dont ever give up.

today was the rome marathon! which was kinda all sorts of annoying because major streets were all blocked up for large parts of the day. but to be honest, i think seeing all these runners run, and hearing the cheers from passerbys, and just to soak in the atmosphere of such a beautiful city.. made me go sign up for my own marathon. lol, its like.. if i can’t do standard chartered marathon in singapore, then i’ll substitute it with (much more expensive!) the copenhagen marathon instead. (oh yeah, and try to sneak my way into the waiting list for noma. -_-)

anyways, task 2: take a walk around the romantic/renaissance city center.

via cavour blocked for runners. these runners got an amazing route i tell you.

i think this is via del corso – to be honest, after ambling round rome for awhile, i’ve come to the conclusion that rome is quite the labyrinthine city simply because the churches and supposedly unique structures are actually replicated multiple times across the city, making it impossible to use landmarks to make your way around. many a times i would turn a corner, spot a beautiful church facade and think i had been there before, only to realise it was a completely new piazza.

publikompass S.p.A. @ piazza colonna. one very posh piazza indeed. and by the way, there’s an amazing gelateria pretty near here called giolitti. don’t miss it.

my lunch stop – bar del fico. nice quaint french-styled cafe serving italian food and playing raucous pop jazz music.

via di parione, close to santa maria della pace. lol.. as if telling you this means you can find it. amazing race, come to rome!

santa maria della pace, currently having a miro exhibition

courtyard splendour

campo dei fiori. i think that statue looks creepy, like some assassin creed character.

i think those connectors are so cool.

view from villa borghese grounds (overlooking via cavour/piazza del popolo).

by the way, it was on my way down toward piazza del popolo (plaza of the people) did i realize what an apt name it was for the plaza. its essentially a humongous open plaza which nothing much, but during the frenzy of the midday crowds, the plaza swells with throngs of people — and indeed, the milling crowds are the components that give the plaza its name.

anyways, considering there are quite a few weekends in Rome, i decided to give myself mini tasks each weekend so as to ermm.. add some color and amazing-race excitement to my chronicles in rome.

so week 1, task 1? explore my nearby neighborhood. in pictures of course. someone commented i was being to lor-sor on my blog. =(

 market at piazza alessandria, super close to my aparment — to be honest, its quite the chore trying to buy daily necessities anywhere – because the italians really do speak very little english. i had to resort to jabbering at various fruits to get my point across.

entrance to villa albani – honestly a little spooky looking right? the road leading toward villa albani seemed pretty poorly maintained and decrepit as well. so imagine my shock when i google mapped villa albani and saw this –

 wah seh.. it looks pretty darn awesome and well kept based on google maps, with the arrow i’ve drawn indicating the exact structure you see in the picture i took. wierd eh? apparently this villa is one of the most important villas of the 18th century but is rarely ever open – to the public and even experts.  

along the way to Villa Borghese

fountain at villa borghese

you know what’s so awesome about the gardens in European cities? its the fact that there are veritable visual feasts – but they require one to essentially walk through the long paths to truly appreciate the beauty of the landscaping. essentially, all paths terminate with a beautiful structure, be it an archway, a fountain, a lake with ruins or such – and these visual treats are bordered by the winsome trees that form a beautiful frame around them.

one of the many paths along villa borghese

spring time! cherry blossoms will always remind me of cornell. =)

somehow this shot reminds me of Seurat’s la grande jatte

watch this space.

was eagerly anticipating friday, because it was the day i would move into my new apartment here in parioli, rome. and by many counts, this was the dream apartment i was looking for. its tastefully designed, with a certain retro influence, but the bath and kitchen facilities are mercifully high-tech and very new. (i mean, i reiterate that i seriously do intend to spend more time in the kitchen this round overseas).

but i think what’s awesome is really the neighborhood – swanky new restaurants alongside traditional trattorias line the streets, along with a slew of designer shops, pasta shops, pastry shops and the likes. parioli is a place for expats and the rich it seems, and it honestly kinda feels it. i mean, i somewhat have gotten used to a more grungy, dirty, tired rome whilst commuting everyday toward tiburtina, so this kind of european, affluent neighborhood has a certain foreign, almost movie-like charm. its something you would expect when you dream of living in a cool european city. so yeah, by all means, im happy. =)

come find me!

care bear sends his greetings, kaykayla!

carbonara @ ristorante la buca di ripetta

i need some serious food help. lol. italian food has thrown me really into a fix, what with the glorious spreads of carbs-intensive, protein-lacking and fibre lacking meals. -_- it really is the case that one can largely find pizzerias and ristorantes hawking their best pastas, but rarely do u find anything looking healthy. howww to maintain a good diet and be fit? *faint*

the carbonara i had tonight was pretty decent – the bacon taste permeated the entire dish and the al dente nature of the pasta was refreshing (singaporean pastas are normally a little too overcooked and soggy). that being said, this has to be one of the heavier variants of the pasta dishes because despite looking deceptively little, its fills you up quickly what with the cheesy/egg base. good stuff, chock full of calories though. help me..

and there are other problems as well. =( for one, eating alone really isn’t fun — to the extent that im probably gonna resort to cooking my own dinners if it comes to that. there’s no fun sampling good food when there’s no one to gush with or share the food with to get their concurrence. methinks restauranteering simply ain’t for the solo traveller – and its downright expensive as well, since you have to pay for your own bottle of water (3 euros), and getting glasses of wine is just impractically exorbitant (6 euros a glass -_-). so yeah.. i can’t do this too often. bleah.

first world problems eh? haha.

bonjourno, roma! (shot of river sidewalk toward Castel St’ Angelo)

if you told me two years ago that I would be heading to rome for 9 months for an overseas posting, I would tell you to dream on. but well, testament to life’s many twists and turns, this is me, back in rome, ready to embark on a 9 month sojourn.

sometimes i honestly wonder why God constantly places me in positions where I am largely alone overseas. i mean yeah, most times there are colleagues and the likes, but its different from having close friends and people that you can completely drop your guard down on or just squabble and laugh at each other’s silliness. i miss those days. sometimes i wonder why the path I tread has to be so different from most people, and at times i really do envy that normalcy.

well.. when you’ve got lemons (or in this case, tomatoes), go make some pizza/pasta concoction!

some majestic red and orange building i passed by walking along Viale Giuseppe Mazzini.. curiously, once you walked away from the touristy areas, Rome essentially deadens and I could hardly find a shop or two that was open.

i’ve visited this place so many times its tough to find a new perspective to shoot from. glad the lamp shadows provided me with a nice shot of St Peter’s Square. the little girl running across the square was an added bonus!