La Citta Eterna ~ Part I

Woohoo!! Easter break is here... Its gonna be a 3 week break for me.. still unsure if I'm going anywhere but I'm sure gonna post up the whole of my Rome trip this time around, in a few parts of course... so, enjoy!

Getting on with my Rome trip last Christmas..

It was already late afternoon by the time we settled down. By then, our tummies were grumbling and we were in the mood for some Italian food... The trouble is, it was slightly past 3 but restaurants in Italy normally serves lunch till 3pm and closes till it is dinner time, roughly 7pm..

Luckily, we spotted this little place that was still open, and immediately went in without thinking twice.

Seafood Fettucine, doesn't look much but it was delicious!

With our tummies satisfied, we explored the city centre after buying the weekly metro pass.. mainly to familiarise ourselves with the streets and the public transport system.

Streets of Rome:

This is just outside Rome Termini, the main train station.. and also home to thousands of really noisy birds dropping unsuspecting tiny white bombs everywhere.. Initially, we just stared at the sky, amazed at the sheer amount flying in formations, practically performing a free for all airshow.. However, over the next few days, it was more like 'Run for cover!!' till we're safely in the building..

We started the Italian experience with the first 2 days jammed packed with day trips to Florence and Capri the day after we arrived. I don't know whether it was excitement, tiredness or just a plain case of amnesia, but the 3 of us who were sharing a room forgot to adjust our watches to +1GMT and missed the first train to Florence O_O oh.my.god.

We panicked, changed in a haste and ran to the train station without breakfast. So, as a warning, I look horrible in the photos coming photos... argh..

To make up for it, we had to fork out an extra 10 Euros to take the next express train to Florence and catch up with the rest.. =( Instead, we actually got there before them by about 45 minutes!

Florence is definitely my favourite city from my Italian trip this time around. Strolling through the streets, besides it being cultural and historic, there's just this really atmospheric and pleasant vibe about the place. Absolutely loving the city of renaissance!

I suppose the city is relatively easy to navigate with a map, as it was all we had to rely on anyway and Jason, our expert map-navigator found most of the points of interest with it.

The city is best explored on foot as there is always little treasures and surprises hidden along the way. We also got to see the sights on our own pace and comfort, taking in all the elegance of the city.

First up is the landmark of Florence, Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, aka the Duomo. It was built way back in the 14th century and considered to be the crowning architectural jewel of Firenze. You can actually see its skyscraping dome from miles away and as you walk towards it, there is also a unique white-green-red marbled coloured partnering tower with 3 bronze doors adorning the front of this facade.

Technically a group shot of the supposed 7 of us, but Kenny decided to go shopping at The Mall

This is the view of the dome from its interior, painted tastefully to represent The Last Supper...

exterior shot of the Duomo

As we sauntered through the streets, there were a variety of these shops along the way with displays so inviting and irresistible, an absolute must have that it was only a matter of time before we knew that we had to have one of it...

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GELATO!!!

Every single one of those flavours just looked super scrumi-yummi-licious that you'd want all of them.. after an excruciating hard time, i settled on stracciatella.

With a gelato in hand, we continued on till we reach the graceful span of Ponte Vecchio with the Arno River flowing through it.

Nearby, there were zodiacal signs on the ground arranged in a particular manner that we couldn't make sense of.. anyway, we just posed with our respective sign..


Puzzling, cancer was either the first or last of the order, beats me..

Moving on, we got to Piazzo della Signoria, overlooked by Palazzo Vecchio with a copy of the infamous statute of Michelangelo's St. David.

The family jewel of St. David is so popular that you'll find it on all sorts of souvenirs you can imagine that's sold everywhere.. mostly postcards, aprons, shorts and magnets.. its either the sole feature or a compilation of them..

This one is particularly funny:

hey, its the hello/goodbye ciao k, and not what's on your mind... lol!!

See what I mean? =)

Done with the sights, we wandered around the streets to kill time, whilst waiting for our train..

Random photos:

I know we have this back home...

... but i don't recall seeing this

surprise surprise, its actually pretty popular in Italy.. the 2nd one I saw in Florence and there's a few in Rome..

More droolings along the street:

... Part II ~ Naples, Capri...

Gong xi Gong xi!!

Happy Chinese New Year peeps!! Decided to post some of the more current events before continuing with the Rome trip.. Its Mickey Mouse year =) May the Year of the Rat bring lots of luck and happiness to all the people that I love..

Well well, with this time being the first CNY I am spending away from home, the atmosphere in a foreign land is awfully quiet and depressing as nothing beats the celebrations back home.. Although part of the town had lantern decors, I am still totally missing the family gatherings, sound of firecrackers, grandma's soup, traditional dishes, house visiting, collecting of angpows, cookies, cookies and more cookies!!

So here's a summary of my CNY celebrations in Aber!

To make up for the lack of CNY ambience, we started off by baking cakes and cookies to comfort ourselves and spice up the festive spirit. Next was having our very own reunion dinner on CNY eve at of course, a chinese reataurant!!

keropok for starters..

There were about 20 of us that night, other Aber friends either had their own session of reunion dinners in Aber, Cardiff or London.

I think we had about 7 dishes that night, food was pretty good, especially the roast duck and lemon chicken. Lack of photos of the food says it all.. haha.. There was even 2 bottles of red wine courtesy of Jessica's dad who came to visit her. I think we shocked some of the ang moh customers that night with the tossing of yee sang and prolonged cheers of YUMMMMMMMMMMM SENG!! lol..

yum seng!

third year mates..

crashing with the next table

szemin insisting she's a mamasan

to the people who coordinated a delightful reunion dinner.. thanks girls!

By this point, the alcohol started to kick in:

szemin conveniently became my camwhore buddy for the night

and this was only when i was barely half way through my glass!

Now, I shall demonstate how to enjoy the fortune cookie you get at the end of the meal,

step one: get a packet containing the fortune cookie

step two: open up the packet (watch out for fortune cookie predators =D)

step three: crack it open with one swift motion using equal pressure from both thumbs!

final step: take out the tiny slip of paper and presto, your fortune!

the wonderful company that brought CNY fun to Aber!

on the way home, with red lanterns decorating the streets of Aber

There were some CNY activities going on in the Arts Centre in my Uni that weekend. We stopped by to check it out on Sunday:

simple hintings of CNY festivities

The highlight of the day that we were looking forward to was the dragon and lion dance, and we made it just in time! The warm sun felt super inviting as we stood outdoors for the performances.

I gotta say that I felt bad with the way Malaysians were being slightly mean and laughed at the attempt by the whites putting up the dragon dance, albeit it being a really feeble display of what we are used to back home.

father and son effort

pretty impressive for amateurs

we even had a welsh version of the dragon dance.. hahah!!

After it was over, we went back indoors to the mini food fair being held in the upper area of the arts centre. Mingled a little before heading home..

This was on the 7th lunar day, cooked ourselves a pleasant meal that left us feeling happy and stuffed!!

Lo hei!!

All in all, it wasn't too bad eh..

getting there..

Heya... I am not sure if you all still bother checking whether I've updated or not.. Sorta disappeared for the month of December and January due to an assignment, exams, went away during the Christmas break, laziness and a million other lousy excuses.. heheh.. apologies..

Speaking of the Christmas holidays, finally got my act together to put this post up on my trip, my very first venture to a European country outside the UK.. I am still finding it hard to believe.. that I went to the La Citta Eterna~ friggin Rome people!!

Planning started way back in October over fears of having to stay in the deserted town for Christmas break and some how it blew up into a week-long Rome trip.. it wasn't easy deciding whether to splurge this way or just save up and rot in Aber.. After much consideration, since I'm already in the UK and its my final year, we jumped at the opportunity after getting a pretty good deal on air tickets and gratefully getting permission from mum and dad.. Omigosh, it felt super exciting!!

There's 7 of us, 4 lassies and 3 lads.. Our Rome trip started off with travelling to London by train one day before the flight.. alright, picture time starts here:

Having to switch trains in between, this is a nicer looking one..

Took a bus to Liverpool Street Station for another bus to the airport..

In the meantime, we had spare time and walked around the area..

That's the Swiss Re, some consider it an icon and some thinks it's the ugliest building in London


On our way to catch a bus..

We flew from Stansted Airport, London.. I suppose its the equivalent of Air Asia's LCCT.. had to put up a night in the terminal (another first!) but barely had a wink as we waited for our flight at 8am the next day..

can't wait to board it!

no idea where this is, but the Swiss Alps would be a wild guess... amazing view..

Ciao Roma!!

The adventure starts in my next post! =)

Ooh, btw Happy Pancake Day! Tomorrow's CNY eve!!