Summer '11: Amsterdam, Netherlands

My usual frame of mind when I travel is "Spending money to go all the way here, so will jam pack my days with every possible thing to do". You will most definitely see this true of many of the trips I've blogged about in the past. 

Amsterdam leg was initially planned to roll out in the same manner, day trip to other towns in the Netherlands as well as trip to the nearby towns in Belgium. But the few days hubbed in Amsterdam played out a little differently than planned. Blame it on Amsterdam's super relaxed vibe, beautiful surroundings and fabulous weather that particular weekend? Or possibly easy-going hosts (with cozy home and yummy home cooked food) combined with our bodies needing to recharge from a week of running around Italy and France? Maybe. But at the end of the day, it was EXACTLY what we needed for our vacation - an honest to goodness BREAK. 

My first time as well in the Netherlands and I totally fell in love with it. 

• Albert Cuypt Market
• Lots of wandering around Amsterdam and easy-going days 
• Merienda with an old classmate (whom I haven't seen in 11 years!)
• Van Gogh Museum
• Vondelpark
• Anne Frank Museum
• Dinner at Bistro Bij ons & awesome Citron Tarte & chihi at Palazzo Plazo
• Watching Gay Pride Parade with awesome all veggie dinner!
• More walking about Amsterdam (Red Light District, Jordaan, etc) 

Airport Musings

I'm thinking I've blogged about this before, but thought it would be worth repeating, only because it never fails to stress me out each and every time. I HATE CUTTING IT CLOSE FOR A FLIGHT.

I have friends who don't like wasting their time sitting in an airport, but I love love love it. There's a wonderful sense of anonymous limbo when you're inbetween 2 destinations. I like meandering through shops, reading, grabbing a cup of coffee, getting a foot massage, listening to music, etc etc.  he best part is that no one is bugging you (usually) and that you get to spend some quiet me-time before the whirlwind of activity waiting for you when you land.

Thanks to the recent loss of my wallet (and thus, the employment pass I usually need to have with me everytime I enter / exit Singapore), I finally understood what all the hullaballo was about changing passports so they would be machine-readable.

Getting through immigration recently has been a breeze, thanks to the passport reading machines! 20 seconds, tops! I kid you not! You step up to the machine, scan your passport and finger print. If all is well, the little screen personal personally welcomes you to Singapore or wishes you bon voyage. Love it!

Never noticed they had these when going through immigration in Singapore before. And if the Philippine government asked Filipinos to get these recently (ok, not so recently), does it mean they have these machines in the Philippines as well? Why do I doubt that they do? Anyway, yes - I wonder what the parameters are about when we can (or can't) use the machines.

Couple of things I'd like to blog about, including finishing up my Summer '11 series plus 2 trips over the last 2 weekends. Have a pretty busy next few weeks but hopefully I'll get around to it soon.

.... & friends

In one of my barkadas, we used to heckle each other about the other being the "& friends" in the...

(insert famous person's name here) & friends

.... equation. Naturally each of us claiming to be the name used in the "insert famous person's name here" part of the equation. 

Ehm... so as evidenced in picture below... I guess must level up next time around? lol.

Thank you to my "insert famous person's name here" for sending me this picture - grabbed from a Malaysian newspaper if I'm not mistaken (source unsure). 

Summer '11: Vatican City

They weren't kidding when they said the Catholic Church is loaded. The Vatican City and its vast collection of art and history is RIDICULOUS. Exploring the Vatican with a tour group was the way to go when we went; crazy lines and ridiculous heat will make you pay almost anything to get into the museums faster. With so much to see and pushy crowds inside, it was great to have live commentary feeding into my ears as my eyes took everything else in. Plus I love hearing historical gossip/trivia, which our guide peppered her tour with.

Loved the gallery of maps and all the intricate floor mosaics. Special mention as well goes to St Peter's Basilica. Loved the ornate ceilings and the details around the domes and was bewildered at how absolutely MASSIVE it was. In the same way I was surprised by the Sistine Chapel's small size. The difference between a basilica and chapel couldn't have been any more well defined by these two examples.

Trip to the Vatican marked the end of our Italy leg and half way mark of our summer travels.

Ice Cream

For someone who claims not to like ice cream, I've sure had a lot of it over the last few months.

Awfully Chocolate only has 1 (super rich dark chocolate) ice cream flavour. 
Super cute to go packaging noh? I ate this as I walked home from mass. 
Didn't wait to see if the packaging would keep with ice cream in it

Milk shake from TWG. Forgot what flavour ice cream was but they have amazing tea infused ice creams.
I've always been obsessed with how teas & wines are described

Sea salt caramel Hokkaido ice cream will have to wait until I find myself at Clark Quay.
In the meantime, the Hokkaido soft serve at Ion will have to do.

Recently discovered Horlicks Crunch McFlurry. 
Tastes like vanilla ice cream with cerelac! Yum yum yum