The infamous red light district

We didn't know what to expect or how to behave bila masuk the Roose Buurt area. Of course both of us were really curious, hehe... tapi I've also read about being careful about looking into windows etc. So setakat jeling-jeling je lah, haha. Kena be careful about taking photos sebab nanti the *guards* may come and take away your camera if *tersilap* ambik gambar.

The first thing that greeted us was an odd looking contraption. Didn't know what it was and only discovered its use later on (more of that later).

There were many tourists in the area... all obviously curious like us. I've read that a sign that a *business transaction is taking place* is when the curtain is drawn. We passed many shops with the curtains drawn... hmm, tengah ada transaksi kah? Or since it was tengahari buta, kedai tak buka lagi kut ;)

But we also saw several working ladies, dressed in what you would expect them to wear. Most were mek gelap, body agak besar... asset definitely besar! Tak lawa pun... agak nya ni yang grade-C kut. Yang grade-A kerja waktu malam ;p



If not for the *trade* the place is actually quite pretty. Lots of townhouses lining the canal. Being the oldest part of town, there were many old buildings dengan the famous facades. I was so busy looking at the buildings, I forgot to look at the *shops*, hehe...

Rupa-rupa the function is untuk meng-relieve one self ;)

A statue depicting the trade of the area

We walked on... passing more brothels, the ladies were displaying their goods and we arrived at the Oude Kerk (Old Church). The church sits in the middle of it all... betul-betul belakang one of the shops that we had passed. That felt rather kelakar...

After visiting the Oude Kerk, we continued to explore the area. Sampai kat De Waag (Weigh House), the city's only surviving medieval fortified gate, which was later turned into a guild house. There was a market around De Waag... selling foodstuff, plants.




There was also a flower market going on... so pretty!! Nederlands is afterall famous for its flowers.






By then we were already quite lapar... went into the supermarket. The smell of freshly baked bread was very inviting. After seeing the yummy cheese on display, we've decided on a simple lunch of cheese sandwich and salad, with more of the delicious orange & mango juice ;) Nederlands is quite cosmopolitan... orang from all over the world reside here. I saw on the shelves instant nasi pandan and excitedly highlighted to Skinner. Must have made quite a bit of noise because a pakcik came over to us and said "That's very tasty!" with a smile. We all tersengih je...

Bila sampai kat the cheese section, we got confused. There was so many types of cheese to choose from. Tak tahu mana satu nak pilih... then we saw the pakcik again. And so we asked for his advice. At first he asked whether we spoke Dutch, both geleng kepala. "English?" We smiled and angguk. Dia tanya where we were from and said "Selamat siang". He's actually residing in Australia now tapi balik Nederlands for holiday. After a 10 minute intro and lecture about cheese, we finally decided on a *youngish* cheese although the pakcik kata we should try the more matured type. We told him that we takut nanti tak suka pulak. He just smiled.

We sat outside on a bench to have lunch. A few other people were also doing the same... tapi most of them tapau from the many cafes around the area. We sat next to a mother and her two kids... sangat comel :)

Lepas makan continued walking and absorbed the many interesting sights that the area had to offer...