frutti.gummi

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.

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

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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