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.