Solo Adventure in Amsterdam, Netherlands

 9th November 2023, Thursday

Today i was on leave and the weather was good, so decided to head out alone to Amsterdam (since my friend is working today). So she recommended me to head down to Dappermarkt located at Amsterdam Muidenpoort first before going to Amsterdam Central for the rest of the day. I prepared myself and made sure i am wrapped warmly (with my thermal wear and jackets), off i went. The wind was blowing strongly when i was walking to the train station. I waited for the 10:13 am train to head down to Amsterdam Muidenpoort station. It was a 15 mins ride....and luckily the sun was out today. When i reached the station, i made my way to Dappermarkt. Though the opening hours was from 10 am, there were multiple stalls not opened yet. But those opened were selling flowers, cheese, fresh veggies and fishes. Others were selling clothes, socks or toys. At the fresh fish stall (De Graaf - Roos & Zn), they were selling fried shrimps, cuttlefish, etc too. So i decided to buy some fried shrimps to try after long thought and i was getting hungry at that time.  I bought 6 shrimps for $5.50 and additional $0.50 for the sauce. It was nice and filling even for 6 shrimps though it was expensive.....😅..Afterwards, i just continued exploring the market. I decided to head down to Amsterdam Central as there was nothing much that i was interested in the market.

A day with sun

Dappermarkt Entrance

Available stalls

Fried giant shrimps

I took the 11:43 train to Amsterdam Central and it was just one station away. Luckily there was no train disruption or anything else going on. When i reached Amsterdam central, there were so many people around and i tried to walk towards the canal. But i think i just ended up on the tourists area where there were a lot of shops along the streets (like our Orchard road like that). So i just went shopping while looking at the buildings around. I walked for some time before i decided to go find one of the popular french fries shops - Fabel Friet in Amsterdam. Along the way to the fries shop, i walked into an alley where i saw a long queue to a cookies shop - Vans Stapele Koekmakerji and the chocolate smell nice. So i decided to queue for it while googling online on the items the shop is selling. I just saw people buying 1 or 2 boxes of cookies. So i decided to buy a box of 6 cookies (12.50 euro) and tried to eat one outside. The cookie was warm and soft, it was also sweet in the centre because of the white chocolate (It still tasted nice after 4 days and my friend seems to like it more after the 4 days period cos it become harder. I prefer it to be soft).

Amsterdam Train Station

Opposite view of Amsterdam Station

Houses in canal

Cheese shop

War memorial

Cooke shop

Freshly baked chocolate cookies

After that, i made my way to the fries shop - Fabel Friet and i saw a small crowd of people standing outside of the shop waiting for their orders. The shop was quite small with 2 cashiers taking orders and i went in to make mine. Then i went outside to wait for the staffs to call for my order.  I got a small fries with truffle mayo for 4.90 euro (The uniqueness of this shop was that you can add cheese for 1 euro to your fries). I found the fries nice and enjoyed it...just that it was too much... I saw people just threw their leftovers to the sea gulls and other birds. I just ate while i continued on my shopping. 

Queue outside fries shop

Freshly cooked fries

Then i walked until a flower market - Bloemenmarkt where the shops sell mostly flowers seeds for planting purposes. There were also some souvenirs and cheese shops around. From there, i walked to see the stalls and bought 2 tee-shirts from a souvenirs shop. After which, i made my way back to the train station but the sky got dark and was drizzling. As i walked back, i went to another souvenirs shop to get some souvenirs as the prices were 2 euros cheaper here. After that, i stumbled upon a mall-looking area where there were bigger shops inside. So i decided to went in 1. for toilet break and 2, to find a new pants for myself (the rubber part of one of my pants had become loose...😂.). I managed to get a Nike track pants instead for 40 euros. After that, i walked planning to go the train station but i went into the lego shop to fix a figurine instead. I spent quite a while inside the shop and by the time i was done, it was already pouring with rain. So i walked with my umbrella till McD and hide inside until the rain gets lighter (if i am lucky). 

Stall at Bloemenmarkt

Mall entrance

Ninja Lego figurine

After some time, i headed out and before i can walk to the station, i came across a waffles shop - van wonderen stroopwafels selling waffles and stroopwafels. People were queuing to buy the waffles but i chose to buy their stroopwafels (15 euro). After i bought it, i walked very quickly to the station as it was getting late and my friend waiting at home for dinner.  It was about a hour plus back to the home and before that, i headed to the supermarket nearby the house to buy a chicken wrap back for dinner. And, this was my one day adventure in Amsterdam....😀

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