My Second Day in Amsterdam

Day 4 (Thursday 28th June 2007)


I got up early this morning and took the tram back to the Dam, then strolled across to the Anne Frank House, checking out the Grachtengordel (The "Canal Girdle", the 3 most popular canals) on the way. Although I've never read the Diary of Anne Frank I knew the basic story, but actually being there affected me far more than I thought it would. Anne Frank was 13 when the family went in to hiding, and 15 when she died. I am a teacher in a middle school, and all my students are between 13 and 15, so that really brought it home to me.

I was a bit surprised at just how popular the Anne Frank House really is. I got there 10 minutes before it opened for the day and was still at the end of a queue of 25-30 people, and by the time I left two hours later the queue stretched around the block.

The battery in my camera was going flat, so I came back to my hotel room to recharge it, only to discover my charger is missing. I'm hoping I left I it in the hotel in Singapore, in which case I should get it back on the way home, but I'll still have to try and buy another one in the meantime. Since I was here anyway I decided to write this, but now I'm off to look for a charger and an internet cafe.

[Later the same day]

No luck with the internet cafe but I did manage to find a charger. After that I went to the Van Gogh Museum which was fascinating. His style really changed over a short number of years, and they explain why that was and put in into context of the art movements before and after which is really interesting. The other thing I didn't know was that he didn't start painting until he was 29, managed to paint 900 paintings in 8 years, and then died at the age I am now.

Dinner was Tapas in a Spanish restaurant. Italian restaurants seem to be the most popular over here, but I'm avoiding them as I'm spending a week in Italy in two weeks time. The other thing that's popular is Indonesian, a throwback to the time when the Dutch East India Company controlled Indonesia, but living in Darwin I'm becoming a regular visitor to Bali so I'm trying to steer clear of Indonesian too. The only authentic Dutch food I've had so far was a beef stew that was basically Irish Stew with the vegies left out, and not very interesting. I did have some of the hand made Dutch chocolates, and they were superb, and I'm going to make sure I hit a cheese shop before I go as well.


Day 5 (Friday 29th June 2007)

It's only 8.30am and it's overcast, cold and windy outside, so I'm in no rush to venture out yet. I still need to find an internet cafe so I can post this, and if the sun would come out I haven't had a chance to just sit quietly at a cafe that has outside tables beside a nice section of the canal yet. I saw a sign for wireless internet at a cafe near the Anne Frank House yesterday, so I might head back there, and then take a wander along the Prisengracht, which is supposed to be the nicest of the canals.

Hello Amsterdam

Day 3 (Wednesday 27th June 2007)

Due to the time difference it was only 5.15am when I arrived in Amsterdam. I cleared customs in absolute record time and by 6am was on the train into the city. I got to Amsterdam Central about 6.30am, and wandered around in a cold drizzle trying futilely to find somewhere to sit down and have a coffee until the transit office opened at 7.30am so I could buy a 3-day pass for the trams. After 40 minutes of futile searching I gave up and went back to the railway station where I got a takeaway coffee and went and huddled outside the ticket office.

Now that I had my tram ticket I caught the tram out to Leidseplein which is where my hotel is located. My first view of the canal was really promising.

Unfortunately the hotel doesn't quite live up to it's surrounds.

Now don't get me wrong. I am staying at a budget hotel and for what I am paying it is fine.

The room is tiny, but clean, the toilet and shower are located in the hall and shared between six rooms, but they're also well looked after and spotlessly clean, and the location is terrific.

I got to the hotel around 8am but couldn't check in until 2pm. They were happy to mind my bags for me though so I set off for the Rijksmuseum.

I got their a few minutes before they opened, and you ever go I strongly recommend you do the same - the crowd builds quickly and the place was packed by midmorning. The paintings were superb, and the night watch really is something special, but the museum is being renovated and so only a portion of the collection is currently on display. Still it was a great way to spend the morning.

I had lunch just off Leidesplein at a small cafe. Now this is where it gets confusing. In Amsterdam a cafe is what we call a pub back in Australia. A cofeeshop is where they sell and smoke Marihuana, and they seem to be everywhere. I still haven't worked out what they actually call the the shops that really do sell coffee, but those are everywhere too, and the coffee here is terrific.

After lunch I went to the Dam, which is the historical centre of Amsterdam.

There is a palace on one side of the Dam, and the Nieuw Kerk (New Church), which has some beautiful decorations but is also partly closed off due to renovations.

After that I went for a walk through the Red Light District, but that doesn't really get going until after dark, so there was not much to see.

I was surprised to find out that the name isn't just a reference to what takes place there - they really do still put red lights outside the houses of ill repute.

By that stage I was well and truly walked out, so I had a quiet beer sitting outside one of the cafes overlooking a canal, then caught the tram back to Leidseplein for an early night.

Bye Bye Singapore

Singapore continued ...

After I finished yesterdays blog I walked down over to the mouth of the Singapore River to get a photo of the Merlion. It's quite funny - the original Merlion is about the size of the concrete lions some people have in their gardens in Australia. Apparently the people in Singapore didn't think it was impressive enough either, so they built a bigger one about thirty feet from the original.

After that I went wandering around the Quay area, looking for somewhere to have dinner. I didn't see anything that appealed so I turned to my guide book and discovered a reastaurant called Si Chuan Dou Hua. The guide reccommends it because the range of fixed menus is supposedly quite good, but what they failed to mention is that they are only available for a minimum of two people - not much help when you are travelling alone. Despite that I decided to bite the bullet and order from the a la carte menu - the location was just too good to pass up. You see Si Chuan Dou Hua is located immediately beside the Singapore River on the 60th floor of the United Overseas Bank building.

It offers a view of Singapore that can't be matched.

The food turned out to be terrific too. They offer a wide selection of chinese dishes in Sichuan, Cantonese and Huang styles, and the dishes I had were exceptional. You also get a complimentary chinese tea that is not the usual green tea but made with several herbs and dried flowers - Marigold I think. The water is poured using a pot with a half-meter spout, and the show the waiter puts on really adds to the occasion.

I got to the airport just in time to board, and then it was a 12 hour flight to Amsterdam. I watched one movie at the start of the flight (The Shooter), dozed and occasionally slept during the middle, and then watched another at the end of the flight (The Holiday).

Singapore Day 2

Day 2 (Tuesday 26th June 2007)

Had some breakfast and then went for a bit of a walk around the city. Back to the hotel and just chilled out and read for a few hours before checking out of the hotel. I have to kill a few hours before it's time to go the airport so I start walking back to the river. However since I'm carrying all my luggage including my big backpack, my carryon bag and my laptop, walking around in Singapore's 90% humidity and 34 degree heat wears thin fairly quickly.

I spot CHIJMES, which started life as a convent, then became an orphanage and then a missionary school before ending up a collection of restaurants, bars and cafes, and settle down in the beer garden to relax drink a few tiger beers and type this.

It's about 5pm now and the heat and humidity are starting to fade (My mother wouldn't agree with me, but I've been living in Darwin for 6 years now, so I'm used to it), so I'm going to wrap this up and head off for another walk. I haven't really seen that much of Singapore so far, but I'm not worried about it as I have another 3 days here on my way back to Australia. I have to leave for the airport around 8pm, and then it's an overnight flight to Amsterdam. But that's another story.

Singapore

Day 1 (Monday 25th June 2007)

My flatmate got up at 1.30am to drive me to the airport, which is above and beyond the call, particularly as he is moving out when I get back. It took about 45 mins to get through the queue, and another 30 for customs, so by the time I got through it was pretty much time to go. 3am is a horrible time to fly - it's too early to sleep before you go and too late to sleep afterwards. The flight lasted a bit over 4 hours but with the time difference it was a bit after 6 when I got in. The customs in Singapore was great - I was through much quicker than any time I've returned home to Australia.

I flew Tiger Airways, which meant I arrived at the Budget Airlines terminal, and caught a shuttle bus over to the main Terminal. From there I took the underground train, called the MRT, which is every bit as clean, fast and efficient as I had heard. I got off at Bugis Station and started the trek towards my hotel, the Hotel Royal@Queens. The outside wasn't particularly reassuring, looking every bit the once grand hotel that is past its prime, but the inside is better. I was planning to leave my luggage with them for a few hours, as their check in time is from 1pm onwards, but much to my amazement they let me check in at 7 in the morning. I was given room 1637, on the very top floor of the hotel, and was pleasantly surprised by the room which was a little small but clean and nicely furnished.

My view wasn't much too look at during the day, but did look much nicer after dark.

I crashed for a few hours and got up around midday feeling much better. I grabbed my new camera (an Olympus E-410 digital SLR) and headed for the Singapore River and Chinatown. I had only gone a few blocks when I noticed a huge circular structure on top of one of the buildings.

It looked like an observation deck, so I wandered over that way to check it out. It turned out I was right, but there's just one catch - it's on top of their Supreme Court, and they don't let cameras into the building. Strange ... I got up to the top and the view was terrific - except that the glass saucer has a 360 degree view but only about 45 degrees is open to the public. Stranger ...

Back at ground level I continued down to the river. I walked across the bridge and stopped at a convenience store for a cold drink. Coke was the only thing I recognised, but I hate the stuff, so I ended up buying a can of flower juice instead. A little different, but quite nice.

I'd done some research on the net before I came, and everyone said to go to the Yum cha Restaurant (That is its name, not just a description), so that's what I did. The food was excellent, but I do have one gripe. The first time I ever had Yum Cha was with my mother in Sydney's Chinatown, and they wheeled around carts of food and you just chose what you liked off the cart. I've been to Yum Cha restaurants in Perth, Darwin and now Singapore since then, and they just give you a list of what's on offer and you have to pick from that. That's how they did it at the Yum Cha restaurant, and once you did order they started making it all and brought it all out as soon it was ready. That meant that some of it went cold and wasn't as nice as it could have been. Personally I prefer the cart. Still the range was great, the quality was excellent, and being a fairly adventurous eater four of the five dishes were things I'd never even heard of before let alone tried, so I thoroughly enjoyed the meal.

Having walked down South Bridge Road to get to Chinatown I went back the other way along New Bridge Road. I spotted a building with bright coloured shutters that had caught my eye earlier in the day, so I wandered over to see what it was.

It used to be the Hill Street Police Station, but now belongs to MCIA, which is the ministry for the arts, and houses several art galleries. It also has a central open area, which was being used for an exhibition by a Chinese Zen artist, a 91-year old female monk who I got to meet.

It's a really nice space, with natural light filtered through opaque panels, a water feature that creates a lovely background and the local florist has donated flower arrangements for the exhibition, giving it a lovely smell as well.

It was a really relaxing way to spend an hour, and was exactly the sort of relaxing start I needed to my holiday after a long and at times stressful semester at school.

From the gallery I continued up the road to Fort Canning Park. This was where Raffles had his house in Singapore, and was once on the waterfront. However Singapore has done a lot of land reclamation, and it now sits in the middle of the city, which makes its little lighthouse look fairly silly, particularly in a city with as much high-rise as Singapore.

Still the park is beautiful, including a huge spice garden, and a great collection of tropical flowers. I'm a keen gardener back home, and living in Darwin can grow most tropical plants, so it's inspired me to try a few new things when I get home. The spice garden was great too, and I spent another very relaxing hour or so smelling and tasting my way through the park.

Given that I'd only had four hours sleep the night before I was starting to flag by this stage so I went back to the hotel and watched a movie (Dreams for an Insomniac) before grabbing some soup from a local takeaway and crashing for the night.

Apologies - and a new start

Hi Everyone.

Sorry that my posts break off so abruptly but I got caught up in something else and never got back to it. The big new is - I'm off again!

I leave for my first big European holiday next Monday 25th June 2007. I'm flying from Darwin to Singapore on Monday, spend 2 days/1 night there, and then take an overnight flight to Amsterdam, arriving 6am Wednesday. I've got 3 days in Amsterdam then I fly on to Berlin. After that the rest of my travel is by train, courtesy of an 8-day, 4 country Eurail pass.

Once I hit Berlin I jump straight on the train to Munich. I spend a few days in Munich, then return to Berlin for a few more, giving me a week in Germany in total.

After Berlin it's the overnight train to Paris via Brussels. I spend 3-4 days in Paris, then take the train to Bordeaux to check out the wines. From there I head over to Venice. Depending on how much time I spend in Paris and Bordeaux I may or may not stopover on the Riviera on the way. All up it's 8 days in France.

After 2 days/1 night in Venice I move on to Rome for 3-4 days. I fly out of Rome, stopping over in Singapore again on the way back, this time for 3 days/2 nights.

I would have liked a bit more time in Italy but the connections don't work as well on the way back. Still I think it's going to be a fantastic trip and I can't wait.

Rather than trying to type up my travel diary after I get back this time I will be taking a laptop with me and posting it here as I go along. I'll include some too.

That's all for now. With any luck my next post will be from a hotel in Singapore.

J.