Amsterdam: Uncle Heerco, Tulips and Rijks

We finally arrived!

It was super early approximately 5.30am and we rushed straight to the toilet to freshen up a little.

But, as you can see in the previous post, I don’t really look freshened up huh?

Hahahaha.

So, what happened next?

A friend of my aunt were to pick us up from the airport and head to our first stay on this whole Europe trip. Read: HIS HOUSE. Obviously... :D

And there he was, in the early hours waiting for us ladies to arrive.

Hello Uncle Heerco.

One thing worth mentioning, I don’t fancy standing next to him.

Well, no specific reason just that I look like a dwarf when I do. Though I prefer hobbit.
So he gotta be the wise or not so wise Gandalf.
Hahahaha wonder how he will react to that.

From the airport, we head straight to his home and freshen up for real before taking a stroll through row and row of streets and getting ourselves something to eat.

We even sat by a dock or something of that nature and remembered clearly that all four of us were adoring a pair of ducks that was there with us.

Yup we spent quite some time admiring the duck; 30 minutes or so.

Around the neighbourhood

Not sure what this place is...a dock maybe...

The ducks!

Us by the dock

After that duck moment, we made our way back and got ready for the real sightseeing.

We headed to Kuekenhof.

It is time to see for real what I have seen over and over online for months.

Upon arriving in Keukenhof, we had a glimpse of tulips all the way.

As usual, being easily fascinated, excitement was pretty much difficult to contain.

The colours was so beautiful that even in motion it looks breathtakingly beautiful.

Tulips

Once we arrived, it wasn’t that crowded.
Hence, it was easy to snap pictures with only you in frame. :p

It was too beautiful at times, that you just wanna soak it all in and never breathe it out.

Countless photos were taken at almost every angle and every different bloom existed.

I also manage to capture some polaroid photos to capture moments I had while I was there.

Peace!

<3

Excited much?

My entourage

Group Photo :)

Someone got a bit too excited? ;D

Along the walk through the garden, we took the chance of having the Hering Sandwich and Ice cream.

Truth be told, I prefer the ice-cream more than the sandwich. 

Having said that, the sandwich wasn’t bad, I ate most of it anyway.

The ice-cream.

All in all, we spent some hours in Kuekenhof before heading back.

Up next, Uncle Heerco showed us around the city.

The tram station was just across the street from his home.
Convenience at its best!

Within minutes, we are already in the city.

City, here we go!

One of the many alleys

Should have bought this but sadly I didn't :(

One place you gotta be when you’re in Amsterdam will have to be the I Amsterdam sign.

We missed the one at the airport area, so the one is the city is to make up for the loss.

It was difficult to have a proper photo taken without any of the letter covered up, but we were satisfied with the pictures that we snap.

Hmmm I amste?

Photobomb of a different level

Terdam? try again next time...

Among the things I enjoyed throughout the stroll in the city will have to be the bridges and the bicycles. The building is also one of the things that admire. Feels so right to be there.

Love this.

Marching to the museum

Not long after that, we decided to enter Rijks Museum.

The museum was huge. Each level is designated with a certain era and exhibition.

At times, I was a little overwhelmed with the vast collection and exhibition. It made you just want to wander into each room and examine in detail all it has to offer.

That itself took a handsome couple of hours.

Spot Gandalf and his hobbits? Hahahah

You may now enter...

Inside the museum

It was only at the end of the museum visit, I realised how hectic the first day has been.

First night's dinner

After dinner, I went straight to bed with some medication as I fear I was to catch a fever.

That will surely ruined everything.

Rest assured, I was just tired and it was due to lack of rest.

Day 1, done!

p.s: It is already a year since the trip, but the memories is as if the trip was just yesterday. :)

Boarding : Travel light

As someone who loves to travel, one thing that I always ensure is travel light.

The only two things that I will have on any trip will be, my luggage and my backpack.

I will try my very best to fit everything needed into these two.

My initial luggage and my  favourite backpack; travels with me all the time

Luggage for all the nitty-gritty stuff and my backpack only for things I’ll bring everywhere; charger, notebooks, camera, etc.

That is one habit that I picked up during my Adelaide trip and it continues until this very day.

For the Europe trip, the mantra was MINIMIZE.

Though I have imagined what to wear during the whole trip, I’ll have to live up to the mantra and practically downsize everything.

I end up with an ensemble that can easily be mix and match.

Since I planned the itinerary, the lodging and travelling documents are all under my care. That was the one that I guarded the most prior to us boarding the plane.

And then it was time to leave.

Pre-boarding faces.

Schiphol here we come!

I pretty much slept the whole journey. Waking up only during meal time. Duuuh typical...NOT. :)

Finally the moment that I have been waiting…

The pilot uttered that we have safely landed at Schiphol Airport. 

My heart was jumping and dancing uncontrollably.

It felt surreal.

Schipol

This is how I look after the long journey. Not bad ey? Hahaha

p.s: The story will continue in the next post. Had this completed since last year and realised I forgot to click the publish button. Sigh.

Journey to Europe : Part 2

The Itinerary.

All my life, I have been a planner.

Not the official kind; wedding planner or event planner, I just love to plan stuffs.

So when the task of coming up with the itinerary was officially handed to me, I accepted it with open arms.

Little did I know that I was heading to Doomville.

The last time I planned an itinerary was to Adelaide.

The only difference was, Adelaide trip was only a-destination-trip, where-as this Europe trip involves 4 countries; of which I have never been to and I did not seek help from anyone. (READ: Yay double the doomness.)

ONE thing that I am sure of at that point of time, is we will be arriving and departing from Amsterdam.

Other than that, all seems pretty vague.

For about a month, the internet was my best friend. At every free time, I will be surfing and getting to know places, estimating travelling time, taking notes of the ticket price and etc.

One notes after another, there were times I end up sleeping in front of my laptop or phone.

Though it took a lot of my time, I enjoy knowing new places and viewing what every country offers. It was so much fun that I started to have other plans of my own. (READ: I’ll come back and visit places that I missed this time around. Anyone up for an adventure?)

Not long after, I manage to craft the itinerary that includes interesting places that everyone desire to visit.

We were also lucky that my aunt is still in touch with her friends from her previous work encounters. Two of her friends; one in Amsterdam and another in Belgium, agreed to assist us getting to places. One will picked us up from Schipol to his house while another will fetched us from Amsterdam to Belgium and Paris.

Not to forget, another childhood friend of my aunt who is residing in Coventry agreed to bring us shopping at Bicester Village and drive us all the way to Manchester which is our final destination en route Amsterdam. 

Woooohooooo!

I picked up my calculator an summed up all the cost involved; airfare, train tickets, accommodation, admission fee, yada, yada, yada.

In a nutshell, total damage minus the shopping part is approximately RM5,000 per person.

Journey to Europe : Part 1

A dream come true.

That’s how I would describe my recent Europe trip about a month ago.

How did it all started?

Once upon a time…

Seriously?

Nahhhhh…straight to the point shall we?

Back when I was 21, I wrote on a piece of paper the 5 things I would like to do before I turned 25.

It goes a little like this;

1.       Write an article and get it published (small scale)

2.       Write a song that is recognized by at least 100 people

3.       Get a job

4.       Get a car

5.       Travel to at least 5 countries

Through and through, I never thought that I could complete the list. First, the list was made out randomly and second, I was already beyond happy that I manage to complete 4 out of the 5 listed.

So much so that I started to disregard the list and about to declare “Mission Accomplished”.

Just when I thought that dreams don’t come true, life surprises me.

At the end of 2014, my aunt and mother decided to buy a return ticket to Amsterdam. They made it known to me with the quest to make me jealous. Oh yeah of course they succeeded.

Duuhhh…

It then triggers me that I still have a solid year in my timeline to complete the list. Should I try to complete my so-called list?

That’s the moment that I peek into my account just to see if I can afford a ticket of my own.

Turn on laptop…Go online…XXX bank account…Amount XXX…Smile…

“Mom, I’ll tag along for the Europe trip ya? Please… I can afford it (smirk),” I blurt out to Mom.

After a little pep talk and some nagging, I finally tag along IF…and only IF, I can come up with a complete itinerary for our 12 days journey.

A tit for a tat.

That was how it started…

Laid Back Adelaide : Attractions

Work seems to be greedy nowadays.

Spending most of my time mingling with updates, value captures and submissions.
I'm done for a while.

Finally, my great escape.

After a few posts I think there's more yet to be told.

Or is it just me who can't stop blabbing about Adelaide?

I think it's me.

Nah...who cares anyway.

Let's see if I can backtrack the whole itinerary during the short visit.
It's been a while.

The first attraction that got both of us excited would have to be Gorge Wildlife Park.
Remember the part that we wanted to cuddle the koala so bad?
This is where it all happened.

The admission was $15.
Not only do you get the chance to cuddle the koala, you can also spend time feeding the kangaroo.
Literally you can feed the kanga like you feeding a baby; right to their mouth.
It was there that I know they are a big fan of Arnott's biscuits.
And all that without any extra charges; $15 and you can do all mentioned above.
Other than that there are also Meerkat, Penguin, Camels and others.

Getting there from the city was a long and winding road.
First time driving in a foreign land, I was pretty sure that we were lost most of the time.
The road kept going on and on and we saw nothing.
Finally after about an hour or so, we saw the signage and got all excited.
Bear in mind that the Koala Cuddling session is at 11.30am, 1.30pm and 3.30pm.
So better plan your time well so that you don't missed out on that.

Our next pit stop was Hahndorf.
We reached at around 2pm and went straight to the room.
Truth was, we were so tired that we didn't manage to explore a whole lot there.
One thing about Hahndorf that I love is it feels homey.
It is also accessible via public transport.
We took some time to dine at The Haus.
We enjoy that a lot.
What's not to enjoy when there's food right?
Hahaha.

Right after that we head off to Port Elliot.
The view there was to die for.
I truly deeply madly fall in love with the whole area.

We then took a short drive to Victor Harbour.
There, we ride on the Horse Tram to Granite Island.
The horse was such a cutie and they all have great names.
We opted for a one way ride and it cost $7.
Then we hike around Granite Island and enjoyed the view it has to offer.
We also managed to catch the Penguin Feeding Session.
The penguins are so cute and cheeky that we almost adopted one of them.

The last thing that I  would like to list here is The Oyster Bar at Marina Pier

I will always remember this as it was my first oyster experience.

Along with great company and amazing view.

It was perfect as perfect can be.

We also did an oyster toast!

It was all fun fun fun.

I truly miss that moment.