HASJ DREAMER - Travelogue August 24 - 29

Bernum · Post by **Bernum** » Thu 28th Aug 2008 05:01 pm

cool reporting, cheers.
what are Cukes?

PrePress420 · Post by **PrePress420** » Thu 28th Aug 2008 05:34 pm

Great story telling.
thanks.
Keep 'em coming.

HasjDreamer · Post by **HasjDreamer** » Sat 30th Aug 2008 02:12 am

Ok, just got back home about 2 or 3 hours ago, ate...smoking a fatty...the flight was uneventful but I manage to get airsick almost every time upon landing at Logan International. Bringing home nothing but memories and a bangin' button up short sleeve I scored at the Cuypstraat for a mere 5 euro I'm half way settled in and pissy as ever upon leaving Amsterdam. A little memory recap may just help!

Cukes? Cucumbers!

Ok...we head over to the Greenhouse Effect hotel to see if we can get checked in and Laura kindly calls the housekeepers to see if the room is ready. It's around 1pm and yep, so off we go to the Nieumarkt!

We grab our carry ons and start wheeling out of the GE and, of course, somehow manage to miss the simple directions written down by Laura and over shoot the Nieumarkt square. Over shooting both Nieumarkt as well as many other destinations would become a habit over the next few days. Not used to Amsterdam being so warm and almost muggy we tended to walk...and walk...and walk, well you get the picture.

Of course, random wandering and the tendency to fall into the MC Echer trap known as the centrum has its advantages: low and behold, we stumble upon coffeeshop #3 of the day and one of MANY first time coffeeshops for us (another goal of this trip):

STIX

Yeah, I can't believe we haven't been here before either. Last two trips we searched for it but never found it, I LOVE when you stop looking and find what you want! We bellied up to the bar and ordered the most obvious purchase of the trip: TEMPLE BALL at 12.5 e/g. The tender was good enough to show us the batch first, no single large ball like Willie Wortal's years ago but smaller balls and pieces. One sniff however proved all the proof of authenticity I needed: spicy, fragrant and well...temple ballish. My only real reference is the WW temple in Haarlem and this smelled quite similar. Shortly back at the apartment we spun up fatty and were treated to a bright, uplifting and psychedelic high that left us smiling and energetic despite the day-long flight.

Less obvious: ROYAL STIX @ 8.50 e/g. Ok, we're trying not to haze out immediately on weed so we're looking for the balance of bargain and quality but no real stoner indicas just yet. This proved the perfect choice - exceptionally fruity with a nice cure and perfect mid time stone/high. This turned out to be one of the best of the 8.50 euro lot of weed.

So we gathered up our gear and headed (hopefully) towards Nieumarkt towards our apartment. Like I said before, we've had limited experience with the square (having only been to the Joker) and, for some reason, had never ventured down the many streets that lead through China Town and the Red Light District. We easily spot our apartment since we know it's above the Poco Loco restaurant. Laura at the front desk warned us that the restaurant owner often places tables and chairs directly in front of the door and this was the case as we had to ask the patrons to stand up and move their chairs! Fortunately everyone was kind enough and we briefly wrestled with the door lock and ascended the first of two extremely steep but typical dutch staircases.

We opened the door to the "Global Fusion" room and, I kid you not almost shit our pants. Yeah we'd been drinking cafe and smoking copious amounts of bowel busting herb and hash but this room IS SICK! I almost wanted to with hide my love of the room to keep everyone from renting it and risking its lack of availability. ENORMOUS 12" tall ceilings and beautiful floor to ceiling windows with stained glass accents complete with (not working) fireplace. The main room leads into the bedroom through ebenezer scrooge like doors and more stained glass is visible along with plenty of closet space (plenty of pics taken, they'll be posted soon). All hallway runs off the main room into the full kitchen and bath (stove top, no oven in typical traditional dutch style).

Ok, the jet lag has kicked in and I'm gonna cut this short. TONS of pics taken so I'll post them over the weekend.

Thanks for reading, it feels good to share!

PrePress420 · Post by **PrePress420** » Sat 30th Aug 2008 02:28 am

Quick reply. Good stuff.
Can't wait for the pics.
So, what's the name of this place you stayed ?

HasjDreamer · Post by **HasjDreamer** » Sun 31st Aug 2008 06:39 pm

Picking up after our visit to Stix and settling in the apartment...

we're just smoking what we got so far (some temple ball, super kiff, john sinclair, royal stix) we head back towards the spui for another coffee. The weather has been cloudy but warm and muggy - we always overdress and wind up heading back to the apartment to takes some layers off, in this case jeans jacket and long sleeve down to long sleeve only.

We stop off at SOFTLAND as much for the, err, "ambiance" as well as the potential for some good king hassan (see my october 07 review). Now Softland has become a favorite of ours since the budtender(s) endeared themselves to us on both our october and february trips. It's roomy as hell, has 6 internet stations, and sits in the 'anarchy' section of town. The music is SOOO bad its almost funny, playing american dance top hits over and over and over (we heard "that girl she's so dangerous, DANGEROUS.." twice in one sitting and up to 3 times a day) with an american dj so cheesy he could have been used as fondue. We ask about the KING HASSAN @ 14 e/g and they only have 1/2 gram left. I pick it up and it proves to be as good as last October. The budtender is new but polite enough but while we're hanging out toking a bit and sipping coffee we run into our buddy from last October - he spots us, fortunately recognizes us and stops to say hello. He offers to pick up more Hassan but we decide to hold off for now - the hasj has been FANTASTIC and we can't wait to sample what else the town has to offer.

We journey around town, picking up some soda and chocomel at the Albert Heijn that is two doors down from our apartment. Even the soda over here is better - the Fanta Orange (and, whenever I can find it, Fanta Lemon) is less sweet and more fruity than their american counterparts. We're getting our appetite back but it's not 100% since we've barely slept so we actually stop at one of the zillions of pizza joints for a margherita "take away". Showing up at our apartment, AH bag in hand and take-away box the patrons at the Poco Loco restaurant below our apartment apologize for sitting in front of our door. "Oh you live here!" the woman exclaimed..."that's ok, happens every summer...we're used to it!". My wife laughs at my bullshit, having 1/2 days residence so far. Ahh, it's good to be back!

After a bit of a snooze we take a look around our own new-nieumarkt neighborhood and discover our BIGGEST surprise of the trip:

GREEN PLACE

Now I had been recently reading about the Green Place, even before we knew where we would be staying and have heard some good things about it. Man, we checked out the menu and it read like the little brother of Grey Area: Chocolope, la confidential, cheeses, trainwrecks...all at reasonable prices. It's late, we're ready...

"How's the LA Con?" I ask the budtender. He says not a word and opens the LA CONFIDENTIAL canister at 14 e/g, expensive but in line with the GA. He holds the tupperware up for me to smell and, ho-ly shit - it was SOO pungent, complex and aromatic it was ridiculous. Thick and heavy, we couldn't wait to sample. Let me tell you, this shit hit us like a ton of bricks. CrAzY lung expansion, it felt like we got hit off the head in one of those Bugs Bunny cartoons: "one lump or two?"! Amazing, immediate high that was both psychedelic AND narcotic and both in a very, very GOOD way. The buds were small but the cure was there and the taste and effect absolutely AMAZING.

We also picked up a gram of HIA moroc, at 10 e., fudgy with a crystallized dark brown shell and that light brown fudgy inside it was amazingly strong and tasty for 10 e/g. Man, were WE happy we had the GREEN PLACE next door to us. In fact it would prove to be a daily stop for the top quality bud.

The following morning, Monday, found us awake and raring to go. Having held on to the John Sinclair remnants from the day before (and whole heartily ignoring the LA Con!) for just such a wake-and-bake occasion, we enjoy our views over Nieumarkt and watch the stalls get set up for the day. I believe Monday was the flea market - each day brought us some familiar (the cheese stall) and some unique (groups of yellow shirted students, I believe or some corporate sponsored event) as well as an American film shown on Wednesday night, complete with high quality audio system! Having showered and smoked some uppity sativa we head downstairs for our first cup of coffee of the day and some more sampling.

Our first shop is, again, right next door and our THIRD first time shop!

HILL STREET BLUES ON THE MARKET

Lovely old building, right on the corner with tables set up for patio thc and coffee. The colors are nice, warm beige and white dominate and I'm reminded visually of Dutch Flowers. One of the two budtenders, a smiling long haired gent taps me on the arm and says "nice to see you...I've seen you around, I'm glad you came in"!! Now, I KNOW people are recognizing us from past trips but now this dudes recognizing me from next door? Talk about yer hospitality my friends! I say "nice to be here, thank you!".

It's around 9am and back in Boston its a whole lot warmer and we're initially reluctant to sit outside for our coffee and smoke and head to the back of the shop. Two coffee's and a gram of their HILL STREET BLUES SPECIAL at 8.5 e/g. Now, I'm JUST about ready to head in the back to smoke and the female budtender mentions to us "no mixing, no tobacco!". This is the FIRST time it's actually been mentioned to us and I signal to wife, you know, let's sit outside - I don't want to push it!. While we're settling outside we hear the first budtender tell the woman "you know, most of the coffeeshops are letting people mix, as long as they are discreet about it".

She DID do us the favor by kicking us out - the weather was getting really nice, in fact the sun was shining (something that wouldn't happen every day) and we soon adjusted to the new climate, comfortably smoking and sipping at the same spot we'd visit every day.

The HILL STREET BLUES SPECIAL was nice, fragrant and light - a 80% sativa that was good but not as good as the Royal Stix but quite a value. Their product is all visible behind a glass partition inside marked tupperware containers making it easy to scope out what looks good before its weighed out in front of you.

The wife kindly asks me "where to next?" and I say "Rifman, please!" so off to the Tweede. Now it's Monday morning and quite quiet by normal Amsterdam standards. I imagine there are less business people around due to holiday season and there really aren't too many tourists around. We approach the Tweede, greeted by their no tobacco sign, and head in to test our "don't ask, don't tell approach". You see, the Tweede has SO many good memories - not just from their superb selection either. Musically, it was the first time hearing Radiohead's Kid A, hearing Air at 12:30 in the morning after a few drinks as well as meeting folk from ALL over the world, sitting down, smoking and discussing politics. I feared the new smoking ban would put an end to all of that.

Well, the wife grabbed the classic window seat and I stepped right up to the counter and ask about the rifman - there are MANY to choose from and vary with 3 or 4 at 14 e/g, and 2 or 3 at 10 & 8 euro or so a gram. "Taste, I want taste!" and he doesn't hesitate and points to the SHEBANI at 14 e/g. Fudgy and amazingly tasty - both sweet, flowery and spicy and proved the perfect answer to my request! The high was nice but mellow - we were "baked" but not overpowered in either the "high" or the "stone". A good hasj whose taste stood out but more importantly we were able to discreetly mix some tobacco - now kept in a empty weed pouch for even LESS visibility - and sit, relax and enjoy. Even though no great tunes or new conversation came out of it, none the less, it's always nice to be "home".

With the weather improving we stop for Indonesian take out - Chicken sate with fried rice, to be specific. Since "Wok to walk" came around it seemed like EVERYONE is ripping off the concept - however even though the food was microwaved to be heated (the option of taking it home to heat later) it was quite delicious and we were perfectly filled splitting a small order!

Full bellies and the sun shining we head off the Rembrandt square - I have an overdue prescription that only the bushdoctor can fill! We've been hitting the docs on a regular basis and have always dreamed of sitting outside at a table during the nice weather so today was like a freakin' dream come true! TONS of empty seating and the weather was sooo nice the wife said "can we just sit here for a bit? Roll one up!!". Ahh, what a wife (lucky me) so I headed inside and asked about the only two imported icolators on their menu - Aslama at 22 e/g and the mexmaroc at 18 e/g. When I asked the tender he said, for the quality vs cost you can't go wrong with the ASLAMA and, boy was he right! Bushdoctor never lets you down as I was presented with a slab of melted caramel that was squishing to the touch in the warm Amsterdam sun.

We sat down to roll, carefully protecting our stash (both tobacco and hasj) from the blowing winds. The hasj was difficult to roll requiring me to first break off a piece (looking like one of those sexy candy bar commercials with caramel filling) and then roll the piece in the palm of my hand like black hasj before breaking off pieces of THAT. The hard work paid off as we sat sipping iced tea and, lighting up the most exquisite j experience I could imagine. The sun was beaming down on us and we sat watching the people pass by on their lunch breaks, walking their dogs, and sitting in the park and allowed the exquisite high of Aslama to wash over us as we relaxed in a way we didn't think was possible. That wonderful moment will stay with me for a long time.

A good 2 hours later we ventured out not knowing where we were going and that was just fine. Stopping and smoking along the way along a canal or two we wandered away from the centrum until we discovered, lo-and-behold, the Albert Cuyp Market! A favorite of us and NOT to be missed - stalls of new clothing, food and everything else in between is available for short euro and I quickly picked up a rather stylish button up short sleeve in various orange, yellow and reds for 5 euro.

We passed Katsu but didn't go in VOWING to return tomorrow to pick up groceries for our kitchen! Yeah, yeah...heard THAT one before. We would neither return to the Cuypstraat nor use our kitchen for the rest of the trip! Oh well, Katsu would've been nice but we have PLENTY of goodies to come...

A visit to the Cuypstraat is never complete without a stop over at THE MELLOW YELLOW and, since they were out of about 50% of their bud!! we settled on a recommended gram of HONEY HASH at 10 e/g. Better than its been in the past, it was the first "blonde" hash we had but still pliable when hand heat was applied and provided us with a oily treasure that smoked sweet and tasty. We started off in the back room having ordered a grape soda and instead getting the european version "cassis" - less sweet and more tangy, it would have quenched our thirst had we not almost suffered heat exhaustion from room. Unable to open those back window-doors the heat gathers only a few feet higher and that back room was unbearable to sit in. Before I fainted we headed back downstairs and scored an empty table and the cool harbor breezes blew at us through the door...ah! Settle in we puffed comfortably our discreet "mix" and noticed the table across from us with the cigarette filter left on his table. We still insist on keeping it on the down-low, low-down - brushing all left over tobac from the table and not leaving anything around.

The high from the honey was bee-utiful and we headed out towards our apartment. On route we stop over at the GREEN PLACE for another faux Grey Area experiene: CHOCOLOPE at 13.5 e/g. To quote Christopher Walken as "the Continental"..."wowee wow wow"!! This shit smelled like a can of dutch chocolate, I was amazed. Again, the buds weren't huge but, jeez louise, the smell was so choco intense I was surprised. Having only experienced the Grey Area chocolope which, although quite tasty, had only a barely hint of chocolate if any. Back at the apartment we sampled the chocolope and the taste matched the smell, combining well with the backwoods sweets wraps and we were treated to a soaring high that left us hungry for dinner.

Dinner? Another one of those pizza joints you find everywhere...a couple of pints, an "american style pepperoni" pizza (small, fat, greasy pepperoni) and the most amazing mozzarella/basil/tomato salad. The mozzarella here is like cream - no chewing necessary, it's nearly a drink!

And speaking of pints, when in the room we're searching for television shows to watch and have become fond of "Two pints and a bag of crisps" on the BBC. It's great how you get exposed to shows you'll rarely see back in the states. On a weird note are the commercials for cell phone ringers, one of which is the disturbing:

ACHMED, THE DEAD TERRORIST!

He's a hand puppet, controlled by a white dude mind you, whose a skeleton head with a turban and shouts "SILENCE, I KILL YOU!" - the audience laughs and he shouts more exasperated "SILENCE, I K*I*L*L YOU!"...and the audience laughs again. Needless to say it was almost embarrassing to watch and (since I actually have a friend named Achmed) more than a little politically incorrect. Of course, late night tv is full of surprises when you sit through nothing but porno commercials on any given station!

We'd been going non-stop all day and didn't want to stop now. Getting dark we wanted to hit another "first time" coffeeshop and, believe it or not, we found ourselves at the 420! Bigger and quieter than we expected we settled in the back room for "hasj & cafe" and I picked up the strangest hasj choice of the trip:

PAVARTI CREAM at 13 e/g

Now this was our first black hasj purchase of the trip (well, outside of the exquisite TEMPLE BALL) and funny how tastes change over the years, ESPECIALLY when you have such a resurgence of quality marocs but I used to only smoke the black during the '90's, I remember BABA had a caramello that was my first taste of marocs and I was QUITE impressed. Over the years our visits to the Bluebird, the mecca of black hasj, decreased and I don't think we've been there in the last 3 visits to Amsterdam as our black hasj has filtered off.

Anyway, we pick up the pavarti and it's CLEAN looking but breaks up like a brownie. Seriously, like a friggin' brownie. This was a HUGE textual turn off and I kept sniffing it and had the wife sniff it and "yeah, smells great". I mean it smelled spicy spicy hot, like a good black hasj should, you know? And when we smoked it we had a nice stoner bake - cave stoned, the world closing in kind of high. But that texture? I discarded the rest - just couldn't bring myself to smoke it...

We took our time, headed back to the apartment. Ahh, what a great day, great night! We hung in our room smoking indicas and hasj until we passed out with the alarm set for 5 1/2 hours later.

More to come and pics are being posted on photobucket!

SRH_Spaded · Post by **SRH_Spaded** » Sun 31st Aug 2008 08:37 pm

love the Christopher Walken "the continental" reference

PrePress420 · Post by **PrePress420** » Sun 31st Aug 2008 08:41 pm

Great read for a lazy Sunday afternoon!
Ah, the accidental discovery of coffeeshops, yes indeed.

"Even the soda over here is better - the Fanta Orange (and, whenever I can find it, Fanta Lemon) is less sweet and more fruity than their american counterparts."
Yeah, that's something. How 'bout their Chocomel.

Bushdoctor:>
"We've been hitting the docs on a regular basis and have always dreamed of sitting outside at a table during the nice weather so today was like a freakin' dream come true! TONS of empty seating and the weather was sooo nice the wife said "can we just sit here for a bit? Roll one up!!". "
Sat out there one Sunday morning with a friend doing that when, literally, a bus load of Japanese tourists came walking by and all taking pics/videos of us rolling and smoking. Talk about being in a home movie.
Let us know how to find photobucket.

U-Roy · Post by **U-Roy** » Mon 1st Sep 2008 12:24 am

Thanks man where are the PICS????

HasjDreamer · Post by **HasjDreamer** » Mon 1st Sep 2008 01:22 am

HasjDreamer · Post by **HasjDreamer** » Mon 1st Sep 2008 01:27 am

...and the hasj and coffee shots:

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff26 ... ndcafe.jpg
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff26 ... acapp2.jpg

PrePress420 · Post by **PrePress420** » Mon 1st Sep 2008 01:42 am

In brief, awesome...digesting pics with a bowl(s) and glass(es) of wine.

PrePress420 · Post by **PrePress420** » Mon 1st Sep 2008 01:49 am

That's what I call a living room; also, there might be a couple extra beds there

BigRigRob · Post by **BigRigRob** » Mon 1st Sep 2008 03:02 am

Great read!, all that talk about hashes almost had me creamin' my jeans

U-Roy · Post by **U-Roy** » Mon 1st Sep 2008 11:23 am

Epsilon · Post by **Epsilon** » Mon 1st Sep 2008 01:09 pm

Enjoyed reading your reports HD ,and some fine pix as well...Did Green Place turn the back area into a "Mix Area" ?