EU07: roma, pisa, firenze, italia. 4 - 6 june 2007

ciao roma

so we jetted off to our next stop, roma, after surviving the crazy airport shuttle drive. at this stop, we got to know wat a kamchiong spider ez is. wahaha. was panicky about finding the way to the airport railway. relek aaaaaah! after asking a couple of people we got to the train station to catch a ride into roma. at this point, i must say i began to appreciate sg's transport system. u know how much the ride cost not?? 11 euros leh! for like, a half hour journey! basket... show some love to the mrt, people.

got settled into our cute apartment which we shared with a couple from aust. lilliput hostel was pretty nice, in a gated building with lots of locks. felt very safe. loved the loo cos of the presence of a bidet. have u guys tried those before? quite cool leh, so easy to cebok. couldn't get enough of it. wahaha. our room was cool too, 3 single beds and then a spiral staircase led up to a loft like thingy with another bed there. little did we know that we were sharing that room...

went walking around, discovered the supermarket, and then went back to make cup noodles. was pretty late when we reached rome lah so didn't do much, just relek one corner and reserve energy for the next day. funny enuf, this was the first night that ez didn't snore the house down... i think i did some teeth grinding though. haha. next morn, a discussion revealed that both zur and ez felt a presence in the room. yeah, that kinda presence. me being me, i didn't wanna talk about it lah, tho i did feel it a little. i'm more like, i don't disturb u, u don't disturb me lor.

pisa beckons

ok another reason we went to bed pretty early was cos we had to catch our train to pisa the next morn and book our other train tix. we were at termini station soo early, we beat the office crowd. haha. zur and i wanted to wear our cute outfits. so we did. bad idea. it promised to be a gloomy, rainy day. thank god for shawls and scarves.

i'm not sure but i think this was the ride when ez once again showed his kamchiong-ness. we were supposed to be in 1st class, but found out that we were in 2nd, so we left the carriage. now, the practical thing to do when the train is about to leave would be to walk thru the train until we get to 1st class. not jump off the bloody train with seconds to spare like our dear mr ez did. zur and i were so confused we followed suit. needless to say, he got an earful when we were finally able to catch our breath in the correct carriage. never. never. do. that. ever. again. he had the cheek to tell us to relek sommore. chey!

anyways, we reached pisa in one piece, then tried to figure out how to get to the leaning tower and other buildings yang sewaktu dengannya. do u know that to get a bus ticket, u can't buy it from the bus stop or the bus driver but rather, u need to go to a tabacchi (tobacco shop) or a bar?? wtf rite? have to go and figure out which one actually sells the tickets sommore. was pretty stunned by this, i can tell u that.

we managed, and found ourselves outside the walls of this enclosed area with all the cool touristy buildings inside. funny thing is, outside the walls, it was just like any other normal street with people going about their daily business. once u pass through the gates, boom, it's like an oasis in the middle of a desert. huge crowds of people, roadside stalls, noise, life. this happened to us pretty much throughout our italian leg. nothing nothing nothing, huge crowd, nothing nothing, lots of noise, nothing nothing... u get the picture. it was damned hilarious. we were almost always taken by surprise.

looking at the tower and just being there was a little surreal. i would have never imagined that i would be halfway across the world, standing in the vicinity of one of the most well recognised monuments ever. it's a piece of history, people. even though the weather was crap, it was still fantastic just being there and soaking up the atmosphere. and yes, it really does lean! the other buildings were pretty awesome too but i can't for the life of me recall what they were.

next stop, firenze

made a pitstop at florence just for the heck of it even though we didn't know what there was to see there. haha. it was a nice place, with this huge market thingy where we got lots of tees for the people back home. there was this cute guy who was helping an old man find his way to some place and he smiled at us. zur and i were so smitten that we started following him and oohed and ahhed (in malay) over how nice he was for such a cute boy. yeah yeah, bite us. it was fun. hehe. we were quite happy to lag behind him and ogle from afar but alas, he turned a corner away from where we were headed. sighs. it was short lived but it will forever be cherished. wahaha.

then after that we caught the train back to rome lah. were so damned shagged i tell ya. we were gonna check out the rome sights the next day, so were pretty excited about that...

shall continue in another post cos this one is getting waaay too long. next instalment- roma, padova and venezia! for pics please go here.

EU07: istanbul, turkey. 2 - 4 june 2007

turk hava yollari

for zuraidah and i, the EU07 experience started pretty much from the moment we stepped on board the turkish airline flight. there was a leceh woman in front of us (which irritated the hell outta me, knowing how easily irritable i am) and just beyond her, a pretty hot steward. hehe. he wasn't as good looking as the jude law lookalike i spied in the aisle on the other side but he was charming as hell. this made me forget all about miss leceh and i was pretty happy as i settled into my seat. we got the very last row at the back. little did we know that this would mean that we would be privy to the antics of cabin crew when they think no one is paying attention...

haha no lah, nothing naughty. think our crew was pretty friendly, the guys especially. the girls seemed like they had something up their arses. not as accomodating. service standards, people, hello?

anyways, the charming steward's butt brushed my shoulder like 3 times the entire flight. was that a hint dude? wahaha. then towards the end of the journey i decided to watch a hindi film. bad idea. bad bad idea. was blubbing like an idiot (come on, hindi leh. and i find abishek smokin' hot. le sigh.) and this was the exact moment that charming steward decided to hit my head with his bloody elbow. i was like, ow. then he was apologising and rubbing my head after that. haha. he decided to be a little more friendly and started talking to me. keep in mind that my brain was already muddled by abishek at the time and all i could do was give monosyllabic answers and grin like a fool. when the conversation was over, i turned to zur and asked, i have eye crap in my eyes don't i? aaaarrrggghhh soooo unglam lor!

first stop

then we landed. helloooo istanbul! we got airport pick up with our hostel and were whisked away to our home for the next 2 nights. stayed in the old sultanahmet area, within walking distance of the blue mosque and aya sofya. antique hostel is pretty awesome lah, very friendly staff, nice setting, good brekkie. too bad we didn't take pics with the staff. oh well.

we dropped our bags off and walked around before checking in cos we were a little early. fell in love with the quaint houses and cobblestone streets. one thing tho, they drive like madmen! seriously! u would think that a huge tour bus could never make sharp turns and pass thru little streets and alleys but it can! saw it with me own eyes! unbelievable. while walking down one of the streets, we got to know a shop keeper named mehmet tim. he was very friendly and gave us a few good tips. little did we know that there was an udang di sebalik batu... hot tip for future tourists- never never accept an invitation to drink tea unless u really wanna buy a carpet! ez and i got a carpet each... small price to pay for escaping with our lives. wahaha.

there were hot men everywhere lah... zur and i cuci mata until we were tired. haha. kept going kacak kacak kacak the entire time. ez wasn't very amused but he was nice about it, seeing how we're so deprived in sg of good looking men. haha. needless to say, our malay improved cos we were gossiping about people right in front of them most of the time. oh, in istanbul, we are malaysians. natives of kl in fact, cos apparently they don't like u.s. allies and guess which country is a u.s. ally? yeah, that's right.

ok this is the brekkie view we get in the morn. cool rite... looks more awesome live!
took lots of pics of the blue mosque. was pretty obsessed about it. haha. this is one of them.
inside the mosque... was stunning, tho the smell of hundreds of feet stank to high hell.
yum yum... our fave restaurant, doy doy. damned good food in turkey. everything halal sommore!
passing under a suspension bridge on our bosphorus river cruise. very hot day, think we got a tan.

as u can see, our time in turkey was quite well spent. went to the blue mosque, aya sofya, a museum or two, walked around and ate like the locals, washed eyes a lot. haha. we got a glimpse of the new city when we were on our daytour and we were like, thank god we're holed up within the walls of the old city. new city like very normal lah, like every other city around. crowded, tall buildings, etc etc.

our shuttle back to the airport was such an experience. like roller coaster sia. they were weaving in and out and stuffing bags and people into the van like no one's business. crazy fellas. just when we thought they had no more room and couldn't pick up anyone else, they did. when we thought there was no way they were gonna make it passing thru a narrow street with a huge truck on one side and a rough wall on the other, they did. it was simply a matter of maneuvering and closing side mirrors here and there. u have to experience it to believe it. really.

and just like that, our turkish experience came to an end. next stop, roma, italy!

*dey got limit on no. of photos that can be uploaded leh! will put up more in flickr and let u guys know ok.

post EU07 depression

ok, back home since mon late arvo and been hibernating, unpacking and sorting out the loot to give away to deserving people. haha. gawd i miss europe. slowly editting and resizing all my pics (3gb worth ok, no joke) so that i can upload them. thank god i took the entire week off work, really don't feel like going back yet. sighs. ok lah, uninspired entry just to fill up the space and time but since u've come this far, check out marsya! ain't she cute?? she can crawl now and pull herself up to a standing position... can't wait to see what she looks like in her ciao bella tee from firenze.

EU07: 1st morning in Padova, Italy

ok ok so i didn't update while in rome... no time lah and everything is in italian! headache man trying to figure out what it all means. anyways, its about 7+ am at shon's place. gorgeous house lah beb! i am so bloody jealous... gorgeous chandeliers too. sighs. roma was very very nice. went to see a whole bunch of important places like st. peter's basilica, pantheon, coliseum, etc. coliseum was awesome! also took a day trip to pisa and florence by train. realised we're spending a shitload of time in italy lor. we're still here after a week! haha. speaking of shit, the cappucino we had in roma caused me to go. like finally! not once, but twice! wahaha. hoping to go again by tonight, cos tomoro, lucerne beckons. :)

ok lah need to go drag the laundry line outside. we washed everything we had. shon's place is a blessing mans. like home away from home smack in the middle of our trip. her family is super nice too... grazie, shon! even though u're back in sg now. haha.

p.s. we will be checking out venice today. woo freakin' hoo!!

EU07: last day in istanbul

ok been in istanbul since sat morn. it has been freaking AWESOME so far. leaving in about half an hour for rome. good lord i'm gonna miss the hot hot HOT men here! wahaha. so damn charming sommore. sighs. haven't shat since sg so i'm pretty worried rite now. ez has gone twice, zur has gone once and i haven't gone at all. damn sad lor.

anyway, it's bloody gorgeous here. fell in love with it the moment i stepped onto the plane... got cute stewards mah. wahaha. one looked like jude law. le sigh. another was bloody charming and friendly. he almost charmed the pants off zuraidah. ahahaha. more about that later. am so totally gonna miss this place. shall check in again at our next port of call- roma. :)

the final countdown

it's amazing how much u can get done when u're running short of time. haha. i managed to complete almost my entire to do list below. yeah, i'm more shocked than u are. just need to pack! blood donation was unsuccessful due to low iron (damn u lack of haemoglobin. damn u.), gonna get my massage today (my left butt cheek goes numb sometimes, need it fixed!), hakka doesn't need to go to the vet and the income tax thing... apparently they'll be sending letters up to oct. i am soo on target that i can actually squeeze in a haircut today and go shop for sunnies and a cap! haha. then again, i got even more things to settle before i jet off:

learn languages
set my camera
clean up room big time
brief minions on the care of hakka
clear desk at work
pick future career path

hooyeah. my manager is apparently 'highly recommending' me for a position in c.orp.orate. pla.nni.ng (thereafter known as cp). gonna be doing market intelligence and surveys and liasing with general managers and stuff. knowing me and my ability to be pretty resourceful (ahem), i quickly found out who i was replacing, what i'd be doing and who the super is. manager gave me until fri for an answer. i replied within half an hour. haha. give it to me baby. then last night she smsed me and said she'll set up a meeting for me with the cp h.o.d. on fri. dammit. there goes my plan to wear slack stuff to work. sighs. my senior was all excited that i'd possibly be getting that job cos it would look really good on the resume. i would have to agree.

ok i would love to talk more about work but honestly, it bores me silly. need to go pack, get ready for my haircut and massage.

ONE freakin' day to EU07!!!!!!

in the still of the night

a midsummer night's dream. simpang outing. impromptu shopping at mustafa. good company of two great friends.

loot scored:
travel money belt
1GB SD card
toothbrush with cover ($1.90 only! can die...)
walking shoes
pretty saree
pretty slippers (novo, parkway)
good deal on euro rates (the mama $ changer near the bus stop at parkway)

sigh. bliss. was trying on the shoes in the cramped aisle and showing them to kavi and rohana for their humble opinions. then this guy walked by, and he was like, nice nice! so of course i just had to yell at him while he was walking away: nice? u buy for me lah! wahaha. naturally he didn't react to that. boring sia.

anyways, midsummer night was awesome. simpang was awesome. the opening act of the sg arts fest the night before was awesome. will put up pics soon. good way to spend the wkend, though some of my plans got flushed down the loo. this means that the next few days are gonna be crazy before we fly off on our european adventure on friday night.

things to do:
waxing
threading
donate blood
watch pirates
get outfit material for cousin's wedding dinner
pack for trip
take hakka to vet
schedule a much needed massage
pay my bills
find out why they haven't sent me an income tax letter. do i not earn enough to get taxed? so sad.

5 days to EU07!! holy crap!

oh no they didn't...

oh yes, they did.

ok guys, my dept is officially closing down! or 'dissolving' as i like to say it. haha. no retrenchments, they're gonna transfer everyone. i am so totally not excited about this. yawns... it's about bloody time lah. cut off date for new applications is 1 june. u know what the coincidental (i dunno if this is the right word to use) thing is... i was planning on wrapping things up before i go on my europe trip. looks like i am wrapping up. for good. for all i know i will be reporting to a whole new dept when i come back at the end of june. interesting.

seems like my 'interview' is scheduled for after lunch. hmm... shall keep u guys posted on developments, if any.

9 days to EU07!! omg omg omg. can u feel it??

i need to rant and rave

i hate people who think they can walk all over you just because you have been decent enough to acquiesce to their requests time and again. i hate people who are impolite and self- righteous even though they're in the wrong. i hate people who twist things around and point fingers.

so on fri i blasted back at one such individual and damn, it felt good. that was the last straw that broke this camel's back. since my 2 seniors were content to just bitch about him in office, i let him know that we were not amused. do. not. bloody. fuck. with. me. they asked me to calm down before shooting back the email lah but i was seeing red already, so i didn't care. seriously can't stand these assholes who think you're at their beck and call. he replied but i couldn't be bothered reading the entire thing. gonna resume this war on mon. can't wait. doesn't even have the decency to apologise even though he was clearly in the wrong. stupid bitch.

update on dept review:
the managers only just informed the staff about the review on wed. yes, this same review that i knew about since, i dunno, 3 years ago. jeez. talk about no transparency sia! the only reason that some of them didn't get a rude shock is cos i hinted at it already. the only thing the managers said was, dept under review, we will know by next wk and in the meantime don't listen to rumours that we might close down. it's not right that they don't know about their future. these are people with families, kids and bills to pay. sole breadwinners. older, not well- educated individuals. younger, educated individuals looking for a career, not just a paycheck. they deserve to have the time to prepare themselves, for better or worse.
only after i was sure that everyone knew about the review did i put up the announcement that our online services were no longer available, with immediate effect. i had already removed them since mon. can u imagine what kinda panic it would cause if i had put it up before they knew?

so glad i'm leaving all this behind for 3 full weeks soon. then again, i may not even have a dept to go back to once i return to work. hahaha. whatever.

13 days to EU07!!!!

the emasculation of hakka & other stories

this morning i took hakka to the vet to get him sterilised. he's not supposed to eat from 10pm on fri, so naturally, he woke me up every hour on the hour from 5am onwards just begging to be fed. so sad ok! had to ignore my poor baby. so took him down, dropped him off, picked up my backpack from zur's (we exchanged bags cos she wants the grey, which i have, and i want the red, which she has. long story.) and went home to wait it out.

3pm, went down to collect him. he looked damn drugged up. then the woman asked the receptionist to brief me on the aftercare. receptionist prattled on, oh make sure he doesn't jump for the next 2 days (like how sia?) and he doesn't lick himself if he has stitches. usually there won't be any stitches cos it's just the testicles that get cut off.

that's right. they. cut. my. kitty's. balls. off. omg!! i had no idea! i thought they were gonna do some internal tying of tubes thingy! they cut off his freaking balls! traumatising sia... ok more so for him than me, but still! even ball-less, hakka still rocks. why? cos the moment we reached home, he headed straight for the litter box. his good sense hasn't left him. steady ah! unfortunately i can't say the same for his motor abilities. was walking like a drunken sailor on a wharf. hahahaha. so cute lah. so kesian. he pretty much passed out on the doormat after that. of cos now i need to find a way to clean the litter off his balls. or rather, where his balls used to be. i just cannot look lah. like wanna cry like that. shall have to find a way. he won't let me clean him. sighs. he can't eat until 10pm too. kesian!!

in other news, the house hunt continues! saw one that was too small, and another that looked like kucing beranak. eeks. shall just leave that up to the parents to decide. the job hunt can still relek a bit. found out on fri that we still have a few months to go but have to stop promoting loans. bugger. so what should i do at work now? shake leg? sheesh. my brain cells die everytime i step into office. sighs. my senior was like, what r u gonna do if the results are bad/ good? i'm like, does it even matter? whatever the outcome, i don't intend to be here longer than end july, insyaallah. then she's like, oh ok. ala she's planning her exit also anyway. jump ship jump ship!

ok lah gonna keep hakka company. btw nice date hor today, 050507. then again, 050607 would be better. haha. 27 days to EU07!!

shaz: u lazy heifer, answer my email can or not?? life or death situation leh!

mooch: ok shall not make my font too small anymore. haha.

just cos it's a slow sat

i wrote a post about my en bloc and how the dude who is against it lost the case in high court with cost, but i lost interest halfway thru it. haha. whatever it is, we're moving! not to the house we had in mind tho, cos the owner hasn't found a house she likes yet. sheesh. we told her she has until may or we're taking our biznez someplace else. totally looking forward to my black chandelier and loft bed. exciting.

moving on, check this out.
talk about parking idiot right?? licence plate has been erased to protect the silly. i'm ashamed to call this fella my neighbour. then again, my dad's skills aren't any better when he comes back from fishing at 2 in the morning. also when we're driving home and he needs to use the loo really badly. wahaha.

ok so this is berita basi, but check out my not-very-new-anymore haircut. haha. i want colour! i want highlights! i want a shorter do! le sigh. all in good time i suppose.
update on the job situation:

we were supposed to know the outcome of the dept review last wed, then my senior told me it's been postponed to mon, then after the hod meeting on fri, she said it's been postponed again to the next 2 weeks. haiz. suspense only... best part is, i doubt any other people besides the senior execs and above know what's going on lor. with my exception ah. i am but a lowly exec with a bad attitude and total disregard for authority. wahaha. everyone else seems to be going on like normal! the plot thickens... heard from my sources that our IT dept has been partially outsourced already. it's about bloody time lor. i reckon most got transferred to other depts. unless they're non-performers ah, in which case they'd probably get asked to leave. oh well, whatever. i'm not fussed.

5 weeks to EU07!! just got my credit card bill... eeks. they didn't waive my annual fee, but they waived my dad's. wtf right? like this must call and complain ready liao.

it ain't over till the fat lady sings

no, i'm not referring to me. wahaha.

anyways, had another roadshow today (and for the rest of the week) at the poly near my place. yeah, u know the one. my senior exec and i were there with 4 advisers, so once we got them set up, we went for brekkie.

over brekkie, we talked about the current department review. apparently he's of the same opinion as me- that it's gonna be over soon, just a question of when. he said he's been getting a very strong gut feeling that it's gonna happen. i was like, hmm me too. the signs are all there. our ads that we scheduled have all been cancelled. we have been instructed to hold all the tie ups with 3rd parties that we've been working on. we've got time to spare at work. hot news just in- one of the general managers just tendered. huge shake up under the new ceo indeed.

so what's next? funny enough, both of us are looking forward to getting let go, cos the compensation would be pretty ok. he's been working here for a lot longer than i have, so obviously his compensation would be a lot more attractive than mine. we're not interested in getting transferred to another dept, cos we reckon we need a kick up the arse to start looking for a job seriously. getting pretty darn excited by the prospect of the department dissolving... which leads me to believe that i'm probably missing the cloud for the silver lining. hmm interesting.

if and when this happens... i'm getting giddy already with all the opportunities that have suddenly unfolded in front of me. extend my europe trip? no prob. look for work overseas? no worries. work part time while building up my own business? sorted. stay in this industry at another company and make an obscene amount of moolah by the time i'm 30? consider it done. the last option would probably be the quick fix cos the rest would take a little bit more time... guess i should start updating my resume then.

seeeee i'm way too optimistic for my own good. shouldn't i be stressed by the prospect of losing my job? wouldn't u be?? i'm actually looking forward to it. wahlau. something wrong with me.

6 weeks to EU07!! can't wait!!

Operation EU07: locked & loaded

ok so here is the finalised itinerary for the upcoming europe trip... just a list of countries we're going to, transport and accomodation details all u don't need to know mah. well not at this point anyway. haha. total spent so far (excluding food and shopping): less than sgd 3000. wicked eh?

i got me my backpack (outgear 60l+15l, $83), handcarry (generic black sling, $19) and toiletries bag (waterproof, hang-able, lots of compartments. $6 off ebay. $6!!) already too! so exciting. this close to going on a spree at watson's and getting those cute little $1.95 stuff. but i shall refrain from doing so. too many toiletries at home sia. must... control... myself...

special mention: shon has kindly allowed us to stay at her place while we're in venice! even though she'll be back in sg at the time. doh! she stays half an hour away from venice and we're gonna be there for just one night before leaving for geneva on the overnight train the next evening. thanks shon, u're a sweetheart! we promise not to trash yr place. :) not too much anyway. wahaha.

1 June Fri	SIN
2 June Sat	IST
3 June Sun	IST
4 June Mon	IST/ ROM
5 June Tues	PISA/ ROM
6 June Wed	ROM
7 June Thurs	ROM/ VEN
8 June Fri	VEN
9 June Sat	GEN/ LUZ
10 June Sun	LUZ
11 June Mon	LUZ/ GEN/ PAR
12 June Tues	PAR
13 June Wed	PAR/ BAR
14 June Thurs	BAR
15 June Fri	BAR
16 June Sat	BAR/ MAD
17 June Sun	MAD/ IST
18 June Mon	SIN

Operation EU07: part deux

so, we've been busy booking our flights, trains and accomodation these past couple of weeks. only have accom for barcelona and madrid left... i think. haha. can't keep track ready lah, need to consolidate everything. will update on itinerary and activities once we get organised. watch this space!

oh ya, and if anyone knows where i can buy/ borrow a backpack that's at least 70-80 litres, tell me! beach road got cheap2 lah but as rohana knows, i don't do cheap. i think being halfway across the world with all your possessions on your back is not a good time to start doing that anyway. haha.

Operation EU07: part une

how awesome does this look? ok ok mebbe it looks a little empty now but tt's only cos i didn't include what we will be doing in each country.

1 June Fri
Depart SIN 23:10 Turkish Airways

2 June Sat
Arrive IST 06:15

3 June Sun
IST

4 June Mon
Depart IST 15:00 Turkish Airways
Arrive ROM 16:30

5 June Tues
AM PISA Daytrip (Flight or train. mebbe going Florence)
PM Back in ROM

6 June Wed
AM ROM
PM Depart ROM, Arrive VEN (Flight)

7 June Thurs
AM VEN
PM Depart VEN, Arrive GENEVA (Overnight Train)

8 June Fri
GENEVA

9 June Sat
GENEVA

10 June Sun
AM Depart GENEVA, Arrive PARIS (Flight or train.)

11 June Mon
PARIS

12 June Tues
PARIS

13 June Wed
AM Depart PARIS, Arrive BARCELONA (Flight)

14 June Thurs
AM BARCELONA
PM Depart BARCELONA, Arrive MAD (Flight)

15 June Fri
MAD

16 June Sat
MAD

17 June Sun
Depart MAD 14:25 Turkish Airways
Arrive IST 19:25
Depart IST 23:45

18 June Mon
Arrive SIN 15:25

shaz are u happy now?? join us in italy and france lah! any tips or recommendations??

in other news, one of our travellers may not be able to make it. so if anyone is free from 1 to 18 june and has $5k to spare, come talk to me!! really.