I was speaking to a colleague about what I did over the weekend, and basically what I did was visit Verona on the Saturday and Turin on the Sunday. This was indeed crazy and super tiring, but my colleague said I will finish Italy in a month. Beautiful Verona was where the birthplace of Shakespears’ play “Romeo and Juliet’.
I have the famous picture where I am rubbing the right breast which is polished of Giulette. It’s said that if you rub the breasts of the bronze Juliet statue in the courtyard you’ll be lucky in love or fertile or something. It is free to travel to the balcony, but I wasn’t about to give anyone my handphone to catch a picture of me waving a kiss to Romeo…
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
You say the word Lake Como, and this is actually the place where a lot of celebrities like George Clooney, Richard Branson has huge villas in various villages along the lake. It was raining, so it was impossible to sit outside. The correct side to sit on the ferry is the LEFT side because that’s where most of the interesting items are.. (anyway, you will notice because everyone rushes in to sit on that side).
Additionally, I found it VERY strange that on a ferry, there is a restaurant on board. So, for Euro15, you get to have a set lunch. Some bread, drinks (vino rossi and vino bianco) better known as red n white wine, water, a primandi (pasta), a secondo and a desert. That’s just too much for me, and I thought I wanted to eat the famous fish in Bellagio, so I spent the ferry trip enjoying the view instead.
Friday, September 19, 2008
One of the perks of staying so near the main venue of concerts and events, is that there is always some thing going on. This particular night, I hear "boom, pang" outside. Wondering what it was, i peered out my window and there it was... FIREWORKS!
(I later found out that it was MTVDAY in Milan)
I have alot of pictures which turned out pretty great for a little Nokia N82. You can see that it was taken outside my hotel window, (refer pillar on left), and flagpoles at the very bottom and lights illuminating the carpark. In the distance, is the DatchForum.
Not bad huh? I listened to my fellow photogs and changed the ISO setting on my little Nokia N82 to high and also night mode, and using PhotoScape to brighten it up a bit... Not badddddd... :)
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Is a quaint little town, which was unfortunately pouring cats and dogs when I got there. No choice but to spend Euro5 on an umbrella, and hide out in a quaint little café to warm up. I tried speaking Italian to the waiter and he responded in English. Managed to score a panini for lunch and a latte. What I didn’t realise is that I did the ultimate boo-boo in Italy which was I started drinking my coffee while I was eating my panini. Later I read on wiki that coffee is purely meant as a digestivo which means ‘AFTER’ meal.. This town name was also taken to be the name of the famous Las Vegas casino, the Bellagio. With its cobble-stone 
walkways, little shops, it truly is a nice little village in Italy.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
This place is actually in Switzerland, but at the border of Italy-Switzerland. I took a bus which costs me Euro15 to get here. Wow, the trick is you have to pre-book or come super early because the double decker bus was fast filled up with enthusiastic shoppers. The bus trip was quite boring, but we got there little over an hour. Then …
SHOPPERS HAVEN!!!
Gucci, Prada, D&C, Versace, Salvatore Ferragamo bags, shoes.. I somehow expected it to be ALOT cheaper, but it is actually not. A bag still costs around 200 Euro, and I never saw the big deal in owning thousand dollar bags, so this was a deal breaker for me. A lot of people left with BIG shopping bags and is truly recommended for the brand-conscious… For me, if something is Made in China, then it really doesn’t matter whether its Prada or some other generic brand…
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
It has been 2 weeks at work, and it feels like a month as I feel like I’ve barely contributed anything. Time passes seemingly slow while I’m at work… I’m addicted to stress maybe. The life is quite different, contrary to what I expected. Italians work life is 9:00-6:00 with a short lunch time (less than an hour). They also seem to have no problem going to the EXACT same place to eat for lunch everyday. You learn to appreciate Malaysia where we have so many cultures and variety.
In the grander scheme of things, one must really question, “What is 6 months anyway?” It takes years to build a career and this experience is once-in-a-lifetime. So like they say, you gotta make most of a good thing (I’m IN MILAN, for goodness sakes) so I have now planned 6 months worth of traveling around Europe. What a pity that most of the time I have here is in the winter, but apparently it is also nice to see certain places in winter.
Let’s hope work picks up in the next few weeks…
Managed to visit the Galleria Vitt. Em 2, which was 
a shopping haven really. Actually all the streets surrounding the Duomo, Via Dante, Via Monte-Napoleane, and Via Vitt. Emannuel 2 has the major brands, the Armani, the Louis Vuittion, Prada, Versace. The price tags of these items made my eyes pop out.One thing nice about this place is the clear glass ceiling windows that it has. Made it a good atmostphere to buy something..
The designer shops were all there.. The Gucci, the LV, the most important brand of all in this pristine shopping centre, the MCDONALDS..:)
Monday, September 08, 2008
Away I went on my exploration around Milano… First stop ! The Castello Sforzesco which was really.. quite ordinary. It was quite a nice place and tourists were there, but it cannot compare to the older castles I’ve seen in other major European cities. I only found the main entrance having gone one round the Parco Sempione, where tons of joggers were jogging around me. The main entrance had a nice water feature in the front, and tons of locals tend to sit here around the grass as well…Milan map showed that there were other places of interest in the park, but when I passed it, it looked a bit grungy, and didn’t leave me the best impression so no pictures there. I should have guessed when I didn’t see other tourist groups going there.
I did see 2 cats sleeping which I thought was cute. Shows that animals get lonely too huh..
The next stop the DUOMO, largest Gothic cathedralBe careful of hagglers who try to sell you strips of friendship bands. They attempt to tie it on your wrists and try to ask money from you. DON’T LET THEM!
The Duomo itself was quite a spectacular site, but somehow, didn’t have the same effect for me as the Sagreda Familia which I saw in Spain 2 months ago. The roof and museum ticket costs Euro7, and was worth it to go the roof. I didn’t realize they offered a cheaper option to climb the stairs. It is not that high, so if you want the budget option, go for it!
Should definitely go early as I saw crowds building up in the afternoon. The inside was tourist friendly as they cordoned off alot of the religious areas for worshippers. They also have big screen projectors for everyone to see what was happening. I happened to go during a service, so it was quite peaceful to see a service or bits of it, but I can imagine the feeling would be 10 fold when I visit the Basilica in Rome.
They weren’t kidding with the dress code, so definitely wear appropriate clothing, or cover yourself up when visiting the Duomo, and they have guards checking bags before you can enter.
Theatro ScallaThis place boasts showing the most famous operas and shows, but even the façade of the building was nice, so had a picture moment.
After all the sightseeing, this is my take away. When doing research of places, having a picture of the place you are looking for, or heading to really helps. I spent quite a lot of time walking around trying to find this place, not knowing that one hour before that, I was standing right it front of it… What a noob.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
So, since I'm still fighting some jetlag, the fitness centre in the hotel has been my friend. 2 treadmills, 2 steppers, 2 bikes, plus a lot of weight machines (that I dont use). I took this picture while I was cycling.. Surprisingly alot of people use the gym (but left as I was still exercising... think i come in later than most people).
The entire gym has mirrors, so you can't help but to stare how good looking you are when you are running... cycling.. lifting weights... haehahehahe..
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
I left a 3 bedroom apartment with a kitchen to come to a small hotel room in the Central Business District of an alien town with a lot of offices and lunch time cafeterias, but minimal nightlife.
The room is small, and looks to be my home for at least a month. I originally began with a 2 single bed room, but since the fact that my apartment has a queen size bed, i've kinda gotton not used to sleeping in one single bed, and and anyway, its riduculous as the other bed is there completely un-used. 
So I swapped to what i thought was a king size bedroom. Lo and Behold... I opened underneath the covers, and it was 2 single beds joined together in the middle. But whatever it is, anyway the room layout is better.
The weather is also a lot warmer than i expected this time of year, but anyway, its going to be freezing soon..
The good thing is that I get free breakfast every morning which is a combination of hams, cheeses, breads, croissants, cereals, juices.
Yums, im gonna be a fatty soon....
(The scenic views of my nearby offices outside my hotel room window)
Monday, September 01, 2008
I was UPGRADED in my long haul flight from Malaysian Airlines (Thanks Amish from the Malaysian Airlines counter)to Amsterdam. It was an incredibly long wait at the airport, and one wonders a few things while I am lining up here.
“Why don’t they have a line for single passengers with single luggage?” It’s obvious that the families and groups are the slowest because they have more people, and thus they think they can pack more into their luggage and TADA, when they reach the counter, its overweight, and then they start taking little things out, weighing them again, and taking and weighing, and taking and weighing.. (yes, its frustrating when you are at the back of the line)
I did however enjoy my business class seat on the 747 aircraft.
SEAT: OmG, this was the most wonderful contraption ever. It goes side, up, down and full sleeping position..
FOOD: Why do they overstuff us with food and beverages? I was so full I didn’t even eat my main course for dinner. I did enjoy the proper plates, cutlery, tablecloth. Nice of them to give us menu, but came breakfast, I had no choice but to eat nasi lemak.. where was the omelette or crepes choices??? “Run out lar miss” *grumble grumble*
COMPARTMENTS: Everywhere, side, front, they even have a little place to put a bottle of water.. Nice..
Sorryla, if I sound gundu. First time business class mahh…
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