Friday would be the start of a week long vacation for school kids and by this time, you’d feel a festive air around you – people scurrying around to find the right kind of chocolate eggs, usually the size of footballs.
On Easter itself, I spent the evening with my extended family.
Cart and I decided to give our niece and nephew a set of Peppa Pig easter egg and I’m absolutely tickled to see how much they adored their soft toys and the little figurines inside much more than the chocolate itself.
It was a lovely evening. Lots of good food, lots of laughs. Here are some of the food that we had :
Parmigiana di Melanzane. I love eating this, but it’s quite a hassle to make.
Zucchini ripiene. I’m probably going to try making this by myself. If it turns out well, I’ll try to make a video blog 🙂
Suffice to say that I was completely stuffed. I planned to jog to burn the extra calories off today, but I’m feeling quite disconcerted from the lack of sleep.
Nevertheless, happy holidays to all and hope that you’re having a nice and relaxing day with your loved ones 🙂
If you like my cartoon, feel free to click on the image for a bigger version.
I think it’s still the more superior choice when taking photos – it loads up faster, the picture quality is better, and I could just leave it for weeks and the battery would still be full.
When I first got my little blue camera, I was very happy with it. It was sleek, had interesting functions and using it, I started and learnt how to create HD video blogs. And I always put it in my bag, ready for a photo opportunity.
It’s just that … I’m so clumsy!
My trusty camera has probably been mistreated more than by a regular person. It’s been dropped countless of times, one of the worst fall it had was while we were in Viterbo and I accidentally dropped it on the cobblestones as I was trying to reply to my ringing mobile phone.
You can imagine how bad I felt as it dropped on the surface. It was badly scratched, and the battery cover didn’t close properly but thankfully, the LCD screen was whole and the camera still worked fine.
I promised myself to be more careful next time.
But recently I was horrified to find out that the shutter won’t open and close properly since a few days ago. Like something was stuck inside. Inspecting it, I realised that it smells of strawberries.
Even though I did ate and take a picture of a strawberry ice cream, I’m usually very careful when doing food photography. I don’t remember dripping anything on the camera. It doesn’t make scientific sense. Ice cream drips down! And my camera was always pointing up.
This is a Magnum Strawberry Ice-cream covered with White Chocolate by the way. Was it worth killing my camera for this shot? I don’t know -_-
It was till when I noticed my camera slip cover. It had dried strawberry ice cream inside it. I must have had dripped ice cream in it some how.
And now all my shots look like me waking up at 5 am.
Sigh.
I feel like such a bad owner. It’s not like I’m doing it on purpose and I know it’s not a living thing, but my heart hurts each time it gets damaged. And as a blogger, I should be taking better care of my camera. But for something that has lasted for about 4 years, it’s not that bad right?
At this point of time, I’m eyeing on this. It’s just that … I don’t want to break another camera!
Sometime back I got a really thoughtful package from Kynne. Inside the box was a number of Asian food. One of the things inside was a pack of peanut sauce. I wasn’t sure what to do with it, until I thought of making gado-gado.
The picture probably doesn’t look very appetizing. But believe me, it’s really tasty.
Gado-gado is an Indonesian dish mainly made of vegetables mixed with the peanut sauce. It’s quite easy to get the ingredients here such as eggs, cucumber and cabbage. Even Tempeh and Kangkung are easy to find.
But interestingly one of the ingredients, the bean sprouts, which is really cheap in Asia, can be quite expensive here. The only shop where I found it for sale costs about 3.50 euros for a small box. It may be organic and all, but I thought it was just too much.
So in the end, I thought that it would be much more satisfying to grow it myself. After searching a few supermarkets, we found a pack of “Fagioli Azuki” beans from Panorama and I got ready to grow it.
It feels like I was doing a Primary 3 science experiment all over again and it’s really easy to do.
Take a plastic container and line it with a wet tissue paper
Sprinkle the seeds inside and leave it in a warm place
In a few days the sprouts will be ready .
It was quite therapeutic to see the sprouts grow bit by bit each day. As soon as the leaves come out it was ready for harvest. So it’s time to pull them out for a rinse and cleaning.
And as sit down and clip the roots away, the familiar scent and rote reminds me a bit of how my sister, my mum and I would be doing the same thing together back in Singapore before we start cooking for a meal.
By now, I think you’ve already heard of the singing nun :
I find it extremely amusing seeing the faces of the four judges as they turn to see her, looking completely gobsmacked. By the way, this video has been viewed 31 million times in a span of just 7 days!
This clip was taken from the program, The Voice of Italy. And while I think that Italian TV is quite saturated with singing competitions, there is a little twist that makes the voice of Italy an interesting show.
The big difference between this show and regular singing competitions is that the four judges have their seats turned away from their stage. The seats are big, so they are not able to see the contestants and can only judge by what they hear.
The contestant will sing and while they are singing, the judges decide if they like what they hear. If one judge turns the contestant will automatically be mentored by that judge.
But if two or more turn around, the contestant has the power to choose the judge they want to be mentored by.
To me this format is quite refreshing as the focus would be completely on the voice of the singer – it wouldn’t matter how they look or dress as long as they sound good.
The voice of Italy is presided by four coaches, each of them an icon in their own right :
J-ax is a rapper and rock singer from Milan. He started as a a rap group in 1990 and went solo 2005 on wards. One of his famous song is Piccoli per sempre.
Noemi is probably most recognized as a former contestant of X Factor Italia. The interesting thing is that she didn’t emerge as the winner, not even the runner up, nevertheless she turned out to be the most successful among all of the contestants of that season.
At this point of writing, I hear her song, Bagnati del Sole a lot on the radio.
Wow, she was probably one of Lady Gaga’s inspiration. Rafaella Carra’ was known as a TV host about a show that reunites families around the world live.
I think she’s more well known as a singer and a dancer. Always dressed flamboyantly in shiny outfits when performing, in the 1970s she came out with the songs Tuca Tuca, a far l’amore comincia tu, as well as Tanti Auguri.
The hair swish thing that she does while dancing is her trademark and you’ll see her doing that often in her performance.
Piero Pelu` started as a rock singer from the band Litfiba in early 1980. He produced a solo album in 2000. I’m not familliar with his songs, but I really love the one where he made a duet with Anggun.
The song is gorgeous and the two powerful voices blend so well together.
So far in the program, the auditions are over and the judges will now start to be coach the singers. Would be interesting to see how this develops so I guess I’ll try to remember to tune in the telly next Wednesday.
Not too long ago there was a runner who participated in a marathon. To pass time, she decided to take selfies to keep herself motivated. Quite harmless fun.
Personally I’ve never thought of doing that as when I’m running, the only thing I’m focused on would be to finish the distance in one piece. Besides, I don’t look very photogenic when I’m all huffing and perspiring. Unlike this guy :
The thing was, she didn’t pay for the registration and crashed in the event. It was made worse when she was disrespectful to the other athletes and making inappropriate jokes. It was also reported that she took the refreshments during the event and a medal at the end.
When I first read about this, I was quite put off. And as expected, a lot of people were not happy about her behaviour. Going through the comments, the crux of it was because of her not paying for the event. Part of the costs to go for safety, security, refreshments and whatnots.
And that’s how I learnt about the term, “race bandits” – people who crash in running events without paying for them.
A non relevant picture
I don’t condone her behaviour. And I was bothered by how rude she was to other people and she took food and a medal when she didn’t pay for it. But the thing is, it doesn’t really bother me that she crashed in the event.
Because possibly a number of people have bandit-ed a race at least once in their lives be it intentional or not.
While I haven’t done such a thing personally, I have thought about doing it. As I live in an urban area, it’s not such a big deal for 10 km runs and under. However while I was training for the marathon, going for distances 20 km and over, it can get quite challenging to plan for a suitable route – no running children, no traffic lights, no cracked concrete side-walks etc.
I was stressing so much about my 32 km path that Cart said that I could crash in the Roma Ostia Half Marathon that coincided that day. Even a mutual friend who was doing the half marathon suggested the same. At first I thought that they were joking, also it feels shameless to be doing something that I didn’t pay for. But the more I thought about it, the more intrigued I was and the more willing I was to give it a go.
It’s not an issue about not being able to afford paying for the event. And I am not convinced that bandit-ing is being disrespectful to people who has taken the time to train and travel to the race.
For the Maratona di Roma event itself which I participated in, there were a total registration of 19 thousand. However on the actual day, only around 15 thousand turned up for the actual event. Around 20% of the registrations unaccounted for. Which probably means that the organizing would be 120% ready right?
It’s just that the final 10 km while I was doing the race, there was a crowd of workers hovering around the refreshment tables, the porta-potties that I saw were completely stuffed. I was surprised to see that there were people already disassembling the barricades and at the end of the race, I didn’t get a thermal cover and there were no massage kiosks to be seen. Something I was really looking forward to with my sore and aching feet.
I know that I’m one of the last few runners but it seems quite disrespectful.
But please don’t misunderstand. I am not complaining and overall, I did have a good experience. But my point is, regardless if a person have paid or not for an event, stuff like this happens. Sometimes kiosks run out of food. Sometimes there isn’t enough stuff to be given out at the end of the race. I don’t think any organization would be 100% smooth, 100% of the time.
Which is why I don’t see the big deal about bandit-ing. Typically around 10 – 20% of the registrars don’t show up for an event anyway, so I don’t see how it’s taking away from another person. I mean it’s already there as a public commodity – the path and the barrier. Might as well take advantage of it.
Of course, if it were me, what I would do instead is to :
Go right back at the end of the line and start probably 30 minutes after the last person has passed.
Respect registered athletes
Never take any of the refreshment.
Obviously not take a medal
Not turn this into a regular basis.
Don’t do it unless absolutely necessary.
Be discreet about it.
In the end, I didn’t bandit the half marathon due to the weather forecast. But if you think race bandits are bad, I think jeopardizing a race like this is even worse :
As much as I adore Roman style pizza, there is a place in Rome that I like going to when I have a hankering for Napoli style pizza.
Some years back, Cart and I visited Naples and we managed to eat from a recommended pizzeria. I find Napoli a very charming place, and as you know, Naples is where pizza was invented and there, I had a very memorable and delicious dinner.
Unlike the Roman styled pizza which is characterised by its thin and crispy crust, the Naples styled pizza has a soft, thick crust at the border but gets thinner towards the middle. It’s been said that a good pizza Napoletana could be folded in four.
It takes about two hours by train to get to Naples from Rome. But for any reason that you can’t manage to get there, there is a place in Rome that serves pretty good Napoli styled pizza, called Rossopomodoro.
There are many Rossopomodoro branches all over Italy. A quick search online, I’m quite surprised that it has different branches in other parts of the world.
The one that we normally go to is the one in Euroma2, a commercial centre that’s not far away from where we live.
While it can get quite crowded during high traffic hours during lunch and dinner, it’s all worth waiting for once you get a table, and bask in the atmosphere.
You could see families, group of friends, businessmen, basically people from all sorts of life here, giving it a cozy vibe.
On your table, there will be a piece of paper printed with different Italian recipes at the back. You could bring it home, and it comes pre-punched for easy filing.
And when going through the menu, it’s nice to see sprinkles of Napoli dialects for some of the names of the food.
Rossopomodoro serves a variety of foods like pasta and grilled meats, but I feel that their pizza is the highlight of the show.
I noticed that the menu changes seasonally, which I appreciate as there are so many wonderful seasonal ingredients. Each pizza is cooked in a wood oven, and comes out fluffy and perfectly cooked.
Each bite is such as joy as the dough is soft and chewy, the toppings taste delicate and the ingredients work well together, never overwhelming the other.
Here are some of the pizze that we had. I don’t quite remember the names but I’d normally ask for a tomato based pizza with mozzarella, while Cart loves pizze with strong cheeses or tartufo. I think it’s quite easy to tell who had what in these pictures 🙂
At about 8 euro a pizza here, Cart and I normally spend about 25 euro in total when dining here. Personally I think it’s always a treat to be here and it’s a pretty close to the real deal to the pizza in Naples.
Rossopomodoro 83, Viale Dell’Oceano Pacifico – 00144 Roma
For fun, I’m going to add this video of a guy who’s crazy about pizza boxes. According to him, this box from Rossopomodoro is the best that he’s come across. Skip to 2.16 onwards.
Ingress is a multiplayer game for android devices. In this game, you are supposed choose to fight for the enlightened (green team) or the resistance (blue team) and basically the aim of the game is to establish different portals.
Portals are usually public landmarks, like sculptures or murals. We get points by hacking, deploying or recharging resonators and linking portals. These actions takes an amount of energy, but you can refill them easily by passing by areas with the tiny floaty lights as seen below.
So many enemy portals to hack!
When Cart told me about the game, I thought that it was a great way for us to spend time being more active together and perhaps indirectly, start to be fitter like how a friend did after playing this game for several months.
We chose to be part of the resistance team but the first time when we started the game, it was quite confusing for me though. The learning curve is high as the interface is overwhelming with information and it takes a while for my GPS to stabilize and be in range for the portals.
Eventually it got easier to understand, the more I played it. And it got quite exciting as Cart and I work together and try to claim and fight enemy portals. We’d go exploring different places in our neighbourhood just to search for these portals. It’s real time, so whatever we do gets updated and seen immediately on each other’s devices.
Some of the weapons I got by hacking
What I liked about the game is that it makes you more aware of your surroundings as you try to spot the portals. For example, despite living in my neighbourhood for a while, there is a statue near my house that I probably wouldn’t have noticed if it weren’t for Ingress.
And there are a lot more portals to be found the more popular the place is. So tourist destinations like Piazza del Popolo, or the Colosseo or Piazza Navona would be filled with them so it’s easier to level up there.
The only thing I don’t like about the game is that it’s a huge battery sucker. I’d play the game for a few minutes and my battery would go down to almost half. On top of that, my phone lags a lot and it takes time for it to see me as being in range even though I’m right there! It’s extremely off-putting so I’m not so active in this game.
Cart on the other hand absolutely adores this game and plays whenever he gets the chance. He’s now almost at level 5 and I’m still stuck at level 2. I doubt I’d ever catch up to him.
Unfortunately, whatever motivation I got about Cart being more active is diminished when I found out that he’s been hacking in portals while driving his car! I don’t know about you, but I feel like that’s cheating.
Use a bicycle at the very least -_-”
Here is a video for a more in depth information about the game :
Regardless of what religious belief you follow, perhaps life is just a giant playground where we just need to focus on spending our time, and enjoy our time here as best as we can.
