Last night in Amsterdam

For the past 5 days that I stayed in Amsterdam, I have met wonderful and very interesting people from different continents, I was able to participate and discuss best practices of different chapters not realizing that we have a language barrier. It was truly a global discussion, a world without borders.

Anyway, I don't want to bore you with my adventures and misadventures in Amsterdam, I will just summarize my experience using bullet points:

Discovered that Starbucks in Amsterdam is about 150% more expensive compared to MNL.
Trains and Tram rides FTW! cars are too expensive here.
Its raining everyday but still, they don't use umbrellas
Go to enclosed public spaces for free heating. Yes, the heater is the most important invention of all time.
NL is flat, no mountains, no hills, millions of piles under AMS to keep it afloat.
Visited the famous Grasshopper bar. (still, i did NOT smoke weed.)
They have museums for almost everything. from wax, to sex, to vodka, beer, weed, etc. name it, and they have an exhibit for it.
Visited the Rijks Museum ( I saw a painting worth 500++ Million Euros!!) and the Amsterdam Museum (which used to be an orphanage by the way.)

On our last night, we decided to go out in small groups, most of them decided to go to this dutch comedy bar, but we decided to grab a pizza and check out the AMS nightlife.Abbas from Kenya, Osmar from Chile, Miguel from Spain Laura from Australia and Emmanuel from the Philippines, biked under the Amsterdam night sky ( COLD, Amsterdam night sky, lol). We went to a local restaurant and had pizza. We walked around AMS and decided to checkout one of the bars. It was fun, but I realized that the party scene in MNL is way better.We decided to call it a night around 12 MN, too bad, I have to wake up really early and be at the centraal station before 6AM for my train to Paris.

Goedendag Amsterdam!

At last, I was able to get my luggage, I had breakfast at a Starbucks in Schiphol Airport. Food is soooo expensive here. I arrived 6AM and I tried to settle at the airport for a bit. I brushed my teeth, combed my hair, washed my face and tried to relax after a long haul flight.

After that, I bought a train ticket to Amsterdam centraal, It is their Railway hub where all trains in the Netherlands and in Europe meet. The Train ticket is about 3.70 Euros, but if you purchase using a credit card, you have to pay an extra EUR 0.50.

Arriving at the Amsterdam Centraal, I soon realized how it is without heating. It was suuuuuuuper cold (well at least for someone who came from the tropics like me lol!). The temperature is between 0-8 Degrees Celcius all day.

I tried to drag my luggage out of the station and I was fighting the cold temparature at the same time. I was advised by the organization that my botel (boat+hotel) is very near the Amsterdam Centraal, I just have to look for the Nemo (a green building, shaped like a ship) near the sea.

It was a good fifteen minute walk and finally I found the Botel. Its called Botel Zebra and coincidentally, the owner of the Botel is a Filipina.

I was warmly greeted by Ms. Mary Anne. We had a few chats before I finally decided to have lunch with Laura, one of the participants of the conference who came from Australia.

I Had an opportunity to have an extra day to roam around the city before the conference. Amsterdam is beautiful. As you know, The Netherlands is a flat country, and Amsterdam used to be a marshland. The early Dutch people drilled holes and inserted millions of piles to make Amsterdam stable.

Another unique thing about Amsterdam is that, prostitution is legal and marijuana is legal (well, legal but regulated, and to correct the common misconception, not all drugs are legal, only Marijuana is legal, and in regulated amounts only)

Sorry, no pictures of prostitutes in Amsterdam because apparently, its illegal to take their photos.

True enough, there are things in this world that you can only enjoy in Amsterdam

Amsterdam, Here I come!

I've had some sleepless nights thinking on what to do when I get to Europe. I will arrive right before winter and I was told that the temperature is between 0-8 degrees celcius all day.

I am glad that Debenhams was on sale prior to my flight and I was able to buy cheaper (than Marks & Spencer) winterwear. I bought thermal underwear, thermal socks, thermal bonnet,thermal gloves and everything with the word "Thermal" on it lol.

I was supposed to leave for Amsterdam on November 30, but Cathay Pacific called and asked me to rebook it to an earlier flight because of the Airport strike in London.

I asked my boss to grant me a last minute half day so I can catch my 5PM flight.

I arrived 45 minutes before my flight and I was able to take advantage of Citibank Premiermiles Platinum's lounge access.

My plane left before 6PM and arrived past 7PM. I have a lay over of 5 hours in HKG.

My plane left 12:35 AM the next day and took a 13 Hours or so flight from HKG to AMS. Cathay Pacific's cabin crew are excellent and never gets tired.

After 2 airplane meals, 3 movies and a few hours of sleep, i finally reached Amsterdam Schipol Airport.

Immediately after stepping off the plane, Immigration officers asked to see the passports of everyone arriving. I think this is their way of checking for illegal immigrants.

Then I went through the Immigration area, the officer asked me "what's the purpose of your visit?" then I said "i'll be attending a conference." He asked me, "can i see your invitation letter?" Then i told him " here is the letter that was sent to the Dutch Embassy in Manila" then he told me, " wow you speak english well" then he stamped my passport eventually.

Goedendag Amsterdam for me!