Two.:.Four.:.Six

To ah bu, thank YOU for doing such a wonderful job. All these years of nursing, caring, cleaning, cooking, working, providing and simply giving, you never quite ask for much. I applaud you for your selfless act. I know you were sad and lost when you got retrenched, it's after all what you have been doing for 30 over years and you wondered what else you can do. You considered collecting dishes at the hawker centre and luckily you listened to us and decided otherwise. You worked at the childcare centre for a month and that didn't work out. Finally, you found joy in the recent job and thankfully, the tasks are easy and the people are nice. Well, perhaps you didn't realise that you have undertaken the toughest job in the world all these years and no matter what, you are already the best, if not doing the best you can. Of course, there were times I wished you would do certain things differently and there were times I didn't agree with you (I still don't, ha) but wh...

My first Rome experience was a brief one. Arrived from Singapore later than expected and sick! One of the worst things to happen to a traveller at the beginning of the trip. And so we only had one day to visit Colosseum, Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain. Since then, I've always wanted to return to visit the Vatican and explore more of Rome. Since Emirates doesn't fly out of Florence but via Rome instead, I thought why not stop over for a few days. We arrived on a Saturday at the unintended train station - yes I booked us 'wrong tickets' but was aware of this prior. It's slightly further than the Termini Station (Rome's main station) and costs us about 16 euro (I think) to the hotel, Inn Rome Room and Suites. The hotel is part of a building on the second floor and it took us awhile to find it. We were circling at the first floor, partly in denial we had to climb the flight of stairs with our bags to reach the hotel, until one of the hotel staff popped her...

I've heard so much about Florence's shopping and have regretted choosing Milan over it the last time so this trip's main objective is to cover Florence. Mr Grumpy is fully aware. Just that I used Liverpool as a bait :) Anyway, we took the Tuesday 6pm Ryan Air flight from Liverpool to Pisa and arrived at 9+ local time.  It's a budget airline and tickets are relatively cheap but do take note of the extra charges especially baggage. It's cheaper to pay for these prior and not upon check in. Even printing of e-tickets require a crazy fee if you do not do so prior! I didn't read that each passenger has to have his/her e-ticket separately and printed both on the same paper. Had to ask the hotel to make a copy for us in the end. Also, each passenger is allowed to check in one bag not more than 20kg and they do not allow you to share the weight limit. They are really strict with hand carries - each has to fit into the measuring casing and we saw a poor guy perspiring ...

We are back. And yes, two weeks flew by just like that. As much as it's good to be home, I began to think about the next holiday the next day after our return. The thought of not seeing any in sight and returning to work on Monday pains me a little. Oh well, fun's over and here I am reminiscing the trip. We flew with Emirates again and while I thought we managed to grab a really good deal - S$2200+ for two, I failed to realise there's a 1.5hr stopover at Colombo. The good thing is transit at Dubai was a quick one and we saved a few hundreds with this route. I was so tired I was drifting in and out of slumberland throughout the 13hr flight and only woke up to watch two movies and had 4 seafood meals. The flight from Dubai to London had me sit beside a young New Zealander who was travelling on his own for the first time and threatening to vomit. Thankfully he didn't and we arrived in London at local time 1pm with Uncle Bruce greeting us at the arrival hall. He ...