25 June 2010 Friday

Brussels to Amsterdam
I reached Amsterdam’s Schipol airport around 9-plus in the morning and caught a train ride into centre of town. It was quite confusing. Almost everything was written in Dutch. Looking for directions was a challenging affair. And the darn train had split levels. I had to climb the stairs of the train carrying a big luggage which weighed 18kg, my laptop bag and my handbag. Had to drag all these bags around while going from the train station to my hotel. I can feel my biceps growing already.

Anne Frank Museum
I went to the Anne Frank Museum today. Visited the house that she and her family stayed in during their 2 years of hiding from Hitler’s military people. Saw many artifacts left behind from those days of the Holocaust. It was quite a touching hour and a half for me, seeing those black and white photos and seeing the actual sinks, bathroom, photos, walls, stairs that the Frank family used all those years ago.

Shopping
H&M again. Mango again. Hmm…I hope I have enough euros. This trip will cost me a lot man…

Red Light District
I was curious about Amsterdam’s famous red light district. Haha…it really is a “red light” area. There are windows lined up all along the streets, some windows have curtains drawn on them, some don’t. Those which are uncovered will sometimes have a girl standing on the other side of the glass pane dressed in scanty bikinis and waiting for guys to come to them. I did see several guys knocking on their doors and negotiating prices. I heard one going for $80 euro but I wasn’t sure what her services included. Ahem.

BUT. Out of all the white, black, brown girls that I saw, almost 95% of them are fat. Some are just pudgy. Some have a lot of cellulite. Some have fats that jiggle with every movement they make. And yet some others are really gorillas who could crush a man flat by sitting on him. No kidding. They’re probably 2-3 times my size. Maybe European guys just prefer meaty fat girls.

There were many live shows too. Much like what you would get on Patpong street on Phuket. They have their own “Tiger” shows here in Amsterdam. And they have porn cinemas screening hardcore films the whole night through. I wonder how um…clean the seats are inside these cinemas. Hmm.

Weed
Shops are selling cannabis, marijuana and coke. I saw a shop where all sorts of drug paraphernalia was sold. Coke and weed grinding tools. Glass bottles and different types of pipes for smoking. Jars with tubes running out of them. Test tubes. Syringes. Gosh. The whole works. That particular shop looked like it was a chemistry lab. It even sold plant kits and seeds for people who wanted to grow their own weed. I also saw cannabis incense sticks, much like those used for aromatheraphy.

Food
The way my colleague is eating is scaring me. And he is the one with high cholesterol and who needs to watch his diet. Hmm, no wonder he grew a big pot belly in the 2.5 years that I’ve known him. Alcohol, meats, seafood, etc. I was having a light sandwich for lunch and he was wolfing down meatballs and chips, although he said that he didn’t feel like eating much. I think I’m gonna eat light tomorrow again.

p/s: Before coming to Amsterdam, I spoke to several Dutch people as well as some others whom I know stayed for awhile in Amsterdam. I asked them what type of food are the Dutch famous for. They said, nothing.

And when I walked around just now. It was quite true. There’s no special Dutch dish which I had to try. In fact, what was available were different types of international cuisines. Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Italian, English, American, Irish, Japanese, Spanish, etc.

World Cup
The streets were filled with WC supporters from various countries. I saw a whole bunch of Brazillian supports in yellow and green, chanting away. I saw a group of Spanish supporters dancing in the streets and another group of Dutch supporters drinking beer together. Bars and pubs everywhere were showing live matches. Flags of various countries in the WC were strung up along the streets.

Brussels pales in comparison
From the moment I stepped out of the train station, I felt Amsterdam buzzing with life. So different from Brussels. If Amsterdam were Orchard Road on a weekend night, then Brussels would be almost like our CBD area on a weekend night. Locals and tourists are aplenty in Amsterdam!! And I saw a lot of Asians here as well. Japanese and Chinese. Have not seen any Koreans yet.

K
I managed to speak to K a few times today! :)