A picturesque city. I LOVE VENICE! Hence I should let the pics do MOST of the talking ;p

As a brief introduction, Venice does not have any land transportation. Their “buses” are actually the vaporetto which takes you from stop to stop on sea. There is hardly a proper sign in Venice. They are either hidden by graffati, missing a letter, redrawn or missing as a whole. Shopping in venice is a whole new experience as you  shop beside canals & canals. IT”S A MUST TO GO UP TO THE SAN GIORGIO MAGGIORE TOWER!!! Refer to facebook album and u’ll know why! But it offers a birdeye view of Venice. Really beautiful as you see the exact shapes of the lagoons and island!! Incredible <3

Our Hotel

Our walking got us to this beautiful cosy desserts/tea place. Bought ourselves cute lil yummy desserts.

Best seafood pasta
Squid Ink in Italian’s authentic style.

Venice most expensive bridge.

Pop over to the Academia Galleria side if you want the best view of Venice. Gorgeous.
Best Coffee is in Italy.

Us going on a Gondola ride on Day 2 when the skies turned blue and sunny! Not super amazing but one of the must-try experience when u’re in Venice i guess. Along the way, we actually saw a man offering helicopter ride/tour. Sounds really interesting but we werent sure if the man has a genuine license.. hence we didnt!

Diavola pizza. GOODNESS
yupps. the academia galleria side!

This too!
Night time at the San Marco plaza was amazing as the major cafes showcase their own musicians and fill the plazas with love inducing melodies. Man, european life on the plaza is one of my top missed experience now.

San Marco Plaza in the day..

Venice in black and white!

We chilled our last day away at one of the (expensive &) nice cafes at San Marco plaza and it turned out that I’m kinda allergic to strong caffaine.. I started feeling nauseous and guilty on the vapouretto. And begin puking my night away. plans to have a last late night in europe failed because of that.. . well the good thing was.. It happened on the last night and i was only sick for that night!

See more photos here!
ALBUM I
ALBUM II

As for the food, their truffle fries are to die for. Essence of white truffle oil  and a tinge of malted vinegar gives you the high like the way you will be high on kerosene.. Good stuffs to munch on ; my mouth waters as I think of it 2 weeks later.

Truffle Tries. Taste 10x better than how it looks.

Breakfast at Barracks was yummy as well though I think you might wanna go with the recommended dishes!

Egg benedict!

And there we are.. at the favourite part of all meals! DESSERTS! Barracks serve awesome desserts too. Novelty treats such as warm chocolate cake with Toffee and banana cake with salted caramel were all more than delight for the tastebuds! It was kinda amazing how a chocolate cake with toffee tasted absolutely perfect without being too sticky nor sweet. And I’m a sucker for ‘salted caramel’, the banana cake was good.

I have been working for about 2 months plus so far and everyday i find myself full of energy ready for the unpredictable challenges. There’s an amazing thing about working in a line you love and believe in. Maybe “love” is not entirely the right word. But something which you believe in.

There’s no fixed way of how to go about doing the work I’m doing day-to-day. Sure.. there’s the protocols and administrative work that each of us has to follow but beyond that it’s the living interactions with people who needs our help and guidance that made work challenging and satisfying. There has been times that the problems of people sounded unbelievable but in my line of work; it has made me more appreciative and understanding towards the bubbles of others. They made typical first class world problems look so insignificant. They made me believe that strength is from within and support/guidance from others allow them to go on.

They speak unspoken love and they have the weirdest beliefs that i could ever believe.

but all these.. it’s my work; to counsel and sometimes to help manage their life.

p.s. i’ve been loving brunches and chills so much more ever since i’ve started working!

So yes, you could probably guess from the prelude! Vampy and I spent a nerve-wrecking Halloween at the Universal Studio, Singapore. That was also the first halloween event in the local Universal Studio. There were basically 6 scare zones. The whole setting felt like a chaotic haunted world where you were (supposed) to run for your life. Disfigured ghosts goes after you suddenly or scream into your ears while you were posing to get some shots. (Yes, some ghost did that to me; but I was totally calm)

Supermarket’s Trolley

The Peranakan house was one of the more interesting scare zones. Alot of professional props and actors were invested in this event. Imagine walking through a room with corpses hanging from the ceiling and you have to walk your walk through the corpses while anticipating a possible scare coming up at any point in time.

For those who plays Left4Dead, the Post Apocalyptic Rage is closely made under L4D’s impression.

All in all, it was a good halloween. Nevertheless, the ghosts were not scary coz we all know that they are not real. But what freaked me out more was the rides. I’m always scared of roller-coasters but I’ll always go up and give myself a good scare. Of coz, I’ll hide my head as close to my body as possible and hold on to anything as tightly as possible. The Galactica’s human was a total freak-out for me as I find myself not being able to hold on to anything substantial.

Vampy’s attempt to be one of them.

we’re part of the director’s cut too!

Director’s Cut!

There is a reason why when it comes to friends, Old is Gold. Met up with the group for a brunch yesterday afternoon! And i’ve not seen some of them for more than a year. Great getting updates from them and cracking jokes all over again! Even better is that i’ve found some brunch buddies! I love brunches!

Food at Privé was pretty awesome. Egg Royale – like egg benedict but instead of bacon, it’s smoked salmon was what i had and was absolutely awesome!

This place is located at Keppel Bay! A really pretty place!

P.S. The last 3 pics (the group shots) belongs to my friend’s – JR! I think he takes quite good photos!

About a month ago, Vampy and I celebrated our 4 years anniversary! Venue of celebration was Au Jardin; somewhere I was supposed to bring him years ago but he refused to go coz i was still a student then and he thought it was too expensive for me to afford it. It was also our first fine dining after I started working! That was the second week of work and I was still adapting!

Well, i thought the journey has been amazing because he’s like a guardian seeing me grow from an ignorant university freshie to now working my way through in my career! But the funny thing about Asian’s long relationship is sometimes you do feel alil too close to sit down and have a “romantic” date together. Is that what people meant by consummate love?

Anyway, Au Jardin is located in the Botanic Gardens! So it’s surrounded by serene greenery. Maybe that explains why the menu was influenced by the use of fresh flowers and greeneries. Ambience wise, it was definitely a good place to unwind and enjoy special moments with your loved ones. Even more amazing when it started raining.

We sat by the balcony! Yay to that!

Foie Gras Custard

A creation by the chef. A smooth creamy Custard that seem like a remake of a pan seared Foie Gras; where it melts slowly in your mouth. Except the taste of the egg in the custard was alil too strong for the remake to be totally successful. But still a yummy dish. No complaints for being complimentary!

Half Dozen Fresh Oysters Fines de Claire No. 3
Served with Spicy Cucumber Coulis & Apple “Snow – an innovation of oysters

This was absolutely refreshing especially when eaten with the spicy cucumber and apple snow. Beautifully experimented. Simple but a burst of fresh sweetness and joy!

Pan-Seared Foie Gras, Caramelised Fresh Fruits,
Red Wine Glaze & Root Vegetables Chips

Foie Gras came across disappointing as the essence was lacking. In my opinion.. But the boyfriend insisted that i was being fussy. Well, i thought the “melt-factor” for pan seared foie gras was not really there too.

Roasted Whole Boston Lobster, with Vegetable Beignet,
Garden Salad & Orange Scented Beurre-Blanc

This was a heaven. Once again, the chef tried creating the dish with fruits and vegetables/salads. First remarkable point is the texture of the lobster. Bouncy, crunchy and firm! Vampy said that was very close to Boston lobster he had in Boston. Dont miss this if u’re a lobster lover.:)

Char-Grilled Wagyu Striploin (Marbling 5), Gnocchi à la Lyonnaise,
Caramelised Baby Carrot, Dijon Mustard & Veal Sauce

Well, this is one excellent wagyu! Finely grilled with precision + Freshness at its best = yumyumyum!

Baked Alaska”, Caramel Hazelnut Parfait,
Frozen Banana Foam & Mousse with Passion Fruit Sorbet

This is one AMAZING dessert! Not only in terms of presentation. But after the fire died down, the outer mildly crispy and warm  and slightly burnt layer (coz of the fire) coupled the passion fruit sorbet and mousse in the middle of this piece was a harmonious combination! Happiness:)

Pistachio Crème Brûlée, Served with Pistachio Tuile,
Peach Coulis & Ruby Peach Ice Cream

If i realllllly have to criticise, this creme brulee is too ambitous. The beauty of creme brulee lies in its simple yet delicious factor. I hated the sponge cake on top of the creme brulee cause it takes away the flavours of the creme brulee and also hardly have any positive contributing factor!

Happy 4 years anniversary! Still the best boy i’ve ever had! Hahas, despite the kind of mean remarks i always give him.. he still took it in his stride and love & give. Not that i dont get teasing from him. Hahas, but let’s keep up the freedom, space and independence we give each other! These are the precious factors that is gonna be difficult to find in other potential relationships. I mean, not everyone can accept not smsing each other daily, not calling and chatting over the phone, meeting once-twice a week and not hindering what we love to do:)

It was a little disappointment because the shoes of the businessmen were not exactly as polished as I read about. No doubt there were definitely alot more men donned in business suits in Milan! Nevertheless, we were still able to find chics who dress fashionably quite frequently.

I would call Milan a place ideal for shopaholics. Shops ranging from branded to middle range (guess, bershka, zara) are all within a vicinity. So convenient and so easily lost in that kinda compulsion. Not only are all the shops so close to each other, each and every one of them strive to the biggest outlet i’ve ever seen. Shopping experience – enhanced! That, of coz made the boyfriend’s day a lil duller than the others.

I had my one and only shopping trip down at Milan too. A day when it became my day rather than OUR day =x. Bought my Gucci wallet there too; which i call it my graduation gift for myself =x.

The other highlight of Milan for me was the Gothic church, Milan’s Duomo (biggest and most important gothic church in Italy) which took them about 500 years to build. Characterised by spires all around, the Milan’s Duomo undergoes a regular maintainence. It was, however, a pity that the tower was under maintainence when we were there. It is said we can see all the way to Spain on a clear day from the tower!!

See those gypsies?

from above. Spot the gypsies

The only church that we prayed in.. hmmmm

Word of caution: Outside the Duomo is where the most nasty Gypsies i’ve seen in my whole trip. They attempt to force some pigeons’ food into your hands or pockets and obviously they gonna collect some sorta payment from you. You have to be very firm with them. I felt alittle disturbed because this guy thought that i have a pocket near the chest, and he was almost gonna touch the chest already. So, be careful!

One of the art pieces outside the duomo..

I swear the duomo has the coolest sound system and sound tracks!

Also went to  Castel Sforzesco whose structures are quite well maintained. But basically it’s now a museum!

In Milan, Aperitivo is commonly found in bars  during happy hours where you pay a small amount of money for a eat-all-you-can kinda buffet and it comes with an alcoholic drink. The food was nowhere near fantastic but it was part of our committment to experience the local’s way of living! Look forward to variations of pizzas, pastas and salads!

Walls full of artistes!

Pizzas, pastas & chips 

Other snippets of the day:)

Our accidental 4* hotel~

Coupley pic!

The bull which gives u good luck if u turn around it on its balls with your heels.

So the man does it!
nice gelatos that u gotto try!

Crispy bacon onion @ macdonalds – not found locally.
Afternoon tea time! somewhere that overlooks the duomo! miss that life! This is a cheesecake!

Italian coffees are to die for!
Panini! yummmms

Dinner at a cosy little home style restaurant

Twisted pastas that are absolutely vegetarian – i liked the essence of it!
Milanese Veal!

Where i  bought my love!

And we got to see the Leaning Tower! It was indeed leaning to a large extent It’s amazing how it’s one of the world’s wonder due to human’s error! 40 visitors are allowed to climb the leaning tower at every point in time. That was a mind blowing experience for me. I was a lil too traumatised to fully enjoy the joy of being on top of the tower. My heights problem had me almost breaking down when i was standing at a high non-fenced slanted side of the tower. There were moments that I feel my legs going soft and nerves breaking down!

trembling in fear!

a slanted view from above!

Also, the first time we witnessed Baptism in the European form. Basically it takes place in a small dome shaped building. WHen the time comes, a personnel in charge will create a rather creepy echo that resound throughout the dome. The frequency of the sound was so consistent – amazing stuff!

baptistery

Pisa is seriously one of my favourite spot! For picture perfect and aesthetic reasons!

There’s an archae walk at Fiesole but it was really short. A specific theme was centered across the archae walk; the 3 statues  represented time (past, present and future) The past is depicted by the remains of an Etruscan temple, the future by the roman thermal baths where images are thought to be evaporated in the uncertainty of imaginery projections. And finally, the present is more aptly represented by the Roman theatre; what is actual goes on display.

Beautiful view.

Arches.
pinocchio

the theatre

After Fiesole, we headed back to Florence but that’s when the rainy season begins (it was almost rainy from then on). And i had a good time shopping in a Lindt candy world! We even had a cup of coffee at one of the cafes due to the rain!

A lucky mention: we visited the Accademia del galleria WITHOUT a queue because it was raining! So we managed to see the real David by Michaelangelo! But no photos allowed!

Dinner was at a restaurant nearby.. Ristorante Accademia. This was recommended by lonely planet and the food served there was really quite awesome! The plus point is it’s just below our hotel!

Charlotte’s cake.

Creme brulee..

tea-break!

All photos here!