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Travel to Amsterdam

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x9200
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Re: Travel to Amsterdam

Post by x9200 » Mon, 22 Feb 2016 6:41 pm

You can actually buy stoopwafels in Cold Storage and sometimes in Starbucks but they are harder (less soft) and less tasty. a small bag in CS is ca S$6-7.
https://coldstorage.com.sg/search?q=053317

This is the more real thing:
Image

Another very Dutch food to try is vla. It is sort of custard-like dairy product that is sold in any supermarket in similar sections/packages as milk.

Image

Holland is famous for its cheeses but personally I think they are overrated especially for the price one needs to pay.

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Wd40
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Re: Travel to Amsterdam

Post by Wd40 » Tue, 23 Feb 2016 2:08 am

Thanks a lot guys! There is a Lidl nr my hotel. I just went and picked up a German beer called Bitburger 500L for 80C! Shocking! In SG it would cost like 3 times at least.

Best part, no need to chill it. Can directly have it. :) I will definitely buy the stoopwafels as well to carry back to SG.

Another thing that pleasantly surprised me is Lidl doesn't accept cash, only cards.

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Re: Travel to Amsterdam

Post by JR8 » Tue, 23 Feb 2016 3:53 am

Bitburger is nice, not so hoppy, very refreshing during the (relatively!) hot summers. Another similar German beer that is popular incl with SGns who don't enjoy too much hoppy bitterness is Krombacher. Very pleasant, very easy drinking. That too is going to be about E0.80/500ml bottle.

X-ref: Cold Storage S$8 a 500ml bottle, or $34 for 6*330ml bottles.
https://coldstorage.com.sg/shop-online/ ... eer/beer-1

p.s. LIDL can be awesome. I recall when they had a special on Canadian lobsters for Euro4.95 each. Only small 12-16Oz things; what you might call 'breakfast lobsters'. Keep an eye on the offer-leaflets and if there is something good on special then *load-up*, as if you've spotted a bargain others will have too, and odds on they'll be out of stock perhaps tomorrow, and maybe until next year!
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Re: Travel to Amsterdam

Post by lucassmith » Tue, 23 Feb 2016 4:20 pm

Ah niceee look forward to you travel logging your journey here.
Curious, how much did it cost for your return trip from SG to AMS?

Wd40 wrote:Thanks a lot guys! There is a Lidl nr my hotel. I just went and picked up a German beer called Bitburger 500L for 80C! Shocking! In SG it would cost like 3 times at least.

Best part, no need to chill it. Can directly have it. :) I will definitely buy the stoopwafels as well to carry back to SG.

Another thing that pleasantly surprised me is Lidl doesn't accept cash, only cards.

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Re: Travel to Amsterdam

Post by the lynx » Tue, 23 Feb 2016 4:29 pm

Stroopwafel.................................
x9200 wrote:Holland is famous for its cheeses but personally I think they are overrated especially for the price one needs to pay.
Still cheaper than SG.

***
@wd40 I don't know how long you'll be in Amsterdam but if you have plenty of time, head over to Geithoorn, about north east of NL. You can check the train routes. This is the reason why.

Image

If the idea of travelling to Giethoorn scares you, perhaps some villages around Utrecht will offer similar views.

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Re: RE: Re: Travel to Amsterdam

Post by Wd40 » Tue, 23 Feb 2016 5:17 pm

lucassmith wrote:Ah niceee look forward to you travel logging your journey here.
Curious, how much did it cost for your return trip from SG to AMS?

Wd40 wrote:Thanks a lot guys! There is a Lidl nr my hotel. I just went and picked up a German beer called Bitburger 500L for 80C! Shocking! In SG it would cost like 3 times at least.

Best part, no need to chill it. Can directly have it. :) I will definitely buy the stoopwafels as well to carry back to SG.

Another thing that pleasantly surprised me is Lidl doesn't accept cash, only cards.

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My company booked it, so they must have got a discount. But normal price is S$ 1200 return on KLM. You can use skyscanner. I think etihad etc are cheaper with a stopover in gulf.But my company has policy to fly only using KLM. Both are Dutch companies, so obviously.

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Re: RE: Re: Travel to Amsterdam

Post by Wd40 » Tue, 23 Feb 2016 5:18 pm

the lynx wrote:Stroopwafel.................................
x9200 wrote:Holland is famous for its cheeses but personally I think they are overrated especially for the price one needs to pay.
Still cheaper than SG.

***
@wd40 I don't know how long you'll be in Amsterdam but if you have plenty of time, head over to Geithoorn, about north east of NL. You can check the train routes. This is the reason why.

Image

If the idea of travelling to Giethoorn scares you, perhaps some villages around Utrecht will offer similar views.
Thanks Lynx, it's winter now with no bare trees without leaves, do you think it's as beautiful now?

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Re: RE: Re: Travel to Amsterdam

Post by Wd40 » Tue, 23 Feb 2016 5:21 pm

JR8 wrote:Bitburger is nice, not so hoppy, very refreshing during the (relatively!) hot summers. Another similar German beer that is popular incl with SGns who don't enjoy too much hoppy bitterness is Krombacher. Very pleasant, very easy drinking. That too is going to be about E0.80/500ml bottle.

X-ref: Cold Storage S$8 a 500ml bottle, or $34 for 6*330ml bottles.
https://coldstorage.com.sg/shop-online/ ... eer/beer-1

p.s. LIDL can be awesome. I recall when they had a special on Canadian lobsters for Euro4.95 each. Only small 12-16Oz things; what you might call 'breakfast lobsters'. Keep an eye on the offer-leaflets and if there is something good on special then *load-up*, as if you've spotted a bargain others will have too, and odds on they'll be out of stock perhaps tomorrow, and maybe until next year!
Thanks JR8. The Bitburger was a bit too bitter for my liking. I like plain smooth beers, like the Budweiser.

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Re: RE: Re: Travel to Amsterdam

Post by bgd » Tue, 23 Feb 2016 5:52 pm

Wd40 wrote:I like plain smooth beers, like the Budweiser.
European beers will be wasted on you :D

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Re: RE: Re: Travel to Amsterdam

Post by x9200 » Tue, 23 Feb 2016 5:58 pm

bgd wrote:
Wd40 wrote:I like plain smooth beers, like the Budweiser.
European beers will be wasted on you :D
Yes, he said something really bad.

WD40, try Bavaria. Despite the name suggesting a German brand, this is a Dutch beer. In where I used to live in the Netherlands (the East) it was almost as universally disrespected as Budweiser.

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Re: Travel to Amsterdam

Post by JR8 » Tue, 23 Feb 2016 6:51 pm

Better be careful. Reminds me of 'Heineken Dutch Tolerance Test' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yZ8IrQ ... nEZKojhqZb :)

There are a couple of strange Dutch beers. Bavaria is one - not nice. Another is called Breda - nasty. I suppose Holland has the capacity to brew huge volumes of cheap beer for export. Curiously I've only ever seen these two in Singapore, and never in Europe.
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Re: Travel to Amsterdam

Post by Wd40 » Wed, 24 Feb 2016 3:26 am

Today, I tried a cheap local pilsner called Amstel. As Lidl was closing, I went there at 8 PM. Got the Amstel 500ml from a small Dept'l store for 1 Euro. Tastes okay, just like Anchor I guess.

Bought Dominos pizza for dinner it's cheap 5 Euro for medium size! Tastes awesome. For lunch I had noodles at a Suriname Chinese restaurant, was vegetarian and tasted awesome! Apart from Indonesian influence, there is also Suriname influence here. There are 2 Surinamese Indians here in my office, amazing, I never thought I would meet Surinamese Indians, although I had heard that there is an Indian population in Suriname.

The guy I spoke with told me Suriname is a bit like Singapore, has Chinese, Indians, Dutch and Creolians, whatever that means. Interesting.

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Re: Travel to Amsterdam

Post by JR8 » Wed, 24 Feb 2016 4:39 am

Suriname -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suriname
5 official languages incl Hindustani and Javanese
Ethnic groups (2012)
27.4% East Indian
21.7% Maroon
15.7% Creole/Afro-Surinamese
13.7% Javanese
13.4% Mixed
8.2% others[1][2]
--------
It's a place I looked into visiting long ago. But it used to be [?] something of a bonkers commie dictatorship. I recall one other curious aspect, anyone (South America etc) who could get into the country and establish citizenship was then auto-entitled to EU residency. So it used to be a material long-term people-smuggling route... Ditto neighbouring French Guiana which IIRC is legally a full 'department' of France.

Have you found any decent Sub-Con food places yet? Or is Indon the more available spicy-food option? I've always found the Dutch to be cosmopolitan and outward-looking, so hope you're finding some 1/2-way decent spice. Though if you're on Amstel and pizza it sounds like you've already gone native ;)
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Re: RE: Re: Travel to Amsterdam

Post by nakatago » Wed, 24 Feb 2016 5:29 am

Wd40 wrote:I like plain smooth beers, like the Budweiser.
BURN THE WITCH!
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Re: RE: Re: Travel to Amsterdam

Post by the lynx » Wed, 24 Feb 2016 8:55 am

bgd wrote:
Wd40 wrote:I like plain smooth beers, like the Budweiser.
European beers will be wasted on you :D
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