13 June 2021 Sunday 6.28p.m.
I didn't expect the EU (or Europeans) to be so stupid. Travel pass. Now? And they say they are desperate for tourists. If really desperate, the travel pass shouldn't be implemented, at least not now. Are they even thinking of tourists outside of the EU?
Now the EU countries have become a question: Are you worth it?
And it appears countries such as Amsterdam and Malta realize this. Ergo, they are starting to, or planning to, clean up their image.
It's now like a beauty pageant. Who is the prettiest and most worth spending money on? In the past, such EU countries could get millions of tourists. Not anyhow anymore.
In travelling to the EU now, we take a big risk. Besides exposing ourselves to the virus...
The travel pass makes it an even harder decision. We could be stranded in an EU country because we don't have the travel pass. We might be denied entry into supermarkets and cafes and public transport because we don't have "entry pass". And we can't come home because there'll be 2 weeks of quarantine at a $2000 cost and tests which we are trying to avoid in the first place.
1) Worldwide, or even Europe, vaccination percentages are low, not even 50% of their populations. And there's shortage of vaccines for many countries. Issuing the pass now denies entry to many travellers who haven't been vaccinated.
2) What about travellers who prefer not to be vaccinated due to various risk concerns regarding the vaccines and allergies? Also, going to clinics/centers to get tested exposes people to the virus. And until better (non-invasive) testing becomes available, the travel pass is a barrier to EU travel.
3) It's surprising that the EU is not democratic after all. What individual rights? Like the US has said of the EU, "no vaccine, no service". Segregating people into 3 categories is forcing people to be in one. If not compliant, then one simply cannot enter. So how can the EU say they need tourists? Even if they mean only EU tourists, many of the EU countries are still having high infection numbers with low vaccination percentages.
4) The travel pass is based on the assumption that vaccinations and PCR tests are accurate and reliable.
Come 1 July, there will be an explosion of infection all over the EU since the message is that vaccination and prior PCR testing or recovery testing equals "safe". People will be complacent since it is assumed that everyone who have entered are "safe".
The EU seems to be ignoring reports of cases of infection or re-infection and deaths even after vaccination and negative test results.
It's also unknown whether vaccinated people can transmit the virus or are spreading the virus (although if they are transmitting, infection numbers in the population would have gone up with increasing vaccinated percentages).
The vaccines were released in a hurry and vaccinations done in the absence of more data. Meaning, the world's populations are being used as guinea pigs.
5) Discriminatory. What happens to tourists who go to the EU before the travel pass is issued? They are stuck without the travel pass and become forced to take tests in order to leave or go to another EU country?
I really want to go to the Netherlands now to see the famous markets and second shops and museums. But this Amsterdam regulation troubles me. Won't the restaurants deny me entry in order to get more customers and lie that they are full because I don't have an entry pass?
6) I am disappointed to think that Amsterdam may have to wait before I can go, if at all. I have been checking flights and hotels reviews and it certainly looks very bad.
Apart from the travel pass problem, Netherlands hotels are expensive, above $100/night. Even for that price, they don't fix the heating and air-con before guests arrive. No breakfasts. Paid breakfasts are poor. The Dutch seem to be stingy people since room price don't include breakfast. They may not clean the room. No bathtub. No swimming pool.
Despite their stated regulation that masks must be worn at the airport, review shows and mentions that passengers crowd around without wearing masks.
Then there's the negative reviews of KLM. They do have direct flights from Singapore to Amsterdam. But. Poor meals, flight delays, no refunds. Nobody answers the phone, uncontactable office that don't exist? I find their online booking platform goes weird when I am checking prices for one-way tickets.
I look to SIA since they also have direct flights, although at higher prices. Their booking platform is also suspiciously oddly behaved. So I asked their messaging box if they still fly to Netherlands or to the Hague. And the reply contains no greeting, just "No". No to which one? SIA always been like that or only now? No wonder they are in financial trouble.
All these problems just to get to the Netherlands... Plus the Travel pass. It's not that I don't wanna go. It's just more and more impossible.
Even at the risk of exposure to the virus, my brother and I still want to fly because every day, we grow despondent, stuck in Singapore. Meaningless.
At this time, there's only Netherlands, Romania and Albania open freely to Singapore residents. No direct flights to the latter two.
It's not that I don't wanna go to the Netherlands.
I just read an article about Amsterdam. And I have also checked with a few enough hotels to know hotels don't accept cash, which I thought was strange.
Amsterdam don't take cash. Supermarkets take only Maestro cards. Not even MasterCard allowed? The writer goes on to warn: be careful of buying 2ndhand bikes from street sellers. The bikes might be stolen or be missing vital parts. And don't buy drugs from street sellers because it's illegal. Cyclists may run through tourists who stray or linger. As the canals go round the buildings, you might get lost without GPS or Google Maps.
Another writer says don't walk out late at night in Eindhoven in the suburbs or might be mugged.
However, Amsterdam/Netherlands is one of the safest countries. Uh-huh.
I don't even need to go to Amsterdam to feel familiar with it. The mess and the restrictions sound like Singapore but worse. We would just be stepping from one to the other but pay more.
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