For the Love of God ! Damien Hirst ..

While I was in Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum was actually under renovation and only the west wing was opened. In the West Wing, the "best hits" of the museum were displayed such as the works by Vaneer and the Night Watch by Rembrandt.



But also on display, was this kick-ass diamond skull by Damien Hirst. Diamonds surrounding the entire skull, over and under. The platinum skull was molded from an actual skull and only the teeth of the skull is not coated by diamonds. It was named "For the Love of God", as it was what Damien's mum first uttered when she heard about what he was going to do.

From the museum website,
"'For the Love of God' is a platinum cast of a human skull encrusted with 8,601 flawless diamonds. Set on the forehead is a large, pear-shaped light fancy pink diamond, called the Skull Star Diamond. The teeth are from the original skull. It was hailed worldwide and generated enormous publicity when first unveiled in 2007 at London’s White Cube."

Good Girls Go to Heaven, Bad Girls Go to Amsterdam (& Brussels)

Day 1: Arrived in the evening to Amsterdam via the Einhoven Airport.
The Einhoven airport is a budget airport for people flying into the Netherlands or to Belgium. I have never seen such an empty airport before !

When I left the Einhoven Airport back to Dublin, there was only 1 plane at the airport. 1 PLANE



It was late, so we headed to the nearest pubbing area called Leidseplein. There were tons of pubs and coffeeshops. The scent of that thick sickly sweet smell of marijuana was in the air.

Day 2: Had a late night clubbing at Jimmy Woo(?), the night before, woke up with a mild hangover. Only much later when i met with my local classmate then did i find out that Jimmy Woo was a clubbing place for people to look for other people with fetishes... (DAMN IT !)

Went to Van Gogh Museum, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam,


The red light district at night .. The famous red light district was an interesting experience. In Singapore, prostitution is legal, therefore every time we head to Geylang, we can see hookers looking for customers down the street, men ogling at the girls.

This aspect of the red light district was not totally unfamiliar to me unlike some of my classmates where this was illegal in their home countries. In Amsterdam, the girls stand in their own little shop front room. Wearing a bikini, behind the door, moving and bouncing about, looking at men with come-hither eyes. Very much like merchandise saying "Buy me Buy me !"

There was also the typical sex toys shops (no surprise as well) and clubs going along the lines of the Thailand Thai-Girl Show, peep shows. All of these done in an area that seems strangely safe and sleazy all at the same time.



Day 3: Wanted to go to the Anne Frank museum, got totally put off by the long queue. Went to the flea market & flower market instead. Note to self: Autumn, not the best time for flowers.

Boat tour of the canals ...


Sex museum at night .. Went walking around and located.. MAGIC MUSHROOMS..They are supposed to be eaten raw, stalk and cap and all. Each box is sufficient for two people.

Chilled out in our rented apartment.. Tried the Dutch Gin. Tasted like baijiu from China.


Day 4:
Day trip to Delft. It was a very pretty little town. But unfortunately, it was Sunday and most of the shops were close.


Day 5:
Day trip to Brussels

We were late for our bus due to our yet again, late night drinking session.. and ended up at Brussels 2 hours late. The weather was dark and rainy, therefore all my photos turned out to be dark.

But the Grand Plaza is one of the most well-preserved and beautiful places in Europe, the buildings and the square was magnificent under the day light with its bits of gold and Gothic architecture.

Tried waffles, chocolates, and the best part of the trip, went to Delirium who holds the world record for having 2000++ types of beer inside the pub. We tried 4 beers inside Delirium, bought 4 more back to Amsterdam.

I was constantly hungover over the entire trip ....Culturally, there is much to see in Amsterdam. But for a group of rowdy people who just wants to have some fun, there is much fun and choice to be had in Amsterdam.

The Good Stuff in Amsterdam & Brussels

I was over at Amsterdam, Netherlands and Brussels, Belgium over the weekend. It was really an insanely crazy weekend. Crazily fun but crazy all the still. Tasted over more than 12 different types of beer, for a beer-hater, I really liked Belgium Beer. Clean, crisp, high alcoholic content, great aftertaste, and a different type of beer for everyone. Good booze, good international food available, drugs like marijuana & magic mushrooms are easily and legally available, and its legendary red light district. This is a city made for some nasty fun ~

But let me start with the food !

Olie Bollen - Dutch Doughnuts. Chewier, denser than our normal doughnuts. They come in plain, with raisins, apples, bananas and others. Dipped in power sugar and served to passing customers. I had the plain and the banana ones. Definitely worth trying, they can be purchased throughout the city in little carts.




FEBO - this is a local fast food restaurant, though the concept is very different from a normal fast food chain. It comes with vending machines for a customer to purchase hot fried snacks and burgers. Cheap and good. Fried snacks come in the form of croquettes, fried potatoes + mystery meat (because everything is in Dutch). Deep fried and crispy on the outside, soft and gooey on the inside


Smoked Raw Herring sandwich, a local favorite. I call it my sashimi in a roll. It comes with diced onions and pickles. It's so good that I had one, almost every day and i bought a jar of raw herring back to Dublin.


Fries ! Believe it or not, it's one of the favorite snack foods here. The fries are really good, freshly fried, available throughout the city. What differs from their fries and ours is the fact that they are 20 over sauces for fries. 20 !!!
I tried mayo (thicker than the normal variety), sambal & satay sauce.
Sambal sauce looked like thousand island salad dressing with lots of chillies.
Satay sauce was mildly sweet and peanut-y in favor.


Dutch Poffertjes - I had mine with liqour and powdered sugar. They are just tiny, little pancakes. Chewy and a bit thicker. Not too bad.


Apple pie - Took a day trip to Delft, where the best apple pie in the world is at, really ! This one had apple, (i'm guessing pear as well), macadamia nuts, liquor, and raisins. All tightly packed in a crispy pie crust.


To go to Belgium and not eat waffles, is a sin. Again, this might be a pattern from my sleep deprived brain, but thicker and chewier than the waffles that we have at home.

Will write more about Amsterdam soon. Tired, really really tired. I might give up my Edinburgh trip to rest a bit more and save up. I really overspent this time round.

Only in Amsterdam ...

Only in Amsterdam .. where they ask you to rob a bank

Where they name the departmental store after venereal disease

Where there are little crosses called St. Andrew's crosses everywhere...

Where they really make everything out of chocolate..