Hamsters Come From...

H-amsterdam.

Okay okay that was lame. Yeah ok really bad, something even my soci mates would scoff at (and they have low standards), and hardly the way to treat you, my dear reader(s) (I have you in particular in mind when I say this, Adrian), after the long wait I have made you endure. So here they are now, them pictures! Loads and loads of them. Go ahead, knock yerself out!

One of the first I took was this:

Okay it's not too clear; here's a close-up:

Such a nice welcome! Clear, blue sky, the sun, the crisp summer air... I couldn't wait to go out.

And Amsterdam was utterly beautiful and immensely intruiging. There was so much to see and capture - this being my first visit to Europe, it certainly was an eye-opener. Everything is hugely different from what we know in Singapore. The most obvious one being, of course, the fact that soft drugs are legalised over there. Now I didn't go to any of those "coffeeshops" myself, but reliable word has it that these are very common indeed; some went so far as to say that everywhere you walk, you'd be able to smell pot. But either I was walking out of the wind or have a really poor aptitude for picking up new funky odours, because I didn't smell anything remotely out of the ordinary. The closest I got to the drug, in fact, was sucking on one of these.

Er, what?

This:

I saw this in a souvenir shop (and many litter the streets of Ammie) and decided on the spot that I had to get it. I mean, how often in your life would you be able to sample what a consciousness-altering drug would feel like? Or at least, taste like?

Still, the rational, law-abiding side of me had my doubts: was I gonna hallucinate? Puke? Get permanant brain-damage? Or worse, be arrested by the police the moment I arrive back on the shores of our island? So, with these niggling thoughts, I approached the counter. Before I pay my 1 Euro (a ludicrous $2, come to think of it), I joke with the lady manning it: "Will I start to see things that aren't there?"

And she delivers the embarrassing answer: "Of course not! This isn't the real thing! Do you think the real thing will be so cheap?"

Oh, to be mocked as a tourist. Anyway, it tasted vaguely like sng buay and was altogether forgettable.

There was also a shop named "When Nature Calls" that piqued my companion's and my interest. When we approached however, we realised all it was selling were these things.

So the drugs were one defining factor about Amsterdam. What else was there?

1)

Bicycles. Lots and lots of them. There are bicycle tracks on pedestrian sidewalks, and these cyclists just plough through them, stopping for no one. They'd rather swerve out of your way than slow down, so one has to be think twice before getting into their path.

A rare no-bicycle zone. (And a man who thinks I'm taking a picture of him. Shameless.)

A close-up on the bicycles locals ride. Full of the old-world charm, are they not? I really wanted to get on one of these and have my picture taken, but self-consciousness got in the way.

The other major way of getting around would be via these nifty inventions:

They, too, plough through the streets like objects possessed. Of course, however, they do let out a honk of concession to shopping pedestrians on the street. Cars drive at right angles to trams at these streets. On bigger roads they travel side by side.

2)

Canals. Amsterdam is dotted with canal after canal after canal. After a while you wonder if you're starting to walk in circles, there are so many of them. The one featured below is right outside my hotel

... which in turn is located right next to a sidewalk. How cool is that?

Just makes you feel really safe and secure, doesn't it?

3)

The Sexmuseum, or the Venus Tempel (I think). By this time my camera batteries were nearing exhaustion, so I didn't manage to take as many pictures as I desired. Here's another interesting one, captured right before they gave up on me.

Here's another interesting one. But guess what? It's not part of the exhibits in the Sex Museum; rather, it is a real pee-pee place! I actually saw it being utilised. Gives a whole new meaning to the term "public toilet". A peek into its floor revealed lots of ugly stains. Shudder.

And while we're on the topic of toilets, here's another outdoor version, this time offering one more privacy.

But the exorbitant fee to enter, as well as fears of assualts onto my personal hygiene, deterred me from stepping inside.

4) Cheese. (How did urine lead on to food? Sorry, bad planning on my part.)

Yummmmm.

That's my companion taking pictures with her $2,000 digital SLR. Beside her is some machine to make cheese. I think it presses down on the cheese and that does something to it. Hurhurhur.

There are more cows in the Netherlands than there are people in Singapore, and each cow provides 6,000 litres of milk each year. Go figure.

On my short stay there, I also took a day trip to the countryside. So absolutely stunning, that it almost didn't matter that I got sunburnt. Almost.

Before the trip we gathered outside the tour agency, where this nice larger-than-life clog sat. Oh yes, that would make defining factor #5, wouldn't it?

My intention really wasn't to take a picture of these two girls, but they just sorta climbed in after I shot my companion and she got out. Ironically, their proud mom told us, half-abashedly, how people had been asking her repeatedly whether they could take pictures of her daughters. To which my companion replied acerbically, "Actually we wanted to take pictures of ourselves in the shoe." The mother replied, "Oh." but didn't do anything, which pissed my companion off more.So I guess that's why I took this picture? Sorry the details are kinda blurry, so forgive my artistic license if there has been any. Anyway it makes for quite a cute anecdote, no? And in the end I did get my picture, and since it wasn't that easy to get it (it involved running after the tour group, which was walking into the distance), I am obliged to post it up.

I think I'm cuter.



One of the places we went to on the day trip was a little town. I don't know what's so special about this town because I didn't follow the tour guide as we walked around (in fact we almost got lost thanks to our trigger-happy fingers), but I do know it's pretty. Some evidence.

(After I took this shot, I spied a little old woman shimmy quickly into the comfort of her room, away from the prying eyes of The Tourist. Oops.)

(and look, they recycle! With such meticulousness!)

Even the trash is pretty.

And similarly, at a little fishing village:

Okay, I know the pictures have started to become really random (but still pretty), but I've been working on this post for sooooo long, wrecked with problems like a bad internet connection, no time, and no time, that all I want is to get this over and done with. So, dear reader(s) (meaning Adrian, of course), I leave you with - you guessed it - more random pictures and comments.

The little eatery serving Dutch fare that me and my conpanion tracked down from an address I found on the internet. Apparently, when the Dutch go out to eat they rarely want to eat Dutch food, which is why there aren't many restaurants offering local food around, and which is also why we simply had to try some.

This is "Poffertjes", a traditional Dutch treat of mini-pancakes served with butter, icing sugar, ice cream and strawberries.

The first time we saw the way "Chinese" was spelt we gaffawed, but after two days of repeated typos, it struck us that maybe this was how they spelt it in Dutch.

(P/S This took 15 days to complete.)