Shall i compare thee?

Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And Summer's lease hath all too short a date:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And oft' is his gold complexion dimm'd;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd:

But thy eternal Summer shall not fade

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;

Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou growest:

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

(William Shakespeare, Sonnet 18)

There'll be no sunlight

'Cause there'll be no sunlight,

if I lose you, baby.

There'll be no clear skies,

if I lose you, baby.

Just like the clouds,

my eyes will do the same if you walk away.

Everyday, it will rain.

It will rain.

[Bruno Mars]

Daisies

I've always loved daisies.

The little flower with white petals and a yellow center, covering the whole grass.

They're beautiful.

Small, seems pretty insignificant, but yet, its whiteness can just brighten the side road.

They're just my flowers.

Hoping to have a chance  

to lie down on the grass full with daisies around me 

and watch the clouds pass by. :)

Seek Him and He shall show

Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take. [Proverbs 3:6]

Let not mercy and truth forsake you; God's mercy in promising, and His truth in performing:

live up to them, keep up your interest in them, and take the comfort of them. 

We must trust in the Lord with all our hearts,

believing He is able and wise to do what is best.

Those who know themselves, find their own understandings a broken reed, which,

if they lean upon, will fail.

Do not design any thing but what is lawful, and beg God to direct you in every case,

though it may seem quite plain.

In all our ways that prove pleasant, in which we gain our point,

we must acknowledge God with thankfulness.

In all our ways that prove uncomfortable, and that are hedged up with thorns,

we must acknowledge him with submission.

It is promised, He shall direct your paths;

so that your way shall be safe and good, and happy at last.

[Taken from Mathew's commentary]

Crossroad - decisions

Dog under a tree

where are you?

memories..

Europe trip (Rome. Italy) (Second half of 11th day)

This is one of my most wanted place to visit in. Rome! I've learned and seen some of the buildings here in textbooks and so it increased my excitement when we reached the train station. Upon reaching, Rome gave me an impression of a busy city. Of course, as it's Italy's capital city and also the country's largest and most populated city! We found our hotel easily.

Part of the city.

It was nearing dusk after we put our luggages. After that, we started our journey after asking some guidance from the receptionist.

I don't know what is this building called. Still it was magnificent with a tall tower in front of it. You can see many of great buildings and yet you don't know the name.

More buildings in Rome. Expensive cars can be seen almost everywhere.

We were actually walking towards the direction of the world famous Colosseum. My top list of to-see buildings in life! When i saw it from the distance, i couldn't help pinching myself to check whether i was in a dream or not. The sight of the Colosseum even from far literally caught my breath away. I couldn't stop smiling from ear to ear.

one of the hundreds pictures i took of the Colosseum.

i've touched the Colosseum! Lol!

Beyond that is the Lost World. We didn't go in though.

We hung out around the Colosseum until night fell. After that, we loitered around Rome to check out some shops and supermarkets. Rather interesting. Bought some home souvenirs. Stayed until quite late and then we headed towards the hotel.

Europe trip (Florence, Italy) (First half of 11th day)

This is a much delayed post. This is supposed to be written in the month of April. I figured i should continue writing this. I think i can still remember everything i felt during the Europe journey and i didn't want it to be lost.

Continuing from Day 10. I was still in Florence, Italy the next day. We didn't know that the old buildings and churches in Florence are that amazing!

We first went to the Basilica of St Mary of the Flower (Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore). When we reached there, the sight took my breath away! It was so huge! So majestic! There were a lot people too. Mum bought some paintings from a guy around the area.

my heart leaping with joy

We continued walking, and continued to be amazed! At this point of time, we were like, "Why we took so much time in Austria?". The next famous site we went to was Piazza della Repubblica. It is a square with an arch. Ringing it are cafes. Nice place to relax in.

We left the square soon because we were just out of time. We reached a market selling leather bags made from Florence itself. It was really a waste i didn't buy one. Mum bought. It was really worth it!

one of the markets. This is where i saw a leather bag and didn't buy it.

We followed the crowd. Where there are the most crowds, there are the best tourist sites. So, we reached Piazza della Signoria.

There are numerous statues around the square. One of them is the famous copy of Michelangelo's David. Some of the other statues are pretty gruesome - heads torn, grotesque faces. We got to enter the building there. Around the area, or rather the famous sites in Florence, we could see many fake statues - men covered with mud or etc faking and scaring the hell out of you when they move suddenly to scratch their nose.

Very real right?

This Ponte Vecchio is a very old bridge and the most famous bridge in Florence. On the bridge there were shops on both sides of the bridge. Previously, they housed butchers and tanners but after that, they only allow goldsmiths and jewelers to set up their shops.

at the side of the river, you can see (not in this pic though) many older folks relaxing and enjoying the sun.

on the bridge. there's one part of the bridge where you can view the river and take picture.

We walked and enjoyed the place quite a lot until reaching Palazzo Pitti (Pitti Palace). So happened, it gave free entrance on that day! So we entered.

the entrance.

Gives me the Babylonian feeling.

the courtyard? filled with monuments and statues.

The inside is actually pretty big. I'm only showing two of them.
Our time in Florence was almost up. So, sadly, we trudged back to our hotel to pick up our luggages.

Enjoyed th building during the trudging back. You can see this kind of building everywhere.

The hotel we stayed in was actually a guesthouse called La Luna. In the beginning, mum and dad were annoyed that i had ordered this hotel. But well, this guethouse brought the most memory to us in our stay in Europe because of the owner of this guesthouse. He talked in a goofy kind of way and he seemed to be a good-natured person. But yet, he was pretty kiamsiap in a funny way and very business-minded.

We took a picture with him.

So, that's it for Florence. :)

Europe trip (Florence, Italy) (10th day)

Because we spent two days in Austria, we could only spend one day in Florence, which was a waste! Florence is another BF city! Beautiful and Fascinating! :D

Well, we had some difficulty in finding our hotel and ended up wasted quite some time. My bad. I didn't really figure the direction to it. xD

Anyway, we took another train at around 3.30pm from Florence to City of Pisa which is about 1 hour ride. Quite tiring as we had wasted energy in finding hotel with our luggages. But that city is another must-visit place!
I went to Pisa Tower. The sight of that slanted tower is incredible! I guess the slant kind of make the whole tower even more special.



the road towards Pisa tower. real good planning in placing their train station at opposite end of the tower so people must walk through this area!



the overused pose in Pisa, but oh well, i still wanted to do it~ =P

they sold a lot of antiques. mum was like "I want to buy ALL!" but after that, remembered that we only have 8 hands.

They also sell really old newpapers, posters and all of them are really intriguing. When i saw all of these, my mind right away thought about all those detective works i could do if i ever want to investigate about something. I know i watched too much detective movies. =P

ooold newspapers! see the number there? 1955!! COOL!

One thing about European countries, there are a lot of people who bring their dogs around for city walks, to train stations, parks, restaurants everywhere! So, where there are dogs, there are urines and shits too. So sometimes when you pass an area, you'll catch a whiff of those smells. And mind where you place your feet. Everywhere is danger zone, seriously.

cute dogs!



..but sinful act done right in front of me.

 But anyway, i still wish dogs are allowed everywhere in Malaysia. x)

Europe trip (Venice, Italy) (9th day)

Still in Venice for the next day, my mum got semangat-ed to cook in our hotel since we'd a kitchen there! So, we bought ingredients to cook spaghettis!

This was our first round of cooking~

Real yummy! Tried 3 types of spaghettis!

After that, we headed to a few tourist sites. I'll just show the pictures here.

the street in San Marco.

Basilica San Marco

St. Mark's Campanile. Huge..can hear the sound of the bell from far away..

in St. Mark's Square. There were lots of pigeons and this kid in red and white kept chasing them around and around..lol.

on the Rialto bridge.

Went to Lido too, which is a small island right below of the main area of Venice. There they have buses and cars and motorbikes. :) And i was so excited to find out that there is a beach!

Adriatic Sea beyond. Finally seeing other sea other than South China Sea and Selat Melaka!

you can see this type of boats almost everywhere in venice.

a boy mesmerized by the water

So thats about it la in Venice! :)

Europe trip (Venice, Italy) (8th day)

Sorry for the late posts! Had been having some difficulty in onlining but here i am! Now, im actually at my last stop, London! And it is SOOOO COLD because the clothes we brought are not really enough to keep us warm for more than 30 minutes outside. Don't know how to survive till friday night! :/

For the previous days, i was in Italy. After Austria, i took a train down to Venice as known as the City of Water. This is one of the city i've been anticipating for since after watching all those movies filmed there. Well, some of you might know, i was feeling quite insecure with that place one day before i was there. However, thank God, everything was great there. The place didn't turn out as bad as what i'd imagined. The road was not that complicated (but of course a map is very needed). It was really interesting to know and see their main transport is through the river. There're no cars, motors, buses in Venice except in one small island called Lido.

the smaller branch of river

The scenery was amazing in Venice. We traveled around Venice by water bus and feet. The water bus is something like a public bus or ktm. And i guess most of them don't take driving license and their 21st birthday gift from parents will most probably not be cars but boats!

the water bus station.

on the water bus.

Venice is famous for its mask. They call it the Venetian mask. Pretty interesting. Now i know where those masks originate from.




trying on one..lol. there is another type which is just like the joker's mask. Kinda freaky.



another version again. I find this mask...weird. Especially the nose. xD Heard this is also in the Assassin Creed game? haha

At long last, i had my first Italian pizza on the land of Italy! Actually they taste pretty the same la. Just that they have more cheeeeesseeee, so its delicious! I really gained so much weight after all these days in Europe! Like, seriously! I think i've regained back the kgs i lost when was in mission trip and even gained extra dy!

pizzaaaaaaaaass! :D

Didn't really do a lot on the first day in Venice. In the evening, we just sat on the water bus and enjoyed the scenery in Venice during sunset.

Europe trip (Salzburg, Austria) (6th and 7th day)

Initially, we were supposed to go to Innsbruck instead of Salzburg. However, we changed our mind as Salzburg, as we know, is more interesting. This city is famous for just two things. The Sound of Music and Mozart. Sometimes I really feel the older generation contributed and affected the future of the younger ones. Because of these two, and also the creative designs of those old buildings ,  Salzburg is a famous tourists’ site. I would say that to all the European countries! Imagine Kajang is famous for some international stuffs and our nenek moyangs were good in architectural. It’ll be flooded man!

one of the old town streets.

taken from the river area.

I didn’t get to go to all of the places where The Sound of Music was filmed. Only went to the Mirabell Gardens where they sang the “Do-Re-Mi” song and the Nonnberg Abbey.

this is the garden.

For Mozart, I only got to go to his residential area and his birthplace. Not much of it. Even I couldn’t find for his monument! :(

my brother acting a beggar in front of Mozart's living place. =P

I could see many puppets in Austria too. I guess it is famous for this.



they make this puppets a lot there.



One thing I am so not used to here in Austria and also in Switzerland. In Malaysia, when someone wants to cross the road, he or she will have to wait for the road to clear up before they can cross even when using the zebra crossing lines. But here, it seems that the pedestrians have higher authority or placing than the drivers. Even when the driver is driving full speed, he will stop and let the person to cross. The pedestrians here also really abide the law. Even when there’re no cars at all, everyone will choose to wait till the pedestrian light turns green only they cross! Really in awe with their attitude.

Festungsberg! Climbed up the hill for that castle!

the view from above..

Oh yeah, not to be missed! Their pasar area! =P



this one is a huge one! quite interesting also..



how they cut cheese. the cheese there are hugeee!

We stayed one night and the next night, we took a midnight train to Venice, Italy. Had to stay over at the train because we were lack of time.

Stayed in the church for one hour to wait for the night train. It was so cooold inside! This painting at the ceiling caught my eyes. Really beautiful :)

p/s: yes teacher, the things in austria are much cheaper! looks like switzerland is the one with higher price to everything! =P