Us kids had been waiting a super long time for this trip, first planned circa July in the year, finally the day arrived (more like night since we took a night flight out to get into Europe in the morning)!
Nice festive decor at Changi!
Soon it was departure time!
SQ324 from SIN to AMS.
Daddy get some serious Priority Passenger Service treatment!
Check out the SQ bears (chef edition, this time round we get both the boy and the girl versions!).
Flight time was 14 hours thereabouts headed from SIN to Amsterdam, but seemed a little shorter (13 hours from Paris back to SIN).
What do we do but the obvious!
Day 2
Zaanse Schans village with traditional windmills, clog making and cheese making factory.
Clog Making at Volendam!
Madurodam, little miniature village with some rides and Dutch history.
Miffy! Did you know Miffy is Dutch!
Pretty much hang around the Amsterdam main shopping belt around Dam Square.
Eagle-eyed Mummy spots Primark, her fav go-to in Europe! We have dinner near Dam Square after walking past some shops selling magic mushrooms (who thought there would be magic mushrooms outside of Super Mario Land!) and space cakes!
Manneken Pis (yes like the little boy from Brussels) – voted #1 fries in Holland.
Who needs space cakes and magic mushroom when you have the best fries!
Day 3
We take it easy a little today since everyone was trying to adjust to local time, and after day yesterday!
We headed went back to the Dam Square and have some time shopping for souvenirs, tulips, clogs and the likes. There was the option to visit Anne Frank’s house which we passed on since tickets had to be prebooked ahead (The Diary of Anne Frank, which is apparently the most translated Dutch book in the world!).
Take a canal cruise and get off at Gassan Diamonds to visit the gallery. It was interesting to see intricate canal system and boat houses in Amsterdam.
Day 4
Today, we travel to the busy port town of Rotterdam. We see the De Verwoeste Stad, a sculpture by Ossip Zadkine which commemorates the bombing of Rotterdam during World War II, marvel at the innovative Cube Houses, a unique housing project that survived the war.
Next, visit Markthal Rotterdam, the country’s 1st covered market that features 96 fresh produce stalls and 20 hospitality and retail units on the 2 lowest floors. Designed by Dutch architects, this covered food market is shaped like a giant arch. A staircase in the centre of the market, named the Time Stairs, displays a permanent exhibition about the history of food and artefacts found during the excavation of the site. In the afternoon, we travel to Roermond designer outlet, close to the German border.
We spend a couple of hours there, had lunch and then drive a further 1.5hr to Cologne to see one of the most fascinating old towns in the country. We reach late in the evening and headed straight for dinner at a traditional German bierhaus (Didi says he has space cakes in Amsterdam and now beer in Germany – like Orion beer factory in Oakinawa!) thereafter check in to our hotel, the Mercure Koln.
Day 5
The next morning we explore Koln town, mainly around Cologne Cathedral, a gem of Gothic architecture and one of Germany’s most visited landmarks. While Daddy, Mummy, Gugu, Yeh Yeh and Mah Mah (pretty much everyone else had been there in the past) it was the first time they were visiting around Christmas.
There was a Christmas market adjacent to the cathedral, Weihnachtsmarkte Koln, bustling with stalls from souvenirs fashion and food for the last minute Christmas shopper. Daddy says the brats have bratwurst and crap (actually it was creppe!) and choco fondue and some warm ribena milk thingy which is supposedly warm wine which folks sip while strolling around the market (we find out they gave us the zero alcohol version but of course burps!). There was even a some stage performances. Really like pasar malam style…
We turn travel 5 hours south-West towards Reims via the Belgian border. Mummy gives us 30mins game time during this time.
In the evening we went to another bierhaus. Even though Reims is in France it’s proximity to Germany meant we (oops the adults) would likely get some good beer!
Mummy wanted to get escargots but in the end we went with beef stew and more fish and chips, obviously with beer to boot!
After dinner we took a stroll along the French Christmas market at Reims just a stone’s throw away from restaurant and our hotel.
Day 6
We headed out towards Epernay, Champagne region and visited Maison Mercier, one of the largest and longest Champagne houses (since 1858!) in France. We took a tour down into their cellars 30m below ground, and a 30min train ride around the sprawling 18km network of tunnels in the underground labyrinth. Whee!
Mummy bought some bubbly, her happy drink! We find out they are the same family as Dom Perignon, Moet Henessey, Krug having been acquired by LVMH since 1987. At 20 Euros a pop daddy had been mumbling the whole way to the airport we should’ve bought more!
2 hours later we get into Paris city.
We embarked on a city tour and immerse in some of the most iconic sights of this timeless city – Napoleon’s Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees (shop dou nei sei) Boulevard and Eiffel Tower. Thereafter, we check out Fragonard Perfume Museum, one of the largest perfumeries in France, and indeed, it also happens to be an awesome place to purchase exclusive French scents that won’t break the bank. We get the best-selling Etoile (made of Ginger, Bergamot and Apple), Frivole and Diament. FYI #funfact, did you know that perfume came about because one of the French kings, King Louis XIV was so terrified to bathing they he forced court officials to create a new scent every week and said to spray his visitors with perfume upon entering his palace. He was said to have had only 2 baths in his adult life – both occasions recommended by his doctors! OMG… I don’t need to be a doctor to tell you bathing is good for you!
We walked towards the Louvre.
We spend the rest of the day at Galeries LaFayette where mummy gets a new bag as Christmas pressie!
Day 7 – Merry Christmas!
We hang out around Paris City on Christmas morning, and take a river cruise along the Seine. There is a point in which we see both the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty! The original apparently since the one in New York was a gift to America.
We go scouting for Chinese food after setting for McDonalds the night before!
Day 8
Next morning we get up early to head to Paris Disneyland. We take the train past Gare du Nord to Marne-la-Vallée-Chessy station about 45 mins away. From there it was a short 2 min stroll to the gates of what was supposedly the happiest place on earth.
We have a super early breakkie but when we were about to leave, we spot Yeh Yeh, Mah Mah and Gugu having breakfast!
We skip the character meets and go straight to the rides. First up was Pirates of the Caribbean boat ride. All aboard! Ahoy mate and who do we see but Captain Jack Sparrows!
We find the Indiana Jones roller coaster ride. Mummy chickens out halfway in the queue and ditches us. We take the first car and daddy’s right behind. At the end of the ride we were blown away. Whoa this was our biggest roller coaster ride thus far!
Dumbo!
It was such a cold day to be out queuing for rides in the open, seems our old man caught a chill. At which point we thought it wouldn’t be worth queuing up anymore for rides so we paid for the Express/Fast Pass for the Buzz Lightyear ride, at 12 euros a pop per pax it seems OK to escape queuing in the cold. Poor Daddy. Slept like a log all day when we got home to nurse the cold.
So tired, and Daddy wanted to take an Uber back to the hotel, but turns out the metro ride took only an hour to get back to our hotel!
Day 9
We head to the airport to catch our flight back from CDG TO SIN…
Merry Christmas 2023 from all of us!
