Category: life

On the last day when my parents were here, my dad left his sarong behind on purpose. I think that it was a symbolism that he wanted to return back to Rome someday.

While my mum left her knickers with a zipper in front … THAT I think she completely forgotten about.

Anyway, the first time I saw it, I burst out into laughter and asked, “What on earth is this? Why is there a zip on it?”

“Oh, that’s where you put money in. My friend recommended this when going overseas. For safekeeping valuable things,” she replied.

“And then what? So when you have to make payments, you reach down to your crotch to get them?” I asked incredulously.

“Of course not! You go to the toilet and take them out in advance of course!” My mum replied, matter of factly.

As you could see from the picture above, the zipper space is VERY roomy. I can even store my mob phone in there! Hmm!

—

This is a continuation of my family in Rome part 1 and part 2

Monday

It was the beginning of  the working week, but Cart couldn’t join us, as he’s used up all his off days and had to return back to work. So it seems that I had to take my family out by my own the rest of the week!

I quickly prepared some food and snacks with me, and as soon as everyone was ready, we went downstairs and my mum and dad were puzzled, “Where’s the car?”

I was keeping it a surprise the entire week without telling them that I could drive. And I replied, “Cart went to work with his car … you’re taking mine today!”

But they didn’t look very surprised. What an anticlimactic surprise 😐

Anyhow, it was such a pain trying to find parking in Rome. Moreover, I still needed a lot of practice in parking the car, so I decided to find parking near a metro station instead of driving all the way to the city center.

Even then it took us about 20 minutes or so, just to find a space for parking in EUR Magliana/EUR Palasport (which is full of office buildings by the way) It was almost fully occupied from all the commuters.

But at length, we found one! And I wasted no time zooming in the parking space! Thank goodness! And then we walked to the metro station.

It was my parent’s first time taking public transportation I think. At this time, prices for an ATAC ticket has increased to 1.50 euro compared to some months ago when it was 1 euro each. It’s quite a sting to be honest, to be paying 6 euro (and another 6 to go back) instead of 4 and yet public transportation here still have their sciopero …

We dropped down to Termini and pretty much we spent the next three days on the open bus. I love the Openbus! It’s a great and easy way to go around and see the city center and you can hop on and off anytime you want.

I’ve taken it before with our previous hosts like Daphne, and Chinmay but I’ve always enjoyed each ride. It’s relaxing having other people drive you around and not think of traffic, horrible drivers and parking.

This summer, there was a fantastic deal where you buy a ticket and the next person rides for free! 50% off! Me gusta!

One of the first stops that we hopped off to was the Fontana di Trevi. This fountain was probably made extremely famous due numerous movie classics like “La Dolce Vita“, “Roman Holiday” “Totòtruffa ’62”

There’s a saying that if you throw a coin in, you’ll be sure to return back to Rome (There’s also a saying that if you throw another coin in, you’ll meet your true love. The cynical side of me, completely disbelieve it)

Nevertheless, the monies are collected at the end of the day and donated to charities. And that’s a good thing 🙂

And here is Naz throwing a coin :

Next is my mum :

And finally my grumpy dad :

I do hope that they come back again, and soon! 🙂

Sidenote – I had the most interesting conversation with Nancy and Natalie about a website which charged a service for people to have their coin thrown in the fountain without having to physically be there!

After spending time at the fontana, we were all feeling a little peckish, so we walked towards Piazza Capranica for a quick lunch (I made tramezzini I think. I don’t quite remember. And some peaches after that. It was quite filling!)

As a sidenote, I remember watching a short film here with Kate Moss in it. Some Swarovski event, if I’m not wrong :

We then continued walking and I found myself near Bartolucci! This is an amazing shop where everything sold here is handmade and completely made in Italy.

Personally, I think that this is one of the shops that makes more sense to buy souvenirs here. But the only thing is that, the items are quite pricey here.

Like these super cute wooden kittens in uniform. I LOVE THEM! Miau! LOOKATIT! Polizia, Carabinieri, Guardia di Finanzia, Guardia di Svizzera, Polizia di Traffico and Scout. SO FREAKING CUTE!

But they are 4 euro each and will be 24 euro if I wanted to complete all 6 of them *thinks twice*

Next, we headed to Piazza Della Rotonda where we had a quick coffee in bar called Tazza D’Oro. Cart always said that the coffee was excellent here, and there’s always a crowd regardless what time it was.

And then we were ready to enter the Pantheon.

This was one of the oldest church in Rome. It started off as a Pagan church before being taken over by the Catholics. Which is why the architecture looked non-traditional.

There were quite a number of changes inside (I didn’t take any pictures) but compared to the first time I was here, there were loads of pews. There were also significantly more tourists which is why there was a loud intercom reminding people to be quiet (as it was still a place for worship) every 10 minutes or so …

We then headed to Piazza Navona! This was a place where historically, the place was dammed up to have boat races. Due to practicality, it would be impossible to do that now.

And instead, this place is now a place to see artworks and artists at work.

I also mentioned how the area was a spot where the movie, “Angels and Demons” were and how impractical it was to commit suicide here by drowing.

Nazry on the other hand was excitedly making his rounds, and he fell in love with a painting of a girl in a red dress, dancing the tango.

We were on our way to go to Castel St Angelo, when we noticed the cutest looking bakery shop called Made Bakery. So we stopped for a while for a quick break and we had the loveliest, most delightful and delicious cakes.

Not only were they BEAUTIFUL, but they were so very very good. The cakes were on the pricey side and while there are some reviews online saying that it was a tourist trap, I think that it’s worth going to at least once. The cakes are to die for!

And here is one of the two, very charming co-owner of the bakery, Francesca! As a sidenote, she’s a vegetarian for many years and was able to let me know what ingredients she uses.

So I got a cake for Cart, so he doesn’t feel too left out :p

Next we went to Ponte Vittorio Emmanuele where my Mum spotted something interesting. This isn’t Ponte Milvio, and yet there were people putting locks here.

We then walked towards Castel Sant Angelo (it was closed though) and hanged around the bancarelle there.

My dad got for himself a Baloteli tshirt and Nazry got for me this :

Frog keychain! Love it! It looks quite like Nimo from my Nimo and Friends collection. I’ve been meaning to make a children’s book, but I’ve been procrastinating for too long … grrr. *kicks myself*

From here, we took the open bus and took a short walk to Piazza del Popolo.

Piazza del Popolo, or people’s square is known to be the place where people hold demonstrations.

By the time we reached there, there were a lot of people selling roses. So couples had to tread carefully here or they’ll be bothered. I’m amazed at how well my parents are taking this.

There was one who started talking to my mum and asked her where she came from (I guess on the account that she was wearing a headscarf and that wasn’t very common) and he said that he used to work in Singapore but it was very difficult to find a job here.

Finally we went to Santa Maria Del popolo, which was just nearby before we called it a day.

Tuesday

Not sure if he was influenced by Amelie, but my brother thought that it could be nice to bring my lion plushie around. Cart got it for me while we were in Singapore and while I didn’t care for it then, I quite like that it has the word Singapore in it’s tshirt!

As usual we took the car and parked it near a metro station and took the metro all the way to Piazza di Spagna!

There’s always a crush of people when we transit at Termini.

The Spanish Steps is an interesting place to be with. During the summer, there will be a fashion events where models do catwalks up and down the steps here.

There were so many people and it was such a warm day! I was regretting not putting on my sunscreen. I keep forgetting!

We then stopped by the McDonalds here. Yes yes! I know that this is not a touristy spot BUT!

This is the first one that opened in Italy (not just in Rome) and as my mum worked in one, she was most excited and started to compare the things she see here with the one in Singapore.

Like this fancy hand dryer.

And then my mum seemed fascinated by this rolling trash bin by the way.

We couldn’t eat there, as the food isn’t halal but since I had to go to the ladies, we pretended to be customers and then get the heck out of there! Hehe!

After that, we went for a walk in the area. But it’s quite a dangerous thing to do as a lot of the things here are quite pricey. The roads are famous here for being full of branded shops like Prada, Ferragamo and such.

Then we went Piazza Barberini and stopped by to fontana del tritone for a quick lunch (this time round, I think I made Piadina)

And after we were rested, we then Cimitero dei cappucini.

This is an interesting place to go to, as there is a crypt with 5 chambers completely made of bones here. I’ve blogged about this before, but just wanted to update that after the renovations, the price has increased to 6 euro an entry.

While there were more things to see, like the museum segment which is full of relics in the beginning, I’m not sure if it’s worth to go there again.

See. My dad’s making a face :p

From here, we walked to the Quirinale.

The quirinale is basically the parliament house where government rules are made. We of course couldn’t enter, but there were always important looking people driving in and out of the buildings.

As the nearest openbus stop was in the area, we made a quick stop back to Fontana di trevi. As usual, it was so crowded with people! Tourists and buskers alike.

As a sidenote, I’ve been living in Rome so much that I could even recognize the regular buskers.

Like this one in particular. He’s a bit odd though, as all he does is to reach out his hand to ask for money 😐 Hmm … I should be a busker too :p

Anyway from here, we caught the openbus and headed to circo massimo.

We walked past the rose garden (which was closed) and spent time at the Santa Maria in Cosmedin. Here, there is a lovely lovely orange garden.

Oranges are not in season at the moment, but imagine how this place will look like in late October when all the oranges turn orange and the smell of citrus in the air.

We stopped by and decided to rest for a while and eat the remaining bit of food that we had. The grass looked so inviting that me and Nazry couldn’t help but to lie down on it …

10 minutes later ….

Urgh! How rude! It’s our fault (as well as the rest of the people there I guess) though as we weren’t supposed to be sitting there in the first place! Hahaha!

Eventually we walked up to Piazza dei calieri di malta to see this charming door. Peek in the keyhole and you’d see something very interesting!

Nazry spotted out these monks and decided to run after them for a photo. They explained to Nazry that they were on a spiritual trip and were trying to survive without spending any money. I’m not sure if there’s a term for that. Is there the right term for that?

Anyway, it was starting to be nightfall and we headed towards the nearest metro and had coffee at a bar which was along the way. This is marocchino by the way.

And then we went in the metro to go home.

Oh! This is quite random, but I do love what this lady is wearing while we were in the metro! So green! cheerful!

Cart was already home and decided to make caponata for dinner! This is made mainly of aubergine and bell pepper and celery and is so yummy! I think this is another vegan food?!

It’s quite a hassle to do, but it’s worth it! I think I’ll blog about making this too in a future blog post 🙂

While I made polpette. I was halfway making the meatballs when I found out that we ran out of eggs. It’s an important ingredient, so I was forced to to rush to the supermarket. Luckily I had a scooter to zoom me there … It was almost closing even!

But in the end, we had a dinner fit for a maharaja. Yum yum!

Wednesday

So as usual, we took the car, then the metro and we went on a quick final round with the red openbus. As you could see, this is one of the reason why I preferred to park near the metro … so I avoid  getting fined like this!

It was our last day for being able to travel with the openbus, so I thought that it would be opportune to see all the sights, one last round.

We then stopped for lunch at a piazza (this time we devoured and finished all the meatballs with biscuits) and bothered the pigeons there while waiting for the green archeobus to arrive.

Taking the archeobus was something that I’ve never done before. Unlike the red openbus that focuses on the city center, the green bus passes through the archaeology sites like the catacombs and the basilicas.

If I planned better, I would have chosen one of the places to stop to. I’m pretty sure all these are interesting things to be seen.

Nevertheless, I think we had a restful trip here as we did was practically sit and look at the sites from up the bus. My mum quipping that it felt that she was travelling through time, as there were absolutely no trace of the city center for the hour that we were in the bus.

After our trip on the archeobus, we stopped by La Bocca della Verita. There was a huge line of people queuing up to put their hands in the mouth.

It’s said that during ancient times if you were telling a lie, your hand will be chopped off. But according to history, there is a man behind the hole who will have to judge if the person is telling the truth or not.

Anyway, my main intention in coming here is to eat pastries at Cristalli di Zucchero. This is a pastry shop which has beautiful pastries!

This was what my dad had. A sort of mixed woodberries fruit tart.

This was what my brother had, this one had rose essence in it

This one was what I had. If I’m not wrong, this one has pistacchio in it.

While my mum had mini brownies (but brownies don’t look very pretty, so I didn’t take a picture of that) :p

After our afternoon tea, we went for a a quick look at the Farmer’s market nearby where I learnt to make fresh egg pasta! It’s closed at the moment, and will only be open during weekend mornings.

We then had a quick walk on Circo Massimo and I asked everyone to visualise how the place will look like with horses racing around and with podiums with people sitting in, watching.

And then we took the metro back to reach the car … but instead of driving home, I thought that it was the perfect opportunity to end the day in Gianicolo.

Gianicolo is one of the highest spot in Rome and from here, you could see an overview of all of the important monuments there are in Rome.

While my family was busy looking at the view and taking pictures, to be honest, I was feeling a little sad already as it’s beginning to be precious little time that I had left with my family.

We left Gianicolo as it starts to be nightfall, and it was quite stressful trying to get home from here. Probably the wrong moment to be driving, as it was rush hour and there were so many cars on the road and you know how Roman drivers are … impatient! I was almost ready to lose my cool when one lady was close in hitting me and still had the cheek to curse at me!

I was just thankful that we all got back home safely.

Anyway, after cooking dinner all these while, my mum insisted that Cart and I don’t  cook this time round. So we waited for Cart to get back from work and I suggested that we go out for dinner.

Cart changed and we took his car (at this time, I was completely NOT in the mood to drive and exhausted. It was such a nightmare!!!)

We went to Piazza San Cosimato where we went to Planet Kebab, one of my favourite middle-eastern restaurants. There were quite a number of delicious items to choose from.

This is my couscous misto, and I do adore it. The meat is tender and rich and creamy and flavourful and just delicious.

The rest of my family had briyani, falafel and kebab. I was amused at how my mum was commenting before starting to eat, “What small plates!” But in the end, found it challenging to finish the food … Don’t be deceived by the size of the plate, because the dish is quite deep! Hehehe!

After our delicious dinner, we walked to Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere. Here, there is probably one of the oldest christian church in Rome. There are also regular performers here. It’s a nice place to just hang out.

And then finally we walked to Piazza Trilusa (you’ll always see a crowd of people here, sitting on by the steps) and at the side, you’ll see a monument of this famous Roman poet where one of the poems that he wrote was :

“Mentre me leggo er solito giornale spaparacchiato all’ombra d’un pajaro, vedo un porco e je dico: — Addio, maiale! —Vedo un ciuccio e je dico: — Addio, somaro! —Forse ste bestie nun me capiranno, ma provo armeno la soddisfazione de poté di’ le cose come stanno senza paura de finì in prigione”.

It was quite funny (though dark humour) to me. In my lousy Italian, it translates more or less (might not be accurate!)

While reading my newspaper as usual, I saw a shadow on the window and I saw a pig … I say,”Go away swine!” Then I see a donkey … I say, “Go away ass!” Maybe these beasts do not understand me, but at least I have the satisfaction of saying what I think without fearing of being in jail!

I quite like that.

To continue from the last post, here is how we spend the weekend!

Saturday

It was a saturday, and one of the things that Cart and I tend to do today is to go grocery shopping. We like to go for fresh produce at Mercato Piazza San Giovanni di Dio. This is a farmers market where you could get vegetables, fruits and flowers.

One could also get freshly made foodstuff such as bread, pizza and cakes, as well as cheese. This is like the original supermarket!

While a wet market isn’t a new concept in Singapore, there were several variants in the produce – such European fruits and vegetables compared to it’s Asian counterparts.

Nevertheless, you could find a lot of Asian items (and a large amount of fresh vegetables) that were available here. So I didn’t really that much issues when I do want to cook Malay food.

Like Kangkong. I was most surprised to see them around the first time. They weren’t the best quality (and probably not the freshest) due to it being imported from far away, but it was acceptable. I stir fried it to make it as an accompaniment with Nasi Lemak.

As expected, my family was quite excited to be here, looking around and grabbing anything that interests them, especially the fruits.

Mum was most intrigued by the peaches exclaiming that she’s only eaten them pretty much only in cans and was excited at the thought of being able to eat them in their natural state. While my dad kept buying grapes … like 5kg (on top of the grapes he already previously bought just two days prior) … I … err … don’t know what to say.

As we happened to go past this area on our way home, we headed to the marcelleria (butchery) that I normally go to. As we are Muslims, we could only consume meats which was halal.

And this one was the nearest one from home, that I know of. Not walking distance, but relatively easy for me to reach there as it’s just a 10 minutes scooter ride from home. The other Halal butchery that I know of is in Mercato Esquillino, but it’s in the central area and too much of a hassle to go to on a regular basis.

I took the chance to get some meat while my family took a look around the shop. By chance, they spotted a pack of dried Moroccan mint and they loved drinking mint tea ever since our trip to the mosque the day before, so they got for themselves several packs (even when the shopkeeper said that one stalk was enough for a pot! And there were many fistfuls of stalks in one pack)

By the way on our way back, we noticed this :

My family seems amused that there is a shop called upim in Italy as there is a Malay cartoon series called Upin & Ipim.

And at length, we reached back home! And it was just the right time for lunch, so we cooked lunch! Doh! We had so much fresh food that on the spot, I decided to make pollo alla cacciatora with the chicken that I just bought.

While Cart made some pasta cacio pepe and fried some mushrooms with the mushrooms that my mum bought from the market. We’re a husband and wife tag team baby!

As we are approaching autumn, there were plenty of mushroom being sold. And my mum got some as she loved them, especially after our trip to Cameron Highlands together.

At first I was worried that it was a lot. A kilo worth of mushroom looks really fluffy! Thankfully it shrunked while being cooked. This was pretty easy to cook by the way! Just pretend it was aglio olio peperoncino with mushrooms instead of pasta!

And while it doesn’t look really appetizing, believe me, it was really yummy!

We rested a while after lunch and while everyone’s resting/napping/goofing off on the computer, I decided to put some pandan leaves and wrap them for the freezer. Super precious thing! I can never find them in Italy!

Now I can make Nasi Lemak and Kaya Jam and … and .. and …!!

Later in the evening we headed to Il bavaglino. I had dinner here several times before and I pretty much enjoyed it each time I was here.

My sister in law Paola, as well as my inlaws were there too, so we had dinner together as an extended family.

It was such an interesting evening. As my parents weren’t able to speak Italian and neither were  my in-laws fluent in English, I had to try the best I could in trying to bridge the language gap.

My mum presented some gifts to them, a Songket. This is a handwoven garment which is traditionally worn by Malays for special occasions. While, my mum left the songket as it is, so that they could have it sewn as how they like it to be, Paola seemed intruiged on wearing it as a Kebaya.

As always, we had a lovely food at the restaurant. And here was what we ate. I don’t remember which is what though …

I think my family liked everything! All except for one item which is the pasta with squid ink. For me, I personally do not care for squid ink pasta. And my family don’t seem to enjoy the artichoke sauce.

I think it’s an acquired taste.

I have to admit that it was a little awkward trying to translate (with how little I know italian) to my parents and in my inlaws. But all in all, It was a lovely night getting together.

Sunday

The next day, we went to Porta Portese. This is Rome’s biggest flea market and it’s open only during Sunday mornings. Passable on other days, the roads will be closed to vehicles and there will be loads of things see and buy to your heart’s desire.

I think that it’s something interesting to see. Just keep your valuables with you to a minimum and close to you though! Porta Portese is a rough area, and if you’re not careful, you might have your pocket picked!

Sidenote : I JUST noticed this giraffe scarf while editing this picture below. URGH! How could I have missed seeing it for sale?!

You could find clothes, be it new or second hand, jewellery, trinkets, bags, furniture, mekap, mops …. even pets. I think my FIL bought some love birds here.

My parents as always were looking for souvenirs they could get for the family back home, thus they took a bit of time looking at the souvenir tshirts. They of course, started to bargain and go crazy picking like 10 tshirts at once. I’ve never seen anyone that we’ve hosted be so WILD over touristy tshirts … Hahaha!

While Nazry and Cart went off quite a distance away.

While on the other side, you could find old and odd and curious trinkets. Things that you don’t normally see. I got cheap Milo Manara comic here one time (don’t judge me) While Nazry found some very old and very vintage postcards of Rome.

To be honest, I’m not sure if these people are selling the items that they do not want anymore or are selling stolen items.

It was said that if you lost something, a big chance that you could find it here for sale. So … did anyone lose anything in Rome lately? :p

After several hours being on our feet, we made a stopover to Pasticceria di cecere. One of my favourite pastry shop! Here you could find plentiful kinds of pastries to eat. But the one thing that I love the most here is, their cream puff …

Their Maritozzo is to DIE for. WONDERFUL! JUST WONDERFUL! It’s fattening, but WHO CARES! The cream tastes so fluffy rich and the puff tastes so light … UDGHLDGJLJSLGJLDJ *homer drool*

AND NO! I AM NOT SHARING IT WITH YOU!

Anyway, after our quick stop we walked to the nearest tram stop. This is the Ministry of Education in the background by the way.

And since we happened to be here, on a whim we decided to go to Largo Argentina as the numero otto takes us straight there. While there is a protected Roman ruins here, we were more interested in the Cat Sanctuary below.

So we could look at cats!

There were so many cats that you could molest play with, to your heart’s content! Long hair, short hair, playful, calm cats … so many different type of cats.

My dad was really tired at this point of time, so he decided to stay outside and bothered the cats there. Cart on the other hand, ran far away as he couldn’t take the smell. It was very strong … think of Janet the cat‘s toilet box, but multiply it by 50.

After we played with the cats to our heart’s content, from here, it was just a walking distance to Piazza Campigdoglio. This is the place where you could see a church (inside, it’s very beautiful by the way) with super multiple staircase leading to it. My mum was teasing my dad (who was feeling exhausted) if he wanted to climb up.

Interestingly, he answered yes! We didn’t do it in the end. It’ll be too exhausting for all of us. Especially when there is a much more comfortable path to use.

Like for Porta Portese, we had to be careful here as it was filled with tourists and a spot where pickpockets like to go to. And just so happened that as we were walking up the steps to the campidoglio, two gypsy women were hassling our family. I was walking behind to keep an eye what was going on.

Somehow as we were walking up, one of the women picked up a wallet and handed  it to my dad saying that he dropped it. But it didn’t make sense to me as you drop your wallet behind, instead she picked it up IN FRONT of him and I didn’t see any shadow if it falling down.

Luckily my dad just bought the wallet from Porta Portese, and it was empty. But … I’m not sure if he’s just saying that to cover up something …

Anyway we hanged around the piazza for a bit and sit down and chilled out with the rest of the tourists. My brother and mom went to roam around nearby. When they came back to us, they told us that they were horrified when they noticed a woman wiping her hair with water in the fountain. While nasone are fine to drink from, this particular fountain had bird droppings in them and was a tad dirty.

They didn’t tell her, so as to not freak her out.

From this point on, we could make a turn and take a view of the Foro Romano. It was extremely crowded! There were so many tourists, that it was hard to move around.

Just trying to look at this particular view below for example, took a full 5 minute of waiting for a group of tourists to move away (as they hogged and crowded around the start of the staircase)

And then we took a stroll around …

And we reached to Piazza Vittorio Emanuele. Near here, is a monument which was locally called “The typewriter” – as the steps makes it look like one. This was the monument for the fallen soldiers during the world war 2. I explained to my parents that there was a pair of soldiers here guarding a fire, but they didn’t seem interested in seeing them 😛

After we took some pictures, we walked down and noticed a crowd and …. HOT GIRLS!

Initially I thought that it was the cast for Miss Italia (which was going on during that time) but I found out later that it was an international competition for motorcycle showgirls. So many hot girls from around the world! I was looking around and finally asked one of the contestants, but there wasn’t a Singaporean competitor by the way 😐

Anyway, it was such a long day. By nightfall, we were all exhausted and we took the tram back home.

I wanted to head straight to bed, but as dinner is very important to Cart, he decided to cook the tomatoes that we bought the day before. And we make Pomodoro col riso! So yummy! I might make a video blog on how to make this. Plus this is probably the few VEGAN food that I genuinely love. So good!

The only thing is that, this dish is time consuming. Prepping time takes a while, especially when you have a perfectionist husband. Every seed had to be removed from the tomato, every spot had to be scooped off. The lids has to match the exact tomato … Bla bla bla.

After all the cooking, I think we had dinner close to 11pm!  After that we were all tired and went to bed! I think we all slept very soundly that night!

Our adventure continues in the next post!

Sidenote : My new Samsung Galaxy Nexus cannot be be charged anymore! Urgh! I’m back to using my Nokia E72.

 

The thought of writing about my parents staying with us from day 1 to the last day is giving me anxieties. But I don’t want to keep procrastinating, so I’ll break them into multiple parts. And here are the first 3 days :

Day 1

The evening before, I saw a status update by my brother.

He was nervous, the poor thing. And it was his first time flying. I felt his nervousness, but I was feeling more excited to meet them the next morning.

On the day itself, I was a little worried as their flight is supposed to land at 7am! Cart is NOT a morning person. But by some miracle, I managed to wake Cart up and we rushed off to the airport. While on our way there, I saw a rainbow. A good sign, I think.

As we reached the arrival hall, I went to look for them while Cart was searching for a place to park. Looking around, there were so many people. People coming out with their families waiting for them. I was amused at a large group of people carrying signs with names on them. It was like a convention!

At length, I finally I saw my mum and dad and my brother. And joy just kept flashing inside me (sounds corny I know) it’s been such a long time since I’ve seen them! And I gave each one of them a hug. The odd thing was when my brother hugged me, he said “You lost weight” Hah!

I kept asking them, how they were, how was the flight and their adventures during their connecting stop.

We went out of the hall where Cart was waiting for us in the parking area and we drove off. I was still feeling amazed having my family in the car with us as we chatted away. It feels so unreal! As it was morning, we went to a bar near our home and had a cappuccino and some breakfast pastries! Their first coffee in Italy!

And then we headed back home to get their luggage all settled down and I gave them a grand tour of our humble house and they did like what all parents do … which is to examine the cleanliness house. Hahaha!

My mum said that she was just happy that I was living in a proper house. Err … as opposed to what?

And then I got gifts! Haha! I was almost delirious at the amount of food that they gave me. Loads of keropok! (Cart is going to hate me, as he hates the smell of fish keropok) and loads of maggi mee! Loads of pandan and lemongrass! Kaya! And so many other goodies (not seen in the picture below!)

I think that’s enough to last me for a year!

And then I let them rest for a while as I knew that the journey would have been tiring for them. They slept for several hours. Must be really fatigued. Poor things.

When my mum woke up in the afternoon, I took her for a walk around the neighbourhood. Since my dad was awake, he came along too. My brother Nazry was completely out of it and couldn’t be roused.

Where we live, there’s a park with a cinema at the corner and a small lake in the middle. The funny bit was, mum was commenting that from the window, the place looked rather dinky. But up close, it seemed rather grand.

For example, my parents were amazed at the amount of pomegranates that was growing wild there. There were so many! They kept saying, “In Singapore, there would be no fruits at all from people plucking them” But here, every few steps we took, there would be a pomegranate tree all filled with half ripe fruits. The funny thing is, I’ve never actually noticed them before.

We then walked outside the park, for a quick ice cream. And from that part onwards, I saw some shops that I haven’t even noticed before. There’s a drycleaner here? After finding out that the drycleaner near us went out of business, I didn’t know that there was another one in the area! Well, we learn something new each day.

And then they went back home and slept again! Even Cart! Oh gosh. I took this chance to scoot to the shops to buy a toothbrush for Nazry. And after waiting for a while, woke them all up. They shouldn’t be sleeping at this time! They’d risk waking up wide awake at 3am this way!

In the evening we decided to go to have pizza! And we went to one of my favourite pizzeria – Il Secchio e L’olivaro! (I should write a proper post about this place) It’s not really easily acessible, and you’d have to pass through a really scary passage, but it is worth it! The pizza here is wonderful!

Instead of a personal round pizza, we can get to choose half a pizza or a huge round pizza that’s large enough to be shared by four people. With that, you could choose 4 different toppings.

I don’t quite remember what we had that evening. Clockwise from top is Napolitana, Spicy Marinara with anchovy paste, Provola cheese, and Mushroom if I’m not wrong. But I’m amazed that none of them liked the toppings with anchovies. They said it was too salty and instead ate up the few pieces that Cart could eat (he’s a vegetarian)

Poor Cartcart!

Day 2

The next day, I took my parents out for a quick walk in the neighbourhood. Here where we live, there are quite a number of stalls selling fresh vegetables. They were quite intrigued and then went crazy buying some fruits. My dad especially. I think he bought like 3kg worth of grapes *headache*

Walking back home, I’m really amused to see my mum taking a picture of the rubbish bins. Whatever for?!

After a quick lunch, we went out to San Pietro! I was nervous about the parking situation as it was extremely difficult to find parking here. Luckily we were able to find one.

As soon as we reached the piazza, everyone practically gasped at the sheer enormity. Of course, my mum started taking pictures. Not sure if if’ve mentioned this before, but there are spots in the piazza where you could see the columns appear as one.

After going through the security and attire checks,  we finally entered San Pietro. Nazry confidently said, “Lets meet each other 30 minutes from now!” And from that point onwards, my brother was running around here and there trying to see everything and busted his time limit.

My parents however got a little bored (I guess there were too many things to see that it got overwhelming) and wanted to leave even though my brother still wanted to look around some more. And that was when she saw the Vatican Post Office and on a whim decided to send postcards … but she took so long (we have a lot of relatives. My mum alone has 10 siblings and my dad 12) that it we spent more time in here than in San Pietro! -_-”

In any case, as it was getting late, we headed to Termini for an early dinner. As always, it was a nightmare trying to find parking there (especially in a dense area like Termini) so Cart dropped us near the metro to find parking while I took my family to have a quick look at the train station.

And then we headed to the Halal Indian Restaurant in the area. And as always, my family really scare me by the amount of food that they ordered. I mean, normally I’d be full with just one order but they got almost two plates of food each.

But I shouldn’t feel too stunned … because somehow, they managed to polish everything!

Magic!

Day 3

As it was Friday, we decided to go to the mosque today. The Grande Moschea di Roma is the largest mosque in Italy and possibly even in Europe. And thus because of that, I wore my baju kurong.

I think that it was a very different experience for them as almost everything was done in Arabic even the speech. Nevertheless, my mum is a very sociable person and she managed to even make friends with some of the ladies in the prayer room.

There was a bazaar outside, so we took the chance and had our lunch there at the same time. We each had a middle eastern dish like couscous, falafel and mint tea. There was also something which was wrapped in grape leaf. I don’t remember the name though.

I don’t think that it’s such a touristy place to go to, but it could be interesting to come here on a Friday.

After our lunch,  we headed to Ponte Milvio to see the bridge of locks. Do you remember my post about this some while back? You write your name and your lover’s name on a lock. Hang it on a post and throw the key away in the river below.

While there were plenty of bridges with locks around the world. Cart is adamant that this was the original one which the Italian poet wrote about.

After looking at the locks (Naz was trying to find the oldest lock possible) we headed to have a grattacheca near the bridge. A grattacheca is basically shaved ice with the choice of syrup that you like. Mum was already comparing it with Air Batu Campur that she had as a kid.

As we had a bit of daylight left, Cart decided to drive us to the colosseo!

While my family marvelled at this massive build, it felt so wierd for me! Me in my baju kurong! GOSH! So many staring eyes! But I made it work anyway! Haha!

The good thing about wearing a baju kurong while at the Colosseo is that now I have a picture I could use as Hari Raya 2013 postcards :p

The only bit which was a pity was I was completely barefaced. No mekap at all. Urr! I feel so …

In any case, my brother decided on a whim to visit a tabaccheria, and this is when my mum and my dad decided to walk towards a touristy stall.

And while waiting, without consulting me, they went ahead and went crazy touching here and there the souvenirs. My mum alone spent about 40 euro worth of magnets. And they didn’t stop there. After the damage, they went to ANOTHER stall.

I …. I don’t understand why you are buying these! I had such a headache trying to comprehend the incomprehensible situation -_-

The good thing is that my mum really knows how to bargain. She managed to get the price down from (a rip off price of) 2 euro a magnet to about 1 euro each.

In any case, after our adventures at the colosseo, we headed to the mall to get some groceries as well as show my family the daily items that was sold in Rome. I hope that they found it interesting.

And we stopped by the petshop where we were all amused by the hamsters. I was waiting for them to run around like this :

Hahaha! And I’ll stop this post here for now.

Check out my next blogpost where you’ll see more about how I spend my daily life in Rome 🙂

Hi everyone!

As you know, my family has been staying with us for about a week and a half. They just left for Singapore Monday evening. And all the while, this song kept playing in my head :

It’s amazing though how it didn’t seem too long ago when we greeted them at the airport and have their first coffee in Italy.

And then the buzz of activity at home with the chatter and whatnots. And then the headache of seeing my parents acting like little kids, running around Rome excitedly and me chasing after them.

Now that they’ve left, the house feels quite empty now and I’m feeling a little sad. Oh gosh, where did time go?

Nevertheless … life goes on! I’ll try to update the post in future blog updates with the adventures that we had 🙂

Sidenote : Hi to all the bloggers that I met at the Rome bloggers meet yesterday! It was really nice to have met you all!

Hi everyone!

I’m back and radiating (the sunburnt type) from a short getaway from Pozzuoli – a really interesting place to see while in Napoli. Will blog about it come Monday, but in the meanwhile, check out what I found ….

Prata! In Italy! I want masala dosai next.

Ok! Ok! It’s a bad pun, I know!

Sidenote : Could anyone check if you could leave comments on this blog? I removed a plugin so it should be fine now!

Hi everyone!

Hope that you had a lovely weekend! As for me, I’m so exhausted at hosting a dinner at my house. Nevertheless I had a lovely time 🙂

Anyway, quick updates :

Friday, we went to the Mosque in Rome to do our zakat. It was strange because all we had to do was to pass some money to the needy directly or put it in a box. Very different from what I was accustomed to in Singapore.

Saturday, I spent the entire day cleaning, mopping and tidying up the house. Prior to that, I downloaded some raya songs! So while doing the housework, I was blasting raya music. And because I was a meanie, I put the netbook right next to the still sleeping Cart. He could still continue sleeping despite all that hullabaloo.

I was also tuning in to the live stream radio in Singapore and listening to people giving dedications. I was considering to give a call through skype, but I know that I’d get nervous and then end up being tongue tied. It would be such a surprise if my family get to hear my dedication though.

On Eid itself, it was such a busy day rushing here and there. I wish that we would have done this earlier during the week so we don’t over exert ourselves in one day and I’ve told this to Cart numerous times. But every year is the same. These are the times when I feel extremely frustrated, but what could I do?

But first Cart insisted that we go to a bar to have coffee as he didn’t have any at all in the entire ramadan. We then went to Piazza Vittorio to one of my favourite Chinese Alimentari to get some Soft Tofu and Tempeh to make Sambal Goreng. But it was closed!

So we quickly decided to go to a Bangladeshi shop. Unfortunately we didn’t find the things that we needed there, so I guess we had to cancel out the Sambal Goreng.

I also got this drink though. So yummy! The fruit is white inside, and has large black seeds. Guanabana is such a funny name. It’s commonly known as soursop in Asia.

Then we headed to  the butcher where we found out that fresh chicken meat was over. We had to get frozen ones. And finally we headed to the supermarket to get our groceries.

Check out this giant nutella jar. I love it!

By this time, I was feeling nauseaus and bloated, probably from the latte macchiato that I had earlier on. I felt like puking and dizzy from all the vigorous walking and turning my head around, desperately trying to find the groceries that we needed.

So the first thing when we reached home at about 3pm, Cart made me a glass of brioschi for my stomach and I immediately started prepping as I knew that the food that I wanted to make takes a while to cook. Despite not wanting to cook Malay food, I did it in the end, because I really wanted to eat eat Ayam Masak Merah. It was something that I’d always eat during Hari Raya.

Cart fried some bell peppers. And together, we made quite a lot of food. I intended to give the neighbours some, but we didn’t have time to do so as when we were finally done, it was already 8 pm. The time when the guests are supposed to arrive. I guess we could do it the day after.

I also made Nasi Kunyit Tomato, just for fun.

Our guests arrived slightly after 8 pm. It was a simple, but really pleasant evening, talking, gossiping over dinner. It’s a pity that Claire and Alex couldn’t make it though, as she was really sick.

Alessandra and Arianna actually made and brought Torta Rustica and a sort of pie with pear and chocolate with ricotta cheese! So yummy! I was so inspired that I made Masala tea to pair with it 

And after the guests left, the evening ended with me exhausted, my limbs SCREAMING and yet feel obliged to clean up the kitchen and wash the dishes as I really do not want to see a messy and smelly kitchen when get up in the morning.

And then I fainted on the bed at 1.30am. The end.

The weather in Rome has been horribly extra balmy lately. Just yesterday, it reached to about 40 degrees but coupled with the fact that it was also extremely humid, it felt like an extremely hot sauna. In fact, the laundry was feel damp at the end of the day instead of the usual crispiness.

MIL said that it was the hottest that she’s ever experienced in all her life. And I think I was close to dehydration myself. In the afternoon, I felt extremely weak, just getting up to walk to the bathroom to pee felt like a tremendous amount of energy. Never in my life, have I ever experienced anything like that before. That was quite worrying.

And yet, I’ve been trying to avoid using the air conditioning, because electric bills are so high, and the auntie side of me refuses to pay too much.

So I switch the AC on, only during dire situations and I’ve been trying to keep cool with a couple of tips as below :

1. Wear loose light coloured cotton outfits

I love this top I got from a bancarella for only 4 euro! And it is so comfortable  that I didn’t perspire much compared to wearing a regular t-shirt. Outfits like these are  cooling because of the type of fabric that allows air to pass through easily.

2. Head to the swimming pool

A great way of keeping in shape and cool. Unfortunately for the people in Rome, the entrance fee is rather expensive, ranging from 10 – 15 euro per head. But if you search around, there are offers that can be found.

Like collecting Latte Centrale coupons for a +1 free entry to hydromania.

3. Close the blinds

Putting down the blinds will shield the hot direct rays from entering the house and making the room cooler. The only downside is, the house is really dark. But I’m amazed why we don’t have these in Singapore.

4. Open the windows at night

And when the temperatures cools down at night, take the chance to open the windows to let the fresh air enter and we can sleep comfortably without aircon! Just remember to close it back it again in the mid morning when it starts to get warm again. In some places, it could even start at about 8am or so.

5. Slather skin with prickly powder or calamine lotion

I’m so glad that I remembered to bring these with me while in Singapore! This is so old school and I’m not sure if the prickly powder could be found anywhere outside of Asia, but it works really well as they are really cooling.

The texture could render you looking like you’ve been flour-bombed, and having flour-y looking skin isn’t the most glamorous thing to see, but who cares. It’s better to feel comfortable than die in the heat.

6. Splash cold water on your wrists, behind your necks and your ears.

Important vital points to trick your body into thinking that the weather is cooler and not let it go into a panic “oh-my-god-i-m-so-hot-i-m-gonna-die” mode.

7. Take a shower before going to bed

So much more comfortable going to bed fresh and clean as opposed to going to bed hot and sweaty and bothered. I know that my mum would be worried about having arthritis if one showers too late, but I’m not sure if that’s really scientifically proven

8. The electric fan is your best friend

And cheaper than air conditioning! I also carry a portable one when I step out of the house! A low class type of air conditioning you could do is to put a bowl in front of the fan, filled with ice.

9. Drink a lot of water and eat light food. 

Hot, rich food will cause your body to exude more heat. Better to eat cooling foods like pasta salad, gazpacho and fresh seasonal fruits instead.

10. If all fails … (which is difficult)

There is always the mall or the frozen food supermarket section were you could go to for free aircon. It’s free!

If you have any other tips, do share in the comment box below 🙂