Sunday, November 24, 2013

My Sunday

It's all about Christmas here in Amsterdam. In the US, the holiday season officially does not kick off till Thanksgiving, but not here.
Temporary stores along the street, while some Christmas decoration in front of the department store.
I hate most about the business trip is eating meals by myself. I usually take out the food to the room which I did today. Not blue sky today but the city seems pretty

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Spectacular Sunset

It is rare to see blue sky during the winter, but today was exception.
This church was so pink by getting the refrextion, while the view from the room was another beauty.

Another Concert in Amsterdam

My second consecutive weekend in Amsterdam. I thought that I would need to work today but I did not, so another concert.
The hotel has placed the oven in my room, so my lunch was cooked in the oven - no preparation required as the grocery store has prepacked meat and vegitavles. Put it in the oven and after 30 minutes, you have a nice lunch. Not too bad actually.
A nice weather to walk to the concert hall which is like 2 miles away. On the way my favorite sweet place was displaying a BLABK faced kid cake as December 5th is the day.
All tickets have free access to the bar including wine. A glass of wine before the concert... Hopefully I won't go to sleep.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Santacrauce....

I think this spelling is correct, but it is Dutch tradition to celebrate the arrival of Christmas. Kids and some adults make their faces BLACK. I need to learn more about this...

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Weekend One

Ok, I will have three weekends to spend this time, and I don't want to bore myself.
Another discount ticket for a classical concert. Walked 20 minutes to this famous concert hall.
I really like the seat from the back.

Friday, November 15, 2013

A Long Stay Started

I am back in Amsterdam and this time for a LONG time - more than 20 days.
The front desk staff even did not tell how many days when I checked in but "for a while" maybe to make me feel better.
Back to a city view suit. This stay should put me over 200 nights at this hotel alone this year... I wish there is a higher status than Diamond, which requires ONLY 75 nights per year. I have over 1,000,000 points at this hotel chain so I need a VACATION.

Lunch in Carroll Garden

 I just found that my previous posts have not been posted here...
Almost one week old post, but we went to Carroll Garden - one of up coming neighborhoods in Brooklyn - just 15 minutes walk from the apartment for lunch. This area has very nice (not expensive but nice in terms of food and atmosphere) restaurants, and we choose this Italian place this time. We were here a few years ago but it was summer and it felt totally different.
Salad, meat ball sandwich and pork dish... Very satisfy with all of these dishes. We could have had deserts but we did not want stuff ourselves so no sweets this time.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Lazy Sundy

Winter weather officially started... This means no more sunny day, at least showers every day.
No plan to do so reading a book at the lounge while my room is cleaned.
Whacky weather outside...

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Ballet Night

It became a custom to search deals in the morning on Saturdays. Today I found a ballet ticket for less than 15 euro. It was not the cheapest seat, meaning not too bad seat.
When I got to the theater, it was like 20 percent empty and I was sitting at the center of the last row. Perfect.
Tonight show was Don Quichot. A classic ballet in Europe... Price less.

Saturday Lunch in Amsterdam

Spending the weekend in Amsterdam, good in the sense of no flights but it is not home...
Lunch at a Japanese restaurant which specializes in Okonomi-yaki, yet ramen seems popular.
Extra vegitables to supliment my not so healthy weekday meals.