Viva Italia!

Bonjorno!

It's been almost a month that I left Italy. I have a lot to recount but time is not a treasure that I possess. Furthermore, my writing block is getting bigger and bigger hence my inadequacy in describing situations well. For a more concise report, go here. 

Staying true to a certain travel guide series, I've come up with a top ten list of the trip.

#1. Traversing through Rome's urbanscape reminded me much of Kuala Lumpur sans the neck breaking skyscrapers. There, low cost flats made up the fringe of the city. I love the sights of clothes hanging from the lines and windows, the undeterred energy of kids playing and the ubiquitous graffiti...

#2 ...which leads me to the graffiti. You can find this so-called form of art nearly everywhere which includes walls of public buildings, bus stops, and the sides of trains! Sadly, with combined power of the enforcement lax and the unlimited passion of the artists, some of the historical sites are also desecrated by graffiti. One example would be Grand Rialto bridge in Venice. It's an eyesore to see some writings scrawled on one side of the bridge.

#3 Shopaholics, beware! Many fashion houses call Italy their mecca. And Italianos are so into fashion that they can easily fall into two categories, the winners and the victims. Anyways, you can easily get Louis Buitton or Bucci from dealers which you can find prowling the streets of all major cities in Italy. To make the irony more pronounced, some of them operate near huge billboards asking people to avoid these fake items. To be honest, most of the stuff are really second grade. You can tell the difference almost immediately. Maybe they should learn the art of faking from the Far Eastern cousins...

#4 Getting lost in Venice might be the most delicious experience ever. Don't bother consulting a map because the road network is equally complicated as the alveoli in your lungs. And trying to pinpoint your current location on the map is also a hopeless cause. Some of the roads are unlabelled while others are too minute to be spotted from the map right away. As I said earlier, getting lost might turn out to be good after all provided it's not nighttime. You might stumble upon hidden treasures in the countless alleyways or you'll appreciate the romance of the city even more...

#5 Italianos are most helpful when it comes to asking directions. The only problem is they always point straight ahead, neglecting the fact that there's a huge block of houses or a river right in front of you. You'll get to your desired location eventually but that's after 500 turns or so...

#6 I would say that it's a compulsory to have gelato every day in Italy. You'll be hard pressed to find any ice cream quite like theirs anywhere else...

#7 I think I've seen half of the most important work of arts in the world in Italy. There's the humongous yet deliciously detailed David, the famous frescoes of Sistine Chapel, the incomplete but highly revered Adoration of Magi by da Vinci, the famous Boticelli's The Birth of Venus and numerous other art objects that I've seen depicted in books or movies. 

#8 Water rides in Venice may seem fun for the first half an hour or so. It fizzles out soon after. It takes eons to get from one point to another. Gondolas are strictly for the rich due to its prohibitive ride fee.

#9 I'll seriouly recommend anyone visiting Venice to stay at Dimora dei Fiori. It's easily the best hostel I've stayed in. It offers the unbeatable view of the canal and is absolutely gorgeous at dawn/dusk.

#10 Rome: Historical (duh!), streets of Pisa - Dreamy, Florence - intensely Romantic, Venice - dreamily romantic.

Drowned in one of the Lochs...

It's funny how some things that are meant for something good can take a 180 degrees turn and morph themselves to something really ugly.

My impassive reaction to a certain proposal has hurt people left and right. There's no justification for it, even if there's any, it's too diminutive to be considered of any substance. And despite my attempt to remain oblivious to it, I can't help myself but to pick up the noticeable changes in the atmosphere. People might laugh or smile or even talk to you but for all you know, it could have been a show. It's not something that they should be blamed on. What goes around does come around so my seemingly impervious self has to pay for the fault committed. And it's ironic that I claimed to be impregnable yet I'm very much shaken to the core by this.

Apology might come as the most natural thing now and I'm doing it with my heart. 

Sorry guys for being a letdown.

All I Wanna Do

Posting a lyric is not I normally do on my blog but the current situation makes it feel kinda apt. It's also an honest response to the previous post. This song speaks volume of what I'm feeling now.

Hit it!

This ain't no disco

It ain't no country club either

This is LA (really?)!

"All I wanna do is have a little fun before I die,"

Says the man next to me out of nowhere

It's apropos

Of nothing

He says his name's William but I'm sure

He's Bill or Billy or Mac or Buddy

And he's plain ugly to me

And I wonder if he's ever had a day of fun in his whole life

We are drinking beer at noon on Tuesday

In a bar that faces a giant car wash

The good people of the world are washing their cars

On their lunch break, hosing and scrubbing

As best they can in skirts in suits 

They drive their shiny Datsuns and Buicks

Back to the phone company, the record store too

Well, they're nothing like Billy and me, coz

All I wanna do is have some fun

I got a feeling I'm not the only one

All I wanna do is have some fun

I got a feeling I'm not the only one

All I wanna do is have some fun

Until the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard

I like a good beer buzz early in the morning

And Billy likes to peel the labels

From his bottles of Bud

He shreds them on the bar

Then he lights every match in an oversized pack

Letting each one burn down to his thick fingers

Before blowing and cushing them out

And he's watching the bottles of Bud as they spin on the floor

And a happy couple enters the bar

Dangerously close to one another

The bartender looks up from his wants ad

All I wanna do is have some fun

I got a feeling I'm not the only one

All I wanna do is have some fun

I got a feeling I'm not the only one

All I wanna do is have some fun

Until the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard

Otherwise the bar is ours

The day and the night and the car wash too

The matches and the Buds and the clean and dirty cars

The sun and the moon

But

All I wanna do is have some fun

I got a feeling I'm not the only one

All I wanna do is have some fun

I got a feeling I'm not the only one

All I wanna do is have some fun

Until the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard

If you look past the characters, setting, and activities, you'll get the idea of what I'm trying to convey. To have fun irrespective to what people think. 

Reflection

Being called 'bongok' and 'really crappy' really made my day. It made me smile. We're riddled with imperfections, are we not?

Laa-dee-daa, laa-dee-daa!

I think I'm gonna scrimp and start eating salad for lunch. It's cheaper and healthier.

Annie Hall is excessively hilarious! Just a little over 90 minutes, the message conveyed is succinct and effective. It's laced with jokes that are subtle yet overtly done (if you get what I mean). In addition, it's backed by an amazing cast. Diane Keaton is stellar being ditzy and Woody Allen is convincingly neurotic. Indeed it's a triumphant comedy. I seriously recommend everyone to watch it, at least once.  

The Brief,Not So Wondrous Life of Firdaus...

It's kinda apt to say that I can draw parallel to the brief life of Oscar Wao. However, one should be hazarded that this doesn't mean that I'm being pretentious by claiming to have a wondrous life. Because mine is remotely that. 

If I were to be sold at a market, I'll only cost a measly dime and people can still expect to get some change. Utterly talentless and completely deficient in creativity, it is no wonder that I can be valued as such.

It's a God's simple truth, however bitter it is. I can only hope for a mediocre life. Even that seems unachievable for someone who has no special quality to offer.

P.A.N.I.C!On the West Nicolson Street.

Just a week ago my flatmate was applying for a job to make the ends meet. He wasn't too worried about paying for education fee at the university, which is provided free for the Scottish. He was more keen to sustain his day-to-day existence. Frankly, it's not too surprising judging from the amount of alcohol these people douse, the endless club entrance fees they have to pay, and the seemingly innumerable packets of microwave-ready food they consume. Another thing about these people is they don't rely on their parents to provide them with funding. That was why I was slightly surprised (and slighted I s'ppose) when a friend whose father is a GP (doctor) turned down my offer to traipse the continent during Easter break due to financial reasons. One might hazard a guess that a GP's son will never have this sort of problem. Apparently, he believes in a great degree of independence which doesn't exclude financial freedom. The same sentiment is echoed by my other friends too. They would rather earn their own money than running to daddy to chuck in a penny or two. After the wee kitchen conversation we had, I found myself some assurance that I wouldn't feel the pinch of the ongoing financial crisis felt the world over since I have a relatively stable financial source.

How wrong I was! After a particular incident yesterday, my financial outlook now bears great bleakness. The buffer zone has been breached as the account balance dips to a new low. I wouldn't have been too bothered if I don't have grandiose plans for Easter. On top of that, I have to pay for the April rent and the flight ticket booked by Aqtar. I will also be struggling to fund my daily expenditures such as buying lunch and commuting to the hospital, the latter is done at least twice a week. 

In retrospect, this financial collapse is inevitable. I've passed one too many red lights yet made little amends to it. My incessant investment in the recently discovered hobby has contributed dearly to this problem. With my wee knowledge in economics, I should have known that A&F, Esprit, Topman, Gap etc. are one of the most illiquid forms of asset one could possess. I also have the tendency to spend liberally on food and entertainment in which a huge chunk is lost to attending musicals and movie premieres. Indeed buying on impulse has become one of the greatest personal tragedies. 

Inundated in debts and bogged down by prohibitive maintenance cost, I see no future in aiding my ailing bank account. Unless MARA is kind enough to bank in our monthly allowance soon (which is very unlikely), I have to resort to a few options, none of which is something that I look forward to taking. 

The first one would be doing an overdraft. But just like IMF, it is replete with hidden costs and interest. To escape interest, I can borrow from friends. But this only means that I'll be booked on a doomed ride to infinite debts. The most formidable option is to ask for the FaMa fund which is akin to the government injection. But having learned a stuff or two from the local people, I will strive to avoid this exit.

I have yet to picture the monstrous effect this latest turn of event has. Even if I have, I can't never bring myself to face it. Some form of financial rescue will become a necessity in the nearest future but what I will come to appreciate more is a certain amount of self-restrain attached to the so-called financial package.