Amsterdam - Day 2

Today was a day to bask in Amsterdam-edness. Or at least attempt to do so before departing its riverbanks. So here I am at Dam Square. A lot like other city squares in Europe.

The Van Gogh museum was a place I did not want to miss and so off we jumped on a tram. It's so great to finally see paintings I'd only ever viewed in books or framed reprints. Is it recommended for everyone? Nah, don't bother going if you've never heard of Van Gogh. Though I do wonder what rock you have been living under. No photography was allowed indoors which was a little unexpected given that a lot of other museums allow it.

Almond Blossom. The painting I liked most out of the ones displayed on print outside the museum.

I did want to visit the Heineken Museum (not that I drink beer) but it was shut for renovations. Boo hoo.

One more time with the frites.... Mmmmmmmmm.... novelty giant frites.... mmmmm

Girls being girls, we decided that shopping was the best way to spend our final hours in Amsterdam. Alright, alright and one last stop at a coffee house.

I think I ate most of this brownie.

I'm not doing anything that is illegal ..... in Amsterdam. Hehehehe


Posing with the canal. Just outside the coffee house. Cultural to the max.

Take my tip. Unless you're a seasoned dope smoker, don't eat 3/4of a brownie, smoke a bit of a joint and go directly to the airport. (By the way, this account of my experience is most definitely not condoning the use of illicit substances.)

It finally hit me while waiting for the train to the airport. The time-space continuum began to distort and everything started moving really sloooooowly. My hearing dulled and all the objects in view had a twinkle to them. My eyelids were heavy. The 5 minute wait for the train felt like 30 minutes. I tried to fight it and pretend all was normal and recall telling the others "I'm so tired". They saw through me like a piece of cling wrap. So I couldn't really enjoy the time because I was too busy being paranoid, fighting the psychoactive effects, trying to hold open my eyes without the assistance of matchsticks in a futile attempt to not look stoned in front of the airline staff. I'm sure they read right through my bloodshot eyes. They must be used to it. Regardless, I have a feeling if I was left alone to enjoy the ganga, it would've had the same depressant effect as alcohol - that is, I'll just fall asleep once I've consumed my limit.

I'm sure there were plenty of other things to do in Amsterdam, like visit the Rembrandt museum and other stuffs, but you know, I was pretty content to just take advantage of the lax laws. Happy to return anytime! *double thumbs up*

Amsterdam - Day 1

Aaaah Amsterdam - one of the cities on my must-do list. The relaxed vibe, funky areas, seedy-but-not-too-dangerous redlight district... it's not a city for the conservative and sheltered. I met with a few chickies at Gatwick for our night flight in and I managed to squeeze in a jacket purchase at Mango. Hey, it was on sale for less than £20!

The thing that most impresses me most about Europe is it's public transport infrastructure. 'Really?' I hear you ask. Trust me, when you are brought up in country where the public transport options make you think you live in a third world country (hell, it might even be better there), then you notice these things. As usual, a train from the airport to the city centre was readily available.

Our hotel was located a short walk from the main station. It was a bit of a dumpy affair but hey, it was close to the very important 'coffee houses' and Dam Square. First thing first - get some frites.

Oh yeah... that's right, that's goooood. There's something about frites which I just love. A perfectly fried chip, crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. Hardly a soggy chip in sight. Fried to a light golden colour. Mmmmmm. It is a little odd that we bought the chips from a Belgian chain though, but then again the Belgians claim they invented frites.

It was a bit late by then, so off we went to bed.

Some of the other girls had been to Amsterdam before and weren't terribly interested in the touristy stuff, but I awoke with the intention of doing everything I wanted to! Me and a few of the other chicks made our way to Anne Frank's house. I was well advised to not eat a 'brownie' before going. Wise choice. Not like some people I know *looks around*.

It was 9.30 am by the time we got there but the queue was already long.

The commemorative statue nearby.

I have to admit, I've never read Anne's diary. I recall starting it when I was about 12 and then leaving unfinished because I found it boring. I thought I should do the house visit some justice and purchased the book from the attached museum. The house or more correctly, the space within the building allocated to the eight people residing there, was more spacious than I anticipated but not terribly huge. To be shared between eight people, it would definitely be cramped. Us visitors at least had daylight through the windows, whereas they were blacked out during Anne's residence. No attempt is made to re-create the living conditions; the house devoid of all furniture at Anne's father's request - just how the Nazi's left it.

After the house, we had lunch at a pizza joint not worthy of blogging. Following on from the 'free' London and Berlin walking tours (and from the high of Mike the Hottie *sigh*), we turned up for the 'free' Amsterdam walking tour. I was secretly hoping for a Dutch equivalent of MTH but alas, our guide was female. And British??? Ok, fair enough she's lived there for three years. As usual the guide was very thorough and I learned many-a-things.

The poles that stick out of the narrow homes were used to hoist up heavy furniture, and then manoeuvre them through the window into the house. The houses were too narrow to move such items like pianos otherwise.

A 'coffee house'. C'mon, we all know what they're smoking in there. I think that puddy-tat in the window looks a bit high. This coffee house was used in Ocean's 12.

A little memento in the redlight district, which was/is traditionally also the religious core of the city. Hmmm, prostitution and churches within an arm's length of each other? Makes sense I guess, for those to confess their sins afterwards - convenient!

The hidden convent, Begijnhof.

The site of the miracle of Amsterdam. The communion wafer just wouldn't burn.

Me and some of the other chicks.

We had to leave the tour early to ermmm go for a coffee break near our hotel.

Me with the local speciality - hash brownie.

The 'brownie' affects people differently and I didn't get the giggles like other people do. I just felt...... slower - maybe a bit dumber (or maybe I just wanted to feel a bit dumber?). On top of that, I was a bit annoyed as I likened the feeling to being 'tipsy drunk but fully aware of the slowed reaction time'. I felt like I was faking it! Maybe I got ripped off. Where were my 'happy times'? My conclusion was that I didn't ingest enough of the stuffs. I vowed to amend my failure.

Dinner was at the kitschy restaurant Moeders, which is the Dutch word for 'Mothers'. It was a modest, unassuming, corner shop restaurant which was tellingly filled to the brim. Yes, yes a good sign.

The decor was reminiscent of a 1950s kitchen, with walls covered in photographs and colourful mismatched dinner settings.

Not sure how genuine the food is, but hey, everyone spoke Dutch inside except for us, so it's gotta be some kind of good. There was also a pretty hot Dutch guy sitting on the table next to us. It was agreed he had a close to perfect profile and we took turns in ogling him.

My soup - can't remember what it actually was. Spare ribs. Is this really Dutch? Anyway, they were yummmmmmoooo. I ruv ribs! My dessert sundae. Mmmm mmm mmmmmmmmm

Afterwards we went clubbing. Somewhere. We had another half brownie beforehand. I'm pretty happy to forget this part of the night as the music was quite mediocre and the crowd quite young. In the wise words of Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon, what I'm really trying to say is ..... "I'm too old for this shit."

We got chatting to some American teenagers, or more like, they were practising their picking up skills on a bunch of old ladies. If anything screamed desperation it was a draw between us old farts and their eagerness. Like a bunch of Aunties, we humoured them with decent conversation long enough for them to realise that none of us were planning on continuing the communication outside of the confines of the club.

The night ended again with the snacking of frites. *thumbs up*

Never Forget: The Musical

I never thought that I would actually watch this musical. But you know for a mere £2 (or was it £3?), I'll watch anything. There were more pros than cons, favouring me to watch it. I knew most, if not all the songs that were going to be performed. More importantly, I don't mind the songs and yes, I do quite like some of them! I was one of two people (Hai SuBoo!) within a group of about 10 friends who actually enjoyed it.

Never Forget is a musical featuring the songs performed by British superband, Take That. I actually thought the musical was about the history of Take That but after a reading a synopsis (cos you know, I really needed to research it before watching the show), it has nothing to do with the members of the band.

Instead, the plot centres around five men (strangers) who form a Take That tribute band. They enter a competition in order to win prize money and recover debts for the mother of one of the members who is about to lose her pub. Wow, pretty intense plot eh?

The plot was really just a vehicle to tie the famous songs together as obviously, it was never going to win any screenplay awards. As long as you appreciated this fact, then you could enjoy the show for what it was - a massive cheesefest. It was clear that the cast and writers knew that this was all just a bit of fun and in no way was this intended to be serious.

It definitely helps to be a fan of Take That and if you lived in Britain the late 90s, it would have been difficult to not have heard any of their songs. If you weren't at least familar with the songs, why would you waste 2 hours of your time otherwise? The audience was generally quite enthusiastic and happy to sing along. I wish I could have sat with SuBoo, but instead we bopped in our seats alone, shooting each other happy glances across the thatre. The best bit was the song medley at the end and getting the entire audience to stand up and join in.

It's not a night out for everyone, but I would watch this again if anyone was a dire Take That fan and needed someone who wasn't going to moan and groan in the chair next to them. Cheeeeeeeeeese fest!

Lil Miss J and Kahoons' Bday

After stuffing ourselves at Taste of London, we headed back home to pretty ourselves for Lil Miss J and Kahoons' birthday drinkies at Rubylo. It was the same old affair. We all looked pretty hot. We all drank a little. Some drank a lot. Kahoons had his first vomiting experience. Wow! Really? He waited that long into adulthood?

Lil Miss J getting the Tequila ready.

Posing with the birthday peeps, but not one with the birthday buddies together. Oh well.

Taste of London: Regents Park

I ruuuuv food. I ruv fine dining, but not the rip-me-off-and-take-my-money-please type of fine dining. The Taste Festivals are the perfect way of sampling food at otherwise unaffordable restaurants. I'm also happy to hear that that the festivals have reached the Antipodes. Yay! *clap clap*

So happy to eat food!

Well I was hoping for a sunny, summer's day but of course, we got nothing of the sort. At least it wasn't too cold or worse yet - raining. The restaurants on show this year included Pearl, L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, Le Gavroche and Salt Yard. I wish I kept the menu of the food on offer from each of the exhibitors but hmmm I threw it out once I was full. The £20 worth of Crowns (the festival's currency) included with my ticket didn't seem like much given that dishes cost about 4 - 8 Crowns each. But when we realised that £20 was 40 Crowns, that seemed allllll the much better.

My first dish - Monkfish. From which restaurant, I don't know, maybe Zilli. I love monkfish.

Mmmm scallops. Smell soooo good....

Judging from the sign in the background, one can only assume that this the pork roast from Canteen.

So I'm assuming that this pork roast roll with apple sauce is also from Canteen. Succulent? Yes, indeed.

Can't wait to eat up!

The one dish I do know. A 'classic lobster creamed soup flavoured with brandy' from Le Gavroche. I only know this because Kahoons has it on facebook. Soup doesn't look anything fancy but there was small lobster tail in the bottom. Tasty too!

Another one from Le Gavroche. Braised beef with scalloped potatoes. Very heavy food but tasty nonetheless. The meat was so tender and just melted in your mouth.


My dessert of choice. Chocolate mousse from Joel Robuchon. They had these amazing mini hamburgers but had run out by the time I got there :(

Doesn't sound like I disliked any of the dishes I sampled eh? It probably helps that I'm not particularly fussy. Afterwards we walked around the stalls to sample wine, spirits, cakes, chocolate and anything else that was thrust in our face. Fresh Spanish jamon was available right off the pig's leg:

Kicking it to ya, piggy-style.

A novelty sized soy sauce bottle. Me getting sucked in by novelty-sized objects.

For those with an appreciation for food, this will be a great afternoon out. Anyone who is fussy and unadventurous, you might as well crawl under a rock and eat your plain food. I can't wait to go again next year!

Strictly Gershwin

I've heard of George Gershwin - 'I got rhythm, some-thing, some-thing, I got some-thing, ne-neh neh neh ne-ne-ne-neeeh...!'

Ok I do know a little bit more than that but admittedly not that much. I know he played the piano and was a modern composer with jazz influences. I know he wrote Rhapsody in Blue though I couldn't recall what it actually was until I heard it played this evening. For those who need a reminder, here you go:

I'm not a fan of ballet. I certainly don't hate it, my hand just doesn't fly up quickly when there are tickets to a performance. Gershwin music with the English National Ballet at the Royal Albert Hall - yeah why not?

Strictly Gershwin for the ballet purists would probably be disappointing. The hall is intended for orchestral performances, not stage ballets. It was huge! It was kinda like looking at an ice skating rink. Good thing that they had some roller-skating folk during the show. The tap dancing routines were good too. The ballet was good, but what would I know anyway.

Did I enjoy the show? Yes, I did. Would I watch it again? No, why would I do that? Though I'd probably go watch another ballet, but it would be one aimed at the masses, like... The Nutcracker.

Les Mis

A late 'yes' to cheap tickets meant that I was watching Les Miserables tonight. I last saw the musical about 10 years ago while in uni. I was quite looking forward to this production mainly because it's been a long time since my previous viewing.

Cheap tickets = cheap seats and we ended up in the upper circle. Seat H7 to be exact. I felt this view was even worse/more steep than the theatre where Marguerite was staged. I found myself squinting even though I knew it would make no difference! At this angle I was able to see the background staff rearranging the stage and the dead people being 'dead' hehehe.

I do feel my money was somewhat wasted. I detest not being able to view the actors faces clearly when watching theatre. I'll happily go back and watch it again but in better seats. The actor who played Jean Valjean was just excellent. Cosette was ... ok. Eponine was.... ok. For those who haven't seen Les Mis, the entire dialogue is sung which is a little different to most newer stage productions and can be a little off-putting and draining. Still it's one of the world's longest running musicals for a reason, so if you haven't seen, make your judgements after you have.

Big Asian Dance Party

Well last night was always gonna be a big night - the birthday of three Asian Aussies. I knew two of them so my right to be invited was justified. With the invite list stretching out to 200+, it was well on the way on being written into folklore. The surprising thing about London is the lack of Asian people. Or Orientals as we're known here - such a colonial term. I guess it's all relative - Australia's proximity to the rest of Asia = accessibility.

Anyway when I walked into the club Loop, I felt like I had just turned back time and that I was walking into the infamous Salt nightclub or RnB Superclub. Poor ventilation was included for added atmosphere. It is somewhat sad to still be clubbing at my old age (hahaha) but I do find that the London clubbers tend to be of the late 20s variety. Probably because this demographic can actually afford the entrance fee, drinks and cab ride home.

The music was a mix of pop, rnb and 80s classics and the highlight of the night was when they played the Ghostbusters theme. Sad. Even sadder was my pretending to hold a proton gun. Even more sadder was Kahoons' proton gun retaliation. Good thing no one took photos of that.

Stacks on!!!

Hai SuBoo! Happy birthday!

One of the most fun nights I've had out in aagggeess!

Threading

Here's a free advert if you want one. SuBoo, Kt and I went for a group defuzzing session last night at Sajna after I complimented a friend on the state of her eyebrows. It wasn't the best day to venture to South London on the Northern line with our intended station closed and us three having to get off one earlier stop and walk the rest of the way. Whingeing from the non-exercising folk (I won't say who, but you know who you are) resulted.

This was the first time I was having my eyebrows and moustache threaded. Too much info? Well too bad. This form of epilation has always been a fascination to me as I've never had the opportunity to have it done and I don't know of any salons in Oz which do it, though I'm sure they exist. I mean using a cotton thread to remove hair? Wtf?? Anyway, I'm willing to try anything at least once.

Plucking and bleaching have been my methods of choice for the past few years. Waxing eyebrows are fine, but I'd only ever had that done once and have managed to maintain a relatively good shape since. Waxing of the mo is another story. I stuck to bleaching as my last resort. Too many times (okay it was only twice but that is often enough) I have ripped off enough skin on my upper lip to cause it to bleed and scab. Each time someone asked wtf happened to my face, I had to lie that I scratched myself.

Person: Really? You scratched yourself there?

Me: Yeah, I did. Now go away, you annoying person.

The good thing about travelling out of Zone1/2 of London is that services and the like drop in price dramatically. The bad thing about travelling out of Zone 1/2 is well.... travelling. But for a mere £5 to have both my brows and lip done... it's a hard deal to beat. The services can't be that different but Blink in Selfridges charge £17 for just brows! I hardly think I would get THAT much better a result.

You get what you pay for. It's a no-frills place that runs like a sausage factory. Go in, take a ticket from the deli-counter ticket dispenser and sit down. Wait for the next available lady to call your ticket number (there are usually 6 or so) and then follow her to the chair where everyone can watch your de-fuzzing.

I'm sure there is some variation in result as some women were holding out for a particular beatician but I was pleasantly pleased with my result. My pain tolerance is quite high and it only hurt as much as waxing. The result last just as long, if not longer. My only worry now is..... finding a threading salon after I leave London!

A Beer impersonator...

Dinner was had at Village East, a funky little gastropub near London Bridge. Food was worth returning for, ambience relaxed and they did some pretty mean, original cocktails. The purpose of this post is to show everyone my beer impersonator:

One of the nicest mocktails I've ever had. For those interested, I think it's listed as the 'Amp' and contains pressed apple juice, cinnamon, honey and gingko tea. I think that's it... otherwise, look for a cinnamon/apple drink on the menu because I don't really remember the tea being a part of it. A refreshing drink for the relatively 'hot' day in London. This drink alone is enough for me to return!

The Primark Party

Primark is store in the UK which is the manifestation of 'fast fashion'. Clothing sold at prices that are too cheap for you to care if a garment is ruined. Just go and buy a new one! A terrible, terrible attitude to endorse, especially with their questionable labour sources.....Something that the head honchos are working on. Still I'm not complaining about the several £1 stockings I own. *guilty face* It is easy to follow the latest trends (no matter how ugly) and get your basics (though they sometimes don't survive the first wash) all in the one store. There are often a few gem pieces which get several wears and even compliments from those unknowing of the origins.

A Primark party was planned as a hoot. We were all assigned a fellow member to dress for a budget of £20. Easily do-able! You can look quite decent in a full outfit from Primmy but everyone seemed to take this as an opportunity to dress their victim in the worst way possible. Luckily for Kahoons I did my shopping early and decided that he should look normal. I did not fare as well and I was given a playsuit that I would not be caught dead in otherwise.

All the boys in their outfits were scared they would get bashed and refused to get on the tube to get to the pub we were bravely stepping in. While individually we did look ridiculous, as a group it was pretty obvious that we were all dressed like that as a joke. Other people in the pub complimented our idea!

The party ended in a less than charming manner - the men ripping the clothes off each other. No photos will be posted. It deserves to not be documented.

Mary J Blige Concert

I was the least deserving person but I scored two free tickets to see Mary J Blige in concert. I mean, I'm aware she's a talented vocalist but hmmmm I think I only know about 6 or so songs by her. Also, I was never a fan of her rendition of U2's 'One'. But still, a free concert is a free concert.

Mona was the first to pipe up his interest and accompanied me to the 02. I thought he would know her songs but only knew as much as I did! Our seats were as bad as they can get and definitely not for those who are scared of heights. Mary was just a little ant on the stage and our view of the screens was obscured by sound and lighting fixtures.

Here is Mary J Blige - The Ant

Now, lessy Anty!

Good for me she sang all the songs that I knew, including the classic 'Real Love', 'Not Gonna Cry', 'Family Affair', 'Be Without You' and the likable 'Just Fine'. I would post a video but the recordings I have are so bad. So here's a clip of the likable and catchy 'Just Fine'.

Into the Hoods: An Urban Fairytale

This was something different. A West End musical featuring hip-hop dancing. Cool! I can see what they're doing here - bringing a new type of audience to the theatre. The crowd at tonight's performance was distinctly different to usual crowd and the average age lowered to about 25 years. We were encouraged to treat the show like a concert - cheering, whistle, general noise would be appreciated.

Into the Hoods was a hiphop dance extravaganza with a light storyline to tie it altogether. The plot centres around two children after they skip school and venture 'into the hoods' and the people they encounter are hip-hop reincarnations of classic fairytale characters. My fave dancer was Lil Red (Riding Hood) cos her cute afro bounced so lightly whenever she danced. Spinderella had the most disturbing set of abs I've ever seen on a woman. Jaxx was just excellent at one handed handstands.

It was a fun show to watch and would definitely be enjoyed by those who appreciate the music genre. No, there isn't any singing, just a dj mix of popular club/hip-hop songs. I do wonder about the show's place within the West End. It surely can't be a production with infinite booking dates. Also , it doesn't seem like the dancers have any understudies - they must get tired! Although, if they didn't have the show in a theatre, where would the next appropriate venue be? A scout hall in the suburbs? Hmmmm... maybe not. Our £10 preview tickets in the stalls were hard to beat.

Go see the show if you can, but if you are already doubting your enjoyment, best to stick to your judgement.

Race for Life & Sex and the City Movie

Well this is first of several runs I've signed up to as a way of forcing myself to get out and exercise. A group of 10 of us decided to run this year and I must say, it's not easy to get matching outfits for us. Every other person has the same idea and the whole of female London buy up all the pink merchandise out there! Well at least we managed five matching singlets and five matching tshirts.

All the chickies participating. Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

The start/finish line.

The boys and handbag carriers, Kahoons and Mona spot us in the crowd.

I spot them right back and say 'Hai!!!!'

Hang on, is that a pink power ranger running alongside us? Yes it is! There was actually a group of 5 or so. I dunno how they managed in run in all that gear. Sweaty as.

I was pretty happy with my finishing time, somewhere around 38 minutes. Give or take the delay at the start, probably less than this. Yay! The actual run in London city was kinda ick. I mean, starting/ending near the Smithfield Meat Market? And then bottle-necking us at times by making us run through smaller alleys. There are sooooooo many streets they could have picked from and this definitely wasn't the nicest track.

Keeping in with the women's day theme, off we went to the cinema to watch the much anticipated Sex and the City movie. I must admit, while I do like the TV show very much and have the box set within my grasp, I still have not watched the series in it's entirety. I didn't even know that the reason why Aidan and Carrie broke up was because she cheated on him with Big! Hahaha... worst fan ever.

Anyway, despite demonstrating poor fan-ship, waiting for this movie felt like I was waiting to see old friends again. Excitement! I couldn't help but grin when the movie started. :D There were reviews complaining that this just felt like four back to back episodes. That suited me just fine and to be honest, I just wanted to movie to keep on going.

Our adventure to the cinema began earlier in the week when we pre-booked our tickets. I would never usually do this in anywhere but London, but unfortunately that's how it goes here. Annoyingly, allocated seating does not exist, which meant that we had to unearth our asian ways and queue 45 minutes early to order to guarantee prime position. It was a pretty catty wait with the 99.9% female crowd evilling each other if anyone dared to queue jump. Once the barrier was removed there was a mad stampede into the cinema, akin to scenes of a designer handbag sale.

I sat next to Kt who admittedly cries every single time she sees the finale of series. This movie evoked no less of her. She began crying... oh I dunno but quite early in the film. Her crying was contagious, so it made it more acceptable that I became a blubbering mess. Wtf. I cried when Miranda yelled at Steve, when Carrie realised she got jilted, when Charlotte found out she was pregnant, when Charlotte yelled at Big, when Miranda and Steve got back together and maybe some other scenes. Who knows. It was getting a bit stupid with Kt and I sitting together crying. Oh I didn't cry at Carrie's moping in Mexico. Or at any of Samantha's scenes haha.

I think the clothes were a bit hit and miss. Carrie's huge wedding dress was just the pits and what on earth was she thinking putting that horrible bird in her hair? And I don't care what anyone else thinks, SJP is not pretty. Make-up does improve but ..... no, get over it, she is not pretty. Conspicuous attire aside, if she was not famous, I doubt that most people would give SJP a second glance. Just watch a few of her movies before SATC and you'll see what I mean - unremarkable. I did think that the hairstylists were pretty good at getting variation out of Miranda's short hairdo though.

I enjoyed the movie so much, I can't wait to watch it again! Next time without having to prebook tickets. The gripes that other reviews have about the movie bothers me none. It's a movie that would be best enjoyed by those who are familar with the series. Why would anyone who hasn't watched the series bother otherwise? Unless you're a guy wanting to impress your first date.