AMSTERDAM HELP!!!

khoosm

New Member
Hi people,
I will be going to Amsterdam next Tuesday. Has anybody been to Amsterdam before? Is it easy to go from Amsterdam airport to the Central train station?

I have to take a train from Amsterdam to Eindhoven. Can anybody give some advises? I'll be bringing 4 Kids with me. If got time would like to go sightseeing in Netherlands. Any reccomendation? Where can I take pictures with lots and lots of tulips?
 


rtan

New Member
Hi bertbert,

It has been ages since I stayed in Holland (The Hague) from 1983 - 1986. But I belive things have not changed much.

Train services in Holland are among the best in Europe, so you should have no problems catching a train. Most (all?) people can speak English; so language is not a problem. The people are among the friendliest in Europe. When our family moved back to Singapore, we were so aghast at the lack of courtesy and social graces which still exist here in Singapore; despite decades of courtesy campaigns and what-have-you.

Anyway, travelling by train anywhere is not a problem; the trains are punctual (when they say 12:06pm, you'd better be there right on time!!!), comfortable, efficient; but not all that cheap. Keukenhof, the world famous flower garden, is not to be missed; furthermore you are going at the best time! It is not far from Amsterdam. See more at:

http://www.keukenhof.nl/
 

mudpie1222

New Member
Hi,
It is indeed not much of a problem getting around by train in Holland, but about the friendiness of the Dutch?? Well, I really doubt it. I'm currently staying in Europe, in my opinion, of the few European countries I've travelled to, somehow I feel that the Dutch are very rough and rude. So far, the best I've come across is still the Irish.
 

yjstory

New Member
You jus have to be careful in Amsterdam, there are many cases of theft and armed robberies. It is famous for its red light district and u can easily see used syringe lying on the road. so do be careful when u go.
 

elinwokk

New Member
most european countries are not like asian countries and pple tend to appear more rude & rough to us. maybe they dont intend to be but it is just that we dont know anyone there? i have a fren married to a dutch and they were v friendly even bringing me and my friends to an indonesian restaurant there when we were travelling through. so i think it depends lah. if u know someone or they r yr frens it is ok. otherwse, must stil b careful like in any new foreign plce
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its best advice i can give
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rtan

New Member
Hi all,

It really depends on the country. In France, if they don't know you, they can be quite cold and sometimes rude and they don't smile a lot by nature. But if they know you, they really treat you like family and they make asian hospitality look bad.

Sometimes we Singaporean Chinese get bad treatment because they have encountered the usual rude PRCs who lack social graces (not all PRCs are like that though it seems the majority are
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; that's why the PRC government had to issue a circular telling PRC tourists how they should behave when overseas). They are unable to distinguish between Chinese of various countries just like we are unable to distinguish between the Europeans from different countries.
 

touraco

New Member
raymond, i cannot agree with u more.

once i was in switzerland queueing to pay for my food in a marche kind of restaurant and this whole group of PRCs were yelling and shouting and cutting queues.
 

midas

New Member
hi,

i'll like to kpo here...

my personal experience..SMILE. i always smile n greet them in their language n they'll warm up to u in no time. unlike singaporeans..u anyhow smile at them they'll think u siao one hehehe.

juz my 1 cent..
 

rtan

New Member
Hi touraco,

So it's because of such experiences that they are turned off when they see Chinese. We have to understand that and show that we are different. I personally think that such behavior is inexcusable; no matter what race you are. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Hi Midas,

Sure kpoing is most welcome. 1 Euro cent I presume.
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Smiling a lot does not work in France. It's their culture not to smile. A brief smile that comes with eye contact when greeting (in their language like you mentioned) and when parting will do.
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Such "strange" behavior is no problem for people who naturally do not smile much, but can be a struggle for naturally smiley people.
 

midas

New Member
hi Raymond,

it worked for me in Paris leh...i was there in May. i find french pple r actually warmer than we perceived them to be
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and Germans too...they're the most misunderstood pple in europe. i had very gd experiences during my 2 visits in Berlin n Black forest & Heidelberg..found their way of doing things extremely efficient.
 

rtan

New Member
Hi midas,

Glad it worked for you. I guess you probably tried a bit of French too.

If other people try it and it does not work, it's because of what I mentioned. This comes from reading some books on French culture, and also our first hand experiences with our friendly French friends in Colmar (who smile very little compared to the smiley Americans!).

If they don't smile, it does not mean that they are unfriendly.

I've generally found Europeans to be fine and generally more polite than us.
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One of the few exceptions are the Italians, they seem to be slightly racist. It might be due to the bad impressions PRCs give them, but that's just a conjecture.
 

midas

New Member
hi Raymond,

ya...we learnt a couple of french phrases from our tour guide before our F&E begins in Paris, its enough for us to survive 3 days in Paris
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oh, u got bad impressions on Italians? Hmm...i found them louder than other europeans, but dun think they r racist though. but tats only based on my impressions of pple we meet at Chianti (the famous wine region in Tuscany where we stayed in a castle for 11 days), not the italians from the cities though. they are in general quite curious about us asians coz not many tourist from asia visited tat area so far..
 

rtan

New Member
Hi Midas,

Wow which castle did you stay in Tuscany for 11 days? What did you do there? Do wine tasting? How's the Chianti? Did you visit surrounding castles?

It's unusual for Singaporeans to stay put in one place for so long. But it's a good thing.
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Far better than those touch-and-go tours.
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midas

New Member
hi Raymond,

we stayed in tis one..

http://www.castellodicafaggio.com/

Chianti is lovely...a basic web search will gv u an idea hw beautiful tat place is...rolling hills n all. it's not far from Firenze though, about 35mins bus ride to the city center n train station. the castle has its own vineyard n olive grove so we din hv to travel out to find any...we did tot of going for private tours to nearby castles n other towns like Siena but the day tour prices provided by the castle r too ex for us (300euros per day)..so in the end only went for a half day tour to Pisa to see the Leaning twr
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now i'm thinking of going back there again on our 3rd or 5th anniversary maybe...we'll budget more for such things then hee.
 

rtan

New Member
Hi midas,

Wow it looks really nice, and not too pricey too (by Italian standards). Which room did you stay in? How did you find out about the place?

I guess you must be the only Asians there.
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midas

New Member
hi Raymond,

i stayed in the Rose room...very spacious! for 810euros a week is very reasonable (i found it on the web). it is a self-catering type accomodation, so all rooms have a kitchenette for guests to cook if they want to (something like the chalets in sg).

there r hundreds of castles n thousands of villas available for rental in italy. if u r going with friends..there r those tat can accomodate up to over 10pax per villa, and most of them hv swimming pools n other amentities. prices vary from about 300+euros to over 1k+ for luxe ones. u'll definately find one tat fits ur requirements n budget. some websites for reference:

http://www6.countrymanors.com/
http://www.italyby.com/
http://www.montegufoniandmore.com/
http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/instructions/index.htm

enjoy browsing
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rtan

New Member
Hi midas,

Wow so I presume there were four of you? What made the four of you (I presume all Singaporeans?) go for one week in a fixed place in Italy? It's unusual I must say (but excellent!). Few would consider even staying one week in Rome or Venice.

So what was nice about it?

Sorry if you have answered this a million times.
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midas

New Member
hi Raymond,

no lah...honeymoon hw to go with 4 persons hehehe. actually most sg pple i know has no idea where the hell Tuscany is..

ermm...tis castle is small n cozy, about 1.5km to the nearest town/village where u can find shops n eatery. we walked by foot every other day to the COOP supermarket there to get our supplies. it is very near to Florence city too..a mere 35mins bus ride takes u straight to city center n train station. the place is basically meant for quite retreat from the busy city life...during spring time, u can smell the roses scent in the air, so refreshing..here's some pics taken by us:

http://midas400.multiply.com/photos

click on the 'castle stay @Tuscany' album..
 

rtan

New Member
Hi midas,

Wow that room could house up to four persons right? It must have been quite large.
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Yeah most Singaporeans are quite suaku about Europe. I think they are generally more knowledgeable about Australia or US. But it seems like many like to come to Europe for their honeymoon, it conjures up images of romance and the culture and food is probably a draw.

I saw your pics of the castle, "tres joli" as the French would say.
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How did you get to know about the place? Just surf the net? Is that Prosecco I see in one of the pictures of your room in the castle? I guess it's not C***P****?
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I guess the wine there must have been fantastic? It's well known that the Italians keep most of the good stuff for themselves.

It's nice to see Singaporeans taking the road less travelled. There is hope for us. *cheeky grin* Too many of us just go for guided tours.
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rtan

New Member
Hi midas,

Ahh... saw that you went for a CB 13-day Europe Romance, then Paris F&E, and Tuscany. Wow both of you are fortunate to be able to go on such a long honeymoon (about 27 days)! Indeed a honeymoon should be 28 days... honeyMOON... pity most of us can't even afford two weeks.
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midas

New Member
hi Raymond,

yes, the Rose room is VERY big...can hse up to 4pax. coz the sofa can transform into a double bed. show u a pix of the living rm:
423952.jpg
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hmmm..duno wats a Prosecco...can enlighten me?

oh ya...my honeymoon super long hehehe. took us one whole month to come back to sg, missed the election some more
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rtan

New Member
Hi midas,

A Prosecco is an Italian sparkling wine. It is generally sweeter than a Champagne.
 

rtan

New Member
Thanks for all the helpful info Midas. Now we know what to do if we want to stay in a Castle in Italy.
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midas

New Member
hi Raymond,

oh...i think it is champagne coz the castle owner (the Baron & Baroness) who welcomed us during our arrival said its for celebrating our honeymoon hehehe. tis castle quite special, they gv away their own produce (red wine & olive oil) to all guests who stayed with them. as honeymooners, we get champagne as extra perks
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oh ya, if u ever wanted to go there hor, make sure u check whether the accomodation u r interested in has got electricity n heating included in the price or charge separately. the sum may work out to be higher than it seems...and also they all charge u cleaning fees, so must take tat into consideration too..

gd luck
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rtan

New Member
Hi midas,

Yeah the Champagne is a nice touch. We also got a free bottle of Taittinger Champagne in France when we stayed in a four-star chalet-hotel in the French alps, as well as a free upgrade to the next room category! All because we told them it was our honeymoon. It was so nice. We were there for three nights, and for the first two dinners, he gave us each a (1) free glass of champagne and (2) a free glass of dessert wine. So hospitable and generous!

Will post pictures of the room later.
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Thanks for the tips, yeah I saw all the extra charges on their website (the Tuscany Castle). The Italian restaurants also have cover charge, service charge, tax, and their acqua naturale is never cheap.
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That's why I really like to eat in France; the price you see is exactly the price you pay. E.g. a meal for EUR 11.95 is exactly EUR 11.95, no stupid ++ or +++ like here in SG. All taxes and service charges are built into the price by French law. I say that's the way to go. Else mislead the customer into thinking it is cheaper than it really is.

E.g. instead of showing SGD 100+++, I think restaurants here should show SGD 116.50.

You'd think that because of the fixed service charge waiters and waitresses get in France, their service would be lousy; just like what you generally get in SG. But that's so far from the truth. Even in low-end restaurants, their waiters and waitresses serve with so much pride, and know their menu so well, and are so unfailingly polite. So I don't agree that moving into a "tips" sort of system will necessarily improve service standards here. It's the whole mindset issue.
 

rtan

New Member
Some pictures of Le Chabichou at Courchevel. The hotel website is:

http://www.chabichou-courchevel.com/

The pictures:

Bed:

http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/7372/chabichou1xt0.jpg

View towards window:

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/8821/chabichou2fj6.jpg

Complimentary goodies:

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/4216/chabichou3hv1.jpg

Different view of goodies:

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/9516/chabichou4kf7.jpg

Closeup of goodies:

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/1314/chabichou5dm7.jpg

The room cost was EUR 150 per night for two persons, half-board (breakfast AND dinner!). We had the free room upgrade. Dinner is cooked by the two-star Michelin chef, Monsieur Michel Rochedy. Only for Summer. Rates for 2007 have increased by EUR 5.

In Winter, the rates are astronomical since it is located in an expensive ski resort.
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midas

New Member
hi raymond,

thanks for the pics...nice leh the resort. 150euros with halfboard is quite reasonable. for us, we din get to upgrade coz the nxt category is a two storey apartment tat can sleep 6pax..too big liao.

and aqua naturale in italy is very cheap..if u know where to buy. the COOP supermarket is selling the 2Lt bottles (or 1.5Lt..can't rem liao) at only 0.13euro cents per bottle..even cheaper than sg mineral water
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rtan

New Member
Hi midas,

Oh yeah, they didn't upgrade you to the Baron's room?
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I was referring to acqua naturale in restaurants, could never figure out how to get them to serve us tap water. How did you do it?
 

quency

New Member
This is going to sound odd, but I say -- go to the zoo! Amsterdam has a cracking zoo.
One of the best in the world! Give it a go!
 

maylitte

New Member
Me and a friend are going across to amsterdam on the 28th feb, we plan to work either in amsterdam or somewhere close by to raise funds to continue our tour of europe, so the help we need....has anyone worked in amsterdam before? if so whats the pay like and wheres best to apply in or around amsterdam?, also we have got the details of a few hostels in amsterdam, does anyone know any we should avoid? or which one to stay at? also any info on the place itself or holland in general is appreciated
 

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