Amsterdam (part 2)

So at least some of your take on a city must be based upon where you are staying in that city. For example, when we were staying in Prague, our experience must have been colored by the swanky hotel with access to the Executive Lounge and cheap booze. The hostel in Berlin was very cool and fun, thus my view of Berlin is skewed toward the fun and cool. Likewise, our place in Amsterdam must effect my view somewhat, as it truly is one of the dirtiest, most dimly lit places that I have stayed. It turns out the no smoking rule was not enforced, for either kind of smoke, and as the other guys didn't want the maid going through our room when we ere out, they didn't clean the bathroom. Since it wasn't ventilated, the room got a bit of a tinge of mildew before I took off to more southern (though oddly enough colder and snowier) climes.
Don't get me wrong, overall Amsterdam is an amazing city. All of the places I have been to here: the museums, the restaurants, the bars have all been nice, fun, and friendly, and I simply cannot express how many bikes there are around the city.
We have tried some Indonesian food, which is supposed to be amazing here, and I found it to be fine, although my travel companions were less than impressed. On a side note, I have become addicted to these croquette things they have here. Basically make a tater tot about 1" by 4" and then fill it with pot pie filling, and then buy it out of a wall full of coin slots and drop down doors with a dude behind the wall keeping the different things stocked. Seriously cool. My favorite was FEBO. And I personally recommend the veal, the veggie, the cheese, and the beef.
Now I have not done any laundry since Prague. So no laundry in Berlin or Amsterdam. Hopefully, my cousin will not mind the smell too much until I get caught up on the laundry.
He hasn't mentioned anything about my personal hygiene yet, though he did offer the use of the laundry machines. I think he was being nice, though he may have been giving some helpful advice.
Back to Amsterdam: Museums I have hit are the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, the Heineken experience (brewery and museum), the House of Bols (original exporters of Gin, and thanks for that by the way), and we tried to hit the Houseboat Museum, but it is closed until 30 January. I can't remember if I mentioned seeing the Chicago-style (sketch/improv) comedy show in Amsterdam at Boom Chicago, but it was really quite funny. And, as I had picked up a flier outside of the door, they gave us each 5 euros off admission (from 20) and a free drink. Not bad for picking up crap off the street.
The next day we did some boat touring of the canals, though the stop we were planning on getting off at was closed due to ice in the canals (which somehow didn't get mentioned until after we had bought the 18 euro day pass), so it was about a 10 minute walk from the City Hall. Unfortunately, the zoo cost about $25 to enter, so we decided to hit up the botanical gardens for the much nicer price of 7 euro. There was a palm tree house, a greenhouse with 3 different climates in it and a butterfly house. Add on a little all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet, finding the Simpsons in English on Dutch TV and some free OJ and toast for breakfast, and my day is going pretty well so far. My thanks again to my cousin and his family to putting me up for the next two nights.