Italy trip..part 1 ROME

Ciao Italia !!!! After months of planning..I am finally here in Italy enroute to Germany . Left KL on 21-June at 8pm for Bangkok , before catching my flight to Rome at 12.20am. After a streinous 12 hours of travel, I finally reach Rome. Checked into Hotel Center about 800metres from Termini station..and well its a small cozy hotel with basic facilities ( slightly better than a rumah tumpangan !! )and for the price I paid , RM600/night I can get myself a cozy night at a suite in Kl easily..What the heck.....wat to do , our RM is so small compares to the mighty Euro's . Spend half a day walking in Rome...then back to hotel at 3.30pm and planned for a short nap..however the jetlag get better of me instead ..... we slept till 10pm !! However we managed to cover quite a bit of Rome by foot on the 2nd day from Vatican City to Castle Angello to Pantheon , Piazza Navona , Piazza di Montecitorio , Trevi Fountain , Piazza Spagna and Piazza del Popo..before heading back to Coleseum for some night shots .















Ticket to my dream.......... Italy here I come !!!

















The Colosseum outside ..... and the inside
















Left : Beef panini Right : St Peters Piazza, Vatican City





















St Peters Basilicca and the inside..beautiful mosaics















Left : The Pantheon Right : Fontana Del Quattro Fiumi , Piazza Navona





Say cheese !!!!!!!!!! Beautiful ?? Trevi Fountain lar.... Bruises after 2 days of walking..Crocs..tak boleh

Greetings from Italy

Hi guys, here I am in the city of fashion...Milan, Italy . Italy is really beautiful. Sorry for the late updates that but trust me internet connection in hotels here is scarce..... unless you go to public internet host which charges €3/15 minutes !!!!!! Trust me..Malaysian hotels are much better in terms of ammenities and facilities...

I'll leave Milan for Venice tomorrow and later will proceed into Germany. Hopefully things would be better there and I'll post few of my pictures from there...ifthere is free internet connection !!! For the mean time CIAO !!

Happy Chang Festival !!!! and a brief history of it...

Every year on the 5th day of the fifth moon of the Chinese lunar calendar. This is the day which I am looking foward to every year..as I just simply love Bah Chang...especially when eaten hot with a smack of Maggi chilli sauce.....Some like it with soya sauce..some like it with sugar..some likes it ala naturel......but I like it with Maggi chilli sauce.

Every Chang Festival..it brings me back to my childhood memories...when my late grandmother is still around..we use to make this traditional delicacy..and me being the little devil at home would pester my grandma to let me make my own bah chang..which often ( everytime ) turns out to be a disaster !!!!

Enough of my childhoood memories...let me narate to you an interesting story of its origin......

The very patriotic poet and statesman QU Yuan ( 340 - 278BC ), from the ruling house of Chu, tried to warn the Emperor and fellow court members on the impending expansionism into the state by the Qins. His warnings were not heeded.........

In 278BC , the Qin dynsaty general Bai Qi invaded Chu kingdom capital of Yingdu, and the fall of the Chu Kingdom upset Qu Yuan terribly. So overcome by the grief ..the much respected jumped into the Milou and drowned ( in short suicide ). Qu yuan poetic thoughts are reflected in poems he penned on the affairs of the time, before he departed this life. On learning of his drowning, fisherman went out trying to fish out his body, but they found no trace of it ( piranha's in China too ?? )

According to the legend, rice dumplings were thrown into the river to lure the fish away from Qu Yuan's body while fisherman beat drums and gongs to protect the body from being eaten by the fish and demons of the murky waters.

Another version is that dumplings were thrown into the river that Qu Yuan soul would not go hungry in afterlife . Watever....most important is that I get my dumplings every year.

Most people are aware of the legend behind the Chang Festival but the dawn of the festival, does not automatically bring to mind Qu Yuan's patriotic act, it does however to mind the aromatic savoury and sticky rice delight.... but to me I'll remember you..coz without yuu..I wont have my fix of Bah Chang today !!!!!!

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