frutti.gummi

Although I had not celebrated CNY at home for the past several years, I can remember the super hot weather and the amount of food that we eat. For those reasons, I don't look forward to CNY and avoided being home if I could.

Well, this year I am home and it has not been a very pleasant experience, mostly because it is extremely hot at home. When my uncle's family came to visit on Sunday, I had to play host since my mom went out. Otherwise, I would have hid inside an aircon room upstairs. I offered them food and drinks and sat in the living room to chat with them. Although I could feel the air blowing from both the ceiling fan and the stand fan, I was sweating. My butt and thigh were especially wet and sticky! Was lucky I didn't have to cook but I did help with the dishes after dinner.

My family don't go out visiting relatives so we've been staying home most of the time. Hence, it's also super boring. At first I tried not switching on the aircon, but I eventually gave in and switched it on. I've been watching tv, videos, and reading books in the room.

After several meals of the same CNY food (chicken, Chinese sausages, roast duck, steamed fish, prawns, mushrooms, abalone, sea cucumber, etc), my dad suggested we go for Subway yesterday. I was so relieved that we can take a break from eating all those food coz I don't really like them. Hehehe. The fridges are still full with all those meat and vegetables and I think it'll take us a week or two to finish everything. There is hope when my mom suggested we make Thai chicken salad last night; instead of just re-heating the plain old steam white chicken. :D As for tonight's dinner, I'll be making spaghetti ai gamberi (prawns). Mom was being super generous yesterday and we bought very expensive tomatoes at cold storage, over RM32 per kilo! For four medium sized ones, they cost about RM15. Those are the kind of tomatoes that I buy in Italy. Hehehe. Hopefully they'll be as good.

So, CNY is not so bad after all. As long as I get to stay inside aircon room and not have to eat the same kind of food every meal. And I get to cook what I like! :D

The celebration there is very different from what I have experienced. As we walked along the shopping street heading towards the square at 11pm, there were already tons of people on the street loaded with all sorts of fireworks. Some shot up high the sky, some are on the ground and some are body level. It kinda remains me of CNY. We had to look out for the fireworks because sometimes people throw them at you or kicked it to you or it was misfired. It became more intense as we reached the square. The square was surrounded by people and people in the frontline were the ones who usually lit the fireworks. Standing in between the crowd was not safe either. Sometimes there were small fireworks who explode on the ground. So when we felt something hit our leg, we quickly kicked it away. There were also fireworks that backfired. One firework actually shot past my ear! It was a little painful but luckily my hair did not caught fire.

We were surrounded by fireworks everywhere. When I looked up, I can see all sorts of fireworks all around me. I'd never been so close to a firework display before. Although they were totally random, somehow they seem to blend well together. At first I thought the fireworks were the small simple ones but some of the ones I saw were actually similar to the ones in major fireworks display. When midnight arrived, there was no countdown; just plenty of fireworks being shot up in the sky and people wishing Happy New Year or Buon Anno or Gutes Neues Jahr! The fireworks only toned down after 2am.

As the crowed slowly dispersed, I saw tons of broken glasses, bottles and used fireworks on the ground. Although quite a number of the crowd had alcohol in their hands, there were no fights or arguments. I was surprised I didn't see any police or ambulance on standby either. This is one of the best New Year's celebration I've had. :D

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

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.

The Christmas atmosphere here is awesome! At the Weihnachtsmarkts (Christmas markets) , one can find all sorts of things for sale. All pretty pretty things. As for food, one can find a variety of meat, potatoes, pastries, candies, roasted nuts, etc etc. They're all tasty! The famous drink is Glühwein, which is warm red wine with cinnamon and some other spices. Throughout the day and night, people would stand around small tables with a drink and chat. It can be cold sometimes but we still do it. It's all the fun with shopping and eating and drinking.


Some of my personal goodies include Christ-stollen, dominosteine, half a bag of chocs from France, and a souvenier mug from Christmas market in Bonn. The stollen a traditional christmas cake in Germany. I guess it's like the English fruit cake but the taste is different all together. It has sugar dusted on top and the one I bought had marzipan filling. Yummy! There are other variety of stollen too; some contains almonds, some has rum. Dominosteine are small layers of gingerbread with jam and marzipan covered with chocolate. I think these are the best choc fillings. Hehe. And the choc pralines are so smooth and it just doesn't feel like choc at all. I could have finish the bag in a day. Also, there's all sorts of Lebkuchen. I've never really liked gingerbread but the ones here are really nice. :D

Wishing everyone a blessed Christmas and may the new year bring you much joy and love. Happy holidays!