In Dam Plein (main square), this wasn’t here 2 months ago. Reverse bungee too
You could see some of it all the down Damrak (the main road from the train station)
Tag: sights
Lübeck old town – a Unesco site
Poor photo of the main gate to the cute old town, which is also ringed by water.
Didn’t know about the Unesco designation!
I’ve been here before, so I only did a quick drive through…
Only in Japan part 2
Maid-themed restaurant (shill outside is how all the waitresses are dressed)
AKB48 cafe/gift shop
Google it (The girl band, not the cafe) or I’ll add another post later
AKB means Akihabara, an area well known for electronics and geek/manga culture. The video games in the multi storey Sega gaming building has some crazy complex graphics (I tried to follow someone playing, guess I’m too old for that now).
Cat cafe. Pay extra to hang out with cats while you support your latte. I grabbed this flyer somewhere but forgot to look for it
Putting restaurants under the 4 storey high train tracks. Waste no space.
Toilet seat instructions. Wow, can’t I just flush? Admittedly, the warm seat is a nice feature when it’s cold…
I like this one: Wash your hands in this sink, which drains into the toilet tank. Brilliantly resourceful.
Sights in/near Asakusa
Tokyo Skytree tower, the top is in the clouds so I didn’t bother going up. Allegedly taller than the CN Tower but it didn’t seem like it to me. Also, the base of this tower is wrapped in a 6 storey entertainment complex.
Kaminari-mon Gate at the end of Namakise shopping street, leading to…
Sensoji Temple
With a peekaboo old and new view of Tokyo Skytree.
Nearby was also a nice little sento (public bath) called Jakotsu yu, which has a real onsen (hot spring)
Tail O fishing village on Lantau
From my 20min boat tour (HK$20/US$2.60) but we didn’t serve any pink dolphins. As in bubble gum pink, yet somehow named Chinese white dolphin.
Houses on stilts (well this one is a cafe)
View from my cafe stop
Tasty BBQ’d oyster with cheese on the street (HK$20)
Colourful mural in the village square
More Big Buddha
Big Buddha on Lantau
Scenic gondola ride up (HK$94/US$12 one way), with a great view of the massive airport.
Now the sun is starting to come out briefly. Oh it’s gone again.
Rembrandt’s Nightwatch at the Rijksmuseum
Huge painting with new (at the time) light effects. Painting was actually trimmed at one point to fit in a new location. Did you know Rembrandt was his first name?
The museum, with a temporary Henry Moore sculpture, reopened earlier this year after extensive renovations
Nightwatch is hanging in back, to give you a sense of scale…
Amsterdam misc day 2
3 of 12 Van Gogh self portraits at a special exhibition of digitally restored photos (think faded colours) and 3D recreations of 7 pieces
Jordaan, a peaceful neighbourhood a brief walk west of the old town
Fast food too slow? This fast food outlet at the train station also has a vending wall of self serve hot items
Tasty Indian dinner at Koh-i-Noor resto near Anne Frank Huis (which had too long a line as few sights are open in the evening)
Snacks and drinks in the quiet “executive” lounge at our hotel
Quick packed weekend in Berlin
We came for Susan’s reunion which included a busy/fun/interesting schedule, including:
A Trabi Safari tour of Berlin (trabi is colloquial for the cheap East German Trabant car (diff spelling), which has a 2 stroke engine so the tour has a special permit for them)
Berlin wall of course
Pergamom Museum with the Ishtar Gate of Babylon
And Potsdam Sans Souci palace
