Red lights. Purple lights. Pancakes!

Bicycles. Coffee shops. Canals.

Amsterdam was in one of my destination for a one-week holiday. I had missed all the chances for the past few years, so I booked my flight ticket without thinking any further.

Flight was on time, everyone looked happy. We had to transit in Paris CDG and took KLM to Schiphol Airport. Reaching Schiphol Airport was no problem. I was delighted, my journey ran smoothly, everything was like what I had planned. Except for the part when we took the wrong NS train the night that we arrived. It was hilarious; we took the direct train to Amsterdam Centraal instead of the intercity train. When the train passed by our ‘original stopped’ at a top-notch velocity, we were speechless and looked lost, we did not know what to do, and we were staring at each other. Oh my. What in the world were we gonna do… We were already late than our agreed appointment time with our Airbnb host.

As soon as we got off the train, I started searching for screens with the name of our stop (Lelylaan). Luckily, on the opposite platform, a train was heading to a direction with our stop inside. We hesitated, as we did not know if there were going to be any controllers at this time around. We took the risked and I could tell you, it was not funny, thinking that you might get caught for having a wrong one-way ticket.

Luckily, we didn’t get caught. When we arrived at our a, Sasmita was super friendly, helped us with everything. We saw Hans the next day. Their home was not difficult to find. Super big, cosy, and we felt like home.

The next day we used back our local 24 hour public transportation card. In our case, we planned to walk to the city center for the next few days since it is just a 30-40 minutes walk, and it could save us a lot of money. For those who are not in favor of walking, tram would be the best option! I suggest that you get a card if you are living outside of Amsterdam. You can get cheaper prices for longer stay. Transportation in Amsterdam is quite expensive.. So do plan your journey if you are staying a long period. Oh yeah, and one more important thing, do check in and check out every time you use the tram, metro or buses. So, make the card beep guys!

One beep means check in, two beeps mean check out.

Or why not rent a bike and discover the city with it. Follow the red lane and be careful okay? If you are walking, just please, always look to the left and to the right, if not, a bike might just run you over instead of a car. So be attentive and at the same time do enjoy the city!

Amsterdam itself is a beautiful city to explore. You need a map, that is for sure, but you do not need to look at it all the time. My favorite part about traveling is you always find beautiful things hidden in the city when you walk aimlessly in the city. Those little things that make your stay even more precious. Bicycles everywhere, by the lamppost, by the canals, in front of the houses, literally everywhere. It’s amazing how bicycles are beneficial. It saves up your time to go anywhere in the city, you don’t need to pay for the parking spot, and also it keeps your body healthy.

And of course, the famous Keukenhof!

We tooked the bus from Schicpol airport to Keukenhof, it was nearly an hour journey because to the traffic jam. Nevertheless, it was worth the journey and the 24-euro combo package. The enormous garden caught my attention; beautiful colorful flowers were everywhere. We took a stroll in the garden, and oh my, what a picturesque scenery! Just amazing. How long did the gardeners took to finish everything up? Bushes, trees were perfectly trimmed, and super neat. Planting the seed bulbs was not an easy job I guess.

 

Wanna know more about Anne Frank and her history?

Head to ANNE FRANK’S HOUSE

You can find Anne Frank’s house right here in Amsterdam. One tip : It was incredible. Just wow. I could not imagine what they went through during the World War II, all the victim of the Holocaust. Melancholy. Sorrowful. Hidden away thanks to a bookshelf, I could not imagine them staying hidden behind the black curtains with limited supplies of food, limited to movements in order to not make any noise. Do visit Anne Frank’s house. It is a long queue to go in. I waited for one hour and a half even though we arrived at 9.45 am there.

Tip: Go during lunch hour. There is less people during this hour.

Wanna see something unsual and sexy? RED LIGHT DISTRICT is the place!

Red Light District, is a must too! You get the idea of what is it about. It’s really interesting and an eye opening. Seeing women behind the doors tapping, trying to gain some money to support their life isn’t funny. Renting that small cabin is not actually cheap, and they are not paid as much as they should be too! I got to know more about the Red Light District after going to Red Light Secrets Museum.

Inside is a short summary of how prostitution existed back in the days, and the everyday life of a prostitute, not all of them decided to be a prostitute you know. I gained a lot of informations thanks to the visit. Get your online tickets for only 8 euros instead of paying 10 euros at the counter. You get to sit on a chair with a virtual window in front you, and you can actually feel how it is like being stared by people, especially men. Old men. Weird and disturbed. I saw the transgenders too with the purple lights, in one of the alleys along the Red Light District. They looked voluptuous, like woah man.

ZAANSE SCHANS !

You can find not only windmills here but also small wooden houses! We didn’t want to pay for the Iamsterdam visit card, cause we had visited everything that we wanted to. We went to the Centraal Station, headed to the bus station on the other side of the station, and asked the lady at the information counter how to get there. It cost 10 euro for a day return ticket. We had the idea of going there by renting a bicycle, but thankfully, we did not, cause it took us more than 30 minutes by bus to get there. Oof!! Imagine by bicycle. If you’re someone who is We had our lucky strike during our stay, it was sunny all the way long, except for one night where we decided to go out for dinner. There was a hail! Haha.

And yes, not to forget, foooooooooooooooooooood!

Patat.

Often called Vlaamse friet. The Dutch version of fries or chips. They are big and fat, nothing like Mc Donalds’s french fries. Served with mayonnaise, it is finger licking good.  It was delicious that I could not care taking a photo of it. Tummy came first.

Poffertjes and Dutch pancakes.

Poffertjes are served with sugar and butter. They are mini fluffy pancakes that will bring you and your taste buds to heaven. Apparently, Indonesia have them too, known as ‘kue cubit’.  The Dutch pancakes are to kill for. I went there once, but there were too many people, so I decided to come back the next day for breakfast. I didn’t regret going there. YOU HAVE TO TRY THESE PANCAKES! It is called Pancakes! Amsterdam. It’s 10 minutes by feet from Anne Frank. Get you belly ready!

Rakang

Being an Asian, I do crave for rice most of the time. I was super happy to see Asian restaurants everywhere in Amsterdam, not just Chinese food, I mean like Malaysian local dishes, Indonesian dishes, Thailand dishes, Japanese dishes etc. The desire for Tom Yum lead me to Rakang. They had good reviews on their services and food. I wasn’t frustrated. We were greeted and treated nicely. Food was super yummy. The spicier it is, the better the taste is. If you are finding for Thailand’s dishes, this is the right place to go! If you do not feel like seating in, you can just take away!

 

Till my next adventure, toodles!