Procrastination

Thursday, December 27, 2007

I haven't look at any course projects related materials since I finished Math Logic exam last Friday evening. Been telling myself that it's Christmas and I should take a break and enjoy. I spent most of the time watching the taiwanese drama series. I've finally caught up to the latest episode today so will have to wait another week for the next episode. I think my mandarin listening skills have improved a little. Hehe. I've also got Prison Break season 1 and 2 on my external hdd and hopefully I'll be able to hold off watching them at least until after new years since I'd really like to get some work done before then.

Walked around the neighborhood yesterday to see the 'presipi' (Nativity Scene). It's usually a setting with mountains that has a path leading to the stable. The stable has Jesus, Joseph, Mary, the ox, donkey , shepherds and sheeps. Some of these displays are placed indoor visible through the window and some are placed outdoor sometimes behind the fence. These display are made out of various materials like wood, paper, yarn, playdoh, computer parts, etc.



For dinner, was invited to a small Turkish party. Was introduced to sujuk which is similar to spam except that it's halal and also spiced. And of course, the turkish tea boiled from the traditional pot is just delicious. :) Makes me feel like visiting Turkey again.

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Christmas break

Monday, December 24, 2007

Even though it's Christmas tomorrow, it doesn't really feel like it. I guess having exams the week before Christmas most probably spoilt the mood. Also, didn't do any Christmas shopping this year. The shops here carry very limited range selling mostly winter sweaters and jackets which I already have enough. The home decor stuffs are very nice but I can't buy them since I have limited luggage space. There is a small Christmas market in Trento but the ones in Germany are tons better especially for the variety of food that you can get. Not much plans for the holidays this year since final exams starts in January. So, gotta start working on the projects soon. Anyway, wishing everyone a blessed Christmas and a marvellous New Year!


Backgound by dimant

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Gummy bear dance

Thursday, December 20, 2007



oh i am a gummy bear
yes i am a gummy bear
oh i am a yummy tummy funny lucky gummy bear
i am a jelly bear
cause i am a gummy bear
oh i am a moving groving jelly singing gummy bear
oh yeah
ba budu bubu yum yum
ba badu badu yum yum
ba badu budu yum yum
three times you can bite me
gummy gummy gummy gummy gummy bear

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Cooking creamy tuna pasta II

Monday, December 17, 2007

After using the cream previously for the first time, I checked the ingredients on the box and found out that it’s just plain cream. I thought it was already seasoned with herbs coz the label says ready to serve. So this time, I took a different approach. Tthe cream taste is masked pretty well by the other ingredients while I can still taste the zesty peppery taste of the tuna. :)

Ingredients for sauce (a slight variation from alfredo sauce)
25 ml cream (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 ts ground black pepper
water if needed

1. Put penne rigate to boil.
2. Heat half can of tuna in a pan with just a little oil from the can. The tuna I used is already soaked in olive oil, garlic, basil and chili peppers.
3. When the tuna is hot, take them out, leaving the oil behind and set aside in a plate.
4. About 3 minutes before the pasta is due to be ready, pour the cream into the same pan with remaining oil and stir.
5. Add grated parmesan cheese and ground black pepper. Mix them well.
6. When the pasta is ready, drain and pour into the pan and mix with the sauce.
7. Add in the tuna and mix again. (I do this last coz I prefer tuna in chunks)
8. Scoop into plate and serve.

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美味关系 - Sweet Relationship

Saturday, December 15, 2007



Stumbled upon this taiwanese drama while searching for something to watch since all the english series are on a break. Started watching a few episodes with english subs and then found out that the english subs are not available yet for the rest of the episodes. Decided to try watching an episode without subs and it wasn't as bad as I thought. I could follow the story pretty well. But when they started describing the food and other things in detail, I could only get a gist of it. And sometimes when they say some short expression, I can only guess from the body language. Perhaps I could improve my mandarin by watching more drama. Haha!

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Cooking creamy tuna pasta

Tuesday, December 11, 2007



Wasn't sure which pasta goes better with the cream so I took a shot at using small penne. The amount of cream it carried was ok except that the taste of the cream overpowered the taste of the slightly spicy tuna. I guess I shouldn't have used the cream by itself. Gotta mix it with something that will blend with the tuna. Hmm..gonna google for some inspiraton. Maybe something like the dressing for tuna salad.

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Italian Christmas

Sunday, December 09, 2007

The Christmas scene here is very different from I what used to see. The decorations are a lot simpler. Just some decorative lights on the street and on the christmas trees. Nothing fancy. As Christmas is considered a religous celebration, it is usually not associated with presents. Santa Claus is not that famous here either. The more famous character is called La Befana. La Befana is an old crone who on the eve of Jan 6th, fills the socks of children in Italy with candy if they are good or a lump of coal if they are bad. She is usually portrayed as an old lady riding a broomstick through the air wearing a black shawl and is covered in soot because she enters the children's houses through the chimney. She is often smiling and carries a bag or hamper filled with candy, gifts, or both.



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Cooking French-style fried rice

Friday, December 07, 2007


When I was working in KL, this is one of the dish that I usually order when I dine at Wong Kok Char Chan Teng. I have no idea why it is called French-style though. They use ketchup instead of black sauce. I made my own version without onions and it's pretty good for 1st attempt. Now I just need to remember the portion of light soy sauce to ketchup that I used.

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Not sleeping well

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Haven't been sleeping well for almost a week now. Difficult to fall asleep at night even when it's already past midnight. And woke up before 7 the next morning. When I woke up, I knew I was dreaming of something weird. A good night's sleep for me is when I don't remember anything during my sleep. I did try to sleep longer during the weekend but I didn't get extra sleep, just ended up being lazy in bed.

I normally would have difficulties getting out of bed on Monday mornings but this Monday, I got up before my alarm rang and I went to school. When I opened the door to the lecture room, I saw another lecture was going on and I remembered that my class is after this one. Only then I realised that my lecture starts at 10:30 not 9! This afternoon, my friend was asking me if I'll be attending the lecture in the evening. I said yes and when I checked the time, I thought I was already late for that lecture since I need some time to get to school from home. Then I thought, I normally have some time after lunch before that lecture. So I confirmed with my friend and it turned out that the lecture is an hour later. Phew!

Hopefully I can get some good sleep tonight.

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Jay Chou - 彩虹 (Rainbow)

Sunday, December 02, 2007



Checking out Jay's latest album, On the Run. I quite like it. Started to listen to his older songs again too. :) Found this site with neat pinyin lyrics. Hehe.

哪里有彩虹告诉我　
Tell me where there are rainbows
能不能把我的愿望还给我
Can you give me back my wish?
为什么天这么安静
Why is the sky so tranquil?
所有的云都跑到我这里
All the clouds have come to where I am


有没有口罩一个给我
Have you got a mouth mask you can give me?
释怀说了太多就成真不了
I let go and said too much, then those things can’t be realized
也许时间是一种解药
Perhaps time is a kind of cure
也是我现在正服下的毒药
It is also the poison I am taking right now

看不见你的笑我怎么睡得着
If I can’t see your smile, how can I get to sleep
你的声音这么近我却抱不到
Your voice is so near yet I can’t hold you
没有地球　太阳还是会绕
The sun will still spin without the earth
没有理由　我也能自己走
I can still walk by myself without a reason


你要离开　我知道很简单
You need to leave I know it’s very simple
你说依赖　是我们的阻碍
You said that reliance was our obstacle
就算放开　但能不能别没收我的爱
Even if you let go, but can you not confiscate my love?
当作我最后才明白
Just pretend that I only understood at the end

(Rap)
看不见你的笑　要我怎么睡的着
If I can’t see your smile How can I get to sleep
你的声音这么近我却抱不到
Your voice is so near yet I can’t hold you
没有地球太阳还是会绕会绕
The sun will still spin without the earth
没有理由我也能自己走掉
I can still walk by myself without a reason
释怀说了太多就成真不了
I let go and say too much, then those things can’t be realized
也许时间是一种解药解药　也是我现在正服下的毒药
Perhaps time is a kind of cure it is also the poison I am taking right now

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Cooking porridge



Made porridge with Surimi (crab sticks) and carrot bits today. I usually cook porridge when I have chicken bones. Been cooking a few variety of porridge and running out of ideas. Oh I miss porridge with century egg!

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frutti.gummi

Friday, November 30, 2007

During a conversation, I said "My blog is at fruttigummi.blogspot.com". Later when my friend went online to look at my blog, he found other blogs with similar names. He typed fruitygummy.blogspot.com which I supposed is the proper English spelling. He told me he found another blog. So I checked it out and it seems to me that the blogger could be a Malaysian teenage girl. What do you think?

I've always thought gummi bear is spelt with an 'i' and not 'y'. I just found out that gummi is german spelling. Hehe. I did not purposely make up the different spelling. I just changed fruity to frutti to match gummi.

The inspiration for the name is from gummi bears. I like to eat them a lot and I found out that they were invented in Bonn, Germany, where I started this journey. Also, when I was leaving Malaysia, my colleague gave me a packet of gummi bears to munch on the flight. And when I arrived in Germany, I received a few packets of gummi Ampelmännchen as a welcome gift from my German friend. They both don't even know I'm a big fan of gummi bears. What a coincidence eh!

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Wedding season

Sunday, November 25, 2007

When I received yet another wedding invitation yesterday, it struck me that the wedding season has begun. This time, it'll probably last through the next year since 2008 is supposedly a good year for marriage. Since I'm away from home, I could only send well wishes to the couples. There are some friends who I have not seen for many years and it would be really nice to be able to meet them again. Hopefully not all of them will get married in the next year or so. Then, I'll be able to attend their wedding. Hehehe. As for myself, I think made some progress in answering the question of "When are you getting married?" I have unconsciously changed my answer from "I don't know" to "Not anytime soon". I was rather surprised myself when I heard what I said. I guess that's quite a big step for me.

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Futurama movie is here!

Thursday, November 22, 2007


Even though I have written about it some time back, I have totally forgotten about it. Was browing some movie sites and found out that the movie is out! I'm so exicted. I found this link to the movie online but my internet connection tonight is too slow for streaming video. :( Hopefully the link will still be up tomorrow.

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Cold apartment

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

How cold is 17C? At first, it doesn't seem very cold since that's the temperature I set to my AC in Malaysia. I guess in Malaysia, it doesn't feel as cold since it's warm outside. But having cold weather outside and 17C inside, it feels cold after a while. I think the temperature in my apartment has been hovering around 17C for about a week now. Everyone I know in the building has been complaining about the cold. The heater doesn't work well. There's a notice indicating the hours that the heat will come on but the heat doesn't come on according to the hours. Sometimes, the heat that comes out is so mild that you can't even warm your hands. It's really uncomfortable to study when the desk and chair is cold. Or even to read in bed. The hands will feel cold after a while. The worst time is in the morning when I have to get out of my warm bed.

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Ice skating & hot chocolate

Sunday, November 18, 2007

The ice stadium is almost an hour away from Trento by bus. It's located up in the mountains and we get beautiful view of the area from the bus. The stadium has 2 rinks. One indoor and another outdoor. The outdoor rink has the same design as a track and field with track being the ice instead of ground. It's used for speed skating. First time I've seen such a rink. It costs 4€ for admission and another 2.50€ for skate rental. The place is only open from 14:00 to 16:30 so I think it's rather pricey. The temperature was sunny around 0 degrees so it was nice for outdoor skating. We tried the outdoor rink for an hour before going inside. At first, I could only move very very slowly. Luckily I can still balance on the ice and can move a little. There is only one other guy who can skate in our group. As usual, all the girls who cant skate were holding on to the barriers while the guys were moving and falling all over. Hehe. After a few rounds, I got the feel of movement back and I could move more easily.

The best feeling was when we stepped into the indoor rink. The ice was so good! Somehow, I started being able to move freely, naturally. About 30 minutes later, I could go backwards. Although I could only do about 70% of what I could do before, it felt really good to be able to skate again after such a long time. There weren't much people in the rink so we could do whatever we want. We skated until the guy comes out with the zamboni. There was no announcement or anthing. People just move out of the rink when they saw the zamboni coming out. Well, it was a much enjoyable day.

On the way home, the bus took another route back to town and we saw another indoor ice rink and it was still open. Gonna find out if there's public transport to this rink. Hehe. When we got back to town, a few of us went to a cafe to grab something warm to drink. I ordered hot chocolate with whipped cream and it wasn't exactly a drink. The hot chocolate is jello-like and very chocolaty. Have to eat it with spoon. It does taste nice when mixed with the cream and small biscuit like those on ice cream. First time I had hot chocolate in a cafe in Italy so wasn't sure if this is the standard way of making it. The ones from vending machines are drinkable though

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I'm bored

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Now that the exam is over, I don't feel like studying or working on projects. So, what do I do? Since I've been watching lots of movies online, now there's not much to choose from. I also go around petting people's fluff friends on facebook. I don't feel like starting to read a book since I won't be able to finish it by the next week when the next exam comes. Still, it's too early to be studying for that exam now. I still daydream a lot but I just realised that I rarely do it at night. Is that why it's called daydream? We're getting a lot lesser daylight now. It's already dark at 5pm.

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Unhealthy diet

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Haven't been cooking much lately since I have another exam next week. I need to munch on something while studying or I'll fall asleep. Since I eat while I study, I've decided to replace dinner with the stuff that I munch during the night. Getting energy source from lots of fat and sugar. I guess I'm also thinking that it's not so bad since I already have one proper meal in mensa during lunch. Plus, a full meal from mensa is very filling so having fruits or yogurt is usually enough for dinner.

(Un)Healthy food ranking from good to worse?
Roasted nuts (overdose = too much fat or issit carbs?)
Raisins (overdose = too much sugar?)
Gummi bears
Potato chips

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Florence-Pisa

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Took a short vacation to Tuscany during the long weekend. Had a great time visiting the sights and enjoying the food especially gelato. The gelato was invented in Florence and we had gelato from one of the best gelateria in Italy. It was soOOOoo heavenly. After having the best gelato in our lives, we accidently found the best pizza in town. We went back to try it the next night and it was great. The crust is really soft and the toppings are juicy. They only make 3 types of pizza so we tried them all; Margherita, Napoletana, Marinara. Although we arrived only 15 minutes after the pizzeria opened, we had to wait for almost an hour to be seated. The place only has 4 tables and it was all occupied and there were 3 more 4-persons group already waiting outside. The Uffizi musuem has some nice collection but I don't think it's worth the 2 hours queue. If we had bought the tickets online in advanced, we probably wouldn't have to wait so long.

Additional travel note to add is to buy the return ticket in advanced.

I've uploaded some photos onto picasaweb instead coz my free flickr account already has more than 200 photos. Anyone wanna sponsor me a flickr pro account? Hehe. I'll buy a better camera and take nice photos :p

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Fall colors

Friday, November 02, 2007

Seeing that it's such a nice weather today, I went out for a walk around the neighborhood and took some pics.

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Mid-term exams

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

I'm just not ready to take any exams only after 6 weeks of classes. It still feels like the start of the semester and I'm just getting used to attending classes again after a long summer break. We had an exam last week and supposedly this week and people around got pretty tense. Although we're also planning for a trip, I don't see any excitement around. The good news came on Sunday that this week's exam is postponed and people suddenly became livelier. I see people smiling again and joy in their hearts. Hehe. And looking forward to the long weekend starting Thu.

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New pan

Friday, October 26, 2007

Since I came back after the summer, the apartment only has one frying pan left. My flatmates took theirs back when they left. Stuck with a really lousy, sticky pan, I was contemplating whether to buy myself a new one. Then I got news that everyone in the building might be moved to the new apartments on the south side. So I thought there's no point buying one when I'll get getting a new one in the new apartment. Earlier this week, my new flatmate broke the pan while she was washing it. The handle came off and there's a tiny hole in the pan where the handle used to be attached to. The hole makes it impossible to re-attach the handle. Anyway, I finally submitted a fault report after my exam yesterday and this morning, 2 guys showed up with a brand new pan! I can't believe the efficiency of the system. This is Italy after all. I'm going to ask my flatmate if she submitted a report earlier. The new, bigger 28" non-stick pan is great. I can make fried rice again without having all the rice sticking to the pan and I don't need to use as much oil. Way to healthier eating. Hehe.

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Reginelle ai Porcini

Sunday, October 21, 2007

I made an 'instant' version of pasta with mushrooms after I burnt the soup. When my friend moved away last summer, I was given a box of long crinkled pasta labelled "Reginelle - Pasta di semola di grano duro". The packing was different from the normal pasta boxes so I wasn't sure if it actually taste like normal pasta. This ribbon-like pasta goes well with creamy sauce so I decided to try it with the mushroom soup I just bought. Italian mushroom soup is tons better than Campbells! Adding it to my list of goodies to bring home. Hehe. Anyway, make the soup real thick and creamy such that when you add the cooked pasta in, it has similar texture like a carbonara. Super easy and yummy!

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Burnt soup

Friday, October 19, 2007

I did have the thought that the soup could get dried up but I reassured myself that I put enough water and it's only going to be about an hour on very low fire. So I went to take a nap looking forward to have a nice bowl of soup for dinner. When I got up and went to check on the pot, it's all dried up and burnt at the bottom. The potatoes though looks like they were roasted. Hehe. Surprisingly, there was no burnt smell permeating the air. Had to throw everything away and make something else for dinner. Luckily, that something else turned out really well. :D

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Trip to Venice

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Went for a day trip to Venice last weekend with a bunch of new friends. We walked around a lot and saw the famous landmarks. I think Venice is a city where you really need to take time to walk around, browse the little shops and sit down for coffee and enjoy the view. Although the company was good, we just don't share the same travel style. I'm for shopping for local gifts and trying out the specialty dishes while the rest of them are mostly into taking lots of photos. So, I did not buy anything during this trip. I did kind of look out for cute Italy t-shirts while we were zipping though the streets but nothing caught my eye. As for masks and Murano glass, I'll need plenty of time to check them out. Definately a must on my next trip.


Basillica di San Marco (St Mark's Basilica)


View from the famous Ponte Rialto (Rialto Bridge)


Carnival masks in a shop

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Buying groceries

Friday, October 12, 2007

Most grocery stores here are small and don't carry international stuff. The few bigger ones do carry some. After shopping at a few bigger stores, I know which store to go to buy a certain product. For example, ketchup. The one from the local brand is sweet so I don't like it. I found a few stores selling the McD version which is ok. To get the Heinz version in a squeeze bottle, there is only one store that sells that. This is also the only store that sells salad dressing! Italian salad dressing is olive oil and vinegar so you can't find other types in most stores. I found a small gourmet grocery store in town where you can buy a small can of campbell soup for over 2€. I never went back again. There is also the German store Lidl where I buy 1.5L 100% fruit juices, yogurt drinks, gummi bears, american chocolate chip cookies, chicken nuggets, mars or snickers bars. And I'm so glad to have found Heinz baked beans in the Thai shop.

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I cooked pork

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

This is my first attempt at cooking a pork dish coz I generally don't like pork. I bought some ribs for cooking soup last week and there are quite a few pieces left. So I searched around for ribs recipes and decided to make spicy honey mustard sauce to go with the pork. I boiled the ribs in water for about an hour to soften it. Then I make the sauce and marinade the meat overnight. I don't have a grill in the kitchen so I pan-fried it. After about 5 minutes, I realised that the meat is not as soft I wanted them to be. So I debone the ribs and simmer the meat with the sauce for another 5 minutes. The meat turned out really tasty :D




Recipe for Spicy Honey Mustard Sauce
Ingredients
  • For quarter pounds of ribs:
  • 3/4 tbs oil
  • 1/8 small onion finely minced
  • 3 tbs honey
  • 2 tbs Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbs cider vinegar
  • 1 1/2 ts red pepper flakes
  • a pinch of salt
  • pepper to taste
Directions
1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Cook the onions well or until caramelised.
3. Add all the rest of the ingredients and stir gently for 5 minutes.
4. Let the sauce cool slightly before using it to marinade the meat.


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Russell Peters

Saturday, October 06, 2007

I just found out about this guy recently. He makes jokes about Indians and other races. It's hilarious!
Russell Peters: Outsourced

Aggiungi al mio pofilo | altri Video

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Without dryer

Thursday, October 04, 2007

It's nice that the apartment comes with a washing machine and washing is free. There's no dryer though so we have to dry the clothes on the rack. It wasn't a problem before. During the winter when it was cold, the apartment is heated from midnight to early morning so the clothes get dry inside the apartment. When it was summer, the clothes get dry in the balcony even though there isnt much direct sunlight on the balcony. Now that the weather is cooler, my clothes just couldn't get dry after leaving them on the balcony for 2 days. It's still a little damp but no smell. Since there is no heat in the apartment yet, it couldn't be dried inside either. Sigh!

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Seedless grapes

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

I just couldn't find seedless grapes here. It's almost like there is no such thing. So since I moved from Germany, I didn't eat any grapes at all until last week. I could no longer resist the delicious looking grapes every time I go to the supermarket. I bought a bunch and they were sweet and juicy. But it was a mess coz I had to dig the seeds out for each one. I have eaten half and I figured it's just too much of effort. I doubt I'll buy anymore grapes here after I finished the remaining ones. I wonder why they don't have seedless grapes...

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New Season

Friday, September 28, 2007

The new season of those tv series I'm follwing have finally arrived. The premiere of Heroes was not as exciting as I had anticpated. House M.D was just ok. Desperate Housewives will air this weekend. Hopefully it'll be interesting. Thursdays are still my anime day. Thought of watching new series but kinda lazy to filter out those that I might like. Any recommendations?

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Back to school

Monday, September 24, 2007

First week of classes has been tough. Still having 8:30am classes everyday. I get headaches after attending classes on theoretical subjects. Need retraining to think like a scientist. Still quite lazy to study; prefer to watch videos whole day. Quite a bit of assignments and assessments throughout the semester so can't afford to start studying later in the semester when the final exams come. I find that most of the new students this semester are really enthusiastic about the courses and damn hardworking too! Makes me feel like I am extremely lazy, which I probably is. Oh, I miss the first year. It was pretty relaxed at the beginning of the semester so can slowly adopt to the change in workload. Well, I gotta start picking up more books to read before I drown in the courses. Hopefully I'll get more productive starting this week. No time to lose.

It's gonna be a tough semester to get through. Sigh!

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Cooking again

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Just cooked up something simple...

Lunch - Stir fried chicken and vegetables with white rice

Dinner - Fusili with tuna in spicy olive oil


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Missing house keys

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

I'm certain the keys are in the basket on the table. I left the rest of my cards on the table and I see them on the table everytime I unload my stuff onto the basket. Even the small sim card is there. Since stuff, especially receipts, kept piling into the basket, I did not see the keys and I thought it was being just covered over. So when the time came to pack and leave, I was surprised the keys were no longer in the basket. I searched the table and the basket again and again but the keys could not be found. I asked mom if she saw my keys and she told me that I left it in the basket. I said "It's not there anymore". She was suprised too and we started searching for the keys together. I searched my entire closet, drawers, cabinets, basically almost the entire room many many times but still no keys. Instead of throwing a tantrum like I'm prone to do when I cannot find my stuff, this time I actually searched calmly in a organised way. After half a day of searching, I ran out of idea where my keys could be. Without keys means I can't go home. Both my housemates have left the apartment when I was away. I started thinking of what options I have. The journey home from Verona airport is quite smooth. I didn't have to wait for the bus or the train. I went straight home and pressed the bell hoping that my new housemate is home. Lucky me, she's at home.

The next morning, I went to the housing department to request for a new set of keys. I was told to go to the police to make a report. I was quite nervous coz I didn't think I could fill up forms and stuff in Italian. I asked the lady to write for me what I should tell the police. Armed with that paper, I went to the police department. They have a section called Ufficio Denunce. Denunce sounds like "di non che", literally translated to "of not there". Hehe..a section is just for reporting missing stuff. It was just one room with the officer sitting behind a relatively empty desk with a computer. When it was my turn, I told the officer that I lost my keys and passed the piece of paper to him. He started typing lots of stuff into the computer. He asked for a few things and finally the report was being printed from the printer. We signed the report and I went back to the housing depaprtment to get my keys. Phew! It wasn't as bad as I imagined it to be. No form filling on my side, just the officer typing in all the details as I just sat there. When I returned home with my new set of keys, I realised that I actually lost 4 keys, not 2. I forgot about the mailbox key and the key to enter the apartment building. Anyway, I was given the building key and apartment key so it is sufficient. So yeah, although I came back in time for the first day of class, I actually missed it coz I had to deal with my missing keys.

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Meeting friends

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

It's nice to be able to meet up with friends again. There are a few whom I haven't seen for 10 years! So so much has happened in our lives. After meeting several groups, I noticed that the popular topics with the girls are marriage and babies while with the guys is mostly about career and money. I had a good time meeting everyone and I got to know valuable info during our conversations. I got an insight into the >5 years 'project' plan towards marriage. Truly an eye opener for me. Hehe. I now understand why the guys are worried about money because they are expected to be the main contributor in a marriage. I also realised a few big benefits from entering into a long term committed relationship. Given that your partner is as least as capable as yourself, having each other makes it much easier for both to achieve personal and professional goals.

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I'm worth a lot

Thursday, September 06, 2007

In a brief conversation, a man asked a woman he was pursuing the
question......
"What kind of man are you looking for?"

She sat quietly for a moment before looking him in the eye and asking.
"Do you really want to know?"
Reluctantly, he said, "Yes."

She began to expound... As a woman in this day and age, I am in a position to ask a man what he can do for me that I can't do for myself. I pay my own bills.
I take care of my household without the help of any man. I am in the
position to ask, "What can you bring to the table?"

The man looked at her. Clearly he thought that she was referring to money.

She quickly corrected his thought and stated, "I am not referring to money. I need something more. I need a man who is striving for perfection in every aspect of life."

He sat back in his chair, folded his arms, and asked her to explain.

She said, "I am looking for someone who is striving for perfection mentally
because I need conversation and mental stimulation. I don't need a
simple-minded man.
I am looking for someone who is striving for perfection spiritually because I don't need to be unequally yoked... believers mixed with unbelievers is a recipe for disaster.
I need a man who is striving for perfection financially because I don't need a financial burden.
I am looking for someone who is sensitive enough to understand what I go through as a woman, but strong enough to keep me grounded.
I am looking for someone who I can respect. In order to be submissive, I must respect him. I cannot be submissive to a man who isn't taking care of his business. I have no problem being submissive...he just has to be worthy. God made woman to be a helpmate for man. I can't help a man if he can't help himself."
When she finished her spill, she looked at him.

He sat there with a puzzled look on his face.
He said, "You're asking a lot."

She replied, "I'm worth a lot."



Send this to every woman who's worth a lot and every man who needs to know that.

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Where does my future lie?

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

When I left last year, there is no doubt in my mind that I will return to continue what I was doing. Now, after half of the journey, I'm not so sure anymore. Most people whom I spoke to during my journey seemed to have found their calling during the second part of this journey. I have always known what I want and have a plan to get it. This time, all the thoughts and analysis yield no answer. I guess not knowing what I want really scares me. I don't know how to prepare for what might spring up upon me. Will I be able handle them? Some might tell me not to think too much and just let the course unfold. What if the course is not leading to where I want to be? Yah..I know I have no idea where I want to be now but that's why I'm thinking hard about it! And I'm afraid I don't get a second chance to set things right.

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Circle of friends

Sunday, September 02, 2007

After being back for 2 weeks, I realised that I dont have a "default" gang of friends in KL. Something like Friends, a group that you meet at least once a week to hang out. I always just meet up either one or two friends at a time. I guess I never realised this before when I was too busy with work. I wonder if most of my friends are also too busy with work? Or perhaps it's too much of a hassle to go out and meet up because of the traffic conjestion and parking problem? Or could it be that face to face meeting is no longer ncessary when we're already chatting with each other online? Sadly, the only group that I associate with often is my co-workers. Has this become our culture because we spent much more time at work? Are Malaysians becoming more individualistic? Maybe it's just me. Maybe I should put on a friendly face and go out and meet more people.

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Comfy home

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Staying at home is just so nice. I get to sleep in a much bigger and comfortable bed. I also have a bunch of furry friends for company. I can listen to music with a decent pair of Altec Lansing speakers and watch movies on a bigger screen. I have the freedom to go anywhere anytime with my car. No need to check schedule for bus or train. Shopping can be done conveniently in one place like in one of those big malls. Ooh.. and food, there's plenty to choose from. Shops, restaurants, cafes, etc are open till late. Plus 24h McD! I'll definately miss all these when I return to Trento.

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What to eat in Malaysia?

Sunday, August 26, 2007

I'm a person who makes lists; groceries list, packing list, travel list, etc. So when a friend asked if I have a list of food that I wanna eat when I return to Malaysia, I was surprised I didn't make one. Instead, I have a list of errands to get done. Most people I know would have cravings for certain food and would go all out to satisfy their cravings. I have tried many local food during the 3+ years working in Malaysia and I know what I'd like to eat again but I don't crave them. Makes me realised that I didn't become more Malaysian as I thought I have. During the past week, Japanese cuisine and family style chinese cuisine dominated my plate. The only hawker food I had was fishball noodles near my house. Perhaps I should make some effort to 'cari makan'. Hehe. So what am I missing?

1. Nasi Lemak
2. Char keoy teow
3. Wantan mee
4. Kari mee
5. Laksa
6. Tomyum noodle
7. Maggi/Indomee goreng
8. Satay
9.
10.

I know I shouldn't try to list the local food. It's too difficult! And too embarassing to mention how long I took to come up with the 8 items.

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Back in KL

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Took one and a half day, including lost of 6 hours in time transition, for the total journey to come home. No jet lag but feels like the weather is draining my energy. By the evening, I would feel tired after being out since morning. Sis just left for London this morning so I'll finally have time to do my own stuff. Since she was leaving, everyone was more concerned about getting her needs fullfilled. The one major lifestyle change I noticed is people here function at a faster pace, particularly at the dining table. When eating at home or lunch with colleagues, I feel pressured to eat faster and then I realised that I didn't enjoy the meal. I guess I unconsciously picked up a new habit from the Italians. I need 3 hours lunch time. Hehe.

So far the place looks the same except for the SMART tunnel and a few new bridges and new road traffic direction in the Bukit Bintang area. Still congested as usual during peak hours. Trying to be extra careful when driving and in small roads with no cars, it takes me a while to determine which is the right way of drive (Europe being the opposite)

Well, really hope to meet everyone I know especially those who are getting married. I'm sorry for not being able to attend the weddings.

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Travel notes

Friday, August 17, 2007

Back from vacation. Some things to note...

Check if travel dates fall on a holiday so that I can get home with public transport. There is no bus after 9pm on holidays. August 15th is a religious holiday for most countries in Europe.

Allocate at least one extra day when there are friends living in the area to spend some time with them according to their busy schedule.

Knowledge of another foreign language is useful when people do not speak English. Our German lessons came in handy for directions. And luckily Menar can speak some Turkish when we got Rambi to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance. We were surprised the paramedics don't speak English.

Beach clubs have private beaches and rent umbrella and deck chairs. Very nice and comfortable outdoor setting. They sell some simple food and drinks. Not exactly the place to go if you're looking for a shady spot as the umbrellas don't provide that much cover. My friend with fair skin still got slightly burned after 4 hours staying inside the umbrella.

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Super relaxing week

Saturday, August 04, 2007

It's been a very long time since I feel so liberating. With no responsibilities and no financial worries, it's like being a kid again. Well, even better than kids coz I get to do whatever I want whenever I want. Hehe. Early in the week, I went shopping. Oh the joy of shopping! I bought some tops, a skirt, and 2 dresses coz I couldn't decide which to pick. They were 50% off so I got two for the price of one. I bought a pair of sandals too. It feels so good to finally be able to wear skirts and sandals again. I wanna paint my nails too but I think I'll just go for a manicure and pedicure when I go back to KL. I've also managed to watch quite a few movies, both new and old. I find Leon (1994) an interesting movie. And Harold & Kumar go to White Castle is just hilarious (2004). Also watched tv series Everybody Loves Raymond and Joey. It's just a coincidence that I picked both with Italian background. Watching them again, I enjoyed it even more, knowing now how Italians are.

Well, I guess I'm pretty much all set for Istanbul and Greece for the next 10 days.

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Hogwarts Sorting Hat Quiz

Friday, August 03, 2007

After seven long years, the story of Harry Potter has finally come to end. It has been a wonderful journey thus far and I'll be looking forward to the last two movies. I feel like reading all the books again but it'll take too much time. I'll probably just watch the movies again even though they aren't that great. Came across some sorting hat quizes and took them. As expected, I'm a Rawenclaw. Hehe.


Hogwarts Sorting Hat: Based on Myers-Briggs Personality Typing



You are a RAVENCLAW!As a Ravenclaw and as an NTJ, you are intellectual, independent, and value excellence in yourself and others. You are naturally curious, and can usually see many sides to the same argument or issue. You are driven to acquire knowledge and set very high standards for yourself and others. You excel at and enjoy strategizing, planning, and focusing on the big picture. You enjoy being challenged, and can accept constructive criticism without taking it personally. You are excellent at organizing yourself and others.
Take this quiz!






Quizilla |Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

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Simpsonize Me

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Wonder what you'll look like as a 2D Simpsons character? This website lets you upload your own photo and voila you're in 2D! Hehe. Do you see any resemblance?

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Caldonazzo Lake

Monday, July 30, 2007

I didn't know that this lake is only less than an hour away by train. When we set out in the morning, the weather was cool and mostly cloudy. While my friends prayed for sunshine, I just hoped that it wouldn't rain. There were a few beaches along the lake and they were still quite empty. We picked a shady spot and laid our stuff down. Then we decided to take the paddle boat out to the lake. The weather turned partly cloudy with cool breeze. Wished I have a boat of my own so I can lie there as long as I want.

After we came back from paddling, I stayed in our spot to finish reading Train Man while the others went swimming. Even though it started to get crowded, I was surprised that it wasn't noisy. I get to enjoy my book with a beautiful view and pleasant weather. So glad it wasn't hot like it had been for the past week; over 40C!. As we were heading back to the train station, it started to drizzle. We realised we were late so we had to run to the station and were lucky enough to catch the train. After a couple of minutes, rain started to pour. Then I started hoping that the rain would stop when we get off and it did!

View from our shady spot where I lay to read

A family swimming as we paddled back to the jetty


View of the beach from the lake

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Exams are over!

Saturday, July 28, 2007

The exam period sure felt like a very long time even though I took a one week break to go on vacation. The last exam turned out better than I expected. I did quite badly in explaining the algorithm of my applications. I was just spilling out formulas which I memorised the day before. He was expecting some sort of presentation like a set of slides but we weren't aware of it. His assistant told him that she told us that we need not prepare slides. Well I managed to show him that my application works but I doubt he understood how I made it work. He asked to explain the code and I started taking a long route instead of showing him directly the important parts. After a couple of minutes, he suddenly just asked for my exam book. When I passed it to him, he said he'll give me the marks after they look at the other student's application. He somehow made me feel that I'm wasting his time.

I was very nervous during the wait and tried to distact myself from listening to the other student's exam. They seemed to have a better strategy with him and he was using the blackboard to explain stuff. Each of us have different projects so I can't tell whether the explaination is good or not. After the student finished, I thought they would need some time to discuss our marks. A minute later, he told us that they propose the high score. I thought it didn't apply to me until he asked me if I'm ok with the score. I said yes. Then he continued to propose that he would give us the highest possible score if we do some documentation. The other student agreed and so I followed suit. He asked if we could trust us and give us the score now and expect to get the documentation later. He then wrote the scores in our exam books. After they left, we started working on the documentation and finished it a few hours later. This morning I got replies from them that they liked my slides. Phew!

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Good times in Aachen

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

ich habe meine Deutsch Prüfung bestanden! :D

When I arrived at the train station, I was only expecting Laurent and was suprised the gang of friends were also there to meet me. We went for dinner at a nearby little asian shop. The food portion is huge, probably similar in size to the portion in Chicago chinatown. The next day, we met up with Jose and had dinner in front of the Rathaus. We chose the restaurant next to Starbucks so that we could go there for coffee after dinner. I found out that both of them loved the huge comfy chairs there as well. Hehe. Unfortunately, Starbucks was closed after we finished dinner. I think it closed at 8pm. So decided to go to one of the ice cafes for ice cream. They sell very fancy ice cream combinations just like here in Italy but only for 2/3 of the price. We looked at the menu and chose the smallest type and it still turned out to be big. Bigger than the picture really.

After my German exam on Friday, I walked around town and did some shopping. Then, I went to the bookstore to get some books to read during the vacation. There are so many nice books and it was difficult to decide what to buy. I picked a few books and went to the seating area and started to read the first few pages to see how I like them. I was reading Mitch Albom's latest, For One More Day, and when I stopped and looked up I saw that I've already read 50 pages. That's about a third of the book. Since I have time I decided to finish the book. I skipped a couple of sub stories but in the end I know whether it's a ghost story or not.

We went to Cologne on Saturday. Our itinerary include KFC for lunch, shopping for backpack, shoes and sleeping bag, and watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. They weren't many people watching it and there's no commercial. I think the cinema in KL would still be very crowded.
On Sunday, we had a bbq session at the park and were worried that it might rain. The weather was cool and the sky was mostly cloudy. It drizzled lightly for a few minutes while we were grilling the meat. Then the clouds moved away. The weather was just perfect. Cool with the sun mostly covered by clouds. The breeze is a bit chilly though. When I got back to Italy, I'm dreading the hot hot sun again. Going to be staying home as much as I could.

If I really tried, I think I might be able to write this post in German.

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Munich: Meat and beer aplenty!

Tuesday, July 24, 2007


We ordered a pot (2 portions) of typical Bavarian dishes. It consists of sausages, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, knodel dumplings, schweinshaxe (pork meat), and deep fried super crispy something which we think is pork skin; all in rahm sauce. Although I'm not a fan of pork, the food is tasty. However, towards the end of the meal, it starts to taste saltier. I guess that's where the huge mug of beer comes along.

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Trip to the Dolomites

Monday, July 16, 2007

Located to the south of the main chain of the Alps, the Dolomites are notable for their composition of pale colored dolomite-- a limestone like rock formed beneath deep, ancient seas-- atop darker volcanic bedding. These fabulous vertical reefs glow in the changing light and present a startling and dramatic contrast to the pastoral beauty beneath. It took about 2 hours by bus from Trento to Passo Pordoi and then cable car up to Sass Pordoi at 2950m. The entire experience has just been breathtaking. I've posted some photos in my Flickr set and they did no justice to its beauty.


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Cooking chicken and mushroom noodle

After a week of eating lots of meat, fried stuff, and desserts, I decided to have some lighter asian style food with light broth.


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Spent so much!

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Ohh... I've spent so much money in the past month. I knew I bought various stuff but the total amount only hit me when I checked my statement. Bits here and there really adds up. And it's not so noticable when the transaction is non cash. I've bought quite a few flight and train tickets. These add up to a significant amount but at least I earn miles with my flights. Also bought some books from Amazon. And there are still more books that I wanna get. The one week vacation had cost on average 100€ a day with 40% on transportation, 25% on accomodation and the rest mostly on food, some admission fees and etc. I'm not sure if it's expensive but it does make it an enjoyable vacation :D

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Worst train ride

Friday, July 13, 2007

The night train from Vienna to Verona was the most uncomfortable of all train rides I ever had. Even worse is that we had to be on it for about 12 hours! It was so different from the German night train that I took last time. If I knew it was an Italien operated train, I would not have booked the train. We should've just taken a flight. When we board the train at about 19:30, it was extremely hot and stuffy. There was no AC. We complained it was too hot and the conductor just rolled down the windows for us and said it'll be cooler later when the train starts moving. We went to check on the other cars and they were nice and cool. We wanted to move to the other car but the conductor said we're not allowed to do so. We can only stay in the compartment that we have booked. Sigh! I guess we're really unlucky to have been assigned to this lousy car. It got a bit cooler (from the wind) when the train starts moving. Then the conductor came and asked us to shut the window and said that the AC is now functioning. Well, after we shut the window, the AC was still not cool. Anyway, we got to enjoy the amazing mountain view only for a while as it started to rain and the sun was already setting. Then, we went to bed early but couldn't get much sleep.

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Tired & Lazy

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Back from a week long vacation in Munich, Salzburg, Vienna and Budapest. Been very lazy at home since. It's so comfy and cool; don't feel like doing anything at all. But then, I still have 2 more exams next week so have been reminding myself to study. I'll post the travel stories later. Nevertheless, some of the photos have been uploaded to Flickr.

Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna

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Cooking Spaghetti Bolognese

Sunday, July 01, 2007


Eventhough this is one of the simplest pasta to cook, I haven't been making it. Maybe because it's meaty. Today I decided to give it a try and made a green salad on the side to go with it. Now I remember how tasty it can be; juicy bits of meat on hot pasta. At first I planned to cook the sauce for 90 minutes like the recipe Christine posted on her blog. As time passed, the smell of it made me more hungry so I only managed to cook the sauce for about 45 minutes and it's already tasty.

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Travel Guide

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Schmap Guides is an interactive travel guide where map and guide content are dynamically connected. It gives a nice virtual tour of a place as you go along the streets on the map and see slideshow of photos. It's quite a handy tool for planning trips. Anyway, one of my London New Year's Parade photo was selected to be included in the Schmap London Third Edition guide. They've made "schmapplets" of some sections of the London Guide and I thought I'd post one of them here.

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Troubled Heart

Tuesday, June 26, 2007


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Feste Vigiliane

Monday, June 25, 2007

The Feste Vigiliane revive the historical celebrations held in honour of Saint Vigilio, the Patron Saint of Trento. For one week, the streets of the city centre are transformed into an ancient village where you can see trades and crafts of bygone times and enjoy traditional Trentino food. There are also musical events like jazz concert, opera, rock concert and dance exhibition.

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Cooking tomyum risotto

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

I had a bit of aborio rice left and didn't feel like making plain white rice coz it's doesnt taste nice. Was thinking what I could make from the tomyum paste besides fried rice, pasta and soup. So I thought I'll just try a plain risotto by replacing chicken stock with tomyum soup. And boy it turned out to be delicous! All the soup absorbed into the creamy rice making it very flavorful. Next time, I can add shrimp and stuff to it. Hehe. This would make a very nice warm meal for the cold winter days.

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Cooking green curry chicken

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Everytime I cook rice, there would at least be an extra portion and it'll go to the fridge. Since I don't have the equipment to reheat anything easily, I'll end up making fried rice or rice stew with it. Then I struck me today that I can make curry. First cook the curry then pour the rice over the hot curry and you get one hot satisfying meal. Hehe. Oh, it goes well with bits of corn and carrots too. Was kinda lazy to separate them out from the opened pack of mix veg.

Chicken with potatoes and peas and some corn and carrot in green curry

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Eating Döner kebab

Monday, June 11, 2007


Besides pizza, kebab is the other fast food available here. It has shredded meat combined with your choice of vegetables like tomatoes, lettuce, onions, etc and 3 different sauces. I usually take everything except the onions. Although kebab is the more expensive one here, I find it tastier and more filling compared to pizza. And definately a lot more meat too. As we were walking to the kebab store, I suddenly thought of hamburger. Haven't have a burger for a long time. Maybe it's just been 2 months but it does feels like a long time for someone who used to eat McD/BK once a week on average. There isn't any of these fast food restaurants here. Well, we know there is a McD coz we've seen signboards but we aren't sure where exactly it is. I have a rough idea but haven't had the time to actually be looking for it. Maybe I'll go look for it when I get bored from all the studying for the finals.

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Classes are over

Monday, June 04, 2007

I survived the 8:30am classes! Towards the end of the semester, it was starting to get difficult to get up at 7am every day. And I did ended up late for class a couple of times. Now that classes are over, I can go back to my normal sleeping hours. Hehe. Still have some projects to complete and also to study for the final exams. After that, it's holiday! :D

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Summer movies

Thursday, May 31, 2007

I'm missing out on all the big summer movies! Spiderman 3, Shrek the 3rd, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and all the ones coming up in June and July. :( I miss watching movies at the cinema. The experience is just not the same at home. It's a lot worse when I've only got my small laptop and puny speakers. Sigh! It usually takes some time for the movies to come out in the cinema here coz they need to dub them first. Chances of finding a cinema here that shows movies in original language is zero. Doubt that Verona (30 minutes by train) has any either. Well thanks to the internet, low quality version is usually available within a week. Either watch that or wait. No other choice, just have to live with it. So far, I've managed to watched a decent quality Spiderman 3 and a not too bad quality (cannot watch in full screen) of Shrek the 3rd. A friend has just downloaded Pirates and hopefully I'll get to watch it this weekend.

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Trip to Val di Non

Friday, May 25, 2007

Went for day trip to the San Romedio Sanctuary and Canyon Rio Sass last weekend. Both places are within 90 minutes from Trento. The San Romedio Sanctuary housed one of the most important church in the Trentino region. It also has very interesting history and legends. The main church is very very old and very beautiful. Not grand beautiful like those famous churches but antique and serene beautiful. No pictures were allowed so I can only keep it in memory. We stopped for lunch at tranquil Lake Smeraldo and then walked towards the canyon. The entrance fee is 6€ and you get to wear a raincoat and a hard hat. The raincoat was not really necessary as there's not much water. Some parts of the canyon is quite narrow that I can barely walk straight through without turning to the side. What's amazing is the engineering of the suspended metal "floor" we get to walk on. Well, the rocks are great too but I can't really tell what's the difference. Hehe.


Lago Smeraldo: An artificial lake next to the canyon.

Inside Canyon Rio Sass.

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Cooking pasta

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Fusilli con pancetta, i pomodori e i piselli
(Spiral pasta with bacon, tomatoes and peas)

I didn't know before that the various shapes and sizes of pasta is used for different style of cooking. And there are tons of different shapes and sizes. For long thin strands, spaghetti is No. 5. The number starts from 1 which is the thinnest and goes up to maybe 10 or more. As for the sauce, there isn't much variety here. The pasta sauce section in the grocery store is mostly filled with just tomato paste or tomato puree. I guess the people here just buy the base sauce and add whatever they want inside later. I don't find sauce like those Prego makes. For wet sauce, tubular pasta like penne is more suitable to hold the sauce. Well, I had to use fusilli since I ran out of penne and as a result, there's more sauce left over on the plate. Didn't have bread to clean it either.

Buon Appetito!

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Europe Vs. Italy

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

It's very true! Even the Italians agree. Hehe.

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Largo di Garda

Friday, May 04, 2007

Took a break from working on projects during the long weekend and went for a day trip to Lake Garda. It's one of the largest lake in Italy and the Trentino side of the lake is surrounded by mountains. It's just beautiful. The weather was nice albeit too windy sometimes. I guess the wind is good for activities like sailing and wind surfing. We went paddling in the lake for an hour, had lunch, and just walked along the lake to the next town. Such a relaxing day! It's nice that it's only 90 minutes away by bus and it's free when you have the yearly transportation pass. It's probably the best 'freebie' we get here. Hehe.

Riva del Garda


Main beach in Torbole

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A Series of Unfortunate Events - Part III

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

The night train from Bonn to Milan was quite a nice experience. They even served breakfast! Arrived in Milan central station at almost 8am and headed to the tickets counter to buy a ticket to Trento. I was told that there would be a strike that day and trains would not be runnning. Even if I leave with the next train, I might still be stuck in Verona. The girl at the counter asked me to return later in the afternoon to get the latest update. So I decided to walk around the city and checked my luggages into the luggage deposit. Bought a day transport ticket for 3€ and went around the city. It's such a shopping heaven! Anyway, I went back to the train station at 2pm and was told that the next train leaving for Verona would be at 4:30pm. I insisted to buy the ticket anyway coz I didn't want to queue when the train starts to run again as it would be a very very long queue. Plus I know tickets for regional trains are valid for about a month so even if I ended up staying over in Milan, I could still use it the next day.

I went back to the city to continue sightseeing, mostly window shopping as no luggage space and returned to the train staton at 4pm. I checked my luggages out and found a spot to sit and stare at the information board. The board finally updated the platform number for my train and I quickly rushed to get my ticket validated and get on the train. There were already dozens of people on the train. I managed to get my luggages into the luggage compartment and an old gentleman was already sitting there. I stood next to my luggages and more and more people boarded the train. Since it was the first train out to Verona, the whole train was packed. We barely have space to stand and people were standing inside the toilet in the next compartment. When the train finally moved, everyone felt relief. After an hour, the train became less packed and after 2 hours, I finally got to sit but I started to worry that I might be on the wrong train since it shouldn't take so long to get to Verona. Another half an hour went by and I started to see familiar landscapes and I confirmed with a fellow passenger that we were finally in Verona. Got off the train to board the next train to Trento. This time the train was already there and there were plenty of seats. While waiting for the bus home in Trento, I met my friends who also got stuck in Milan. They reminded about strikes on Fridays. Oh, now I'll definately remember to keep that in mind. Well, I finally got home at around 10pm.

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A Series of Unfortunate Events - Part II

Sunday, April 29, 2007

My flight from Paris was supposed to depart at 8:40am. There was a long line going through security and I was quite nervous that I might miss the plane. It was 8:45am after I cleared security but still the screen did not display the gate number for the flight yet. About 10 minutes later, there was an announcement in French and German calling passengers of my flight to a certain gate. Then another announcement was made and we were told that the flight was cancelled and we had the option to take the next flight to either Stuttgart or Düsseldorf. Not much information were given out and also lack of coordination between airline crew. When I asked when's the next available flight out to Cologne/Bonn, I was told 4:30pm. So they expect people to wait from 10:30am to 4:30pm in the airport! What if that flight is also not coming? I didn't want to take the chances and I knew there's a train leaving at noon so I went to train station in the next terminal to ask if there are still seats available. By the time I went back to retrieve my checked-in luggage and headed to the counter to purchase the ticket, the express counter was closed. I had to wait in line in the normal queue and I missed the noon train. Luckily, there's another train in an hour and I took that and finally got back to Bonn at about 5pm. The bank was still open and I managed to get my banking matters done. Headed back to my old dorm to my friend's room and started packing my stuff into the luggages. By the time I finished, it was time to leave for the train station again. I didn't have the time to do Asian grocery shopping as planned. Still, managed to grab nuggets from the McD nearby the train station for dinner. :)

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A Series of Unfortunate Events - Part I

Sunday, April 22, 2007

The day started with taking the 9:34 am bus to the train station. We forgot to press the bell for the stop but luckily we could still make it on time to take the train from town at 11:05. It's a direct train to Venice. When we arrived in Venice at 14:30, we decided to have some lunch first before heading to the airport. We arrived at the check-in counter at 16:00 and we saw the board showed the expected time at 19:30. Our flight was supposed to depart at 18:10. At first my friend thought it's the time of arrival, which is correct. I was the first to check-in and I asked what the expected time means? The lady said that that's the time the flight is expected to depart. So I said "There is a delay then" and I got a typical Italian reply. "Maybe. We're not sure yet. Could still depart on time" Just great! So we had to hang around the airport instead of walking around Venice town. When it was close to 18:00, there was no call for boarding and no change on the board so we knew for sure the flight was delayed. We continued to wait and 19:30 passed and still no plane in sight. 5 minutes later, there was an announcement and the expected time on the board was updated to 20:30.

The expected time had been updated several times between 20:30 and 23:00 when they announced that the passengers could get refreshments from a cafe. Earlier we heard that the airport in Paris will be closed when we arrive so the flight crew may decide not to fly. Well, they started boarding at 23:30 and told us that the arrival airport will be changed to CDG (north) instead of Orly (south) and a shuttle bus will be provided to take us to Orly. With the airport and subway closed, we were concerned with how/what we are going to do. After all the passengers have boarded the plane, the captain made an announcement explaining the delay and the expected departure time will be 00:30 and arrival in Paris at 02:00. Since the airports are way outside of the city center and taxi fare will be very very expensive, we also asked the stewardess if the shuttle bus can make a stop in the city center. They told us that the company had chatered the bus to Orly only and we have to ask the bus driver ourselves. Sigh! Finally at 00:45, our flight took off.

We arrived in Paris past 2am and found out that there were two busses. One to Orly and one to the city center. We took the bus to the city center. There were night busses running and a couple of us took the bus to head to their hotel. The others didn't have anywhere to go since their hostel check-in was already closed. I only had subway directions to my hotel so I hung around with the rest walking along the almost empty Champs Elysees in the direction of the Eifel Tower. The tower is no longer lit but still barely visible. Past the tower, we decided to walk to the hostel but we kinda got lost with no proper map with us. It was nearly 5am so we decided to go to the nearest underground station. We spent some time in the station deciding what type of tickets to get which will be the cheapest. The guy at the counter was very helpful indeed. I finally got the hotel at 6am and the check-in counter was open and they speak English. :) Got to my room, showered, rest a bit then head out to explore Paris.

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Lunch in Innsbruck

Friday, April 20, 2007

Austrian food is delicious! With Germany and Italy as neighbours, culinary influences from both countries are clearly evident. The food that we ordered have more resemblance to German food and luckily it doesn't taste like it. I think maybe they're cooked in the Italian way which makes it taste good.

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Paris

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Good sights, excellent food, nice people :D

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Eating gelato

Sunday, April 08, 2007


Gelato is just so irresistible! Almost everytime I go to town, I'd end up buying a cone with one big scoop. It costs between €1-2. The other day I found a Gelateria that sells 2 scoops for €1.50. Well it's not as good as the more expensive shops but you get 2 flavors! And I just realised this morning that I shouldn't be having ice cream when I have a cough :(

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Cooking fried rice

Monday, April 02, 2007

After a month here, I've finally cooked something asian at home. Although there is no chinese grocery store here, there is a thai store which has similar stuff.

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Squeaky Shoes

Sunday, March 25, 2007

For the past month, my shoes have been making squeaking sounds whenever I walked on wet surfaces. At first, I just ignored it since it's seldom wet here. Then on one wet day, I was walking about 10ft behind a couple of guys and my shoes were squeaking so loudly that those guys turned around to see what's making the sound. I pretended I didn't hear anything and started walking much slower. I suspected it's caused by drying them in the dryer earlier. When I moved, I wanted the shoes to be cleaned before I put them into the luggage. So I washed them by hand and had difficulty drying them. At first, I put them on my window ledge but the wind was blowing so strongly that day that I was afraid they'll get blown away. I took them back in and put them on top of the heater. It didn't get any drier so I decided to put them into the dryer for about 25 minutes. It turned out still a bit damp and I left it on the heater overnight. I was quite relieved that they turned out ok. Well, when I checked just now, I found out that some parts of the sole are loose! I guess the some of the glu did have melted under the heat. This is most probably the cause of the squeaking sound. Now I need to find a glu for it and hopefully they sell it in the supermarket.

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The Mountains

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

It snowed in the mountains yesterday

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Living in Italy

Monday, March 12, 2007

I have classes starting at 8:30am every day and amazingly, I'm not struggling to get up eventhough I still go to bed around midnight. Wonder if I can keep it up for the rest of the semester. Hehe. The classes here are more technical and some of them involved programming. I have only started installing the necessary development tools and have yet to get my hands dirty. The projects are due in the end of the semester so there's time for me to learn Java and OpenGL again.

It's very inconvenient to do shopping here as the shops are closed in the middle of the day for lunch (usually 3 hours) and then closed for the day at 6pm or 7pm. In addition to being closed on Sundays, the shops are also closed either on a Monday mornings or Wednesday evenings. It's a great place to work! Also, there are no department stores here so it's quite difficult to figure out where to buy stuff and things here are more expensive than Germany.

Food here is nice. Even at the Mensa, you get a complete Italian meal with bread, pasta or riso, meat or fish, salad, fruits or dessert, and water or coffee. After taking lunch at Mensa, I'm still full in the evening so I usually just have bread or fruits for dinner. I haven't been cooking much either. So far, I've only been making pasta and frying up some fish fingers and chicken nuggets at home. I also found instant risotto packets with various flavors that cooks in 15 minutes. There's only one small pan and 2 big pots in the kitchen and it's difficult to cook the stuff that I wanna make with those. I also feel like I need to cook fast since my flatmate would want to cook next. Had a cooking session with a couple of friends for Friday's dinner. My contribution was abc soup and stir-fried veg. Hehe got others who can cook the meat.

Since I don't have internet at home, I think I would be more productive at working with school stuff. Sometimes I would bring my laptop to school for the internet since there's wifi and stay in school till 8pm or until I feel hungry. Luckily the school lab is also open on weekends so if I need internet, I can go back to school. The bus runs every 20 minutes Mon to Sat or can also walk down the hill for about 20 minutes. At first I did thought of getting internet service but found out it's expensive to hook up the service on my own as it'll cost about 50€ a month for both phone and adsl. Without internet, only weekends would be boring if didn't go anywhere. I thought of getting books to read but the bookstores here don't carry English books. I have yet to check out whether it's possible to change the language of the DVDs here to the original English version, not the dubbed Italian version. If possible then can rent some DVDs to watch.

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