Amsterdam, one of the places that I have always wanted to experience for myself the life and culture of the people and the society. And Here I am, finally here, setting foot on its welcoming soil of a clog and cheese factory which was our first stop into the Netherlands.

There, we were treated to a clog making and cheese manufacturing processes by a couple really humourous but knowleadgeable dutch. They gave pretty good demostrations and a few interesting trivias regarding clogs and cheese.After the demos, we were free to roam around their stores which were filled with all varieties of clogs and cheese. We took quite a while to decide what we wanna get before we left the farm for the bus.

Along the way we were all keeping an eagle eye, trying to spot the one thing Holland is famous for, which is none other than the Windmill! But we were quite luckless in this aspect. But surprise surprise, Dan seems to know that everyone wanted to check out windmill and brought us to see one. It was the first time I've seen a real windmill and it was "majestic" to me. We took quite a few shots with the windmill and hurried back to the bus as I think we weren't suppose to be stopping there.

So one down on the to see list, and onwards to the party capital. It was raining when we disembarked from the bus. It wasn't really a problem except that we had to walk a fair to the hostel without shelter. But no one complained and we scurried to the hostel with Dan at the front leading the way. It wasn't the most welcoming hotel we've been to. Only had the basics but the plus point is that it was really near the main places-to-go.

After we were done checking in, we gathered again at the hostel bar and got ready to set off for a mini tour around the city center. Off we went and we were guided by Dan to the a square and then set free to roam around on our own. We were given a time to meet back at a statue though. We had little problem navigating around the capital and Mike and myself got ourselves a nice burger dinner. We then made our way back to the rendezvou point.

This is where things got interesting, it was getting dark and it just means the red-light district is open for buisness and thats exactly where Dan is going to bring us to for a walk. THe sights in the streets illuminated by fluorescent red lights was really an eye-opener for most of us. Then we reach this club called the Moulin Rouge, where those who took up the optional for watching the Sex Show, entered and braced themselves for what was coming up.I shan't go into the details of the show but it was quite worth the money. I was pretty much involved with the show too along with a few other mates. I leave it to your imagination to guess what happened.

After the show, it was already dark but we continued to a nearby club for some drinking and partying before we headed back to the hotel to rest, to prepare for the long day ahead the next day.

When woke up, the sky was dark and you can smell the rain approaching. We were going to have a bicycle tour this morning which almost everyone signed up for. We were split into 2 groups following a local guide each. We had to brave the rain throughout the whole journey. It was actually not much of a problem except that the visibility wasn't that great and there were some sights we couldn't appreciate due to this. But it was ok, the guide was really funny and what made it really funny was that he totally don't look like a funny guy at all.

After the bicycle tour, we were free to wander on our own till aoround dinner time where we will end off the whole trip with a dinner in a chinese restaurant. And so we broke up into little groups to explore the city whichever way we liked. Mike and me basically tried to walk the whole city. We visited several street bazaars which sold pretty local and useful stuffs. The food sold there was cheap and delicious as well. We passed by the Heineken brewery too but the tour was not available due to renovations going on, which was a pity.

It was time to meet up for dinner. We gathered and set off together for the chinese restaurant on water. It was quite a well-decorated place and the interior was nicely designed too. We were led to our tables and shortly after we've settled down, we had a mini "thank you" ceremony for our trip leader and his trusty bus-captain sidekick. We then had table shots and of course a emotional last dinner together.

Then came the highlight of the day, after dinner, we went onto a Heineken cruise which half the group signed up for. It was worth every penny though, there was free flow of beer and wine! We had a great time chatting and having drinking games on board the cruise.

After the cruise, we all went out to party. We had a crazy night of beer and dance before we decided it was enough for the night, which was pretty much morning already actually.

We had a hard time getting up the next morning which was expected. We packed up and felt sad while leaving the hostel for the bus. 2 weeks has passed in a blink of an eye.