Chongqing / 重庆, China (12/23/2019 - 12/24/2019)

Chongqing may just be the largest city you've never heard of. However, if you're a fan of Chinese food, you've undoubtedly eaten its cuisine.  Chongqing is a sprawling metropolis the size of Austria, with a population of over 30 million people, and it served as the wartime capital of China during the war with Japan. 

This is the heart of numbing hot (麻辣) cuisine, using both the Sichuan pepper and the chili pepper in its dishes, often quite liberally. Once you get past that, the food is just phenomenal as you can see some hints of below.

Aside from the massive population and spicy food, the city is home to some unique architecture, including the massive mixed use Raffles City Chongqing complex that out-MBSs Singapore (ironically designed by the same architect, Moshe Safdie and developed by Singapore), and a public transit train that actually goes through a building (video below).

Naples / Napoli and Procida, Italy (12/01/2019 - 12/03/2019)

I went into Naples with zero planning or expectations and was pleasantly delighted at how warm and friendly of a place it was. The only things I knew in advance were from reading Roberto Saviano and from my friends in Milan telling me I must try the mozzarella di bufala. 

The food was fantastic, weather perfect, and architecture a delight to stroll through.  Everything was quite affordable, infrastructure good, and I was amazed at how clean it was (in contrast to what the northern Italians tend to say about the place).  Maybe I came at a lucky time, or didn't stay for long enough. 

I didn't want to spend all my time in the city and had the thought of seeing Pompeii or Capri - two very different alternatives. My cousin had kindly suggested a third option - a sleepy little island very few visit by the name of Procida. I'm very happy that I listened to her as it was just hidden gem devoid of tourists and full of cute little places to just walk around and soak in the scenery.

I think I'd like to come back here again one day.

Off to Procida

Back to Naples

Milan / Milano, Italy (11/27/2019 - 11/30/2019)

Milan is a city I've wanted to go to for some time, given its relevance to my industry (not fashion :)), and that I have a few friends that call it home.  Fitting to its reputation as an industrial city, it was cold, rainy and grey when I arrived. Thankfully this changed in time to take some nice photos. 

I can't say too much about this city that struck me as uniquely Milanese given the short time I spent there, but I really did enjoy the various sights and tastes, as well as the massive gothic Milan Cathedral that took almost 600 years to complete (and is the largest in the country). 

I will have to see more next time.