats parked along the canal.

Nanti orang cakap takde pun gambar aku kat canal. Hehehe.

Unfortunately.. I fell sick right after we hang out at one of the cafe. My temperature went up suddenly.
Head back to hotel and I slept all the way after medication. Nasib baik bawak ubat. Kalau tak.. ntahlah.
I dunno why I fell sick.. maybe because of pigeon’s feathers? 
Kat sini banyak betul pigeons @ burung merpati.. they’re everywhere. Okay, almost everywhere.

Sorry guys for spoiling the rest of your day.
We planned to check out the *cough*so-called-fine-ladies*cough* at the Red Light Disctrict that nite.
In the end, all of them stayed in the room.. teman me. Ow.. so sweet you guys..

Note: Sapa habiskan maggi aku?

Eightth Day
Taken from wikipedia:
There are more than one hundred kilometers of canals in Amsterdam, along with about 90 islands and 1,500 bridges, have led the city to being termed the “Venice of the North”. The three main canals, Herengracht, Prinsengracht, and Keizersgracht, dug in the 17th century during the Dutch Golden Age, form concentric belts around the city, known as the grachtengordel. Alongside the main canals are 1550 monumental buildings. ~ Cool facts!

The ladies, waiting at the pier.. Hehe. I like this pic.

Today, we planned to tour around Amsterdam using Canal Bus Hop on – Hop Off.
The fare – EUR17.50 for 24 hours.
Meaning if you bought the tix today at 12pm. It’s valid till 12pm the next day.
Why am i explaining this? Sheesh!

The view inside of the Canal Bus

The ride was hm.. how should I say it? Hm.. Fun!! I felt like a kid again. 😛
The weather was good, bright and not that windy.
Someone told me – the canal water is so dirty until if you fell into it, you have to go to the hospital and get a shot. Whether it’s true or not.. I don’t want to find out.. Heh. Tapi itik tu rilek aje?
But the water did look smurky and erm.. dirty. Not smelly tho. Normal jer la.

Thith wather ith juth nythe

The queue at the entrance of Anna Frank House. Terima Kasih jer lah ye..

Tak dapat masuk ambik gambar pintu pun jadilah.. Huis! Huis!

We stopped at one of the pier station and decided to see Anna Frank House… from the outside.
She is a Jewish girl who hid from Nazi persecution by hiding in a few hidden rooms at the rear of the house.
Hahaha.. We didn’t go in coz it’s freakin expensive and the queue was very long.
We don’t wanna wait, so we had breakfast instead at Bagels n Coffee.
I had chocolate croissant. Yum!

This is really really good pastry.. or am I just hungry?

It's my habit whenever I travel. Kids candid shot. So cute right? Huhu..

We then headed to the Central Station.
Got lost a few times. Hahaha. It’s really easy to get lost in Amsterdam.
Seriously, with the map and the road’s name and the canal, and the building.
Everything looks the same to me!! Darn!

Something unique apart from their canal bus and boats.

Eh, Shanky.. nak beli apa tu? Hihihi.. tak baik tau..

– Red Light District.. (I know.. again) – Can’t take picture here tho.
– Sex Museum.. (we didn’t go in.. honest!) – Didn’t go in, so no picture la. 🙂

The banner at the exhibition entrance. It was held in Oude Kerk.

There’s an exhibition going on when I was there.
World Press Photo Exhibition ’09 @ Oude Kerk.
Oude Kerk is an Amsterdam’s oldest parish church and they used this as the venue.
The building itself is magnificent. Go on and wiki it. it’s amazing.
Entrance fee is EUR7.

Inside Oude Kerk - stained glass

This is the view inside the church. The architecture is amazing.

Some of the pictures displayed and visitors.

I really love this picture. To the photographer - you're awesome!

 Took the Canal Bus again.
Passed by Amsterdam’s significant buildings and places.
– Nemo (It’s actually a science center – not the fish okay)
– Passenger Terminal (Docking point for cruise ships)
– Artis Zoo (I should check this place out.. but the fee is around RM100)
– Tropen Museum
– Hermitage

This is NEMO. At first I thought it's an abandon ship. Hehehe.

Amsterdam’s Concert Hall of the 21st Century. Similar to our Petronas Filharmonic Hall I guess

The lively canal..

Amsterdam is a city rich with arts, culture and history.
I wish I had more time here to explore..

Photo exhibition - sweet down syndrome kids.

Went back to hotel. Didn’t even go out for dinner. Makan apa ntah that nite?
Finished the remaining joint Cat and Shanky left for me.
Nurul went back home tonight coz she’s working tomorrow morning.
I slept like a baby.. Heh! Tired..

Ninth Day
Packed all our stuffs for check out.
Left our bags at the hotel for a while, we still have time.

This place near our hotel is lively at night

A game of chess? Yg pakai baju putih tu sifu mamat pakai spek tu.

This is the place where they make diamonds stuffs.

 Today we went to Coaster Diamonds.
Entrance is free.
Don’t ask me why I’m here. I’m not that interested in diamonds’ carat, cut, quality etc..
Then again Shanky wanted to check it out. So, follow jer la.

This is the entrance to Rijkmuseum. Tak masuk pun.

We passed by Rijkmuseum.
Took picture at I amsterdam sign.
Bought some souvenirs at the Museumshop.

Nurul pun tak tau about this . Hehe. Apa la awak..

The stuffs sold here are a bit cheaper than the one in the museum itself.

The famous Van Gogh Museum. I'm glad we went in. Well worth it!

The highlight of the day: Van Gogh Museum.
It’s really huge.. to cover the entire gallery, it might take around 3 – 4 hours.
There’s an exhibition going on at the museum when we’re there.
It’s called: Van Gogh and the colours of the night.
I love it! Love the impressionists!

There's an exhibition held there. Lucky! 🙂

Me before entering the world of arts. Ehem.

His artworks are scatterred all over the world.
Only a handful are being displayed here in Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.
Some of them are in London, Munich, New York, Boston, Paris and er..KL? Takde kot..
There’s an audio commentary device provided. Makes thing more interesting and understandable.

Cat and Shanky - happy face. Excited!?

Taken from wikipedia:
27 July 1890, at the age of 37, he walked into the fields and shot himself in the chest with a revolver. He did not realize that his wound was fatal, and returned to the Ravoux Inn. He died there two days later.

– Whoa! suicide? that’s just crazy!! and he died 2 days later after he shot himself? That’s… Hm.. ouch!

Can’t take any picture inside the museum. But Cat being Cat. Tsk..

Gambar diambil secara curi-curi tanpa rasa bersalah. Ish.. Ish.. Ish

We hang out at Amsterdam Vondelpark after a few hours in Van Gogh.
The most famous park in Netherlands. I like it here.
People watching.. It’s so green.. nice weather and hm.. nice atmosphere..

Eventhough it's weekdays and around 3pm ~ this place is packed!

The kid: Cute - The Dad: Cool. I love candid shots!

Went back to the hotel, meet up with Nurul for last time.
We lepak at the cafe nearby.. Chit-chatting.

The bus station ~ Amsterdam Amstel

Took the tram, then the metro – destination: Amstel Station.
Yep! We took Eurolines from Amsterdam to Paris.
The bus fare is cheap – EUR18 one way.

Eurolines - the coach that we took ~ ride of our life.

The journey took around 8 hours across Belgium – it’s really the most unforgetable ride of my life. 
I’m pretty sure Cat and Shanky feels the same. Haha!
The bumpy ride and uncomfortable seats.. Plus the stop in Belgium.
One thing we will never forget is the bus driver.
Cat called him bus driver gila kuasa yang neurotik. 😛

I sat at the back ~ Regret!. That bald guy is the bus driver.

Most memorable moment:
Driver: English, French?
Me: Er.. English?
Driver: Ok, NO eating, NO drinking, Keep your shoes! (He stressed this part a bit).
Me: Okay..
Driver move on to the row in front of me.
Driver: English, French?
Passenger: Er.. English?
Driver: Okay, you heard what I said just now? NO eating, No drinking and keep your shoes!
Passenger: Okay.. (Grin)

That cwazy driver said that to every single row in the bus. Sheesh!! I think everyone got it already lah.
Cakap macam speaker. I think he own the bus kot. Heh.

Reached Paris @ 6am.

Arghh.. my back.. my butt.. my neck.. ~ Never again!

Next post will be the final part. Stay tuned..

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~ by Aidilz on August 28, 2009.