Today, we were going to do a bit of Netherlands after breakfast at Brussels. Temperature wise, it's still chilly around 15 degree Celcius so our tour manager reminded us to carry our jackets once we're off the bus. As most of you already aware of, we've been experiencing varies of climate so the most daunting part above all in our trip started way before we begin, which is packing. My husband gave me a very informative link on how we're suppose to pack for this kind of trip. The key is layers. Go for layers instead of big, thick bulky jacket and that's what we did. You can always take of your layer bit by bit according to your surrounding.

Netherlands was ranked "the happiest country" last year and after being there myself, I can't agree more. It's very hard not to be happy here.

Before anything, we were going to do canal cruise in a glass topped boat in Amsterdam. We were gliding slowly through a pretty canal with a prettier scenery along it. There are so many decorated boathouses by the canal, Unfortunately, although they lived on the water, they still have to pay tax just like other citizens. Unlike Kuwaiti and even Malaysia, society in Amsterdam were more open minded when it comes to privacy. You will see most of their windows were wide opened and curtains were folded to side. This way, the house interior was likely be very visible to public and by passer. This is because, they believed that they have nothing to hide hence those principal were translate through their actions.

Another thing I loved being in a group tour is you don't have to wait too much for public rides or train rides and you certainly don't have to worry about fighting for seating or space since everything was pre-booked. Like this canal cruise, once we arrived, we were immediately shown to our already awaiting boat, immediately boarded and immediately started the cruise. Therefore, no time wasted on waiting and queuing for tickets or for next available boats.

{ Ermm garam abes la plak. Get dressed, bukak pintu, start enjin boat and off they go to nearest shop hehehe or ermm boring lah malam ni, jom gi tengok wayang.. Owhh wait, have you take the boat key? You know, instead of asking of car key heheh. This fella must be having a very interesting life I bet }

{ We always take apples from breakfast in hotel along with us. One reason is because apples here is so lah very crunchy and sweet and another reason is because we were always on the go and always walking so the kids got hungry pretty fast. Therefore, I need to always have apples in my handbag or chips in hand to keep them full }

{ Baru balik pasar ke mister? }

{ Delivery by water }

{ This is the one of the famous photo stop. The driver will slowing down to the point of stopping and signs us to take photo of this bridge's canal. Reason being, this is the only place where you can get this view of this 7 layers of bridge throughout this canal, and probably, the whole world. We didn't manage to capture all the 7 bridges as you may see }

{ This is the one I took from Google. Apparently, I can't find any photo with 7 bridges altogether }

The canal cruise took around 30-45 minutes and once we board off, we were given 2 hours of free time to roam around the Dam Square and to get our lunch. Since the parking in the city is not permitted, our bus driver had to park the bus outside the city and come back to pick us up at the designated spot on the time determined by Mr Mohan. 

Although 2 hours sounded long, but trust me it's not enough. It's not even enough for our lunch break alone so just imagine we had to roam around town, taking photo, queuing for food, buying souvenirs, look here look there, geeezzz I don't remember chewing my food anymore. I just swallow and gobbled them down my throat. I believed we'd developed constipation by the end of the trip, Therefore, if you're not a fan of rushing, or not in a condition to be on a rigid schedule then this is just nor for you. I am not a fan of rushing either but as I said, we have discussed thoroughly when making the decision. You can't have everything. If you want to see 9 European countries in 15 days, then this is the only way and you don't get the luxury like other traveler. If you want to relax, wake up at any time you like, sip a cup of coffee by the roadside and do people watching, in short, travel leisurely, then pick 2-3 countries you like the most and make the best out of it. It's really up to you to decide and we have decided to do this, so we're just gonna work with what we have, and enjoy the ride.

{ Everybody cycled here and after office hours you can see lady office workers with office suits, pencil skirt and high heels cycled their way home. They even have multilevel parking for bicycle. Bicycle considered main transportation in Amsterdam therefore government enforced certain law to ensure everyone's safety. As you can see above, the 2 police officers were inspecting all bicycles. Those of unlock one will get a ticket }

{ Being a pedestrian in Amsterdam is such a task as you need to watch out for so many things. First, is motorist like cars, motorcycles and buses. Pass that, you need to watch for bicycles since there have their own road system. Safe from this two major transportation lane then only you can walk in ease }

{ Dam Square }

{ ha ha ha. Good try! }

{ Ze most affordable souvenirs hihihihi }

{ I thought this is some kind of deco vase. My oh my I was wrong. Turned out it was smocking pot for marijuana. Ermmmm talking about being open minded.. Too open, perhaps }

We decided to have kebab for lunch that day at a place call Doner Kebab. You can find their franchises everywhere all around Europe but the one in Amsterdam in particular was the best kebab I ever had, by far. Even shawarma in Kuwait can't beat theirs, seriouslyyyy.... We kept talking about it days after we left Amsterdam. If only we could really savor the experience, and enjoying every bite instead of pushing it down our throat. Sighhhhh , if only....

{ The chili paste on the right was super tastyyyyyy.. I hesitate to try at first because the owner kept reminding about how hot it is but after encouraged by hubby, I tried a spoonful. Rest assured, I finished the whole bowl in no time, I even dip the fries in it }

{ Entertained by street entertainer. Of course they asked for money later hahaha but it's okay. It's kinda romantic though :) }

After our scrumptious and hearty lunch, we took a stroll along the street, getting some souvenirs and just enjoying our few last minutes at Amsterdam. Once everyone gathered at assembly point, our driver came and we immediately headed to our next destination. Cheese and Clog making factory. Before that, there's another photo stop at traditional windmill located along our route.

{ If you can see clearly behind me, you would see the windmill's wall gotten a bit fungus-ish or kulat-ish. Well that's not really the case. Long time ago, when heater or air condition not yet exist, the Dutch people invented this method in order to preserve the temperature inside the windmill so it will stay warm during winter and stay cool during summer. They planted this special weed or grass. The special thing about this weed is it's perseverance against extreme weather and it's amazing survival skill. During winter, the tip of the weed will visually dried up and died but the roots amazingly still alive. During this time, the wall of this windmill will turn blackish or dark greenish. When summer came, the root will blossom and produce new leaves and it will changed from blackish to greenish. And this nature process went on and on and on until this very day }

{ Taking a photo with my dream house hehehe }

After 20 minutes of photography session, we moved to above mentioned factory. we were greeted by a rotten smell upon arrival. Goshh I can't imagine if I had to work there. It's hard to believe this delicious milky rich flavor thing called cheese can be so smelly and stinky..

We were led to a table with a very cheerful lady waiting by. She showed us the process on how to make cheese, step by step and let us taste the end product. I knew there are so many type of cheese there is but I learned that day, which suitable cheese to use with spaghetti, which cheese to pair with pizza and so on. How to differentiate soft cheese and hard cheese. Fuhhhh very educational visit indeed. Let me share one embarrassing fact about me and my poor general knowledge. I didn't know the yellow or sometimes red layer that coat the cheese was a wax. Parafin wax to be exact. I thought it was the cheese skin ha ha ha. Well u know, like when the cheese was left to dried up, the dried outer layer kinda performed hard skin, something like that kah kah kah. Silap rupanyer :)

After a very "cheesy" briefing, we were then move forward to another section of the factory. The wooden clog making section. The guy who's in charge of it was super funny and hilarious. He speak multilingual is and that day he spoke Hindi, Indonesian and even Malay. He also the only one in Holland who still produce hand decorated clog while the rest of the clog maker decided to opted for more modern method which is sticker base.

I also learned about many types and function of each clogs. And it is unbelievable the fact that dutch people still used wooden clog on daily life specially gardening. Let see, there's men clog for gardening, clog for wedding, clog for going to church and there's also clog for indoor usage.

{ This is the hand decorated clog }

{ The clog master. He's been doing this since forever and just by looking at someone's feet he can accurately tell what shoe sizes we wore. If you're buying clog for yourself or for others, you need to get one size up for it to be comfortable }

{ Shopping time. I just know that there are some cheese that is forbidden in some country. We had one couple who came by themselves joining us in our briefing and they were from New Zealand. Upon knowing where they were came from, they clog man told them that they can buy any cheese they like but not one type of cheese that I don't recall what is. As for Malaysia and Kuwait, there's no restriction so far }

Our next destination is Madurodam. My husband's childhood's dream is to visit this place so being able to finally come here is a big deal for him. Infact each of us have our dream comes true moment during this trip. My husband with Madurodam, me with Disneyland and Alps while Kak Anis's dream was to visit Switzerland. To make it sweeter, her birthday fell in the middle of our trip so visiting Switzerland during your birthday is definitely the best birthday gift ever..

Once entering Madurodam, we were given a ticket each, and also a card. You need to swipe this card at every miniature station you visited. You can listen to the explanation and story behind each miniature if you want. I skipped this but my husband did, well as much as he can. However, you can't keep the card and need to surrender the card upon departure. 

I'll just let the picture do the talking this time..

{ This clogs aren't made for walking :) }

{ Erin malas nak jalan so she made us rent this buggy. 1  euro if I'm not mistaken and she just sat on this for merely 5 minutes, duhhh }               

   

                    

{ Everything in madurodam is just WOW and special in their each own way. Each details were being given attention to and I meant every little tiny details. Sampai ke dalam dalam bangunan pun }    

{ Turbine engineer tengah buat building inspection }                                  

{ You can see he's getting absorbed in all this miniature. He looks as if he got lost in his own world and trust me, this doesn't happen a lot. You know like a kids inside candy shop or me inside shopping mall ha ha ha. Understandable because this is his passion and his dream so I let him be and didn't bother him much }

{ Gergasi datang menyerang MRR2 )

Although I'm not as excited as him, this place kinda grow on me but I have my own special way of expressing my love and appreciation.. Look below ...

{ Appreciation number 1 }

{ Appreciation number 2. My attempt to turned mini cooper into hot wheel he he he }

{ Appreciation Number 3. Ohh come on, why so serious oneee.. I am just joking. I wouldn't have gut to step on such an important place like "international airport" wouldn't I ?}

{ Minah bunga }

{ Erin bersedia utk nyanyi lagu Negaraku di Netherlands hehe }

The place in overall wasn't too big compared to what I had in mind but if you were about to belek each details, you will certainly need more than 3 hours to cover everything. There's also a souvenir shop and small cafe in the area.

Since it's almost 5 pm, we proceed to our next destination before dinner. Scheveningen, a very beautiful beach. What makes it more splendid is we didn't see it coming. I certainly didn't expect a beach right in the smack of town centre. Beside the famous beach, another attraction here is their fries. I heard it was so delicious, however we missed it because by the time we arrived, all shops were closed for the day already.

{ Budak makan ikan ke ikan makan budak ? }

{ Maria Mariana photo shoot hiihiihhihi }

{ Dahsyat anak Mady berposing! }

{ I lovesss beach but always find myself avoiding it because it's usually hot and I hate to wear sunblock and I hate the idea of having my skin "tanned" and exfoliating after that. This is the first time I found the beach that is cold and chilly so this beach is just ideal to me. It's not like I'm gonna wear any bikini so relaxing by the beach, sipping juice while wrapping yourself in a blanket or sweatshirt is really my kinda beach getaway he he he }

{ I don't mean to be biased but I can't help but noticing that the sky is blue-er and the grass is green-er here 

( Europe). This picture is raw, and unedited so what you see here is also what I saw that day }

{ Kecik kecik dah pandai carik side income and ohhh they're good! }

By 6pm, all of us were requested to gather at Indian Palace Restaurant nearby for dinner. 

Among all Indian restaurants we've been to during our trip, I rated this restaurant as the best of all. The food was soooo delicious. We had Tandoori Chicken which cooked and seasoned to perfection, a very crispy fish fillet, fried masala okra, squid, beef curry and many more varieties. After having chicken curry and onion on every dinner, this is definitely a guilty pleasure. We had food binge! And bonus point for my husband because they served halal beef here.

After a very satisfying dinner, we head back to Brussels, to the same hotel we stayed last night. Tomorrow we'll be heading to Rhineland and Cologne so stay tune okayyy. Errrr I am not sure if I would be able to update as frequent since I'll be flying home tomorrow morning at 3am so we're leaving for airport tonight. Anyhow, just incase I wouldn't be able to visit this space anytime soon, I wish you Eid Mubarak and may mine will be content and meaningful as yours. Be safe & be healthy peeps....

As a closing as usual, enjoy the sand sculpture in conjunction of Euro 2012 in Netherlands...