An Italian vacation finale
On Thursday, Cart and I went on a road trip from Rome to Sorrento, Cart said that the journey would approximately be about 4 – 5 hours of driving.
We left at about 5 pm and only reached Sorrento at about 10 pm. We would have reached there earlier but we misread the sign and turned to the A30 direction on the highway rather than the A3 and thus wasted some time. I was confused to see many different direction signs pointing to the same place.
By the time we reached the resort, we were both quite tired and hungry and we headed to Il Capanno, a restaurant which was recommended by the resort manager. In Italian, Il Capanno means ‘The hut’. Once inside, I was amused by their figurines there
Cartcart tells me that the pizza in this region was one of the best in Italy. You could tell it was a Napoli style pizza was made  here because the dough was thicker nearer the circumference, while thinner in the middle.
It was delicious, but I still prefer Roma styled pizza though, as I like thin crust pizzas đ
Cart had Gnocchi while I really enjoyed my seafood linguine. Yum!
On our way back to the resort, Cartcart told me to be careful at where I stepped. And that was where I noticed this curious creature. Cart said that it was a snail, but I’ve never seen one without a shell before. Have you?
Early in the morning we left the resort to head to Capri. I admired the vast amount of colourful lemon trees that was lining all around the area.
Beautiful isn’t it? The bright yellow against the blue sky? Cart tells me that the people in Sorrento are very proud of their lemons. It has been said that Sorrento lemons are one of the best quality and famed ones in Italy.
We took a mini-bus to get to the port of Capri. Cart and I were impressed at the driver who was able to drive at high speed in the narrow streets of Sorrento without hitting anyone! I also cannot help to notice that the driver was wearing a pair of Gucci sunglasses.
When we reached the port, I admired the charming view of the buildings, to the clear blue sea. The water was so clear that I can even see the floor. It’s probably not very clear in the video at the end of this post, but I could see the fishes swimming clearly. It was almost as clear as a swimming pool.
We paid for the tickets for the ferry ride. As we were on our journey, we were amused by a young man who was selling and calling out “Water, Coke, Coffee”, but in his thick Napoli accent, we heard “What the —-, Coffee” instead! I took some footage for posterity for you to hear it đ
Some minutes later we reached the Capri jetty.
My gosh, this was such a beautiful place. Places like these only existed in postcards and cable TV! I had to pinch myself to see if I was really awake or dreaming. We exited the ferry and walked towards the village and decided to have a tour around the island.
We took a slow boat ride and what I saw for the next 2 hours was like an interactive Geography text book. I am so in awe with the beauty of what was in front of me.
One of the most spectacular views was the one at the Blue Grotto where we went into an underground cave and you could see the sun’s illumination on the blue water.The colour is intensified by the white sands below. Do watch the video journal below to see the blue grotto in all its glory đ
Cart and I should have brought our swimming attire, for most of the times, I was really tempted to jump out of the boat and just splash into the water! By this time, we both have been quite tanned from a couple of hours we were in the open boat.
After the boat ride, we explored the island of Capri. The vibe of the area was very touristy. Being summer, there were a large number of tourists walking about. Things costs a lot more here. My heart felt a little pained to see Cart having to spend so much on just the boat rides alone. But being a gentleman, he insisted that we have a nice time and not to worry about anything.
We decided to stop for break.
I used to dislike rucola. To me, it was bitter and evil tasting. When I saw some in my caprese, I looked with disdain and pecked at it till I decided to just try and give it another chance. I actually liked it! When I had it in my salad, I gingerly tasted it again and found out that it was actually really good! It tastes so much better when it was in a combination with other foods.
And I find myself loving my dessert so much! Cart had the Torta Caprese which is made with thick chocolate.
While I had the Pastiera Napoletana. This cake is made of orange rinds, wheat grains and ricotta cheese. It’s a really refreshing treat, not cloying at all. I liked it better than the chocolate one even.
We then went to Anacapri, which was a smaller island next to it, where cart got a bottle of perfume for his mum. I explored the shop and noticed loads of lemon related items there, such as the limoncello and lemon soaps. The place smelled delightfully of lemon scents
After we acquired the perfume, we headed up to the chair lift up to the peak of the mountain. Cart said that the view was spectacular there, but we reached there too late and they were already closed.
We were a little disappointed. But I saw that the clouds were already rolling in, and I think it would be too cold for comfort should we be at the top.
Unwillingly, we left Capri in the late evening and said our goodbyes to Sorrento. We had a quick drive to Napoli to say our goodbyes to Fabrizio who was camping there with his family and have dinner before heading back to Rome. I looked amusedly at two adorable children in front of me, during dinner, playing some sort of kissing game and suddenly I felt very sad.
Saturday was my last day in Italy. I was calm for most part of the day, but when the last few hours, I just lost it. Its heartbreaking to do this again.
We dropped by his parents place to say our goodbyes and then we rushed off to the airport where I had only 15 mins left to board the plane.
I can still see him vividly, my last mental image of him, staring at me as he stood there, outside the checkpoint. I looked back, sadly, going up the escalator.
I cried in the plane again.
When I reached back to Singapore, everything was the same again. It was as if I have never left at all. But I know for sure, I’ve left my heart with someone very special.
We’ll work it out, dearest. We can do it.
A video journal of my last 3 days in Italy
The Vespa Club roadtrip to Malacca
My trip to Malacca was fantastic! Yesterday was the first time that I was riding out of Singapore and it was such a memorable experience, I would love for to do it again!
The Vespa Club, an enthusiast group which I joined last year organized an outing to Malacca last Sunday. As I’ve always wanted to experience riding overseas, I jumped at the chance. Malaysia was a great place to start because of its vast natural terrain, picturesque sights as well as wonderful food along the way.
As I slept at about 3 am the previous night, I woke up groggy when the alarm clock rang at 5.30 am. I was supposed to meet the gang at 6.30 am and was still deciding whether to go or no. At length I dragged myself out of bed and stuffed my passport and other necessary items and had a quick shower.
I reached the Jurong Bird park which was the designated meet-up point and saw that the others were there already. I was late! I tried to bribe everyone with the chocolates that I bought from the chocolate factory last Friday.
Moon_star, who’s in the pink scooter, lead us to the Tuas second link immigration check point where we had our passports checked and paid S$0.60 using our cash card for our scooters to cross over. It was another RM$1.30 for the Malaysian vehicle toll later.
After the check, I took in the beautiful sights as we crossed the bridge connecting Singapore and Malaysia. It was gorgeous to see the rising sun coming out from the sea and into the blue skies. At times like these, I wished I had a helmet camera. I would love to show you the lovely sights I saw while on the road.
We stopped by Gelang Patah to meet up with the rest of the gang and have our breakfast together. In Malay, Gelang Patah translates to Broken Bracelet. I quickly exchanged my Singapore money to Malaysian money (1 SGD = 2.20 RM) and then I had Nasi Lemak and Teh Halia.
After our breakfast, Roadster, who will be leading the group later on, briefed to us about the road that we will be travelling as well as cautioned us that because the travel would be long and monotonous, it is important for us to try to keep ourselves awake and entertained.
But first, we pumped petrol at the petronas petrol kiosk that was nearby. There is no Premium, 98 or 95 (and other different types of petrol). Here there were only two choices of oil. Petrol or diesel.
Its’ very different here. You’d have to pay in advance and the meter will not reset till the person has paid for his fuel at the counter. So if the person takes his time, or worse, drive away without paying, the next person will have to wait a very long time. After a while, the meter reset and I filled my tank. I paid about ten ringgit for the fill.
And then we started our journey. It was a very long ride. I kept myself entertained by listening to my MP3 player and taking in the view of the plantations. There were no commercial or housing buildings anywhere along the highway, only trees everywhere. We stopped only for some of us to refuel and for all of us to stretch our legs.
Here is a video of us at one of our stops :
Click here to watch in youtube
But it was really fun for me to ride in a procession with the vesporeans. We must have been a sight to behold with our colourful and eye catching scooter. Everywhere we go, there will be someone waving and shouting, “Vespa! Vespa!” at us. I saw that there were also other motorcycle group along the road. Even they were waving and giving us the thumbs up. I feel happy and proud.
After about 3 hours, we finally reached Malacca! It was already noon so it was uncomfortably hot. The gang went to have lunch at a famous Chicken Rice Ball restaurant. But as the place wasnt halal, I didn’t eat there. Roadster was really nice to accompany me for lunch as we searched for a suitable place to eat.
We stumbled upon an Indian restaurant and feasted on the delicious chicken biryani. Even though I wasn’t that hungry, I find myself polishing off the rice. It was so good!
After lunch, Roadster wanted to go shopping. So I took the chance to roam around by myself and take pictures. As Malacca was formerly colonised by the Dutch and the Portuguese, there were a number of landmarks here which had a European look.
This is the Stadhuys building. Formerly a residence of the Dutch Governor and his deputy, now it is converted into a museum.
A Gothic church was built by the French priest.
The colourful streets made me feel like I was walking back in time. There were loads of antique things and sights.
Like these clogs. These shoes are memorable as they have a very loud “click clock” sound as you walk around in these. But they can hardly be found in Singapore any more.
This man here is crafting a handmade sweet. He’d chisel off the hard candy made of sugar. You can hear him when he works and the loud sound of the clinking will attract many children.
While walking, I chanced upon a chendol shop. I love chendol! These cool dessert will surely cool you down in the warm weather and I love watching how the dessert gets prepared.
First the man will take a block of ice and puts it in the machine. The ice is then shaved into a container which is then layered with beautiful combination of coconut milk, gula melaka, red bean and jelly.
There was a river down the path that I was walking at and I admired the view. Just as I was daydreaming at how nice it would be to take a dip on this hot day, I saw something interesting …
Uh … I changed my mind.
Later on we grouped back together and rode around the Malaccan town and did a quick bout of shopping and then it was time to head back.
The way back home was easily one of the most stressful riding experience that I’ve ever had. Somewhere along the middle of the journey, traffic got congested and got heavier as we went along. And then the skies got darker and angrier and the rain poured down.
I always get nervous at times like these as visibility is low and tempers are high. Accidents always happen on the roads when there’s a heavy downpour. And true enough, there were at least 3 accidents that I saw along the way home.
Every motorist wanted to go back home so much so that they squeezed through everywhere! Even the cars and buses cut into the shoulder lane!
This journey was very physically challenging indeed. My back and legs felt sore from all the riding. It was already nightfall and the only illumination was from our vehicles. I definitely wouldn’t want to be stuck here alone!
I was wet, cold, tired and miserable. My mind started to play tricks on me.
After what seemed to be forever, I was really grateful for the quick stops at the R&R along the way so that I could get warmed up again. A warm drink and a stretch of the legs and we were off. An hour later, we were back in Gelang Patah again for our final stop and dinner.
I couldn’t decide on what to eat. In the end, I decided to have a burger. Cerealz seemed shocked when I translated the words of the banner at the burger stall :
Arnab = Rabbit
Kasawari = Ostrich
Rusa = Deer
I tried the rabbit burger just to see how it tasted like. Interestingly enough, it tasted like chicken.
After dinner, we pumped petrol for the final time and then headed back to the customs then we said our goodbyes to each other. By the time I reached home, the first thing I did was to head to the bathroom to get out of my dirty and wet clothes and have a nice warm shower and then collapsed in bed and snoozed immediately after that. I was that tired!
I realise that I didn’t buy much things in Malacca. I still had a little souvenir though.
Wow, what a tan! But now all my limbs feel stiff and my skin feels like a radiation effect. I’m sunburnt!
Links
A new addition to the two wheeler family
The brother seems to be feeling the urge to ride and has actually bought for himself a Bajaj Pulsar.
The Bajaj Pulsar
He initially contemplated on getting a Vespa LX 150, but finally had his heart set on the Bajaj after realising that the petrol consumption mileage was better and the tank capacity was higher.
We went to one motorcycle shop on evening. And while he was talking to the salesman, I went off to admire this cutie.
Isn’t it adorable? This is the Yamaha Fino. I like the shape and the look of this scooter as it is so retro. And it is mini sized for any woman to ride comfortably. What’s cute about it is that there is a side pocket in the front to put items like water bottles.
This particular green and white limited edition which we saw at Universal Motors was going for about $5k on the road.
But as adorable as it is, the one thing that didnt make it perfect was that the Fino had very little storage. I can’t even stuff my handbag in there, much less with things like laptops or the SLR Camera bag.
My Vespa GT200 is still the best.
Anyway, the brother will be getting his Bajaj this evening and he’s letting me be the subrider. I can’t wait to try riding on that.
And speaking of Vespas, the Vespa Club is having a 1 Day Trip to Malacca, Malaysia this Sunday. If you have a Vespa and is free this sunday, do join us. It’ll be fun! đ
The Vespa Club members at the Big Bike Fest
Update : Oh yeah, forgot to mention that I finally saw the sunflower biker along the AYE expressway on my way to night class. Wanted to wave hello to him but he rode away so fast.
Super cool right? đ
The Museum of Shanghai Toys – Singaporean Childhood Exhibition
Today was the last day for the International Museum Day 2007. Having been to the Red Dot Design Museum yesterday with my sister, I was keen to see the Singaporean Childhood Exhibition at the Museum of Shanghai Toys.
I’m surprised that I didn’t know of the place earlier as it is along the stretch of road of Little India, which is one of my favourite haunts. But Rowley Road is quite a distance from the train station if one is going on foot. Luckily for me, I had my precious scooter.
I paid for the ticket. It was $5 if you could show the lady at the counter your Singaporean ATM card, else, entry for adults is $8. I went up the steep steps of the old shophouse.
The exhibition focused on toys from the 50’s to the 70’s and I was thoroughly fascinated by the amount of toys there and the history that came with it.
Did you know that in ancient China, dolls were used as charms to be buried with the dead? Thats why when Europe, the largest manufacturer of dolls during the time started to export them to China, many of them were too afraid of it.
I really liked looking at the toys, some really super cool :
Rawr! Godzilla!
I used to have a doll just exactly like that one in Red
But there were also some freaky ones :
And there were those which were just plain insane!
But it was all good. It was humorous and showed the innocence of toys during the era. I enjoyed the exhibition and there were plenty of toys that made me feel nostalgia. It was amazing to find many of toys here which I have played with as a child.
Which kid in the 80’s dont remember these colourful animals? We used these shapes to play Tikam.
I even remember the black toy on the left where you can shoot aliens with. All the toys in the picture above were made in Singapore.
And now that I looked at the exhibition, I realise that I could possibly have had a vintage toy with me.
I used to hava a toy bear with the exact cloth logo by its side. Too bad my bear got so worn out that it was thrown away đ
I was almost sorry to have to leave the museum. It was really nice to be surrounded by so much toys. Such a lovely place. Do go if you have the time. Then you could treat yourself to some yummilicious food at Little India afterwards! đ
A nice day spent with friends at Far East Plaza
Far East Plaza is a nice place to hang out. As it is in the city, it tends to get quite crowded. But there are loads of things to buy and see there. I like it namely for the affordable and wide variety of apparel sold there.
I recently bought some clothes at Far East Plaza. Each of the apparel that you see in this picture here averages at about 30 dollars each. One could easily go crazy with the range of clothes here.
Yesterday, I was at Far East Plaza again. But it wasn’t for shopping. Instead, it was a day for meeting of friends.
My good friend Juli, asked for help in designing a logo and namecard. We met at Far East plaza as designated. As I turned around, she pointed to a guy who was right next to her and introduced him.
“Marina, this is Man”
Man is Juli’s boyfriend. We’ve talked about him quite a bit during our girl sessions and it was nice to finally meet him in person. Over lunch, we got to know each other and I can’t help to think of what an adorable couple they were.
Man and Juli were always teasing each other. It was so cute. They said that they planned on getting married at the end of the year, God willing. We spent the time talking to each other. Man seemed a funny and friendly guy.
After we were all happy with the final look of the logo, we waved our goodbyes and I headed to try to find the ping.sg gang. There was a buybuttonz event going on. I saw a white booth outside of Far East Plaza, but where on earth are the pingsters? I twittered in desperation.
Luckily, Tstar picked up my message and adviced me to head up to the second floor where the fair was. It was then when I saw quite a number of booths being set up. I walked to each booth trying to find a familliar face. I must have made an entire circle around the fair and that was when I finally noticed DK. Finally! A familliar face!
Me : Hi! (DK doesnt hear me)
A guy who happened to stand in the middle reciprocated instead.
Guy : Err .. hi. You are?
Me thinking : Who the heck is this person?
Guy : Hi I’m Farinelli.
Me : Alamak! Hi! I’m rinaz!
How embarassing! What a way to start to know another. Luckily for me, Farinelli was very friendly and easy to talk to. All feelings of embarassment quickly disappeared.
I quickly scanned around the booth and saw Uzyn and his girlfriend, Sek Ling, I finally got to meet Nicole and her boyfriend, Hendri. There were also arzhou, Ridz, Miccheng, Veron, Estee as well as others whom I unfortunately did not managed to catch their names.
It was so funny to see the gang acting so silly. It seemed like everyone was goofing off. I guess this pose was inspired by the picture that was made infamous by DK.
We headed off for dinner afterwards at the Ayam Penyet Ria restaurant . I’m crazy about this stuff. Ayam Penyet is an Indonesian dish that consists of a deep fried chicken with floss sprinkled on top, served with some raw vegetables and rice as well as extra hot chilli.
Unfortunately, as our group was a little too big, we were split into two groups to fit a table. Everyone at our table seemed to like the speciality ayam penyet there. Here is a quick video of our dinner
Click here to watch in youtube
Clockwise from left to right : trecillia3678, Hendri, Nicole, Ridz, Veron, Miccheng, NTT, DK, CJ, Uzyn, Sek Ling, Farinelli and me.
After dinner, we chilled out for a bit at Starbucks and had a bit of a chit chat. Just for fun I thought I’d do a quick interview of everyone there.
Click here to watch in youtube
What a lovely evening it was. Anywhere can be a lovely place, with great company đ
A trip down to the Istana
Beautiful Jurong Lake Park
Ack! Another meme!
I am really not fond of doing memes.
I got tagged by Sha, and then Eastcoastlife and most recently, Clappingtree to do a meme. But I guess I’ll do this just one more time, just cause I think they are all cool people.
Finish this sentence :
I love
my scooter.
I feel
happy when I am on my scooter.
I need
my scooter.
1. Before I start my journey, I pat my scooter and ask if it is ready.
1. During my journeys, I sing on my scooter.
2. After every trip, I’d say goodnight to my scooter.
1. Persuade Cartcart to learn to ride a scooter
2. Have my future kids to learn to ride a scooter.
3. Have everyone else to learn to ride a scooter.
And I tag
- No one
- Mei yo de ren
- Tiada sesiapa orang
- Nessuna persona
- Karappam Pochi
There I’ve done a meme, happy? đ
A lovely evening with the peeps of Ping.Sg at Essential Brew
Ping.sg is a bloggers community that I’ve been with for some months now. I don’t remember exactly how I stumbled onto this website, but it is a great place for Singaporean bloggers to gain some eyeballs to their blogs as well as finding interesting posts by Singaporeans.
After much contemplating, I decided to go for the meetup last night.
The evening didn’t start very promising. My lion hair decided to puff up and while riding my scooter on the road, the sky decided to rain. I went to seek shelter at a petrol station nearby and listened amusedly to two Indian men chatting amiably together.
At long last the rain abated and I went forward to the journey.
Holland Village! It has been quite a while since I last been here. It isnt really my type of place as I was more of a heartlander, a neighbourhood person. But its a lovely place to go to. I should have brought Cartcart here.
There were heaps of well dressed people and expatriates there getting their groceries, having dinner in nice looking restaurants and people just walking about enjoying their saturday evening.
At length, I reached Essential Brew where the gathering was held. It looked very cosy. The decor was a mix of zen and homeliness. It looked like a good place to spend time with friends.
The first person I saw was Uzyn (Yes thats his real name!) as he waved at me from the room upstairs. As I entered the room, I saw Kevin, NTT and DK whom I met previously from the Nexus meet. As I sat down, I met this very sweet lady. She introduced herself as Tstar. She was very friendly! We hit it off instantly.
I was curious to see Ridz, who was sitting beside her. He was wearing the army uniform.
me : Did you just got off camp, Ridz?
ridz : Oh no, I am doing this because Tstar said that she’ll only come to this meeting if I wore my army uniform. She said she loves men in uniform. I’ve already completed my army training.
me : Ohmygosh. I cant believe you actually did that!
ridz : Yeah, too bad I couldnt find my camoflage cream for the face. I would have put that on too!
I realised later that the man who was sitting at the head of the table was Ebie, one of the owners for Essential Brew. He is a ping.sg member too! He sat with us for a while, but couldn’t stay long as it was a very busy night for him.
From left to right : Tstar, Ridz, Kevin, NTT, Ebie, DK and Uzyn
Clappingtree arrived shortly after. She told me that she just came from mass from her church and that she lived nearby. It was really lovely to talk to her upclose. She was very friendly, warm and very easy going. The first time I saw her was at the Nexus meet, some weeks back. But I only managed to see her from a distance away and we didn’t get a chance to talk.
Any meetup with the Ping.sg gang will bound to have a plentiful of cheerful laughter. I am always amazed at how friendly these group are. I chuckled at the jokes and conversation. The topics ranged from the Pingnation netcast that Kevin planned to host, to the spontaneous netcast that Clappingtree suggested, to my cloudy drink ( Uzyn : It’s cloudy because its going to rain ) and practically everything else under the sky.
I looked at everyones dinner. Ridz had this yummy looking fish and chips. Uzyn had a plate of cream pasta. I think Tstar had a plate of beef and she looked like she enjoyed it. I decided to have the Vegetarian Verdure Pomodoro pasta. It was pretty good. So good that Tstar and I forgot to take a picture of our dinner đ
Kevin and NTT had to leave after dinner, due to prior engagements but shortly after, Eastcoastlife and her husband arrived. She jokingly introduced him as her boyfriend. True to as what DK mentioned, she was a charismatic and attractive lady. When she talks, her eyes sparkled and it seemed that everyone warmed up to her.
Actually, I suspected that there could be something going on with Eastcoastlife and DK. Whenever they were in the chatroom, their chatting would dominate the entire chatroom that I got disgusted by it, quite frankly.
But DK explained that he has never met her before and regarded her as his “aunt”. They were both so funny and friendly that it was hard to stay mad at them.
Ebie was so kind as to give us complimentary desserts after our dinner. Thank you Ebie! You rock! Each of us had a Panna Cotta with strawberries on top. It looked too pretty to eat. But when I started, it was so delightful to eat that I sighed when it was all gone.
We also had a plate of Ice Cream Bombe. I had to take a picture of this really quickly as everyone were eyeing on it. They couldn’t wait to devour it.
And it really was very very good. It had an entire medley of yummy treats like ice cream and lovely crunchy hazelnut bits in it. In no time at all, it was gone!
See!
It was a very lovely evening, well spent with the group. The night seemed to end too quickly and we had to say goodnight to each other. I waved goodbye to clappingtree, saw Eastcoastlife walk the opposite direction, hand in hand with her hubby, saw chilvarous Ridz accompany Tstar to the bus stop. Uzyn and DK still wanted to to have coffee though.
I had to decline as it was nearly 11 pm. My parking was only valid till 10.30pm. Clappingtree said that this was a hot spot for parking wardens. Ack! I really didn’t want to get fined!
I had a really lovely time. It was definitely a great meetup! Here is a short clip from during dessert. Enjoy đ
Click here to watch in youtube
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