Rome - Day 8

We started the day with a trip to the Bioparc Zoo for Sarah's enjoyment.  The zoo turned out to be such a letdown, with sad and tired looking animals and not so nice facilities.  Singapore Zoo was much better in our humble opinion.

We couldn't get a taxi so we just walked outside the zoo and stumbled upon the National Museum of Modern Art.  We went in primarily to cool ourselves in the air conditioned interiors but found it to be a surprisingly nice find, seeing a few Van Gogh and Monet artworks. 

Hopped on a bus back to the apartment and found a nearby pizzeria for lunch.  We had a rest in the apartment before heading to Piazza Navona for more sightseeing and dinner.  There was a mime/clown performing in front of the outdoor restaurant at Piazza Navona so we got a free show!  Bought a souvenir painting in the piazza before heading home.

A quick pass through at the Bioparc Zoo

Inside the National Museum of Modern Art, Sarah found a friend

Enjoyed cooling down inside the museum

Very good sculptures and lifelike paintings

Van Gogh and Monet artworks

We found the museum to be a surprisingly good (unplanned) find.

Dinner at Cafe Domiziano right in front of the Fountains!

Night lights make the piazza very much alive well into the night.

Post Haiyan

It’s been almost 3 weeks since Supertyphoon Haiyan devastated Central Luzon in the Philippines.  It was heart wrenching to see how my countrymen' family, friends and livelihood were washed away by the super storm. 

I sent out an appeal for financial help to my colleagues as I wanted to help in any small way.  I was overwhelmed by their response and support, collecting quite a sum of RM3400 (~P47,000). I sent our donation to marketmanila.com who's family and crew were doing  relief aid to Northern Cebu victims.  My husband and I preferred to help through this private group as we felt they were more trustworthy than corruption-tainted local officials.  And true enough, Marketman and crew were able to deliver relief aids much faster than the local officials, providing much needed rice, canned goods, noodles and water to the disaster victims. 

There's a tremendous amount of work to be done to bring order to all the affected provinces and my country is very grateful to all nations who've helped and still helping restore life back to normal.  My government also has to seriously look into how they prepare and respond every time natural disasters (volcanic eruption, earthquake, typhoons, erosion) strike my beloved country. 

Busy long weekend!

November 1st - Halloween Family Disco at G Hotel.
Ravi, Sarah and I attended a family disco Halloween party organized by Spiral Synergy Events.
Sarah got scared of the monsters in costume and the dark bar.  It took a while before she got comfortable enough to dance and have fun.

Halloween family disco at G Spot

November 2nd - Deepavali
Made our first ever 'kolam' or 'rangoli', an Indian folk art meant for welcoming Hindu deities.  We did it primarily for festive and decorative purposes, rather than its religious meaning.  Ravi's cousins family, several colleagues and a couple of my friends were our Deepavali guests. 

'Kolam' or 'rangoli' at the apartment entrance

Deepavali guests

Deepavali kolam at G hotel, our own and at Straits Quay

November 3rd - The Gruffalo
Sarah and I watched the children's play The Gruffalo at Stage 2 Penangpac, Straits Quay.  Ravi waited for us at one of the bar restaurants, where we had our dinner after the play.

Sarah shots at Penangpac Stage 2