(Our new haircuts)
27 April 2008: We have made our last stop in the camper and need to pack everything up, return it and get ready to leave this continent. The past four days have not been the most exciting part of our trip. But, for the sake of my swiss cheese memory trying to recall this from a different perspective, here it is:
We woke up late and headed into town. Unfortunately, the Heineken Brewery is closed for renovations until this summer, as that was one of the “to do” items on Sean’s list. Instead, we proceeded to eat lunch outside at some pub. I had the best salad so far (smoked chicken, bacon..) Then, we needed cash and groceries. And along the way, found a camping/travel store and scored on a couple necessary items: a replacement for my lost headlamp, a sleep sack for two and a knife sharpener. Later in the day, we did the infamous laundry.
Woke up late again and ate lunch outside at some cheesy tourist sports bar in Leideseplein. I had chicken sate with peanut sauce (good, but not the greatest) and Sean had fish and chips. (…despite me reminding him that we’ll be in the land of fish and chips at the end of the week!) Went to the Bulldog, a cheesy chain, the McDonalds of coffee shops. I went to use their internet but got fed up with feeding the machine coins and then sat on a piece of gum. And, it was getting too smoky (cigarettes). So, we resumed internet activity at a nice café attached to a theater with more artist ambiance, DeBalie. By the way, we were way behind on internet stuff. We still didn’t have any hotels booked in London, Hong Kong or Manila. When we were in Italy they require a passport to get online and we always had ours stashed in some inconvenient spot. And besides Munich, we didn’t see anything in the countryside of Germany. Then, we couldn’t connect to the infamous wifi at the campground in Arnheim. Anyway, we booked Hong Kong, couldn’t find anywhere affordable or available in London and decided we needed to read up on Manila a bit more.
Day 3 was Monday, and we needed to ship two rather large boxes of junk out now that the post office was open. One was a box of stuff we didn’t need anymore, to go to the states. The other was half of our cold weather clothes, to go to Australia for when we get there around September-ish. It’s amazing how much you can accumulate by living in a camper for 2 months! Carrying two large boxes from the campground to the train station, to the tram and down the street to the post office, with a 2 year old, was just not possible. We had to break the boxes down, carry separately, pack stuff in rolling luggage, and assemble it all at the post office. During the assembly, we met another couple who borrowed our tape for a (much smaller!) box that they were shipping out, Sasha and Amy from North BC. They just completed a circle around Europe too, but stayed more east than we did and went clockwise rather than counter-clockwise. They were also going to Asia, but to Japan instead of Hong Kong and the Philipines. We traded contact info, and shall see if our paths cross again, perhaps when we both hit Thailand around the same time. After the post office, we headed across the street to a mall, where Sean was looking for a pair of shorts. In addition, I found a Tony & Guy hair salon, booked an appointment and ate lunch while waiting for it. Butterflies were starting flutter in my stomach as the appointment got closer. I haven’t had my hair done by anyone except my long time friend, Jenny, for years. But, I was months overdue and desperate. Giani did a great job and even trimmed Kailani’s fringe (bangs). To my surprise, Kai sat still for him and didn’t mind it at all. After, we headed to a pub and sat outside along the canal for another internet session. I didn’t have much luck with booking anything. I couldn’t connect to the pub’s wifi, but to someone else’s network. So, the connection was poor. Then, Kai woke from her nap and it started getting cold. But at least, we were able to talk to Caitlin on Skype, show her our haircuts and turn the computer camera towards the canal, which she didn’t believe was just RIGHT behind us. Another “to do” on my list was to eat Indonesian food, which Amsterdam is supposed to have a bunch of really good places. I figured we could become familiar with the food before we get to that country. But, we had no idea where to go. The tourist information booth recommended a place, Puri Mas, that’s supposed to be famous, I think. We went for the “Rijk-menu” (don’t exactly remember the right word for this) which is a little smorgasborg of everything: chicken soup, salad with peanut sauce, pickled cabbage, chicken sate with peanut sauce, pork in soy sauce, spicy beef, etc. Overall, it was OK/good. The restaurant was sparkling clean, the staff really nice and the food was good. But, it was also a bit pricey.
Day 4 was post office trip #2 with box #2. At least, the stuff was appropriately packed and we knew how to get to the post office this time. The shipping took almost all our cash and the next day is their big national holiday, Queen’s Day. We keep hearing how crazy packed (like, a million people) the city gets during this celebration. We also hear credit card machines get so jammed with transactions, they don’t work, and ATM machines run out of money. (It should be fun!) So, we started panicking when the ATMs at the post office wouldn’t work and the second ATM was out of order. But, luckily, we were able to use the third one. From there, we went back to DeBalie. This time, I gave up looking for Manila hotels, and just booked a pricey and convenient room for our first night there. Unfortunately, we still didn’t have any luck with London, even any of the expensive places on our list. And we need something for this Friday. So now, we’re in a bit of a panic over that…
(After Amsterdam, then London for 4 days, then Hong Kong for 5 days, the Philipines for 3 weeks, then Thailand for who knows (no set bookings after that.)
We woke up late and headed into town. Unfortunately, the Heineken Brewery is closed for renovations until this summer, as that was one of the “to do” items on Sean’s list. Instead, we proceeded to eat lunch outside at some pub. I had the best salad so far (smoked chicken, bacon..) Then, we needed cash and groceries. And along the way, found a camping/travel store and scored on a couple necessary items: a replacement for my lost headlamp, a sleep sack for two and a knife sharpener. Later in the day, we did the infamous laundry.
Woke up late again and ate lunch outside at some cheesy tourist sports bar in Leideseplein. I had chicken sate with peanut sauce (good, but not the greatest) and Sean had fish and chips. (…despite me reminding him that we’ll be in the land of fish and chips at the end of the week!) Went to the Bulldog, a cheesy chain, the McDonalds of coffee shops. I went to use their internet but got fed up with feeding the machine coins and then sat on a piece of gum. And, it was getting too smoky (cigarettes). So, we resumed internet activity at a nice café attached to a theater with more artist ambiance, DeBalie. By the way, we were way behind on internet stuff. We still didn’t have any hotels booked in London, Hong Kong or Manila. When we were in Italy they require a passport to get online and we always had ours stashed in some inconvenient spot. And besides Munich, we didn’t see anything in the countryside of Germany. Then, we couldn’t connect to the infamous wifi at the campground in Arnheim. Anyway, we booked Hong Kong, couldn’t find anywhere affordable or available in London and decided we needed to read up on Manila a bit more.
Day 3 was Monday, and we needed to ship two rather large boxes of junk out now that the post office was open. One was a box of stuff we didn’t need anymore, to go to the states. The other was half of our cold weather clothes, to go to Australia for when we get there around September-ish. It’s amazing how much you can accumulate by living in a camper for 2 months! Carrying two large boxes from the campground to the train station, to the tram and down the street to the post office, with a 2 year old, was just not possible. We had to break the boxes down, carry separately, pack stuff in rolling luggage, and assemble it all at the post office. During the assembly, we met another couple who borrowed our tape for a (much smaller!) box that they were shipping out, Sasha and Amy from North BC. They just completed a circle around Europe too, but stayed more east than we did and went clockwise rather than counter-clockwise. They were also going to Asia, but to Japan instead of Hong Kong and the Philipines. We traded contact info, and shall see if our paths cross again, perhaps when we both hit Thailand around the same time. After the post office, we headed across the street to a mall, where Sean was looking for a pair of shorts. In addition, I found a Tony & Guy hair salon, booked an appointment and ate lunch while waiting for it. Butterflies were starting flutter in my stomach as the appointment got closer. I haven’t had my hair done by anyone except my long time friend, Jenny, for years. But, I was months overdue and desperate. Giani did a great job and even trimmed Kailani’s fringe (bangs). To my surprise, Kai sat still for him and didn’t mind it at all. After, we headed to a pub and sat outside along the canal for another internet session. I didn’t have much luck with booking anything. I couldn’t connect to the pub’s wifi, but to someone else’s network. So, the connection was poor. Then, Kai woke from her nap and it started getting cold. But at least, we were able to talk to Caitlin on Skype, show her our haircuts and turn the computer camera towards the canal, which she didn’t believe was just RIGHT behind us. Another “to do” on my list was to eat Indonesian food, which Amsterdam is supposed to have a bunch of really good places. I figured we could become familiar with the food before we get to that country. But, we had no idea where to go. The tourist information booth recommended a place, Puri Mas, that’s supposed to be famous, I think. We went for the “Rijk-menu” (don’t exactly remember the right word for this) which is a little smorgasborg of everything: chicken soup, salad with peanut sauce, pickled cabbage, chicken sate with peanut sauce, pork in soy sauce, spicy beef, etc. Overall, it was OK/good. The restaurant was sparkling clean, the staff really nice and the food was good. But, it was also a bit pricey.
Day 4 was post office trip #2 with box #2. At least, the stuff was appropriately packed and we knew how to get to the post office this time. The shipping took almost all our cash and the next day is their big national holiday, Queen’s Day. We keep hearing how crazy packed (like, a million people) the city gets during this celebration. We also hear credit card machines get so jammed with transactions, they don’t work, and ATM machines run out of money. (It should be fun!) So, we started panicking when the ATMs at the post office wouldn’t work and the second ATM was out of order. But, luckily, we were able to use the third one. From there, we went back to DeBalie. This time, I gave up looking for Manila hotels, and just booked a pricey and convenient room for our first night there. Unfortunately, we still didn’t have any luck with London, even any of the expensive places on our list. And we need something for this Friday. So now, we’re in a bit of a panic over that…
(After Amsterdam, then London for 4 days, then Hong Kong for 5 days, the Philipines for 3 weeks, then Thailand for who knows (no set bookings after that.)
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