REM Eiland is a platform that used to broadcast pirate TV and radio from the North Sea but that now sits near the IJ river in Houthaven, in Amsterdam West. The roof can be accessed freely and also has a restaurant. I was there during SAIL Amsterdam 2015, hence all the boats on the IJ.
Het Schip (“The Ship”) is an apartment building in the Spaarndammerbuurt district of Amsterdam. It was designed in 1919 by Michel de Klerk as a block of housing for the working class and follows the Brick Expressionism style of the Amsterdam School of architecture. The building also includes a post office, which now hosts the visitor center of the Museum. Guided tours start there.
Westermoskee (aka Ayasofya Camii) is the largest mosque in the Netherlands. It is located on the banks of the Schinkel canal in Amsterdam and built in the style of the Amsterdam School of architecture.
In April, I had to be in Frankfurt for a meeting. I took an early train from Amsterdam (~4 hours) so I had time to walk around before my appointment.
On my second day in Dubai, I had to be at the Marina early for a boat tour I had booked (I will write a full post about it later). After the tour, I continued walking through Dubai Media City to the Palm Jumeirah Monorail Gateway station. The Monorail leads to the Atlantis hotel, built on the artificial Palm Jumeirah Islands. A small part is open to the public. Besides the hotel, there is also an aquarium (The Lost Chambers), a waterpark (Aquaventure) and a dolphin park (Dolphin Bay), where you can swim with dolphins.
After checking into my hotel, I went out again and headed to Jumeirah Beach, just in time for sunset. After dark, I walked around the Marina.
After Burj Khalifa and the Emirates Towers, I took the Metro to the Dubai Marina, then switched to the newly opened tram, in order to get to Jumeirah Beach. There were a lot of people there. I walked along the beach for a while, then on the path bordering the canal of the Dubai Marina. I boarded a waterbus at some point. Finally, I made my way to the Jumeirah Lakes Towers, on the other side of Sheikh Zayed Road from the Marina, then walked to my hotel near Lake Almas West.
In November, I had to be out of Pakistan in order to renew my visa so I decided to go to Dubai and spend a few days there. I had been previously to Dubai Airport but it was my first time actually visiting.
After I got off the plane and passed customs, I took the metro to the area known as Downtown Dubai, which contains the Dubai Mall, Burj Khalifa and a lot of residential and office skyscrapers. At the mall, it was quite early in the morning so no stores were open yet. Then, after almost 2 hours since arriving, I finally emerged to open air near the basin that hosts the Dubai Fountain. I walked around the basin, taking many photos of Burj Khalifa, the highest building in the world. I then made my way to the observatory, just as it opened. I bought my ticket (~40€) and took the elevator to the 124th floor. The view was pretty good, although, unfortunately, there was nothing much interesting to look at while up there… I was surprised by how extended the city was: Even the Burj Al Arab was quite far away. After Burj Khalifa, I walked towards the Emirates Towers. There are pavements and even pedestrian signals but the area is not really designed for walking and it took me a long time under the hot sun to reach the towers. The walk passed next to very modern buildings and yet more were under constructions. After the Emirates Towers, I took the metro to the Dubai Marina, where my hotel was located.
On my second day in Amsterdam, I only had the morning free, so I checked out of my hotel early and walked around at random.
The Harajuku/Aoyama area is a popular shopping and entertainment district in Tokyo. There are also shrines and a lot of high-end residences.