At the same time, I was a bit hesitant because I was contemplating back then on a trip back home. I know some people can travel to different countries and regions week after week. I haven't done it myself, so I had to be careful not to exhaust myself. Especially considering the different temperatures - less than 10 degrees in the Netherlands, around 20 in Japan and more than 30 in Malaysia!
After the less than palatable Air Asia food and quality of everything else, I was really glad for proper airline food and service. Some people would laugh because they've flown Business before. To me, even in economy, KLM was surprisingly better than expected. Everyone's heard of European and American airline service that cannot be compared to Asian airlines!
Their presentation was pretty commendable. The renowed Rijksmuseum had just reopened after 10 years of renovation. The tray mats and some food containers had prints of famous paintings.
Apparently, they have chefs from top hotels around the world to create their menus. No wonder it not just looked but actually tasted really good!
It's not difficult to make me happy - as long as I have good food served at the right time, I'm easily satisfied :)
They even served ice cream in between these 2 main meals during the flight. There's also a gallery at the back where passengers can help themselves to snacks and drinks throughout the flight.
It was a little disappointing to be greeted with cold weather and rain when I arrived. I remembered it snowing and minus 0 temperatures few months ago.
I wasn't as prepared this time with the chill, and ended up having to borrow my boss' jacket!
Orange is like the national colour of Holland, so there are hints of the colour in buildings. Pretty good choice I'd say considering they don't get much sunlight this part of the world. Guess we were really blessed during winter!
Even though it was hovering around 8-10 degrees, my Dutch colleagues tell me it's already summer! I wonder what happened to spring?
We stayed at the Doubletree at Amsterdam Centraal this time. It's a few stations further from the office, but it being in the city centre meant it was more convenient. I had switched the temperature to the "hottest", but I still had to wear a few layers in the room.
This picture was taken probably around 9pm at the restaurant where we had team dinner. Sun sets quite late over here. There was once I was walking around the city taking pictures, almost forgetting the time because it was not getting dark.
I was only reminded by my growling tummy that it was time for dinner.
On the last evening, my Dutch-Thai friend brought me to a Thai restaurant. He had worked there part time, so knew the owner. Apparently this was one of the top Thai restaurant voted by tourists. Ironically I had to go to Amsterdam to have some nice piping hot South East Asian food!
Nothing fancy about the place actually, and it looked like a regular restaurant near the touristy spots. The style of cooking, and the long grain rice really reminded me of home, similar to what "tai chow" stalls would have.
Ironically the weather turned for the better on my last day at Amsterdam. This was taken on my way to the airport. Would have been perfect walking around and taking in the sights!
Final meal at the airport. I could've waited a few more hours to be fed on the plane, but the name "Dutch Kitchen" seemed quite irresistible. All because I didn't think I could get a proper smoked salmon sandwich in Japan! :)
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