Utrecht-Amsterdam = FUN!

On Timeline: 24-25 Aug 2007

Was late leaving for Utrecht because of the clubbing night yesterday, and I slept late. However, I had sufficient rest and packed my bags, so it was pretty fast for me to settle all my bags and things to bring up to Utrecht and to Aunt Babe and Nicole's place.

Luckily, I had saved up enough coins for the train ride from Eindhoven to Utrecht (these silly Netherlands railway ticket stations do not accept paper money! Who carries a whole load of coins with them?!) And furthermore, trains ARE expensive in Netherlands. Gonna apply for the Kortingcard soon.

I was buying my ticket and I thought that I was on time, and by the time I cleared the stairs I was wrong. Dead wrong. The train doors closed on me and I was left standing at the platform...totally sian.

Luckily though, another train to Alkmaar came into the platform about 12 minutes later, and it passed by Utrecht! After checking with the train conductor on whether my ticket allowed me to board the train, I quickly got onto it, found a seat, and enjoyed my ride to Utrecht - a super old city with a damn tall tower!

Train coming into Eindhoven, though a shorter one.


The Kiosk seller on the trains in Holland


Train to Alkmaar (looks good!)


Utrecht train station


Utrecht bus station


Streets of Utrecht


Where am I?

Utrecht really gives me the feeling of going into a Gothic/Vatican/old-period of buildings with its architecture and designs. There are many canals there and I feel that the main thing which Utrecht is different from Amsterdam is the sheer number of churches they have within walking distance from one another - there are at least 12 churches in and around the Utrecht RonDom area! And the most famous of them all - the Domtorent Domkerk - is a 600 years old tower, standing at 112m tall.


The famous Domtorent Domkerk at Dom Square


Me @ Utrecht

I was also lucky enough to be able to view 6 other churches during my 5 hour walk around the city, and I reckoned I covered a lot, because by the end of the walk I was really tired out (was carrying a laptop in my bag too) and shacked. Wanted to get some clothes, but nothing really caught my eye, except the jacket at Perry Sport (cheap place to get clothes!).


Toilet.


Victorian styled chair


Pink ice-cream truck!


Utrecht Universiteit


Domkerk Garden


Organ in Domkerk - organ made by brothers Bätz


van Gendt Mausoleum


Me and the sand sculpture of Domtorent Domkerk at RonDom


Domtorent Domkerk (sand model versus the real thing in the background)


Interesting design of a house along Voetiusstraat


Nicole said this was a nice picture, especially the house on the right hand side. I agree totally...


Interior of Pieterskerk


The old pillars and the newer ones.


The sun dial in the middle of the garden


The tomb


Domtorent Domkerk from afar (it's nice!)


Fast craft in the waters


Monument in front of Jacobikerk


An old painting of Utrecht city


The pillars of Jacobikerk


St Augustinuskerk


Rembrandt cinema


People having their afternoon tea along the canal


The organ of Doopsgezinde Kerk


Organ of Lutherse Kerk


St Catharinakerk


Front of St Catharinakerk - used to be a monastery


Monument in the garden

Each church has its own culture and history, and the designs are all different. Interesting designs yea? I'd think so too...there are lots more pictures, but I didn't want to cram up my blog with just pictures, though a picture speaks a thousand words and I must've spoken up to twenty thousand words by now. HAHA.

After that, I went to have a walk around Utrecht city centre, and it was a great afternoon to walk around! Good food, good sun, and the people were all outside enjoying the warmth (nothing compared to SG's heat of course!) and eating ice-cream. Saw Venezia and the Australian Premium Ice Cream and Chocolates! The craving overwhelmed me and I satisfied it by having the Malaga and Mona Lisa, for 2 Euros!


Guess which is Malaga and which is Mona Lisa?

After that, I went to the Perry's Sport nearby and it was a gigantic 3 storey building which was full of outdoor sportswear, accessories and items, on top of the running items and stuff! Oh mans! it was really an eye-opener.



Inside this shop I found stuff on sale, and there's a jacket for 35 Euros! Seems like a ski jacket, and quite reasonably priced...Might look at that in Amsterdam, since I'm heading there the next day too!

Met up with Aunt Babe and her friend Ms Zeynep, who's a Turkish German living in the Netherlands. Took the train with them and there's the good'ol stay over at Nieuw-Vennep, say hello to Nicole, and onwards to Amsterdam the next day!

And to top off for tonight...


Flowers of Utrecht

Enjoy! :)

Current Mood: Hyper

Current Music: Teddy Geiger - These Walls

Trip!

Weekend trip up Utrecht then Amsterdam...shall be blogging on the trip later (hopefully). So guys, updates for yesterday's get-together and the weekend trip will come later on! :)

And ya...if want more pics here just say haha...Anyway I think it's gonna be hard for me to take pictures with the nice attractions 'cos I'll be going Utrecht alone. Ahh wells...

But I'm going Amsterdam! With Nicole and aunt Babe. Haha...It's gonna be fun! *whee!*

Enjoy your weekend!

Current Mood: Hyper

Exchange Students Gathering & Clubbing!

Actually...I still think Eindhoven's kinda boring. Haha. Even though their nightlife seems great and all, actually I think Singapore's one is even better. Heck...even Malaysia's better!

Anyway today was another wet and cold morning, but soon it was great weather to go out and walk about. Tried out a new route to walk - from my home I turned right towards a small park near the railway track, then past Philips, and down the road towards the home of PSV: Philips Stadium.

And with that, I ended myself at Vestide, where I paid my September's rent earlier than expected. I'm afraid I'll forget it when term starts. Haha. After that, went over to the City Center to have a look at the shopping malls and outlets (like H&M, V&D etc) Quite cheaply priced pullovers on sale - H&M ones are going for 25 Euros, and their winter jacket (?) are going for 30 Euros! OMG.

Went home early, had a rest, and prepared to go meet Sadra and Oya for dinner at Yusuf's friend's place. Took quite some time to meet them, and a further 20 minutes to get ourselves to the destination. But the hosts (2 Italians, a German and Yusuf) were welcoming and pleased to receive us, and it was great to know more people!

Food...


From left to right: Oya (Turk), Alexander (Italian), Me


Having fun!


Me and the Italian guys


Mike trying out the gigantic fries


Chiobu! :) She's from Spain


Exchange students' nights out!


Police and their horses

Went club-hopping, and I realised that the Dutch do not really dance! Well they just move to the beat with their drinks in hand...and that's it. Gosh. It's an eye-opener. Sadan was telling me that in Turkey, they partied like no tomorrow and it was really dancing. And they do not end at 2am; they end at 4-5am! Gotta check that out though. Haha.

Parted ways at about 2.30am, and it was kind cold, but it was still alright to walk home, which took about 15 minutes for me. I realised that it was rather quiet at night, and it was not as bright as SG also.

Current Mood: Dancing