Nieuwmarkt, Nieuwmarktbuurt & Chinatown in Amsterjam

The hostel which Marpig & fren stayed in was very near to Nieuwmarkt, a square in Chinatown and conveniently located near De Wallen!!Being in Chinatown, streets ard there including Nieuwmarkt has a chinese street name (just like in Londonz Chinatown) Obviously, bcos "Nieuw" has the meaning of "new" hence itz known as the 新广场Itz a nice chilly morning in Oct & the sun is just about to rise!! Marpig & fren went out early in order to soak in the morning Amsterjam air!! Pic above showed the Nieuwmarkt b4 vendors display their waresThe square is dominated by De Waag (above), originally a gate in Medieval city walls but later converted into a weighing house when the walls were demolished. A weighing house is, as the name suggested, a place where goods were brought to and weighed. A little bit o interesting knowledge, btw 1550 and 1690, pple accused of witchcraft were brought to a weigh house to be weighed against a set weight (a "witch test") If tt person was found to be lighter than the set weight, he/she will be condemned!! Hence, being fat was GOOD!! :P The Waag shown above has since been evolved into a restaurant/cafeOn the way from the hostel to the Nieuwmarkt, therez a shop selling freshly caught seafood!! Oh boy!! Marpigz fav!! 10 euros for a kilo for fresh 濑尿虾 aka Mantis Shrimps, is it cheap? BTW, another interesting knowledge; Mantis Shrimps arent shrimps nor mantids. They belong to the crustaceans sub-phylum!!
Anyw, b4 Marpig & fren continued looking at the vendors who had got their wares out, itz time to grab sm bf!! Cant rem wat Marpig & fren had but definitely not burger!!

Nieuwmarkt is just like the typical nice Europeans wkend markets (though itz also opened on wkdaes) where 1 could find many fresh thingy like...flowers,vegetables,cheeses,roots, squashes, turnips, etc as well as Marpigz fav~~MUSHROOMS!!

But therez always "smth rotten" (part of a quote from Shakesspearez "Hamlet") in every cities and itz inevitable to provide public open urinals for drunkards!! Should aim & piss into tt little hole in btw!!

After going ard Nieuwmarkt, Marpig continued with Amsterjamz Chinatown to see watz so different bout it with the one in LondonTherez a sizable temple to begin with and also dim sum buffet!!
Hmm... eat as much as 1 can within an hour... ok... Marpig wouldnt have any prob with tt!! :P)

Walking along 顺风里 (below)Marpig also came ax
a shop rental/selling TVB serials (Marpig watched them all already!!)as well as sushi and many other chinese restaurants. Streets are pretty deserted since itz still early in the morningSimilar to Soho, therez also kebabs and cafes/pubs selling more than just pints of beer and kopi... u noe wat Marpig means!! Itz Amsterjam afterall!!

Therez also the occasion grotesque decors such as this(watz with the skills and babies?!) and thisGosh... why would sm1 have such decor at the door?! Hmm...

Anyh, overall, the Chinatown in Amsterjam is slightly more interesting than the one in London. Or it might just be bcos Marpig am used to Londonz Chinatown. Still, Chinatown in Amsterjam is really 中西合并!! Herez the evidence!!