Fluff attack!

W00t W00t!
Yup, Dance Valley's still as cool as I remembered it 5 years ago :)

At least this time, I made it to Armin's set *lol*

And this time, WE WERE FLUFFIED UP!



Don't ask where the fluff came from...
(Nobody likes Bert very much anyway *grin*)

Just one more...

... post about Amsterdam! Tying up loose ends :P

I spent about 3 days in Amsterdam this time round. C and I decided to follow some tips from the Wallpaper* City Guide for A'dam. I have to admit, it's a pretty good guide! Having been to A'dam a gazillion times now, I didn't think there was much left for me to see. The Wallpaper* guide has a "Best of the city in 24 hours" section, and we managed to go through all of it:
- Irish brekky at Barney's: Errr, can't really say I recommend this. It's just bacon and eggs. I think Barney's has more of a reputation as a "coffee shop".
- Stedelijk Museum: Contemporary art, not my thing but it may be your's.
- Appeltaart at Cafe 11: The place has a great view of the city, and turns into a club at night. Apparently a pretty good one.
- Amstelkring Museum: This is pretty dang different. It's a secret chapel built upstairs in a home!
- Amsterdam Historical Museum: More than you'll ever want to know about Amsterdam :)
- Van Gogh Musuem: My third time there, and I still love it. Make sure you do the audio tour if you go!

The Almond Blossom (pictured right) is still my fave painting by Van Gogh:

Other places we went to from the guide:
- Droog: Really cool design store, definitely worth checking out. It's one of those places that stocks things I read about in blogs :P
- Envy: *Phwoar* This place is owned by the same people who started Supperclub. For EU$50, we stuffed ourselves silly with the Chef's Choice menu - 3 kinds of deli meats (YUMMO), 4 cold dishes, 4 warm dishes, 3 kinds of cheeses and 4 mini desserts. Gaaawd, I was in heaven with the asparagus and truffle soup. Definitely value for money. What I loved most about the restaurant, was how the produce was displayed in fridges along the wall. Everything looked fresh and delish, and apparently a lot of it is flown in from Italy:

- Brasserie Harkema: Another great place to eat in A'dam. C and I checked it out our first night there, then took the others back here a couple of days later. Mussel soup, entrecote steak, roast duck, panna cotta (the best I've had in awhile), everything yummy! And of course, I also made everyone eat bitterballen here :) U&W - you taught me well!

You won't die if you eat it, AdF ;)

The best tip I can give for A'dam, is always make the Tourist Info Centre across the street from Centraal Station your first stop. For EU$2, you can get a city map from a vending machine! Which is important when your sense of direction is as crap as mine :P

Lastly, when in A'dam, don't forget to visit Vlaams Fritehuis on Voetboogstraat 33. Crunchiest hot chips ever! I think we ate a cone of it with Belgian Mayo everyday! MMmmm...

See, I don't just go to raves and clubs in the Netherlands :P

WOOooo...

It makes my day when I come across something in real life that I've read about on one of the design/coolhunting blogs I subscribe to. I was walking down Spuistraat in search of my hotel when I saw this!

It's Jon Burgerman's "On the Wall" exhibition in Amsterdam! So while C went in and splurged on streetwear, I went in, admired some street art and patted myself on the back for finding something cool I had read about in the blogiverse! *grin* Another cool exhibition on atm, is Yoshitomo Nara's first European show at the GEM Museum in Den Haag:

It's brilliant! Japanese design collective Graf designed and built an art space for Yoshitomo Nara in the form of wooden sheds. I've been a fan of Yoshitomo Nara's work for awhile now, and I've had my eye on this Nara clock for a very very long time. One day I'll break down and buy it...

Stranger danger

What is it about me that attracts the weirdos? In clubs, in bars, in cafes, on the street, and now, in _airports_! Why is it never the good looking hunka muffin that approaches me with a corny opening line? No. I get the weird, old, wrinkly, googly-eyed grandpa. It's _always_ the grandpa.

I'm minding my own business at Schipol airport in Amsterdam when the googly-eyed grandpa (G-E G) approaches me and starts speaking in FRENCH. What on earth would possess anyone to speak French to an oriental in a DUTCH city? Actually, I've always wanted a guy who could speak French, but I guess I should be more specific about what I ask for. Please add "non-creepy" to my list of requirements. After grandpa had figured out I spoke English:
G-E G: "Is this your first time in Holland?"
Me: "No."
G-E G: "Your second time?"
Me: "No. I have friends here."
G-E G: "Oh. What's your name?"
Me: "Sarah."
G-E G: "Oh! Do you know where the name Sarah comes from?"
Me: "No." (Internal *sigh*... and I don't really care. I'm just making sht up to humour you...)
G-E G: "Sarah, is Abraham's wife! You know Abraham? It comes from Catholicism."
Me: "Yes." (Why are you talking to me?)
G-E G: "Are you Catholic? Or Muslim? What are you?"
Me: "No. I'm nothing."
G-E G: "Well, Sarah is Abraham's wife. Shall we go somewhere to talk?"
Me: "NO!" (You MORON!)

... and I walk away. The problem is, my parents brought me up to be polite and well-mannered to anyone. When really, it would've been more useful for my parents to have taught me how to cuss like a pirate :P It's "wrong" in our society for me to be rude to older people, "respect your elders" and all that crap. However, I don't care how senile grandpa is, he has NO RIGHT to prey on girls 50 years his junior. _That's_ wrong!

Would you believe the googly-eyed grandpa crept up on me AGAIN about 5 minutes later??
G-E G: "Excuse me..."
Me: "GAAAAAAAAAAAH!" (totally freaked and caught by surprise)
G-E G: "Sorry! Bye..." (walks away real fast)
Me: "GEEZUS! BYE! FARK!"

Queen's Day!!!

It's a nice sunny day in Amsterdam, and everyone was out to party! In boats! The canals were endlessly filled with party boats. Anyone want to organise a theme boat for next year's Queen's Day? :)

The day was topped off at Leiden with a free gig by Armin van Buuren (ranked #2). It would've been a lot better without the crazy puberscent kids around. I'm starting to sound like an old fart :( Think from now on, I'll stick to over 18 events.

Homo-Monument?

Wicky, perhaps you can explain this one *lol* Found on the streets of Amsterdam:

Here today...

Netherlands the next :) Can you believe the flight to Amsterdam only takes 45mins? Not even enough time to drink a hot hot chocolate, that's for sure. Sadly, it's probably the last time I'll get to hang out with Ula and Wilco in Delft for a looong time :( I'm really going to miss you guys. After all, who's going to take me to eat...

... anus flavoured ice-cream? *GRiN*

Thanks for all the great Dutch memories guys ^_^

SEN-SA-TION!

A Sold Out event. When I say "sold out", I'm not referring to how tens of thousands of tickets were sold out in a matter of hours. I'm talking about:
- Charging people 50EU cents for the toilets. What? I paid EU$60 for my ticket! Why do I have to pay for the toilets? At least the toilets stayed clean throughout the night, I guess. And I did manage to get out of paying for the toilets by ignoring the ladies who stood outside demanding money.
- Refusing people to let them keep the water bottles after forking out EU$4. Disgraceful! Events in Netherlands seriously need to re-think the way they do things. Water should be supplied for FREE after you've bought the initial bottle.
- Then there's the blatant marketing worked into the theme of the night. The theme was "Dreams" (well, I think it was, the narrative was pretty irritatingly dumb), and what flashed up on the giant screens was a "dream" of a lady seductively licking a popsicle. Minutes later, people from Streets are selling the same popsicle on the dancefloor.

Pros: Seeing thousands of people in a stadium all dressed in white was amazing. Having space to dance on the dancefloor was wonderful.

Cons: To be honest, I didn't really like the music, or the theme that much. Although the sound system was good, something about it was wrong. All I could hear was the backbeat, and if that's all you hear, it makes the music boring. Then there's the annoying MC dressed as the joker... *UGH* He spoke absolute crap all the way through, and put fish bowls on random people's heads. Gawd, they must've spent a lot of money on the pyrotechnics and didn't have much left for hiring a better MC :P

It was worth going to Sensation just for the experience, but, I don't think I'll be back. Here's a tip for those who want to go next year. If you miss out on a ticket, there are plenty of people with spare tickets outside the stadium on the night. Including myself. I was lucky however, and managed to sell my ticket at cost price. If you're thinking of earning big bucks by selling Sensation tix at inflated prices, don't. There's too much supply and not enough demand for tickets. Here's some pix from the night:

Just outside Amsterdam ArenA

First glimpse inside the stadium... And that's only half of the stadium in the photo!

Topless chick in a bathtub

Dawn in the stadium. If you look closely at the tiny figure in the middle, at the top of the massive podium, that's Ferry Corsten!

Ula & Wilco

IMG_1795.JPG
Originally uploaded by risque.

Meet my fave Dutch couple :) After being traumatised by wedding dresses and apartment cleaning, I was rewarded with a day trip to Brugge in Belgium for chocolate and mussels!

Congratulations to the kids for their upcoming wedding next year! I'll miss you guys when you leave :( Thanks for always looking after me and taking me around when I visited *knuf* I'll see you soon at Sensation White in July! :D

Handy Dutch words I've picked up over the years:
Lekker kontje - Nice butt
Bitterballen - Dutch meatballs
Kaas - Cheese
Bedankt - Thank you
Helaas pinderkas - What a shame peanut butter
Eet smaglijk - Enjoy your meal

Tulips!

IMG_1805.JPG
Originally uploaded by risque.

I finally made it to the Netherlands at the right time. This shot actually turned out better than I expected. Then again, I did touch it up with iPhoto too :P

Spring is great in Europe! Everything was blooming around me.