What do you do when someone strokes your face?
It’s a common Italian gesture of friendship to kiss each other on the cheek.
But I just find it wierd whenever a guy who’ve I met for the first time, (like Cart’s or my in-law’s friends) start to stroke my cheek, or my chin. It’s odd because firstly, I’m a grown woman, not a child. And secondly, I’ve had a phobia of someone touching my face for the longest time since I was a teenager because of my bad case of acne.
But normally, these people don’t mean any harm and think that they are being gallant or exude their Southern Italian charm and so I had to fight very hard internally not to freak out.
It might not be that easy to learn Italian in Italy
I was reading with interest, this blog post by NYC Ragazza.
I got the feeling that she’s the lady who asked on how to pronounce cocomero while at the Gelato event last September
In her post, she writes that it’s quite easy to be lazy and not speak Italian because there are so many expat meet ups where you could socialise in English. And if you’re travelling around in the center, there are many shops and restaurants servers who are able to speak English well enough to get by. While at home if you had cable, you could simply change the language from the dubbed to the original language which is mostly in English.
But it does get a little harder for someone who’s married to an Italian. Because they’re pretty much expected to integrate which on the one hand is great because it is immersive. It’s tough though. It’s like teaching a person to swim by throwing him in the deep end of the pool. Some might be able to pull through, but some might just trash around the water in fear.
Although I did learn a little bit of Italian back in Singapore, it was a different ballpark altogether when I moved to Rome – the speed, the dialect and the slang that the people here spoke, was vastly different compared to the contained classroom environment. It was pretty overwhelming.
And as much as I appreciate Cart trying to assimilate me, taking me out to meet with his friends, try as much as I could to concentrate, it tends to be hard to focus after a while because :
- I don’t understand what they were talking about because of mainly because of the vocabulary that they used and I didn’t want to be of a hindrance and interrupt the flow of the conversation to constantly ask what was going on.
- Because they’ve been friends for a long time, there are a lot of context and inside jokes that I didn’t get. Sometimes I feel like, unintentionally, being pushed out.
Hence, I’d rather just listen and watch the conversation and even when I do contribute to the conversation, there are times when I struggle to find the right words to express myself and it gets frustrating.
I took some Italian courses here in Rome, and while it was daunting in the beginning, eventually, it got easier. It did loads to my independence. It’s so much easier going to the supermarket by myself, buying a ticket at the tabbaccaio, taking the public transportation by myself, without having Cart to help me.
All the normal, every day sort of activities. But it was terrifying for me when I was new here. But I feel a lot more comfortable when I’m by myself now, and I don’t panic when I’m walking outside and some random person asks me for directions for example (although it’s a little puzzling as to why they would specifically ask me, when there are others because I look obviously foreign 
)
I don’t speak perfect Italian, but people seem to understand what I say more or less.
But sometimes Cart can be so hard on me. While I’m marveling at how much I’ve progressed, he pushes me to speak perfect Italian, which usually doesn’t go well with me. Because my philosophy in learning is to be nurturing and supportive. Kind of like how a baby learns. The baby tries, and the parents motivates her with positive words to continue. Why should it be any different from an adult?
It might sound quite juvenile, but when someone pushes me like that (be it for learning Italian, or learning to drive etc) instead of being motivated, I feel like closing up instead. Which is probably the wrong approach, but I easily lose the joy of learning that way. I need someone to clap their hands or say, “You’re doing great!” every now and then. Learning should be happy.
Kind of like Carrie asking for a little milk in her coffee, so it’s not too bitter
Cart recently psycho-analyzed me and claims that I’m homesick and thinks that by my resisting in speaking Italian, I’m trying to hang on to my bit of home. While I do get pangs of homesickness, I’ve already long resigned that I’ve be living here long term. So I don’t think that, that’s it.
But nevertheless, the way that I’ve been treated, I’ve slowly grown a sort of mechanism. While I used to be flighty, now I have the mentality to be more patient, and to just not care too much and just speak Italian as how I’m comfortable with, without (mostly) thinking about people will be judging me. Sort of an insensitivity training if you may.
Which is not bad for a rather egoistical person, such as myself
Sidenote : Somehow I’m reminded of a scene of a literature that I read about a foreign woman who’ve lived in England for many many years but still didn’t speak any English at all.
What do you do when your ring is loose?
When you’re chubby, it’s nice when you’ve lost some weight.
But one not so nice thing about it is when your wedding ring gets all loose. So loose that it starts to slide off your finger as you ride the scooter, while you wrestle to keep it on while focusing on the road, for example.
I used to have the same issue with the engagement ring, and I had it tightened at the jewellers with the use of a tiny piece of metal.
The thing is, my skin doesn’t take well to non-pure metals and the combination of water and perspiration aggravates the allergy even more. So I had to be very careful.
Anyway, one of the more skin-friendly technique that my ex-colleague taught me was to use a regular thread and wrap it all around the ring to make it more snug. It takes ages to do though, just this bit took me close to an hour as I had to do a dead knot at each turn so that the thread doesn’t move about too much.
And on some days, even with the thread around it, it’s still quite loose. But at least it doesn’t fly across the room as you shake your hands dry after washing them.
I suppose another solution is to just wear the two rings together. Like this.
Looks and feel very awkward though.
I look sexeh in my jeans
Is that song from Right said Fred in your head yet? Anyway, this was my old pair of jeans.
Or pants, whatever you may call it. It’s so baggy, something what MC Hammer would wear. You definitely cannot touch this!
So unflattering. And to think that this pair of pants is just about under a year old.I thought that it would be a good idea to buy tslip on jeans at the time. But after a few washes, it just grew larger and larger.
It’s a H&M pants by the way and it’s unfortunate that the quality wasn’t so good. Nevertheless, I’m still keeping them. After all, it’ll be useful to have in case of what may happen in the future.
And with that, Cart and I were at Visa Diffusione Moda – a sort of outlet shop in Rome which is near the Piramide Metro. Cart gotfor himself a couple of pairs of trousers and was pleasantly surprised to see a number of pants that fit him cost under 20 euro each and I searched for suitable jeans.
I found a super sale segment for jeans at just 5 euro each. Unfortunately for me, I found out that all the sizes were much too big for me when I gave them a try.
Nevertheless, I looked around and the clerk helpfully pulled out a pair of jeans for me. I shuddered at the price, it had a 60% sale from 215 euro. At 86 euro, it was still quite expensive. Nevertheless I tried it on anyway and thought that I really looked good in them.
This is a brand called C’N’C Costume National. It is supposed to be a branded Italian label. Unfortunately, I’ve never heard of this brand before. Nevertheless, my posterior looks good in them.
I saw another pair of pants in the discount segment and went ahead to give them a try. This is from Max Mara. I liked it as it made me look slim.
The design is a little non-traditional with the shape of the pockets, the removal of the belt notches and piping at the back.
But it looked really good on me. It’s not that easy to find pants that fit me well and I was sorely tempted. This time round though, I’m not sure how it could justify the 62 euro price tag.
Especially with the tags cut off.
I’ve always assumed that cut tags from brands means that it is a rejected item. I looked all around it, looking for flaws but I didn’t find any.
Perplexed, I asked the clerk and she answered that the store buys items in bulk and it came like that. This was to prevent people from taking advantage from making money by asking for refunds in the original shop.
Nevertheless, I decided to get it in the end, and we were pleasantly surprised to find out the price was the original price and we had a 60% discount on this one. So we ended paying slightly less than 25 euro for this!
I really love my new jeans. They are a bit long, and the hems needed some adjustments but they should be easily adjusted. An in no time, I’m gonna strut like Tony Manero in Saturday night fever in my new jeans.
Before I end this post, I’m going to put in another narcissistic picture. This Sandro Ferrone top was on sale in Visa and my eyes were just attracted to the bold, sexeh colour. It was only 10 euro!
I like dressing up in smart-office clothes. Too bad I’m not working in an office.
Is McD’s not doing well in Rome?
Claire and I were on our weekly mischief and we thought about stopping by McDougals for a milkshake. Despite the flak about McDougals, I don’t mind it so much when it comes to their cheap milkshakes.
Anyway, there was one just opposite of the Pantheon.
Imagine our surprise when we saw this :
Closed for business. Which is strange because it’s located in a very high traffic area which means that it’s impossible that they were not able to make a profit, right?
But this was not the first McDougals that has closed for business, this one in Piazza Sydney Sonnino, in the Trastevere area was closed too.
But I remember that it was bustling the very first time that I visited Rome. I wonder if McDs is not doing well in Rome.
Sidenote : Yes … yes … I know it’s spelled McDonalds but McDougals sound more charming.
How to reuse your pump dispenser
How NOT to make Salsa Verde
There was a bunch of parsley in the fridge. Since I was grilling some chicken breasts, I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to whip up some salsa verde as a condiment.
Salsa verde, literally translated as green sauce is really great on fish and grilled meats. And to make it, is really easy – you dump a bunch of parsley, a bit of mint (optional) and basil (optional) in a food processor, add some extra virgin olive oil, some vinegar, a bit of capers, some garlic, a slice of anchovy (optional) and salt and pepper to taste.
The traditional way is to chop everything by hand with a mezzaluna, but nevertheless, doesn’t my sauce look lovely and bright and cheerful? Don’t be deceived at how simple it looks, this sauce packs a punch with it’s flavour notes! I had a very lovely lunch indeed.
There was only one thing that I forgot to keep in mind and I only realised my folly till way later when Cart came back home.
Me : Ohai abang! Welcome back! *smooch!*
Cart : Ehm … I can smell garlic …
Me : * Recoils in horror *
You see, when cooking with ingredients like garlic, the flavours get absorbed by the main bulk components. But when working with raw ingredients, it is much more potent. And I took for granted at how mild garlic tastes like when fried in olive oil that I happily threw in three cloves in the food processor when only one would do.
And then I thought about my session with my driving instructor and then having coffee with Cart and a couple of his colleagues who were working near the driving school and how they have been exposed to my unintentional dragon-breath. And I felt so very embarrassed …
At least I’m protected from cancer for a while.
Bancarella : Where you can get stuff for cheap
In Rome, there are a plentiful of bancarelle (ban-kah-rel-leh)
These are makeshift stalls that could sell anything from clothes, cosmetics and accessories and sometimes even second hand stuff. They usually function in the morning till late afternoon and they are easy to spot because they seem to be quite out of place – cheerful, colourful stalls stark right next to the roadside.
Bancarelle are different compared to mercati (mer-kah-tee) as they are usually separated, located outside of the wet markets.
And you can also almost always find them outside of Metros, train stations and bus interchanges in Rome. One of the most well known bancarelle would be the weekend market at Porta Portese.
I like bancarelle because they tend to sell items for cheap, compared to items that you can find in regular shops. So it’s like a sale everyday! Although, you’d have to keep your eyes wide open and always compare prices, as this is not always true.
Personally, I don’t go for beauty items here because I feel a little dubious about the source and the expiry date. But that’s just me.
But most of the time, you could find some little treasures here like clothes and bags. I even saw a bancarella selling a smaller version of my cat bag. It was only 5 euro! You can imagine how much I was so tempted to get it. But I’m sticking to my “At least once a year” rule. i.e. If I don’t use it at least once in a year, it’s better not to get more
I need to get this fixed though. I still love this bag and want to continue using it. But one of the side of the handle is torn. I wonder if there is a cobbler here who could do that for me?
Anyway, sometimes you’d find stuff that you probably won’t feel it. But sometimes you would. I recently got two top which I really really liked. This comfy cotton shirt :
And this rainbow striped one.
Yes. I’m totally molesting this cat.
Anyway, the only bad part is that unless you’ve got really thick skin and don’t mind trying out the clothes in public, you might not know if it fits you well or not. So I’ve yet to buy pants at this point of time.
Nevertheless, I got these top for 5 euro each! What a steal! 
Updated : Check out some of the outfits that I’ve created with the items that I’ve bought from some of the bancarelle around Rome!
Was at the dentist’s. This is so cute!
Cart and I were at the dentist’s recently and I can’t help but to notice this :
Isn’t it cute? The illustration plays on the word “dente” which means tooth in Italian. See if you can spot some familiar Italian words. The tooth with the permanent hair was such a riot! 