TRIP REPORT! 10/30 - 11/6/07

[sh@dy]

Hey thanks for the kind words folks...

Island Gurl, Sh@dy: we're off to find T*R*A*I*N W*R*E*C*K !:lol:

Woooooooooohoooooooooooo finally I get to hear about the Trainwreck I've been reading about from other places.

I hope it's as good as I've read, but ech was right I had read about it being in CA. as a medicinal mj and would do the Homer drool every time I read what patients would say... I hadn't seen it over in the dam until not too long ago.

Have you tried the White Dolphin at Dolphins? That's another one mmmmm can't wait! Well ok that and the Orange Haze (sorry shady lololol)

when you go, could you ask something like "a friend of mine is coming on saturday, do you think there will be OH when he comes?"? would be cool

[islandgurl]

LOLOLOL you got it, shady. Are you gonna be at the meet up on the 18th at Bushdoctor on Amstel? Some of us are gathering there at 12 noon before the opening ceremonies of the cup. There are also some meet ups that FBN has going on the 16th and 17th. I'll probably go to at least 1 of those as well, I'm sure.

[sh@dy]

not sure yet, will only be there for a 1-day-trip on the 10th, means next week, so if anyone of you is there, why not, but I dont think you will be there right? thought you go this week, but it seems like I am wrong

[HasjDreamer]

Hey Sh@dy, we'll be by the Mellow either tomorrow (hopefully, if the Cuypstraat Mrkt's open) and - dang it - if I have to I'll buy ya a few grams and tell the tender to write SH@DY on it AND TUCK it aside 'till Saturday!

Jeez, WHERE did I see that Trainwreck anyway? I think it WAS the Mellow so I'm hoping that will be two buds with one stoned!

A pleasant surprise tonight...KING HASSAN hash at Softland 1. We were searching high & low for a quiet coffeeshop @ 8pm on a Saturday Night and EVERY shop was PACKED. We wondered, munchin' on street hot dogs and looking when we found Softland 1. Now, it's not a shop a would have normally popped in but we were pleasantly surprised. New American "MIX FM" music style was pumping out (cheesy american dj to boot!) which sucked but wasn't too loud and we sat down with a mellow WHITE SMURF blunt...not bad, small bud pieces but a sweet taste and good high for the mere 7 g/e. But we felt like hanging out a bit longer and wandered back up for some Maroc (since we're sitting on nothing but icolator and black hasj). What should I get? I ask...no surprise, I'm pointed to the most expensive (@ 14 e/g) KING HASSAN. Ok, I figure he's just saying that for a sale (although he was quite pleasant) but the SECOND he opened the container I could smell the fresh hasj aroma OVER the burning herb in the room. Damn, that smells good! I told him & he held up a light brown chunk of fudge that REALLY REALLY REALLY smelled good enough to eat. Now we're 5 days into our trip and, like I wrote before, our tolerance is up and 'wow' factor SLIGHTLY diminished and, let me tell you, I was fucking BLOWN AWAY. The taste is BETTER than any hash so (including Alladin's, ANY rifman, Mellow's or whoever) and the high, well...it's PERFECT. Upbeat and stoney/dreamy...strong but not devastating. I'm smoking a 2nd spliff in a row...the first for us this trip (smoking the same thing twice in a row, that is! Gotta say, it's the first smoke I REALLY want 2nds of!

Ok, out to dinner - our quick stop at the apartment has come to an end.

Thanks guys!

[sh@dy]

Hey Sh@dy, we'll be by the Mellow either tomorrow (hopefully, if the Cuypstraat Mrkt's open) and - dang it - if I have to I'll buy ya a few grams and tell the tender to write SH@DY on it AND TUCK it aside 'till Saturday!

Jeez, WHERE did I see that Trainwreck anyway? I think it WAS the Mellow so I'm hoping that will be two buds with one stoned!

HAHA, you are so good with me, that would be too good even for you. but you could ask for me if they think they will have it until next saturday....if not you could really buy me only 1gr.....if that is possible i will repay you in some way for sure! if they are sure, that they will have it until next saturday you dont have to do that

@Hasjdreamer: so you are saying the king hassan is better for non-hash smokers like me+girl? how did it taste exactly?

[LeviInAtl]

Hasj try the Spirit in the Jordaan, not too far from the market there. Its a cool chill place that doesnt seem to get alot of business, it may suit your likings, good luck and cant wait for more.

[HasjDreamer]

Ok gang, back at the laptop in the apartment and smoking a VERY nice Sunburst Ice joint from the Bushdoctors...

Hey Sh@dy...got lost trying to find the Mellow (we walked ALL around it, wound up at the rijk's but could NOT find it). But don't sweat it, we've yet to take a tuk tuk ride and I figure a trip to the Mellow would be PERFECT! We did, though, find THE OTHER SIDE! U-Roy, there Leb IS excellent!

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2
Early wake up, not as early as yesterday but I think we were at BETTY'S before 8:30. Ok, now we've yet to actually sample anything from them so we picked up the tenders favorite, CANTALOUPE HAZE at 10 e/g. To tell you the truth, I don't really remember what it was like (although I do recall it being well groomed & such) because the wife and I started to REALLY hang & get to know the budtender there (the same guy who gave me shit the other day!) and found that BETTY BOOP gets the favorite coffeeshop of the trip award. We found ourselves there for a good 2 hours just chatting (I think this is when I got to 'mind the bar' while he went to piss!), sipping coffee & juice and usually smoking our own. We'll be back...

We decide to try & find bushdoctors later that day and came upon it easily. Oh yeah, a quick word about our food experiences...fries & curry at Manniken Piss on the dam (mayo for me) are ESSENTIAL. Wok to walk (or is it Walk to Wok?) are EVERYWHERE now and an absolute MUST at 4 & change euro for fresh made to order on a crazy high properly heated wok with about 8 sauces to choose from. Lines out the door...
Another rather touristy choice but hard to resist was Maro Polo's RIGHT on the damrak. It's Italian and god damn it, has THE best pizza I have ever tasted. We got the 'americani pepperoni' and the the, burnt at the corners-crust and tiny thinly sliced 'roni's combined with the perfect sauce chez combo made us return for another and a platter of grilled langostines the next night.

Ok, back to our Rx at the doctors...
We sat at the counter and waited a bit for the busy tender to take care of some customers. We've learned the art of patience here in the dam and I think that goes a LONG way. I read somewhere on the forum about tipping the tender, closing the door behind you, saying hello in dutch (although we don't even TRY lol!) and THAT'S the ticket. We bus our tables, let people get in front IF they already know what they want and there are no drinks involved and the staff REALLY, REALLY appreciates the effort. So when we patiently waited for the tender at the bushdoctors he sat down with us and we got to chat extensively about the politics of southern italy today (the wife and I being of Italian descent). I know, not the most stimulated conversation in the world but for us this WAS 'going to a museum', or more accurately...'experiencing dutch culture' via Italian public policy. We've learned more about the politics of the netherlands in a week than I ever could have taking a college course! We smoked some SUNBURST ICE at 30 e/g and, of course, the JELLY HASJ at 45 e/g. Our first Jelly experience was a TRUE trip! The room spinning like an amusement park ride! We left a good hour plus later clasping hands and exchanging gracie with the tender. What an amazing town...

We were quite active Friday, purchases at another 5 shops were to follow!

Off to find the Overkant, will update soon!

[philly-Rich]

Thanks again for taking the time to let us all live vicariously through you.It makes my wait easier,18 days .I have never been to Betty Boop,I will now check it out.Love that jelly,exspensive but a nice treat.

[Chilly296]

hey you still in town? im sitting inside DOLPHINS coffeeshop right now using their free wi-fi, over near leidsplien, actualy on kerkstraat

Hope this finds you feeling happy, healthy, and high.


-chilly

[HasjDreamer]

Hey Chilly, we're hanging in our apartment right now...how 'bout a meet up tomorrow?

Thanks man, healthiest, happiest and highest!!

[islandgurl]

Awesome report as usual, hasj lol you just made me add another place to my notes cuz I'm a SUCKER for a great thin pizza MMMMMMMMMM

Where on the Damrak is this place? Closer to say Central Station or more south?

[HasjDreamer]

Hey, got a quick sec whilst the wife and I toke on some more of Softland's KING...

Sh@dy, I'd give it a try...I mean, it tastes like hash...GOOD hash, well: GREAT hash! It tastes to me like what hash is SUPPOSED to taste like.

Ok, it's Friday and we've left off at the doctors office!
After a good walk & some munchies (did I mention the weather? For you guys counting the days out there it's been FANTASTIC! A wee bit of rain early on Tuesday and the occassional sprinkle but the temps have been warm & the humidy high so dress in layers since it feels alot cooler out when you first leave the comfort of your pad) we decided to stop at one of our FIRST stops about 10 years ago...JOLLY JOKER. Limited menu but a nice enough tender and we got a good window seat so off we to try our purchase a decade ago: WHITE WIDOW. Not as "white" as I remember it but a pretty good cure & crystal content for the mere 7 e/g.

Now we've been freakin' trying to find the GREENHOUSE EFFECT all weekend and I SWEAR we must've passed by it 1/2 dozen times and, lo and behold, I turn to the right and there it is! What's so special about the effect? Our 3rd trip in we had a bit of a drought at home before leaving and our customary "give me the strongest bud you have" question for our FIRST stone of the trip (late morning as well) resulted in us feeling like we were tripping wandering through the dam. It was the first & ONLY time I ever felt a weed paranoia out here! So we picked up the same as then...GHOUSE SPECIAL. Ok, it IS a really nice haze with good crystallization but no, no trip! Of course, circumstances ARE different this time around. We also picked up MT TOP hasj @ 12 e/g...another black hasj favorite of the past that was smooth and stoney!

We passed by another unintentional find on our journey: AMNESIA. I THINK we just grabbed & goed...I don't really remember anything about it except that we finally found some HAWAIIN HAZE - our early morning smoke from days-gone-by before haze was EVERYWHERE. Another strong smoke & find @ 10.5 e/g. Now we're starting to build that tolerance thing for real and EVERYTHING gets us baked and we're starting to look for a unique taste, lung attack or fragrance to REALLY get us off.

Back to POPEYE'S for a session (hell, I yam what I yam!) and we choose some NEPAL CREAM (maybe 12 e/g? didn't jot it down) and a lession on spliff rolling from Attilla (but can somebody PLEASE teach me the dutch inside-out roll method

After another GREAT time just chillin' in Popeye's...oh yeah, when we walked in we were greated by a long-haired budtender we hadn't met yet who handed us a bong with a fucking HUGE bowl! I mean, it was like grapefruit sized and we took a hit each that took every once of lung power we had and were rewarded with a trippy buzz before we even made it to the weed counter! "Peace Pipe - And my name is the Peacemaker" he told us..."every weed in the house is in that bowl!". Oh maaaaan! Peacemaker proceeded to walk around the shop sharing hits with one and all!

Funny story...we were headed to Popeye's, just walking down Haarlamstraat on a Friday night when I literately walk into a friend of mine who just moved out of the states! I mean, I KNEW he was in town the same week as we were and we were emailing back & forth but since he's like half our age and on his first trip to the dam with 7 or 8 friends I was surprised to hear from him at ALL So we agreed for a Barney's meet up the next day for "breakfast" at 2pm (it was 10ish & they had that lovely mushroom glaze in their eyes!)

And speaking of BARNEY'S, we finally decided to check out perhaps the most 'notorious' shop in the dam - like that '70's rock group Kiss, you either love 'em or hate 'em. We, actually, HATED barney's! Only one experience before for one of their so-called "Cannibis Cup" winners to be greatly dissapointed and found the place claustrophic. However, the addition of the other annexs left the shop reasonably quiet for a Friday night and we checked out the menu. "Pineapple haze please!"...but the tender looked rather sad. "I'm sorry sir, we're all sold out. The Willie Nelson and <g12?> are quite nice". I tried some Willie and hoooo wee! On the Road Again! It cut through our immunity like a hot knife through butter with a nice sharp, pungent taste and lung attack that we hadn't felt in a couple of days! Not on the menu but we had to ask, can we get a 1/2 gram of rubble? Most certainly! Now the rubble was consumed back at the apartment at the end of the night and WAS pungent BUT didn't seem to pack the jelly punch. Now this WAS our 7th shop of the day so our tolerance was approaching dreadlock level...

Ok, now we're off to softland to get a t-shirt! So far, only one shirt and two lighters (all from Greenhouse Effect!).

Thanks everyone, type to you all soon (CHILLY, SEE YOU SOON!)

[HasjDreamer]

Island gurl...it's closer to Central station end. Look for the glass walls that kind of stick out with a glass door in the middle that says "open". You'll most likely see RISTORANTE ITALIAN rather than its actual NAME (lol).

My wife like their house red well enough at 2.5 per glass too and the waiter remembered us and took our table over from someone else (a good sign!).

Enjoy!

[islandgurl]

That was music to my ears, hasj! I'll be trying it for SURE since I'm not staying too far away from there.

Another place I really want to try and will when I get there is Coco's Outback Steakhouse. No not for the steaks (I don't eat much meat), but because they're smoker friendly so I can blaze while waiting for my food... I won't CARE how long the food takes then lol and they serve potato skins, veggie spring rolls, nachos and garlic bread as well mmmmm don't know if you and your wife would like it, but it sounds fun to me.

Another GREAT place to eat is this Dutch brown pub that the locals go to in the Jordaan. I've eaten there 3 times and still don't know the name lol if you're at Barney's, walk down to the canals and turn right. You'll see the restaurant on the corner after the Prinsengracht there at the end.

[skars]

Where will you guys be meeting tomorrow?