Day 98: Rest Day in Amsterdam

August 10, 2025

Day 98: Rest Day in Amsterdam

Yesterday, I didn’t go into any museums because two of the museums I wanted to visit were fully booked for several weeks. They are the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum. Since August is the height of tourist season, I know now that I need to book tickets in advance, or at least check ahead to see if I need to purchase tickets ahead of the time.

My favorite painter is Vincent Van Gogh and it’s a disappointment that I couldn’t go into the museum. The most I could do was to take a photograph from the outside.

In the end, I decided not to buy a museum pass since it’s not worth it for me. Today, I will visit Rijksmuseum since I can get the ticket on the same day.

In any case, I rode my bicycle around Amsterdam. That’s the best way to explore the city, in my opinion. Every time I saw something interesting, such as a church, I’d cycle over there and see. Then I would pick a direction and continue cycling until I see something cool again. This strategy worked great for meandering around in Amsterdam on a bike.

I had the most expensive meal of my trip in Chinatown at a restaurant called China Sichuan Restaurant. I knew I was getting ripped off when I asked for tap water and the waiter said they didn’t have any. At least my Double Cooked Pork was good. The total was over €28, or over US$33, for one dish with rice and a soda. I should have checked Google reviews for this restaurant, like I do for all the other places I eat at. But this time I didn’t because it was one of the few places that opened at 11 AM for lunch. This restaurant had 3.9 stars, which isn’t that good. Lesson learned.

There are many canals in Amsterdam and the photographs I’ve seen were true to the city’s magical scenery of bicycles on a bridge with the canal in the background, along with the Dutch buildings on the sides. I even took some photos with the same composition.

In the afternoon, I came back to Colin’s house to take a break then I walked back out again since the weather was nice and sunny. At The American Book Center, I bought a gift for Colin, a book called The Millionaire Fastlane. I had seen this book many times before but never read it. I thought it was a good present for Colin since he’s into personal finance and is an entrepreneur.

For dinner, I was trying to find an authentic Dutch restaurant. After talking to some locals, I ended up at an Indian restaurant. The food was a bit expensive, but I don’t think it was Dutch. I ended up treating myself to stroopwafels from a grocery store. They are thin waffles with caramel in the middle. They are so good!

This morning, I woke up at 6. Colin and his girlfriend, Caroline, were going to the airport in the morning. I bid farewell to them and I thanked them for a great stay at their place in Amsterdam.

Today, I will visit the Rijksmuseum in the morning. Then I will stop at De Vakantiefietser, a local bike shop, to see if they can put on a new bottom bracket on my bike since there’s some squeaky noise. Around 5 PM, I will meet my friend Dineke at IJplein on the north side of Amsterdam so we can ride our bikes to her house in Edam.

It’s such a dream come true for me to come to The Netherlands. I will miss Amsterdam. Definitely one of my favorite cities in the world and I hope to come back again.