Staycation

We just returned from a 3 day 2 night stay at Swisshotel, The Stamford for a staycation since we did not plan to go anywhere this holiday. We practically did nothing except to eat, swim, go to the spa, go to the gym and lazed in the room watching tv and time seemed to just zoomed past us. For a while, I even forgot I was in Singapore! That said, the room was just so-so (and we even upgraded for the 'harbour-view') and the service standards of the hotel was mediocre. It's more a business-class hotel and not for someone looking for luxurious stay with turn-down service and etc. Below is the view of sunset from our balcony at the 48th storey.

Another view of the cityscape from the balcony:

No holiday is complete without good food. After 5 years, we made a return visit to Flutes at the Fort; this time to try their brunch menu. I like the quiet and quaint environment of the restaurant and many years ago, we even thought and considered having our wedding celebration there. The restaurant is the black and white house perched on the hill.

The menu du jour:

This time round, we felt the food wasn't as good as expected. For appetiser, we had the fried foie gras with beetroot salad and goat cheese; for the main, we had sirlion steak. We asked for medium and it looked and tasted like well done instead. We have had better at Angus. And for dessert, I had the Belgian Waffle, which was too big and had too much butter and cream for me! I intend to try their dinner one of these days and I hope the quality of food would be better then.

Once in a while, it's ok to go for a staycation. But I don't really want to do this every holiday. Plus, a local vacation ain't that cheap either! That's all I have for this entry and ciao! I am off to enjoy the rest of my holiday with more food and more shopping!

Cameron Highlands

After a gruelling 10 hours bus ride, we are finally home!! We spent a total of 4 nights in the cool highlands and even celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary there; with surprises and candlelight dinner. I chose to stay at the highly recommended Cameron Highland Resorts (CHR), which also happens to be a YTL property. Although it was expensive, I personally feel that it is value for money and given another chance, I would still choose to stay there. Upon arriving at Cameron in the morning, we booked ourselves 2 day trips that saw us visiting the BOH tea plantation, going up to Mt Brinchang (the highest point in Cameron), visiting strawberry park to pick fresh strawberries, and having steamboat dinner at the heart of town (some say you can't claim to have visited Cameron without trying their famed steamboat). Being the kitchen of Malaysia, the vegetables are uber fresh and sweet.

On the last day of our stay, we casually mentioned to the hotel's GM that we will be celebrating our wedding anniversary that very night. Almost immediately, he got the F&B manager to speak to us and offered a really good deal for a 5 course dinner. They also offered to convert the fireplace corner at the Jim Thomson Lounge area for us to have our dinner there. Before the dinner started, we were invited to light the fireplace. It was the first time I lighted a fireplace and I was extremely excited and nervous about that. It was an interesting experience. By the time we came to the desert, we were stuffed and we were pleasantly surprised when the hotel staff brought out a cake with "Happy Anniversary" on it and congratulated on the happy occasion. We felt really bad as we really couldn't eat anymore. There were more surprises awaiting us in the room. They decorated the bed with flowers and had a photo taken of us earlier at the fireplace framed up in a nice wooden photo frame and more strawberries with chocolates. The service and commitment to impress their guests is impeccable and unforgettable. And before I forget, the spa was great too.

Although it was just nearby Malaysia that we visited, I think we still enjoyed ourselves very much. Maybe it's the weather; we just don't feel like we are in tropical Asia. Or maybe it's the great company that makes everything special. :)

Italia Part II

After spending 7 days in Rome, we moved off to Naples where we stayed 4 nights. Naples was more like our base from which we travelled to different places. Before I made the trip to Italy, I have heard so many horror stories about how unsafe the country is and how common pickpocketing and robbery is. Rome wasn't so bad after you get used to it. You just have to be a little more careful of your belongings. Like what many Romans said, there is no violent crimes in Rome. However, we were warned by our hotel host that this may not be the case in Naples. And indeed. I will never miss Naples. It is the filthiest city I have ever been to. Rubbish were strewn everywhere and there is a stench at each corner you turn. Roads are disorganized and markings on the roads are all gone. No one respect the traffic lights and once you are out of the train station, you feel like you are in a slum. At least I felt that way.

But it is also from Naples that we visited 2 wonderful places. First, we went to Pompeii for a day trip. Pompeii is located about 30 minutes away from Naples by train. The train ride was hassle free and straight forward. Pompeii is a buried roman city after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. You could see the volcano from almost wherever you stand in Pompeii. Again, like many archaeolgical sites, you have to walk alot. The weather that day was so so hot and dry that we almost thought we would suffer a heat stroke. Like the Roman Forum in Rome, Pompeii is very well planned and well laid out. It has got all the essential features of any typical modern day cities - the shops, the houses, the laundry, the bakery, the necropolis and of course, the brothels. Life didn't seem very different then as compared to today, if you think about it except of course for the technology we enjoy today. I was most amazed by the lupanars (the brothels). They had such explicit drawings there that it says in the audio guide that it is meant for as a source of inspiration for the clients. In fact, many erotic drawings filled the walls in Pompeii, not just in the brothels. Historians have claimed that for the people at that time, such drawings are not seen as lurid and in fact is humourous and entertainment for the people.

Anyway, Pompeii is such a huge city that archaeologists are still digging and have not finished excavating the entire place yet. The technology used in the excavation is amazing. As a buried city, the buildings, the vessels and even the remains of the pompeiians were very well preserved. We see many plasters of human beings all around pompeii all thanks to an archaeologist who thought of pouring liquid plaster into a little hole they have dug and let it solidify for a couple of days. After which, they would slowly extract the plaster out from below the ground and that is how we get to see the actual expression and physical features of the pompeiians. Many of them have hands covering their faces and have contorted physique. From all these, we can infer that the pompeiians have not expected the volcano to erupt and that they were shielding themselves from the intense heat. To really explore pompeii, I think you would need more than a day. That is if you can take the heat and is genuinely interested in the lives of the people at that time. I enjoy the trip but one day at pompeii is enough for me.

After so many archeaological stuff, my brain needs some respite and it is good we were headed for Capri the following day. To get to Capri from Naples, you need to take a ferry which takes about an hour and cost 32 euros for a 2 way ticket. Capri is a well known resort island where the rich and famous while away their time. Capri is a beautiful island and very touristy too, which makes it a little too crowded for my liking at times. It is not as exclusive as I would like and expect it to be. You would have to be prepared to spend if you want to go to Capri. Nothing is cheap there. And it is in Capri that we had the best meal in our trip. Just a pasta and a plate of fried calamari would cost us about 60 euros. It's as good as eating at some high end restaurant in Singapore. It is quite cool and quaint to walk through the narrow lanes and go into shops once you take the furnicular up to the town. Once we were sick and tired of being up there, we went back down and did a cruise around Capri for an hour. In this hour, they brought us to see many of the beautiful grottos of the islands. We wanted to visit the Blue Grotto but we didn't know that it is only open in the morning. Apparently, it is high tide in the afternoon and with the entrance of the grotto being only 1 metre high, we couldn't get in there. The water in Capri is so clear and once we get back to the town, we went to dip our feet in the cool water. Capri doen not have a sandy beach. Instead, the whole area was rather rocky and it is so painful to trudge and get my way past the rocks and into the water. A pity I didn't bring my swimwear. Otherwise, it would have been a perfect lazy afternoon.

The last day in Naples was quite a relaxing one for us. We spent the first half of the day trying to explore Naples. We walked our way to the historic old town and I wanted so much to visit the all year round Christmas alley where they sell handcrafted Nativity scene which Naples is so famous for. The workmanship is very precise and it was all very beautiful. But after walking through the shops in the alley, we thought there was nothing very much for us to see. The churches in Naples were not as beautiful as those in Rome. And the streets were so dangerous that we would think twice about getting our camera out to shoot. The last thing I want is to lose all the pictures taken in this trip. That would be more painful than losing the physical camera. So we walked back to the hotel and spent the rest of the day watching BBC news and movies. We had our last dinner in Naples at the hotel's restaurant. This is in fact the first restaurant that didn't charge us for the bread and service. And the food is pretty decent too.

The one silver lining in our stay in Naples is the hotel. At least UNA Hotel is safe and extremely comfortable. The room is spacious and the bathroom has got nice fittings. And Naples being such an unsafe city to be in, it is a plus point for the hotel to be located near the train station. If you are planning on shopping in Naples, forget it; unless you are into buying fake Pradas and LVs. All in all, the trip is quite an eye opener. I wouldn't say I didn't enjoy it. On hindsight, as I am doing up my blog, I am quite amazed at the number of places we visited and of course, the trip definitely made me more appreciative of Singapore. That is a good thing, isn't it?

Italia Part I

Finally back home after 2 weeks in Europe. The weather there is hot, hot and hot! I have always dreamed of Italy as a perfect holiday destination, with delicious Italian pasta, romantic streets and not to mention charming Italian men. But reality does bite, sometimes. I spent my time mainly in Rome and Naples. I am not the typical Singaporean traveller wanting a 'touch and go' kind of trip. I love to immerse myself in the culture and life of the city itself.

Attractions and Sites

There is so much to see in Rome. Even after 7 days there, I have not seen everything! But one word of advice. One really need good and comfortable walking shoes to explore Rome. Although the metro and bus network is fantastic, you need to really walk in order to know the city better.

1. The Colosseum and Forum
Needless to say, our first stop is the ever famous Roman Colosseum. Unlike what most guidebooks and websites tell us, you really do not need to waste your morning queueing at the colosseum for entrance tickets. That was the advice dished out to me by the hotel host. Besides, once you get there, you will notice that there are many people trying to sell you a tour of the colosseum, promising you to jump the queue complete with a English speaking guide. The price of the tour would have been similar to what you would have paid, queueing up religiously and paying for an audio guide. The colosseum is amazing. It is one of my favourite place to visit in this trip. You feel so puny wherever you choose to stand and the technology the ancient Romans came up with to release the animals for duel is simply intelligent. At the same time, you see the ugly, brutal and cruel side of the Romans as well.

The ticket to the Colosseum includes the visit to the Forum and Palatine Hills as well. And it is these 2 places where you can spend an entire place at. The place is huge and you need to walk a lot. It would be good if you have a guide, be it a audio, book or a person, to help you make sense of what you are looking at. The forum reminds me of Ephesus in Turkey. The ruins are relatively well preserved but many of the ancient basilicas are not open for visits. The place is well-planned and for those who do not know, whatever urban planning we know today came from the Roman era and whatever laws and legislations we study and abide by today, originated from the Romans as well. They were a great civilisation and you can definitely identify the different aspects of their life when you visit the ruins. Another example, the forum is the place for the ancient romans to meet and gossip about their neighbours. They sit there in the day, engaged in small talk with one another while drinking their tea and buying their groceries. Doesn't that remind you of the market or plaza located in our town centre of any neighbourhood in Singapore?

2. Churches

Churches is a must-see for any trip to Europe. And this is even more so in Rome when it is a popular pilgrimage destination for many Catholics. The architecture and interior decor of the churches here often astound me. The name to look out here is Bernini. He is a renaissance sculptor who was responsible for many of the beautiful sculptures we see all over Rome. Not just in the churches, but the fountains at the roadside as well. Obviously, I can't remember all the churches I visited and after a while, you stop 'wowing' and know that it is just another church.

3. Vatican

The Vatican is a day trip by itself and getting there is really easy. Anyway, once you get out of the metro station, you will see hoards of tourists there. Just follow them and you will never get lost. For the Vatican, it is highly recommended that you book the tickets online. It will really save you lots of time queueing under the hot sun. Armed with an audio guide and you are all ready to go. The Vatican museum is huge. You will start with the Egyptian collection and end somewhere near the Sistine Chapel. Why the papacy collects some of these items simply eludes me. Somehow, the explanation of collecting these items in the name of respecting all other pre-christianity culture and arts sounds overly simplistic and suspicious. In the Vatican museum, I love the Raphael Rooms the most and especially the piece on the School of Athens. Apparently, many tourists thought the same too since the prints for this particular piece was sold out. The Sistine Chapel is simply overcrowded all the time. We are not supposed to use flash in this room and many tourists were doing it but the authorities simply have no way of catching the culprits in the crowd.

Our host at the hotel told us of a short cut to the St. Peter's Basilica after visiting the museums. We tried that and on the way to the Sistine Chapel, we were stopped by a guard, but somehow he allowed us to retrace our routes even though it is supposed to be one-way traffic. St. Peter's Basilica is magnificent. I love the time spent here. It is not quiet but at least there was much more space for me to move around as compared to the museums. From the balcony of the Basilica, you get a good view of the square and it is a good picture op.

4. Villa Borghese

This must be the only muesum in the world that requires reservation. Although troublesome (they only admit 30 visitors at each time slot; 4 slots a day), it is a must-see in Rome. Again in this museum, you can see many of Bernini's work as the then owner, Cardinal Scipione was a patron and lover of Bernini's work. He noticed his talents from a young age and commissioned him to do many pieces of work. Another artist to look out for in Villa Borghese is Caravaggio. His talent was not appreciated by many during his lifetime, but I like the way he interpreted 'The Last Supper'. As opposed to Michaelangelo's bleak and pessimistic interpretation, Caravaggio showed the more light-hearted and optimistic side of it, which was brilliant.

Everyone should visit the Villa Borghese, whether or not you are an art lover. The villa itself is located within a park and we had a mini picnic before our scheduled visit. If you have time, you can also rent a little boat and row in the lake. It would be such a romantic moment to share. Unfortunately, we didn't have the luxury of time to that this time round.

5. Pinchio

From the Villa Borghese, we headed to the Pinchio for a bird's eye view of the city. From here, Via del Corso (the main shopping belt of Rome) is just a stone's throw away. In the guidebook, it says that many tourists come here for the spectacular sunset. But since it's summertime now, the sun doesn't set until 9pm. And if not for the extreme heat, I would have lingered for a little longer.
6. Porta Portese

Initially, I planned the trip around Porta Portese because we wanted to get to the flea market to try our luck on getting some good antiques, like what we did in London. We went there by bus and within an hour from the gate, we were done. It is not an antiques market like Portobello. They sell all sorts of things here, but mainly clothes and household items. It reminds me of the pasar malam back home and the locals were buying the clothes, choosing and tossing them in the piles of clothes as if they were free. To be fair, there were a few stalls selling antiques but not just the kind we were looking for. So we went home empty handed. But in my opinion, Porta Portese is still worth visiting. It gives you a good insight to the lives of the locals. It also gave us a chance to visit Trastevere (the name means "beyond the Tiber"). Trastevere is a very quaint part of Rome. With many restaurants and quiant shops lining the cobbled stone paths, it is a nice way to spend a slow and leisurely Sunday with brunch at one of its many great trattorias.
7. Trevi Fountain

The Trevi Fountain is the most well-known fountain in Rome, if not in Europe. Legend has it that if you wish to return to Rome, you should throw a coin into the fountain. But we did not do it. There were simply too many people at the fountain, both locals and tourists. It is true that is is the most beautiful fountain I have seen, but I still feel that it is over-rated. Perhaps it is also the time of the day. We were there around evening and by then, I was already dead-beat. There are many gelaterias lining the streets near the Trevi and it is in one of these many old gelaterias that I tasted my first gelato in Rome.

8. Piazza Navona

As compared to the Trevi, I actually like the fountains at Piazza Navona better, so much so that I went back twice. The main reason of it being there is significantly less tourists here and I can soak my tired soles in the cool fountain water. The fountains here, like the Trevi was designed by Bernini as well, with the main fountain representing the 4 main rivers at that time: The Nile, the Danube, the Ganges and Rio de la Plata. Around the Piazza, there are many street artists and sometimes it can be quite entertaining looking at them.

9. Castel St. Angelo

This property belongs to the papacy as well. It was originally created by Emperor Hadrian as his tomb but eventually became a fortress instead. This fortress is joined to the Vatican a famous passage way, a corridor that runs atop the wall that encircles the Vatican. This is to allow the pope to walk safely across to the castle from the vatican grounds. Frankly, we were quite disappointed with the visit to the castle as there was nothing much for us to explore. Most of the rooms were closed and there was no audio guides to rent as well. To make matters worse, there was some kind of congressional meeting the day we visited and the area where they were having the meeting was cordoned off. If you ask me, it is not the worth the 8 euros entrance fee and personally, I feel that it is good enough to just stand at the bridge and take a photo with the castle at the background.

10. Man of Veritable Truth

We walked all the way to see this manhole which has always attracted tourists from all over the world. It was rumoured that if you were to put your hand into the mouth of the manhole and told a lie, your hand would be bitten off. Now, all tourists are only allowed one photograph per person and even then, you have queue up a long way for it. Obviously, I am an honest person. Hehe

11. Pantheon

Another feature of many European cities. They love to build pantheons to house the graves of the great men. And it is no exception for Italy. The facade of the building looks old and poorly maintained. However, the interior is beautiful. The hole you see at the top of the building is actually a hollow one and is not covered by glass. So when it rains, rain will come into the building (obviously...duh) and the small holes located in some of the marble tiles on the floor will help to drain off the water from the building. What an interesting and ingenious idea. Few buildings in the world has such architectural features.

Shopping

Walking around Rome, you will not see many of the locals carrying the branded designer bags that Italy is famed for. It is the tourists who go buying them like bees are attracted to honey. The place to look for them is not Via del Corso, but Via del Condotti instead. This particular Via is a mecca of luxury designer brands. The prices here are also extremely attractive. I bought a Miu Miu bag at a 40% discount off the prices sold in Singapore. The sales assistance here are generally nice and polite and wouldn't mind you asking to see the pieces. I didn't buy any clothes from the high street brands as I feel that the prices and quality isn't that great as compared to clothes sold in Singapore. So you really have to do your marketing while still in Singapore to know if you have really bag a bargain. I wanted to buy some items that are not available in Singapore but the sales person at Gucci told me that they (the sales person) would not be told which are the items available only in Europe. So tant pis!

Eating

In Rome, every corner you turn, you see a restaurant. The only question is price and quality. Unlike in Paris, where bread is served free of charge, here you are charged for the hard and bad tasting bread whether you like it or not. We ate a variety of pasta, pizza, meat dishes, vegetables soup and risotto. The pasta in Italy doesn't really taste like what we are used to back home, but some restaurants do serve really awesome pasta, like the Seafood Pasta I had in Trastevere. There is no lack of meat and seafood in Rome, but it's hard to get sufficient serving of vegetables. There are also many Chinese, Philippino, and African restaurants around town and one night we decided to go Chinese and the fried rice and fried noodles tasted decently delicious, much better than many Chinese food I have tasted in Europe.

Accommodation

Following TripAdvisor's recommendation, I booked 7 nights at Welrome Hotel. Although this is only a 2 star hotel, it is highly recommended by many. In fact, if you ask me, it is more like a B&B. There were only about 7 rooms in the hotel and everything has to be booked and confirmed via email. The hotel owners, Mary de Rosa and her husband were really hospitable. Every night, they would spend time with us telling us what is worth visiting the next day and even lend us books to read up on before we proceed with the visit. Without their help in booking us for Villa Borghese, we might not have been able to visit this wonderful museum. And although they say that breakfast is not provided, they gave us croissants and juices every morning and we can make coffee and tea in our room. The water and drinks they placed in the mini bar is also complimentary, which is a nice gesture, if you ask me. The room is not fantastic but it is decent and clean and comfortable enough. The most surprising move was when we checked out, Mary presented us with a nice little souvenir. It was a silver model of St. Peter's. That is what I call value added service and it is things like that that adds makes the whole trip more memorable.