10 Days In A "Daze" May/25 - June/04

[Cal X]

Since I couldn't make it to Amsterdam for 4/20 I was determined to make it over in May, even though it would cost quite a bit more. So I went ahead and booked my flight and preceded to refine my Coffee Shop and Strain research; which in the end may have not been the best idea, more on that later. It was my intention to try as many Black and "exotic Hashes as I could find and to try some Weed strains that I have never tried. And of course, some of the old standbys like Cheese and good Hazes. So this is the result of my research. Sorry folks I don't have any "Pics" to share, (Techno- Idiot).

DAY 1

So at 11:30 am on Tuesday May 25th I landed on on Dutch soil. I purchased my Train tickets for the next 10 days then I was off to Central. I stopped in the GVB office and waited for about 30 minutes for a stinking Tram card. I was getting a little anxious because by now I had planed a marathon Buy and Fly trip, for that afternoon, covering a staggering number of shops outside the Centrum. These are mostly "Local" shops that have really good deals on good quality gear, so I wanted to get rolling! finally! my number came up,I bought my Strippen Cart then I was off to my first Shop of the Trip, in route to my Hotel.


420
Nevilles Haze 13.00 per gram

So I made my way through the throngs of people to 420. I had planned to stop at Maos, right across from 420, for lunch but they where shut down. That's to bad because this was going to be a regular stop for me during my stay. Anyway I went in 420 welcomed by the, barely audible, sound of Frank Zappa on the sound system. I have a feeling the young workers there have had it with the owners taste in music so they cut the volume a bit, not a good sign for me as I love that kind of music; which was one of the reasons that this was my favorite shop in Amsterdam.
I approached the Bud Tender who was a very nice young lady and quit striking, I recognized her from one of Blueberry's 4/20 photos. I asked to look at the Nevilles Haze, which is all I was interested in at the time. It looked alright, but for 13.00 per gram I thought it was a little steep. I guess I was caught up in the moment as I bought a gram, this turned out to be one of the most disappointing purchases of the entire trip, more on that later. I was just doing "buy and fly's until later in the evening, so I moved on toward my Hotel.

RESIN
Manalli Charos 9.00 per gram.

After I left 420 I stopped at Betty Boop to see if they had MK Ultra. No go, so I headed for RESIN. I asked the Bud Tender for a good Black Hash, he recommended the Manalli Charos. It looked good so I bought a gram for 9.00Euro. I left there and got some Indian food at my favorite Curry Shops on Spui. I very much enjoyed the Currry, and I wasn't even high yet. I moved on toward my Hotel and stoped at Amnesia to have a look, but it was to busy so I headed straight for my Hotel and checked in. I cleaned up a bit then headed out for my "buy & fly extravaganza.

PARADOX
Cheese 5.00 per 1/2 gram.
Chocolope 5.00 per 1/2 gram.
Turkish Hash 5.00 per 1/2 gram.
Manalli Jungle 10.00 per gram.

My first stop on my journey was Paradox. I was greeted by the owner, a very friendly guy. He recommended the Chocolope, which wasn't on my list as well as the Cheese so I bought a half a gram each; because I could always come back for more if it was good. I also bought a half gram of the Turks, which looked pretty good and a gram of the Manalli Jungle, which always gets good reviews on the forum. I didn't smoke anything there, but both of the Hashes proved to be pretty good but I didn't think much of the Weed.

BIBA
B.B Cheese 5.00 per 0.6 gram.
Edelwise 5.00 per 0.6 gram
Warm Ears 10.00 per gram

As you can probably tell, by now my, purchases where adding up. So, these 3 purchases at Biba kind of got lost in the Haze of everything else that I smoked later that night. I remember the B.B. cheese being pretty good, more of an Indica stone then regular cheese, worth the 5.00 for a half gram for sure. The Warm Ears was pretty good to, but I don't remember the Edelwise at all,sorry.

SANEMENTERENG
West African Weed, (Outdoor Grown) 7.00 per gram

Just a block north of Biba is Sanementereng. It's a Antique Shop/Coffee Shop run by a slightly "surly" older woman. I asked for African weed and this was all she had, she thought it was from West Africa but didn't know which Country. It was dark and sticky enough so I bought a gram. I tried it a few times during my trip and I must say it's a nice mild Sativa buzz but kind of forgettable. I went from there to Rookerij 4, but just had a look at the menu, then I was off to catch a Tram to Chapiteau Coffee Shop in Westerpark.

CHAPITEAU
Cheesel 5.00 per 1/2 gram.
Black Widow 5.00 per 1/2 gram
Nevilles Haze 5.00 per 0.6 gram
Temple Ball 10.00 per gram

I caught the #10 Tram on Marnixstratt to Chapiteau in Westerpark. This is a mostly local buy & fly shop. I tried all 4 purchases later that night. They where all pretty good. The Nevilles was much better then the 420 Nevilles, at only 8.00 per gram. I don't think it's a pure Sativa though, it's not a "soaring high" like the real Nevilles is supposed to have. Who knows what your really getting in some of these "Local" Shops. From what I have observed most Dutch 'Stoners" don't care very much about the Indica or Sativa percentage or the lineage of a certain strain. They just know what Fucks them up at a fair price. So I think the "Local"shop owners aren't as fussy about the Gear they stock, like G,A or G.P for example. That's fine by me because I just wanted to get some good deals on some good gear.
So from Chapiteau I caught a #10 Tram back to Marnixstratt to check out 1e Hulp another popular "local" shop.

1e HULP
Intensive Care 8.00 per gram
K.O Kush 8.00 per gram

I had read that the Intensive Care at this shop was a really potent Indica, so I tried a gram of that and a gram of K,O Kush, which I didn't know anything about but the Bud Tender highly recommended it. I tried both of these during the course of my 10 day stay and I must say neither really stood out. Of course as you all know, when you are bombarding yourself with as many Weed and Hash Varieties as you can in a short amount of time it's a little hard to judge everything you smoke. There is, however, some "Gear" that climbs over the top of every thing else that you have smoked, so far nothing I have mentioned could do that. Just wait my friends, I will be running into something of that caliber at my next Shop.

BOEREJONGENS
Martian Mean Green 8.00 per gram, (well worth it)
Black Hash (forgot the actual name) 10.00 gram.

From 1e Hulp I caught the #17 to Boerejongens.This is a busy Local shop, mostly a buy and fly. I waited in line and finally spied the menu. I saw Mean Martian Green which I assume is the same as the DNA genetics strain that G.A sold as Martian Mean Green. About 4 years ago I just missed this stuff at G.A, every one was raving about it, so it was something that I have wanted to try. I bought a gram of that and a gram of the only black Hash they had, forget the name. Both purchases proved to be outstanding but the M.M.G was one of my favorite Weed strains of the entire trip, more on that later. I grabbed my gear and walked down to Kashmeer.

KASHMEER
Manali Cream 7.50 per gram.

The last time I was at Kashmeer it was across the street where Kashmeer lounge is now. It had pillows you could lay on while sampling some fine Hash. The new shop is much smaller but they still have a good selection of Hash. I chose the Manali Cream which looked really nice. It prove to be a very nice black Hash indeed.
I got back on the #17 and headed back to my Hotel. I had a T&T lined uo for 8:00 pm at H.G.F so I needed to rest up a little, get and some "Chow" first.
More on that and the rest of the evening in the second installment of Day 1, soon!

[TwoCanucks]

Great report, very informative and in detail.

I was under the impression that Resin had shut down due to a fire?

It's awesome to keep hearing great things about Chapiteau. It's on my list for all future visit, can't wait to sample!

Thanks for sharing

[ftcarer]

Hows it going Cal ? great start mate , been waiting for this ( & not just coz i'm in at some point )
Day 1 ,start of the super stash
It was Zwarte Hash you got from Boerejongens , you gave me what you had left , cheers again
Hope you like the pic , a few of the baggies you threw my way

[Cal X]

I take it back every body, there are a few pics of some of my stash courtesy of ftcarer, thanks m8. I think the Black Hash next to the Leb is the Manali Cream from Kashmeer.
Yes TwoCanucks, Resin is open and doing well. The Manail Charos that I bought there stood up to all of the other Black Hashes that I bought, and that was quite a few. Also, Chapataeu is a nice Buy & Fly shop with good quality gear at good prices and a very nice Bud Tender. The Temple Ball that I bought there was very nice, and as I said in my first installment the Nevilles beat out 420s version in smell, taste and buzz. The Westerpark is a nice area to visit.
I'll have more of my trip report posted soon. Cheers!

[smokestaxlitenin]

nice report...like the Jordaan area myself and i'll be hittin the same places in 3 weeks.....peace.

[geekymonkey]

Nice report- great detail! Thanks for sharing.

[titus wong]

Very cool selection of out-of-the-way non-touristy shops Cal X. Respect.

[Cisco]

Nice selection of smoke ! thanks for taking the time

[Dr Greenshed]

you boys reporting is just ace .
mrs just said i can go in next 6 wks or so, i am gonna be soaking up all reports but this is real nice thanks for doing it
dr

[stecleary84]

great read so far with lots of info.

sitting here thinking when can i go back now

[geekymonkey]

great read so far with lots of info.

sitting here thinking when can i go back now

Me too ste! Dr- have fun!!

[Iko]

Awesome read thus far, thanks.
I hope your coming back to finnish it soon .

[Cal X]

Day 1 (continued).

After my "local shop extravaganza" I went back to the Hotel, sorted through my stash and rested up for my T&T at 8:00pm. I didn't dare fall asleep, I had been awake for 26 hours, if I took a nap I would crash until the next day. So I forged ahead and walked over to H.G.F via Grey Area, just to see what they had. There was a long line of people waiting to buy something, so I went to get some food, I could always look later. I went down to the corner snack shop and had a Chicken Sate, I have had a lot worse believe me! After eating I went back by G.A but it was still to busy, so I headed straight over to Home Grown Fantasy for my T&T.

HOME GROWN FANTASY
No Purchases

During my last three trips to Amsterdam H.G.F was a "hang out" shop for me. It was always busy and there was a wide variety of people; you could always have a good conversation with someone, and, the music was mostly classic rock and Pop. So I walked in for my T&T only to find an almost empty shop, and there was Hip Hop on the sound system; it's not bad music but not my favorite or what I expected. I went straight to the counter to have a look at the Cheese. The Bud Tender said they where out of Cheese. Ouch! all of the thing that I liked about this place where "crushed" in a matter of seconds. If that wasn't bad enough they where out of the Durban, which is always quite good. Not a good start to my first night of smoking, so I asked for a Coke Lite, known as Diet Coke in the states. Yes! They actually had that. So I grabbed a table and put out my A.C.D sign so I could catch the attention of any T&T Peeps. I got my pipe and stash out and chose the samples that I would start the night out. I tried the 420 Nevilles first and then the Chapiteau version. The 420 Nevilles had very little taste or smell compared to Chapiteau N.H. Even that was not what I expect In a N.H. It just didn't have the "soaring" high that It's supposed to have. OH well, I moved on to the Cheezel from Chapiteau. That was a nice little Sativa buzz but I still wasn't tapping my feet to the Hip Hop Music. Next was the West African from Sanementereng. It had a sweet Licorice kind of taste to it but a pretty subtle buzz to it. Next I tried the Cheese from Paradox. It wasn't really that stinky or tasty, to tell you the truth, and the high did not cut through every thing else that I smoked up to that point. By now it was 8:40 and still no T&Ters. So, I tried the B.B Cheese from Biba. That's actually a pretty nice smoke. It is a little more Indica heavy then regular Cheese but it didn't knock me out or anything. It did taste and smell nice and at 5.00 for 0.6 grams I would say it was a good deal. Check out Biba for some nice deals folks. I thought I would try at least one more thing before I gave up on my T&T. So, I whipped out the much anticipated "Martian Mean Green". It certainly was the strongest and sweetest smelling Weed that I had purchased that day. I lit up a nice pipe full of it, "Holly Crap" now we're talking. That was exactly what I was looking for. It climbed right over the top of everything else with a nice Sativa dominant Head buzz and a noticeable, but not overwhealming, body stone. Yeah! Ladys and Gents, if you make it out to Boerejongens do your self a favor and get some Mean Martian Green (as they call it)! Now! I was kind of digging the Hip Hop. I loaded up one more bowl of the M.M.G this time with a few shards of the "Warm Ears" from Biba. It looks, tastes and smells like a good Polm, I liked it. Well now it was after 9:00pm and still no T&T peeps, so I thought I would head over to 420 to try the Volcano and listen to some good music.

420
Blueberry 8.00 per gram.

Once at 420 I checked the menu again. The bud Tender dude said the Blueberry was good, so I tried a gram of that. I sat at the bar and bought a coke lite. I loaded the Blueberry in my pipe, it looked nice and smelled good. It tasted real nice too, it was some of the better B.B that I had tried in a while; but I have certainly had better. I kneaded up a little of the Manali Charos, that I bought at Resin, and smoked it with some more B.B. That's nice stuff. I am not a Black Hash expert but it hit pretty good.
I got in a conversation with a College guy from the States. He had the best College Internship that I had ever heard of. He was supposed intern with some company then write a paper on the Coffee Shop Culture in Amsterdam. Wow! that is hitting the College internship lottery. I joined him in some pretty thorough research by sharing some of my wares. I was enjoying the music and the conversations but I thought It was time to try a few more shops.

SOFT LAND
S.A.G.E 13.00 per gram

I stopped by Anyday but it was busy so moved on to Soft Land. I walked up to the Bud Tender and asked to see the menu. Oh, they had S.A.G.E I asked if I could have a look. It had a lot of crystals and smelled good. At 13.00 per gram it's not cheap but this is a strain that I have wanted to try for a while, so I bought a gram. I fired it up, it tasted pretty good and I could feel the Afghan side of it creep into my Abdomen and it had a nice Head buzz as well. Not bad, so I had another bowl with some Temple Ball from Chapiteau. The T. Ball was nice but by now It was a little hard to distinguish the quality of each strain, so, I thought it was time to drink some Beer, so, I was off to Gollom.

I will have more of the report for you very soon folks. I'm Sorry for the delay between installments, but I have been a bit under the weather. Cheers!

[stecleary84]

An other cool update. so much info in the read, good work

[TwoCanucks]

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