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8 kwietnia 2018
Italy whirlwind trip Podróżnik
Cinque Terra
8 kwietnia 2018, Włochy ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
After more than 48 hours of travel, I finally land in Milan at 7.30am. The 4-time a day train to Monterosso won't depart till mid day. I deposit my bag at Milano Centrale and go for a wonder around Milan. First impression - Milan is messy and feels a bit like Paris. There are armed police around the Station and gypsies are washing their hair from a Public fountain.

I walk for about 5km and see some interesting Morden residential buildings mixes with typical European architectural ones on the city edge. Overall, Milan feels soulless and cold; a city for flight transfers.

I squeeze my way through the packed carriage and find my seat next to a window. For the next 3 hours, I am enjoying the sceneries across Italian countryside with the train winding from villages to villages. Some of them are so run down and fill with depressing looking Italians or blacks that I feel like I am in a third world country.

Suddenly, the right side of the train opens up to an ocean view. As understated as it rides through, I am arriving into the Cinque Terra.

The weather is perfect when I arrive and many many tourists are crowded to get the train back to La Spitzer. The sandy grey beach is filled with Europeans who have not seen the sun for months! By the time I check-in and pick up Susanna from the station, most of them have left and we get to enjoy the quiet and peace. I even dip into the not so warm Mediterranean Sea for a quick swim - gee, my skin feels rejuvenated after being snapped cold.

We had drinks at one of the cliff top bars and seafood dinner at one of the the waterfront restaurants. I secretly wish the forecasted rain will never come!

I end the days with me passing out with a half written whastapp message. Czytaj więcej
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Italy whirlwind trip Podróżnik
Monterosso -> Vernazza -> Corniglia
9 kwietnia 2018, Włochy ⋅ 🌧 12 °C
The forecasted rain promptly delivers. We embrace the cold and wet and are set up to do our first hike. By the time we get to the starting point, we decide to do a detour to check out the town Center. Among the winding streets, we see a sign pointing for a wine tasting 100m up the road. With nothing to loose, we walk up the slippery wet track. Suddenly, we find ourselves in a vineyard surrounding with lemon groves. We spent €25 together and tasted 5 delicious local natural wines. Most of the wines are produced for local consumption; the so-called table wine.

By the time we finish sampling, the sky opens up and there is a rain break. We merrily start tracking up and enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way. Later on, an English tourist asks us how was the track going up from Monterosso to Vernazza; apparently it is not an easy one. We simply can not remember other than I am trying hard to walk slowly to keep my heart rate down!

Australia certainly has similar tracks and views as this famous track, however, the ambient is what makes it a different. The villages are tugged between headlands or built on top of it. The ancient fortified walls and towers are visible from far away. The track we are walking on is surrounding by wineries and olive trees under the occasional beams from the sun. Europe is always so romantic!

The weather becomes better in the evening. We are wondering Corniglia, the smallest village, and is looking for a restaurant on trip advisor. As faith would have it, we found this restaurant that is ranked number one but would have closed. We quickly put in our booking, go down to enjoy the vast sea view at sunset before settling in for a sumptuous seafood dinner! We eat the most amount of food (3 courses) and drink a bottle of wine between us. We do not reach home till 11pm!

A wet and rainy day turns out to be a joy that is filled with all these unpredictable event! Life is good. Czytaj więcej
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Italy whirlwind trip Podróżnik
Riomaggiore -> Manarola -> Corniglia
10 kwietnia 2018, Włochy ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
Today does not start well in the morning with gusty rain pouring at around 7.30am in the morning. It is so cold that I can not even stay on the balcony.

We do not mobilise till 2pm. We start tracking from the other end of Cinque Terra. Luckily, at around 4pm, the sky opens up, we decide to take advantage of the good weather and take the alternate red route. The 2.5hr detour takes us around into the forest, up thousands of steps, and gain a panorama view of the beautiful Manarola and Corniglia. Although the track is challenging, we are so happy that the sun is out. Sun in Europe is precious!

Unlike the Spanish who are filled with passion,Italian are lazy, slow, rude, and whatever. None of the guides at the tourist information are helpful; they are actually annoyed to be exact. Their timetable is always minus 10-30min and their infrustructure are desperate for repairs. They would record an announcement for "some train doors are not operational, please make sure you locate a working ones before getting off." These doors must be out of repair for so long that it is easier to record an announcement than fixing them. A lot of Italian villages are really rundown that sometimes I feel like I am in a third world country. Perhaps they have not advanced since Roman time! Czytaj więcej
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Portovenere -> La Spezia
11 kwietnia 2018, Włochy ⋅ 🌧 13 °C
Today is supposed to be dry but it turns out that today is the worst of all three days. The sky is grey and does not stop raining the whole day.

We take a ferry from Monterosso to Portovenere, a port city that is supposed filled with romance and poetry. However, with the grey sky, we count ourselves lucky to visit the castle dry.

After wondering around the small town Center, we take a bus to La Spezia. This is the main town before Cinque Terre. David Matthews is right, better staying in one of the villages than in this town which is just another Italian city.

Suffering from the rain, shine, sweat, and cold, I catch a cold and feel so run down in the afternoon. After a 3-hour nap that is filled with shivering and cold sweat, I feel absolutely shit. Time for another long sleep to recover. Czytaj więcej
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Transit day Monterosso -> Verona
12 kwietnia 2018, Włochy ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
Today is a 5-hour transit from a small village to a bigger city. Again, Italian train runs late. When we arrive in Milan, we have to run in order to get onto the fast direct train to Verona.

My throatache is not getting better either. As soon as we arrive, we go straight to the supermarket and stock up lemon and vitamin C.

In the evening, Barbara, Ian Meller's friend, take us to a very nice traditional Italian restaurant for dinner. Ahh, this is how I remember Verona. The service, the smile on the waiter's face, the wine glasses - everything is done so probably.

After we finish dinner, Barbara is kind enough to take us to a panoramic view point of Verona although pouring rain. What a romantic city! Czytaj więcej
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Italy whirlwind trip Podróżnik
Lake Garda- Peschiera-Lazise-Sirmione
13 kwietnia 2018, Włochy ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
Today is epic and filled with classic travel stories. So hold on tight before reading on.

We leave Mari's awful place (another story on its own) with plans to take a bus to Lake Garda after I drop my luggage at the new Air B&B. When I reach back to the central bus station, the scene is epic: I see Susanna is running towards a bus that is about to close its door, so I start running towards it too. Two Asian girls are running diagonally to a bus that is leaving the bus stop, yelling out "Wait! Wait!" is quite a scene. The bus leaves one minute earlier than schedule which we would have not anticipated. Italian public transport is always late. This Italian staff at the platform is trying to tell us that the next one will be in an hour ... "[why do you look so upset] What is your problem? It is only an hour." Mama Mia Italian - time is not important.

This are a few things we have learnt about Italian in this trip, these are: timetable is for reference, don't use it as the German does. Italian speaks bad English, has terrible attitude, super unhelpful and very lazy. Why work hard when enough is good enough? Compared to the Spanish, who are passionate people. They may tell you something that is wrong, but that is purely out of a good heart. (Like Erika is giving me all these tips about interviewing with the Italian although Malta is not even in Italy).

We eventually take another bus to Lazise, a beautiful town that right by the lake. We love the small town center and buy a few cheeses and a genuine Italian made leather belt for my loosen pants. We then take a scenic ferry ride back to Peschiera, the main town of Lake Garda. We have about an hour to kill before the next ferry to Sirmione.

Shamelessly, I go into a cafe and ask for two smallest plastic coffee cups they have. Although the waitress looks suspiciously at me, she gives me the two cups. We layout the Cathay Pacific blanket (which we used previously as a beach tower in Monterosso), put out our expensive Cinque Terre wine, cheese, prosciutto, tomatoes, and start enjoying our picnic against the beautiful blue lake and alps.

The next stop is Sirmione, a 45min ferry ride. We walk along the pleasant foreshore and soaking in the sun that we did not have from the last three days!

Mari's place
One of the worst air b&b place I have stay in. The host wants to charge us for luggage deposit and late check out. The bathroom is dungeon that I don't really want to go in, bed linens are worn out and a pillow that is stuffed with two cushions. Here are the laundry list of the place:

My friend and I stayed at Mari's place in Verona for two nights. The location of the flat is very convenient with walking distance to central station and supermarket. However, the flat itself has many flaws:

- The wifi is so slow that I can not even load the website to purchase train tickets online.
- The towers provided are worn out and one of them has weird smell.
- There are only two pillows in the room. When I asked for an extra pillow, the host gave me two cushions stuffed into a worn out pillow case and claimed she could not find other pillows.
- The electrical kettle in the room is very dirty with white sediment that seems like it has been there for a very long time. We boiled the water twice with lemon and managed to get rid of some of the sediment.
- There are only two transparent lace curtain in the room, no blackout curtain. We recommend future guests to bring their own eye masks if they don't want to be woken up by the sun at 6am.
- I know it is a small thing, but there is no rubbish bin in the room and the heater in the room does not work either.
- We are asked to pay extra 10 euros for depositing our luggage in the flat on the day of our check-out, which is more expensive than what the station luggage deposit service would charge. The check-out time is rigid at 10am and the host claims every delay will cost us 15 euros per hour.

As a superhost myself, I understand Mari runs her place like a business but she definitely takes the essence out of being a friendly and helpful host on Air B&B Czytaj więcej
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Italy whirlwind trip Podróżnik
Bike toue to Valpolicella
14 kwietnia 2018, Włochy ⋅ 🌙 15 °C
When we open our eyes this morning, we see rays of sunshine filling our room - what a gorgeous day! Barbara picks us from our flat and we are set to cycle to a famous DOC region - Valpolicella.

The 28km ride to Valpoicella is flat and along a river; I very much enjoy the journey after the tough Easter rides. Our destination is Tenuta Santa Maria which makes small batch Valpolicillo Ripesse wine. The way they describe the wine making process, Australian wine is nowhere near that kind of details and patience. The end result is mature, smooth and high quality wine that can be cellared for years to come! Although the tour is expensive (£70 pp) I had my best day and would love to do this tour again!

We then have this amazing worker's lunch - £10 all you can eat veg and one plate of freshly cooked pasta! My eyes sparkle when I see the plates of vegg! Ahh, I don't mind to be an Italian worker at all.

In the evening, we walk up to the panoramic point again and appreciate the beautiful sunset Verona offers us.

Since I have the terrible throat ache, I drink lots of water. As a result, I am like an old woman who is constantly looking for toilet and lemon water! Czytaj więcej
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Italy whirlwind trip Podróżnik
VinItaly Day One - Public Day
15 kwietnia 2018, Włochy ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
Phrase two of this trip kicks start today. VinItaly is the largest wine show in the world and boasts about 5,000+ exhibitors from every corner of Italy. Surely it does not live down its name; each region warrants its own Pavilion with hundreds of well decorated booths. My role is to help pouring wine at the Winestate stand inside of the International Wine Pavilion Hall D.

There are so many wines from all over Italy, my head spins after walking around for 15min. Unlike the HK Show, which is positioned as premium and has a good representation from around the world, VinItaly is a show for every vineyard to showcase their wine to all kinds of buyers. I have met lots of sommeliers (apparently 1 out of 3 I meet today are sommeliers or on the way to become one), wine bar owners, wine consultants, restaurants looking to buy small quantity of wine. At the HK show, exhibitors at the Italian Pavilion are good representations of what each region can offer, which makes amateur like me easier to navigate around. While at VinItaly, every vineyards strike to showcase their wines and it is impossible to taste every one of the them.

The secret of the trade is to network and via word of mouth introduction. Trade fair is just a convenient platform for buyers and sellers to meet. All the homework are done outside of the four walls. Consider wine dinner, wine education master class, network among the trades, are all good ways to build up your brand and networks.

Another tip is to be presentable. Why would a wine consultant pick you out among thousands of other wines? Your personality and knowledge will make you shine through the crowd. Perhaps a glass before the show may help relax you into the craft of wine sales.

Another way to see trade show is for a new comer to learn about the market, the consumer taste preferences and price elasticity of your buyers. Europeans still prefer the big bold red with strong tannin and the gripeness on the tongue. They find Australian red "interesting" with softer tannin, high alcohol (certain style), shorter finish, on a sweeter note, and easier to drink. Penfold has helped to paved the way for Australian red but more education are still needed to pave the way.

One thing I really like about VinItaly is that they provide unlimited glass washing service. I can use a fresh glass every time I pour a new wine. Nothing is worse than tasting a wine with the last one lingering at the bottom of my glass.

One thing I don't like about Vinitaly is the organiser does not provide water. I drank half 50ml bottle for the whole day and not bother to buy one because the queue at the bar area is always super long. Czytaj więcej
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VinItaly Day Two
16 kwietnia 2018, Włochy ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
We start the day nice and early. But it is overall very quiet until around 11.30pm. Most of the people come to our stands are sommeliers or studying towards to becoming one. Overall, there is no real trade buyer. Well, Italy is such a large wine producing country, people who will buy international wines would be those from high end restaurants or luxury hotels. Even when they buy, they will probably buy 20 cases at a time which not worth the time for most Australian wineries. No busienss to be made at VinItaly. Better of inviting sommeliers from top range restaurants on a gastronomical tour to Australia like what Wine Australia does occasionally.

Another reason VinItaly is so crowded because every mum and pop vineyard would have a stand at the Show. A lot of the chateau is only about 40 acre and they use a lot of space to store barrels and bottles. They won't let any bottles that are less than 2 years old out of the door. Quality over quantity is their principle.

On the other hand, due to geographic distance, Italian hardly taste Australian wine. A lot of them tell me this is their first time to taste Australian wine. They find our wine very "interesting" ... Australian wines are generally younger, white would be on the sweeter side and the red would have softer tannin and more red fruit flavour. They love our Sauvignon Blanc and Shiraz / Syrah.

An interesting incident this morning is an Italian grandmother took her grandchildren, all look like under 18yr, to the show. The oldest one who look like 16yr orders to taste different wines. Towards the end, even the 8yr old starts to drink. OMG, the look on Kevin's (the owner who does the pouring) face worth a photo!

At the end of the day, Alessabdra and I go over to the food hall and get some complimentary white truffle / Tartuffe and biscuit and start drinking Riesling. Australian are a rowdy yet fun bunch of people.

Learning:
McLaren Vale style - old vine, hot climate, high alcohol (i.e. less acidity)

Italian wine - generally high acidity due to colder climate Czytaj więcej
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VinItaly Day Three
17 kwietnia 2018, Włochy ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
I kick off the day with noble rot tasting - Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trokenbeerenauselese. Although the class is conducted in German with translation to Italian, Joyce from Fishbone joins me for the class so we had fun tasting and joking about the sommeliers.

After the class, I go to meet with Peter Muscet's Italian friend Federico. It is so much easier to navigate the maze of Italian regions with a guide. We taste some top wines from Italian premium regions and I have learnt a bit more about terriors and wine making techniques from different regions.

There are 600-700 different varieties in Italy. Even if the grapes are the same genetically, because of the region they grow, the taste is completely different. I feel for the sommeliers who have to study Italian wines for two years before moving onto the new world.

Towards the end of the day, we start bartering Australian wine for all sorts of things - Pisco sour, craft beer, gin tonic, truffle, olives, biscuit, salami. Australian wine is like the new type of crypto currency that is popular and highly valued everywhere. We are planning tomorrow afternoon, we will start going around with a box of Australian wine and barter for everything and anything.

Learnings:

Like previously mentioned, lots of Italian wineries are family own. A few generations later, children from these families split the property into smaller and smaller patch. Today, most wineries are around 20 - 40 acres and some family members own perhaps 10 vines and make a label out of it.

The Italian spend lots of efforts into making good wines which are not always commercially viable. For example, entry level wines starting from £5 ex cellar whole sale, mid level / blend (normally would have been oaked for 2 years) starting from £10, premium starting from £40+. A lot of overseas buyers are looking for entry level wine that tastes like premium wine to present back to their bosses.

Some of the Italian wineries are so small that they have to host private wine dinners, wine education, tour to the property for perspective buyers to get a feel of the wine, to fall in love with the wine, to "have wine on the lips" [something like "bum on the seat."

The way the trade works here is that a big wine retailer would have hired a number of trusted wine consultants (the prawns) to visit mega wine fairs like VinItaly to look for the gems. These consultants would go back with a few options and the head Buyer of this big retailer will balance the price and the taste with consumer demands to choose which wines to import. Same principle applies to premium hotels, wine bars, and restaurants. Another bonus point is, using words by Jason, head wine buyer from Aldi, "medals are extremely important."

Because of the history and the beautiful renaissance chateau on the property, lots of this wineries venture into functions - weddings, corporate events, etc. to make ends meet. On the other hand, owners of these chateaus (children of the wine family) would have a full time job somewhere else to supplement this money loosing passion project. Czytaj więcej
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VinItaly Day Four - Last Day!!!
18 kwietnia 2018, Włochy ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
Finally I have made it to the last day of VinItaly - I would have never thought I could see the end of it after the exhausted day one. Traffic is visibly less and I have no mode to pour crappy wine. I do a couple of short WSET master classes, barter a few bottles of wine for truffle, an Italian white and a Croatia white, then pack up and go home.

In the afternoon, I walk into town to enjoy the spring warmth. This time, I am walking the outskirt of the town along the river. Italian towns have not changed for thousands of years. I can imagine back in the Middle Ages, most traders / businesses would be resided in town where is protected by a river / moat, while farmers were living out of town doing the hard yards. I wonder into a beautiful tranquil renascence garden and have a good look of this beautiful town at the top of the garden.

The wine party starts when the evening comes. We all gather together at Peter Simic's hotel and starts off with Campari / Spiritz to wine down. We then progress to consume our left over wine of over a dozen among 8 of us. Dinner consists of dirty and even dirtier jokes. Well, we work hard and play hard!

Learnings:
I am given different wine everyday and they are not best. There are no tasting notes, information about the wineries, no price points, not even a business card! My suggestion to these tight budget wineries is: if you can't send someone to an overseas wine fair, don't bother sending wine and let someone else pour it for you. Save your money for the next wine show that you are serious about.

VinItaly is like a consumer event, loads of sommeliers, students, self proclaimed "wine lovers". They drink, don't spit, and move on. There is no discussion on price list, MOU, branding, etc. Most of them come here to buy Italian wine, for international wine, better off going to Provine in Düsseldorf / Bordeaux, Vinexpo HK. Or even worse, they are trying to sell us Italian wine. Daniela who runs a wine consortium offers me a thick wine list that covers most Italian regions and price points. Czytaj więcej
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Mantua
19 kwietnia 2018, Włochy ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
I took a bus just round the corner to this little medieval town called Mantua. It is a castle town surrounded by two man made lakes.

Gosh, the weather is stunning! I feel like I am back in Sydney and baking in 28c heat. The town square is buzzing with street markets when I arrive early in the morning. I go into one of the museums and, to my great surprise, the artwork of fallen giants and Adam and Eve's wedding banquet is a work of art. I also visit the infamous Rigoletto, who, despite all he has done, is my favourite opera character.

In the evening, I go claim my paycheque for this trip - a dinner with Peter Simic. Peter orders a very nice bottle of wine - Armone classical 2010 by Alleguini that costs £230. Well, I guess my daily rate is way more than that if I were to get paid.

We talk about plans to sell his $11,000 bottle of wine to rich Chinese billionaire, effectiveness of VinItaly, potential market development for Russia. I don't know how I can go back to that static HKTDC job after this trip! Czytaj więcej
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Florence City Tour
20 kwietnia 2018, Włochy ⋅ 🌙 20 °C
Paul, my housemate, is kind enough to drop me off at the Verona Potts Nouva. I feel like Verona is like a home already and it is now time to explore a new city.

Florence is hectic; Cars, people and churches everywhere. Now is just the beginning of the season and I can't imagine what the town would be like during school holiday. There are so many names from renaissance time that I have never heard of - I am never good at or interested in arts class I guess. I love getting lost in the city though. Every turn is a new church, a new piece of art, another history to be told.

I do two free walking tours today to get my bearings around town. In the late afternoon, I go to see the David statue, a work of art by Michael Angelo. Luckily, the queue is only 10min. The statue truly deserves its worldwide reputation - the vein on his arms, the six-pack toned body, the well proportion body composition, the expression on David's face, each part of the body is fascinating. Even the replica outside of the Plaza de Signore can never replicate what Michael Angelo has created for the Florentines.

In the evening, I go up to Piazzale MichelAngelo as recommended by Susanna to watch the beautiful spring sun casts its last ray onto the ancient Florentine city. The Dome and the towers are magnificent against the pink backdrop.

To add sugar to the cake, a gelato festival is on at the Piazzale. I spend €10 and pretty much all I can eat up to 25 flavours. I am so over the moon till I can eat no more after the 7th cone - sugar overload with all these strange but delicious flavours.

Observations:
There are so many American tourists in Florence that is comparable to Jerusalem. Very interesting.

Gelato in Italy is sweeter than those in Australia. They don't have enough milk so they add lots of sugar instead!

门面功夫 is so true. The Church of San Lorenzo facade has nothing but inside is magnificent, while the facade of Cathedral Saint Mary of Flower is richly ornated, the inside is fairly plain. Which one would you choose? Czytaj więcej
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Chianti Region
21 kwietnia 2018, Włochy ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
I take an expensive tour to get a better understanding of the Chianti region. We visit four wineries and each has its own characteristics. Overall the tour is good except for there is a lack of food. By the time we arrive at the 3rd winery after lunch hour, when they joke about no lunch and wine nutritious, I so want to just walk out of the door!

Winery one: Altiero
A family run tiny winery. The owner makes wine because of love of nature and good quality food. The wines are high in alcohol (15%+), high acidity and really need to be aged for another 10 years. It is such a small production that it is run like a family business. This is where we receive the most portion of our food.

Winery two: Querceto
A medium size winery where it does a bit of export and functions. The wine is not bad and I bought a bottle of DOCG to try with Toni when I get back.

Winery three: Le Cinciole
OMG, this French girl provides no Italian hospitality, no food nor water. The wine is crapped! Highly not recommended. The winery is purchased by an architect who knows nothing about wine making and just want to live in Tuscany.

Winery four: Fattoria de Bagnolo
A winery that has been inherited for 3 centuries. Everything is done in the traditional way, including the underground cellar and the chateau on the property. The owner says that this winery makes no money, they do it because they want to continue the family tradition. The brother makes the wine and lives on the property. Really, this is their hobby farm and can just make a living. There are lots of wineries like this one in Italy. The old world way of wine trade.

The Conclusion is: Chianti DOCG produces lots of wine, but not all are great.

In the evening, I go roaming around town. The weather is a lot cooler and more pleasant. The atmosphere is also great with less people and lights are on around the churches. I also go and see La Traviata at an intimate theatre. I watched a smiling production before in one of the European countries. A tourist things but the cast is fantastic!

The weather this week is very differ from the one I had last week. It is like Spring just woke up and realise she has over slept. Everything just get heat up overnight and the temperature rise up from 12c to 28c. I don't normally complain about hot but this IS hot for European weather!

A note to myself:
I shall just go onto one of these Viata mass tour in the future than the exclusive small tour which is not necessarily better.

Next time, I would like to cycle / Vespa around Tuscany, Siena and Maltipulicino region. An active tour than expensive sedative tour. Czytaj więcej
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Museum day in Florence
22 kwietnia 2018, Włochy ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
Today is museum day in order to avoid the hot Weather. I arrived at Uffizi museum at 8.30am and am the first few who go in. Inside is so peace and quiet and I get to appreciate the renaissance masterpieces up closed without being pushed. To be honest, I am more into medieval art (more expressive, grande) than renaissance (portraits and body compositions). I am also not an art gallery person and could only spend 2 hours in this beautiful palace museum.

After the Uffizi, I went to climb up the Santa Maria de Fiore cathedral tower. Although I watched the sunset from Piazza de Michaelangelo, the view on top of this 98m high tower is spectacular. The medieval streets are winding through Florence from Central station to the river Arno. Red brick rooftops like it has not been touched for centuries. The Alps mountain range is in the distance with a blue sky as the background. What a beautiful city! But I wont be back because there are far more tourists than locals. The whole town is filled with tourists, half of them are American. I feel like it doesn't have its own soul anymore.

Lunch again is at the San Lorenzo Market. I had this beef dish that is so filling yet I don't know which part of the cow it is from!

The temperature is heating up and the line to go into the Santa Maria church is getting ridiculously long. I visit the church museum briefly and have decided not worth queuing to go in. I gave my entry ticket to a very nice French couple and start making my way home.

The train ticket I have for Milan is a business class - finally! I am also very pleased to leave the bustling Florence to a more civilised town.

I have a very nice room with a small balcony facing the street. I had my little dinner with the sinful prosciutto belly, pecorino chianti cheese and a tiny bottle of Prosecco DOC.

Yum... tomorrow is the big day. Czytaj więcej
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Malta - THE day
23 kwietnia 2018, Włochy ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
I take the 7.30am flight to Malta via Rome to meet with Jonas. Gee, the Italians flying is not better than their driving. The Rome airport is so busy that the plane has to go around in circle for 45min before it can land. The plane land at 9.10am and my next flight is 9.25am! I am so worried that I would miss the flight and I have to push business glass people away to get in front. The one in front is flying to JFK and his flight is at 9.25am too. Good luck to him as mine connecting flight is also delayed. Italian just have no concept of being on time!

I finally get myself to Hilton and I can not check in till 3pm. Since I am already in my gym clothes, I have decided to go for a run along the port.

First impression of Malta - Mediterranean climate. It feels like TLV but without the vibe. Yellowish brick houses, stone walls, vast sea. I have never seen such clear water so closed to a city before. There are many waterfront apartments and I am sure we can find one we like quite easily. Supermarket items are very limited and I am yet to find out where I can find fresh seafood (apparently there is a Sunday fish market down south). Vegetable choices are quite limited too. The restaurant prices are expensive at around £15 per main course. I do find a Jewish kosher restaurant that I might go for Shabbat dinner.

I meet with Jonas at 5pm. Immediately we decide to go for a walk around the port. We talk a lot about different things: from work related to recreational, from our background to future of the company, from wine to books. My feeling is we both have a very worldly view and try to enjoy life whiles working on something we like.

He then taken me to this very nice Japanese Asian fusion restaurant. The sashimi and sea bass is fresh even the Sydney fish market can not compare.

A bottle of Champagne later, I know without him saying that the deal is done.

Conclusion
There is not much in Malta. You live here but you don't really live here. Czytaj więcej
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Italy whirlwind trip Podróżnik
Malta - a day of wirlwind
24 kwietnia 2018, Malta ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
Early in the morning, I take a public bus to Medina - the highest point in Malta as suggested by Jonas. I like taking public transport; I like being rough most of the time. The middle of Malta basically has nothing, other than a few industries. It feels like Egypt / Arab area in Israel.

Medina is a medieval town. I feel like I have been to a similar town before but I can't remember where; everything feels so familiar though. Because I am there at 7.30am, there are hardly anyone there and I roam around town and smell the air of history. The panorama point is spectacular, especially with the sunrise in the distance and the vineyard spread underneath, I feel like I am back to Israel. At the end of the day, this is Mediterranean.

The journey back is not so pleasant. There is no taxi to be found so I have to take a random bus towards Valetta. It happens to be peak hour (8am-9am), the road is congested while the bus has no aircon! I manage to get to Valetta City Center and has no mood to look around because I need to rush back to meet Jonas at 10.30am. Plus that epic bus ride, I am willingly to hand over £25 to an angry taxi driver to take me back to Hilton.

Before I leave to meet Jonas, I have a short discussion with Kenny because I know an offer is about to be made and want to make sure we are on the same page before proceeding.

As expected, Jonas gave me a verbal offer and a well recited relocation package deal. We chatted for a bit about the next step and what I can read up on before starting. I then head off to the airport with a calm heart but heavy mind.

I have been repeated this mantra "I am an expat, living overseas, doing meaningful work in business. Travel, control, Asia Pacific, Busienss Development, learn and grow, and strategy." since I came back from Israel. I have also written down $150k + super and leave TDC by June 2018. Now I finally get everything I wanted - I feel so unreal! I have been trying so hard for so long to go back to Europe without knowing how. I just believe I can somehow. Suddenly, everything all fall into places. My mind is trying hard to adjust to the reality.

There are so much in my mind that, on the flight back to Milan, I leave my passport at the front of my seat and only remember it when I get off the shuttle bus. I can see the plane but I can not get back on!!

Dealing with Italian is a NIGHTMARE! They have no empathy nor sense of responsibility. The guy at lost and found is so rude and I have to wait 30min before the Air Malta staffs show up. Another 15min later, they claim they check the plane twice and can not find anything. By the way, the plane has already left! WTF! I have to use the passport to get onto the plane; it must be on it. The lady is kind enough to help me call the embassy and leave her phone number to me just in case. The embassy can not help because they will close for ANZAC day tomorrow and my temporary passport will take 48hr to process.

I am freaked out knowingly my passport is on that plane going back to Malta! There is nothing I could do except for leaving my contact details and Kenny's phone number with the friendly and sympathetic air hostess.

When I reach back to the hotel, I have a long chat with Kenny - I miss him and want to go home! I don't want to stay in Italy till Monday!

I take a walk to Milan central. As I am walking, Kenny message me saying that they have found my passport! I knew it - it is always on that plane! Now I am not so sure about their security first round check that they can't even find a passport. My option is to delay my flight back by a day and start working on the day of my arrival in the morning - it is going to be tough but at least I get to see my clients. Most importantly, I get to go home as planned!

This must be the age thing that I can't travel for that long anymore. I miss home. I miss spending time with Kenny. I miss our balcony! I am not fucking 25yr anymore. Although I still enjoy travelling very much and don't think I can ever give it up, I would like to travel less and travel shorter.

Another incident is: even the bus driver is not willing to help. I get on this bus with no notes telling passengers where to purchase tickets. The bus driver finally get on the bus (3min late, of course) and can not stop talking to his friend. He points at the ticket machine on the platform saying that I have to buy the ticket from there and he can not wait for me to do that. Fuck that! I just walk in and sit down. I am not going to wait for another 15min for your shit. If you fine me, so be it! Czytaj więcej
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Milano - an unexpected day
25 kwietnia 2018, Włochy ⋅ 🌙 19 °C
Today is an unexpected day of being able to stay in Milan and look around the City.

I start the day by chatting with various friends what is considered to be a good salary in Europe. I feel like what I am getting paid is fair but I could have asked for more (the plan is $150k which I lack the confidence to ask). Therefore, my plan is to put my heart into it and either get a promotion or get known in the industry to move to a bigger role.

The freezing of egg discussion is also bought up. I would like to do it. Although I am not prepared to give up what I have earned now for a child, but I may want to have one in a couple of years time. I don't want to leave it to faith when I have the financial means to do it and it is not too expensive.

I then go to Duomo and join this 3.5hr walking tour around Milan town. There are quite a few hidden gems in this big city. Milan is not favourite city but I would much prefer it over Florence - less crowded, more diversity of archeology architectures, better food and shopping. It is also just happened that today is the Italian National Holiday, the street is filled with people. I don't feel crowded, I feel join and celebrations!

I then travel slightly out of town to an area near several canals. Water can really change he feel of a city. People are so much lively sitting by the water, playing, dancing, sun baking, picnicking. I stop at a happy hour bar recommended by the tour guide called Farmacia de Alcoholical. For £12 I can have one drink and a buffet. I miss my veg! I pile my plate with loads of veg and have 3 of them - delicious! Czytaj więcej
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Transit Day
27 kwietnia 2018, Hongkong ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
I go for a morning walk around the block, buy a nice cup of coffee from a boutique coffee shop, a focaccia, then sit in a park to watch Milan citizens to wake up to another work day.

Ciao Italy! It has been a whirlwind trip and not easy being away from home for so long. The country is not perfect and your people are not the nicest, you produce some of the most superior food and wine with negative unit economics. Dealing with your constant delay and unsympathetic staffs is truly a nightmare. Ciao for now until I am back to Europe next. Czytaj więcej
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Long Day of working
27 kwietnia 2018, Hongkong ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
An unaccompanied Chinese boy is sitting next to me for the whole flight. OMG, I seriously need to reconsider the fertility option. I suspect the kid has ADHD (or all kids are like that) that he laughs and moves his hands around while watching TV, folding and unfolding the tray for a few hours. At one point he even wants to touch my screen - not until I slap his hand! I will be a terrible impatient mother!

Land in HK at 6.30am, I go as efficiently as possible directly to the hotel, freshening up and have a quick bite, I am back at hkcec. The day wasn't too bad and the jet lag has not kicking in yet. I even go out to have dinner with Candy till 11pm. Czytaj więcej
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Italy whirlwind trip Podróżnik
Tough day
28 kwietnia 2018, Hongkong ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
Today is the day jetleg starts kicking in. I woke up at 7am and started feeling very tired at around 3pm. I even skip dinner and go to bed at 9pm!

My Facebook has been mysteriously locked out. I suspected it has been hacked because my FB Ad budget was used to promote Canvas shoes last week! My hotmail account has been locked out as well! When things go into shit, they go in bundles! First is the passport, now is half my life (the social media life)!

Meals in HK:
Fri breakfast: MX noodle + 糯米鸡（OK）
Fri dinner: roasted goose + tofu
Sat breakfast: congee + 肠粉
Sat lunch: drunken chickens + 菜心 Czytaj więcej
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