Here I am again in Amsterdam! I think has come the moment to tell a little bit about my job. So, I am Dev Engineer at ING Tech Romania, an IT Hub serving the entire ING group. I started working here two years and a half ago and I enjoy it! The people I work with are very cool. I worked for all this time on a project for ING BE, most of the time remotely from Bucharest and from time to time on site in Brussels. Now I'm boarding on a new and exciting project for ING NL and this is the reason of my trip to Amsterdam. I have the opportunity to work for two weeks with the team from here.
It is a change that I wished for it and now I'm outside my comfort zone, learning new technologies, a different culture, making new connections. The first two days here were exhausting. I was not able to do anything after work. I've been before in Amsterdam but for holidays. Now I'm having a different experience.
I didn't get the time to explore more the city but I had the chance to learn more about the Dutch culture from my new colleagues. I still don't get used with the food (sandwiches for lunch, sandwiches for dinner, too much bread for me). For the locals this lifestyle is working because they are exercising more than we do. By the end of the week I got used with the weather (I went outside without hat and I didn't freeze). I like a lot the fact they are using less cash and more the technology. It's for the first time I see shops where you can pay only by card. As people, the Dutch seem to be friendly. We went few times after work for dinner and drinks. Each Friday they are going out for drinks near the office and the bars seem to be like in UK, everyone is standing and drinking beer.
I am pleased to discover some tasteful craft beers. With a beer goes very well bitterballen, Dutch meat based snack. I know I've said I will stay away from sugary products but I couldn't resist to try some desserts from Dutch kitchen.
Homemade apple pie
Poffertjes - little fluffy Dutch pancakes served with maple syrup
Brouwerij ‘t IJ I.P.A
I will add to this some architectural findings. The head office of ING Group and ING Bank is located in the Amsterdamse Poort building in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The building was designed by the Amsterdam-based architect firm Alberts and Van Huut. Nature, which is linked to organic architecture, was the source of inspiration for the work of architect Ton Alberts. The building has no right angle.
The inside of one of the ten towers reflected in a mirror
The model of the building
Continuing my exploration, today I ended up to IJ-Hallen, the biggest flea market in Europe. Daniel, an old friend of mine, was my host today. He was the one who told me about this place. To get here we took from Amsterdam Centraal the ferry service 906 towards NDSM-werf (which was free). 'NDSM' is a neighborhood in the Amsterdam-Noord borough of Amsterdam, built on and using the industrial structures on the former land of the Nederlandsche Dok en Scheepsbouw Maatschappij (NDSM) shipbuilding company. Now is a stunning hangout. Coincidence or not, on this new project we are using a technology called Docker which was built up on the concept of containers. Enough with words I will let the pictures to speak for themselves.
We spent around 2h there. And we din't go back with bare hands.
1. Crocodile ring - 1 euro
2. Bag - 3 euros
3. Dress - 5 euros
From the flea market we went to Pllek ("The Place"), a hipster bar made out of old ship containers combined with lots of glass.
On our way we found this little robot in love
Smile! It's free!
Someone is actually living inside of this unused tram
Trying dancing pose but I have to many clothes on. This used to be a slipway.
The Pllek logo at entrance
Indoor @Pllek. I understood from Daniel that during the night becomes club.
Outdoor terrace
Brand DoubleBock in Pllek branded glass
Oups!
I still have a lot to explore but I will take my time to do it. I know for sure that I will come more often now and I will have the chance to continue my exploration.
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