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The Chewys’ Europe Honeymoon Trip: Day 11 in Switzerland/Lucerne and Mount Titlis
How’s everybody doing? Looking forward to the long weekend I hope! If you have not been following The Chewys closely, we are currently blogging about our 3-week long honeymoon trip in Europe and today, we will be relating our travel experience in Switzerland! You can still catch up on our travelogues about Italy if you have not done so and only if you are interested of course :P
First, let me bring you back to Milan. Mentioned in our previous post that we did a bit of sightseeing before catching the afternoon train to Zurich, Switzerland. Collected our luggages from the concierge at Hotel Bernina and we walked to Milan Central Station.
Hehehe.. Very sweet and thoughtful of misterchewy to help me lighten my load in every possible way :)
Patiently waiting for our train to arrive! After close to 4 hours on the train, we reached Zurich. Omg the feeling was awesome because it was only our 2nd out of 4 countries that we had planned to visit! :D
As I wasn’t feeling well (again) and was craving for something hot and soupy, we had Vietnamese pho at this small eatery called China Vietnam Shop run by an old Asian couple along Militärstrasse. ₣15 per bowl which is roughly SGD21! Freaking expensive but it was really good and I felt better after dinner. Bought bottled water and juices at a nearby convenience stall before walking back to easyHotel where we stayed for four nights.
Day 10 of our honeymoon trip was spent at Lucerne and Mount Titlis! The husband booked a guided tour with Viator online and we registered by presenting our confirmation email.
All ready to set off! There were a few other tourists in the minivan as well but not everybody booked the tour to Mount Titlis.
We stopped after about an hour’s ride because a number of people in the group had signed up to go to Mount Rigi and the tour guide led them to the train station. Alighted the minivan to stretch our legs for a bit while waiting for the tour guide :P
Struggling to keep our eyes open because the shine was shining directly at us @_@
Continued our journey and passed by some beautiful Swiss chalet!
We had a bit of time for sightseeing in Lucerne and we went to see the Lion Monument, otherwise known as Lion of Lucerne which commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution.
Right after this shot, a lady from Switzerland Tourism approached us for our contact to do a short online survey after our trip and we were given Swiss chocolates for that :)
We were given about 30 to 40 minutes to walk around Lucerne’s Old Town but of course we spent more time taking photos so we didn’t get to walk very far.
The Chapel Bridge on the right is aprobably the oldest wooden bridge in Switzerland, spanning diagonally across the Reuss River in the city of Lucerne.
Continued making our way to Engelberg where we would be taking the cable car to Mount Titlis. We were totally awe-stricken by the beautiful view when we got off the minivan! :D
At this point, it began to snow a little! We were so excited!
Here is a view of Engelberg as we ascended via the cable car.
We had to take three different cable cars before we could see and feel eternal snow and ice on top of Mount Titlis. The final cable car to the peak is the Rotair.
Inside Titlis Glacier. Actually, nothing much one. Haha. So we hurriedly snapped a couple of photos and went out.
It was snowing big time when we stepped out! Can you imagine how ecstastic we were?! :D
Silly us started doing jump shots in the snow until one of our tour members told us that the ice flyer would stop operating soon.
Although it was a short walk to the Ice Flyer Chairlift, it was kinda scary because everything was just WHITE and we couldn’t see anything else! The husband almost led the wrong way which was a steep downslope meant for skiers. Ermahgerd! D:
We didn’t take any photos while on the ice flyer because we were freezing and trembling.
Of course, we continued with our jump shots! Not bad right? I still can carry bag and jump. LOLOLOL.
As with all other tours, we didn’t have all the time in the world at Mount Titlis. Our tour guide had briefed everyone on when we should be back in the minivan and we had set a bit of time aside for some winter fun! ;)
We got off somewhere mid slope. There is a huge Omega watch display which looks quite quirky to be seen at Mount Titlis.
Hahaha looks cool but this vehicle is for transporting skiing and snowboarding equipment I think?
The hubby decided to have a go at snow-tubing! :)
There is this travelator thingy so there’s no need to climb upslope!
“Wah! Very fun! I wanna go again!” and so he did. Still a kid at heart I suppose :P
We really had so much fun at Mount Titlis! I think it’s one of my favoritestest places throughout our entire honeymoon trip! I wanna go back to Switzerland! :D
Ending this post with a scenic view captured on our way down in the cable car. Enjoy the long weekend, chewys! Connect with us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy and @misterchewy :)
The Chewys’ Europe Honeymoon Trip: Days 9 & 10 in Italy/Milan
Howdy chewys! This will be our final post on Italy for our Europe honeymoon travelogue because Milan was our very last stop before we ventured to our next destination! :) We spent a short 2 days 1 night in Milan because it was more like a stopover for us :P
Day 9 of our honeymoon trip saw us checking out of our hotel in Venice in the morning, taking the vaporetto to the train station and reserving train seats with our train pass. We had to wait for more than an hour for the next train to Milan and the wait was pretty agonizing because we had to wait in the cold. Journey from Venice to Milan took 2 hours and 35 minutes to be (quite) exact. We were overjoyed because it was snowing outside when we were about to reach Milan! :D Some evidence of snow behind me, at Milano Central Station :)
After checking into our hotel and having lunch nearby, we took the metro and alighted at Duomo metro station. This is Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square), named after the Duomo (Milan Cathedral). If you don’t already know, ‘Duomo’ is a general term for cathedrals in Italy. Yes I was pretty confused myself. LOL.
Duomo di Milano is the largest cathedral in Italy and fifth largest in the world which took nearly six centuries to complete.
We were extremely wary when strangers approached us, offering rice grains to be fed to the birds at Piazza del Duomo. When our friends knew that we were going to Europe, a number of them warned us not to accept anything from these strangers (who are locals btw) even if they claim whatever they are offering to be free. Yeah nothing is free in this world. Basically, these guys offer to take photos of you feeding the birds and subsequently, demand money from you.
Named after Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of the kingdom of Italy, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is the oldest shopping mall in Italy.
Nope we didn’t buy Prada or Louis Vuitton there, but instead, we bought gelato from Savini! Yum yum! :P But very weird la, we could only test one flavor before buying..
Decided to call it a night and we tabao-ed MacDonald’s back for dinner! Our beloved McD! So long never eat liao! We stayed in Hotel Bernina for one night. Location is very good! 3 mins walk from the central station.
The next morning, we skipped breakfast and headed to Castello Sforzesco. Since we were leaving Milan that day, we had to do as much sightseeing as we could! ALso partly because most places are closed on Mondays so there wasn’t much to see the day before.
Inside the castle! It opens as early as 7am, while the museums open at around 9am. We paid €3 per person to enter the museum.
Hahaha I was so thrilled to see this painting of Venice! :D
There are a handful of museums within the castle but we only visited one due to time constraint and my limited attention span. Oops :P
We visited Santa Maria delle Grazie next. Listen up, people! If you wanna get up close and personal with Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Last Supper, you gotta reserve tickets at least 2 weeks in advance. We didnt know that we had to book early so we didnt get to see it :( But we did pay €10 per person to view Da Vinci’s other works. No photos were allowed though.
Caught the afternoon train and we were on our way to Switzerland! More on that soon ;) Read about our travel experiences in Italy if you have not done so!
Connect with us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy and @misterchewy :)
The Chewys’ Europe Honeymoon Trip: Days 7 & 8 in Italy/Venice
Hello Chewys! This photo cute or not? Hahaha! :P On the 7th day of our honeymoon trip, we left Florence immediately after visiting the Uffizi Gallery. It took about two hours to reach Venice by the intercity train, and we hurriedly got off, extremely eager to explore one of the world’s most romantic cities. :) I really really love Venice and wanna revisit this place with misterchewy in future if possible. A number of friends told me that Venice is sinking?! :’(
The main modes of transportation in Venice include the vaporetto (water bus), water taxi and of course, the gondola. We purchased the vaporetto time-limited tickets which were very much cost effective than if we were to buy tickets on a per trip basis. This is how their water bus stop (behind misterchewy) looks like! One way for entering and the other is for exiting.
On the vaporetto with our luggages! Omg the speed of these water buses is really really slow.. Hahaha. I think we alighted around the fourth stop or so, at Sant’Angelo vaporetto stop because that is a mere 3-minute walk to our hotel. However, the entire place was like a maze and we wasted a lot of time trying to find our way there and pulling our luggages everywhere with us. The husband even tried asking for directions from this elderly dude at a hotel but he said, “Sorry, no information.” Freaking rude! >:(
Of course, we found the place in the end if not we had to sleep by the roadside or riverside in this context. What a relief. LOL. All that exercise certainly whetted our appetite and we quickly settled for lunch nearby.
Nice experience eating outside Ristorante San Stefano, in the fine cool weather with the sun shining down on us! :)
We opted for the set lunch which included starters, mains and desserts at an attractive price and was quite a good deal.
From our hotel, we were able to walk to Piazza San Marco (St Mark’s Square) and we also passed by Hard Rock Cafe along the way.
St Mark’s Basilica.
It was really bleeding cold when we were hanging around Piazza San Marco. The winds were really strong and we stood there feeling very helpless because there was nowhere to hide! I think it was there and then I caught a cold. *Sniff sniff* :(
As it was close to nightfall, and clearly, temperatures had dipped, we promised ourselves that we would return the next day for our gondola ride! :)
Bridge of Sighs. Apparently, this bridge was named as such because prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice through the window before their imprisonment.
We sighed too. Venice is just so charming and lovely. Every honeymooning couple should visit Venice! :D
I was actually beginning to feel a little under the weather but I was so enthralled by Venice’s beauty that I refused to leave because all I wanted was simply to bask in its misty and magical atmosphere. Venice has a slow pace of life which makes a great getaway for working adults who need a good break from work (and never go back). Haha.
It was getting darker and colder, and misterchewy had to pull me away so that we could go back to our hotel.
We stayed at Locanda Antico Fiore, a quaint yet gracious 18th century building, for two nights. This photo was taken when we checked out, which explains why our luggages were outside. Earlier in the day when we checked in, Lilia (I think that’s her name, based on online reviews of the hotel) came down the stairs and warmly greeted us, “Ciao! Ciao!” in a cheery voice. We really felt at home that very instant :)
Lilia told us that all the rooms were occupied, so we were given a complimentary suite upgrade which we didn’t complain about of course :P She helped us settle into our room and I must say that it was the nicest room throughout our entire honeymoon trip!
Looks like someone’s home instead of a hotel right?
The bathroom was a little cramped though. Well, at least it had all the amenities we needed.
I love the bedroom! So pretty!
Sorry I must add that I was considerably ill that night :( Was having a sore throat and I felt weak all over. My mum had packed some medicine for me to bring along (she always does that when we travel abroad) and I popped some panadol and lozenges before going to bed.
I forced myself to get out of bed the next morning. Or rather, misterchewy forced me to. LOL. Cuz he wanted to take me to see a doctor but upon checking with Lilia, there are no clinics in Venice. There are only hospitals for serious and urgent cases, and pharmacies for not-so-serious ones.
Even having breakfast at the hotel felt like we were enjoying it in the comfort of our host’s home. Very nice! :)
Our breakfast spread. There was an assortment of bread, jam and cheese. I took a plain croissant so as not to further aggravate my sore throat and I totally spammed on the delicious fruit juice. Had no idea what it was :P
LOL. The husband insisted on taking this photo for me because the building in the background seemed to be tilting towards one side. Pardon the shagged face cuz I felt horrible and the chilly weather only made things worse :(
Took the vaporetto and embarked on our sightseeing journey for the day.
Santa Maria Della Salute (Saint Mary of Health)
This Roman Catholic church was built and dedicated to the Virgin Mary after a wave of plague killed almost a third of the population of Venice in 1630.
More gondolas spotted!
Lunch time! We randomly went into one of the restaurants and had their set lunch. Hahaha really very value-for-money mah :P
I felt much better after lunch!
Church of San Giorgio Maggiore
The Last Supper
Whoohoo! We were totally psyched up for the gondola ride! Prices were kinda steep though at €80 (roughly SGD130 based on the exchange rate we got) for a 40-minute trip along the small canal. Definitely a tad expensive but it’s not an experience that you can get anywhere else! Prices are more or less fixed. You can try haggling for the fun of it :P Each gondola can take up to 6 passengers so that’s one way of splitting the cost. ;)
Headed back to our hotel after grabbing a takeaway sandwich for misterchewy because I didn’t have much of an appetite. We only got to stay in the suite for one night due to availability issues. This was the double room that we originally booked.
Checked out the next morning and had quick breakfast at the hotel before departing Venice. Guess where was our next stop? ;)
Leaving you guys with another photo of Venice taken during sunset! Connect with us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy and @misterchewy :D
The Chewys’ Europe Honeymoon Trip: Days 5 & 6 in Italy/Florence
After four days in Rome, we took an intercity train that was covered by our Eurail pass to Florence, capital of Tuscany. We spent two full days in this beautiful city, which was our second destination in Italy!
If you are interested to know, we got the 1st class Eurail Global Pass which allowed us to explore up to 24 European countries for 15 days continuously.
It was our very first time boarding a train with all our luggages and the entire experience was quite novel. Anyway, our seats were pre-assigned to us upon reserving our tickets at the train station. Reservation fee varies from city to city.
After travelling for about 3 hours, we finally reached Florence! Had quite a difficult time locating our place of lodging even though it’s actually quite near the train station. Not only that, the pavements were so uneven that we thought the wheels of our luggages might fall off from all that dragging around! We dumped our stuff in our room and took the next regional train to Pisa. Journey lasted for more than an hour.
The weather was pretty bad when we reached Piazza dei Miracoli. It started to drizzle a little and it was impossible for us to take photos without getting our camera lenses wet. Seeked shelter in the souvenir shop and thankfully, the rain stopped after a while.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa! :D It costs €18 per person to ascend the tower and only 10 people are allowed to go up every 20 minutes.
We bought tickets at €5 per person to enter the Baptistery of St John, which is the largest baptistery in Italy. It also included free admission into the Duomo.
Bronze sculpture of St John.
Duomo di Pisa. Very very lovely cathedral.
I absolutely love this photo! :D
As we were about to leave, we caught sight of and were amused by all these youngsters doing silly poses in front of the tower!
I guess silliness is infectious because we started to join in the fun as well! :P
Took the train in the late afternoon and by the time we reached Florence, it was time for dinner! We decided not to wander too far from our B&B and settled for Le Fonticine which had been awarded 4.5 out of 5 stars by TripAdvisor.
The food served here was simply divine! I had the Linguine in Cod Fish Creamy Sauce (€8) which is a specialty of Florence while misterchewy had the Risotto with Savoy Cabbage and Duck Sauce (€9). Service was top notch too. Highly recommended.
We stayed at Sette Angeli Rooms for two nights. As mentioned earlier, the location is not bad. However, there is no elevator. And the stairs are very steep! The husband was cursing and swearing under his breath when he hauled his luggage up the stairs earlier in the day. Luckily the reception guy offered to help carry mine up.
The next morning was a beautiful one for sightseeing but we went shopping at The Mall instead! LOL. Kiasu us being very kiasu, we bought our shuttle bus tickets the night before at the BUSITALIA/SITA depot (pickup and drop-off point). It cost us €5 per person for a one-way trip. Boarded the earliest bus at 8.50am and close to one hour later, we reached The Mall! :D
The entire place was so peaceful and quiet, unlike any of those Great Singapore Sales nonsense. Except for the Prada store! See below. LOL.
If my memory doesn’t fail me, Prada opens at 10am. There was already a queue waiting to get in and these people are from you-know-where. I swear my heart did a little cheer when the shutter was finally being pulled up. Haha.
A number of bags caught my eye and I finally settled for just one :P Plus key pouches for misterchewy and myself. I think I took only about an hour for all my purchases?
The next bus from The Mall to Florence was at 1pm so we took our time to check out other brands. Wanted to get a YSL clutch but the color I wanted was out of stock :(
Grabbed lunch at the cafe!
The husband knows that I like hot chocolate and had been feeding me plenty of it for the past few days! Kinda developed a little sore throat after that. >_<
Piazza del Duomo
Santa Maria del Fiore is the main church of Florence.
This is the largest brick dome ever constructed.
Huge clock decorated by Paolo Uccello.
St. Giovanni Baptistery
Piazza della Signoria
Replica of Michelangelo’s David. Prior to this, we saw the actual masterpiece at Accademia Gallery! Needless to say, it was an absolute fine piece of work. Photography is prohibited though.
We didnt enter Palazzo Vecchio as it was about to close by the time we got in.
Popped into Ristorante Dante e Beatrice for dinner on our way back. It’s strange. Ever since we touched down in Italy, I fell in love with tomato-based spaghetti. I used to be a huge fan of cream-based pastas but I found myself ordering tomato-based ones most of the time while in Italy! Not hormones changing right? LOL.
The husband was kinda disappointed with his ravioli :(
Before we eat, must Instagram first! Haha! We were amused that our white wine was served in a small jug.
Night market near our B&B!
We woke up early the next morning and visited the Uffizi Gallery before setting off for Venice. Yes, that is what our next post will be all about. If I had to choose only one city to revisit in Italy, it would be Venice! Connect with us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy and @misterchewy :D TGIF chewys!
The Chewys’ Europe Honeymoon Trip: Day 4 in Italy/Rome
The 4th day of our honeymoon trip was also our last day in Rome! The husband and I tried our best to cover as many places as possible. Felt a little sad but we had 17 days to go so it wasn’t really that bad at that point of time :P This is our favorite photo taken that day :)
After a quick breakfast at the hotel, we went to the Vatican Museum but the Sistine Chapel was not open to public due to an ongoing conclave. Anyway the weather was wet and chilly because it drizzled the entire day! Me no likey :(
Admission ticket and audio guide cost €18 per person.
The hubs acting cute and silly. Hahaha.
I hope to visit Egypt some day! Have always found the history of ancient Egypt very mysterious yet captivating at the same time. But then again, I heard that it’s quite a dangerous country to visit.. Hmm so maybe not.
The husband must have benefited quite a bit from listening to the audio guide! My attention span was too short for it.
The famous Laocoön statue
Hall of Maps
This was our very first museum visit but little did I know, misterchewy had planned many more of such visits throughout our trip! *Faints*
Recharged ourselves at a cafe and we shared a bottle of beer over lunch! *Gloop gloop gloop*
Walked to St. Peter’s Square which is located within Vatican City. Many people were eagerly anticipating the unveiling of the new Pope.
This was one of the Altar of Science in Angels and Demons.
We joined in the queue to get into St. Peter’s Basilica. Admission is free except to certain parts of the church. You will be surprised but some churches do collect entrance fees.
St. Peter’s Basilica is one of the biggest churches that we visited in Europe!
In Angels and Demons, the Camerlengo (Italian for “Chamberlain”) set himself on fire and ran down these flight of stairs upon realization that he had murdered his own father, the Pope.
The media on standby.
This is the Ponte Sant’Angelo which leads to Castel Sant’Angelo (Castle of the Holy Angel).
Castel Sant’Angelo is also known as Mausoleum of Hadrian. The building was later used by the popes as a fortress because it had an underground tunnel which was connected to Vatican City. As for us, we had to pay €21 to get into this museum.
Guess the hubs was thinking about food when he did this Italian hand gesture which meant ‘delicious’. Haha.
A top view of Ponte Sant’Angelo.
The rain was getting heavier so we seeked shelter at Tartufo House along Piazza Navona.
Our upside down dark chocolate ice cream! :D Tartufo is an Italian icecream dessert usually composed of two or more flavors of ice cream. Ours was also encased in a chocolate shell.
Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers) at Piazza Navona.
Our final stop of the day was the Pantheon.
The Pantheon used to be a temple to all the gods of ancient Rome and is now a Christian church. The Oculus (opening at the top) is the main source of natural light and also serves as a cooling and ventilation method. At the same time, it could have played an important role for prayers to ascend to the heavens.
Tomb of King Umberto I, successor of Vittorio Emanuele.
Main altar of church.
Ending the post with a photo of Trevi Fountain taken on our way back to our hotel. Next post will be on Florence! Remember to check back as we will be sharing about our shopping experience at The Mall’s Prada outlet. Stay connected with us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy and @misterchewy :D
The Chewys’ Europe Honeymoon Trip: Day 3 in Italy/Pompeii
Ciao chewys! Did you enjoy our previous post about the first two days of our honeymoon trip? Today’s post is gonna be slightly shorter because I just wanna focus on our Pompeii day tour from Rome on the third day of our trip! It was really fun and we experienced a bit of snow that day! Whoopee! :D
Back in Singapore, misterchewy booked this guided tour online with Viator Tours because since young, he had been very fascinated by stories he read about Pompeii and its remarkably well preserved ruins. We were told to meet at 7.15am at Piazza del Popolo before setting off. Thankfully, it was just a small group of 5 because I never liked traveling with big groups of strangers.
The journey to Europe’s only active volcano took about 3 hours and halfway through, we stopped for a short toilet cum coffee break.
The chocolate croissant and hot chocolate sold at this kiosk were pretty awesome!
Hopped back onto the minivan and the next thing we knew, we were at Mount Vesuvius, which is infamous for causing the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79AD and has erupted many times since.
Lava flows have scarred the sides of Mount Vesuvius, and are visible on the winding road up to the summit. We took our own sweet time to hike up the crater of Mount Vesuvius.
The mountain is actually quite steep and very uneven. I was panting and gasping for air just five minutes into my way up! Very unfit and I feel like an old granny! Plus, it was so much colder on the volcano and the wind was really strong! We were freezing the whole time.
I think we took about 30 minutes to reach the crater. Hurriedly took a few photos and made our way down. Going up was tough but going down was scary!
At this point, it began to snow! Not sure if it’s snow or hail or whatever you call it but yeah, we were so thrilled because it was misterchewy’s first time experiencing snow! We decided that for every country we visited that snowed, we would buy a snow globe as a souvenir! :D Both of us were smiling like idiots and we quickly continued descending upon realizing that if the snow got heavier, it would be very slippery and dangerous.
Not only was the ‘morning exercise’ very adventurous, it was physically exhausting as well! It was time for lunch and all of us were looking forward to having pizza!
Pizza and beer never tasted this splendid! :)
After lunch, we headed for Pompeii, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. The now ruined city of Pompeii was once a sprawling metropolis of shops and residences, restaurants, gyms and brothels.
Gladiatorial Barracks at Pompeii.
Plenty of carvings on the wall tell a story.
This was where and how ‘fast food’ was served in Pompeii!
We walked Pompeii’s main streets just as the ancient Romans did. The stones are still worn with tracks from the drawn carriages that used them nearly 2,000 years ago.
Possibly an entrance to a shop.
Wood-fired pizza, anyone?
Plaster death casts of the victims of the catastrophic eruption that destroyed the city of Pompeii.
I was a little surprised that red light districts existed in Pompeii. Didn’t know they were already so ‘advanced’. LOL. According to the local guide, the ‘Mickey Mouse with a long nose’ on the ground served as directions for men to make their way to the brothels.
One of the rooms in the brothel.
Goodbye Pompeii!
Had hot chocolate again at the same kiosk on our way back to Rome! :D
After we were being dropped off at Piazza del Popolo, misterchewy and I visited Santa Maria del Popolo as recommended by the local guide.
Soon, it was nightfall and we went in search of a dinner place nearby before returning to our hotel. Stay tuned to our next post chewy chewy friends! ;) Connect with us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy and @misterchewy :)
The Chewys’ Europe Honeymoon Trip: Days 1 & 2 in Italy/Rome
Whoohoooooo chewys! I have been wanting to share about our honeymoon trip to Europe with all our dear readers! Finally had time to upload the pics and do a bit of QC-ing here and there. We departed for Europe on 9 March, a week after our customary wedding. It was our first time to Europe for the both of us and naturally, The Chewys were super duper excited! :D
Our honeymoon trip was 21 days long and I have to emphasize that it was the BEST 21 days of my life! Our trip was purely free and easy because we wanted that flexibility but planning was a bitch of course. Hehehe the award-winning hubby did most of the research! :P We chose to fly with Qatar Airways and booked our airtix in January. Subsequently, we settled our accommodation via Agoda. Over the 21 days, we visited Italy, Switzerland, France (Paris) and London! :) It was around the end of Winter, coming to Spring, but the weather was still very cold!
Our flight was at night and both our families sent us off at the airport. I was very worried about the two long-haul flights (we transited at Doha) that awaited us because I didn’t think I could get a good sleep on the plane and I hated that backside-on-fire feeling that I experienced before when I went to counties like Japan and Australia etc. LOL. Thankfully, it was still manageable thanks to in-flight entertainment and the cute neck pillows that misterchewy got! :)
We were served dinner AND breakfast! Had a small bottle of red wine each to celebrate the start of our honeymoon trip :D
Reached Italy the next morning! Our first stop in Italy was Rome, where we spent a good four days there. Boarded the Terravision bus from the airport to the Roma Termini train station. Ticket costs €4 per person which is really cheap.
Took a train to Repubblica station and found our way to our hotel! Anyway, a single trip on the metro costs €1.50 regardless of distance. If you are planning on more than four trips on the metro in a day, you should buy the one-day pass at €6 from the ticketing machine.
Pretty amazed by the gigantic door that we had to get past in order to get to our hotel! :P
As it was still too early to check into our room, we left our luggage at the reception and went out to explore some places nearby. I think we really sounded like tourists because we went, “Wah! Wah! Waaaaaah!” at practically everything that we saw. Lol. But really la, the architecture is such a vast difference from that of ours.
Fontana dell’Acqua Felice is of walking distance from our hotel.
On our first day, misterchewy wore only a short-sleeved t-shirt and sweater. He didn’t complain that it was too cold but from the next day onwards he wore at least 3 to 4 layers of clothing everyday! :O
The husband was so excited and dragged me to Santa Maria della Vittoria which was just next to Fontana dell’Acqua Felice. Apparently, a scene (or more) in Angels and Demons was being shot at this church. We went in at the wrong time because they were having Sunday mass and we quickly sneaked out. Of course, we returned the very next day.
Our tummies were making alot of noise, so we went in search of a place to settle breakfast. Empire Pizza was a stone’s throw away from our hotel and seemed fuss-free by the looks of it. Plus, the boss was very very friendly!
The boss was really nice and asked if we wanted a photo together behind the counter! Heh.. Why not? :P
The husband wanted to see the Triton Fountain but sadly, it was under some kinda restoration and we got to know about it only upon reaching there :(
We moved on to Spanish Steps where we were conned of €50 (roughly SGD80) by an ‘overly friendly’ Italian guy. Our moods were kinda ruined after this incident. Oh wells, long story but lesson learned is that we should never ever talk to strangers. Don’t even make eye contact with them. We thought about it after a while and was thankful that we encountered such a nasty incident on our very first day in Europe because it taught us to be more vigilant and aware of our surroundings for the rest of our honeymoon trip.
We took the metro and alighted at the next stop to get to Piazza del Popolo which is basically a large urban square.
When in Italy, eat gelato! :P Our Tiramisu and After Eight combination tasted heavenly, especially in the cold weather!
Passed by the Spanish Steps again. We weren’t in the mood for photos previously.
After dinner near our hotel, we decided to head back early since it was only the first day and we needed to rest after so many hours on the plane. We found the elevators that we encountered in Italy were really interesting with an element of creepiness. LOL. Must watch the video with sound! This was taken while going down but it’s the same la. Hahaha.
We stayed in Hotel Everest Inn Rome for four nights which cost us slightly lesser than SGD90 per night, inclusive of breakfast.
There is free wifi but only limited to the reception and dining area. Just ask this friendly dude or whoever is at the counter for the password.
Our room was quite small considering that we had two luggages with us. Other than the size, we were happy that our hotel is just a mere 3 minutes walk to Repubblica metro station. Staying near Repubblica station proved to be very convenient because all the attractions were along the same metro line, except for Colosseum.
On our second day, we went to the Colosseum which is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of Rome.
Admission costs €12 per person inclusive of entry to Palatine Hills and Roman Forum. We got the audio guide for Colosseum at €5 each. Explanation is very detailed and lengthy but my mind drifted away after some time.. LOL.
The Colosseum is built of concrete and stone and is considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering. Besides that, it is also the largest amphitheatre in the world. Gladiator combats were held at the Colosseum and it could house as many as 50000 spectators. We were marvelled by the grandiosity of this magnificent ancient Roman architecture.
Beautiful view of Arc de Constantin.
Was very amazed by this! I wonder if it’s really magic or some illusion thingy? Haha.
We proceeded to the Roman Forum which is filled with architectural fragments and archeological excavations.
I think we spent close to 2 hours at the Roman Forum but we didn’t manage to cover the entire place because it was too huge! And I kept complaining that I was gonna die of hunger.
So.. Lunch it was! I think we were ripped off by the food truck guys. Two sandwiches cost us €15! Should have asked about the price before we ordered. There was a cafe nearby selling pastas and pizzas for around €9 on average too. Plus, you get to sit and enjoy your food.
Trying to enjoy our lunch while shooing away the birds by swinging our legs at the same time because I accidentally dropped a piece of sausage. Our lunch was already very pathetic and this had to happen. LOL.
After our quick bite, we went back to Santa Maria della Vittoria via the metro because as mentioned earlier, there was Sunday mass the previous day. Guess what? A young girl around 12 years of age (we think) tried to pickpocket misterchewy’s wallet while we were trying to board the train! Thank goodness he was alert and he shouted and gave her a kick! Omg that was only the second day of our trip.
We visited many many churches throughout our Europe trip and all of them are very beautiful!
Our last stop for day two was Trevi Fountain. We should have went there early in the morning because there were soooo many people there in the evening!
See what I mean?! I couldnt get a nice picture without all these ‘extra’ people around me. Boohoo.
The black haired guy is Pierfrancesco Favino, who starred as Commander Olivetti in Angels and Demons!
Ok here’s a short video clip that misterchewy took for fun! If you google “throw coin in”, the first suggested search that will appear is “throw coin in trevi fountain”! Throwing a coin into Trevi Fountain ensures a return to Rome! And yes, I was very happy about it! :D :D :D
That’s all for now! Next post will be on Pompeii! Connect with us on our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy and @misterchewy :)
Korean Brand Skin Care Product Review: Zymogen Green Apple AHA Series
- Sponsored Review –
How is your week coming along chewy chewy friends? Good I hope! Anyway, today’s blog post content is gonna be very different from the usual food and lifestyle posts cuz it’s my very first time doing a review on skin care products! Sometime back, Cotde Inc. from Korea approached me to review their products when they were preparing to launch Zymogen in Singapore. Cotde Inc. currently manage four cosmetics brands, of which Zymogen is one of them, and each of their brands has its own characteristics and concepts. I received a large parcel of Zymogen Green Apple AHA skin care products when we got back from our honeymoon trip! :)
The brand story of Zymogen revolves around Fermentation and Enzyme Cosmetics; in other words, components of Zymogen are clean, highly active for improving your skin (has anti-aging & whitening effect), and cosmeceutical (treats pimple, acne scars and blemishes).
Step 1
For almost 3 weeks, I have been engaging in a 4-step (morning) and 5-step (night) skin care routine on a daily basis. Needless to say, I start with cleansing my face with the Zymogen Green Apple AHA Wash Foam ($25, 250ml). The natural AHA contained in an apple exfoliates the old dead skin cells gently to make the texture of the skin smooth and even.
I normally use about half to two-thirds of a pump each time after wetting my face, which is sufficient. A full pump would be too much. The consistency is gel-like and lathers easily on the face. What I like best about the facial foam is that it doesn’t leave this tight sensation on my face but instead, my face feels soft and supple.
Step 2
The Zymogen Green Apple AHA Toner ($34, 105ml) contains organic acids from fermented Korean famous ‘Yesan Apple’ extracts which recover your skin’s soft and smooth texture soft through eliminating old skin cells and rough skin texture, while apple and licorice root extracts help pore control for oily and combination skin types.
Although it’s not stated anywhere on the bottle, I have this habit of inverting it a couple of times before dispensing two to three full pumps of toner onto my hand. I prefer patting the toner all over my face with both hands to moistening a piece of cotton wool with toner. The toner leaves a light and fresh feeling on my face.
Step 3
Believe it or not but I have never ever included an emulsion in my skin care routine before prior to using the Zymogen Green Apple AHA Emulsion ($34, 105ml).
Please don’t ask me what is the difference between an emulsion and a lotion because I honestly do not know. I can only conclude, from using Zymogen’s emulsion, that an emulsion is white, has a cloudy appearance and has a consistency slightly thicker than water. The absorption is quick and upon application, my face feels moisturized instantly.
Step 4
I don’t have the habit of using face cream too because of my oily skin. However, the Zymogen Green Apple AHA Cream ($35, 50ml) is highly recommended for almost all skin types.
I use only a bit of cream every morning and night and spread it evenly on my face. Surprisingly, it is not very greasy and my face feels firmer.
Step 5
Ok, throughout this post, you have been seeing ‘AHA’ popping up many times. AHA is alpha hydroxy acid and is believed to reduce wrinkles and signs of aging by giving the skin a smoother appearance. As the Zymogen Green Apple AHA 10 Essence ($39, 30ml) contains a high concentration of over 10% of AHA, a patch test is highly recommended to determine if your skin is suitable for it.
As per the instructions, I only use a few drops of essence at night. Thankfully, it doesn’t result in any redness or itchiness although there is a slight tingling sensation on my face.
If you have noticed, I did not really describe the effects that each of the above five products have on my face individually because I used all of them together and it would be difficult to pinpoint which product did what. All I can say is that, on the overall, I am very happy with the results derived from using Zymogen Green Apple AHA products because my face is visibily more radiant and skin tone is more even after just one week. This is also why I chose to stick with using them rather than switching back to my original skin care products even after this review. The above photo was taken at Sentosa over the weekend. Absolutely no makeup on and no editing was done to the photo. If you are interested, you can purchase Zymogen products from Qoo10. I love Zymogen! ;) Connect with us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy and @misterchewy :) Cheers!
Tim Ho Wan Singapore: The First Michelin Star Dim Sum Restaurant from Hong Kong is here!
- Tasting Invite –
Hello chewys! Have you Tim Ho Wan-ed yet? Even before this famous Michelin star Dim Sum restaurant opened its doors to the public on 10 April at Plaza Singapura Atrium Space, it had already gotten everybody’s attention. Why the hype and excitement?
True blue dim sum lovers have probably heard of, or even tried, the renowned One Michelin starred Tim Ho Wan from Hong Kong’s Mongkok branch which had recently ceased operations. It is also the cheapest and most affordable Michelin starred restaurant in the world which makes it so popular!
Finally, the foodies in Singapore can have a taste of Tim Ho Wan’s legendary dim sum without having to fly over to the Hong Kong and subsequently queue for hours at its remaining branches just to try it. I was very lucky to be invited by one of my favorite PR companies, Brand Cellar, to be amongst the first in Singapore to taste Tim Ho Wan’s much raved about dim sum, especially their Big 4 Heavenly Kings!
Brand Cellar was also kind enough to allow me to have misterchewy join me in this mass dim sum party! Yeah as you can see, we are one of the true BLUE dim sum lovers. LOL :P
Hahaha ok here’s another photo of us because my eyes look bigger.
This was for our table of six… NOT! I think we ordered like at least 4 to 5 times of these! Major food coma but very satisfying! *Rubs tummy with glee* :D
Group shot! Sorry I didn’t use my flash that day so it’s not the photographer’s fault that the pic is yellowish. Kinda lost touch with taking food photos after our 3 week long honeymoon trip in Europe :(
And without further ado, I shall first introduce Tim Ho Wan’s Big 4 Heavenly Kings – Baked Bun with BBQ Pork, Vermicelli Roll with Pig’s Liver, Pan Fried Carrot Cake and Steamed Egg Cake, in this order. After which, I will be reviewing the other dishes that we had also tried.
Of all the dim sum dishes at Tim Ho Wan, my favorite was the Baked Bun with BBQ Pork ($4.50 for 3 pcs), which I prefer calling char siew bao. It is not your typical char siew bao though, because the bun is baked and not steamed. When eaten hot, the sweet and fragrant BBQ pork oozed out of the bun which was unbelievably soft and a little crusty with a slight bounciness to it.
The Vermicelli Roll with Pig’s Liver ($5.50) was also a crowd pleaser. Loved the cheong fun’s smooth and firm texture and the pig’s liver was soft instead of rubbery.
We had mixed views towards the Pan Fried Carrot Cake ($4.50 for 3 pcs) so it really depends on personal preference. It might be too soft and flimsy for some, and might come across as steamed instead of pan fried. This makes it unique and is still worth a try.
Kinda like our Malay kueh, the Steamed Egg Cake ($3.80) was very light and fluffy. Taste wise, it was not cloyingly sweet which soon got us asking for seconds!
Other than the Big 4 Heavenly Kings, we also sampled all the other dishes that were available during the media launch. First up, the Prawn Dumpling ($5.50 for 4 pcs) was nothing to shout about. It was just normal. No surprises here.
The Pork Dumpling with Shrimp ($5 for 4 pcs) or more affectionately known as siew mai, was jam packed with flavor and this is something which I will definitely find myself ordering again and again and again!
If you are not a fan of pig’s liver, you should try the Vermicelli Roll with BBQ Pork ($5.50) as an alternative, which is equally impressive!
I didn’t fancy the Dumpling Teochew Style ($4 for 3pcs) because of the odd taste and smell of chives. Other than that, the crunchiness of the dumplings was quite pleasant.
The Beef Ball with Beancurd Skin ($4.20 for 3 pcs) looked really tempting and I almost took a bite until misterchewy told me that it’s beef. :(
The Spring Roll with Egg White ($4.20) was the only fried item that we tried at Tim Ho Wan and it was really good. Instead of the typical vegetables encased in a deep fried crackling shell, the egg white filling was smooth and creamy and this was good enough to be eaten on its own.
Finally, for desserts, we had the Tonic Medlar & Osmanthus Cake ($3.50 for 3 pcs) which was like agar agar served cold. The light sweetness and subtle fragrant hint of osmanthus was a wonderful delight to the taste buds.
A photo of us with Chef Mak Kwai Pui, the man behind Tim Ho Wan! It was such an honour to be able to meet such an important and respectable figure from the dim sum food scene! :D
Hope everyone enjoyed our review on Tim Ho Wan! Is it worth queuing for hours? You decide!
For more updates, connect with us at our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy and @misterchewy ;)
Tim Ho Wan Singapore
68 Orchard Road
#01-29A
Plaza Singapura
Singapore 238839
Tel:+65 6251 2000 (No reservations)
Opening Hours:
Daily
10am – 10pm
Wedding Sponsor: Beehoon Productions Instant Prints Photobooth
- Sponsored Post -
Howdyyy chewyyys! Previously, I blogged about our wedding gatecrash and tea ceremony, followed by our wedding banquet dinner in a separate post. Today, I’m gonna tell you more about another very awesome wedding sponsor of ours! The husband and I were so thrilled because we had been toying with the idea of having an instant prints photobooth set up at our wedding banquet venue for the longest time! :D
Founded in July 2010, Beehoon Productions (米粉制作) specializes in cinematography and photography for weddings, parties and events. No doubt founders of Beehoon Productions, Nigel Tan and Hacktor Chris Wong are barely 3 years into this business, but after looking at their various works, I can truly feel their sincerity through the tremendous effort that they put in, in producing the best memories for their clients. Not forgetting that this duo is young and full of vibrant energy, anything and everything is possible! They have even ventured into underwater wedding photography!
About 1.5 months before our wedding, we met up with Nigel and Hacktor to have a look at the quality and past designs of their instant prints artwork. Basically, there are two sizes to choose from – 4R or card sized prints. Besides the photobooth, Beehoon Productions also offer the “Roaming Photographer” instant prints service whereby the photographers will roam around the reception and banquet to ask for shots.
Of course, we opted for the photobooth because there is a wide variety of cute and fun props that our guests can choose to pose with at the photobooth! These props definitely liven up the photos and also give an extra touch of wackiness!
Beehoon Productions took about 30 minutes to do their setup outside our ballroom at Orchard Parade Hotel and they were kind enough to stay till around 9pm in order to make sure that our guests had a chance at the photobooth. They were also very generous in sponsoring us unlimited 4R prints. At this point you must be wondering what printer they use! Beehoon Productions uses an industrial grade printer with a printing speed of around 12 seconds for each 4R photograph, which means that if you have 5 people in a group shot, it will only take about 1 minute for everyone to receive their instant prints!
My cousins seem to be having a good time at the photobooth!
More cousins! (LOL sorry my creativity in captioning is limited)
The idea is very simple. You queue, pick up as many props as you like, position yourselves properly in front of the backdrop and then strike your best pose for the camera guy! Speaking of backdrop, we chose a white one. There is also a pink and a blue backdrop, but you can only decide on one color. Beehoon Productions also offer, at a top-up, a live projections service whereby images can be viewed instantly while your event or wedding is ongoing.
Hahaha yeah call me bochup but I was simply too lazy to think of a layout design that I want and left everything to Nigel after sending him a few of our wedding photos for him to choose from. Basically, he cropped us out, together with ladder, blackboard, TV, stool and radio. Hahaha. I guess Nigel chose the wooden borders to fit our photo since it had some wooden elements in it. I chose to stay with this design so as not to complicate the overall outlook of the photo. Every customer is entitled to a unique customized border design which I think is really cool!
I have selected some shots to be shared in this post. You will be surprised that as many as eight or more people can fit into the photo booth!
I’m so glad we managed to take a keepsake shot with the Beehoon Productions team who helped out at our wedding banquet. Love them! Do head over http://www.facebook.com/beehoonproductions and view more of their works! And don’t forget to stay connected to us via Facebook and Instagram @missuschewy and @misterchewy :D
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