A bump in La Spezia

This whole trip has been worked around booking hotels and tickets ad hoc. Therefore our train tkt to Padova today weren't booked yet.

 We woke early this morning to walk down to the train station to settle it before going back to e hotel to pack and leave but met with an obstacle.

The unfriendly lady at the counter snapped at us with minimal english that "THERE'S A STRIKE! No trains to Cinque Terre." We asked about Padova,she replied that there was no direct train to Padova,only through Parma and then Bologna before Padova.

So we wanted the tickets to Parma as we had booked our accomodations id Padova already. She said "THERE IS A STRIKE!"

Sigh.. That was all we could get from her.

After sometime we realised that only selected trains were still running and could not be confirmed til about anhour  before the scheduled time.

We tried asking a taxi how much it would cost from La Spezia to Padova (willing to pay SGD200 for a 3hr drive) but he shocked us when he said it wiuld cost SGD1200!! 

So we gave up, went to order ice coffee, and the girl at the counter said "only ice coffee cream?" So fine,i thought i'll just scoop e whipped cream out. But guess what came to me at the pickup counter?

Literally CREAM, ice cream.

Lol.. Wasn't too bad though.

We then grabbed some delish pastries and headed back to the hotel to pack and wait it out at the train station.

Back at the station,only first class tickets were left for tkts to Milan and she said hopefully there would be a train at Milan to take us towards Padova. Spent SGD150 on the train tickets alone.

It's the most we've spent in train so far.

The train for Milan was delayed BUT efirst  class is awesomee

We managed to get to Padova safely and on time! Next bump was we had no inkling on where the hotel was. We didnt have maps nor did we search the directions beforehand (rookie mistake).

We walked outta e train station and it was raining. 

The day couldn't get worse, only better.

We stopped under shelter for me to cover my miumiu with a raincoat. Yes,bag over self.

And litang went to ask for directions,jackpot! The first guy she asked spoke good english and said he would google map it!

But as god would have it,his phone died before anything could be done.. He said if we dont mind,he has a car,and he would be able to charge his phone.

Wahh.. How good was the day getting? When we got the his car,he opened his boot for our hugeass backpacks and that was when we realised,he was offering us a ride! Not safe generally,but Gian Lucca,was awfully comical in speech and seemed more afraid of us than the other way round.

So we hopped in after confirming again that we weren't troubling him. Found out he studies Physiotherapy in Venice and takes e train over to Venice daily.

We followed him to get some petrol and he managed to find e hotel and dropped us off. 

Here's a pic of our lucky star.

We headed into w hotel which can only be described as a cosy haven with a couple who are alil eccentric, in a good way of course.

Dropped our stuff and went out in search of dinner. It being after 8pm,we only had one choice: frozen pasta from a bar. But it was good!

Met an italian man who kept talking to us in italian. We couldnt understand, he knew we couldnt understand but the conversation went onnn

The one way convo man.

And that was the end of our eventful day!

Tomorrow,Venice awaits.

Wonderful day with wonderful people!

To sum up our wonderful day.

First walked around Padova visiting e sights. The feet were crying by e time we were done.

Met a kind church keeper who let us into e restricted areas of e church!

Then met a man who saw us with a map and approached us to give directions of the tourist spots.

After,we met w our new friend who introduced us to a bunch of other new friends.

Home @ 2.20am.

These are e wonderful people! 

The end of 31st may 2014

A Pakistani adventure

Shogran was where we were to spend 3days at. It was a beautiful resort at e top of a mountain, not near e snow capped areas yet but halfway there.

It was clean and the people were kind though they didnt speak to us girls,a culture where females should not even shake hands with males.

Bathing was a challenge as the staff had to heat e water with fire. Not timing your wash will result with a frozen ass (It really did happen). I had the opportunity to hard a real rifle for the first time in my life,damn was it heavy.

The stars that night were the most beautiful thing i've seen so far!

The back of our resort,the mist was just sneaking upwards

Meals were delicious,as were the rest of Pakistan..we probably gained a kg or two each. The first morning was spent chasing glaciers and we almost died.

Our local jeep driver had warned us of a highly possible avalanche but our dearest Asim had wanted to continue taking peeeautiful pictures. The guide was gonna have a nervous breakdown between smoking and speeding his way to safety. It was such a horrible and traumatizing journey out,i never looked at a jeep the same way again.

At the bottom of our resort,it rained and i was falling sick,the kind driver dug out a shawl for me to cover my head. :)

The next day we climbed the top of shogran to the snowcapped areas. It was a 4hour journey in rain/snowfall in really deep snow. But we did it! 

Us trying a snow angel Hamish made.

Climbing down was as scary as the way up but with more fatigue. I had my playlist to accompany me and Danyal on e way down. Singing our lungs out for no one to hear! The feeling=Freedom.

We then had breakfast back at the resort and slowly made our way back to the mutary quarters for one last night in Islamabad.

We stopped by many places and a lavish hotel,Pearch continental,this was the ritz carlton of pakistan. The security was so tight and we had the most wonderful view of the sunset. 

The view from Pearl Continental

We had also driven past the town of Abbottabad (something) where Osama Bin Laden was hiding. 

The next morning we headed towards Lahore. Stopped by a heritage centre,the grand mosque of Islamabad and salt mines where girls came up to us for pictures (told u we were aliens!)

We reached Lahore at 11pm dead tired and Asim checked us into Pearl Continental Lahore (a different

We soen one from before) Oh,the smile that was on my face when i entered the room. Think it lit up the whole city. Was beyond excited for the civilisation the night few nights.

The security of our hotel taken from our window.

The following day,Dr asim's father,a professor of botany in the Lahore University picked us up from the lobby and took us around to the grand mosque of Lahore,older and more beautiful than the one is Islamabad. We were stared and commented on by passerbys but we got used to it. He also brought us to his university for a walk and some snacks before he drove us back to e hotel for a rest. Dinner at 8pm to be met at e lobby by Shamila and him again!

They never let us outta their sights except in the hotel,for that we are thankful. We headed to a nearby "mall" it was an open concept with shops,restaurants and even a themepark by the roads.

Shamila may be a woman in Pakistan but she was tall and commanding,no one in their right mind would even think to approach us ^^ very strong aura around her which we grew so fond of.  

We had a very veryy good dinner again before heading back to crash.

Dinner with Dr Asim's kind sister and father.

The next morning was the day of the conference. Prof Lomanto was in attendence as well! 

The profs who came visiting

We spent the whole morning and most if the afternoon watching the two men do live surgery and finally headed to the borders of Pakistan and India where there was a show of soldiers. We webt with a priority of one of the Pakistani MOs whose grandfather was some big shot in the military. We had VIP seats (tho we remained standing) and tea. We then headed for dinner with the whole team of Pakistani GI doctors. From the clinical fellows to the chief of surgery at a restaurant with the best night view of the grand mosque.

The next morning a MO, Raj, drove us to the airport and ensured us a safe entry to the transit. 

How kind was the hospiality that Dr asim arranged for us? We felt like princesses in a foreign country,fat princesses for sure. Without him or his family,we would probably be slaughtered. Kidding. 

Heartfelt thanks to our kind surgeon.

Basically,tourism in Pakistan is NEAR impossible without a local you can trust of you are female and asian. 

But it was an awesome,once in a lifetime experience in this untouched beauty of a country.

The preparation

Looking back at how much we prepared for the trip..

Seems like most of them was useless.

Badically,the most important thing is to decide what countries are the MUST GOs and saving money.

We had a very specific travel plan but it has changed so many times that now we have just a general outline on which direction of the earth we are going.

I was prepared to resign from my job as a clinic coordinator even though i loved it.

This was something i HAD to do now or literally never. I didnt expect the clinic to wait for me as that was practically impossible. But when i let known the plan,i had to try. And i got what was the best deal ever. An 11 month no pay leave from the managers. 

Of course,i didnt like the fact that i had just put a deadline on my dream but i had to be practical and my heart wouldnt let me give up the family i had found at the clinic.

Company D&D

My team of neurosurgeons during Prof Yeo's Xmas dinner.

So the actual first step was done: settling e job.

Next was breaking the news to the family,mainly the mum. Slowly and bit by bit. She's still not too happy after i had left but she has accepted it somehow. Daily updates vis Whatsapp is still inisisted upon.

After that,we booked our flights. THIS was by far the most exciting yet scary step.

As we were lucky enough to have a very kind Pakistani Dr at e clinic,he had instilled e idea of visiting Pakistan. He agreed to bring us around and host us.

So tickets to Islamabad via Bangkok was booked (SGD700). The plan was to tour e city of Islamabad for a few days then drive down to Lahore for a conference before leaving Pakistan.

We also booked Lahore to Athens,Greece, transiting in Dubai for 5nights (SGD800)

So far the cost of these 3 countries were an estimated SGD1500 and we were pleased.

As the days passed,our hearts beat faster and our packing lists got longer.

Goodbye meals and meetups were almost a daily thing.

The hardest was the family, especially the eldest sister and the youngest. Tears were shed the night before.

Had the thought that i wouldnt be sent off but e mum,dad,aunt,tommy and zuraidah came! :)))

Of course a lil crying from e mum..who hardly ever cries. 

She was visibly happier after Dr Asim introduced himself with much confidence and truth that we would be in his safe hands.

We took off w Dr asim towards Bangkok and then Islamabad and reached near 10pm where he had a military friend to pick us up.

The airport had NO women. All men whi stared at us like we were aliens (which i guess we were).

 We were driven to a bed&breakfast of a military sort. It was guarded by soldiers and only military people had the access to book this place to sleep. The toilet..had a stench and the blanket was.. Questionable but it was safe and that was what mattered.

The next morning we woke to eggs and bread,donned our Punjabi suits and were ready for a journey to the top of the mountains w asim's family.

His mum,a total darling, his sister and her 2 sons. They were kind and so friendly throughout our whole journey in Pakistan.

Dr asim w me and Nessa at CharlesTan's opening.

Sons far left and right,Litang,momma shabbir,me and shamila.

The journey up was wonderful,there was this beautiful place where the chairs were placed between waterfalls and you could have fried potato and hot tea. 

The adventure of Pakistan shall start soon!

Starting anew this 2014

Can't believe im back on blogger.

Im thinking no one would read these posts but me. But i've decided to come back on for the sake of memories.

I've embarked on a loong journey backpacking a month ago.

16th April to be exact.

And this is gonna be my outlet as of today.

When im all grey and 75, i shall switch on my grandchild's laptop and read all these sweet memories.

So no complaining or anger shall be remembered as of now.

I shall rise.

It's currently 1.27am at La Spezia, Italy.

litang is sleeping while im doing this.

It's our last night here. Tomorrow we move on to Padova for 3 nights and then Milan for another two.

Today, we visited Cinque Terre, so far,this is my favorite place due to e sea and the crashing waves. 

While walking e coast,i can imagine coming back here with a husband for an awesome honeymoon. Weird but the thought just came.. Let's see what the future holds.

Will be doing some backdated blogger the next few days. 

The journey so far: 

Singapore- Pakistan- Dubai- Greece- Italy. 

tut room

In a tut room now.. The bigger ones..
The one we took e elective class in..
Wad elective qwas it? Some psychology elective?
The one we all went just for ivanloh?
LOL!
It was soooo funny!
Gosh....
Memories of nyp can kill me wid laughter.

nostalgia

I'm at nyp's library for a module in e UOS course..
Friggin 2 hours early for class but its fine..
Walkin thru e middle part from e carpark to e library brings me back to those days I walked the same path wid Marie n Farhana..
Walking into e library,the familiar "teeeee" sound tt's in my earphones when I pass e electronic beeper at the library.
And walkin thru e cafe where me and yap's favv hot dogs are..
And to e health science section where niz,sexy,goli,paul,bhinisa have stationary places.
Mostly ahyap. I dunno why.. Mabbe cos marie was hardly in school?
And ahyap and me always slacked at e sides of e library wid our earpieces. Her ugly mp3 and near e window chairs. Wid leehom(who is playing RIGHT NOW in my ipod) and weibo..
Ahahhaha.. The memories.
Memories tt brings us back to astro.

school starts

Cud it be tt I forgot tt I've once shook president nathan's hand?
LOL! So here I am blogging to help me rmb tt I did last year during e istana nurse's day event!
Tmr school orientation,9-5pm. SIM,uni of sydney.
Its close to 2am and e alarm is set in 4 hrs time.
I can't sleep!
Have loads to update!
Like how I left e ward,how friggin sad it was..
And suju's concert! BOTH!
How I shook donghae's hand! Wahhahahhaha!
<3
K I'm off to try n slp again.
Will hafta update soon. Memory's failing.
Mum is wayyy worse. A lil worried.

tendered-resignation-day

Hi me! and possibly Winnie.
I've tendered my resignation today.
It was a relief,after holding on for 2 years,it's done.
Its e kinda relief like a patient on dopamine,off dopamine but still hanging on for dear life.
After 2 years of gasping,i let go.
Sad of course,no doubt but a relief somehow.
As i expected,the troubles i'll face after resigning wouldn't be coming from myself
but more of my colleagues whom i've been so reliant on.
Sure,my kaki babis have left me alone to die in e wd but i survived
but these group of friends are of a different kind.
It pains me to hear u cry,get upset or angry for me
It's gonna be tough on my last day.
LOL,im laughing now thinking of what a scene i'm gonna cause on my last day.
The thought of clearing my locker makes my smile die off.
I'll miss 44 with all my heart and soul.
But life demands a change,no matter how comfy and happy i am there.
And i've decided on e next step.
Studies. WHICh,if u noe me,is a HUGE joke. LOL!
I'm leaving with the hope that we can maintain a good relationship,tho hard.
One can always hope.

ok much to update yo..

The Mnet concert was sooo GOOD! Joycey went down at midnight tho Q-ing didnt start til officially 6 plus..

We managed to get e blue tags for e first 500 ppl to enter e concert grounds

and thanks to homework (a MUST for every concert) we knew where e stage was coz all e other fans went to Q at e walkway thinking there was no main stage as it was covered

=D

We were RIGHT INFRONT!With at least 10,000 ppl behind us,we didnt get squashed much cept when stupid 2pm started giving out roses -_-''

Maknae was soo hot!

And SeulOng of coz
Did NOT get a single proper pic of DJ as he was in e weirdest mood and kept moving.

so iritatinggg But seulOng made my day.

Next up,took out all e 4 wisdom tooth/teeth yesterday under G.A

So i was put to sleep and intubated with a freaking laryngoscope.

So effing scared i was pushed into e operating theatre waiting and waiting for CandyLee to appear and when she did..

OMG cryyyyyy ahahaa,now funny,tt time scared like siao.

So im still at mum's place,drinking campbell soup for lunch and dinner. The teeth are as shown above.
Im talking, but my tongue and nerve is giving me a lil problem,so im praying it aint gonna be permanent

tmr's alester's brthday inviting a couple of frens over to celebrate,gonna use up my fisheye film,hopefully coz its loong due,wanna see pics!!!
=D ok,signing out.
cant wait to tender.. bonus will be near 3K

im 22!

I'm back from germany/austria!

And i'm 22 todayyy!

PJ party started out as 5 ppl. LOL,tot it'll end with 8 ppl

But surprise surprise,some people actually DID show up.

LOL!

We drank soo much beer during this trip tt i can feel a BEER belly not just a fat belly coming up

Sound of music gardens. Mirabell? Miramell? whichever la hor

Autumn transits to Winter

On top of some Castle We had fun,a lil tension on and off,but nothing new.

=D

Glad to be back under e sun tho.

Piggy called to say tt we got tkts to e suju concert yay!

and she managed to earn 900 bucks from reselling.. o_O

anyway sam and nessa n nang n shufen oso managed to get e same pitt as us! YAY!

Winnie... sigh

Anyway,this whole suju thing is in jan.

Kinda tells me how fast time is passing. The party's over,D&D's over,Holiday's over..

Soon,i'll hafta tender.

Cant wait yet cant bear.

But at least i know this time i don't have a choice to back outta it.

yay.. 2 more nights to AL

It's been a Full Year since e trip to London.
And 9 months since N.Z in Feb..
It's time for e party on Monday and flight on Wed.
Omo. Mad excited.
T.o.t.a.l.l.y gonna freeze my ass in Bavaria/Austria but looking forward!!
Much needed break.
The ward's a lil messy now,God has NOT been treating me well AT ALL.
With the he-who-must-not-be-named around. Fuckin suay.
Might as well gimme a pen and paper for my will.But so far so good.
Think tt was the last i will be seeing of him today. *PRAYS*
Awaiting the party. Lemme enoy myself and fly with a happy heart pls.
Spent MAD amount of $$ on e party and one prepping for the trip.
Best part is haven even fly yet,spend like siao alr.
tsk.On a more fearful note,gonna go to e Dental Clinic tmr. (yes,on my OFF day)
See how's e wisdoms doing back there,how we gonna dig them out *cringes*
And meeting WinnieKoh for T.O.P's show.. FINALLY.
cannot wait.

...

So.. the cruise came through
Me and Sheral went up..
Ate dinner. Watched a play.
Ate Supper. Slept.
Ate Lunch. Slept.
Ate an early dinner. Casino.
Ate a 2nd dinner. Slept. Watched a topless show.
Ate supper. Slept.
Ate breakfast.
We spent our days eating and sleeping! THE WHOLE 3 DAYS!
wahahaha. Supposed to take time off to rethink my life.
But no time as we were rushed to eat and sleep.
Life was good those few days.

So i came back from e cruise to a ward that didnt plan to dress up. So being e new annoyed me,i sold my tkt.
Good thing coz mum was not in s'pore either.
Missed D&D,a lil sad but.. whatever.
Shant make too huge a deal outta it.
Met Nessa on fri to hunt for my Polaroid.
Shud be getting e bulky Instax 210,i likey <3
Met Gladys on sat for a massage and damn gd dinner at her place.
Met Nessa AND Gladys on sun for e usual Prawn mee and to pay for e upcoming trip to bavaria and austria.
TOO cheap! Much discounts we got. *jumps!
The schedule as of now is.. PM shift tmr..
AM shift. DO(dental),N,N,RD,party,packing day,flight,freeze til 26th and im back.

=) party party party

Back from a loooong day.

Headed to SIM to pay for the course..

Met Joycie who followed to Mt Sophia to check out e function room for e 15th nov party.

Dropped her and picked up Don for a great jap dinner and Udders dessert.

Chocomintyballs & Hazelnuts

Booked my catering and kinda confirmed my cake.

So i guess no cupcakes. Too ex.

The balloons guy has not replied me.. -_-''

So we're just awaiting that as of now.

I'm hoping to make it for a cruise this weekend..