Multitasking in Amsterdam

During our 4th of July trip in Amsterdam*, we tooled around the city and came across this interesting store. One can get a haircut and/or buy skateboards and clothes. I'd love to know the backstory on that one!

Shortcut & Hardware, Amsterdam

*uh, I'm behind on writing about everything and am just now sorting through pictures on my camera.

Falling to pieces in Amsterdam: the mannequin edition

I'm a little bit obsessed with mannequins, especially when they look as if they've been through the wringer. It just always strikes me as odd that a store would put a beaten-up mannequin in the window. It doesn't seem to be the best way to display one's goods.

In Amsterdam, I saw a mannequin whose hand was taped on, in least artful way possible. Hmm...

Mannequins gettin' down in Weesp, North Holland

We stayed in Weesp, a suburb of Amsterdam, during our 4th of July trip. Weesp is a beautiful old town and we spent some time downtown. I saw these mannequins in one of the storefronts. It seems that they were so excited about the sale in the store that they fell to pieces!

The mythical turducken...or, what IS this thing?

I saw this bird THINGIE in Amsterdam and I would very much like to know what it is. I would imagine that it's not a turducken (hehe), but it looks like a goose with mallard duck feathers. Duck, duck...goose?

So far, no one I've asked (including a real, live Dutch person) has known what it is and I'm too lazy/not exactly sure what to Google. If you know what it's called, post in the comments.

I do know, whatever it is, that it had a strict "no paparazzi" rule; it was ticked off when I was taking pictures!

At First I Saw These Guys and Was Confused, Then I Saw Their Leader...

First off: this week's blog entries (or lack thereof!) are brought to you by the Letter E.

E is for exams. I am finishing degree #3 THIS WEEK. Yee-haw. I will soon have my life back and will be able to read for fun and volunteer again after a year of devoting a large amount of my free time to studying.

--

Anyway, on to the blog entry that the title references (which is modeled on those ridiculous titles of viral cat videos like, "I Thought This Video Was Going to Be Dumb But I Clicked on It Anyway Because I Was Conned by a Stupid Title Like This Yet Again" -- what IS it with those titles? I get suckered into them every time even though I think they're ridiculous).

When we were in Amsterdam, we ran into tons and tons of stag and hen parties. I saw a bunch of guys sitting around Dam Square wearing gnome hats and drinking beer. I love gnomes so I thought it was interesting, but I wasn't sure exactly what the hats had to do with anything.

Okay, later picture when they put on their beards, too. You get the drift.

About 10 minutes later, their friend dragged the groom back to the group and all was illuminated. We had a good laugh at the concept (but not at the rough shape the groom was in).

Poor Snow White seemed to be struggling.

The apples were a nice touch.

Biking hardcore in Amsterdam

In Amsterdam, bikes are all over. They're parked out in front of shops, they're being ridden all over, and they're even in the canals (oops). There are kids, adults, adults with kids, adults with adults, and even people with dogs on bikes.

We saw many interesting combinations, including the mother and son below. He was standing up behind her on the bike. I just about had a heart attack for him, considering that he wasn't wearing a helmet. Heck, I only saw a few people wearing helmets the whole weekend. It must not be an Amsterdam-ish thing to do.

I used to avoid wearing a helmet while bicycling myself. I'd never ride my horses without a helmet, but biking I would leave it off. However, I recently saw a guy catapult himself head over his handlebars and under his bike right in front of my face when he tried to brake too hard, and I now wear my helmet.

Go on, remove me

On the outside wall of a hotel in Amsterdam, there was a sign in both English and Dutch that said "Bicycles will be removed."

It was amusing to see a bicycle propped up next to the sign.

Mannsterdam: Or, the Mannequins of Amsterdam

There were quite the mannequins in Amsterdam! Of course I had to take pictures of them, too.

Hey you on the street! I'm not wearing a shirt, but I have a crown on. Go figure.

Off with his...body?

He's dapper, yet slightly difficult to see.

The anger & frustration of the suburban trains to Amsterdam

[Here's a website with some good information about the issue I'm writing about below. I had done some quick research into public transport before my trip, but apparently not enough and I wish I had read this first! Keep in mind that this article is about using the trains outside of Amsterdam. At the Centraal Station in Amsterdam, we had no problems buying tickets for transport within the city at kiosks where we could use our credit cards or pay with bills.]

During our trip to Amsterdam, there was one absolutely aggravating issue: using the suburban trains to get into the city center. We stayed in Weesp, a suburb that was a short 17 minute train ride to the center. The town itself was adorable and our accommodations pretty much perfect. However, getting to Amsterdam put us into a rage.

Why is that? I've traveled plenty of other places and have never had such an issue. I've even been to Amsterdam before, in 2008 and had no problems then. This time, though, it was a frustrating experience (I'm getting grumpy all over again, just writing about it!).

It was awful because of the system for buying tickets. Imagine this: we've finally arrived to Weesp and have to pick up a friend at the Centraal station in Amsterdam. We are equipped with cash in the form of bills as well as our giro chip credit cards that work in Germany (but are from an American bank - with the chip, that's all that matters, at least in Germany). It's 11 p.m. but this shouldn't be a problem because of our cards and the cash, right?

Oh no, my friend, it was a major problem. Here's why: the train ticket machines would not accept bills! There were no change machines around. Okay, so then we tried our credit cards with the chip. We were denied; the machine only took Dutch PIN/Maestro/V-Pay. Cruuuuuud! It was also 11 at night and it's a suburb. What would be open to get change? Well, we lucked out: there was a small bike kiosk and the guy was kind enough to give us change. If it weren't open, we would have been hosed.

So, we get the change and try to buy a ticket. The whole thing was confusing; it appeared that we had to buy some sort of card for 7,50 euros. Ah, that seemed reasonable! My friend chose that option, thinking it was a travel card for the duration. It then told her that she had to put in 20 more euros. What the heck!? At that point, we were going to run late so she just put in the total amount, in change only. She wasn't happy about having to shove almost 30 euros' worth of coins into the machine, and I don't blame her at all.

We later found out how this worked (and it's still crummy, in my opinion): the card she got is called the OV-chipkaart. It's possible to either have an anonymous one (like what my friend bought) or one can buy a personal one with the owner's photo and lost card protection. The latter option is more likely for Dutch residents. The card itself is a non-refundable 7,50 euros and there must be an additional 20 euros of credit on it. If my friend wanted to turn in the card and get the remaining credit (less than 30 euros) off it, she would have been charged 2,50 euros for the "privilege." Oh, and if you don't have a Dutch bank card, you better as heck have a boat load of change to buy the dang card at the machine.

The other option we later found was the single-use cards, which were more reasonable. For 3,20 euros, I bought a one-way ticket from Weesp to Amsterdam Centraal. At the time, I had a printed ticket. I later found out that a few days after our trip ended, the system was changing over to single-use OV chip cards (enmalige chipkaart) and that there would be a 1 euro surcharge on each single-use card purchased.

The whole thing was entirely frustrating and the system is not at all friendly to people who are not going to be using transport very often (i.e. the hordes of visitors to Amsterdam). I think that the worst thing is the payment situation; the machines won't take most credit or debit cards and there are no change machines. If the train office or stores aren't open, how is one to get change to buy tickets? Many of the stores around the trains aren't always amenable to giving change, either; on our second day, we went to the convenience store in the train station in Weesp and they refused to give us our change from our purchase back all in coins. I understand that they need the change too, so it's extremely frustrating to have to scramble for coins to pay for train tickets.

The Netherlands are otherwise pretty cool, but buying train tickets outside of Amsterdam is an exercise in frustration.

Restaurant Review: Eat Mode, Amsterdam

Eat Mode Pan-Asian Restaurant
 Zeedijk 105 - 107
1012 AV  Amsterdam
T: +31 20 3300806

Opening hours: 12:00 - 23:00hrs
Free wireless internet for customers

When we first ventured forth into Amsterdam, our initial stop was in Chinatown to find a bite to eat before continuing our adventures. My travel mates C. and J. were enthralled by Eat Mode and their hamburger with buns made of fried ramen noodles so we stopped in.

Both ladies ordered the burgers. I order the udon noodles with stir-fried udon noodles. My dish was quite large and filling for less than 8 euros. It was fresh and tasted good, topped in dried seaweed strips.

Both of my friends were pleased with their hamburgers, which were about 9 euros with a side of sweet potato fries, dipping sauces, and a small side of salad for garnish. C. said that the hamburger tasted fresh and like a decent cut. They both liked the fried ramen noodles that served as the buns and said it tasted like typical ramen. The sweet potato fries were great; they were very fresh tasting and fried up to perfection (I tried one :). J. also enjoyed a melon-orange juice and liked its fresh, intense taste.

The restaurant offers a little bit of everything: Chinese, Thai and Japanese food; hamburgers, pho, and more. I'd say that it's a jack of all trades and master of none, but the food is decent enough and reasonably priced despite the restaurant's tourist-heavy location.

Back from Amsterdam

For the 4th of July, some friends and I took a trip to Amsterdam for the weekend and rented a house in the suburbs. My brain turned into German mode (yay!) since all four of us speak German in some capacity (I'm the weakest link) in our international group of two Americans, a German, and a Dutch guy. I think we confused some other train passengers as we talked in a mix of German and English but it was a great way to work on my language skills. If I did this all the time, I'd be significantly more fluent. It's just funny that a trip to the Netherlands yields more German speaking.

Anyway, more posts about the trip will follow of course, when I have time. Until then, here's a short story of something that happened to me on the Amsterdam tram: I was in a tram seat and there was a handle on the wall between my seat and the passenger seat facing mine. There were also straps to hold above. As some other passengers were boarding the tram, a gentleman faced me, grabbed the handle on the wall and held the back of my seat, basically "straddling" me! He wasn't touching me, but it was extremely awkward, for sure. I thought that maybe he was doing it just as people were boarding to give them room but as the tram started, he was still there and I couldn't take it any more. I said, "excuse me, but could you please give me some  room?" and he complied, standing closer to his family and holding a strap from the ceiling. I don't think it ever occurred to him that doing such a thing would make someone uncomfortable!

When in Paris/Brussels/Amesterdam

From December 14, 2008

I recently returned home from my week-long trip to Europe with my friend K. We had a great time and saw many interesting things, including many, many hookers, a church in the attic, a crazy flea/antiques market (puces!), chestnuts roasting over an open shopping cart, "coffee" shops, Post-Impressionist paintings, a statue of a little boy peeing that is supposedly world-renowned (um, I hadn't heard of it before), a huge atom sculpture with a restaurant inside, etc.

Plus, I now have a potential husband in every port that we visited, it appears. In Paris at the flea market, I was grabbed by the hand, kissed on it, and kissed on the cheek by a pseudo-French dude (I doubt that he had legal resident status there) who wanted me to take him home to America with me. He also kissed K's hand, too, so she didn't feel left out (he probably wanted to cover all of his bases). I declined to pack him in my suitcase and bring him home with me, but I did buy a pretty freakin' cool hooded sweatshirt there so I could fondly remember my "husband" (actually, I had planned to buy it anyway).

In Brussels, we were walking through an obnoxious restaurant quarter where the servers try to sweet talk people into the restaurants. We were just passing through to get to the other side of the road (just like the chicken jokes go) and a waiter opened his mouth to start his spiel. I didn't want him to waste his breath and I didn't want to hear it anyway, so I told him, "no thanks, we're not hungry." He cried out, "No, that's not what I want; I'm single!" K and I laughed really hard at that one.

Finally, in Amsterdam, K and I were walking around the Red Light District, which also conveniently hosts Chinatown. We were in search of rangoons for her because she had a mighty fierce craving for them. There were two really loud, rambunctious dudes walking in front of us. They were ebullient, exclaiming something and singing. One of the guys leaped into the air, grabbed my arm, and said something very happy. I hypothesized that he either had just experienced some very good luck (if you know what I mean) or was pleasantly surprised by the amount and variety of ladies of the night in that quarter. Either way, I really wanted no part of it as I am not part of the selection, but whatever.

In other words, it was an odd, but interesting trip.

It pays to read first...

Especially when traveling in foreign lands, it is advisable to read packaging on products thoroughly before using them. I experienced this firsthand when I popped into a convenience store to buy some gum in Amsterdam. I grabbed what I thought was Winterfresh gum, my favorite flavor. I popped a piece in my mouth and just about choked. It tasted like Vick's, certainly not spearmint. I read the label and it said Menthol / Eucalyptus. Who thought THAT would be a good idea?!* Seriously! I thought it was so gross that I made K try some. She concurred.

I will say, however, that the taste grew on me and I try to find this flavor whenever I travel in Europe.

*=a menthol cigarette smoking koala bear, I bet you

XXX Amsterdam

[Contrary to the title, this entry actually is G rated!]

In December 2008, my friend K and I ventured forth to Amsterdam, among other locations. We visited the cheesy tourist trap souvenir shops which featured ugly fuzzy Dutch shoes slippers (which, surprisingly, I already have a pair of, bought in the US no less, from Holland Michigan of course; even though they look awful I love 'em!). Many of the souvenirs had three black Xes on them. I thought it was a bit odd, but speculated that maybe it referenced Amsterdam's seedier aspects. I later found out that the three Xes were actually Amsterdam's city crest and were to depict St. Andrew's crosses (poor dude was crucified on a cross like these...uplifting city crest, eh?)