Month: August 2004

Well I’m back in London… I loved Italy, and it was a great break, now it’s time to get back into looking for work. It feels great to not be so stressed about finding work. Ate Fe and Kuya Dodie are great, and have welcomed me with open arms in their home. I have been extremely fortunate in my travels to encounter such great people.

After spending a great day with Cristina. I went to the Tower of Pisa the following day, and spent the day checking out museums and what not. It was a really good day. In my short time in Florence, I acquired some colour. No longer that glow in the dark type that I am known for.

In Florence, I grew quite accustomed to the hotel. SIMPLE PLEASURES! On Thursday morning I checked out and did a City Sightseeing Tour, and checked out the rest of Florence. By the late afternoon I headed for the train station for my train to Modena. After a lot of cuffuffle, I made it to Modena, and was at Lorena’s house by 7:30ish. Her Mom was great, and so welcoming.

From there Lorena and I went out to dinner with her friends. Her friends were a bunch of great guys. They reminded me so much of my own group of friends back home. The bantering, teasing, the eating, the laughing. It was a nice night. They made me feel at home even if there was a language barrier. A couple of them spoke English, and between Lorena and the others who could speak English, exchanging anecdotes wasn’t so hard.

Friday was spent with Lorena, as she showed me around her town. She took me to Ferrari, which was cool. But I know that my brother would have appreciated it more that I ever could. We had Gelato, and yes Lorena, I agree, it was the best Gelato in Italy. That night her Dad, brother Claudio and sister in law Elena came home from Milan. It was great to meet them. Lorena and her family are one of the most gracious bunch people I have ever met. I don’t think I could ever express my gratitude for their making me feel at home. Especially since I was so far from home.

I had a great time with Lorena, walking around her town, and talking. Of course I shared the sad love story that continues to haunt me. It was just nice to feel like I spent the day with an old friend, and that’s what it felt like being with her.

Saturday was spent in traveling to and from Venice, with a few hours in the middle. I thoroughly enjoyed Venice. The moment you step off the train, Venice is at your feet. It was soooo nice. I loved it! The architecture. The surrounding water. The gondola that was too expensive to ride. The hotties. One of which I asked for directions, even though I wasn’t completely LOST. The best thing about Venice was that I started walking one direction and didn’t care where I ended up. When a couple of hours had passed, I figured I better look for landmarks, though I didn’t really care. Everything was so BELLISIMO that I didn’t care that it wasn’t famous. So I asked for St Mark’s Square, which wasn’t too far away, according to signs. But if I wanted to get there without pulling out my map, I had to ask for some help. Was it my fault that the next person that crossed my path was a cutie? He had a confused look on his face, and admitted he wasn’t too sure, so I said that was fine, but he tried to tell me some directions, in which I politely looked like I was listening. I said my thank you’s and took a few more shots, he went along his merry way, but after a few steps he looked back at me and walked back. Then offered to walk me towards the direction. Who was I to refuse??? He could have been an insane stalker, but my instincts told me he was safe. So we walked for about twenty minutes, in which we exchanged conversation, where was I from, was I studying, what did I study, was I staying in Venice long, was I at least going to be in Venice for the night. Unfortunately the answer to that question, which he was so interested in, was a no. The latest I could leave Venice to get home in a reasonable hour was 6pm, because it took two hours and a bit to get back to Bologna, and half an hour to get from Bologna to Modena. As it was, I would get home around 10 if I were lucky. After we were near, we said our goodbyes, because it started raining. Lorena is convinced, had the answer been yes to my staying in Venice, I would have had a tour guide for Venice.

Sunday I went to mass with Lorena, and had one last lunch at her place, along with the rest of the family. I was regretful to say goodbye, they are such wonderful people that you couldn’t help but want to get to know each one better and better. They’re generous, as well as gracious. I may have spent most of my time in Rome, and loved the architecture, but Florence and Modena are the memories I hold close to my heart. For they are memories I shared with my friends. Although the first couple of days in Rome were great, seeing Annie, Jeanette, Dan, Mary, Vaughn and Vanessa,. Being able to hang out with them, and get a sense of home.

So Cristina, thank you for our day in Florence, and Lorena, for our time in Modena!!! Mi sento fortunatissimo. I had a BLAST!

Cristina arrived early today at my hotel room. I was less than ready. But I was so happy to see her. Seeing her was like seeing an old friend.

We walked around, in our usual style…. SLOW! We shopped on the side as always! We were in stores more than anything, but it was great. It was like being in London all over again with her. Getting lost in the mass @ Oxford Street.

Her Dad was nice enough to take us out to lunch and drive us the the highest point in Florence, Michaelangelo something…the correct term will come to me shortly.

After which we went to Giardino di Boboli, which had an awesome view. I’ve been trying to post photos on my online photo album but it’s not happening. However there are a couple of photos there now. Though not much because I only have the CD I had burnt today because my Compact Flash was getting full. I will add more once I get to London. If you guys want access it’s at www.photoisland.com – Log In is melilo (no wisecracks!) and the password is cookster.

After the Gardens we continued to shop…then we had to say goodbye. =( Saying goodbye seemed sadder this time because the next time seems so uncertain…so Cris if you’re reading this get your butt to London in September as planned.

Spending the day with Cristina was great. We talked all day…as always. Laughed a lot, as we’ve been known to do, but mostly we were ourselves. The self that we became together. We began our journey almost at the same time, and we always talk about how far we’ve come, and it’s a little sad that we have to go our separate ways for the meantime, but I know we’ll see each other again. We’re great SHOPPING BUDDIES.

I am looking forward to seeing Lorena in Modena in a few days. I’ve missed talking to her. As well as seeing Isabelle before she flies back to Paris when I get back to London.

Tomorrow I am going to see the PISA. I’ll fill you all in on how that goes. Hope all is good. Ciao!

Hi all…

After almost two weeks in Rome, I am now in Florence. I arrived early this afternoon and after a short and apprehensive walk from the station, I arrived at Hotel Puerta Faenza. It only took about 7 people’s help for directions but I got here. Thankfully it is nice and clean. It is in the centre of Florence, so it is only a hop, skip and a jump away from the markets and surrounding stuff. I checked out the Markets and will explore a little later in the afternoon.

I am meeting up with Cristina tomorrow and have thought about staying an extra day so I can take a special tour to the Tower of Pisa. It feels like I’m in Italy now and it’s AWESOME. I am having a blast. Though I am on my own today I am looking forward to exploring on my own. And yes I will be careful of pick-pockets. They’d be terribly disappointed with what they would find in my pocket anyway.

I will see Lorena in a few days and I can’t wait. It feels like it’s been so long since I have seen her and Cristina, and I have missed them both. Tomorrow Cristina’s english will be practised the whole day as I know my Italian will be tested.

Unfortunately the only Italian I learned was from my Ate Grace’s godchild Arin Matthew, who can I just say is the most adorable two year old I have ever seen. He is as round as a ball. He is so sweet and so mabait. Now that he knows who I am…I miss him already and I was only hugging him to death last night. In my last few days at Rome I was adopted by the Cupcupin Family….true to his name Cupcupin, Kuya Ferdie took me in after I freaked out about a cockroach infestation where I was at. There I was treated like family, and I was able to get to know Ate Grace’s, Kuya Ferdie, Ate Len-Len and nephew Arin Matthew. They were great and I will eternally be grateful for their hospitality.

NB: for Ate Grace, next time you’re on the phone to Kuya Ferdie C. Ask him to put Arin on ask him his name, you will get something like…. “My name is A-in Machooo Putpuin” – so ADORABLE!!!

Okay, now that my cluckiness has passed….

I went to visit the rest of the touristy places I wanted to see in Rome, like the Piazza Venezia, which I climbed to the top. I also spent the afternoon at the Sistine Chappel. Nige, I took photos of the ceiling for you and you should know that I was reprimanded by one of the guards who said, no flashes in the building… blah blah!

Ummm….what else? Well, I was supposed to leave for Florence yesterday, but there was a Bin Ladin Threat, so I was strongly advised not to travel. So I didn’t. Instead I spent the day watching Kuya Ferdie cook which was really good. Not that I learned anything… I also played with Arin. Have I mentioned how cute he is???

Anyways…just spoke to Lorena and Cristina. I will be seeing Cris in the morning, and Lorena on Thursday. Can’t wait.

I hope all is well with everyone. I miss you all very much.

Love Lots… Muwahhhh

Well Day Six of Rome. I have seen most of the Touristy places except for the Sistine Chapel. I keep getting lost. Would help if I brought the better map, so I might do that tomorrow. Today I might check out the shopping…like I can afford to buy anything.

Yesterday I spent the day at the Colloseo. It was AWESOME. It was so good to check out each stone and what not. It was great to stand in the middle of it and look around…it was incredible. I took lots of pictures.

After the Colloseo I just explored locally. Checked out one of the major Bascilia’s, which was great, then on the way home I checked out what was near….the answer was NOTHING. So it’s a trip to the centre.

I am looking into flights back to London, even Paris since my return is coming from Paris, but we’ll see how expensive it all is. I figured I’ll see as much of Italy as I can and want to and head back in a couple of weeks to resume the job hunt, now that I have somewhat de-stressed about it.

I’m loving Italy but I can’t afford to just hang here. So I am making the most of it, seeing everything I want to see and heading back.

Anyways… I best go and look for flights. Then I am outta here to continue the exploring. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Well, that totally sucked. I just spent the last hour blogging and I lost it all! GRRRR!!! I am so annoyed.

Let’s see if I can remember what I had so eloquently put in the other one.

Here I am in Rome. It’s AWESOME. I love this place. I love the scenery and I cannot wait to see more.

Paloma, Julien, Anton and I ended up at the pub we went to previously. Lorena, do you remember the one we went to on Friday night? That one. We had a few drinks before heading back where we said our goodbyes. Our numbers were dwindling and it was obvious.

Only hours before I had said my goodbye to Isabelle, whom like Cristina had been with me since I first arrived. It was like saying goodbye to family. However I am confident that we will see each other again, if not in Paris, definitely in Sydney. Right Isabelle? I’ll wait for you and Ludavic.

Getting back to my room that night I wassomewhat nostalgic. This room that I had made into my own the last weeks, have become HOME. As close to it as I was going to get. It had been transformed from a scary small room, to mine.

At 3:45am I stood at the door and let my eyes take one last glance. From the study table where my momentos from home lived, my pictures tacked up, to the lumpy, squeeky, suspiciously unchanged bed, (well it has been changed, but the frequency remains suspicious) to the bookcase I had filled up with my toiletries, kitchen stuff and what not, to the washer basin and mirror that was too high to ever really see the extent of how badly you looked in the morning. Not to mention the suspicious hole that was directly above it. One’s mind could do wonders. But anyways…

At 4:00am my Mini cab arrived promptly and I made it to Victoria in plenty of time for my 4:30am Gatwick Express. After the formalities at Gatwick I waited patiently for my plane excited at the prospect of going to Rome. Wow! Excited didn’t even come close.

Without any sleep from the night before, it doesn’t need to be said that I passed out completely the moment I sat down on the plane. The old couple beside me were quite amused that I had managed to sleep through the chaos of the children around us.

When I arrived I was met by Grace’s cousin Kuya Ferdie (another one), and not long after Annie and co arrived. After a long train ride home, and a trek uphill to the flat, we basically collapsed into a heap at the flat. Some of us, not mentioning any names *aherm* passed out till the following day. And it wasn’t me. We had Pizza for dinner. Welcome to Italy!

We rose early the next morning and left early, excited for the day ahead. But first there was their trip to Greece to arrange, and unfortunately because of the frequency and length of travel to Greece, they had to leave a day early. So once all that was sqaured away we did our very own version of SPEED TOURING. Since they had to leave the following morning.

The day was awesome despite the rushing around. I loved being with them. It reminded me of the weekend away trips with my friends. Jeanette and I will always have that Espresso shot and ‘only only only’ to bond us for life.

First we went to the Vatican, and unfortunately the Pope wasn’t around. I guess he didn’t get my e-mail to meet us. Or at least wave from the window. From there we went to Piazza Navona, we tried the Sistine Chapel but it was closed by the time we got there. We then went to the Trevi Fountain, and as promised I threw 3 coins in. From the Trevi I think we went to the Pantheon. It was after the Gelato for sure but I’m not sure if that was after the Trevi. =) At the Pantheon Annie, Jeanette and I experienced another fit of the giggles. We pretty much decided we were a bad combo that way. Though to our defense, it’s not our fault we see amusing things all at the same time. After the Pantheon, we went to the Spanish Steps, where we lost Dan. We didn’t realise he was exactly where Annie and Jeanette had left him behind the steps. We attempted to make it to the Colloseum, but when we got there it started pouring and the sky was darkening. So after a few photos, a couple of more laughs we headed for Kuya Ferdie’s for dinner. His wife Ate Len Len was extremely nice, and at the risk of making Ate Grace jealous, Arin is soooo cute. He has the roundest cheeks. It was getting late and we still had a long way home so at 10:30 we headed home. Caught the tram, then the train, then we had to change trains, at midnight we literally crawled uphill and then collapsed when we arrived home. Unfortunately for them, they were leaving early the next day, so they crashed as soon as they got there.

Saying goodbye was sad, even if we had only spent a couple of days together. I guess they were a piece of home I wasn’t so ready to let go off just yet. But…cest la vie. (oops wrong country) After they left the house was like a tomb. It was so quiet.

I did a little grocery shopping, then familarized myself with my immediate surroundings.

This morning I cleaned up a little and did my washing before heading over to the centre to do some local exploring. Tomorrow I want to hop on a tour bus and perhaps do the Colloseum all day on Monday. The possibilities are endless…after all I am in Roma.

I am uncertain as to how long I’ll be here before heading back to London. We’ll see. Cristina called me the other night and she is returning to Florence this weekend so hopefully we can meet up somewhere and catch up soon.

Anyways…best go see the outside world. Take care…

Love lots…. MUWAHHHH!!!

Well sorta! Hehehe!

Last night I started packing for Italy, so that I could drop off my extra piece of luggage to Kuya Dodie’s and Ate Fe’s. It took ages!!!

The latests??? Well after saying goodbye to Cristina, her presence was certainly missed. As ours were I’m sure. Lorena, Julian, Paloma, Anton and I headed for Fabric on Farringdon about 10:30pm. It was a fun night of dancing and a lot of laughing. When we finally made it back to the residence we were all starving…however there was like a line up of people trying to check in…. at almost 4 in the morning! We stayed up for a little while in the common room before heading off into our respective rooms. I was up for awhile because the red bull part of my red bull and vodka sorta kicked in. I finally got to sleep a couple of hours before being awoken by my daily calls from my ma. I covered a possible hangover with a late night. Needless to say I fell back asleep after the conversation. Only to get up an hour or two later because Lorena and I had plans to go to Mass at Westminister Cathedral. She looked a lot better than I felt.

After mass we headed back to the residence. Lorena and the boys went to Camden Town. While I tried to catch at least another hour of zzzzz’s. From there I headed for Hillsong.

That night we ended up at Shakespeare Pub again for Lorena’s last dinner in London. Which was fun. Afterwards we went to the common room to watch Down to you.

Yesterday I had an interview in the morning and then I had to say good bye to Lorena. Which was sad. We’re dwindling in numbers…however I am looking forward to seeing them in Italy.

This morning I found a note from Julian, and I think what’s left of us will be having dinner at the Shakespeare, for my last dinner.

Lorena and I were talking about the friendships we’ve all built and how precious each one was. We all came from being sad to being to be leaving. However, we have all promised to keep in touch via e-mail and what not.

Anyways….best go. Hope all is well with everyone.

Baci! (how’s that Lorena?)

Well, I guess a lot has happened since my last post would be a little bit of an understatement! The past week has passed in sort of a blur. I don’t remember the first bit at all. Aside from trying to spend as much time with Cristina who was leaving on the Friday, I was getting very restless. I was sick of looking for jobs, and as much as I loved London, and being able to find my way around, doing touristy things, etc…I wanted a change.

Wednesday night we spend another night in the kitchen catching up on everyone’s day with Cristina, Lorena and Isabelle. Admittedly by then I was giving myself a deadline to make a decision, move on or stick around. The girls threw ideas and listened to my whinings…bless their hearts!

On Thursday I had a 2nd interview with IPG which was a promotional company, the moment they asked me to spend the whole day with one of their consultants I was suspicious. In the end I was correct as I ended up doing door to door sales in the middle of woop woop, walking (in my pointy heels no less) in an industrial area. I was like, ummmm, this isn’t for me and said so by 3 I said ‘this isn’t for me’ …. and headed home. Hey I lasted longer than the person they hired only the day before. She walked out on the 1st hour. I stuck it out for 6 and I wasn’t even an employee. I just wanted to figure out how badly I wanted to work, and it wasn’t that bad.

So on the way home I was feeling incredibly defeated and just racking my brain for options and I thought, stuff this…I’m going to Italy. I was going to call my cousin Ate Grace and speak to her about possible accomodation and she said that her in laws were in the Phils and the house will be empty. Hence I will be able to use it. It was like the 1st big break, I was ecstatic. Finally it felt like I made the right decision.

I leave on Wednesday 4th August to meet up with Annie in Rome! Spend a few days with her and hang in Italy till Ate Grace’s in laws gets back. I can’t wait. My only dilemma now is trying to pack up my life. Somehow I can’t fit everything back into my suitcases. Oh boy! Space bags to the rescue.

Thursday night was Cristina’s last night so Lorena, Cristina, Julian and I went out to dinner. The plan was to take Cristina to a pub for her 1st and last British meal…fish and chips! We ended up at a pub, but all they served was Italian stuff, so we had Pizza as a going away for an Italian going back to Italy. It was hillarious. We had a good night, we went back to the residency, in which Julian graciously provided Apple Strudel and Ice Cream, so we sat around the kitchen (for the millionth time) and gas bagged for hours. Yesterday I spent the day getting everything ready. Then I took Cristina to Victoria Station. Bought my plane ticket to Italy. Went to mass at Westminister Cathedral and met up with Lorena. We had dinner at Ate Fe and Kuya Dodie’s, I told them about Italy, and asked if I could leave one of my luggages with them. Of course they said yes. So now I’m trying to pack up that suitcase so I can take it there either tomorrow or Tuesday, depending. When we got back to the residence Lorena, Julian, Paloma and I sought out a Pub, ended up at a good one in Angel but it got louder and louder so when we were half deaf from having to scream we headed back to the residency, and into one of our kitchens…as always. Very late we called it quits and made plans for tonight. We’re heading to a club called Fabric, so that will be interesting. I was going to go to the Sound of Music Sing along thing but Allie is going away for a few days so we’ve postponed.

The residence doesn’t seem the same without Cristina. It’s so much quieter! I’m hoping to see her and Lorena when I get to Italy.

Anyways…must go. It’s tooo hot in this cafe. Will write again before I go, since I have 100 minutes left of credit to use here at Costa. Hope you’re all good.

Take care… Lis