“Ma’am, did you really not think you needed to buy a ticket?”

Step counter: 124,911
(15 days, from June 4 through June 19)

Rough landing in Amsterdam, you guys… Less than 30 minutes after getting off the plane from London, I get in trouble with the Amsterdam transit system. For no other reason than I’m dumb and lack common sense sometimes. In my defense, if they required you to buy a train ticket to board a train, then why are their gates wide open?! I only realized when I got to my station and wasn’t able to “tap out” of the exit gates.

The worst part wasn’t even the transit guy basically asking me if I’m dumb through the speaker phone of the “information” pole. It was when he sighed like a disappointed parent (probably with an accompanying face-palm) and told me to just go through the gate he opened for me in a very resigned voice. That day, I was the source of his disappointment in the human race and especially Americans. Haha joke’s on him. I’m Canadian 😈

Also, I almost got run over by a bicycle. This definitely crossed an item off my bucket list: escape narrowly with my life in an encounter with an Amsterdam cyclist. I can die happy now, at the hands (bike tires?) of the next aggressive cyclist.

Anyways, I realize that I have no chance of making it as a travel blogger, or really any profession that doesn’t have externally imposed deadlines. I’ve been in Amsterdam for 12 days now, but felt absolutely zero urgency or desire to sit down and pen another blog post. I have moments of inspiration where I think, “that’d be such a good blog post topic!” But, yeah, here we are 12 days later. So, what have I been up to since my last post? LOL good question! It’s been so long that I forgot where I left off. Be right back while I go read my own post…

Oh, right, best food I had in London. Sooooo… I didn’t care much for trying fish and chips. I get that it’s an iconic meal to experience, but I’ve had fish and chips before. And even when it’s really good, it’s not mind blowing. That’s my hot take. Sorry, not sorry. You know what was mind blowing though? The confit duck burger I had from “The Frenchie” at the Southbank Food Market. The day I went on this food tour, I had some truly delicious food. But this burger will forever remain one of the highlights of my life. This burger is a culinary miracle consisting of duck confit, the best caramelized onions I’ve ever had, and a zingy arugula salad between two perfect brioche buns. The duck was tender and perfectly seasoned; the caramelized onions were sweet and flavorful; the arugula salad was zingy enough to lend a fresh contrast to the rich savoriness of everything else. I will probably make a special stop for this burger again when I’m back in London for my flight back to Boston.

Speaking of food, bakeries are just too accessible. Judging by the number of croissants I’ve eaten since I left Boston, I have certainly morphed into a giant croissant. Even the random croissants I get from the supermarket are pretty damn good.

Yikes! In my excitement for duck burgers and bakeries, I completely forgot about my fancy lunch at Turnips in the Borough Market. That is probably a good indication of my thoughts on it… I opted for their lunch-time tasting menu. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t that hungry, but I was underwhelmed. I was so underwhelmed, in fact, that I decided to cancel my reservation at 104 Restaurant in Notting Hill, Michelin star be damned. I realized that I didn’t feel the need to drop triple digits on dinner that tastes marginally better than what I’ve eaten before. Sorry, EMJ.

I also spent some time browsing the shops and stalls at the Portobello Street Market. There’s so much stuff I wanted to buy, so thankfully I only walked away with one vintage Moschino skirt. No, I don’t want to talk about how much it cost. Just know that it is ever so slightly too tight at the waist, but I’m going to wear it anyways.

The People I Meet on Vacation

Because I was in an Airbnb for the second half of my time in London, I didn’t meet as many people. And, having to work half the day probably didn’t help much either.

1. Tolu: she just graduated from medical school and is heading to New York for her residency after her trip in London! She and I bonded over our search for our “signature scent”, which I’m pretty sure only became a thing for us due to Instagram marketing geniuses incepting this concept in our minds.
2. Kathryn & Dave: I met yet another couple of Canadians in the 2 weeks I’m in London. They are a couple from Nova Scotia, where they are both police officers in the RCMP. They are so nice and really fit the Canadian stereotype.

One last thing before I end it here for my 2 weeks in London. I accidentally dyed my hair bright ass purple. I look like a grape! Or Grimace from McDonalds! By the time this post is published, I’ve had to live with looking like this for over 2 weeks. When random people tell me that they like my hair, I can’t help but suspect that they like my hair like Regina George “liked” Cady’s bracelet.

Alrighty, I need to prepare to go to an edibles baking workshop with R soon.

Doi doi! (That means “bye bye” in Dutch.)

P.S. If you are wondering if I am indeed writing this in a cute Amsterdam cafe, you’d be correct.