And that's me, 1 second before I jumped off the bridge, 150 feet above the river. TOTALLY AWESOME. The hardest part was standing on top of the bridge and looking down, but once you jump off, everything happens so fast and you won't even know when it's over! =p
I didn't lose my passport, so don't worry folks!
Remember how I complained about having to bring our passports in and out with us whenever we leave the ship... we were finally allowed to surrender them and not carry it around anymore! YEAY! Just because a girl lost her passport and they are taking precautions right now. That sucks because she has to stay in Bulgaria when we leave tomorrow. It takes 2 weeks to replace a lost passport over here in Bulgaria, even for the Americans.
Sigh, I hope she will be fine...
As we were heading to the nude beach, we passed by a reverse bungee jumping thing. I paid the guy and requested to do it for more than 5 mins (that was the allocated time), since there wasn’t anyone around, and I wanted to do it for a little longer, only to find out later that it is a really strenuous sport. I flipped and flipped and flipped high up there while the strings brushed past my arms and now it’s bruised. I’m aching all over now! Damn, I should have stretched before doing it right? I did back flips, but somehow I just can't do the front flips! Hmmpphh......*Sulk
Anyway, we went to the nude beach, which was at the other end of Golden Sands. I guess the management figured that people need their privacy at the nude beach. It’s actually pretty cool, and I don’t think people over there are creepy at all… They’re just different and being nude is a way for them to express themselves. We should, in fact, give them credit as they are confident enough to lay down on the beach entirely nude. It’s so funny though to see interesting tan lines all over. HAHA! I was in my swimming gear, because I just can’t bring myself to do it, but my girlfriends who were with me went entirely nude. It was really nice to lay down there as we talked about life and anything under the sun… There was this cute doggie who came over and played with us :) But something really awkward happened as we were about to leave. The guy who was laying down behind us came over and asked if we wanted to have a few drinks with him. He walked over, without any clothes on, and we saw EVERYTHING as he asked us out. MY GOD. What an interesting experience. Don’t worry folks! We said no politely and waved goodbye to him.
On our way back, I almost got pickpocketed folks! Two young kids ran over and swooped their hands under my bag. I have no idea why they did that, because there was nothing under my bag, but I was fast enough to avoid them. Thank god for that! I would defend my bag fiercely because my entire life depended on it. I don’t understand why the Bulgarian government requires us to carry around our passport, but anyway, I ain’t taking any chances with my passport. If I lose it, I’m gonna have to stay here in Bulgaria while I wave goodbye to MV Explorer as SAS sails off. NO WAY THAT’S GONNA HAPPEN.
~The end~
Afterwards, we just went back to the beach and we met up with Alexis and Molly. They came after us, and they found us on the beach! We laid down for a while, swam, while I sat under the shade to people-watch. I saw lots of interesting stuff - topless girls dancing on bartops... We got bored, so I suggested doing another water sport – Crazy Shark. Basically you sit on the tube and you get pulled by a boat. That was the most exciting thing ever. Molly, Alexis and I were grabbing onto the side handles, as if we were holding onto our lives. We screamed, we yelled, we shrieked every single time we passed a huge wave. It felt as if we were gonna capsize anytime, but we didn't. MY! What a ride!
After lunch, we took a cab down to Golden Sands. It’s supposed to be a beach resort with all sorts of activities – horse back riding, water sports, biking, monastery, hike through the forest, mineral spring baths etc etc. Turns out that the horse back riding moved! BIG DISAPPOINTMENT. We were sulking for a little while before we decided that we would head to the beach and lay down. You know how Asians hate the sun right? So, please don’t judge me if I say that I didn’t rent the umbrella and the chairs along the beach, and I went straight to check out the water sports. Honestly speaking, I know Americans like the sun a lot, but I don’t understand the rationale behind this: laying under the bright sun and fry your own skin, only to have it burnt at the end of the day. Sigh, what’s the point?
Anyway, both Tim and I went to check out the Jetski. It was 60 Levas for 2 person for 15 minutes. We were really disappointed that it was that pricy for a short amount of time, but trust me folks, 15 minutes of jetskiing out there in that limited space is actually sufficient. Both Tim and I paid, and we hopped onto a Jetski. He drove, since I was the lady, and obviously Tim wasn’t going to hold on to my waist while I drive right? I sat behind him, and we were cruising along the coastline in the sea in seconds, FAST. Even when I was holding on to Tim’s waist, I flew up from my seat practically every time we passed by a huge wave. I seriously need to gain some weight there if I want to do jetski by myself in future. We were going so fast; it was thrilling! I jokingly reconfirmed with Tim to make sure he has insurance that covers jetskiing, just in case we really fly off. Lol. Thanks to the high speed and bumps, my butt is bruised right now, but it’s all worth it! As we were on the waverunner, our friends were not around, so no one could take pictures of us and I ended up buying the pictures from the photographers. So expensive and I totally burst my budget for the day, but who cares? I need something to remember this day, which was super awesome btw!
Even though it’s too early to judge, but I want to say that I love Bulgaria so far! It’s like Croatia 2.0, but not as touristy as Croatia with all the modern looking buildings. In fact, as we stepped out of the port area, the places we went to were more like local neighborhoods and it was nice just looking at the local scene as we were wondering around, trying to look for a bank to exchange our money. Having grown up in various cities, I realize that I really appreciate being away from people, the touristy areas, the city, and just sit along the beach or somewhere quiet to enjoy my day. It took me 21 years of my life to figure that out actually. Hehe =p
So after our mission was accomplished, we sat down and ate lunch at this restaurant located inside a pirate ship. You might wonder, aren’t we sick of sitting in ships and boats already? Why would we still wanna eat in a pirate ship and overpay for everything. Well, you see, the pirate ship is actually pretty cool as it overlooks the beach and there was a sporting event going on, with loud music blasting through the loudspeakers. I like that I could stay away from the crowd, but still close enough to observe from a vantage position. Secondly, they had all kinds of fishes and I tried (wait for it!) Breaded Shark! It tasted like fish, and I liked it! Note to self: I have to try out the other exotic dishes as well.
I need to break this blogpost into various sections because I want to put up more pictures, and I can blog with a 50kb limit per post with my free internet :) So keep scrolling upwards!
I have never been so sleep-deprived my entire life before. Sleeping is such a luxury right now... When we're not at port, we study, read, write papers and catch up with friends... when we're at port, we wake up early and go out all and about to explore cities!
It's fun but tiring! Gotta take my nappy nap soon if i want to stay awake in class later. Bleh =p
We had classes under the sun on Deck 7 just now, just because some moron in class wanted to have class outside, and our professor obliged. Every single day when we explore the cities, it's always bright and sunny, so dude, what's wrong with sitting in an air-conditioned room JUST ONCE? people are weird. Next time I shall come to class more prepared with my sunblock lotion and shades =p Anyway I was sitting out there, observing our surroundings instead of listening in class... We are at Bulgaria right now! Our ship arrived earlier than scheduled, so we are floating at sea right now, waiting to pull in tomorrow morning. Bulgaria looks like Croatia from afar. Heard it's Croatia 2.0, with lots of partying and night live at the beach.
Some Bulgaria funfacts to end this blogpost :
1)The Cyrillic alphabet had 31 letters
2)There are about 2000 unexplored caves in Bulgaria
3) Bulgaria produces 70% of the world's rose oil supply.
4)People shake their head sideways to indicate YES, and up and down to indicate NO, totally opposite from how YES/NO is indicated in the US.
18 more hours to Varna, Bulgaria land!
Today was the most relaxing day ever for my entire trip… We slept in late, and then woke up to have breakfast before heading to the Turkish Baths. I’m giving the Turkish Baths a rating of 8/10.
Spice Bazaar...
Turkish ice-creams are interesting. It’s kinda gluey and chewy, and the ice cream man/ boy will play around/ do some acrobatic moves with your ice cream before handing you a real ice-cream that you could actually buy…
Anyway, I hate to say this but I think the guys in Istanbul are really desperate for the following reasons:
1) A lot of my friends have been harassed by guys along the streets
2) Women are a rare “commodity” here, I guess.
Today as I was shopping with 2 other SAS girls along the main street, we got our fair share of “harassment”. It wasn’t exactly serious, but the guys were desperate and they were trying to make conversation with us. This one dude sitting outside his shop started to introduce himself and his brother to us as we were walking past them… Jeanine tried to bargain with this one guy for a pillow case that she wanted, to which he responded: “I can sell it to your for 30 Liras, only if you go out for a concert tonight with me”….Seriously! Then when I went into a shop to buy some tea, the shopowner (who was a cutie btw), asked me if I were a model back in China. SERIOUSLY!!! I kinda wanted to tell him to use his brains. Who in the world would ask a SHORT girl like me to model for them? But still, I was pleasantly flattered. Hehe.
Anyway, if you ever to come to Turkey anytime soon, please do not acknowledge the fact that you are from China if you are Chinese. There are racial riots (I think) in some parts of China right now and 150 Turks got killed as a result. My friend got a massive shock when the shopowner refused to let her in when she said she was from China. Speaking of identities, I think the Turks are really observant, because this one guy who sat outside his shop, observed the bunch of us who walked past this morning. He actually remembered my English accent when I talked to my friend. So when I went back in the afternoon (this was like 3 hours later), he actually asked me if I were from the United States and refused to believe that I am from China or Asia. Erm…… gotta say, that was kinda freaky. I didn’t expect a Turk to set us apart that clearly.
By the way, I called it a day really early today because I need to do my homework soon. 2 papers due in 2 days and I haven’t really started yet! I have to give myself a reality check and gear myself back to studying mode once again…
The end of my really short blogpost.
On our way back to Istanbul from Troy, we stopped by a town called Gallipolli and spent some time there in the museum and the beach. I wore my Genie pants which I got from Spain (in picture), and that attracted a lot of comments from my friends... Joe wanted me to grant him 3 wishes - most of which are ridiculously silly. So sorry dude, can't help you! The wind blew up my puffy pants and it made me look absolutely pudgy! Hehe. We had some free time afterwards to swim in the Aegean Sea, and I realize the waters are really salty and gross in this area. There were sea urchins in the sea, and I freaked out a little when we were far out because I was really scared of stepping on them. I know I’m short, and I can't possibly step on the sea bed, but hey, you never know! Better be careful than sorry right?
We went to this restaurant along the beach and this Turkish waiter attended to us. He was hitting on me and I found that really amusing because 1) My Peruan friend, Mercedes, was absolutely gorgeous 2) I had an American friend sitting with me as well 3) I have no idea why he was hitting on me ONLY. Seriously, every few seconds, he came by our table to collect what he called “rubbish” even though we were not done with our food. Then he winked at me. He started talking with his friends in Turkish and pointed towards me. Afterwards, he offered perfume to me. None of my friends got the same treatment. For goodness sake! I really don’t get it! After we were done with our food, he tried to tell me his name (I think), and he kept saying Manis Manis Manis. Alright dude, Manis in Malay means sweet, so I have no idea if you were trying to say that I’m sweet or if that’s really your name. He wanted me to go to the bathroom to wash my hands, and he invited me ONLY to go with him. Seriously, DO YOU THINK I WILL FALL FOR THAT? I’m a smart girl ok? I ain’t going anywhere alone with any strangers. Bleh.
We got back to Istanbul and the ship at around 7pm and we had dinner on board. I didn’t feel like going out, so Lauryn and I went out to a restaurant right outside the port to have some Baklava and Turkish apple tea. OMG, Turkish delights are really good. Not gonna lie, if not for the strict rules stating that we can’t bring non-sealed foodstuff on board, I swear I would have bought up all the delights from the shop and store it on board to help tide me through the ten days when we sail back to the US. Turkish delights are the best!
We did Troy on the second day. Troy is located at Asia, so folks, I was actually back in Asia briefly for 2 days! Hehe. The actual Troy site where the war took place was really far out, and we spent 5 hours travelling there. Turkey reminds me of Malaysia actually, since most of the architecture were the same, people were of the same skin tone, Muslims donning headscarves were everywhere, roads congested with crazy traffic, lots of street vendors, cheap stuff and good food! I really enjoyed sitting on the bus, just looking out of the window and appreciating the highway scenery that they had.
We saw the Trojan horse used in the movie Troy. So cool! It was located at the town Canakkale, the small town where we stayed at for the night. They had a night market along the harbor front, so Joe, Nikki, Haley, Sharon and I walked around at night before we called it a night. I bought a Trojan horse for myself, since I’ve been spending money buying things for other people and it’s high time I treat myself to something. A Trojan horse would be a cool decoration for my apartment, just so I can show off to home visitors if they come by my humble adobe in future! Hehe :P
Walking along the harbor front had a calming effect on me, since the sea breeze was soothing, and we just walked among the locals and watched the sunset… The locals were praying and we sat there listening to the prayers over the loudspeakers. We also had Turkish ice-cream and sat down on a bench. Afterwards, Joe started to climb down the rocks to spot some jellyfishes. There were a ton of them! We found a sea urchin along the walls, and we took it out of the waters and took pictures of it. Did you know jelly fishes are supposed to illuminate by themselves if you disturb the waters? All thanks to Joe, we had a Marine-bio class as we watched the waters. Some local fisherman accidentally caught a starfish, which was super cool, but he was really afraid of touching it. Joe went up to him, gesticulated with his hands, and then picked up the starfish and threw it back into the waters :)
That's it for my second day in Turkey! So far so good :)
Today has been an exhausting day! We started off with a diplomatic briefing by the American representative in Turkey. I learned so much during the one-hour session, mostly about Turkey and its relations with the United States. Some fun facts about Turkey:
1) Turkey is about the size of the state of Texas
2) Istanbul is the only city in the entire world that spans across 2 continents – Europe and Asia.
3) Turkey’s a secular country despite having 99% Muslims
I must say that I’ve been ruined-out and churched-out already, since we have been visiting churches and ruins in the past 4 countries, so now it’s high time we visit some mosques. They’re like no big deal to me actually, since I used to live close to a mosque back in Petaling Jaya, and I’m so used to seeing it every single day and listening to their daily prayers. Most Americans find it really amusing that the prayers are broadcasted through the loudspeakers. Anyway, I feel really stupid for paying to view a mosque, when I can actually view them back in Malaysia. Ahhhhh, but since I’m on a holiday, I figured I shouldn’t be saving on these expenses and see as much as I can! Didn’t really take a lot of pictures today, since my camera doesn’t do well inside a dark building.
I went to the bazaar after visiting the mosques… I can only think of one phrase to describe the crowd there…. People Mountain People Sea (you have to understand Chinese to understand this!) :P There were so many tourists, locals… all squeezed into the Grand Bazaar with 3000 shops! No kidding, it’s like a maze inside the bazaar. You would be a genius if you can retrace your steps back to the exact stores you have visited because they all look the same and sell the same kind of stuff! Haggling is kinda expected here, in fact, it would be an insult if you buy something at face value. I tried haggling a little, but I want to smack myself now because the things OUTSIDE the bazaar were even cheaper than what I paid AFTER haggling. Obviously, the bazaar is a tourist trap. So nah, not gonna go back there, although I give it a 7/10 rating for shopping enthusiasts. I bought Red Apple Turkish Tea and I can’t wait to try it out when I get back! I bought myself a scarf as well, since it was on sale, but when I attempted to stay a little longer to check out the other items, Triston gave me glaring look since he didn’t like to shop. Dude! Seriously, there’s so much joy in shopping and you’re missing out on a lot!
So much to blog about, but so little time and so little internet time allowed... Sigh.
Istanbul Day 1....
I took a lot of interesting pictures of the sights and scenes of Istanbul.
"Let the rabbit tell your fortune" That one is hilarious! The rabbits were supposed to pick out a fortune for you from the box.... 2 silly American girls, obviously oblivious to the fact that it was scam, went and touch the rabbits, so the guy gave each of them a paper and both had negative comments about their respective futures. Well dude, if you want people to fall for your scheme, at least be smart and say something nice about your customers, right?
Needless to say, the guy refused to let them go until they pay up!
Moral of the story: You touch you pay.
Today I bought the most disgusting souvenir ever. You know how the Greeks are really liberal about everything, and they have erotic souvenirs all over the flea market. Not gonna go into details, but I think most people would get the point. I bought a set of cards, with Greek characters on it…. Figure out the rest yourself! Shhhhhhhhh, I shouldn’t be saying this on my blog, but I think it is the most unique souvenir of all! I’m not gonna give it to anyone, and I’m not gonna be playing pokka with it, just in case I offend anyone, so it’s just gonna be stored away in one my cupboards when I get back :P
Anyway, Baron, Joe, Lindsay and I went to this famous sandal maker today. (shoes are featured in the picture). He used to be a poet before taking over his family business – making handmade sandals out of leather. His customers range from John Lennon to Sophie Loren to Gary Cooper, and among the other familiar faces, there are countless less well-known artists from Greece. He was even featured in the US Vogue Magazine and appeared on New York Times before! After reading about this brief history about Melissinos the poet shoe maker, you would kind of expect a really posh shop, but nope, his shop is located at a dinghy little alley. No five-star services for you as well as you have to join the line and wait for your turn to pick out your sandals from the catalog. Once you try it on, he would then adjust the straps accordingly until it fits nicely on your feet. I wanted to get one so badly, since it was only 27 Euros, but I need to “ration out” my money for the rest of the ports if I want to keep having fun at the rest of the 4 countries! Bleh.
On our way back, it was about 330pm. Today was the last day we will be at Greece, and on ship time was 6pm, so the 4 of us decided to stop by a small little café that sells gyros and souvlakis. I got a Kebab with pita bread (that’s how Souvlaki is served), and it actually came with fries and cucumber with mayo! BEST GREEK FOOD THAT I’VE TRIED SO FAR! I’m so glad I bought it even though it was close to dinner time. The best thing was it cost only 2 Euros! The smaller, neighborhood-friendly shops are always the best, isn’t it?
Ok, so here’s some really stupid stories I’ve heard that happened to a SAS girl. She is obviously filthy rich and decided to travel all the way to downtown Athens by herself with taxi. She hopped onto the taxi and the taxi driver charged her 120 Euros. Seriously girl, what was she thinking about?!?!?! 120 Euros!!!!!!!! I could fly home to Malaysia on a budget airline with that kind of money! So she had 100 Euros on her and asked the driver to drop her off at an ATM machine to get the rest of the money out. The taxi driver conveniently drove to a deserted alleyway and this stupid (yes, I’ve said it, and I think Stupid is a pretty kind word to use now) girl took 300 Euros out of the ATM coz she decided that she wants to shop at Athens. MY GOD, DID SHE PUT ON HER THINKING CAP????!? She paid the rest of the 20 Euros, and as she was putting her money back into her wallet, the taxi driver grabbed the rest of the money and ran. DROVE AWAY. She was obviously in shock, and stood there shaking, and another kind taxi driver came to her rescue, took her to café to have a drink (I wouldn’t go if I were her), and drove her all the way back to the ship FOR FREE. What a vast difference, isn’t it? She went to a bar after that at about 4pm, and forced my friend, who was sitting there, using the free internet service, to do shots with her. I just don’t get it, why can people be so brainless? I’m sorry girl, if you’re ever reading this, I’m still gonna say it. You gotta GROW UP and STOP ACTING LIKE A DAMN RICH TOURIST!
Speaking of rich snobbish people, a girl from my floor tried to get my cabin steward, Edwin, FIRED, just because she found a scratch on her laptop and she is apparently putting all the blame on Edwin. Poor Edwin…. Why are some of the SASers so immature? It’s just a scratch… and even if Edwin did it, I’m sure it wasn’t on purpose. He is the most conscientious and careful steward I’ve ever seen and it’s just so ridiculous to fire someone because of this. Seriously, can these people GROW UP!!!?? Sigh, the world is so upside down. Told you, I meet lots of “interesting” people on board.
Well, not gonna be let these stories affect the rest of my trip because it has been a blast for me so far and I hope it continues to be!
I did cliff-diving today! Well, not exactly a high cliff, but high enough to qualify as a dive :p I’ve wanted to do it since we arrived at
1) The waters were deep enough. Check.
2) Cliff high enough to do a dive. Check.
3) No hot guys around. So even if I do it wrongly, hurt or embarrass myself, it’s ok! Check.
So I took in a deep breath, at the count of three (Wan Wang counted for me), I jumped! I liked how I dived deep into the clear waters and had the waters rushed past my body. It’s exhilarating and I jumped again. Not twice, but thrice!
We also walked around Hydra (the name of the island) for a little. Do you know that there are 365 churches on this tiny island. Hehe, I guess you could visit 1 church a day, since there’s enough to go around for the entire year! Anyway, Tom, Michi, Jeanine, Chen and Yufei wanted to climb all the way up to the monastery to pay the monks a visit, but Wan Wang, Violet and I decided to give it a pass, since we have seen enough monasteries and churches from day 1. We wandered off by ourselves, exploring the typical Greek island neighborhood. The houses are so darn cute as they were in white and had blue windows. Everywhere is worthy of a picture opportunity, and everywhere we went, they look exactly like those places on the postcards. I did a dancy pose again, since there wasn’t anyone around and I could pose and stand in whatever ways I wanted to. Hehe. Don’t judge me!
So today when we were walking around, we did a little bit of shopping as well. The shop owner asked us where we were from. To save everyone the trouble with our complicated backgrounds, we just said we’re from
Anyway, that aside, it has been a really fun day, especially hanging out with my adopted family from the ship. I have so many other step siblings now! Hehe. And I have a daddy and mummy as well J
*This blogpost was supposed to be up while I was in Croatia, but I was just lazy to do it then! =p
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Some facts about Croatia: It is littered with land mines left over from the 1990’s Yugoslav War. Out of the 2 million mines that were produced, it is estimated that 250,000 are still out there planted in fields and forests. Between 1998 and early 2005, 260people fell victim to leftover mines exploding as they stepped on them unknowingly. Ninety-nine of these victims died. Twelve of Croatia’s 21 counties still have land mines dispersed randomly.
Unbelievable, isn’t it? As much as I love Croatia, I ain’t risking my life by wandering off to the unbeaten path… So today, I decided to do something different – I went to Montenegro, one of Croatia’s neighbors. Woohoo! Montenegro’s the 5th country that I’ve visited so far :)
Monte stand for mountains, and negro stands for black, hence the word Montenegro, since Montenegro is believed to have earned its name due to the dark forests that covered Mount Loveen, such that the mountain appeared black. We drove through forests, up windy mountains… not gonna lie, I enjoyed it a lot, despite being on the bus for more than 8 hours! Most of the SASers were freaking out because we were really high up, and the roads were narrow and windy, but call me a daredevil, I liked it a lot! Windy roads are questionable, but the exotic landscapes are more than enough to make up for that.
We went to this town called Kotor, which was extremely beautiful! I can’t help but make the silly association to the Malay word “kotor” which means dirty in Malaysia. How ironic can it get? But anyway, This walled medieval city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the bay area was a common stop for sailors and traders of old. I especially enjoyed standing on the bay (obviously near the sailor ships) and imagine myself being one of them. Hehe, what would it be like to be a sailorwoman? They say that once you begin travelling, you will never get rid of the travelling bug…... Perhaps being a sailorwoman would be a nice job for me to consider in future eh? Like that I can travel as much as I want to! :P
Montenegro was really really pretty, but I’m just sad that one of our SASers – Mercedes, got kicked off the bus at the Croatia border because she only had a one-entry visa and she couldn’t leave the country. So while we were there, the immigration officers didn’t let her go through and she had to wait for a taxi to come pick her up. If I were her, I would have cried so badly! I used to complain about having a Malaysian passport, but I’m gonna take that statement back now because my Malaysian passport hasn’t given me any problems so far, and I’m really thankful for that!
We are in Greece!
Nicole, Toni, Ana, Violet, Yufei, Sarah and I walked to the train station to catch a train to the Acropolis. Nicole’s from Canada, Violet’s from Vietnam, Yufei’s from China, I’m from Malaysia and Ana’s from Romania, so Toni and Sarah’s kinda like the minority in the group! Haha. How rare would that be, since there are only 3% international students on board. But I like this diversity that we had today!
Anyway, the ride was pretty painless, even if it were, I would have gone anyway. If you’re here in Greece and not go to the Acropolis, please don’t tell people you’ve been the Greece! There was a creepy guy who kind of stalked us for a little. We were asking him for directions and when he got onto the same train, he changed his seat 3 times before finally deciding to take the seat right opposite Nicole’s and Toni’s. Even then, he was looking creepily at all of us. Both Toni and Nicole then walked over to join us at the other side of the train, and all was good after that.
Honestly speaking, I’m not that excited by the fact that we have to pay to view a bunch of stones and ruins left behind by the Athenians, and most of them are either covered with restoration structures or under renovation. Seriously, is that what we get by paying the admission fee? I was more excited by the fact that I do know the names of the buildings, when it was built, for what function, by whom and the little history behind these structures. Don’t get me wrong, I just took an exam 2 days ago and I do know my stuff ok? Don’t mess around with me, because I can recite the entire page 56 of my architecture book about all the buildings in the Acropolis! Hehe… just jk! But having some background information about the structures does make your trip meaningful :)
Ok, so you know how people used to compare America and the typical European countries with regards to eating habits. America is known as the fast-food nation, whereas most European countries are known as the slow-food nation. I liked being in a slow-food nation, as I can take my time to order my food, sit down, enjoy it, and then sit for as long as I want to. It’s so funny how Italian restaurants do allow you to “buy” a table for as low as 50 cents and then enjoy the luxury of having it without even ordering anything. I like this system, because cheapos like me certainly do not like to order an expensive drink just to take a seat in café and people-watch, right? It’s so much of a cheaper past-time hobby here in European countries.
Funny story though, speaking of the slow habits in the European countries, that is not the case for traffic though. Today as we tried to cross the streets, the green pedestrian light turned red after 3 seconds. We were still crossing the huge street when the cars started moving and that scared the hell out of me. Mind you, even Malaysia’s traffic is not that crazy.
So as we were walking, Sarah decided to stop by one of the newspaper stand to purchase a phone card. She had all her belongings on both her hands, camera in one, map in the other. Obviously, she conveniently forgot all her stuff when we left. 10 minutes later, she shrieked and we all freaked out and ran back! Thank god for the nice guy who waited for her to come back. I guess he got bored and he started taking pictures with her camera. Haha! Sarah felt so relieved and the guy refused her money when she wanted to pay him back for his kindness, so she ended up buying 10 Euros worth of chewing gum. Lol, I’m not complaining, since I got a free pack!
Greece people are nice, aren’t they?
Greece transportation is very convenient, so if you decide to backpack around Greece, definitely do it! I find it really interesting because there’s a tiny museum in the middle of the train station and it’s free for all to view the artifacts as you’re waiting for the train. As they were digging up the place a few years back to build the train station, they discovered old architecture and artifacts from the past (Like duh, since Greece is all about excavations and ruins! =p). So instead of digging away the past, they decided to build the train station around the ruins and enclosed them in glass. I wish Malaysia were that cool! But that’s not gonna happen in Kuala Lumpur, since KL used to be a swampy land (I think)…
Anyway, something really random for archeological fans out there. You can actually pay to participate in excavation projects from all over the world. Check it out : www. archeological.org Just click on the region you’re interested in and you can write in/ email them to participate! Hehe, but I think it’s kinda stupid for you to pay the organization to do it, since you will be contributing your free labor, right?
Today was Sea Olympics day. It's kinda like sports day, but it was on a ship. It was intense, but fun! I wanted to do a little bit of my homework, but I ended up watching Sea Olympic instead. Can someone please give me more time? I feel as if I’m losing time at a really fast pace. Snap snap, and it’s gone!
Sea Olympics Day was the only day when we’re at sea and no classes were held, so that means everyone could sleep in a little while longer. For the first time ever, I missed my breakfast but Dia’s (the assistant Dean) voice woke me up in the morning. The Captain decided to have a lifeboat drill at 10am in the morning!!!!!!!!!!!!! !@#$%^&*&^%$#@! I could tell everyone was a little pissed off, cursing a little under their breath as we made our way through the stairway to the aft portion of the ship, but the inevitable was over by half hour. Thank Buddha for that! And I went back to bed after that :P
So Sea Olympics was kicked off at the opening ceremony with a fake torch being passed around the Union Hall. You know when you’re on a tiny ship, you’ve just got to make use of the limited space you have and make do with the Union Hall. I like it actually. We had about 9 teams in total, with an additional team called Team USA represented by the kids and babies. So darn cute! Can I bring them home with me when we’re done with SAS? Hehe. Spirits were high and we each had a banner and cheer to represent our team. Yellow team was really creative with their cheer – “This ship is banana, B-A-N-A-N-A-S”. If you’re a big Gwen Stefanie fan, you know what I mean :P
My team color was pink, so all of us were dressed in pink. Not gonna lie, some guys do look really HOT in pink. Tsk tsk. First event was the synchronized swimming. I got the prime spot since I was standing right behind the judges and I want to say that is probably not the best spot, since my screamings almost made the panel of judges go deaf. The Dean turned around once to tell me to tone it down! Hehe. Awkward!! But I didn’t really care anyway. Bleh. I’m really surprised at some of my guy friends, since they were in the event and that made me hysterical. They twisted and turned, swam, woo-ed the judges, thrust hips, made gay poses, and wore bikini suits. My lord, whatever you can think of, they did it. The entertainment value of this event far outranks the technical portion of it.
And then we had tug-o-war, which was over in a second, since it was pretty clear cut who won. Lip-synching was another helluva event. The entire shipboard community gathered in the Union Hall. People are just so talented as they were really good at impersonating celebrities. I laughed so hard, clapped till my hands were swollen and cat-called. SO GOOD! I wish I could put up a video of them, especially this one guy who dressed up as a girl and did a rendition of “I want to touch my body”. The judges gave him the highest score of 20/20, but the comments were disconcerting. “This is one of the hairiest dance I’ve ever seen”… “I’m giving a 20/20, just as long as you promise me never to do this again in public”. You’ve just got to see him in action! Kickass performance!
And of course, my team came in last. Why am I not surprised? The team who won get to disembark the ship first when we reach Virginia on August22nd. Oh wells, I don’t really care, since I bet everyone would be busy taking pictures before saying our last goodbyes. We might not be seeing each other for months, perhaps even for years, so I am gonna take my own sweet time before catching a taxi to the airport. My flight doesn’t leave until 8pm on the same day anyway :P
Anyway, I'm at Greece right now! Can't wait to see the beautiful islands!
Rumor #1: I heard that the yellow fruit with seeds that is served at breakfast (it tastes like watermelon, but looks like pineapple) is old watermelon that was once pink, but due to time has turned yellow...is that true??
Rumor Ranger Response: You are referring to yellow watermelon. The different fruit is mixed with pineapple the night before breakfast. It could taste like pineapple because it was mixed with pineapple.
Rumor #2: I heard that it cost the ship $30,000 to stay in port for those three extra hours in Cadiz. Is this true? If not, how much did it cost? RRR: The port fees for the ship for our voyage total $383,000, or approximately $10,000 per port day.
Rumor #3: I heard that this ship was not built specifically to be a "school." I heard originally there was a Casino and that this ship was actually used in the movie Boat Trip. Is there any truth to this? RRR: This ship and its sister ship the Voyager, were delivered in 2002 to Royal Olympic Cruise Lines (a Greek company). They were built as cruise ships, complete with casinos, etc. The cruise line went bankrupt in 2003 and the vessels became available for charter. Semester at Sea chartered the Explorer in 2004 and purchased it last year. The Voyager (not the Explorer) was featured in the movie “Boat Trip”.
Rumor #4: I was eating dinner with a big group of people tonight, and a whole bunch of them said that there were a lot of kids that came back from Spain with STD's. They also said that the boat has run out of like Chlamydia antibiotics, and that anyone who has it now will not get help until Italy. Someone also said that if you have it, you are asked not to go to class. Is this true??? Rumor Ranger Response: According to the medical team, this rumor is categorically false.
Rumor #5: I heard that a SAS girl was arrested in Turkey for possession of marijuana and is still in prison awaiting trial after two years. Is any of this true? RRR: While there are strict laws pertaining to drug violations in Turkey, this rumor is unfounded.
Interesting, isn't it? But seriously though, I am really surprised that some people actually believed the STD rumour and I am especially flabbergasted that some students haven't seen YELLOW watermelon before!
Today’s the best day of my time in Croatia!
Woke up early today, had breakfast and we went off the ship to try out parasailing at the President’s Beach. I was basically in charge, since I got 8 people together to do parasailing on the last day. I feel bad for ditching a girl at 915am, since she didn’t turn up at the designated time but I wasn’t going to wait for anyone :P Sorry girl, if you don’t respect our time, I am not going to wait for you as well.
The parasailing deal was 300 Kunas per person to do it. No one wanted to go first, so I was the guinea pig. All of us were whipping out our cameras and took so many pictures. I specifically ordered Angie and everyone else to document the entire process for me because I wanted everything to be photographed. The guy who was in charge of us was laughing his heads off, but who cares? I’m here in Croatia, and I don’t want to forget about this awesome experience! The view from up above was really gorgeous, definitely worth the money spent, and I really enjoyed being closer to the sun when I was high up above… It’s not like I’m not burned enough, but being closer to the sun and having the wind brush against your skin (most importantly, being able to pretend that I could fly momentarily) feels really good! Speaking of tanning lines, I have a “beautiful” line on my neck and a shoetan on my feet. Wonderful.
So after parasailing, we were dropped off at the President’s beach once again to enjoy the beach. Seriously, Croatia is a really beautiful country, but the beaches are rocky. WHY?! WHY?! WHY?!? It is impossible to walk on the beach barefoot… it feels as if I were walking on stones for some excruciating feet massage, and the rocks/ stones go all the way into the waters. It took me 5 minutes to get into the water until waist-depth, then the stones/rocks feels ticklish with all the seaweeds and green stuff growing on them! But I liked having fishes swimming around me. They were nibbling away at my feet… I definitely stayed long enough in the waters to have them “eat” away my dead skin, since people back home pay tons of money to soak their feet in a tub filled with fishes, and this was free!
After lunch, I went to explore the Dubrovnik City Walls with Triston and Sarah. It was fun! We got tickets at a discounted price for 20 Kunas, since we produced our student pass. SWEET. It was really nice seeing Dubrovnik Old Town from above, but it was really hot. Seriously, whoever who invented cotton clothes is the ultimate genius! I perspired so much, but I didn’t feel yucky at all =p Took tons of pictures again. Triston, having told us that he is a professional ballroom dancer, lifted both Sarah and I to take awesome pictures! I feel almost guilty now. I ate so much during lunch (food enough to feed the entire village) and I had Triston carry me, ballroom dancing style, to take that picture that I wanted. Blah.
While walking along the city walls, we saw a bunch of kids cliff-diving. That’s my only regret – not having the time to do cliff-diving. Geez, I should have just joined the drunk SAS-ers when they bar-hopped and do the cliff-diving with them, right? Lol. It looks really awesome diving down the 40 feet cliff (and there’s a massive supply of cliffs at Dubrovnik). It’s kind of a past-time hobby for the Croatians here, since most of them live off the coast. A bunch of fearless kids from SAS did it while they were drunk (they prolly won’t even remember it), hurting themselves in the end. As I am typing this sentence at the café right now, a girl is walking past my table with crutches. Haha! Morons.
Anyway, we are leaving Croatia right now. Byebye Croatia... It's like a nice spot for honeymoon couples actually. Greece in 2 more days. Meanwhile, I have my Architecture exam tomorrow and I haven’t really studied yet. Ughh. Someone save me!
Zdravo! That’s how they say Hi in Croatian. I like their language :)
Something really random... I found out that Dubrovnik Island is founded by the Greeks and you can actually find it in the Guinness World of Records for having the most number of olive trees on an island.
Ok so let’s talk about Korcula. Korcula used to be controlled by the Venetians. Since it was strategically located at the crossroads between the West and the East, they guarded Korcula tightly. City walls were built and no one was allowed to build houses outside this city wall. The city is so small that it takes only 15 mins to walk around the surrounding city walls. No kidding. It is almost impossible for you to get lost because everything leads back to the main street! In the past, there were about 4,000 people living there, but now there are 250 people left, since the town has been turned into a tourist destination.
I think that picture clearly shows how narrow the streets are at Korcula :P
Rumour has it that Korcula was the birthplace of Marco Polo. Some say it was Venice... Oh wells, we will never know, but one thing for sure, Marco Polo was put into jail at Korcula for 3 days. At least he was there in person for that!
Anyway, I had octopus for lunch and all the other 3 girls – Angie, Sayble and Nicole were just staring at their food while I ate mine. I found it amusing, since most Americans think that it is really weird and disgusting to be eating foodstuff like octopus and squids, while we Chinese treat is as a form of delicacy! I ended up eating Angie's share as well, since I loved it and I didn't want to waste food. My mama taught me not to waste anything, u know?
It was a good day all in all, I went to other places as well, but I'm really lazy to blog about it now. Bleh... Perhaps another day eh?
Croatia has a pretty interesting history. It only became independent recently in 1991 (I think I didn’t recall wrongly). They used to be part of Yugoslavia, but now they are an independent Republic! Hooray for that! It is really surprising to take in everything in Croatia – the nice beaches, the beautiful waters, the yachts floating around, the cute houses, the touristy old city… everything seems so perfect, but in reality this country has been through so much shelling during the war. It’s not exactly the richest country on earth as well, but it seems like a rich man’s place. They rebuilt everything after the war because tourism is the main revenue of Croatia. In fact, my tour guide ended the tour today with a request, asking us to spread Croatia’s beauty by word of mouth because everyone in the country is kind of dependent on tourism. Sigh, the world is unfair, isn’t it?
Anyway, I went to Osjonik today! It’s a pretty little town on top of the hill… God knows who wants to live there, since I think even the pizza delivery man doesn’t go there! But it’s nice up there, since we got awesome views of the houses and city… We were greeted by our tour guide who led us through the village while explaining the uses of the plants and herbs planted along the way.
Awesom-est thing we had today was the food and music. We had Osjonik traditional alcohol and figs as appetizers. The alcohol was the ****!! No kidding. I took a sip and it literally took my breath away. Some guys were chugging it as it were shots. MY GOD, seriously dudes?!? I couldn’t even down one sip, and they held their breath while doing it. Needless to say, they were drunk in no time.
Appetizers were followed by traditional music and dance. The cutie guy in the picture was the main performer and he made his own instrument out of wood, cat skin (or something like that) and donkey’s hair for the bow. The bow broke in the middle of the performance! He went back into his house to mend it and he was out by like 5 mins! That’s how they do things in Croatia :P lol.
We had BBQ bacon on sticks that was made out of plants. Ok, I’m not joking about this as well. (I wish I could put up a picture to illustrate this, but I can’t due to limited access to internet) The grill stick was the stem of the Bay Leave Plant, and they kinda sharpened the ends so the bacons can go right through. The food was surprisingly good though! I had 3 helpings, and erm… thanks to that (I think!), I’m having the runs right now as I’m writing this entry… I popped a pill – Imodium, and I’m feeling so much better now! There’s this other girl who went on the same trip and she’s throwing up right now :/ This is bad! So tonight I’m giving up partying to rest more, just so I can wake up at 6am tomorrow morning for my trip to the Korcula islands.
Live Croatian music during the dinner was good as well! The guys were singing and playing for us as we had authentic Croatian food at this fancy cave-like place. We felt special, since everything felt so authentic and not touristy at all, until one girl said: Oh they do this 3 times a week for the tourists. REALLY? I would rather she kept that to herself -_-
Welcome to Croatia Vi-Zanne Ho!
p/s: Can you read this? I guess someone's getting old! =p
Isn't he a cutie??
Meet my Cabin Steward, Edwin, from the Phillipines!
1) He cleans my room EVERY single day, while we are at sea and at port. I feel bad for giving him such a hard time now because my roomies and I are always in the room and he has to lurk around the corner everyday to see if we have left the room, just so he can swip into our room, clean it and be out in like 15 mins. Yesterday, his knock off time was at like 5:30pm, but Sara (my roomate) was taking a shower, so he had to extend his hours to 6pm, just because he hasn't cleaned our room (the last of the entire floor. Heh).
2) He is so immaculate and he arranges every single thing in my room. Our books, our toiletries, our shirts (he folds them!), our electronics, our shoes... EVERYTHING! How the hell does he do that in FIFTEEN minutes?!
3) He smiles and greets me every morning at 7:30am when i step out of my room for breakfast :)
Edwin is such a nice person, and I want to hug him so badly :)
Archi, who works upstairs says hi to me everyday as well, and there's also the dining staff who serves me drinks everyday! All of them are so pleasant and it makes me feel at home :D This is such an awesome family!
p/s: Croatia in less than 24 hrs!
Like my friend said, Naples is the shit! Pardon my language, but I think that pretty much sums up Naples. Don’t get me wrong, Naples is unique with its own historical buildings and culture, but when I walk on the streets, I feel as if I’m back in some third world country.
Let me justify this briefly. The walls are filled with graffiti, rubbish is all over the place, lots of suspicious looking people, homeless dudes, street vendors are everywhere and the traffic is crazy. Crossing a tiny road is tough and whenever I do that, I feel as if I have to stop breathing, be on full alert if I want to walk out of Naples alive :P Today right outside the train station, I witnessed the craziest thing, as if it were a scene out of TV. Both Nhesthy and I walked out of the train station, and we saw a street fight going on. There was a pile of unwanted stuff over there, and people were fighting over them. Then the guys started to throw kitchenware at each other. Plates were flying all over the place. Glass shattered. You know how kepo I can be, and I really wanted to stop and take a picture, but Nhesthy was freaking out. He grabbed my arms and pulled me aside. “These people are crazy!” So there goes my picture opportunity.
So anyhow, both Nhesthy and I went to Sorrento today! Beautiful town! We were supposed to go to Capri initially with all of our friends to see the Grottos but Nhesthey backed out at the last minute and I really wanted to go to Sorrento, so we just hopped onto the train and went straight there. A bunch of SAS people went to Pompeii and I thank Buddha for that! It’s nice to be away from SAS people once in a while and be like a normal tourist at a faraway place.
Sorrento’s beach is gorgeous. The water is crystal clear and private yachts were all over the waters. I was like kicking myself for not bringing my swimming gear coz I could have hung out at the beach and picked up a rich Italian kid eh? Lol. We saw couples making out in the waters, lasting up to half an hr and Nhesthy took a video of that because we found that funny! Speaking of Italian manners, there is no such thing as a clear boundary between boys and girls in Italy. The girls were sitting on girls' laps, boys on boys’ laps, BOYS on GIRLS' laps, girls and boys French kissing in front of their friends, then they stopped kissing and continued their conversations with friends as if nothing has happened. I think I am going through a culture shock. It’s not like I’m from a really conservative culture, and I think I’m pretty open-minded about things, but this beats me!
Anyway, all in all, Italy is great! It amazes me that the living conditions and sights can be so different from cities to cities…
Next up, Dubrovnik, Croatia in 2 days! :)
Eww… I look really disgusting in this picture. I was all sweaty today – I hiked up Mount Vesuvius! Sometimes I keep telling myself I have to stop putting unglam pictures of myself on facebook and my blog, coz technology is so advanced now… Everyone can see the ugly me! How am I supposed to get myself a good chap without looking good eh? But you know what, I’m on a holiday, I do what I want, put whatever pictures I want on facebook and that is all that matters!
Anyway, Mount Vesuvius dominates the landscape and looms ominously over Naples. It’s still an active volcano! Pompeii and Herculaneum were actually buried by the ashes from this mountain. Can u imagine hiking up the mountain and then it erupts?! Manz, that would be horrible :P
I like to travel independently without any tour guides. It’s tiring, since we had to figure out how to get to Mount Vesuvius by ourselves without having anyone with us who could speak the language. Once again, my charade skills came in handy, except this time, the guy asked me bluntly, “do you speak English?” when I attempted to fake an Italian accent with English words. heh.
So anyway, Nesthy, as absent minded as he could be, missed his bus (pre-arrranged and pre-paid trip to Mount Vesuvius) this morning! The trip was supposed to be at 8:30am, and he happily assumed it was at 9:00am and was munching on his breakfast nonchalantly at 8:40am. At 8:45am, he came sheepishly to me and asked me: “Vi, can I join you for the hike up the mountain, I missed my bus!” Poor dude, but having him with us was fun! The more the merrier!
The three of us – Ryan, Nesthy and I tried to take the bus to the train station this morning. We didn’t know we had to purchase a ticket before boarding the bus, so when we boarded (I went in from the backdoor, they went in from the front door), and attempted to pay, the conductor was shaking his head angrily.. “No ticket, penalty 57 Euros”. The bus driver kicked Ryan and Nesthy out of the bus, and then Ryan came back to the back door and grabbed me out by my arms. So we ended up walking to the train station. 2km, are you kidding me?! Why do I always run into trouble with public transportation authorities? Seriously?
Taking Naples Local train was really interesting. At the train station, a lady actually passed out. For real. Two guys were carrying her to one side, and this one guy took her cellphone and fiddled with it. I was concerned for a moment, and thoughts ran through my mind: What the hell are those 2 guys doing with her? What if they’re cons and they drugged her or something? Before I could say something really stupid, I realized that they were the train station staff. HENG AH. Luckily I didn’t blurt out something stupid and get into trouble again.
We took the train, got down and then saw some neighborhood kids playing on the track. I’ve always assumed that only kampong kids from Malaysia would do that, but it happens in Italy as well. The freakiest thing that I saw was this man with half his arm outside and in between the two doors. And then the train started to move! Thoughts were running through my mind again: why am I seeing so many weird things today?!?! You know how in Singapore, where security is so bloody tight and everything is so in order, and since I lived there for like 6.5 years, instinct kicked in and I was seriously looking for a panic button to press. But nope folks, no such thing in Italy. The trains are so run down and it’s not even air-conditioned. So back to the man with half his arm out of the door. A few seconds after the train moved, he actually pulled it back and nonchalantly placed them back into his pockets. GOD, I guess he was playing a fool and was prolly freaking out tourists like us. How can things like this possibly happen in Italy? It’s hard to believe, but it’s real.
Finally when we reached the bottom of Mount Vesuvius (which was 1000m above sea level), we hiked further up on a slope that was about 15 degrees (Although I swear it could have been steeper!) for about 1km. It was tiring. Ryan, fit as a fiddle, went off first, leaving both Nesthy and I panting like mad dogs behind. We were always lagging, but we made it! Both Nesthy and I got crazy at one point and we started running for a little =p
The view from Mount Vesuvius is absolutely gorgeous! That’s enough to justify the entire hike up. We were surrounded by clouds and it was really nice to be in touch with nature. I stood there and had both my arms outstretched. The clouds caressed my skin softly, and it felt ticklish but extremely comfortable! I felt like a total dork standing there like that, but this isn’t the time to care about self-image. I paid for this hike, and I sure as hell am gonna get the best out of it! =p
By the time we reached up the peak, we could see the crater. Ryan was sweating now, and he took off his shirt. He was embarrassed, but I told him there was nothing to worry about, since there were a bunch of kids in bikini suits and beach wear sitting at the top of the hill, beside the crater, SUNTANNING. No kidding! I guess there are no nice beaches on land eh? Must hike all the way up to be closer to the sun? So weird. Then there were two girls, in nice cute little dresses posing on top of a high rock. That one girl wanted to take a nice sexy picture (Everyone could tell since she was like “how should I stand Casey? How should I place my legs?). And then the security guy came up and told her, “careful madam, you better come down. You don’t want to fall off into the crater.” Omg, if that would to happen, she could die, but I am so gonna laugh. Why would you wear dresses to hike up the mountain lady?
So after Mount Vesuvius, we went to Herculaneum. It’s like Pompeii, but more elaborately well-preserved. I seriously don’t know why people would wanna pay 11Euros to see a bunch of ruins, but I did it anyway, since I was already there. I ain’t bailing out at the last minute. It was interesting to see the ruins and recognize stuff that I learnt in class, but that’s it. So Ryan, Nesthy and I decided to explore the unbeaten path and we stumbled upon a land full of old, dried leaves and animal poop. We feel as if we were intruding into someone’s backyard, and I’m not gonna risk my life (once again), going around breaking rules, so we went back to the main path… I started taking pictures with low ceilings and small doors, (since according to Ryan) it gives me a thrill to be able to touch the top. It doesn’t happen that often, you know? Of course must take more pictures la!
We got back to the ship at around 5pm, took my shower and had full-blown dinner with salad and meat and seafood. Then the gang came back, and we decided to go check out the “The Best Pizza in Naples”. Folks, it’s legit. Oprah Winfrey ate there before and featured it on her show. We had directions written on the napkins, and since everyone was really scared of getting lost, I stood forward and I led everyone to this dingy little alley. The restaurant was at this small corner, and it was PACKED with people. It wasn’t posh, and I guess they haven’t really changed since the day they started the establishment. We waited and when we finally got to sit down, we took our orders. There was no menu, since they were only selling 2 kinds of pizza – Margherita and Marinara, and 3 kinds of drinks – Water, Coke and Beer. See what I mean? Business is so good that they don’t even need variety on their menu!!! We ordered Double Mozzarella Cheese Margharita and it was humongous. But real Italian pizzas are really thin, so we all managed to finish everything, within seconds! They were finger-licking good! Wish I could put a picture here, but I can’t, since I don’t really have access to sufficient internet :(
I’m still sick now from all the good food and tiring travellings, but they’re all worth it. This is my best day in Italy so far, since hiking was involved! (My inner voice is now telling me that I’m an outdoor kind of person) Told ya, I like to be in touch with mother nature. It makes me happy! :P
Fun facts I learned today:
1) Orvieto, an Etruscan town, is famous for wine
2) Italian wine doesn’t have any preservatives in it, but those exported to America does have them and that’s why you get a headache when you drink those wine back in the US. That explains all the headaches that I’ve been getting whenever I drink!
p/s: I like sitting on the green green grass in Orvieto. It makes me happy to be in touch with mother nature!
Boy, it’s been a long day again! That’s me drinking water off the fountain in front of the Spanish Steps.
I started off my day really early, woke up at 7am and got to Rome by around 10am. (Rome was about 1.5 hrs bus ride away from Civitavecchia). While we were on the bus, my guide couldn’t stop emphasizing on the dangers of running into pickpockets. Mind you, I know that Rome is notorious for the gypsies, and my dad was a victim when we last visited Rome abt 6 yrs ago, but she made it out to be worse. “If you see a horde of kids, don’t take pity on them. Do what you can, kick, punch or bitchslap them, just run away!” Seriously, is that necessary? So for the entire trip, I had my bag in front of me and I looked like a total dork. Blah. My friend Lauren even had a TSA lock (those locks you put on your big luggage) on her bag! Lol.
I visited Capitoline Hill together with the group. I have to say that I don’t usually don’t enjoy museums (people who know me will testify to that) I would rather stand out at the plaza and kill time by people-watching than to go into a museum. BUT but but, this time it was different. It was amazing, simply because the guide was good, I learned about the stuff in my class beforehand and most importantly, I had paid for the trip, so naturally I was attentive. I guess that made all the difference!
So let me show off a little bit here about my knowledge of Rome! Did you know that Rome has 7 hills? Rome was founded by Romulus and Remus, the twins that were abandoned by their wicked uncle, but later adopted by a she-wolf – hence the symbol that represents Rome. At the Capitoline Hill, Marcus Aurelius’ statue, which originally stood outside on the piazza, was shifted indoors. It used to be covered with gold. Saying has it that the day the last piece of gold falls off, Rome will be destroyed. Mind you, there are only a few pieces of gold left on the horse… No wonder they shifted the statue indoors! Hehe.
So after Capitoline Hill, we had 3 hrs of free time. We walked around, covered the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish steps, shopping and of course, Gelato! I got Nutella this time, which was yummy also! God, I think there are no BAD food at all in Italy. Everywhere you go, you smell food, and I seriously need to reconsider my decision to come to Rome to study abroad next year. You know how lazy I am, and I can’t go about eating and eating all the time without exercising!
Here’s a funny story about Melanie. We were walking around and we came across a stall that sold bags by the streets. Melanie thought it was high time she got her “Prada” and “Gucci” bags…
Melanie: Quanto Costa?
Guy: 45 Euros
Vi: No! 20 Euros
Guy: 35 Euros, Si?
Vi and Melanie: No. Grazie. Bye bye
We moved on, and 10 minutes later, this guy reappeared beside us with that very same bag! “25 Euros, Si?” All 6 of us just jumped aside (literally) and we were all too shocked to say anything. GOSH, he was stalking us all the time. SCARY! We had to walk faster to lose him. These street vendors can get really aggressive in Rome!
All these happened during the day when I was travelling with SAS. I took the bus and got back to the ship at 6pm, and then my friends (Alexis, Lauryn, Melanie, Sharon, Nesthy and Tim) decided to go back to Rome at 7pm. I barely had time to breathe and settle down, and they wanted to go back to Rome! We took the train, arrived at Rome, saw the night scene at Rome and then we stumbled upon this nice little pastry shop with authentic Italian pastries! So good again… But I can only take in so much sugary stuff in one day, so I got a chocalaty croissant in the end :)
I must say Nesthy’s a pretty funny guy. He got onto the train, and started to take pictures of everything. The dirty floor, the gum that was stuck on the floor, the dirty seats and the filthy windows. “it’s so disgusting and I think there are like dandruffs and lice on the head rest”. Geez dude, this is a public train, not your own private car, but I found it really amusing! When he started snapping pictures of everything, Tim couldn’t stop shaking his head. We all think that Nesthy needs help, u know? Lol.
Night trip to Rome was adventurous. There was a puddle of water and Melanie slipped, SLOW MOTION, like those movie scenes you see on TV. We were all too shocked to see this happening, and we stood there, mouth agape. Melanie was then lying with her back on the ground and we all burst out laughing. Sorry folks, not funny, since she could have hurt herself, but we couldn’t help it! She reeked of dirty water, and we all joked that it was really kind of Melanie to mop the train station floor. I guess Melanie couldn’t take it in the end, and when we found a garden sprinkler, she just stood right there and took her “shower”.
Ok, so we had initially planned on catching the last train from Rome to Civitavecchia, but we missed it. I was like freaking out, because I had to be back on the ship to do the day trip on the next day. So with our 4.50 Euro ticket that was meant for the normal train, we hopped onto the express overnight train that had Civitavecchia as one of the stops. So there we were with no valid tickets, and we just stepped into one of the cabins and took our seats. Not gonna lie, I was scared, since SAS told us stories of past year students doing stupid things. They got caught and got deported back to America, banned from the European countries for 5 years. I made a quick calculation, and told myself, no way they are gonna catch us for not having a valid ticket. They would have to call 4 different embassies (since I am from Malaysia, Lauryn from South Africa, Nesthy from the Phillipines and the rest from America). I kept telling myself that Italiano Polizza won’t go through THAT kind of hassle. At that moment, the train conductor came by, asked for our tickets, and we all just pretended we didn’t speak Italian and said we were directed onto this train. The conductor kept saying “No good, no good”. In the end, he got so frustrated, he let us off and closed the door behind us. MY GOD, I swore that I almost got a heart attack. Just as I was about to heave a sigh of relief, 3 policemen passed by our cabin. Not once, not twice, but 4 times! I think it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that my heart stopped beating. Turns out that they were just hanging out at our carriage. That kind of adrenaline rush was pretty intense. So folks, especially those faint-hearted people, please do not try this out when you travel. I don’t think I can ever take this pressure anymore. But it’s pretty cool to tell people that you’ve been through such ordeal in Italy!
When we finally got back to the ship, it was like 1:30am. The only thing that I was concerned about was my contact lenses (this takes precedence over shower after catching some random dandruffs and lices along the way). My eyes were so dry.. doctors have said you’re only supposed to have contact lenses on AT MOST 12 hrs, and I’ve exceeded this limit by almost 7 hours! Will I become blind?
I’ve gotta say, all these travelling has taken a toll on me and I’m officially sick now. Went to see the doctor in the clinic. Damn, I didn’t know I had to pay so much for the medication! Ahhhhhh, but I wasn’t sure if my own medication would help. Nvm nvm, I just want to stay healthy, so folks, goodbye for now!
Orvieto’s next on the list :)
