I'm back to update on my travel adventures. Tbh exchange seems like a dream - I mean, was I even in Europe or was I just asleep the entire time??? I've eased into life back in Singapore so quickly it's as if I never left.

I went to Amsterdam from Paris in October. Because Paris was that amazing, I didn't have any expectations of this city famous for its grand canal system and Red Light District (and yes of course the coffee shops, how could I forget). My main purpose of going to Amsterdam was for AMF, which was sick af and I totally had no regrets dropping European Law for it kekeke. Amsterdam itself was rainy and gloomy but the company was great. For the first time in months I was surrounded by a throng of people speaking in the Singaporean accent. Crashing with other SMU students (cheers Ryan!!!!) in their VU hostels also meant that I had Singaporean/at-least-Asian food for my meals ;) Genuinely thankful for friends in times like these! It felt very homely, to say the least. But on hindsight, the lifestyle was fun-fun, but not fun-healthy, 'namsayin? No seriously, I had to go on a detox diet for a week back home in Lisbon following my return from Amsterdam hahahaha. 

There was a funfair going on during the period we were there but I felt it was rather mediocre, nothing special except for the street food :p

The canals were so pretty :')

It was the MOST difficult task to take a picture with this popular I Amsterdam sign because there were just that many people, even when the weather was shite (obviously we had to catch it when the sky was blue and the sun was blaring hahahaha which made it even worse)

This is the narrowest house in Amsterdam occupied by a couple and their dog

Had a superb experience at the Heineken Experience -- truly one of the freshest pint of beer I've had (although I had qualms when they said their beer taste the same throughout the globe... because does it really?)

Ben and I went on a mini-feast ravaging through Albert Cuyp Market and trying all kinds of food from the stalls because we skipped breakfast for this ;) Definitely were not disappointed at all it's a must-go!!!! 

What's a trip to Amsterdam without going to see real windmills??? We took a day trip to Zaanse Schans via the train but were rather bummed because half the time was spent hiding in a local cafe away from the rain and the cold. It was SO windy. I would say the day trip would've been better if we'd gone at a better time, or at least checked the weather forecast beforehand.

WE!! ARE!! VERY!! BAD!! TOGETHER!! Because we encourage each other to keep eating and eating and eating and eating and eating ugh I love you Hazy hahahaha

AMSTERDAM MUSIC FESTIVAL WAS SO WORTH IT

It was my first actual music festival and it was in Amsterdam come on can it get better than that? I saw Chainsmokers up-close!! !! !! Met with a few hiccups here and there (ask me personally I'll tell you) but the entire experience was I N C R E D I B L E. I did go back with almost-deaf ears everyday and on the first night we walked 2 hours to get home and were almost chased by wild dogs as we trespassed through some paddyfield jeez louiz truly yolo.

Just a part of the squad because it was too chaotic to take a full shot ah I miss this very much!!!! I also bumped into various people who were all congregating in Amsterdam for the festival. 

Smoked herring with pickles -- definitely an acquired taste (I liked it!)

The very famous Manneken Pis fries (the irony because the real Manneken Pis is found in Brussels, Belgium) and because I was with a bunch of guys with voracious appetites, I could try the different sauces by nicking theirs hahahaha

Hung out with the dragonboat-boys because they very kindly adopted the sailor into their little sightseeing group hehehe thx y'all it was swell

Spent almost a week in Amsterdam and if I hadn't gone for AMF, I think 4 days would've been enough. The erratic weather was quite a bummer but we pretty much got used to the occasional shower even when the sun was glaring. The city offers entirely different experiences (think of the vices) but I would say that those are not the highlights of it. My only regret would be not going into the Anne Frank House (!!!!!) because the queue was extremely long. Please remember to get your tickets online because it saves you 2 hours (!!!!!) of queuing no joke. I also didn't get to see the benches starred in The Fault in Our Stars due to the lack of time but if you search "Fault in Our Stars Bench" on Google Maps, it'll come up hahahaha. I guess it'll be nice to check it out if you're a big fan.