Alton Towers Adventure

I've been itching to go to Alton Towers and finally, my dream came true. Yes, I am exaggerating here. I love going to Theme Parks although everyone knows how shit I am with rides. :-P We left Reading just after 5 Pm and reached the place after 9PM. It took us 4 hours just to get there cause the GPS couldn't find the place. With no google earth printout back up, we had to follow the Alton Towers signs and ask for directions. We rely so much with Tomtom, it's sad. Ehehe! We got the cutest room(although my photo setting doesn't give it much justice). It was Carribean Themed with vibrant red and blue colours.

Rai and Doris planning the rides

Me and Doris at the breakfast buffet

Photo overlooking the breakfast buffet. We stayed in Splash Landings Hotel.

At the Hotel Reception. Can't resist photo opportunities.

Photo at the Theme Park Entrance. Me and Donna fooling around.

The cuckoo at the Cloud Cuckoo Land. :P

My deadly look.

We woke up early the next day so we can have a proper breakfast and cause we are staying at one of the Alton Towers Hotels, we are allowed to go in an hour early before the Theme Park opens to the public. Talk about special treatment! We started with the Battle Galleons, then Hex, then Rita, then Oblivion, then Nemesis. After Nemesis all 3 of us got dizzy (Rai,my friend who drove, bailed out at this point) so we took the easy rides and at 2PM we left the place. Rai was very tired at this point so we stopped at a service for an hour and was home by 7PM ish. It was a fun day. My friends stay over at my place for a girly gossip.

meat balls

I've been very unproductive today. I skipped walking 2 days in a row, woke up late(I've been waking up late since I lost my job) and I haven't tidied up the flat. So to do something productive, I roll out of bed and went to the grocery to get the ingredients for the meat balls/ pattie that I've been meaning to cook since last night. Yes, I am turning into a domestic goddess these days and that's what I've always wanted to achieve. :-) My cooking was a okay. I just had a slight problem knowing when the ground beef is cook or not. Sorry. It was my first time doing it. I grew up at my dad's side of the family. Everyone seems to be a good cook there especially the guys. They never asked us(my siblings) to do any hour chores or help them out with cooking. Not that we were bunch of spoilt brats but that's how we were brought up. So doing things on my own is a new concept to me when I moved to the UK. In here, we have to do absolutely everything ourselves - no helpers. I loved the independence though. I know that it will prepare me for the future. I should stop rambling now. Time to tidy up and prepare the clothes for tom's adventure.

feeling poorly

I didn't go to college today. I am experiencing muscles aches, headaches and nausea in the past few days. I am going to Alton Towers in Wednesday and I don't want my condition to get into the way so I am taking a full bed rest. Lie. I went out to buy ingredients for our dinner. I promised my mum and my sister that I will be cooking Pasta All Alfredo for them today from the 20 minute cookbook that I found in the piles of books in one corner of the living room and my cooking was a success. :) One step to my dream of being a homemaker. Hahaha!

brows grooming

I went for my first Brow Threading yesterday. Normally, I do my own brow but my friend convinced me that the process is almost painless and she was true to her words. Will post my newly threaded eyebrows later although I have a feeling that Luke finds this post ridiculous!

Updates 18-24 April

My newly purchased Zara dress for £20. I can totally spiced this up with a nice belt and heels and dress it down with flats.

God has been good to me. I've been busy this week. :)

Things that I did so far:

1. Joined the choir. Yes, it came as a surprise to everyone. I know, people know that I can't sing but I recently discovered my head tone voice.

2. I started walking. It is all for fitness' sake. I wanted to do something good for myself. I walked for 2 consecutive days and my legs were sore, big time! Unfit 47kgs lady right there! :-P

3. Caught up with people. This is like a weekly thing for me, I love spending time with my friends. They've been with me thru my ups and downs and I wouldn't trade them for the world!

4. Saw 2 films, I love you, Man and State of Play.

5. Planned for the Alton Towers trip. We only talked about it today and we are going on Wednesday already. Oh shoot, need to book the rooms! It happens that me and my 3 other friends are free and 1 can drive. I am so looking forward to it and shitting at the same time. I don't do well with heights and rides but will do anything for fun this year. Actually, me and Doris were supposed to do a Scotland day trip. Yes, we are both crazy. But going to Alton Towers is more fun. I will push for Scotland next month. *evil laugh*

I Believe(?)

Have you remembered the Sex and the City episode wherein Carrie and Charlotte went to the "I believe" seminar? This was after Charlotte's divorce and she was putting herself out there so she can find "the one". It's been replaying in my mind since I saw a re-run more than a month ago. Segue to present, my friend Melay who is now 30 just found the one. She deserves it. She never stopped believing in love, she put herself out there and she wasn't afraid of failing and trying to meet people until she found him. I remember when she went on a dating frenzy, stopped cause she thought she found the one then the guy just disappeared on her. It never stopped her from trying again. Her man's profile is looking good so far, he is very spontaneous, likes planning with her and taking care of her. He makes sure that she feels secure, she said she have no doubts and they make sure that they talk about their issues. She inspires me.

WARNING : The following statements are cheesy and may cause puking. Stop now if you are allergic. :-P

Here is my new set of standards in relationships:

1. I want an expressive guy. I want to hear those three little words. It is important for me. I am no mind reader.

2. I want a boyfriend/activity partner. I want me and my man to share the same interests or at least we try to do things together that we haven't done before. Planning is different from putting things to action.

3. Travel together. Planning equates commitment for me. If you can't plan a trip abroad or locally for a weekend then I see a commitment problem.

4. I want to be involved in his family. I want to know his family after 6 months of dating. That is long. If he is serious then he shouldn't have doubts or fear about meeting his family.

5. I want to be surprised. Surprises make me feel special. I like to receive flowers.

6. I want to be his priority. I hate to hear that his career is more important than me. I can compromise but he should do the effort as well.

7. I want to feel secure all the time or at least clear my issues. No procrastination. Issues should be discussed and cleared.

8. I want someone who will make me happy and will make me feel like a woman.

....and I all realise these things while I was having my afternoon walk. :-P

Epic Karaoke Day

Here's a photo of me enjoying my Karaoke Day. We filos are weird. We can last the whole day doing Karaoke. Our recent session lasted for more half a day. That didn't include food preparation. Epic, I say! :)

Dress from Zara

PS: I am organising a Paintball session for my post bday celebration. :)

Fishing-Fishing, Fun-Fun!

I am too lazy to drag the photos in order, instead, I will write in captions and hopefully you guys get the full story.

The dogfish killers from Fishing, Day 2.
This is me,trying to kiss the dogfish. This guy jokingly asked me to be his second wife. I laughed.

According to Mr. Sulk, the Ugly Betty look. That's me trying to take a photo with the first fish that we caught on the 2nd day.

My Day 2 outfit. Forgive the ugly face. I didn't shower! - Blazer from Zara, Shirt from Uniqlo, Top worn as Skirt from Primark and Glad Sandals from New Look

Overnight fishing from Day 1. Rai and Kumar fished til 3AM and caught 43 fishes!

That's me trying to throw the fishing rod. I can say, I have 1 out of 10 chance of throwing it properly. :P

Rai doing the BBQ.

Outfit from Day 1 - Blazer from Zara, tube top from Mango, Leggings from Zara and Glad Sandals from New Look

Rai and Kumar setting the fishing rods.

We left Reading at 10:30AM on a Wednesday Morning, Arrive at Kumar's just after 12 to pick up the camping gears and tea break and Finally arrive at Dover at 4PM. We set up our bbq immediately and started fishing. The pier was closed so we settled into fishing in the shore. We didn't caught any fish until after 9PM and our fishing buddies stayed til 3AM. Me and my friend Donna stayed in the tent as it was raining hard with thunderstorms and lightning. She was scared for ourlives but I wasn't. On the contrary, I was enjoying the whole experience. Everyone woke up late the next day and yes, fished on the shore once more. By lunchtime, we were all hungry so we went to the town centre for KFC and fished on the pier. We caught 2 more fishes and went home at 4PM. It was a fun experience for me. I haven't laughed in a long time. I missed myself. Everyone, the crazy Ailema that everyone loved is back! :)

Day 5 - Pisa then home:(

Pisa High Street

The church that was made of Solid Marble.

Dress from New Look, Flats from Primark and Blazer from Zara.

Can anyone please explain this sign to me? No drinking?

Can you see the Leaning Tower of Pisa on the background?

At the bus stop.

Shot on the train back to Rome.

I love Pisa! The place is very relaxed. For our last day, my Aunt took us to see the Leaning Tower. The Piazza is small but impressive. We only spent an hour there as the bus ticket is only valid for 60 minutes and we are time constraint. Yes, it is a bit different in Europe. Back in the UK, you can buy a bus ticket which you can use for a whole day, in Italy, there is an unlimited bus ticket/valid for 60 or 75 minutes. Anyway, we left and went to Pisa Centrale as we need to change our tickets. We bought tickets from Firenze to Rome which is about an hour and a half from Pisa. We want to leave from Pisa and spend more time there. After 3 tries, we succeeded into changing our train tickets and we proceeded to the Pisa High Street. We didn't do any shopping, it wasn't part of our plan. After Pisa High Street, we went to Cinese Ristorante(chinese restaurant) and hurried to Pisa Centrale. The adventure didn't end there...

We got to the Fumicino Airport more than 2 hours before our boarding time. We were assigned to Terminal C but it was closed when we got there. An hour before our flight, me and my sister went to the Information desk and asked about Terminal C and we were told that we should go to Terminal B to get to Terminal C. They didn't leave any signs! We went into an epic queue to get to the Security Control! We only had less than an hour then and we had to ask one of the Security People if we can by-pass the queue, he said yes but when we got to the control, they said that the queue is closed. We had to asked the same Security People for another by-pass and he directed us to another queue. The group in front of us is kind enough to let us into another by-pass. We experience another epic queue in the Passport Control and again, we had to look for another Security Personnel to let us by-pass. It took us 15 minutes to find the right personnel that will let us by-pass. The worst part is, Non-EU passport holders are slower queue and we are Non-EU passport holder. We only had 20 minutes left til our flight, way past over the boarding time. From the Passport Control to Terminal C, we had to run for 10 minutes. From B to C, you had to take a train. KILL ME! We missed the first one as we don't leave our mum behind. When our train arrived, we were all feeling worried that we might miss our flight. We had to do another run again and made it to the finish line. Oh, what an experience! :)

Day 4 - Colloseo, Forum and then to Pisa

Another blog entry with no order. :P

We left early to go to the Colosseo. The queue is long so we figured that if we got there early, we can finish early. We were right, we queued for less than 5 minutes and we used the Roma Pass to by pass all queues again. What a lucky day! After Colosseo, we went to the Forum in Capitoline Hill. Spent 2 hours there and was home by 2PM so we can check out and catch the train to Pisa. At Pisa, my uncle picked us up from the station, he lives 5 minutes away and we had a fantastic Filo Dinner. I can summarise the Italian food in 3 words, Pizza, Pasta and Panini. We were dried up, we want something soupy. :-P We were tired so after dinner we wanted to go straight to bed but my uncle got other plans - a prayer meeting plan that is. Oh boy. We struggled for another an hour and a half.

Shot on the Reception of Hotel Felice. That's what I wore on our way to Pisa.

Outfit - Top from Mango, Flats and Skirt from Primark.

Shot inside the Forum.

I just like this shot.

Outfit - Top from Zara and Flats and Skirt from Primark

Mum wants to have her photo taken with that Tree. She said that they use it in Palm Sunday.

I thought it is funny to take photo of the Lady Tour Bus. Walking ad anyone? :P


The forum still.

Beware of Scammers! Colosseo on the background. This guy asked us if we want to take photo with him, we said yes thinking that it's a good Roman Gesture. He asked for a tip afterwards and my gave him 3 Euros, we haven't got much Euros with us but He asked for more. Scam I say!!! Tip my a**!

Inside Colosseo.

Mummy Dearest and Me inside Colosseo.

Few things that Italy that UK McDonald's don't have. BTW, I go to McDonald's everytime I visit a country. They sell Iced Tea instead of the usual softdrinks and they have the option of normal chips or curly fries. Their bin is automatic - sensor! You don't have to push to throw the rubbish. Another thing, there are few stations at the Metro with automatic cleaning thing. You only have to pay 1 Euro to get in and it cleans itself automatically when you leave. No flushing, no touching, all automatic!

Day 3 - Exploring the Vatican City

Sorry photos are not in chronological order. I wanted too but I was too tired to drag the photos and actually having a hard time doing it. Forgive me. :(

Shot inside the Vatican Museum. Yes, that is painted ceiling right there. They have massive tapestries, sculptures and paintings everywhere. It is very very grand. We are not allowed to take photos on the Sistine Chapel for copy right reasons.

Shot outside the St. Peter's Square.

Shot infront of the St. Peter's Basillica. This is where the Palm Sunday Mass was held.

Shot inside the St. Peter's Basillica.

Shot inside the Vatican Museum.

The old Vatican City entrance according to the Tour Guide. Outfit (no close up) - dress and flats from Primark and belt from Mango.

Pieta.

Day 2 - Vatican City

Attending the mass at Vatican City held by the Pope on a Palm Sunday is the most overwhelming experience of my Spiritual life so far. Why overwhelming you may ask? It is totally unexpected that the mass was held outside the Basillica. The present Pope, Pope Benedict is both rebelious and elusive. The tour guide(again) told us that he stopped doing his Weekly Wednesday Mass and the Palm Sunday Mass was unannounced. We were very lucky to have attended such event. The choir or should I say, the orchestra is very magical. It sounded a bit like the Gregorian Monk. On prayers, one Filo was invited to ask for hers. I was totally surprised. She said her prayers in our Language too. We almost accept the host from the Vatican though. :(

That's the Pope on the screen. :)

Below is a picture of me enjoying my Fragola Gelato (Strawberry Flavour Ice Cream). It was very warm during that day. The mass lasted for more than 2 hours.

Eating makes me happy still.

We went to Piazza del Popolo after lunch and my Gelato session. Must visit in Rome. I love,love the place!

That's a photo of me in the middle of the piazza. To my back is an obelisk. On both sides of the square are fountains, museum on the left, church on the right and park on top. It got everything!
Outfit - Top borrowed from my sister, leggings from Zara and Flats from Primark

From Piazza del Popolo, we went to the Spanish Steps. According to the magazine that I read, this is the equivalent of Bond Street in London where you can purchase high end designer stuffs. Well, not quite on my opinion. They have a very small selection - Gucci, YSL, Missoni but I didn't see any LV.

The tour guide from the first day said that the left side is owned by French Government while the right side is owned by the Spanish Goverment.

We went to take photos of The Valentino Building(yes, the Valentino!), then to Pantheon and took photo with Pinocchio. Exhibit A - Photo shown below. :P

Last stop was Piazza Navona where we had Coffee and Gelato once again. This place looked like an artist centre. Painters in the centre of the piazza and the whole place is lined with either Pizzaria/Ristorante, Coffee shop or Gelateria.

Day 1 - Walking Tour

My sister at the Pizzeria(which don't sell Pizza for lunch)

Unsalted Butter. Yes, sitting on ice. Defo a first for me!

Me and My Mum at the Forum

Outfit - Dress from Topshop(borrowed from my sister), Flats from Primark and Cardigan from Zara

Trevi Fountain

ON THE WAY TO THE AIRPORT

We left home at 3:30AM in the morning with hardly any sleep. I was cramming the night before to get my things sorted for the trip. I was worried that I won't be able to pack pretty clothes. Hahaha! We were in a hurry to go to the bus station and we got there just before the bus left. We arrived in the Airport safe and sound with 2 hours before the check-in. I am tired already thinking about it.

ITALY

It took us about an hour to reach the Hotel from the Fumicino Airport. The Hotel is small contrary to the photo shown on the Internet. Cheap Trick, I say! :-P We only stayed for an hour to freshen up and proceed with our tour of the City. First stop, Colloseo. It was a bit late when we got there so we just walked around the City. I was a bit lost when I got there, probably overwhelmed of the experience. I don't know where to start or where to go. We ended up walking to the Forum and then proceeded to the Spanish Steps where we found a free Roma walking tour. I haven't done any walking tours before so I have no idea how long it will take or what happens in a walking tour. My goodness! It took us 3 hours. We walked from Spanish steps, to Valentino's house, to Pantheon, to Trevi Fountain covering almost every part of Central Rome in a day. We were so tired so we finished the day off with Gelato and Supermercato dinner(supermarket), they actually slice pizza by scissors.

Things that I've learnt from the walking tour:

a. There are 400 churches in Rome

b. 13 obelisks in the whole city, 8 of which came from Egypt. An obelisk with a cross on top means that a church is nearby.

c. The obelisk in Vatican is the only obelisk that doesn't have to be restored, it contains Christ's original cross(the one where he was crucified).

d. Pantheon is a gift from the Geek which the Pope converted to a church.

Day 2 later. :)