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The White Cliffs Experience

2010-12-01T00:39:00.007+01:00

The white cliffs of Dover is also an amazing sight to behold. It was the peak of summer last year and we spent the afternoon walking around the white cliffs.

At some point in the late afternoon, we walked back to catch our return coach. We took a different route than when we arrived, thinking that it will lead us back to the city center. After some time, the way turned narrow and became a footpath. Progressing further, it was a dead end.
Turning back would mean missing the coach. The alternative way through, however, was a main road located 5 metres right above us.

Standing in between us and the main road was a rocky cliff. Below us there were more cliffs. Somehow through the mix of recklessness and sense of adventure, we decided to climb to the main road. Marc had climbing experience, but we did not have the proper gear then. Halfway through, I felt regret as climbing was not as easy as I thought. Marc, however stayed calm behind me. His position was more difficult because he had to arch his body more to cover me. If I were to fall, both of us would fall.

Midway we reached a position where it wasn't easy to go either up nor down. We were stuck there for what seemed to be a very long time. We just had to go through upwards. Finally, we managed to get to the main road. A sense of relief came. This is one of the things that I wouldn't think of doing again. Looking back, I think I owed a life to a friend.

Mirror for the Soul

2010-11-23T00:33:00.016+01:00

I remember going to a retreat about around this time last year. It was a part of a Christian living program in my previous church. I attended for two reasons. First, I thought that if I wanted to serve I should follow the foundation class of that church first. Another thing that prompted me was that I felt that my spiritual life was rather dry at that time. I regularly attended church, but the desire for God was just not there.

The retreat went as usual. Solid teaching. Great food. At some point, I felt that God revealed something in my heart that blocked me from seeking Him. It was bitterness. Bitterness towards God. I was surprised. I never thought of that.

As tears flowed down my cheek, my hand wrote down what I felt, almost without thinking. I resented God that He did not seem to care about certain areas of my life. Things that I felt I prayed hard enough but did not seem to have any answer. That made me think that if God did not help me I would take my life into my own hands and I didn't need God. That also lead to subconscious thought that reading the bible and prayer was useless, so it's very difficult to do them. Of course my mind disagreed with all these but my heart somehow believed.

It's only several months later that healing took place and I found the desire for God again but that's another story. However, this revelation showed me what my heart was really like. It's amazing how subtle issues, such as bitterness, could take root in the heart and easily choke our life.

Count My Blessings

2010-11-22T00:29:00.005+01:00

It's been a while since I have written. Many things have happened since my last post.

I've gotten used to my job as a software engineer. I am privileged to work in an area that I very much enjoy. Not to mention that I get good manager and colleagues who are very supportive.

I've moved to another church earlier this year. The church helped me to grow, gave me a sense of family and accountability and also empowered me to serve.

I've got the chance to learn from past relationship, even when it was not meant to be. This has revealed my weaknesses and the extent of God's grace for me.

I've got to know some good friends, and even when some people inevitably come and go, their traces remain in my life.

For these I give thanks to God. And for many more to come.

Dover Castle

2009-08-04T00:01:00.004+02:00

We had amazing sights to behold at Dover Castle. It is a major fortress just on an elevated hill just around the south east tip of England.

One notable thing about the area is that it has a more natural feel to it, unlike typical castle which is dominated by solid stone. It makes it a perfect place to blend the strength of medieval story with relaxing feel of a green pasture.

As in other parts of England, people flock to the park during good days. It is not uncommon to see people lying down on the grass to even sleep during the day.

Night at the Museum

2009-07-27T23:24:00.005+02:00

In early summer, they closed down Oxford street for cars and put in a promotion from Night at the Museum 2. The T-Rex doesn't look so big here, it must have been the special effect and sound that makes it terrifying . . .

Winchester

2009-07-06T23:39:00.005+02:00

Summer is pretty good in England, it's not overly hot as some parts of Europe but just the right temperature to go out with t-shirt and shorts.

As I have got more comfortable with my workplace, I thought it would be a good idea to explore the English countryside.

Our destination was Winchester. It was the old capital of England before London took over, so there are a good mix of medieval stuff and natural countryside feel.

The main cathedral stood majestic on a blue sky backdrop and green pastures. A clear river flows steadily across the town with ample pedestrian path on the side. The small shopping street provides convenience and relaxed atmosphere typical of a medieval town.

Making Sushi

2009-05-29T00:27:00.004+02:00

One of the positive side that the outside food is expensive here is that we tend to save money for dinner by cooking. And it gives us a push to learn new things. It helps that my flatmates are food-loving as well.

The good thing about sushi is that you can put various toppings in. It's a good and tasty way to clear our fridge. And since the main ingredient is rice, it is cheap and filling. The videos on the internet helps us to know how to make sushi and also the composition of the ingredients.

Rolling sushi is not difficult, but rolling a good sushi is. We had many broken sushi which we ate as we made. As we roll, I tend to put a lot of rice on the seaweed resulting in big sushis. This may have something to do with my perception on what is enough. Should do with less next time.

In the end, we made way too much, there's an extra tray of sushi when everyone's finished.

Brighton

2009-05-10T17:45:00.002+02:00

Towards the end of winter, our first day trip from London was to Brighton. It is a coastal city just south of London. The temperature was still pretty cold at that time despite the sunshine.

We brought our packed lunch and had a short picnic on the beach. The coast is consists of peebles and not fine sand, which in a way good because our clothes won't get so dirty. We spent some time in the brighton pier, which is a theme park on top of the sea. Towards the evening, the weather got really cold. A visit here during the summer would definitely be much better.

Snowy London

2009-05-09T19:04:00.006+02:00

I don't really know if I was lucky or not. There was snow in London in February, which fortunately was beautiful to watch and does not happen often ( as in every 10 years or so).

The downside was that it happened right on my first day to work. I was not sure about the dress code and so I was wearing suit. The thin leather shoes rather felt cold on the feet.

To make things worse, the public transport did not work. I went for the tube and wait 40 mins for train only to be told that the tube station was closed due to the harsh weather. Outside, the bus was not operating at all. Even taxi was difficult to stop. After another 40 mins, when my sole almost froze, I managed to share a cab with another guy and arrived at the office an hour late.

The scenery outside my office was beautiful. It was good that we have glass walls that I could see across the square covered in snow.

Delphi

2009-04-17T21:45:00.003+02:00

The final chapter of my trips last summer was Delphi in Greece. It is around 2 hours bus ride from Athens. The town is located on a mountain overlooking a wide valley. The view from the top was amazing. Some of the restaurants there are built on the edge of a cliff so that people can enjoy the view downhill.

Delphi was the site of the Oracle in ancient Greece. I like Greek mythologies because it has many fantasy creatures and also because of its storyline. However, visiting the place is a different story as the mythology is often better than the reality.

The main place to visit in Delphi was an archeological site located on the mountain. Despite the ruins appearance, the site still gave some trace of its majestic past. Well, at least it is still good to enjoy because of the scenery, plus since we were EU students at that time, we got free entry to the sites.

Cape of Poseidon

2009-04-16T23:42:00.003+02:00

Just an hour drive from Athens, there is this cape of Poseidon. We were lucky that the weather was pretty good when we arrived there. The temple overlooking the sea is now in ruins but at least it still shows the trace of the shape.

One thing I like about capes is that it has a wide horizon view of the sea. It brings tranquility and relaxing feel to look at the infinity. It also helps that the sea and sky is clear blue and not gloomy.

Athens

2009-04-13T20:13:00.005+02:00

The final part of our last summer trip was a trip to Greece (it's almost a year now from the trip itself, indeed how lazy I am . . ). Athens looks more similar to Indonesia rather than the other parts of Europe, no piazza or medieval buildings, lots of cars on the streets. The exception was the existence of some ancient archaeological sites in the city. These sites, however, are much less glorious than it was in the past.

In the valley there was the temple of Zeus, only some massive pillars are left now. The main site was in a small hill housing Parthenon. Restoration works are in progress but I still feel somewhat pity that these once majestic buildings are becoming ruins now.

Below the Parthenon hill, there is the Mars hill or Areopagus where Paul presented the Gospel to the Athenians. It is not exactly the best place to sit and discuss anything as the hill is not flat. Perhaps the ancient people were just stronger than us.

Mini Switzerland

2009-04-11T12:45:00.006+02:00

At the end of our swiss trip, we went to see a miniature park with some of the famous landmark and landscape of Switzerland in a smaller scale. It is hosted in a small town called Melide.

While the theme park was more aimed for kids/families, with small trains for children running around the park, it was pretty enjoyable. In particular, we could identify the landmarks that we visited before and also get to know the landmarks in other areas of Switzerland that we missed.

ICF Easter Retreat 2009

2009-04-11T12:20:00.004+02:00

Recently, I attended an Easter retreat for the Indonesian Christian Community in the UK. It's refreshing spiritually, with plenty of good food as well. I had a good time meeting other Indonesian and, of course, to stop speaking English for a while . .

Lugano

2009-03-28T20:51:00.005+01:00

Another small town we went into was lugano. It is the Italian-speaking part of switzerland and thus all the signs were in italian but with swiss flag.

The station is on the hill, so in order to go down and around we need to walk down through the city center. But it was a pleasant walk because the city center has a typical medieval pavement.

At the end of the walk there was the lugano lake. The lake brought about the feeling of calmness and freshness as it is surrounded by mountains.

Luzern

2009-03-22T18:27:00.005+01:00

The next part of the trip was luzern, a small town easily reachable from zurich. The town as pretty with a river flowing across it. I like the river because it is green in color and not brown like in the big cities. Also the place is surrounded by mountains, so it feels closer to nature.

As with swiss cities, the houses are painted in a light colors giving extra feeling of brightness. And since we visited during summer, the flowers were blooming adding the richness in color.

One thing that is supposed to be famous was the dying lion carving on the wall, I couldn't remember why. I find it more enjoyable to going around the city and the rivers.

Desert Chapter: Rivers in the Desert

2009-02-16T22:45:00.002+01:00

And here's the favor of God, that I was given a new, better job, even in the middle of a recession. And here is the story.

In the middle of November, I applied to a company in London. I hesitated at first, because they said the starting date was in April, which I thought was a bit too long, but I applied anyway. I was invited for a technical test. Unfortunately, I did not score well in the test and the company said they won't be proceeding with my application. Another rejection email, I thought.

Around mid December, the same company contacted me again with the prospect of doing another test, and so I did. They did not give me any immediate feedback. And so the Christmas and new year week passed without any news from the company.

Curious I asked the company, early second week of January. I got a reply only after one week. That was ten days before my scheduled departure for Singapore. They asked me for a convenient time for a phone interview. I told them about my flight schedule and asked them to arrange interviews withing one week if possible.

I did the phone interview on the same day, with an hour notice. Without much preparation, I think I didn't do very well on some of the technical questions. Still, they invited me for a second interview in their offices, in a week's time.

At this point, I had no other pending application and was preparing to give up my job search here. But I thought, I will also prepare well for this interview so that I can fly back without any regrets. The interview went well and I was offered a job the next day in financial software development. That was two days before my scheduled flight. Also, somehow they changed the start date, so instead of April, I started in February, just a week after accepting their offer.

I believe it's God's way of saying that he could still do a miracle in the last hour. Also that in times when my abilities failed and my confidence plummeted, God could still give his grace to save the day.

Desert Chapter: Letting Go

2009-02-09T22:42:00.002+01:00

As I went through the dry land. It became more and more challenging. The winter nights grew colder and longer. The media brought about daily news about more job cuts and bankruptcy. Rejection notice came one after another. And so the confidence that I had initially of getting work in the UK faded along.

I came to a point when I thought that maybe I should go back to Singapore, where it is relatively easier to look for work. Not that the economy is unaffected, but because I still had permanent residence status there. I looked at my remaining pending application and booked a one-way ticket back to Singapore.

I started to think perhaps God had wanted me to go back and that's why I did not get anything in the UK. I was letting go of my dream to work here. A week into my flight date, I had no pending interviews, 1 passed test and 8 failed interviews. I was at peace then with the thought of going back to Singapore for good, when God shown me his favor.

Zurich

2009-02-05T23:07:00.008+01:00

The next segment of the summer trip was to Switzerland. We went to Zurich on the east side. Geographically, the city is not far from Trento, but due to the mountains, the trip involved a detour south to Milan before going north again to Zurich.

For the trip, we booked a cisalpino train which reduces the impact when turning. This is helpful when we had to go through the mountain trail track.

Things are really expensive here, much more than in Trento, although the Swiss Franc is not as strong as Euro. I guess people here really earn a lot. One plus side was that we did not need to spend on city transport since we can hire a bike free of charge as a facility provided by the town council.

The city consists of two parts, the old town area which contains historic buildings and the modern part which has all the shops and financial center. I very much like the old town, which is beautifully crossed by a blue-green river.

Another thing that I like is the buildings. In particular, the variety of light colored building which brings about a sense of peace. This is the opposite of the dark colored building more dominant in UK. I wonder why.

Vienna (2)

2009-01-27T22:03:00.005+01:00

After coming back from Budapest, we spent another night in Vienna. The main highlight of this segment is Schonbrunn Palace.

The palace is located a bit on the side of the city. However, it is easily distinguishable by its massive size. In particular, it has a huge garden which may be comparable to the one at Versailles.

We took a guided tour of the palace, and it was good, but we weren't allowed to take any pictures inside the palace. I think the interior is not much different than other palaces in Europe, filled with furnitures for luxurious living.

Around the garden there are mazes with walls of plants It took us a few minutes to find our way out, but it was fun. There's the kids section as well, splashing water, etc.

At the end of the garden there is a hill, which allows wide panoramic view of the palace. Thankfully, the weather was excellent then and we could get the most out of it, well, despite the summer heat.

Desert Chapter: Overcoming Complacency

2009-01-24T21:42:00.002+01:00

There were two things which made me think about being complacent in my life. The first one was when a company asked me to do a Java test as a response to my application. I was quite confident with my skills in Java since I had a near-perfect score for Sun certification two years back. However, it did not turned out the way I expected. The test covered a wider range than Sun certification. Worse still, I messed up some fundamental questions which I would have answered well last time. So, I failed the test.

The second thing was an interview. As an opening question the interviewer was asking on what I was doing at the moment. To which I blurted out that I was looking for work. After the interview, I realised that I was effectively saying that I was doing nothing while looking for work. I did not get a second interview with that company.

All these made me realise that I was being complacent. I have replaced the desire to learn new things with past achievement I could put in my resume. And that is not a good thing for long term because of the dynamic nature of technology and also the technical atrophy that results from not using some technologies.

At this I decided to make use of the time to refresh my knowledge and learn new things so that at least my CV does not get outdated due to my rustiness. This realisation is another thing I find valuable from this desert experience.

Budapest (2)

2009-01-23T16:26:00.003+01:00

On the second day we went to the Buda side of the city. There are several bridge going across the river. One of them ( in the picture) is for pedestrian to cross with some shops on the sides selling local souvenirs. Unlike the previous day, the weather was excellent on the second day which makes it pleasant to walk around.

We first headed to the Buda castle through a cable car. This allowed us to see the lower part of the city. The castle area is quite big. Instead of just structural defense, they also have shops, churches, restaurants and houses on top of the mountain. More like a small town there with buses connecting different parts.

The most impressive building on the castle area was the royal palace. However, it has been converted into a museum. I don't remember what museum it was because we did not go inside. Presumably some art museum. But the main building was well maintained and looks majestic.

To save time, we took a quick lunch with a local bread. It's spiral shape and pretty sweet with various topping. Not bad at all.

As we went down the hill from the other side, we saw more of the castle like structure with gates and lookout tower. I personally like these structures better but we just passed by and didn't stay there for long as we had our train in late afternoon and we wanted to have a proper meal before we went.

As we arrived at the river bank, we managed to get a snap of the Hungarian Parliament building. The building is unique with many domes and spires. We went into the building earlier in the day with a guided tour, but the picture looks better from the other side of the river as it captures the full building.

We continued to look for food. We had the address of a place from wikitravel, and it was pretty obscure. But it was a delight that the food was really cheap for european standard, the portion was generous and the taste was good as well. The dish is called Goulash, stewed meat with gravy speciality of that region.

As we finished our meal, we had some extra time at hand before our scheduled return train. We decided to make use of the time to visit a synagogue.

Synagogue is a Jewish place of worship. This is the first time I actually see a synagogue, and it was big, world's third largest or so. The look is similar to a European church, but there is no cross and the engraved words are in Hebrew.

We had to take a head cover before going in, which is mandatory for male. There was a bit of story of the synagogue as we sit and listen and we got to see some of the artifacts in the museum as well.

It was just the right time as we then took the train back to Vienna to continue our journey. Overall, although the language was indecipherable in Hungary, it was an enriching experience.

Budapest (1)

2009-01-22T17:54:00.030+01:00

To balance my posts with some lighter things, here is the continuation of my travel (back) log.

Continuing from Bratislava, we went on to Budapest, Hungary. It's a mere 3-hours train journey from there.

First there is the cathedral. We went up the tower and look around from there. Unfortunately, the weather was a bit cloudy, so it wasn't as good as it should have been. But the size of the cathedral looks really massive and impressive.

From there we went to a museum. The good part of the museum building is that it looks like a fairy tale castle, with river flowing, bridge and main gate.

I can't remember exactly what it was, maybe some farming museum or so, but we didn't find it interesting to go in and rather just walk around the building exterior.

We had a pretty late lunch, but it was good. There are dishes similar to the one in Bratislava, the potato noodle, but the place had substantially put in more meat in it. In that way, it is much more decent meal.

Finally, at night we went to see the river. It separates the upper part (buda-castle) of the city with the lower part (pest) and hence the name of the city.

The city lights were very pretty. We walked through the river bank with a backdrop of a bridge and the Buda castle.

Desert Chapter: Dealing with Pride

2009-01-22T17:04:00.002+01:00

Getting deeper into the desert path, I believe God was revealing some issues I had in my heart. This was one of them. At one point when I was searching for work, I met with a friend who had been offered a good job. I felt small then. However, I still had these interviews lining up, so my hopes were still pretty high. When I did not get those jobs, the feeling then became more like pain.

The feeling was more like broken pride than envy. The reason was this. I often helped this friend I mentioned previously with coursework and thus I felt that I am better than him academically. I would have been okay, for example, if someone else with a higher capability gets the job. For me, that would be a fair deal.

The feeling lingered for a few days and it was making me uncomfortable. Somehow I knew that it had to do with pride and I had to deal with it properly. So, one night I put this in prayer. I confess what I felt and how prideful I was and asked God to forgive and work on my heart. Subsequently, I felt peace and relief, at least until this day.

Entering the Desert

2008-12-08T21:26:00.003+01:00

After some time, this would be another soul-searching post, related to where I am at the moment.

It's always good to plan, but still nothing is certain in this world. I had planned things carefully, from starting my thesis earlier to getting a job offer half a year before graduation, coupled with some traveling around the summer. Everything was good, or so it seemed.

And then the inevitable came. The financial crisis ransacked world economy, leading to global recession. Projects are frozen, and my job offer was withdrawn, three weeks before starting date. On my side, I could not get the work permit on time due to the recent changes in the immigration system. So there was nothing that I could do except to search for another job.

I started off with loads of optimism. After all, if God allows good things to be taken from you, he would have better things on offer, right? Well, I still put my hopes on that, but my strength were getting sapped as the days gone by. Like in the desert.

These past few weeks came as a roller coaster experience. I would get elated on interview prospects and downcast on rejections. However, I started to realise something. That this situation might be one of the better things on offer.

Certainly it is not a convenient path, but it allows character building. It is a time when my real characters and foundations are being exposed and tested. It is a time when I could really know God, because when things go well, I tend to forget about him. And so, even still in the desert, I slowly regained my strength.

Bratislava

2008-11-09T16:29:00.009+01:00

From Vienna, we went on to a neighbouring city of Bratislava, capital of Slovakia. It just took around an hour from Vienna to Bratislava by train.

Slovakia is not in the eurozone yet, and so we had to change currency in the station. Apparently, it is cheaper to withdraw directly from Euro account rather than getting from the currency exchange shop so we did just that.

The streets and piazza are similar to the Italian towns, however the signboards use local language. Prices are significantly cheaper on the town outskirt with and significantly inflated at the city center.
After going to the cathedral we stopped for lunch. Looking for some traditional dishes we ended up with potato noodle topped with goat cheese and a sparse decoration of meat. It turned out to be pretty good, although extra meat topping wouldn't hurt.

A major landmark in Bratislava would be the castle. It is located on a hilly part of the town. We went up, only to realise that the castle was closed due to construction work. The weather weren't very friendly as well at that time as it was raining a lot.

Vienna (1)

2008-11-08T21:40:00.009+01:00

Back to travel log. Just before I submitted my thesis, I planned a short trip with a friend to several neighboring countries. It's possible because of the convenient Schengen visa which I got for my trip to Italy this time.

We went northeast, towards eastern european countries. The first stop was Vienna, the capital of Austria. The train journey took a total of twelve hours where we spent our whole night.

We first stop at the opera house. Vienna was a renowned cultural center before and so opera flourished. We got in just in time for the guided tour after having a quick wurst lunch. I'm not a big fan of opera, but the 30-minutes tour was informative and felt like a breeze.

Then we went around the city center. I like the bright color they use for buildings, they brighten the mood, so unlike the gloomy buildings in the UK.

The main streets and platz were beautiful. They're good place to stroll around in a good weather.

At some point, we decided to stop by in one of the restaurants for some local dish. German sausages are common in Austria. But one of their famous speciality would be wiener schnitzel. It's breaded and deep fried meat in thin slices. They have big portions of these served with potatoes. It's really a good mix.

As it was summer at that time, the sun stays longer. We didn't realise it was almost six in the evening as it was still quite bright, and we might not make it for our next stop: Mozart House.

Mozart once lived and worked in Vienna, thus the house he used to live in become a tourist attraction. We did not manage to get in since the they are closing, only a quick snap from the outside.

Invisible Hands

2008-10-20T02:42:00.002+02:00

I have been quite busy the past months including holiday back in Indonesia. Let me continue, however, from the point where I left off.

A holiday break felt great after submitting my thesis. I spent almost three weeks back in Indonesia and Singapore, catching up with friends, visiting relatives and spending time with family. However, towards the end of the trip, something unexpected happened. I got a call from the course coordinator informing that one of the documents required for graduation was missing. In fact, I never submitted that declaration of value, which apparently is required by Italian law to graduate.

At that time the thing that's left for me to do is thesis defense which was in 2 weeks time, and I have to get the document by then. Declaration of value is issued by the Italian embassy of the country where I got my first degree, in this case Singapore, so I have to go there to get it. To make matters worse, I left all my original documents regarding my degree back in Italy. So in the worst case, I have to go back and forth Indonesia-Italy-Singapore-Italy to get the document and may not make it in time for the defense.

The case is already beyond my ability then. The embassy people normally would not care about your personal problems, plus they have very short opening windows and I dont have original documents. It was safer to bet that I wont be able to graduate on time. So I prayed.

I didn't really like playing with (low) probabilities. I liked to play safe. I had taken more credits during the course that I would still graduate on time even if I were to fail one or two subjects. I started my thesis few months earlier that it would complete well on time. I had searched (and got) a job offer early on. Everything was taken care of, or so it seems. But that time, there's not much I could do. I didn't have time and prayer was a last resort.

So here's how it went. On Monday morning I called Italian Embassy in Singapore. It turned out some other agency is doing it for them. Then I called Italian Institute of Culture. The officer there was unusually helpful. I explained the situation to her and she told me that I could ask the italian school to send a fax of the school documents required. In the afternoon I asked the school to fax the documents. They did. Next morning I flew to Singapore, straight to the IIC. Then I got the DoV on the same day. Next day I flew to Italy.

It felt like it's a miracle. I did not need to change my travel plans at all. (Not to mention that it's not easy to do for long distance flight). I only needed to show my original passport and got my DoV in one day.

When I mentioned to my father about how kind IIC officer was, he rebuked me. Surely she has been really helpful. But is it not God who is capable of making all these things happen?. By doing that, I was rationalising and not acknowledging God, not giving Him the glory He deserves.

Many times God works with invisible hands over our lives. And if we do realise those, then perhaps we are more blessed.

Bologna

2008-08-15T10:33:00.003+02:00

After the short trip to Ferrari Museum, we went to the city of Bologna. Bologna has its own reputation as the food capital of italy, and thus where the terms spaghetti bolognese comes from.

Our trip was delayed as we needed to wait for bus in Maranello. So by the time we arrive in Bologna it's already 3-4 pm. By that time most of the restaurants are closed. In fact it is in whole italy that restaurants only open during lunch time and dinner time.

After a short walk, we found an open restaurant, and ordered our lunch, lasagna bolognese. The food portion was moderate, however, the meat sauce was a lot, hiding most of the lasagna from view. I would have stayed for more of these if we had not need to go back the same day.

Ferrari Museum

2008-08-14T12:12:00.004+02:00

Another trip we made was to the Ferrari Museum, located in the city of Maranello, around 3-4 hours trip from Trento.

Although I'm not a big fan of cars or racing, I like how they shape the car body. I would say cars with a lot of curves look really good.

The trip itself was time consuming due to the lack of frequency of buses going there. The whole city of maranello was full of ferrari logo, from bus stop to coffee shop.

The museum itself is not so big, yet expensive, considering that it's the only attraction in the region. We did try to go to Ferrari factory, but only to be told to buy one first before we could enter.

Torino

2008-08-05T10:48:00.006+02:00

There goes another part of my backdated trip post. The last place we went to after cinque terre was torino. The city is neat, with some huge city squares. There are few castles in the city. They have the same characteristics as their counterparts in Milan. The structure reminds me of the Heroes computer game's rampart castle. However, we didn't spend a lot of time there to check if it's open.
There's also Juventus shop there. But everything is pretty expensive. There's no such thing as a euro 8 souvenir T-shirt. The things they sell are for fans.

Cooking Chronicles 7: Soto

2008-07-18T19:33:00.003+02:00

My first attempt to make Soto failed miserably. The taste was bland. Probably due to too much water. The subsequent attempts were better. I use garlic, shallot, vinegar, turmeric and chili for seasoning. Sometimes I would add ginger and onion. For the taste, instead of salt, I use oyster sauce and light soy sauce as they are readily available. I think the recipe's not supposed to have any sauce, but anyway it works out well.

Genova

2008-07-13T23:31:00.002+02:00

After finishing a day hiking in Cinque Terre, we headed for Genova. We already booked the hostel there as it's not so far away from Cinque Terre.

We arrived at around 9 pm and wanted to have dinner there. As we drag our tired feet along the city, we look for restaurants serving local food. Fortunately, we bumped upon a kind couple who happens to know a good place just nearby. So there we were trying some local pesto pasta. I would say the taste was good, although it's not as strong as the pesto I usually get in jars. Probably I'm just used to put too much pesto in my pasta.

The hostel turned out to be far from city center, on a hilly place. It's good though that we have all the room for ourselves. Managed to catch some remaining part of Euro semi final and took rest, preparing for next day trip.

The Right Perspective

2008-07-12T14:00:00.002+02:00

I realise that the process of writing my thesis was progressing pretty slowly. Often, during days, I would just try to do other things than what I'm supposed to do from games to comics, anime, chatting and so on. It is probably a sign of stress.

As I was taking a break, sitting down in my bed, I pondered, why it has been so pressurising. There may be several aspects to this. One is that I have already gotten a job offer for november. The visa for job in UK requires aUK degree. Although there are several graduation sessions in a year in Italy, there is only one (or 2) annually in UK. So I have to graduate by certain date or everything will get messy.

Another aspect is pride. I often take pride on my academics as it is one thing I can excel in. In this case, although I do not intend to pursue a phd, I wanted to get a distinction as it will look good. The coursework I have already qualifies for distinction for both universities. Now it remains only the thesis work. The problem is that my thesis work is more implementation related and so it is probably not easy to score high marks. (well, I chose implementation projects as I'm not really into research).

As I ponder I thought of reading my bible ( which I haven't done regularly these days). It brought me to the life of Saul ( the first king of Israel). He had low self esteem when he was chosen as king. But God raised him up and gave him victories. However, things soon become ugly when he tries to hold tightly to the things he has been given ( and started saying 'my battles' instead of 'God's') and even disobeyed God to keep on holding the reputation and respect he had from the people.

In the same way I realised that I have been holding onto things too tight. I was grateful when I got the scholarship. But now it seemed more like things I achieved and want to protect dearly. Thats when priorities for studies become out of place and bring unnecessary stress. It is like holding a pearl given to me as though I own it. I'm not saying that I should do halfhearted work in things. It's just that I should shift my focus from me and my pearl to God and see things that really matter. It reminds me of a song, Jesus, Lover Of My Soul:

It's all about You, Jesus,
And all this is for You,
For Your glory and Your faith,
It's not about me
As in You should do things my way,
You alone are God and I surrender;

As I pondered and came to realise that, the burden seem to be lifted from me. It is then that procrastination slowly start to look less attractive. It is really as I put myself in the right perspective, that I could be able to work effectively.

Cinque Terre (3)

2008-07-02T10:02:00.004+02:00

The fourth village, Vernazza is looking more like a harbor with a small tower in the middle. It was almost two hours walk from the previous village.

At this we decided to take boat instead of walking to the next village as the next walking path is well over 2 hours of up and down slopes. The boat was quick, around 5 minutes or so to reach Monterosso.

In the last two villages, there were a lot of people swimming and sunbathing. We also thought that the weather was hot and we had enough time in Monterosso, so we went for a short swim in the sea.

For me, it was my first time swimming in the sea. Usually I would just stay on the side. The water is refreshing for a hot weather. I just realised how salt water is truly salty, much more than oversalted food.

Cinque Terre (2)

2008-07-01T16:54:00.005+02:00

From Manarola to Corniglia, the path is getting steep. However, the view is still good since most of the path is still by the sea. I particularly like the bluish color of the sea and the way the villages are located on a hill just next to the sea.

Cinque Terre (1)

2008-06-30T13:44:00.007+02:00

Just recently, we went to Cinque Terre. It is a scenic place on the west coast of Italy. The name translates to five land/villages. These villages stretch along the coast with walking path for travellers.

We took a night train from Trento, arriving early in La Spezia. Then continue to the first southernmost village, Riomaggiore by train. We planned to keep walking to the northernmost town as we had full day

The walking path from Riomaggiore to Manarola is called path of love. It is the easiest compared to the others since it is short and flat. Also it is the most beautiful with rocky cliffs and blue sea.

Lago di Erdemolo

2008-06-25T11:08:00.004+02:00

Last weekend, I joined the university tour around Trentino. It was my first time to go with university tour. Last time the timing was always not so convenient to go.

Among the places we visit was Lago di Erdemolo. It is a lake on top of a mountain (circa 2000 m). We took bus and hike up for around an hour or so to reach there.

The lake was beautiful.We could see a blur reflection of the surrounding mountain. Also, the summer weather was warm. It was good enough to hike without a jacket. However, it's interesting that there are some snow around the lake. Summer snow that is.

Series of Problems

2008-06-24T13:22:00.003+02:00

It seems like things keep going wrong these days. Not that it is damaging or something.
1. The ATM card was not working after some time in Edinburgh, sent it for replacement.
2. The student card has expired when I come here, had it reactivated, but still not working for the student restaurant. So they gave me a new one.
3. Rented a bike here. The bike ring fallen out from the gear after few days. Had it repaired.
4. The electronic door key card did not work after a few days. They gave me master key temporarily. The master key also stopped working after some time. Now I have manual key.

San Bartolameo

2008-06-21T23:04:00.004+02:00

Last week I went back to Italy. Since the flight only reach Milan in the early evening, I only arrived in Trento at around 11 pm. Thankfully, the welcome office managed to ask the uni accommodation to hold the key in the residence 24 hours reception. So now, here I am in San Bartolameo.

The first thing I realised about the place is that its sloping up, quite similar to the one I had in Borino last time. It's like 5 mins walk from the main road, but pretty steep. I thought that downtown accommodation would be more flat, but well maybe it's part of the design to give students chance to do some exercise.

The room was good, well equipped, attached bathroom. However, being in ground floor, I get a door instead of a window. The problem with door is that you can't open them for long. Hopefully summer won't be too warm then.

Also, there is only a kitchen for every 20 students or so. Luckily, not everyone cooks for breakfast, lunch and dinner as I do. Worse still, we have to buy our own cooking equipments. Nothing is common. So now i'm on a minimalist equipment and try to apply constraint cooking.

Arthur's Seat Running Track(2)

2008-06-11T17:10:00.006+02:00

The other slope of Arthur Seat is steeper, and more suitable for walking instead of running. There are more large stones in this part of the hill and the path is shorter as well.

Arthur's Seat Running Track (1)

2008-06-09T14:24:00.007+02:00

Sometimes, when the weather is good (blue sky, warm sun), it feels good to go out. I would usually go for running around Arthur's Seat, a stretch of hills, east of Edinburgh.

There are several tracks around these hills. OThe first one is quite proper and not so steep with pedestrian walks and good scenery.

Trip To Highlands (4): Inverness

2008-06-08T22:28:00.005+02:00

Throughout our trip, we did not stop for long in any place. It was also the case with Inverness. It probably the only major city in Highland area.

The city is beautiful, with a river just in between and castle on top. Usually, pigeons are common in European city squares. In this case, however, there are more seagulls, probably because of the river.

Trip To Highlands(3): Loch Ness

2008-06-07T21:04:00.005+02:00

One of the most prominent characteristics of the highlands is the abundance of lochs. During the bus trip, we came across dozens of small lochs on the way.

The biggest and the most famous among the loch is Loch Ness. There were sightings on unknown creature there which spawned stories on Loch Ness Monster.

The loch itself is really big, stretching long across Scottish highland. We managed to stop by Urquhart Castle, a small ruin just by the loch to get a good view of the area.

Trip to Highlands (2):Skye

2008-06-06T13:18:00.005+02:00

It was a beautiful day when we went to Skye. Skye has always been known as the 'misty island' due to the lack of good weather, but what we saw was a clear blue sky there.

From Portree, a small main town of skye, we took a taxi for 15 minutes to a hiking trail, 'The Old Man of Storr'. 'The Old Man' is actually a vertical stone on top of one of the hills formed by glaciers many years ago.

The climb up wasn't too bad especially since it is a proper path trail. It got a lot steeper near the stone though. However, it was a rewarding journey. The view from the top was simply breathtaking.

Trip to Highland (1): Highlander Castle

2008-06-03T13:30:00.006+02:00

As exams are finished and the weather being friendly and warm, we decided to go for a trip north, to the Scottish highland.

One of our interesting stops was Eilean Donan Castle, a castle in a small island just in the middle of a loch (lake, Gaelic). The castle is still well preserved, although not so big. I feel that it just fits nicely with the surrounding.

The sky weather was extremely pleasant and thus we could get a good view of the castle. From the back of the castle, we could see the loch and the surrounding land.

Spring Sunshine

2008-05-07T15:57:00.005+02:00

It has been warm these few days. People go out and bask in the sun. More smiling faces as opposed to the gloomy winter mood. Spring has come. It is interesting as people appreciate sun more here given the average cloudy day and the winter long nights. I would not say people appreciate sun back there. Perhaps because sun is always there and always hot as ever. Perhaps it is in our human nature to lose sight of what we always have and longing for what we don't.

Even now as Edinburgh is located way up north, the daytime gets longer and longer. There's still some traces of light after 9 pm at night. And this is not even the peak yet. I wonder how it will be like in mid June when we have the most sunshine of the year. The first picture here was taken in the afternoon. The second one after 9 pm. No Flash.

Trento

2008-04-09T11:09:00.003+02:00

The Italian weather stays sunny most of the time we were in Trento. The meeting place was located on a hill and has to be reached by cable car.

The cable car, however are not always available. In case of strong winds, they provided alternative bus transport. At times, some of us had to wait for the cable car to be operational.

From the workshop place, we could see Trento and its surrounding mountains. The view was lovely. That's why the building is named 'centro panorama', which means center for surrounding view.

MIlan

2008-04-08T09:49:00.004+02:00

We had two hours to go around the city center. Fortunately, the weather was good. It is contrast with the gloomy Edinburgh. Being more of an industrial city, Milan seems to be more crowded than average italian towns.

The duomo in the city center was a majestic piece. I especially like the many spikes in the roof. It's somewhat similar to the cathedral in Barcelona.

The main shopping center, Vittorio Emanuele also has a grand feel on it. It looks like they just put a roof on top of a large street and convert it into shopping mall.

Vulcano

2008-04-07T15:17:00.005+02:00

Just came back from a weekend away in Italy. Had some time to check out Milan. I never went into the city before although I took flight several times from there. Since we arrived late at night, there wasn't much of a sightseeing to do. We were also lucky to find a good restaurant for dinner.

I looked to see if there is something different about the pizza here, and tried Vulcano. It's just egg and salami with standard cheese and tomato. However, it does look according to its name. Since the egg is half cooked, once it is pressed, the yellow will stream down like a volcano. Indeed an interesting name.

Visa: Approved

2008-04-01T13:20:00.002+02:00

Yay, finally got a schengen visa to conclude my studies in Italy. And plus it's free since it's a student visa. I initially was worried because the processing time announced in the website was about two weeks for Indonesian and I didn't have that much of time. Also I heard from seniors that they didn't get schengen visa, only Italian visa.

Thankfully, after just a bit more than one week I got the approval. Well, with this I can attend EuMI gathering and start planning to go for a break somewhere in europe after the coming exams.

Roman Bath

2008-03-31T10:55:00.002+02:00

The last episode of our trip to England last winter ended in a city called Bath. It derived its name from a Bath site founded by the romans when they occupied the place.

We arrived in the late afternoon, hence didn't have much time to walk around the city. It's a good thing, however, that the torches in the Roman Bath site were lighted up in the evening. It gives more sense of being in a medieval era. It's also interesting that there's a 'druid priest' walking around in robes talking to visitors.

The bath facility itself is just a pool with hot water from the natural spring in the area. Maybe communal bath was more common then.

Bag Packing

2008-03-30T18:50:00.002+02:00

We were promoting Destiny Angels, a helpline support community service organised by the church. Its purpose is to help people in crisis with 'no strings attached' whatsoever. The target are more people in isolation with no other source of help.

When my coordinator told me that we are going bag packing, I heard it as backpacking and thus was surprised initially. It's actually one of the ways for fund raising here, something to do with supermarket checkout counter, where you help pack people's grocery shopping. The purpose is to give out a leaflet for every bag that we pack so that to create people's awareness of the helpline. Also there's donation bucket if people want to donate for the cause.

The response was pretty good actually. People are more willing to take the flyers compared to if they were distributed in the streets. Also it strikes me as people are really open to give for charity here. Well, at least most of them do, with some even saying sorry when they don't have small change.

Growing Destiny

2008-03-29T10:06:00.004+01:00

The church is growing pretty fast. We are now in the process of furnishing a new building in Gorgie, to be used for services by July. The vision is to have two base for church services. Each will outreach different areas as the statistics suggest that unchurched people are more concentrated in these areas in Edinburgh. And apart from church services it will also be used for community services during weekday.

The building itself was bought earlier this year for just below a million pound. It used to be a Bingo hall before. And so there are lots of cleaning and redecoration to do.

These days, different members of the church would just come down in daytime to help the building cleanup and refurbishment. Some even take leave from work and donate time to the cause. The new building will surely help impact and be a blessing to the Gorgie community.

Thinking Forward

2008-03-28T11:23:00.003+01:00

These days I am having lots of thought. As my studies are finishing, a question would pop up, 'what would you do afterwards?'. In my case I know what I want to do. I want to continue working in the Industry, in the IT sector. More significantly, I like software development due to its creative nature. And also consulting since it deals with people and problem solving.

Now that I received a job offer in that area, another question pop up. 'Do I really want to stay and work here?'. There is excitement mixed with fear now. Excited because it is something I think I would like, IT consultancy with prospects of overseas travel. Excited because the company seem enthusiastic and positive. Excited because the work culture here means less time spent for work as compared in Asia. But fear because I would need to start again from scratch in terms of making friends etc. Fear because I don't find it easy here to mix in in a place where there are not so many foreigner, let alone potential racism that may follow.

Probably it is safer for me to go back to Singapore and continue working there, but that's also a less adventurous option. I like to try and explore new things and paths. That's probably one reason for me going for the European Masters. Well anyway, let's see how the thoughts sink in this week.

City of Dreaming Spires

2008-03-27T13:05:00.004+01:00

Oxford is a nice small town just outside London. It's most famous for its ancient university, which is probably the best in the UK.

The weather when we visited was alright then, just a bit gloomy because of the clouds. There were a lot of old university buildings around the town. The dome structure here is similar to the one in Edinburgh, probably also used for graduation ceremonies.

We went up to a tower within a churh building to get a better view of the town. Indeed it looks nice, especially because there are no skyscrappers, unlike in London where the view from the top is often blocked by tall buildings.

The university buildings seem disconnected from each other and each have distinct names. For example, here is ChristChurch college, one of the largest among them.

Windsor Castle

2008-03-26T10:48:00.003+01:00

I was always get fascinated with castles. It invokes the idea of fairy tale and medieval stories. Just outside London, there was this Windsor Castle, probably the largest occupied castle in the world.

The building itself feels sturdy and strong. Although the weather wasn't good, there were more structures here to see than the sky. We went in and saw the royal collections. Came out in time for the guards changing ceremony. Then went to the chapel inside the castle, which looks really big for a chapel.

Here comes the pros and cons of going with tours. Pros are the guide knows a lot of things, so we save ourselves time figuring out what to do. Cons would be the price and also the time limit given. As if we need to rush from one place to another to 'cover everything'.

Stonehenge

2008-03-25T12:21:00.004+01:00

Stonehenge is one of the places I normally see in desktop wallpapers or posters. We went there as part of our day trip from London. The weather, however was pretty bad, with freezing temperature and gloomy rainy sky.

The site itself was rather disappointing. Partly because of the weather. Also because the stones were not as complete as it had been and we were not allowed to enter the stone circle.

London Trip

2008-03-24T11:18:00.005+01:00

Haven't been writing for some time now. It's spring break now and we have some three weeks holiday before exam, so I guess I can write more often now.

During winter we went to London. I was surprised actually to find it colder than Edinburgh. Apparently the place latitude is not the only factor to determine the temperature. Some say that since Edinburgh is near the sea, it's warmer. I think it's around zero when we went to London. Luckily I brought some gloves with me, mainly to hold the camera. Even with that it was still cold and I had to put in the camera quickly after snapping.

It was pleasant weather then, reflected in the tower bridge picture. This kind of weather is probably not so common in Scotland, with gloom cloud dominating most of the days. When we were at the tower bridge, we managed to see how it lifted up as a ship passed by. It was amazing considering the bridge is actually being used for normal traffic as well.

Another part we went was Greenwich observatory, where the world time clock is based on. It is located in greater London on top of a hill. Within the observatory, there is this line which signifies meridian zero degrees, in the left picture.

Another major attraction was London Eye. Looks quite bright blue at night. The entrance fee, however, was a ripoff. For a half-hour ride, you have to dig for 15 GBP. Well, we finally decided to get on since we've gone there anyway.
The view was not bad from the top, we could see the city lights from there. The camera, however was not easy to hold in night mode. Have to be extra still to get a decent picture.

London is a rich place with things and particularly people. I don't really like the crowdedness. The public underground transport reminds me of Singapore, especially during peak hours. The food prices are also pretty expensive in the city center. Overall, I still like Edinburgh more since its less crowded, but have a classical feel to it.

Holiday

2007-12-06T00:08:00.000+01:00

So relieved today, finally the winter break has come.

I haven't posted anything for some time now. But I think I want to put some thoughts into my subsequent postings. It feels rather plain to post just about trips.

In the meanwhile, here is Edinburgh Castle. It was taken during autumn period.

It gets dark quite fast these days. Missing more sunlight. .

Stirling Castle

2007-10-15T18:04:00.000+02:00

Another town just around an hour from Edinburgh, Stirling is famous for its castle.

The castle is pretty much preserved. It is built on a hill, which contribute to the amazing view from top. You could see things miles away in all direction from the outer wall.

Decline

2007-10-07T17:12:00.000+02:00

While in Italy, church buildings are still functioning normally, it is not the case with Scotland. Some of the churches in Edinburgh have closed down and used for other functions. Here are some examples.

Although the name is faith, it is not a church anymore. It's a disco.

The one below has become a theatre

And also some more other usage. Old folk's home. Party venue, etc.

Arthur's Seat

2007-09-26T15:22:00.000+02:00

The first excursion we have is the Arthur's Seat. It is the highest point in Edinburgh. The view was nice from above. Plus it doesn't take so much effort to go up. It is not so far from the city center.

And so we went. In the city, there were already lots of wind. But apparently, the wind above is much much worse. Sometimes we have to put some effort to move against it.

Edinburgh

2007-09-24T16:41:00.000+02:00

After the pause, I guess I'll start writing again. Edinburgh is a beautiful city. Apart from the unpredictable wheather, that is.
Now there's a feeling of relief after staying in Italy for a year where people generally don't speak english. Here everybody speaks english. I find it rather interesting to hear the thick accent.
Also there is less sense of solitude as it is a big city. Unlike Trento for which everything closes early and we stayed up in the mountains.
So far the excitement is still there. Lots of students from different backgrounds. There's also a huge number of Sports and Societies there
where the non academic stuff are.
On weekends, there are always be events organized by resident assistants or trips around the area organized by international students centre.
For cooking and stuff it's probably easier since there are a lot of chinese shops around.
The problem is that transport is not as cheap as the one in Trento. Almost everything here requires money. But that's also a good point as people tend to walk then. More exercise.

Pause

2007-08-01T09:42:00.000+02:00

Coming back to Singapore, readjusting with the life here. Experienced some jetlag, but managed to force myself to stay awake until sleeping time. Being unemployed, days are slow as compared to when I was working. I mean I had liked my job even in the fast paced Singapore and days were running so fast back then.

Now, I could just walk slowly in the midst of rushing crowd. Days are reduced to lunch and dinners to catch up with friends, some of whom I never had contacted during the past year. Probably won't have much chance like to be like this in the future. So I just pause and relax . .

Foodies

2007-07-23T19:26:00.001+02:00

Went to travel to Munich and Barcelona last week.
The food was excellent. Spent much time eating. In Germany, most of the food will involve meat. Big meat. Veggies are not many. On the left is a duck dish. We also ordered a pork shank and tried Munchen's white sausages. So much sinful food.

Althought it is delicious, the problem is that you can get bored easily. Not easy to eat a large amount of meat everyday. Alternatively, you can go to Spain.

Spanish food has a lot of gravy inside. Rice with gravy. Noodle with gravy. Meat with gravy. And the spices are quite nice. Below is a Paella. Much more expensive than your average kebab, but worth a try. The pan is not deep at all, it's just wide. Seafood abounds as Barcelona is just by the ocean.

Permesso di Soggiorno

2007-07-13T17:13:00.000+02:00

Finally, after waiting for some time I got my permit of stay last week. It was rather a pleasant surprise since the collection date given to me was on 15 July. And the news of other people getting their stay permit delayed did not help as well.

I went to the Questura thinking that I might be able to get them to work on my stay permit faster since, without the stay permit, I would not be able to go to the Schengen states. Yeah, Indonesian passport holders aren't so privileged.

Apparently, after waiting for an hour, they told me to wait again. And then after some time, I got the stay permit. Maybe the people in Questura really start to improve the quality of service. Maybe because I have been waiting longer. Anyway, it's probably time to go out from Italy again.

Summer Holidays Coming

2007-06-27T15:11:00.000+02:00

The good part about being a student is the amount of vacation we could get. Working life entitled people of some 14-21 working days of paid leave, some of which could not be taken depending on the project demands.

Being a student is different. The summer exam spans from early June to end of July, some subjects even can be taken in September, but finishing early would mean more holiday at hand. So at one time you work even on weekends to finish the exam all at the first shot.

Academic here tends to be more forgiving, than the UK system for example. This would mean that you can get multiple chances to do your exams. You can take again when you are not satisfied with the grades. If you cannot do during the published date, you can even ask the professor for appointment for exams.

In one way this is good as students do the exam not pressured about the marks but to really understand. They can take as many exams as they like. UK system ( and Singapore included) is more competitive, you only have one chance to do exam. If you are sick or some of your close relative pass away during those dates such that you could not do the exam, too bad, you will have to take the exam next time.

I completed my last exam today. So that means I can start fixing my Thesis, finish my share of part time project and then off for holiday.

Church Website

2007-06-25T15:34:00.000+02:00

One of the early problems when I came to Trento is that it's not easy to find a church in English. Initially I managed to get one which is in Italian, with service translated to English. After some time, by chance, I got to know that there is one in English, the one I am attending now.

Although it is yet a small church, we thought that it would be good to have a website for the church. The first version of the website is hosted in geocities Trento Church. It has still some problem, however, that queries from Google would not bring the page as result. So I put the link in this blog.

Paris Trip(3): Versailles

2007-06-13T14:15:00.000+02:00

Versailles used to be the palace of the French monarchs prior to the French Revolution. Now it is just a tourist spot. The grandeur feeling of the setting still remains. The garden at the back of the palace was really huge and so it was even tiring to go around by foot.

Paris Trip (2): City of Light

2007-06-05T16:29:00.000+02:00

The image of Paris being the City of Light is as expected. The lights are beautiful seen from the top of Eiffel Tower.

That is after an hour of waiting in queues below the tower. A combination of dim sunset and city lights.

Heroes Finale

2007-05-26T15:16:00.000+02:00

I watched the first season finale a couple of days back. All along it has been a rather interesting series. The last episode, however, I think was rather disappointing.

- The battle between Sylar and Peter could have be better. Peter didn't use any special abilities then. I would rather expect telekinetic battle. Otherwise why would Peter be the only one who can stop Sylar?

- The way Sylar got stabbed was too easy. He should have been able to avoid that as Hiro didn't appear close enough. I rather expect that Hiro could use more teleportation ability to confuse Sylar.

Overall, I think the battle scene five year in the future was more interesting.

Barber Business

2007-05-22T13:42:00.000+02:00

Labor cost has been always more expensive here in Italy. And so it affects the services sector. It is also true for haircut. It took me some time to adjust with the price of S$8-10 for haircut in Singapore. And now it is 13 euros at the lowest.

In December, I got scissors and with a friend cut each other hair. Didn't work so well. That makes me appreciate that hair pruning business is not so easy afterall. Now in May, I went to a proper Italian barber.

Went in Monday afternoon. The barber was closed. No sign whatsoever.

Went again Friday morning. It was open. As I approached the counter, the guy (who does not speak much English) start opening the appointment list. Not bad, so here people make appointments for haircut. I got to go back after 3 hours.

I only know the word 'taglio' to cut in Italian. So he showed me a photo album letting me choose the hairstyle I like. After half an hour, we were done. And now as summer approaches, my head sure feels less bulky.

Cooking Chronicles 6: Rendang

2007-05-20T15:09:00.000+02:00

For this I don't really know how to make the spices. What we did was we order some Indonesian food stuff from www.tokoindonesia.de and have them sent to Italy. Thus we share the shipping cost.

With readymade spice, it is really easy. Just dump everything they prescribe and boil. It takes a long time though waiting for the water to dry under small fire.

Tried twice, one with beef and another with pork. The beef version tastes better because pork did not absorb the spices as much as beef.

Paris Trip (1): Disaster

2007-05-17T21:23:00.000+02:00

It's already quite outdated as the journey was last month. I was busy (and lazy) to write anything till now. The plan has started as long back as December for the trip and waited with expectation.

All the energy seems to fade away even before we reached Paris. The reason being the six hours flight delay which made us depart at 12 midnight instead of the scheduled 6pm. And they delayed the flight in block size, every one hour. Enough of flying with myAir.

So we reached Paris Orly at 2-3 in the morning The hostels were already closed. Metro closed. Few night bus in operation. And we dropped somewhere in the city with our luggage.

And then we walked around Champs Elysses at 4 am while waiting for the morning sun. And by the time we reached our hostels, we need to wait(or sleep) for some time before we can actually check in. So much for a budget travelling.

Italian Beuraucracy

2007-05-14T19:58:00.000+02:00

Before coming to Europe, I thought that the more advanced the country is, things can be done faster.
Not here in Italy it seems.
Just went today for the police to do formalities for Italian permit of stay. It was quite a long wait.
I arrived in September, submitted the application. In December they told that there were processing changes and we need to submit to Rome instead. Some 60 euros extra were taken in the process. So I submitted the application to Rome and getting back an appointment in May.
In July, I will (hopefully) be able to get the permit of stay.
This is not of much use then as I will be leaving after two months. Had I not have the Schengen visa, I may be locked inside Italy.

Back to blogging

2007-05-07T11:05:00.000+02:00

It's been a while, last month many things happened. Went to Paris for vacation. Had some first and really bad experience with budget carriers. Got feet blisters which turned into infection. Stayed at home for a week. Catching up with work. And courses. Yeah a fine month it was.

Counting Years Passed

2007-03-24T13:59:00.000+01:00

It's a small midnight party involving fruits and cakes. Thank you everyone for coming!

Pick Your Apple

2007-03-13T10:48:00.000+01:00

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, that's a slogan people used to keep you eat your share of fruits. And anyway, apples are common and inexpensive.

These apples, however, are different. I took a snap of them at the Swarovski Kristallwelten (Crystal Worlds) in Innsbruck, Austria. They sell high class stuff, many with 3- 4 digits price and there I was wondering which things I could get as souvenir.

Perhaps now I should start taking oranges instead.

Lucca: Behind The City Walls

2007-03-09T14:36:00.000+01:00

Italy has been divided into small villages for a long time. During medieval times wars between villages are not uncommon. For this purpose some of them have walls built around.

Lucca is an example of such village ( or city now as the population increases). They were once at war with Pisa. Compared to Pisa, the walls around Lucca is more well preserved.

Within the city stood some watchtowers. Too bad we did not make it before the closing time to climb one of those. The city itself look similar to the other Italian cities. But having these walls around sure has added to the sense of being in medieval times.

Pisa: The Leaning Tower

2007-03-02T14:34:00.000+01:00

Pisa is probably more famous and become tourist destination because of the leaning tower.

The tower is supposed to be a bell tower for the city cathedral. We were able to get on top of the tower through a spiral staircase within, for a limited time of half an hour only and saw the nice scenery from there.

Would it be better that the tower was straight instead of leaning? I thought of that, and see if I could push the tower back to normal. But then on second thought, the world already had so many straight towers. Let this one be lean then. So I stopped pushing.

But apart from the tower, the city of Pisa is really a small peaceful city in the middle of Italy.
Clear sky. Green grass. Vast view. Those things relaxes the mind.

Florence (2):Da Vinci

2007-02-19T17:39:00.000+01:00

Among the most famous in Florence is the Gallery Uffizi. It has large collections of paintings and sculpture made by Italian artists.

Unfortunately, I'm not a really big fan of art.

First half an hour: 'wow cool' ( stood one minute and observe)
Next hour: 'err. . did I see this painting before somewhere?'
Remaining hours: 'I guess we've seen enough art for the week'

One of the most interesting section there was for Leonardo Da Vinci's works. Prior to coming here I thought of him as just a painter. How I was wrong. He was also a sculptor and scientist at that time. There were physics experiments, mathematical conjecture, architectural designs and even dissections of human body conducted by him. A man of wide interest.

Another interesting place in Florence is the Old Bridge ( Ponte Vecchio). A short bridge with houses built on top ( mostly shops) and one of the main tourist attraction.

Snowfall

2007-02-13T10:58:00.000+01:00

So finally, right the next day after I complain for the warm winter, snow fell near my apartment. And I thought to myself, "here comes winter".

The snow was thin. Almost feel like raining except that I could catch the falling snow. Roads were covered in thin layers of ice, making it slippery. Much of the snow in the road has been removed when I went out though. The normal sorroundings with snow looked somewhat beautiful white.

But it seems that I expected too much. The snow fell only that fateful day. There has been no more hint of snow since. It rained but not snow. Perhaps it's already spring now. One month early.

Warm Winter

2007-01-25T11:13:00.000+01:00

It was a beautiful day. The sky was clear. The sun was shining brightly. A bit warm. Green trees. Fresh atmosphere. Still there was something amiss . . well what was it . .

Oh, it's supposed to be midst of winter now . . well aren't winter supposed to be freezing?
And yes where is the snow? Some of the days there are a glimpse of snow on the mountain summit, and that's all. Just when I thought I had a chance of playing with some snow. Well, fat hope that was.

People blame it on global warming. But winter throughout europe this year would be one of the warmest in several hundred years. I once asked my Italian flatmate:

me:Is the warm winter a good thing?
Tommasso: Of course not
me: why? it's not so much cold now
Tommasso: Many reasons, people cannot ski, that's one
Then the bears do not go to sleep. Bugs that's supposed to be dead are still alive.
Nature's balance are affected.
me: (nod) ic . .

Well the only thing I miss from this winter was the snow. The ideas of whether bears get much sleep or not does not appeal much to me. Yeah, people tend to be selfish.

Hope the winter will get colder these days.

Florence (1):David

2007-01-10T10:00:00.000+01:00

Florence(Firenze) will appeal the most to art lovers. There are dozens of museums in the city. Many famous artists have made their marks there in Florence.

Among them is the artist Michelangelo famous for his "David" sculpture. The original sculpture was displayed in the Gallery Academia and the replicas were around the city.

I am not really 'artistically inclined'. But viewing the sculpture still bring about majestic feeling. Too bad that cameras were not allowed in the academia. It made the 7 euros felt too expensive for entrance. Well, once in a lifetime maybe still ok.

The other two replicas we found was outside the old palace and in the piazza Michelangelo. The sculpture was a bit vulgar and obvious, in the name of art, perhaps. That's why I thought I should crop some of his parts.

Cooking Chronicles(5): Meatball Soup

2007-01-06T12:29:00.000+01:00

Meatball soup is widely available in Indonesia. It can easily be found from small moving stalls to restaurants.

As I had some extra prawns, I just mixed it in. Dismantle and cut the prawns and mix it with the meat and green onion, adding a bit of flour. Shape the meat into ball shape by hand.

Boil the water, then put the meat inside. Add salt. When almost cooked, put the vegetable and green onions in.

Fireworks

2007-01-05T16:29:00.000+01:00

New year is often associated with fresh start. People everywhere celebrate the coming of the year.

This year also in Trento people gathered in the city square Piazza Fiera for the new year countdown. Accompanied with fireworks, singing, dancing and free flow wine amidst the cold wheather, people crowded the place.

It was not easy to get back home though, at 12.30 am, the cab were fully booked. We had to wait and arrive home around 1.5 hours later. So much for a new year celebration.

Happy new year 2007!

Buon Natale!

2006-12-25T10:49:00.000+01:00

As in many european cities, christmas was one of the most important holidays celebrated in Italy. The towns are filled with decoration of colorful lights. Christmas markets, selling christmas related gifts and tidbits can be found on the city streets. In the evening, it was a lively atmosphere as many people go out in the streets.

In this season, most Italian would go back to their hometown and spend time with their families.

In churches, they usually have the nativity scene depicted inside. Some churches have evening mass or late night mass during the christmas eve.

It was not a white christmas, as I thought it would be. Well, perhaps chrstmas was not meant to be white in the first place.

Christmas in modern days would be a season of giving. Warm moments for family gathering. A point to ponder and give thanks. A festival of celebration. These are wonderful aspects for christmas as seen by people all over the world.

But first and foremost, Christmas was as depicted in the nativity scene:
The night was dark. So was human life.
But even within the darkness, a light appeared, in human form.
Not from a palace nor with glorious splendor.
Just a small baby in a humble manger.
Still, what was but a small light in the town of Betlehem has become the light of the world.
The light of us.

Happy birthday Jesus!

Caldonazzo Lake

2006-12-17T16:28:00.000+01:00

Not very var from Trento, there is another lake called Caldonazzo lake. We reached the place within half an hour by train.

It was one morning, end of autumn. The wheather was pretty cold and no one else was there. The lake seems pristine so that you can almost see the reflection of the mountains on the water. As with other lakes, there are lots of ducks here as well.

I like this kind of stuff, just sitting by the lake and enjoying the scenery. The still waters. It makes your mind kinda relax.

Right before we left, we had some coffee in a nearby bar. A nice countryside atmosphere.
People were friendly though they don't speak much english. I left my bag in the bar and went to the station. Just as I realized it and was going to go back, an elderly man ran to me and returned my bag. Another act of kindness there :D.

Cooking Chronicles (4): Pasta

2006-12-11T13:16:00.000+01:00

Pasta is a typical Italian dish. There is an exciting variety of shapes for pasta. From noodle, wheel, pipe, spiral and many other. And the raw pasta are typically less expensive than rice.

In this case the pasta used is the noodle shaped one, a bit thicker than typical spaghetti.

Cooking pasta is basically just boiling then adding tomato sauce or meat sauce. In this serving, I boiled the pasta with some vegetables ( those used for wantan noodle) and sausage. then mix the meat sauce, cream (derived from milk) and cheese. Fry for a while and serve hot.

Jessica's Kitchen

2006-12-07T17:39:00.000+01:00

After some time of vacuum due to the blogger bug and midterm exam, now it's time to write again.
We were invited by our Pastor Joel to his house in Verona to have lunch together. He leads our student bible study group held near our apartments.
It's unfortunate that some of us could not make it for the lunch. His wife, Jessica, does great cooking. We had a good amount of rice and turkey dishes. Italian style.
What impressed me was more of the family itself. They have four wonderful, nice children. They're obedient but not shy to talk with guests. There was a lively atmosphere around as we spent the whole evening playing with the kids and getting to know the family.
We missed the train back and had to wait for some time. But I guess, the visit has been worthwhile.

Rome Trip (5):Vatican

2006-11-28T14:50:00.000+01:00

The trip to Rome would not be complete without going and see the Vatican City. One of the smallest countries in the world, the city has been the center for Roman Catholics.

We did not go inside the city, only the outer part where lies the Saint Peter's Square. Masses are held every Wednesdays and Sundays. We went around 8.30 am amidst the morning rain, the free ticket to attend the mass with the pope is already no more. So we could only join the mass from the outside.

Unfortunately, we could not visit Sistine Chapel, within Vatican Museum, since it was a public holiday. We did not realize that until we went there.

It was good though to be able to enter St Peter Basilica in the afternoon. It is really a huge church.

And the view from the top of the basilica was awesome. It was tiring to go all the way up, but it was worth it.

Rome Trip (4): Day Scenes

2006-11-24T11:45:00.000+01:00

Some more pictures are there from the buildings we visited during the day. The first is the back view from San Maria Maggiore church. Second is inside the Tomb of an Unknown Soldier. It's pretty big, I am just small compared to the pillars. Last image is on the Spanish Steps. It looks really beautiful during sunset. So many people were there so it's rather crowded

Rome Trip (3): Night Scenes

2006-11-21T13:59:00.000+01:00

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. At this time I'm quite lazy to write so here they are. We roam around rome at night as well, until past midnight. I think we had too much energy and excitement.

The first picture is piazza republica, one of the bigger piazza (squares) in rome. The second one is Trevi Fountain, the lighting effect sure is nice. Below is the tomb of an unknown soldier. This monument is probably built to commemorate the soldiers died in the war.

Rome Trip (2): The Colosseum

2006-11-19T17:41:00.000+01:00

The first site that we visited was the colosseum. This gigantic structure is said to be the largest of all amphitehaters in the roman empire.

The queue was pretty long with all the tourists around since morning. I was a little disappointed when we managed to get in because it has become more of a ruins now. I actually prefer the Arena in Verona, because it is more of a complete structure than this.

It took us 11 euros per head to get in or 6 for european union people, lucky them. Inside, people just walk around the structure. When we came, there were some exhibition going on about this epic of Iliad. Not much of a tourist attraction.

Another one, just beside the colosseum, was the Roman Forum, this site is just like colosseum, has become not more of an archeological sites of ruins from the roman empire.

Rome Trip (1)

2006-11-16T09:50:00.000+01:00

After a few weeks of planning, we finally manage to go to Italy's capital, Rome, the eternal city. This is after around 8 hours of travel from Trento by Train.

The night train (espresso) is surprisingly comfortable, although we didn't opt for the sleeping compartment, the normal compartment can be used for sleeping with some adjustment to the chair. The only drawback is that it can be pretty cold in the early morning.

We arrived at 6 am in the morning, had breakfast then put our stuff in the youth hostel.
The room has 8-bedrooms and since we had 13 people, occupying one room fully for us and another room shared with other people. The hostel itself is conveniently located near the main terminal, priced at euro 13.50 per bed per night.

We bought the daily ticket for public transport, which we used only twice a day. Central rome is full of tourist sites. Most of the sites there is located near to each other, perhaps a 10 or 15 minutes walk will take you from one site to another. So we did a lot of walking around rome.

One Litre of Tears

2006-11-13T11:34:00.000+01:00

I was watching this series sometimes back. Apart from the cute actress, I like the way it portrays human struggle. A sad story indeed, but not despair. It is based on a true story which happened around 20 years back.

The story is about a highschool girl, Aya, which is diagnosed with a disabling disease. The disease affects her brain and will gradually limit her motoric functions. Most of the story deals with how she tries to cope with it as it worsened each day.

As a human we deal with limitations. Everybody might have one or two. Some people have more and some other less. Some physical, some emotional, some other conditions. These limitations show that we are only human ( one of the OST title for the series).

The more important point is how we deal with these struggles. Someday in heaven, there will be no more tears and pain, no more sadness and distress, as God promised. But until then, we need to hold on and never lose hope.

Cooking Chronicles (3): Satay

2006-11-06T11:25:00.000+01:00

During my first month in Italy, I looked in vain for the peanut butter. Apparently Italians don't use peanut butter much for bread. After some time, thanks to the Thai Asian shop, I managed to find one.

Besides bread, peanut butter can be used to make the satay sauce. So I decided to give it a try.

Sauce: peanut butter, onion and water with a bit of oil . Just fry for a while. Adjust the thickness as you want it.

Meat: Turkey and pork meat cut into smaller pieces. Mix them with coconut milk ( or yoghurt). Fry some garlic with a bit of oil then put in the meat. Add lots of sweet soya sauce and fry until everything dried up.

Valley of the Sun

2006-11-05T15:20:00.000+01:00

Two weeks back we went for a hiking, the place chosen was Marileva, within the Trentino region. We went from the height of 900 m up to to 1400 m.

The place was fresh and green, with river flowing from the top of the mountain. Also it was pretty steep sometimes. On the 1400m height, we could see the cloud below us in the valley just between this mountain and the other mountain across.

We went from there and aim to go to the nearby lake, but apparently it was too far. So we went back. We went back through the same path and it so happened that some guy approach us and said that we entered private property. After a friendly chat with the carabinieri, we went through other direction.

This was more difficult as we didn't really know which way to go and the sign was not clear. Fortunately, we met someone and managed to find a way down.

The walk downhill is tougher because it was steep and we should hold our steps most of the time. Finally after around 8 km of downhill walk, we reached the Valley of the Sun or Val di Sole. The scenery was beautiful. Green grasslands, mountains and rivers, just felt peaceful.

Colors of Autumn

2006-11-04T10:44:00.000+01:00

Autumn would be the season with many colors. As the temperature drops, the trees are preparing to drop their leaves and change their color in the process.

The trees have different characteristics as well as resilience. Some may still be able to adapt to the cold climate. And so the colors produced would be different. Red, yellow, orange light green, brown. I have yet to see the trees with a blue leaves though.

The scene is good, but it started to get cold to go outside and take pictures. Maybe sometime soon we will need to wear the thick clothes.