I am very happy with my stay here, I think as I have mentioned somewhere, when I first arrived to Amsterdam, without any arrangement made earlier except hotel booking, I have to start finding information from scratch. And thanks to the good people I met along the way, from the information counter, then tourist information counter, then buying my ticket, then to the gentleman who directed me to the right train, even the right station to disembark, then at the station, the lady who confirmed the bus number 58 for me (yes it is Dulvendrecht to Joan Muyskenweg). I feel gratitude and happy to have met all these people, thanks again.
Amsterdam, when i first walked into the city, and especially close to 10 days in Scandinavian countries, it was a kind of "relieved", as I told Henk, a friend that I have known more than 2 years ago, that it somehow gave me an impression that I am in BKK, not that Amsterdam looks like BKK but in a way it is quite similar....with more choices for food, the canals, the red light area, the bars, the pubs, the crowd, the main station....all these gave me that kind of impression.
And you can see also a lot of immigrants coming from African countries and some east European, and in Malaysia, we can say it is a masyarakat majmuk (plural society), where everybody speaks Dutch and I also met a lady, I think by the name of Winny, parents migrated from HK 30 years ago, and she speaks perfect Dutch (I got this confirmed from a local Dutch).....
Going around the city... and moving around places with my GVB card, with my daily regional city passes, and with new friends I made and also a friend that came to meet me (though we have known each other close to 2.5 years since our first contact in Beijing), that was Henk, and also an acquaintance I met at the hotel, Adolf whom is visiting family here and gave me some share of advice on places to go and to be careful on my bags, etc.... I am thankful that I knew and understood more about Amsterdam and other parts of Holland more. And I hope to come back for another visit for sure.
Going out of the city, like Edam Volendam, Marken, Monnickendam, Hoorns, Vondelpark , Zaanse Schans and Broek in Waterland opened up my eyes wider, and at the same time can understand the historical aspect more...which I really appreciate. Visiting Vang Gogh Museum, taking canal cruise, visiting Rijksmuseum, "finding" my ways to China town, red light district, seeing many gay bars around the city, the flea market (at Waterlooplein) and visiting the new market were very interesting. And yesterday, I spend close to 10 hours in the city alone, part of the reason was waiting for sunset to happen so that I can take sunset pictures of the city, and which I did.
And I enjoyed that a lot yesterday, even though I was alone throughout, but I kind of feel it was great and was very happy and contented. And before I left the city, drinking a can of Hineken beer with a pc of freshly baked Pizza it was nice one. And I ended my trip today, with a more relaxing day, spending almost half a day at Zaanse Schans and also at Broek in water land was meaning. It was rather a very hot and sunny day, but then again I am not complaining. I felt happy, very much satisfied. dank u.
Oh yes, one point, I hope I was informed of the I Amsterdam city card in advance before anything else....as this is a good option and cost saving to visit the city.
In short, I am happy to roam around the city, the explore the unknowns, and in the process found most of the places I want to visit and see, and also met a few nice local people who are very helpful.
And I did get my Royal Delft,,,, which means my ceramic collection is going to increase soon.
Nite from Mercure hotel. Need my sleep soon.
Choong
Mercure hotel
Amsterdam city
No comments:
Post a Comment