I Amsterdam

Amsterdam.... Venice of the North... is indeed one of the most interesting places visited so far...

thank god for a crazy bunch of colleagues, minus a certain someone... the trip has been highly fun and entertaining... except the working part of course. the freezing weather certainly adds on to the feel of cold winter - i like!!!

Home of Total football... Orange army... been wanting to know whats there to visit besides the windmills and the tulips fields. but its the wrong season, so theres no tulips... sadness..

luckily, jin and shanice were first timers... armed with a map and some vague instructions, we set off in search of Madurodam, the little people world. after some misadventures, we ended up in Rotterdam and had to take a train back to Den Haag. Actually, the works are all very exquisite... and beautiful... but the place is pretty small thou nice... in an hour, we completed the whole place... and off to we set to Zaandijk, in search of our windmills...

reaching there, we could smell chocolate in the air, must be a chocolate factory nearby... the lush of the countryside was endearing, with rivers, sheeps, goats, ducks roaming free... we came across a couple of people walking their horses and couldnt resist taking photos with them. there, we found the traditional wooden shoes factory (clogs as we chinese would call it) and the cheese factory.. the cheese is heavenly... in my opinion, its even better than those that we serve. that marks the end of the day as we board the little ship back to the train station to get back to Amsterdam.

we did some shopping and visiting at the central area in the previous day, the square was particularly happening, lotsa tourists and people ard, beautiful ancients buildings. and i particularly like a red long sleeve "I Amsterdam" tshirt, but din manage to get it. i shall get it next time. manage to visit the famous red light district with the girls soliciting thru the windows, some extremely pretty while others extremely fat. the girls dared me to try for them, which i cringed and back off.. haha... its interesting to see men opening their doors and negotiating a price and some of them stepped in for the business... such an interesting lifestyle.

din managed to try the weeds or spacecakes thou i would very much like to. think i shall find chance to try the next time i visit. but i manage to steal a deal and got a pair of zara jeans at 12 sing dollars.. haha.. wat a steal man.. happy happy...

Agenda for next Amsterdam visit:
1) Visit the Ajax Stadium
2) take the river cruise
3) visit the museums
4) buy my "I Amsterdam" tshirt
5) try spacecakes and shopping