Amalfi Coast Series: OG Amalfi

Ah Amalfi!  How we’ve finally reached the legendary town where the coast that surrounds it even borrows your name.  What beauty!  What excitement!  What extraordinary!

Amalfi begins even before you reach it.  Its “historicalness” can be felt when going along the roads from Positano all the way to Amalfi… the roads get super narrow, windy, and difficult, suggesting that Amalfi wasn’t a town to be traveled by cars to begin with.

When you arrive to Amalfi, you aren’t really overwhelmed by its beauty.  It’s something that gradually enchants you, and you slowly begin to realise what a marvel it is to be standing here.

From your arrival, the light calm colors of the houses already provide a calming, pleasant sort of mood.  The smell of salt from the sea and the sun overlooking the coast makes you feel as if you’re one with nature.

As you venture deeper into Amalfi, you discover a town, sort of old, but in a way that makes it more appealing due to its historical significance, as if you know it’s been here for a long time and that you’re sort of living how the Italians did centuries ago.

As if it’s saying, “Finally, you’ve reached Amalfi.  Benvenuto.” Continue reading Amalfi Coast Series: OG Amalfi

Amalfi Coast Series: Pretty Positano and Plain Praiano

Pretty Positano and Plain Praiano, welcome to Amalfi Coast.  We stayed in Praiano, thinking that it’d be easy to drive to places like Positano and Amalfi.  Situated centrally between the two areas, it turns out that even during an off season, going to either of these places can take 30-40 minutes despite a 13km drive due to the beginning of difficult roads to drive on, which will have its own special post as well.

That said, we did stay at Praiano, and perhaps it was the weather or the insufficient amount of time, so it’s pretty unfair for me to say how good Praiano was.  But given the number of things to do and my surroundings, I would say that Praiano is great to live residentially and away from all the touristy buzz in Amalfi and Positano, and it’s cheaper.  That said, it has its cons as well which I will discuss below.  We will first discuss Praiano and then Positano.

Continue reading Amalfi Coast Series: Pretty Positano and Plain Praiano

Amalfi Coast Series: Idyllic Capri Island

If one had to find an example for the word idyllic, Capri Island would be the perfect example.  It exudes every aspect of the definition of idyllic – extremely happy, peaceful, and picturesque.

Prior to arriving on this island, I had no expectations whatsoever on how Capri Island would look like.  Fast forward, and now I’m eager to return to Capri Island.

Unlike most other places on this trip, such as Naples, Positano, and Amalfi, Capri Island deserves a minimum of two days to fully appreciate the whole of the island leisurely.  For us, we were there early in the morning all the way till the afternoon of the next day.  For those that are making it just a day trip – don’t!  The time spent here is worth so much more, and here I will tell you what exactly to do to enjoy both the touristy and non touristy aspects of this gorgeous heaven.

First of, we were fortunate enough to have our accommodation host Fabio, who mentioned that he was some sort of President of Capri Island’s council or something like that.  He gave us a map and meticulously presented to us the best things to do on the island, and therefore we were able to venture into some sightseeing that often most tourists would ignore.

I must also say that we were very blessed as the weather on the first day we were in Capri Island was perfect, as you will see below in my many many photos.

By the way, a helpful tip is that most tourists actually arrive at the island around 11am in October.  We were awake and doing things by 9am, and we found that to be incredibly more time efficient as you will see later. Continue reading Amalfi Coast Series: Idyllic Capri Island

Amalfi Coast Series: When Sorrento Gives You Lemons

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, and there’s no better place to find both lemons and happiness in Sorrento!  Famous for its lemons, the size of these Sorrento lemons are practically as big as baseballs.

Of all the places near or considered part of Amalfi Cost (Sorrento/Positano/Praiano/Amalfi), Sorrento remains to be the newest and most modern area of them all.  The roads are easier to drive, the architecture and surroundings feel newer, and everything seems cleaner.  That said, you can pretty much explore the major areas of Sorrento within a day, and most of the stores are quite similar – island wear clothing, tourist shops selling anything lemon related like limoncello (Italian lemon liquer) or porcelain designed with lemons on them, and random art pieces.

By the way, Sorrento is not part of Amalfi Coast.  But due to its good transport links and its proximity to the rest of Amalfi Coast, it makes a good base to explore the rest of the area.  I am grouping this post as part of the Amalfi Coast Series due to similar location and environment with the other areas. Continue reading Amalfi Coast Series: When Sorrento Gives You Lemons

Want to be Street Tough? Go to Naples

If you want to learn how to be street tough, you have to go to Naples.  Naples has a bad reputation for having high crime rate (albeit they tend to be the small crimes such as theft), high poverty, and just tough people that surround you.  Quite possibly, it’s one of the worst cities I travelled to.  Quite a contrast from having just been to Amsterdam, where I felt that I could be completely wasted and still be fine.

NaplesNear the Napoli Centrale Railway Station

We must first begin with a story.  While taking my flight from Amsterdam to Rome, I began reading a book called Travellers’ Tales ITALY, and the very first story was called The Fiume Runs Through It by Thom Elkjer.  In this short but true story, the author, an American, recalls his experiences of being utterly confused by how Italy works.  He wanted to go fishing, and was first told that there were no special laws for this, and proceeded to go get a fishing license.  He was told to call the Department of Hunting and Fishing, who then directed him to go to the post office (I know right?), where a fishing license for three days costed more than a year’s license in California.  When he tried fishing, there were signs posting everywhere saying no fishing.  He went back home and asked his Italian friend/host to help out (he laughed when he heard the author got the fishing license from the post office), who introduced him to another friend to get him another license and drove him to go fishing.  The author wanted to go up higher in the valley to fish, which the Italian friend said it requires special authorization.

The point of the story is, Italy in general is sloppy and confusing (Milan being perhaps the only exception).  It’s the family and brothers, not the law, that governs how society works.  The philosophy is as long as it’s done, it doesn’t matter how it’s done.  Professionalism, in the sense of preciseness, is lacking.  Maybe it’s the way of life or the culture, but as a person from a city where every minute is valuable, it feels frustrating sometimes. Continue reading Want to be Street Tough? Go to Naples

Do Not Sleep in Amsterdam Dance Event 2018

I first heard about Amsterdam Dance Event through a friend of mine in 2017.  I’ve always been curious about what Amsterdam was like, given that its been know for being liberal on many things.  Plus, I’m a big fan of techno and all sorts of house music (genres which I finally was able to narrow down to prior to this event) and what better event than ADE would supply these types of music?  Also, I’ve always been sort of dipping my toes into the music industry, and I thought this would be a great way to listen to conferences and learn more about what goes on in the music industry.

Having experienced both researching and experiencing the event itself, I would love to share my thoughts, experiences, tips and strategies on Amsterdam Dance Event so that if you plan on going, you would be prepared to do so.  I will split this post mainly into two sections – one about the conferences, and the other about the events.  You can also read more about my Amsterdam post if you’re interested about the city itself and also about my accommodation and getting around methods.

Continue reading Do Not Sleep in Amsterdam Dance Event 2018

Amsterdam, The Biking City of the World

Before I came here, I knew little of Amsterdam.  All I knew was the stereotypical features of the city – the Red Light District broadcasting prostitutes in public as if it was the norm, the acceptance and legalisation of all sorts of drugs, the passion with their cheese, and the immense clubbing and partying scene.  From this description alone, you would think that Amsterdam would be “the” Sin City of the world.  Yet, something about normalising and framing drug substances and prostitution as something ordinary makes them less of a vice.  When the rest of the world declares such things as evil and anyone who consumes it is evil, Amsterdam manages to give off the vibe that it is about moderation that’s the key to enjoying these vices in life, or at least the acceptance of it and that it isn’t all pure evil.  Perhaps Amsterdam is on to something… as humans we tend to want something we cannot have, so this may be the perfect example of reverse psychology.

Anyway, this post isn’t about debating the merits of accepting drugs and prostitution as a society, it’s about describing Amsterdam in general and tips and strategies to have you plan your trip well the next time you do come here.  Also, please note that the main purpose I came here was for Amsterdam Dance Event, so most of my time was actually spent at ADE, but I did manage to squeeze some time to do some of the touristy things.  I will have another post specifically on Amsterdam Dance Event right after this post.

Continue reading Amsterdam, The Biking City of the World

How Times Have Changed in Macau

The first time I was drunk, it was in Macau.

It was me and a group of 6 other friends.  We were 16.  We all bought some Tsing Tao’s, had some drinking games, and were testing our limits.  Needless to say, since we’ve never knew what it was like to be drunk before, I remembered that night my world was spinning like crazy, as if you were on a roller coaster that spun you around 360 degrees over and over again.  I remembered feeling really bad and wished that I was a better son to my mom, and that I was going to die. Continue reading How Times Have Changed in Macau

30 Hours in Kuala Lumpur

This has got to be my most spontaneous trip of my life, a 30 hours trip in Kuala Lumpur.  Here was how it started: an e-mail on Wednesday evening… I tried calling her to reconfirm but no one picked up.  Started making a pros and cons list at night as to whether I should go to Kuala Lumpur in case I was eligible.  I tried calling her again on Thursday morning and no one picked up.  Then I sent an e-mail.  OK if she doesn’t reply in a few hours then I’m not going.  All of a sudden, I receive an e-mail confirming my status to qualify for a pitch competition.  I gave it a few extra minutes thought, then I started looking for flights that could get me there on Thursday night and come back as early as possible on Saturday.

Kuala Lumpur feels like a city with massive potential and very urbanized, but lacks in being as modern as compared to its other Asian city neighbors.  The first thing that really caught my eye was the diversity of the people there in terms of race and ethnicity.  The second thing was… it did not feel as humid as Hong Kong and therefore not as hot as Hong Kong.  I actually quite enjoyed the heat there… maybe I just so happened was there on a day where it wasn’t as humid. Continue reading 30 Hours in Kuala Lumpur