*Paradox was starting to fill up with locals by 11:00 am as we made our way over to Broodjeszaak 't Kuyltje on Gasthuismolensteeg just a hair ahead of the lunch crowd and placed an order for a Bacon with Brie, an Argentinean Rostbief, and a Pastrami with Cheese. €11,05, not bad. The tiny, bright counter quickly filled up office workers queueing up outside the door as Crash and I made our way to the Grey Area. One gram of the C13 and Casey Jones if u pleez. I saw Jon huddled in deep convo with some mates, so left him alone. Grey Area predictably, was packed so staying there was out of the question. Crash and I quickly secured a park bench facing Multatuli's mustachioed profile and chowed down. Walking around had depleted my sugar reserves and my temper was approaching hairline sensitivity so the infusion of tasty carbs was a welcome relief. Bacon with brie was magnificent, but really how could u go wrong with a combination like that?
After a quick stop at the T-Mobile store, we swung by HGF for €5 of Cheese which the staff served to us in volcano bags. It's so nice to be able to take advantage of their relatively new €5 pricing policy to do this.
Fast forward past the Albert Heijn shopping rigmarole, Crash and I hopped a tram to Martelaarsgracht and sauntered over to the DK on Haarlemmerstraat. With one gram of White Russian and a half gram of the Rifman Maliki in our pockets, we ambled over to Anyday where I must congratulate myself on being the first people to arrive. Remembering one of bleak's latest scores, I asked to see the Big Buddha Cheese upon arrival and Fasid the budtender nodded approvingly. I've been a longtime fan of the Stella Blue from Anyday, and so, was disappointed when Fasid sounded the death knell. The clone mother has indeed been lost 4ever, although he didn't rule out a future attempt to recreate the strain. A gram of the Durban Poison Hash and a half gram of the Honeydew followed. One of the local chippies piped up that it was his fave. A sniff from the tub confirmed a deep, fruity redolence. I was watching costs but not averse to risking a half gram.
bleak poked his head in and enquired if we were with the bored. He turned out to be an educated sort. Think nerd, reformed.
bleaky kindly assented to being bongmaster and handled all Verdamper duties from thereon. ACD members started arriving at a faster clip. gapie burst upon us like a summer storm. He's the type of fellow who commands your attention with his unceasing energy. tutti was the decidedly artistic sort who began assembling a menagerie of paper cutouts comprised of tiny houses and letters. Ohm arrived surprisingly alert and well polished despite having partying for a 3 day stint. Ohm was bongmaster of the other Verdamper. A polite, clean shaven young man named Gawdamit introduced himself and started rolling pure to accomodate the group. We were joined by the Midzys -- Midzy is a fellow baldie who animatedly engaged everyone in conversation while Mrs. Midzy bemusedly regarded the entire spectacle. Whenever a lull threatened, gapie carried us forward with his boundless enthusiasm. I won't add anything to the strains listed in this thread except to note my immense satisfaction with the Durban Poison, an extremely fragrant, clean-tasting hash with a gentle, happy glow. Very nice stuff at €7,50 per gram. We joked over the spelling and suggested pronunciations for the latest Rifman darling, Maliki, or is it Malachai, or Malarkey. I thought it very creamy in taste and a superb example of the form. Honeydew tasted delicious in the Verdamper and qualified for a second buy on a later date. Crash pronounced it minty with citrus undertones. Unfortunately, the cacophony of several different strains muted my individual appreciation of most, so that I barely felt the Terminator when Ohm painted some on a spliff. Crash on the other hand, felt immediately paralyzed and yielded on a second toke. The party took on another gear when the bespectacled, long-drink-of-water budtender Fasid suddenly appeared bearing gifts. Much to my amazement, he expressed his appreciation for our having chosen Anyday as our t&t site and produced a gram of the Grapefruit which was accordingly laden into a Verdamper. Fasid said he followed the forum on occasion. During the course of the celebrations, he repeatedly annointed our Verdamper with liberal doses of Anyday Morrocan Gold. I quite liked the Grapefruit and thought it comparable to a good lemon haze. At the moment, I remain enamored with the Durban Poison Hash which leaves a clean lingering taste of flowers. Midzy was quite keen on it as well, sharing some of his 2g buy. I thought the Kuchi quite strong, but by that point was fairly impaired, and in no shape to render a more coherent analysis.
At some point, we caved in to our collective plunging metabolism and decided to break for dinner. gapie took off. After a painful process of extricating ourselves from the upstairs at Anyday, bleak and Ohm steered us to the unimaginatively named "Vietnamese Restaurant" on Zeedijk**. Sticking to my shoestring budget, I fled towards the safety of a beef fried rice. Oh beef fried rice, how unchanging is your simplicity! Like a big mac, you taste the same everywhere! Or at least it ought to if the restaurant is worth its salt. This version was done with a very light hand. I craved beer which for me, is a classic accompaniment, but opted for Coke Light instead to stay awake. Crash let me spoon some of his sizzled pork onto my plate which was excellently carmelized with a sugary glaze.
tutti and Ohm led us next to Rusland where we commandeered a corner facing the bud counter. Gawdamit picked up a gram of the California Red, a spicy smelling indica. tutti rolled a needle thin joint of DK White Russian at my request while bleak passed around bowls of Kulu Valley hash. The party broke up when the expats realized they needed to get back to real life.
Gawdamit, Crash and I gingerly picked our way to t'Nes afterwards where DC gave me a deadpan stare for a few secs before perking up "Titus Wong?" For the rest of the evening, DC kept a firm hand on the crowd that never once threatened his calm demeanor, and seemed indifferent to the chaos which surged around us. After a round on the house, he littered our table with vape bags in succession and sat down for some talk while keeping one eye on the mob. I explained to him that we had no access to such things as "choccy fingers" in the colonies and produced a bag of Twix, which he graciously accepted (and no doubt fed to the cat). Thanks DC. Dunno why u do it but hopefully, we keep u entertained.
Jet lag along with weed debt asserted itself with a vengeance as Crash and I fled the scene desperate to find our beds. We pointed Gawdamit in the direction of Centraal Station and saw him off. Dropped into one of the doner shacks along Rozengracht for a lahmachun, otherwise ubiquitously known as Turkish pizza, which is flatbread dressed with roasted lamb and pomegranate syrup, garlic, tomato, yogurt sauce, sambal, and spices, and then rolled up. €2,25 apiece. Bellies filled, we collapsed into senseless oblivion. End day one.
* I hereby transfer all rights of ownership of all menu pix in this thread to FlyByNite and his heirs unto perpetuity for them to use in any they see fit.
** I have encountered this phenomenon before in Chicago. For many years, my favorite late night post-bar crawl destination was the aptly named "24-Hour Korean Restaurant."
Edited multiple times to revise subject line, punctuation, spelling, and to include websites.
