August 5: Amsterdam Day 4

This morning LB woke up at 4 am because his mosquito bites were too itchy. We went to breakfast at 7:45 and then left for Centraal Station to meet up with Kyoko-san who was helping her friends get on the bus for Zaans Schans. After we met up with her we all headed to the NEMO Museum, which is an interactive museum for kids.

NEMO Museum

We spent three hours checking out as much as we could and LB was having a blast. He said his favorite parts were the giant water clock, the Rube Goldberg presentation, the exhibit on how clean water is produced, and a game where you had to protect earth from comets, asteroids, solar wind and UV-radiation by holding a shield that sensed where you were on the screen. 

Rube Goldberg Anticipation

We were finally able to pull LB away from all the fun in the Nemo Museum and go do a self-guided food tour of the Jordaan neighborhood with Ojiichan and Hirojichan. We went to a sandwich place called Broodje Mokum and tried a meatball sandwich, a hindustani chicken sandwich and a filet Americain sandwich, which was basically a steak tartare sandwich. Our next stop was Fa. H. Wegewijs for some cheese. We sampled five different kinds of cheese; they were a young (jonge kaas) Beemster aged 28 days, a young matured (jong belegen) Beemster aged 6-7 weeks, an old (oude kaas) Beemster aged 10 months, a truffle beemster and a goat cheese. They were all exceptional but our favorite was the 10 month aged Beemster. It had a perfect blend of creaminess and salty complexity. 

MMMMM Cheese!

From the cheese shop we headed to a gelateria called Monte Pelmo and on the way it started pouring down rain. Luckily the gelato shop was pretty empty when we arrived so we were all able to fit inside. Christal ordered the panna cotta with forest fruit and I ordered the panna cotta with forest fruit and passion fruit. The passion fruit was very good, but the panna cotta with forest fruit was excellent. It had a nice mixed berry flavor and the creaminess was very light and refreshing so it didn’t feel like it weighed you down. 

More Canals

After the gelato we were getting a little full so we were going to skip some stops and try to go to a place that had apple pie, but unfortunately when we got there it was packed to the gills because of a gay pride boat parade that was happening city wide throughout the canals and so we couldn’t even get in the door for the pie. Thanks to the gay pride events going on throughout the city the last few days I saw more than my fair share of fishnets, chains and leather. Since our last stop was a no-go we decided to head back to Centraal Station so that Christal, the kids and I could go to another stroopwafel place and Ojiichan and Hirojichan could head back to the hotel. After dodging all the gay pride revelers Christal and I made our way to van Wonderen Stroopwafels where I got a stroopwafel with chocolate and salted caramel candy and Christal got one with chocolate and mini marshmallows. They were both very good and very sweet, but we agreed that Rudi’s Stroopwafels were better since they were made fresh to order, whereas van Wonderen’s wafels were made en masse and finished to order with syrup and toppings. 

Not As Good As Rudi's

After we got ourselves all hopped up on sugar we headed back to the hotel for a little bit before heading out for dinner with Ojiichan and Hirojichan. Dinner was at another Indonesian restaurant called Sampurna.  We ordered another rijstaffel and I don’t think Indonesian food is Ojiichan or Hirojichan’s favorite cuisine. I thought the food was good, about on par with Kartika’s, but Sampurna gave us more sambals and the grated coconut tasted better to me. Christal and I really enjoyed the rijstaffel though and for me the standout was the chicken curry. 

Ayam Rujak - Chicken w Lemongrass, Chili & Coconut Sauce

After dinner we headed back to the hotel and put the kids to sleep,then I took a walk around town. I walked by the red light district just to say I did and it was a bit underwhelming, and it was also so crowded that they had security on the streets directing foot traffic one way only. 

Red Light District

From there I walked to Centraal Station to catch a tram back towards the hotel. At one of the stops I saw that the canal bridge was lit up so I got off quickly and was able to try to take a few night pictures before the bridge lights turned off, which turned out to be at 11:05 for some reason. Then I went back to the hotel and went to sleep.

Centraal Station

August 4: Amsterdam Day 3

This morning LB woke up at 3 am because he was getting bit by mosquitoes and was too itchy to sleep. We had opened the windows a couple days ago and saw mosquitoes flying in. Since then we have been trying to kill them all, but somehow they keep coming in. LB ended up falling asleep at 7:30 so we let him sleep while we went to breakfast a little before 8am. After breakfast we went to the Rijksmuseum and wandered around there looking at all the great works of art. 

Van Gogh

They had one self portrait of Van Gogh, a whole lot of Rembrandt’s works including ‘The Night Watch’ and many more from Rembrandt’s proteges. The museum itself is a beautiful, old building with lots of intricate stained glass as well as having been recently remodeled to have a modern interior. 

The Night Watch

When we were done going through the museum we walked to the Metro and went to watch Kyoko-san perform again at Gymnaestrada. Her group’s performance this time seemed to be cleaner and they did a very good job. After their performance Ojiichan, Christal, the kids and I went on a self-guided food tour through the de Pijp neighborhood, and more specifically Albert Cuyp Market. 

Albert Cuyp Market

We signed up for it through the I Amsterdam card and then they sent us a PDF itinerary to follow with discounts for each stop. We went to FEBO for croquettes, Tjin’s Toko for Surinamese chicken and potato curry with rice, long beans and piccalilli hot sauce, Mezzava where we went off the tour menu for a Jewish smoked short rib sandwich, that the owner recommended more than what was offered for the tour, Vishandel (fishmonger) Albert Cuyp for herring and kibbeling, Poffertjes Albert Cuyp for poffertjes which are mini pancakes doused in butter and powdered sugar, Rudi’s Original Stroopwafels, and lastly Osaka Balls for takoyaki. By the end of our tour we were pretty full and had been able to see all of Albert Cuyp Market. 

Rudi's Stroopwafels Were Amazing!

From the market we headed back toward our hotel and booked a boat tour of the canals. Before our tour got started we had time to drop off the stroller in the hotel room, while also finally waking LB up from his slumber.

Rudi's Stroopwafels Soothes the Mosquito Bites

The boat tour got started promptly at 4 pm and went through the city on some of the canals, rivers and other waterways while we listened to an audio guide of the city. 

The Famous Canals

When the boat tour finished we headed back to the Gymnaestrada for one of their FIG Gala shows which seemed to be attended by over half of the participants and fans. Most of the countries present had one act from, I’m guessing, one of their elite groups and most of the performances were very impressive, whether it was the choreography, the acrobatics or the physical skill that was shown. Unfortunately we had to leave a little early in order to make it to dinner on time. Dinner was at a restaurant called Zoldering, which was awarded with a Michelin star and the food was all extremely good. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and after I helped get the kids down for bed I walked around to see if I could get some night pictures.

Unfortunately, none of the canals were lit up and the streets were pretty crowded with partiers because there is a gay pride festival going on. After walking around for a while I headed back and went to bed.

Rijksmuseum

August 3: Amsterdam Day 2

Thanks to the jet lag Christal and I woke up around 3am and then LB woke up around 5am. Since Maddy was still sleeping LB and I went for a stroll through Vondel Park, which was a block away from our hotel. The sky was overcast and the sun was just coming up so everything had a gray hue to it, and because of how early it was the park was completely empty.

Morning in Vondel Park

We walked past several ponds and a statue and eventually exited the park after about a half hour. On the way back to the hotel was a nice church called Vondelkerk, that we passed.

LB & a Church

When we got back to the hotel we relaxed for a few minutes and then headed up for the breakfast that was provided. We had yogurt, croissants, baguettes, cheese, sliced meats, hard boiled eggs and juice. It was pretty good overall.

What Jet Lag?

A few minutes after we finished Kyoko-san met us and we headed to Centraal Station to catch a bus for Zaans Schans, a small town with several old windmills that’s about twenty minutes away from Amsterdam. In Zaans Schans we walked around the touristy old town and out past the main four windmills. They had the sails extended on the blades and they were turning at a pace that was fast enough to hear up close. 

Windmills

After we walked out and back we checked out a building that showed how wooden clogs were made, which turned out to be quite interesting, and then headed into the Zaans Museum and checked out the exhibits that were in there. 

Clogs

Ever since the windmills have been present in the area Zaans has had several successful industries that were relied upon, which included lumber, oil-pressing, paper, chocolate and rice. After going through the museum we decided to have a quick lunch at the museum cafe and then head back to Amsterdam to make our 2pm time slot for the Rembrandt House Museum. Unfortunately there was some sort of problem nationwide with processing pins and our quick lunch turned into an hour and a half ordeal. 

View of Zaans Schans from the Museum

Luckily we were able to move our Rembrandt House reservation a little later and made that on time. The Rembrandt House Museum was very interesting. Thanks to an inventory of what was present in each room they were able to partially recreate how the house appeared when Rembrandt lived in it. He moved in in his early thirties and had to move out because of financial troubles in his fifties. The audio tour provided was very informative and interesting to listen to and seemed to give a good history of Rembrandt and his life. 

Outside Rembrandt House

When we finished at the Rembrandt House Museum we split up from Ojiichan, Hirojichan and Kyoko-san and went to try to find a stroopwafel place. Unfortunately they were sold out, but we were able to try a herring stand that was nearby. The herring we got came lightly cured or pickled with fresh onions and pickles and Christal and I thought the herring was really good. 

Dutch Herring

After enjoying our local snack we headed back to the hotel to relax for a few minutes before dinner. Before heading to dinner Ojiichan told us he was too tired for dinner and then Hirojichan was helping Kyoko-san with some kind of passport issue she was having so we ended up having a family dinner with just the four of us. We ate at Kartika, an Indonesian restaurant that was just around the corner from the hotel. We had a rijstaffel, which translates to rice table, and is a remnant of when the Dutch had colonies in Indonesia for the spice trade. It is basically lots of little dishes that you can eat with rice, so you get a great variety of food to try. It was all really delicious and Christal and I came out stuffed. After dinner LB and I wanted to show Christal and Maddy Vondel Park, so we walked around the park for a little while before heading back to the hotel for the night.

Some of the Rijstaffel

August 2: Amsterdam Day 1

Our flight to Amsterdam went smoothly and we ended up arriving about 30 minutes early. This gave us plenty of time to get through customs before we met up with Uncle Hiro, who came in from Helsinki almost two hours after us. We took a taxi into Amsterdam to our hotel since we couldn’t figure out if our I Amsterdam cards could get us into the city. Luckily the Prinsen Hotel had all of our rooms ready early and we were able to drop off our luggage in our rooms around 11am. After we got situated a little bit we met up with Ojiichan and Hirojichan in the lobby at noon and left to go see Kyoko-san perform at the World Gymnaestrada event at the RAI Amsterdam complex. We had to walk about a kilometer to get to the metro station passing Vondelpark and the Rijksmuseum on the way. Once we were on the metro it took us straight to the RAI and we walked to find the entrance for the Gymnaestrada event. 

Gymnaestrada Venue

There were quite a few food trucks and vendors set up outside the venue so we decided to get a quick snack at one before going in for Kyoko-san’s performance. I picked a truck called Las Fritas that specialized in french fries with lots of different sauces and we also got a beef croquette and a cheese souffle, which was really just a breaded slice of cheese that we found to be pretty disappointing. The fries were delicious with a crunchy exterior, pillowy-soft interior, seasoned perfectly and complemented nicely by the various sauces that included aioli, curry, chutney and of course ketchup. The beef croquette had a really great crunch and a satisfying, rich flavor that wasn’t too heavy for Christal. 

Las Fritas Fries

Once we had our food we tried to make our way inside the venue, but Hirojichan had forgotten that we needed to buy tickets, so we spent a few minutes in line getting our tickets and then made our way over to where Kyoko-san’s group was performing. Her group was made up of several female instructors and they performed a well choreographed show that lasted about 10 minutes. 

Kyoko-San's Group Performance

After they had finished their performance the six of us, Christal, Luke, Maddy, Ojiichan, Hirojichan and myself, headed back to the hotel. Back at the hotel we got the kids and ourselves showered and were all able to take a nap before we gathered to head off to dinner. Luke’s nap ended up being quite a bit longer than the rest of ours as I had to carry him through the city and on the tram all the way to the restaurant. I had made a reservation at d’Vijff Vlieghen, which translates to ‘The Five Flies’, which specialized in seasonal dutch food in a richly historic setting. When we stepped into the restaurant it felt like we were transported back in history a couple hundred of years, but the food was refreshing and modern and everyone seemed to enjoy it. By the end of dinner LB had finally woken up and on our way back to the hotel we stopped by a store to get some snacks for him to eat. Once we got back to the hotel LB ate his snacks and we got ready for bed and hit the hay early.

d'Vijff Vlieghen Interior

April 24: Tokyo

Luke woke us up at about 6:30 this morning, climbing all over us. We packed up and fed him some food that we got at the Family Mart last night. Auntie Kanako was meeting us in the lobby at 9 am so we had some time to kill. I journaled some more and edited some pictures while look played around the room and Christal studied/watched Luke.

Peek-A-Boo

Just when Luke was getting antsy it was time to go meet Auntie Kanako so we headed downstairs and checked out. She was waiting for us when we went down so we left our luggage with the front desk and grabbed a taxi to Tsukiji Market. By the time we got to Sushi Zanmai there was already a line outside. We waited about 20-30 minutes before we were seated at the counter. While we were waiting the host outside who was keeping track of the line informed us that there was a brand new menu that had been implemented about 2 hours before and it was the first menu update in years. Apparently they added more maki like California roll to cater to tourists. Once we were seated Auntie Kanako told the sushi chef we would eat whatever was best today. We started with otoro, which just melted like butter. It was rich and light at the same time with a slightly minerally tuna flavor.

Otoro

We were given aburi toro next, which is seared toro. It was just as good as the otoro, with a slightly smoky flavor from the blowtorch.

Aburi Toro

A huge piece of anago came out next. It was so big it took about 4-5 bites just to eat it. It had been seared to render some of the fat under the skin so that it would have a lighter flavor. The tare on it complemented the seared flesh well.

Anago

Next was hirame no kobu, which was basically halibut. It was very mild and had a nice tender, firm texture and clean flavor.

Hirame No Kobu

After that came kinmedai no aburi, so it was seared kinmedai. Again, the blowtorch lent a slightly smoky flavor which did not overpower the subtlety of the kinmedai.

Kinmedai No Aburi

Aji with a little ginger and green onion was given to us next. Usually aji has a fairly strong, oily fish flavor, but this one had an extremely neutral flavor. I could have eaten it without the ginger and green onion, it was that mild.

Aji

Next came nodoguri no aburi, which is blackthroat seaperch that was seared. It was excellent as well and had a similar mild flavor to most white fish.

Nodoguri No Aburi

Then the torigai no name came out, which is a Japanese cockle. Right before he served it the chef gave it a little slap, which caused the muscle to move, giving it the appearance that it was alive. It didn't have too much flavor, but the texture was amazing. It was buttery soft, yet it didn't break down too easily when you chewed it. It was different from anything I've had.

Torigai

After that was kani miso, which is crab innards. It has a very funky flavor that can be pretty strong and is a bit of an acquired taste. I think it is pretty good, but it is far from my favorite thing, and Christal isn't a fan of it at all, but she put on a brave face and ate it with a smile.

Kani Miso

Next was namadako, or fresh octopus. The outer skin had been removed and it was snow white. The chef had made tenderizing cuts into it, but it was so white my camera didn't even pick them up. He also seasoned it with salt, which helped bring out some of the sweetness. It was more tender than I was expecting, which was nice.

Namadako

Ikura was the next nigiri to come out. This ikura was slightly saltier than the one we ate at Budounoki and I liked both. This one seemed like each individual egg popped more for some reason.

Ikura

After the ikura was uni. Like Budounoki this was consisted of a lot of small tongues of urchin roe rather than a couple of large ones. This one had a little more of the coppery mineral flavor that I'm used to, but it was also more intensely sweet that the one in Fukutsu.

Uni

Then katsuo came out. The chef made lots of small checkerboard cuts in the fish which he said was a style used before the edo era of sushi and it helped to tenderize the fish. It had a milder, less fishy flavor than I was expecting, which was helped by the ginger and green onion on top.

Katsuo

Shima aji was the next piece than came out. It had a very firm, crunchy texture to it that made it unique. It had a mild flavor, but the texture is really what stood out and made it enjoyable.

Shima Aji

Next was akadai, also known as ark shell or red clam. The chef also slapped this one right before serving to make it move as it was set on our plates. It had a slightly chewy texture that I was expecting from a clam and the flavor was nice and mild.

Akadai

Shiro ika, or white squid, came next. It had a light sprinkling of yuzu zest on top that added a nice citrusy zing to it.

Shiro Ika

Then we had another piece of anago, but this time it was the typical nigiri size.

Anago

Maguro no hoppeta, or tuna cheek was next. It was seared slightly, which helped release some of the fat and juices. We had it this way last October when we came to Sushi Zanmai and it was just as good this time around. It had a very tender texture and the flavor reminded me of very juicy filet mignon.

Maguro No Hoppeta

Next came aka ebi. It was seasoned with salt, which brought out the sweetness of the shrimp and it had a tender, silky smooth texture.

Aka Ebi

The last sushi we had was toro to takuan no maki zushi, which was a toro and takuan roll. We each received two pieces, one topped with ikura and the other topped with uni. It was very good, but for me the taste and texture of the toro was slightly overshadowed by the takuan. Once again though I came away from Sushi Zanmai stuffed with amazing sushi.

Toro To Takuan No Maki Zushi

We walked around outer Tsukiji for a little while and then walked over to Ginza, which was only a few blocks away. I wanted to go to Dominique Ansel bakery again so we went to the Mitsukoshi department store again and Auntie Kanako did some shopping of her own.

Buckwheat Soba Croissant

We met back up with her at 1, about an hour later, after we had gotten a violet lychee cronut and a buckwheat soba croissant and her husband, Uncle Kenji, came to meet us too.

Violet Lychee Cronut

We took a taxi back to our hotel where we retrieved our luggage and then they accompanied us to Haneda airport. The route that they took us was much more efficient than the way we went to the hotel last night. Once we got to Haneda we checked in and then said goodbye to Uncle Kenji and Auntie Kanako. We walked around outside of security for a while and grabbed some soft serve at one of the stores. Somehow while neither Christal or I was looking Luke managed to take a bite from the bottom of Christal's cone so she ended up having to eat hers quicker than I've ever seen her eat soft serve, it was pretty amusing.

Oops

After wandering for a little more we went through security and headed in to the ANA Lounge since our seats for the flight were premium economy. The lounge was nice, they had some mini sandwiches, namban chicken, potato wedges, potato salad, salad, onigiri, chicken curry, stir fried udon, and a noodle bar with udon and ramen. It was a relaxing end to our trip.

Sansai Udon