Our Journey Begins

Summer 2008 - Part II [Venice]

noreply@blogger.com (Germaine and Antonio) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:57:00 +0000

In the middle of Piazza San Marco with the venetian pigeons

After the wedding, we went on a 5-day short visit around Italy. Since Thomas & Grace only had a few days to spare, we wanted to make sure they at least saw the main attractions in Venice, Florence and Rome. It was a hectic 5 days, but it was all well worth the rush.

We started our trip in Florence and took a day trip to Venice. Antonio assured us that we will be in awe upon stepping out of the train station. True enough, words and photos cannot do justice to the beauty of this city.

The famous hand-crafted masks for Carnival, usually celebrated in February.

Piazza San Marco

St. Mark's Basillica

Procuratie Nuove is where The Correr Museum is located now.

Below the arches are famous old and new cafes that serves very very expensive coffee and pastries.

Ponte dei Sospiri [Bridge of Sighs]

Erected in 1600 by Antonio Contino over Rio di Palazzo, the bridge connects the inquisitors rooms in the main palace and the Dodge prison. It was said that whenever the prisoners were led over the bridge, they would often look out of the peepholes for a last look of the 'outside world' and sigh, not knowing when will be a free man again.

Summer 2008 - Part I [The Wedding]

noreply@blogger.com (Germaine and Antonio) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 05:49:00 +0000

After missing summer'07, we finally made it back to Italy to see the family and spend some lovely time with the kids. We thought it was going to be a relaxing holiday but it went by so quickly we didn't seem to have time to relax at all.

The main reason was the hassle of planning our wedding celebration. As usual, there was again lots of Italian bureaucracy with the church. We couldn't get a date to get married because I am non-Catholic and the priest of the church didn't know what was the procedure as he has never conducted a mixed marriage before. So after much delay, we finally had the celebration on 5 Sept. Fortunately my brother and Grace managed to fly in time from Saudi Arabia to walk me down the aisle.

We had a lovely celebration and hired a vintage car for the occasion. Agropoli is a relatively small town and Asians are not commonly seen, so let alone a mixed marriage. Thomas and Grace sat with me in the vintage car to the church. Along the way, people came out to their balconies and those on the street started clapping and shouting 'Auguri' (congratulations). The car broke down many times along the way and people came over to offer help to push start the vehicle. It was such a memorable experience that led Thomas feeling a mixed of emotions. We felt like Royalties for a while, waving and greeting people as they send their well wishes.

Morris - The Vintage Car

After the wedding celebration, we went on a short trip to Venice, Florence and Rome with Thomas and Grace. We are glad they had such a short but wonderful time in Italy and I hope Grace tossed a coin into the Trevi Fountain in Rome to make sure she'll be back to visit Italy again.

It's summer time!

noreply@blogger.com (Germaine and Antonio) — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:44:00 +0000

Antonio and I will be going back to Italy for summer. It's been 2 years since our last trip and he misses his family dearly. One of the things we miss most besides our dear nephew and niece is Mamma Rosa's garden and her delicious meals. Blessed with good soil, the garden is always full of produce of the season. I have always told BB that her rabbits would go crazy nibbling from plant to plant if they were set free in the garden.

As Antonio says, you live better having your own garden. It is so true. Italians eat a lot healthier than many of us. Having their own garden means lots of fresh vegetables at every meal. The hard work is taking care of the garden with lots of love and patience.

Italians have every reason to be proud of their cuisine because everyone is so passionate about food. The tomatoes we buy in Singapore are just bland and just a bit juicy. I never really enjoyed eating them so much till I tasted the ones in Italy. Just a simple dish like bruschetta tastes divine with fresh basil and olive oil. Zucchinis of various types and its flowers stuffed with anchovies and mozzarella are simple yet delightful. I guess it is much easier being vegetarian in Italy, during my 6 months stay the last time, I had no cravings for meat at all because there was just so many delicious non-meat dishes to choose from.

On sundays or when Mamma Rosa has more time, we will make fresh pasta. It just tastes better than dried pasta. Pasta making is a tradition passed from generation to generation. Each family has their own recipe and they would make them together. Some of the pastas we have made with Nonna Delfina are gnocchi, tagliatelle and fusilli. They taste so delicious with just a simple ragu. The essence of good Italian cooking is simplicity. A good combination will bring out the flavour of each ingredient.

As I am entering this new post, it makes me want to go back to Italy to savour the great food. This time I promised myself to learn more new recipes from Mamma Rosa so that I can also pass down the tradition to my kids in future.

HONEYMOON IN KRABI

noreply@blogger.com (Germaine and Antonio) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 15:33:00 +0000

KRABI, THAILAND 13 Jan - 16 Jan 2008
Railey Village Resort & Spa

Amazing resort! We had such a relaxing time that we did not want to leave the place on our last day. When we arrived at the reception late night on 13 Jan, I thought to myself I must have chosen the wrong place and we were ripped off. The reception area looked like a run-down shed and we had to walk a long way through a narrow garden before we saw the single-storey bungalows and I started to feel more relieved.

In the morning when we woke up, this was the view from our room. Railey Village Resort & Spa is nestled in the Railey (West) Beach. It is about 10 minutes away from Ao Nang Beach and is accessible only by long-tail boat or small speedboats. Railey is a favourite spot for rock-climbing enthusiasts and there are day courses for amateur climbers.

The boat ride from Ao Nang beach costs around 80 baht per person, but will leave only when there are 10 passengers. The drop-off point is directly along the main street where all the shopping can be done. As we arrived at night, the cost was higher. We paid the boatman 600 baht for the both of us and we took the boat from the pier instead of the usual Ao Nang-Railey drop-off point. The boat ride at night was quite scary, with all the limestone formations towering over the sea. It looked like sea giants watching us as we passed by.

There are many activities in Krabi catering to different interests. For sun-lovers like us, we went on some day trips to go island-hopping. There are over 100 islands in Krabi and many good places for snorkelling, diving or just sun-tanning on the beach.

On our first day, we went to Tub Island, Chicken Island, Kao Si and Poda Island. Chicken Island has its name not because there are many chickens on the island (as Antonio initially thought...silly boy!) But rather, the front of the island resemble the head of a chicken, hence the name. We joined Green Planet-The Krabi Tour Specialist (289/1 U-Tarakit Road Paknam , Muang Krabi Krabi 81000 Phone: 075611371 Fax: 075611372).

The trip costs 450 baht/person (lunch inclusive) and the starts from 9.00am to 4.00pm. The last island where we had around 1 hour of R&R was Poda Island.

On our second day, we went to the famous Phi Phi Island, where the movie "The Beach" starring Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed. I personally think that the place is a little overhyped as there are many other beaches as beautiful as Phi Phi Don. The guide told us that 10 years ago before the place became famous, Maya Beach was much more beautiful and tranquil.

The trips to Phi Phi costs around 1800 baht/person and the speedboat ride takes about 40 minutes from Ao Nang. The trip usually includes Phi Phi Le, Phi Phi Don and Bamboo Island. We loved Bamboo Island, the sand was so soft and white. There are many shady places where you can just lie down and take a nap with the sea breeze gently blowing.

On our final night, we decided to take it easy and stay in Railey to enjoy the beautiful sunset. There are not many restaurants in Railey except at the resort. The prices tend to be more expensive, but there are not much choices really. We had 7 king prawns, 2 seafood kebabs and 5 satay sticks, all were very delicious and costs 1390 baht for our meal.

For first time visitors, we highly recommend you to go with guided tours to the islands, so as to see the different beaches. But for our next trip, we will definitely hire a long-tail boat and decide where we want to go and for however long we would like to stay. There are many activities such as white-water rafting, ATV rides and hot spring bath to do. So Krabi, we will see you soon!

OUR WEDDING DAY

noreply@blogger.com (Germaine and Antonio) — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 15:26:00 +0000

GERMAINE & ANTONIO
12 Jan 2008
After about a year & a half since we registered our marriage, we finally held our Chinese customary wedding. In Chinese culture, a marriage is not recognised until a tea ceremony is held. For our friends who are not familiar with this tradition, a tea ceremony is held on the wedding day, during which the newlyweds offer tea to their elders and receive blessings and gifts in return so as to start their new journey in life together.

Here are some photos of the day:

Waiting for Antonio to arrive

With the bridesmaids

The bridal car

Antonio arrives and Benjamin opens the bridal car door. In Chinese custom, the bride's younger brother plays a very important role. He is to open the bridal car door for the groom and he will have to pass the groom 2 oranges which are to be left in the bridal car as a significance of good fortune to the couple. The groom will then give a red packet to him for good luck.

When the groom arrives at the bride's house, he will have to go through some 'obstacles' planned by the bridesmaids. This is to show his sincerity and his perseverance to the bride. By doing so, he will also have to give a big red packet to the bridesmaids as a form of bribery, so that they will let him off easily. And usually the obstacles that the groom will have to go through depends on the amount of money in the red packet.

Finally Antonio managed to overcome the obstacles and the bridesmaids were all happy that they got a big red packet.

Germaine & Antonio

The newlyweds leave the bride's house and will usually proceed to the groom's house for a tea ceremony. The couple will then return to the bride's house for another tea ceremony. Traditionally, the couple will return to the bride's house on the 3rd day after the wedding, but in modern day everything is done on the same day.

So since Antonio's family were not able to come to Singapore, we went for a short car ride around the house and came back for the tea ceremony immediately.

In Cantonese custom, the groom will have to present a roasted suckling pig to the bride's family together with a basket full of oranges and sweets.

Tea Ceremony

DINNER RECEPTION @ SHANGRI-LA HOTEL, WATERFALL TERRACE

Little angels at the wedding

Champagne pouring & toasting

My mum in her elegant cheongsam

744 Family

Tan Family

Uni Friends

After a long day, all tired and ready to go to bed for a good night's rest.

More photos as promised!

noreply@blogger.com (Germaine and Antonio) — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 02:32:00 +0000

Dalian, China
Jan 2006

Thank goodness for having the internet connection back to normal. No more hair-pulling days due to boredom waiting for pages to load. I am serious, I have tried loading a page for one whole day and it didn't work, and that was how bad the connection was.

Anyway, I am happy to have resized all the photos and we can now show you guys what we did in the last month here in Dalian. Well, actually not too much :P

Fireworks are indeed invented by Chinese and they just light them as and when they wish, you don't need a special occasion, light it up whenever :) And this just happened right outside our building last week. I can hear fireworks being lighted up around the area almost 2 times a week, each time lasting about 10-15 mins. So I don't need to wait for New Year's or National Day in Singapore just to see them.

Here at the 五七广场 (5/7 Square), is an exciting place to just stand and watch the world go by, and literally watch how fast it goes by in front of you. This has got to be one of the busiest place in the whole of Dalian. Look at the traffic and tell me is it not chaotic! And the traffic lights are working.

Dalian has a relatively short history for such a vibrant city. It celebrated its Centennial anniversary in 1999. The 星海广场 (Xinghai Square) is where the exhibition centres are located. Due to its prime location facing the sea, there are a few exclusive condominiums built just next to the 'castle', or known as the Shell Museum of Dalian. This construction was intended to be a luxury hotel but the developer ran out of money to finish the interior. The government took over the building and turned it into the Shell Museum (贝壳博物馆）.

Centennial Anniversary - A Walk by the Citizens of Dalian

As mentioned, Dalian's history dates back around 100 years ago, the city was once dominated by Russians and Japanese, therefore leaving strong western architectural influences. The city undergoes rapid changes but at the same time considered as one of China's most environmentally friendly place. In 1999 when the city celebrated its 100th Anniversary, the government invited people from all walks of life to mark the city's history on this cemented path. The footsteps include those of the 3-inch foot ladies （三寸金莲) as well as farmers, elderly and the young generation of Dalian.

I will be sad to leave Dalian because I will definitely miss the cold weather. It has been a nice change for me from the heat in Singapore. The weather has been generous to have let me seen it snowed. So maybe this will be our last post from Dalian. Till then, updates coming from Singapore, maybe.

Loose Translation

noreply@blogger.com (Germaine and Antonio) — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 13:02:00 +0000

Dalian, China
Dec 2006
Our sincere apologies to friends who have not seen us update our blog for the longest time, and you've probably given up on this site. The last few months since July 2006 have been a little chaotic for us, deciding where to go next from Italy.

The Taiwan earthquake has also disrupted internet connections and have made me so frustrated just to check emails, let alone to upload photos and post new happenings on the blog.

So finally we here in Dalian, China. Antonio received this job offer in Dalian to set up a fine dining Mediterranean restaurant, the first in the city.

Dalian is a beautiful city, as what Bruce & Angie said. This is my first time in China and I was pleasantly surprised by the generally clean streets in this city. There is still one disgusting habit that Chinese cannot change, that is spitting. The government has taken steps to stop people from spitting in public, but they still do it.

Once I had a gluey spit missing my new boots by a few millimeters. It was from a young man, about my age, with his girlfriend. He casually just expelled phlegm as we walked out from one of the poshest shopping mall of Dalian, spitting has no class boundaries! So you can imagine me hopping through the streets to avoid stepping on gluey spit!

The other thing that amuses me is the translations. When going around some of the local shopping centres, we always manage to find some amusing signages. (see below)

I will continue to keep a look out for these funny signages and will post them online. I have so much more to post as well, photos from our last trip to Italy and more photos of Dalian. I promise I will keep this blog more active and will have more coming.

Ciao tutti.

JUST MARRIED!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Germaine and Antonio) — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 22:23:00 +0000

30 June 2006
Germaine & Antonio

After a long and tiring process with the Italian bureaucracy, we finally tied the knot :)

But don't worry, we haven't held the traditional ceremony yet. Some of you may know that Antonio and I are now in back in Italy for a while. We didn't plan to register our marriage so soon, however due to problems with extension of my visa, the only way we could stay together for longer than 3 months is to get married. So we thought why not, since we have always been talking about it.

So much about Italian bureaucracy that took us nearly ten weeks to organise for this day, bouncing to and fro cities after cities and departments after departments. To spare you from the agony I went through, here's just an example of an ultimate PITA (pain-in-the-ass) thing we had to, i.e to buy a tax stamp (by the Ministry of Finance) from a candy shop! (it's true, the officials directed us to buy the tax stamp for our documents from a tabacchi/candy shop, and I learnt that only tabacchi shops are authorised to sell tax stamps)

We didn't throw any big party yet, just a small gathering with his relatives in the evening. We will inform all of our BIGger day and here we'd just like to share with you some moments captured of our registration day.

Enjoy!

At Home

Our few minutes left of SINGELHOOD

(*lovely jacket with special thanks to my dearest sister, J)

With the Family

My Parents-In-Law, Rosa & Angelo

Arrivederci

The Rock

noreply@blogger.com (Germaine and Antonio) — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 14:20:00 +0000

Sweet nothings exchanged over a romantic candlelit dinner, accomapnied by soft jazz music and flutes of champagne would be a typical setting one would imagine for a proposal. Or maybe even a romantic walk along the beach under the star litted night to others.

Being a sucker for romance, my dear friends have always imagined that my other half would proposed to me in the most romantic way possible. But I, or rather "we" have to disappoint. The proposal took place in a most uninmaginable moment that even I was in a state of shock. It took me a few moments to compose myself and to accept the proposal.

It was a normal after-work day, both of us felt really tired and was preparing to go to bed. I was in my PJ, typing my last email and he just came out from a shower. At that unexpected moment, he popped a little box in front of my face and started laughing. I just stared at the box and its content and was speechless for a few seconds before I joined in his laughter. Laughing both at how silly and lovable he looked and also in disbelief that the moment that I always imagined was no where near how I expected it to be.

I can't say I am disappointed because Antonio has made every moment unforgettable since we met. He professes his unconditional love every so often through speech and action. We live in romance every moment of our time together, and I guess I would rather truly have a lifetime of romance than just a shortlived romantic moment.

To my beloved Antonio, I love you for who you are and cherish even the goofiest moment we have shared. Ti voglio tanto bene.

La Dolce Vita

noreply@blogger.com (Germaine and Antonio) — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 02:32:00 +0000

Leaving the concrete jungle to enter a secluded hideaway in Southern Italy is definitely a refreshing and wonderful time of the year that we look forward to, especially in summer, where work has also taken a long vacation to faraway land. This is the best time of the year to be in Antonio's hometown, Torraca (Sapri).

There are many secret hideaways located in the little towns, many unknown to even the local visitors. Mery (Antonio's cousin) found this old bridge along the Bussento River while driving back to Sapri from Morigerati, it was tucked away under the new road that we were travelling on. Filled with excitement and adventure, we decided to park the car by the road and made our way down to the river. The boys had heaps of fun climbing up the sides of the rocks and jumping into the chilly crystal clear water.

Some of our daily activities include waking up to the lovely smell of the mountain's fresh air, hearing absolutely nothing but the chirps of the birds and the lovely smell of dense forest greens. We would find some of the freshest berries that grow along the roadsides. It's unbelievable that we have to pay so much back home for a small punnet of berries that anyone can easily pick up from the roadside.

Peaches grew extremely well this summer all around Southern of Italy and we were fortunate that many of our friends and relatives have peach trees in their gardens. The taste of the lovely orangy-red fruits bursts into tiny drops of sweetness with each bite. It's a lovely sight seeing the tree in full bloom and knowing that it's as fresh as it can get.

The aroma of the freshly brewed caffe fills the room like an instant energiser for the day to begin. We will spend the entire day on the beautiful beaches of Sapri, Positano or Maratea. The Italians worship the sun and many would spend their entire day lying on the beach, watching the world (the time) go by.

We usually end the day's activities with a delicious gelato from Cafe Turco..and this is what I call La Dolce Vita.