Day Three: From Rome to Pisa

The train tickets to Venice were sold out when we arrived at the Rome Termini Station so we decided to visit Pisa instead. After three hours and two train rides (Rome Termini - Firenze Santa Maria Novella - Pisa Centrale) worth 50 Euros (approximately 3100 Php one way) we finally arrived in Pisa. It was a thirty minute walk from the train station to the Piazza dei Miracoli.

From the train station, we had to pass by the a busy street with many shops called Corso Italia.

At the end of Corso Italia was a bridge that led us to the Piazza Garibaldi. This was the view of the river bank from the bridge.

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Upon reaching Piazza Garibaldi, we saw the monument of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the military hero who unified Italy. Next to the piazza was Borgo Stretto, a pedestrian with shops and cafes worth visiting.

Towards the end of Borgo Stretto, we could already see the view of the Duomo and the Torre Pendente di Pisa.

Finally, we reached the Piazza dei Miraculo.

This was the view of the Torre di Pendente Pisa from the side.

Behind the church and the tower was the Battistero di Pisa. 

We did not stay long because we had to catch the train ride back to Rome. It was indeed a short but fruitful visit. 

The Nightmare Endorser

Image courtesy of www.female-six-pack-abs.com

This celebrity refuses to cooperate with the management of the slimming center that she is endorsing. The company has given her so many free weight loss treatments but she refuses to utilize them. She does not even want to go to the center because she claims that her schedule is too hectic.

The company is really concerned that the celebrity might not meet her weight loss target so to make it more convenient for her, the treatment machines were brought to her house. In so doing, the celebrity should have no excuse to miss her sessions. However, in spite of what the company has done, the celebrity still manages to skip her treatments.

To make things worse, she has not been following the diet plan that has been given to her. The problem with her is that she started binging again after she lost a noticeable amount of weight. I heard from friends who are close to her that she can finish a small lechon by herself. I just do not know if she still does that now that she is on a weight loss program.

I really admire the persistence and the dedication of this company's management. Truly, it is very difficult to help someone lose weight if he/she does not want to help himself/herself. My advice to this company is to just look for another endorser who is willing to give you his/her 100% cooperation.

By the way, you still have time to submit your entries for the Vidajewelries Longevity Bangle / Kanebo Giveaway contest. Please email your answers to mikesylim@gmail.com (NOT micsylim@gmail.com) with your name on or before April 30, 2011, 11:59 pm, Manila time.

Day Two in Rome: Sightseeing

It is always difficult to choose a place to eat whenever you are overseas. We ended up in this cafe called Sweet Life along Via Veneto because I noticed the two Filipinos managing the place. We enjoyed the food and the service. We told them that we are planning to go the Vatican after lunch so they suggested that we take the public bus.

True enough Bus no. 62 from Piaza Berberini took us directly to the Vatican. It only cost us 1 Euro (approximately 62 Php) per person.

We arrived in Vatican City  after a fifteen minute bus ride. Since we have been inside before we decided just to stay outside and take some photos.

It was past 2:00 pm when we got there and the line to the Sistine Chapel was still very long. If you want to go inside, I suggest you join a tour group because the tour operators can manage to get you in without having to wait in the long line. We went rosary shopping after having our photos taken.

For the rest of the afternoon, we decided to just walk around Rome. We had several photo stops including:

Palazzo Venezia

Pantheon

Piazza Navona

and Fontana de Trevi

After taking so many pictures, we walked back to Piazza Berberini to take the Metro this time to visit another important landmark in Rome.

The Colosseo

In one afternoon, we were able to see all of these landmarks in Rome. We still have one more day left in Rome so before heading back to our hotel, we dropped by Roma Termni to check out the train schedules for Venice tomorrow. Although I was just in Venice last September, my brother has never been there so Venice seems like a good idea for tomorrow. We'll see how tomorrow goes. 

Bad... Bad... Girl!

Image courtesy of www.popeyewong.com

When this actress was still part of a television show, she would invite her male celebrity friends from the same network to go to her place occasionally for casual fun. In one evening, she would invite two to three guys and schedule their visits with a few hours in between. There were a few times though when she lost track of time and the guys would accidentally bump into each other in the parking area.

Do you want to know some of her visitors? Out of her four visitors that I know of, one is married and three are seriously committed to other actresses. All four of them have been featured in a local brand's underwear fashion show. I guess another thing that is common among them is that they all love visiting this female actress at her place.

Can you guess who is this female actress? She has been rumored to be dating a politician as well. According to a reliable source, she was not bluffing were she said  that she and the politician went to the U.S.A. He even gave her a house in the province when they got home from the trip.

Before writing your comments, kindly review the Guidelines in Posting Comments. I also suggest that you follow micsylim on twitter and you might just get additional clues. Thank you very much for reading. Please email your stories to michaelsylim@gmail.com. I will be waiting.

You still have time to submit your entries for the Vidajewelries Longevity Bangle / Kanebo Giveaway contest. Please email your answers to mikesylim@gmail.com (NOT micsylim@gmail.com) with your name on or before April 30, 2011, 11:59 pm, Manila time.

Day One in Rome

The last time I was in Rome was nine years ago when my mom and I went on a grand European tour for six weeks. I remember walking around the Piaza de Spagna and shopping in the nearby shops so that was where  we headed this morning while we were waiting for our hotel room to be ready. The Piaze de Spagna is where you will find the Spanish Steps that is known for being the longest and widest staircase in all of Europe.

Right across the Piaze de Spagna is the Via de Condotti. We walked along this street and checked out some of the designer shops.

At the end of Via de Condotti is the Piazza del Popolo where locals meet and hang out.

After lunch, we walked back to our hotel which is around a fifteen minute walk from Piaza de Spagna. This time of the year is considered to be a peak for the hotels in Rome and this why I got this modest three star hotel  for 270 Euro (approximately 16,500 Php) per night. In my opinion, this is highway robbery.

Kanebo Impress Granmula Giveaway

Have you submitted your entries for the Vidajewelries Longevity Bangle Giveaway? If not, I suggest you do so because apart from the Longevity Bangle that one lucky reader of Fashion PULIS will receive, three other lucky winners will each receive 10,000 Php worth of skin care gift packs from Kanebo.

Kanebo, one of Japan's leading cosmetic brands, has recently introduced its very prestigious skin care collection called the "Impress GRANMULA" ("grand" and "formula"). To get a chance to win one of these three luxurious Kanebo gift packs, simply fill in the blanks with the correct answers.

1. The French maid uniform is the _____ of the businessman.
2. The OPM designer is not a fashion designer but an _____ designer.
3. The Tell Me..... how much is your "Utang" designer owes his fabric supplier _____ hundred thousand pesos.
4. The KEY to Success father who abandoned his two children is a _____ stylist.
5. Last April 2010, FP went to _____ with some friends.
6. The celebrity boyfriend spent _____ million pesos when he went shopping with his BILMOKO girlfriend.
7. FP feels _____ about Anne Hathaway's Lanvin, Oscar de la Renta and Tom Ford outfits during the Academy Awards.
8. The Quits na Tayo writer offered several _____ in exchange of his outstanding cell phone bill.
9. The Hail to the Queen Chapter 2 story took place in the _____.
10. The World's Biggest Liar said that he was off to _____ where in fact he was spotted in a bar the same night
11. One of the guidelines in posting comments is that _____ are not allowed.
12. One of FP's closest friends is _____ (no initials please).
13. The mystery word is _____ (use the first letter of each answer).

Email your answers to mikesylim@gmail.com (NOT micsylim@gmail.com) with your name on or before April 30, 2011, 11:59 pm. Each email address is only allowed one attempt so please make sure all your answers are correct (including spelling) before sending them. The winners' names will be picked from a bowl containing the names of the readers who got all the answers correctly.

Poochi NOT Pucci!

www.reviews.ebay.com

We just arrived in Rome, Italy this morning from Frankfurt. Italy is home to many world renowned labels like Armani, Gucci and Prada. Another Italian label called Emilio Pucci is synonymous with geometric prints in a kaleidoscope of colors. When a woman wears a Pucci dress to an event, she is bound to stand out in a crowd. The only problem is that the prints are just so distinct that when she wears it once, it will retain in the minds of her friends for quite some time.

This fashionista who belongs to the medical field has been photographed in the magazines wearing her Pucci dresses. Her stature in life gives the people around her an impression that all her Pucci dresses are authentic. What these people do not know is that she mixes her genuine collection with over runs (euphemism for knock offs) purchased from Metro Walk Mall. The problem with what she is doing is that once these people discover that she buys knock off pieces, they will think that everything in her collection is counterfeit. One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel.

We should not patronize fake items because this is a way of supporting piracy. Instead of buying something counterfeit, I advise her to save her shopping money and buy something unbranded. If she is truly a fashionista, then she should be able to carry an inexpensive outfit effortlessly and make it look chic and elegant.

Do you know who is this fashionista? I will give you a clue. She has been commended by a magazine for being consistently well-dressed. I just don’t know if the people who gave her the recognition know that she is not only a fan of Pucci but also of Poochi.

Before writing your comments, kindly review the Guidelines in Posting Comments. I also suggest that you follow micsylim on twitter and you might just get additional clues. Thank you very much for reading. Please email your stories to michaelsylim@gmail.com. I will be waiting.

You still have time to submit your entries for the Vidajewelries Longevity Bangle contest. Please email your answers to mikesylim@gmail.com with your name on or before April 30, 2011, 11:59 pm, Manila time.

An Afternoon in Frankfurt's Zeil

It is my third time to visit Frankfurt so we decided to take it easy and stroll around Zeil for the afternoon. Zeil is the city's most popular shopping street where you can find big department stores and various retail chains.

Zeil Gallery

Zeil Strip

Galeria Kaufhof

Velotaxi

You may opt to rent the Velotaxi (Germany's version of the pedicab) for sightseeing if you are too lazy to walk around.

If you are hungry, look for the men with the umbrella that sells different varieties of German sausages.

Just a few steps away from Zeil is Goethestrabe, Franfurt's most luxurious street where you can find the world's most luxurious designer brands.

I just had to try my luck inside the Hermes store but as usual I left the store disappointed. Walking back from Zeil to our hotel, there were many interesting site to see as well.

Steigenberger Hotel

Mercedez Benz Building

Euro logo outside the European Central Bank

I feel in love with the furniture in the Boffi store. How I wish I can bring home all the industrial looking bathroom fixtures with me.