Thursday, July 30, 2009
Been wanting to write this entry since yesterday but something is kinda wrong with my browsers (I think that's where the problem is though it happened in IE, firefox, and google chrome) that when I viewed the create post page in Blogger, it just didn't work properly. Anyway ...Went to watch Hors de Prix or Priceless as it is called in English last Tuesday. Had a free ticket which can be used for 2 people. I didn't feel like asking anyone. Been feeling quite anti social for some time now. Perhaps it could also be because lately somehow when I asked people, I was rejected! As a matter of fact, I did ask someone to watch this with me, but I was rejected vilely, with excuses like "I have to check my schedule", "I might be busy", "Why don't you ask someone who will be more interested?" Shouldn't one just be honored that one is asked and kindly oblige this person who perhaps has other people to ask and yet choose you? Wow, apparently I can still feel pretty upset about it even after quite some time. Anywho, so I didn't want to ask anyone, so I told Yeni that she could use my plus one for her friends. I thought she would be bringing some people but apparently her people bailed out on her. So it was just me and her and Maureen and her friend. Even the people who initiated this didn't seem to come, silly people!
Nonetheless, we enjoyed the movie. Audrey Tautou was in it. Man! She's so skinny! Très petite! Kinda uncomfortable for me to watch her. The movie is about sugar mommy and sugar daddy and the girl and boy inside this type of relationship. The boy fell for the girl and the girl realized her love for him at the climax of the movie. So basically this comedy is easy to digest. I enjoyed it very much and laughed a lot. After it, I realized I hadn't been laughing whole heartedly for some time. It was really funny. When the sugar mommy gave the lead guy a 30,000 euro watch, you kinda can't help feeling that it is nice to have a sugar mommy :P It's like S$60,000 for God sake! As the guy said it's not a watch, it's a treasure chest and as Yeni said, it can be used as a downpayment for a condo :D I like the guy by the way. He made me smitten :P Yeni and Maureen said he had this dumb look in him that they didn't like. In Indonesian, the word to describe his look is "polos". In English, I think it's "gullible". Either way, I just like seeing this innocent and in loved guy :P
How's life Eka? Well I don't think I am doing good. Provo di potere dire "me la cavo" ma in realtà non posso fare questo :( I am having a bad feeling and some of it has manifested itself. I wonder if it will get worse. I am trying to tell myself to brace for impact, however I know even if I have sensed it coming, I will still be heartbroken and cry. Christ! Maybe I just need a good cry. Haven't been crying for a long time. Maybe I just need to let out my sadness and negativity. Haven't been crying, haven't been laughing. You think my life is in balance, apparently not so *sigh*
In the topic of being alone. Was around in the Merlion Park area last Friday. Alone! What can you do about it right? Took some pictures there, which you can see here. There were the proper ones like this typical postcard picture of Singapore.
Anyway, did make it to Carl's Gatti Del Mondo Exhibition. The exhbition is closed now, so I cannot really advertise. Some of the pictures were really amazing considering how hard it is to be able to snap your camera at the right moment. There were some nice cats' expressions and some of the places were really nice as well. Alrighty, gotta go. Can we don't do tomorrow? *sigh*
:) eKa @ 9:24:00 PM • 0 comments
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Hello peeps. Went to watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince today with La Gioia and L. Casryn was supposed to join us and I even had booked for the 4 of us but she canceled yesterday. It was actually quite hard to get Harry Potter movie tickets since it opened this week. I made the booking on Tuesday and even then, it was difficult to get the tickets because most cinemas were almost full. We actually wanted to watch it on Friday night but in the end had to settle for today. I tried to offer the extra ticket to some people and noone was able to make it. I was really frustrated and dumbfounded that here I was with a sought after ticket and yet noone wanted it. Shocked! So today when I collected my ticket, I just for the sake of asking asked if I could cancel 1 of the ticket. I didn't have any hope of succeeding. I actually asked after he had printed the tickets. However, the guy at the counter nicely asked his supervisor and lo and behold, I was allowed to do so and he returned me S$10 cash. I was so happy. I have to say I have had many good experiences with the Golden Village cinemas, they have always been most accommodating :)So about the movie. I actually like it very much. I have to say that I didn't re-read the book again before going to the movie and so I think I forget many details and as such perhaps this is the reason why I wasn't so critical. I think it followed some of the things in the book nicely. I thought all the actors were great. Normally I would say I love Ron Weasley the most but this time around I love Tom Felton's Draco Malfoy. His character is actually one the characters that I quite sympathize in the book. I thought he did really well. I thought Daniel Radcliffe's acting as Harry Potter is better. I quite like him here. I think he's lucky to have the Felix Felicis' scene because with it, we could see a different side of him, a more relaxed one. I was kinda happy too to see Hermione's scene in which it showed her having bushy hair after failing to beat Harry in potion, kinda love to see that side of Hermione. I also related to her a lot when she was so sad when she saw Ron snogging with Lavender. Even though I know it's written in the story, I was still kinda in disbelief that Ron did that, I guess guys can just snog any girl :( Then I thought Dumbledore's fight scene against the inferi was very cool, fitting for the great wizard Dumbledore. His dead scene, though not all the same as the book, was quite touching that I had a bit of tear even though I didn't cry when I read it in the book.
What else to comment on? Well I guess there are some characters that appeared so little in the movie but I guess it's pretty difficult to squeeze everything in. Well if I have to be more critical and in retrospect, I guess for a movie entitled The Half Blood Prince, I wonder if the Half Blood Prince part of the movie is explained well for people who do not read the book. It is actually quite important considering that Snape plays a very important role in the whole Harry Potter story. Perhaps the climax of this movie, of Dumbledore dying and of Snape revealing himself wasn't as strong as it could be. If you read the book, your heart will sink when Snape killed Dumbledore and when Snape revealed that he's the half blood prince but in the movie I don't think you really get that feeling. Overall though I think the movie is good. I think I watched all Potter's movies at least twice so I wonder if I will watch this one again, maybe I will watch the 3D version if it's released in Singapore :P
On other news, I guess everyone has heard about the bombing news in Jakarta. It totally pissed me off. I'm quite affected by it, I got quite angry I have to say. What the Fuck?!? is what I wanted to scream. It's like it's only a week ago that I wrote Indonesia is looking not so bad and yet this stupid thing happened? Everyone is quite in disbelief. Stupid freaking terrorists. What the hell do they hope to achieve with this? Freaking idiots!!! See even writing about this still can make me quite upset :(
Okay, lighter note. On today's poems reading there were a lot of sky, moon, sun, and rainbow that I found my poem to be quite ordinary :( It was really difficult to make this poem. I guess it's because my knowledge is so limited and (I really cannot deny this) I do kinda take things seriously, so it was really hard to put my poem into its final version because it is not what I feel. In fact I had tried to change the last line but after reading them to Chloe and Maxime, they said I have to stick to the more romantic one. Maxime seemed to have strong opinion on how the last line should better be :P Chloe on the other hand found the whole poem to be strange. Kids, I say :P Then Mademoiselle Margie helped me choose better words and I do have to say that the final version as cheesy as it is (it is really cheesy!!!), it is kinda very very sweet. Iirggh, saccharine sweet is really not what I am feeling right now so I am really really deeply struggling with it. Here you go though.
Avec toi c'est la lune dans le ciel
Et après la pluie c'est l'arc-en-ciel
Tu es comme le soleil pour moi
Et mon chéri, mon cœur est pour toi
Compare this with the italian poem that I wrote in my last Italian class. You see that one had a skill of almost 3 years and the feeling involved in writing that flowed more easily and willingly. Anyways, I was thinking that the french poem above will still rhyme in Italian, così eccola.
Con te c'e la luna nel cielo
E dopo piove c'e l'arcobaleno
Tu sei come il sole per me
E caro mio, il mio cuore è per te
Buonanotte my darlings!
:) eKa @ 10:01:00 PM • 0 comments
Friday, July 10, 2009
Hey peeps. I'm quite sleepy now.Went to Pulau Ubin today with the peeps as planned. My butt hurts so much because of the cycling and I was thinking that I'm darker again. On my left hand, there's a white area which didn't get tanned from all the sun because it's always covered by my watch. There's an extreme difference when I came back from Italy and now the difference is more (I think). When I look at it, I just couldn't believe that I was ever that fair. Whenever I go home, my mom and many people that know me often say that I am fairer since my time in Singapore. I used to dismiss their comment but apparently I was kinda fair. Anyway, generally I am not liking much this new dark skin that I have, so I really wish everything will be in balance again soon.
Ooops, I have been talking about other thing but the trip. The trip there with the boat was okay. There were 10 of us by the way. Rented the bicycles, however some of us decided to walk, since they were a bit unsure with the bicycles. I cycled and I have to say that I was quite shaky since it's been like 9 years ago since I cycled. However, I love it so much! Love cycling!!! Though the butt is hurting so much right now, but cycling is really fun. I was thinking, this is kinda the type of outdoor activity that I like :P Went to Chek Jawa but obviously since we were late, the tide is high and we can't really see any interesting living things. We ended up walking through the board walk and then had whatever food we had with us on one of the shelter. Then the cloud was darkening that we decided to just go back. However when we reached the place where we parked our bicycles, the rain started to pour. Auntie A and L were already walking ahead despite of the rain. The people who were cycling decided to just wait at the shelter with la Gioia who was actually walking. However she ended up being the luckiest because after waiting some time, there was a white van which seemed to be picking some tourists and she hitched a ride for S$ 2. So she got dry and an easy ride. Us who cycled decided to continue on when the rain was getting lighter. Somewhere along the way, there's just something terribly wrong with my bicycle that I couldn't pedal :( The guys tried to solve it but they couldn't. Mr. RH being the always gentleman and proper one switched his bicycle to mine. I felt rather bad. The good thing was, there were a lot of down slopes so he could just slide along. All in all, we all reached the meeting point safely. It was quite a nice experience except for the weather :( Will I want to go again? Yes, to cycle :P
Now, I am tired. Should be sleeping early today so that I can be on time tomorrow. My butt really hurts. Sigh. Not really gonna post much picture because there's nothing really that I love a lot. However if you wanna see some pictures, you can go here. I'm just gonna post this one. I think Casryn was pointing on how she liked this tree. I kinda found it ironic, that it's so dry and yet it's in the middle of so much water.
:) eKa @ 8:55:00 PM • 0 comments
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Outwit. Outspy. Outsmart. Outplay. Then Get Out.
'ello guys. Not supposed to be doing this right now but due to unforeseen situation, I kinda can do this right now. The title of the post, which is very very interesting, comes from the movie Duplicity which I watched last night. Went to watch it alone because I kinda want to be alone. Almost didn't want to watch it actually, because yesterday was kinda cold because of the rain, and I was tired, but read that they did some shoots in Rome and as such I changed my mind :P Some of the scenes in Rome happened in front of the Pantheon. Kinda felt good that I recognized that :PAnyway, the movie was okay I suppose. I kinda didn't like the ending so for me it kinda spoiled the whole thing. I do love Clive Owen a lot :P I wonder if I saw him in real life, as a normal guy, would I be attracted to him? Hmmm. Julia Roberts was pretty, it's been awhile since I last saw her on the screen. She looks not so skinny, normal human shape actually. It does bother me to notice and feel that she's not skinny. She's normal and normal is okay. I have to say that Paul Giamatti was very entertaining :D He's funny! I can't really say I like the movie very very much. It wasn't bad, that's all I can say.
Gonna go to Pulau Ubin this Friday with the team. I am so excited about it!!! This is my first time going there and I am happy that I finally get to cross this from my Singapore list. Need to pray for good weather though. I really hope it's not gonna rain because that would be a huge disappointment for me. We're gonna see the Da Vinci exhibition instead if it rains :( I am so looking forward to cycle again. The last time I rode a bicycle is I think when I was in my 1st year in NUS, when we did night cycling. Hmmm ... suddenly, I got reminded of this senior that my ex-roommate, Stella, had a crush on. He fell and that was funny! I still have a smile in me now remembering that :P Oh yeah, talking about Singapore list. I didn't get NDP tickets, aarrrgghh ... so this is something that I cannot cross. I have to stay at least another year? That is so not cool!
On other news, well, nothing much. Last Friday, had dinner with Carl, Q, and Dr. A. Was pleasantly suprised to see Q and her big tummy :P Then, I had a ... well I don't know what adjective to use, if I use 'bad', it will be too harsh. Perhaps 'real' is the correct adjective however to say I had a 'real' Saturday night doesn't really make much sense. This is the point where I wonder if I should continue writing in English *sigh*
I guess we always see 'us' differently and perhaps each has different expectation of the others, expectation that we know will never be fulfilled. As much as perhaps one tries to define 'us' simply and lightly, I think it will always be complicated for me. I realize (and this is perhaps thanks to Italy) that whatever sentiments that I had or have, it's not so hard on the soul anymore. I am somehow lighter though one perhaps may argue that I am still uptight. As much as I think I still care quite a lot, I also realize that I don't care as well. The 'me' months and months and months ago would have wished to have this kinda feeling back then but I guess you just couldn't rush things, things will happen when they're ready to happen. I can't help feeling that perhaps this is a sign that I am ready for other things, new things, and of course like a fool, I am so anxious to see these new things. Then when it actually never happens, I'm just gonna be depressed :P See, I guess, deep down, the half-empty-glass in me will never be erased :P
Enough about that. Today is Indonesia Presidential Election day. Voted and mailed my vote yesterday. Apparently in Jakarta (at least), if you showed your inked finger (you need to put one of your finger in ink after voting) in Starbucks, you can get free drink. I love that it's like that in Indonesia. I also like and envious with the fact that it's public holiday there *sigh* Anywho, quick count results show that it's as the polls have been showing all along. I hope that's how the final and official result goes and no funny business going on. Considering so many things that have been happening in South East Asia for the last year or so, Indonesia is actually looking not so bad right now. I still think it will take a long time for Indonesia to progress and improve tremendously, but I guess because it's Indonesia after all. We are laid back and you know at a certain point, I guess you have to be like that. You gotta relax and calm down a bit, a trait which I don't really have right now. Yes, I am high-strung, and yes perhaps all the time *sigh* Okay, enough for now. Take care peeps!
:) eKa @ 4:40:00 PM • 0 comments
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Olla guys. Went to watch Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen with la Gioia yesterday. All the reviews said that this movie is bad but I actually was well entertained by it. Can I just say that I love Shia LaBeouf? :P Yeah, I like this type of guys. Anyways back to the movie, yes, there were some lame stuff but it wasn't all that bad. They were bearable. Yeah, the humans didn't really have much role except for the running around and freaking out but I had such a good laugh with them, especially the new character, Leo. It's good that I can laugh out loud :D The whole effects were really cool, I have to say. All the explosion and stuffs were kinda colossal. I hope they had much fun doing it, because it looked so cool and it seemed like lotsa fun to do all the explosion. Did some reading on the movie and found out that they could take days just to render 1 frame with the transformers in it. It's kinda crazy and also shows how much hardwork and patience are needed to make this movie. Amazingly cool. I felt that I actually had a better experience on this second movie that the first one.On other news, well there's nothing interesting to say actually. Finished my last Friday session last week and so no more long Fridays from now on, instead I have early morning Saturday routine. It's gonna be tougher compared to when I had my Italian classes but I am committed :P I really need to work harder though. It feels like I haven't been making any effort at all actually.
Been talking to people or perhaps been listening to people. Well as I said before, on some people I don't mind hearing them, on others I do wish they would stop focusing on themselves. Today, I unexpectedly had quite a long msn talk with Ms. Sab. We don't really talk much actually except for the normal salutation here and there. It's kinda interesting to know that we can actually have an interesting conversation / bitching session :P I guess it happens, doesn't it? You see a person and you have a feeling that there's nothing in common with you guys, but maybe if you start talking, you'll find that strangely you can be good friends. This kinda things do happen to me. So anyway, as I said I have been listening to people. I guess on some people, I know they really need the reassurance because they are in difficult situation so as much as I can I do try to hear them out and tell them things will work out. I don't know if I am doing the right thing though because I believe that God may not be there for you on your bad decision, however I like to think that no matter what, after we learn our lesson, God is there.
On the other side, I feel like I actually have so many things that I want to say, that I want to let off my chest and head. However, somehow when people asked me how I am, it's like they just do it for the sake of asking and don't actually have the time to stick around to hear me out *sigh* and I also don't know, it just feels that there's noone that I can feel comfortable with telling how I feel. I think again it's because perhaps they're uninterested and also perhaps they will then start advising me and those things kinda make me feel worse. I wonder how I am like when I listen to all these people that they actually come back and tell me their issues.
There are 2 people who said similar things to me today that made me kinda worried. Err ... yesterday's experience proved that I may not be sensitive at all at hints that are being dropped. So I am wondering if hints are being dropped on me too right now. Should I be worried? Arrgghh. Hmmm ... why should I, right? I'm not saying that I am in the most happy state of my life right now. However I am not extremely sad either. There's a bit of peace inside me. Somehow I feel like saying that all's well in the universe, everything is in balance. The truth is if I want to explore it, no, things are not in balance, my universe still sucks. Somehow though, somehow, what I feel is that all is well in the universe. I guess it's alright, no? It's better to be positive than negative? It's better to be smiling than crying? Not that I am smiling myself, but I guess I'm not even close to crying. So all is good? I have started reading The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, finally!!! I have to say that he really had some wise things to say. On one of the chapter, I felt like I've been slapped by Kahlil Gibran *sigh* but Oshie found it comforting. I guess I should love more. Perhaps I should realize that I have so much love to give and it's pretty much one of the task that every human must do, to give out more love in this world. Peace out peeps! :P
:) eKa @ 9:24:00 PM • 0 comments
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Hello guys. It's been a week since I came back and I have been living the same (depressing) routine that I have. I have been asked, "How's your trip?" and such. Somehow I found the question to be quite stressful to answer. I normally answered with, well I did get lonely, the loneliness kills but the trip was okay and I'm quite amazed that I did it. It's been a meaningful trip seriously. There were feelings that I had when I was there and there are feelings that I have now. Oshie was right (I knew he would be right) when he told me when I was making my decision that, wouldn't you feel proud when you look back and see that you've done it? It is really so. Right now, the word that I can use to explain the experience is just INCREDIBLE. INCREDIBILE!!! It's freaking incredible and awesome. I've been trying to remember what it was like there. The sky in Firenze, the running around Italy, the figuring out my ways, how I felt, what I saw. Other than trying to figure out direction, my other challenging decision over there was deciding what flavor of gelato to try and I do seriously recommend any of you who are going to Italy to have gelato every day :PI have to say though that memories are fading. Things went in a blur because I did so much and I tried to see as much as I can that many details are lost *sigh* It's a good thing I have pictures and amazingly, when I looked at the pictures I didn't even realize that I saw such things but it's so cool to know that I was there. I was talking to Casryn today, saying that the bad thing about taking many pictures (I took more than 2700) is that I saw things more through the lens rather than actually enjoying the view with my own eyes. I guess that's the reason why, I felt such relief when I entered places that do not allow me to bring my bag, like the Uffizi and Basilica San Marco. I think I enjoyed the Uffizi a lot because I didn't have a heavy bag on my shoulders and I didn't feel obligated to take pictures. Anyway, the pictures are up (I actually paid Flickr for more space!) and you can see them here. However since I have so many pictures, let me also post them here :P These are not in the Flickr collection. I am reliving the experience peeps, so bear with me.
Let's start with Rome where I landed. It's perhaps as busy as any other city. The traffic is pretty chaotic. It reminds me of Jakarta. I've seen motorcyclists did some maneuvering, which is perhaps common in Jakarta but I know people like la Gioia will find it too crazy. However I found actually the drivers there are very nice. People are always crossing the streets anyway they like and the drivers will actually stop when they see people are going to cross. Even though it always happened, I still got nervous and couldn't help muttering "please don't kill me!". It's just they don't seem like they're slowing down but they really do, they really do! So you just gotta walk. See I guess Singapore has made me mentally soft that I lack the wit to do this because I am sure any Jakartans will see no big deal about crossing a busy street :P Oh the metro in Rome freaked me out because the stations look so dark and for me it's scary. However I met some New Yorkers who thought the metro system is actually very sophisticated in Rome simply because they tell you in how many minutes the trains are coming. They say in New York, it is scarier because there are "funky" people in the train itself while in Rome, everything is so decent. I told them I'm spoilt here in Singapore. Seriously, if they see the MRT here perhaps they will think it's so out of this world :P I feel I didn't explore Rome much. When I saw the pictures from Palatine Hill, I do see that they are quite boring but I like the time that I spent there. So relaxing. It was a nice walk and the weather was really cool. If you ask me if I was scared, how can you be when you were really at peace and felt joy and amazement inside your heart. That was really what I felt when I explored Palatine Hill. Okay pictures from Rome can be viewed here. Meanwhile, this is one of the many obelisks you can find in Rome. It actually was viewed as a symbol of paganism when Christianity was on the rise, so at that time to save it from being destroyed, people put a cross or the saints or angels on top of it. Hence you can see that the things on top have different colours or more obviously of different materials than the obelisk.
Moving on, it's Firenze / Florence. I didn't put the picture of Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore in the Flickr set. So here it is. It took me 3 guides (Sandra, Laura, and Alessandro) but I remember this information really well. The churches in Firenze and nearby area are mostly built with marbles because they are close to areas that produce the marbles. There are 3 colours of marbles chosen, the white ones were from Carrara, the green marbles were from Prato, and the rose / pink marbles were from area near Siena. Laura was the guide which brought me and the New Yorkers mentioned above to Cinque Terre and as we drove, we could see the mountains in Carrara where the marbles came from. They were white on top. If you don't know about it, you would think that it's snow. So the white marbles are very good and if I am not mistaken that's also what Michelangelo used to make David (who by the way I think is really hot).
I am so directionally challenged that even though there are many signs in Venice, I could still get lost as mentioned in the previous post. Some of the signs were official but some were like graffiti on the walls or perhaps on the street floor itself or A4 print out pasted on the wall that only if you were close enough, you can read it! So finding some of these "unofficial" signs made me feel like I was in a treasure hunt or something. To illustrate my point, here is an unofficial graffiti sign on a wall. Mind you, this picture is big but the actual sign is not that big.
Well, that's pretty much it peeps. Oh yeah, something just suddenly came. The electricity plug in Italy is the same one as in Indonesia. Sigh. I was in doubt in finding a plug converter and yet it wasn't necessary at all! Yeah I know, funny things do jump in my brain :P Anyways, there are other pictures, like from Murano, Torcello, and Burano the islands near Venice. Murano is famous for it's glass craft. Torcello only has 21 people living there but they have 2 restaurants! Burano is famous for the lace craft and the place is so colourful! If you want to see me being a bit sneaky, you can see this :P
I transited in Amsterdam and it kinda made me wanna visit it someday. The entry wasn't all that pleasant but the exit was kinda nice ;) Anyways, these are 2 pictures I took from inside the plane which brought me from Venice to Amsterdam. In this one you can see windmills.
On a more local news since I came back, I watched Monster VS Alien in 3D mode with Vivy. It was my first time watching a normal movie in 3D and I was actually quite in awe. It seems gone are the days when you choose a digital version of the movie over the normal one, it's the 3D version now. However, I wasn't really pleased because things do get darker because of the glasses shade but still I thought it was a cool experience.
I have also had dinner with NanSee and Starfish yesterday. Had some talk about stuffs. I was told and reminded quite repeatedly not to bother people about something if they are not bothered about it :P Okaaay! Anyway, same old life routine kinda involves people telling me their life "situation" currently. On some, I do welcome and hear them and give them my opinion but on others I just feel why is it always about you! How about me? Darn it! As such I promise myself that I will have a good relaxing time with myself this weekend, just myself!
I had a little talk with my brother this afternoon. We rarely talk to each other. I get an update of his life today. He's making decision about his life. One may argue it's that immature 20-year old something decision but one that I'm kinda jealous of because I am way too controlled to be doing similar thing. I have to learn the art of walking away *sigh* Seemed like I still have things to say, but it's already too long. So buonanotte my dears.
:) eKa @ 10:32:00 PM • 0 comments
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Hello guys. I am actually back, so writing this post using my dear vaio. I am quite tired right now but I need to share some things from Venice and the wrap up of my trip.The train ride from Florence to Venice was smooth because it was quite clear. I was able to find the train track by myself. When I had to go from Rome to Florence, I wasn't able to do that because Florence wasn't listed on the board since it's a stopover, not a final destination. So I had to ask someone but from Florence to Venice, it was clear. We passed Bologna, Padova, and Venice's other station, Mestre, along the way. I arrived safely, found the hotel easily too. The room made me feel better after the dingy one that I had in Florence. So my hotel was very near to the train station but that also means that it was somewhat like in a different island. So to get to the center of Venice, I had to walk a lot and cross many bridges.
I got a map from the hotel but it didn't help but I like Venice because there are signs everywhere and how silly this may sound I like it because there are many tourists. So everywhere you will see people following the arrows or opening up maps and that made me feel better and don't feel so stupid :P So I just followed the arrows but since I am so challenged with directions, I still got lost! So like last Monday morning when I had to go to Basilica San Marco, I still got lost even though I successfully went there alone the previous evening! I was getting panicky because I booked a time slot to get in and I was running late. So when I was already quite late, I decided to ask this very nice girl named Cristina. Man, my Italian is really not so good. It's amazing she could understand me and I could respond to her. She works nearby so we walked together there. Stupid me just rushed off without seeing which shop she works for. Anyway, so I went to the gate for people who booked, explained to the Signore who was in charge that I'd booked but was a bit late and I was sorry, all in Italian. He kindly said it's okay and funnily asked me if I am Italian :D which we established that I am not but I can speak the language. So he gave me direction on where to put my bag and then I could go in. There were seriously so many people wanting to go inside the Basilica. Prayed inside there and got a bit teary eyed because it was so called my last day in Italy and I couldn't believe that I actually did it. It's pretty amazing that God really gets me through this. I was very very touched.
After which, I refused to pay 1.50 euro to use the public toilet that I chose to go to Museo Correr. Although I had to pay so much more but at least I got to see something, perhaps I was more excited when I saw the toilet :P I really didn't plan to visit any museum there and if I had known I would have chosen Palazzo Ducale instead or if I had planned well, I would have gotten the ticket that allows me to go to all the museums instead of buying the tickets separately!!! I did go to Palazzo Ducale in the end to fill my last few hours in Venice. This museum is more interesting because we got to see the prison. Kinda freaky but I thought it was cool nonetheless. The prison was somewhat like in a dungeon and surprisingly it was cool down there instead of the hot rooms upstairs. Too bad that the Bridge of Sighs was under renovation. So I couldn't really see it or step on it.
Anyways, after the Correr Museum, I was supposed to go for a half day tour to Murano, Torcello, and Burano. I did read online that this tour wasn't so good because you are like being pushed to buy stuff and it's so true. However I met this Scottish girl, Sarah Jane, who was traveling alone as well. After the short day tour, we had dinner together. That's actually the first time I had dinner with someone of all my time in Italy. God kinda really sends people along your way :)
The next day was my last day in Venice, in Italy. Spent it by visiting Palazzo Ducale then went to be a bit of paparazza (since I am a girl) and took pictures of the kids having fun with the birds at Piazza San Marco. I don't like the birds by the way. I thought they were so not clean and I really prayed that none of them will poop on me. After which, I made my way back to the hotel. Took the vaporetto (water taxi) to Piazzale Rome (since I had a luggage with me) and took the bus to Marco Polo airport. The airport is quite nice.
Arrived in Amsterdam safely and I really have to add this bit. Went through the immigration where there were these 2 officers who were having quite a slow period. Not many people passed through and I was the last one having to go through the counter. The person who handled my passport exclaimed, "you're from Singapore!". To which his colleague (whom I thought was more handsome :P) said, "ni hao?". To which I said "I don't speak Chinese" in my best Chinese pronunciation :P which got everybody quiet and perhaps stunned. So I had to say in English, "I don't speak Chinese" :D The first officer said, "you live in Singapore and you don't speak Chinese?". "Yes", I said and the more handsome officer said, "English is the best!". Aye aye to that. Overall, it was very little human interaction but they made me grin nonetheless and I was really smiling from the inside, no matter how silly this whole thing sounds :P
Alright, back to real life tomorrow kids. You guys take care okay. I try to sort the pictures soon.
:) eKa @ 9:16:00 PM • 0 comments
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Hello guys. Again waiting for the train to Venezia. Don't really have much time to write. So just in short gonna let you know what I did.Had a Tuscany tour in which I visited Siena, a tuscanian farm, San Gimignano, and Pisa. The time given for each of the places were rather short but it was kinda the best day so far, I guess because I met nice people there. In the Tuscanian farm, which is Fattoria Poggio Alloro, I kinda had the best meal I had so far, but maybe because of the people and I was hungry. Not really a wine person but did try 3 wines there. In San Gimignano, I had the best gelato of my whole entire life! Stupid me didn't have second :( Then the leaning tower of Pisa was smaller than I expected :P
Then also went to Cinque Terre, but the day just didn't start well and so I don't think my experience there was amazing. I was in awe with the blue water though. That was nice but I guess Cinque Terre didn't live up to my expectation. I don't know maybe because we didn't have much time, having to catch the train here and there that we weren't able to see many things.
It's hot in Firenze and I am actually 3-4 shades darker or browner. I guess summer is really coming. I hope I am skinnier, I walk a whole freaking lot! In Firenze, did see Michaelangelo's David and did enter Gli Uffizi. The disappointment is I'm not able to see the tombs of Michaelangelo and Galileo Galilei. I tried like 3 times to go to Santa Croce church but because of some football stuff here that it's closed :'( Me and tombs, no luck all the time :(
Well, cannot elaborate more because I gotta go. Wish me well peeps. Ciao.
:) eKa @ 7:47:00 PM • 0 comments
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Ciao peeps. I'm painstakingly gonna try to blog with this Italian keyboard which is kinda confusing. In an internet rental place now ran by some people from Africa I think. Waiting for my train to Firenze which is leaving in like 1 hour plus. Nervous nervous but I think I should be alright?? Err ... the people here inside this internet rental place are kinda scary but at least there's a white girl on my left so I hope she is not leaving before me. Alrighty, here are the summary.Arrived in Amsterdam early Sunday at 6. Schiphol Airport is kinda strange because there's an immigration line before you get to your connecting flight and the line was long and lucky me, I got flagged!!! Damn it! So the immigration officer had to escort me to one side and check all my documents and bookings and even counted my cash! When I asked why I got flagged, they printed out a generic statement saying that they needed to check my documents. It didn't really answered the question. I just saw that the person at the counter looked at my passport many times then called his colleague.
In the end, they let me pass but I miss my flight! The girl at the gate said that this happens a lot and I believe her because as I was waiting for my next flight, I heard the information calling for this person and that to go to the gate immediately otherwise their luggage will be offload. I'm sure they called my name as well. Anyway, so I got booked to another flight, didn't have to pay a thing, which is good.
Then arrived in Rome. Got confused because there was no immigration check. You kinda just got out and get your luggage. I hope I didn't miss a thing. First impression was that the airport was like Soekarno-Hatta airport in Jakarta!!! I kid you not. Got my luggage. Tried to figure out where the train to the city center here. I walked here and there and found it. Got the ticket at the tabacchiaio and also got it validated, I managed to stop at the yellow machine though I was running and dragging my luggage :P The train was full but managed to get a seat and saw Roma and again my impression is like Jakarta!!! The sceneries kinda reminded me of the drive to the airport in Jakarta, yeah they don't have paddy fields here but all the fields and such was kinda similar. Dropped down at the Termini station, got the wrong exit and don't know here my hotel is. Asked direction in embarrasing Italian but I got direction and I got it. Praise the Lord!!!
I think I got to my room at 3 something so decided to walk around. Decided to see the Circus Maximus which up until now I don't know which one it is actually. Walked guided by my own intuition (I don't have a map in all my times in Rome) and somehow got into the Colosseum!!! Didn't get in because I wanted to do it on Monday. Did see the Rose Garden which was by right should be near the Circus Maximus. Went in, take pictures of the flowers and that was it.
Next day Monday, had my half day city tour which was booked as part of this trip. Went by foot to the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, and Piazza Navona. You would think that I memorize the way but I didn't as explained later. Walking with the guide, everything seemed so near. Pantheon was kinda cool simply because I saw it in Angels and Demons. There's where Raphael's tomb is located by the way. He died of a young age because of TBC. There were other tombs, one of which was Queen Margherita which I think the queen that came out with the margherita pizza name. After which we went to St Peter Basilica. Big place. The scale of it is amazing for me. The statues are big and the artistry and craftmanship that went into these things are just amazing! After that finished day tour, I chose to be dropped at the Colosseum. Had lunch nearby and as guided by my research of Rome, proceeded to the Palatine Hill to get the ticket for it + Roman Forums + Colosseum and wiktravel was right. The queue was much shorter there while at the Colosseum is very long. I like the Palatine Hill + Roman forums more. So much things to see and the air was nice. So much nice view and yes they are just ruins but it's kinda very cool. Stupid me never get any audio guides for all the places that I visited that I didn't get to learn the history :$ After that I went to the Colosseum. Well perhaps since I didn't have the audio guide, I was just walking around without much meaning. It was still a cool place.
Second day, which was yesterday, started early at the Vatican. Wanted to go the Vatican museum and arrived there at 9 something, thinking darn the queue must be long. But it wasn't! Maybe it's not the peak season. Again didn't get the audio guide but did buy the guide book which was useful. Did the complete route and I think I visited all the places that can be visited there. Though perhaps my eyes didn't see everything. I bought a postcard of a painting that I didn't notice was there! :$ I am most impressed of all the marbles statues. So many of them, so big, and again the craftmanship was awesome. Oh yeah, saw a mummy at the Egyptian museum, of an old lady. I thought my thought was funny because I thought the lady is not much different than us, with 5 fingers and toes. Anyway, the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel was a bit anti climatic for me. Raphael rooms were still amazing because the paintings are humongous but somehow the Sistine Chapel wasn't as grand as I expected. I expected it to be bigger, brighter, and more grand. I didn't know why I'm suprised when it was similar to the one they showed at Angels and Demons. There were so many people there and though you have to maintain silence and no photo taking, the whole place was just abuzz with tourist and people snapping away, even with flash! All and all I spent around 4 hours at the Vatican Museum.
Then lunch at the Vatican museum and then went inside St Peter Basilica again. Wanted to make sure I took everything in. Did went to pray inside the sanctuary. I really prayed! I didn't just pretend to pray to see what it looks like :P then went to get ticket to get on the cupola! Carl suggested to take the stairs but I was too tired and saw that there were actually more stairs to take after the lift. So I chose the lift. Proceeded to climb the claustrophobic staircases to cupola but man there were just so many of them. There was a window at steps 309 and I decided to rest. At this point there were around 20 more steps to go and I thought I can do it but my hear was beating faster and my palm got cold and I did try but I couldn't and I stayed there for 15 mins or so with people passing me by including people older than me with grey hairs and fatter than me and I decided to just, no, I'm not gonna do this. I couldn't see the end light and I was scared that there wouldn't be anymore window to rest at and I just didn't want to collapse there! So I chickened out and went down and even going down got me dizzy. I am disappointed but oh well. Wanted to see Pope John Paul's tomb but darn it was closed when I reached it. Hope to do it today but couldn't :(
After the Vatican, I decided to walked around Rome and see the Trevi fountain again and here I got lost badly. Wanted to see Trevi Fountain and yet saw Piazza di Spagna first. Went to the church at the hill there. Then saw another piazza, then got back to Pantheon again and after lost here and there did find the Trevi Fountain. As I was lost, Carl sms me and said the beauty of being lost you get to see unexpected things and yet I did. See many nice buildings and all. Tired though walking on a cobble stone. Then came the a bit panicky moment of wanting to get to the nearest train station and somehow I just got lost. It was around 7 pm and the sun is setting at 8.30 something here, so I got a bit panic. Decided to get on a bus after noticing that 3 stops from where I board, I will get to the Metro station. Inside the bus an Italian told this Australian couple to stop at the next stop for train station. I foolishly got down with them and of course we were wrong. So here is where I met LeAnn and Fred and I don't know if it's my luck to meet them or their luck to meet me. Anyway, I told them to just take the bus we were on again and now stop at the correct place. We did and we stopped at the correct place and got to our metro. Kinda nice to talk with a human now. LeAnn was nice and told me to just stay together. Fred was I think tired with all the part about being lost. They're middle age parents who leave their teenagers kids for an European escapade. Kinda nice. The next time I go to Italy, I will have someone with me :P I promise. Kinda lonely being alone.
Then today, went to the Vatican again to get a glimpse of the Pope during his papal audience. Did see him a bit. He passed by in his pope mobile and yet I was busy with my camera so didn't really see him waving. Stupid me!!! Wanted to go see the tombs but the whole basilica is closed during Papal Audience. Disappointed but that means I have to go here again next time :)
Alright, long story. Gotta go soon. Rome is chaotic and kinda remind me of Jakarta actually. Do sms me peeps if you want to. I welcome all the unexpected sms and I have gotten a few :) even one when I was in Sistine Chapel ;) Haven't been speaking Italian much here, kinda too shy to do that :$ Food is okay, saw MacDonalds but haven't gone there :P Had pasta and pizza but haven't had anything that blow me away. To answer to your dying questions of the Italian boys and girls, yes they are a beautiful bunch that I think God is a bit unfair to give them with such good luck :P though I notice that many Italian men get bald! There is justice in this world? :D Okay gotta go. Ciao ciao.
ps: don't have time to do spelling, sentence, and grammar check, I hope you understand what I am saying :P
:) eKa @ 6:22:00 PM • 0 comments
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Ciao peeps. Need to go to the airport in like 1-2 hours. So I will be leaving tonight. Will transit in Amsterdam at 5 something am Sunday morning and reaching Rome by 10 am Sunday. So that's like 4 pm Singapore or 3 pm Jakarta on Sunday.Excited? Nervous more like it but at this point in time I just need to go :) Everyone around me are like totally excited about this, perhaps only mom is worried. However I have made my way to the temple this morning for blessing and protection and hope that God takes care my parents and so that they won't be worried so much. The temple was also kinda the place where I started this "walkabout" of mine and so I like to believe that all of this are within God's plans and permission.
I kinda would like to thank the friends and family who have been so nice to me and extremely supportive throughout this journey. Mom and dad are of course amazingly understanding. Gonna call them before I go. As for friends, these few are the amazing ones, Rista who's always been encouraging and Vivy who was there when I was preparing stuff and prayed for me. Ms. J and the Flying Nun were among the first I shared the news with and I still remember Ms. J voicing her worries because I'm going alone but half of her thought that what I'm doing is cool :P Then there was Casryn, whom I shared a lot of my worries with. It's very nice of her to hear me talk over and over again about the trip. There was Oshie who was always encouraging from the beginning. Gotta love him. His last advice was I need you to have fun and spend money and have a blasting good time :) Then there was Carl whose excitement are amazing. Her advices are valuable and the kind her told P that I was going to Italy and though I will not be going to Milan, P was kind enough to contact me and gave me his number in case of emergency. I really love my Italian classmates, they are so humbly friendly. Then there was NanSee who keeps asking me how I am over and over and reminded me again over and over of things to bring. She is nice. She gave the same advice as Gascoigne about me needing to be excited since I have spent so much money :P
Then the people in my daily environment have also been very nice and wished me well on this journey. Yesterday, I was kinda touched that YeeMaggio and Roo made the time and effort to wish me well for my trip. I don't actually talk to them often but they remember and they were so nice. All in all, all these kindness from all this people kinda make me have to do well on this trip and fight on and have a time of my life :)
Just for some trivia on this trip which plays in my head quite often. The number 3 pops up quite often on this trip. I'm 27 now so it's 33. It was 9 years ago, in the year 2000 that I took a plane alone. It was from Jakarta to Singapore. I took KLM and fast forward to know, again it's KLM that will take me all the way to Italy and in Italy I will be visiting 3 cities. This is another alone journey. The case is different from 9 years ago but I think both are kinda life changing (I hope). The person (I hope) is slightly more mature now. Eka was 18 and was alone when she first made her trip to Singapore and now at 27 she is also alone but she knows that she wouldn't want it any other way. See you soon peeps. Stay tune!
:) eKa @ 6:38:00 PM • 0 comments
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