Rome: Castel Sant'Angelo

Tourists walk along the bridge to Castel Sant'Angelo

One last place we visited before leaving Rome was Castel Sant'Angelo, or the Castle of the Holy Angel. It has a very interesting history and also construction, that at one point in time was the tallest building in the city.

This was originally Emperor Hadrian's mausoleum

We got there in the late morning and didn't have to wait too long to buy tickets. From then onwards visitors follow the arrows to cover most of the building.

Originally it was commissioned by Emperor Hadrian to be a mausoleum for himself and his family, which is the cylindrical part of the complex. It was built between 134-139AD.

His ashes, stored in an urn, were placed there in 138AD, along with his wife and first adopted son, as well as other emperors who succeeded him. It is believed the urns were placed in now what is known as the Treasury Room.

Then in 401, the building was converted into a fortress, with walls added around it, as well as a moat. There are some interesting defensive architectural details, such as trap doors and such for protection against invaders.

Popes turned it into a castle for their own use

There is a legend that the Archangel Michael appeared at the top of the mausoleum, sheathing his sword that was interpreted as a sign the plague was over in 590, which gave the castle its present name.

And so at the top of the tower is a large bronze statue of the Archangel Michael, looking as if he's about to sheath his sword. He has the best view of Rome, and a fantastic view of the Vatican.

This is important because in the 14th century, popes took over the structure and converted it into a castle. For example, Pope Nicholas III connected the castle to St Peter's Basilica by a covered corridor called the Passetto di Borgo.

Paul III built a rich apartment in the castle, and visitors can see his living quarters. While his bedroom may look modest, the room next door he entertained in was very lavish. It was completely covered in murals with gold leaf, while the Papal insignia was created out of marble in the floor.

St Peter's Basilica can be seen clearly from the roof

The Papal state also used Sant'Angelo as a prison, and executions were done in a small inner courtyard. For those who love opera, the castle is the setting for the third act of Giacomo Puccini's Tosca -- the eponymous heroine leaps to her death from the castle's ramparts.

We went through the castle almost room by room, up and down stairs, and saw lots of empty rooms, but also others with examples of swords and canons, as well as armour. Visitors are finally rewarded with a view from the roof, and it's a stunning panoramic view of the city.

The Archangel Michael unsheathing his sword

It was a tiring over three-hour tour of the place, but it was well rewarded with blue skies and dramatic clouds. Very memorable!

Picture of the Day: Tax Refund

The line went all the way down to the end and to the left. Daunting, right?

Italy encourages tourists to shop shop shop -- the more the better. That's because if you reside outside the European Union, you are eligible for a tax refund when making purchases of 155 euros (US$175.36) or more in Italy.

The shop should help you fill out a tax refund form with the receipt attached so that you can claim the VAT refund of 22 percent. It's a huge difference which is why it's worth getting the refund.

However, the refund can only be processed at the airport, which is why it's advisable to go there with plenty of time before checking in. The morning I went, my flight was much later, and so I had time to get the refund.

The line for the VAT refund (in a big yellow sign) was very long to say the least, though it did move, slowly. It was full of mostly Japanese people who were holding wads of receipts.

Another rule about getting the refund is that you may have to show the officer your purchase so you can't pack it into your suitcase.

My biggest panic was waiting in line and not being in the right line. When I bought a pair of shoes, the sales assistant told me I would need a stamp on the form and then get the refund. So when my line slowly inched closer to the counters, I couldn't see where you were supposed to get a stamp and started to worry.

The people in front of me were Japanese tourists. They were young people who had bought many name brand luxury items. Thankfully they had an Italian guide, a well-dressed middle-aged man who spoke good Japanese and helped them with translation or questions.

I quickly asked him if I needed a stamp and he said no, and that I was in the right line.

Finally it was my turn at the counter and after showing them the receipt, the tax form (filled out by the store), my passport and credit card, the whole process took less than five minutes. She was even busy chatting with her colleague next to her that she didn't even ask to look at the shoes I bought.

She gave me a receipt showing the amount credited to my credit card and that everything was done. I was able to pack my shoes in my suitcase before checking it in, so there was one less thing to carry.

And in my next credit card statement, the refund was credited. It made my expensive purchase easier to justify. Ha!

Chinese Food in Rome

Italian sea bass steamed Cantonese style in a Chinese restaurant in Rome!

Our hotel in Rome was located near the train station, and so there was a constant stream of travelers walking by our hotel, dragging their luggage to and from the station. To cater to their stomachs, there were various kinds of restaurants.

Many of them were Italian of course, serving pizzas and pastas, and Indian ones serving curries -- 3 euros for a bowl of rice!

Pretty decent potstickers called "ravioli"

But around the corner and down the street from our hotel was Huaweiju, Ristorante Cinese serving Chinese food. We were curious and wondered how good the food was and decided to give it a shot.

Most of the other Italian restaurants in the area seem small at first, but they actually have massive basements and can host large groups. However, Huaweiju was really tiny, so it was better to go earlier otherwise the wait would be long.

The owner of the restaurant had no shame in squeezing in one or two more customers around a tiny temporary table not even as big as a mahjong table if they didn't mind...

It's a bare restaurant, with not much decor except for a bar/service area that had rows of bottles behind, along with kitsch Chinese-style pictures, and a typical Chinese calendar.

However the menu is choc full of dishes, some slight variations on say stir-fried noodles and rice, but what draws a lot of people to this place are the prices. They are about half of what the nearby Italian restaurants charge, so for many, Huaweiju is a no brainer.

The restaurant owner is originally from Wenzhou

Oh and a bowl of rice costs 1 euro.

We tried several dishes on the menu and many of them were not bad, like #52 spaghetti di riso or stir-fried vermicelli, while #009 ravioli are pretty decent potstickers. We also had #40, fried rice called riso cantonese, and #114, a sizzling beef platter, with the name manzo all griglia.

The most impressive dish was #167 pesce, or steamed Italian sea bass. It was cooked just right, with spring onions, finely sliced carrots and light soy sauce. We cleaned up the bones very nicely.

The restaurant is run by a capable and unflappable Chinese woman. Although her service system was very disorganized, she didn't let customer demands bother her too much -- she knew her clientele were not regulars. So we had to wait for plates, chopsticks and tea. They came... eventually.

In the kitchen in the back is a Chinese chef, and some migrant workers. She spoke to the Chinese chef in Mandarin, the others easily in Italian and to customers a bit of English.

Very good stir-fried vermicelli though portions are small

Finally when were getting the bill I asked her where she was from. She said Wenzhou and I asked how long she had been here, and she replied 18 years.

Some of the customers are Chinese -- curious like us -- while the rest are visitors looking for an inexpensive meal. Oh and the restaurant even makes French fries -- 2.50 euros if you were wondering.

Huaweiju Ristorante Cinese
Viap Filippo Turati 9-11
Rome
(06) 8923 9537

Picture of the Day: The Colosseum

The weather was unpredictable the day we went to the Colosseum

The day we visited the Colosseum, the weather was very windy and rainy; it turns out there was a Category 1 hurricane going through Italy. At times we were pushed by the wind and other times there were massive downpours, and then light rain or it stopped.

It is the largest amphitheatre ever built

It's very convenient to get there -- there's a metro stop for Colosseo. We didn't go into the Colosseum, but took pictures from the outside. Our pictures look kind of eerie because the sky looks pinky-gray.

The building is an impressive piece of architecture, an amphitheatre that could hold between 50,000 to 80,000 spectators for gladiatorial contests, executions, animal hunts, dramas, and even mock sea battles.

The Colosseum stopped being a venue for entertainment in the early medieval era and was turned into a place for housing, workshops, quarters for religious orders, a fortress, a quarry and a Christian shrine.

Two days later we got up early to beat the morning rush hour traffic to get to the airport on time.

Blue skies over the Colosseum the morning we leave!

On the way we passed by the Colosseum one more time -- with blue skies and puffy white clouds in the background.

Rome's "Wedding Cake"

The impressive-looking Altare della Patria in honour of Victor Emmanuel II

Rome has a massive monument called Altare della Patria or the National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of a united Italy.

He was King of Sardinia from 1849 until 1861 and at that point he became the King of Italy, the first king of a united Italy since the 6th century. He held that title until his death in 1878.

There are fountains and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

As a result he was named Father of the Fatherland, and so Altare della Patria was built in his honour.

It's a massive monument, featuring stairways, Corinthian columns, fountains, a statue of Victor Emmanuel on a horse, and two statues of the goddess Victoria riding on quadrigas, or a four-horse chariot.

However while the monument is meant to honour the king, it has been mired in controversy every since it was built. During construction, part of the Capitoline Hill was destroyed for it, while critics find the monument too massive and pompous.

It also sticks out as the monument is made out of very white marble that some describe as "corpse-white marble".

But yes it does look like a wedding cake and other nicknames!

As a result, Altare della Patria gets many uncomplimentary nicknames, such as la torta nuziale, or "the wedding cake", la dentiera or "the dentures", macchina da scrivere "the typewriter", and la zuppa inglese, or "English soup" dessert, referring to trifle.

Very funny, but I can see the resemblance...

Contemporary Art at Maxxi

Near the entrance to Maxxi, the Zaha Hadid-designed art museum

After we had our fill of classical art at Galleria Borghese, we took a completely different turn and went modern at Maxxi, a national museum of contemporary art and architecture in Flaminio district in Rome.

Inside there are numerous staircases and rooms to enter

The museum is also appropriately housed in a building designed by the late Zaha Hadid, who was chosen from among 273 candidates from around the world.

We didn't really get a good look of the outside, but inside it was very sleek, lots of curves and straight lines, nothing symmetrical either.

While the building was a piece of art in itself, the contemporary art was hard for us to understand! There were lots of strange videos one would see at Art Basel and leave you wondering:

a) How did you come up with this idea?
b) Why did you come up with idea?
c) What does this mean?
d) Does it really take art to another level?

Chinese characters and French words written in sheet metal

When we visited Maxxi, the exhibition "African Metropolis. An Imaginary City" was on. Again most of it we didn't really understand, but a few pieces were very interesting.

One of them was called "Wo Shi Feizhou/Je Suis Africain by Francois-Xavier Gbre. It's a series of mixed media, but what was particular interesting was what was written on sheet metal.

It was a triptych of three dark pieces of sheet metal and there were Chinese and French words written in three columns.

The ones on the far left were Chinese characters in simplified Chinese, followed by French words, then more simplified Chinese characters in parentheses. For a Chinese person living in Africa, this was a kind of cheat sheet. The word they wanted to say was on the far left, but was pronounced in French like the characters on the far right.

A close-up of the words and pronunciation!

For us who could read some Chinese this was very funny but also interesting!

Another work we liked was a photograph by Kiluanji Kia Henda with the title "Le Merchand de Venise" or the Merchant of Venice.

In the description the artist pays homage to the play by William Shakespeare by having a Senegalese musician dressed in brightly striped clothing and on his arms are what at first glance look like designer bags, but in fact are fake; this is his way of trying to make a living in Venice, much like many other African street vendors.

Henda's photo looks striking at first, but when you realize what is going on it's actually very ironic, but in a subtle way.

The Merchant of Venice by Henda

We pretty much finished going through the museum in an hour and waited for others in our group by hanging out in the museum shop that also had a cafe that served fantastic coffee for 1.50 euros!

Afterwards we took the tram back to Flamino metro station and then took the train back to our hotel.

Art Everywhere at Galleria Borghese

Apollo chases Daphne as she turns into a tree

The day after we returned to Rome the weather was terrible -- in the morning there were heavy rains and just as we were about to wait, a guy wandering around selling umbrellas appeared at the hotel door.

There's lots of art to see inside Galleria Borghese

We quickly bought three umbrellas and then headed out to Piazza del Popolo by metro. It started to rain again so we sought refuge in the one on the left, Santa Maria di Montesanto. Inside it's very grand with a dome at the top.

It just so happened that a small choir was warming up and it was so nice to hear their voices fill the large church. The rain wouldn't let up so we decided to wait it out with an early lunch.

After some pizza, pasta and salad, we headed to Villa Borghese, which is above Piazza del Popolo. In 1605, Cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew of Pope Paul V and patron of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, began to turn the former vineyard into an extensive garden.

The walls and ceilings are also covered in art

It was built in the English style, and was later opened to the public in 1903. Today it is the third-largest public park in Rome. We had a heck of a time trying to find Galleria Borghese or the Borghese Museum -- the signage in the park is terrible and not only we got lost but another American couple too. We had to ask around for directions.

Not only were we lost, but we also had to get there at a certain time -- our tickets were for two hours. We finally found it, and then had to check-in all our bags and umbrellas. It's just as well because as soon as you walk into the museum, there are sculptures everywhere and best not to knock them over!

It features the massive collection of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, and it boggles the mind how much money he had to acquire all these paintings and statues. But not only that, the rooms themselves are covered in murals, many in trompe l'oeil, or paintings that look three dimensional decorations like curtains and extra balconies and interior decoration.

There are many famous pieces in this museum. One of my favourites is Apollo and Daphne by Bernini around 1622. It shows the moment when Apollo is pursuing Daphne, but she begins to turn into a tree -- her legs start to become the trunk, while leaves are sprouting from her fingers.

A gorgeous statue of Pauline Bonaparte in marble

While Bernini was working on this statue, he abandoned it for a while to work on another one called David, based on the story of David and Goliath.

Bernini was only 24 years old at the time, but had the skills and maturity to produce these life-size statues. Here David looks like he is about to use his sling shot, and the viewer can see the determination on David's face as well as him putting all his physical strength into defeating Goliath.

Another gorgeous statue by Antonio Canova is of Pauline Bonaparte, the younger sister of Napoleon. She first married a French general, Charles Leclerc, who died in 1802, and then she married Camillio Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona.

Can you see Cardinal Borghese's forehead crack?

Here she is reclining on a chaise lounge and casually draped. The sculpture is so beautiful not only capturing her beauty, but the detail especially in the creases in the fabric of the chaise lounge captured in marble. She looks very delicate, graceful and elegant.

Finally, there are two busts of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, both by Bernini, and they stand almost side by side in one room, which makes you look at both of them carefully to try to figure out what is different.

It turns out the one on the left was done first, but it was found to have a crack inside the marble right where the cardinal's forehead is. As he was the client, he wasn't happy with it and asked for another bust of him be carved; Bernini obliged.

The Galleria Borghese has exhibitions periodically and when were there, it was a show of sculptures by Pablo Picasso! What a contrast! Some rooms showed off classical statues that were off set by Picasso's minimalist ones, some to comic effect.

Picasso's sculptures next to Greco-Roman ones

Some were of Greco-Roman heads, contrasting with Picasso's cubist ones, or his famous goat alongside some other more lifelike animals. Too funny!

Our Roman Holiday

Bocca della Verita was made famous in the 1953 film Roman Holiday

When we arrived back in Rome after our cruise, we visited some of the same spots I had seen before -- the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza de Popolo and the Spanish Steps.

But we also got to revisit a nostalgic place -- Bocca della Verita, or the Mouth of Truth. It was made famous in the 1953 film Roman Holiday starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck.

Hepburn plays a crown princess on a state visit to Rome, but she is tired of the tight schedule and escapes on her own. She meets Peck, an expat reporter, who doesn't recognize her at first, but when he does, he tries to show her around.

Inside Santa Maria in Cosmedin Church, there are mosaics

One of the places he takes her to is Bocca della Verita. He tells her that the face is the sea god Oceanus and that he would know if you were telling the truth or not if you put your hand inside its mouth.

This giant round marble mask weighs around 1,300kg and is located in the portico of Santa Maria in Cosmedin Church. When we arrived in the late morning, there was already a line, but there was a giant tour group from Korea ahead of us.

Their tour guide seemed to have a lot to say about Bocca della Verita, but they got it -- when they finally got to take pictures, one middle-aged woman pretended she was trying to pull her arm out of the stone mask's mouth which was funny.

The church interior is understated

We had fun posing too, but not as dramatic. For my parents it was a warm, nostalgic moment to remember the movie perhaps how it inspired them to come to Italy.

After our quick picture with Bocca della Verita, we were directed to go inside the church which is seems austere compared to other churches we saw on the trip, but the mosaic floor was absolutely beautiful. The craftsmanship was something you could stare at for a long time and wonder how they did it centuries ago...

Rome: The Vatican

St Peter's Basilica where this outdoor area can hold 100,000 people

When in Rome, the Vatican is a must. We bought tickets in advance online and then set off early this morning to get there with plenty of time to spare.

A collection of Roman busts in one of the galleries

We took the metro to get there, and getting a ticket is easy at the machine. For a ride (or more) within 100 minutes it's 1.50 euros. We just happened to catch the rush hour period so the trains were quite packed, but by the time it was our stop the commuter crowd had thinned out considerably.

Stationed near the metro stations and around the vicinity of the Vatican are volunteer guides who explain the best way to get there and pass out maps. It's a few blocks' walk from the metro station to the entrance and already there were many people there.

The Gallery of Maps from the 16th century

Following a security check and getting an audio guide we were set to go. The audio guide is good in some parts, tedious in others, or didn't have information on things we wanted to know more about.

Nevertheless it's about soaking up as much as you can and also how long your legs and feet can carry you.

Lots of the art in the Vatican was either collected by popes or given to the institution as gifts. Many are artists who hope their works will be received by the Pope; in return they are forever remembered in their association with the papacy.

One modern artist is sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro, who created a giant bronze sphere within a sphere to show the Vatican is a city within a city that's placed in the middle of a garden.

Nearby are galleries filled with lots of Roman marble statues; they remind me of characters from stories in my Latin textbooks from high school. The mosaics are also very impressive, some with intricate designs, others telling stories of mythic proportions.

A Chinese text of "The Pope's Decrees"

We had to go room by room, slowly moving our way around the museum in order to get to the main event -- the Sistine Chapel. Everywhere you look there is art with some kind of religious meaning, or made in hopes of exalting Christ.

Meanwhile in the Gallery of Maps, the latest in science and cartography was displayed here, as friar and cartographer Ignazio Danti painting sections of Italy in as accurately geographically as he could as well as artistically from centuries ago.

The room was commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII in 1580 and it took Danti three years to complete the 40 panels in the 120 metre-long gallery. However, the ceiling is more impressive, painted by several artists, including Cesare Nebbia and Girolamo Muzanio, featuring "paintings" complete with frames and decorations covering the curved ceiling.

One room featured books that were elaborated decorated, presumably religious texts. In the corner of one display case had a book covered in Chinese fabric with a white crane with cloud motifs and flowers, and written in Chinese "The Pope's Decree".

The Sistine Chapel still looks vibrant and meaningful

Getting ever so close to the Sistine Chapel, we then went into the Raphael Room, where he painted the famous The School of Athens fresco from 1509-1511. Here he connects science with the heavens, and there are several well known figures in here, such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, Euclid, and Raphael himself. On the opposite side is the depiction of the father, the son and the Holy ghost together as represented by the eucharist.

Another room was called the Matisse Room, featuring several of the French artist's works, that look simple but figuratively clearly show their deep meaning.

Finally we made it to the Sistine Chapel -- security constantly told the crowd in there to be quiet. We stood in the middle, trying to soak up as much of Michelangelo's amazing work as possible. Even after the restoration many years ago, the colours are still vibrant, the facial and muscular expressions impressive.

This is where the cardinals gather after the pope has died in order to vote for the next one. They make four votes per day, two in the morning, two in the evening until there is a clear winner.

The Bramante Staircase at the end of the Vatican Museum

The last few galleries feature numerous gifts popes have received over the years until we finally arrived at the Bramante Staircase, designed by Giuseppe Momo in 1932. The staircase has a double helix and is more like a ramp than a staircase. It's so beautiful to look at from above and below.

We then took a break in the downstairs cafeteria before heading to St Peter's Basilica. It was really hot in the early afternoon waiting to get inside. We went through yet another security check before being able to go inside. Our priority was to see The Pieta by Michelangelo. It's behind bullet-proof glass, but is still an amazing sight to behold despite the figures not being proportionally correct and Mary looking much younger than her years.

The Pieta by Michelangelo in St Peter's Basilica

Everywhere you look in the basilica there is so much to take in, it's overwhelming but beautiful and magnificent. You feel so privileged to see all this beautiful architecture and art work in one place. But six hours later, our legs and feet were giving way and we slowly made our way out and back to the metro station to get back to the hotel for much-needed nap!

Rome: Santa Maria Maggiore

The intricate ceiling of Santa Maria Maggiore

Our hotel is located near the train station and we are also very close to the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore, that is a Papal major basilica and largest Catholic Marian church in Italy.

This basilica was built in honour of the virgin Mary

We went in the late morning and it wasn't too busy -- we waited briefly in line to go through security before going inside.

It is a massive building, and the long narrow ceiling covered in flowers that are decorated with gold leaf is beautiful. 

The church is named in honour of the virgin Mary, one of the first few churches to do so. There are many statues and paintings of Mary. Inside there are many small chapels off to the sides for a small group of people to attend services.

The beautiful mosaic floors date back from the 5th century

It must be strange for regular church goers here to have tourists constantly snapping photographs or shooting video of their church, but as it's a major landmark that people want to visit. For the most part people are respectful, many of them Catholics themselves.

There were also many confessionals, and they advertised the languages spoken, such as Italian, French, Polish... nope no English! If the priest was "in", there would be a red light turn on above the confessional.

Another impressive aspect of the basilica is the mosaic floor that date back to the 5th century. It looks like it has a Moorish influence with symmetrical stars and circles, beautifully kept all these centuries.

Confession anyone? The priest is in

Next stop? The Vatican.

Early Morning Start in Rome

The Spanish Steps, Piazza di Spagna and Trinita dei Monti all in one picture

This morning I arrived at just after 7am in Rome and going through passport control was very fast, but then took a while to get our luggage.

Traffic was already heavy over an hour later coming into town. It had rained earlier, but despite the heavy clouds, the sun was determined to push its way through to create blue skies.

Inside the basilica that was so ornate

My hotel room wasn't ready yet so I took my colleague's suggestion of walking to the Spanish Steps and from there wander the streets that have many fashionable boutiques.

With the help of Google Maps I got there in over 20 minutes and there were already a few tourists at the top of the stairs where the Trinita dei Monti church stands over the Piazza di Spagna below. The staircase is said to have been designed by architect Pietro Bernini and his son Gian Lorenzo Bernini helped him.

At the bottom of the stairs is Via Condotti, where all the top fashion brands are located, Giorgio Armani, Salvatore Ferragamo, Dolce and Gabbana, and Max Mara, along with non-Italian names like Tiffany & Co, Harry Winston, and Swarovski.

They all opened at 10am on the dot but hardly had any visitors; looking through the glass windows I could see Chinese staff in some of the boutiques to cater to the mainland customers. This morning there was one tour group but they didn't have time to shop there.

Nearby was the Basilica dei SS Ambrogio E Carlo that was built from 1612-1684. The door handle to go inside says "humility". Inside the church is very ornate, the ceilings covered in frescoes with a heavenly theme. Small naves to worship particular saints were on the sides. It was a beautiful quiet place for contemplation, even though shops like H&M were next door.

The "twin" churches at Piazza del Popolo

I wandered along Via del Babuino and there were more fashionable shops there, until I reached the end at Piazza del Popolo  or the "people's square". In the middle is an obelisk of Sety I. I haven't visited much of Rome, but have already seen a number of obelisks erected... the Romans really amassed a collection of them...

There are "twin" churches standing side by side, with Via del Corso separating them -- Santa Maria Montesanto on the left, and Santa Maria dei Miracoli on the right.

After a lunch of pizza, I tried to go find the Trevi Fountain, but instead found the Pantheon. It was a former Roman temple and is now a church. The dome is most impressive -- it is the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world.
so when it rains, the water does fall down into the middle of the marbled floor -- but there are 22 holes in the ground that help drain the rainwater away. You can't help but keep looking at the dome that's so beautiful and the clouds are passing by. There are signs around the room asking visitors to be quiet as it is a church, but it was quite noisy...
I finally managed to find the Trevi Fountain and after it was carefully cleaned and restored by fashion company Fendi in 2015, the statues are very white! Most of the coins in the fountain are cleaned out. The area was crawling with tourists and the restaurants and cafes nearby were happy to cater to them.

One gelato shop had a guy who spoke a few words in Mandarin, "you want this?" pointing to a cup and then a cone. Every little bit helps.

A cleaned up Trevi Fountain with blue skies

I was concerned about gypsies in touristy areas, but each place had a squad of police there in army fatigues and their cars as a deterrent.

By this time it was 3.30pm and I wandered back to the hotel to finally check-in to my room for a long-awaited shower and nap...

Movie Review: Spotlight

Spotlight follows the team that uncovered sex abuse in the Catholic Chuch

I just came back from seeing Spotlight, which is nominated for six Academy Awards, though pundits are saying its chances of winning golden statues are slim because it's all dialogue and no dramatic chase or sex scenes.

It has won a host of other awards from Bafta, Critics Choice Movie Award, National Society of Film Critics Award and others, though we hope the film will get an Oscar nod -- or two.

Like All The Presidents Men that inspired a generation or two of people to become journalists, Spotlight will hopefully do the same, though the economic conditions of running the paper takes more precedence than the stories it runs these days.

Nevertheless, Spotlight is based on true events about an investigative team at The Boston Globe called Spotlight. A new editor in chief comes in, Marty Baron, who is Jewish and new to Boston.

The actors in Spotlight with the real reporters of The Globe

He finds it curious that there was no follow up on a case about a priest molesting children and gets the Spotlight team to work on it. And what they uncover is not just one, but many more priests in Boston who committed the same horrific crime.

The church's pervasive influence over Boston is evident, with a code of silence the reporters must break, in some cases ruining friendships and connections to get the truth.

At first the dialogue flies fast with lots of names to follow, but soon we grasp what's going on and especially the magnitude of the case, as we discover the facts as the reporters do.

They talk to lots of victims, hearing their stories which corroborates with what a former priest, now academic who has studied pedophile priests for three decades, they badger the lawyers who represented the church, and finally get the trust of a lawyer who has been trying to prosecute the church for years.

In their investigation, the reporters uncover that The Globe was also complicit -- hardly questioning what was going on, and dismissing victims as weak sources.

Cardinal Law is now an archpriest in The Vatican

In the end Spotlight wrote 600 stories about priests abusing people in 2002 and Cardinal Bernard Francis Law who did nothing about it, except shift the priests around, finally resigned in the same year.

The Vatican didn't punish him, but instead transferred him to be archpriest of one of Rome's four papal basilicas, Santa Maria Maggiore.

Law is in his mid-80s and hasn't spoken publicly about the expose, or his part in it; instead he remains cloistered in The Vatican. Law gets the last laugh.

But the reverberations of the original breaking story are not over -- Pope Francis is trying to tackle the issue now, though as delicately as possible, but at least has acknowledged the pain of the victims, many who turned to drugs and alcohol or even suicide.

Being in the same occupation, I was riveted watching the movie from beginning to end. We don't see much of the team's dynamics except that they are completely focused on their goal, and they like being able to keep their work confidential even to their colleagues.

Nevertheless, Spotlight reminded me of my job -- to inform the public of what's really going on. Hong Kong is an interesting city because it too is like Boston in how the wealthy and powerful determine how much a story can be reported.

And with the growing cold climate that President Xi Jinping is casting over the media sector these days, more restrictions will be an added challenge. We must have courage.