My Bucket List

The movie “The Bucket List” which i have posted about and its featured sometimes on HBO made me think about my own Bucket List. I realised that uppermost of my list would be to visit Italy.

My trip should ideally cover Rome/Milan/Venice/Florence/Pompeii  . I want to see the lost city of Pompeii and enjoy a hot air balloon ride in Tuscany. I am sure lots of pasta, Chianti, pizza and cheese will be consumed on this trip. Not forgetting the Italian coffee and ice cream!!Just thinking about it keeps me working and saving for that day!!  Shortest period to cover all would be 2 weeks!!  Anyone knows any budget tours that will cover all those places?

In the meantime, i think i will have to content with googling about these places.

Rome, the 'Eternal City'(La Chita Eterna), is the capital of Italy and of the Lazio (Latium) region. It's the famed city of the Seven Hills, La Dolce Vita, the Vatican City and Three Coins in the Fountain. The Historic Center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A view of Rome with the Vatican City on the right.

Central Rome

Rome can be divided into several districts. The so-called historical center (centro storico) is quite small, only around 4% of the city's area. This is mainly made up of Old Rome and Colosseo. Districts are explained below:

Rome's central districts

Modern Center  Hotels, shopping, and dining located here.

Old Rome The Centre of the Roman medieval and Renaissance periods with the plazas, cathedrals,the Pantheon etc.

Vatican The Papal City State needs no intro.

Colosseo The heart of ancient Rome with the Colosseum, Forums and Markets of Trajan etc.

North Center Home to the Spanish Steps and the elegant neighbourhoods of Parioli and Salario

Trastevere Full of cobbled streets and lonely plazas that served as inspiration to famous artists.

Aventino-Testaccio Off the beaten path neighborhoods with truly great Italian food.
 

Esquilino-San Giovanni Indoor market, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele and the Cathedral of Rome Saint John

Nomentano Vibrant night life in San Lorenzo.

 Pompeii is a ruined and partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, its sister city, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning two days in 79 AD. The eruption buried Pompeii under 22 meters of ash and pumice, and it was lost for nearly 1,600 years before its accidental rediscovery in 1592. Since then, its excavation has provided an extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a city at the height of the Roman Empire. Today, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Italy, with approximately 2,500,000 visitors every year.^[1]

Temple of Jupiter with Snow-Capped Mount Vesuvius Volcano in the Background, Pompeii, Campania (Italy)

Milan isn't one of the not-to-be-missed cities of Italy. Yet it is certainly not without its attractions. From the Castello Sforzesco, a castle right in the middle of downtown Milan, to the famous Gothic Duomo (it's magnificent facade undergoing restoration when these pictures were taken), Milan has its charm and its...shopping, of course. It's the fashion capital not only of Italy, but of the world.

Florence (Italian: Firenze listen (help·info), pronounced [fiˈrɛntse]; alternative obsolete spelling: Fiorenza, Latin: Florentia) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 367,569 inhabitants (1,500,000 in the metropolitan area). This is the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and regarded as the art capital of Italy.

It has been the birthplace or chosen home of many notable historical figures, such as Dante, Boccaccio, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Niccolò Machiavelli, Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, Donatello, Galileo Galilei, Catherine de' Medici, Antonio Meucci, Guccio Gucci, Salvatore Ferragamo, Roberto Cavalli, Florence Nightingale and Emilio Pucci.

View of Florence city

Tuscany Valley

Venice (Italian: Venezia [veˈnɛttsia] ( listen), Venetian: Venesia; in honor of goddess Venus) is a city in northern Italy known both for tourism and for industry.  Venice has been known as the "La Dominante", "Serenissima", "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Masks", "City of Bridges", "The Floating City", and "City of Canals". Luigi Barzini, writing in The New York Times, described it as "undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man". Venice has also been described by the Times Online as being one of Europe's most romantic cities.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Its another long weekend… and what better way to start it than with a good laugh!!

Why the chicken ACTUALLY crossed the road?

At last, an answer to that burning question!!

Central World Bangkok

June 2007- One  of my fav shopping centres in BKK . Last time i went there…look at how nice it was.

May 2010- reduced to blackness!!

Fires at 39 sites still simmered but most had been extinguished. Central World, Southeast Asia's second-biggest department store, was mostly destroyed, many of its steel beams had collapsed and its windows shattered

Sad case….Bangkok, Thailand. Sigh..no more a shopping paradise! Hopefully the violence stops soon…what happen to “mai pen rai”?! 

Life..

"Life and love is like the ocean," she muses. "Sometimes the tide is in and sometimes the tide is out, and sometimes it's like the frigging Mojave." Right now, she jokes, "For me? It's Mojave! Fortunately, I like the desert. I'm a desert flower."

(Sharon Stone)

McDonald’s Breakfast

Have you tried the McD’s brekkies? This is the pancakes that we wanted to try for so long and finally one day before 11am, we managed to get one! Syd paid for it and remarked so cheap…RM4.20 which is 2 pc of pancake and a cup of tea/coffee(refillable).

So we kinda kedekut this day and shared one. Butter and syrup was more than enough compared to A&W’s where they just give a small little tub and have to pay extra if you want additional. But A&W’s waffles are the bomb!

McD’s pancakes okok only! Others would prefer the other breakkie sets and i would try them another day!   I’m loving it!

Mother’s Day Treat

Another Mother’s Day just passed and just spent it with my darling girl Sydney. She treated me to Monte’s at Bangsar Shopping Complex. All the pics are taken by her which explains the better quality!

Anyway Monte’s was packed that day with many patrons celebrating the day with their mothers. So we managed to get just a 2-seater near the windows which was kinda bright! Service was also slow and the food came abit cold. However to give them  credit, the service was always with a smile and the food still delicious.

Buns were not warm at all which made Syd remark that they were like the airline buns!

Baked scallops in a minty olive oil sauce that was absolutely delicious.

To keep things healthy we ordered the Smoked Salmon Salad. 

Before we dived into one of my fav ie. Peppermint Lamb.

Well anyone who is a parent knows our kids grow up and things are never the same…..no more cute little cards they hand-make for you and sweet butterfly kisses.

But v parents learn to adapt and accept them as ‘almost-adults’ cos there is no other choice, right?!

We  pray and hope they dont make the same mistakes as us and thank God for moments like these when they show us…deep down they are still the same adorable little babies we give birth to and cherish…

Din Tai Fung Restaurant

Heard much about this restaurant and finally had a chance to try it in Pavillion Level 6. This is the Chinese version of fast food so dont worry that you have to wait too long for your food.

The kitchen is located at the front of the restaurant and deco is simple and yet comfortable. The only grouse was that the air-conditioning wasnt too good and it got pretty hot whilst eating.

The menu with pics and easy to order.

Xiao long bao is a must try and so we ordered the mixed combo of crab meat and pork for a promo price of RM20.80.

The soup was plentiful but taste wise , i think Dragon-I’s much better. And i would leave out the crab meat one if i were to come again.

The Hot and Sour Soup was pretty good tho at RM7.50.

This is their House Special Tofu RM15.80 served on a bed of spinach. Can try!

We didnt order dessert cos we were sweating already and went for dessert elsewhere. Quite surprising cos Pavillion’s air conditioning is pretty cold so its probably becos of the location of the kitchen in front which is affecting the air inside!

Would try a diff seating area the next time. Avoid the left hand side eventho it looks cosier and more private!   

Nobody

This song seems to be taking the world by storm. Its so catchy that even I am humming/singing this sometimes. lol

This is the original version.

And this is the Japanese Baby Wonder Girls wannabes…so cute and funny!! Click on both to see which you like more. Hilarious.

Growing old…

 

Lot 10 Hutong

This is fast becoming everyone’s favorite hawker stall food court! And its completely NON-HALAL! So be forewarned.

Incase you dont believe me, look at this roasted pork knuckle we had last Saturday!! Shared this with my bro and we almost couldnt finish it.  And Patrick is a monstrous meat eater!! He also had a beer to top this off while i opted for a more fat-clarifying pot of green tea from the dimsum stall.

Comes with ketchup, mustard sauce and brown sauce for dipping. Costs around RM35 if not mistaken. The skin was not really that crispy tho but the meat was tender and delicious. For that price, once cant be too demanding i suppose.

Lot 10 Hutong is touted as Malaysia’s “Best of the Best” Street Comfort Food. It offers 26 of the country’s best eateries that have survived the 3rd and 4th generations.

Some of the notable ones include Petaling Street’s Kim Lian Kee Fried Hokkien Mee, Ho Weng Kee’s Wanton Mee, Imbi Road’s Pork Noodle, Hon Kee’s Cantonese-style Porridge, Soong Kee’s  Hakka Style Beef Noodle, Campbell’s Teochew style  Mini Popiah(Spring roll), Ma Sang Kor’s  Bak Kut Teh besides Ipoh’s Chicken Rice and Penang Style Delicacies.

All under one Air conditioned Roof!!!

Location: LG Floor Lot 10 Shopping Centre