So, Saturday once again worked from 9.30 until 5.00.   Which to be honest I don’t know why we had to work that long.

Dutch customs were carrying out maintenance work, so we couldn’t do too much.

Anyway, it was also the day that a couple of the housemates had decided to properly take some time out to chill-out.

And this is one of the things that makes The Netherlands a bearable country to live in.

Because lets face it, it’s not about the weather, or the climate, or the restrictions on speed limits…because they’re all a bit shit.  The weather is mostly grey, climate is mostly cold, and while sometimes the speed limit on highways is 120 / 130, they also enforce them, so even though it could be safe to go 150, or 80 in a 50 zone…. You just can’t.

But if you want to take some time to exhale, mushrooms and weed are available.

So, this was a plan (not the weed, but the magical truffles) for my polish house mate and I. Saturday evening was relaxing time.  On the way home from work I picked up a box of magic truffles, of which the guy in the store…again had no recollection that I’d ever been in his store.

And picked up a box of these bad boys.

new-magic-truffles

They’re slightly different than the last kind, pictured here, and they taste much worse.

wechatimg38

And as we also found out, they take much, much longer to kick in.

Our German/ American housemate said she would ‘baby sit’ us. Hahah which was pretty funny.  But because it took 1.5 hours to kick in we decided to all mix in a bit of weed to try and boost the mushrooms.  And it worked.  And the adventure began, for all 3 of us now.

I won’t explain about the journey but it was hilarious.  We now know that we must have gummi bears on hand for next time.

And that my Polish housemate’s music is awesome.

Basically though your mouth can’t keep up with your thoughts… and if you’re talking with someone it makes it extra difficult to have a conversation because they’re in the same situation, and you basically end up having a conversation thinking that you’ve described what you want to say….but you haven’t at all…. And then they’re agreeing to something that they think you’ve confirmed, but you haven’t at all…. And then your polish housemate just decides that he’s going to go to roll over and just listen to your conversation instead of actively participating.   And so that’s pretty much how it goes.

For those that haven’t tried it, don’t disapprove of it until you’ve actually tried it.

What’s great though about the magic truffles is that in the morning you are fine.  Unlike other drugs… alcohol for example…and yes it’s a drug, it changes your state of mind, so it’s a drug.  But unlike that you wake up clear and refreshed, there’s no such thing as a hang-over with magic truffles….unless you mixed it with alcohol….and then you’re screwed.

But so in the morning I drove with a housemate to a motorbike apparel store in the centre of Amsterdam.  There were no after-effects or anything. Brilliant!

Ok so at that store, I was looking for a pair of useable motorcycle protective boots.

And I found them.

waterproof-motorcycle-shoes

 

They are waterproof, have some level of protection, toe cap, heel protection (impact foam) and side protection, but also manage to look like a normal kind of boot that I can wear to work and not have to change boots when I go to another place, and not look like I’m a hard-core motorcycle guy who wears racing boots everywhere.

I will look into getting a new helmet possible at that place too.

Also some friends back in Beijing sent me some WeChat sights (short videos) of them at a mutual friend’s bar closing.  The one I gave the blue aboriginal turtle art to.  Clement will be keeping the turtle picture, for which I’m very happy.

I’ve been buying some stuff from amazon.com / .de / .co.uk  because I’m finally getting ready to pick up my motorbike.  I’ve done my housing registration… for which I’m now waiting for the official document.  And then I can register the bike….and then I can pick up my bike, and then I can make some riding in the Netherlands videos / vlogs.

Be on the lookout for a video of which myself and Galen will be producing which is ‘Preparing for winter riding – a comparison of the Netherlands & Beijing’

Looking forward to getting back into it.

Oh and I also tried to book my flight to Bordeaux to spend Christmas with Maxime in his hometown of Agen in France… however I tried a booking 3 times and none of them went through…. So I might try to go to Toulouse instead and catch the train from there.

We’ll see soon.