Ti amo, Italia

It's been a while since I've done one of these travel posts- simply because I've been awfully lazy to transfer the pictures into my laptop. It's been crazy long since I've used my laptop actually, so you know that now I kinda have a lot of time on my hands to be doing all these now. Haha, well jokes aside, I decided to write about my recent trip to Italy because it's been one of the more memorable times I've had thus far. 

There had been trips that were just as fun, or even more fun, than this one, but I've been way too busy (or should I say, lazy) to write about those trips that now it seems like old news. Honestly it's because I feel like my Instagram tells most of the stories in a timely order, but I do these travel posts sometimes anyway because I like to tell longer stories that Instagram can't tell- because truthfully nobody reads long, essay-like captions right? But some stories really deserve a good post for itself. Like this one. So now that I have some time and the energy to write a long post, here goes!

When I first saw that I had MXP in my roster, I did not realise how beautiful Italy is, and the places that I could visit, and I did not know how much of Italy I could cover in that one flight. Now that I've been there, and done things that I never thought I would do, the trip itself has a very special place in my heart. It's the first time I said "okay" to everything, although I had little knowledge about what to do there.

See, this is how I am, you guys. I learn things while experiencing it all. I'm not the kind who would watch an Italian film and be all inspired and like, "someday I'm going to Italy and I will do (insert some exquisite, interesting activity). I know so little about the world, but it's like every single time I travel, I learn about the country, the city, the culture. I fall in love with the buildings, the people, the places, its unique history. I remember the roads, the conversations, the journey from one place to another. I remember these things through experiences- not through books, films or word of mouth. Everything feels brand new when you don't know anything. And to me, that's the beauty of travel. 

1st Day - Venice, Italy 

So my 1st stop literally about an hour after touching down and settling down in the hotel, I made my way to Venice.

Okay, the story on the way to Venice was pretty epic. We reached the hotel at like 10am? Then a group of us decided to meet again at the lobby at 11.30am and take the cab to the central station to catch the 12.35pm train to Venice. Sounds absolutely achievable right? But not all plans go smoothly like we'd expect them to, of course. 

While we were in the cab to the central station, the cab driver couldn't drive us all the way there because there was a road block- apparently some marathon was going on and for some reason, it decided to block the road access to the train station from where we were. So- poor us had to take the train and mind you, we were running late. We had to miss the 12.35pm train, and take the 1.05pm train instead.

Then something happened and we missed our train again! The next train was at 2.30pm and the two other girls who were with us decided that they wanted to change their plans and head to Florence first (they booked a room to stay in Florence for a night), afraid it might be too rushing for them to travel to Venice then to Florence. So in the end Jon and I decided to just #yolo and go to Venice despite the change of plans as we weren't going to Florence anyway. 

What I've learned thus far is that it really does pay to not plan too much because life is so unpredictable, and most times, things don't go the way we want them to, so it's really best to just go with the flow. Jon and I were so damn relaxed about the whole situation, we had pizza while waiting for time to pass. 2 and a half hours later, we arrived in Venice nonetheless. 

It was getting a little late and we had some complications while buying the tickets back to Milan, apparently the seats for 2nd class were all sold out for the rest of the timings that they had. So guess what? We bought 1st class #likeaboss. The last train was at 8.45pm, and that means we had about 3 hours to explore Venice. 

 The view from the water bus that we took to San Marco.

At San Marco!

Another canal shot just because-

Absolutely love this shot. It's too sweet, even sweeter when it's taken in Venice, the city of love.

I'm telling you- it's x100 times prettier in real life! The camera just couldn't capture the essence of it.

This guy just went like "excuse me sir, where is this place" while pointing at one of the souvenir magnets and the next thing I know is that we're taking the water taxi there. #yolo

1st day Gelato shot- 2EUR for this non-legit gelato! 

I've never seen so many birds in my life! 

I had to stop and take a picture with this view because it's too darn pretty! Don't care if you locals are judgin' k, IMMA TOURIST.

Because sitting on a gondola in Venice is too mainsteam. NEH, more like we were running late so we had to take the water cab back- it's friggin' EUR60 la. Now that I think about it, we might as well pay for the expensive gondola.

Venice is such a beautiful city. I could take a picture of every little corner of it and it still looks so amazing. We went to San Marco to see what's there, and gosh the view is out of this world. I know 3 hours is a short trip to explore such a beautiful place, but I'm so happy with what I was fortunate enough to experience although the time there is so short. There's just something about running out of time that makes every moment counts. I feel like it was enough for me. 

We rushed back to the train station, got a quick dinner after shopping for souvenirs and had it in the train. I haven't slept a wink since the flight which makes it about more than a day of no-sleep for me, so I managed to nap a little in the train back. Got back at almost midnight, after getting a little lost from the train station. I think we #yolo our way back to the hotel, followed our instincts and asking around. 

I know this is an awfully detailed story, but I swear these are the things that made my trip so interesting, I can't miss these out and filter the whole trip! There were so many bumps on the road but those things were what made it so memorable.

2nd Day - Cinque Terre, Italy 

Like the day to Venice wasn't tiring enough, I also decided to join another group of crew who were going to Cinqueterre the next day. Had a good shut-eye for 3 hours, and got ready again. 

We hired a driver for the day, paid EUR 75 each for the whole day. For comfort, it's absolutely worth it. I can't imagine running around for trains and timings again like we did the day before. The journey took about 2.5 hours, and it kinda reminds me of the journey to Cameron Highlands- the road was narrow, the journey is uphill and very bumpy. Thank God for long journeys, at least I get to nap to make up for the lost sleep. 

Cinque Terre was worth losing sleep for. I was so glad that I decided to just for it despite how tired I was. It was really so beautiful! I didn't even though this place existed before the trip. Can you imagine how many beautiful places we've all yet to discover in this world? 

There are five villages in Cinque Terre, so it took us the whole day to finish exploring all the villages. They all look similar to the other, but there are some key things that differentiates one village from another. I'll try my best to recall while captioning the pictures below!

We made a pit-stop before reaching the 1st village just to capture the beauty of this view! Look at that view... so pretty.

2nd day Gelato shot- now THIS is legit gelato. Absolutely love this hazelnut flavoured one right here! It doesn't melt easily and it's super creamy and just legit okay.

This is the 1st village- Monterosso! It's the biggest as compared to the other villages, and I think the distinctive feature it has is the very beautiful beach side. And the water does look as clear in real life as it does in the pictures.

This is the 2nd village- Vernazza! I think it's my favourite one because the view was particularly amazing. It's also packed with tourists like us who takes like a gazillion photos.

There's something about the colourful houses that gives Cinque Terre its vibrant personality, I love it so much.

I know I look super relaxed and chill, but I risked my life climbing to this spot just for the picture okay hahahahahaah. Ok la I was exaggerating.

My favourite picture! The wind in my hair adds to the feeling of the picture. It's hilarious because my LSS was the one who took this for me, and she's just as, or even more, energetic than all of us combined. Plus she knows what makes an #instaworthy shot! I likeeee.

Reviewing the shots taken- must get the perfect shot! And I must say my GoPro is the best gadget for times like these. It captures everything perfectly.

This is the 3rd village- Corniglia! This village has the most restaurants, cafes and gelato shops. A lot of places to find food!

And this diva kitty is the highlight of my entire day in Cinque Terre. I couldn't stop thinking about her! Okay, story time. 

We saw this lovely while cat sitting #likeaboss on a bench, so we decided to snap some photos with it! I think this cat is just so sick of human beings taking pictures of her so she would always look away whenever a camera is pointing at her face. She didn't even want to interact with any of the my crewmates so they were afraid to touch her. 

So when it was my turn to take a photo, honestly I didn't care about taking a picture, I mean like I kinda could tell that this cat wasn't interested but I did want to sayang sayang the kitty! So first I let it smell me (I mean in Harry Potter, you have to greet Buckbeak first before you touch it right) and then the kitty opened up to me. I made a gesture for it to sit on my lap and it came willingly! This unfriendly kitty likes me! So I just let it sit on me for a while while I sayang sayang her. And look at her, she looks so comfortable on my lap. And it made me sad when I had to carry it up so I could continue venturing. But just nice, the owner called for his kitty and so she went back home. 

It makes me feel a little proud that she likes me and rejected the rest of my colleagues, hehe. I've never had a cat in my life, but ever since I met Luke, my love for cats grew in multifolds. Maybe cats can sense genuine love.

One of my favourite people in the set! Fiona entertained all my vain moments and she's just one of the nicest crew I've ever met. This was taken in the 5th and last village- Riomaggiore! 

I didn't take many pictures in the 4th village because we did SO much walking up and down the slopes and had terrible pasta that isn't worth posting a picture of so- not my favourite village ya. But this last village, I absolutely love.

I told my set of crew I can't leave Cinque Terre without getting a shot of the village overlooking the sea- like the ones I saw online and I'm so happy that we got the shots here in the last village! So happy. My life is complete.

3rd Day - Milan, Italy 

On the 3rd day in Milan, we finally went out to venture Milan. It's funny how we've been here for the past couple of days but have yet to explore the city because we've been busy venturing out. This was the day I finally came out to do what I initially came to Milan to do- to buy my LV Speedy Bandouliere and Chanel classic flap wallet. 

I remember my heart was beating so fast because I was so nervous and so excited for this day. It's the first time I spend this much money on myself, guys. I've never been the kind of girl who spends money on luxury, and I don't think it's something I'll ever get used to. And it's the first time I've been so damn decisive about what I wanted to buy. 

Mandatory shot in Duomo! It's such a pretty cathedral and there were like a gazillion tourists around, even police officers. They're so friendly though, one even took a picture with me! Hahaha.

Probably the best meal I had in Italy- Lobster pasta at the crew joint! The lobster was so fresh, soooo gooood. And the mixture of this pasta with chilli flakes and tabasco is pure shiokness. Omg, what I would give to have this again.

Joy, Jonathan, Fiona and I before we start shopping! Love this shot of us.

I found my rose gelato!!!!!!! Hahahaha 3rd day Gelato shot. I refuse to give in to aesthetics and buy colourful ones because chocolate+hazelnut combo is LIFE. #gelatoalldayerrday

Omg is this heaven? The architecture is crazy beautiful. And right ahead is LV on the right, and Prada on the left. Mmhmm, it is heaven.

Speedy Bandouliere size 25 in monogram. It was love at first sight. I was contemplating on size 25 or 30, but they ran out of the 30 in monogram so I tried the size in Damier Ebene, and found it too big for me so...... dear 25, you're perfect. 

And!!! Fiona also got herself a speedy bandouliere 25 in Damier Ebene although she didn't come with the intention to get it- but I was like "babe, let's buy together" and tadaaaah. But I mean like seriously, how can you resist a speedy? It's perfection in a bag.

The sales assistant was such a sweetheart. He was so patient with us throughout, and we took really long in the shop but he was still so sweet. Probably the nicest one we've met that day- we kept going "I miss our LV guy" because he's just so nice! 

Next stop was to Chanel- it was the easiest purchase I've ever made. We arrived at the shop, I asked the sales assistant to see the item I wanted, loved it, and paid for it. Easy peasy. That was the fastest I've ever shopped. And no regrets, nada.

If you're sure about what you want and why you want it, never let anybody affect your decisions. If it makes you happy, then go for it. I started researching on the items I wanted to get in Milan and decided, "hey since I'm going to be spending money, why don't I just spend on the best". Ever since I started flying, I've yet to reward myself and got something I really wanted. 

And the money I spent on these two would probably be the best money I've ever spent. And to know that I used my own money to buy these two things made it even more valuable to me- all these wouldn't be possible without God's blessings.

I'm still so in love with you, my Speedy Bandouliere 25 in Monogram. It even has my initials on it! Love love love love major love. And this little thing is surprisingly roomy, I can fit everything inside! My big wallet, a 350ml water bottle, my portable charger, a cardigan, make up pouch, my phone, my GoPro and even my speaker. Yes, that's A LOT of things. 

And this is my Chanel classic flap wallet with gold hardware in Caviar leather. I love the combination of black and gold, it can never go wrong. Chanel wallets are not cheap at all, but I love how it fits everything. This one has a thousand compartments, it's beautiful AND practical. I love big tri-fold wallets and this one is just perfect. To me, for what it's able to hold and mainly its practicality, it's definitely worth the price. 

So that sums up my trip to Italy! By the end of the trip I was so tired, I lost a little weight because of the irregular eating and sleeping habits but all's good when I'm back, managed to catch up on my rest and ate well. I did galley work both ways which were incredibly tiring, but I feel like I no longer mind because I was given the opportunity to explore such a beautiful place that I feel like I could handle any shit onboard and I would still be super thankful for everything. 

In five days, I was given the opportunity to see more than I ever dreamt of. I left my footprints in beautiful Venice, and Cinque Terre, visited the famous Duomo in Milan and bought my first luxury. When I came back I just felt really blessed. I can't deny, my job is out of the ordinary, most times it's far from glamourous, but I learn a lot. I get to learn so much, and see so much of the world. It balances out well, I feel. I know this lifestyle is temporary, I will never let myself forget that. But for as long as I'm still here, I will make the most out of every moment I get. One day, these are the stories I'll tell my children and I want to be able to look back on these moments and feel like I've lived a life with no regrets. 

Carpe Diem, they say, right? ;)

Love,

Ashhy