When In Rome...

Finally had time to blog since I was back from Italy. Had a 6 day backpacking from Milan - Pisa - Rome. We only ate 3 solid meals and survive the whole trip with cereal and bread due to financial constrains. And the sun was being very generous at 33degrees but it was still a fucking awesome experience since it was my first time backpacking so far from home without a map and any clue of the Italian language except for spaghetti. So far my experience tells me that Italy is the destination for families or couples or older people. For teenagers, you'd want to stick to Japan or Hawaii. For me, its kinda average maybe it wasnt what I expected, there are mostly churches or urban buildings, nothing very fancy like the Eiffel Tower in Paris or KLCC in Kuala Lumpur. The people there are quite rude as well, even the tourist we met at the airport agreed. But still not taking it for granted, its Italy.

First stop after 2 hours of flight from London Stanstead is Milan with Ryanair. Its a budget airline like AirAsia, costs about 20pounds including tax. Its so "comfortable" I slept with a sore arse.

-The birds eye view of England.

-Through the window.

Went straight to the hostel and we couldnt find it for an hour because there was 2 exits from the underground train which the map the hostel provided did not mention. Stayed in a 1 star hostel registered in HostelWorld.Com because its very cheap but during the night you cant sleep because of the combination of alarms, cars, drunk people, trams, speeding motorcycles, screaming children, etc.

-Shared room with another guy from the States.

In Milan, there is the Milan Cathedral (Doumo di Milano) which is just next to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II which is like a the worlds oldest shopping mall at Piazza Doumo. This is like the Eiffel Tower of Paris, the Big Ben of London or the Sun Hing Loong of SS2.

-Doumo di Milano, Italians refer Milan as Milano.

-Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the home of Prada, LV and every expensive brand.

For football fans like me, there's the San Siro stadium, home of AC Milan and Inter Milan and one of the largest stadium in Europe. Italians say Stadia San Siro, home of AC Milan and Internazionale.

-Kaka and Adriano's not there anymore.

Couldnt see the Last Supper, it's fully booked till end of the year, its crazy. After 2 noisy nights in Milan we head to Pisa, which is a 3 hour train journey from Milan. Its one of those trains where we sit in rooms like the one in Harry Potter. Spent like 4 hours in Pisa because there's nothing much just the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Its very beautifull, very wide place known as the Plaza of Miracles (Piazza dei Miracoli).

-Its a must pose, everyone does it.

-Getting married at the Leaning Tower.

The last stop is Rome after another 3 hour train ride from Pisa. There's 2 sides of Rome, the ugly (the beggars at the train station) and the beautiful side (Vatican City). The Vatican City and the Colosseum are the 2 most common tourist spots, thus its the only 2 places we visited hehe. Not sure whether I'm lucky but the Pope appeared at his window and preached at the Vatican City.

-Bastards selling souvenirs near the Vatican City. Cuss tourists in Italian for not buying after bargaining.

-The Vatican City itself.

-Inside the Roman Catholic Church.

-All hail the Pope!

-The Colosseum, dint enter because the entrance fee was 12 Euros... dint even have enough cash to eat. haha.

The room in Rome was nice, its a camping village called Tiber. There are sites from mobile homes and also dorms and small huts. Also got this from HostelWorld.Com, cheap and nice hostels.

-The Huts.

-The bar at the camping village.

Overall its a great experience, just wished I had more time and cash to visit Venice and the rest of Europe. Spain would be my next destination. For now, next stop Manchester!

There and Back Again.

This time last year I would have never imagined...

I'd be living here, learning so much while finding peace...

At first, I had absolutely no clue about this city...

but now, its become the city I'm comfortable with...

Next year... at around this time...

I wonder what I'll be doing...

I'd Like To Introduce Slash.

I once read this magazine featuring Slash, I think it was FHM or something few years back. It was something him drinking Jack Daniels everyday for over 3 years and his tongue turned solid black as well as disfunctioning his kidney . Now he's only taking red wine everyday as far as I know. Well, I din't bother, din't know how great a guitarist he was. Till recently that is.

He's known to majority of the teens nowadays due to Guitar Hero, also famously known for his hat.
- Slash.

Since I was so bored in Chelmsford, I've been listening to Guns and Roses, previously been listening to Velvet Revolvers both featuring Slash as the lead. Fucking hell is he amazing. I can't imagine such guitarist ever exists, or humans could ever play like him. Just listening to his guitar solos and shreds gives me goosebumps.

-His guitar collection. Average $4000 each.

And I'm currently only practicing his godfather theme solo, which is one of the easiest solo to learn from him. He's 43 this year and there's still 21 more years to catch up. I regret I did not listen to him sooner, thanks to Eminem.

This is Slash. It takes years of hardcore practice to play like him. But it takes money and drugs to sing like 50 cent. You do the logic.

Ovrebo Mania

Any football fan around the world by now would recognize Tom Henning Ovrebo, not because of how good was he as a referee but how hillarious the match ended. Chelsea vs Barcelona 2009 Champions League Semi Final Second Leg did not ended in a very pretty sight. The ref accussed by Chelsea fans as a cheat, bastard, retard, asshole, etc. and then the UEFA was blamed for letting Barcelona to pit agaisnt Manchester United because they dint want the same scenario to happen again like last year. Boring Chelsea vs Manchester United. So this is what the Chelsea fans did to vent their anger, haha.

-Hate groups in Facebook.

-They even found his email address to spam hate mails to him.

-Photoshop pictures that the referee was indeed a Barcelona fan.


-Drogba acting like a.. well, Drogba.

Its a shame that Chelsea lost in such an ugly way, but the players shouldnt have done that. Imagine kids hearing "its a fucking disgrace" while the players acting like gangsters flapping their arms around that looks like a challenge to a fight. Tsk Tsk.

Rollback.

Where have all the good times gone? Born in 1987 started listening to music in 2003, fell on the wrong track listening to pop-rock, rap, techno. 3 years back since today I started enjoying music. Good old music, you dont need booze or drugs to make you high, just plain guitar playing.



Worth every minute of my life. Wish I was born in the 1970's so I dont have to stick with all the bullshit 50cent, icecube dogshit my housemates are playing.

-And they call this lyrics. Fucking hell. I reckon its bullshit.

Half Way There.

Phew, after a year of laze and procrastinating on my Undergraduate Major Project, its finally done, all 9083 words. It feels like yesterday when I just started my third year in Uni, thinking how the hell can I acomplish 10,000 words. My classmates and me enjoyed our third year slacking and ignored the fact that we had 10,000 words to type, or maybe its only me... hmm. Its tough but its over. But there's still 7500 more words and exam till its officially over. Gonna miss my room and Chelmsford, but home is where the heart belongs... and stomach, hehe.

-Lord of the Sins, by me.

-Hazardous. Toss and you will die.

Back to what I do best again after resting for 2 days, dragging my assignments till the last week before the dateline. I always try to avoid rushing & doing last minutes work but Master Yoda tells me "Try not. Do or not do, there is no try". It's always not do.

-My basketball and my hoop, homemade yo.

-Back to work. *grumbles*

After this I'm gonna be free, no more assignments, datelines, lectures to pressure me. Just working 9-5, sitting in my cubicle, rushing reports and my boss... Hmm... that... doesnt sound right...

Captain Obvious Saves the Day!

Wooooo. After typing 10,000 words with 7,500 more to go is like running 10km then having leg cramps and there's still 7.5km to run.

Captain Obvious. Cheers.

Dragonball Evolution.

I just watched the trailer for the movie not long ago and I think the movie sucks. I dont even bother watching this movie even though I'm an avid Dragonball fan since I was in primary school. You can ask my mum, she threw away all my Dragonball comics. I've read the comic, collected the cards, watched the anime, vandalized my wall with the stickers and acted like Son Goku with my primary friends. BUT HOW CAN THEY FUCKING DO THIS TO DRAGONFUCKINGBALL FOR FUCKING-FUCKS SAKE?!

Everything is wrong, the actors, the storyline, the graphics, the actors, the actors, the actors, the actors... Why is the movie named Dragonball Evolution in the first place, it should just be Evolution. On the other hand, the fucking line was "The Legend Comes To Life", BULL.SHIT. that wasnt even close to being legendary not to say comes to life.

-See, I'm not the only one cursing James Wong. And the list goes on.

Here's the EPICFAIL! storyline:

"On the night of his 18th birthday, a young high-school student and martial artist named Goku (Justin Chatwin), comes home from a party hosted by his crush Chi-Chi (Jamie Chung) to find his beloved grandfather Gohan (Randall Duk Kim) dying."
-What the fuck is this? it doesnt even relates to the story from the comic at all. They might as well say that Goku is the son of Superman and Wonderwoman and he belongs to the X-men, quits halfway to join Spiderman to fight Najib and his cronies in the Deathstar alongside Darth Vader and then becomes Son Goku.

"During the battle, Goku learns that he had been sent to Earth as an infant to destroy it when he came of age."
-Goku was sent to Earth by god knows who to destroy the Dragonballs when he starts growing pubic hairs which in the comic the dragonballs are the ones that saved him and the earth countless times. EPICFAIL!

If you think the storyline is bad, here are the actors for Evolution:

-Firstly he's white secondly his arms and thirdly his hair. Oh for fucks sake, he doesnt even resemble him, not even 30%. Why do they even bother having Son Goku in the movie. And what the heck is he doing with that dragonball. Why why why why...

-Master Roshi. Spot the difference, nuff said.

-Pikor. Now here's a familiar character, hmm isnt he from Star Wars... ISNT HE DARTH VADER? what is he doing in Dragonball Evolution... I wonder...

Curse you James Wong you money minded fantasy killer, I will kill your wife and your 3 kids if I see them! Don't even bother directing anymore movies if you cant even bring the legend to life. It's crystal clear that you only want to exploit the "Dragon Ball" name, without caring for the fans and what they think, and that's why we perceive you not as artists but as businessmen. Till then, just to let every reader know that this isnt Dragonball. This is Crap.

Feel what I feel? Sign this petition
- Dragon Ball Live Action Movie Protest!
Not made by me though, its from some superhardcoredragonballsongokuismylife fan.

Will The Three Lions Be Lions?

I can't believe that around this time next year, everyone will be anticipating the World Cup again. How time flies, 4 years ago Zidane was remembered for his headbutt on Materazzi and the Ronaldo wink that made England bid goodbye from the World Cup.

- Goodbye Germany 2006! Twas wonderful while it lasted!

-And hello South Africa 2010..... erm... ok.

So the question is, can John Terry lift the World Cup in 2010 like how he wished he lifted the Champions League in 2008? Can the Three Lions finnally become lions instead of persian cats (looks nice and expensive but does nothing much)? Can an Italian become England's saviour? Will David Beckham not vomit and score from a free-kick in Africa?

-Thats the spirit, Mr Capello.

Let's look at the Lions and see where they stand. This is what I expect to see during the World Cup 2010 if they were all fit and on form.

-Opps, wrong England football team, kekekeke.

Ok let's get serious.
Man Between the Sticks: Ben Foster
-With England always losing on penalties and after his fine performance during the League Cup final against Tottenham his confidence will be very important for England if he does play regularly for Manchester United.

Bullies: Rio Ferdinand & John Terry
"Haha look at your hair you cunt"
-Not surprisingly, central defenders are Rio and Captain Terry to lead the defence. If Ben Foster is between the sticks with his lack of World Cup experience, both John Terry and Rio can provide reassurance. Both just right after their peak age being 29(Terry) & 31(Rio) in 2010, just hope that they can run as fast as Kaka or Messi then.

Full Blacks.. I mean Backs: Ashley Cole & Micah Richards
"Sorry Ashley Cole's wife deserves to be in the team more than him"
-If Micah Richards is as good as what they predicted when he was 17, next year when he turns 21 he should be able to take on left wingers with ease. Fast & strong, this guy was born to be a defender. On the opposite side we have Ashley Cole, its not that I really want him to be there its just that there's no other English left backs as good as him and he's not that good. Even the people in England hates him, thanks to his antics (cheating on his wife, switching clubs for money, drunk driving etc).

Speedy Entertainers: Theo Walcott & Joe Cole
-We thank god at least one of Englands young player is under Arsene Wenger. If he does not get any long term injuries and develops properly, also at the age of 21 next year he'll be one of the deadliest right wingers with both speed and flair. The next Thierry Henry. On the left we have Joe Cole, if you remember his volley agaisnt Sweden during the World Cup 2006 it was one of the best goals of the tournament. Again, has both speed and flair, one of England's Brazilian style player.

England's Engines: Steven Gerrard & Owen Hargreaves
"Owen Hargreaves can curl a freekick as curly as his hair, no doubt"
-Steven Gerrard, basically not only the heartbeat for Liverpool but also for England's midfield. Can be deployed as a right winger, central midfield or supporting striker. Very versatile, but if placed on his favourite position, central midfield, he can command England's attack like an orchestra. Defensive midfield, Owen Hargreaves is the only England player that performed during the World Cup 2006 agaisnt Portugal and have the essence of "German-ness", very imporatant as a DM.

The Arsenals: Emile Heskey & Wayne Rooney
"Unstoppable Duo, Emile Donkey & Shrek Rooney"
-Well like the central defenders, there's not much of a choice on the strikers. I can't possible put Peter Crouch here, he's like an extra football post, nothing more (qouted from the entire world, 2006). Let's hope Wayne Rooney can control his temper as good as controlling a football. He's more of a team players, love to drift out wide especially to the left wing position crossing into the box. Can dribble and shoot, unlike Peter Crouch.

Sadly to say, England's chances to win the World Cup in 2010 will be very microscopic. Firstly the weather is going to kill them before they can even play their first match in South Africa. The WAGs (Wives and Girlfriend's) captained by Victoria Beckham will steal all the headlines again instead of the football teams success. Chances are Brazil or Argentina will win the next World Cup because the environment suits the players. Holland might give a strong push.

-Literally, the devils wear prada.

I've been praying since 2006 that hopefully its going to be their time in 2010. This will maybe be the last World Cup for most of the players like Rio, Beckham, Terry, Lampard & Gerrard. To all Three Lions fans, let's have faith!

Happy Belated Easter Everyone.

Courtesy of Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.Net

Flabberfrenchgasted.

What a crazy 4 days in Paris with absolutely no idea how to read, speak or even hear french travelling around with just a map while looking like an idiot asking for a Mcdonalds meal. Travelling to France makes me understand the true meaning of culture shock. But I learned a few french sentences such as l'oreal, carrefour, peugeot, citroën, renault and louis vuitton. No I'm just kidding I actually learned merci, laddition, frites, pardoneh, salut, bonjour etc. On the other hand, the Eurostar was very dissapointing, not what I had in mind since its so famous and everyone said I have to experience it. Its just like KTM Malaysia.

Paris is a very small place, where if you dont enjoy art you can just finish touring around Paris in just 3 days. I wasnt interested in Paris beforehand so I just decided to enjoy the few famous tourist spots which is nearby a Metro (similiar to London's Underground). Lets see.. I ate Jewish dishes which you can't find in Malaysia, the best ice-cream in the world (claimed by the French), France Mcdonalds meal and everything else thats more than RM50 a meal. God help me.

My first stop was The Lourve, the famous Da Vinci Code movie made this place well-known to tourists. It takes you around 2 weeks to actually see every single piece of art in the museum, its huge its Musee Du Lourve.


-Outside The Lourve, just a few minutes walk away there's a very white park where everyone enjoys themselves by tanning nearby the fountain on the chairs.


- Its true what they say about the Mona Lisa. No matter where you stand the painting will stare right back at you. This is something you'll have to experience in The Lourve for just 9Euro or for free after 6pm if you're 26 years old and below.

Next would be the obvious, The Eiffel Tower. This large piece of metal stands so tall where you have to tilt your head 90degrees just to get a full view of it from below. Its majestic by sunrise and beautiful by sunset, one the 7 wonders of the world.

- Remember to wait for an hour during the night, it sparkles and shines so bright that it lits the dark night sky. At the garden just stretching towards the Eiffel Tower there will be loads of married, engaged, puppy love couples cuddling under their blankets having wine and cheese romancing the night away.

The Arc de Triomphe another symbol of Paris is located in the middle of a roundabout with very bad traffic and you'll have to find a underground passage to just get to it.

The most beautiful building in Paris in my opinion would be Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral. It amazed me that the Notre Dame was more beautiful than the Eiffel tower. Its unexplainable, you have to experience it yourself by being there.

The pictures were taken by me by the way, did not google it, hehe. Gonna get my own SLR soon to take nicer photos. I'll continue the rest another day, too much photos to upload. Till then, au revoir!