So it was my first day of exporing NL on my own! It was really foggy, reminds me of Genting. On the night before, Cat and Rik spent some time explaining how to get the station to me, with the help of Rik's very own hand-drawn map (oh yea, did I mention that Cat and I were the only one with the world-most-unique-map in Amsterdam? hehe)
See how foggy it was!! And I really like all these unusual-looking buildings there.
My first cup of Bagels n Beans Hot Choco!! See the power of 'peer pressure'. And erm, okay, time to dye my hair -_-
Still very amazed by Hot Choco haha -_- And the yellow cube houses at the back! These were the only 2 things that I could relate to Rotterdam before I went there. Now I can add something new to the list: How un-tourist-friendly the train station/ticketing machines are. I've read about how the ticketing machines can easily be the useless ticketing machines available, but this doesnt make things any easier -_-
The Haarlem station which is supposedly one of the 2 oldest train station in NL! *ahem. I wanted to take photo of this door-arch but was too lazy so I waited until I was leaving. But I was on the other side of the platform then, hence the super-zoomed-in photo.
There's no road sign that indicates the way to the 'touristy area' so I just followed my 'instinct' and decided to turn right. Actually Rik suggested that I should visit both Haarlem and Alkmaar, I thought I should only choose one since I didn't want to rush because I wanted to meet Cat for dinner. (I didn't know that Haarlem is THAT small.) After spending 30mins or sth trying to decide whether I should go Haarlem or Alkmaar, I realise that Alkmaar was never an option because I certainly did not have enough coins for Alkmaar and both machines there only accept OVC Chipkaart and coins. No credit card (EUR 1 surcharge for CC btw), no notes! Just to be fair, apparently this doesn't apply to ALL ticketing machines in NL. So I guess this shows how 'lucky' I am! Surprisingly I had enough coins for Haarlem, which is around 13EUR *phew.
So I followed my instinct and ended up at this shopping district! Wanted to buy map earlier on but thought it's not worth it, so I went to the nearest bookstore and looked at the map mwahahha
Luckily I did my research the night before, at least I know what I was looking for nyehehehe. Turns out that Grote Markt is just right down the street ánd i was on the right track! Say yes to who-needs-map-when-u've-got-instinct!
At first I thought Grote Markt is the name of this particular market, but I saw the same name elsewhere too. Apparently it meant Large Market, so yea.... basically it's a big square where ppl put up stalls to sell stuff and most, if not all, the (not-so) LARGE market are called Large market.....well at least the ones I saw, that is.
And this is what you'll see on a guidebook about Haarlem. The photo looks darkkk, but I already PS-ed it! It orginally looks like some artistic silhouette photo haha. I'm very thankful for Cat's cam but I've also learnt to appreciate my old cam more (T__T)
Had lunch at this cafe and struggled a lil trying to read the Dutch menu. The waiter didnt offer me the English menu and I didnt know that they actually have one. Gee, they offered it to an Englishwoman. *puikz Ok maybe they thought I READ Dutch since I was flipping thru the menu like I understand it fully haha
And I really do know what I ordered! I can understand the part that says bread with ham! And it was delicious! (Geez this photo is making me really hungry!!)
Coke light, as always. They don't serve it with ice cubes so I asked for it and they gave me three. Which is very appropriate. Very 'Dutch'? hehe
did i mention I was in a shopping district mwahhaha I think i spent at least 30mins in the same fitting room trying to decide which to buy!
Never expect NL to be a shopping paradise, but I ended up buying quite a lot of stuff from there! didn't get this one btw, even tho it makes me look super slim ( T_T )
What I really like about NL besides shopping and stroopwafels (woohoo) is the architecture!
It's different from the buildings in Paris or Italy. I find them, 'cute', like those that you find in children's storybook.
One of the small alleys.
Find this interesting nyehehe
Quite like the color!
And this is my favourite! Looks very 'warm' yet 'breezy'.
This how they bring their kids around on a bike! cute!
Quite like this corner.
You'll find surprises everywhere! Oh and speaking of surprises...
So i saw this little lane that looks really empty right..
And thought of doing my usual *ahem* thing, and it didn't turn out nice... (cuz I just got into a relationship with Cat's Cam.. it takes time, u'll see!!) Okay this is not the main point!
The thing is! A car passed by and I noticed that this thing in the middle ascended from the ground! You have to pay by scanning your card or sth on that pole on the left so that the thing in the middle will go down! I don't know whether this is the parking system (cuz I saw it elsewhere and ppl were parking their cars within that compound), or they are just charging u for using the road, but this is so cool!
Very quaint McD haha Actually I went in for the washroom but turns out that they charge u as well -_-
Which brought me to this. The main reason why I always had lunch/tea break in a restaurant/cafe is because I wanted to use their washroom for free mwahahah I'd be more willing to pay more for food rather than toilets! And I really did want to eat something sweet! So yea, it's more worth it, isn't it. Oh and this is where I realised I could understand the little note the staff pasted on the toilet door! in Dutch! Funnnn hehe
I looked forward to dinner the most! We had Italian that night, it was really yummy! First time having 'hollow spaghetti'!
There's only 1 tipsy person in this photo. Great food, great company, couldn't end the day any better than this :D
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