Amsterdam The Sequel Vacation Highlight: Roaming and Realizations

Having been to Amsterdam before, I was happy to skip many of the traditional tourist things. All I wanted from this short break was to roam. Roam the streets of a liberal city and enjoy its liberal perks.

So roam I did.

My first night in Amsterdam, I met Arthur, who introduced me to some fantastic Thai food, some great bars with extensive beer selections, and gave me a ride on the back of his bicycle. Fun fact: apparently there are gender norms for riding on the back of a bicycle. When I got on the back, he said "So, you're going to sit like a dude?"

Yes.

So many beers, so little time.

The next morning I found my way to a coffee shop I had frequented the first time I visited Amsterdam. It's neat to go back to a city, look up and know where you are. Getting to the coffee shop was like muscle memory, no maps required, just my solid sense of direction. (HA!)

I continued my roaming, with the goal of getting to the Indonesian restaurant I had loved so much during my first trip. After telling Arthur the name of the restaurant, he scoffed. Apparently this was not the best Indonesian food Amsterdam had to offer.

Undeterred, I headed for the restaurant, and I have to say, was a bit disappointed.

After the concert, which Arthur joined me for, we headed for Febo and it's fast Dutch food. Croquette sandwich? Yes please. We continued to roam and headed for another beer bar.

The next day was all my own. I roamed the streets, found Amsterdam's oldest croquette place, and ate and ate and ate.

I always forget to take a photo of my food before I devour it.
Props to food bloggers who have the patience to wait. 

As I headed back to Dubai, I realized that while I live in Dubai now, this city will never truly be home. There was a comfort, an ease, a fit about Amsterdam that Dubai doesn't offer. The more I live here, the more it becomes clear, I'll never truly fit this city. I'm too ... off center, too weird, too honest, too pedestrian. That doesn't mean I'm leaving any time soon, there's still too much that I want to accomplish, but it does mean I won't be planting any deep roots here.

So thanks Amsterdam, for being awesome and staying as incredible as I remembered you. Mooie Amsterdam indeed. 

Amsterdam The Sequel Vacation Highlight: Best. Show. Ever.

When I moved to Dubai, one of the things I knew was going to frustrate me is the lack of good live music options. If you've been reading this little blog for a while, you may have noticed that I'm a huge fan of music.
In Vancouver, Sarin and I were seeing shows at least once a month, sometimes more.

I was looking for an excuse to escape the desert, and during my regular 'who's on tour' search I came across Nine Inch Nails playing in Amsterdam. While I'm not a super fan, I had read how this tour was pretty amazing, and Amsterdam. I LOVE Amsterdam and will never pass up an excuse to visit the city.

The concert was held at Heineken Music Hall, which I had previously been to for Arcade Fire. The venue was built for music (hence the name, duh) and it was the perfect place to see a show as complex as this.

(image courtesy of Nine Inch Nails' Instagram feed)

The acoustics were perfect. The visuals were amazing. Trent et al were bang on. He said maybe six words to the crowd, and just got to it. I left the concert in awe, and thinking: this was the best show I've ever seen.

Seriously. If you have the chance to see NIN play, go. Just go.

Singapore Vacation Highlight: Food

I landed in Singapore with no idea of what to do or sights to see – this was the least prepared I had been for a vacation in a very long time. 

To be honest, I’d never thought about Singapore as a place I needed to visit. The impetus for this trip was the fact that my friend is moving to Dubai at the end of the month, and well, a free place to stay in an expensive city like Singapore is always welcome.

Since I didn’t do any research, I was at the mercy of my friends for recommendations.

This little piggy went
in my belly

It just turns out that most of their recommendations were for restaurants. 

Did you know that Singapore is a foodie haven? I didn't. I thought I'd definitely get some good Asian food, but I had no idea how good this food was going to be. 

My first day I met a former co-worker, Amy, for dim sum. YUM! So far I haven't found the affordable, authentic dim sum in Dubai. Well, Singapore had it!

That night we went for some lovely European cuisine, where I of course ordered pork, because the kitchen wasn't Halal. 

For a midnight (well, 4am) snack we stopped at an all-night street food place and had some damn fine Indonesian food. (I fell in love with Indonesian food in Amsterdam, and there's one good place in Dubai, but it's hella far for me)

For lunch the next day we enjoyed a Singaporean specialty: chili crab! 

When my parents visited Dubai one of the hotels had a chili crab festival and it was so good, but the real deal was even better. 

Peking duck? A million times yes. 

After chili crab was suckling pig and Peking duck. Good god. The skin on both was so crisp and delicious. I'm a grown woman, not afraid to admit that I totally got the meat sweats after this dinner. 

I regret nothing. 

The last day was less intense - mussels and then some burgers - but all of it was top notch. 

I didn't see the zoo. I missed Sentosa. Museums? meh. 

I went to Singapore and I ate. And ate. And ate. 

And when I go back, which I will, I'll do the same. Happily. 

Vacation Highlight: Wake Up Amsterdam

When I went to Paris, I was lucky enough to be there while the Avett Brothers were touring and was able to see a band I love, play a tiny venue, in a magical city. It was special, and such a great story.

The Avetts were on tour again while I was traveling, though I wouldn't be able to see them. I was, however, in Amsterdam while possibly my favorite band was playing -  Arcade Fire was performing in Amsterdam on my last night in the city. When I was finally able to confirm my travel arrangements, I found out the show was sold out. Boo!

I searched online, found nothing on Craigslist and couldn't figure out where Dutch people went to sell their goods online. During my OkCupid communication with one dude, he told me where to look. And magically, there were tickets!

I took a train out to a small Dutch town, met a man with the ticket, and squealed.

Yessssssss!

The show was held at the Heineken Music Hall, and housed 5000 Dutch hipsters. I grabbed a beer, settled in, found a great spot and danced my ass off.

Having seen them recently, I was familiar with their set, though Arcade Fire will always be an amazing show. They played for what seemed like a minute, but was actually a pretty long set. And they made the weird looks I was getting totally worthwhile.

My name is Iris, and even in foreign lands, I dance like a doofus.

SETLIST:
Ready to Start
Keep the Car Running
Neighbourhoods #2 (Laika)
No Cars Go
Haiti
Sprawl II
Empty Room
Rococo
The Suburbs
The Suburbs (Continued)
Month of May
Rebellion (Lies)
Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)
Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)

Encore:
Intervention
Wake Up

So my adventure ended in the most perfect of ways: listening to Win & Regine serenade me with Wake Up. It was my idea of perfect.

Vacation Highlight: Kantjil & de Tijger

Before I left for Amsterdam I was told to explore the city's Indonesian cuisine.Since I really like food, I was stoked to do so. And about two days in, I followed a recommendation from a bartender at a lounge I really liked and strolled to Kantjil & de Tijger and thank goodness I did!

First, I was starving, as I mentioned previously, much of my time in Amsterdam was spent lost, so I had been trying to find the place for a good hour before finally spotting it. (I don't want to hear about how not smart I am. I get it. Not smart.)

Second, this was the best meal I had in Europe this trip. The food was fantastic. Simple as that. And there was a lot of it. Amazing! I had the NASI KOENING RAMES and it included more food than I thought could fit on a plate and it was delicious.

The cute bartender was totally right about this place and my first stop on my next trip to Amsterdam will be to Kantjil & de Tijger, yours should be too.

Vacation Highlight: Mooie Amsterdam

How can I put into words how much I liked Amsterdam? I don't know that I can.

Amsterdam was the impetus for this trip. For many years I've heard many people talk about how fantastic this city is, and because they aren't dumb, I trusted them.

Strolling along the canals. 

And they were right.

Amsterdam won my heart. The city is lovely, the people are fantastic, the energy is pitch perfect and it is freaking beautiful! I wandered the streets for five days, getting lost, visiting random parks, stumbling upon ballet performances, being super friendly, getting great tips from locals, and basically thinking this city is pretty special.

I have told everyone, this is not my last trip to Amsterdam, and it won't be. Amsterdam, I will be back.

Vacation Highlight: Alrighty then, Cupid!

Have I mentioned how much I hate online dating? I do - I've had only a handful of decent dates from it, and I've tried them all.

At the suggestion of my friend Erin, I signed up for OkCupid recently. While the Vancouver scene has yet to pay-off for me, the Berlin and Amsterdam scenes sure did. Before I left I lined up one definite date in Berlin and two in Amsterdam.

You read that right, three dates in ten days. HOLLA!

Anyways, the fun thing is these dudes always take you to somewhere not in the guide books. My date in Berlin took me to a funky lounge deep in the heart of old East Berlin - it was so Communist-feeling! My Amsterdam guides gave me insider tips to great restos and bars over beers.

No, none of them were love matches, but they were fun ways to spend my evenings!

WTF ...

was I thinking? Booking a last minute trip to Europe?! This is not me. I'm usually so researched and prepared for adventures.

I leave on Friday and I am neither.

Who JUST found a place to sleep in Amsterdam? This girl. I'm also a little stressed about the language barrier. For both Italy & France I was listening to language podcasts weeks before. This time, there were no weeks before.

blerg

AND to be super adventurous (read: slightly stupid) I've arranged for a couple of dates in each city. Thanks OkCupid!

So, play nice Berlin, Amsterdam and maybe Bruges, I just don't want to cry.