6.9.95 (Wed)

I am now on a train heading for Interlaken. I will take another train to Frankfurt at a place called Duisburg. The whole trip will last for five hours. I am thinking maybe I might get off at Koln or Bonn. But most probably I will not because I don't want to rush.

I have not written in the past two days mainly because of the fatigue and my eye infection. I was so tired on the first night in Amsterdam that I fell asleep right after shower and dinner when I was actually trying to do some calculation.

I am going to record things in chronological order.

First, I arrived in Schipol Airport of Amsterdam. The immigration officers examined my passport for quite a while. With a BNO passport, I did not need a visa to get into the Netherlands. But then they saw that I had a visa for Schengener States issued by the German Consulate in Hong Kong which was not yet valid (it would be valid from 6.9.95). I think it puzzled them. Finally they stamped the entry permission on that visa.

Then I went to make some train arrangement. Along the queue was an Asian man several places behind me. He started to chat with me in English with a good accent. He was a Korean. He asked me where I was from and stuff like that. Then I met him again on the platform while I was waiting for the train to Amsterdam Central Station. We talked again about general travel stuff. On the train I told him my name, written in both English and Chinese. Then he said his name was Lee Dong Ik. We parted at the Central Station.

I went to this Hotel von Onna which I had telephoned in the airport. I could not have the room until 1 pm. But the charge was really low, well, at least in my standard, only f60 per night, that was less than HKD 300 per night. The room was sparsely furnished but clean. I had a private shower and WC. The neighbourhood was quiet and nice (it was in the Jordaan area). Generally, it was not bad.

I then just walked around. I went to the Dam, Damrak and some shopping streets. The temperature was all right but I sweated when I walked in the sunshine. But then it would be chilly when there was wind. There were also some unexpected showers.

I also went past the Palace, into the Magna Plaza, and the Van Gogh Museum. The Museum was all right. The Magna Plaza was very much like the Western Market in Hong Kong, i.e. a restored old-building-turned-shopping-centre. According to Let's Go Europe, the National Museum should be closed on Monday. But it was open. But it was too late to get in when I discovered this.

The places I like most were the Spui, a shopping street, and the area around the Universitat von Amsterdam. I don't like Damrak much. But the Central Station was a pretty building, better than the Palace in my opinion.

On my way back to the hotel I found that I had lost my strippenkaart. I was very frustrated. Then I decided to walk and it took me almost an hour to reach the hotel (well I was lost on the way). I was worn out when I reached the hotel.

My eyes smarted and red, my legs and feet ached, I was not in a great shape that night.

The next morning I felt better. I had a nice long sleep for over ten hours and my eyes had recovered quite a bit with the ointment I had applied the previous night.

I went to Den Haag. I went to the Parliament but did not get inside, the Peace Palace (it was not open that day) and the Madurodam. The Madurodam was disappointing. I had no interest in the models at all. I had not expected that it was such a small place. It took me so long to get there but I left it in half an hour.

On my way back to Den Haag Central Station, I found that I had lost the strippenkaart which I had bought just that morning. Again!! I had only used it once in Den Haag and I lost it. I felt terrible and angry at myself. I bought a third strippenkaart in Den Haag Central Station and I promised myself that I would not lose it.

I then went to Zaanse Schaanz to see the windmills. Well, I did see several windmills and take some pictures. But the place was sort of too boring for me.

While I was waiting for the train back to Amsterdam, I met that Korean again, this time with a man from New Zealand. Anyway, we chatted on the platform and the train and said goodbye at the station.

I then rushed to the National Museum. I arrived there at 4:30 pm, half hour before closing time. The guard at the entrance, a kind-looking man, told me that the museum was about to close. I handed him the fee but he just waved me in, for free. Of course, it was impossible to see anything meaningful in 30 minutes. It was just having-been-there.

The Dutch people were generally kind, helpful and easy-going. The one thing I liked most was that many men cut their hair very short and trim it very close to the scalp, which made them look like ancient Roman sculptures. Feather-like hair. That is the style I like best.