Rome, Italy, 23rd September 2011

MIGRAINE I had a very bad migraine today. It was probably from too much walking in the sun. It got so bad, I had to go back to the room to sleep. When I woke up, the headache did not get any better so, I drank a bottle of water and decided to go with Erhan and Ömer for dinner. Actually my intention was to just buy a painkiller and come back to the room to rest. So I went to the pharmacy and told the pharmacist that I was having a headache and I needed a painkiller. The pharmacist took out a box of ketoprofen and handed it to me. I couldn't figure out what it was as everything was in Italian so, I asked. She said Ketoprofen. Looking at the labels, there seemed to be two ingredients inside so I asked if there was any other ingredients in the tablet. She said she'd given me ketoprofen. Then I asked how I should take it and she scolded me. What the hell?! I'm not familiar with Ketoprofen dosing and she won't even tell me properly. What? She thought I was one of the immigrants who were taking up too much space in her city? If that is the kind of attitude that they have, I'd rather not be there. Never mind that they were quite a bunch of eye candy but with such behaviour? I can skip that. Rome: beautiful, romantic city, with the order of Istanbul and Kuala Lumpur, with beautiful people, but not much in terms of their character. I know with my brown skin, I looked like one of the immigrants but I'm not here to stay so I'm not leaving that much shit in my three days here. Such disappointment. SCOOTER Another disappointment is not getting to ride on a scooter. I really would like to rent a scooter and move around Rome on a scooter but Ömer just refused to do it. Why am I giving in? WALK IN ROME Spending time with Ömer, walking had to be a part of the trip. He wanted to walk the whole day. Erhan didn't really fancy walking. He would just want to stay in the room and search for wifi. There's hardly any. We saw the coloseum and a bit of the ruins around it but didn't go into the coloseum. The queue was too long and we weren't too sure how much the entrance would cost. There were tour guides but again we were not that willing to pay. So I saw the Coloseum from outside.  More walking brought us to some other buildings and monuments. Interesting ones. There were quite a number of statues of naked men.  In Vienna, the dick was covered with cloth but in Rome the statues decided to use the cloth as a cape instead of covering their modesty. It's all part of the appeal of the city. BEGGING AND HEALTHY While we were eating our dessert at McDonald's, a healthy looking man came by and said something. Erhan understood that he was asking for money and he said no. I just shook my head because I didn't know what he wanted exactly. Then the man went to the other tables and then I began to understand that he was begging. After the man left, we continued with our conversation and I noticed the man behind Erhan was looking at him for quite a while. Then he tapped Erhan on his elbow and said something. He was speaking in Arabic. We couldn't understand. Then, one of the men nearby tried to help with the translation. Again, I couldn't quite comprehend. After a few minutes, it occurred to me that this man was also asking for money. What is wrong with them? They both looked perfectly healthy. Why were they asking for money? Earlier in the day, I came across two beggars, probably old women. They were both walking with a very bad slouch. One thing scary about them was not just the way they walked, they were both wearing a scarf that hid their faces entirely. What was the meaning of that? MALE NUDITY Not quite actually. It was just a pair of shorts that they were selling in the souvenir shops that had a picture of a naked man's groin. Not a real man, probably one of the statues in Rome. Interesting wear but I don't think I can get away wearing those shorts in public in Singapore. Actually I didn't even see anyone wearing them in Rome.