My friend, Keito, a Japanese is now stationed in Sweden for work attachment for 6 months. We've got a friend, Geraldine (a Singaporean) doing her master in Delft University. It's rare that your friends are in the same continent as you at the same time. So we decided to meet in Amsterdam, tour around the capital and bunk over in Gerri's place for that Sat night. Keito reached Copenhagen on Thursday night and she bunked in my place for 2nights. However, something unplesant happened to her when she was out touring in Copenhagen central on Fri. She was robbed! not only did she lost her contents in her wallet (cash, credit cards, resident cards, driving license etc.) the thieves even managed to withdraw money from her bank account with her cards! This is really really scary! coz people have told me that Denmark is a relatively safe country as compared to the other countries in Europe. But apparently this was not so! Anyway Keito spent most of Fri in my apartment calling up the different authories to settle her stuffs. Since she was cashless, I lent her some money, coz she was deciding not to travel to Netherlands because of this nasty incident. I told her if you don't go, its even a larger lost as she has already paid for her ticket. Anyway going to Netherlands will also help to take her mind off the lost of her wallet and cash!
So on Sat morning, we woke up at 2.10am to get ready, so that we could catch the 3.18am bus to the Nørreport station and changed to the metro heading towards the airport from my place. Even though it was early in the morning, but there were quite a number of people in Nørreport! Keito was surprised, but i wasn't. Coz most of those people are probably heading home after partying in the bars or pubs in Nørreport. Soon it was 6am and we took off! It was my and also Keito's 1st time to take KLM. I must say it was pretty ok. But when we landed in Amsterdam, the weather was not the best sort of weather. it was really very foggy!
A miniature KLM model at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam
hmmm....and Gerri could not meet us at the airport coz apparently trains were not functioning from Delft Station. Due to some train engineering works going on in the station before Delft. So Keito and I drank some coffee, then we bought our train tickets and head to Amsterdam Central station. Keito had a baggage on rollers, so we got a locker at the station and she left her baggage there. This will allow her to travel around with less hassel.
Me at the Amsterdam Central train station platform
Amsterdam Centraal station
Sign post for the tram
We decided to walk in 1 of the small alleys opposite the train station. the alley was very quiet, with some people walking now and then. However, all the people we passed by were men. and they were staring at us. and along that alley we saw some pretty interesting shops, hahaha..... those 'naughty' shops selling sex toys, bondage, costumes, ponographic magazines etc. and we saw quite a number of multi-coloured flags hanging on walls outside certain pubs, bars. ermmm.... I told Keito that I suspect those are gay pubs. and we also walked pass 'coffee shops' with some weird sweet smelling smoke coming out from them. By the way, 'coffee shops' in Dutch context means you can order cannabis, mushrooms, weed etc. from them. anyway we thought that perhaps Amsterdam is like this in all the streets, so we did not think too much. It was only much later that we learnt from Gerri that was one of small alleys in the 'Red Light District' in Amsterdam! hahaha.... we had a good laugh. Coz the shops in Amsterdam were not not just those. There are much more interesting sights in Amsterdam!
This is the small alley that we walked. It was in the 'Red Light District' area
We walked a little more and we reached Dam square. It is situated in the historical area of Amsterdam. When you reached there, you'll know u're in Dam square coz you will see the National monument, Madam Tussads building and the Royal Palace. Gerri told us that later in the day, there are lots of buskers in Dam Square. And its better if we don't take pictures of the buskers as they will demand we pay them when we take their pictures (hmmm sort of like they modeling for us, when we did not ask them to).
National Monument in Dam square
Keito & me in front of the Royal Palace in Dam Square
Madam Tussads. we did not enter coz it was about 20€. too expensive for us
soon it was 11am. we had to head to the central station to meet Gerri. It's good to meet old friends. we've got quite a bit of catch up to do. and having to live in a foreign country where the main language is not a language we're familiar with and you got no friends, it can be really terrible in the initial stage. hahaha... and it was so for the 3 of us. So we were able to understand each other.... but with the experiences, they also made us into much stronger and more independent people. =D
Streets of Amsterdam
Oh and 1 more thing, i thought that there are lots of bicycles in Denmark, but there more bikes and cyclists in Netherlands. Coz they have designated multi-storey buildings for parking of bicycles! I wonder how the bike owners know where they have parked their bikes..... hmmm...
one of the many multi-storey bicycle parking buildings
Green bikes for rent to ride around the city
That's me posing with an interesting bike
So Gerri brought us to see the main sights of Amsterdam. hahaha.... and yes, now i see the real Amsterdam! I was really awed by the numerous canals in Amsterdam. And when i checked Wiki on Amsterdam, then I got to know that the Canal Ring in Amsterdam has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site! But I must say, with the canals and willows hanging at the canal banks and streets and sloping Dutch buildings, the sight is really a rather picturesque and it gives me a rather tranquil feeling.
One of the many canals in Amsterdam
Another canal in our walk
Along our walking tour of Amsterdam, we saw a tulip museum, cheese museum, Anne Frank's house, The flower market, Museum Pleins and also the infamous Red Light District.
Colourful tuipls blooming outside the Tulip museum
Cheese museum
Anne Frank museum. She stayed here during the WWII. And its the famous room that she looked out the window and saw the horrors.
2 guys playing the giant chess while the rest are spectators
The famous 'I amsterdam' letter in the museum pleins
Van Gogh museum
1 of the many stalls in the Flower Market
a few things people need to know about the famous things in Amsterdam:
1. the famous windmills
Apparently, Netherlands are well-known for their windmills. Coz the whole Netherlands is of lower sea level. and there is quite a bit of ground water under the land. In order to build structures on the land, the people had to pumped out the water. The windmills serve as the pumps in the olden days. And I bought a magnet that is a miniature windmill. Initially had wanted to buy a magnet that is of a design of a house bearing the words 'Coffee Shop'. but i decided to go for the conventional icon of Netherlands. =D
2. Clogs
This is another icon of Netherlands
A souvenir selling loads and loads of clogs. very colourful ones.
3. Cannabis or Coffee Shops
hahaha.... yup! Netherlands is more tolerant than any other countries in terms of consuming drugs. So u can in fact order cannabis in 'Coffee Shops'. In the flower market, we even saw kits teaching you how to grow your own cannabis. And in one of the souvenir shops we visited, we saw the shop selling cannabis lollipop, cannabis muffins, cannabis chocolate etc. yup! they put cannabis into such innocent deserts. But neither of us purchase any of these 'deserts'.
Grow your own Cannabis kit. Saw these at the Flower Market
4. Red Light District
Prostitution is legalised and licensed in Netherlands! These days, the prostitution in Netherlands has become a form of tourist industry. And in Amsterdam, it is very visible as in 'window prostitution'. we walked through an alley with red bulbs lighted up and there are huge ceiling to floor windows. looking through the window is a small room with a scantily clad well-endowed woman making kissy faces and pracing around in the tiny room. yup! they are the prostitutes. And if the curtains are drawn in the window, which means 'business is in progress'. So men can view the women and make the decision that he wants and pay her for the 'good time' that he wants.
The start of the 'Red Light District' in Amsterdam
I wasn't able to take any pictures of this, coz there are pimps around and they will destroy my camera or demand something. So we can only see and remember.Gerri also enlightened us that gays and lesbians are well tolerated in Netherlands. In fact there are gay tour agencies here in Amsterdam. Not to sure if there are gay tour agencies in the whole of netherlands. So i was right! the pubs, bars, cafes with the multi-colour flags hanging at the entrances, are gay pubs.
Typical Dutch architectual with the waters flowing in the canals
After walking around Amsterdam, we headed to Delft to stay for the night. And Gerri cooked chicken rice for dinner! hahaha.... some S'porean food. =D
