When I reached my workplace yesterday, I saw many students and colleagues donning their traditional costumes. It was a lovely sight seeing people in their beautiful and colourful outfit. I admired the Chinese Cheongsam, the Indian Sharwani and the Malay Baju Kurong.
I really liked seeing people wearing these costumes. In some way, it shows that we still have the spirit of our roots. It was a warm day, but no one complained as today was once in a year that we could dress up like this.
I feel thankful that we are living in a fairly meritocratic country. Many of us has friends who are of different races and it’s so natural for us to mesh together. I feel amazed at why some outsiders are so surprised that we could get along so easily.
At the same time, lets not forget that about 40 years ago, Singapore wasnt as meritocratic as it was then. In 1964, Singapore witnessed the riots between the Chinese and the Malays.
I feel for the two women, Che Aminah, who has been taking care of Maria Hertogh since she was a baby till she was about 13. You can see how close they are to each other in the picture. Maria has been brought up as a Muslim, Malay girl.
Eventually, the biological mother, Mrs Hertogh came back and demanded for her child. Even after fighting for custodial rights for Maria, Che Amina’s efforts was in vain as the rights were won by Mrs Hertogh.
I suppose Mrs Hertogh was too upset by the incident to think clearly and felt that it was the right thing to do to put Maria in a convent and made her renounce her religion and then later moved them back to the Netherlands.
But I don’t believe that she really did get used to life there and I really feel bad for Maria, whom was fervently wishing for her life back in Singapore, not being able to visit Che Aminah in her dying days.
Such a tragedy.
We need to appreciate the freedom and liberty that we have now. I pray that another incident like the Maria Hertogh incident doesnt happen.
But one question nags my mind. If we emphasized so much on race, does that make us racist?
My favourite dinner partner, Geri, recommended me to head to Pasta Cafe at Takashimaya. She recommended me this place after raving about how wonderful the pasta was here before it underwent renovations.
When reached there on Wednesday night, the place was already quite full of diners. We queued behind a group of roughly 6 people.
The place
It was a nicely decorated place, clean and bright, it looked like an American styled diner. I observed the waitresses manning the area. They all looked pretty and young.
The service
We had to wait for a significantly long time for an empty table. Geri noticed that there was an empty table that were left for about 10 mins and that the group queueing before us had to finally request the waitresses to sit them there.
After waiting for another 10 minutes, I asked Geri if she wanted to have dinner at another place, when we were finally led to a table.
The food
Geri and I decided to have the $22 set meal consisting of soup+pasta+gratin. For the first course, we both chose mushroom soup
The mushroom soup wasn’t bad. It was thick and full of mushrooms. But it was slightly bland and I had to add pepper to it. I always believed that good meals should not need additional condiments to it.
I then had the Seafood Pasta with Tomato. I thought to myself, “No one could ever get a Tomato Pasta wrong. It is such a simple dish”. I took a bite.
The pasta sauce was so diluted that you can see the watery sauce in the picture. It wasn’t satisfying at all. It would have been significantly nicer if the cook would have drained the pasta and used better sauce. I chewed listlessly at the prawn and crayfish.
Finally, I had the Salmon gratin which was slightly better than the Seafood Pasta. But to me, it wasn’t anything special as it tasted similar to the baked pasta at Swensens or Amirans (which has since ceased operating)
After our dinner, we asked for the bill, and to our horror, we found out that it totalled to $63 with the 10% service charge and GST. My mouth almost reached the floor.
No. We wont be going to this place anymore. For that price, we’d have a nicer and lovelier and more genuine pasta dishes at La Forketta.
I am a long time admirer of Mr Lee ever since I’ve read his comics from the Sunday times. Mr Lee is a truly witty, funny and talented comic artist. I still remember back in 1997, when he still hosted his cartoons in Singnet. Then for about 2 years ago, he started his own blog and I was really engaged by his comics.
Mr Lee is a very talented man and enjoy reading his creations.
2. Bubblemunche
I stumbled upon his blog in early 2005 and was hooked on it since. He was a really funny guy. His entries ranges from all sorts of topics. Some of the memorable and touching one was the one to ‘Boon Lay girl from a Pasir Ris guy’ which I found incredibly sweet. I’d always secretly wish that the guy will get the girl in the end.
I guess we wouldn’t find out the ending as he has stopped blogging at about mid 2005 🙁
I only got to know her after she nominated an article about me and Cartcart for tomorrow.sg. How she stumbled onto my blog, I still have no idea.
Mari is one of the most sweetest person’s that I am blessed to know online. She exudes calmness and is beautiful, inside and out. I enjoy reading her thought provoking posts.
Sha is a talented guy with many merits. He’s a funny blogger, he is shrewd and has the know-hows on making money on the internet. He has a really fit and toned body but most of all, he is a decent, humble and down to earth guy.
It’s not hard to like him.
5. Reversed Edge
Ridzuan was a friend of Juli’s and I got to know about his blog through her. His blog was deep, profound and thought provoking. He would write about a multitude of things about life, about reverberations and I looked forward to reading his next entry.
Why he closed his blog, still remains a mystery to me.
I got to know about him while we were at a Secondlife meet and I find him an interesting, intelligent and thougtful person. It’s amazing to find out at such a young age, he was teaching for a Polytechnic.
Even in her 50’s, my mum is an exercise buff. Since being interested in exercise some years back, she is now currently participating in various activites, such as line dancing, kebaya-robics and conducting an aerobics class herself!
Now that she’s already completed her Basic Exercise Course, she is currently persuing her Advanced Exercise Course that will make her a qualified aerobics trainer. Wow! I really admire her determination.
That makes me reflect about myself.
This is me at 12 years old
I used to be a really skinny kid. For years, I’ve been pretty much that way. I’d enjoy my daily run in the Jurong Lake Park.
This is me at about 22 years old
But since I’ve started working, I’ve really neglected myself. I don’t exercise at all and it shows. Clothes that were loose some years back, are really very snug now. Some of which, were deemed as inappropriate by my mum that she actually threw it away!
My weight in 2005. I’m 65kg now.
Sometimes I look at myself and I wonder how I got so large. (Ok, so I binge eat a lot) Back in school, I’d never go more than 50 kilograms. Nowadays, I’d be lucky if I dont tip the 65kg mark. Lets face it, I’m almost overweight.
But the truth is, it does get depressing when trying to buy new clothes, finding that you need several size larger than what you normally used to wear.
It is even worse now that I feel more lethargic than have ever felt before. I can’t do 2.4 km without gasping of air. Just climbing up the stairs will leave me panting.
Just on Monday, after having dinner with some of the ping.sg gang, I was so tired, that I dropped my scooter and almost couldn’t concentrate on the road.
This is bad.
Luckily for me, I have my mum for guidance. Even my good friend Juli is asking me to join her for Hatha Yoga. At least with friends, they give you some form of motvation. Hopefully it won’t be so bad after all.
Just signed up for the course at the newly opened Jurong West Sports Complex and was just astounded at how lovely the place was. I explored the building and I found the place to be as posh as a country club.
The view from the gym and the dance hall was really picturesque. In the distance, you can see bungalows and a temple, all surrounded by trees.
And I don’t even have to pay that much for attending a course here as the sports complex is government funded. 12 sessions is about $76. I think that’s more affordable than a commercial one.
I think I will like it here.
p.s I don’t believe in diet pills and I don’t intend to take it.
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 5 pm and only reached Sorrento at about 10 pm. We would have reached there earlier but we misread the sign and turned to the A30 direction on the highway 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 recommended 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 it was a Napoli style pizza was made here because the dough was thicker nearer the circumference, while thinner in the middle.
It was delicious, but I still prefer Roma styled pizza though, as I like thin crust pizzas 😀
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 that was 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?
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 isn’t it? The bright yellow against the blue sky? Cart tells me that the people in Sorrento are very proud of their lemons. It has 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. The water was so clear that I can even see the floor. It’s probably not very clear in the video at the end of this post, but I could see the fishes swimming clearly. It was 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 for you to hear it 🙂
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.
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 ricotta cheese. It’s a really refreshing treat, not cloying at all. I liked it better than the chocolate one even.
We then went to Anacapri, which was a smaller island next to it, 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 delightfully 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 to Napoli to say our goodbyes to Fabrizio who 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.
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 and then we rushed 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.
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!
One of the reason in my visiting Cartcart was to give him 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 9.30 am to 11.30 am.
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 was 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 a lot 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 need for the translator. But we were all able to speak in English, there wasn’t 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 felt 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.
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 wasn’t 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. It’s 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 😀
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. It’s a typical Singaporean gesture, I think.
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. 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 doing, 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. It was hilarious 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!
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.
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-full of tourists snapping pictures with flash (!) at the scenery. I was stunned. They left as immediately as they came.
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 doesn’t 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?
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.
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.
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.
Another another lazy day. After having lunch, we decided to to go grocery shopping at a hypermarket, or what cart describes ‘commercial centre’.
There were so much variety of foods there! I had fun just looking at the interesting things there. There were 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. It’s 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. It was a little dubious to me.
After the grocery shopping and it was already night time. Cartcart took me to the festa dell’unita for dinner. Cart tells me that the l’Unita is the newspaper of the former communist party which has now merged with the left wing catholics. The festa dell’unita has been a mean to finance the party for dozens of years
I guess if Cartcart didn’t tell me about it, I would have thought that it was an ordinary night market. There were 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!
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 seemed 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.
There is a lovely little restaurant called L’Archetto Due in Trastevere, Rome. It’s 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 was simply divine. I love practically every pasta that I had. That night I had pasta alla norma which had tomato sauce, fried cubed eggplants, cubed salted ricotta cheese and grated parmigiano reggiano. It was 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. It’s 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 :
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. It was 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.
After dinner we walked around the area and enjoyed the night air. It’s 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.
I’d have to get some superglue and hope that she’ll be as good as new.
