Brogue! Brogue!

I wasn't a happy bunny today. I did my usual pamper me fabulous thursday, tidy up and met up with my friend Donna to vent out my emotional garbage. :( The thing with me and Donna is that, whenever we're together, we ended up shopping. I got a pair of underwear, 3 boxers and a pair of brogue. Guess Christmas came early for me.

Gap white tank top, Matthew Williamson for H&M sarong worn as scarf, cheap jeggings(treggings as the call it in the UK) and a primark brogue.

For this style, I had teal, electric blue and orange to choose from.

Girl Friend Weekend Day 1: Reflex Bar

I'm most nervous to take Doris to the 80s bar simply because among us 4, she got the highest expectations. Did you remember the Edinburgh 5 star hotel incident? Yeah the one with, the picture on the website doesn't match what I see in present scenario. When I picked her up from town centre, I had no choice but to put those expectations down to the floor. Told her that I haven't been to the bar and to expect nothing but 80s songs and people in costumes.

So 80s! :)

Disco Ball! Is there a bar with disco ball still?

I have no idea what this sign supposed to represent. Grease? HELP!

That was 2 pitcher worth of alcohol. We had 5 pitchers of cocktail split between the 4 of us. We are not alcoholic, we have high tolerance for alcoholic drinks! LOL!

Blue Lagoon is good!

She thinks blue lagoon plus long island is better.

This is what I wore that night. Sequined top from Primark, Black Leggings from H&M and My Zara Gladiator Heels. Forgive me for wearing the same shoes over and over. I shipped all my heels back home.

Random Fact from the night out:

1. As soon as we sat on our table, one guy approached us and asked us if we were really girls. I told them that we're not Thai and def not a lady boys.

2. Doris kissed a 19 year old Brit guy. I gave someone a peck on the lip so he can go away and stop bugging me. Darlene was speaking with a brit when she held his face and gave him a kiss. 3 different instances, same guy. LOL!

3. We went to the pole and dance. I am a full pledged pole and ledge dancer.

4. Someone gave Doris an unwelcome peck on the forehead. The guy looked like Matt Lucas from Little Britain.

5. I learnt to appreciate the don't stop me now song after 5 pitchers of cocktail.

6. We walked home bar feet as we were all in high heels pain and had hot and spicy chicken and chips before we all retreat to bed.

7. We changed our names that night. Doris was Bianca, Darlene was Daniella, Donna was Cassandra, Cassie for short(her words, not mine) and I was known as Alex.

8. My friends played(or should I say flirted) with the guys with ice. So much ice licking happened that night. Use your imagination. Couldn't take photos. My camera died on me.

9. I tipsy called(I didn't get drunk) 3 of my friends to get away from the guys who were bothering our group. Boys are like bad nightmare sometimes. They wouldn't go away!

It was a fantastic night. It was a success! :)

The drama behind the Portsmouth/Gosport Trip

I was very tired Friday night. I went to catch up with friends and I didn't get home til midnight. I then woke up at 6AM the next day. My sister was nagging the whole time, complaining about her course work deadline and how she doesn't want to go on a trip with us. She felt like she was obliged to do it. My mum told her not to come but she kept on talking for at least two hours until I got fed up and said F*ck off. She was hurt but I had to do it. Man up I say.

I was swearing the whole time we were on the bus. I have a very good reason this time, I was holding my pee and travel time took almost 2 hours. What's worse, we were on the slow lane. I definitely damaged my reputation. Oh well, as I always say, the damaged has been done. Anyway, it was a fun day. As soon as we get to Portsmouth, we took the ferry to Gosport so we can get a good angle of the Spintaker Tower. :-P No seriously, Gosport was recommended by my Kuya Mike's officemate. The place was okay. I've never seen so much retired people in my life. His friend is over 60 by the way. No wonder he liked the place. We left Gosport after lunch and went to Nando's(I am on Nando's diet now). We took photos in Portsmouth and went in a big ship that they turned into a museum. Bonus points for the steam engine festival. Fun day all in all. :)

Dear Mum and Kuya Mike both in Red. :)

Me and My Mummy dearest.

Everyone seems to like the unwashed hair look. What do you think people?

Yeah, smile random kid! :P

Plant sale in Gosport.

Flying Kissu!

Tank Dress and Green Cardigan from Zara bought over 2 years ago,Sandals(which I am working to death at the moment) and ethnic necklace from New Look, bag from Primark and very old Jacket from Maldita

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.