Rome - day 3

Posted by ver0n1c4 at 05:26 PM on August 2, 2009.

We started the day not as early as the day before. Our destination was Colosseum, Palatino Hill, and Foro Romano. The ruins So we had breakfast in the small cafe at Termini. Inspired by Katherine from Desperate Housewives, I ordered Panini. When I said, "One Panini, please", the uncle said, "Panino!", I was confused, "err you mean Panini?", and he replied me even louder "Panino!" Lol... whatever you said as long as I got my sandwich =P (After reaching home, I googled about this Panini and Panino... and here is the reason why he insisted saying Panino)

From there we headed to Colosseo metro station which is located right in front of Colosseum. We were wow-ed by the ruins which once hosted a spectacular game, Gladiator. Along the way to Colosseum, there are lots of people dressed as Roman soldier, but this time we were smarter. We didn't even look at them =P Near the Colosseum gate, we met a girl which offered us guided tour to Colosseum which costs EUR20/person. It includes the entrance fee of Colosseum plus additional tour to Palatino Hill and Foro Romano. So we decided to join the tour. We waited for around 30 minutes while she was gathering more people to join the tour.

The weather was so hot and I was a bit disappointed with the tour guide. A middle-aged woman who spoke so fast and didn't bother if we even understood whom she was referring to (She just mentioned lots of names one after another...) But at least now we know the structure of the seat in Colosseum, where the animals come from, the rules of the game, etc. After that we were given some time to explore Colosseum by ourselves while waiting for the next tour.

The next tour guide was excellent. Although it was supposed to be a free one, he was very patient in explaining one by one about the history of the place, the culture at that time, and how one place used to be. Some people from our group even said that they would like to join another tour to Vatican if the tour guide is him. He was indeed very good.

 

When we finished with the ruins, it was already around 1-2PM. We were very hungry and we decided to eat authentic Rome food. So we just went to one restaurant recommended in the book which was located at Via Della Croce; close to Spanish Steps I ordered Saltimbocca which literally means "Jumps in the mouth" and it was fantastic ^.^ so was the price =P but we didn't mind because we planned to skip dinner to compensate the expensive lunch. After lunch we spent some time in Spanish Steps, strolled along the street (it was a street full of branded and luxurious boutique), and did some window shopping.

Since this was our last day in Rome, we decided to go Trastevere. If you read travel book for Rome, it will usually say that Rome is divided into few districts such as, Vatican, Ancient Rome, Old Rome, North Center, and Trastevere. So we planned to walk along the Via Del Corso again, took the bus to Termini, and took bus H to Trastevere. But we ended up walking to the wrong side of Via Del Corso (it was a long street!) and found more stores to shop in =P At the end of the road, we realized that this is not the same road as we took yesterday, and we arrived at Piazza del Papolo. So we took metro from there to go to Termini and took bus H.

Trastevere was really beautiful. We just stopped around Ponte Garibaldi area (which looks and feels like Clarke Quay) and enjoyed beautiful scenery there. After that we ate at a restaurant recommended by the hotel receptionist (it was good and cheap!) I ate oxtail in pasta style and Merry had Gnocchi. When we finished our dinner, it was around 9.30PM already. We waited for the bus for quite some time and headed back to Termini.

In the hotel, we packed our belongings since we were going to catch the morning train to Florence. Before sleeping, Merry was reading her Florence book and planned which place we should go to first once we arrived there. And that was the end of day 3 in Rome.

xoxo McJuicy

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Bellatrix Lestrange

Posted by ver0n1c4 at 10:18 AM on July 29, 2009.

I hate her to death because she killed Sirius Black... but then she acted so well in Harry Potter and Half Blood Prince. And she managed to get everyone hates her more.... Cool!

http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Bellatrix_Lestrange 

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Rome - day 2

Posted by ver0n1c4 at 11:45 AM on July 20, 2009.

Our second day was dedicated for Vatican. We have planned that since the day Emka (by the way he turned 25 today =P) told us that Vatican Museum is open for free every last Sunday of the month. So we woke up around 6.30AM, got ready, walked to Metro station and went ahead to Ottaviano - San Pietro. From there, we just followed everyone to the same direction. Actually we planned to visit the Museum first because we know that the queue will be very long. But then we can't find the sign to the Museum, so we walked to St. Peter Basilica. It was a nice church but honestly I am more impressed with the square. On top of the church, we can see lots of statues. I assumed some of them was the apostles but I can't really recognize each one of them.

Inside the church, we can see lots of Pope's statues (which I don't know who), lots of paintings, and a big dome covered with gold. We also saw St. Peter statue who was sitting and holding two keys. My book said that lots of people will kiss its feet as good luck charm. But that day, the way to it was closed. Most likely because on the following day (29 June 2009), the people there commemorated the death of St. Peter and St. Paul. Initially I planned to attend the mass there but it was in Italian so we skipped it. The funny thing was, there was a section which was for confession only. But I found that if I can go inside, I can get a closer look to the dome. So we were discussing for quite long if we shall say we have a confession and go in =P But in the end we didn't, because we have no idea what to confess.

 

Next destination: Vatican Museum. When we got out of the Basilica, we finally saw the sign to the museum -___- and on our way there, we realized that there was already a very long queue! After 8 years in Singapore, we were trained to queue patiently. But after just around 10-15 minutes we realized that we can always go back to our Indonesian nature =P there was no real queue and everyone freely walks as far as they can and start queueing. After around 1.5 hour and 2 cones of Gelato, we finally reached the gate of the Museum!

Our goal is only Sistine Chapel and we can see that it is the most popular destination because the sign to Sistine Chapel was everywhere. But then I was quite anxious because after walking for so long (Vatican Museum was 7 km long), we still haven't arrived there. We rented audio guide which was very good and comprehensive. You won't need a tour guide when you have the audio guide. It was only EUR 7... totally worth it.

And of course, we finally arrived at Sistine Chapel. It was so crowded and some guards keep reminding us to remain silent and not to use flash when taking pictures. Sistine Chapel is definitely my favorite church. After seeing it, any other church including St Peter Basilica feels boring =P I like the way Michaelangelo painted the ceiling with the Creation, Fall, and Noah's story. I also adored the paintings on the wall which compared the life of Jesus and Moses. And ultimately, I never bored to see The Last Judgement fresco in front part of the Chapel.

  

You can read more about Sistine Chapel on Wiki. But it moves me that the comprehensive explanation of the Last Judgement fresco is closed with Roman 5:12 and 15

12Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
13for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.
14Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
15But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 

==============================

We finished Vatican in half a day. We had few options. Either visiting Colosseum or Pantheon. But we were hungry. And Ika, the hotel receptionist recommended us a nice place to eat near Pantheon. The problem is we need to go there by bus 64. So we walked around to see if there is any bus stop for 64 around. In the end we can't wait any longer when we saw a nearby Pizzeria which sold Pizza + drink for EUR 5 only! So we decided to eat there and we were happy! The pizza was very nice! We got 8 pieces of pizza each and we finished all. We are full and happy ^.^

Since we have had eaten, we decided to just find any bus which brought us to either Pantheon or Colosseum. We then waited for bus 237 and there was no clue when the bus will come (how I love mobileiris.com.sg!) We wanted to ask for help but we were not sure which are locals and which are tourists. Luckily one woman asked if we needed help. She explained that bus 237 is not coming for weekend. It is for weekdays only. She recommended us to take 81 to Via Del Corso instead. So we quickly ran and jumped to the bus 81. But the next problem is, when shall we alight? We kept an eye to the street name but somehow it was quite different with the route in my book. Finally when we saw a big building, we decided to alight from the bus.

There was a huge building with lots of statues under big renovation but we have no idea where we were. On our right we saw a stair. We thought this could be the Spanish Steps but comparing it with the picture in the book, we realized it was not the same. So we decided to go around the building to see if we can find the name. And it was.... Monument to Vittorio Emanuelle II. We don't know what it is until the next day when we heard about him. Vittorio Emanuelle was the first king of a unified Italy. And that monument was to honour him. Not bad, we accidentally found a tourist-must-see place, even though it was under renovation =P

Since we have known where we were, we decided to walk to Via Del Corso which was not far from there. On the way there, we met a guy who dressed like an ancient Roman soldier. Of course we asked if he wanted to take picture with us and he agreed! Then come the truth... he asked for money... Later on we realized that a lot of people are doing this everywhere in Rome! sighz... anyway we gave him some money and continued walking to Via Del Corso, the cheapest shopping street =P

 

We observed from the map that it is close to both Pantheon and Fontana di Trevi. So we visited both places. Nothing special for Pantheon. Just a very small church (I am not sure if seeing Sistine Chapel at the beginning of my trip is a good idea =P). Fontana di Trevi was nice. We tossed SGD 0.20 coins wishing that we will come back to Rome in healthier and wealthier condition *Amen* =P From there we decided to go to Time Elevator which shows the Rome Ancient history for EUR 12. It is somehow a very basic history, understandable because it was meant for kids. But at least now I know who Bernini is =P

When the show ended, it was almost 7PM, so we took the first bus we saw to Termini (bus 75) and headed to Termini. From there we went to Internet Cafe to check booking confirmation. Then we went to supermarket near our hotel and bought the cheapest bread and Salami ham. The Salami was good and the bread was horrible. But it's okay since it was the last time we ate dinner like that =P

End of second day.

xoxo McJuicy

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Rome - day 1

Posted by ver0n1c4 at 05:36 PM on July 13, 2009.

few minutes before my laundry is finished. hopefully enough to write about my first day of Italy trip.

our flight was on Sat, 27 June 2009 1AM. So I called Merry on Thursday night:

Me: Mer, kita bawa apa aja ya? - Mer, what should we bring?
Merry: Hah Ver lu rajin amat udah packing hari ini... - Why are you packing today? I am doing it tomorrow...
Me: Mer, pswt kita tuh besok loh bukan lusa (dalam hati expect dia jawab "tau lah lu pikir gue bego") - Mer, our flight it tomorrow night, not the day after tomorrow! (while expecting something like "Of course I know")
Merry: Hah yang bener Ver gue kira masih besoknya lg - Really? I thought it would be the day after tomorrow
Me: teonk........ (ada burung lewat) <-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-
Merry: Gile Ver lu menyelamatkan hidup gue! Jangan bilang sapa2 ya tentang ini - Ver! You saved my life. Don't tell anyone about this, ok?
Me: ok tar gue blog lol... - I promised I will blog about this... lol...

To cut the story short, we finally met at Changi airport at around 11.30PM. Thanks to online check in facility, we don't have to come 2 hours before the flight =P We went to boarding gate at 12AM. Gave a call to BCL saying happy birthday and board on the flight. We started looking at the list of movies available.

Merry: Ver! Ini hebat banget ada Transporter 3! Di bioskop aja baru sampe 2! - Ver! They have Transporter 3! It is only the second one in the cinema...
Me: (nanar) itu Transformer, Mer (burungnya lewat lagi... kali ini pake keringet) -____-O - Are you referring to Transformer???
Merry: Oiya hahaha
Me: Dasar muka bulet - Round face....
Merry: Vero! Gue paling benci dikatain gitu - Vero! I hate you saying that
(this "Round Face" scene is repeated almost everyday, simply because I enjoyed it so much =P)

After that, I saw who was sitting beside me. A girl. familiar face. Looks like Indonesian. Then she asked if we were Indonesian as well. Turns out she was from NUS. "Hi, I am Vero.... Merry.... Emmy.... bla3x... We are going to Italy for 2 weeks blu3x... I am going to Germany for language school for 1 month bli3x..." It is a small world after all, isn't it =) Then we said goodbye at Dubai after around 2 hours transit. Ready to head to Rome.

Arriving in Rome around 1PM local time. Bought a book about Rome in English since I left the one I borrowed from library (stupid...) and walked to Leonardo Express which brought us to Termini. In Termini (central station), we decided to find tourist information. But who knows the station was super big! City Hall and Raffles Place is nothing (of course)... Not sure about Gambir... haha... Finally after 10-20 minutes of walking, we arrived at the central station whic is even bigger. Looking at the trenitalia counter - very crowded. Trying the machine to book train ticket to Florence - don't understand. Trying to find local metro - give up. So we head to the hotel which looks near at the map. But with the road fully covered with stone and a luggage, it was surely not easy.

Finally we found the hotel but there was no receptionist! So we knocked on the first door we found and somebody was shouting in Italian... Later on we found out that it was one of the guest room (LOL). Few minutes later, somebody there told us that the receptionist is in level 2. How can I forget that they usually have level 0 which is ground floor -___- The receptionist was pretty and friendly. She directed us to the tourism site, good eating place, and... the building where we will stay which is very near to the Leonardo Express train. It turns out that they have several building but only one main building. After we settled the payment, we went to our real room and quickly collapsed...

Taking a bath and rest for a while, it was already 5PM. We decided to go to St Maria Maggiore (the nearest church) since it will close at 6PM. We were wow-ed by the interior of the church. Very grand and beautiful. There was a mass going on when we arrived there so we can't go in front of the church until it was finished. From there we had some dinner and went to Termini once again. We planned to reserve a ticket to Florence. But reservation of the fast train costs another EUR10! We decided to just come around 8.30AM and see if they have any Regional train available. Regional train will be slower but we can just use our EuRail pass without any extra cost.

 

From there we went to internet cafe, booked a shuttle for our last day (will be mentioned later if I still keen to write =P), bought some fruits and bread, walked to hotel , and slept.

End of first day. My laundry has finished since 20 minutes ago...

xoxo McJuicy

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Legend of the Condor Heroes 2008

Posted by ver0n1c4 at 04:16 PM on June 18, 2009.

Yes I am watching yet another version of this movie =P I am literally impressed that this version is so different from other version. With so many great releases before, they dare to modify the story and make their own interpretation.

I didn't manage to catch every single episode in Channel U since they are airing on weekend. So far I only watched up to episode 10 very slow considering they have 50 episodes... And I have to be very patient since they might not come very soon he he he.

But for the first 10 episodes, I can say that I can't wait how the story will go... The story begins with Qiu Chuji's flashback about his meeting with Guo and Yang. They cut this part really short and suddenly both families were attacked by Duan Tiande. Guo and Yang seemed died, well we know that Guo died and Yang survived =P both wives' presence are unknown.

Priest Qiu then met with 7 Freaks of Jiangnan, had a fight, all collapsed. Duan Tiande appears again with Mrs. Guo and left. Priest Qiu and 7 Freaks of Jiangnan made a pact that they will find the ladies and sons. They will meet again 18 years later and both sons will have to fight against each other. One thing never changes, they are afraid of what pugilistic world might say about them... Even without internet and facebook, gossip spreads fast too that time ^.^

Again the story is cut short. Guo Jing grew up in Mongolia. Genius in archery (yes because he can stand on the horse and aim at 2 condors at one time, LOL), but very stupid in everything else. Until he met Priest Ma Yu and taught him internal skills. Then they need to go back to fulfill the agreement 18 years ago.

Guo Jing met smart Huang Rong. Here, it is very clear why they love each other. Not like the version on 2006 where Guo Jing told his teachers that it is natural thing between guy and girl, when asked why he likes Huang Rong *faint*. And just like that their adventure began...

The next thing which is so different is between Yang Tie Xin and Bao Xi Ruo. It took them few episodes to finally meet each other... and until episode 10, they have not reunited. I almost gave up in the middle of episode 10 when everything is very slow. Yang Tie Xin was influenced by Wanyan Hong Lie words and thought that he is useless, since he can only find his wife and son after 18 years. He was also convinced that both of them are happy with the wealth and position they now have. Even though they choose to be with him now, he doesn't know how to start the reunion.

While Bao Xi Ruo felt deeply guilty for helping Wanyan Hong Lie 18 years ago which is the source of all disasters. And also because she has been married to someone else. So she can't say anything and only know how to cry *faint again*. Luckily Auwyang Ke appears and as usual, being very cunning. He tried to convince Yang Kang to go back to the palace. This is interesting because it shows that Yang Kang is actually not evil. It is the way he has been brought up. And the situation around him was not condusive. His real parents didn't talk to each other after the reunion. Huang Rong keeps despising whatever he is doing. And nobody really knows how to support him at that time

Another interesting part is between Yang Kang and Mu Nianci. It was so romantic seeing Yang Kang wash her feet. It shows that he likes her. One more interesting scenes are the scene where Huang Rong tricks Auwyang Ke. I simply like it and again, I can understand why Auwyang Ke is crazy about her.

Ok will continue after another 10 episodes (still long way to go =P) Can't wait for Huang Yaoshi, Hong Chi Kung, and Cioe Pe Tong.

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