Unplanned trip to the Netherlands
You know how in the previous post I mentioned how nice it would have been if me and my housemates' initial plan to go on a trip so spontaneous, like The Amazing Race spontaneous? Yeah, I got something close to that. On Monday evening as we were so caught up browsing the Net, all of a sudden Munir suggested that we head to Amsterdam, and things went from there. We started looking for affordable flight tickets as well as our accommodation there. Afterwards, we left for the airport straight away that same night to catch our early flight out the next day.
To be honest, we did not even know what we were going to do in Amsterdam until we actually arrived at Costa cafe in Stansted that night. The four of us brought out our phones and began to search for more info for our trip.
Finally it was decided! We were going to go to the rural part of Holland before we indulge the urban are of it. So we planned to go to Zaanse Schans which is a bit to the North of Amsterdam to see the windmills, cheese making factory and clogs (wooden shoes). Then we will be off to Amsterdam, followed by a visit to the Hague to visit Madu Rodam, a miniature park which pretty much resembled LegoLand, the Peace Palace where the International Court of Justice is housed, and to end the night we decided to go on the canal cruise around the city of Amsterdam.
Because I am no travel blogger, I will not be telling you guys our daily program, but what I will do is to share with you what my thoughts on the country as well as the trip as a whole, just to sum it all up.
The trip was very exciting as we got to explore both sides of the Netherlands. In Zaanse Schans we got to see three of the most representative of this land, which are cheese, windmills and of course, tulips. As many of you may already know, the Netherlands is a low-lying country with about a fifth of its land is actually located below sea level and its land comprises mainly of marshes protected from the sea by dikes. Hence the legend about the Dutch boy who saved Holland by sticking his finger into a hole at the dike. Because of this unique geographical property, the land is very fertile, which is why they can grow the tulips as well as have enough grass for the cows, enabling them to make cheese.
The other side of the Netherlands we went was Amsterdam and the Hague. The red light district, sex museum, Amsterdam's canal network, miniature land in Madurodam and the International Court of Justice. If I were to sum Amsterdam up, I would have to go for the term 'sin-city'. The sex museum and the red light district surely are destinations not meant for everyone. Munir, the good guy in our group was not at all comfortable when we set our foot there. Well, I did not blame him though since it was pretty disturbing. But when one comes to think of it, you would realise how pleasure comes in different packages to different people. Amsterdam, the 'sin-city' is definitely a must-go place if your aim is to indulge yourself in worldly pleasures, namely sex and drugs. As for myself, our trip there made me understood my fate a whole lot better.
You see, after I finished my SPM, I was left jobless for half a year before proceeding with my foundation studies in KTJ. My A-levels lasted for two years, whereas many of the same batch as mine had already left for their degrees overseas. I was pretty disappointed that I thought to myself, this must be because I was not good enough compared to these people who got their scholarship via their trial results and did their A-levels in just one and a half years. This trip really opened my eyes as I was very grateful that I went there as a twenty-one year old, a hopefully more matured man. As I looked at Munir, he looked disturbed when we first step foot into the sex museum. Myself, I found it to be funny, and was pretty astonished on how open the topic was being put on display, since in our country this is often regarded as a taboo. But religion draws its boundaries, for good reasons too. Things like sex for example, if left unchecked would not only lead to moral degradation, but it has its ways to make you lose yourself. Surely in the beginning of it you would feel more alive than you have ever been your entire life, unfortunately if you cannot put it on a leash, then you can easily find yourself falling into a spiral of self-destruction. Had I been twenty like Munir for example, then I might have been left shaken as well. I am glad for that.
All in all, I am just so glad to say that I really enjoyed myself on this trip! It was very exciting given that all the planning was done in just one night, very unexpected, and it was a very fun country to visit as I got to see the beauty of both sides of the coin. I would very much like to go there again to see the tulips blooming, I heard they are very beautiful in spring. Plus, I wish we had more time to be spent in Amsterdam to visit Van Gogh museum. I was kinda looking forward to see them right in front of my eyes, but it's okay, I can still very much admire his work of art via our most helpful Mr. Google here. Finally, I can gladly cross this country out of my honeymoon spot. Hahaha
I leave the rest to you.......
To be honest, we did not even know what we were going to do in Amsterdam until we actually arrived at Costa cafe in Stansted that night. The four of us brought out our phones and began to search for more info for our trip.
Because I am no travel blogger, I will not be telling you guys our daily program, but what I will do is to share with you what my thoughts on the country as well as the trip as a whole, just to sum it all up.
The trip was very exciting as we got to explore both sides of the Netherlands. In Zaanse Schans we got to see three of the most representative of this land, which are cheese, windmills and of course, tulips. As many of you may already know, the Netherlands is a low-lying country with about a fifth of its land is actually located below sea level and its land comprises mainly of marshes protected from the sea by dikes. Hence the legend about the Dutch boy who saved Holland by sticking his finger into a hole at the dike. Because of this unique geographical property, the land is very fertile, which is why they can grow the tulips as well as have enough grass for the cows, enabling them to make cheese.
The other side of the Netherlands we went was Amsterdam and the Hague. The red light district, sex museum, Amsterdam's canal network, miniature land in Madurodam and the International Court of Justice. If I were to sum Amsterdam up, I would have to go for the term 'sin-city'. The sex museum and the red light district surely are destinations not meant for everyone. Munir, the good guy in our group was not at all comfortable when we set our foot there. Well, I did not blame him though since it was pretty disturbing. But when one comes to think of it, you would realise how pleasure comes in different packages to different people. Amsterdam, the 'sin-city' is definitely a must-go place if your aim is to indulge yourself in worldly pleasures, namely sex and drugs. As for myself, our trip there made me understood my fate a whole lot better.
You see, after I finished my SPM, I was left jobless for half a year before proceeding with my foundation studies in KTJ. My A-levels lasted for two years, whereas many of the same batch as mine had already left for their degrees overseas. I was pretty disappointed that I thought to myself, this must be because I was not good enough compared to these people who got their scholarship via their trial results and did their A-levels in just one and a half years. This trip really opened my eyes as I was very grateful that I went there as a twenty-one year old, a hopefully more matured man. As I looked at Munir, he looked disturbed when we first step foot into the sex museum. Myself, I found it to be funny, and was pretty astonished on how open the topic was being put on display, since in our country this is often regarded as a taboo. But religion draws its boundaries, for good reasons too. Things like sex for example, if left unchecked would not only lead to moral degradation, but it has its ways to make you lose yourself. Surely in the beginning of it you would feel more alive than you have ever been your entire life, unfortunately if you cannot put it on a leash, then you can easily find yourself falling into a spiral of self-destruction. Had I been twenty like Munir for example, then I might have been left shaken as well. I am glad for that.
All in all, I am just so glad to say that I really enjoyed myself on this trip! It was very exciting given that all the planning was done in just one night, very unexpected, and it was a very fun country to visit as I got to see the beauty of both sides of the coin. I would very much like to go there again to see the tulips blooming, I heard they are very beautiful in spring. Plus, I wish we had more time to be spent in Amsterdam to visit Van Gogh museum. I was kinda looking forward to see them right in front of my eyes, but it's okay, I can still very much admire his work of art via our most helpful Mr. Google here. Finally, I can gladly cross this country out of my honeymoon spot. Hahaha
I leave the rest to you.......
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