2015 has come and gone. I swear the older I get, the faster time flies - I know, it's because everything is relative and all that jazz, but it still makes me feel sort of nervous to think that it's already February! Where did January go???

Here's a sort of year-end review of My Favourite 2015 Travel Moments, in no particular order:

On my last day in the Netherlands, I decided to visit Edam and Marken. Commonly known as the Waterland area, Edam, Volendam and Marken are often visited together in a day tour. You can get a Waterland Day Ticket to visit these 3 places, which was what I did since it enables you to take the trains in Amsterdam as well as the public buses.

There are options of following a tour to the Waterland area, but instead of following a tour, I decided to just take the bus to visit Edam and Marken because these two places sounds like the kind of places I'd love to visit. I skipped Volendam on this visit since it sounded a bit too touristy for my taste (nothing wrong in it being touristy, I just thought it wasn't for me).

Be sure to make note of the bus schedules as well as the bus numbers - there are apps shows you which bus goes where as well as their respective timings, which will be useful. When in doubt, just ask the drivers as they are super helpful :) (Plus the bus stops are super confusing for me for some reason.) One of the bus driver even stopped the bus to let me know that I should get off at this particular station because I've missed my previous stop - if he didn't let me know, I'm pretty sure I would've just gone back on the bus back to Amsterdam lol.

The visit to these two places definitely exceeded my expectation - I can go so far to say that in terms of the landscapes, I much prefer the Waterland area compared to Amsterdam. (In terms of attractions though, Amsterdam still wins.) Highly recommended if you have an extra day or two and you're a bit bored of Amsterdam.

Edam

This is the bus platforms at Edam where you would wait for your respective buses

Dude, where do I sign up for the house-and-boat-package?

Seriously, it seems like everyone has a boat???

Obligatory selfie

This is similar to Amsterdam, non?

Someone's ready for Christmas

Marken

Having had my fill of Edam, I then made my way to Marken. Marken is my favourite place out of the two, hands-down! Marken gives you the impressions of a rustic countryside living, and the walk around the area is my favourite - they even have a walking path along the coastline! Can you imagine having a daily morning walk along the coast? 

Had chips at the above building, which is actually a restaurant!

These chips are seriously THE BEST THING EVER especially during winter, with the mayonnaise and all <3 Also, I have a bad eating habit whenever I travel alone, and this was my breakfast and lunch. Yeah I know, I'm trying to work on that. 

I took a stroll around the Marken area trying to find the infamous Marken Lighthouse (you can call it getting lost, but again, it doesn't sound as nice).

While I was in Edam & Marken, I noticed that people were really friendly - most of the people I encountered would smile, but some would even go a step up and give you a friendly "hello" with a 1000kW smile. I was infected to follow their way while I was in Edam & Marken and just smiled like a fool and said "hello" to every stranger I passed by - you don't get that kind of friendliness in Amsterdam, that's for sure. (Plus, it would be pretty tiring to do it in Amsterdam, the city with the densest population in the world!)

You know that Robert Frost poem about the road less taken? Yeah, that poem aptly described my situation in this case.

I'm preetttyy sure I'm trespassing across someone's farmland... 

Ahhhh, at last, the light at the end of the metaphorical tunnel! After a 30-minutes walk through someone's farmland probably (sorry I was accidentally trespassing!) I finally saw the silhouette of the Marken Lighthouse.

The walk along the coastline was suuuuper windy! I loved it, except it was also super freezing lol.

I am in love with the coastlines in Marken.

After a satisfying day, I went back to Amsterdam for a last stroll around the area before I had to make my way to the airport and back to Malaysia.

My last lunch-as-dinner in Amsterdam - halal kebab! This was seriously delicious. 

Goodbye Amsterdam, you've been kind to me! 

Go to [Netherlands 2015] Amsterdam

I took advantage of the transit flight in Amsterdam to extend my stay there for 4 days, since my flight ticket was expensive anyway so might as well make the best of it! KLM was kind enough to accommodate with my many travel needs (such as changing my flights twice lol). 

After saying goodbye to Iceland, I made my way to Amsterdam.

I checked into Qbic Hotel, which is situated in the WTC area, about a 2-minute walk from the Amtersdam-Zuid Station. A pretty reasonably-priced hotel (with interesting "design" choices - such as the omission of a bath / toilet door), free wi-fi, super close to the train station which makes it easy to get to the Amsterdam city center, and the WTC buildings houses some restaurants which are worth looking at (there's a Wagamama chain here, which I didn't try, but many have recommended the restaurant).

That's right, there is no door separating the toilet and the bedroom. Not a problem for solo travellers like me, but a problem for couples probably :P For the price, I'm not complaining! And I've been told the hotel is supposedly looking into this issue.

My only complaint was that there was no water kettle. Otherwise this place is pretty awesome.

The first few days in Amsterdam was pretty gloomy - I was spoilt from the excellent Iceland weather I've had for the last three days, so my spirits were pretty dampened by the weather welcoming me in Amsterdam. Still, I was there, so I made the best of it.

On the first day there, I visited the Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum - bought my tickets at the Visitor's Center outside of Centraal Station since I didn't want to line up outside the museums.

The Van Gogh Museum was truly worth the visit - I'm not a an art expert, merely an art lover, but I've always felt some sort of empathy for Van Gogh's story as well as his paintings. During the time I was there, there was also a Munch exhibition ongoing, and there was a parallel to their stories which was really interesting and somewhat sad - to think that such similar men with heartbreaking stories of their own and yet never had the chance to meet each other. The museum had most of Van Gogh's famous works there and more importantly his life story - probably one of the greater tributes to Van Gogh imho.

Had a light breakfast at the cafe in the museum - great ambience, not so great spinach juice (yeah, I know, my fault for picking spinach in the first place instead of normal orange juice, sue me)

My next stop was Rijksmuseum, which was really huge. I had no idea beforehand how huge this place was going to be - I think I only covered maybe 50% of the exhibits because I just didn't have the energy to continue on afterwards lol. Probably it would've been a better idea to have lunch before and dedicate 2-3 hours or even half a day to Rijksmuseum if you're planning to visit.

The rest of the day was spent just wandering around Amsterdam while trying to find Centraal Station by foot lol (you can call it getting lost, but it doesn't sound as nice).

 

WHAT IN THE NAME OF GOD IS THIS. WHY IS THIS IN VONDELPARK. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR ARCHITECTS AND ENGINEERS.

Aaahh sinful waffles I miss you so

Somehow I've stumbled upon Chinatown - there was a temple around this area

o hai there Malaysian restaurant

I also booked myself a Free Walking Tour with Sandeman Tour - basically the guide will take you on a walking tour around Amsterdam's main attraction points while telling you all kinds of interesting histories (prostitution, marijuana laws, how the canals are built, etc.) and at the end of the 3-4 hours' tour, you're expected to give them tip based on how you like their tour. Tip generously if you really like your guide, as the commissions are basically their pay!

An advantage to joining these kind of tours when you're travelling solo is that you make friends along the way :) 

Our walking tour group

We learned that back in the day, Amsterdam people would be recognized by their trades - so these kind of wall carvings would indicate your profession and would be hanged outside of your house. If I had a house mine would be Nadirah the Travelling-Engineer or Engineering-Traveller or something along that line. Now that's a mouthful.

The narrowest house in existence - can you find it? Go ahead, I'll wait.

This was not what I had in mind when I ordered cheese pancake. I'm not complaining!

After the tour was finished, a few of us decided to grab something to eat at a nearby restaurant before we make our way to the Anne Frank House. Anne Frank House is one of the must-visit attractions - yes the lines can get extremely long but it will be worth it. We were lucky, since we went in the late evening and most of the crowd has thinned, so we only waited for 5 minutes. 

Visiting the Anne Frank House is sobering - there's a hushed silence that follows you when you walk around the house, where the walls have so many stories to tell. I think the thing that haunts me the most when you're there is realizing that this truly happened - it's not just an abstract concept, these people were truly killed because an idiot decided that he was judge, jury, and executioner. You learned about it in history books, yes, but I don't think the realization that it truly happened really hits you until you're there, standing in Anne Frank's previous room, reading about the horrors that happened to her and her family.

It's even sadder to think that these things are still happening, that Hitler's idea didn't die with him, that there are war-mongering idiots still living and breathing around us and planning wars in other countries in the name of "freedom".

With that sobering thought, I end the travelogue here.

Go to [Iceland 2015] Day 8 (Silfra Snorkeling & Aurora Hunt) | Go to [Netherlands 2015] Edam & Marken