A 230km Epic Ride to Malacca...

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... only to realise at the end what was Epic wasn't the ride, but the companionship!

Recently in life...

Somehow at this stage of my life, I kept realising that certain things were more important than others.  Flashy cars,  huge houses, showy clothes... so on and so forth, many of which I'd not been able to attain, all seemed to have lost their attraction, their grip on me during my younger years. And what overshadowed them in importance was my relationship with those in my life who I call friends.  And what better ways to define friends than those who had something in common - a shared hobby, a shared memory or even a common epic experience!

Day 7 - Back to Rome, and back to the Home of the Gladiators.

Day 7 (8 Sep) -  Back to Rome and the Colosseum.

A panorama of the Colosseum. [Photo: Serene]

It couldn't been any later than 7:30am when we were gathered in the 'lobby' (aka bus stop) at the bottom of the flight of stairs of Casa Dane.  Our train back to Rome was scheduled to depart at 8:18am.  No time was lost as the whole group trooped over to CB Mos, the little station cafe to exchange our breakfast vouchers for one croissant and one coffee, the standard issue for the past few days whenever we were on the run.

Day 6~ The magnificent colours of Ligurian Italy

Day 6  ~ The magnificent colours of Ligurian Italy

7th Sep 2016

Riomaggiore from the rocks. My iPhone

The cool summer air of the La Spezian morning welcomed us, walking down the streets of the town, many in the group still reluctant to wake up fully from our slumber as the clock struck eight.  The shops on either sides were still shuttered as we were led to our breakfast cafe.  A delicious custard-filled croissant and the obligatory cappuccino temporarily obliterated the gnawing hunger pangs.  A short distance ahead the horizon on the sea emerged.  It was the ferry port.  The embarkation point for visitors to the coastal villages that dotted this Genoan part of Italy.

Day 5 ~ The Magic of Cinque Terre

Day 5 (6 Sep) - La Spezia: To the north-western coast & Cinque Terre! 

A view of Vernazza from the pier. My iPhone.

"Ok, our train leaves at 9:50am.  We need to remember to validate our train tickets and make sure we don't miss this train," the usual sternness.

Day 4 ~ The tour of Tuscany

Day 4 (5 Sep): The Tour of Tuscany

The boys and girls shooting Podere Belvedere

Day 3 - Of Medieval village & Italian wine

Day 3 - Italian countryside, here we come!
4th September 2016

The old medieval village of Montepulciano

Day 2- Historical Roma

Day 2 - a long day of walk through the rich history of Roma
3rd September 2016

Piazza Mignanelli.

The impact of the duration of this day's tour didn't hit many of us until we stumbled off the bridge after our last blue hour shot and made our way painfully back to the hotel.  This, was the longest day in the whole trip.  But a fufilling one it was... ask the boys and the girls.

Day 1 - I never expected it, but here I was in Italy...

Day 1 - To Rome ~ The much feared centre of the universe for pick pockets...

2nd September 2016

People mountain people sea at the Trevi Fountain in Rome. My iPhone.

Don't ask me how Serene and I ended up going to Italy.  We knew we would one day set foot on the soil of the heart of the ancient Roman Empire.  But we never expected it to be so early in our lives.  I must have been under the influence of some Thai alcohol one fateful night in October 2015 when the Kaans and the Ngs persuaded me to sign Serene and myself up for Singapore trekker's Northern Italian trip.  And the master travellers had even more up their sleeves- we would execute a four day extension down south to Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast alone the Sorrentine peninsula.  We really didn't know what we were in for.  But this turned out to be such an EPIC trip for myself and Serene.  And it made loads and loads of memories!