MILAN, WHERE DUOMO CENTRES IT ALL

Ciao Milan! Greetings from your fellow hongkies! First time taking the Milano-style Tram!

Going to Duomo: Buy the tram ticket from your hotel before going to downtown. Remember to insert the ticket into the machine to validate your ticket after getting onboard. In case you can't recognize the Duomo station, like I do, remember to look out for the lot of chinese shops. You will pass by a chinatown district where you will see alot of Chinese shops on both sides of the tracks. Not long later you will passby the Santa Maria delle Grazie Art Gallery and you will soon see the spectacular white cathedral - Duomo.

Milan, the second-most populous city in Italy, serves as the capital of Lombardy. The city has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area (the 5th-largest in the EU) comprises an estimated 5,264,000 people. Milan is the main industrial, commercial, and financial centre of Italy and a leading global city. #funfact

Piazza Duomo or the Milan Cathedral is the cathedral church of Milan, Italy also one of the largest churches in the world. The Gothic cathedral took nearly six centuries to complete. It is the 5th-largest church in the world and the largest in Italy. Travel Tip: Survey the City from the Duomo Roof - climb to the top of the cathedral with 500 stairs. Note: If you want to see inside, make sure you are dressed appropriately, covering arms and legs, otherwise you won’t be allowed in.

PART ONE: CHECKING OUT THE OUTSIDE OF DUOMO

Mandatory selfie infront of the Duomo. Featuring Koey.

And a closer look at the Duomo through Brian's eyes.

Take a stroll through the alleys of Duomo, discover premium designer brands. In July, you could likely purchase major designer apparel at a good 50% discount.

People like me, who are not too keen on shopping would most likely stop by to scout for weird little things.

And be like a proud baby Malaysian being able to spot your country flag in a foreign ground. Malaysia Tanah Tumpahnya Darahku!

This guy in gold looks pretty legit.

Saw a bunch of guys jammin Fallin'- Alicia Keys. Couldn't resist to stop by and manage a sing-a-long with the crowd.

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is one of the world's oldest shopping malls. Housed within a four-story double arcade in central Milan, the Galleria is named after Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of the Kingdom of Italy. It was designed in 1861 and built by Giuseppe Mengoni between 1865 and 1877.

Mandatory spin on the Bull’s Balls at Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, for good luck. If you believe.

Cliche selfie inside The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Featuring Brian.

And the backstage of behind the scenes, by our passionate photographer of the day!

Well, speaking of mandatory selfies. ;)

PART TWO: CHECKING OUT DUOMO INSIDE-OUT (WARNING, SELFIE ALERT!)

Excited kids exploring the depths of stairs towards the top of the Duomo.

The weather was so hot, it was not even funny

The cathedral roofline simply offers a breathtaking view, even the interior of the cathedral is crafted to minute perfection.

The Duomo Plaza view from the roof, it seems like the cathedral is the tallest building in the area.

Rooftop "chok" pose :)

A cathedral-fie with the statue of Virgin Mary (The Madonnina) at the very end and atop of the Milan Cathedral.

Marble walls and blue skies, and we will soon have to bid goodbye

After an intense sun-bathing session, we took a stroll inside Duomo di Milano. Beautiful it is, good idea as an escape from a hot day outside.

Beautiful interior of the Duomo. If you'd like to know more about the construction of Duomo, kindly refer to the brief description here: http://milan.arounder.com/en/churches/milan-s-duomo-cathedral

Very informative and interesting.

The Notre Dame in Paris too had these, but I have no idea what is it for. It looks like a giant organ to me.

Amazing stained glass windows, so vibrant, so beautiful.

Lit candles for many families and their friends. And here it concluded our day tour at the Duomo!

PART THREE: EXCUSE ME, WHERE'S MY GELATO? :)

Many who've been to Italy will tell you, try local gelato, eat pizza, order antipasti, caprese, pasta, fresh prosciutto and panzerotto. Ofcourse, lots and lots of gelato!

Me and Koey, enjoying our leisure time catching up at a hipster restaurant - Granaio, after being too hungry and tired to continue to look for restaurants.

This is called Punch, but beware it is not a fruit punch, it is the size of a regular espresso but this tastes like alcohol, more like Cointreau.

Spaghetti Bolognese, but mind me it is very juicy and creamy and thick.

Mushroom Risotto, you'll have to eat while it's hot, when it's cold it turns hard like uncooked rice. But they are delish when you eat them immediately when it's served. Portion of the meal here is not too big.

We ordered tomatoes with rocket salad, and I concluded after having 3 meals of salad, that the rocket salad in Italy has a slight taste of bitterness to it. Therefore, wouldn't recommend you to go for it.

I'd recommend you to order a Risotto and a glass of Ice Lemon Tea. Spagetthi taste a little too savourish to me. Gentle reminder not to order too much because usually the meals come with bread as sides.

Watermelon and Strawberry Cheesecake flavoured gelato, I was expecting more of a sorbet but it was rather creamy. It was so hot by the time I finish taking a photo the ice cream melted. :(

After a couple of hours of window shopping we settled for coffee, I realised they don't have flat white in Italy and as a better substitute for latte, I think it's better to order Cappuccino. But coffee here is cheap no doubt.

As we rushed to look for our second meal before we head back, lucky we were to be at the plaza when the sun was about to set.

We just went into a restaurant which was labelled trip advisor. But nowadays I'm not too keen on restaurants which are labelled with trip advisor anymore. Their food are usually kind of overrated.

And then I tried to order the caprese salad (salad with mozarella balls), maybe there were too much cheese to digest for one person. Especially the cheese was cold and the texture feels like cold fishballs. Or maybe just too much cheese in a day. (Oh wait, I didn't eat cheese before that).

And the closest I can get to a appetizing antipasti is the baguette tomato with ham or salmon. I forgot. Perhaps I was craving for something hot. Maybe for next time I shall order the lasagna. :)

We had Amorino gelato the next day, the gelato tastes yummy! WIll be back in the future for more.

We were zombie walking under the hot sun and decided to crash into a pizza store to get some food. Apparently the Risotto here was CMI :(

The pizza was hot and cheezy and crispy, but it got really too much after eating half of it, I thought I would be intoxicated by salt. LOL I only manage to eat half of the Buffalo Mozzarella Cheese pizza.

I would say, it was a good stay because I had classmates with me in Milan, it was more of a catching up session rather than the usual exploring mood. Perhaps next time if I had the chance to visit I would probably go to Venice and buy coffee, maybe? Or visit the cliche art galleries. :D

Till then CHEERIO! xoxo

Hello from Wingwing and Brian!