Day 3 5/5/08 - Netherlands

Schipol -> Amsterdam -> Schipol -> London

Highlight

• Another beautiful day, but after the outing of yesterday, we couldn’t get up in time to explore.
• Another breakfast feast, then off to get our bikes from Central station.
• First stop, the Rijksmuseum. This was not really what I expected. Besides having a lot of Rembrand, and the highlight being The Night Watch, the rest was quite boring.
• Checked out the Liberation Day festival at Museumplein. Slokky tried to win a prize by kicking a soccer ball at a target, but of course he missed all 5 goes. Never mind, we got some soccer whistles as a consolation. The rest of the festival seems to be all these human rights or animal rights or other sorts of activists projecting their cause, so it wasn’t very interesting at all.
• Quick stop at Albert to stock up on the waffle
• Rode to Tempo Doeloe to try to get a reservation, and luckily, they have space!!
• Returned our bikes, walked through the Red Light District (and the girls work all hours) to Museum Amstelkring Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder (Our Lord in the Attic). This is known for having a church built inside a house, in the period where practising cathelics in the open was illegal.
• With some time to spare, we decided to go to Museum Willet-Holthuysen, which was the most on the way place. This was basically a rich person’s house, complete with their period furnishing. The garden was a highlight, otherwise it was quite boring.
• Walked around the funky shops along , including some very cool clothing stores.
• Finally the kitchen was open, so we could eat and still make it back in time for the plane.
• Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to sample the menus, but settled on trying their “very hot” beef rendang (which was, as they said, very hot) and a delicious array for the ricetable. I couldn’t believe it, but this was about 10 times better than the food I had yesterday. Finally, some heat in the food.
• Unfortunately, we were to find out later, we would get indigestion from eating the rendang, but it was worth it!
• Plane delayed for about 30 minutes, otherwise another uneventful trip home.

Food

• Sheraton breakfast:
  • smoked salmon
  • pancake
  • pastries
  • croissant
  • cheese
  • cold cut
  • shrimp
  • pate
  • fruit
  • muesli
  • yoghurt
  • scrambled egg
  • bacon
  • baked beans
  • mushrooms
  • sausages
• Dinner at Tempo Doeloe:
  • Rijsttafel Stimoelan - Small ricetable consisting of:
    • Sawi Toemis (Chinese cabbage with Indonesian herbs)
    • Daging Semoor (beef with tomatoes in a mild soy sauce)
    • Gadon Dari Sapi (beef in creamy sauce with coconut cream and fresh coriander)
    • Ora Arie
    • Oerapan (dry, ground coconut mixed with fresh vegetables)
    • Sambel Goreng Boontjes (string beans in tasty sauce)
    • Sambel Goreng Oedang (tiny shrimp in tasty sauce)
    • Kelia Dari Sapi (beef in medium sauce with cream of coconut, tjabeh, kemirie)
    • Sateh Ajam (skewers with chicken, charcoal broiled, with a tasty peanut sauce)
    • Petjel (various fresh vegetables with a tasty sweet and sour sauce)
    • Emping (crispy chips from belindjonuts)
    • Seroendeng (grated, fried coconut with peanuts)
    • Atjar Tjampoer (sweet and sour Indonesian salad)
    • Kroepoek (crispy shrimp bread)
    • white and yellow rice
  • Daging Rendang - beef cooked in tasty, hot sauce with cream of coconut