An Italian vacation part 2 – Trastevere

Check out this really hillarious conversation while on our way to the supermarket and listen carefully :

Watch in youtube

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.

The Chinoto neri

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.

Satay? Where's the satay?

Indonesian satay? Where is the satay?

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!

Watch in youtube

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.

Before rinaz bijoux, there was spyfaerie

I MUST have her. She’s beautiful. And at 16 euros it seemed a good deal.

My poor broken faerie :(

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.

Larchetto Due in Trastevere, Italy

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.

Pasta alla Norma

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.

Pasta al limone

By the way, Italians have a special way of eating spaghetti :

Watch in youtube

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?

Cart's strufolo

Panna cotta!

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.

Watch in youtube

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.

To be continued

An Italian vacation part 1 – Trastevere

A quick introduction:

Rinaz and Cart resting on a leaf

In October 2004, while exploring Secondlife , Cartcart and I happened to bump into each other. We became friends and then quickly fell in love. I decided to meet him in August 2005 and again in June 2006 while he came to Singapore for the first time in December 2006 .

I was hesitant to go to Italy this year because of several factors. One of them being my mum discouraging me to go as she believes that the flight money could be better used for our wedding ceremony. I agree with her point of view. But at the same time, I thought that it would be good to give him some form of ‘hand-holding’.

So I chickened out in telling both my parents about my plans until the day before. Which probably isnt the best thing to do as for the past weeks before my flight, I was feeling extremely guilty. When it was time to go, both of them were very concerned but resigned in the fact that I had already made up my mind in going.

Chatting with the cab driver on my way to the airport diverted my thoughts. At length, I reached the airport, checked in and passed through the security check before boarding the 12 hour flight to Amsterdam.

Sunrise over in Amsterdam

Amazingly this time, the flight was more bearable to me. Perhaps it was because I was more used to it and the fact that each seats on the plane had an entertainment center. The person beside me spent the entire journey playing chess while I watched some amazing movies that I didnt manage to catch. Like Happy Feet, Letters from Iwo Jiwa and Udon.

In time, I was on the transit flight and finally reached Rome in the morning and after what seemed to be an eternity waiting at the baggage carousel and then a baggage check by the curious security guards.

security guard 1 : Come here. Whats in the bag?

Me : My clothes of course

security guard 1 : Open the bag please and let me see your passport. Hmmm …

security guard 2 : Pass me her passport. Hmmm …

Me : …

After the strange baggage check, I entered the arrival hall and finally saw cartcart waiting for me. What a most warming sight. It was worth the 14 hour flight just to see him smile at me. The web just cant compare to seeing a loved one in real life. I miss his comforting hug.

We took the car to get home. As we drove by, I remember the highway, the fields, and the rustic buildings. But when turned into a lane which I did not recognize, I asked him curiously, where we were going. “Its a surprise! You’ll see!” It was when I saw this lane and I grinned.

Via Singapore in Italy (Pic by cartcart)

It was a pretty lazy and relaxing day. We made lunch together and then I passed him the newspaper from where I was interviewed on Secondlife Relationships. We lounged around home and I saw the changes that he’s done. After I slept away my jetlag, cartcart took me out for a quiet dinner out at at restaurant called Il Cortile. I read somewhere that to never say no when someone asks you out for dinner in Italy. Mainly because of the really good food!

When we reached the place, there was a large range of food that you can choose from at the main table. There were those which I recognized, fritata with zucchini, potatoes with rosemary, roasted bell peppers, stuffed aubergine, all sorts of insalata and others. There was another table full of desserts. Tiramisu! Chocolate cake! Panna Cotta!

Yumness!

The next day, I joined cartcart with a couple of his friends. We drove to an area in Trastevere. We met Fabrizio first. He has been friends with cartcart since they were 8. I knew him beforehand from Secondlife and our chats on msn. He walked towards us and I was stunned momentarily when he kissed my face left and right. It was something that I wasnt used to. But its an Italian culture to do so between friends.

We went to an ice cream shop and I looked at the colourful ice cream being displayed and we decided to have an aperitif and gelato. I sat there completely mesmerized by cartcart’s and Fabrizio’s conversation. The Italian language really sounds melodic to me.

Fabrizio started to talk to me in Italian. I could understand parts of his sentences but I wasnt fluent enough to converse with him. I tried to use the phrase book that I carried with me but the conversation changed when Fabrizio and cart decided to ask me about Malay words instead! πŸ™‚

Fabrizio had to leave soonafter. Cart and I decided to have a walk around the area before meeting up with his other friends. I liked walking around the area. Everthing seemed so peaceful and idyllic. There were people lounging around relaxedly. The temperature was noticably cooler than in Singapore.

We passed by a shoe shop and my eyes noticed an attractive pair of shoes. I looked closer.

Unbranded shoes and yet so expensive!

Gah! 146? is about $300 Singapore dollars! This wasnt even branded shoes even.*dies*

We came across a stand where magazines and newspapers were being sold. Cart wanted to buy the Secondlife Guide book. We were quite lucky as the stand was still operating at 8.30pm while most stands would have closed by 7.30pm.

A stand selling magazines and newpapers

We sat down on the bench and flipped though the book. It was the Italian version. I’ve seen the original version back in Singapore but it was nice to read together with cartcart as we recognized some of the residents whom were featured in the book.

The Secondlife Guidebook - Italian version

It wasnt long after that we saw Paolo and then Luigi soonafter. Paolo was another person whom I knew beforehand from Secondlife, while Luigi taught mathematics in a university.

We headed to a place called La camiceria. We ordered a variety of food. From appetizers such as Mozarella cheese with artichoke and ricotta cheese with honey.

Ricotta cheese with artichoke

Ricotta cheese with honey

To Funghi Pizza and Camicia Pizza. I’ve left the fork and the knife as a size comparison. Yes! This is the size of a personal pizza! The Camicia Pizza was interesting to me. In Italian, camicia means shirt. Cart tells me that the cherry tomatoes on top was supposed to be the buttons. The camicia pizza was supposed to be a play with the calzone pizza as in Italian, calzone means pants. Personally for me, calzone pizza resembles a giant sized epok-epok .

My funghi pizza. Look at the size of this personal portion

Cart's camicia pizza

We ended with desserts of sbriciolata and tortino ai cioccolato. I listened to the conversation. I was tickled to hear to Paolo and Luigi speaking in english. They tend to add extra vowels in their words and sentences, giving it a rather adorable effect.

A picture of cart's tortino ai cioccolato

Paolo's sbriciolata

Cartcart also tells me of a Roman culture whereby people may sound rude, but it was for the spirit of fun. I listened while the three of them poked fun at each other, some moments being over the top.

Another thing that I observed was that the Italians had a slower pace of life when I noticed the topics that they talked about. They were more attentive to the things that I’d normally take for granted. One example – I remember cartcart and Fabrizio standing next to a tree, looking up and pointing for at least 10 minutes. I found out later that they had found a bird nest and were trying to find the birds. I dont know of any Singaporeans personally who did that! πŸ˜›

Paolo offered to take us to his home to see his cats and I said yes! I loved cats. When we went over, I was amazed to see three grown men being enthralled and completely entertained by two kittens.

Teri the cat

It was an interesting night.

Here’s a short clip of the day :

To be continued

rinaz is back

Just got home this evening after spending a wonderful week in Italy with a very special person. Here we are in Capri – Cartcart, who is looking rather sunburnt.

Cart and Rinaz having lunch in Capri, Italy

I’ll update when I get a chance to. In the meanwhile, you might want to check my tumblr account for some of the pics and this short clip below on how to make grattachecca (It’s like the Italian version of Ais Kachang)

And what a nice surprise to find out that I was nominated for Most Entertaining Blog in Ping.sg! Do vote for me! You know Marina’s Bloggariffic is definitely entertaining πŸ˜‰

Also, I hope that you come to the ping.sg first anniversary party on the 7th July this year because:

  • You’ll mingle with the fun loving pingsters and bloggers
  • Free swags and awesome freebies!
  • Chocolate cake!
  • And yours truely will be the host alongside with Brennan for the event πŸ˜‰

Past 10 pm right now at this point of writing. It will be the start of work tomorrow and I’m missing my Funghi Pizza and my Panna Cotta already. (Oh, and Cartcart too)

Le Sigh

Please dont feed the birds

Fumigate the mozzies

Not a fire, but a fumigation to kill mosquitoes. I saw the fumigation going on early this morning as I was on my way to work. The fumes exude a horrible smell if you have the misfortune of being near the smoke.

But the inconvenience is a small price to pay. Boon Lay, which is near the area where I am staying, is currently listed as a hotspot for Dengue. And this is quite alarming to me.

About 13 years ago, I had the dengue fever. I remember being hospitalised for it. My temperature shot up to above 40 degree celcius. Thankfully, I got better afterwards.

But when you think about it, the impact diseases such as dengue, SARS, foot and mouth diseases could have been lowered. People need to exercise more social awareness and personal hygine.

I dont believe that people are so oblivious towards it, its just that many of us are indifferent.

For example people feeding pigeons outside of their homes. These animals are scavengers and know how to find their own food without us. These people think that they are being kind to these animals. But the reality is, the more they feed these animals, the more they will breed. Eventually residents will complain about the bird droppings and the noise. In the end, these animals will be culled.

Having personally seen pigeons being poisoned, drugged, unable to fly away, drop off from their perch and then swept into a basket, their eyes blinking, dying a slow death was one of the saddest things that I’ve seen.

Now that the bird flu is striking again, I’m really concerned. If people wont learn from their past mistakes, it will be very difficult future for all of us.

A Singapore in Rome

Last night, Cartcart sent in this picture which he snapped while roaming around his workplace.

Singapore in Rome

Its pretty cool isnt it? A Singapore in Rome πŸ™‚

Speaking of which, I’d be heading there in about two weeks time from now. I cant wait. I’ve missed him so much.

Buying the tickets has been quite frustrating for me though. Its common knowledge that prices should be cheaper when you order early. So when I got the plane tickets in April, the prices were about this range :

KLM Plane Ticket in April 2007

This was a heartbreak for me as the amount was higher my monthly take home pay. But for the sake of love, I persevered.

But my heart sank even more when I saw that the prices dropped by a hundred dollars just the next week. And just about 5 minutes on writing this post, a quick check on KLM shows that they have a promotion :

KLM Plane Ticket in June 2007

*heart shatters*

Not fair! Not fair I tell you! *goes to the corner and sobs dramatically* Cartcart had better buy me loads of shoes when I get there!

But in a way, as much as I cant wait to see him again, there’s still that nervous feeling again everytime I make trips like these …

By the way, if you havent done so already. Please help vote for Marina’s Bloggariffic πŸ™‚ Thanks in advance!

stream of consciousness

Stream of consciousness (definition) narrative that represents the random process of a characterÒ€ℒs thoughts and sense impressions

9.30am

Goodnight dearest. Sleep well tonight *waves*

11.00am

Gosh, she still hasnt woken up yet. We’re supposed to be going to the museum right now. But there is a horrble throbbing on the left part of my head. I think I’ll lie down a while.

2.00pm

Hahaha! She’s wearing a red shirt. I’ll wear my red top too

3.00pm

Finally on the expressway. I love love love riding. Cruising on at 90km/hr with the wind in my face. I wonder why she’s not the least bit scared when I speed a little.

3.15pm

What is going on? My rear tyre feels extremely wobbly! That has never happened before! Maybe I’ll slow down a little … Its still wobbly! This is dangerous! No no! This wont do. I’ll stop by the roadside and check what is going on.

Flat tyre

What the? Bwahhh! How can this be? I just pumped air in this thing last week! Maybe I can push the scooter to the nearest petrol station.

3.16pm

This is impossible. Its too tiring to push it that far. Baby is too big.

Hello? Is this Mr Daniel? Can you please tow my scooter? Yes, I’m a Vespa Club member. My scooter is a grey coloured GT200. We are located near the exit of the expressway heading towards Keppel Road.

3.30pm

Boooring ….

3.45pm

Booooring … But the clouds look beautiful up there in the sky. Three different shades of clouds … White, grey and dark grey … It looks like ice cream! I wish I could just lie down on the grass and do nothing but stare at the clouds.

Wow. A lorry just passed by and there’s water streaming from it. And another vehicle! And another! Somewhere on the expressway, there must be heavy rain going on. Where is the bikebulance? There’s little drops of rain already …

4.00pm

He’s finally here!

Bikebulance

Bye baby! Dont cry, ok? Mummy will pick you up later. Anyway, we’re pretty close to the museum. I think we can reach there by foot.

4.15pm

The city is such a ghost town in the weekends. There’s no one in office clothes walking around. What the? Her sandals just snapped! This must be our unlucky day isnt it? Stay there for a while ok, I’ll go look at 7-11. Nope, none here. Oh wait! There’s an apparel shop just beside it. With shoes!

*shouts*

Diana! Diana! Come look! Shoes! Whee! You can run here now, theres no vehicles incoming.

Interesting shop here. Its like one of those factory outlet shops. Loads of clothes and some bags and shoes here. Nothing that I like though. She chooses a shiny pair of sandals.

5.00pm

This road looks familliar. I sent her here for her audition some months back. I’m so bad with road names though … Maxwell road … Maxwell road … Where is Maxwell road … Hmm … Ah! There’s a map near the train station there!

5.10pm

Woot! We are here! Red Dot Design Museum! Red shirts, red building. How appropriate! Hahaha!

5.15pm

Hmmm … Interesting stuff…

Calculate power use

The plug calculates the amount of power used and shows the amount of money to be paid. Useful.

Device for avalanche

This device lets out steam and has a rotating tool to get remove ice when trapped in an avalanche. Very useful.

Kid Emergency Pack

I like this.This backpack has a low powered device to make emergency calls to parents, and a cape that can be made into a poncho, a raincoat and a sleeping bag. Would be useful.

Condoms

There’s no need to roll it manually anymore. Just break the seal and slip it down. Hmm … Interesting.

Hello? Yeah. Hi. You want to meet us for dinner? Sure. Where? Ok, we’ll be there about 7.30 or so. Bye.

6.00pm

What time is it? Oh crap! Its 6pm. We need to rush down to Tong Aik before it closes at 6.30. Shall we take the train Diana? Did you enjoy the museum? Really? Cool! I’m surprised. Wait, I need a drink. I’m thirsty.

6.15pm

Yep. We need to change station here. The purple line. We’re dropping off at Little India station. Wait, what did I press at the ticket machine? Dhoby Ghaut? Doh!

6.33pm

This is Little India! Have you been here before? I think so. You were here with mum during school excursion when you were in Lakeside Primary School wasnt it? I remember. Gosh we are late. We’re heading to that orange building right there. Do you see it?

6.40pm

Hi Auntie. No, this is Marina. I’ve come to pick up my GT. Yes, the tyre went flat when we were on the expressway. Its very scary. I dont dare to continue riding anymore. I’ve never had that happen to me before. Ok. I’ll go to the workshop now. Bye!

7.00pm

Woah. Look at that puncture! Thats huge! What the heck happened?

Pirelli Tyre

Hi baby, are you feeling better now? Ready to ride, Diana? Lets go!

Woot! Feels good to be riding again! Round and around we go down to the first floor. Did you know that this used to be a petrol station? They are going to convert it into a food center down there.

I dont want to go too fast, this is the city area. Too many vehicles going on. Its saturday after all. Jurong Primary School? No love, we’re nowhere near Jurong, hahahaha! But the buildings does remind of Jurong doesnt it? We’re near Newton Circus. They sell hawker center food here. But the price is about two dollars extra for each dish. Yeah, I dont fancy going here either.

7.14pm

We are here! This is Orchard! Have you been here before? This is Far East Plaza. I usually park my scooter here when I am in Orchard. No, I dont smell chicken rice. Let me message Juli. She says she’ll be here in 15 mins.

7.30pm

Cool look at all the clothes! And shoes! Oh that looks cute! Gosh so much things on sale. Great Singapore sale. Hey thats the same top that I bought just about 3 weeks ago. 50% off? Gahhh!!!!

8.30pm

What? You’re still in Wisma? You said you’ll be here in 15 mins, half an hour ago! Sale?! Ok bye!

8.45pm

You’re here already? Ok, I’ll go queue up at Sakura first. I am sure there will be a row of people there already. Are you hungry, Diana? I’m hungry too. Lets see whats good in the menu.

Why hello there. Did you have a nice time shopping? Where are you going? Bah. She saw something she liked while going up the escalator. Doh!

Oh I’m so tired. We must have spent the entire day walking.

9.00pm

Woohoo! The food is finally here! Diana you must try the Tom Yam Soup. Its yummy! One slurp, and your eyes will just go wide open cause its that hot and spicy. What? Not hot enough? Are you kidding? Slurp. Uwahhhh … How can you say its not hot?

So, how are you Juli? Really? I’m really sad to hear … I thought they were cool with it … Yeah, Hema’s going to Australia to take her degree. Two years. Her husband? I dont know. I guess she’ll leave him here. Hahaha.

Excuse me, can we add steamed fish? And an extra plate of rice? Yes, thanks. Oh my what blue eyes you have.

10.00pm

That kimono top is nice. Can I try? Its a little too tight at the chest area. I hate trying on clothes. Not many stuff fit me well. Why are so many clothes so small! I’m not fat! I should try to eat less …

Forget it. I’ll rather look at shoes. Ooh! Thats a cute bag! What an adorable pair of green shoes … but I dont like this brand. It doesnt last long.

We better go home soon Juli. Wanna join us to the Toy Museum tomorrow? I think it’ll be fun. See you. Bye!

10.30pm

This is the city. I’ll pass through this U-Turn. Say bye bye to Orchard road Diana. Hehehe.

11.45pm

Woah I’m beat. I think I’ll lie down for a while. Did you enjoy today? Cool πŸ™‚ Please switch off the computer when you’re done. Its too bright! I cant sleep. I cant slee …zzzz …

1.00am

EEK! I didnt take off my contact lenses! A quick splash of water on the face. Peel off this contact lenses. Blink blink. Yawn … Scratch scratch. Yawn …. Hmmm … zzzz ….

untitled

My dad is still in the hospital. I have yet to hear any updates from mum who’s staying overnight there.

I had the shock of my life when mum told me that dad had an accident at the factory and his fingers got crushed while trying to retrieve an object in the machine.

I was there in the emergency department with my mum and sis the entire evening but we werent allowed to see him. I wonder how he is. I feel horrible.

Update : Thank you for the emails and messages. You are very kind. I feel humbled and gratified to know that there are people who care.

My dad seemed fine when we visited him in the hospital but I am pretty sure that inside, he’s feeling emotionally in turmoil. God willing, he’ll be discharged on Thursday or Friday.

Get well soon Ayah

Get well soon, Ayah …

What if this was my last post

Eastcoastlife really scared me a couple of days ago when she posted “My last post” in her blog. Turns out that it was just a meme. I guess I overreacted and did not read that post carefully.

But what if it were really my last post? I cant peek into the future, I really cant tell. Will I still blog in the next 10 years? I’d only hypothesise in my romanticised mind that it’ll might be like these :

August 2009

Its my birthday! Will be celebrating with cartcart tonight. I cant believe I’m already 31 years old! I’m officially middle aged now … Bah! Most probably we’re heading down to Nemi and we’ll see the spectacular lakes there. Parents in law has been asking us to come over, and I’m still thinking of a good excuse not to. Hehehehe.

Just recently I’ve finally got my citizenship. It has been quite stressful the past year trying to adjust to the environment here. Luckily for me, Bruna has been such a good friend. And Cart has been very supportive too.

But I really miss home back in Jurong. Its just the little quirks and most especially the people that I miss the most.

September 2010

Oh my goodness! The doctor confirmed what mum in law has long suspected. I’m pregnant! I’m pregnant? Oh my goodness! So many things going through my head. This is so exciting! And yet kind of scary at the same time. Will I be a good mother?

If she’s a girl, I’d like her to be called Lisa. Funny how I’ve picked that name for my first daughter since Jurong Institute days. Hehehehe.

Going to call family back in Singapore now. I wonder how they will react!

December 2013

Cart, little Norman and me, are finally in Singapore for our December holidays. Its sort of cute to see mum fussing over little Norman. But at the same time its very humbling to see the family again. I always take it for granted that they will stay the same. I’m just shocked in the realisation that everyone has grown much older …

Speaking of change, wow so much has changed that I can hardly recognize anything! Went for a date with cartcart to Jurong Point. Was telling cart that I used to hang out here alot for my gossip sessions with Juli. But what on earth happened here? The place looks so different and much bigger and there’s a whole lot more people here than what I remembered.

I’m persuading cartcart to watch a movie with me. Its been such a long time since I watched a movie in english. Gosh, there’s a Rambo 10?

July 2017

I’m having chest pains again. I’ve had this pain since my teenage days when somedays, I wake up and feel it but it goes away in a few minutes. Its getting more frequent. I dont know what I’m doing wrong.

Anyway, I’m fetching little Norman from kindergarden now. He’s grown up so quickly. He’s got his dad’s skin and brown hair but he’s definitely got my eyes and mouth. Oh and my temperament too. Such a drama papa at such a young age. Looks like a beautiful day outside. Maybe the three of us can stop by at the Villa Schiarra park later and then have some gelato. Ah the simple joys of life. Vita è bella