Hello Europe

So I'm in Europe now. First time in Europe since I was a kid. And I've finally overcome my fear of travelling alone for leisure (something I can check out from my bucket list). I've done it for business trips before, but never for a holiday.

I have to admit I was in a state of panic when I reached Amsterdam to find that I couldn't use my credit card for the lockers and didn't have any phone service and didn't have much local currency. But after panicking for about one hour wondering around the airport, I manage to get myself out of the airport, onto the train and into Amsterdam.

And all I can say is, Amsterdam is BEAUTIFUL. And after exploring the city extremely jet lagged, and not dressed well enough for the cold weather (in my state panic, I smartly left my gloves and scarf in the locker), I arrived in Budapest after 33 hours of travelling.

And here are some random thoughts for the day

1. I love how everybody cycles in Amsterdam. 
2. Gathered all my courage to walk over to the Red Light District. Got shocked at what I saw, chickened out and ran off
3. Towards the end of the day, my body was shutting down from the exhaustion and was too tired to think what to eat... so, I ate at the universal and reliable restaurant: McDonald's.
4. Budapest is like a fairy tale. So fairy tales did exists a long time ago
5. For some reason, I didn't go through any immigration when entering Hungary. I was feeling so paranoid about it until I checked and found others had the same experience
6. Hungarians are so nice, friendly, and gentle. They open doors for me. No one open doors for me at home 
7. In Hungary, the button to flush the toilet is humongous
8. My nose is bleeding here since is so dry here. And Americans who are in Hungary are complaining that it's humid in Hungary. How dry is Austin then? I'm so going to dry out like a salted fish when I'm there.
9. I still find it magical when cars stop for me when I'm on the zebra crossing
10. The food in Hungary is so salty. I will not be eating bacon for a long time.
11. I'm jet lag but I'm not even going to bother adjust because I'll be flying to a different time zone in a few days time so it's a hopeless cause
12. The hotel room does not have a kettle. They provide everything else that you wouldn't even think of, from allergic free rooms to personal trainers. But no kettle! So much for all the milo and instant noodles I brought with me
13. When you travel alone, you're suddenly very aware of the travellers around you
14. The toilets in Europe are so clean. And people queue up here. So different compared to the Forbidden City in Beijing where you literally have to push your way to get a glimpse of the royal throne.
15. European tourist seem friendlier than Asian tourist. I was taking a selfie (because travelling alone means you have to pathetically take your own photos), and somebody saw and offered to take a photo for me. So now when I see other people take selfies, I offer to take a photo for them
16. I'm sleeppy. I woke up at 4am 
17.