Marina’s Bloggariffic

On thursday, Cart and I went on a road trip from Rome to Sorrento, Cart said that the journey would approximately be about 4 - 5 hours of driving.

We left at about 5pm and only reached Sorrento at about 10pm. We would have reached there earlier but we misread the sign and turned to the A30 direction rather than the A3 and thus wasted some time. I was confused to see many different direction signs pointing to the same place.

By the time we reached the resort, we were both quite tired and hungry and we headed to Il Capanno, a restaurant which was recomended by the resort manager. In Italian, Il Capanno means ‘The hut’. Once inside, I was amused by their figurines there

Cartcart tells me that the pizza in this region was one of the best in Italy. You could tell the type of region the pizza was made because the dough was thicker nearer the circumference, while thinner in the middle.

I still prefer Roma styled pizza though, as I prefer thin crust pizzas :D

Cart had Gnocchi while I really enjoyed my seafood linguine. Yum!

On our way back to the resort, cartcart told me to be careful at where I stepped. And thats where I noticed this curious creature. Cart said that it was a snail, but I’ve never seen one without a shell before. Have you?

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Early in the morning we left the resort to head to Capri. I admired the vast amount of colourful lemon trees that was lining all around the area.

Beautiful isnt it? The bright yellow against the blue sky? Cart tells me that the people in Sorrento are very proud of their lemons. Its been said that Sorrento lemons are one of the best quality and famed ones in Italy.

We took a mini-bus to get to the port of Capri. Cart and I were impressed at the driver who was able to drive at high speed in the narrow streets of Sorrento without hitting anyone! I also cannot help to notice that the driver was wearing a pair of Gucci sunglasses.

When we reached the port, I admired the charming view of the buildings, to the clear blue sea. Wow, the water was so clear that I can even see the floor. Its probably not very clear in the video at the end of this post, but I can see the fishes swimming clearly. Its almost as clear as a swimming pool.

We paid for the tickets for the ferry ride. As we were on our journey, we were amused by a young man who was selling and calling out “Water, Coke, Coffee”, but in his thick Napoli accent, we heard “What the —-, Coffee” instead! I took some footage for posterity ;)

Some minutes later we reached the Capri jetty.

My gosh, this was such a beautiful place. Places like these only existed in postcards and cable tv! I had to pinch myself to see if I was really awake or dreaming. We exited the ferry and walked towards the village and decided to have a tour around the island.

We took a slow boat ride and what I saw for the next 2 hours was like an interactive geography text book. I am so in awe with the beauty of what was in front of me.

There is a term for the rock formation thats seen in the picture up above there. Cant remember the name though. Looks like I have to brush up on my geography ;)

One of the most spectacular views was the one at the Blue Grotto where we went into an underground cave and you could see the sun’s illumination on the blue water.The colour is intensified by the white sands below. Do watch the video journal below to see the blue grotto in all its glory :)

Cart and I should have brought our swimming attire, for most of the times, I was really tempted to jump out of the boat and just splash into the water! By this time, we both have been quite tanned from a couple of hours we were in the open boat.

After the boat ride, we explored the island of capri. The vibe of the area was very touristy. Being summer, there were a large number of tourists walking about. Things costs a lot more here. My heart felt a little pained to see cart having to spend so much on just the boat rides alone. But being a gentleman, he insisted that we have a nice time and not to worry about anything.

We decided to stop for break.

I used to dislike rucola. To me, it was bitter and evil tasting. When I saw some in my caprese, I looked with disdain and pecked at it till I decided to just try and give it another chance. I actually liked it! When I had it in my salad, I gingerly tasted it again and found out that it was actually really good! It tastes so much better when it was in a combination with other foods.

And I find myself loving my dessert so much! Cart had the Torta Caprese which is made with thick chocolate.

While I had the Pastiera Napoletana. This cake is made of orange rinds, wheat grains and several things I dont remember. Its a really refreshing treat (not cloying at all). I liked it better than the chocolate one even.

Mmm!!

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We then went to Anacapri, where cart got a bottle of perfume for his mum. I explored the shop and noticed loads of lemon related items there, such as the limoncello and lemon soaps. The place smelled wonderfully of lemon scents

After we acquired the perfume, we headed up to the chair lift up to the peak of the mountain. Cart said that the view was spectacular there, but we reached there too late and they were already closed.

We were a little disappointed. But I saw that the clouds were already rolling in, and I think it would be too cold for comfort should we be at the top.

Unwillingly, we left Capri in the late evening and said our goodbyes to Sorrento. We had a quick drive in to Napoli to say our goodbyes to Fabrizio whom was camping there with his family and have dinner before heading back to Rome.

I looked amusedly at two adorable children in front of me, during dinner, playing some sort of kissing game and suddenly I felt very sad.

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Saturday was my last day in Italy.

I was calm for most part of the day, but when the last few hours, I just lost it. Its heartbreaking to do this again.

We dropped by his parents place to say our goodbyes before we had to rush off to the airport where I had only 15 mins left to board the plane.

I can still see him vividly, my last mental image of him, staring at me as he stood there, outside the checkpoint. I looked back, sadly, going up the escalator.

I cried in the plane again.

When I reached back to Singapore, everything was the same again. It was as if I have never left at all. But I know for sure, I’ve left my heart with someone very special.

We’ll work it out, dearest. We can do it.

A video journal of my last 3 days in Italy

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What you probably didnt see at the ping.sg party :

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I apologize on the behalf of the committee of ping.sg that the party didnt flow too well. I know that many of the attendees had to wait for a long time and had to sit through a long and tedious speech by us.

I could probably explain the reasons why the event didnt run too smoothly, but looking back, we have done the best that we humanly can - no point berating ourselves anymore as what’s over is over.

I do thank everyone who gave their valuable feedback and comments through their blogs. I have to admit though that I felt VERY stressed out and couldnt sleep when I saw the negative comments.

But I think this is a learning process since this is our first time organizing such an event. I’m pretty sure that we’ll do much better in the next birthday bash - Thank you for coming to our first party! :)

P.s Vania! Did you come? I dont even know what you look like!

Links :

• Clappingtrees video guide to the celebration (Skim through the 3 hour recording)
• Yuhui’s review
• Keropok won best photo award
• Paddytan meets 3 people at ping.sg party
• Sylv and chillicraps really loves to hammer things
• Eastcoastlife wins 4 awards
• Chillicraps thoughts
• Izel’s thoughts
• Teeming’s review
• Kevin’s photoset
• Adam’s photoset
• Arzhou’s review
• Jzin’s review
• DK’s self debrief
• Ntt thinks that this is the best part of the party

One of the reason in my visiting cartcart was to give cartcart a form of ‘hand holding’ in introducing him to Islam. We left home early on wednesday to head visit one of the largest mosque in Rome. It was open to visitors only from 9.30am to 11.30am.

It was a very large place. We tried going there yesterday, but surprisingly, there were less than 5 people there and it didnt seem that there were anyone who could help us.

This time round, we were able to have an appointment with the ustadz. We waited about half an hour at the lounge area and I smiled at cartcart. There were alot of thoughts running through my mind. I was nervous and at the same time, raring to start the first step to overcome one of our first hurdles.

When we were called in, we walked across the corridor and entered the ustadz’s office. I saw a young lady with a head-dress, one stout looking man in office clothes whom I found out later was a translator and finally the ustadz himself in his robe.

“What can I do for you, sister?”

It was interesting to me as the ustadz was from Saudi Arabia, and he was able to speak in English but not in Italian, hence, the translator. But we were all able to speak in english, there wasnt any problems.

We spoke of conversion, he gave us a booklet pertaining the information. We spoke of marriage procedures, he asked me where I was from, then told us that I will need to have an official national marriage certificate and then have a ceremony in the mosque itself. Then I asked him if there were any courses on understanding Islam like the Darul Arqam, he said no, but he will give cartcart a contact on someone whom he could consult with.

We talked a for a little more, and then said our goodbyes later.

Cart and I both knew that there were alot of tasks in front of us. But I feel slightly better, now that at least we’ve started the first step. We looked at each other and promised that we will make it work.

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Cartcart was adamant to cook some asian food. On our way to his parents house, we stopped by a place called the Ricercaterre where food items from around the world were sold.

I saw some interesting items and recognized a few food stuff there, like the popular Meiji Panda biscuits, Dorito chips and Nissin instant noodles. But there wasnt that much of variety of Singaporean daily foodstuff though. I dont think that I could get a dose of home here. Where can I have my daily Roti Prata and Nasi Lemak?

As this area is in a tourist spot, and you could see many different types of nationalities here, strolling and relaxing in the summer afternoon.

I liked looking at the buildings around here. As it has been around for a long time, the buildings looked rustic and full of character. I was even lucky to see a building with my name on it! :)

Beside Ricercaterre, there is a place called the Castroni which I liked to visit. Inside the shop is full of goodies like chocolates and sweets. Each time I visit, I’d be sure to get a bag of Gianduiotto chocolates and a box of Cremini Fiat. Its really delightful!

The first thing that hits you as you enter the shop is the wonderful aroma of freshly made coffee. There is one area where you could buy ground coffee or have a cuppa. Mmm! Wonderful smell!

The biscuit display and the chocolate display alone was alluring enough to make my heart stop and my mouth water!

By the way, this is my current wallpaper :D

A funny incident happened in Castello which made it memorable. I accidentally bumped into a chinese guy and we both simultaneously said “sorry!”. Immediately I knew that he was Singaporean. Its a typical Singaporean gesture, I think.

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We took some time over at the area till Cart’s mum called him up and complained, “What’s taking you guys so long? The food is getting cold!” We rushed and then finally reached Cart’s parents house about 20 minutes later.

I have to admit that I was quite nervous meeting them again. They are future in laws after all and I do worry about what they think of me. We entered the house and I gingerly stepped and peeked in.

The only sounds I heard was from the apartment was the television. “Where’s everyone?” I asked cartcart. And thats when his mum and dad came out of the room. His mum kissed me left and right while his dad shook my hand.

I mustered the miniscule amount of Italian that I knew

“Buon Giorno! Come stai?”

They replied back to me, speaking in rapid Italian. And I looked at their face smiling, trying to fit the jigsaw puzzle with the bits that I can understand.

They were very nice to me. We had lunch together and over minestrone, they were pertinent and asked me some questions. Like how my dad was, how I liked the food they made (of course I liked it! Complimenti al cuoco!), how I liked my stay here.

We spent some time later relaxing on the sofa and watched tv. Cart’s dad wanted to rest for a while, while Cartcart joined his mum in making an espresso.

He came back with a cup of espresso and sat down beside me and held my hand while we were watching tv. I smiled sheepishly every time his mum walks in the room every now and then. Its hillarious that I am a grown woman and I still feel very self conscious.

Sometime later we said our goodbyes, and I waved to his mother as we closed the elevator door.

Cartcart : How do you feel?

Me : I’m fine, still a bit nervous

Cartcart : (Jokingly) Why? Were they mean to you?

Me: Of course not!

Cartcart : Mum was very nice to you. I think she likes you

Me : Do you really think so? Wow!

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After the visit to his parents, we decided to stop by Gianicolo.

Gianicolo is a special place for the both of us. Cart took me here for the first time back in 2005 and we’ve made it a point to visit this place each time I was in Italy. Gianicolo was elevated, from here you can see many monuments such as the Vittorio Emanuele II below.

Click here to see a panorama view of gianicolo

There’s a little gelateria in Gianicolo where we’d have ice cream and relax while just enjoying the view. I can still recognize the guy who is serving ice cream from since I first came here in 2005.

I remember an incident last year while cart and I were in Gianicolo in the evening. We were standing by the lighthouse admiring the view and lights of the monuments below when a bus stopped by the roadside and out streamed a bus-ful of tourists snapping pictures with flash (!) at the scenery. I was stunned. They left as immediately as they came.

What odd people.

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We headed to Larchetto Due again for a lovely and sumptious dinner. This time I tried having the salmone pasta while cartcart had a variation of arrabbiata - Instead of chilli, it uses bell peppers. It was really delightful. I liked cart’s pasta better though, as it was tomato based. :)

The place was less lively today with no man playing the guitar and children with balloons. So it was a quieter dinner for us. It was still a lovely night, but in a way, I guess it was a reflection of what I felt.

Today’s experience was overwhelming to me. The visit to the mosque, the meet with the future in-laws. Cart even mentioned to me that he doesnt want me to become a cleaner.

Suddenly something jolted inside and everything seemed more real to me. I may actually have to stay in Italy. Have a job in Italy. Spend my life in Italy. What on earth can I work as here? Can I really leave my present life?

And I panicked

To be continued

In Rome, there is a bridge called the Ponte Milvio. Its a charming place where you can see see loads of lamp posts heavily laden with locks.

There seems to be a custom here whereby you take a lock, write your name and your sweetheart’s name, hang it on the lamp post and throw away the key in the Tiber River.

I first knew about this place when I stumbled upon Shelley’s blog and I became really curious about the place. Cart and I were along the way and decided to take a look. We stopped for grattachecca before heading to the bridge.

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When we reached the bridge, there was a tv crew resting by the benches - I saw them interviewing some couples beforehand.

It was impressive to see the amount of locks on the lamp post. There were some lamp posts which were so overladen with locks, I wondered how the posts were able to hold up!

Cart told me this funny story about how there were so many locks in one particular lamp post that it broke under the weight and fell into the river below. Initially, it was suggested that the locks and lamp post be thrown away, but there were alot of people who got upset about it. Finally the governer decided to keep it in his office as a mark of respect.

For now, according to wikipedia, a website has been created to replace the real locks with a virtual padlock.

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Cart and I didnt put a lock on. We think our love is eternal even without needing a lock! Or maybe we’re just too cranky, old and jaded :P

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Later on, Cartcart took me to Ostia, one of the beaches in Northen Rome. It was about 9pm and the sun was starting to set.

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Its quite a different experience to have the sun set at such a late time since in Singapore, the sun always sets at about 7pm. Cartcart took me to a place called La Rotonda for dinner.

Its a nice place, you enter an African themed area with nice looking decor :

We had a seat facing the sea and in my mind, I was thinking of how romantic is was being here. And for the first time, it struck to me that I was actually on a date with cartcart. Hehehehe!

Perhaps the stop to Ponte Milvio brought out the romance after all ;)

However the food here was just meh. Although we enjoyed our appetizer, I didnt quite like my tonnarelli with lobster. The pasta was too hard and tough to be considered as al dente. And the lobster was tiny! For 21 euros (thats about $42 singapore dollars) one would expect that it would taste good. I felt so bad that I wanted to pay my share for the dinner. It was just unsatisfying.

Gah!

We went back home after dinner and on our way back, cartcart tells me that we may be stopping by his parents place. Last year, I was quite embarassed that I was not fluent enough to converse with them. I wondered how it will go this time.

To be continued