I'm sure all of you have seen all my honeymoon pictures in my Facebook. But none of you have heard about my experience and thoughts about each and every places I've been (except for those who asked). Let's start with Netherlands first, or famously known as Holland. Actually why does one country has 2 different names? I have no idea, let me Google *chup*
@___@ too many words, why don't you read it yourself here if you want to know.
We had a 13 hours 30 minutes flight from KLIA to Schiphol Amsterdam with MAS airline. Didn't manage to sleep well in the plane, our seat was in the center which caused me feeling a bit claustrophobic. At that moment I so wish I had a remote control that I could fast forward that 13.5 hours! But once we landed in Amsterdam, which is 7 hours behind Malaysia time, though feeling rather jet lagged, I got all super excited because it was my first winter vacation. Which means, SNOW!!!
We exited the custom in Schiphol Amsterdam airport and gathered with the rest of the tour members. Luckily there were no children or super old people, phew! My friends pre-amped me with all sorts of horror stories about tour with kids and old people. And surprisingly there were 3 couples. Wee! Means we had people to help out with the camera =P While waiting for the bus to arrive, I got all anxious to dash out of the airport to experience the cold weather and snow. Felt like a small kid all over again!
WINDMILL VILLAGE
Our first stop was the Windmill Village, known as Zaanse Schans in Dutch. The famous landmark of Netherlands. The weather was cold, about -1 to 0 degree, but the view was great. The wide open field with patches of white snow. I just couldn't stop taking pictures, while the husband kept pestering me to walk faster and follow the group to enter the clog factory. To be honest, I was more interested with the giant windmill than clogs!
Sunlight was very limited due to the winter season. Even it was already 9 in the morning, it seemed like dusk, when the sun just rise. Which gave us tremendous nice lighting!
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| Look at the lighting! Now you get what I mean?! |
We were welcomed by rows and rows of colorful clogs when we entered the clog factory. There were even a section where this Dutch man gave us a demonstration on how they make clogs, very interesting. While we were sitting there watching the demonstration, a group of China tour joined us and they happily stood right in front of us, blocking our view. Classy, China people, classy. You think you are made of glass?
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| Look at all the colorful clogs! All comes in different sizes, colors and paintings! |
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| Pretending to try on a pair of clog. |
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| Choosing postcards to send my love in Netherlands back to Malaysia! |
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| So wanna get these mini Amsterdam buildings but we need to get a few for it to look complete. And it ain't cheap! |
Next stop, cheese factory! OMG! Cheese gives me the ultimate climax more than chocolate does! Cheese burger, cheese pizza, cheese bread, cheese fondue, I basically eat anything that comes with cheese!
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| When I saw the cheese testing bar, my eyeballs turned into cheeseeeeeeeeeeeeee. |
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| Say cheese! |
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| More and more cheese! |
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| Photobombed by an unknown aunty. |
Now let's get out of here and let's go see some beautiful scenery!
If you think my clog is huge....
Wait til you see this!
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| Windmills! |
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| No fluffy sheep =( They must have gone hibernating during winter. |
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| White winter jacket from Sharon, green heat-tech sweater from Uniqlo. |
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| Red knitted gloves from H&M, jeggings from Cotton On, ugg boots from Nile.com! Super comfortable! |
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| Beautiful, serene and peaceful life. |
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| Pretty giant windmill oscillating with the cold winter wind. |
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| The weather is getting colder and colder with the blowing wind. |
VOLENDAM
We left the Windmill Village and off to Volendam, the Fishing Village for lunch and some sight seeing and shopping. Just so when I thought we could finally escape the coldness, mother nature decided to play with us. Volendam was 10 times colder! Don't believe me?! See the picture below!
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| Look at everyone! LOL! |
Cold weather was fine, but when it came together with strong wind like a combo meal, OMFG! My nose turned red, my hands were frozen and mucus started to flow out from my nostrils, gross! And worst, my camera decided to go winter hibernate! All gadgets went cuckoo when the temperature was too cold. Oh, not only that. I broke my plastic mirror and comb too, the extreme weather hardened everything! Speaking of that, the husband broke my instant camera because the button was frozen and couldn't move. He decided to act as Hulk and used his mightiness to force turn the button. It cracked! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Volendam is much colder than the rest because it's a fishing village by the sea. Wind tend to blow extra stronger, thus the much colder weather. I could see seagull being blown away halfway flying in the air! I tried covering my head with my jacket hood but the strong wind kept blowing it off even I have tied it up!
We had our lunch at one of the restaurant called De Koe. The waitresses were all donned in their traditional Dutch outfit. Their serving speed was extremely fast and they sing and hum loudly while serving too.We felt like we were in a musical drama, where people sing and dance while doing their chores!
Our lunch was a 4 course meal. The soup tasted like instant noodle soup with lots of MSG. The salad was fine. The fish fillet was soft and the side dishes were steamed so it was quite bland. Dessert was vanilla ice-cream in strawberry syrup, tasted more like cough syrup =S So if you ask me to rate, I would give it a 2/5.
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| The interior of the restaurant. Small and cozy. |
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| After the bland meal, I so wanted to eat something salty! |
Judging from my hair, can you imagine how strong was the cold wind? And yeah, I do think I looked like the Taiwanese band, Power Station in this picture =____=
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| No? |
CANAL CRUISE
After some country sightseeing, we continued to the city of Amsterdam for canal cruise! Apparently the cruise is called "Lovers", just right for our honeymoon =) Not like it is cater for lovers, because we had to share with other people. I have no idea why is it called Lovers too. The canal has a glass roof and windows on the left and right side so we can have a better 180 degree view of the beautiful Amsterdam.
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| Waiting for our turn to board the cruise. |
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| Amsterdam encourage people to cycle for good health and save the environment! |
The cruise is guided by the person who drives the boat. A very funny man that ain't shy to speak his mind. While he was explaining the landmarks of the city, a group of people from China were talking and laughing loudly, totally ignoring the guide and everyone else in the boat. So the man finally spoke up in a deep deep tone, "Please be quiet, you're not the only one in the boat". I don't think they understand English, because 10 minutes later, they started with their annoying and disturbing loudness again. How rude.
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| With Grace, one of the tour member. She was a very nice lady that always offered to take picture for us =) |
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| My husband, happily caressing his second wife. |
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| The spot where we can see 7 bridges aligned together. |
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| A slanted house standing alone. |
Amsterdam is famous for their narrow buildings (besides the night life and marijuana, of course). All the buildings are built narrow and tall, sandwiched together side by side. Therefore, all the houses have a hook installed at the top floor, some on the roof and some just right below the roof. Because of the narrowness, people had trouble carrying furniture into the house, let alone going up the stairs. So they drag all the stuff up with the hook and enter through the window. Interesting!
THE DIAMOND FACTORY
After an hour plus in the canal cruise, almost at the brink of falling asleep due to jet lag. We reached our next stop, the diamond factory which I have no mere interest with. Not like I can afford to buy their diamonds *shrug*
The place is a total tourist trap, especially Asian. Nearly half of the staff in the factory are Chinese, demonstrating and showing us all their fine collections of diamonds, all ready with their calculator showing us the price after discounts and tax, blah blah blah. I felt bored and left the building. I find camwhoring more amusing than looking like a foolish tourist being pulled in with their diamonds.
RED LIGHT DISTRICT
Probably the most favorable place in the itinerary for the husband =_= The tour guide took us for a stroll along the Red Light District. Here, girls who provide sex don't call themselves hookers, they are sex servants, more atas. They are required to have their body and health checked in order to run their business. They will get a certificate upon the health check, rent a place in the building and advertise themselves through the window in skimpy outfits. If people are interesting, all they need to do is knock on their door, talk about the price, if they come to a mutual agreement, just get in and pull the curtain to get on the business
The tour guide said all girls in Red Light District come in different package and all sorts of varieties. Colors, size, style, like buying t-shirt. I didn't get what he meant at first, but once I was there, I was like...Woah! O_o Many of them just sit by the window and play with their phones. None of them putting up a show to attract customers. Too early maybe? Sorry, no pictures allowed in that area =P
The culture in Amsterdam really amused me. It is legal to do anything you like once you hit 18. Whether you want to indulge in drugs or have some fun with all sorts of hookers in the Red Light District, parents have no rights to stop you once you hit the legal age. You can even call the police or sue your parents if they ever try to stop you. Wow! O_o Drug addicts should move to Amsterdam instead of staying in Malaysia risking being caught and hanged.
While everyone was standing in front of the live sex theaters amusing themselves, I took pictures of swan peddling in the river. Everything in Amsterdam is so clean, even swans and ducks can swim in the river. And by river I mean river in the city, not in the rural area. Have you ever see the river in KL city? I think if I throw a duck inside, it dies within 3 seconds.
DAM SQUARE
Next stop was Dam Square! A very beautiful architecture.
Notice the Batman behind? Many people tried to earn a few bucks by wearing costumes or doing some street performance within the square. At first we didn't know we have to pay, so Grace approached the Batman and posed with him, but the Batman turned around and showed his backside to the camera instead. We got a bit shocked, well at least you can say nicely to the tourists that we have to pay for pictures. Once she handed him some money, he spread his wings and posed for the camera. Tsk tsk tsk, I ain't gonna fall for that! Who needs Batman to make my picture beautiful, I can make my own!
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| Better than Batman! |
Besides, Batman has no significance with the Square, so why the hassle?
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| A closer look at the chiming clock. |
After some souvenir shopping, the husband and I sat by the bench in front of the square and watched the city slowly drenched into the evening sky. I fell in love with this city because of their unique culture, serene, peaceful and laid back lifestyle. Everyone goes around in bicycle, it's so cute seeing mothers cycling around with their doll-like baby in the carrier in front. The air smells so much fresher because of the lack of cars and other automobiles.
THE HOTEL
After dinner, we were transported to our hotel, Park Plaza Amsterdam. The hotel building is huge and it's located near to the airport. I love the red color in our room! The painting above the bed is pretty nice too, I wish I could took it back =P
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| The bed area. |
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| The other side of the room. |
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| The washroom, no bathtub?! |
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| The hotel lobby. |
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| Souvenirs! Souvenirs! Souvenirs! |
We were knocked out about 9pm due to jet lag. Netherlands was 7 hours behind Malaysia, so it was by right 4am already OMFG! Even though we were worn out, our body couldn't adjust itself to the timing yet, thus waking up at 4 something later on =___= zzzzzzz.
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| What to do when you were wide awake at 4am? Watch the transition of the sky from dark to bright! |
Our next destination was Germany. A place that really surprised me and opened up my eyes! Will blog about it soon!
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