Day 20 & 21

I'm back! Yesterday and today were rather 2 slightly more normal days, with nothing very exciting that happened.

Day 20

Picking up from where we left off on a tourist-y day 19, the 5 of us decided that we could do more travelling on a not-so-good Monday morning. Not that it was raining or snowing, but it wasn't sunny either. So we didn't want to go to the beach. Approached the staff at the Central station and we were told that we could either visit Den Haag (which was home to Madurodam, the miniture Holland with all the attractions in a mini-size.) or Volendam, which was a 30 minute bus ride away. We chose the latter since it was closer and we paid 7 Euros for a day bus pass.

Well Volendam was a pretty little town, with a big stretch of sea with no island or anything in end in sight. Its also known for its sailors and fishing activities. The whole town felt like it was really by its own, even more so on a peaceful monday afternoon.





We saw a duck by the shore, which was apparently injuried and looked hungry. Beside it were 2 other duck corpses, and I really feel that this particular duck would suffer the same fate pretty soon. We gave it some of the raisin chocolates we brought along with us, and it quickly gobbled it up, even from our hands!





Oh well, that's just life. It was just too beautiful a place to be described with words. Hope to go back there again in the summer when the days are sunnier.





We ended the day with a trip to Silver Grill, since we were too lazy to cook. Didn't manage to get my serving of lasagna, and had to settle with Bolognese. It turned out quite nice as well, just not too filling!



Day 21

3rd week in Amsterdam and I'm starting to slack! This cannot continue! Was supposed to go for a 9am lesson, but the ZZZ monster got the better of me, and yes 5 snoozes of the alarm didn't do much in helping me fight the monster as well. Slept all the way till 1015 before going over to cook my own Bolognese. Turned out quite good! I am now starting to prefer Bolognese over Spaghetti.

Went for the other lesson in the afternoon, after which I cycled to Central station, where the currency exchange service was located, to check out how I could pay UvA the fee for my visa, which is a bill amounting to a whooping S$530 after a service charge. Seriously, a 6 month visa for S$530, its a BIG DEADWEIGHT LOSS. Oh well.

After that, I continued to cycle down to Red Light District....... and past it to get to Chinatown, where I bought some oriental stuff! Haha, these included bee hoon which shall be made into curry chicken bee hoon, plain flour, tapioca starch as well as chilli padi! All of which are things I took for granted back at home. Here, its so expensive its obscene!

The day turned out to be a great cycling trip as I also cycled to the Dapenmarket where I bought stuff for dinner, including 1kg of chicken mid-joints and white cabbage. Dinner was great, since I had tapioca starch to make my white cabbage gravy sticky and smooth!

Came home earlier after having shopped for some food for breakfast and I have been spending the past 2 hours watching really wonderful SF4 videos that has got me feeling uber homesick. I WANT TO GO HOME, BUY A PS3 AND SF4, AND JUST PLAY MY DAYS AWAY! (okay I should still enjoy my time in Amsterdam, and Manchester this weekend)



The video review which is done so perfectly! 'Fighting games have long been out of the spotlight, and street fighter 4 basically carries the future of the entire genre. It refuses to make itself accessible, doughing out tough love in place of tutorials, or simplified control schemes. But by proving to be deep and fundamentally enjoyable, the series is once again proven itself worthy of attention. In addition to solid mechanics and a standout cast, replayability online means the true value of the game can be realised through head-to-head competition. For fans and anyone who has a fighting spirit, Street Fighter 4 is a meaningful victory.'

This 4 short sentences have basically summed up the emotion that fighting fans all over the world have been waiting for, the awesome music used in this part of the video has given me 10000 goosepimples. Sharks I really need my SF4! ROAR!!!!

I doubt I'll be able to sleep too well tonight, considering there are people, like Ronald who is already 5 months ahead of me, playing this awesomely awesome game! Ahhhhhhh I am going crazy. Okay, time for bed. Never mind, I will continue to enjoy myself here in Amsterdam, and in Europe as well. When I get back, it will be SF4 24/7!! Good night all!