Quick Night Out

It was past 10pm when we got to Hotel Manhattan in Brussels.  It would already be 5am in Manila by then.  Most of us had been awake for almost 24 hours.  We were all tired from the long trip.  But for some of us, we were more hungry than tired.  So the five ladies in our party of nine decided to take a look around and see if we can not find some warm food.

But we were tourists so of course we had cameras on hand when we walked out of the hotel.  In the elevator, we just happened to meet a Frenchman named Jacques who was also staying in the same hotel.  While outside, he noticed we were clicking away and decided to help us out so all five of us can be in the picture at the same time.

After he had gone off, we noticed a car stopped in front of us and the men inside were loudly talking.  We all felt that they were discussing us.  Maybe it was just our stereotype but we feared they were considering us in a negative light.  So we stowed the cameras and walked on.

We walked into a convenience store and got ourselves some instant noodles.  I was going to buy chips but flavors like paprika and chili turned me off.  Anyway, the noodles were satisfying enough.

And we got back to the hotel in time to catch the announcement of the Eurovision winners.

Off to Belgium

So we are finally on our European adventure.  We got here last night.  Manila time that would be Sunday morning already.  We moved back in time.  Actually, we went back about six time zones.

KLM has some good services.  It starts with the free newspapers while waiting to board the plane.  Then there is the flight tracking system onboard.  I really liked that a lot, being able to track where we passed and what's below us.  The system also showed data about temperature outside, the speed of the plane, the distance we have gone and how far we still have to go, and how high we are flying.  I liked the graphics, the details of the display, the terrain.

KLM also has a good set of entertainment.  You get to watch movies and tv programs or listen to your favorite music.  There are also games for adults and kids.  There are even language courses so you can study how to talk with the people at youur destination.

Then of course there is the onboard meals.  We had two full meals, several snacks and lots of drinks. My seat was in the middle so I had to disturb my companion who was in the aisle seat several times to go to the lavatory.  Anyhow, the food was great.  We were full and we really felt full after we landed.

Finally, we landed at the Schipol airport in Amsterdam. After getting off the plane, we had to walk a long ways off to get to the exit.  I appreciate the fact that although there was a long line at passport control, it was a quick pass.  Then we had to get train tickets.  Our tickets were prepaid so we only had to get the ticket.  Then we had to find our platform and get on the right train.

It was still sunny outside when we boarded our train.  We enjoyed the view of the countryside of Holland.  We also got a view of the sunset.  Even after the sun started to go down, it was a long time before it got dark outside.  One of my companions said he was getting tired of waiting for the darkness.

At every station, we checked the station name.  Our station was supposedly the last station but we were not sure how far that would be.  We were all getting nervous, tired as we were from the trip.

At last, we got into Brussels.  Then we found out there were tyhree train stations in the city.  It's a good thing we were told we had to get off at the last station.  So we waited for the announcement that it was the last station before we got off.

Then we met our host or the representative of our host.  She guided us to the hotel by first getting us on the Metro.  Then we navigated the station with our luggages before we finally got to the street level near our hotel.

After three hours waiting to board a plane, fourteen hours in the air and four hours on the tracks, we were finally able to lie on our beds.  But the day was not over yet,