Hello Amsterdam!

My last trip in Europe was to Amsterdam, The Netherlands, together with Angelene...it's our trip that we planned and discussed together....wait, I should say Angelene did most of the planning while I was at Bristol/Plymouth =P 

We arrived late at night at Schiphol Airport and we had to rush to one of the stores in the airport to get our Holland Pass...and guess what we bumped into ah Buu and his girlfriend!!! Of all places in UK we just happened to meet each other outside of UK...hahaha! Just the right place and the right time =) After settled some stuff we took the train and the long bus ride to our hostel. We were both so tired when reaching the hostel and not knowing that there's another 'surprise' for us. When I booked 2 places in a mixed room for 6 people two months before the trip we certainly did not expect that 2 of us girls would be sharing the room with 4 British guys! *heart sank....God please keep us safe* However after the 4 nights chatting together and laughing (okay, Angelene was the one who did most of the chatting part with them while I just laughed along....she can really talk talk talk! Salute nuh!!) And the chat topic? You would never have guessed....about price of weed and psychiatry and the medical profession and whatnot...and one of the guys claiming marijuana can cure everything while Angelene the Doctor-in-the-House said NOOOOO! LOL *and this cute girl even left them a note on our last day....aiyoyo*

Anyway...getting back to the main part of our trip. First place we visited was Keukenhof, the famous tulips farm....very colourful and pretty and absolutely stunning view of tulips, tulips and MORE tulips! Seems like tulips overdose dy...hahaha~

pretty pretty tulips

we definitely wore the right colour combination =D

=)

huge clog!

Went to Amsterdam city in the afternoon for a canal cruise and some sightseeing.

how many canals can you see in this pic?

Amsterdam is a city of bikes!

Dinner at the Pancake Bakery, famous for its various pancakes.

huge savoury pancake

Next day was the Queen's Birthday, public holiday and wear-orange day! Apparently 'over 1 million people came to this annual event' as said from the guide books.....

orange is THE colour nowwww

our lunch....fried fritters and fresh raw fish sandwich

There were soooooooo many people..it was just a sea of orange! I won't forget how Angelene led me through the crowd with me clutching to her arm 'like little duckling following mummy', how I tried to hide my camera while we both squeezed through the huge sea of people, how we had to avoid some 'obstacles' while finding our way.....

Dinner at an Indonesian restaurant

yummm...

We decided to head back to our hostel after dinner....went to the beach near our hostel =)

love this pic...those 2 are like shooting stars!

On the third day we went on a half-day excursion to Zaanse Schans and Marken.

cheese factory

windmills

loads of souvenirs

wooden tulips

little pancakes for snack

lunch at Marken....simply love the fresh fish!

nice view~

in the clogs factory

Spent the afternoon learning how to appreciate Van Gogh's painting....am amazed by his skills! Lines, strokes etc....and how many artists drew their own self-portrait?

his self-portrait

Van Gogh Museum

Explore more of the city after that....and got lost in the process haha~

I amsterdam!

skinny bridge....we found you, finally =)

French dinner....should taste nice I suppose....couldn't taste much coz I was down with cough and cold since the start of our trip....poor Angelene had to bear with me all the time >.< (from the pics didn't look like I was sick right =P)

fish and potatoes

duck

Last day at Amsterdam...explored the markets and had a go at tasting Heineken beer!

street market

Febo!

kebab for lunch

Heineken Experience =)

the brewery

never know beer can be refreshing O_O

We also visited the diamond factory and the Red Light District....yes the place where you see the girls like 'items on windows display in supermarkets'....didn't dare to look much, both of us walked one round then quickly walked to another area...lol...

hard at work

'entrance' to Red Light District

super duper many bikes!

That marks the end of our Amsterdam tour...wild and interesting adventure we had right? Everyday travel up and down the train and bus which took us nearly 2 hours one way....there was once when we were inside the bus at night, waiting to go back to the hostel from Leiden Centraal, the bus driver hasn't started driving yet as he was still waiting for passengers. Just then one random guy came and hit him on his nose for I-dunno-what-reason-coz-I-don't-understand-Dutch, then left the bus angrily and slammed/kicked the bus door....someone contacted the police and more talking then....quite a scary experience...then every night went back to our hostel and the boys were always back earlier than us, drinking beer in the room and started random conversations with us when they saw us, though they swear in every sentence they speak but I could tell they are nice people in a way =) 'We're going out now, remember to lock the door and don't let anyone in....if anything, just shout for us, we're downstairs.' Nice of them to say like that right? haha =P