I think it's practically free to take photos in digital media - so you should keep taking photos like crazy!
The top photo - you cut out the edges of the handle and the saucer. This is not horrible, but if you're trying to isolate the coffee cup, you need to make a conscious decision of what is going on at the edges of your photo. I suggest you include the handle and the saucer - as it's easier to crop things out of a photo than wish them back in! Before you click the button, do one last check of the perimeter of the photo and make sure you've included the good stuff and omitted the bad, inasmuch as you possibly can.
The second photo is, in my opinion, a bit washed out. Part of that issue is that you were probably shooting that at mid-day, where the bright, directly overhead sunlight makes everything washed out and generally blah. So, try the same scene (I do like the vertical arrangement, with the blue water, blue sky and buildings) during the sunset or sunrise hours. Do some research online for the qualities of light during those hours. They're my favorite times for photographing - so I am biased.
Overall - they are snapshots, but that's how we all start and you'll still find yourself making the tourist snaps years down the road - nobody is perfect all the time! I have found the way to avoid at least some of the 'tourist snapshot' look is to take pictures from different perspectives. So, don't always photograph the city from standing on your two feet (after all, that's how almost everybody sees it and you are striving for a different perspective, right?) or the coffee cup from a seated position (same thing applies).
Like I said, digital media is practically free. Read books, understand your camera and practice/experiment. If you can't afford a software editor, give picasa (google it) a try for a few months while you save up.
