Amsterdam

Our last stop was in Amsterdam before flew home. We spend 2 days in Amsterdam. The hotel (Sphinx Hotel) we stayed in Amsterdam was a nightmare. Low maintenance, poor condition and the room was dirty. Gosh! We got to endure with it for 2 nights since we had paid for the hotel and besides, we would be going out for whole day so it was fine. Just that we didn't have a proper rest. Do avoid this hotel, please!

 Sex Museum

Amsterdam - Man's heaven? Yeah, should be man's heaven. They are so happy to be in Amsterdam. Prostitution and cannabis are legal. They can admired and looked at the sexy bikini-clad ladies waving and smiling behind the window, awaiting for the man to come in without feeling any guilt or illegally. Only one rule - no photos taking on the ladies! It is prohibited.

Aside from its famous red light district, Amsterdam is also well-known for its windmills and pretty scenery. I like their architectures, homes along the river, fresh air and food. Everything seems peaceful. The Asian food in Europe, honestly, is damn expensive. But because we were so sick of western food and the bread, we craved for Asian food - rice and noodles. I desperately craved for hot soup. We really ate a lot on the last 2 days in Amsterdam. Burp. 

Guess what happened on us on the day we supposed to fly back Malaysia?! We were actually missed the flight. Holy shit! We were panicked when we realized that the plane already departed without us. We stupidly waiting for check in and thought that we have reached airport too early, around 7pm. It was 12pm flight and all the while, we kept thinking it was a midnight flight. Our mistake for not double check on the departure time. I confused with the time actually. Well, I was quite poor in maths. My hubby trusts me and he didn't double check on the time. So end up, we were stranded in the airport. So pity! I immediately reflected it to Tom Hank's movie, 'The Terminal'. 

I nearly broke down because it was our first time missing the flight. We did not know what to do so the first thing came across us was to book a new ticket to fly back to Kuala Lumpur but KLM airlines offered 770 euro for one way ticket. *&^%$#@. 770 euro per person per way!! No way! We didn't have much euro left. We couldn't made any calls as both of us did not register for the international roaming. So again, I was panicked. Then I thought of my colleague who is handling the air tickets and deal with MAS most of the time for our boss so she may know what and how to do in such situation. I need a WiFi access so that I could whatsapp my colleague, praying that she would woke up and read my message. It was around 4am in Malaysia as Schiphol Airport only allowed one hour WiFi access for free. 

Thanks God! She did woke up and replying my message so the rest of the story....yeah, we managed to fly back the next day without any hassle. She paid for us beforehand. At least we had money to pay her when we back in Malaysia. It cost RM625 per person for the change. Luckily, we bought MAS ticket because easier to make changes with just paying certain amount. If AirAsia, we need to buy a new one. If other airlines, a huge headache as their policies will be different and no idea who should we approach. We wasted some money on the air tickets and hotel because we supposed to stay 2 nights in Kuala Lumpur and even we didn't show up, the hotel also charged us for 2 nights. Sigh. 

We experienced and came across a lot of incidents during the Europe trip. That's why I said that it was a good experience and adventurous instead of sweet, romance honeymoon. My conclusion from this trip - Malaysia is still a better country to live!

LV? Chanel? Burberry?

Question which had been persistently asked by everyone I met after came back from the Europe trip.

"Did you buy LV? Chanel? Burberry?"

No, I didn't.

"Why? It is so cheap there. Why you no get one for yourself??!!"

Okay. The truth is those branded bags are not cheap, weeyyy! They still considered expensive but maybe just a few hundreds cheaper if compared to Malaysia retail price. So yeah, cheap for those who is filthy rich but they are not cheap for me! 

Well, I silently swore in my heart when I saw the price tag, "holy shit" and my eyes nearly bulged out.

A bag cost around 300 euro and above is......pricey!!! *envy those China tourists - they bought LV, Chanel and Longchamp bags like buying vegetables in the market!*

Honestly, I was attracted to Burberry bag and love it so much that it nearly drive me to pull out my credit card and swiped without much consideration. The Burberry bag cost 625 euro (around RM2500). But when I thought of settling the credit card debt, I stopped myself from doing so. Not because I couldn't afford it. I hesitated because I wondered, "Is the bag really worth that much?" "Am I going to overspend?" "Is it a waste to spend money on a bag?" So while my brain still whirling with all these questions, I decided not to buy it. I am not a 'high class' person and I didn't want to act like one. Okay, I admitted that I did feel a bit regret but at the same time, I was thankful for not owing a big debt and 'eating grass' when came back here.

 For dinner and some formal functions, at least I have one appropriate bag to carry.

Anyway, I bought two Longchamp bags which were affordable; one for me and one for my mum. And guess what, I did waste a little $$$ on branded bags. Although it was not a Burberry or Chanel, the bag I bought still considered a branded bag - Michael Kors. Anyone heard of it? Not many people know about this brand. Sad. It cost me 295 euro! Hmm on second thought, why don't I just add another 400 euro to get myself a Burberry bag. Sigh. Stupid me. 

I didn't even bothered to tell them that I actually did bought one brand bag. It is Michael Kors. Because I know I would get some blank expression.

Can you be mine? I can only looked at you behind the glass window.

Brussels, Belgium

We only stayed one night in Brussels. 

We had a bad impression on Brussels because weirdly, the town area is so secluded. The shopping mall is empty. The shops are closed. Even the pizza hut shop only has two workers; one staff making the pizza and another one taking orders. That's it. We felt unsafe and worry all the times when walking on the street. We did not know what's going on in Brussels as it is a city of Belgium and supposed to be very 'crowded', isn't it? Anyway, that day is cold and windy. The sky looks gloomy so it makes the city looks even more creepier. We barely went out exploring the city that night until the next morning when we were going to check out, we decided to give the city a chance and went to see their famous statue - Manneken Pis. The pissing little boy. 

 There you go - Manneken Pis. Isn't he small?

 We only get to see the crowd (tourists) here.

 

 

 When we saw the crowd, mainly tourists, at the tourist attractions, we felt relieved and my mood changed immediately. Arrrr, this is more like it. At first, we thought where all the tourists gone as I said earlier, the town area is pretty isolated - like a dead city.

Just spend a day at Brussels is enough. It only took us 3-4 hours to finish exploring most of the tourist attractions. Again, the Belgium waffle is so tempting that I could not resist. 

Their famous comic strip walls. 

Bruges

One word to describe Bruges. Beautiful. I thought it is a small town because it looks small to me as we could finish walking around the town in a day. But when I checked on the google, it says Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. Ohhhh whoaaa. Okayyyy. 

Copy from Google. Too bad that I didn't download 'panorama' app in my iPhone.

I love their medieval architecture. Heard of its history and find it pretty interesting. Bruges had once been a dead city in 'don't know' which period then revived by a local man who was an architecture, rebuilding and renovated the medieval buildings to make it a highlight of the city and soon, it has successfully attracted the tourists. We felt comfortable in Bruges because majority of the people in Bruges were tourists. Everyone is a tourist! Same same.

Oh my god! I was so excited in Bruges. I saw chocolates everywhere and they have the best chocolates. Yummy! After all, Belgium is famous for its chocolates and waffles. Too bad that we did not buy lots of chocolates. Now I'm really regret. I thought I had bought a lot but when back home and giving to family and friends as souvenirs, I only left one chocolate for myself. 

Let the pictures tell you how beautiful is the Bruges. I like their cobbled roads. 

 

 

 

I'm so excited and happy to see the horse! The sound on the cobbled road when it walked past is just so nice to hear. 

 

 

 

 Belgium waffle. Thumbs up!

 

Their mozzarella cheese and hawaiian pizza is scrumptious!

It was November and they had already putting up their Christmas decoration. We could feel the Christmas atmosphere everywhere. It was so so so pretty and the scenery is just like those I seen in TV where those ang moh celebrating their Christmas season. Too bad that there's no snowing yet or else it was going to be a perfect scenery.

London

We decided to take Eurostar to London as we did not want to spend long hours on bus ride again. Quite tiring, actually. The train ticket cost us 105 euro per person per way. It took approximately 2 hours ride.

I love London more than Paris! Why? Maybe because the Londoner we met are friendly and helpful. So it did left a good impression. Their security is tight so we felt safe traveling there. 

We would not afraid to get lost in London either because they are helpful and most importantly, they speak English! Although at times, we had a difficulty to understand their strong British accent. 

 

 

Only spend 2 days in London. I know, too little time. 

Never mind. I will re-visited London in the future, hopefully. 

We were so lucky to meet Queen Elizabeth II when we were in Buckingham Palace. 

She happened to be there too! At first, I did not understand why all the tourists gathering there and waiting for some ministers driving out because I thought the royal family is not living in London and they would not be there either as there's no big function at Buckingham Palace. Well, our luck then! Able to capture a photo of Queen. 

 In memorial of the deceased army/soldiers

 

 Tourist waffle. Why is it called tourist waffle? Because only tourist loves to add toppings on the waffle while the local loves the waffle without any toppings.

 I know you, Mr. Abraham!

Say hi to Queen Elizabeth II

I love their park especially Hyde and Kensington Parks. It was beautiful. A good place to bring your spouse or family for an evening stroll. Very peaceful and calm.

 

 London's taxis are just too cute and vintage!