27 Dec 07 - Amsterdam Day 4 & London

I did not set out early today as I had plenty of time in my hand before my flight to London and my only goal for the day was to visit a windmill. I took tram no.2 from the central station and stopped at the terminus. The windmill is called Molen van Sloten. Molen in Dutch means mill and the word probably has the same root as Moulin in French. As the name suggests, the mill is situated in a small village called Sloten. This windmill is one of the remaining 1000 still functioning and surviving in modern Amsterdam.

L-R: Molen van Sloten from a distance; the windmill model

close-up view from 2 angles

It was an interesting visit as the tour guide explained why there was a need for windmills in Amsterdam. Most of the lands of Amsterdam are situated below the sea level. As a result, these lands will “sink” if there were no windmills that pump the water to regulate the water level. In the case of an extreme difference in altitude of the lands, a few windmills are placed in cascading manner, allowing the water to be pumped up in stages. Schipnol Airport of Amsterdam, for example, is situated in low-lying land and it would drown if water regulation system does not exist. In the past, the windmills are solely powered by the wind, but now it was partly powered by electricity.

I have always wondered how the windmill can be turned to face the direction of the wind. I found the answer to this when I went up to the top floor of the windmill. It was not the “fans” which were turned, but it was actually the dome-shaped roof which turned. This dome is connected to the body of the mill by numerous roller bearings in a circle formation. Interesting, I am always happy to see how the things I have learnt in my course are put into practical use.

the use of roller bearings

Afterwards I made my way back to the city centre to grab a quick lunch at “Wok to Walk”. I have seen a couple of these stalls so I decided to try. The concept is simple. It is Chinese instant restaurant, similar to KFC or Macs. First, you choose noodle or rice which always come with veggies. Then, you choose your meat toppings followed by choosing the free sauce (eg. teriyaki, sweet and sour, etc). The order will be cooked instantly in a big wok and after a few minutes, the food is placed in a small carton bag allowing you to eat as you walk.

random street performer at Dam Square

I made my way to Schipnol Airport earlier, checked in and soon found out that my flight had been delayed by 1 hour. Instead of flying at 18h, my flight was re-scheduled to 19h. But as 19h approached, no gate number appeared on the screen. It only appeared at 19h30 and when the plane took off, I was already 2 hours behind time. Upon arrival at London Luton Airport, I hopped on the Easybus that would bring me to central London. My luck today did not get any better as the bus broke down in the middle of the highway. I had to wait for almost another 1 hour before the replacement bus arrived. In the end, when I reached my hostel, it was already close to midnight and I was dead tired. Luckily the hostel was pretty close to the bus stop. I guess I could not always expect the trip to be perfectly smooth. Shitty things like these happen and they were beyond my control. So I just slept them off.