Sunday, 24 June 2012

Rome I

I've been trying to stay home during my off days, but this is so hard really while the dubai sales goes on. Grrrrr. I've been refraining from going to Dubai Mall, which is one of my favorite malls and this self restraint has been working well. I'm not sure how it'll go when i'm off to HKG end this month. We all know summer sales are evil to the pockets, and my pocket isn't very filled this season :(
 The word 'savings' has been at the back of my mind, and for this month's pay, i'm gonna rock a four figure after giving family allowance. Proud ish me.

Let's go to Rome with me this entry ;)

The thing about me traveling is I never ever search for places to go. I will just plan a couple of hours going to the city and explore - to see what I'll find. That's me, just happy roaming around and hoping that I don't get lost. I don't even know the landmarks until I need to. Anything that I stumble upon just gives me a delightful surprise. Crazy traveler you think.

I have nothing to complain about my room in Rome, except that I hate the TV channels. I could only watch BBC, Bloomberg in English, no entertainment channels at all :(
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I need a DVD player :(

Amazing toiletries they have - love their peterthomasroth (???) range. Gentle and moisturizing :)
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On the way to the city center with my group, including my friend behind me stealing this shot.
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European subway maps always look so confusing.... but once you get used to it, you'll know the way to and fro :)

the BIT ticket that goes one way and is 1.50euro.
The BIG ticket lasts for a whole day for unlimited rides, I think it's around 8 euros.
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This is totally unacceptable in Singapore I know, they call this art, we call this vandalism.
#justsaying

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*twist* the asian group

The only landmark and tourist attraction I know during my first work trip in Rome - Colosseum because the metro stop is called the same and my friends kept saying "let's go to the colosseum" x 14.
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Taken from the website Rome Museum:
The edifice of four floors, with a total height of 52 metres and an extension covering and elliptical area of about 19000 square metres, is with no doubt the most reknown symbol of Rome all over the world. For the enjoyment of Rome people, here were organized fights between gladiators or against wild animals and fabulous spectacles as "naumachie", real navy battlements in the arena filled with water. Under the arena of the Colosseum there were numerous corridors and rooms aimed at welcoming the gladiators and the ferocious beasts that could be brought at the centre of the arena, thanks to elevator carriages and access ramps. 

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In Mandarin, we call it the "斗牛场"
I know I'm not very well-read about Rome, but I know that you get to pay to get into the Colosseum and there's a museum in this. Hmmm... I'm not too sure if I wanna pay to go in yet. I'm quite the fan of Vatican City and its museum instead.

Took pictures along the way, and it's a pity I couldn't name some of these structures because I did not do prior research.
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Only on my second work trip did I know this is the Piazza Venezia. It's a beautiful white structure and in Wikipedia, they say: 
"The Piazza Venezia is a piazza in central Rome, Italy. It takes its name from Cardinal Venezia who built the adjacent Palazzo Venezia, the former embassy of the city of the Republic of Venice. The piazza is at the foot of the Capitoline Hill and near the Roman Forum. It is dominated by the imposing Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II. In 2009, during excavations for the Rome C Metro Line, ancient remains of what has been identified as emperor Hadrian's Athenaeum were unearthed in the middle of the square."

I'm learning things as I blog, hmmmm.. :) Gonna post other pictures I took along the way. It's nice walking around the streets of Central Rome just like that, because everything around you is so beautiful.
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The sun's blazing but it doesn't feel warm at all. IMG_1862IMG_1864
side of Piazza Venezia

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It says that St. Pietro is just on the left, but hoho, it's at least a 45 minutes walk. It's a long but beautiful walk as you walk along the river , they said it's really worth it :)

A full picture of Piazza Venezia taken when I'm facing it opposite
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A good picture of Michael and a random store :)

We had geleto, they say it's a must have in Italy so I had the pistachio while my friend had the hazelnut. It really taste good - a tad too sweet, but it's creamy in texture. Unlike the diluted ones we have back at home :p
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Street walking, beautiful hand painted pieces of the city and little cars driven to fit the aisles.
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The other huge landmark in central rome - the wishing well - Fontana di Trevi, otherwise known as Trevi Fountain.
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Citied from Wiki:
"A traditional legend holds that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome.[10] This was the theme of 1954's Three Coins in the Fountain and the Academy Award-winning song by that name which introduced the picture. An estimated 3,000 euros are thrown into the fountain each day.[11] The money has been used to subsidize a supermarket for Rome's needy;[11] however, there are regular attempts to steal coins from the fountain"

I threw twice, so I come back twice ok???? :p
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Two shots of us throwing coins:319718_10150926604860758_2106271892_n534422_10150926605795758_1731479927_n
I looked really happy - no this expression is beyond happy lol!

and then we sourced for dinner at some random restaurant (see, this is the result of no prior research) and I'll continue with pictures the next post. It's time for me to cook dinner!!! :)
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Tuesday, 19 June 2012

busy girl in june

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I need a haircut badly, when i return home.
Be back to blog soon since I've a rest month in July :)

Friday, 15 June 2012

Murano Watch (Venice)

I'm crazy over these watches when I saw them in Rome, these pretty glass framed pieces and I held myself back from buying them. Crazy expensive prices on the streets.
I'm definitely going to Venice for my holidays and it'll be a great souvenir  for myself.

Meanwhile while I hold onto my euros, here's a good picture of it. Gonna buy it in every color I want then!
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Tuesday, 12 June 2012

All the things I needed to update!

I never seem to have time to reply to messages and emails because I've been keeping myself busy! Tons of errands to run when I'm in town (Dubai I mean) and plenty of things to see and do when I'm out. With my goldfish-like memory these days, I really need a to-do list so that I can keep myself on track.

Here're some insights to my cooking these days, since it's all my housemate and I do when we're home together :p
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ooohh yeah, from girls who never stepped into kitchen, to these, we're pretty amazed ourselves.

Beijing
I'll continue with shots of the imperial garden in Forbidden City:
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Decided that we should also do a tour in the imperial park opposite - Jingshan Park
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Extracted from the wikipedia page linked above:
"Jingshan (Chinese景山pinyin: Jǐngshān; literally "Prospect Hill") is an artificial hill in BeijingChina. Covering an area of more than 230,000 m², Jingshan is immediately north of the Forbidden City on the central axis of Beijing.[1] As a result, it is administratively part of both the Xicheng District and the Dongcheng District. Originally an imperial garden, it is now a public park, known as Jingshan Park (景山公园)"
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Gio finding his inner peace here with the greenery and flowers. We were elated to see so much green here as compared to the sand we have in Dubai.
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Taking time to appreciate the little things around you.
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Climbing up the stairs to the peak of park

The view opposite of the palaces, weather's a little cloudy that day.
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At top of the peak where one of the pavilions sits, there are 5 peaks and pavilions n total in this park.
That pretty much ends our visit to Forbidden City :)

Dubai
I've so much to update about my local visits and gatherings but I'll do one recent visit to an Indonesian restaurant here. It's an authentic indo restaurant called Betawi, situated in Bur Dubai area. My indonesian chinese housemate gave it a 4 star ;)
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Suy, Karen and I sat for lunch.
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The girls and their avocado shake, indonesian style.

I had a bandung which was really good - ultimate milkiness. We liked it so much that I told Suy to get rose syrup from Jarkata to make one at home (as seen above in my instagram shots!)
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Soto Ayam
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Nasi Briyani 
(favorite of the lot, this reminds me of the one I had in Bali)
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Ayam Satay
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Indonesian Fried Fish
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Another of my UK adventures in
Manchester
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One of my favorite hotels with the fluffiest pillows and bounciest beds!
There's a garden out there and the hotel looks fantastic, 2 levels like a cottage house :)

Went to town @ Piccadilly 'cos we had a private car to 6 of us :)
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Tired max cos we went out immediately after the flight!

City Center with tons of shops. M&S, Primark, Topshop, Debenhams, etc!
London is indeed a heaven for shopping.
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weirdest costume ever in Primark and floral shorts I didn't manage to buy cos I burst my budget at the street.

The girls and tons of primark bags, its awful how we pulled the heavy bags through the subway station.
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Manchester subway:
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Bought vitamins for myself
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Shopping for the day, love those pink pouches that I bought as souvenirs and one for myself and one for bestie!
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Steak and eggs as in-room dining. Mmmm, i need to infuse more meat into my diet.
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Rested well with London TV and newspapers before I exited Manchester :)

Gonna do an entry on Rome next, wee!!!! :)