Korcula Island

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?

Welcome to Croatia!

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! 

I'm a Kuna-aire!

Right now I'm blogging from an internet Cafe at Croatia... 10 Kunas for 20 mins...

It's 5.05 Kunas for 1USD. Woohoo! I'm gonna be a Kuna-aire after changing out my USD. hehe

Croatia is beautiful btw! :)

J Lo. This is for you

JoAnn Melina Lopez!!!!!!!!!!!

I miss you BIG TIME. I'm having a blast at sea, but I miss having you as my neighbor. I can't just run to anyone here and tell them my THING, u know?

~

I miss you, my friend!
The one my heart confided in
The one I felt the safest with
The one who knew just what to say to make me laugh again
I miss the colors that you brought into my life

~

Anyway, here's wishing you a very very happy 20th birthday!

p/s: Can you read this? I guess someone's getting old! =p

Summer home/ family

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!

Naples and Sorrento

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! :)

Mount Vesuvius

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

Orvieto

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!

Rome

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 :)

Tuscia

I am at Italy!

My trip to Tuscia starts at 1pm, so we had some time to kill before that, and we just walked around Civitavecchia, ate some gelato and exchanged my money. Note to self: Pistachio Gelato isn’t that great. I should get the Chocolaty ones next time! Exchanged 200 American dollars today. USD1= 0.65 Euros. I was mildly surprised. Within the span of 2 days, the exchange rate actually fell from 0.71 to 0.65!!! Did I get cheated? Ahhhhhhhhh, the Malaysian currency feels so small instantly! I’m burning a really big hole in my pocket here, but like I said, it’s ok! I’m technically on a holiday. Besides, like my mama said (jokingly of course), as long as I marry a rich old man next time, all of my problems will be solved! =p

So apparently, Italians hang their laundry out by the window coz they have no dryer AT ALL! Even during the winter, they do it. My guide told me that his clothes used to covered with ice when they did that during the winter. Seriously, what’s the point of hanging them out then?

We walked on the green grass today, barefoot. It feels really good! The land was scorching hot though, since Italy’s weather is worse than Malaysia’s. I perspired so much and the green green grass was soothing :) We sat for a while, wandered along the small alleys, and then we were herded back to the bus like baby sheeps! On our way back, we saw REAL sheeps, which is really rare here in Italy… There were a few random cows here and there. Funniest thing I saw were actually the grave yards. Mind you, they are not your typical graves with stones. Each of them have their own little “hut" and the graves have covers over them.

So today we had wine tasting again. Seems like the Europeans are really BIG on wine! We had red wine, white wine, cheese, ham and thinly sliced bacon and bread with olive. God, so good! Heavenly! And I think I was a little tipsy after that two glasses of wine… Heh… I swear I’m not turning into an alcoholic though! In my defense, I do not usually like to drink wine, but Italian wine is extraordinary! I kinda want to buy some to bring home, but we can’t even bring an opened-water bottle on board :(

Off to Rome tomorrow!