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its surreal
First night out. one of the first sighing of the Annapurna Range. See out little red tent! (actually, it's not little at all, quite long and comfy)
So, here's abit on the Himalayan mountains now and more to come on the mountains and Kathmandu city later :)
We went on the Panchase trek. It's an easy trek by Nepalese standard(we suspect they could have completed the whole trek in 2 days max) but still proved to be much of an experience for us. Panchase is not as common as Poon hill and it's further by distance to the Annapurna range, but pretty all the same.
I guess i am overwhelmed.
Me, i was never a trekker (some friends will remember the screaming experience i had once in Hanoi and that was a 2 hour climb), so climbing this is kind of like a big deal to me. It's a good thing i actually went without thinking of whether i was even physically prepared.
My first sight at the snow-capped mountains after the first day's trek is engraved in memory. The sight struck me right in the face just as we rested for the day, it had rained and the clouds were starting to clear. All of a sudden, peaks of snow-capped mountains started unfolding before us one by one. You can imagine how excited i was. The same feeling i had when i first saw snow in Beijing (than, i simply ran out w/o my jacket just to stare at the sky falling it's first winter flakes. Crazy Singaporean girl)
Rise and shine at 5am day 3 of trek to watch sunrise atop Panchase
Chandraman (Moon man, translated in Nepalese) with me. A kiddish 43 year old Sherpa, took great care of us!
Fish tail lodge at Pokhara.
Our soon to be lodging after the trek.
This makes me happy.
Ruins of Sao Paulo
The old Lisboa casino, the newer Grand Lisboa is shaped like a trophy, simply too huge to take a picture but this just about shows how vibrant the city literally is
The Venetian, mega huge casino and shopping mall. Check out the 'sky'. Always a good weather, and it moves too!
Fancy a ride in this gondola?
The place for all the almond cookie fixes. Seriously good stuff for a chain store on mass production
THIS.IS YUMMY
Different from the grilled pork chop buns we used to have in Beijing
cheap and good dimsum! less than S$2 each!
The picture says it all
So, while my parents were happily exploring the famous ones (The Venetian, MGM, Sands, Grand Lisboa and our hotel's-Sofitel), we went around to hunt for food.
A pretty good choice. I think we almost stuffed ourselves silly
Tyoical sight at Tuscany. ROLL HILLS ROOLLLLL!!
Harvest Time at Chianti! Did i mention wine is cheaper than coca cola there? A typical table wine is good enough for my palette!
We concluded the alleys in Siena, Sorrento and Lucca are all competing for the 'Most charming alley" award. This was from Siena
Picnic at iL Campo. We feasted on cheese, flat bread (a typical italian bread), antipasi of long beans in tomoato paste, smoked mackeral, canned peaches and the cherry tomatos! oh, they look so tempting, even in the photos!
At iL Campo, i couldn't capture the shell shape design, but can you see that the sq is slanted? 
The leaning tower of Pisa and the other leaning building. YEs, i HAD to do the touristy thing. *roll eyes*
The rest of Tuscany, in Chianti, Siena and Pisa i shall combine in one post.
Chianti- About 30 mins car ride from Florence. We managed to make our way there (and visit a wine cum olive oil factory too!) at Chianti, through a Tuscany bike tour we signed up. Well, all i knew from the biking part is the confirmation that i will not be participating in any biathlon soon. The sights were however, WOOOO! feels like the sound of music :)
Siena - I loved Siena, especially iL Campo, the shell-shaped slanting square, enough space for people to take a quick rest, a long picnic lunch, read a book. Hillside, fresh air, lovely alleys, quaint town. What else can i ask for?
Pisa - Besides the obvious architecture wrong that is so correct economically, actually, i never knew that Pisa is also a University town. Besides the main school structure, the different schools are also situated among the city, making the entire city a University compound. We also went in to the University's Physics compound. Guess who was especially excited? "Galileo Galilei once taught here!", i quote.
At Ponte Santa Trinita looking over Ponte Vecchio. For the record, we sat there for 2 hours for sunset!
On Ponte Vecchio itself. This is the bridge that was so pretty, it was spared the fate of being bombed during the war.
David overlooking the city at Pizzale Michelangelo. AND David at Piazza de Signoria (which was the original location of THE original David, but the statue has been shifted indoors for preservation, and no, we didn't visit the hunk at Galleria dell'Accademia)
Most (if not all) Italian cities have their own city Duomo. Besides the historical background to this, this Duomo stands out simply by its grandeur. It gleams like a chunk of gem, especially at night. So lovely we initially thought that it was a fancy modern artwork projected on screen! (hey, we survived a 5 hr train ride, 2hr train breakdown and then were traumatized by the address incident ok!) The impressive, 94m height Duomo is actually 2 concentric domes built with a 463 steps passageway in between. Talk about creativity and engineering skills!
The paintings inside the Duomo is equally impressive, not an inch uncovered. Visible after climbing all 463 steps.
il Fratellini. A small snadwhich shop that serves big in taste and about 20 types of sandwiches. We rushed here to tabao 2 sandwich to-go when we stopped by Florence from Pisa enroute to Rome!
Another noteworthy meal we had at Florence was at Teotro Del Sale. For 20 Euros + 5 Euros 'membership fee (it's like a theatrical association concept, so....) we got to eat so much wonder Tuscany fare we didn't stop (and neither did any of the lunch-goers there) eating from 12:30-3pm. Oops...
Have not been updating as fast as i wish i could. So, here they are (some of them anyways).
Florence got on a bad start, well, not exactly bad, but less than ideal because we could not find our hotel. Sent us on a wild goose chase because of their too unique way of addressing the apartment units. We couldn't locate our hotel at No.12 which is clearly NOT beside the unit called No.11. Try No.17 besides No.12? AND the reception is on the 3rd floor, serviced by a half-manual elevator. DUH?
Anyways, that was an almost comical hiccup. The beauty of Florence (and the glorious glorious food) made it hard for us not to smile and just wanting to take in as much sights, sounds, tastes, feel as we could.
Florence is a city that is visually and emotionally outstanding. It is a centerpiece for the Renaissance, home to icons from Michelangelo to Guccio Gucci (yes, THE Gucci). Florence exudes a charm, somehow, and makes her presence known in the bustling pulse of city life.
It just gets to you. It is hard not to be in awe of the River Arno jogging past the lovely riversides, admire the splashes of colors on the lovely Ponte Vecchio at dusk, witness the white and green marble-made Duomo gleaming and playing peek-a-boo as you walk towards it, sit down at Piazza della Signoria people watching and munching on a goat's cheese and fennel sandwich on sun dried tomato bread.
Didn't manage to get the picture of Penang Street's famous Chendol.
Gurney Hawker No.11 Penang Laksa. i LOVE the prawn paste
Rojak from Gurney
Indian Mee Goreng!
Ba Kut Teh for breakfast before hitting the airport
Otak from Selamat (street?) i like the Muar one better :)
prawn noodles.....hohoho
one of the most expensive dish we had. The 6RM chay kway teow
kway teow teng. really Q noodles
Lor Bak and assorted fritters.
Ice-kachang. I like the way they prepare the red bean. not too sweet!
toasted cuttlefish with prawn paste dip
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