I Amsterdam

came back to Oestrich Winkel for a day or 2, and headed out of the country again! this time, gonna explore the Benelux region which consist of 3 countries, BElgiumNEtherlandsLUXembourg. Im not taking the train nor the bus or the plane, we're going on a ROAD TRIP! =)

took off early in the morning again, at 6am, Jin Moo is the driver, we rented a 9 seater car for 5 days. Full house people: Jinmoo, Heeyeun, Ella, Liyin, Daljoon, Sungho, Symon, Jason n Me. a totally different experience, more of fun n bonding actually. the trip started off with us getting lost in Cologne. we went around in circle trying to find an alternative route due to road closure.

Moo: Cologne Cathedral!

1hr later....

Everyone: Cologne Cathedral..AGAIN! ahaha

but the GPS system eventually found us a way to Netherlands. our first stop of our trip. I Amsterdam.

after a 5hrs long drive, we finally arrived in Amsterdam. We tried to find our way within the city by typing "Sex...street" and we ended up in an industrial area. haha and eventually decided to consult the guidebook for places of interest.

Amsterdam is real pretty. with the river crossing the city, must be 10 times prettier in summer. It's almost winter now, leaves are all on the ground, no flowers.

While Daljoon headed for his museum, we lingered ard the open space outside the museum for some photos of the famous I Amsterdam sign. There were soo many people around this and we had to wait for our turn to snap a grp photo. it's so huge that i cant get the whole thing in my camera. angle isnt wide enough for my camera.

The Heinkein experience which was not too far away from where we were, was goood! far better than the Guinness one! Guinness was such a waste of money. at least the Heinkein experience had interesting stuff to see & do.

they've got short demos on how the beer is made, showing us real ingredients and methods. the original brew room was kept in it's original state. the horse stables had the horses which carries the beer from factory to factory. and a heinkein "ride" more of a stimulator, showing us how the beer is produced, bottled, and delivered to different countries. 

what's more, they've got many interactive games and kiosk for young n old to enjoy. no one gets bored! and lastly we come to beer tasting! yipppeee haha 3 glasses each actually but we were too pressed for time we could only have 1=( alcoholics. hehe cheers!

After a Mac dinner, we headed to the most famous red light district in the world. at first we were wondering where are the people at, no one on the streets even in the city centre in the day. Now we know, everyone is gathered at the RLD. haha tonnes of tourist flocking there, mostly men. with bikini-cladded girls in "fish tanks" showing off their assets while men oggled over them out on the street. no photos are allowed. this is the best i could take.see the red light? yeah u're at the right place.

narrow alleys filled with people again, looking into those small rooms where the girls are in. some are really pretty while some look really really bad, fat ones, short ones, old ones. you name it, they have it! there are actually men making their transaction there. ahya not surprising la. men..... and they actually receive their service within that small room itself with the curtain drawn of course =P.  Generally the whole street is lit in red. down by the river, are swans, actual live white swans which serve as a stark contrast with what's going on on the river sides. i tot swans symbolises purity. haha

and on one end of the district lies a row of Coffee shops with blue neon signboards. 3 or 4 of the very same coffee shop in a row. The Bulldog, first coffeeshop. Amsterdam may well be the only country which accepts drugs in their culture. Weed, space cakes etc are sold in these so called coffeeshops, and they're again crowded with people. price of 2 sticks cost about 12euros, they wrap it for u, the ready to smoke sticks.  The name with a heart. HA!