Mini Travel Log: Amsterdam, Holland (5)

This was my last working trip to Amsterdam on 777 as I have moved to 380. It was also the last week of summer so I had a nice stroll at Vondelpark. I am a fan of Tesla cars and there is a showroom just beside the park. While you can't drive the car out for test drive, the salesman is very courteous and helpful in explaining all the features of the car. You are allowed to sit in the car and play with the controls. The salesman is also kind enough to offer test drive on his personal Tesla to the countryside if you make arrangements with him before coming to Amsterdam. Sigh...too bad as I do not know when I will ever return to Amsterdam in the future.

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Mini Travel Log: Amsterdam, Holland (4)

It is late autumn transitioning into winter. I wanted to see some nice autumn color but unfortunately the rain followed me to Amsterdam. Undeterred by the rain and cloudy mood, I braved the cold to sight see outside. I was drenched for almost 2 consecutive days but my trusty Canon camera weathered through the rain with no problem. In the end, I was the one that lost the battle to the rain as I caught a cold after that.

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Related link: Mini Travel Log: Amsterdam, Holland (3)
Related link: Mini Travel Log: Amsterdam, Holland (2)
Related link: Tulip Mania: Spring in Holland
Related link: Mini Travel Log: Amsterdam, Holland (1)

Winter Tulip, Is That Possible?

This year, global warming really wrecked havoc to the world's weather ecosystem. While the Far East experienced early and very warm spring, the West were pounded with snow even in the late months of March/April. Weather is still freezing cold as of this posting which is already coming to the month of May. I returned to Holland earlier this month hoping to see beautiful tulip fields all over the landscape. To my disappointment, I only got to see dirt fields stretching far and beyond. The weather was so cold and no flower is ready to spring from the ground in such harsh conditions. The famous Keukenhof Gardens tried their best to please visitors by putting some potted tulips grown from the greenhouse around the huge garden. But I pity those tulips as it was trying so hard to survive in such cold weather. Luckily my trip was not wasted as they managed to grow beautiful tulips inside their huge greenhouse and opened it for visitors. I spent almost all my time indoor rather than outdoor to admire the tulips and also partly to escape the cold temperature outside.

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For those interested to know how it looks like during the full tulip bloom, you can also check out my previous trip here: Tulip Mania, 2011

I have also returned to Zaanse Schans to visit the windmills, but on my own time own target instead of joining bus tours. I finally had the chance to explore all the windmills without rushing. You can easily take Bus 391 from the Amsterdam Central Station and alight directly in front of Zaanse Schans at the last stop. Both return tickets can be purchased on board the bus. If I'm not mistaken, it's 8 euro for 2-way.

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Mini Travel Log: Amsterdam, Holland (3)

Weather was not very good this time around. So I didn't do any excursion trip and stayed in the city. I bought a 1-day public transport ticket to go around the city. I walked into few diamond museums selling overpriced diamonds, a few flea markets around the city, saw the one and only windmill left in the city and ended up the day with ice cold beers in the Heineken Museum.

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Related link: Mini Travel Log: Amsterdam, Holland (2)
Related link: Tulip Mania: Spring in Holland
Related link: Mini Travel Log: Amsterdam, Holland (1)

Mini Travel Log: Amsterdam, Holland (2)

Ooo...what's that pungent smell on the street. Ahh...the familiar smell of marijuana smoke emanating from the "coffee" shops. Yup, I was back in Amsterdam to sniff the "fresh" air in the city. It was clear blue sky, how lucky was I. Just when I thought I've seen enough of the city, the beautiful weather coaxed me out from my room. Again, I did a little tour for my new colleagues and enjoyed the sun and photography myself. There were protests in the city by "Occupy" activists against the greedy and corrupted bankers. This is a worldwide protest going on at the moment inspired by the "Occupy" New York activists in Wall Street. I do agree with them that this world is controlled by the greedy rich bankers collaborating with governments to cheat the poor's money to make themselves rich. Since the abolishment of the currency backing against gold, banks have been printing worthless "money" from nothing, which in turn sell it to us in the form of savings and loans. And from "nothing", those greedy bastards are making money from the interests charged on loans to other people which are actually our savings money. Just because we don't use our money and left it in the bank, the banks conveniently use it to create even more loans. Based on "nothing", soon the economy will just run out of steam and resources when more and more people go bankrupt. And when the whole world goes down, the greedy bastards are still laughing their way to the banks with their loot of insane bonuses; while the poor people are starving on the streets and being forced out from their homes. When the meltdown happens, I am very sure that we will not be able to retrieve a single cent from the banks if all of us were to queue up together to withdraw our money. It is because our money which we thought worth a dollar, are actually not worth a dollar. They are sliced up to share with few thousands other and the banks work on this theory that we do not need the money at the same time. So why not use our money without our knowledge, and sell it off as loans to others while charging high interest rates. While they make lotsa money from the interests, they don't pay us back anything for "lending" them the money. And if the loan goes bad, the bank just use more of our savings to cover up the bad debts, yet they still pocket their annual bonuses for the losses they incurred. Evil bastards.

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Day 2, I decided to get out from the chaos in the city. I joined a tour to the peaceful student town of Delft. Delft is also famous for its' pottery and china wares. Chinese porcelains were of course invented in China. But because of the rarity in ancient times, the price for such wares were extremely expensive. Therefore, the Dutch decided to copy the making process and produced it themselves. Thus the birth of the Delft pottery business in this town.

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The finale to this tour is the trip to Mini Holland, Madurodam; not far away from The Hague. If you are short of time but want to see the whole of Holland, then this is the place to see them all, in miniature size. I loved this place as the miniatures are very similar to the real ones and beautifully created. I was having my great Gulliver's Travel fantasy in this lovely place, imagining myself as the giant. And lastly, the plane of my company is proudly displayed here as well.

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Related link: Tulip Mania: Spring in Holland
Related link: Mini Travel Log: Amsterdam, Holland (1)

Tulip Mania: Spring in Holland

I am so blessed to be given a flight to Amsterdam during the best season of the year, Spring. Of all the places in Europe, the best place to be during this time of the year is of course Holland. Tulips at one point of a time during the Dutch Golden Age, was so crazily revered and sought after that it was worth more than gold and diamonds; thus leading to the popular phrase of "Tulip Mania". One tulip bulb is already so beautiful. Imagine that you are now swimming in the endless ocean of tulips while enjoying the blue skies and windmills as the picturesque background. The scene was so beautiful and forever etched in my memory. As this entry would normally be in my "Mini Travel Log" section, the beautiful landscape however made me feel like I'm already on a holiday; thus earning a place in the "Travel Diaries" section instead. Please enjoy the beautiful pictures from Holland below.

Amsterdam: Springtime Fun in the City

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Marken + Volendam + Zaanse Schans

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Keukenhof: The Garden of Europe

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Related link: Mini Travel Log: Amsterdam, Holland (1)

Mini Travel Log: Amsterdam, Holland

Tulips, windmills, oranje, world cup runners-up, red light district, weed, space cakes, house boats and city below sea level. Does any of the above ring a bell? One will be quick to associate some of the above to the country Holland or Netherlands without any doubt. This country or specifically the city Amsterdam is famous (notorious) for all the good and bad reasons above. The red light district is the most distinctive feature of Amsterdam. Girls parade themselves behind huge glass windows; which you probably wouldn't find this in any other parts of the world. The people here are so open about sex that you'll find interesting sight such as a church on the left, prostitute houses on the right and a kindergarden next to it! Apart from prostitution, the city also legalizes drugs. As you walk around the city, you'll see rows after rows of "coffee shops". With strong distinctive "smell" emanating from those shops, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what they are actually serving inside. You can smoke weed and also eat space cakes (cake laced with drugs) in those shops legally if you can prove your age. Moving away from the vices, Amsterdam has its own unique charms. Museums are abound for the art lovers, or you can take boat cruises along the many canals and see the distinctive house boats. If you are a huge fan of Heineken beer, then the Heineken Brewery is not to be missed. If you are bringing your girlfriend along, then there is one place where you cannot bring her to, which are the diamond centers. There are many diamond centers around the city which some offer tours around their diamond factory. Here, you'll learn how diamonds are cut and processed. They are even generous enough to let you try on their huge diamonds worth up to 30k euro a piece. Definitely doesn't sound too good to your wallet.

Just a word of caution when you're walking around the city. Amsterdam produces the best breed of cyclists in the world. All their bicycles come without brakes. As they can easily knock you down anytime, they also have to skills to avoid vehicles. It means that you better give way to them if you're walking.

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