Chinatown... Paolo Sarpi

First Stop: Politechnico di Milano
Our first visit to our school. Got lost as usual.. haha
Went to the engineering campus instead.
When we finally managed to find Via Durando, we waited for 1 hr or more to make an appointment to come back on Wednesday! ARGH.. haha..
Quite intimidating in the small white room where it gathered many students waiting for some attention from the student desk. Dunno why, the students there speak really good Italian.. SCARY.. felt out of place..
But Anna (the person from the desk) was friendly and we met our ancient-looking professor who gave us ALL his contacts.. email, handphone no., and house no. and all the different timings and days to find him personally.. haha.. Shocking.


Second stop: Happily left for CHINATOWN.. The place which we have longed to visit to complete our dinner with the familiar oyster and soya sauce.
hmmm.. yianling imagined red lanterns hanging across the streets and dong dong qiang songs kept playing non-stop.. (like those in bangkok).. haiz.. how wrong can it go..
The street was full of fashion shops, totally overpriced for the quality.. it's like selling bangkok clothes at 10- 20 Euros. Not worth it at all.
Only 2 food stalls selling Chinese ingredients and food, at prices slightly higher than Singapore. Still, we managed to satisfy the craving for a familiar market place with familiar food.. mian xian, oyster soya sauce, sesame oil we bought.


HAVE TO SAY THIS.. along the way, we tried Nth number of ATMs to try withdraw 700 Euros to pay for rental. AND AND AND only 1 finally work. Have to find one which accepts a 6-digit PIN. WTH!!! haha.. Does that happen in other countries as well? ATM hunting is not fun at all..

Played at a playgrd on the way home carrying the cling clang bottles of sauces.
shit.. i can't swing.. Meihua tried her best to try me how to shift my body, hands and legs muscles.. .. still CANNOT.. what bend knees when moving backwards and stretch knees when moving forward... haiz.. CANNOT means CANNOT. i refuse to admit that it is not an INBORN skill. Pretty park .. with beautiful sky..


Last stop: IPERCOOP. A hypermarket.. giant size.. Tried clothes in Jennyfer for more than 1 hr.. many many cheap bargains.. like a jacket at 7 Euros.. ha.. JUST BUY la! why think so much.. in the end.. ha.. yianling jus bought a 2 Euro racerback tunic. ha. How giam siap we can become.. haha.. so pai seh when paying at the cashier!

CIAO!

Cold Rainy Sunday

We checked out a Sunday flea market along a river (fiumi) at Pt Genova.
The river is all dried up, less pretty than expected but the scene was gd enough.
Thought could satisfy some shopping desire, but it was an antique flea market, so the things there are not exactly cheap.. in fact it's quite steep!

The weather was freaking cold! the coldest we ever experienced here in Milan.
Carrying the umbrealla, we weaved through the rows of temporary stalls along both sides of the river. Eye-opening indeed .. :) there were some interesting fashionable shops along the river as well.. once again. EXPENSIVE.. heee..


Meihua satisfying her yogurt gelato desire (Euro $2.90). Na-tu-ra-le flavour.
Gustoso!


the gelato place actually specialised in Yogurt. and it has a poster saying yogurt laboratory. Quite interesting and uniquely designed.

We love Day 3!

Our very very kind apartment mate Andrea brought us to the mysterious city centre of Milan! Milano Cadorna. Where the ever famous Duomo is!
The view was spectacular! Seriously breath-taking. We were so satisfied at the sight.
The misty weather made the whole building look even more magical.
The interiors were grand and equally majestic as the outside.


This is a period of carnival in Milan. Kids are all dressed up in funny costumes and make up. Confetti all over the ground, and ballons, spray cans all over the city.


We visited a building beside Duomo. Slightly paler in comparison but it has many designer shops and cafes. When we step in, we both proclaimed, "This is what Milan is like!" ha.. All glamour and style.



Our first gelato in italy!!! Yummy..

Cos it's the carnival period, there was a piazza with many many brillantly designed metal toys for the parents and children. Very smart and simple toys.
The perfect example of a low cost and totally engaging playground.


Next, we visited a Castle of a total different style as Duomo.
Beautiful as usual.. ha!



the park next to it was totally romantic.
A perfect dating spot. People making out everywhere.. every every where..

Neighbourhood Day 2

Slept at 6.30pm the night before and woke up at 4.30am.
We are still running on Singapore time!

Settled our Italian numbers at our neighbourhood early in the morning
with huge difficulties again because of the language barrier.
Explored our neighbourhood while waiting too!




Then to Linate, to search for my luggage once again which did not arrive as promised.
Wasted trip as the counter staff has couriered it to Novate (where we stay). ARGH
Then, supermarket, we go again.. a bigger one this time..
Plastic bags also need to pay! .. 0.15 euros i think.. 30 cents SGP.



Alcohol is cheap :) one Hoegarden for SGD$4. one whole Absolut for SGD$16 i think.
cheapest beer is SGD0.90. wahahahhaha


The arrived luggage, bak ku teh noodles for dinner, and skyping the torino girls


Slept at 6.30 again... ha..

An eventful Day 1

Saying goodbye at Changi Airport at 10.30pm..
Thanks to all who have come or wished to come!
Thanks to all our prayer warriors as well!


On the plane. AF0257
Enjoying the movies, games and food!
(The Queen, Little Miss Sunshine, Space Invasion!!)
& note the highlighted air steward. ha.. goodlooking.
He kept talking to us in Japanese, though we replied in English. :O)
Went to toilet and to get water at least 5 times. 13 hrs of flight is no joke.
The guy beside us did not even lift his butt from his seat for a single second.




At Paris, we were rushed down the plane and into a shuttle van for our transit.
The first moments we experienced the cold weather in Europe. SHUANG!
Hurried through the security checks in the Paris airport.
Barely had time to see the airport properly. ha.
I kept telling Meihua, i feel like Airpork. ha.. onto AF1212 for 1hr 10mins!
Saw a spectacular view of some snow mountains and the sunrise. Unbelievable.

Arrived at Linate airport at around 8.30 in the morning.
A small rundown airport. Proceeded to collect our luggage and...
My check-in luggage was delayed!
a more sweet-sounding word than LOST).
It landed on the next flight. By God's grace, we believed.
I did not feel too anxious and just left my details and address at the counter.
They promised to deliver it by the afternoon.

So, 2 of us had 3 handcarry and 1 check in luggage to drag to our apartment.
PHEW... A task more torturous than we can imagine.



Can't find where to buy the bus tickets.
Not sure where to take the bus 73 from.
No idea how to recognise where to alight (we only have a streetname)
Overshot the alighting busstop.



Can't locate the train station which is supposed to be near the busstop
Drag our luggage everywhere along the street to find the station.
Went down the underground station with our heavy luggage by steps.
Realised that there was an escalator when we reach the bottom of the steps
No idea where to buy the train tickets.
When alighting at our neighbourhood train station, i couldn't get out fast enough.
Had to take to the next station and take back again. (Only time we seperated! ha!)
Had trouble finding the street we live in.
Had more trouble find the apartment number along that street.
Finally HOME SWEET HOME.. body aching, totally exhausted and hungry.

Despite the tough journey, we were very pleased with our apartment!
Cosy, peaceful, pleasant.





Headed straight to a small supermarket to buy some water and groceries.
Made our first dinner here.. Chicken potato curry..

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