Sin City

Amsterdam - Legitimate City of Sin
I came once before, last year in December.
Well, all i can say is that what i did then and now is like Black and White. :)
(why, cannot be because the last time was winter so it was like dark all the time meh?)

But i'm here to meet my darl friend! He jus came 3 weeks back cos he's on scholarship! He won first for some Young Designer's Fest thing for his curved bamboo chair..

Took HeapS of pics.. like 170 i think! I just like take everything man.. ha. But I checked out Amsterdam city n things with another friend the last time i came so not many pics there since i was in the sub-urban area mostly..

Ok some info on Dutch pple.. Dun quote me, but in general i've heard that they are direct bunch of people, who dun do the american complimentary thing very well cos they feel too much of it appears fake (ya that can be true). They are also stingy with things and money.. hmmm. Perhaps that's where the expression, "Let's go Dutch?" comes from aye? heh.

Getting ready to meet my friend! My pink boots! FINALLY i've got a chance to wear it! I bought like three different pairs of boots from london awhile back and all not worn yet! I love my camera flash! Makes my skin jus look so flawless! haha.

I usually watch CNN/Sky News when in Europe, cos i dun get the languages, so i update myself too! I watched the broadcast on the 1st oCt Bali Bombings (I'm so sorry Indonesia), and A Tomato Festival in Spain where pple throw tomatoes around, almost like a BIG FOAM party but tomatoes instead of soap and also a FEMALE CONVICT PAGEANT ( i forgot where but wat a way to pass time!)




Met a colleague while waiting in the lobby.. TA DA! My friend!! There's the bread he brought, that made up most of my lunch that day.. :S But it's not too bad. After that i bought a 4 Euros SLICE of pizza which is too ex la! His friend whom i met b4 came along too.. He's the human map locator! Jus knows where to go and what to take.. i jus follow.. ha.




We took a tram at Leidserplein (city area) to Fredrick's Plein, then changed route to Rai, where the convention centre is. I like this sort of stuff! Fashion, Art, Architecture, Furniture.. any kind of design stuff is jus interesting! Well, most. I do think everything has a story to tell, it's a form of expression.. at least in my world.. :)

Ok, things i wana get! A fireplace! Yes, i DUN CARE if it's artificial or not, i want!; A swinging chair thing (ok i can't recall wat the name is as of now), but the gal refused to get off it so I CAN sit.. NVM; Beanbag! this is comfy cos it ONLY sinks in when you sit on it, and maintains a round firm shape if not, unlike some i see, shapeless flimsy and all.. ; A mini cooper! I rather a Volkswagen, but chio car can liao..




I was told that eating Herrings is a Dutch thing.. it IS yumz.. kinda tastes like raw salmon.. N Homemade Fries! The one along the city centre is SHIOK! I had them the last time i was here, coupled with the cold weather, it was heavenly! But it's closed when we came here...

The Ice Cream and desserts from Australian is DAMN NICE! European ice creams are jus nice la.. The shirt logo tt staff were wearing was cool too.. it said:

Y O U R
C H O I C E

N i hopped into one of those taxi tour thing, it's 10 Euros for half an hr's ride ard the city.. I just sat in it for a pic, i've walked the city before..




Train station! We were goin to Eindhoven where my friend lives! It's an hour twenty away from Amsterdam... I duno why we started taking pictures of each other.. haha..




I want my hair in this COLOR! I had it red before but it can never be this red cos my natural hair color's dark brown and to get it this red i'd prolly kill my hair and do ten million treatments..

Bicycle! Yeap i cycled from the train station to my friend's place! Like in Copenhagen, people in Amsterdam bike alot, and there are paths for bikers/scooters/motorcycles.. so not that dangerous... Basically i cycled my entire time in Eindhoven, except for the trip to and back to Amsterdam.. You got to keep right! Overtaking's on the LEFT!

Here's the left over bottle drinks from the party they had the night b4 which i MISSED cos i was on the plane! bah. So my friend's roomies were still bit tired and all.. There's my friend picking up the party trash which was poked thru by the pigeons...




The interior of my friend's house! It's still quite empty cos they moved in like 2 weeks back so still settling down.. but i think they're progressing quite well! They got an iron and vacuum the next day when we went shopping in Eindhoven City.. Shan't put up the pics of their individual rooms la..




Playing Tai Di! I look how pro shuffling huh? haha. Ok, i'm not very into Paris Hilton, but i do read mags.. and this is in Vanity Fair which costs 7 euros! I saw the tag wrongly, it said 3.50 pounds and i thought it was 3.50 euros. Ah well. AND i think this pic of Paris and Paris is classic!

My friend's room a.k.a my living quarters when i was in Eindhoven.. He has a basin in his room! So cute! Saves alot of queue time huh.. I also want! But then i got attached bathroom even better hor..




Morning! It's so lovely, the air's cool and fresh, the leaves red and green, it's jus serene... went to take the exterior of the house.. Nice area they live in.. quiet cosy peace...




First official day of sch! I went with them.. they were already doin projects for their Masters course in Eindhoven Design Academy 2 weeks before.. I heard it's like 2nd or 3rd in ranking for it's industrial design course.. but anyone from any background in design can apply.. cos it's more of like finding your own creative style and basically you. So my friend's classmates include dancers, fashion designers, graphic etc.. The course title is I.M like I am ... ... ... sounds cool liao!

Nice little pantry area ay? Heard tt this part of school is the best looking already. ha. N i was told that it is a common practise to wait for teachers here, like the teacher's first action would be to get his/ her coffee after being late in class. How relaxing. N since it was a Monday, it's EVEN more natural to be late. EVERYTHING opens late on Mondays. It's a common culture thing.




We went to a 2nd hand shop! Here's where my friend bought furniture for the house... This 2nd hand shop sells stuff but does not buy, it's for some charity organisation... I only bought like little glassware stuff just for kicks. :) Things here are still usable but some look really old. But you can get a worthy buy depending on your luck and scanning eyes!

BUT since it's a monday so it opens only at 1pm.. so FOOD FIRST! Yum, my first proper meal here! haha. I had lamb and something else.. have no idea what i ate cos it jus looked good and i dun understand Dutch, just point! But it's yumz!




SMART CAR! I see it alot in European states.. so cute right? Found one in PINK! N Eroworld.. some sex shop in Eindhoven.. Here's my friend's bag, it's made of car materials - canvas, seatbelt... so quite sturdy and waterproof! All these designer pple.. an eye for innovative things to buy..

Names of shops and equipment can be weird too.. There's a 'WonderBoy' vacuum, a 'Sissy Boy' male clothing store, (n it ain't for gays lor so HUH HUH HUH), a 'Baby Dump' for 2nd hand baby stuff.. (but why DUMP, machum like SHIT)




Eindhoven City! It's the most happening place here liao.. it's not too shabby.. But overall, Eindhoven's pretty dull i would say.. but my friend says it's more Dutch than Amsterdam itself..

We got a drink at a bar in the mall, i had HOT CHOCO! I love HOT CHOCO! i'd drink it where ever i go, only not in sg! Here they didn't mix the whipped cream together, but put it in a cute plate..

We went grocery shopping at AlbertHein (AH) to cook later! N yes, we cycled to school, then to AH then back! Butt sore.. heh.




Three of us cooked for the 5 in the house.. I did the mash potatoes! They said it was yumz! But i screwed up the soup and poured it down the sink.. I thought the bits were big enough to scoop out but err.. well just hope it won't clog up.

OUR MASTERPIECE! We had sausages, meat, mashed potatoes and pasta (sauce made by my friend which is damn yumz.. think it had tomatoes, mushrooms, some kinda meat etc) I was so full it was not funny man! After that we had fruit dessert.. totally bloated.

PER TRAIN RIDE BACK...
My friend got me a ticket back to Amsterdam using his discount card. But apparently he had to travel with me to get tt 40% off (so i jus paid E10) if not i'd get a fine. Then i went like, "it's ok la, they didn't check when we came up, if not i'll jus whine.." Apparently i overestimated myself!

I said i was a tourist etc etc and then the guy went like, you have to pay the 35 Euro fine, ON TOP of the ACTUAL price of the tick (E16.50), which is like E51.50 in total! Then i came out with my crying.. and asked if there's anything else i could do. So he said "ok, get off the next stop and get a new ticket" (ok, so it worked BIT)

Well, i didn't want to do so, but i had NO CHOICE right? If not they send the bill to my mailing address in sg etc.. huh?! Ok, so i paid E12.50 for the new ticket (so altogether i paid E22.50 for my train back!) and had to wait another half an hour for the next train to arrive.

The ticket officers were quite nice already i heard. Usually they dun give chance. They even walked me to the ticket office and asked if i could jus pay a top up fare but i couldn't. Thank goodness i made it for the last tram if not i have to spend more money taking a cab back to hotel!

YOU DUN MESS WITH THE DUTCH!