Ochen Priyatna

This 5-part post is taking a loooong time and I'm glad I'm finally making some headway on it phew 2nd place we visited was Amsterdam and here goes the post that had nothing to do with the intro picture but everything to do with the title
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4. Michelin (star restaurants) - in Paris and Amsterdam
The associations that come with the word Michelin includes unreachable and expensive. That being said, since I was at the part of the world that first started the elusive Michelin Star, I couldn't help but check out one or two of these creations. Thankfully, I managed to find a 1-star Michelin star restaurant near Montmartre (kudos to Tripadvisor!) that was 1 star in it's pricing!



There were two set courses available and we took one each. The meal started with an amazing Beetroot soup in this oriental-looking witch pot. The beetroot came together beautifully with the cheese, onion, croutons, assorted herbs to create a perfect concoction of blood-red soup. Yumz.
Next up, I had a starter with a sous-vide egg and Brussels sprouts with some smoked salmon while jj's were those 4 oysters done in 4 ways.
For our mains, I had the pan-fried salmon while he had the stewed beef. Both mains were so-so but the mashed potatoes stole the show with the wonderful blend of herbs within.
Dessert was mango pudding for me and a sort of custard for him. Those crispy bits were on both dishes (toasted lentils? oats?) and they added a different texture to the otherwise one-dimensional dish (Y)

5. Tripadvisor (life saviour in providing very sensible food choices as well as tourist attractions recommendations)

Since we had limited tummy space and time spent in Europe, we had to optimise its utility (and maximise our satisfaction) by ensuring we're always having a decently good meal. With that at the back of our minds, Tripadvisor was a great tool to help us hunt around for the best food in each town/city. The peer reviewing function as well as the budget indication helped us plan around our meals to ensure we are getting the best foods at the price point we desire.
Excellent meals followed thereafter!














6. Museums (Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, almost every city we plowed the museums with the exception of London)


This is probably the most touristy word of 'em all. Most cities had a pass that meant us going for museum-hopping and I've probably seen more art/painting in this trip than my entire life combined. It was intriguing and overwhelming at times but I'm almost certain after the trip that I do not have the concentration and focus to fully appreciate or interpret an art piece. I wouldn't recommend going to the major art museums if you do not have a liking for arts as admission is pretty pricey and they tend to be very crowded.

Instead, you may choose to visit the smaller scale boutique museums instead with more hands-on interactive exhibitions - e.g. Diamant museum or Heineken experience in AMS