Ten Updates

Hi! This is just a quick update!

• Spring open exams next week! Pretty nervous, obviously.
• The lady in MAC store gave me the wrong foundation shade and I had to go back and switch it with the correct one, which I find annoying.
• Found a new daily body moisturizer and I fell in love with it.
• Went to the Boxing Day last weekend and successfully managed to buy things that I don't really need.
• The flood in York is getting better and flood waters are in retrieve.
• I've been exercising regularly and determined to lose 8kgs. 
• New Year's Resolution; to fully make use of my time.
• Justin Bieber's Love Yourself repeats itself in my head. It's kinda like an involuntary action.
• Currently reading Memoirs of A Geisha and loving it so far.
• Obsessed with makeup, skincare and workout videos of Youtube. Favorite channels at the moment are Carli Bybel, Kathleen Lights and XHIT Daily (Rebecca-Louise)

Travelogue | Pickpockets in Spain?

Alright, this post is solely a safety reminder if you ever planning to go to Spain (or other places as well) because it might just save you from being a victim of pickpockets or losing your personal belongings. 

So Spanish people are very nice and helpful. They might don't really seem friendly or nice at first, but trust me, they are. There was a time when we went for a lunch at a restaurant, a fancy one. So I thought that it was okay to just like sling my handbag at the chair. I mean, it's a fancy restaurant, I thought that it was fine, that it was safe. After a while, a woman tap on my shoulder and pointed at my handbag. She didn't speak English though but she was kinda like telling me not to put it there since anyone can just take it. Basically she wanted me to be careful. It might seem a small gesture, but I did appreciate that. I really did.

Our host on the other hand reminded us about Romanians in the metro, and because of that reminder, we were safe from being victims of pickpockets. We were on our way to Parc Guell or Sagrada Familia I think, that two women suddenly standing so close to Jazilah although the train was not packed with people at all. Obviously they were up to something bad that I just had to glance at them. It was so, so annoying that one of them suddenly pretending to be pointing and reading the metro map but oh, with a grin on her face while her eyes at the corner, trying to look at me. Urgh. Bloody annoying. We urged Jaz to take a seat across us since it was empty. Then these obviously-unskilled-pickpockets attempted to asked Nad about maps but were ignored. Second unskilled-attempt; by doing a gesture asking what time it was and again, they were ignored. And guess what they did after that? They just left. Well guys, I think they were newbies in this pickpocket thingy. Heh.

Then when we were in Granada, we stopped at a kebab shop (kebab was always our go-to food during travelling) to takeaway our lunch. The owner seemed a bit unfriendly, he just took our orders and did his thing; cooking the meat and all. However, after we went out of the shop, he suddenly ran after us and hurriedly asked us to follow him back to his shop. I was wondering why? Did we left anything? Or did he want to give us free kebabs? I'm not lying, those were on my mind back then hehe. He then started to speak in Spanish but guys, language was never a barrier. It took us a while to understand but with the help of hand gestures, we finally understood that he wanted us to be careful with our backpacks, always look at our reflections in the mirror to see if anyone was following us from the back. He also said that people can use knife to cut our backpacks and steal stuffs. Then we concluded that he probably noticed strangers following us right after we went out of his shop, so he hurriedly tried to warn us. BECAUSE, we finally did realize that two women were actually been following us! Geez, thank god that nothing bad happened. Phew.  

But please don't be afraid to travel to Spain. Visiting the country will be one of the best decisions you ever make. These are just my experience that I think I have to share with you guys, just so that you'll be extra careful with your surroundings. Be alert. Don't put your money where it is easily accessible. Some people are watching your moves; they're observing where you keep your money and personal belongings. Always, always keep an eye on each other's luggage or backpacks. And please, everytime you want to get into your apartment or accomodation, make sure that no one is following. Make sure that no one is around when you wanted to close the door. I mean, anything can happen right? Anyway, hope this post helps us to be more aware when we're travelling in the future. Stay safe, wherever you are :)

Oh, deer

'Art is anything

you can getaway with'

'Oh deer' came into my mind in a flash. I was just lazing on my bed (as usual) and suddenly I have this image of a girl with a pair of deer horns, with a pretty tall and straight hair up-do. I've always loved it when I have a vivid imagination on what to draw, so I quickly sketch it and voila, it was finished within less than two hours. 

Travelogue | Italy Part IV - Rome

'Travel. The world belongs to you' 

We decided to explore Rome starting with the great Colloseum. Going to Colloseum was one of my bucket list as a child, so alhamdulillah it is now ticked off the list. The entrance fee was €12 but if you're planning to come here, try to go as early as possible or else the queue would be very long. And since Colloseum is the main attraction in Rome, so you should expect a lot of people. It is estimated that 3000 people visit the historical building every single day. We finished roaming around Colloseum for for about 2 hours and then we headed straight to the Vatican City to give pope a visit and lepak together. Okay I was kidding. Sorry. We were just simply visiting. I mean how can you not? Vatican City is the smallest country in the world with a population less than 1000 people. So a visit is a must, plus, we were already in Rome. So why not. 

However the journey was a bit rough. Apparently the metro line that was heading to the Vatican City was closed for some reasons, so we had to take a bus. Can you imagine taking a bus in a city full of tourists and they were all heading to the same destination as we were? Obviously we were totally sardined in the bus. To make it worse, I had to stand all the way through and it took like almost 1 hour to get to the city because of the bad traffic. I was stressed out because of the inefficient public transport in Rome. It's not that I hate taking a bus, but  I wasn't feeling well that morning. So it kinda made me feel dizzy and nauseous because of the smell + heat. 

But whatever, we managed to arrive to the city anyway. So how was Vatican City? Well, it was crowded. Everyone was queuing to enter the museum that I couldn't really tell where the line started lol. We didn't go inside the museum since it cost about €20 I think? Too expensive. Then we headed to get some ice cream at the famous ice cream parlor Giolotti. It costs us €4.50 for three scoops of ice cream. The flavors was a bit overwhelming, so it was just fine. Not that great but it wasn't that bad either. 

This has got to be the steepest escalator I've ever seen!

Later we went to enjoy the view around the Pantheon (while finishing our overwhelming-flavoured-ice cream) and I think that the interior was ah-mazing. But I didn't really take a lot of pictures of it though Hee. Thennn I insisted Hajar and Amiza to go to another famous spot, which is a cafe called Sant Eustacchio. This place is so famous for its cappuccino and espresso that there would usually be a very long queue every day. I ordered the cappuccino for €2.80 (if I'm not mistaken) and it was just perfect. The baristas were friendly too. Such a lovely way to end our trip :)

Soooo that's it! I am so glad that I actually managed to finish this post! No more rasa bersalah for procrastinating and not writing it. These photos were taken using my phone, and I do have a lot more in my camera but y'know, I'm too lazy to transfer them to my laptop hehe. So I guess I'll just see you in the next travel posts. I honestly can't wait for my winter break to come!