Towards the middle of last week, I was worried to be running in the cold winter, especially with the temperatures dropping down to 2 degree celsius just last Thursday. I really didn’t want to choke and die from lack of oxygen. But in the end, everything went fine.

The day before, Claire and I collected our race packs at Stadio Olimpico – the largest and main sports facility in Rome. Looks pretty generous for 10 euro doesn’t it? I especially love the thermal and humidity headbuff and don’t mind going around with it everywhere. But I think we should be paid for going around promoting a swimming pool. Ah well

By the way, Claire was really happy to find out that the S size shirt fits her better. She initially asked for a M but the man at the counter said that S would be better for her and winked jokingly, “Next year a XS!” Hahaha!

On the Sunday itself, Claire and I woke up bright and early and headed towards the Acqua Acetosa train station. As taking trains is such a daunting thing for me (have you seen the number of lines as Termini?) so I asked Cart to accompany us.

Fortunately for us, when we reached Flaminio station, there was only one line. Phew! No need to crack our heads too much wondering which line goes where. We just sit down and wait.

There were loads of people in running gear waiting together and that made me feel more assured that we were going in the right direction. It was quite charming to be in the train – so old school. The vibe felt very different compared to the run we did in the city center – like the Corsa dei Santi or the Maratona Staffetta.

And here we are in Acqua Acetosa! Cart tells me that translated, it means “Vinegary water” Urgh! I don’t think I’d drink their spring water if it literally means that!

As you could see while we were going out of the station, there was a huge crowd at the exit. Turns out that there was a raincoat being distributed and everyone wanted one of course. More freebies! Hahaha! AND participants get breakfast too! I shared a coffee and cake with Cartcart.

I actually snapped this picture below as there’s a man in a bright orange cat suit in this picture. I wonder how he’d feel to run 10km under all that.

But take a look at the sky, look at how cloudy and foggy it is. It didn’t make me feel too confident.

And check out the sitting eagles on top of the entrance to the Paolo Rosi stadium. I don’t know about you, but doesn’t it look very … world war 2?

And here we are posing insouciantly before the race. Clean and fresh.

And then we scrambled to find the start point. There were no signs, and hardly any marshals staff to be found. I thought that the organization was rather bad. In the end, Claire and I saw a group of people and followed them, started running, and hoped for the best.

(Cart went off to play angry birds on his handphone, if anyone is wondering)

And this is our running route. Scenic route around the river.

During the run itself, initially I was a little apprehensive. Because each time I exhaled, fog comes out. It was disconcerting to see. But experience has taught me to keep my mouth closed so that I don’t breathe in cold air. And eventually, I felt warmed up enough to have a sort of conversation with Claire. Woah!

We went around the river and past the Olympic stadium. And there were some sceneries that we’ve never seen before, such as a giant face statue. It was lovely. One funny thing also was each time we went past a banner indicating the distance we’ve gone, there would usually be a photographer near it and we posed for all sorts of silly poses, and then went back to our regular running pose after that (usually the tired look) Hahaha!

And this is us at the end of the race. Ahh … chilling out with hot lemon tea. At this point of time, I just felt like lying down. Haha!

Thank you Claire for asking me to come along. And thank you Cartcart for accompanying us! I really had fun! Next time you come and join us! 

Winners will get … oh I don’t know, an Italian postcard or something

Currently, I own a Kymco People 125. At first I didn’t like him so much. But he does have some advantages, such as it’s small size. It’s easy to manoeuvre it in between heavy traffic and I’ve appreciated him a lot for that. Problem is, he’s just not adequate enough for me to ride on the highway as European highways legally require for a two wheeler to have at least 150cc.

Since I’ve always loved riding my Vespa GT200 while I was in Singapore, I was seriously considering to upgrade to a Vespa LX 150 (Not another GT as I prefer it to be small enough to fly in the traffic … moreover, it’s cheaper)

I was all set to head to the showroom when I stumbled upon a website where it compared the LX 150 with another scooter, the Kymco Like 200i and at first glance I was stunned to see how similar it looked. Even the font in front and on the sides look about the same!

Picture via Scooter Community

There are differences though, such as the bag hook below the seat of the LX150 while on the Like200 it’s on under the handlebars. But looks wise aside, the more I read about the comparisons, the more I got interested in purchasing the alternative.

By the way the Like200i is actually 163cc. Strange naming, I know

Firstly on account of how much cheaper it was. If I were to get the LX 150ie, it would cost me 3.6k euro while the Like 200i costs 2.2k, which is a good 1.5k cheaper and it already comes included with a box.

And it looks substantial enough for me to put my stuff and whatnots

Since using my current scooter for the past year and a half, and despite the fact that it is almost approaching 10 years old, incredibly, I’ve yet to have any issues or replace any parts which makes me trust this brand a lot. As much as I loved my Vespa, the upkeep costs were crazy. It didn’t bother me that much at the time as I had a regular job. But now that I’m mostly freelancing and money doesn’t flow regularly, I have to be frugal.

Thus it makes so much sense for me to get the Kymco Like 200i. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nothing personal and I still love Vespa. But I’d compare it to kind of like mekap - sometimes you can’t get a certain brand because of it’s high costs or because of it’s unavailability in your country, so you get a dupe which is just as good, instead.

Anyway, Cart and I were at a nearest Kymco showroom and despite what a couple of reviews have mentioned, the Like 200i is not a small scooter. In fact when I’m sitting on it, I only managed to tiptoe, very much like how I was on the GT200.

Even though in person, the body looks plasticy, I get the impression that the scooter is very solid and steady on the road. One thing that I didn’t really liked though, was that you needed to open the glove compartment and the underseat separately, as opposed to the GT 200 which opens with a push of a button. But this was a minor inconvenience.

Picture by Motorcycle.com

Nevertheless, there were small details which I was pleasantly surprised about, such as the plastic straps on the glove compartment which helps prevent items from spilling out.

And also that the pillion foot rest springs open when you press the button next to it. But I loved it more that it was positioned further away back – something that bothered me a lot when I was on the GT 200 – it hurt my legs a lot as I’d inadvertently scrape my feet on it each time I had a pillion. Bad design!

Nevertheless, the true test will be to ride it on the road of course. But I’m liking the specs that I’ve read so far. I’d like to order it, and hopefully, be riding it ASAP!

I wonder if anyone’s seen anyone riding a Like series in Singapore?

By the way, if you’re interested to read a more professional review, check this site out or read the spec comparisons.

Could you just imagine the conversation?

Man : Hey babe, check out what I have for you!

*whips out … an anchovy sandwich!*

Woman all dramatic like : Oooh! Yes! Fernando! You know what I like! Give it to me!

*poses all seductively almost eroticly*

Man : Hmm! Now after you eat this, go on and breathe on my face again. It’s sexeh!

And the funny part about this, the tagline reads, “When you start, you’ll never stop“. Never stop what? Convulsion for anchovies?

Sidenote : If you think this was strange, you should check this out too.

But what catches my eyes more are of these :

This is the Befana. She’s an old woman with a shawl, and goes down the chimney on the eve of Epiphany to fill the socks and deliver presents to good children and coal to the bad. Kind of like Santa Claus. She also flies around on a broom, but Cart is adamant in telling me that she’s not a witch.

I find her quite cute and I always get amused when I see Befana figurines for sale. Her laughter is infectious!

Well, Befana or not, we got for ourselves some chocolate and I’m gonna eat it now … OM NOM NOM NOM! 

Normally I’d spend New Year’s eve sleeping in bed and then waking up to a new year. Yes, I’m very dull. But of course this time round , for the first time since we’re not in Singapore, we did things a little differently this year.

In the morning, we were in Circo Massimo to support my friend Claire who was doing the inaugural Nike We run Rome 10km run that day.

I’ve always wanted to run a 10k event but I was really worried that I couldn’t cope in the coldness of winter. The first time I tried to run back in January, I literally couldn’t breathe after 5 minutes which really frightened me. But I think I’ve acclimatised myself and on the day itself, while was still cold in the beginning, it turned out to actually be a lovely sunny day.

There were so many people crowing around the start point and the feeling was extremely festive. I was extremely jealous and wishing that I participated too! Claire on the other hand, was nervous for her first 10k run. Said that she didn’t sleep much the night before and before this, had to pee 8 times. Hahaha!

But I knew she’ll do fine. She’s been training for a while, so it’s going to be a piece of cake for her

Anyway, while she’s running, Cart and I decided to go walk around the area. We remembered seeing a pastry shop while on our way to the farmer’s market (which was closed on that day) and thought of trying out some cakes.

The place is called Cristalli di Zucchero by the way, and oh gosh, all the cakes there looked so orgasmic. The pastries were divided into macaroons, cakes and mignons and I had a hard time trying to choose which one to try.

In the end, Cart chose Mont-Blanc for himself which is a type of cream cake that has chestnut purèe on top.

While I had Rosa Del Libano which is a sponge cake with almonds, raspberry, white chocolate and rose tea mousse. Cart’s not too fond of this because it reminds him of Bandung. But I love it!

Oh so good! A little expensive at 3.50 euro each, but it’s worth to try at least once.

Since we had a bit more time to kill after that, I suggested that we go to La Bocca della Verità. Which is basically a white circular marble with a hole where you could put your hand in and it was supposed to be a lie detector. You’d get your hand chopped off if you’re guilty.

But gosh, it was super crowded with lines and lines of tourists and we gave up. So we went exploring the Santa Marina in Cosmedin church instead. The church looks so antique … I could totally imagine Thief the dark project in here.

Something interesting we found there :

Believe it or not, on the white sign there, says “Relics of Saint Valentine” Woah, really? I bet this church will be filled with flowers on the 14th of February.

We then headed back slowly to the finish area and were in time to see Claire running past the finishing line. Bloody hell she’s fast! She ran in an hour, 13 minutes! Faster than my timing! Haha!

She looked tired but exhilarated and pumped up. See, all that feeling of nervousness was for nothing! And I’m sure it will not be her last long distance run!

After we said our goodbyes, Cart and I headed to the supermarket to get some groceries as well as some food to prepare for the dinner later that night. We’ll be spending the evening with some friends.

Most importantly we grabbed loads of these :

In Italy there is a tradition of eating lenticchie (lentils) which is supposed to bring you fortune (on account of how it’s round and looks like coins) when you eat it during right during the new year’s day.

After the lentils are cooked, we then headed to Francesco’s house who was hosting tonight. And because it seemed like a special occasion to look hot, so I did just that

I’m absolutely hot right? *coughs* I’m shameless, I know

By the time we arrived, there were loads of food all ready on the table.

This is a lovely quiche like spinach and ricotta bundle.

And roasted prawns! So yummy! This was over in just a few minutes.

Squid ink pasta with mussels. This was nice, but by this time I was feeling very full.

And I could hardly take a bite out of the parmigiana melanzana which was just wonderful. Le sigh!

At about 11.30pm we walked to Gianicolo, to look at the fireworks. To me, it really felt like the second world war was going on here. It was night time and there were so many people all walking briskly and rushing and the sounds of the crackling of fireworks which reminds of me gun shots and the smoke in the air.

It was a little bit alarming for me. But at the same time, there were loads of people, children and adults alike playing with fireworks and sparklers and those were lovely to see.

If I imagined it well enough, it even felt a little like Chinese New year during the early 80′s when fireworks were still not banned in Singapore yet. It was still a little dangerous nevertheless, because if you’re not careful you could step into a firework thrown by a someone. In fact, the next day, there were reports of an increase in accidents by fireworks this year.

Anyhow, it was getting close to midnight and by this time, the amount of fireworks increased and people started to get more energetic. I wasn’t wearing a watch, so I’ve no idea if the countdown was accurate, because there will be someone popping their bottle of wine and then a few minutes later, someone else will be counting down. Hahaha!

Nevertheless, when we thought it was right, Cart and I kissed

We then headed back to Francesco’s house and we were feeling very lucky that we didn’t take the car because it was such a cacophony and confusion going on there with all the vehicles trying to escape the bottleneck. It’s kind of like a traffic jam times 10! So you could imagine all the horns blaring!

It was much faster to walk.

Anyway, when we reached his place, we ate our lentils! (among other desserts and sweet foods)

Here’s to love, peace, happiness and richness! Now that I’ve eaten my lentils. Gimme money

To end, here’s a video of our time in Gianicolo :

Haha, what a confusion!

(I see now how the term getting lucky for having sex started )

That’s why if you’re anywhere in Rome towards the end of the year, you’d see practically all lingerie shops selling red underwear.

And not only women’s underwear, men are not spared from it too!

In fact when Claire and I were going around on our weekly adventures, I saw men’s thong in the shape of a red elephant being sold at a bancarella. It was dangling around and so in your face! Double meaning much?!

I was so amused

Bye everyone! See you in the new year!