TWG x Rome

I'm back from my trips and was itching for a tea session so I called Z to head out with me!

My WIW below, and a checkered blazer I tried in H&M but decided not to get in the end cos it was slightly loose on me. :( Couldnt find my sizes these days!

Boo. Need to put on a bit more weight.

I haven't been to TWG in Singapore (it was established in our good home country:>) neither did I in Hong Kong 'cos there was always a longggg queue so I did my first tea experience in Dubai (Dubai Mall) yesterday.

It was 1837 because Singapore started trading tea as a port since then.

Looked like every store in Asia - it had nice macarons' dispplay and shelves of tea tins.

There was at least 8 pages of teas so don't ask me how many there were!

Surrendering the magnificent list, we were spoilt for choice!

Can see Z was delighted to choose. We find the guidebook to tea extremely helpful since it lists down the description of each single tea on the menu.

We ended up with Z's choice of Orange Wood tea since we were both fans of classic and fruit teas.

Extremely pleased with the tea we had. The wood note wasn't too strong in this black based tea, yet it has a light orange note to it.

Ha, we looked extremely tired since we only returned home from Rome the day before.

We went for the aviator salad which was a poach egg with generous servings of char grilled chicken slices on top of romanian lettuce. The croutons were amazingly good, they're one good side to a good salad for me!

We shopped for a bit while I finally gotten my grey skinnies (hooray!) You can always trust Bershka in theirs.

Magnolia's our next stop - it was Z's first time while you know I always count on them for my red velvet dose.


Their signature Red velvet cheese cake.

Z chose to have carrot cake while I was on my usual fix.

paired with latte and earl grey with a dash of milk for me, it's an awesome combination :>


Rome
Did I also mentioned that Z and I were on work trip the day before to Rome?
Here are some pictures of us in the city of Roma.

We shared a pizza and aglio olio in a cafe which were quite a good $$ deal for us, but I didn't like what we had really. I doubt I can find a decent restaurant in Rome center.

Was at Piazza Navona when we walked around. It had its Christmas market which was bustling with life.
Quoted from Wiki:
" Piazza Navona is a city square in Rome, Italy. It is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, built in 1st century AD, and follows the form of the open space of the stadium. The ancient Romans came there to watch the agones ("games"), and hence it was known as 'Circus Agonalis' (competition arena)."


The Egyptian obelisk in Rome.

My kind of carousel :D

Shopped around tents with displays of christmas and souvenirs.


It was 4:30pm when dusk falls, winter makes the day seemed shorter and the nights longer.

The beauty of Europe is to have a cup of coffee in any of the cafes while you put your world behind for the moment.

It was raining heavily that night, so the coffee was much needed.

We also settled down for the pistachio ice cream near trevi fountain - I remembered one of my readers who told me not to settle for anything less - thank you :) The gelato is indeed the best I've had for 2 euros!


Till then, I gotta settle pictures for Amsterdam :)

Rome II

Just came back from Seoul and it was wonderful! I had so much fun at Gangnam underground market shopping for clothes (ohh, they had such nice tops and skirts!) 

 As for this entry, I did a photo slideshow for the ease of me not editing photo by photo :p Went on a trip to the Vatican City that time and it was really lovely. The weather was around 25 degrees (so it was neither too cold or warm) and I decided to go alone for an evening stroll :) 

Was 5pm when I arrived at the Vatican so the museum is already near closing... anyways, enjoy the video before I blog on HKG next!! :)

 

enjoy your lovely weekend while I rest on mine!

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 :(

I need a DVD player :(

Amazing toiletries they have - love their peterthomasroth (???) range. Gentle and moisturizing :)


On the way to the city center with my group, including my friend behind me stealing this shot.

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.

This is totally unacceptable in Singapore I know, they call this art, we call this vandalism.
#justsaying


*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.

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. 


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.
 

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.

The sun's blazing but it doesn't feel warm at all.
side of Piazza Venezia

 
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

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


Street walking, beautiful hand painted pieces of the city and little cars driven to fit the aisles.


The other huge landmark in central rome - the wishing well - Fontana di Trevi, otherwise known as Trevi Fountain.

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


Two shots of us throwing coins:
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!!! :)