Friday September 17, 2010
Somewhere between Brussels and Amsterdam on the Thalys 9311
Sunny Crisp Morning
What I did in Amsterdam from Sept 8- Sept. 14. - Warning Boring Post.
Wednesday September 8: Arrived in Amsterdam on a packed KLM flight from LAX sitting next to the toilets and got no sleep! Finished “Saturday” by Ian McEwan though and thoroughly enjoyed it. Shared a cab with Shelley to the “Fashion Hotel” cuz we had lots of luggage. Hotel room was great and lovely bathroom which is important to me when I travel for business. Took advantage of the break in the rain and walked around looking for a “town” to buy some toiletries as the hotel was located outside the center of Amsterdam. Would have taken a longer walk if I’d known it was to be the last opportunity to walk around town in daylight for the next 6 days. Ate Pasta Carbonara at the hotel bar which was horrible, got sick and was sound asleep by 9pm.
Found a quite neighborhood behind the hotel but couldn't enjoy it as it started to rain.
The Pasta Carbonara that made me sick
The Fashion Hotel: Creepy mannequins everywhere
Thursday September 9: Got up around 1am as stomach was still recovering from the Pasta Carbonara. Staggered to the lobby restaurant to get some very light breakfast as stomach recovered and headed to RAI to prep for the conference with Shelley via the train. It is inside the RAI where I will spend most of my time. Go to my company office, do my presentation, head back to Fashion Hotel, eat at the bar again but this time with great company and hoping I get to sleep as the conference starts the next day.
Friday September 10: Wake up at 3am and can’t get to sleep. That’s about a total of 6hrs of sleep in 2 days. Make it to the RAI and do my pitch. Everything is good but want to take a nap. Meet up with my old Japanese colleagues when working in Japan and go to a local restaurant around the RAI for dinner. I have Chicken Piri Piri which is supposed to me spicy but not spicy at all for me. Head back and so tired so hoping I’ll sleep thru the night.
Saturday September 11: Remembering that tragic day in America. Wide awake again at 2am. Jet lag is very bad this trip. Should’ve brought prescription pills. Brought Excedrin PM but after reading the side effects decide not to take it. Make it through another day at the RAI and take the team out for Indonesian food at Sama Sebo. Yum! Walked to the DAM, had an after dinner drink, saw a almost naked man climb a rope, headed back to the hotel on the Tram, confident I’ll get a good 8 hrs sleep.
@Sama Sebo whe had the "Rice Dish" course. Basically a lot of dishes meant to be eaten with rice.
The City at Nite.
Sunday September 12: 2-3 hrs of sleep was all I could get Made a mistake of checking email and got stressed out. Survived another day at RAI, managed to not make too much of a fool of myself, except that I somehow managed to change the time on my watch so that the the time was 4 hours ahead of the real time. Gave a colleague a hard time cuz he insisted it was 1130am when my watch said 330pm. Anyhow, found out I was wrong, had a good laugh but then I got depressed because a) thought the show was over for the day in 2.5 hours but instead have 6.5 hrs more to go and b) freaked out because it felt liked a worked almost a full day. Went to the client cocktail event which was nice . Ended the day with a fabulous dinner at Brasserie van Baerle. I had one of the best Caesar’s salad in a long time and a delicious fish dish. Didn’t take photos as could not think straight by the end of the nite. Went out with friends for a nite cap, had 2 more glasses of wine, hoping that I’ll have a very good nights sleep.
Monday September 13: Went to bed around 130am woke up around 4am dead tired but could not go to sleep. Had a 730am breakfast meeting and now I’m running on adrenaline. Survived our busiest day at the booth and ended the day eating fabulous Italian food at Segugio. Had the 4 course vegetarian menu. Now really hoping I’ll have a good nights sleep as have lost my short term memory.
Tuesday September 14: Last Day! And slept for 6 hours which made a BIG difference. Last day at booth was mostly internal meetings. Ended early so went to the hotel where fell into a deep sleep for about 40minutes. Woke up disoriented. Went to my FAVORITE restaurant in Amsterdam , Bordewijk which did not disappoint. I had spinach raviolis with truffles and a roasted monk fish. Got back to hotel exhausted and passed out but not before packing to leave for Brussels.
The Cheese Man at Bordewijk
My dessert. I LOVE that restaurant
Summary: So to summarize, I spent the past 6 days or so in the wonderful town of Amsterdam at the RAI and inside restaurants so hardly enjoyed the town but ate good food and gained probably 5 kilos. I have a day and a half to spend in the center of town after my visit with my BFF Karyn and her husband in Brussels so hoping to get out and absorb the beauty of the city before leaving for LA.
And last but not least, the cute barrista who served me pretty and very good latte's at the booth to keep me going.
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