First time taking KLM and was apprehensive at first due to the narrower seats. Turned out to be quite alright as the seats were new with touch-screen TVs. Food wise wasn't fantastic with cold wraps, but the service was warm. Slept lightly for 6 hours before waking up for breakfast, which was fairly western affair.
Got a scare when I arrived at the baggage belt where it indicated All Baggage is unloaded. Checked with service counter and realized it was a computer error and they apologized and made announcement over the PA system!
After luggage collection, my colleagues and I took the free shuttle and arrived at Park Plaza Amsterdam Airport Hotel. Not exactly an airport hotel as it took around 15 minutes ride to reached, more because it's within the airport distinct. The location was quiet with very little industry and some residential neighborhoods nearby.
Upon dropping the bags and a quick shower, I gathered with my colleagues and headed towards Amsterdam city. The nearest team station was around 15 minutes walk away and the Tram took another 30 minutes to reach Amsterdam Central Train station.
It was great to be back in Amsterdam city, nearly 4 years since I was last in the city back in 2012. This was my favourite European city because of the beautiful historical buildings, romantic canals, neatly planted rows of waterside trees, and cool weather. This time, though, it was so much colder at around 10 degrees. It was late winter and the weather was starting to get warmer (but still very cold for a Singaporean!)
It was a brief shop-and-walk along the main street, buying some local cheese and grabbing lunch (Mexican was the order of the day for lunch, and there were so many Mexican restaurants!). As time was pretty tight (we need to get back for afternoon meetings), we had a one hour canal cruise ride to experience the beauty of Amsterdam. This was my second canal ride, and it was as good as the first time, and it felt like a brand new experience again!
After the cruise, it was a mad rush back to the hotel where I will be based for our global team workshop. Dinner was at the hotel's restaurant, Victor. It was a 2 course dinner with beef pastrami as starter, Guinea fowl for the main, and tangerine creme brûlée for dessert. Plus the seemingly free flowing red wine. I was dead tired when I hit the bed after the 3 hours dine, wine and chat dinner!!
Day 2 was a full day workshop within the hotel with nothing eventful happening.
Day 3's workshop was at The Edge, a technological marvel of an office building that was occupied mainly by Deloitte, our consultant who planned our workshop. The building had intelligent lighting systems from Philips which allowed it to track people movement and adjust lights accordingly. The lights are also internet points which provided WIFI throughout the building. It even had a robot to clean the floors of the building! Oh, did I mention it also had terrifying (but visually pleasing) glass balconies on each floors.
The weather turned cold during our stay at The Edge, with both rain and snow falling from the grey skies. By the time we stepped out in the early evening, the air was jittery cold! What a great way to start our night walk tour of Amsterdam City!!
In the frisky cold wind, our big team trolled the cobbled streets of Old Amsterdam. With our tour-guide, we were imparted with valuable knowledge of each historical buildings. Even though I had done similar walking tour back in 2012, this was different as it took somewhat a different route. We stopped by a bar where the whole team had a choice of Bols (a Dutch spirit), wine, beer or soft drink. I had Bols since I'd never had it before. It was surprisingly sweet and fruity. The alcohol warmed the body and everyone was suddenly merrier!
After the drink, we went past the red light district (my first night walk and the glass display had more ladies available!). We arrived at Van Puffenlen Cafe for our dinner. The restaurant was decorated in a classic manner with dark lightings. The place was small and cramp, especially with all our winter wear. Then again, it was housed in hundred years old building. Dinner was another 3 course, with a fantastically cooked medium rare beef steak! The 2 hours dinner finally ended with our can ride back to the hotel.
The last day's workshop was conducted within the hotel and was concluded by 1pm. Thereafter, I checked out of the room and headed straight back to the city for last minute shopping. First stop, the large supermarket near the Dam. I grabbed some cheese and shampoo (they were much cheaper in Europe), and of course my favourite cherry liquor chocolate (I swept the shelf off all 10 packets of them!). At the same time, I explored some new side roads (which I had no idea existed and no clue to their names). Walking based on my directional instincts and not a map, I 'wriggled' through the maze of small roads network across the city. By 4pm, I took the tram back to the hotel to re-pack my luggage.
Back at the hotel, I visited the hotel spa to freshen up myself before the flight. The spa was unisex, and in Asia, that would mean swim wear is a must. But I'm not in Asia and the rule here was to be stark naked when in the spa! I had that experience last time I visited Amsterdam, but luckily for me, the whole spa was empty. I walked in my birthday suit comfortably with the whole place to myself, steamed myself silly in the super hot and foggy steam room, baked myself red in the sauna, and lay relaxing my by the sun bed overlooking a water canal before heading to shower myself in a very open and spacious shower area.
I met up with my colleague and waited for our shuttle back to the airport (another 15 minutes ride). At the airport, a simple burger and wings dinner together with the famously local Heineken beer before heading to check in my luggage, which was tipping the maximum allowance of 22kg!!
Just when I thought it was straight back to Singapore via the 8.55pm flight, a huge confusion was formed at the boarding gate. Turned out our B777-300 plane was down due to technical issue and had to be replaced with a smaller B777-200 plane. This has forced some passengers to be off loaded to travel via Dubai instead. It was God's grace that I had selected the second last cabin instead as all in the last cabin was all removed (around 100 pax!!). However, that also meant it was a full flight back. I loaded myself with everything sleepy (muscle relaxant and flu pills) and managed to sleep a full 7-8 hours of the journey!
It was a pleasant but brief work trip, with a fair amount of leisure time.
