...& we're back!!

Kinda happy and sad at the same time...The past month has been one heck of a ride!!

Everyone asks if i'd do this whole backpacking thing again (altho' i must for the record, admit i used a trolley bag. haha...) & i say, "Well.....................maybe." :) Living out of a bag for a month was insane....It was a crazy experience; we met soooo many awesome people & saw soooo many awesome places, but i gotta admit...it was f-ing tiring alot of the time!!!

An AWESOME time, nonetheless.

& I'm missing so many parts of it already...Sitting at the tuileries gardens with our wine & cheese, walking down Portobello street market with old ladies selling their lives-worth of jewelery while somewhere down the street amidst the crowd someone's blasting old records, tanning on the beach at cannes while the paparazzi click away at celebs on the sidewalk, standing atop the duomo in milan & taking in that jaw-dropping view, crossing the rialto bridge in venice & thinking this place truly is like no other, having tapas and beer with friends we thought we'd most probably never see again, waking up in the morning to tiesto beats in the distance in ibiza with the party from the previous nite still pumping in our veins, enjoying the best paella by the beach in Barcelona, & of course the shopping oh the shopping.........................

So for now, i think i'm stickin' to "...maybe." :)

The land of Gaudi & more things Gaudi.

hi mom/dad/ck/everyone else!!

We're having breakfast here in our hostel in Barcelona (Hello BCN). Toast, croissants, super gd expressos...(Note to self: Buy coffee & chocolate powder before we leave Spain!!)

The weather has been absolutely beautiful here in Barcelona, (not as cold as Madrid was a couple of days ago), & not as hot as it was in Ibiza (35 degrees!!!). There's a nice sun out all day, with that cool (but not chilly) breeze. I'm lovin' it. :) Finally. Weather that's Val-friendly!

Yesterday we walked around our area...Went to Placa Real, Catalunyan, La Boqueria Market, walked down Las Ramblas (shops shops & more shops)...But we keep seein' all the same shops around!!! (Zara, Mango, Bershka, Pimkie...) Where are all the other local Barcelonean shops?!??!?

Today we're off to the Sagrada Familia church, before we hit Parc Guell (i can't absolutely wait!!). Then maybe we're gonna see the Magic Fountain.

Laterssss!!

v.

IBIZA WAS *******-AMAZINGGGG!!!

haha...That's all i've got to say about it, really.

I don't even know where to start. 'Cept...that i'll have to buy an apartment there & return!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

O.M.....GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG.

My body's in Barcelona, but my mind & heart's definitely lost in that island...somewhere.

Last Day in Madrid

Today we've got a walking tour lined up till the afternoon, then we're meeting Amaya!!! It's been such a long time!! ;) Can't wait to catch up!

Then of course, it's more shopping!!!

v.

Can u say...Shopping???

Day 2 in Madrid! Omgggg. I thought it was supposed to be sunny & hot here!!! I did not expect it to be this cold!! (I think it was 18 degrees.)

So yesterday, after we got here via easyJet, we walked around our area...Looked for the supermercado (veryyy important) - which we found (luckily), went to Plaza de Mayor (which was beauutiful!!!), then walked around somemore, ended up at Gran Via (shoppinnnggg!!! ;P), then walked back to Plaza de Mayor for some yummy (supposedly touristy) paella! Singapore's "paella" suckssss big time compared to this!

Today, we're off to the Real Madrid stadium, then to some Mango/Zara outlet, then maybe back to Gran Via for more shopping & yada yada. We're off!! :)

Ciao Italia! :(

At the bar of our hostel in Rome using the internet here...They're blasting random bar music...& it's super noissyyyyy!! Happy Hour's just over...1 frikkin Euro for a wine, can u imagine?!?! What the...In sg, for 1 Euro u'll probably only get the wine cork.

Anyway, dre & i just finished a good last dinner in Italy...boohoo. I'm really sad leaving this warm/crazy/fun country...People/food/weather/mostly everything have been absolutely amazing to us...Italy has treated us more than well.

After this, it's off to Spain! We're flying to Madrid tmr morning at 9am...Spending maybe 4 days there, before we fly to Ibizaaaaaaaa, baby!!! woohooo!! We got our tickets to a club opening (Space), yada yada. After Ibiza, we'll be flying to Barcelona!! Spain should be pretty wicked. I have high hopes for it. :)

Oh. & MOM, I've spent AAALLL MY MONEY ON SHOPPING!!!! I'M BROKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hahahahahhaha. JUST KIDDING. :P

v.

In Rome, Do Like the Romans Do...

We are in Rome now for a day and a half. Did Pisa this morning but it was too hot and crowded. Photos up when we get back I promise.

Its The Vatican first thing in the morning since we expect a 3 hour line to get in.. darn.
Hope we get enough time to see everything... or at least most of the sights.

Watch for an update again tomorrow.

One Casualty so far... KuJie's black foldable bag that we borrowed. It's somewhere in London at the moment..

We are off to bed after a good italian dinner. cya!

DREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Under The Tuscan Sun

hello world! we are currently in florence.. well not exactly.. we are in a camping site in the hills of tuscany, an hour away from the center of florence.. Val and I went to florence today just to walk around and see the sights.. not much to see. we covered everything in 7 hours (not including the museum because it was closed today. wishing to do that some other time)

we are here in the bar in the camp and they are playing really good music (breakfast in america ' supertramp). since we arrived in italy, we have been eating too much food - pizza and gelato.. (we arent starving anymore like in Paris! woot!)

we are off early tomorrow morning to Pisa, then head back to Florence to take a train to Rome.. we are staying in another camp over there.. actually, camps are better than hostels. it has a lot more families and zero backpackers. their facilities are great, clean.. but the only problem is the distance from the city center which isnt that much of a problem because they provide transportation info.. (wanting to go here with family sometime in the future)

its halfway thru our trip and we have a few remaining cities to visit then its back home..

anyways, we are off to have our second daily gelatto.. internet here is kinda expensive..

watch out for an update soon!

-dre

I fell in love today...

...with a small city called Venice.

Venice is BEAUTIFUL...words just can't describe it. There really is no place like it! People are great, weather is amazing (hot in the day, with a nice cool breeze), the streets are full of quaint shops with the most interesting display windows & omggg i'm OBSESSED w the masks! (I bought one today. haha. It's BEAUTIFUL...It's purple, gold & white & so soooo pretty!) Also bought more stuff for the family here...I'm totally coming back!

Lunch was at Arca Pizzeria, where i had the bestest spaghetti nero de seppia (squid ink pasta) everrrr. & I think we had like 3 gelato's before & after. haha. Bring it on, babyyyy.

Tmr it's Venice till abt 4, before we catch the train to Florence/Tuscany. (chia: TUSCAANNYYYYY. woohooo!!! heh.)

okay. Dre's bugging me for his turn at the computer. So...Ciao baby ciao baby ciaoooooooo!!!!!
v.

In Milan for a day!

Sorry we haven't been able to update!!! It's been crazy!!!...and actually pretty tiring! But at the end of the day of course, everything's more than worth it. :)

In the past week or so (I swear we've lost track of time here), we've been in & out of Paris (the land of making out in public), gone to Bath (which i totally fell in love with the minute i stepped foot there - Lydia was right!! It sure was worth a trip up there...), London (SHOPPINGGGGG, babyyyy.), Nice (which was BEAUTIFUL...words can't describe it...This is one place i'd have to rerturn to.), Monaco (overated), Cannes (the atmosphere is awesome during the Film Festival!!! One more place i'll have to go back to.), and Milan (well...Public transport takes FOREVER!!! aaahhhhh. & which we'll be exploring more of today.)

Oh. & there was a train strike yesterday...so for a bit there we thought our trip to Milan would've been a no-go, but woohoo!!! All worked out in the end. & of course, we're here!!

& sorry we can't upload any of our AWESOME pictures (i think i took like a couple of thousands already. haha...) 'cos we can't use thumbdrives or whatever at the internet cafes. Gaahh. So i'm sorry, those'll have to wait!! I promise to do a proper backtrack (w/ photos) when we get back!!!

Off to the duomo!! More soon!

v.

Cannes Film Festival 2008 Events Sked

While planning for the trip, Dre & I realized we would be dropping in on Cannes during the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. I mean, holy schmoly! What are the odds?! So i snagged myself the Events Sked via Nikki Finke's & here it is! (For the duration of our stay in the area.) It's not like we'd be at any of the events (one could dream), but it's kinda nice to know what's happenin' & maybe we'd bump into some of the faces on our big screens, no? ;)

Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
TBD -- Club Night
TBD -- WalkOnceMore @ Le Californie
TBD -- M1NT Festival House Cannes Burlesque Dinner Dance
9:00 am-6:00 pm -- Official Cannes Film Festival Short Corner
sponsored by Moving Pictures
12:30 pm -- The Times/Sky Buffet Lunch
@ Club Diva
4:00 pm-6:00 pm -- Moving Pictures present The International Emerging Talent Film Festival/Macedonian Film Fund Party
@ Century Club, Vegaluna Plage
6:00 pm–8:00 pm -- Alberto Ferretti Cocktail Party
7:00 pm-9:30 pm -- The Weinstein Company
@ Penthouse Terrace, Gray D’Albion
7:00 pm-9:30 pm -- AVEX Entertainment Party
@ Martinez
8:30 pm (sunset) -- WHV Beach Screening of What's Up Doc
@ Plage Mace

Wednesday, May 21st, 2008
TBD -- Steven Soderberg's Guerrilla Movie After-Premiere
TBD -- SoHo House Party
TBD -- European Champions League Final
9:00 am-6:00 pm -- Official Cannes Film Festival Short Corner
sponsored by Moving Pictures
6:45 pm -- I Am Because We Are Screening
@ Salle du 60e
7:00 pm -- WHV's You Must Remember This Screening
@ Salle Bunuel
8:30 pm (sunset) -- WHV Beach Screening of Blazing Saddles
@ Plage Mace
9:30 pm-11:30 pm -- WHV 85th Anniversary Celebration

v.

Up, up & away!

Hello helloooo!

Dre & i have created a new travel blog for our euro-trip this spring/summer of 08'!

It's been a craazzyyy few mths planning, getting andre's visas (we had a tough time getting his visa from the french embassy...altho' the spanish embassy took him a nifty 5mins!), booking, cancelling, re-booking & what-have-yous...

But now that all of it's gonna come to light in just a couple of days...We're totally stoked! Excited! Goin' out of our minds! ;)

We're flying Qatar, via Sing-Doha-Paris! & Our flight details are:

Flight No.: QR 639 (Terminal 3)
Departure Date: 11th May 08'
Departure Time: 0320

Wheeee!!~ Back to packing now!

v.