HASJ DREAMER - October 30 - November 6,2009

geoffk · Post by **geoffk** » Wed 11th Nov 2009 07:55 pm

Boner wrote:Just looking on fbn's menu site and saw this one: Greenhouse Haarlemmerstraat it doesn't look like a Greenhouse menu to me.

Ha, good eye Boner. I agree.

HasjDreamer · Post by **HasjDreamer** » Thu 12th Nov 2009 01:58 am

geoffk wrote:
Boner wrote:Just looking on fbn's menu site and saw this one: Greenhouse Haarlemmerstraat it doesn't look like a Greenhouse menu to me.
Ha, good eye Boner. I agree.

Shit! Sorry about that (sorry FBN!)...let me get my act together and figure out exactly WHAT menu that is!

-HD

HasjDreamer · Post by **HasjDreamer** » Thu 12th Nov 2009 03:07 am

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2009 CONTINUED...

We leave the Bookstore and tuck our newly purchased items under the seat and start scooting off via Churchillian. We're hungry and decide to stop off at the Cuypstraat for some chow. The stands aren't doing it for us so we find a little brasserie "Pucky's" where the wife hooks up with a great broodje while I COMPLETELY luck out blindly ordering the "warm ham" and getting that killer pastrami-style ham with the creamy mustard sauce on a warm baguette! I savor every bite and thank the very helpful Dutch woman who patiently served us and treated us like a couple of regulars!

Ready for a smoke, we pass on Katsu (where we parked Gil) in favor of someplace new. Relying on memory my goal is to track down Van Woustraat and one of its coffeeshops. I know it runs parallel to Ferdinand Bolstraat so we dart around the neighborhood uncovering VAST amounts of cRaZy de Klerk/Amsterdam School architectural detail. From buildings and archways that we could actually scooter through to bridge detail work it was cool how quickly we began to spot the specific style. The buildings are easy - they all have the tell-tale art deco style numbering on their doors.

Our instincts prove correct and we quickly spot Van Woustraat and cruise southbound spotting our first shop DE KEEPER. We keep going south but it looks like that's the last shop on the street (it was) so we bang a u-ey and decide to give it a shot.

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Weird shop but weird-cool...we're buzzed in at the front door and enter a sort of lobby area with a little window to buy your product. The budtender is a bit quiet at first but in usual fashion warms up to us offering his opinion and allowing us to take a pic of the menu:

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We decide on the old-skool "Jack Herer" at 7.5 euro gram...

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So we're hoping to hang and now we're buzzed into the seating area where the same budtender becomes the cafe server making us tasty coffees while we get settled. This shop is LOCAL - the smoking area IS partitioned off but the door is propped open. The are has 3 tables and 4 chairs and we sit across from a chilled local (Moroccan?) just smoking and reading the local paper. The shop is popular enough as several couples pop in for a grab-an-go. We relax and smoke the Jack - nice cure, good sized buds that had a neutral flavor but real nice and relaxed buzz.

The sun is shining like my brain and Gil is sitting out front, just BEGGING for us to climb aboard...

We head out in no particular direction and we begin passing straats and lians seen on our maps at home: John Kennedy, Roosevelt and Churchill. We just follow the fairy-tale scooter/bike paths and let the road and city unwind in front of us! Soon we're passing Beatrix Park, the Artis Zoo and he memory of catching the Amstel and riding along it to the city center will stick with me for a while!

Getting close to the center we decide it might be a good idea to stop off at our apartment in Nieuwmarkt and give our butts a break! It's been a good 5 hours and I have a perma grin a MILE long on my face!

We bop next door to HILL STREET BLUES ON THE MARKET for some hot cocoa and "Ketama Gold" at 9 e/g.

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REALLY nice traditional Moroccan hasj, sweet, fragrant and a we bit stoney. We wound up chillin' for longer than expected enjoying their new comfy chairs and loading our Amsterdam map (finally!) onto our iTouch. Wifi isn't as easy to locate as we hoped with many places promising but none delivering!

Hungry and ready for dinner, we head towards the Haarlemerstraat for some Indian food. We seek out the same place we found last trip in June but it's PACKED and no tables are available. The wife wants her vindaloo so we placate our tastebuds and stomachs with some fries and shwarma a the place across from Popeye's. When we're done, we go BACK to Popeye's for some internet and coffee (and take along smokes). We check our email, the wife maintains her Facebook farm and we try the restaurant again...

Success! We score a window seat at NAMASKAR on 47 Haarlemerstraat for what was THE hottest dish (Chicken Vindaloo) I have EVER had. Now, I've had some spicy, fiery food... Suicidal wings, Dave's Hot sauce etc. but there was something positively EVIL about THIS dish:

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Tasty as ALL hell, the burn comes on slow and deliberate until your head is sweating and your stomach feels insulted. All the rice in the WORLD couldn't have helped sop up that Saucifer!

Ok, I'll wrap up the night and we'll go on to the Ajax match next!

-HD

Goosey Joe · Post by **Goosey Joe** » Thu 12th Nov 2009 08:52 am

Great write up HD, thanks for sharing

HOw is Hill Street Blues since the refurb?

pengaldinho · Post by **pengaldinho** » Thu 12th Nov 2009 05:48 pm

nice reporting.thanks a fucking lot for all those menus!so many to drool over!good report and nice list of smokes, shame about the pics- i have to take 10 to get 1 goodun and sometimes it never comes. im intreagued to try casey jones and now have seen it on 2 menus from fbns site.doubt it would be real but heres hoping.gotta get some sberry choco to......

Cisco · Post by **Cisco** » Fri 13th Nov 2009 03:04 pm

Great reporting HD

love the tales of the Gill !

gives me memories of flying round Florence on a scooter you do get to see a city in a unique way ! classic

Johnny J · Post by **Johnny J** » Sat 14th Nov 2009 05:19 am

Shit! Sorry about that (sorry FBN!)...let me get my act together and figure out exactly WHAT menu that is!

-HD[/quote]

No Soup For You!

!!johnNy J!!

HasjDreamer · Post by **HasjDreamer** » Sat 14th Nov 2009 11:53 pm

I'll hear ya Cisco...we'll never be without a scooter again!

OCTOBER 31, 2009

In some SERIOUS pain from our Indian excursion, we stop across the street for some herbal take-away:

DAMPKRING (Haarlamerstraat)
The Hasj choice is a Rif: "Habibi", the priciest at 15 e/g and we just HAD to try the "Grape", an indica at 9 e/g. Busy, busy, busy! We wait a bit but the harried budtender manages to spend some quality time with us, gleefully thrusting the open container of grape under our noses when we enquired.

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The bud was meticulously cured but we smoked it later that night before bed and no notes were taken... The Habibi, on the other hand, was WELL documented! Fudgy bordering on "frosting" consistency, rub it too long and it will melt into your fingertips! The high was strong, rich, deep and pure. The gram was HUGE and seemed to go on FOREVER!

Now in between heading out and heading in, we've been stopping at the Greenhouse Effect hotel to check on our Ajax tickets - no go. We took the scooter first (before it got dark) but the street was SO packed we barely made it through. When we checked back later (on foot), it was picking up and getting busy and the dude behind the counter had been told to keep an eye out but no one had arrived.

Ok, we go back to the apartment and decide to pass on going back out (despite it being a beautiful Halloween night) in order to get up early for the Ajax match (12:30pm start!). We smoke a bit and we're in bed by 1:00am...

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2009
Game day! We're up early, 8:00 or so and have to check out today anyway and figure we'll drop off our luggage and (cross our fingers) pick up our tickets at the GHE lobby. We pack up and I'm pretty sure we're at the GHE by 9:00am and, fuck-me, NO tickets! I mean, it's 3 1/2 hours before the game starts, what are we going to do? I rush to the computer and Ruth feels our pain...I'm pulling up the emergency cell number when Ruth says "oh oh, don't send that email!". She pulls out a crumpled envelope that's been jammed into the cash register (who knows when and by who!)...

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Ahh! My body relaxes...I was starting to get pissy there for a minute! Tickets in hand, I settle down and we smoke our spliff rolled at the room. Soon enough, we stop next door to stock up a bit and roll some for pre-game celebrations.

GREENHOUSE EFFECT "Super Kif" 8 e/g with discount:

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Sugar cube! Call me Mr. Ed, 'cause I wanted to gobble up that little bastard on the spot!! I decided breaking it up and smoking it WOULD be more prudent so we rolled half for the game, half for now. Sweet and "traditional", it was a real nice start to our train ride out to Bijlmer/Arena stop so we bid Ruth adeau and told her we'd be back later to check into our new apartment.

We hit Centraal in no time but we didn't have enough coin to use the self-service machines forcing us to wait briefly for a ticket.

We notice a SHIT load of Shepard Fairy posters outside Centraal station..

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I wonder if he has an exhibit coming here soon? That would have been CRAZY cool to see his show here (we've seen the Boston one).

There were special trains running on game day so we had two side-by-side tracks to choose from for the game. Besides, we simply followed the growing sea of black and white shirts/hats/scarfs/work out pants etc. to the proper tracks!

Now, we've been hearing horror stories about this game - fans beating each other nearly to death and, at least one time, TO death! We're cautious but look around the train to see more families with little kids than anything else. Some beer drinking, but no one was rowdy. Excited? Absolutely! You could feel the vibe in the air and when we got off at Bijlmer is was pretty clear that it was game day. A sea of red and white crowded through the exits into the square around the stadium. We hung about and found a little corner to sit in and smoke a bit. No biggie, cops passed us and nobody looked twice. Jeez, try doing THAT at an American sporting event!

Heading inside it felt more like entering an airport on foot rather than a stadium. We had to scan our tickets to get through the turnstile and some were frisked (but not us).

The stadium is pretty nice - very modern and minimalist in the lobby with your Dutch version of "ballpark food" including roast beef or ham broodjes, hot dogs (more like a knockwurst/dog cross), lots of chocolate and alcohol-free beer (no 'real' beer was allowed today!). We don't see our section listed so we ask one of the attendants - he looks at our tickets and smiles. "Go through that section and walk down - and keep walking until you reach the new section we've built - you're 2 to 3 meters from the field"!

Pardon?

We walk through and head down - and keep walking, keep walking...soon we see our section and realize we are FIRST row! Actual FRONT row - no one in front of us. We look up and around and view the stadium and it's maNIFicent! Jammed to the rafters people are beginning to get rowdy and loud and we're beginning to realize there IS an event going on today for sure!

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Ahh, let the games begin!

-HD

spidergawd · Post by **spidergawd** » Sun 15th Nov 2009 05:32 pm

Great HD, I'm on the edge of my seat.

baked · Post by **baked** » Sun 15th Nov 2009 08:58 pm

very nice pictures and lovely seats during that battle

Bernum · Post by **Bernum** » Mon 16th Nov 2009 12:31 am

awesome.

Cisco · Post by **Cisco** » Mon 16th Nov 2009 01:51 am

Wicked HD ! im tellin ya man its gettin freaky

your trip report is sooo reminding me of my time spent in Florence Italy , i used to go to Fiorentina games and have a few wicked pics of the stadium with flares going off etc

anyhow soz for changin the subject

its all bout the Damage

Btw maybe i need to reread the thread but where did you get tickets to the game and for how much ?

Peace out

HasjDreamer · Post by **HasjDreamer** » Mon 16th Nov 2009 03:48 am

Cisco, Florence sounds like a BLAST! When (!) we move over, a large scale scooter and/or Aprila Mana 850 will be our "car" - and weekends or more traversing as much of Europe (North Africa someday?) as possible.

The tickets? TICKAZILLA in the UK had (3) price options: behind the goal 95 pound, top level side of field 120 pound, bottom level side of field 140 pound per ticket. We had NO idea we were FRONT row until we arrived (having purchased the bottom level seats).

The game started with much fan fair: the fans started singing football songs in Dutch and were VERY emotional with the entire arena (50,000 plus) singing along until the rafters SHOOK from their voices alone! Flares, cannons and the unfurling of section-sized banners proceeded the actual game. We sat across from where the teams came out and they were accompanied by little kids in uniforms matching their assigned player. Some older Dutch singer, dark hair heavy gut and booming voice sang a couple of songs further riling up the crowd. Before we knew it, the players were in place and the game began!

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The first half was tight and our end had the Ajax keeper so most of the action was at the other end - most: we witnessed a couple of SERIOUS close calls with Feyenoord strikers hitting once of the goal post and once just tipped clear by the keeper.

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THe game remained scoreless until about 40 minutes into the 1st half with Ajax drawing first blood. I THINK it was de Zeeuw (#40) who would go on to score a hat trick with 3 goals total that broke the scoreless tie.

Going into the half the hasj high was turning to munchies and my body was demanding a hot dog...Now I KNOW I've seen them but I have to walk about looking for the proper stand. Some stands are built in to the walls, others free standing. Alas, after much fighting of the crowd just to get out I spot the dog line and queue up properly. The 20 minute break seems all too brief and I find I'm still waiting when the half time celebrations (some good-bye to an Ajax player) come to a close and the game begins. Like TWO minutes into the second half, I'm being handed two dogs when KABOOM! The crowd erupts and as Ajax scores a SECOND goal! Shit, I'm missing the action and the lady just behind me starts ranting (in Dutch, mind you) about (I could tell) missing the goal because of the line. I just nod and grunt and TOTALLY pass for a local

Anyway, I make it back in and have the Feyenoord tender in front of me. Nice! It's 2-0 and I'm hoping we didn't miss all the scoring. Lucky for us, Ajax would go on to win 5-1 with a penalty kick topping it all off. Some more shots:

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Exhilarated we quickly depart and find exiting the Arena and climbing a train into the Centrum relatively easy and before we know it we're back in town.

I've left the game with a dry throat - dry as HELL! I'm thinking it's from all the flares but, in fact, I'm developing a cold

Fuck, well I wanted to experience living like a local and I guess developing a head cold is a good way to know what it's like to live warts and all...I'll find out soon enough!

We stop at the GHE to pick up our luggage and smoke our last bit o'hasj , recovering from the game with smiles as wide as the Amstel is long...

Ok, I'm turning in for the night...I'll pick up tomorrow at the CHINA TOWN apartment from GHE.

-HD

puffpuffgive · Post by **puffpuffgive** » Mon 16th Nov 2009 09:58 am

v nice readable reporting style.. open & honest sounding 'in the moment'

passing for a local is a nice (if rare) feeling

ik hou van nederlands ook praten

Cisco · Post by **Cisco** » Mon 16th Nov 2009 01:16 pm

Holy smoke batman £95-140 !!! jeez louise thats expensive are the tickets not like €30 ?

Glad you had a wicked time anyway looking forward to the rest