Motor Culture Asia Feature!

Hey guys! I'm happy to say that I've been featured in Motor Culture Asia Malaysia Volume 4 Issue 13. Pages 112 and 113! I've scanned the article and posted it here. To read it, just click on the photo and it will enlarge. Hope you enjoy the article! 

Page 112

Page 113

Special thanks to Kak Nor for helping me submit the article and a congratulations to her feature as well! 

La Torre di Pisa (Leaning Tower of Pisa)

Riding Day 1 of Edelweiss Bike Travel's Tuscany by Scooter

After visiting the Baptistry of St John, it was finally our turn up the Leaning Tower. We were asked to line up outside and then, we wait. We were actually just waiting for the previous batch of people to come down. And then, we entered!

 The entrance was already slanted. Don't blame the photographer! 

The spiraling staircase leading us up to the tower was also slanted.

But, really, what do you expect? It is famous for being a slanted building. While climbing up to the top, they actually have signs that tell you at what angle is the building angled at. Surprisingly, despite the building looking so... slanted. The maximum degree is only at 5°. For some reason, anello means ring. I don't get it either.

It is also quite interesting to notice that the steps are quite wavy. I don't think wavy is the correct word to describe it, but who else would you? It's not exactly well-worn because it's worn in a very ancient architectural type of way. But here's a photo of the steps anyways. It's pretty smooth and polished too, I'm not surprised if Italia hired people to just clean the steps actually. 

At the top of the tower, dad and I came to a nice view of the peaceful town of Pisa. The roof of the tower is obviously tilted but its funny walking from one side to the other, because despite it's only a small incline of 5°, your inner cynics think that you might just trip and slip off the building. 

Tourists. I recommend you go early!

The cylindrical building at the back is the Baptistry of St John, as mentioned in my last post. The building up close here is Duomo Pisa. Duomo means cathedral. So, yes, it's a church. Whenever you talk about traveling in Italy, I think it's a good idea to explain what the duomo is. Many people perceive duomo to be the name of a church, when actually it just means church. The below is the inside of the church, in case you were wondering.

After spending a good 15 minutes at the top of La Torre di Pisa, we came down the same way. And of course, we had our customary camwhore sessions with the tower. I have quite a number of them but I think we both can agree that this is the best, no?

We met up with the remaining of the group who also explored Pisa on their own and we took a nice long drive back to Florence. EBT's scooter tours are designed in a way that we stay at a central location and we ride from the hotel to our destinations daily. This is something new, unlike their classic or ride4fun tours where we move around with our luggages. I'd like to end this post with a group pic from riding day 1! 

Next up will be about Riding Day 2 in San Gimignano, Tuscany, Italia!

Baptistry of St John, Piazza dei Miracoli, Pisa, Italia.

I realized that I have yet to blog much about the Italian leg of my Europe trip last year. Anyways, it's never too late! I shall, however, start with the Edelweiss Bike Travel's Tuscany by Scooter tour. This tour is actually is still available for the June 2012 and September 2012 dates. You can email me if you're interested or click here for more information. Moving on with the 1st point of interest of Tuscany by Scooter: Pisa.

On the first riding day of our trip, we headed off to Pisa. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, we actually took off on our own and rode there earlier than the rest of the group. EBT provides us with maps and briefs us on the route, so no worries, we are encouraged to venture out on our own. The first thing we did when we were there was buy tickets! If you're planning to spend the entire day there, just buy the full day pass that grants you admission to the 3 main attractions here in Pisa. Now, please note that to enter the Leaning Tower, you have time slots, because they don't want too many people to go up the tower at once. So, I suggest that you explore other attractions while you wait for your turn. 

Dad and I first visited the Baptistry of St John. Its a cylindrical building next to the Leaning Tower with a pretty dome shaped roof. Personally, I don't think it looks that big from the outside. But when you enter, it's quite a sight. I liked how everything was so symmetrical. Felt as though everything had it's place in the baptistry.

With the help of some research from Trip Advisor, we found out that every half hour, the guard will lock the doors of the baptistry and he will sing. So, we waited and he did. It wasn't as though he burst out in song ala Whitney Houston (RIP). He just sang, but the point of his singing was to show us that despite the baptistry was pretty small, it had a pretty kick-ass echo to it! 

The next blog post will be about the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

How to Convert the Malaysian Driving License to a Singaporean Driving License

Hello all! Firstly, Happy Easter. I do apologize for not updating for, gasp, 3 months. This is solely my fault. I did not get my priorities straight. And for that, I sincerely ask for your forgiveness. On another note, let's start my blogging streak again, shall we? This post is not directly linked to travel, but it could be more helpful than it may seem. So, I have battled with my inner thoughts and decided that "Yes! I will do it!" So, here goes. 

When Malaysians want to drive in Singapore (with a Singapore licensed plate vehicle and a Singaporean license), what do you do?