Diary of a Singaporean now living in Rome, Italy
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!
And so, it has started …
I love my phone. I really do – it has an awesome battery life and can last for over a day with normal use, without recharging. And with the physical qwerty keyboard means that I can reply to messages really fast.
Unfortunately the Nokia E72 phone that I love so much is starting to get halfway obsolete …
As Nokia uses a symbian platform, it doesn’t support newer social media apps like instagram and those newfangled image editing program. Sometimes I feel so left out when I see my twitter filled with instagram feeds, but I can’t even sign up for an account with them!
And then, I can hardly open programs nowadays without having the dreaded Memory issues. Facebook app, Foursquare app, even opening just a webpage gives me issues. It’s especially frustrating when you are on the road, and am lost and want to use the Nokia maps but can’t because there isn’t enough memory!
But that’s the only app that was open …
There are days when I just want to throw the phone to the wall because sometimes it’s just easier to go without a phone rather than live in frustration. Already I’m getting jealous of Cart when he can log in apps faster than I do.
But urgh! I don’t want to buy a new phone! I still want to use this one! Why do phones get obsolete so quickly? At least I could still use my whatsapp …
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.
This video was shared with me by dear blogreader Jaz Moi about a man living overseas. It’s 14 minutes long, but it’s worth watching.
There’s one part where he says that in living overseas, the thing that he misses the most is his family.
I’ve been living here for over 3 and a half years and while I’m starting to get used to life here, it seems each time that it gets close to Eid, I’d always feel emotional. To the point that I dreamt that I was hanging new curtains with my sister and the entire day yesterday, I was bawling my eyes out out of emo-ness.
Normally towards this time when I was in Singapore, me and my family would be busy decorating the house, prepping to cook for the guests and the radio would be blasting with Raya songs. You could feel the festivities in the air, that something good was coming.
Suffice to say, it’s not the same here. And during this time, is when the feeling of homesickness is the strongest. I really miss being with my family, with simple joys of eating ketupat with Ayam Masak Merah and talking rubbish.
At least I’m looking forward to having my family coming over in September … so that’s a consolation.
Which is why I prefer to drive by myself! :p
Other stickrinaz adventures!
Hi everyone!
If you remember in my previous blog post, I was given a significant amount of cosmetics to use. So I thought that I’d try to slowly use them for at least a week and if I find them memorable, I’ll put up a review on them.
Today, I’ll be sharing with you “Tinted cream” by Eyeko. Researching around, this costs about 10 euro, although I’m not sure if this product is still being sold.
It comes in a bold, anime-like design box. With a name like “Eyeko” it sounds rather Japanese, so I was surprised that it was actually a UK brand.
It comes with a tub which contains 34ml of a 3 in 1 cream that functions as a Tinted moisturizer, Eye cream and highlighter. It is supposed to give wearers a sun kissed glow and a flawless base.
In all honesty, I wouldn’t get this myself in the first place as I’m not into tanning.
Nevertheless on the box it says, “Infused with skin perfecting light reflectors and antioxidant Vitamins A & E + Vitamin C for a radiant complexion”. Sounds good. All these vitamins are known to be good for skin topically.
Opening it unfortunately, the cream itself looks very very scary. So dark! It is the colour of copper mixed together with shiny, melted dark chocolate with reflective particles.
But don’t let the colours put you off, as it isn’t so bad when you swatch it.
It might look dark, but it blends easily into the skin and in the end, the cream goes sheer, making it look very natural. Below is the same hand after some minutes. The colour looks very subtle, yet the “glow” can be seen.
Next is using the product on my face. Here I am, mostly bare with brow liner (because I have no eyebrows) and moisturiser on.
I take just a little bit of the cream. This amount of swab like this here would be enough for my forehead. Another swab for the nose and cheeks and another tiny swab for the chin. I never had to use too much.
Interestingly, touching the cream is a little bit like touching jelly. It’s extremely dense and bounces back when you remove your finger.
Putting it on, it feels quite cooling because of the emmolient formula. But it doesn’t stay that way though, because it dries up really fast. And if you’re not quick enough in blending, it might leave uneven patches.
My face tends to feel taut after 30 minutes or so. So people with normal or dry skin, prior moisturization is definitely essential.
Here I’ve rubbed in the cream on half of my face. Left side is with cream and the right side without. It doesn’t seem to work that well for darker toned people, as I don’t see any difference on my face.
And here is what it looks like in natural sunlight. Left side with cream. Right side without. Not sure if I see anything different..
But the cream does work! As from what you could see in the picture below, the palm of the hand that I used to swab is stained. It definitely is best for those who have paler skin.
Nevertheless, a good thing about this cream is that it doesn’t seem to stain on my clothes, when I use them on my arms and legs. And it washes away very easily with soap and water.
I haven’t had any bad reactions to the cream in the span of the week that I’ve tried it. But as always it’s good to check the ingredients to see if you could potentially have any allergic reactions.
So to end, I put up a picture of me with my face fully covered with probably 3 more layers of the cream.
See anything different? Nah. I think it’s just not meant for dark skinned girls.
Anyway, I don’t think that I’d be continuing to use this as I much prefer using my Olaz Tinted Moisturizer which has been working out well in my skin routine. Which seems like such a waste for the Eyeko Cream though …
Nevertheless, what do you think of this product?
Two times in a span of two weeks I’ve been to a Roman Catholic Funeral. One was Cart’s distant relative and the other was his uncle.
While a sad event, Cart was comforted that they both lived such long lives, reaching to almost 90 years old. For me, as it was my first time attending a funeral of this type, it was interesting to see the differences in culture and compare it to the ones that I was used to.
Briefly, this was what happened :
We reach the church in a sombre coloured outfit, and time, a hearse will be driven in and then about 5 men wearing a dark coloured suits will carry the coffin into the church.
We then sit at the pews and the priest, wearing a purple robe (there is a symbolism for each colour) will enter, and start the mass by reading some verses and we were supposed to sit and stand at the right moments.
Nearing the end, the priest would invite the attendees to come forward for them to eat a wafer. After that, he’d eat a larger sized wafer and drink wine from a gold cup and then wipes it with a silk looking cloth.
Finally he goes towards the coffin and out of a utensil, he shakes holy water out of it to the coffin and then after that, smoke from a swinging incense burner.
The 5 men in suits then carry the coffin away in the hearse to the final resting place.
While the customs are very different from what I’m accustomed to in funerals, the smell of the incense brings me memories during my close relatives’s funeral. Even though I didn’t know them well, I can’t help but to feel emotional.
Sidenote : As morbid as this sounds, when I think about death, I tend to wonder how it would be when I pass on. There doesn’t seem to be much helpful information about Muslim funerals here in Rome.
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 🙂
One of the trends that I’ve noticed going on in Italy are cruciani bracelets. Practically everywhere I go, I see loads of (mostly girls) ranging from teenager to young adults wearing them.
Cruciani bracelets are a type of lace bracelets that comes in different designs – most popular being the hearts, the butterflies and the four leaf clover and in a vast array of colours.
They are supposed to be unisex and worn for good luck and friendship. And they are quite versatile. As it looks rather simple, it can go with many types of outfits from the casual t-shirt or dresses. And you could wear them alone or in multiples and layer it with your favourite bracelets or bangles.
These bracelets was created in Umbria and was made popular by celebrities like Dita Von Teese and Michelle Rodriguez who were seen wearing them.
Personally, I think they are cute and reminds me a little bit of my carefree teenage days when I had a habit of layering loads of colourful rubber bands on my arm.
But I think it’s overpriced at 10 euro each. I’m not sure if it’s a worth it as the bracelets do not have a real clasp, which can be a hassle trying to put it on.
Thank goodness there are imitations available for about a euro each. I’m pretty sure that’s what the young ones are wearing, especially since there aren’t any Cruciani stores in Rome at this point of time.
Nevertheless, what do you think of this trend? Yay or nay?
This is a hazelnut semifreddo with biscuits on top. Semi means half, and freddo means cold. It’s a type of ice cream cake. And this was my birthday cake! (Without the candles and customised words unfortunately … that’s standard! 
)
I was so upset that Cart, valiantly tried to carve some words into the cake. But I can’t make out what he wrote!
But it was really good though! If only I had teleporting powers, I’d send a slice to you!
In any case, thank you to everyone who took the time to wish me a happy birthday! You’re awesome! Like … previous … years … it’s becoming a sort of tradition for me to make a thank you video and how I spent the day. So here it is
Haha! As if I’m winning an Oscar award! The only thing missing is a podium! Nevertheless, thank you for all your friendship and I wish for health, happiness and prosperity.
Lets blow on the virtual candle!
Fooooooooooooo~~!!