“Argh! Leonardo’s Last Supper is closed on Mondays! Milan is boring…” – Dec 15th, 2008 from Twittelator

Many seem to disagree with my statement and claim I should be there during Fashion Week.

I couldn’t remember the name of the church I visited; Nick told me minor details like that don’t matter because it’s about my experience and how I felt, the kinda stuff that I’d wanna remember when I’m older.

I like being at the top

Well, I dug out my map and it was the Duomo di Milano. I watched The Da Vinci Code before I visited Europe and Angels & Demons after and it was nice to recognise the places I’d visited in the film.

It was weird how I made friends with the Japanese instead of the locals in Europe, the fourth one being Junya-san who’s editor of a Japanese design magazine. We were both staying at Hotel Florida and Junya-san seemed to be following me to the subway from the moment I left the hotel. I stopped to ask if he needed help (with my very poor Japanese) and he asked me where I was going. I thought his question was awkwardly funny. I told him I was going to Duomo and he said he wanted to go there too and asked if I knew how to get there. It’s my first time in Milan and I haven’t got a clue so I told him that I’m just gonna follow the signs and he tagged along. Like Yukari-san, we became friends on the train and visited the church together.

McCafe

It was nice that Junya-san took a photo of me because I’m not a fan of taking self portraits and have very few photos of me in Europe. The coffee at McCafe was cheaper than the ones we have in Singapore, I think it’s the only thing that’s cheaper compared to Singapore. We had lunch in a nice restaurant on his company’s tab before Junya-san went for his interview while I continued wandering.

There’s not much to see or do in Milan but shop. I blew €135 on a Comptoir des Cotonniers jacket that didn’t even keep me warm. I’ve never seen or heard of that brand either but it’s very well made and fits me peeerfectly. I never regretted buying it.

I met Junya-san for dinner that evening before leaving for Venice the next day. Junya-san likes green.

Start the day with the infamous Chatuchak, and start early! We had a map but we still didn’t manage to navigate so heck, just go with the flow! Stuff here aren’t exactly cheap what with the hordes of tourists that visit, their sense of fashion is not in sync with mine either. How about adding Mr Sun to the picture? Nonetheless, it is an experience to window shop this labyrinth of shops amidst sticky shoulder rubs. I left empty handed.

Sky Train

Shopping with Kenji & Suya

Fancy some airconditioning? Try Emporium Thailand for Propaganda and the Thailand Creative and Design Center (TCDC). In fact, Propaganda alone is reason enough for me to shop there, look at what I found:

Letterpress by Bold Ideas

Expression dish by Surasekk

Emergency wedding ring by Propaganda

I regretted not buying a couple more emergency wedding rings! My friends love it!

Got money? Go burn a hole in your pocket at CentralWorld. I love what they sell in here but everything is in hundreds of (Singapore) dollars. I was greeted with so many dresses that caught my eye even though I’ve never heard of labels like Heidi’s Secrets & Paradiso, De Pil, KIDDING AROUND and Sara’s Wand.

When the sun sets, head over to Suan-Lum Night Bazaar for dinner, some REAL shopping and a massage! Suan Lum has a lot of shops that sell designer housewares and nice apparels. Things are cheap here but you can still bargain up to 30% off! It’s much better to shop at night when the sun is sleeping, and the crowd is not as thick as Chatuchak. I scored a denim short-overalls for less than SG$20!

Suan-Lum Night Bazaar

Rendezvous point

On the first night, we ate at a Hawker Centre and ordered many different Thai dishes. I love the Tom Yum Soup in Thailand! <3 <3 <3 There was a soccer match going on, though we didn’t catch it, I think it’d be exhilirating for soccer fans to rahrah with the crowd over sausages and beer.

臺灣的朋友

Soccer fans in Suan-Lum

We liked Suan-Lum so much that we revisited it two nights in a row! On the second night, we had dinner in a slightly upmarket Thai restaurant – Relax. Enjoy the laidback way of life, dine indoors or alfresco with old English love songs in the background.

Relax

I think I’ve more photos in my Vivitar, shall update again once I’m done with the roll tomorrow… in Penang! Heh!