This is me |
 This Christmas
MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY 2015 TO EVERYONE!!!! 5 more days to 2015! Can't believe time flew by so quickly, school's going to start soon and NO I'M NOT READY!!!!!! (I don't wanna start school) Didn't really the time to update this blog (I have a whole stack of albums to edit and food reviews to write, on top of the huge heap of homework and revision to do) Well, December flew by real quickly. Everyday was just about going to school, gym and training. Not much time to rest. Dec'14: - Loads of good food with the family - Training and more training - Family gatherings - Loads of shopping & buying new clothes That really sums up my December this year. I guess this is gonna be a really short post since I'll leave all the food stuff to the other food review posts and shall start working on my new year resolution post soon. Signing off for now~  Labels: 2014, Christmas, Holidays, random, Short post Day 2 Romania
After 14 hours of flying🚀, we finally arrived in Rome.
The coach was so far away from the arrival hall and we had to walk quite a distance. We met our driver, Giovani who was going to follow us all the way to Paris. He's a really nice guy.
As we drove towards the Colosseum, Karlina told us about some hints to take note in Europe. ( there are plentiful of gypsies and pick pockets here. There are also many Indians and Africans selling things along the streets. And boy are they determined. They seriously try to push everything into your hands )
Karlina also told us that if we needed water we could get it from our driver at 1 Euro. ( water in Italian is Aqua. It's quite funny cause aqua in the Singaporean context refers to something's along the lines of transgender. So it's quite funny)
Finally after a long drive, we arrived at the Colosseum. It was really magnificent. Though it's winter right now, it was really sunny and warm. ( 10 degrees i guess)
After that we made our way to Vatican City. Vatican City is a small country of its own. We had to go through another round of custom before entering (the custom officers were quite lenient it seems. We just pass our hand carry bags through the scanner and walked through a metal detector. That's all)
The main attraction in the Vatican City is the St Peter's Basilica. It is one of the largest and most famous church in the world. When I first stepped in, there is only one word to describe it WOW. It was really amazing.
  Since it's winter, the sun sets like super early there in Europe ( when i say early, I mean 4pm and the sky is dark) We left Vatican city and headed to our next destination, Trevi Fountain. By the time we arrived at Trevi Fountain it was already dark and there was like a ton of people. ( I didn't even manage to get anywhere close to the fountain with crowd in front of me)
It's winter and what's the best thing to do in icy cold winter? EAT ICE-CREAM!!!! Karlina then brought us to a shop near the fountain where we bought ice-cream.
After that we walked over to Spanish steps and my flash decided to go crazy on me because it was just too windy and cold for it so we couldn't really take many pictures.
So that's all for my day 1 in Rome, Italy.
Off to the next post for more fun in the Ancient town of Siena ...
Labels: 2013, Christmas, Europe, holiday, Ice Cream, Italy, Rome, Rude staff, Vatican City Europe Updates ☺
Finally I'm back online !!!!
It's Day 4 of my trip and finally, I get free internet!
So here's some updates about my trip now.
Weather:
Surprisingly, in the WINTER it's NOT snowing, it's NOT cold and
it's so not what I expected. I was expecting like heavy snow fall and like
sub-zero temperatures, but nope. It's actually quite sunny here.
For the past few days, I've been to Rome, Florence, Siena and now
I'm in Venice. The weather so far has been quite warm for me (around 10-5
degree Celsius) and it's been quite sunny actually.
As a whole, I guess this winter will be quite a warm one (or at
least until we get back to Singapore)
(Note to photographers: Take note of your camera battery, you can
take it but not your camera haha. My flash was going crazy because of the cold
and it wouldn't work at times)
Food:
Food so far has been quite plain. For breakfast , it's just lots
and lots of BREAD!!!!!! (and this morning there was yoghurt, and some more
BREAD). I would say that the food here (if you're joining a tour group) will
not be suitable for those picky eaters. The food is quite simple and the
portion is quite little actually, expect the Tuscan dinner which gave us HUGE
steaks. The food is generally spaghetti, steak and dessert. (Tiramisu here is
awesome though I always choke on the powder) Oh, and also, the food here is
quite salty and there is seriously a lack of water (the plain water here is
quite expensive) Beer and wine is super cheap (really want to get some, but
I'll get drunk haha)
For me the food here is quite okay, but it's just too salty and
I'm a water buffalo, I need a lot of WATER!!!!
Sights:
I have only one word to describe the sights here...
WOW!!!!
It's really incredible how the artists and sculptors actually
design and build the churches here. The design is really really nice and the
way they construct the place is really incredible. The Vatican City was really
an eye opening experience. The church was just toooooo beautiful. (Note to
photographers: The churches and architecture here in Europe really requires
wide angle lens. My lens wasn't wide enough to cover the entire scene.)
Lodging:
So far, the hotels have not really been up to expectations. (We’ve
been staying in 4-star hotels but they are of the Italian standard and not
really like what we would expect.)
I have to say that the rooms so far are quite small. (it's quite
troublesome for us to fit in 3 adults and like plentiful of luggage) Also, the
room don't provide some amenities that would expect to have (By law, the hotels
are not allowed to provide kettles so we had to bring our own traveler’s
kettle. In a similar vein, there is seriously a lack of sockets in the room.
There are only 2 power points in the rooms that we stayed in)
Since tonight is the first night I have internet, I'll post more
some other day.
Ciao
Labels: Christmas, Europe, family, fun, holiday, Life, review Fly Away ♥
Finally it's D-Day!!!! ( not the real one but ya....) Flying of tonight and I can't help but feel excited. This year, I'm spending Christmas in EUROPE!!!! Christmas in Europe seems to be really exciting but according to our guides, it's nothing special. We were told when we booked the tour that stores and tourist attractions would still be open on Christmas day itself, but prior to our departure, we had a briefing and were told that ALL SHOPS WILL BE CLOSED (dun dun dun dun....) So it turns out that sales staff cannot be fully trusted. Since nothing can be done now, might as well enjoy our trip in the snow (if there is going to be any....) A month ago when I was checking the weather forecast, it seemed like I'd be entering a cold cold winter zone, but recently, the temperature seems to be raising (????) It seems like the world is going kuku~ (It was snowing in Egypt and Vietnam?! Seriously I believe that someday it will start snowing in Singapore and the world would end. It's not that impossible after all, it was hailing ~) This will also be the first time I'll be bringing my TPC overseas (Y) BooYah! That means I'll be able to surf the net (provided that there is FREE wifi connection) According to our briefing, most hotels provide free wifi but then our tour leader sent an email stating that there will NOT be free wifi?! Like WTF can the 2 tour leaders coordinate, one says yes, other says no. One says bring AA batteries, other says bring AAA batteries. Sighs) I'm sooooooooo looking forward to a cold and snowy mountain in Switzerland (OMG SNOW!!! The fact that I'm a walrus tells you that I LOVE ♥♥♥♥♥♥ the COLD) I'm really hoping that there will be free wifi then I'll be able to update daily on my journey. Pray for a safe journey and everything to be fine here in Singapore. See ya! Labels: Christmas, city, cold, Europe, holiday, Life, Post O's, singapore, Winter X'mas in the City (Singapore Edition)
It's CHRISTMAS!!!
Was down at Orchard Road last weekend to take some pictures.
I've always been visiting Orchard during the Christmas period and I can't help but notice that the decorations are getting worse over the years. I remember when I was younger, there would be like awesome decorations in the shopping malls with all those Disney and what not characters. The outside of the buildings would be brightly lit and very colourful. Recently however, things are becoming more dull. Like this year, the main colours are just white and blue, unlike previous years where there would be a variety of colours and the different segments of roads would be in different colour schemes. (It's suppose to be "safe" colours for the drivers so that they won't mistake the decorations for traffic lights, but I guess the lack of colours defeat the purpose of even having decorations)
In the past, my favourite would be Centre Point Mall. Before it renovated, there used to be an area outside the building where there would be really nice decorations (like there was once it was M&Ms) After the renovation, it's just plain and boring.
All in all, I just feel like Christmas is no longer as colourful as it used to be and it's quite sad that the younger generation will not be able to enjoy the past.
Labels: Christmas, City Life, Holidays, photo shoot outing, review, singapore |
