Hello hello hello.  Ok, lets try this again (I typed this really ling blog earlier but apparently it only saved the hello hello hello).  Well, let's see if I can remember what I wrote. 

Singapore
My flight was 8 hours long (which is way too long, I swear).  I had a seat at the window, just before the wing of the plane so I had a good view of the ground and everything.  We flew over central and western Australia.  It's really cool they have this channel that tells you where the plane is at that exact moment, how far you have to go, what speed the plane is going, the time in the location the plane is, the time in the country you're going to etc...  I watched a couple of movies, "Blades of Glory" and "Premonition", as well as The Simpsons and Black Adder.  I wanted to watch "In the Land of Women" but the station wouldn't work properly.  It sucks a bit cos they have like 8 movies playing but they all start at the same time so if you miss the beginning of one you haven't seen (like I did for "Premonition") you have to wait like 2 hours before it starts again.  The meals were ok, there was a snack (chicken and mushroom pie) and then dinner (chicken and rice with veggies) and dessert (apple pie).  We got drinks as well but in my opinion they never gave me enough water, I was so thirsty the whole time, and they don't let you bring your own on the plane cos of all that terrorism stuff.  Aargh!!  I didn't sleep on that flight, I read the Netherlands Lonely Planet Guide so I'd know kind of what to go and see when I got there. 

Anyway we got to Singapore about 8.45pm (Singapore time) - 10.45pm in Brisbane - and then had to wait nearly 3 hours to board my next plane.  There was a delay because some of the passengers were delayed on the previous connection flight so the pilot decided to wait for them to arrive before taking off.  I was soooo tired (it was like 12.30am Brisbane time before we even starting taxiing) but I didn't want to go to sleep until we were in the air and of course, I needed another drink of water.  I fell asleep for about an hour or so (and missed dinner! which was actually ok cos I ate on the other flight) but then couldn't get back to sleep for ages.  Planes are soooooooo uncomfortable to try and sleep, seriously when I have some money I am only flying business class.  My bum's still sore when I sit down.  Anyway I ended up getting another couple of hours sleep and also watched NCIS (coincidentally the same episode I missed Tuesday night, spooky) and some of Night at the Museum before we landed at about 6am Amsterdam time (2pm Brisbane time) on Wednesday.  Oh, I was looking at the flight thingy and at one stage it was -40 degrees outside the plane, and I thought I was cold.

Amsterdam
It was about 15 degrees when we got in to Amsterdam and cloudy.  The pilot actually said it would be a nice day but it's been all cloudy all day and it rained for a while too (thanks again mum for convincing me to buy that parka, it came in so handy, covering my camera and everything too.)  I caught a train from Schipol Airport to Amsterdam Centraal Station (very smooth ride, double decker trains and they have bins in the sides too).  I then walked to my hotel.  I had to ask someone to help with directions as the streets are so confusing.  You don't have to press a button when crossing the street it just goes green man when you can.  The roads are crazy there are cars, trams, buses and bikes absolutely everywhere.  The cyclists are crazy they go so fast and don't wear helmets, even when there are kids with them!!  I finally made it to my hotel, which had the longest, steepest stairs I have ever seen!! where I left most of my stuff as I couldn't check in till after 12pm and then went on a walking tour that was outlined in the Lonely Planet.

I'll jsut put a list and brief description of the things I saw:
- Magna Plaza - huge shopping mall, beautiful building
- Koninklijk Paleis - Royal Palace that is the official residence of Queen Beatrix although she lives elsewhere, it's massive with these big angel thingys on top
- Nieuwe Kerk - New church, another big beatiful building
- Multatuli statue - clay-like statue of a famous writer
- Huis met de Hoofden - house with the heads (it really does)
- Greenpeace building - originally built for an insurance company and has these tiled angels on the sides
- Anne Frank House - quite sad to see where she actually lived and hid out in those tiny stuffy rooms, really long queue to get in
There were a few other places on the list, a couple I couldn't find and couple that were being renovated so no point really looking at.

I then went back to the hotel and checked in (oh, did I mention this morning I got a free breakfast there, so I had 2 breakfasts, although the one on the plane was really bad except for the fruit salad).  I rang Mum and Dad for a bit and had a bit of a relax while I tried to figure out what to do the afternoon.  I ended up going to the Rijksmuseum (some of the paintings were amazing - Sean there was one of some children making a cat dance to music) and the Van Gogh museum (a couple of nice ones there, I'm not really a big fan but I can see why he's so famous_.  Then I strolled around near the Holland Casino and on my way back to the hotel and this internet place I found a little group of streets filled with cafes and restaurants so if I can be bothered walking back there I might go there for dinner, it's a little bit of a hike though and my feet are killing me.  Unfortunately I won't get to go on a tour of the red light district.  All the ones I was looking at today to see if places were free needed to be booked 72 hours in advance.  Oh, well, I think my bike and boat tour tomorrow goes through there.  I think it might be best if I just go to bed early tonight, I'm so very tired and my feet are so very very sore (that's right I want you to pity me). 

Ok, I'm going back to the hotel now to decide what to do for dinner and then I'll probably fall asleep.  I'll hopefull try and write again tomorrow, after my tour. 

Love Sarah

P.S. I know it's really long and quite possibly incredibly boring but it's for me to remember as well, in case I forget to write stuff down in my diary.  Oh, I saw lots of canals and canal boats too, in case I forgot to mention it.  Miss you all!