Marina’s Bloggariffic

Check out this really hillarious conversation while on our way to the supermarket and listen carefully :

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Another another lazy day. After having lunch, we decided to to go grocery shopping to a hypermarket, or what cart describes ‘commercial center’.

There were so much variety of foods there! I had fun just looking at the interesting things there. So many kinds of bottles of pasta sauces, it was mind boggling. There were at least 5 refrigerated shelves just for cheese alone. I saw rows of different types of bread but Cartcart told me to be careful as some of the breads may contain strutto.

Cart introduced me to the Chinotto Neri drink which I absolutely adore. Its such a unique taste, bitter and sweet at the same time. I dont know how to describe it, it may look like but tastes nothing like a cola or root beer.

After a while, we found a shelf which was selling Asian food. This was funny to me as I’ve never seen such peculiar looking food being sold in Singapore before. Its a little dubious to me.

Indonesian satay? Where is the satay?

After the grocery shopping and it was already night time. Cartcart took me to the festa dell’unità for dinner. Cart tells me that the l’Unità is the newspaper of the former communist party which has now merged with the left wing catholics. The festa dell’unità has been a mean to finance the party for dozens of years

I guess if cartcart didnt tell me about it, I would have thought that it was an ordinary night market. There’s loads of things being sold here - from clothes to toys. I even saw the picture frame which I bought for cartcart in chinatown Singapore two years ago!

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While we were walking I noticed a stall selling ceramic dolls and I admired the beautiful items there. My eyes gazed at the faerie section and thats when I saw this adorable faerie with green and white stripey socks. It was similar to my avatar while I was in cybertown.

I MUST have her. She’s beautiful. And at 16 euros it seems a good deal.

Unfortunately, she’s also broken from the trip back to Singapore :( I’d have to get some superglue and hope that she’ll be as good as new.

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There is a lovely little restaurant called L’Archetto Due in Trastevere, Rome. Its a really fun place to be at and you might be pleasantly surprised at what you see there. On monday, while we were there, the place was extremely lively with people - it was a lovely night atmosphere among all the charming and rustic buildings.

The food there is simply divine. I love practically every pasta that I had there. That night I had pasta alla norma which had tomato sauce, fried cubed eggplants, cubed salted ricotta cheese and grated parmigiano reggiano. Its actually really tasty even though the ingredients sounds like a strange combination.

And speaking of strange combinations, Cartcart had pasta al limone. The first time I heard about this pasta, it was very interesting to me as I’ve never seen lemon used in pasta before. Its made of milk cream and lemon zest. It had a light and refreshing taste and is really yummy.

By the way, Italians have a special way of eating spaghetti :

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For dessert cart had strufolo which is a folded pizza with warm nutella inside while I had Panna Cotta! I’m totally in love with this now. The caramel tops it off nicely. Mmm! How can a simple dessert taste so good?

The restaurant owner is a mischevious man. Sometimes, every now and then, he’d go to unsuspecting patrons and carries a toy-pizza and pretends to drop it on the patrons. Its really funny to see. And on the night, there was a gentleman with a guitar entertaining the patrons. There were so many happy, smiling faces.

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After dinner we walked around the area and enjoyed the night air. Its really lovely to walk around Trastevere during the night as the temperature was nice and cool. It was significantly less crowded during the night but still bustling with activity as you can see people lounging around, chatting with friends.

I enjoyed the night walking hand in hand with cartcart, enjoying each other’s company. It was such a lovely night.

To be continued

A quick introduction:

In October 2004, while exploring Secondlife , Cartcart and I happened to bump into each other. We became friends and then quickly fell in love. I decided to meet him in August 2005 and again in June 2006 while he came to Singapore for the first time in December 2006 .

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I was hesitant to go to Italy this year because of several factors. One of them being my mum discouraging me to go as she believes that the flight money could be better used for our wedding ceremony. I agree with her point of view. But at the same time, I thought that it would be good to give him some form of ‘hand-holding’.

So I chickened out in telling both my parents about my plans until the day before. Which probably isnt the best thing to do as for the past weeks before my flight, I was feeling extremely guilty. When it was time to go, both of them were very concerned but resigned in the fact that I had already made up my mind in going.

Chatting with the cab driver on my way to the airport diverted my thoughts. At length, I reached the airport, checked in and passed through the security check before boarding the 12 hour flight to Amsterdam.

Amazingly this time, the flight was more bearable to me. Perhaps it was because I was more used to it and the fact that each seats on the plane had an entertainment center. The person beside me spent the entire journey playing chess while I watched some amazing movies that I didnt manage to catch. Like Happy Feet, Letters from Iwo Jiwa and Udon.

In time, I was on the transit flight and finally reached Rome in the morning and after what seemed to be an eternity waiting at the baggage carousel and then a baggage check by the curious security guards.

security guard 1 : Come here. Whats in the bag?

Me : My clothes of course

security guard 1 : Open the bag please and let me see your passport. Hmmm …

security guard 2 : Pass me her passport. Hmmm …

Me : …

After the strange baggage check, I entered the arrival hall and finally saw cartcart waiting for me. What a most warming sight. It was worth the 14 hour flight just to see him smile at me. The web just cant compare to seeing a loved one in real life. I miss his comforting hug.

We took the car to get home. As we drove by, I remember the highway, the fields, and the rustic buildings. But when turned into a lane which I did not recognize, I asked him curiously, where we were going. “Its a surprise! You’ll see!” It was when I saw this lane and I grinned.

It was a pretty lazy and relaxing day. We made lunch together and then I passed him the newspaper from where I was interviewed on Secondlife Relationships. We lounged around home and I saw the changes that he’s done. After I slept away my jetlag, cartcart took me out for a quiet dinner out at at restaurant called Il Cortile. I read somewhere that to never say no when someone asks you out for dinner in Italy. Mainly because of the really good food!

When we reached the place, there was a large range of food that you can choose from at the main table. There were those which I recognized, fritata with zucchini, potatoes with rosemary, roasted bell peppers, stuffed aubergine, all sorts of insalata and others. There was another table full of desserts. Tiramisu! Chocolate cake! Panna Cotta!

Yumness!

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The next day, I joined cartcart with a couple of his friends. We drove to an area in Trastevere. We met Fabrizio first. He has been friends with cartcart since they were 8. I knew him beforehand from Secondlife and our chats on msn. He walked towards us and I was stunned momentarily when he kissed my face left and right. It was something that I wasnt used to. But its an Italian culture to do so between friends.

We went to an ice cream shop and I looked at the colourful ice cream being displayed and we decided to have an aperitif and gelato. I sat there completely mesmerized by cartcart’s and Fabrizio’s conversation. The Italian language really sounds melodic to me.

Fabrizio started to talk to me in Italian. I could understand parts of his sentences but I wasnt fluent enough to converse with him. I tried to use the phrase book that I carried with me but the conversation changed when Fabrizio and cart decided to ask me about Malay words instead! :)

Fabrizio had to leave soonafter. Cart and I decided to have a walk around the area before meeting up with his other friends. I liked walking around the area. Everthing seemed so peaceful and idyllic. There were people lounging around relaxedly. The temperature was noticably cooler than in Singapore.

We passed by a shoe shop and my eyes noticed an attractive pair of shoes. I looked closer.

Gah! 146€ is about $300 Singapore dollars! This wasnt even branded shoes even.*dies*

We came across a stand where magazines and newspapers were being sold. Cart wanted to buy the Secondlife Guide book. We were quite lucky as the stand was still operating at 8.30pm while most stands would have closed by 7.30pm.

We sat down on the bench and flipped though the book. It was the Italian version. I’ve seen the original version back in Singapore but it was nice to read together with cartcart as we recognized some of the residents whom were featured in the book.

It wasnt long after that we saw Paolo and then Luigi soonafter. Paolo was another person whom I knew beforehand from Secondlife, while Luigi taught mathematics in a university.

We headed to a place called La camiceria. We ordered a variety of food. From appetizers such as Mozarella cheese with artichoke and ricotta cheese with honey.

To Funghi Pizza and Camicia Pizza. I’ve left the fork and the knife as a size comparison. Yes! This is the size of a personal pizza! The Camicia Pizza was interesting to me. In Italian, camicia means shirt. Cart tells me that the cherry tomatoes on top was supposed to be the buttons. The camicia pizza was supposed to be a play with the calzone pizza as in Italian, calzone means pants. Personally for me, calzone pizza resembles a giant sized epok-epok .

We ended with desserts of sbriciolata and tortino ai cioccolato. I listened to the conversation. I was tickled to hear to Paolo and Luigi speaking in english. They tend to add extra vowels in their words and sentences, giving it a rather adorable effect.

Cartcart also tells me of a Roman culture whereby people may sound rude, but it was for the spirit of fun. I listened while the three of them poked fun at each other, some moments being over the top.

Another thing that I observed was that the Italians had a slower pace of life when I noticed the topics that they talked about. They were more attentive to the things that I’d normally take for granted. One example - I remember cartcart and Fabrizio standing next to a tree, looking up and pointing for at least 10 minutes. I found out later that they had found a bird nest and were trying to find the birds. I dont know of any Singaporeans personally who did that! :P

Paolo offered to take us to his home to see his cats and I said yes! I loved cats. When we went over, I was amazed to see three grown men being enthralled and completely entertained by two kittens.

It was an interesting night.

Here’s a short clip of the day :

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To be continued

Just got home this evening after spending a wonderful week in Italy with a very special person. Here we are in Capri - Cartcart, who is looking rather sunburnt.

I’ll update when I get a chance to. In the meanwhile, you might want to check my tumblr account for some of the pics and this short clip below on how to make grattachecca (Its like the Italian version of Ais Kachang)

And what a nice surprise to find out that I was nominated for Most Entertaining Blog in Ping.sg! Do vote for me! You know Marina’s Bloggariffic is definitely entertaining ;)

Also, I hope that you come to the ping.sg first anniversary party on the 7th July this year because:

• You’ll mingle with the fun loving pingsters and bloggers
• Free swags and awesome freebies!
• Chocolate cake!
• And yours truely will be the host alongside with Brennan for the event ;)

Past 10pm right now at this point of writing. Its the start of work tomorrow and I’m missing my Funghi Pizza and my Panna Cotta already. (Oh, and cartcart too)

Le Sigh

Its here again. The butterflies in the tummy. The nerve wrecked feeling. The europhic excitement. Tonight I fly. Please wish me a safe journey :)

Till then, Marina’s Bloggariffic will be on hiatus. In the meantime, you may wish to check out my twitter below or my stream of consciousness.

If you’ve been around youtube, you’ve probably heard of Esmee Denters a singing sensation from the Netherlands. A singing enthusiast, Esmee recorded her beautiful voice and put it up on youtube. Nine months later, she is signed up with the same label as Justin Timberlake.

Click here to listen to her singing ‘What goes around’

When you think about it, there has been a number of people whom has gotten fame through youtube. Jessica Rose who plays the fictional character, Lonelygirl15 started out on youtube about a year ago. Presently, she has been casted to act alongside Lindsay Lohan. Personally for me though, the LG15 series has jumped the shark with the present storyline.

And not forgetting youtubers like Boh3m3, Bowiechick, Thewinekone, Happyslip as well as Singaporean Steven Lim whom has infused their own personal style into the videos that they have put up. Youtube is a great place to share, learn and glimpse into another person’s lifestyle. For the fame seekers out there, youtube could be a choice place to start :)

On the flipside however, youtube can be detrimental for some people. Remember the star wars kid? Some months after the video of him spinning around with a stick was put up, he was diagnosed with depression from the tauntings of schoolmates and dropped out of school. Prisoners of youtube is an excellent read about how youtube has effected the lives several people.

Personally for me, I think that what we upload online is up to our own perogative as long it is within social standards. And to watch how we behave in public because who knows, somewhere out there, someone could be filming us. In Singapore, we have a somewhat equivalent, Singapore Seen which shows some of the happenings, both good and bad around here.

As for me, I think I’ll just cash in on the bandwagon like Esmee. Who knows, what’ll happen 9 months from now, hehehe :P

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Geri asked me out for dinner at the Manhattan Fish Market last night.

This was the first time that I’ve eaten here. Interestingly, there doesnt seem to be much publicity about this place. The only time when I heard about the Manhatan Fish Market was when PniiWof blogged about it not too long ago.

The restaurant was nice and cosy. Geri thought that the place felt more upmarket. I thought that the reason could be because we were at Plaza Singapura where there were more well heeled people around. I spent quite a while thinking of what to order. There was a good range of varieties there.

For our appetizer, we had the Sizzling Louisiana Prawns. I really liked the cream sauce. It was a nice mix of savoury and tang which made it perfect for dipping with the baguette bread that accompanied it. Mmm .. really good.

For our main course, we shared a Manhattan Seafood Platter for two. The way that it was served was quite interesting. I was quite surprised to see the person who served us arrived with a flame blower and proceeded to torch our food.

I suppose that this process was supposed to make it tastier than regular oven bake? I was quite perplexed. I wished the waiter would have explained.

Nevertheless, I liked the colourful array of our generous platter of Shrimp, Calamari, Mussels and Fish served on a bed of garlic rice and fries.

Mmm … The garlic rice was yumsch. I do love the savouriness of the calamari with the lovely herbs in it. I wish that it was juicier and tender though. Chewing on it was a little tough.

As for the rest, I’m quite neutral for the shrimp, the fish and the mussels. Though it tasted pretty good, it wasnt anything to cheer about.

Nevertheless, I think its a nice place for seafood. A nice and cosy ambience and competitive prices. Geri and I spent about $25 each for our food and drinks. Quite worth the price.

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As a sidenote, after dinner, Geri and I chanced upon the Osim Upapa. Immediately we went to give it a try! Geri wanted to try out her new Nokia n73 and filmed this :

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Ok. The real reason why I’m putting up that clip is because I’m very very very narcissistic and I like to look at myself :P

Not a fire, but a fumigation to kill mosquitoes. I saw the fumigation going on early this morning as I was on my way to work. The fumes exude a horrible smell if you have the misfortune of being near the smoke.

But the inconvenience is a small price to pay. Boon Lay, which is near the area where I am staying, is currently listed as a hotspot for Dengue. And this is quite alarming to me.

About 13 years ago, I had the dengue fever. I remember being hospitalised for it. My temperature shot up to above 40 degree celcius. Thankfully, I got better afterwards.

But when you think about it, the impact diseases such as dengue, SARS, foot and mouth diseases could have been lowered. People need to exercise more social awareness and personal hygine.

I dont believe that people are so oblivious towards it, its just that many of us are indifferent.

For example people feeding pigeons outside of their homes. These animals are scavengers and know how to find their own food without us. These people think that they are being kind to these animals. But the reality is, the more they feed these animals, the more they will breed. Eventually residents will complain about the bird droppings and the noise. In the end, these animals will be culled.

Having personally seen pigeons being poisoned, drugged, unable to fly away, drop off from their perch and then swept into a basket, their eyes blinking, dying a slow death was one of the saddest things that I’ve seen.

Now that the bird flu is striking again, I’m really concerned. If people wont learn from their past mistakes, it will be very difficult future for all of us.