gondola girls


on my first day in milano, my true love gave to me,
one train ticket to venezia.
yah right.

it has been i-don't-know-how-many-years
since i last visited venice with my family
and it is as watery and magical as ever.
this time round, i was with wendy,
we caught a train there immediately after checking into our hotel in milano,
it was teeth-chattering, wrap-up-like-bah-zhang-also-not-enough cold,
and we explored the city together with 4 turkish guys we picked up on the train.


i found out later that they actually took photos of us sleeping on the train
before we'd even started speaking to each other.
sneaky sneaky!

venice is linked by many bridges (or "bree-gees" - NABNAB!!! remember BREE-GEES?!)
but the best way to get round is by boat.
boat number 1 took us down the main "road"
and our ticket allowed us to hop on/hop off wherever we pleased.
we got a tad bit lost
but discovered many little lanes and crannies
that held hidden treasures...


...and had to make a stop at a restaurant
for some yummy spaghetti before we fainted from hunger.

when in venice, one must, of course, get into one of their famous gondolas.
the guys found out that a ride would set us back 100EUR!
i was so tempted to bargain
but i told the singaporean auntie side of me to shut up
since there were 5 other people to share the cost with.


the gondola man brought us into dark little canals
and told us brief histories of various palaces/buildings.
he rowed us to marco polo's house
and also to where casanova used to live.

he even lent me his hat!

once off the gondola, we took pictures on a big bridge
and tried to capture the gorgeous view and the setting sun behind us.


we walked along a bustling street lined with shops
and filled with people doing their christmas shopping
before hopping onto boat number 1 again
to get our freezing asses to piazza san marco.

it was dark by the time we got there
and, after a stop for some gelati,
we were greeted by the blazing lights of the piazza
and the bright, silvery moon hanging above.


it was truly magnificent.

had to boat number 1 back to the train station after that
so that we could all catch the train back to milano.
more than two and a half hours later,
we got back to milano centrale,
waved the boys goodbye,
switched two metropolitana trains back to villapizone
and finally got back to the hotel for a well-deserved rest.

we travelled to firenze the day after that
but i have to go to bed now so...later! =)

spreading some christmas jeer


buon natale, signore e signori!

am coming to you from my cold little room in milano,
while listening to fireworks a-crackling some distance outside.

it is midnight here now
and i've spent the past couple of days
doing a whole lot of traveling visiting venice and florence.
add an early morning barcelona shuttle today
and the rest of the day spent freezing my ass off
in gorgeous duomo to all that
and you get a very tired me who would be asleep
if it hadn't been for an annoying phone call.

half an hour before christmas,
the boss (whom i already do not like/admire/respect)
woke me up, harassed me, was rude and demanding over the phone,
and tried to pull rank to get me to wake the other girls up
just to join his pathetic soul for some christmas countdown.

seriously. do i look like i care?

if what he said is true and no one from our group is counting down with him,
then perhaps he should spend christmas reflecting on why that may be so.

i don't give a flying fuck as to whether or not you are the boss.
i am this close to reporting this to the office.

oh i'm so looking forward to the company-provided christmas lunch later.


hope the rest of you had a much better start to the day.
merry christmas and un-grinchy wishes to one and all!

dubai/istanbul, a third time round


it has been a year since my last trip to dubai
and little has changed.
there were the usual chicken tikka inn/silver eagle meals,
the requisite visit (or two) to choc & nuts,
every building seemed to be under construction,
and my luggage got so heavy i dragged it like it was a stubborn mule.

this time though, i went on a special journey out to the jumeirah coast
to finally set eyes on, and enter, the burj al arab.

said to be the world's most luxurious 7 star hotel,
the burj al arab was postcard perfect from the moment its famous sail appeared before me,
framed by my taxi's window.
all white and shiny in the sunlight,
i soon learnt that it would give off a pearlescent glow at night.

ok i sound like a hotel brochure.

anyway, it was all gold and glitter when i stepped inside.
i was greeted by a dancing water feature,
gigantic chandeliers hung overhead,
christmas lighting twinkled,
the massive pillars loomed over me,
and many many floors of pretty colors shone down on me.


i made my way to the top floor
for my afternoon tea at the skyview bar
after too many stops for photo-taking.

the staff were warm and friendly
and the ones who served me were from indonesia and the philippines.
the food, served on a silver platter sail,
was tasty but didn't cause much excitement;
the scones were served hot and fresh with homemade jams and cream,
and there were the more or less standard tea and coffee choices.


it was the view that made the difference.


the cab ride and terrible traffic back to my hotel
after that memorable first burj al arab visit
caused me to throw up most of my meal though.

that's more than USD100 down the toilet bowl. hrmph.

suite rates cost more than SGD3000 a night
and that is just for the standard one bedroom.
don't know if i will ever be so extravagant
but perhaps, someday, i will get to spend a night in one of them.

on to istanbul and it wasn't as cold as it was when i last set foot on turkish soil
so that was a huge relief.
went on my blue mosque/grand bazaar pilgrimage for the third time
coz it was a colleague's first time in istanbul
and three of us girls decided to be his guide.

we huddled up in a little cafe while he checked out ayasofya
and shisha-ed and apple tea-ed and camwhored.


did the touristy thing and paid for a dinner at istanbulin
where we ate the usual meatballs and chicken
and were entertained by belly dancers, a folk band,
and a singer who rasa sayang-ed us.


i am quite sure that last belly dancer WAS a guy.

it was a rather enjoyable night even though i was tired as hell
and we even got on stage to do a little boogie boogie with the dancers.

shall end with my favorite picture of that day:


i am severely jet-lagged which explains why i'm blogging at 3.30am.
*help*

question


would you rather live longer
and suffer the last 8 years in poor health?

or die earlier and not suffer at all?

the art of eating


dual city sessions: null seemed promising
but turned out rather bleak and empty.
old school was a breath of fresh air though
and i think much can come of it.


we trekked up emily hill thereafter
and feng managed not to faint.
more design fest stuff were exhibiting at white house
so we popped in for some italian design now
and i groped some ass before drinks and yum finger food at wild oats.

dinner at mimigar at the gallery hotel was fantabulous -
the succulent ox tongue was my personal favorite.
laurent, previously known as the chocolate factory,
sucks ass and will forever be boycotted.
places with disgusting service should just close down.

sho-u the night before had good bad-english service
(because we were the only "sweetey" diners there)
but we were so dissatisfied with the food that, after a $169 dinner,
we sat by the "crabtree river"
and shared two large packets of onion rings from burger king
before splurging on a whole lot of food at meidi-ya
for a third dinner back at normanton.

i love food.

i even went on an adventure
and travelled to the armpit of singapore
that is NUS' prince george's residences
just to have lunch with lam:


after which we hung out in his "office",
went a little mad, got caught in cats and dogs,
finally got a cab to town,
gaigai-ed and nicky-ed and starfucked and fenged and soba-ed.
but that's all for another post.

mutton goes "YAY".