Day 6: Orienting Ourselves in Amsterdam :)

We are heading to Amsterdam this morning. :) Lin booked us on the Thalys. :D

The train ride was approximately 3 hours 15 mins. Not too bad. :) From Amsterdam Central Railway Station, we cabbed to Mr Jordaan Hotel. ;) This hip hotel is located along the Bloemgracht canal, in a 1896 building. :) That's quite something isn't it! :D

View from our room ;)

Now time for some nice Dutch fare. ;) Walking is the best way to explore the city. :D

Here's our lunch spot, The Pantry. It serves traditional, old Dutch dishes. :)

I have no idea what Dutch fare is about until this first meal in Amsterdam. :)
Dutch shrimp croquettes with homemade cocktail sauce. 

Bitterballen (beef croquettes)

Seabass fillet with mash and fresh green herbs 

Stew beef with mash and beetroot

Our Amsterdam day 1 exploration continued after lunch. :) 

Albert Cuyp Market didn't interest us much. But at least we tried Stroopwafles. :D

When in Amsterdam, how can we not visit the Miffy store! :D I really needed to get one Miffy! :)))

Cherry blossoms are in season! Woohoo! :)

After a week away from home, we missed Asian food. So dinner tonite would be Indonesian cuisine at Jun. :D

Tummies are filled and ready for bed. Was contemplating to find a supermarket to grab some ice cream but our lids were just too heavy. So this is our day 1 in Amsterdam. :)

Details of The Pantry:
Leidsekruisstraat 21, 1017 RE Amsterdam, Netherlands
T: +31 20 620 0922
W:https://thepantry.nl/info/

Details of Jun's Indonesian cuisine: 
Frederik Hendrikstraat 98, 1052 HZ Amsterdam, Netherlands
T:+31 20 785 9185
W: http://www.restaurantjun.nl/en/#

Tis the Season :)

It's my fav time of the year again! But this year, I'm not feeling quite it as some of my gfs are away and one actually forgotten about our Christmas gathering. :~~~( Age...

On a side note, I'm loving my berries Christmas tree! :D

Check out the stuff on my tree. :)

A pic of Beanie, mom & Koka before the guests arrive and I would be all over the place. :) Someone's grumpy... :)))

The ornaments on my mini tree grew this year! :) 

Who's this gorgeous mummy??? :D

Our Christmas feasts are more meat based and minimum priority is given to vegs. This year, we tried to include them to our Christmas feast to give our guests a more wholesome treat. ;) Lin & I gotta source for more ideas to make our salads more appetising and appealing. :)

We cheated with our turkey. These flavorful turkey is from Da Paolo. ;)

This ham roll looks cushy! Lol! :)))

Sandra is now a sporty mom! :D Her gals made her so. ;) 

Mom's marinated mid wings are a yearly affair. :D

Tuna for our tuna cups. :) 

These prawns made such wonderful compliment to our lobster bisque (I forgotten to take a pic of it). The down side of serving prawns is everyone, myself included, is too lazy to peel the shell. :)))

I marvelled at the fact we are friends since we were 7 year olds & some memories are still so vivid. :)))

Wish we can catch up more often with Pauline. :) But it's ain't easy being a mom to two little boys! :D

Pauline's annual Christmas contribution is a log cake becos to her log cake is Christmas. :))) Well setting Swiss rolls aside, log cakes only make their appearances during this time of the year. :D 

Someone gifted mom this traditional Italian Christmas cake. :) Isn't it pretty? :)

We have the youth choir from our church for Christmas carolling and everyone sang along! :D 

I favor small intimate gatherings. On the 2nd day of Christmas, Lin and I had our tithes counting team over for BBQ on our rooftop. :) 

Lin & I have no qualms serving in a ministry with more seniors. :) "Become friends with people who aren't your age. Hang out with people whose first language isn't the same as yours. Get to know someone who doesn't come from your social class.This is how you see the world. This is how you grow." 

We praise God for the wonderful weather. It had been raining the last few days. :)))

Aunty Pih Yann & Lin trying out our new Fermob bench. :)

Serving lobster bisque first as our BBQ grill is small and can't barbecue as much stuff as we like at a single go. 

Clarence & Kian Ann :)

Second log cake this Christmas :)))

Our Christmas treats for our team. ;) Blessed Christmas to our happy ministry. :)))

On the 3rd day of Christmas...

This is our first Christmas at FESQ with our floral team. :) Again, it was a small and cosy affair. :)

No more log cakes. A small chocolaty cupcake to share is highly favoured! :)

Thumbs up to these berries too. :)))

Our neighbour Zi Ling joined us! :)

The main for this evening was turkey pie, cooked by Lin & I! :D

This isn't self praise...but....it's REALLY GOOD!!! 

Joo our very first team member is back for Christmas dinner too. :)

These torched babies are from Elaine. :) We are always blessed with fabulous neighbors whereever we go. :)

I think I know who holds the bottle! :)))

To many more aweome neighbours! :)

I love impromtu get togethers. On the 4th day of Christmas, we headed to BAM for Christmas dinner with some of our cousins. :)

Something to kick start our dinner. :)

Jamon Iberico de Bellota is addictive. :)

The early comer...Alex

Pardon me, but I can't recall what this is. :)

I'm liking the crunch of these Spanish Octopus :)

So Alex & Joyce whipped out their phones to take pic of the gorgeous food before us too. :) I'm not alone. :)))

Another delightful pasta. :)

Christie and Ethan tagged along. :) They are foodies too. :)))

Lin & Peggy :)

Toriyamaa Wagyu Tenderloin

Presenting the sake we had this evening. :D All tasted too sweet for me. :)))

Here comes Ed! :D

This Pork Jowl is power! :)))

Becos Ethan & Christie wanted more carbo. :)))

Vegetable stew doesn't sit well with me but the broth was nice. ;)

We were wowed by the Tuna. :) It just melted in our mouth. *.*

White veal sweet bread that made us wonder and ponder what we were eating. :)))

It's not often we do this. I'm loving the company tonite. :)

We ain't calling it a day until we try BAM's desserts. :) 

Details of BAM: 
38 Tras Street
Singapore 078977
T: +65 6226 0500
W: http://bamtapassake.com/singapore.html

On the 5th day of Christmas, Ann tabao lunch from Fun by Tao Seafood for us. :D After days of indulgence, something light is yeah! :)

On the 7th day of Christmas and the last day of 2016, we have Charlotte, Grace, Benny, Jarius & Faith over! :D

We wanted a very interactive session for Jarius & Faith. Creating our own kueh pie tee & popiah will be fun! And we really hit the jackpot as Faith loves kueh pie tees! :D

My popiah is flat & rectangular. :))) 

But it was yum!!!!

Kueh pie tees are such addictive stuff. I tried to limit myself to 6 but ....

Grace & Benny bought satays! :D

And Charlotte bought us otahs!!! :D 

Faith kept asking Grace for more kueh pie tees. :)

It's monopoly and pictionary right after dinner. :)

The littlest one wanna be part of the game too. :)))

And we ended our 2016 with pictionary. :) 

Thank you God for carrying us through the year and blessing us much more than we deserve. :)