Rome, Italy

Forgot to add that there are bedbugs living with us in the hostel we're putting up at in Rome. I swear it's the first time I've ever seen bedbugs in the flesh. Everyone supposed to bunk in with us in our room have since moved out. Thank god it's our last night here.

Rome, Italy

I'm struggling to use the keyboard at the hostel's computer desktop because the punctuation signs are assigned to different buttons compared to the ones I'm familiar with so please be forgiving with the typos should there be any! It's the wee hours in Rome now but I have to stay awake to catch a flight to Norway, Oslo at 7am. I'll be boarding the airport bus shuttle in about an hour so this entry will have to be rather short.

Rome's by far the most beautiful city I've visited so far. It's true whatever people say about Italy being the most romantic country. There are couples holding hands everwhere--strolling down the sidewalks, having alfresco candlelight dinners while clumsily feeding each other pizza, with classical violins, trumpets and accordions in the background serenading the throngs of tourists and locals. The buildings are collosal, and deals a big slap in the face when you compare Singapore's history with Rome's. Our men obviously have never been decked in robes and we certainly do not have grand political forums as major tourist attractions. All we have is the pathetic Hong Lim Speakers' Corner which I'm sure most tourists would ridicule if they've even heard about it. Sadly, we had to squeeze our itinerary within 2 full days because we arrived on a Sunday when the shops and attractions are all closed. At least we managed to pay a visit to the major attractions like the Colosseum, Pantheon and Vatican Museum. The churches here are sized XXXXL too. Totally breathtaking to the point that pictures really don't do them justice.

Alas, the food here has been very disappointing. We were all looking forward to authentic Italian pizzas and pastas after having to put up with Spanish cuisine which we weren't well accustomed to. On the contrary, the pastas we've tried so far have been either soggy, or not well cooked. Whatever happened to al dente? The gelato hasn't been that fantastic either--melting within a minute and dripping off the rims of our cones. Yuck. I guess you only get good food when you can afford it. For now, I'll have to make do with whatever I can afford! I'm missing the lobster noodles from the Chinese restaurant in London's Queens Way already.

Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona, Spain

It's been close to a month since I've left home for Europe, and the homesickness began kicking in about a week and a half ago. It's especially difficult without much access to any form of communication which doesn't cost a bomb or isn't super convenient to reach your loved onces.

Phone: EUR 0.07/min outgoing, SGD 0.18/min incoming. A calling card makes calling a lot more affordable, but traveling around Europe's complicates things as roaming charges prevail when you use a calling card purchased in another country.

Internet: Eur 1.00/25min. Inconvenient most times without a data plan on your phone or a trust iphone to begin with. For anyone whose intending to get a smart phone soon, please get one which supports skype mobile. Trust me, it comes in handy. Oh yes, at least make sure it supports ebuddy or else it's as good as a stupid phone anyway.

Snail mail: Costs a bomb to send international mail in Europe, for some strange reason I can't explain. I just blew EUR 15 on two packages and they don't even weight that much. On top of that, patience is certainly not a virtue I possess and waiting at least 3 days for mail to reach your loved ones, and risking your mail getting lost in transit isn't much my cup of tea.

Honestly speaking, there is no convenient way to reach your loved ones when you're overseas. The time difference and this virtual reality crap is really making me depressed. I hope this so-called "homesick phase" passes soon so I can truly bathe in the holiday spirit and enjoy my stay in the UK for the rest of the 4 months I have left.

Back to Spain. Barcelona's been pretty neat. The buildings are much more grandiose in terms of its architecture. We were all in awe of the gothic-style buildings which we were acquainted with through some lame "ghost tour"--which turned out to be simply night tour really. (Our tour guide kept asking us to snap pictures of places supposedly rife with paranormal activity, just so that he could point out orbs of energy. That's as good as it gets.) The gargoyles and stone demons were cool, but started getting a little disturbing after awhile. I certainly would not like the HDB flats in Singapore to be decorated in a similar fashion. People-wise, the girls love their flamboyant-printed maxi-dresses and harem pants. 1 in 4 ladies wear something along those lines! It's incredible how everyone can carry it off so easily. Wear the same thing in Singapore and people laugh at you. The weather's been kind to us too--hovering between 22-25.

I'll be leaving Barcelona for Rome tomorrow, in the evening around 9pm. Can't wait for the gelato. Photographs in the following entries! :D

Barcelona, Spain

I can't do much updating at the moment. The latest hostel i'm putting up at is appalling and everyone's just trying to strap on or lock up their valuables to keep everything safe. Mindy got pickpocketed just awhile ago and lost her wallet so everyone's taking extra precaution now. What a great start to barcelona. zzz. Shall try and update with more photos soon when i get a decent typing surface.

Berlin, Germany

It poured for the first half of the day, so we were forced to abandon our cycling plans to the local neighbourhoods and ended up taking the tube to East Berlin. There lies the longest length of the Berlin wall complete with graffiti and perfect for photography and camwhoring. This, followed by a visit to the Pergamon Museum (link) in the evening. The museum's amongst the many situated on the city's Museums Island and it's pretty neat that they exhibit some of the most famous gates and columns from all over the world. There was the Babylonian gates dated centuries back, and some Roman columns and beheaded Roman sculptures.

Alas, travelers' exhaustion has kicked in because Alan was slumped onto any seat he could find at the museum today. It's really crazy walking kilometres on end for more than 10 hours a day, and it's no surprise I'm down with the cold now. Collecting stashes of used tissue paper wet with fluids from my leaky nose is certainly not something I like doing during a trip around Europe. What's more, I officially finished the final lozenges from a pack of 24 today, and my throat is not completely better--but definitely not hurting as bad as 2 days ago. Time to down a litre of water before bed, and I pray I don't get woken up in the midst of sleep to pee.

Berlin, Germany

The student hostel's wireless connection's pretty weak where I am now, so if this entry goes through (together with the pictures), I'll have to thank my lucky stars. Berlin has been pretty much a disappointment for most of us. We were hoping to see more of history rather than to just read/hear about it. Unfortunately, most of the historical monuments have been either renovated, refurbished or destroyed by bombing. It just doesn't feel right viewing history through a reconstruction, or imagining Hitler's underground bunker in my head when all that's left to represent it is an empty parking lot amongst residential blocks. Strange, if you ask me.

One area Singapore definitely has got to learn from Germany is improvements to its recycling culture. In Berlin, the convenience stores charge an extra 25cents for their recyclable plastic bottles (e.g. mineral water bottles) which they will refund when you return the bottle to the store. It's like a recycling voucher. The Germans also have the habit of sorting out their garbage--paper, plastics, general waste. Quoting our tour guide, Mariska, "the Germans are really extreme when it comes to recycling!". Perhaps the public transport system should take after Germany's too since we've managed to escape paying fares for our trips since we arrived. Nobody checks if you've gotten a ticket so even the locals don't care about buying one!

If you want to feel like E.T., Germany's the place.

Soho, London

[Disclaimer: I very rarely talk about chicken in such a manner]

Tis' the day I took my first bite of Nandos' chicken. 2 words--life changing. The skin of the chicken wings was crisp, salty like how I like it, and loaded with peri-peri spice. Unbelievable. I thought the meat would be shriveled up and dry, but no--it was tender and juicy with even more of that peri-peri goodness. KFC and Kenny Rogers can just bow down in defeat now. Our only gripe was probably the whole chicken which was really disappointing so I guess we'll be sticking to the chicken wings here on.

Funny. Nandos' is almost everywhere in the United Kingdom AND Malaysia, yet there's only 2 miserable outlets in Singapore. One's at Tanglin Mall, the other's at Bugis, and their prices are sky-high. Whyyyyy?!?!

Oxford St., London

Two days away to the big euro-tour. It's 3 guys and 2 girls covering Berlin, Barcelona, Rome and Oslo (that's Germany, Spain, Italy and Norway respectively for those less acquainted with the atlas)! I really can't wait to get out of London because honestly, the city life is getting pretty monotonous for me. It's the same stores, same streets and same Starbucks and McDonalds everywhere I go-- then again I shouldn't be such a brat about it since this city life is the same reason I'm able to sit in a cafe with free wireless to complete this entry.

There are other reasons why I need to get out of here. For one, the place we're putting up at now is not the best of places. The toilet, which all 6 of us are now sharing, has this strange metallic smell which I swear reminds me of the toilet cubicles in Singapore when the sanitary pad bin is filled to the brim and full of whatever's been deposited for the day. Secondly, everything here's beginning to lose its novelty. Kebab doesn't taste as mind-blowing the third time round, and Marks & Spencer's salad combos are no longer calling out to me like they used to. Thirdly, I'm about done with How I Met Your Mother, season 5. I'm saving the final episode intentionally just so that there's an excuse to complete the previous seasons--keeps the suspense in the air! But the problem is... I'm almost half through season 4. Crap. Fourth, I need a guitar really badly--or any semblance of live music to keep me sane. It's all thanks to a performance by this singer-guitarist at Covent Garden earlier (when I went to collect my Macbook) and while he was strumming and singing Goo Goo Dolls' Iris, something within me snapped. I haven't been able to write a single song like how I had wished to do before arriving here. The inspiration's missing and the instruments are absent. I thought I could spend my nights watching local bands do their stuff but there's nothing here. Maybe I've just been hitting the wrong places. Kilian says there's more to watch in Nottingham because it's the hub for everything indie and that's all I'm counting on. Hopefully the euro-tour will keep me distracted from my musical itch.

The silver lining in the cloud though is what I found during my second visit to Cybercandy today--three packets of Twinkies left in a cardboard box by the counter. I know for sure that put a smile on my face for awhile, and it'll definitely put a smile on someone else's. I got 2 packets and I'm hoping the last one works its magic on someone else too.



Got to catch up with mummy, the boyfriend and the best friend now. If anyone ever decides to grab a coffee from Pret (the cafe I'm sitting in now, link), be prepared for shaky hands and trembling fingers. I think this branch seriously overloads on the caffeine because I've never felt this much anxiety after a coffee in my life. God save me please someone send me a bottle of water.

[insert]
I walked in on a guy pissing in the ladies' minutes ago. Here's what followed.
Pret guy at the toilet to me: "Use the gentleman's, the ladies' has got an infection!" (makes weird "taa-daa-daa" noise while waving toilet washing detergent in hand)
Seconds later... "Extermination done. It's safe."
[/insert]

Camden Market, London

Herman and Alan finally joined me in London yesterday (after waiting 1.5 hrs for them at Paddington station and entertaining suspicious eyes from the tube wardens and passersby). Feels different without Sean around now! Nobody to take me sightseeing in London. We're eating and spending differently. Talk about different stuff to. Guess it keeps the travel experience fresh and exciting. I decided to bring the two to Camden market on their 2nd day here--second time for me--and we had quite a feast! The humus roll is to die for! For only 3.50pounds. I had to break the roll up into 3 eating intervals because I simply could not finish the entire thing in one go! Alan got the ham, cheese and mushroom crepe, while Herman got the fish&chips in a cone (good stuff!). Smoothies at 3 pounds each weren't too shabby either.

Alas, the biggest change by far is that I've moved from Plough way, Canada Water to Waterloo. It's terribly boring here compared to the old place--there's no Tescos, or enticing kebab stores. Unless you crave pizza every minute (because there's loads of pizza delivery options available here), there's really nothing much to boast about save for the McDonald's and Starbucks down the street and perhaps the London Eye located relatively nearby. I miss Canada Water :( But I can't complain much when I'm not even paying for lodging. Suck it up.

Covent Garden, London

Covent garden, situated at the heart of London, is home to a mammoth of an Apple Centre, local brands and boutiques, Cybercandy (which stocks Twinkies), and a family of street performers. I caught a few sadly, lacklustre acts. A guy from Melbourne balancing on a platform of nails while juggling, some uber fail magician who spent more than half the time poking fun and taunting the children gathered around him, and some stand-up comedians. Thought I'd spend no more then 2 hours there, but ended up spending more than four.

Anyways, I doubt I'll be able to update this blog as regularly over the next few days though, because my Mac's with the Apple Care Centre and I'll only get it back this coming Monday. All I can say is that it's good to be Asian sometimes. I stress, sometimes.