Day 5 and I was beginning to think there was already a pattern to the weather.😅 Much to our chagrin, it was raining even before I woke up.
It was unfortunate as we’d be spending most of morning at St. Peter’s Square for the Papal Audience.
I dressed appropriately, not only because we are to enter St. Peter’s Basilica, but also we’d have to possibly stand in the rain for hours.
It was quite early in the day, and raining – St. Peter’s Square
Day 4 in Rome, and I woke up at exactly 6:00 am without an alarm clock. That was a big improvement compared to the last 2 mornings. It meant I was already recovering from the jet lag.
We had another long day ahead of us, visiting the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum and Castel Sant’Angelo. We also needed to drop by the Vatican City to get our tickets for the Papal Audience the next day.
Looking at my phone, there was no forecast of rain at all. The highest temperature we’d have for the day was 24 degrees Celsius, which was around the same temperature we had at Piazza del Popolo.
Andiamo al Colosseo!
On our third day in Rome, I still woke up quite early at 5:30 am. I still felt a bit tired, yet excited. I also immediately checked the weather app on my phone to see the temperature and the forecast for the day. There was a small chance of rain, which we had to learn to adapt with.
I also heard Papa and Mama having their usual morning call with our family at home, who had been checking in on them.
Compared the the day before, we left a little late at 9:30 pm. The first thing we planned to visit was the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore.
At Via Ratazzi
Despite us being tired from the flight the day before and sleeping at around 11:30 pm, I still woke up at 4:00 am.
Jet lag has hit me, and I found it difficult to sleep until everyone started waking up at 5:30 am. It was still dark outside, but I could tell that Papa was already in the kitchen preparing his coffee and getting ready to eat his cornetto.
Then at 6:00 am, it was obvious that I could no longer sleep so I finally got up. Over breakfast, we just had a debriefing of the our flight, and shared our excitement when we finally arrived in Rome. I also briefed everyone what to expect for the day, and at what time we should be leaving the AirBnB for Termini.
Good morning, Rome!
And just like, the big day finally arrived: the start of our trip to Europe!
I have waited for decades, and the best news was to do it with my parents and Mon. It was such a trip of a lifetime that I have saved for quite some time just to make this happen.
Although I speak French and a bit of Italian, I never had the opportunity to travel there. I was not sure how that would go about finally being in France and Italy. I thought, “we’ll see”.
We have also scheduled our visa appointment back in early March, then a couple of days after, Mon’s father had to undergo an emergency open heart surgery. More than 2 months ago, we were in Singapore with him and did not notice anything strange. We almost did not push through with the the trip.
The night before, Mama and Papa stayed at our apartment so it’d take only around 30 minutes to reach NAIA Terminal 3. I found it difficult to sleep because I normally sleep late.
It was exacerbated by my excitement over the upcoming flight, as well as worrying a bit of the three cats (who Leigh would be looking after for the next few days). I may have fallen asleep worrying until almost 2:30 am.
And before I knew it, we had to wake up at 5:30 am.
Finally, our vacation to Europe!
So we have finally reached the end of this winter trip to Seoul.
We did not bother buying breakfast the night before, as we had decided to have breakfast at McDonald’s the following morning.
It rained for a bit, but it was only a couple of minutes before the sun shone again.
Good morning, Myeongdong!
Over breakfast, we were still planning what to do next so we can maximized the time before we checked out of the hotel, and continue our shopping again.
It was our last full day, and a day we dedicated mostly to our KPop fan. Mon and I, of course, have always been fans, but perhaps not as ardent as when we used to be more than a decade ago.
Nevertheless, we were excited to accompany Lot in new places we have personally visited, despite this trip being out trip there.
But barely starting the day, another bickering happened again. And that time, due to the internet connection and a sim card.
Stairs going up to Myeongdong Cathedral
For some reason, they had been having difficulties connecting to the hotspot of my phone with an eSim. Apparently, it had been an issue since the first day, which made it difficult for them to browse when we were out and about.
Needless to say, we spend almost the first hour addressing that sim card issue, with us ending up buying a physical sim card from a convenience store — to think our first stop of the day was Myeongdong Cathedral.LOL Continue Reading
It was our second full day in South Korea and we had Nami Island mostly in store for the whole day. It has been around 6 years the last time we were there on a winter, and our recollection of how to get there got rusty.
We were just there last autumn 2022, but it was a bit uncomfortable bus trip all throughout. This time, we decided to take several train transfer instead. Thank God for Google and the meticulous guides that gave us updated directions.
Still, we got a bit lost. How was that even possible? LOL
On our way to Cheongnyangni for Gapyeong
Over the last couple of months, we had Lot to thank for. She had willingly obliged to look after the 3 cats, as she was conveniently working in the same city with us. Instead of having to board the 3, it will be less stressful to them compared to being just at home where they are most familiar.
In exchange (of the possible boarding cost), Mon and I agreed that it may be best to have her join us for our trip back in South Korea, now for winter.
We initially asked if she wanted to go to Singapore. But as it was her first time going out of the country, it would be better that she travels together with her brother. And as a big K-Pop and KDrama fan, what better place to visit than SK? (And we had a cousin of their look after the cats.LOL)
The line was long at the Cebu Pacific check-in
Our flight to Incheon was not due until around past 6 pm. Still we arrived very early at NAIA Terminal 3, so as not to take chances with the possible long lines in the check-in counter (Cebu Pacific’s online check-in was not working at the time), and the hit-or-miss immigration check queue.
Good thing we decided to do so as it took an hour and 15 minutes just to cross the immigration. By that time, people are grumpy, confused, and hungry after standing for a long time. That unfortunately made passengers more susceptible to look dubious, though.
When we went twice to Singapore last year, Mon shared if we could go back early in the 2023. He wanted to treat his parents to a quick vacation overseas, which would be their first ever trip out of the country. We thought of Hong Kong (which we have not visited since 2011), but the several testing requirements turned us off.
Nothing make’s a child more happy than to eventually have the opportunity to do this for their parents. So off to Singapore (again), we go!
At NAIA Terminal 1
Our flight to SG was around after dinner, but we reached the airport around 2:00 pm. Traveling has always been erratic, a hit or miss that one time, you clear everything in about an hour, then the next, it would take around three. We did not want to gamble and we’d rather that we arrive early and just wait it out.
We reached NAIA Terminal 1 with the check-in counters still closed, and we waited for the wall showing the flights to eventually show us where the counter would be. As soon as they announced where, we already queued despite it not being open within the next hour.
We were unsure how the immigration process would go for someone who’d be flying overseas for the first time. They, however, were asked only two questions: who they were traveling with, and when they are flying back.
After the security checks