Took KLM. Had to take a direct flight, stopovers are only allowed if there are no economy seats left for direct flights (shame, coz would have loved to stop over at Dubai or sth, and also coz I thought it would be better to break up the long flight into two, more manageable portions). So it's a choice between SQ and KLM and I think the travel arranger went for KLM coz it's cheaper (later my colleague told me I should have just insisted on SQ and they would probably oblige - works for him. Oh well. Lesson learnt). Quite surprisingly (at least to me), flight was completely full. Didn't realize so many Europeans travel this route. Checked in at airport and was trying to exchange seats but couldn't find an alternative at all. 

Flight was delayed by an hour or so due to late arrival from Bali which gave me more time to kill in airport. Oh well. 



As I mentioned in the post-trip post...flight was surprisingly manageable. Managed to get about 6 hours of interrupted sleep which is the best I have managed anywhere. Secret is to get the window seat which allowed me to rest my head on the window, helps a lot. Nothing to shout about the food, though I did find a couple of movies to watch. All translated to a pleasant flight and I landed in Amsterdam in relatively good spirits.

Hung around in the airport a bit buying SIM card, finding out how to get to hotel. Had a complimentary train ticket from airport to RAI Amsterdam (where the trade show is) and since hotel is nearby, decided to use it though I had to find out how (whether to redeem a proper ticket, seeing that I only had a confirmation slip which is in Dutch, which train to board etc). Sought help from info counter and hopped on a train in no time.

Took only about 10 minutes from the airport to RAI station, and another 5 minutes walk to my hotel. Accommodation of choice was Novotel, was familiar with this brand and not that there are a lot of choices anyway. Travel policy stated that I am allowed a 4 star hotel with rates of up to SGD 350 a night by the way, so this one fits. Obviously too early to check in (it was about 10+) unless I am ok with a twin room, so deposited my luggage, and hung around in the lobby, making use of the free internet to plan my day lol. Yep, like I mentioned I didn't plan much for this trip - I only know my agenda for the day is to find a cycling tour (in place of a walking tour, for obvious reasons). So went about searching for one that can accommodate me (most of them require advanced booking, coz they need to arrange for tour guides who can speak specific languages if requested) and settled for one from Yellow Bike Tours - had to call to check the availability but all's fine so reserved a slot for the 1.30pm tour.

It was pouring at this point and headed out with one of the hotel's umbrellas - out to the tram stop nearby to catch a tram to Amsterdam Centraal, where I can then buy a proper OV-Chipkaart - their version of Ezlink. 




Walked over to the meeting point after getting the card settled, thinking I should just find the place first then grab something quick to eat nearby. At this point was wondering if I should even go for a cycling tour in this weather but miraculously after lunch, the rain stopped and the sun came out even. And turns out there were only 3 people in the tour (not sure if business is usually slow or people were turned off by the rain) - Me and a German mother/daughter pair who requested for German language so the poor tour guide had to keep switching languages.

Cycling was a largely enjoyable affair. Have always said the culture matters as much as the infrastructure - the large number of cyclists meant that most motorists are well aware and able to look out most of the time. Something that SG is definitely very far behind no matter what the politicians and policy makers think - right that's another story. The one problem with cycling tour though is that unlike walking tour, you can't exactly stop much and take pictures, and catch up with the group - the guide is cycling pretty fast so if I do stop for a bit, I'll probably lose them considering the size of our group lol. And I didn't bother keeping track of directions either, just follow the guide as we weave in and out of backlanes and canals which mostly look the same.







Returned the bike at about 4.30pm, and wandered about the area near the New Church, with the strong smell of weed from "coffee shops" in the air. You don't even need to try it - you just know it's weed. Deciding that I better get some rest and there is still plenty of days to explore more of the city, headed back to the hotel and called it a day.