My sis and I were sent to Frankfurt to attend Paperworld Frankfurt Exhibition. We flew to Amsterdam via KLM 2 days before the exhibition as we planned to go for some sightseeing. Our flight was super full and the flying was pretty smooth. Food wasn’t as par as MAS but service otherwise was one thumb up 
. We arrived at Schiphol Airport just before 7am (12am in KL/-7 hours difference) then took the train to Rotterdam to meet up with sis friend, Jamie who resides with her hubby; who will be our host for 2 days.
SCHIPHOL AIRPORT (underground train)
Train.. where are you? We are freezing!
Better buckle up.. it was really cold and we were only wearing cotton tops when we touched down!
PHEW! Little girls with big luggages
Not even an hour of freezing air and I’m already puffy.
ROTTERDAM
We reached Rotterdam about 45 minutes later. Jamie and hubby, François picked us up. Pity we woke them up while they were still sleeping. They didn’t expect us to reach so early. Anyways, they brought us to their apartment which I really adored… with the view, the layout and simplicity.
TADA! Wall of Coats!
The Dining Area
The Living Area
The Kitchen
Our tiny but comfy Bedroom.. with heater.. WAHAHA!
The magnificent view… overlooking the harbor… I saw:
1) Birds
2) Ducks
3) Ships and,
4) People Making Out
Jamie took leave for the day and drove us to Roermond for shopping. It was about 2 hours away by car from Rotterdam and on the way… I saw beds of snow.
Scary sight…..
I put on UGG boots to keep my feet warm and the UGGs’ kept falling down…. aarggh
The parking lot at our destination
Rows and rows of designer labels.. CK, POLO, GUCCI, BURBERRY, FOSSIL, NIKE and some names that I don’t even know. I’m a poor at brands. But, I so wished I had my ANGPAO money that day! I could have scooped up at least a few great bargains!
For lunch, I had PIG Sausages topped with Satay Sauce accompanied by Roasted Potatoes.. they don’t call them PORK.. they called them PIG instead.
After spending half a day at Roermond, we drove back to Rotterdam to do some grocery shopping. KNOPPERS galore!
See these 2 ladies walking so fast… Jamie on the left and Elaine on the right… I’m always at the back trying to catch up.
For dinner, we had Salmon Spaghetti.. sauce prepped by
François before he left to Frankfurt for a business meeting… THANK YOU
François. Your dish fed me well
Then the next day, my sis planned out the activities for the day. We took trains to Amsterdam to Anne Frank’s House, we did some shopping and went for scenery seeing. I lost my black and gray shawl to the winds of Netherlands. 
My breakfast… Hazelnut filling Cinnamon Bun with Chocomel Milk.
This is Chocomel… Mocha Chocolate Milk.. yummy
ANNE FRANK HOUSE
Spot the 3rd Floor of the building.. this was where
Anne Frank and her family hid during the war with the help of
Miep Gies
I got Hubby a ZARA Cap as a souvenir! He effin’ lurve’ it!
We had Dutch Pancake which I topped with
TABASCO® sauce to kill the cold. We ordered one each… couldn’t finish all… but, we dug up the fillings and ate them!
Funny that here in Amsterdam, you find more men in the kitchen than women… Men are much more friendlier than the ladies here.. this gentlemen had been to Malaysia 15 years ago. He will visit Malaysia soon… this time with his family probably 5 years later.
Lots of things are huge here.. statement making huge
BEHOLD!!!
I also got to ‘walked by’ the SEX MUSEUM… I wished I had more time to visit the museum because I heard there was a section about ‘The Evolving of Penis’. I never really quite ponder on this topic but now that I know, I do think if the size and shape changed from THEN and NOW?
How about some sex candies? Perhaps Dick Stick or maybe Choco Butt or something perkier like Milky Big Boobs. They’re all safe to eat but not safe to hold..
SLOTEN
After a tour of the city, we took the train towards the west of Amsterdam to Zaandijk where the Dutch windmills are…
The view was magnificent.. even though it was snowing heavily, we were able to cross the newly built bridge to the village of
Zaanse Schans .
The sky was so beautiful.. this was one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen.
I simply caught a picture of Elaine when she crossed over ‘to the other side’… she blends well with the white bubble jacket and clouds, doesn’t she?
The temperature was really cold.. I’m not lying.. even the lakes were icy.
…. including the streams….
Poor birdy has no where to go…
And, it was windy while it snowed. Elaine opened her umbrella to the strong winds which resulted in this…. WAHAHA!
CHEESE here we come!
Then, we visited the cheese factory.. there was no demonstration though
The clogs factory.. different sizes and shapes and patterns.. you have cartoons to animals to flower prints to furry ones. We didn’t get any human size clogs but were did get little cloggies as souvenirs for all and also these…
After a long walk back to the train station, we arrived back at Rotterdam about 5pm to meet up with Jamie for dinner. She booked a table at a popular South African Restaurant. But, before I nibbled on new flavors, I tried out the ‘Food On The Wall’.
It was freaking delicious.. I chose Satay again. OMG the best snack food ever!!!
Sis with Jamie
Super big dishes for 3 little girls
Soon, François join us for dinner after he touched down from Frankfurt.
François & Jamie
What a cute couple!
The food was different… was great for sharing.. atmosphere was pretty loud.. but we had to shout to converse… and I love the lights.. bet MOM would too!
THE NEXT MORNING TO FRANKFURT
On our way to Frankfurt via ICE Train
We almost missed our train… the minute I got on the train with my luggage, the doors slide shut… we were panting like mad dogs but was glad that we didn’t missed it our ride.
Yup it’s confirmed we’re going to Frankfurt from Utrecht
Our lunch while on the 3 hours long train ride
HELLO FRANKFURT!
HELLO BAD WEATHER!
HELLO HOME
Oh well.. we were really lucky as normal rooms were full… so, we got UPGRADED! Wahaha.. we got ourselves checked into a bigger room complete with kitchenette and living area and a walk-in closet to Elaine’s delight! The walk-in closet was only wide enough for Elaine’s luggage and her. HAHA.
Room 104… can we have this room again if we happen to attend Paperworld 2011? Pretty pur-leese?
Kitchenette… that we so love!
Entertainment corner which didn’t really entertained us because the only channels in English were BBC and CNBC
Our heated up bedroom
Our multi function bathroom
After we checked in, we walked to the nearest train station about 5 mins away from our hotel and headed off to Messe Frankfurt.
Our empty booth only with its shell
The garbage accumulated after we undress our products for display
TADA we did it in 1½ hours… our products were missing at first and it took them about the same time as us unpacking and displaying our goods to find them. So, we wasted 1½ hours which we could have used for shopping. HAHA I was only kidding.
After fretting for our display stuff, it was time for dinner. We stopped one stop before our hotel stop which was at HAUPTWACHE (pronounced as harp-hwa-her) to dine at CAFE HAUPTWACHE
This place has its very own history.. it used to be a militia base then a police station that housed prisoners… but it got transformed into a diner soon after the WWII.
BINDING Beer is YUMMY
My Chamomile Tea but they call it Camille Tea
Hearty Meal of Sausages, Eggs, Potatoes with
Sauerkraut
I always love the walk back to our hotel because of this bed of snow which reminds me of Auntie Shirley’s Apple Potato Salad.
FIRST DAY OF PAPERWORLD
What a surprise! We got goodies at our booth. For a period of 4 days, we have an electric kettle which we must return, we have coffee, sugar and creamer, plastic cups and serviette and 6 bottles of mineral water for our composition.
Our first day was practically try to hang on and getting by it.. because of the snow, lots of in-flights were canceled.. therefore many people got stranded.
We had sandwiches for lunch and I had a muffin for Tea Break
And I have chocolates almost everyday
After the first day of exhibition was over, Mr Kenneth Fong from the Interactive Fairs and Trade Management invited us both for dinner at The Australian Bar.
The many faces of Kenneth Fong
Me and sis cosy-ing up……..
…………. with our cups of sparkling homemade lemonade
We called 2 dishes and we shared as the portions were HUGE. We had a slice meat each of EMU, KANGAROO and CROCODILE. Wild meat keeps us warm.
I got to see the BEAR & BULL in action too..
SECOND DAY IN FRANKFURT
Grocery shopping the day before for our daily breakfast!
Yummy sunflower seed bread with Wild Pate and Garlic Pate.
All less than €10.
And we never miss our shots of Vitamin C
This was 8.15am… on our way to the train station
My kids love this picture
Never ever do what I did.. I surely learned my lesson. Snow aren’t fond of naked skin.
Work & No Play
… hehe but there’s time for pictures!
Lunch with Maggi… pasta style
Sis and I had a meeting in Hall 4 with one of our suppliers at 6pm. After cocktails and some finger foods to fill up our hungry tummy, we left the bonding session and headed back to our room sweet room.
Walking on snow isn’t as easy as it looks…
since part of them are melting, roads were slippery and I felt we were walking on slushies.
On our way back to the hotel, we ‘tapau’ our dinner from a Lebanese Diner.
Mr. Sifu @ WORK
The owner was so nice.. he also packed us a take-away bowl of salad at FOC. Dinner cost us about €6.
THIRD DAY IN FRANKFURT
As usual, I have a muffin for tea break… today, we had sandwiches for lunch
On our way back to our hotel.. everyday we braved through the snow
The snow falling got heavier as each day passed.. so, it wasn’t fun being outdoors
-Elaine Poppins covered in snow-
We decided to cook in our room.. we wanted to utilize our little kitchen to the max therefore, we cooked our very own pasta.
Yummy!!! Complete with ham!
Not forgetting a cute bottle of pink wine which costs €2.95
Sis digging in… cannot ‘tahan’ already while I continue to snap pictures
FOURTH & LAST DAY OF PAPERWORLD FRANKFURT
Last Day = Casual Day
Second Lunch with Maggi… affordable and delicious
Most exhibitors started clearing up their stuff at 2.30pm. I heard tapes splitting, boxes crashing and people yapping all the way. Since today was the last day of exhibition, we got off early at about 5pm to do some friendly shopping.
Even the Apple Store was jam-packed with people
Our Last Dinner in Frankfurt and it has got to be a memorable one… because, I had 2 huge pork knuckles seated right in front of me
My humongous Pork Knuckles which was A-OKAY with
Sauerkraut which I’m not a fan of and thank God sis is.. so she helped me with the pickled cabbage.
Elaine’s Sausages HAHA
We did some shopping for ourselves with OUR OWN MONEY and some behalf of friends with THEIR OWN MONEY then hasten back to the hotel.
What I got most out of the evening was my hat decorated with snowflakes… looks like my hat got PIMPED!
THE DAY WE CHILL BEFORE WE LEFT TO THE AIRPORT… yup we did all this from 9am-12pm on the same day.
Elena is all geared up for the weather
First Stop :
Big Bear says, “Do Not Touch Me!”
And… even if it’s still SMOKING COLD, ice-cream is still our beloved friend
After we got everything we wanted, after we ate all the food we can and after 5 days of hard work, we were on our way home via KLM.. we took a Fokker from Frankfurt to Amsterdam at 3.20pm and arrived at Amsterdam Airport at 4.30pm then took the next flight to KL at 8.30pm. It was really tiring during transit as we walked, waited and looked for necessities.
Our Fokker was so tiny that the sky-bridge looked as if it wanted to swallow the plane
Right after we touched down at Amsterdam
This was the hardest thing to look for… the VAT REFUND booth. It took us an hour to find this hiding place. We sweated and oiled and agonized over this period of time. HAHA but we counted ourselves lucky as we got transferred to an earlier flight so thankfully, there was enough time.
GOODBYE FRANKFURT
The famous Dr Muller a.k.a. Erotic Shop
Our networking dinner at Messe Frankfurt
