You know, I was confused and wondering why on earth would she ask for a screenshot of my Open Office!
How I made a pair of culottes with 2 euro
There is a large bancarella near the Piramide metro station which opens from morning till the evening.
It can get a little overwhelming as there are an increasing number of unlicensed sellers (called abusivi) there, but if you’re diligent you could find interesting things there and I scored this skirt for 2 euro.
It was much too large for me to wear as it is, but I planned on making a pair of culottes with them. I’ve wanted one for the longest time. As you know, culottes are a pair of trousers that look like skirts. They are said to be great for lady bikers as they look feminine and yet decent enough so that you don’t get an awkward up-skirt situation with normal skirts.
I’ve never done anything like this before so it was a good practise using a second hand outfit. Even if I messed up, it was just 2 euro as opposed to having to pay 70 for new materials.
Researching online, I found a blog where it teaches you on how to make a pair of culottes. but since my skirt was already pre-made, it didn’t quite apply the same so I’d just have wing it somehow.
I basically de-constructed the skirt using a seam-ripper and divided it into two – each part will be meant as a tube for each leg, and putting the zip and buttons aside.
With each piece, I folded it, and measured the waist using my waist circumference times 2 divided by 6,28. I etched a line on that and added another 5 cm leeway and then drew a curve with enough space to fit my hips.
And then cut using the guidelines.
After that, all that was needed was a side stitch to prevent them from fraying and then to connect them together with a sewing machine. I left some space on the front so that I could add in the zip.
And here is what it looks like finished!
I don’t think it’s my best handiwork, as the stitchings look so rough and uneven. It definitely could be better but nevertheless, I’m childishly proud and excited of it.
Hence the same day itself when I was done sewing, I gave it a test run on Sam the scooter. It was fine enough initially, but when I went at high speeds and coupled with the strong winds, due to the large flare at the bottom … I accidentally showed off more thigh than what I expected. Ehm. I guess this might need to be modified a little more.
Today is Festa della repubblica
Today, the 2nd of June is a national holiday here in Italy – the ‘Festa della Repubblica Italiana‘.
This is a day to commemorate when Italians went to vote for the first time in 1946, the form of government they wanted – between a republic or monarchy. For a long time, Italy was governed by a royal family, but after the second world war, the monarch was abdicated after the result of the majority vote for a republic.
Typically on this day, there will be a military parade, showing off the various armies as well as their vehicles in central Rome. This event will be graced with a number of members of the parliament.
I’ve yet to visit one but for now, I’m just content on watching the parade at home. 😛
Riding a scooter in Central Rome
If you’ve ever been to Rome, you would have seen plenty of cobblestone roads around the Central area. It makes the area look charming, but it can be quite a workout if you’re on a two wheeler.
If you carried milk with you, it’ll probably turn into butter after riding around Central Rome for about an hour or so.
I am not a prostitute
I love Eur and the parks here with the abundance of greenery which makes it a charming place to be.
Unfortunately, this area becomes a seedy place when the sun starts to set and if you happen to be driving around, you’d spot a lot of night workers in action. You could tell by their skimpy, loud clothes and tall shoes.
There was one time when I was walking home at around 6 pm after my driving class. I was near the Laghetto when a car went close to me and a young man inside asked, “80 euro an evening. Is that fine with you?” The funny thing was that I was wearing a regular t-shirt and trousers. I didn’t even have a trace of make-up on my face. I shook my head, amused at the ridiculousness of the situation. And he went away. And that was that.
Yesterday afternoon, I was in a park near the ‘Square Colosseum‘ near Eur. It’s a lovely place with many interesting sculptures to see. I saw dads playing ball with their sons, priests and nuns walking and lots of people having a picnic. With the shrines at each corner, I was marvelling at how much the place gave me such a Secondlife vibe.
I was looking at one and started fiddling with my phone when a man came up to me asking me what time it was. When I answered him back, that was when he started harassing me with questions :
Thanks beautiful, Where are you from?
Are you Japanese?
Do you work here?
Do you want to work?
Hey, why are you not replying?
At that point, I was extremely offended. I am not a prostitute and he was being such a dick. I stared at him angrily and ignored him. But he didn’t get a clue. He wouldn’t leave me alone! I walked away and he continued following me, trying to talk to me. I wasn’t afraid, but he was so insistent till I couldn’t take it any more and went away on my scooter.
I could understand if this event happened in the evening, but I was there at noon and the more that I thought about it, the more pissed off I was.
There are people who said that the area has gone bad and that it’s best to avoid it. But I think that it’s such a shame because the more if we all avoid it, the more that it’ll be overrun and eventually taken over with shady characters.
Delicious vegan burgers at Rewild Cruelty Free Club
While I am not a vegan, I’ve went to a number of vegan food places where I had delicious food. For today’s blog post, I’d like to share with you a place in Rome where I enjoy going to whenever I have a hankering for a good vegan burger.
This place is called Rewild Cruelty-Free Club. Located in the bohemian area of Garbatella, this place might be a little out of the way to reach but I really think that it’s worth visiting.
First timers may be intimidated by all the images of animals being abused. The front door is usually locked and you will have to press the buzzer to be let in.
Despite the daunting façade of the outside, the area inside looks like a small, regular pub. The vibe of the place is very casual with friendly waitresses.
To me, this is a place where you would bring your friends to hang out and there are materials such as books and even board games available for you to play with. Sometimes there will even be live music and events held there.
To keep the price of the food afforable, Rewild functions as a club, and first time visitors will need to fill up a form and pay a subscription fee of one euro to become members here. This will be valid for a year.
There are a good variety of food here ranging from appetizers all the way to the desserts.
There was once the house special baked veggie pasta which was so creamy and delicious that it was hard to imagine that there was no butter or cream used in it.
I also had this ‘veganisu’ which was quite lovely. While it tasted ‘cleaner’ than a real tiramisu, it was lovely nevertheless.
But the thing that I absolutely adore here are the burgers. Of all the ones that I’ve had, all them were very tasty and hearty.
Here are some of the burgers that we’ve had between us :
I think this was the Miceneo – two seitan burgers with vegan cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions and sauces.
This is a longobardo – soy patty with crumbs, harissa (a type of hot sauce) brinjal, bell pepper and mustard.
I think this was the Normanno – Breaded soy patty, spreadable vegan cheese, radicchio, onion and mayo.
I think this was the unno – Grilled seitan, lettuce, grilled onions, mustard and paprika.
Portion wise, all of the burgers that we had were quite large. It was hard for me personally to try to take a bite in one piece on account of how tall my burger was.
We usually have our burgers with a portion of fries. And you could ask for condiments such as harissa, mayonaise and ketchup. Considering that this costs about 2 euro, this is a huge portion which is enough for two people. In the end, it was enough as a very satisfying main course.
At this point of time, I think that Rewild probably has the best vegan burger that I’ve had in Rome. The food is good and affordable. In fact, Cart and I usually spend less than 25 euro between us.
Even if you’re not vegan, this is a place that’s worth a visit.
Rewild Cruelty-Free Club
Via Giovannipoli 18
Rome, Italy
Italians goes to vote on the 25th May
Very soon, Italians would have to vote for the European parliament election.
If you’re in Rome, you could tell that it’s the voting season when you see a stack of political brochures stuffed in your mailbox, huge traffic where political speeches are held, as well as the numerous temporary billboards erected at practically each corner of the street.
A demonstration at Piazza del Popolo in 2010.
In a nutshell, Italy used to be a monarch ruled by kings till monarchy was abolished after the Second World War. Since 1942, Italy has been a democratic republic with different branches and a multi system party with various ideologies.
When I first arrived in Rome, I found it refreshing how readily accessible political media are. On the telley for example, you could watch a show where there is a debate about the pros and cons of of a certain legislation. You could even see comedians making satires of politicians. In fact, there was an edited political billboard somewhere in Trastevere which made me laugh out loud.
This is something that is non existent as from where I come from and to a big extent, I think that this is healthy as it promotes interest in politics and awareness of our rights as a citizen ad this directly reduces political apathy.
Nevertheless, there are still quite a number of people here that have no intention of voting as they think that their votes don’t count.
Cart’s expired voting card.
While I can’t vote in Italy, I think that this is a bad mindset to have because :
- It is your right as a citizen to vote
- Every vote counts
This is your chance. It would be a shame to just throw that away. Even if the party that you voted for didn’t win, each vote helps in showing they do have support.
If you can vote, vote! Don’t lose this opportunity.
Shoes. A true story
Attending my first instameet in Rome
It’s quite amazing to find out that it was already the 9th instalment of the worldwide instameet on the 17th March 2014. This is a day where instagramers meet up and explore and shoot an area near them using the hashtag #wwim9. It was lovely looking through the hashtag to see the entries from all over the world.
While I’ve been an instagramer for a couple of years, I only knew about the event quite by chance through a mailer in Meetup.com. I’m a casual ‘grammer who normally post pictures of food through my account, but I was intrigued enough to check out the instagram community in Rome.
The event was held in front of the monumental Castel St Angelo, which was a weaponry stronghold with a long bridge connecting directly to San Pietro. We were lucky that we had a ridiculously gorgeous day with amazing blue skies and bright, fluffy clouds, making each shot practically postcard perfect.
For our task that day, we were to complete several challenges using the following tags :
- #WWIM9
- #MEETROME
- #WALKROMA
- #TRAVELDEEPER
- #OLLOCLIP
- #FROMWHEREISTAND
- #THROUGHTHEFENCE
- #ISEEFACES
- #JUMPSTAGRAM
- #LEANWITHIT
And here are a few of the shots I took on my phone, most of them edited through Snapseed :
I didn’t manage to complete all my tasks, nevertheless I had a lovely time hanging out at my first ever Rome Instagram meet. 🙂
Just watched Godzilla 2014 and here is a sort of a review
I’m not much of a cinema goer. But when I got to know of Festa del Cinema, Cart and I decided to go for it as it happened to be the final day. The festa del cinema was an event where you pay 3 euro to watch any movie in participating cinemas. On normal days it would cost about 10 euro.
There is a small cinema which is just a few minutes walking distance away from where we live and we decided to go there as it was convenient.
There were a lot groups of teenagers and young adults conglomerating around when we reached there. We bought our tickets and entered the theatrette when it was time.
I don’t know if it’s the same for all areas in Italy, but watching a movie in a small cinema in Rome can be an interesting experience. The atmosphere felt as if I was in a stadium – the group of people I was with were boisterous. But it was not in an unkind way. It was more an unconstrained excitement.
After all, we were watching the much anticipated Godzilla.
Godzilla is giant monster that looks like a dinosaur. Created in the 50’s in Japan, it was initially conceived as a metaphor about nuclear bombs after the second world war. It eventually became a pop culture icon with numerous TV shows, films and other medium.
For some, it might be a little over the top with the monster being able to shoot fire out of it’s mouth. And to be honest, I wasn’t too keen on watching it as I’ve never been a fan. Nevertheless, after watching it, I thought that it was worth watching.
During the screening, I couldn’t help but be extremely amused when the projectionist accidentally put in the 3D version of the movie when we paid for the regular version. Practically everyone in the room were complaining and shouting at the blurry scenes and then cheered when the right film started. It was as if I was part of a modern version of Cinema Paradiso.
I don’t want to give too much spoilers away, but I thought that the movie and the filmography was a good homage to the original Godzilla series.
There were a number of support casts ranging from Bryan Cranston from ‘Breaking Bad’ playing the role of a nuclear technician as well as Ken Watanabe who I recognize from ‘Letters from Iwo Jima’, playing the role of a Japanese scientist.
The sceneries in the movie looked beautiful and lush and I especially loved the scene of the boy looking out of the window in his school, his classmates running out in the lush garden with cherry blossoms an irony when overlooking the collapsing nuclear generator.
Of course the biggest (literally) protagonist would have to be the king of the monsters itself. Looking as close as possible to the original series, almost everyone cheered during the scenes when Godzilla appeared. There were many action and touching moments to grip even a non fan like me. I gasped at many of the scenes.
While the movie was dubbed in Italian, it wasn’t too tough to follow the storyline. It was a good show and thanks to the very excited company I was surrounded with, I was enthralled and had a doubly memorable experience in the end.