Day 16
Day started with me waking up late (what's new?) and heading for lunch at the usual hangout, booking bus tickets and preparing for the party/dinner at my place on friday. Well I think I haven't elaborated much about the party earlier, but it occurred particularly to Seb and I that we should host something for everyone. In Amsterdam everyone enjoys a good party, be it in clubs or in someone's place. Since coming to Amsterdam, we've pretty much had our share of the different parties, and as someone who loves to host dinners, it was only natural that we had to call for a party! Thanks to the wide variety of goods available for my fried rice and curry chicken, I was able to pull off these two dishes for the dinner the next day.
A sneak preview of the amount of rice I had prepared in anticipation of the number of guests who were coming for the party. By the way this was taken in my room, and we had benches taken from the building where I stayed.
Day 17
Definitely the most enjoyable day of my stay in Amsterdam so far. We spent a good part of the afternoon travelling to the markets to buy the remaining, unbought things needed for the party; going to my room to transform the place into a dining area for 40+ people; as well as starting to cook!
I scheduled the dinner at 6pm, as according to Seb, who went for his group's dinner a day earlier, people tend to be late. Unfortunately, we realised quickly that this was not the case, as a steady stream of guests starting arriving as early as 605. I was still happily cooking my first round of fried rice when it felt that we were behind schedule! When I finished cooking, there were already 10 guests in the room starting to mingle and chatting away. Of course, it would have been good to serve the rice first (which I reckon was enough for around 20 people) and at the same time I would start cooking my curry. Thanks to the multipan (which once again was enquired by quite a few people), I was able to serve my curry quite quickly!
Well, I'm certainly not trying to boast here, but as someone who loves his curry just like how anyone else with their own passion/interest, it gave me this huge sense of satisfaction just to stand in front of people from all over the world and introduce to them how curry from Singapore is like! Just like how a French would introduce some cheese or wine, or how a Japanese would introduce Sushi, I felt that the humble curry chicken was something I would associate Singapore cuisine with! (of course there are so many contenders for a dish that we should introduce Singapore as, but to me, this was something I thought could be presented!) Furthermore, curry is also quite common in the form of breadspread, or like sauce to go with fries, that it is made all the more special when European curry meets Singapore curry!
Friends who know me well enough should have had the good (or mis) fortune of tasting my curry chicken! I've hosted so many dinners back at home, but if there was one party I'd remember, this will go down as the most happening dinner/party I've ever done. Apart from the fantastic company, the fact that I did this without the help of my mum or maids, but instead great fellow Singaporean friends (from buying, cooking, washing, clearing, entertaining) made it even more meaningful!
From the people who made it possible..
to the people who had made it all the more happening..
I wouldn't dare think that everything here was actually done in my hostel!
It was a great thing to have joined the ISN introduction (the importance of orientation!), some great people I've met so far from all over the world!
From Spain..
From Italy..
From Denmark, Romania and Canada..
From France and the Czech Republic..
From Bangladesh (my flatmate on the right)..
From Slovakia (my roomie Peter on the left), Serbia and Spain..
From Estonia, Australia and New Zealand..
There's just so many people you meet at every different party, and your friend brings his friends along.. etc etc etc and suddenly you know alot more people. Certainly helps that everyone is so friendly and outgoing!
Some other pictures of me and my group!
At some point in the party, Seb and his group were toasting one another in different languages, and my group decided that we will have a toast of our own as well. It was at that time I had the idea of teaching everyone in the room how we toast in Singapore (though only in traditional chinese weddings) which was to YUM SENG! Seb gave the instructions and the que for everyone to join in, and it was certainly in my opinion the highlight of the night! Teaching everyone else something Singapore!
Like I've mentioned earlier, its by far the greatest party I've organised, and I'm pretty sure everyone had a good time. I've managed to 'sell' my curry to an international audience and it has received pretty good feedback! (*yes gh's curry can possibly go global!) On top of that, I think that we can take to heart that Singaporeans are not as boring or lack-partying as compared to our counterparts from the rest of the world! Looking forward to possibly another party in due time (not too soon since organising one is already quite time consuming!)
Day 18
Day 18 started on a bad note by the virtue of having spent the first hours of it on the chilling streets reknown for its prostitutes, aka the red light district in Amsterdam. We had wanted to go to the Valentine's party at a club after the party at my house on friday, but we were late for the free admission, and we did not want to pay for the entry fee of 17 euros. Since we were already out, we decided to go walk around in the red light district, to see how different it was at night.
True enough, Amsterdam's red light district is a lot more different from how we see it in the afternoon or in the evening. The lorongs of Geylang, compared to the streets here in Amsterdam, are inferior. Hahaha. Okay I shall not dwell too much on it, this is the kind of place that has to be visited to know how it is like.
Well, the cold winter winds didn't make us feel too comfortable, and I was dreading to go home, if not for the fellow HK exchange students who wanted to see the place. We accompanied them by foot, walked to the Central Station where they took a night bus home, and then walk back to the town area to grab our bikes which were near the club we had wanted to go earlier. Only got back to the room at 3am, and woke up at 1pm. The rest came to my place to clear up, I fried some rice which we had for lunch and quickly brought the things back to Seb's place, where Winnie was waiting. She had some of the rice as well and shortly after we took the metro to the Amsterdam Bijler Arena, where the famous dutch soccer team Ajax is. That area, termed as a shopping area by the Dutch, felt very much like our own Ang Mo Kio, Toa Payoh or any bigger neighbourhood hubs, the kind with a lot of shops. Nothing impressive other than really cheap flowers despite the fact that it was V-day. Seb decided that we should get some flowers for the girls as a token of friendship, and so we did! One bouquet of really nice tulips or roses only go for S$4! Not too bad at all considering the ocassion!
The comparative advantage the dutch have in growing flowers! 1 rose for 100 rolls of toilet paper! (lol pardon me for my econs ranting)
We visited the Ajax staidum as well, but only the outside. I heard much about how the Ajax stadium is a world class stadium, think I might go catch a match before the season ends!
Oh yes, we celebrated Meiyee's 21st birthday too with a birthday cake, as well as 2 new spanish friends (one of whom is my essay group member). I think its just awesome to celebrate a birthday in a place as wonderful as Amsterdam. Well I think I'd have a great 23rd birthday too in Manchester! Muahaha.
Day 19
The third Sunday in Amsterdam saw us being tourists again, venturing out of Amsterdam to the Zaan area where it was the place with the most windmills in the past! Took a train there, which also happened to be the first since arriving from Schiphol Airport 3 weeks ago.
Enjoying some dutch chocolates on the train. Chocolates here are very cheap, one of the few goods that are actually very afforable. S$0.60 for a 100g bar, which I can gobble up in 5 minutes. Yes people have a sweet tooth, I have sweet TEETH.
The Zaan area was quite scenic area, with alot of nice trees, houses and large plains which are supposedly filled with tulips in the summer! The weather wasn't too good when we reached there as well, but still there were quite some photos to be taken.
Some interesting facts we got to know while in the area...
Their popular supermart chain Albert Heijn actually started as coffee producers, and they had some really funny coffee poster advertisements from long ago. The dutch are also one of the largest consumers of coffee in the world!
Coffee making machines from the past to the present.
Of course, we wouldn't pass on the chance to take pictures of us and windmills! Its always been a dream of mine to see windmills as a kid! While it wasn't as scenic, with the sun shining brightly and the tulips in full bloom under the windmills, it was still good for a photo or two!
We also had some nice warm chocolate drink, where the cocoa was milled out of the windmill!
In the same area, there was a cheese making factory, and girls dressed as traditional dutch ladies were giving away samples of cheese. I'm not a cheese lover so I didn't think much of it, but I'm sure most Europeans, especially the Dutch or French would probably scream my head off for dismissing what's the equivalent of rice to them.
Also in the area (notice how convenient it is for tourists who really want to feel like theyy're in Holland), was this clog making factory. Clogs are an important piece of history to the Dutch, and different clogs represented different social status, or were worn on different ocassions or purposes.
Some slightly fanci-er clogs.
A whole shop of clogs!
Trying on a pair! I will probably get one pair and treat it a spare shoes before I go back. LOL.
Well that was what happened for the weekend in our third week here. It was really fun. Will update more on day 20, the expensive bus rides and exciting plans about week 4 real soon! Classes tomorrow at 9am!
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