GARGANTUAN steps
Friday, December 29, 2006
veni, vidi, vici
" I came, I saw, I conquered" - Julius Caesar
L'Italia è una Repubblica democratica, fondata sul lavoro
'Italy is a democratic Republic, founded on labour'
- motto of Italy
Buon Natale to one and all back home! I am back in London from my first double overseas holiday (from Singapore and London) and it has been a wonderful 8 days spent in Italy, especially being able to celebrate midnight mass by the Pope in St. Peter's Basilica. It has been quite a spiritual journey and it's been more of a pilgrimage as compared to a holiday (at least the days spent in Rome and the Vatican City). However, it's quite difficult travelling in Europe over Christmas, with the cold and the short daylight hours proving to be quite a nuisance, and having to eat countless paninis, pizzas and pastas! I was blessed with extremely good weather and I'm really thankful for that!
Here's the long and the short of the trip, punctuated with lots of pictures!
Day 1 - Rome: The Eternal City and the visit to St Peter's Grave under the Vatican Basilica
The day started extremely early, at 1245 a.m. with a bus at 2 a.m. to catch to Stansted Airport. The first stop in Rome was a tour of the Excavations under St Peter's Basilica, where St Peter was buried. Unfortunately, one isn't allowed to take photographs of the Necropolis. Following that, it was a visit to the Crypt where the past Popes were buried. Here are some photographs!
It was an early start to get to Florence via train the following morning. Florence is a beautiful place, though I only spent about half a day there. The main attraction there is the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower) but it is called the Duomo in short, and it was a really beautiful church! Quite a bit of time was spent visiting the basilica, baptistry and the museum! By the time I had ascended Piazza Michaelangelo, it was dark by then, and the night view of Florence wasn't as spectacular as the day view, as some of my friends told me.
Venice is a really pretty and romantic place, though it was extremely cold! I managed to miss the rain, unlike my friends who were there a few days earlier who were drenched and soak for their visit there! Venice consists of lots of bridges to cross, and there are no cars, and you can get anywhere you want to by walking. I didn't sit on any gondolas though, because the prices were really quite extravagant and not something for students to indulge in. I visited St Mark's Basilica on the first day, which is where St Mark's body is kept (under the altar). They also have the Pala d’Oro, Golden Pall, which is a huge altarpiece (about 4 m by 2 m) and covered with gold, jewels and stones illustrating the story of St Mark. No pictures of it was allowed though.
Reaching back in Rome at seven in the morning, the Colosseum was the next destination on the itinerary. This was where bloody battles were fought in the past and it has been damaged by earthquakes and all the floor of the battleground has sunk in and you can see the changing rooms as well as where the animals were kept.
Most of the shops and attractions were closed on this day and so I had a rather relaxing day wondering around Rome, but not before heading back to the Vatican for the Pope's blessing at noon! He read out a speech in Italian before delivering his blessings in English and in 62 other languages (which were just the various forms of Merry Christmas!) He even wished one in Chinese!
The last day in Rome was spent at the Roman Forum, which was the political centre of ancient Rome, where Julius Caesar and company treaded! The place was mostly ruins but it was quite a sight to behold still! I then went to the prison where St Peter was held in and where he miraculously struck a hole in the ground and water came out from it for him to baptise the other prisoners.
L'Italia è una Repubblica democratica, fondata sul lavoro
'Italy is a democratic Republic, founded on labour'
- motto of Italy
Buon Natale to one and all back home! I am back in London from my first double overseas holiday (from Singapore and London) and it has been a wonderful 8 days spent in Italy, especially being able to celebrate midnight mass by the Pope in St. Peter's Basilica. It has been quite a spiritual journey and it's been more of a pilgrimage as compared to a holiday (at least the days spent in Rome and the Vatican City). However, it's quite difficult travelling in Europe over Christmas, with the cold and the short daylight hours proving to be quite a nuisance, and having to eat countless paninis, pizzas and pastas! I was blessed with extremely good weather and I'm really thankful for that!
Here's the long and the short of the trip, punctuated with lots of pictures!
Day 1 - Rome: The Eternal City and the visit to St Peter's Grave under the Vatican Basilica
The day started extremely early, at 1245 a.m. with a bus at 2 a.m. to catch to Stansted Airport. The first stop in Rome was a tour of the Excavations under St Peter's Basilica, where St Peter was buried. Unfortunately, one isn't allowed to take photographs of the Necropolis. Following that, it was a visit to the Crypt where the past Popes were buried. Here are some photographs!
Tomb of Pope John Paull II
Me in St Peter's Square and St Peter's Basilica
Castel Sant'Angelo
A walk through Piazza Navona (which was some kind of fun-fair) and was followed by a visit to the Pantheon, which is a Christian church where the dome was melted away, so there's a really big hole at the top! The melted dome was used to enhance fortifications for the Castel Sant'Angelo.
The Pantheon
Following that, I met up with some of my other college friends who happened to come to Rome too for the holidays, and it was a nice dinner, following which, it was a visit to the Trevi Fountain and which concluded the first day!
Trevi Fountain
People throw coins into the fountain to ensure that they return to Rome one day! But I didn't spare it any pennies. We'll see how this turns out!
People throw coins into the fountain to ensure that they return to Rome one day! But I didn't spare it any pennies. We'll see how this turns out!
Day 2 - Florence and the Duomo
It was an early start to get to Florence via train the following morning. Florence is a beautiful place, though I only spent about half a day there. The main attraction there is the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower) but it is called the Duomo in short, and it was a really beautiful church! Quite a bit of time was spent visiting the basilica, baptistry and the museum! By the time I had ascended Piazza Michaelangelo, it was dark by then, and the night view of Florence wasn't as spectacular as the day view, as some of my friends told me.
The Duomo
The Ponte Vecchio
This is the only bridge to have survived World War II in Florence (Hitler told the army not to destroy this bridge), and it's flanked by jewellery shops.
This is the only bridge to have survived World War II in Florence (Hitler told the army not to destroy this bridge), and it's flanked by jewellery shops.
Me and a replica statue of David
Days 3 and 4 - Venice and St Mark's Basilica
Venice is a really pretty and romantic place, though it was extremely cold! I managed to miss the rain, unlike my friends who were there a few days earlier who were drenched and soak for their visit there! Venice consists of lots of bridges to cross, and there are no cars, and you can get anywhere you want to by walking. I didn't sit on any gondolas though, because the prices were really quite extravagant and not something for students to indulge in. I visited St Mark's Basilica on the first day, which is where St Mark's body is kept (under the altar). They also have the Pala d’Oro, Golden Pall, which is a huge altarpiece (about 4 m by 2 m) and covered with gold, jewels and stones illustrating the story of St Mark. No pictures of it was allowed though.
St. Mark's Basilica
St Mark's Basilica is a really beautiful church and I went there the next day for the 4th Sunday of Advent mass celebration. The square outside the Basilica though (St Mark's Square) was covered with pigeons and there was always the fear of additional 'blessings'. I also went to the Gallery Academia, which was suppose to contain Leonardo da Vinci's Renaissance Man but it is apparently only open to the public every few years, much to my disappointment!
Venice and the Canal Grande
Mass inside St Mark's Basilica
Following that, it was an overnight train back to the Eternal City, Rome.
Day 5 - Rome and the Colosseum, Trastevere, Palatine Hill and Midnight Mass in St Peter's Basilica
Reaching back in Rome at seven in the morning, the Colosseum was the next destination on the itinerary. This was where bloody battles were fought in the past and it has been damaged by earthquakes and all the floor of the battleground has sunk in and you can see the changing rooms as well as where the animals were kept.
Interior of the Colosseum
Me and the Colosseum
Following that, it was a short stop at Trastevere to see the Church of St Cecilia, who is the patron saint of music. She (St. Cecilia) wanted to retain her chastity, and was thus scalded, and beheaded, but it left only a deep wound on her neck, from which she lived for another three more days, singing and converting people before she died for her faith. There was a flea market nearby which I had to squeeze my way around and have a look. Following that, it was back to Palatine Hill, which was where Rome apparently began.
Palatine Hill
After a quick afternoon shut-eye, it was time to head back to the Vatican to queue up for midnight mass. I started queuing to get into the Vatican at 8 p.m. and the doors to the Basilica only opened at 1030 p.m. (it's no kick going early to get places at Holy Family for midnight mass anymore!) and it was arduously long wait. The queue went on for two and a half rounds within the square (the Vatican can only hold 60 000 people). Being there for midnight mass was fantastic and splendid, although most of it was in Latin and Italian, with only some readings in English. When the Pope finally arrived, the number of flashes that went off was endless!
St Peter's Basilica
Mass in the Basilica
Day 6 - Christmas Day and one of rest and relaxation
Most of the shops and attractions were closed on this day and so I had a rather relaxing day wondering around Rome, but not before heading back to the Vatican for the Pope's blessing at noon! He read out a speech in Italian before delivering his blessings in English and in 62 other languages (which were just the various forms of Merry Christmas!) He even wished one in Chinese!
The Pope's English Christmas Blessing
The Pope on big screen!
The next two stops were the Spanish Steps and St Mary Major Basilica, the latter of which houses the relic of the crypt in which Jesus was placed in, and also St Peter in Chains, which kept the chains in which St Peter was held in.
Me and St Mary Major Basilica
The chains which held St Peter
Day 7 - Citta del Vaticano Vatican City
It was back to the Vatican again for the fourth and final time and it started with a climb to the top of the dome, which was a good 119 m high (the entire Statue of Liberty can fit inside easily)! The view from the top though, was splendid and well worth the climb!
View from the top of the dome
Me on the dome
Next, it was a proper tour of the interior of St Peter's Basilica, and it really is the most beautiful church I've ever seen. Following that, it was a walk through the Vatican museums and to the Sistine Chapel, where Michaelangelo's famous frescos were contained. No pictures were allowed, but I just couldn't resist!
Me inside St Peter's Basilica
Michaelangelo's Pieta
which he sculpted at the age of 25
which he sculpted at the age of 25
The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel - the Creation is right in the middle
Judgement Day
By the time I had left the Vatican, more then half a day had been spent there and I was off for a quick tour of the interior of Castel Sant'Angelo, which was where the Pope would go to if he was attacked in the Vatican (in the past when the Pope could call on the Swiss Guards to go to war)
Day 8 - The Roman Forum, St John Lateran Basilica and going home
The last day in Rome was spent at the Roman Forum, which was the political centre of ancient Rome, where Julius Caesar and company treaded! The place was mostly ruins but it was quite a sight to behold still! I then went to the prison where St Peter was held in and where he miraculously struck a hole in the ground and water came out from it for him to baptise the other prisoners.
The Roman Forum
The final church visit on my trip was the Basilica of St John Lateran, which is the mother church of the Roman Catholics (it's not St Peter's Basilica). In it was housed the skulls of St Peter and St Paul, above the high altar. Nearby was the Scala Sancta, which was the staircase leading one to the praetorium of Pilate at Jerusalem, thus, walked upon by Jesus before his crucifixion. This was brought back to Rome by the mother of Constantine, St. Helena. One is only allowed to climb it on your knees, and it was a really difficult 28 steps to climb up. The marble steps were covered with a wooden board, although some parts were covered with glass where Jesus' blood was supposed to have been spilt on.
Basilica of St John Lateran
The Scala Sancta
That was my final destination in Rome before making my way to the airport and back to London! It was a great trip and I would love to be back in the Vatican one day again to celebrate mass! Hope the entry wasn't too long, but it's taken me quite a while to get it done and up! Hope you enjoy reading it~
Merry Christmas once again and a Happy and Blessed New Year~
Merry Christmas once again and a Happy and Blessed New Year~
Labels: Christmas, Church, Colosseum, Europe, Florence, Italy, Rome, Seven Wonders of the World, Travel, Venice
Sunday, December 17, 2006
all i want for christmas~!
First term at school has ended, and Christmas holidays officially began at 11am yesterday morning, after the term's final practical. Interestingly enough, we were dealing with one of the malaria parasitic hosts (homo sapiens are actually one of the two), which everyone in Singapore should fondly know as the female Anopheles mosquito. My take on it was that it was an interesting practical, seeing them fly within a paper cup covered with a wire-mesh, but the sight of the mosquito brought back fond memories of home, where these vampiric-pests deserved nothing but to be firmly squashed with a rolled stack of newspaper, or if you can't roll one fast enough, your palm should just be sufficient.
My friend Yixian came down to London that day on Tuesday, and we had a good time catching up with the fun times we had back in our army unit, talking about a certain 1SG and his antics. We had lunch together with Gabe Cher, who was also from the same unit, at the South Kensington Crepe Restaurent, which seems like some kind of secret Singaporean hide-out where you are bound to just meet a bunch of them in there. He then came to crash my lecture, and he ended up dosing off. He's currently studying Economics in University of Chicago, and his family is here in London, so he came over for holidays. Miss the great times we had in bunk playing Winning Eleven, together with Spike and Lam (fellow army buddies), and playing way into the night till 2-3am when I was around.
My friend Yixian came down to London that day on Tuesday, and we had a good time catching up with the fun times we had back in our army unit, talking about a certain 1SG and his antics. We had lunch together with Gabe Cher, who was also from the same unit, at the South Kensington Crepe Restaurent, which seems like some kind of secret Singaporean hide-out where you are bound to just meet a bunch of them in there. He then came to crash my lecture, and he ended up dosing off. He's currently studying Economics in University of Chicago, and his family is here in London, so he came over for holidays. Miss the great times we had in bunk playing Winning Eleven, together with Spike and Lam (fellow army buddies), and playing way into the night till 2-3am when I was around.
Me and Yixian outside the Natural History Museum
Meanwhile, I'm planning to have a steamboat gathering at my place on the first or second day of the new year! Together with my bunch of medics, and Fontane and Lap! Hope to get it going once I'm back from Italy. The medics had a great time foosballing at a friend's place. Foosball is just table-soccer, and I am pretty game for future sessions! Other things that are going to happen in my life is that my good buddy from SJI, Andrew, is coming down from USA and bunking over for a few nights in the first week of January.
Doesn't feel very Christmasy yet, but I think it's just that I'm pretty far away from home. My fellow house-mates were playing Christmasy songs whilst cooking and it lightened up my spirits! I need to get away from here soon, and next Wednesday will prove to be a healthy escape from London! I probably won't be blogging till I'm back from my trip, so to all at home, have a Happy and Blessed Christmas, and I can't emphasise how much I miss you guys and home!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS 06~!!
Monday, December 11, 2006
the graduate
Spending my Saturday in Cambridge proved to be an enriching and relaxing day spent with old friends and new company! I had an extremely enjoyable time with the excellent weather (means that there wasn't any rain) perfect for touring Cambridgeshire. For those of you who don't know, Cambridge is a university city, and is currently third in the entire world's university ranking according to Times, behind Harvard and Oxford. Imperial College is at a healthy ninth in comparison!
Meanwhile, my friends, consisting of Gabriel Cher (yes, there's another Gabriel actually studying Medicine in Imperial College), Zheng Yuan, Kenneth and Yun Qin and I left from Victoria Coach Station at 830am for Cambridge and we reached our destination in about two hours. My camera's screen was too cold at first to show anything on display when we first reached Cambridge and I was freaking out, because this was happening so early in the trip, before it actually had begun in proper, but thank goodness it came back fine.There's a long story about how my friend Zheng Yuan couldn't take this bus because his friend (whom I don't know) came late and they arrived 2 hours after us. However, we hadn't travelled far in Cambridge when he arrived because we spent a good hour trying to find the best photo to take of King's College Chapel, which was pretty ridiculous.
Cambridge
King's College Chapel
the architecture reminds me of Gondor in the Lord of the Rings
the architecture reminds me of Gondor in the Lord of the Rings
By the way, Kenneth is extremely trigger happy, and he took nearly 50 over photographs just of King's College Chapel alone, and a lot of other photos that just interested him and he was forever lagging behind, but just like me, we like to get the most beautiful view.
King's College
King's College is suppose to be the most magnificent of all the colleges. To give a better insight on colleges, it's where students reside in, not where they study at. This is where their life revolves around. Behind the colleges is the River Cam which is where people go punting (basically, using a stick to propel the boat by applying a force to the river bed)
Me and the River Cam
Clare's College
We then went to meet my friend, Trysha, who was going to graduate with a Masters from Cambridge! That's the main reason why we were there, though we only saw her for a while. She's a graduate student in Imperial College now doing Medicine.
Me and Trysha with the market as the backdrop
Anyway, we met up with Zheng Yuan finally and his friend became our tour-guide, thankfully, or else we wouldn't know how to manouvre our way around. The maps were quite expensive, and we weren't really sure what the tourist attractions were. Here are a few, with interesting stories behind them too!
The Bridge of Sighs
Two myths were told to me with regards to this bridge and its name. One was that this was the bridge students crossed to receive their results, thus its name. Another is that it was the only way for the female and male students to meet and it was shut at a certain period of time, and that there were sighs heard once the bridge was closed at a certain period of time because they couldn't get to meet each other.
Cavendish Laboratory
where Watson and Crick built the DNA double-helix model
where Watson and Crick built the DNA double-helix model
The Eagle
where Watson and Crick fretted upon the structure of DNA
where Watson and Crick fretted upon the structure of DNA
The Mathematical Bridge
Legend has it that Newton built this bridge without any nails, and that a student with itchy fingers dismantled it and couldn't fix it back, so they had to reconstruct it again with nails this time.
The Roman Mound in Cambridge was where the Romans built a castle in Cambridge. However, after they left (speculated by my friend and I that the standard of education was too high for them), the Queen allowed the stones from the castle to be use to build the various colleges, leaving the mound behind.
Me atop the Roman Mound in Cambridge
It was an enjoyable Saturday spent away from work! Would have love to have gone punting, but I suppose it'll happen sometime in the near future. It's only one week left till the end of school, and the start of Christmas holidays! And I am just aching to go to Rome! Hope you guys back home are having a great time as I am too!
Labels: Cambridge, England, Friends, Graduation, Travel
Saturday, December 02, 2006
pulp fiction
" it begins to appear that everything one does to gain a livelihood or for pleasure is fattening, immoral, illegal, or, even worse, oncogenic" - Robbin's Pathologic Basis of Disease
I'm going to fill in some gaps that I've left for the past two weeks! First was the week long celebration of Fon's birthday, which culminated in her inviting 30 over people for a dinner of chicken curry and fried rice. I came the night before to help carry the groceries and prepare the first batch of curry and cook countless cups of rice! On the day itself, I came from school together with a good friend, Lap Hang (who's Fon's good friend too!) and together, we took control of the kitchen. I suppose those who read Fon's blog will know that I cooked the second batch of curry which tasted better, but it's just about the amount of water you add in! The first batch of curry was cooked for quite long and all the meat from the drumsticks peeled off and my comment on that was that it was like being in the 18th level of Chinese Hell, and that these chickens sure suffered terribly. All in all, 15 cups of rice were cooked, 9 packets of curry paste were used, 8 cans of longan, 3 bottles of nata de coco, 2 huge cans of pineapple, and if I'm not mistakened, 60 chicken drumsticks that had seen better days.
On that Sunday, we had the Academic Mass which was held at the Westminster Cathedral (which is the London version of The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd in Singapore). The Principal Celebrant was His Excellency Francis Cardinal Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. His sermon was excellent and he was extremely passionate for one born in 1932. I quite like the Cathedral too, and a picture I took of it can be seen below! The interior of the architecture coupled with the streams of light coming from the upper windows was just awe-inspiring- it just adds to the atmosphere and spirituality, which the organist sought to destroy with his concussive playing. He was playing some Phantom-of-the-Operaisque music which made it seem like the Cardinal was doing something bad.
I'm going to fill in some gaps that I've left for the past two weeks! First was the week long celebration of Fon's birthday, which culminated in her inviting 30 over people for a dinner of chicken curry and fried rice. I came the night before to help carry the groceries and prepare the first batch of curry and cook countless cups of rice! On the day itself, I came from school together with a good friend, Lap Hang (who's Fon's good friend too!) and together, we took control of the kitchen. I suppose those who read Fon's blog will know that I cooked the second batch of curry which tasted better, but it's just about the amount of water you add in! The first batch of curry was cooked for quite long and all the meat from the drumsticks peeled off and my comment on that was that it was like being in the 18th level of Chinese Hell, and that these chickens sure suffered terribly. All in all, 15 cups of rice were cooked, 9 packets of curry paste were used, 8 cans of longan, 3 bottles of nata de coco, 2 huge cans of pineapple, and if I'm not mistakened, 60 chicken drumsticks that had seen better days.
On that Sunday, we had the Academic Mass which was held at the Westminster Cathedral (which is the London version of The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd in Singapore). The Principal Celebrant was His Excellency Francis Cardinal Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. His sermon was excellent and he was extremely passionate for one born in 1932. I quite like the Cathedral too, and a picture I took of it can be seen below! The interior of the architecture coupled with the streams of light coming from the upper windows was just awe-inspiring- it just adds to the atmosphere and spirituality, which the organist sought to destroy with his concussive playing. He was playing some Phantom-of-the-Operaisque music which made it seem like the Cardinal was doing something bad.
Academic Mass at Westminster Cathedral
19.11.2006
19.11.2006
It's just two weeks more before the school term concludes for the Christmas holidays. I am headed up to Cambridge for a friend's graduation next week and hopefully there will be more pictures! I'm extremely excited about my impending trip to Rome and things are going pretty smoothly except for one or two problems. The hotel I booked to stay after the Christmas midnight mass isn't exactly where it was shown to be on the website, which was suppose to be right beside the Vatican. Instead, Fon and I will have to walk a good 5km back to it after mass. Unfortunately, the Metro (MRT of Rome) stops rather early. However, we've managed to book all our accommodation and train tickets. We're going to spend one day in Rome, one day in Florence, two days in Venice, and then finally back for another four days in Rome!
Anyway, I've concluded that Fon and I are meant to be in Rome this Christmas. Firstly, I was able to secure the Christmas midnight mass tickets at St Peter's Basilica, which was already pretty amazing. Secondly, I've managed to secure two tickets to visit the Necropolis, which is the Excavations under St Peter's Basilica, where St Peter's grave is, together with the whole long line of Popes. This Necropolis was well mentioned in Angels and Demons. Basically, the Necropolis will be closed from 24-27th December. Fon and I would have just reached Rome on 20th December at around 1130am, and from 21st-23rd, be in Florence and Venice, so the only plausible date for this tour was on the 2oth, and even then, there were time constraints. I just had a single day to maneuver, but by divine intervention, I was given an excellent slot on the 20th at 1.45pm! So, it seems like we are meant to be there and I'm really happy and excited about it!
Meanwhile, I have tonnes of work to plough through! As can be seen, work is like a cancer that's slowly eating me up!
