Teacher : Where is your mathematics exercise book?
Student : It’s at the doctor’s. It has a lot of problems!
How living in Italy has changed the way I think about food
I was watching an interesting documentary about food recently and it struck me at how much living in Italy has changed the way I eat. Not sure if it was due to me subconsciously assimilating to the cultural influences here, but I’m quite surprised at how different the way I think of food now, compared back to when I was living in Singapore.
I blogged about how living in Italy has changed the way I eat some time back, and reading back on that post made me realise that what I thought was odd then is actually quite normal to me now.
So here are the things how living in Italy has changed the way I think about food :
1. I prefer to eat food that resembled how it used to be.
For example, I prefer to eat meat that has pieces of bones in it or when seeing a fish fillet, the skin and texture can tell me instantly what type of fish it was. I want to know that the meat really came from the specific animal.
Compared this to perhaps fish fingers for example, or other processed meats which tends to be mechanically separated. You could tell from the homogeneous texture when you slice them.
I’m not entire sure how this school of thought started but after sinking my teeth in a burger after not patronising a fast food restaurant for the longest time, it didn’t taste as good as I remembered.
I dare not say that I’ve sworn off these sort of things completely. But where ever possible, I prefer to eat foods which I can recognize.
2. I don’t crave for Singaporean food as much as before
There are days when I’d think of how much I’d love a plate of Nasi Ayam, or prata and curry.
I remember the first few years living in Rome, I spent a long time searching for South East Asian restaurants and many a times I was disappointed in the quality of the food or how expensive it was.
I’d also be travelling all around Rome to find spices and herbs commonly used in Malay cooking so that I could try to recreate the types of food that my mum used to make. There are still a few items that I have yet to find here, such as fresh curry leaves and pandan leaves which is why I don’t cook Malay food as frequently as I liked.
But in time, I realise that I’m actually okay with it. No point on stressing over it too much as there are always other good food to discover and eat. And I’ll save that particular appetite when I’m back in Singapore.
3. I make a conscious effort to read the labels
When I lived in Singapore, almost everything in the supermarkets were halal so making choices were easy – I just grabbed whatever that tickles my fancy.
Whereas in Italy, a number of items that I would normally take for granted may contain ingredients that isn’t good for me. And this has cultivated my habit of reading labels. The humble sandwich bread for example, most of them contains lard which I do not consume.
It’s quite interesting to read the ingredients in the packaged food that you eat. And the more I read them, the more I’m aware of what I’m eating. It surprises me sometimes when I read the ingredients that are added in food.
The indirect effect of reading labels is that it has encouraged me to to cook my own food wherever possible. While I’m not a chef, I do like almost everything that I made myself. There is something about eating home cooked food which makes it taste better and feels more satisfying to me. And not to forget, saves you money compared to eating the same meal thing out.
All in all, I wouldn’t say that I’ve gotten fussier about the things that I eat, as I’m still very open in trying new things. But living in Italy for the past five years has increased my awareness of the things that I’m consuming.
And I think it’s the same for anyone who’ve migrated – your point of view about things changes.
Saving money to lose money
I wanted to make a video update at the end of 2013 for my 52 week challenge. I didn’t had the chance to, but I feel such an achievement that I’ve completed all 52 weeks.
What I liked about the challenge is how it makes you more aware of the expenditures that you spend in a week as you track your weekly progress and how it makes you more creative on how to save more.
At the end of the 52nd week, the person can do whatever she likes with the $1,378. For me, I chose to keep it in the bank for a bit of interest. 1% isn’t a lot, considering how much banks earn. But it’s something I guess. I got about 7 euro back in interest from my bank.
However in Italy, there is this thing called a bollo which is a sort of service charge on any public service, like going to the specialist doctor, paying bills at the post office and signing up for courses.
Oh boy. It’s not a lot of money. But still … 7 euro interest, 34 euro service fee. Saving money to lose money.
Cart tells me that the bollo should be the same every year, and that I should aim to put in more money so that I get more interest to cover the bollo.
But till then, I might as well just put my savings under the mattress. Just as long as no one throws it out.
Going to a clinic in Rome
It’s like a warzone in Rome on New Years Eve
Last post for 2013
Goodbye 2013, it has been a memorable year and lets hope for good things to happen for us in 2014. May we have peace, happiness and loads of money! 😛
A year in a post
For the past twelve months I’ve been taking a picture out of my window each month to see the changes seasonally and now that the year is almost over, I thought that I’d share the things that I’ve seen these months with you.
January. There were no leaves on the trees at all and it’s very cold, which meant that loads of people get sick at this time and tend to stay at home and do random things. The only good thing about the cold weather is that the low humidity made me had nice skin.
At this time, I was motivated to use my new sewing machine, and thus acquired a few sewing magazines. But all it did was made me really confused. This month, I also started training for my half marathon.
February is still a cold month but I pushed on and hit 19km in my half marathon training, which was the longest distance that I’ve done on my own.
For Valentine’s day, I decided to give a unique gift for Cartcart, because I adore him, even though he snores loudly. I also made for ourselves mousse alla nutella, which we gobbled up very quickly.
Speaking of food, I realised that there could be nickel in the food that we eat, which is something that I’m allergic to.
This is also the month where I watched the changeling, which is probably the most depressing movie that I’ve watched in a long time. One of my favourite site, Posterous.com, closed down. And I realised that I really wanted to go to Germany.
I didn’t blog about this, but at this time, a couple of months has passed by since my accident and I’m really appreciative for the people who helped me through this very frightening moment for me and made me realise the friends whom I wanted to keep.
March is a fun period as the weather starts to get a little bit sunnier, and you start to see see daisies growing abundantly. But you’d still need to wear a coat as the weather is still crazy anyways, not making up her mind. Like a lady, best not to provoke her.
During this month, I found a place in Rome where you could find second hand English books for cheap. I watched and fell in love with Cinema Paradiso, which is a classic Italian movie that everyone should watch.
March is also when the international women’s day is, and since it’s a tradition here to give other ladies mimosa flowers, this day was my chance to to be like a ninja and stole some flowers.
I explored Monteverde Vecchio, blogged bout how mozzerella shouldn’t be yellow or solid, celebrated my FIL’s birthday. Got checked for the first time at the gynae, wrote about easter and saw a rich woman at a public school and wondered if the rich should be subsidized.
At this month, I completed my half marathon! 21km! Probably my happiest achievement to date and I meet with my best friend for the first time :-p
April. I love this month as trees are starting to grow their leaves again. With all the flowers blooming, and the new sprouts, the colours are so beautiful to see.
For this month, I spent Easter with my extended family and I did something silly. I made a video showing that I’m very flexible.
During this month, I got something in the mail that made me upset, and now that I’ve been driving for a while, I realised that there are people on the road who make me upset too.
This month, I went to a chocolate fair and it was awesome looking at all the different kinds there. And speaking of chocolate, I learnt that Kinder Sorpresa was banned in the USA. That’s crazy!
And for the first time ever, I participated in a soup competition! It was such great fun 🙂
Wow, look at the trees in May! While the temperature was getting less cold, we still needed to wear a light sweater as this month is still rather windy.
One quirky thing about Cartcart is that he talks too much. I adore him nevertheless.
And this month, my best friend Hema visited Rome and we spent an unforgettable time together! It was such an adventure! We went to a bed and breakfast in Tuscany, ate yummy food there, went to an area called Chianti and visited a winery and olive oil tour, we also visited Firenze, and then San Gimignano and then chilled at the hot Springs in Saturnia.
We also went to an outlet store where I was shocked at the amount of things she got, but I tried to be understanding, as she is a dear friend, and was in a very bad place at the time.
Me on the other hand, as I’m a cheapo, I made a dress for under 5 euro. And at this time I was missing a piece of home, so I made epok-epok. And I visited Eataly for the first time.
It’s June and we can finally wear short sleeved t-shirts again!
I didn’t blog a lot though this month, as my computer started to have serious problems. Nevertheless, I made a new top for just 1 euro and I also made kaya. Yum yum! It’s still a long way to go till the real thing, but it’ll have to do for now 😛
With another two months to go, I wondered where to go to in Singapore. For sure, not so much Mcdougals because of the Hello Kitty madness going on.
This month, I visited a gelato festival and saw different award winning ice creams. It was really fascinating to see. Despite all the delightful temptations, it’s been a year since I’ve lost 10kg and kept at it. I guess I’m doing good!
I’ve also updated my 52 week money challenge! (And am happy to say that I’ve accomplished it and looking forward to doing it again for 2014!)
July is when it is starting to get really warm so I prefer to leave the house really early for my daily walks before noon hits and gets really hot.
This month, I got to see an infiorata and hopefully the next year, I’d see the bigger version in Castelli Romani.
I made another top for 1 euro and with my Singapore trip anticipating, I made a list of 10 places to eat while in Singapore.
Cart and I visited the hippy town of Calcata and then we saw something really cool while on our way to Tarquinia.
Fasting month started, so I stayed at home and tried to deal with the clutter and made Fagioli Borlotti, rice stuffed tomatoes and made burger buns and found a really famous youtuber followed me on instagram. It made my day!
I wondered which computer to buy and felt lucky that we were staying at home at this time, as burglary is on the rise.
August! It’s super hot in Rome right now and during these times, you’d see a lot of shops closed and gone for vacation.
It’s also my birthday month. But I really don’t feel my age, as I feel forever 25 😛
Saw a cute Fiat 500L commercial and this month is also Hari Raya Eidilftri and it was such a busy day for us, not only for celebrating it, but also for getting ready to go to Singapore and when we were finally there, we needed time adjusting to all the changes there.
We took Qatar Airlines to go back to Singapore, where I found out that I’d never complain about the hot weather again. It was over 40 degrees in Doha!
I enjoyed my time in Singapore reconnecting with friends and family, and found five awesome food places we tried there. And I ran my first race in Singapore! Cart and I discovered a cool bicycling parking area and wondered why not more Italians take the bicycle.
In Singapore, I got for myself a pair of new glasses as well as a new laptop and learnt how to improve a runner’s knee.
Normally when I’m back in Singapore, I try to organize a family vacation, so we took Air Asia for the first time to go to Langkawi where we did a home stay, and I had the BEST seafood in my life.
As happy as I was being with my friends and family, I think after living in Rome for several years, I’m starting to feel a little detached though. Which, when I think about it, is quite alarming for me.
Oh. I also saw a really ugly car in Rome.
October. This is when the weather starts to get cooler and I start wearing long sleeves again and this is when it gets confusing as daylight savings ended.
This month, I experimented in making spezzatino di manzo and I found out that I liked it a lot. I found 3 gelaterie that I liked and since we are talking about food, I saw something strange in a pizzeria.
I still haven’t fixed my clawed bag. But I did figured out how to log out from Skype on an android tablet, shared how to do Tilt Shift picture easily and I became a total hipster and visited a makerfaire.
Our fridge died which became such a big drama for us till we finally got our new fridge and I joined a number of alumni pages on facebook and started aquagym where I unwillingly saw a lot of naked women.
November and it’s getting colder that I had to use my thermal jacket while going out. The leaves started to change colours and it’s been raining a lot. I’m also starting to use my car more and the scooter less to avoid getting sick.
This month, I admitted that I was addicted to watching peppa pig and I also saw the cutest and most adorable little girl ever! And speaking of the telley, I saw my best friend in there 😉
Cart and I found a new friend in the fridge and I tried to tell a difference between an expensive and cheap sachertorte.
There was an inauguration for Singaporeans in Italy where I met quite a number of Singaporeans in other parts of Italy. I visited Viterbo as well as Basilica di San Clemente. I also got a 100 litre Nutella jar!
This month, Cart had a piece of bad news and of course, we are worried for our future. Life is tough, but we have to move on.
And finally here we are in December. Wow, look at the trees, all bald again like it was in January.
This month, I start on probably the most scariest decision in my life, but that’s not as scary as seeing a dead rabbit head in my grocery bag but nevertheless, I managed to cook with leftover pasta.
I hear a bagpipe player outside the window, which is strange to me. I updated Marina’s Bloggariffic to wordpress 3.8.
I shared my experience on using minimalist shoes and was just flabbergasted at someone trying to cheat at the marathon.
This month marks our five year anniversary. Unfortunately, I got sick and am still recuperating. And just a few days ago, I spent Christmas in Rome with my extended family!
And thus concludes the year passed in a blog post 🙂
What to say when someone wishes you Merry Christmas and you are not Christian
The air feels festive in my neighbourhood, and it looks so colourful here with the Santa decorations, bells and wreaths on the doors and fairy lights outside the window.
This year is the third time that I’ve spent Christmas in Rome.
Normally the day before, we’d spend it over my in-law’s house and we’d eat a little too much, and talk while we wait till midnight and then proceed in opening our presents.
The thing is, Christmas doesn’t have much significance to me as I never grew up with it. But I am always happy to be included with my extended family – just spending time together, bonding over delicious home-made food, watching the telley and have a nice time together.
Even though I am not a Christian, I firmly believe that there is nothing wrong in sharing happiness together.
When I was about 11 years old, and living at my old neighbourhood in Jurong, me and my childhood friend Michael and his sister were celebrating Mid-Autumn festival. We’d be lighting up candles and then we’d walk around proudly with our paper lanterns. It was such innocent fun.
But then it was ruined when a group of kids came, walking up to me :
“Tsk! You know, you’re not being very “Malay” playing with paper lanterns. This is a Chinese custom. Stop it! You are being disrespectful to your race!”
Of course, being so young, I didn’t have the capacity to express coherently how I felt. But I knew that I wasn’t doing anything wrong and I was genuinely happy spending time with Michael and his sister. I couldn’t understand why anyone could be such a kill joy.
The irony now though, after five years of living in Rome, I think I am slowly losing my enthusiasm for spending Hari Raya here. Compared to Singapore, I don’t have a big family here. So when I try to invite people over, they don’t seem to share the same enthusiasm, which doesn’t feel fair considering that I do try hard to care when it comes to their holidays.
Is it so wrong to feel this way? Perhaps this is something that most migrants feel when they live overseas for an extended period of time.
What Italians eat when they are sick
Mangiare in bianco, or to “eat white” is an Italian term where you eat food as bland as possible with little or no condiments. The justification to that is when you are sick, you are encouraged to eat simple food that’s easy for digestion.
Some examples are grilled chicken breasts with some olive oil and lemon juice, minestrina (which is like a very watered down version of minestrone) and boiled rice or pasta with a little bit of butter or olive oil and parmigiano.
All them looking plain and devoid of colour which brings the term – dieta in bianco.
Which brings me to the theme of this post. I fell sick on my fifth wedding anniversary. So romantic!
Cart and I planned to go out for dinner at a vegetarian restaurant but as fate had it, I had blocked nose, horrible cough, aching body and most peculiarly, aching jaws. So we spent the evening at home instead, cuddling, looking at old pictures of us from when we first met and our milestones till now.
Despite all my valiant attempts at self medication, I still didn’t feel any better by Friday morning, so I spent the day crashed and passing out at my in laws, of whom I’m so grateful for taking such care of me, after seeing the doctor.
What to do? It is sick season after all.
My only worry is how this will be throwing off the momentum of my #rinazdoes42km training. I still want to continue it, although for now the most important thing is to focus on healing myself 🙂
