Day 13 - Brussels Part1

OMG....i am such a lame blogger. (-_-") It's been 2months+ and i haven't finish updating!!

Ok Ok...here goes....Brusselssssss......

We reached Brussels at night. Thus, there is this eerie experience that I wanted to share. The direction says we could walk from Botanique Station right to the hostel, and walk we did. The road itself is not isolated as many cars were passing through it. Laili and Aida were walking in front while Judy and I walked a few meters behind them. Suddenly, a van pulls over right next to me and the driver speaks to me in a language I don’t understand. This is the type of van that carries things at the back, not a passenger type of van. Instinctively, I shook my head and continue walking, a little faster. Fortunately, they just drove off. Scary or not? Huhu. (-_-)

Anyway, we reached the hostel safely a few minutes later and this is how our room looks like. It is quite spacious and we spent the night watching Winter Olympic. :P

On the next day, after breakfast, we headed to Atomium. Before that, there is yet another experience at Botanique station again! Apparently, the station does not have a ticket counter and tickets need to be purchased from the auto machine. But the !%!% machine does not accept coins on that day! All it wanted is an auto card, sort of ATM card. We asked for help at the bus station and a guy tried to explain to us something. But we could not understand him as he cannot speak English. In the end, we decided to stand by the machine and identify a good samaritan to help us. Luckily, there's this woman who help us to purchase the tickets using her card. We paid her in cash. Phew. I think the whole fiasco cost us >half hour:(

Here's Atomium. We just loiter outside and take photos. :P

Next, we decided to go to Basilica. But, before that, one of the interesting thing about the metro in Brussels is each station is decorated differently. So, Laili and I stood by the train door and try our best to snap each station's photo before the door closes again. :P

We reached Basilica, but then again, we decided not to go in as we have other important agenda. What is that important agenda? It will be in Part 2. :P As of now, being Day 13 in Brussels, we are tired of taking photos already, hence, the goofy pictures.

When in Brussels

Brussels Never Die

After that, on the way to the train station, we crossed the street and bumped into Godiva and had a sip of Hot Chocolate for EUR3.

Then we take the metro to the station nearest to King Stephen Cathedral.

Stumble across this grand church.

and walk a bit

until we reach Stephen Cathedral. Nice isn't it?

This will be the next gothic cathedral after Duomo in Milan, i guess.

Cak!

So, that's it. The 1st part of Brussels, just walking around, taking photos and goofing around. Our main agenda will be in Part2. Stay tune. :)

Opocot!

7th Heaven in Amsterdam

We arrived in Amsterdam around 5.30pm and immediately take the metro to Museumplein. Again, we took the one with the opposite direction and we need to change back at the end of the station. :P This, ladies and gentleman, is what we called “Tourist ride on public transport”. Haha.

This is how our room looks like this time around. Very cramp! But, we won’t complain much since it’s not that we spent much time in the room anyway. It has a private bathroom though, which is a good thing. It does not have a heater though, but Aida manages to get the external heater from the receptionist.

It was already 8pm and we were all very hungry. Laili saw a sushi shop while we was on the bus and we decided to look for it. We did not find it, but instead stumbled upon this Indonesian Restaurant. Upon seeing HALAL sign at the door, we did not think much and just head in.



This is what we had. Nasi Remis and Nasi Goreng Jawa for the cost of EUR14.50 and EUR12.50 respectively. The dinner made us full! Very full and happy! :P


So, we decided to take a walk to help digest the food. There is one place that we always search for in each city. It is none other than the Hard Rock Café. It was quite a dark night, and to tell the truth, I was quite nervous as we walk along the street. Although the street is fully lit up with shops such as LV, Burberry and the alike, but it is quite isolated.

Next day, we woke up at 6.30am and had breakfast provided by the hostel. Then, we took the tram to Central Station to find the Stop/Go bus which provided free service for tourist who purchased the 24hr public transport ticket, which we did.

2 storeys bicycle parking. WHOA!

Bicycles here, there everywhere

Have you ever heard the words that 1 day, venice will sink? Well, if Venice ever sink(touch wood), then i think, Amsterdam will be the next Venice. :P

After much walking around and asking for directions, (apparently, not many people know about the Stop/Go bus), we finally found it! YEAH!

The bus will take you around those tourist spot where you can hop on and hop off anywhere you want. We got a very good driver who has never been to Malaysia and is surprised that we only have 1 weather through out the year. :P

Our 1st stop is Tulip Museum.

Wow! Look! Tulips!!!!

Kidding! It's just a picture. :P

The entrance is EUR4, but we managed to get 50% discount as we had collected a discount coupon at the hostel. The museum is actually quite small but it has so many cute flowery stuffs inside that we can't resist to spend more than EUR2. Smart startegy eh? Lure us with cheap entrance but make us shop instead.

Me with the museum caretaker of the day.

She is so tall !

I really wanted to buy that small flowers to put at my cube.

But i didn't.

After that, we walked to Anne Frank House. But unfortunately, the line is already long. :(

We don't have time with us, so we head back to the bus.

The bus, stopped at Waterloo. We decided to get off and check it out.

There, we found this market with really cool and cheap stuff.

Look at Laili having the time of her life, falling in love with a pink boot. :P

Oh! Another Halal shop! Time for a quich lunch!

Hotdog/Burger, ranges from EUR2-3. Hot Chocolate, EUR1.

This is where we found these cute hats!

and bags.

Then, we head back to the hostel and walk a bit around the area.

Pass by a few museums, but we did not go in due to it is super expensive. :(

Entrance ranges >EUR12.

On the way back, we stop at this shop to buy some dinner.

The chef, is another guy with Indonesian ancestors who teach him how to cook nasi goreng and rendang ayam.

Finally, we head back to pack our bags and heads off for another city!