refreshing perspective

Great Skies, Peaceful Slopes

commentarie — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 15:33:57 +0000

On My Way Home

commentarie — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:28:34 +0000

Alone for 6 months, the friends and people i met,

the cities, towns and culture i experienced,

it was worth it all.

worth it because i knew what it meant to come home,

to Singapore, where my ability of expression is natural and comfortable,

where i missed everything that i had not opened my eyes to treasure before.

as i trodded past the streets of Florence, its beauty was captivating.

sure, but not overpowering my urge to envision my way home in a few days time.

pisa was the last, it was quick.

as everyone leaned and the world flew by, i was almost on my way back after 6 months.

it felt as if i was just 100km away.

and soon it was time,

for the annual National Day Parade, all too familiar.

Florence is Pretty, Terribly.

commentarie — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:18:37 +0000

The 2nd last city on my Europe 30 days travels, Florence was a destination where i really had time for myself, to sit in the hostel and watch aircrash videos without having to worry about lack of time or the incessant need to prepare for the day. 5 days to cover Florence was an awfully long period thus the bigger rest time. By then I was quite ready to head back to Sunny Singapore and it was already 6 months since I left home for USA and Europe.

Nonetheless, I soaked up quite a bit of atmosphere in Florence that gave me a gaping lecture on renaissance beauty and the aura it exudes. The food was great, as I indulged in pizza and foccacia for most of my meals and even tried rabbit’s meat. The most extravagant dining came here as well as I sat in one of my favourite restaurant, munching on rabbit and a full course meal with per person tax . Oh wells, pizza was also memorable as I bought take away and had it either in the hostel while catching World Cup actions or sitting along the slopes of Piazza Pitti having my meals and watching the crowd go by. I also caught the most dramatic soccer match of the 3rd-4th placing for the World Cup at the Piazzale Michelangelo overlooking the entire city of Florence with a crowd that went wild with all the action. Alas and most importantly, the sights of Florence were the final icing on the cake and I was ready to make my way home after a satisfying 6 months away.

Hope you will enjoy Florence beauty as much as I did, deeply.

Rome Could Not Have Been Built In a Day

commentarie — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 15:32:44 +0000

All roads lead to Rome. The adage is probably outdated today but it is definitely a sight to be at the place where it was once considered the centre of the world. it was the place where the Rome empire took flight, overpowering the Greeks and their influence, turning and shaping the engineering of today. their architecture is by far the greatest and most assertive on the culture of today.

from Rome, with peace.

Enroute to Rome

commentarie — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:50:40 +0000

At Frankfurt Hanh, a popular transit airport frequented by RyanAir, scores of travellers populate the empty airport that was closed for the night. thankfully upon reaching Frankfurt Hanh at 1130pm, as with most other passengers on similar scheduled flights, it was opened (with aircon blasting) to travellers to take a nap while we waited for the early morning flights out the next day. Following such an ardous itinerary of coming in late at night, having a short sleepover and leaving on the flight at 6am, helps save plenty of $ during travels in Europe given the extremely cheap RyanAir cost structure.

but i swear i slept no more than2 winks that night.

The Lush History of the World in Berlin

commentarie — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 08:54:16 +0000

Berlin has an indescribable beauty.

rich and visual.

Land of Cheese, Windmills and Water

commentarie — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:25:39 +0000

and so this is the Netherlands, aka Holland. a plane leaving contrails in the skies is pretty commonsight in europe and US probably given the packed-ness of flights daily. the EU flag flies beside the flag of the netherlands in this beautiful outskirt location near Egmond an Zee, about an hour north west of Amsterdam.

The Pearl of the Czech Republic

commentarie — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 06:20:52 +0000

i have always likened the sights of the czech republic with that of greece and morocco.

how i wish to visit greece and morocco too.

Vibe of Paris

commentarie — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 16:05:46 +0000

Paris, a huge wish on the genie list of many, is definitely not as romanticised as it really is but it is special. really special. special for the fact that the entire Paris is flat, and a homogenous height of buildings “pierce” into the city skyline. only Rue de Rennes and the Eiffel tower truly penetrate the skies.

it was an enjoyable trip to french territory, slightly damaged by their snobbishness, some sucky hostel that did not come that cheap for its lousy service and some angst from sheer weariness given i had already been travelling for 1month plus without much significant rest, all the way from US to europe.

it was where i met my Singaporean friend in the subway of Paris in the most impossible manner of bumping into one another.

it was where i enjoyed slacks for the first time, going into the night with only a hoodie where temperatures went really low.

it was where i tried to stand down, wear shorts, sling dslr, carry tripod, walk around, eat macs, eat street side stalls and yet no one even tried to snuff me out how best i tried.

Oh wells, that aside, it must have been a worthy payback to watch the world cup finals along the grass patches of the famous Eiffel tower area. and what more, to watch France lose to Mexico. that night was memorable and i screamed with the mexicans in the predominantly french territory. awesome. at least that’s the best apart from the soccer season that was not in town during my presence.

Scottish Land of Haggis and Harry Potter

commentarie — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 09:34:56 +0000

The sights along the highways traversing in England are dull and a nap is always a finer choice. But once the bus began to trod into Scottish land, the greenery, the landscape, the light from the setting sun still stay fresh in my mind. i am in scotland.

anyway Scotland is a really nice place with quite a bit of sights. prefer more urban setting and Glasgow is a wonderful choice. very vibrant, crowded, plenty of shopping and modernity – very close to home. Edinburgh on the other hand, which is the only other scottish land i stepped foot on, is a bit more laid back, more touristy, less crowded. BUT, with a terribly good university smacked on the foot of a huge hill (in Singapore, i guess it is a mountain). And also arthur’s seat peak which needs quite abit of energy to climb! so it kinda compensates with gorgeous landscapes i guess.