Amsterdam Coffeeshop Directory Forums

We're BAAACK!

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29
Flight out was both comfortable and quick (and pleasantly uneventful). To top it off, the wife and I were treated to Fuddruckers cheeseburgers and fries gratis before our flight (I used to work w/the girl behind the counter years ago). Listened to Zep's Song Remains the Same on the iPod while snoozing...

RUNNING OUT OF TIME WILL POST SOON!

tease

I bet you're a very happy Hasj Dreamer now See you on Tuesday..

Have fun, I'll be keeping an eye on this thread.

have a good trip

Enjoy and save some for us. Lol. Very nice choice in music, also.

Peace 2 All...

Have a good one mate

Lookin forward to hearing bout your crystalliest tasty find...!

Alright, thanks for your patience! The wife used up almost all of our time on her Facebook Farm and I only had a couple of minutes to check in

Anyway, we're chillin' at Softland 1 recovering from the Ajax Feyenoord game...and WHAT a match it was! 5-1 Ajax, a penalty kick (w/goal), 2 Feyenoord Red Cards, a yellow against Ajax, one hat trick and, to top it all of, we wound up FRONT ROW at the Keepers line! Whew, what an experience!

I'm taking loads of pics, many menu shots (Hunter's, Crush, De Keeper, Sevilla, Softland 1, Dampkring Haarlemerstraat, Reefer) and eating great food (including THE hottest curry I have EVERY experienced - too hot for our server and it left me almost worried about a hospital visit!!).

I'm taking some detailed notes (not on me, of course!) so I may not get to right the full report until I'm settled in somewhere.

Some highlites? Well, the hasj has been TOPS...from the KH @ Softland to the Mexican Ice (15 e/g) at Reefer. THe bud? Consistent good cures and sweet buds - some white fuzzy White Smurf and the ever-tasty-every-basty Strawberry Chocolope and LA Con at Greenplace.

Saturday morning brought us a return to Gil (the scooter) and we dissapeared for 5 hours (Zuid, Westerpark, Artis zoo, Pijp) hitting a few strange shops along the way (ie De Keeper).

Marco, let me know your schedule this week...and Dk Globe see ya Tuesday!

-HD

Just out of interest did u try anything from hunters???

Was gonna go there grab something when i arrive on tues morning.

Sounds good so far tho... enjoy the rest of ya trip!

Have a great trip Hasj!

Looks like your off to a great start. Thanks for the write-up.

AzLaker

5-1 Ajax!
The Arena must have been Rocking Hasjdreamer.
Good stuff man.

Hi me up on the PM. We have two nights left if you want to meet up. I have been very sick and out of touch.

HEY GANG, THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE! We're back and FINALLY recovered from the flight (I hate landing at Logan!) Ok, here we go ...

OCTOBER 29, 2009

As mentioned earlier, our departure from Logan was quiet and uneventful; accented by the free lunch before our flight. Dozing with the newly refreshed iPod, we find ourselves "home" in no time... Like I mentioned earlier, Zepp's "Song Remains the Same" and other "comfort food" music played throughout the flight. I'll save my Arabient, Beach Chill and Buddha Bar for in-room listening. Right now, I'm looking for a comfy blanket of music and vintage Zep seems to fit the bill!

OCTOBER 30, 2009
We're out quickly enough from the airport and at Centraal before we know it...around 9:00am or so. Our apartment at the Greenhouse Effect surely won't be ready but I do declare we can find enough to keep ourselves occupied for the morning! We exchange currency at the station and walk toward Wourmerstraat (sp?). The outside of GHE is being painted and we squeeze through the door inside quickly greeted by one of the two women running the place (Ruth is one, I forget the other woman's name and I think they're BOTH pregnant!). The weather is nice - chilly with that icy humidity in the air but the sky is clear so with our heavy scooter-ready jackets we're ready to dress down.

Ok, for those who've followed my OTHER threads you'll remember that we LOST our favorite room: the Global Fusion above Poco Loco in Nieuwmarkt Square. Instead, we're to get the Urban Chill apartment for the first two nights and Chinatown on the Nes for the duration. Lo and behold, we're told we DO, in fact, have the beloved Global Fusion - if only for two nights and Chinatown for the rest. We don't ask why, we just say "thank you!" and, since we're being encouraged to use the discount, we mosey next door for the FIRST smoke of the day...

We're loaded with a fresh pack of American Spirit tobak and settle down at the table by the door, unintentionally blocking further patrons until a knock woke me out of my stupor making me move my chair a bit further up. Ok, to the budtender for 10th trip first smoke:

GHE "SPICE" at 14 e/g (12 e/g with discount)

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Lite golden brown, hard but softened quickly with hand heat. Tasted SWEET and gave us a nice "uppy" high. Perfect initiation and stomach relaxer. That and our equally good cafe debut readied us to wander off and see what the morning would bring...

We quickly spot a shop that, to the best of my memory, we haven't hit yet (despite its good reviews):

HUNTERS for a gram of "Big Buddha Cheese" at 11 e/g

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Nice shop - we're the only customers at around 10:00 or so and pick a nice big booth. The budtender is pleasant enough (bearded fellow) but not too talkative. That's ok, we're giddy enough on our first day and chat like school girls while rolling spliffs and sipping coffee. Ahh, what better way to start a day?

The weather is beautiful and I'm jealous as hell watching the scooters go by but content in knowing that our newest "Gil", courtesy of Gilex on Marnixstraat, will be awaiting us the next morning.

We're hungry for a "dutch" breakfast (carbs, chocolate, juice) and head to "Coffeez" - it's that little cafe that's kinda indoor, kinda outdoor, that runs between the Damrak and that street La Canna used to be on (the name escapes me)? Anyway, we've gone there before: a good mix of tourist and locals and table service in a relaxed atmosphere where you can STILL quickly get in and out. Perfect, we chose: Hot chocolate, ham and cheese toastie, croissant and jam...

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff26 ... CN0481.jpg

With full bellies and heads still high from the morning session, we decide to wander and see where we can end up. We kinda sorta get lost, checking out various street art along the way:

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...passing the sadly, still closed "Basjoe's":

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff26 ... CN0488.jpg
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...and finding ourselves behind Rembrandt Square and in front of a new find for us:

ANDALUCIA

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For a gram of "Black Maroc" at 8 e/g

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff26 ... CN0495.jpg
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Now, the Moroccan woman who greets us is EXTREMELY friendly and, when I enquire about "what's good?" she refers us the less expensive option. ALWAYS a good sign!

We take our cafe and hasj and head upstairs to the 3rd floor where we're offered a spectacular view and fresh air keeps our heads clear enough to enjoy our sample: dark, dark brown (looks lighter in the pic) and squishy as hell. Knocked us on our asses! We're smiling thinking "damn, this is just our first day, our first afternoon!". It's that percentage thing, right now one day is 100%, the next day will be 50% and the "percentage" will decrease making our time feel like it's going quicker than it should...

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff26 ... CN0502.jpg

Stoner mentality aside, we wander back towards town and decide to check our internet and Softland seems like the best option.

A perpetual favorite! Yeah, it's a bit "sketchy" and sometimes the gansta rap is almost TOO funny but they have good hot cocoa and plenty o'computers to choose from. Besides, the proprietors are MORE than cool about tobacco mixing...

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff26 ... CN0503.jpg
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We get a 1/2 hour internet (my brief introduction where the time is cut off!) and 1 gram of the beloved "King Hassan" at 14 e/g

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff26 ... CN0505.jpg

Good batch, REALLY good batch! Fudgy-the-whale; tasty and toasty...

We are HUNGRY - it's time for dinner. We want to break our appetites in slowly so we head to that pizza joint across from the Magna Center/Albert Hejn on that corner where the trolley goes (we've gone there SO many times, you'd think I'd remember the name!) for four cheese pizza and mixed salad with a couple of Heineken's for good measure.

Our apartment is ready so we pick up our suitcases at GHE and check on our football tickets for Sunday. Anything? Nope...Ok, we'll check back!

Since we're in the neighborhood, it's due time for

GREENPLACE

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and a grammy of "Strawberry Chocolope" at 13 e/g

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The Blue Cheese looked appealing but the red-speckled bright green buds and we were like, WOW! The taste and high - stuPENDOUS! Small buds - BIG flavor BIGGER effect!

We hang out in our apartment, catching a quick snooze so we can be ready for the rest of the night. It's getting dark when we wake and shower, heading out to see what the night offers!

...more to come!

Thanks,

-HasjDreamer