From spaghetti to gelati and the Vatican City, mischievous adventurer Lim Sue-Anne has stumbled upon a more-love than-hate affair with the beautiful antics of Rome.
Rome, the capital gem of Italy, was once the most powerful civilisation on earth. Now, it is an amazingly popular tourist spot where one can catch a glimpse of the Pope and capture beautiful pictures of the Colosseum.
While I was there, it was almost the end of April, the beginning of spring and a lovely weather. I spent about 5 nights in Rome and yes, that’s quite a lot of days to allocate for one city but no, it still wasn’t enough to fully experience being a local. Needless to say, it was worth every minute of my trip.
Romantic Rendezvous
On my first day, I was ready to plunge into the most romantic of the romantic getaways. This was of course brought on by my belief that in every word of Romance, there is a Roman to begin with. Some might recognise famousplaces like the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and Vatican City from movie clips found in Audrey Hepburn’s Roman Holiday.
Already breathtaking during the day, Rome’s magic reveals itself when night falls. The hard edges of the city’s grey structures are blurred and yellow lights lit the lonesome quiet streets.
Once awhile you will spot a couple, young or old, courting each other. The lights also seem to bring out the majesty in all things old and new. When the sun sets and the crowd subsides the streets become calmer and more peaceful which are great for slow moonlit night strolls. I had the opportunity to bump into countless hot Cabinieris (just think of good-looking Italian men in uniforms) patrolling the streets and I’ve never felt safer.
One of the many great museums under the tourist radar is definitely the Galleria Borghese. The masterpieces by Bernini here are unmatched and can even qualify to be on the same pedestal as Michelangelo’s David and Pieta. It’s hard to fathom how he manages to visualise and sculpt fold for fold of those flowing cloaks, contour for contour of grips and clenches and emotion for emotion of true human feelings. It was an awesome experience to be standing in front of such profound work and simply be humbled by it.
Of course, who can come to Rome and miss the two most famous places on earth? If you’re planning to visit the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel, I should warn you to be prepared to spend at least a day in here and start your journey early because the queue can be quite extreme. On rainy days, when it seems like a perfectly good idea to spend the day indoor admiring works of art at the Vatican, you will easily spend your time wet, impatient and stuck in a queue that seems to encircle the entire Vatican City. I started queuing at 8.30 for one and a half hours before the doors finally opened.
The Vatican museums would require some time and stamina to cover. The highlight is of course the Sistine Chapel due to the extravagant and intricate artwork of Michelangelo’s Last Judgment and the story of the Creation. Both frescoes took my breath away. The intricacy of the ceiling and paintings were beyond words of decription, fit only to those of real curators and not any random tourist like me.
It’s hard to imagine Michelangelo spending almost a decade doing nothing but this. His persistence and dedication drove him back to the chapel every day to complete his masterpiece. It’s almost surreal when faced with the real deal when all through my life, I’ve only heard of, read about and seen Michelangelo’s work in the media. Standing below the heavenly stretch of fresco, I can’t help but feel small about my own accomplishments.
Get to read more on this exclusive discovery in the hard-copy of Treazures in your nearest coffee outlet...
Gem of Yamanashi
Sue-Anne Lim speaks of cherry blossoms and the good old days of living amidst the rich and magnificent culture of the Japanese in Yamanashi.
When you mention Yamanashi to any Japanese, more often than not, they’ll remark how tasty and juicy the native peaches, plums and grapes are. Not to mention, the wine produce that’s dizzyingly good. Loosely translated, Yamanashi means Mountain of Pears.
So, it’s no surprise to hear so many good things about this fruity region. However, ask a foreigner, what does he or she think about Yamanashi, and they’ll go “Where…?” Don’t you just love exploring uncharted places?
The main capital city of Yamanashi is called Kofu. And that is where I called home for two whole years. A place where I had to get readjusted to life because Japan as we know it runs on a totally different operating system.
Being a tourist in this country is different from being someone who lives, eats and be a part of the Japanese system. Although it might seem highly adventurous to some, I have had my own fair share of frustrations when it came to buying groceries and asking for directions, up until I was able to converse in basic Japanese.
Within these two years, I’ve had the golden opportunity to discover one of Japan’s many unpolished diamonds. In Malaysia, Kofu is probably equivalent to Ipoh, a ‘basin’ surrounded by breathtakingly beautiful mountains.
Due to the nature of its location, the weather tends to fluctuate between two extremes during winter and summer. Otherwise, spring and autumn are perfect gallivanting seasons which are comfortable enough for outdoor barbeques and picnics where you get to spend some time with the heaven-sent sceneries.
Yamanashi is one of the many prefectures located in the Chubu region of the Honshu Island in Japan. It is about 2 and a half hours train ride from central Tokyo and approximately 4 hours of bus ride from Narita Airport.
Much less famous than its sister prefectures of Nagano (which hosted the 1998 Winter Olympics), Kanagawa (home of Yokohama city) and fascinating Tokyo, Yamanashi is quite commonly overlooked by tourists and travelers alike.
Not many are aware that Yamanashi shares one of the most precious jewels of Japan with its neighbouring prefecture called Shizuoka, which is the phenomenally symmetrical Mount Fuji.
A lesser known fact of Yamanashi is it is also the birth place of Hidetoshi Nakata. Yes, the Japanese footballer who sent girls and guys screaming over his suave looks and moves. He graduated from Nirasaki High School which is one of the most prominent high schools from this prefecture and needless to say, inspired a legion of little boys to follow his footsteps.
It may be difficult to take a photo with Nakata if you ever do visit Yamanashi, but with so many things to do and see, I’m sure 1 Gigabyte will run out in no time at all. Well, what else is there to say, except, see you there?
Get to read more on this exclusive discovery in the hard-copy of Treazures in your nearest coffee outlet...
