Summer Holidays Coming

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.