Amsterdam

Went to Amsterdam the weekend after my exams since I missed the Easter weekend. Though it was only a short 2-day weekend trip, it was really fun and it has been a very very very long time since I went travelling with Sook Leen and Grace. As for Christine, I hope that this first time will not be the last time! (Sorry that you were stuck with us!)

At first glance, the city centre looked very much like what you would expect of an European city... but I think this charming little city has a lot more to offer!

Hehe... we were trying to pose with the amsterdam word but there were throngs of people waiting to take their photos with it... we practically had to fight with little kids to pose next to the letters... so in the end, we settled for just the "a" and "m" letters.

That's the full word that we were trying to take a picture of... now, we can really say that we've been to Amsterdam!

The Rembrandt museum. Since we only had the time to visit one museum, we decided to skip the Rembrandt museum. I guess a picture in front of it would be sufficient!

The Van Gogh museum. I think this is an absolutely fantastic museum. It houses the world's largest collection of works by Vincent van Gogh including the famous Sunflowers and the Wheatfield with Crows. It's such a pity that he died young and shot himself to death... hmmm... I guess it's tough to be a genius!

One of the many bridges that connect the canals around Amsterdam. These canals really do make the city very laid back and fun at the same time. As it was a sunny day, many locals were out on their boats, having parties and cruising along the canals... now that's what I call enjoyment in life!!

Time for an energizing break! Yummy and delicious smoothies!

We also visited the Anne Frank House. I remember reading the Anne Frank Diary when I was much younger. She was one of the many victims of the Jewish prosecution during the World War II and Anne Frank kept a diary whiles she was in hiding. She wrote about their everyday life in the annex, the isolation and the constant fear of being discovered. It was really an enjoyable book but I must admit that I was a bit disappointed with the museum as it was practically nothing but an empty house! And to think that we queued up for more than 30mins in a sleep-deprived state. Tsk tsk tsk....

After taking our much needed beauty cum afternoon nap, we set off for dinner at this nice cosy little restaurant that Christine had made reservation for us. Dinner was really good. I had chicken broth for starters, steamed monkfish for mains and finally we shared two sinfully delicious desserts.

Aaah... the "dessert" of the night... heheh... yup, we visited the red light district after dinner. It was definitely an eye opener for me as I find it quite amusing for the girls to parade themselves in front of window panes... it's like window shopping!! But sorry guys, no pictures allowed!!

The next day, it was off to Keukenhof!! Yippeee... I've heard so much about the tulips in Holland. However, while Grace was working hard to find out how to get us there....

I was fooling around, taking pictures with Christine... hehehe... sorry Grace, I know we were being naughty and lazy! But thanks a million for checking out the guide, reading the map and guiding all of us around! You were the best guide!! Really... :)

Finally, we arrived at Keunkenhof!!! Being the greedy pig I am... food was on the priority list. I'm not too sure, but I reckon it's one of the food that Holland is famous for... the Dutch croquette is a parcel of minced meat or vegetables, shaped into a cylinder or circle, encased in breadcrumbs and deep fried. I really like it... hehe... yum yum yum...

They were not lying when they claimed that it's one of the most beautiful park in the world during spring. I cannot disagree. It's really beautiful and being the flower crazy me, I had a field day... I took so many pictures of the flowers that everyone kept on saying that I will kill the plants in the process of trying to take pictures with them!!

Aaawww... how can one resist these beautiful tulips? My soft spot. I've only posted 3 pictures as I realised that not everyone is as flower crazy as me!! Just to make sure that you keep reading the post... hehe...

The sisters act - so cute!

Er... I think they are trying to imitate the statue... without much success??? :P

Since we did not have the time to visit the windmills, we'll have to make do with a miniature one in Keukenhof!

The actual tulips field. It's really amazing to see how colourful the flowers are!! Seeing this made me have the crazy idea to try and bring back some bulbs back to London to plant them. (against everyone's advice or maybe Grace's advice, I actually bought some bulbs back... but that is another story... will blog about what happened to them in another post...)

We also went cycling around the park and by the tulip fields. Haven't been cycling for a very long time but it was really fun! Think I should organise a cycling trip especially now that the weather is really getting warmer!

And to end our trip, we went for pancakes as I was desperately trying to find something that the Dutch are famous for. (Okay, maybe they are not famous for pancakes, but I was desperate at that time... so I made the conclusion that Dutch are famous for pancakes and we're going to have them anyway... hahahaha.... :P)

From savoury to sweet pancakes, you name them they have them.

And from large pancakes to mini pancakes!! Yummy yummy....

I really did have a good time, thanks girls for making it such a memorable trip! :)