The Netherlands trip, Apr 2008 - The Waterland

The locals in the Netherlands like to get around by bicycles, so we thought we would go local and go cycling around North Holland, the Waterland area. The route is only around 25km and it is a very easy day trip.

We rented our bikes from a shop near the Central Station and then took the ferry to get to North Holland. We went through some really picturesque villages and the ride was very enjoyable. If you want to get out of the Amsterdam city for a short trip, I would highly recommend you to visit the Waterland by bike.

Riding by the seaside...

A little boy fishing in a small river

A little tip: if you are planning a similar cycling day trip, make sure you reach Broek in Waterland in time for lunch/ afternoon tea at Pannenkoekenhuis De Witte Swaen'(The White Swan Pancake House). There is a big menu with over 60 varitions of savory and sweet pancakes.

For more information:
http://www.dewitteswaen.nl/

The Netherlands trip, Apr 2008 - Amsterdam the city

Some more random photos on Amsterdam the city.

Amsterdam is particularly famous for a few things: its "coffeeshop" and its red light district:




It is a very liberal country. The police will generally turn a blind eye if you do your thing in a enclosed space, away from the public. But you cause a nuisance to others, then the police may not easily let you go!

The Dam Square, the meeting place for the locals. The Royal Palace is in the background. And in the middle of the square stands the National Monument commemorating the victims of World War II

Another famous sight in Amsterdam is the Anne Frank huis (Anne Frank house), which is a museum dedicated to the WWII Jewish diarist, who hid from Nazi persecution with her family and four other people in hidden back rooms at the rear of the building.

The front to the Anne Frank huis. The adjoining building has also turned into part of the museum.

The canals in Amsterdam are also very well-known. There are more than 100 km of canals in Amsterdam and you can see bridges everywhere. In a city like this, almost all buildings are water-front property! :-)


A funny-shaped building


Next thing about Amsterdam? The flemish fries (vlaamse frites) and other deep-fried goodies, all served with mayonnaise of course!

Having fries and mayonnaise with a local friend. This tiny fry stand on Boetboogstraat seems to be really popular with both the locals and tourists. You can have your fries with a number of sauce: plain mayonnaise, lemon mayonnaise, ketchup, curry sauce, vinegar etc..

Then we went for a beer and had some Bitterballen along with it. It contains chopped meat with some kind of flavoring, breaded and deep fried, and served alongside with mayonnaise or mustard. Very tasty.

Morocco trip, Dec 2007 - Aït Benhaddou

Aït Benhaddou is fortified city (kasbah) along the former caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakech in present-day Morocco.

It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987 and several films have been shot there, including Lawrence of Arabia, The Mummy, Gladiator and Alexander.

Can you recognise where in the movies did Aït Benhaddou appear?














The place is actually more a tourist attraction than a real village. There are only a few families living in the actual kasbah. Most of them live in the modern village across the river!

And if you are to visit the place, make sure you don't fall for the "entrance fee scam" at the main gate. There are no entrance fee to get into the city!

Morocco trip, Dec 2007 - Essaouira

When we returned from Meknes to Marrakesh, we went to the souk square for dinner and we bumped into the people from our tour group. They have spent some time at Essaouira and they highly recommended it. As we have a couple of days to spare, so we booked ourselves onto the bus the next day.

Essaouira is a coastal town located in western Morocco. The island of Mogadar protects the bad of Essaouira against strong marine winds, so it has long been one of the best anchorages of the Moroccan coast. It has been a trading post for almost 3,000 years, starting with the Phoenicians.

The present city of Essaouira was rebuilt during the 18th Century, when King Mohammed III directed his slave, a French engineer, to design and build a modern fortress and city. The fortress was named "Souira", which means "the small fortress" and the name was later changed to "Es-saouira", which means "the beautifully designed"

It was a 3 hour bus ride (with Supratours) from Marrakesh train station, with a 30 minute break in the middle, so it wasn't too bad.

Sadly, it was cloudy when we arrived. We were also very hungry by the time we got there, so we quickly found a place to stay and head out looking for food.

Essaouira is on the atlantic coast, so we weren't going to miss out on the seafood, esp. daddy has been fish-deprived for so many days. We headed straight to the fish stalls and place our lunch orders.

We picked what look the freshest and the bill came to around 300Dh for the 4 of us, which isn't too bad.

Sadly, the weather was pretty bad and it started raining mid-afternoon. So we went for a quick walk around the markets and had dinner, then head back to the hotel for a early night.

I spent the rest of the day wishing that the weather will be nicer next day. However, we can hear the rain throughout the night so we didn't have high hopes.

The next morning, SP woke me up and said, "The weather is great today. There's blue sky!" I thought it was a trick to get me to wake up but no, the weather really had a 180 degree turn around!

Look. Not a cloud in sight!

We went up to the Skala de la Ville and walked along the ramparts. The Skala de la Ville is the fortification built along the cliffs, with all the brass cannons lined up to defend the city from sea attacks.

A little trivia: The opening scene of Orson Welles' Othello was filmed on the Essaouira's here.

Here is another photo of the city with the famous bright blue boats.

The local fisherman would gut their fish on the shore, with the cats getting the choice over the leftovers. The sea gulls are not that far behind.

We went back to the fish stalls for more seafood. This time, daddy was to show his culinary skills, so we picked our seafood and waited for them to arrive, while daddy "directed" the kitchen crew.

Lots of fish to choose from!


Love those big scampis. Very delicious!

Here is daddy serving his dish.

I prefer to focus on the eating... hehe

A group photo before we had back to the bus stop for our return trip

Essaouira is famous for thuya handicrafts and argan oil. We both a couple of thuya wooden items there, The workmanship was quite good and the wood looks really nice. We also bought some argan oil product, but after 1.5 year, I still haven't unwrapped the box! That reminds me, I must try out this skincare miracle!

An additional note: Essaouira is also very famous for its beaches. The strong wind makes it a good spot for windsuring and kitesurfing. We weren't into watersports so we just walked pass it... without even taking a photo (it was cold!)