Throwback: On Rialto Bridge at night, Venice, Italy

Shot with X100S with WCL converter.

Such a beautiful city, day and night. On the Rialto Bridge, just looking out the river as far as my eyes can see and the lights that light up the city. I remember eating pasta and pizza next to the river. Pasta and pizza sounded cheesy.... italy = pasta n pizza. well literally it was cheesy.

Throwback: Venice. On the Rialto Bridge. 2014.

Taken with my X100S.

I love Venice. I'm having good coffee and a great apartment to stay, something about a city with waters. I was at peace. Boats, gondola, ferries. This place is also packed with tourists. Great pasta and pizzas.

Throwback: Milan in 2014

Taken with Fuji X100S.

I love Italy.
Will i ever be back?

Cycling at Tower Bridge

I was tired from all the walking so i sat down at one of the seating area near the Tower Bridge, there were a lot of people whether cycling, strolling, jogging, photographing, u named it, with my X100S in my hands equipped with the WCL, i tried to capture this cyclist and see if my X100S is fast enough to focus and take a shot. i think it did well here. No hunting by the X100S. Although its a hit and miss, hopefully the X100T improves on that.

A street artist in Florence

Florence, its like a one big Festival city. The streets are crowded. Its like woodstock.
I was walking down the street when i stumbled this street artist. He's good. I took a bunch of pictures and tipped him.

Taken with a Fuji X100S. 

It made my face smirked when i see tourists with their big DSLRs. It looks heavy hanging there on your neck. Get a Fuji. Small, light and awesome IQ. plus that retro look that everybody seems to fond of. but thats just my opinion and i am entitled to it.

haters gonna hate.

From London to Italy and Leicester .... (Part 1 London)

12th July 2014

Its 6.15am and i'm hovering above the clouds of london, it was beautiful up here, the sunrise gave the clouds an orange tint glow and we're circling up here waiting for our turn to land. This is typical of london heathrow traffic, as we circled, there were a few planes visible from looking outside of the plane window as they takes turn to land. While we're up here it reminds me of the scenes from a movie called the langoliers, all you see is clouds blanketing the world below. I should have taken my camera but i'm too lazy to take it out of the bag, and just like that i missed the moment. As we descend into the clouds, i was expecting a little turbulence and to my surprise there was none. And then the city below begins to appear, London, gone was the sunrise, the city in mist and a typical london weather, grey skies. The mood definitely turns dark. The temperature outside is 17degrees celcius, not quite the hot summer but maybe it was just morning weather. I'm still adjusting the time change as my body prepares to prevent jetlag. I do feel like its 6am in the morning, thats a good start.
I hop the next train to Paddington.

I've arrived at Paddington station and it was quite a busy morning. Hundreds of people getting their coffees and catching the next train. There were a few cyclist, in their spandex also getting breakfast, there's burger king and some bagel stations, a lot of options to choose and me i just sit on the cold steel chair thinking what's good for breakfast. Pigeons literally flew past my face and i'm the one who needs dodging. Not from where i come from, a slight move of your hands, and there goes the birds fleeing for their lives.

Its 9am and the hotel check in policy is at 2pm. 5 hours to burn. My fuji x100s sits in my bag and have yet to come out. I'm too tired from the long flight and i need to sleep in a proper bed. Sitting for 16 hours is not cool. Your bottom hates you and your sleeping pattern messed up. I left my luggage at the hotel and head back to Paddington Underground Tube station. First stop, Whitechapel.

I am in Whitechapel to check out the market but it seems that i'm too early as they were just about to setting up their 'tent'. I've been to Shepperd's bush and i think Shepperd's is the better market. I'm talking about street market. cheap ripoff clothings, and stuffs. Its 10am and the weather is about to show its summer. cloudy blue skies and warm sun, here comes summer i thought. As i was taking out my camera and started taking pictures, one guy came to me, he was pushing a trolley full of stuffs, i guess he's one of the sellers there, he said "Brother, no picture please". I said "OK" and just like that, it turned me off, of doing any photography. I guess i am a sensitive guy. I also found out that, that place is quite dodgy. Quite a few hobos, asking for a penny. When one hobo came to me and ask for two penny, and me being the "NO" guy, of course said no, he started swearing and mumbling, all i heard was "Cmon its only 2 pennies". I am totally a foreigner there and for my own safety, I left whitechapel.

June 10th 2015
***at this moment, i have lost my idea for a write up, might as well post some pictures rather than me talking out of my ass, this has been a long overdue blog post LOL***

Time for updates

I sold my X100S and now i'm missing the X100 series. Now i'm GASing for X100T. Why not? the X100S was after all my all time favourite camera. Its simple. One focal length to rule them all. Of course it cant do all types of photography. but for my type of photography, eg. portraits, landscapes, streets, the X100 series is great enough. With the new T model, i hope it fixes and improves all the niggles of the S series. To be honest, i sold the S so i could upgrade to the T. or should i wait for the F series? YOu may wonder why F? because F stands for Fourth but also stands for Five, i'm not sure whats the next naming convention. I'm sure you know that T stands for third? You dont? i dont blame you.... nobody cares what it actually calls. Anyway, i'm not sure if the T is sold here locally. i guess my best next bet is Singapore. but i'm not going to Singapore anytime soon.

I knew i'm gonna get the X100 series again because i kept the wide converter lens. I just love that camera. Awesome IQ, classic looks, although at times i wanna smash it to the ground because it keeps back focus (focus the background instead of subject). But now with face detection available, i hope it does what it does and be good at it. What else is there to be GASing about the T? Wifi implementation.... at first i thought of it as a good feature but not important but then i realised i loved transferring my recently took photos to my tablet and phones and upload it to instagram or just for viewing. I always do that with my Sony Rx100iii. it was indeed convenient! Large LCD is always a good thing. although non tilt, i dont think thats a deal breaker though.

As a taking still pictures tool, the T IS GREAT. but for video? based on reviews its bad although i wont probably noticed because i dun really know wat to look for in video quality. as long its not choppy i'm alright.

I brought the X100S for a trip to Italy last year. and i loved all the thousands of images that i took but i have to admit i kinda tired lugging it around. but the images taken was worth it.

I can also take pictures like above because the X100S is so damn quiet. Thats what i like about the X100 series. Suddenly i have guts to take candid photos. just because i'm stealthy. Because its basically mute. No sound! You cant do this with a Leica. unless you have balls. I dont. I also respect people's privacy. unlike certain Eric K.  but that's just me, different people different thinking. whatever to get your pictures.

I love this picture. This is how useful and stealthy the X100S can be. I was sitting on the opposite side when i noticed this man reading a book and at times looking out of the window. His face has got that character, the lines, the age, what is he thinking? is he heading home to his loved ones? is he going to work? thinking of the grand children? its a mystery. but from his face you can see he is definitely thinking of something.

Some people may not understand why i took pictures of strangers or why photograhers take pictures of strangers but thats what street/candid photography is all about, they were never your friends or families, just strangers running their daily business, their emotions, just characters, subject of a picture. Its like questioning why Monalisa?

What i dislike about Fujifilm is their aggressive noise reduction. if only we can control the NR manually. Its great to have noise free images but sometimes skins looked like mannequins and thats bad.

Why not X-T10 you say? Sure, its new, classic SLR looks, interchangeable lens, something about the X100 series is just so simple. no need to worry about focal lengths. and size wise the X100 is shorter? the lenses on X-T10 will be bulkier and longer.

I put up my two Leicas for sale. My M8 and M9. and i sell them cheap. especially the M9. too cheap. i think i wanna upped the price a bit. actually i felt a bit of regret selling those. Its a Leica. and i might never owned one of these again. I'm selling my M8 with Voigtlander 15mm about SGD$3000. and my M9 with Voigtlander 40mm at SGD$4200. Actually i'm having second thoughts about selling them but i believe i needed the money. SO far no buyer and i'm not desperate selling.

I love Leica, its like owning a Ferrari. but owning a Ferrari is over the top? not justified? i cant find the words here. any car can go from point A to B, just like a camera, it just take pictures. Leica is too expensive. i can get 3 or 4 Fujifilm and have one Leica.

One reason of selling it is i'm not really good at that rangefinder focusing. i'm just too slow. trying to aligned the patch sometimes it took me a while and the photo opportunity just gone. especially taking pictures of them kids. You cant ask them to stand still. and if you can its not natural. i like candid and natural expression. not created. i'm better off with a camera that can do fast autofocus just like a X100S. Shooting wide open at 1.4 with the M9 is harder for me. if i didnt get the eye to focus the pictures will become blurry or at least the nose is sharp. thats a bad photo in my book. With the M8 is okay because of the smaller aperture at 4.5.

But but but, this Leica M9 that i purchased has a very low mileage. the last picture i took was only at 473 shutter actuations!!!! its a steal! Its in pristine condition. I want to keep it for collection but then i might need money too. Confusing times. I wanna sold off just the M8 but the pictures it took was amazing too. super sharp. although need to put IR cut filter or else all black shirts becomes purple. uweeekkkk... and the M8 is in silver. its super sexy retro look!

Should i sell or should i keep?

I brought my M8 to New Orleans with the 15mm. 

This is where Nicholas Cage is heading when he'll rest peacefully. He's not dead yet. but very much owned this part of the cemetery. 

Jackson square New Orleans taken by Liam Neeson...Not... by Leica M8

The only thing Fuji cant take is sunstar. Correct me if i'm wrong. but i never got the light to burst into a sunstar with my Fujifilm X100S but with the Voigtlander there she is....

And just look at that color noise on the M8. but why peep when you can just watch and look at the picture of the alley.

Oh.... such tough times. 

To sell or not to sell the Leicas.... 

To buy or not to buy the FUjifilm X100T.

GAS comes and goes.

There goes my X100S.....

I just sold my fav camera the X100S!! I am really sad to let it go but i have to sell it to fund my Leica lust. Awww maaaannn...... I just wish that i could at least sold the X-pro1 first and then sell the X100S. Now i am left with my X-pro1 which no one seem to have taken interest with. Its not that i dont like the X-Pro1 but i just prefer my X100S over it. This is all Leica's fault. A really good deal on a used Leica M8 in chrome!! i just cant let it go. it had to be done. And a quite good deal on a Voigtlander 40mm 1.4 lens too! and now im wanting the 15mm and be done with it. i hope so. i know i wanted the 28mm f2 ultron because i just missed my X100S. lol. I know i was a clean high iso freak, i was spoilt by X100S. now i need to accept that the M8 is a no challenge in the high ISO contest with the X100S. i hope i can adapt and accept it. because thats also the main reason i sold my Oly EM10 back then. the high ISO is not clean enough!. but as time pass by, i slowly accept, the non Fuji IQ i can get with my latest camera the Sony RX100M3. I find it good enough. i need to get back to basics. grain is good. i started to put sense in my brain, i never really gonna print that large every day or at least every month. the pictures will always stay in the hard drive. if i can recall, i made a resolution slash revolution last year that i want to print as much as i could but i cant believe that its already been a year and i have yet to print anything. I cant believe i had the X100S for a year now,  i thought i just had it like 5 months back. woahhh, the time passed very quickly. scary. so thats that. i did miss my X100S but theres always the new one, the T. I guess if i got fed up with my Leica in the future, i might as well get back to Fujifilm and get the X100T.

Oh well.

I got the Leica Bug!

I always want it, i'm always thinking about it, i always dream about it, owning it, holding it, take a picture with it, heck, let's just do this, lets buy it!

And i bought it.

My first Leica, and its gotta be M, the M8.

Half nuts, half guts.

Nuts, because its a 2006 technology. thats a lifetime in digital age. But it doesn't mean its a bad camera, it took breathtaking shots back then, it still is gonna take the same shot now, unless the sensor went bonkers...well i pray hope not...

I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas came early they say.

Cant wait for that package to arrive.

Should be here in one week. Fly across continents my Leica will.

I bought a Voigtlander 40mm 1.4 to mount it with. Its gotta be a fast lens. I need bokeh. i want bokeh. Not necessary for all photos but i need it. its like drugs. although i find the 40mm is gonna be quite tele if you know what i mean, because i so like wide angle, but i could not find a wide angle fast lens, most of the lens are f4 onwards, i'm thinking about the Voigtlander 15mm 4.5. Thats my next lens. or should i just buy it now? and be done with it? but wait, i also want the 28mm f2 ultron. so i can get that 35mm FOV. just like my x100s. but why compare it to my Fuji. Leica is leica. what the hell m i talking about?

I'm all Voigtlander lenses here, thats probably the only lenses i be able to afford. i still need my kidney...

I'm planning to sell all my Fuji gears, my X-pro1, my X100S, and my X-M1 and just shoot Leica. Now i can shoot more shitty photos from a Leica. I've done it with Fuji, now its Leica turn. OMG, its a dream come true. i think i'm still dreaming! but my Leica is on its way. i pray to God that its in working order. I hope its not a bad copy.

I bought mine in chrome. now i want black too!

I always read that Fujis are better than Leica but Leica is a Leica. its a dream. a dream come true. Why buy a wannabe rangefinder when the real rangefinder is getting closer to affordable territory. well, thats the M8 for you, you can get it less than $2k, i'll wait for another 10 years for the M9.

I still love Fuji, but as i said, Leica is a Leica.

Its like Megadeth is great but Metallica is greater...... kinda.

Sony RX100iii, my nonsense review

I owned the RX100iii for almost 2 weeks now,
being the lazy bum i am, i did not really explore the camera features wholeheartedly. I just set my new camera on intelligent mode and begin snapping away.

I bought it at Sony store Bugis in Singapore, and i didn't even had time to come back to get my warranty card! Yes, they were out of warranty card, unbelievable. They asked me to come the next day or before i leave the country but i had too many places to go and in the end i left Singapore without the warranty card. and you know what the suckiest part of this story, i have a DEAD PIXEL on my Sony RX100iii, out of the box!! and the saddest part of it i didnt have time to exchange it, if they ever exchange one to one which i doubt it. maybe i'm wrong. oh to hell with it, now i just have to live with it, no warranty card and a dead pixel. which isn't really that annoying in broad daylight, but indoors....baarghh , sometimes it looked like a speck of dust that needs blowing but when i blow it of course it is still there. its a dead pixel. oh well....

Now with my rant aside, its actually a fun camera! Small and pocketable, although with my kind of skinny jeans, its bulging in pocket. and the horror of dust spots in Ricoh GR, i try to avoid putting it in my pocket which to be honest defeats the purpose of being pocketable. Yea, im too paranoid. But lucky me when i bought it i got a free belt strap bag, an extra battery and an SD card. So i use the belt strap bag most of the times although it gets kinda annoying when you loosen your belt, its kinda heavy to put the belt on, if you know what i mean.

To be honest i was kinda debating whether to purchase the Sony or the new iPhone 6plus. i was leaning towards the iPhone but lucky me, it was out of stock everywhere in Singapore, you know why i was lucky? because the iPhone6 BENDS when you put it in your pocket, which again defeats the purpose. Thats my purpose, to find a pocketable camera! small and take great pictures. i still believe an iPhone is better since it goes everywhere with me, hopefully one day Apple will make a 1inch sensor iPhone.

I have to say i am very happy with my purchase, the Sony RX100iii, even though it has a dead pixel on it... i am cursing myself for not testing the camera in store when i bought it!!! i was in a rush, people are waiting for me, i just could not stand the pressure i put myself to take a lil bit of time to test the camera so i just brought it home back to the hotel thinking everythings gonna be okay which is not. okay sorry for the random rant..

where am i? ok, Sony RX100iii. yes, i am very happy with it. its fun. it has a selfie mode. it got wifi. too bad it did not have touch screen. why oh why? in these days and age, every camera nowadays should be automatically built with touch screen features. and i just realised that 70mm is not really much of a zoom. its a "meh" zoom. i find myself needing a lil bit of reach. i guess 100mm should be fine. Well i guess a zoom is better than no zoom at all, unless you want prime lens but thats a different story. and as others on the net has reviewed, its actually a f2.8 aperture most of the time. the only time its f1.8 is at the very wide end at 24mm. Once you start to zoom a bit the aperture kind of instantly change to f2.8. i think these are my only gripe with this Sony RX100iii. Maybe the mark4 will fix these and if im crazy enough i'll buy it.

oh theres another, the selfie mode, most of the time with the intelligent mode, it tends to shoot at f1.8, yes, bokeh, i like that, but not in selfie mode, i want everything to be in focus, because when i want to take a quick group selfies or some BS new word ussies, i tend to be in front of the group as i'm the one holding the camera and because i want to get everyone in the pic and get the background as well, 24mm, its not as wide as the GoPro (the best selfie camera) and being f1.8 i'm the one in focus, the guys at the back is kinda blurry if you look at a bigger screen, it's fine if you look at tiny screens where everyone seems to be in focus but not really........ its not really a big deal, thats my problem i guess. i just need to quickly change the aperture to f4 or more and get everyone in focus. i guess thats where custom settings is handy, which i have yet to explore with.

So to summarise,

the PROS,

- Small, lightweight, pocketable
- Tilting Screen
- EVF
- Wifi
- Remote Control Wifi
- Selfie Mode
- Fast Lens

the GRIPE,

- No touch screen (which means no touch to focus, touch to shoot, bla bla bla)
- "Meh" zoom (sometimes i feel like needing a bit of reach)
- f1.8 only at 24mm
- Selfie mode on intelligent mode tends to defocus the background (ok for ownself, sucks for group)
- what else is there? i'll update if i found more 
- Oh yea, the stabilizer isnt that great like those on Olympus. or maybe im just too shakey.

During photokina, Canon comes up with a 1inch sensor model of their own, the G7X, which remedies most of my gripes, it has a better perform lens on paper, more reach up to 100mm, it retains its f1.8 a bit longer when zooming and touch screen! but the video features kinda sucks thats why i stick to buying the Sony!

Did i mention that the Sony RX100iii is a pocketable cinema camera? Just search on google or youtube for Sony RX100iii videos, and most of them are impressive coming from this little powerhorse! and since i am into videography now, i chose Sony rather than waiting for Canon G7x.

I did not say a lot about the EVF, i used it sometimes, its okay i guess, its tiny though.

Handling wise i must say is a lil bit slippery, since the body design where the hand holds the camera has no grip. There's a thumb rest which is nice but there are no "fingers rest" on the front, ya know, the grip..... i saw online theres a grip called Franiac i think, which seems to add grip for the Sony.

Wifi is a great feature nowadays, it is easier now to share pictures among friends and families, you can either download the original file or resize to 2Mb which is great for phones and saves a lot of storage. Remote control via wifi is a blast, now i can take selfie with a monopod, although the Sony can be a bit heavy when hand holding it with the monopod. I haven't test it yet but i think i cant touch to focus on my iphone via remote control, so just hope for the face detection and its wide focus points to choose focus. correct me if im wrong.

I've tried recording videos, and my only gripe is the stabilizer isnt as great as those on Olympus. When i used my Olympus before i can see the stabilizer working (some sort of smooth glide kinda motion, not so much on the Sony), its there but not really noticeable. but at least there is a stabilizer. On stills i think its great, i shot in low light at 1/10s and the picture came out sharp.

Built in flash is meh, the best built in flash camera i have ever experience is the Fuji X100S series. The flash on the Sony is just like those compact cameras flash, hard-direct-dump-on-all-of-your-face flash.

Live everyone else on the net said, the EVF is kinda annoying when it automatically shut down the camera when you decide not to use it and push it back in the camera. There should be a fix where i can just pull it up or push it down without it powering off. Powering on is fine but not powering off.

I saw a book on Google, i havent bought it, something called "A photographer's guide to Sony RX100iii" by Alexander White, seems a useful book to have for us Sony RX100iii owners. looks better than the manual. it explains better i guess.

IQ wise it is great enough for a small camera. Better than the iPhone4. like i said, its not Fujifilm territory but its great. Great in low light too. i dont mind shooting at iso6400 but i pretty much limit my auto iso to iso3200. its not the grain that i'm worried, its the smearing of details. maybe i post on another blog post comparing isos and what not.

Oh well, enough words, lets see some pictures.

Lets stack it up with the Fujis. Sizes wise.

 With the Fuji X100S. Look how small the Sony is.

Looking at the bulging lens of the X-M1, you know that aint pocketable.

Lets look at some sample images from my Sony RX100iii.

i went to the Singapore Zoo and waterpark, a great place to take a lot of pictures and test the camera.

Most of the time i'm on intelligent mode. Auto ISO. 

Just snapping away.

No editing done. Just resizing for web.

 Here's the zoom at 70mm

Here's the wide angle at 24mm

Here's another one,

 70mm

24mm

The rest of the sample images.

 This camera is great for food pornography

This little squirrel doesn't mind me shooting up close and personal, ......too busy munching this peanut, too busy. 

 Zebras are horses that escaped from prison

 Hello donkey, whats with the long face? ... they called you pony is it?

iso800 and 1/10 sec. i guess the stabilizer does good here. 

 Smell gasoline everywhere, those guys must have bad breath literally

On a moving tram at night safari, i didn't take a lot of pictures because the conductor was pissed someone used flash photography and her speaker got blown off everytime she gave the warning. 

 One more for the road, food pornography

My favourite look recently.... why not..

Go home

From London to Italy and Leicester ........ (Part 8 Leicester)

I was here in Leicester three years ago and coming back here felt familiar, it feels a bit like home. I didn't really take as much photos as i planned to, only a few snapshots here and there. I was starting to get lazy to bring my camera, after that Italy trip, i felt my shoulder is a bit sore and tired. Rest of the days i didn't bring any bags with me, i just want to travel light.

When i'm in Leicester, i just loved to go to the city centre and just watch all the people go with their day to day business. Chillax sippin Costa coffee and window shopping in Highcross, the big mall in Leicester city centre. Ate the 5pound all you can eat buffet and stroll around in the fresh fruits market. These are the kind of things i do when i'm in Leicester, if i'm not, most of the time i'll be in my hotel. I love Premier Inn Hotel, and the one in Leicester is also located nicely, near the railstation and 5-10mins walk to the city centre malls.

When i'm in the hotel i just watched whats on TV. Usually in the morning, the day started with Everybody Loves Raymond and followed by Kelsey Grammer's Frasier and then the Big Bang theory... i dont remember which channel is which, its something like ITV or E4. and then there's a channel with a plus one at the end, ITV+1, its the same programme delayed by an hour me thinks. Ahhh TVs.... everywhere you go, you'd be watching TV. Genius invention, its actually a mind control machine, if you really think about it....

At 10ish pm, it was dead quiet, zombies might lurk around the corners!

From London to Italy and Leicester ...... (Part 2 Milan)

18th July 2014

It's 12pm and i am in Bergamo, Milan. The weather is hot unlike Leicester's cool breeze, its about 30degrees celcius and i'm sweating. I just had the worst morning, i was holding my pee and my bladder felt like its gonna explode, i was queuing to board the airplane but as it was a really long queue, i'm at the front by the way, i didn't want to simply leave the queue and go to the restroom, so i'd stay and planned to use the restroom on the plane instead.  As i boarded the plane, i head straight to the restroom after putting my bags on my seat but the stewardess simply said "After take off" with her italian slang, her face was like "Dude, NO", being the optimistic guy i am, i sat and wait for take off and it feels like forever. Finally the plane took off and when the seat belt lights turned off which also felt like forever, i went for the restroom but it was still locked, so i asked the stewardess to unlocked it for me and she got the nerve to joke "5 euro please" with a straight face, you know.. the "NO" face  and then she giggled and open the door for me, if only she knew what i just went through! I'd kick her ass all the way to italy

As we approached Milan, i looked out the window and below me is the Alps of Switzerland. It was a breathtaking view, it looks cold but somehow Milan being next to it, is hot.

The bus ride to Milan central is 60min non stop as advertised by terravision, and i dont want to sleep through the journey, i want to see what italy looks like. This is my first time in Italy. Italy always looked beautiful in films, movies, pictures. I want to see the old houses, the old buildings, but the long stretch highway journey was disappointing as there was nothing to see, just factories and gas stations.

As we approached the city, i've come to see the mostly brown and beige coloured buildings that later on i've found out its a typical italian buildings, so far nothing special yet. It did remind me of Paris. I've checked in at hotel Gonzaga, which is nicely located near the train station, i have Venice, Florence and Rome to look forward to and train ride is the best mode of transport for my Italy trip. I'm staying for 2 nights here in Milan. I was given a map by the hotel concierge and recommendations of places to visit and shop. To my surprise everything is walkable, in walking distance, to the main point of interest, its all within the map. The concierge said "Milan is not big like Rome, all the shoppings and the main points of interest is here (points to the map), Buenos Aires street, 200m from the hotel and here, Piazza Del Duomo."

I made my way to the Buenos Aires street and my first impression was, a bit disappointed. It is interesting but this just looked like Oxford Street in London or Orchard Road of Singapore. I'm not a big shopping guy, i wanted to see the unique buildings, the old buildings, what is this? i said to myself. Walked myself till the end of the street, this is a shopping street indeed. Not really my cup of tea. Time is getting late, gotta head back to the hotel and i'll visit the Duomo tomorrow.

These italians love graffiti, everywhere i look there will be walls with grafitti on it and even on a van!.

Next morning, i hop on the closest metro to get to the Duomo. Ya, i said everything is in walking distance, but to be honest, the long stretch of the Buenos Aires street is enough for me to ditch walking, it is tiring or should i say it's an unnecessary walk. i'd rather have fresh legs on the Duomo than tired legs. On a map the Duomo does look closer but when you're on the street itself, pheww... no comment.

When i reached the Duomo, i cursed myself for taking the wrong Uscita (Exit). The exit that i took involving me climbing a long flight of stairs, and that exit was quiet. There was no one else. i'm sure i took the wrong exit, i believed the other exit has an escalator. No time for turning back as i've already climbed so much stairs. So much for fresh legs. It was like climbing a hill, your legs tenses up, blood pumping, sweat, all the fun stuff.

I finally see the light on my way out, and when i got out of the exit, i was greeted with Piazza Del Duomo. I have to say i was in awe. "Ahhh finally, this is my awe moment, this is italy!" i said. Standing in the middle of the Piazza Del Duomo was all i can say breathtaking. It is the main city square in Milan. Its beautiful. Now this is much better than yesterday. Its like standing in the middle of 3 football field, surrounded by old architectures, monuments, cathedral and history. I'm in the middle of history.

What surprise me was this place is not just museums and cathedrals, this place is a shopping mall too! All the fashion big brands, i think the first ever Prada boutique was opened here.

I've read all the "Top ten places to go in Milan" all over the internet, everyone mentioned the same thing, go to Piazza Del Duomo, go to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele ii, do this, do that, eat gelato, eat pizza... duhh!! but nobody ever mentioned about those dodgy taking advantage rip offs guys who offers you something or stuffs and then asked for a certain steep amount of money. Yeah, those guys. If you've been to Italy you know these guys i'm talking about. They offered you string bracelets or seeds for pigeons, at least i've encountered those two. I am usually a "NO" guy, that's a rule i always kept to myself when travelling, always say NO to strangers, whatever their offerings. Its ok to be rude when you're travelling (depends on situation really), my philosophy could be different than yours, i'm sorry but this country is also famous for pickpockets! I'm just being safe.

And so i was offered a bracelet made of colourful strings, usually i would say no, maybe i was under a spell, i said yes, besides this guy said its "free". I was hesitant at first but my heart somehow goes weak, maybe i was amazed by the Piazza and said OK, why not. So he fixed the string on my wrist said its for good luck and then start asking for money, 5euro to be exact, i mean what?! 5euro for a piece of string? and you said its free?. At first i didn't want to pay a single dime and then i realised that these guys worked as a team, or maybe the other guy just helping a brother out, (he also offers those bright coloured strings). He said "Pay him bro"........ "Shit, i'm not just handling one guy here, there's 2 or more" i thought to myself. I didn't want to make a scene or being mug, but i've seen this before and experienced this, so i decided to just give him 1euro and left him as quick as possible. I think that made him happy or at least satisfied. But my mood is ruined. So much for Piazza Del Duomo.

Then there's the other guy with the pigeons seeds, while i was standing in the middle of Piazza Del Duomo, i was amazed at how many of the pigeons can stay close to the humans, the pigeons were not afraid, this is amazing i said, this is something i'm not used to, from where i come from, pigeons flew like crazy when you're near, ......apparently there is this guy who's been feeding these birds. He offered me the seeds although quite forcibly, even when you said no, he just put the seeds onto my hands and let the pigeons eat it on my hands, that was nice. Okay, i'm just gonna give this guy 1euro and be done with it, i said to myself.
He dont really speak good english but i swear i heard him said "10euros"....... "What? 10euros for a bloody frikkin seeds?" Man, that is just a ripoff. So i left him with 1euro and move on quickly, i can faintly heard him said "What is this?" while he looks at the 1euro i gave him on his palm.

I still let the colourful bracelet on my wrist and it was indeed good luck, good for preventing the other guys to offer me more bracelet that is. They were offering bracelets but when they saw the bracelet on my wrist they simply move on to another tourist. Wow! talked about good luck.

Everywhere i go be it in the streets of Milan or the Piazza Del Duomo, i must come across the word, "SALDI" .... its everywhere.... SALDI SALDI SALDI....

Italy is famous for pizza and spaghetti but they are also famous for their coffee! Espresso, Machiato, capuccino, all sounded italy, they must have invented that drink and me being a coffee lover slash addict, have to try them all. I just had my first espresso, i'm not really a black coffee guy but
thats the best black coffee i ever had, usually i'd take milk but not this time, its so good.

Thats pretty much sums up Milan.

Ciao, the italian way of saying hi AND also goodbye.......

which reminds me of this movie...

but not as confusing as that lol

From London to Italy and Leicester ...... (Part 3 Venice)

20th July 2014

So this is Venice, or as the italians called it Venezia, during my younger days i've been dreaming about this place, people say its boring, they say its only buildings on water and gondolas but so far i've enjoyed it. And here i am. Its kinda surreal. But i am in venice. I only used to see Venice from TVs, travel channels and pictures, now, here i am. First impressions compared to Milan is definitely different and interesting. This place is beautiful! I love old buildings and this checked in my check list. The moment you stepped out of the train station, you're greeted with water taxis. This is the main transportation of Venice, boats, gondolas and water taxis. The water taxis worked similar like the metro trains in Milan. But here its 7euro per trip. The Metro in Milan costs only 1.50euro. Bummer. Venice is certainly more expensive than other parts of Italy. A tourist traps they say.

I reached my destination at St.Angelo and meet the apartment owner, Alessandro. Very italian but speaks good english. I think he's making good money for renting his apartment here in venice. Roughly about 120euro per nite, good for 3 to 4 adulto. The room is spacey, it feels like home and i am already liking Venice. No view of the grand canal but i'm closed enough to the point of interest areas. Great deal.

My apartment, and that couch is a cool sofa bed

This is definitely a tourist place. I'm not sure if i'm seeing Italians or a tourist. Everyone looks like a tourist. And they said Milan is a shopping city but Venice is definitely a shopper's paradise too. I think Italy is a shopping paradise. Definitely a lot of shops here in Venice. All the big brands located nicely behind the no.1 top spots in Venice, the Piazza San Marco. For you inglessia, (that's english by the way) its St.Marks square. Me, parlo non italiano (I dont speak italian). I'm picking up little italian. Souvenirs, leather bags, handbags, there is H&M, (H&M is everywhere!!!), there are 2 hard rock cafe shops, a lot of cool tees. You can also buy the gondola's tee shirt as well which looks like the old cartoon prisoners stripes shirt.

Piazza San Marco

Shopping in Venice

I spent a lot in Venice compared to in Milan, somehow this beautiful place made me feel like spending. You know how a place can give you a feeling of spending/getting something, "I want to get something from here so i can remember/treasure this place" sort of feeling. Souvenirs, key chains, tees, and i should have buy a fridge magnet even though in my experience it always got broken played by my 2 highly active kids.

I had dinner in one of the restaurants near the Rialto bridge, although a bit expensive but this place is really romantic, at night, everything just glows with bright amber lights by the canal. i'm thinking this is a great place to bring your significant other. A Honeymoon. Dinner by the grand canal. Kissing on the Rialto bridge. Venice is indeed special.

Rialto Bridge

Gondola by the Grand Canal

i find my mind is at peace here. Its relaxing. Peaceful. A good retirement home.

One thing to note, all the towers in Venice are leaning, not just the famous leaning tower of pisa. "What is up with that?" Most of the towers. What are the italians thinking? Probably back in the days, when they worked their way up the tower, it looked straight from down below, not until they almost finished the tower they then realize it was leaning but its too late to turn back or redo, they just leave it as it is.
And the world thought it was genius! Its either the architect is a genius or the world is a fool!
I'm joking, of course i'm joking...... but am i??

Piazza San Marco