I didn't make any specific plans for this trip, because I thought we will just figure things out once we are already over there. But we already know what we are looking for: FOODS, especially foods that we couldn't find in Belgium. One thing that we planned 2 months before the departure is our bus tickets and the AirBnB booking.
And here are the highlights of our trip:
1# THE BUS DIDN'T SHOW UP
We arrived in Antwerp Berchem one hour before the departure. Nobody was there. And we contacted +Megabus UK on Twitter and we called also their service center. They couldn't track their bus! So, we waited more like 2 hours and the bus hasn't show up. So we decided to go to Antwerp Central Station, which is like 10 minutes biking from Antwerp Berchem. Lucky we brought our folding bikes! So we had to buy the train tickets to Amsterdam. It is 26 euro one way for student, and 34 euro for adult. For more details about the Megabus problem I will write on another blog, because we are still waiting the respond from them.
2# Dinner @Tashi Deleg
So 3 months ago we bought a Groupon voucher for Indonesian rijsttafel, and we forgot to make the reservation, because it has to 48hrs before. So coming to this place is one of the main reason of our second trip.
Tashi Deleg is a Tibetan restaurant but they serve also Indonesian dishes.
As starter we got kroepoek (chips) & Soto Ayam (Chicken Soup);
And for the main course we got 10 Indonesian dishes, such as sate ayam, nasi goreng, opor ayam, ayam rica-rica, rendang, semur, terong, kacang panjang + tempe, cah kol, ketoprak, etc.
We were so full and they were so tasty! and I thought we were done. And they gave us a plate of desserts!
We are so satisfied and it costs us only 15 euro per person.
3# Biking to Our Norwegian Host in Overstoomse Veld
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| This room is so comfortable |
It took us 17 minutes biking from the center to his apartment. The place is nice and clean, he has many books, when we came he was watching Japanese anime, and I saw a bamboo swords in the hall way, he trains Kendo. Close to his place there are 2 nice parks, Rembrandtpark and Vondelspark. And it is very near to the supermarkt. It is handy to get us some breakfast or night snacks.
4# Friday sunny morning in Vondelpark
So after having breakfast, we bike around Vondelpark. It is a nice park, many dogs. And we sat down in a bench for a while, enjoyed the sun before we continued our day.
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| pardon my selfie, but the sky was so clear. |
5# Lunch in the center of Amsterdam
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| We parked our bike in front of the palace, and we walked around. |
We walked around to the Dam Square, passing by the Palace & the Madame Tussauds Museum, and to the Amsterdam Central Station.
Then we had lunch at Yu Family Kitchen, it is like Chinese quick dish. I knew this place from Tripadvisor, and this dish is tasty. It costs around 7-8 euro.
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| Chicken dish with hot sauce |
6# Visiting Troppenmuseum!
After lunch we biked to here. And we spent 3 hours, and that was not enough to see all the collections. And they closed at 5pm. We were so sad because we couldn't see everything. This museum is interesting! Most of the collections are from South East Asia, especially Indonesia. And there is a documenter about Asmat tribe. And they have the wayang show also for kids!
Entry fee for student: 8 euro, and for adult is 15 euro.
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| Wayang: Si Kancil and the Tiger |
7# Exploring The Pijp Area
We were on the mission to find Surinaams bread. I heard from a Couchsurfer I could find it in this area. On the way to here, we found The Ice Cream Palace (Het Ijs Paleis).
We tried banana, lemon, and pink guava flavour. THEY are soooo yummy! One scoop costs 1,40 euro. And the lemon flavour is really sour, but in a good way. And it matched with banana flavour. It is artisanal ice cream.
Because we were not yet hungry, so we sat down little bit in the park next to the ice cream shop, in Sarphatipark. It was around 6 pm, and the sky is still bright, and many people do some sports here. And many dogs too.
8# Dinner: CHINESE FOOD : NAM KEE @Heineken Square
We continued walking until we found Nam Kee. Btw, we parked our bike in the Pijp Area, in front of Tjin's. Some of my friends already suggest to try their food. It is not like chinese food that you might find in Poperinge, or generally in Belgium. This Cantonese restaurant is like the one I used to come in Jakarta. We ordered tofu stuffed with minced fish and stir fried Chinese vegetables with squids. They came with big portion, and we couldn't finish them, and we brought the leftover to our place, and ate them in the morning as our breakfast. I wish we went here with more people, so we could share more dishes, they have a lot of tasty foods that I want to try, like the peking duck. Anyway, they served us free Chinese tea.
9# Drinking Peach Cider
After 20 minutes biking, we finally had time to rest again in our bed. And we found a peach cider in a supermarket, and we were curious to try.
10# The Last Meal in Amsterdam: Ramen + Cakes
After breakfast from the last night leftover, we said goodbye to our host. And we biked to Anna Frank Museum. And yes, long-long queue. SO crazy! We didn't go inside, we didn't have time for that. And for the last meal we were planning to eat ramen. But the place opens at 12 am. So we walked around a bit. On the way, we found a small cafe that has lots of customers, we were so curious. And we decided to take some cakes to try. We bought carrot cake and lemon-coconut pound cake for our desserts. And I just googled the place when I wrote this blog, according to the Tripadvisor, De Laatste Kruimel, this place is number 1 for coffee and tea. So no wonder! And if the cake price a little bit more that normal cake, it's because they used organic products. I didn't know about it before.
Yes, the cakes were tasty and you could tell this is handmade cake not machine-made cake. And if its from organic products, it has plus points! Sure I will try another cakes if I visit here again!
And for lunch, we had ramen at Ramen-Ya. I ordered Karake-Men, it is spicy tonkotsu ramen.
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| They have super tender pork charsiu! |
So that is it our second trip to Amsterdam! I have calculated all the costs, and for this trip one person spent 50 euro per day (including accommodation, 3 times meals, snacks, tickets). Is that much?
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