So it is, that the 9 of us started out our journey by awakening at 9 am to take the train out to Amsterdam. Our first hurdle was the receptionist at the ticket counter. What happened was that we tried to purchase our tickets from the self-service counters, much like what we have at MRTs in Singapore. Karen managed to get an OV-ChipKaart from Yanling which gives us a 40% discount for up to 4 tickets. The problem was, there wasn't enough stored value in the card, so we had to go to the ticket counter to ask if we could buy our tickets there with cash instead! And since we were there, we decided that it was probably wise to buy another ChipKaart so that we can get more cheap tickets the next time...
Well, that turned out to be a mistake because we spent about 10 minutes queueing and filling up the form (which was in Dutch), only to realise that they needed a Dutch bank account number when we went back to the guy again. The exasperating thing is that they don't really care about you when you are standing there waiting to ask a question. The policy is really to just queue for anything, even if it doesn't require much effort from them. I guess it's a cultural thing?
Anyways, we eventually did manage to board our train just in time for Amsterdam. It was a whopping 2.5 hours train ride filled with lots of snoozing and mahjong-playing on my iPhone on my part. When we finally arrived, it was a mad rush to try to find the Tourist Information Centre so that we can join the day tour around Amsterdam. That didn't turn out too well because we ended up being too late, and the tour had already left for the National Monument.
So we went looking for them. And find them we did. But guess what? The tour was full, and we had no choice but to wander off alone in search of our own version of Amsterdam without a guide. Which was fine to me, because I always like finding out my own impression of places without knowing about it secondhand first, even though insider information would have been helpful. Then again, I guess different people have different expectations and thoughts about the matter.
Since we were lost, we decided to head for KFC for lunch so that we could plan our next step. And the next step was the Sex Museum that was just near the Central Station. Since I can't exactly put these things on Facebook, I am going to put it on Flickr! Just make sure you are above 18 to see it okae? It was a little bit too much for me, so much sex in one place, yet at the same time, it was kind of boring because there wasn't anything especially interesting there at all. Well, it was eyeopening at least.
After the Sex Museum, we proceeded to Anne Frank Huis, the secret annex where Anne Frank of Anne Frank's Diary fame stayed in during the Nazi occupation. It was quite disappointing for me to see a modern looking building in its place instead of an old WWII house I expected. After the tour though, it was explained that Otto Frank, Anne's father, didn't want the house to be left dilapidated and simply a historical monument, but rather something that would remind people to fight against discrimination. And that is exactly what they are doing even today. Part of the centre hosts educational tours to actively discuss topics on discriminatory practices around the Netherlands.
The museum itself was organized around Anne Frank's writings about the place, with large quotes from the diary pasted on the walls to describe each room. In each of the rooms were some relics from the old house. Most of the furniture though, were removed. There were also various video interviews with people who have known Anne Frank and helped them to hide during the Occupation. Although it was a larger museum than the Sex Museum, this was much more digestable because of the lesser amounts of information they tried to display in each room. When you left, you really felt for the dire conditions of the Frank family and had a feel for how their lives must have been... The museum definitely achieved its aim of letting the visitors see how discrimination against a certain race or religion causes is undesirable and horrible.
Our final stop of the day was the Red Light District tour, for which we went back to the Tourist Office. At the juncture, I would just say that a picture says a thousand words, and post some pictures up here. Note though, that we were strictly not allowed to take photographs of the girls for the sake of their anonymity, so it's only photos of everything else!
It was interesting to see the sex workers in the windows, but it was much tamer than I expected. The scene in Pattaya is much much more "dirty" for the lack of a better word. Here, it's all business and all the women are fully clothed. Nothing disgusting about it at all. Oh, but most of the girls are quite hot =) One observation though, most of them have great butts. LOL
One of the only 2 wooden houses in Amsterdam: In the Monkey
CONDOMS.
A Condomerie, where they make bespoke condoms!
The famous Casa Rossa!
A railing with the design of a woman being penetrated.
After a loooong day, the guide brought us for drinks at a pub and then we headed back to Maastricht. Tiring but really fun! Can't wait to go back there again to see the other sights! Perhaps this time, it would be less sex, and more culture.
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