Happy New Year to everyone! I hope that 2015 will bring luck and joy to you. I'm pretty sure we all need a bit more blessings for this upcoming year.
I had a pretty eventful end-of-year month. It was much needed after I went through a bit of a depressing state (after I found out some inconvenient and down-right stupid news about work which I won't elaborate further because fuck that). I was in a bit of a rut but no worries, I've climbed out of my little black hole and I'm all good now. Scared as fuck but ready to face reality (sorta).
So for December and early January, I planned to travel for a month to visit family and friends, explore a few cities, learn more about art, culture and all that jazz. It was a wonderful (and tiring) getaway! The order goes from Amsterdam > Brussels > Berlin > Venice & Padua > London. It was great celebrating Christmas (properly) for the first time, and it's a tradition/holiday that I'm looking forward to repeating every year!
In case you are too lazy to read the post, here's a very simple travel video I made ... just cause.
AMSTERDAM
Amsterdam feels like a 3rd home at the moment. I literally went there 3 times within a year! It's really like I balik kampung to visit my relatives haha. Which is technically what I did, for an early Christmas celebration, Nadiah's Euro-farewell (as declared by Nina) and to meet the tembam.
This is the tembam, Isabel (my mom calls her Bam Bam for obvious reasons). I am obviously presenting her to everyone in this picture but she doesn't look very amused by her aunt.
She's a very sweet baby! As sweet as Milla, but small, chubby and bald. She's also very sociable! She will keep you entertained for quite a bit of time, just smiling and laughing, and being adorable. She doesn't misbehave much (though my cousin would beg to differ, seeing as she's been a little devil lately, waking up during the night, demanding boob milk).
Here is Milla in my cousin's living room. She was probably practicing her solo performance; singing Mariah Carey's version of "All I Want for Christmas is You" (we had a very organized Christmas dinner with performances and games! Kudos to Nina hahaha). I regret not recording us dancing like idiots though. We had a ball singing to Miley Cyrus's "We Can't Stop" and dancing to "YMCA".
I am Rudolph and he is an elf.
Everyone (with Nina behind the camera). A colourful bunch we are. Look at the Christmas crackers! Super festive.
Okay, this is more or less a snippet of the entertainment that night.
I really miss the sunshine! This was us ice-skating with the glam fam. Glasgow is becoming increasingly more depressing by the minute. It's grey and wet here! I want sunshine! :(
We also managed to visit the Rijksmuseum (though we needed another like 5 hours to complete the rest of the building). We saw work by Rembrandt and ... K I ain't no fan. I don't like paintings of people I don't really care about. All Renaissance paintings look the same to me ... it gets boring. I liked Vermeer more than Rembrandt though because at least he had the idea of playing with light, shadow and different perspectives.
Oh! This was one of my favourite exhibits. This is a very details dollhouse that was owned by a very wealthy lady from the 17th century (she had a lot of time in her hands, clearly). Everything was so detailed! The house even had fresco! Super coohl.
We went to Dampkring (for obvious reasons). This is a beautiful shot of Gian and Greg, expressing their love and happiness for one another, and my sister waiting impatiently in the background to order her chocolate milkshake lulz.
BRUSSELS
I went to Brussels, on my own! The next few days of traveling, I would be solo for the first time ever! Frightening, but extremely liberating! I had freedom to plan everything on my own! However, there are pros and cons to solo travel (I'm not sure if it's because it was my first time or this is how I truly feel but ngeh). Pros; I get to see whatever I want and have the flexibility to go anywhere anytime! Cons; I'm alone so any risks are higher, and I'm no social butterfly so sometimes it's a struggle to talk to people I don't know.
Being alone allowed me to understand what I liked and didn't like though (without the influence of anyone around me). It was nice! So I can confidently say that I'm not the biggest fan of Brussels (lol). But then again, I did stay for only a night and only got to see the city centre, which was nice but kind of dull after a couple of hours of walking around. The highlight of my trip was of course, chocolate, and the Magritte Museum! I fell in LOVE.
This is the main square of the city centre. It was beautiful but nothing extravagant! I was disappointed by the Christmas tree because it was extremely sad and lop-sided.
I think this was the city's museum. I did not go inside because I was not in the mood at the time (or maybe wasn't very interested, I dunno). But the architecture is super eery so I like that.
Took a sneaky pic of some of Magritte's work. The amazing thing about his artwork is that it makes you think deeply and makes you wonder what the whole composition is about ... when it actual fact, Margritte probably just trollin' and was like, "lulz pwned". But seriously though, his ideology is amazing. Look him up if you like surrealism!
Here's the view of Brussels from a higher point. It was a pretty gloomy day but I spent it in the museum so it was a day well spent regardless of the bipolar weather.
BERLIN
I can confidently say that I love Berlin. I didn't have enough days to discover everything in this city, unfortunately, but whatever I go to experience and see, I loved. Berlin is so culturally rich and filled with so much art and history! I admire their preservation of history very much; I'd like to think that their dark days are a result of why the Berliners are so liberal and open-minded.
While in Berlin (solo), I stayed at a very super hip hostel at the East side, with very friendly hosts that jammed in the communal room where the washing machines were (lol) called the Sunflower Hostel. Stay there if you're hitting up city!
So since I was on my own and knew no one in Berlin (and really didn't feel like socializing with other travelers ... I'm very bad hahaha), I joined the Free Berlin Walking Tour to learn a bit more about the city from someone who has about 200% more knowledge than me about the place. Did not regret it at all! It was an excellent tour. About 5 hours long but saw a whole lot of historical landmarks and learned a lot about architecture and the war way back when. And it was FREE, what more could you ask for?
Above is a photo of a permanent art installation found in the square of the main university where public burning of books took place during the Nazi reign. The installation is of empty bookshelves that symbolize the 25,000+ books that no longer exist due to the public burning during the war and it was because the books were "going against German culture". So written work by scientists, philosophers, artists etc were destroyed. So dark but moving!
I also went on the Free Alternative Walking Tour which was all about street art and the (individualistic and artistic) East side of Berlin. A whole different side to Berlin was found during this tour! Absolutely loved finding work by big street artists and also discovering work by artists that I didn't even know about (but now can identify when exploring other cities).
Above is a big mural by an awesome artist names Blu. The painting is about the monster of society (giant consisting of thousands of humans that look exactly the same) consuming individuals (the man in white that stands out from the crowd). Also dark but beautiful.
Was introduced to an italian street artist known as Alice. She does stencils and large murals of people in her life. I think her technique and use of colours are amazing! She's so neat and precise with her street art too. I found her work everywhere in Berlin and also while in London. Love!
Here's one of her simple stencils in Berlin. You can find a lot of her work, hidden in around door ways or bridges. It's fun! Like a treasure hunt!
Here's one of the murals from the East Side Gallery. Interesting fact; this "side" of the Berlin wall, that technically facing the west side, only has commissioned work by artists from all over the world and is illegal for street artist to tag or vandalize. If caught, you can be given a very hefty fine! But ...
... the side of the wall facing the east, you can tag and vandalize as much as you want! So if during summer, I'm in Berlin and I have some paint, I'd totes paint a part of the wall man. It's on my bucket list! Above is a photo of half of my face in "no-man's land". Back in the day, this was the space dividing the East and West. Many people were killed here trying to escape and enter the west side. Grim fact eyh?
Out of the many cafes I found, this one was my absolute fav! It's so simple, with white walls and wooden furniture. This part of the cafe just made my heart skip a beat! So beautiful but so minimal. Look for New Deli Yoga when you can. The coffee was pretty good too.
Went to the Dali Museum to continue expanding my knowledge in Surrealism. I love Dali's work but not Dali himself hahaha. He's a genius and his work is amazingly provocative, but he's also a very openly vain and self-absorbed artist. I suppose it's funny and an interesting character but, whatever. I still love his work though so who cares about his personality (lol).
Also, his illustrations and renditions of novels are superb! Above are some of his early work, extremely sexual, if you look at them for a long time and very closely (which is what I did for a good few hours) but at the same time, very lightweight.
This is one of my favs! It has a lot of Dali's signature elements and also a very Alice in Wonderland feel to it (and the orange is a boob mind you).
In case you haven't seen it, this is an animation by Dali in collaboration with Disney! They didn't manage to complete it together back in the day, but the people in Disney decided to animate the story and voila! It's beautiful and well done.
Went to the Jewish Museum, mostly because I was curious about the architecture of the building, seeing as it was done by Libeskind and it got so much hype and praise. Truth be told, it was pretty but I am totally not into the building at all. While listening to his recordings, explaining his intentions, I kept thinking to myself, "you little shit". His building is just too random guys. I mean, poetic as some point and to a certain extent, but as something that requires curating, nope, not really.
A bit on the fence about it, 'cause there were spaces that I absolutely loved like the Holocaust Tower. That was very abstract and emotional, but that's about it. Maybe Libeskind should consider designing large art installations instead of actual buildings.
Like hello? Look at this monstrosity. I've concluded that Libeskind is the type of architect/designer that you either adore or despise. I'm more on the latter side unfortunately.
The Memory Void, however, was a piece I absolutely loved! It's very scary to think that these faces represent the thousands of people who suffered, have fallen and disappeared during the holocaust. We were told to experience the void by walking on the faces and listening to the sounds the metal made while stepping on them ... it echoed through the giant multiple-volume void; like voices screaming for help. So artistic and clever! Kudos to the artist and Libeskind, I'll give you this one.
Also, I didn't shop at all during my trip, cause I'm a good girl and also I received lots of gifts so I didn't have space to shop, really. But I did stop by The Dudes shop on the East side and got myself this cap! They were having Christmas sales too so it was the perfect time to treat myself. Really admire the owners of The Dudes Delikatessen and also their retail shop. They're living the life that I dream of. I'm a big fan and I admire them so much!
I have to also mention Berlin's massive Christmas market! It was super nice man (cannot be compared to the pathetic one Glasgow had). It was so festive and jolly! Everyone was having brutwurst and beer, and there was awesome caroling by little German kids who were surprising very synchronized and in tune with all the songs.
This space really impressed me too. In the market, they have a dedicated area for the sales of Christmas tree ornaments, and it was huge. At least the size of my flat x 2! That's really big.
PADOVA/VENICE/BASSANO
After Berlin, I was reunited with my Italian man in Padova for Christmas. The whole time I was in Italy, I just ate ... really. I gained a few kgs just from the week of eating, it's unbelievable. I'm glad that everyone treated me well though! I was fed really delicious food from atas restaurants and also extremely amazing home-cooked Italian food! Felt so loved hehe.
This visit also felt like I balik kampung. It's nice to know that I have places to go during the festive season. :) I suppose Padova is kind of like my 4th home now hehe.
I'm pretty sure I've mentioned Gian's family dog, Titi, before. I love her and her fluffy butt. She's so cute and sweet. They'll have a new dog sometime soon too! Another schnauzer, but a big one. There's gonna be 2 sassy bitches (pun intended) in the Menini household yayyyyy!
PRESENTS! To be honest, I didn't think I' d receive presents because ... well I was never use to receiving anything during Christmas. This is legit the first year I ever properly celebrated so I felt so happy and grateful (and a tad awkward) receiving gifts and opening them during Christmas morning. It's a pleasant tradition though and I hope I'll be a part of it for the rest of my life tbh.
At Gian's mom's place ... probably watching Andrea play his PS4 and combating the serious food coma. I slept like a corpse err'day I was in Italy k.
The day we went to Venice, the weather looked like this! It was warm and I was semi-sweating. It was a relaxing day albeit my minor migraine.
The last time we were here, it was at night and I couldn't see anything. But now I understand why people like this bridge/spot so much. It's a very nice view of the canal. I managed not to get the crowd in this picture but trust me when I say, it was crowded.
The sunny day turned into this as the sun set. So creepy ... BUT I LOVE IT haha. This was before we headed to the Guggenheim. Strange how the weather can change within a few moments.
And of course in the Guggenheim, we saw a lot of beautiful art pieces by Pollock (of whom I'm not a big fan of and I still don't quite get his ideology), Margritte (who Gian is really impressed with because duh), Dali (who is still a question mark that I'm really interested in) etc. One of my favourites is this piece by Picasso. It's just of individuals at the beach, but his form is so alien-like that I think it's interesting and attractive. Their facial expressions are very nonchalant too.
While we were in Bassano, it snowed! Like proper snow! Not like the snow we get in Glasgow which is practically ice that smacks and scratches you in the face! It got me so excited! Snow was something I wouldn't think would get me so hyperactive and happy, but I mean, I'm still a tropical girl after all. I've never before played in proper snow so this was super fun. Gian was just like "k" though haha.
While in Bassano, we stopped by the Grappa museum! You can learn a bit about how grappa (which is an alcohol made by the skin of grapes) is made, what equipment they use, the different types of grappa and you can also buy some! I wanted to but I was traveling so there was just no room. :(
LONDON
After Italy, I flew back to the UK and met with Amir and Jojo! Amir was kind enough to share his bed with me for the week haha. And Jojo, after over a year of not seeing him, we finally reunited! Yay! You can imagine in what horrible conditions my voice was in at that moment. Just kept talking and talking. My manly voice came back to haunt me.
Not too sure why Amir looks so serious but anyway, this was the first night in London! We had like a major MEAT feast at Big and Easy (was that the name?). At that very moment, I realized how amazing London can be. I mean, it's crowded, huge, expensive and the weather is a little less gloomy compared to Glasgow, but there are amazing restaurants, thousands of things to see and do, tons of art, culture and theatre, which compensates for the somewhat uneasy lifestyle (I suppose).
Example 1) (this is a horrible photo but) that's me, holding the ticket to Miss Saigon the musical. I saw that and was lucky enough to see the Book of Mormon earlier that day. BOTH MUSICALS WERE AMAZING. It just reignited the flame that I use to have for musicals! The music, acting, high quality stage production ... amazing. And I'm glad that I have a best friend that's a huge fan of musicals because then I have the perfect reason to go watch everything.
Btw, I saw 3 musicals while in London; The Book of Mormon, Miss Saigon and The Grand Tour. ALL AMAZING in very different ways! HIGHLY RECOMMEND ALL.
Example 2) I know his is very Malaysian/Asian of me to say but I miss going to a mall. I mean, it's quite bad cause malls are just a non-space with shops that are the same in every part of the world ... but I grew up chilling in malls. Like just window shopping with bffs and chit chatting for hours while having fast food or while waiting for our movie to start (and in fact, we went to go watch the Theory of Everything and Birdman that day. Top notch!).
So when we went to Westfield I was just like YA NOSTALGIC. And this mall is super pretty k got fairy lights on da supporting structures dat look like treeeeeeeeeeeees.
Also, had a very simple NYE celebration with the boys! We went to this cafe restaurant in the picture to have dinner, and then up on top of Primrose Hill to watch the fireworks (which were relatively small from where we were standing but good enough). We just wanted to avoid the huge crowd in the centre.
Jojo took me to go see Winter Wonderland, which I was not curious about at all but was pleasantly surprised with. It's huge larh ok. Tons of rides and tons of things to spend your money on! Jojo really liked the giant Rudolph and wished he could have it but he can't so he's just sniffing it.
I was actually extremely impressed by this Christmas market fun fair thing. It was so big and there were a lot of things to do! Berlin had the very festive Christmas market, but London had the very flashy and hyperactive fun fair! They were both different in comparison but equally as fun and excellent. I enjoyed seeing people and kids have fun on the ride!
Found Alice's work again. I also found another like 2 or 3 stencil pieces by her while exploring London with Jojo.
The last day was spent at the National Gallery (and then afterwards, Woman in Black in the cinema hahahahahaha) criticizing Renaissance paintings with Jojo. We saw beautiful (famous) work by Van Gogh, Monet (his work is so romantic! I loveeee), Da Vinci though and I was pleased to check big names off my list. The piece above is by Seurat of bathers in the suburbs of Paris.
I honestly loved it because of the sweet colour scheme and pointism technique he used, but this piece can only be admired from afar due to the congestion of tourists and their big smartphones/cameras (lol). Managed to snap this quick shot when there was like a 3 sec gap between tourists walking directly in front of me.
The beginning of December didn't lay out quite as planned for me and as I said before, I kind of fell into a very depressing rut. I was feeling very sad and ill-equipped with the tools to combat my misfortune during that moment in life. But I got to clear my head during these travels, and speak to people who were kind enough to share their advice and show their support. I feel grateful that there are still people who will help me get up and push me forward. I'm especially grateful to those who comforted me and told me that the problems I face are just a minor setback ... it's not the end of the world and it's true.
So for them and for myself, I will try my best to work out my life in 2015! My new year's resolution is to work hard, plan and grow towards a healthy and successful life. You'll see progress, I'm sure of it. Slowly but surely!
So once again, HAPPY 2015!
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous year ahead!
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