I ♥ FIRENZE!
Whoosh! The days pass by so fast, I don't want to go home just yet! Having holidays in Italia is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Hmm, mi dispiace for my bad grammar you guys. ^^ I should probably continue my entries. So let's see, what did we do on the fifth day?
1. Firenze Breakfast (Nuttela!)
2. River Walk
3. AWESOME FIRENZE DANCE WORKSHOP!!!
4. Firenze Lunch (Yummy Ham, I think it's ham)
5. Leonardo Da Vinci's Museum
6. Journey to Venice plus our dinner!
I was browsing through my journal (the one that I brought to Italy) and I realised that the visit to Florence was the busiest! Hmm, okay. Let me begin this fifth day!
BREAKFAST & WALK
I still miss the Roman breakfast! Booo. The Firenze breakfast was alright I guess? One thing for sure is that they love Nutella! Hahaha. There were like millions of nutella and Farlianna, Mai, Kartini took loads of em (in case of emergency!). Kinda funny. Hoho! This was our first time seeing Antonio eat too! He had breakfast with us but of course, he was sitting far away from us (but I have a good view of him though. nyehehe). One thing I noticed is that, he eat so little! LOL. He had a hot drink (most probably coffee) and then a bread! I know I know, I sound so stalkerish now!
After that breakfast, we made went up to the bus and of course, Dianne smiled and said Buon Giornio to Antonio! Nyehehehe. OHS! IT WAS SO COLD! I HEARD IT WAS LIKE 5 DEGREE! Mr Dan was rather excited (extraa excited) for today's activity! Dancers on the other hand was excited over the DANCE WORKSHOP! Wohoooo.
Guess where Mr Antonio dropped us off?
OMGEE YOU GUYS, he dropped us off in this bridge (near the river!) If I am not wrong, the name of the bridge is: Ponte Vecchio. We had to walk and pass 4 bridges before we reach the dance studio, you have to remember that the weather was extremely cold and we are near a river! Haha. Of course, we have no choice because like I told you in the 2nd day, Italians are strict when it comes to buses. Where was I? Oh yes, the walk. How do I describe it? Hmm. It was cold, real cold and extremely tiring! Haha. To add to all of that, Mr Dan walks so fast! Omgee right?
It was a nice feeling though! Walking near the river, the view was beautiful you guys! ^^ I couldn't help but take loads of pictures! Hehe. We saw some Italians having their morning jog as well, some are cycling! We keep saying Ciao to them! Seriously funny. OHS! We were so noisy as well, we keep singing songs all the way! And when dancers sing, they really sing damn loud! :D We even made up our own version of 12 Days of Christmas (you may ask Maryanne & Rachael for the lyrics!).
After 5 songs and millions of pictures, we finally reached the studio. It was way inside the streets though!
FIRENZE WORKSHOP!
Hmm, how can I describe this place.. Let's see, in comparison to the Roma place, this school gives off an artistic feel. There were ballerina paintings and the decor was so vintage. ^^ I love it! Hehehe.
After we said our Ciaos to the receptionists (& some dancers), we went up to change! Hehehe. I had to take off 4 layers of shirts and tights! It was that cold. Kinda tiring though. (taking out the clothes). HEH.
The studio was a little bit similar to the AES studio except that instead of the choir room next to it, it's a hiphop class (separated by a window). Ohs! Our Instructor couldn't speak English so we had a Translator! Coolio.
The dance was similar to Lyrical Hiphop (really similar!).
First, we had a warm up, just relaxing our muscles and wells, breathing! The guy sure does love breathings (reminds me of Mr Tan). ^^ I forgot the title of the song that we danced to, perhaps you know? There's this lyrics: I am ready I am ready. Hehe. I knowww. That's the only the thing i remembered! Sorry. If I have to choose between the Rome and this workshop, I prefer this! Maybe it is easier or the fact that I feel more free with this. It is more to the contemporary than ballet techniques. Yay.
Since we are fast learners (our instructor said that!) and he had no other steps to teach, he did a little bit experiment on us! Yesyes! It was rather cool though! Hehehe. He grouped us into four groups and each group has to dance facing differnt sides (side-walls, mirror and back-wall). It was confusing at first since we were not used to facing without a mirror but after a while, we manage to get over that fact and impressed the Firenze dancers! :D
Let me see...
After the workshop, the Firenze dancers showed us the dance that they are working on! There were a around 4-5 dancers and when I saw the dance piece, you know what came to my mind? Wells, I found myself thinking of Linnea! Linnea is our Senior Odssey Dance Theatre (ODT) dancer. Their way of moving is exactly the same!!!! Haha. They use breaths as the way of syncronisation and use body contact as well as energy transfer. Hehehe. I guess that no matter where you go, DANCE will always be the same, a UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE! :D
Aftter their lovely showcase, we had to go and have our lunch! D:
Hehehe. They did told us that if we ever come back to Florence, we should go to the studio again! Wells, hopefully that will happen! *cross fingers*
FIRENZE LUNCH!
The journey from the studio to Restaurant was slightly closer compared from the River Walk we had earlier this morning. So, that is a good thing! Oh oh! While we were walking, Mr Dan treated all of us (15 dancers plus 2 teachers!) GELATO! Gratziee Mr DAN! Hehe. Each gelato costs $1 and you can have 2 scoops! :O It was so delicious. There were loads of flavours like: Cheesecake, Strawberry, Mocha, Blueberry, Chocolate, Mint, Vanilla & etc! We could not get enough of it :D
OHS! I am suppose to tell you about the lunch right? It was as usual, delicious! Hehe. I couldn't finish it though, I guess I was too full from the gelato or just not hungry. Hmmmmm.
Leonardo Da Vinci MUSEUM!
*Trumpet sound please!* Yes dear leaders, we went to the museum where we saw Leonardo's invention as well as his painting (Mona Lisa original was in France though). It was an amazing sight if you ask me! Hehe. THE MAN WAS TRULY A GENIUS! He is an inventor, mathematician, painter, sculptor and many more! It was just so amazing! Sandra told us that no one, not even today has surpassed or level up to Leonardo! NOT EVEN EINSTEIN! This just shows that Leonardo has truly surpassed his ability and was able to use the talents that GOD has given him. And he has used all of them to help other people. To make OUR lives wells, better.
This made me think about myself. Have I used my talent well? Have I surpassed my ability as well? Have I share this talent? What do you think?
We spent quite some time inside the musem before we went to the Piazza della Signoria (Signoria Square)!!! Remember on my last post (day four) when I talked about the Plaza and Mr Dan said that we can take photo the next day? Wells, we did have a chance to be back there!
DAVID was there as well, except that it is not the original one! Hehe. There were other statues as well as the statue of King Neptune! All I am saying is that it was an amazing sight! ^^ And guess what we did there?
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE DANCED RIGHT THERE AND THEN!!!
Hehe. Of course we asked the police officers. We wanted to do BASKING but they didn't allow it so instead, we asked for their permission if we can just well, DANCE! And oh my! Hahahahahaha. We danced our 'famous' piece, HALO with our thick jackets, scarves and boots on! Haha. Since ther was no music, we had to sing and dance at the same time. AHAHHAHAHAHA! It was a fun experience if you ask me ^^
Some of the tourists as well as Italians actually watched us dance. LOL? Totaly hilarious and after the performance, they clapped for us as well! Heheh. I feel so happy, wells, everyone was feeling happy! :)
GOODBYE SANDRAAAAA
This is the part when everyone felt really sad. :( Hehe. Since this is our last day in Florence, this means that this is our last day with Sandra as well. Awwww. We gave her a tight hug and lots of ciao and gratziee! Hehe. And of course, a GROUP PHOTO! ^^ I will miss her so much! Hehe. She actually sang songs with us. How cute is that? Wells, hopefully, we will meet her again!
So after everyhthing, we met Antonio once more. Hehe. Do you still remember Antonio the bus driver? LOL. okok. You probably have guessed where we are heading to or maybe not? Haha. We had to make our way tO VENICE or as the Italian calls it, VENEZIA! Yesssa.
The journey from Florence to Venice was a little but further so we had to be well prepared and bought water and some snacks! So off we go to Venice. Hmm. As we go further North, the air became colder!!!! I did touch the window and brr, it sure was icy cold! Hehehe. After a grocery stop over (re-fuel ourselves and go to the toilet), we finally reached our VENETIAN HOTEL! Alleluia ^^
Before we can do reflections and hit the sack, we had to eat our dinner first right? Yes. We all of us (including Antonio) headed to the Eating Area. Okay this is where the fun starts..
I do not know if it's the Venetian air or we are just high but we couldn't stop laughing at all! Like anything will just make us well, laugh! LOL. Be it the waiter serving us the food, a comment from one of the dancers or just an innocent smile from one of us! Hehehe. It was seriously odd yet funny at the same time! ^^
CRAZY MOMENT:
When the waiter either serve us food or clear the plates, we would clap our hands and say BRAVO! hahaha. Yes, I know... -.- We were too high!
After the scrumptious dinner (as usual), we did our reflection which is about OUR GIFTS AND HOW WE ARE GOING TO USE IT! Do you want to know what I wrote? Heheh. When I was writing, I was still doubting my own gifts so I put a question mark in every gufts that I listed which Mr Michael disapprove of. He did tell me that I should not be doubting about it. ^^ So here's what I wrote:
(a) The gift of leading?
- share what I've learned & my experiences
to the dancer especially the future Excos.
- continue leading and grow (improve)
(b) The gift of FORGIVENESS? (I am forgiving)
- as a leader, I am forgiving & do not hold grudges
- be the BIGGER PERSON & talk to the one
you have an argument with
- advise the people around me to do the same
(follow Mr M's strategy!)
(c) The gift of Academic Excellence...
- perhaps create an EFFECTIVE teaching/helping session
- share my noted and strategies!
After the looong reflection, we finally headed to
our individual hotels! Yay. Hehehe. Ohhs, I was still
sharing a room with Alphonsine and Kartini! HAHA. And I must
say that the room this time is the best so far!
Reason 01: Eventhough there are only 2 beds, the beds were BIG!
Reason 02: There was a kettle which means we can drink milo/maggi!
So I guess that is all for now people! End of day 05! ^^ I know that my descriptions are not that good but I hope that you have a slight idea yeah. And trust me when I say this: ITALY IS AN AMAZING COUNTRY!!!
Hehehe.
ps/ Did you know that as we walk to the restaurant (lunch), we pass by the human statues! Have you heard of them? ^^ They act as statue (make up and costumes) and if you give them money, they will move!!!! We managed to take a photo with one of these human statues! :DD
pps/ I forgot to mention about the locks we found near the river! It was believed that if you and your lover put your locks together and throw the key to the river, you will have an everlasting relationship! I did took a photo of the locks (there were a long stretch of them!!)
ppps/ Mr M, Mr Dan, Ms Mandy and Antonio drunk Italian wine during dinner! I wanted to drink as well because, IT IS AN ITALIAN WINE!! Haha. Sadly, I could not since I am still underage! Ohman!
pppps/ Before we left Florence, we had a last minute shopping and I managed to buy a Firenze bag and a 5 Euro GELATO (didn't took a photo though!)
Okay, till the next entry AMICI (friends).
DIANNE MAE!!!!
TI AMO FIRENZEEEEEE ♥
DAY 5.
Love, Rachael.
hohoho :3
Today we went for breakfast and then we went to the dance workshop. In the dance workshop, i felt very free, lively, fun and enjoyable. The man who instructed the class gave us good feedback and taught us well. After that we had gelato again. This time, the gelato is special becase mr dan, our tour manager treated each and everyone! Im so glad to have a tour manager like him. Then we had lunch and then we went for shopping. After that when we met up at the square, there was some drama and i know the way i reacted to it was wrong and i should not have hurt the other party's feelings. I would sincerely apologise as i would want to help her improve herself and change. Not only her, but myself as well. Then we went for the museum first and then shopping. For the museum, i thought Leornardo Davinci was a great genius! It was amazing with all the things he could do. Through what we have learnt today, we could display our trademarks through dance as well. Also showing everyone that we dancers could do well not only in dance but as well as in leadership, academics and every other aspect as well. And also today at the square, we had basking. At first i found it quite embarrassing but then that feeling left soon. Because we dancers were doing it together, it felt really fun. And then we went to the bus and here we have arrived at the hotel!
What are my gifts?
My gifts are art , leadership and of course, dance!
For art, maybe i could help by decorating the dance studio when we have certain events, decorate the school or maybe do some nice paintings to contribute to the school decorations.
For leadership, if i train well enough, i can still lead the dancers well to go in the right direction and also maybe help my classmates and friends. For dancing, do and train well for next year's syf and also contribute that to the school and also for performances and being a good role model.
XOXO,LESSTHANTHREE<3
ALPHONSINEKOH ^^
Day 5!! :DD
Today is the most tiring day. We had many long walks.
We had a long walk to the dance workshop. The instructors are friendly and they are patient with us. The warm-ups are relaxing. It is all about smoooooooth movements. The instructors taught us a dance that they choreographed. It has a different style from our dance.
Next, we went to visit the Leonardo Da Vinci museum. We saw many of his inventions. He had so many ideas of creating machines etc. He was AMAZING! Leonardo also painted Monalisa. When you are looking at the painting, at every angle, the Monalisa is smiling and looking at you! Interesting! :)
Later on, we went shopping!
End of Day Five!
xoxo,
SiChing
THEY BOOK!!!
Today was awesome! We went for a dance workshop which is super far, we needed to walk for an hour to get there.The dance workshop was very fun, the instructor was very friendly, the music was nice, the dance was gracious and everything was beautiful.
Next, we went to eat lunch and had italian food, which is pasta ,turkey and a caramel pudding. After that, we went to visit Leonardo Da Vinci museum. We learnt about Lionardo Da Vinci's Life and saw many of his inventions . He was a genius, he was the renaissance man.
Then, we have time for shopping and i bought jumper for myself.After that, something terrible happened to me , but im not mentioning it...hehe...
Next, we went for the 3 hour ride to Venice and had dinner in the hotel.
And, as always, Mr.Michael's briefing at the end of the day ^.^
My Gifts;)
Studies - I can help the dancers with their studies by encouraging them to work hard for exams and having a study junior-senior time.
Art - I can contribute my art for dance to decorate and design our dance studio
Good Listening - I can help the dancers to share their problems and get closer, to help them in life and dance.
My special gift is , Dancing and i can contribute to the world by inspiring and let people be admired and so that they can start dancing and feel my passion and do the best in everything they do ^^.
PEACE & LOVE,
KARTINI
Heyy, its Day #05 :)
The wake up call today was at 6:30 am, An hour later we had breadfast.
After breadfast, we took the bus to a point whereby it cannot go further and we continue our journey on foot for about an hour or so.
The Dance Session was AMAZING!! The dance techniques and choreography were very different from the previous dance workshop and in Mr Tan's training. The Choreography was soft, sweet and free. The instructors were observant and they gave us feedbacks to our perrformance.
After the dance workshop, we had GELLATO!! It was my first time trying gellato, an ice- cream like except that it has more flavours to it. It was FANTASTIC!!
Moving on, we visited the Leonardo Davinci Museum. We learnt about the past and the present. We saw leonardo's inventions and there were some that we could actually test it..
Bye Florence..
XOXO,
Sheryl <3
Dance Workshop @ Florence Dance Centre
I felt more at ease with the style of the choreography taught here than in the first workshop in Rome, as it was more contemporary and was familiar to me.
I liked the way the teacher came to us to correct our positioning when we made mistakes unlike the teacher in the first workshop.
Apparently, mr.M says it was because her style of teaching was for us to be independent and to ask her questions to clarify any doubt with her. Though that was good and got us to become more pro-active and attentive, I prefer spoon-feeding! ;D
Leonardo Museum
After which we headed to the Leonardo museum to look at some of his creative inventions.
I am amazed at what an all-rounder he is. Good at almost everything he does!
If only I could be like him and be such a success and put living to good use..
He created ingenious machines like the hang-glider, the fountain-pen, and many other inventions which he may not have personally built and tried out but only designed.
It is because of such inventions which are able to improve the lives of people that he becomes such an inspiring part of Firenze history.
We also saw some of his artistic paintings (though not the original) like the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper and some others.
Looking at all of it really makes me wonder why in the world are some people so gifted while some others are not so. Maybe they just don't know how to use them I guess..
Leonardo showed that it was possible being an all-rounder, exceling in so many things in a lifetime.
Knowing this makes exceling in school in my academics, CCA and all else seem more realistic and possible.
I admire people like Leonardo and Michelangelo who inspire people to attempt to do things that may seem impossible at first.
After seeing their works, I feel that maybe even dance moves that seem impossible to do, may be do-able after all.
Hotel Venice/Venezia
After a long and tiring day, we took a long and restful journey to the hotel in Venice where we would be putting up for 2 nights.
After we had a delightful meal at level 0 of the hotel, we went up to unpack after our daily debriefing.
Roomate: Mai
FINALLY! Mai and I went high!!!!!!!!!!!
A KETTLE!!!!!!!!!! Woooooo!!
The hotel was better than the one at Florence!
Less creepy, nice furniture, and even a kettle..!!
Yay!! Milo for us!!
Florence Dance Centre
@ the Leonardo Museum
Maryanne's day06 awaits..
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DAY 5 ^-^
DANCE WORKSHOP WAS AWESOME!!!!! :D I love the dance and the instructors, they're so friendly and they're really cool. they even showed us a little performance at the end of the workshop. Had a lot of fun ^-^
After that we visited the Leonardo museum and oh boy, were we amazed! Leonardo's a genius! \m/ gotta salute him for his fountain pen and other out-of-this-world-crazy-genius ideas and inventions!
Headed to Venice. Had our dinner at the hotel and overnight in Venezia (venice in italiano)
New room mate: JANELLE. She's so sweet, she made milo for me at night <3 ^-^
Ok so this 3rd hotel is better than the 1st and the 2nd. it just keeps getting better huh ;)
Anyway, off to bed and as usual we had a good night's rest.
xx,nicole.
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Day 5
First thing in the morning we had our dance workshop and this one was my fave one ever!! We had to walk along a few stretch of bridges but it was worth the walk. I love the style of the choreography and I feel that this dance suits me the best out of all the 3 workshops. I like how the choreography makes use of the space and goes with the flow, letting his body let lose. He also separated use into different groups, performing at different times, trying to mimic a canon, and in the end, it was like a performance to me. The choreographer and his dancers also showcased to us their upcoming dance that is in progress and it was really creative with much body contact, something different and unique. I really hope to come back to this dance house and knowing that they even give classes to other forms of dance such as hip hop and jazz, makes me excited!
Mr Dan treated all of us gelato "Yayyyy!!!" I seriously cant get enough of the gelato there, its so addictive. Anyway, we walked back to the square at Florence and met up Sandra, took a few group photos and she lead us to the Leonardo Da Vinci Museum and another museum and I was starstrucked by the statue of David that was carved by Leonardo. It is really stunning with all features standing out, even the veins and remarkable beauty was the body, the body that all men secretly drooled for. And knowing that he did it without help, without any reference really amazes me with his ability.
After that, we had a short dance performance in the middle of the Florence square and we had an audience I must say. It was cool thinking that we did it abruptly with all the team effort and joy :) We had somemore time to shop and had dinner at our hotel.
