Archive

Tag Archives: italy

the lake experience

June 25, 2012
Italy, Musings, Photography, Travel
Leave a Comment

bella vista, as the italians call it

the past weekend was a blast for me on many levels – got to experience the weekend lake getaway at nearby lake bracciano, got to pretty much homestay with a really cool italian family and see how things really run on so many fronts, got exposed to so much italian, got time to just relax by the hammock and get all absorbed in the hunger games (book) which honestly is one. good. book. imo.

it’s hard to capture the sensation of tranquil relaxation, of sun-baked freshness on the body and of a callous and carefree disregard for any important in pictures. i mean, it’s really a unique experience – just to relax by the beach, head into the crystal clear waters and swim out as far as you can, go for a canoeing expedition with some adorable kids and see how the respond to everything. its highlights just how different the asian upbringing in singapore has been for me – somewhat of a neutered, conservative and protective approach that still resonates deeply within me.

not that i’m saying that my upbringing was a miserable experience. but it was different and it has made me who I am. and this weekend’s experience made me appreciate how different life could be.

and i learnt alot about myself by the comparisons. of how i do have a fear of exploring the unknown – being genuinely a little fearful of swimming too far out, or just a little squeamish to have seaweeds tangle at my feet. i learnt how i don’t exactly respond well out in the open – what with a sensitive nose that reacts everytime i emerge from the waters and allow the sun to dry me off. i learnt that i really really like kids, enjoy playing with them and i do want to be a dad that plays with my kids, teaching them important lifeskills and to love life and sports. i even learnt that whilst i do like little kittens, my nose doesn’t exactly agree with that at times. =)

and i also learnt how a normal italian family prepares for their meals, interacts and cares for one another.

so honestly, what a great experience. the spectacular view, and the knowledge that I could completely partake in the beauty, instead of just staring at pictures off some photographers lens conjures an incredible feeling.

[shots taken of lake bracciano, in the town of trevignano. much much thanks to enrico and his family for such a great, warm welcome. i can only wish to reciprocate in kind somehow.]

About these ads

rome in focus: villa farnesina

May 27, 2012
Italy, Photography, Travel
Leave a Comment

i’m so annoyed with my camera.

can someone please sponsor me a new camera? my current canon g10′s lens is scratched and introduces horrid light imperfections for certain shots. its really sad when you have that good shot but it is marred by splotches. -_-

anyways, that shot is the external view of villa farnesina, a renaissance surburban villa near trastevere that was built for Agostino Chigi, with parts decorated by Raphael. this attraction counts as one of the more low-key attractions but is actually one really cool, resplendently decorated villa that does transport you back to the renaissance era and sheds light on how the rich and famous in Rome lived.

the loggia of galatea, with Raphael’s galatea to the left

and extravagantly they did so.

my art history classes taught me that this was the era where the discovery of the ancient Domus Aurea (still closed currently due to drainage issues – sigh) brought about the trend of neo-classicism, with renaissance painters and sculptors all drawing inspirations from sculptures and architecture of Greco-Roman antiquity. and the rich and famous lapped it up like crazy — to have an ancient-Roman inspired villa was the “it thing” to have at that period, which explains the decoration within Villa Farnesina.

the loggia of cupid and psyche

beautiful frecoes depicting ancient Roman mythical Gods and creatures decorate entire walls and ceilings of the rooms, complete with tricky trompe-l’oeil architectural paintings. the effect is something really spectacular and makes you marvel at the artistry and attention to detail. in particular, the loggia of cupid and psyche literally extends the garden (seen from the floor-to-ceiling glass windows at one side of the room) right into the room with the frescoed vegetations on the ceiling. it’s a beautiful, startling effect. one can really imagine how awesome it would have been to have brunch in this loggia facing the garden and fountains. (ok my next restaurant shall be called the farnesina.. haha)

 the entire length of the ceiling in the loggia of cupid and psyche

  the loggia of galatea

the room of the marriage of alexander the great and roxana

this room, originally Agostino Chigi’s bedchamber, made me chuckle a bit. i mean, consider that the contents of the fresco is pretty much impish, playful puttis essentially nudging, pushing and stripping poor roxana toward our dear alex.

bedchamber, if i can remind you. it’s real cool how you can get a glimpse of the past, and realise that whatever the era, guys will still be guys.

Villa Farnesina is open Mon/Sat 9:00 – 5:00pm and Tue – Fri 10:00 – 2:00pm. this is the most updated information i have (end May 2012) and Frommer’s information is actually wrong (annoying because i was forced to wake up early on saturday cos i thought it closed at 1:00pm). It costs you 5euros (4 if you are a student) for a tour of the few rooms. Nice place, not as impressive as say, Villa Borghese or Sistine Chapel, but intimate, beautiful and weaves a beautiful story of the past.

rome cupcakes: officina dolce

April 15, 2012
Desserts, Eats, Italy
3 Comments


bakers, the battle for cupcake supremacy has begun!

[update: faithful readers might be quick to realise that i reneged on my decision to move blogs - well the honest reason is that it is really too painful to just "move shop" like this, and honestly, for all the foodies out there, good food in rome is still good food, albeit to be savored with the proper opportunity. so yeah, this blog stays and hopefully grows. contact me for collaborations and stuff guys!]

i’d admit it isn’t the most masculine of shows to watch. but geez, when you have a sis that comes over to rome to bunk in for awhile and insists on watching CW’s cupcake wars, you can kinda get caught up with watching these stressed bakers try to incorporate wacky ingredients like chai spice and coriander (yuck) within their cupcakes, with various degrees of success. plus, with its nice 30 minute bite size episodes, it makes a good meal-time show. =)

and of course, watching such cupcakes shows is like force-feeding cupcake temptations upon yourself and i set out to find some cupcakes in the sprawling city of rome. it ain’t easy, to be honest, because foreign craves (especially foodwise) don’t seem to create much of an impact in this country abundant with good food and culinary tradition (which explains the dearth of starbucks). luckily, on my way back home one day, i spotted a patisserie and went in to find.. gorgeous cupcakes!

its a really quaint shop along via savoia called officina dolce with a nice shop-owner that speaks decent english fronting the artfully designed store. in it you find different pastries, pies, italian-styled cupcakes and most importantly, the american-styled cupcakes! my mom nabbed a lemon curd cupcake (2.00 euro, foreground of picture) whilst i got for myself an angel cupcake (2.50 euro, background of picture) which is a vanilla cupcake topped with a cream cheese with lemon frosting and drizzled with white chocolate shards.

the verdict? (let me try to be like florian bellanger).. the cupcakes was executed well, with the cake being moist, but what stole the show was the amazing cream cheese frosting with light lemon hints that went very well with the vanilla cake and chocolate shards. yummy! i was so happy eating the cupcake!

[update 2: i went back to officina dolce and tried the counterpart to the angel's cake, which was a devil's cake - dark chocolate cupcake mixed with a little cayenne (i suspect) to give it a slight spicy taste. to be honest, after comparing with made creative bakery's cupcakes, this cupcake isn't as interesting or as moist, so i'm assigning taste rankings specially for cupcakes as well.. and this deserves - 2.5 / 5 cupcakes.]

you can read a more extensive review about officina dolce at elizabeth minchilli’s blog here.

Officina Dolce | Via Savoia 52
Opens Mon-Sat 8:30-8, Sun 8:30-2

rome is frozen

February 5, 2012
Italy, Photography
Leave a Comment

the birds must be going.. wtf!?!

so i finally managed to get out of the shithole that is my hotel, head to rome city center, shop for prada, eat some japanese/asian food (i seriously went crazy over spicy salmon sushi and green tea) and just sniff some fresh air and new surroundings. so much happier! haha, and yeah i finally could snap some shots of rome frozen solid.

piazza baberini, frozen.

my colleagues couldn’t tear themselves away from via cavour, the main shopping street of rome, which meant we didn’t really go to visit the main sites. but well, from what i see, rome is terribly bad at clearing away snow, because all the snow and ice is still piled up everywhere, with practically no effort expended to do anything about it besides to wait for it to melt -_-. i mean, seriously, in NYC, the plow trucks would have done a number to the snow that day itself.

(at this point, i have to disclaimer again: DO NOT STAY AT OC HOTEL, ROME. the internet connection here is as dependable as the smrt train service. seriously.)

and well, speaking of frozen solid, we kinda did something really silly today, which was to eat gelato out in the frigid cold, which was really something not too smart. the gelato was undeniably food – i opted for a choice of tiramisu (which had a strong percentage of rum) and some variegato nutella (that was kinda masked by the tiramisu). honestly, eating the ice cream made my jaw numb and my entire body even more frigid. no fun. lol

hoping for better weather soon. =)

when life traps you in with snow..

February 4, 2012
Italy, Photography
Leave a Comment

have an ice cold beer and make a snowman

well, well, quelle surprise! frank arrives in rome and rome experiences her heaviest snowfall in 20 years. -_- this is like the repeat of last year’s freak snowstorm in Paris. word of caution to friends travelling with me to major cities – i have brought snowstorms to NYC, Paris, Rome and counting. travel with me at your own risk. lol

its kinda irritating i suppose, because the taxi that was suppose to come down to fetch us to explore the Rome city center in the weekend bailed out on us, citing a meter high of snow in his frontyard. so we’re trapped in the hotel with a shitty and erratic network. -_- but its really kinda of surreal — just a few days ago i was baking in the sun whilst dragonboating, and now im freezing my arse taking photos of this wintry wunderland.

but yeah, there’s really a beauty in these snowy shots eh?

view from my hotel

eats in rome: ‘gusto

July 25, 2011
Uncategorized
Leave a Comment

spaghetti ‘rigatoni’ with duck confit and julienne of zucchini, 14 euro

‘gusto is this food conglomerate that has a pizzeria, restaurant, bar, brunch buffet restaurant and even a utensils/recipe books store all located round the same region at piazza augusto imperato, relatively close to piazza del popolo and the spanish steps. its a chic dining spot that feels relatively atas and tranquil and surprisingly tourist-free. ambience-wise, i like the rustic feel of their interior, with paneled wood and black metal finishings to provide this dark, stylish but nevertheless homely feel. unfortunately, i was an idiot and i stupidly did not object to them placing me at the al fresco area outside (where europeans seem to love dining at). -_-” there, the tranquility was broken by the relatively strong gusts of wind and metal creaking from the awnings placed to protect the al fresco area from rain.

service-wise, its typical roman service-style. aloof and disinterested. -_-” where they only speak to you when they need you to order food. ah well. when in rome, do as the romans do. let’s get to the food.

so i ordered a spaghetti “rigatoni”, carbonara style with braised duck confit and julienne of zucchini since it sounded like some interesting contemporary version of the traditional pasta. well, the pasta was decent, not overly al dente, but somewhat overly salty with the carbonara sauce and black pepper adding heavy flavors to the pasta. furthermore, the duck confit tasted somewhat like strips of bacon, which made for quite an underwhelming experience, in a sense that no new combination of flavors were presented. =( in a sense, it was good, but not impressive. my italian friend mentioned that roman food consists of many poor people’s food – very savory and heavy on flavor but not too focused on exquisite taste. my impression of rome just dipped again.

tiramisu, 7 euro

if it hasn’t occurred to you, this place is really. quite. overpriced. ok, food-wise, it is acceptable that pasta costs 14 bucks. but a dessert for 7 bucks!? and not only that, the irritating fact was that they charged me 2 bucks for a jug of plain water, another 2 bucks for a basket of bread that i barely touched and 5 bucks for service -_-” welcome to overpriced-ville. that being said, the tiramisu was genuinely pretty decent – a nice combination of cream, pastry and coffee that was presented in a really palatable fashion. sadly, 7 euros is still too much for such a dessert.

overall, a decent meal, but waay too overpriced. next please.  5.5/10

baby, bye bye bye

March 19, 2011
Uncategorized
1 Comment

[shot of Palazzo Reale, Naples during dusk]

it’s a Saturday afternoon back here in Singapore and I’m feeling semi-cranky due to the ill-acclimatization with time and how my parents are hinting to me to go exercise. sigh.. looks like its back to square one with fitness plans. anyways, so the last stop before I headed back to sunny and (surprisingly beautiful) Singapore was Naples. now, people normally don’t go to Naples to tour (except for some inexplicable Japanese tourist groups that looked positively sombre due to the recent mishaps in their homeland.. bless them =(..). Naples is touted to be the landed of the Mafia (even though the notion was vehemently corrected by my Italian friends who claimed that the Mafia were at Sicily), Naples is where traffic signs are a suggestion, where garbage and graffiti co-exist proudly and harmoniously even on major city-walks and where the streets are surprisingly empty past 9.00pm except for the random punkish-looking groups of kid-gangs that your parents warned you about. (it reminds me of L.A. in a certain way lol.. the grungy part of it at least).

but in another sense, Naples has it’s charms, especially if u luck into Italian friends willing to bring you around and show you that amidst the tough and grungy facade, Naples is a tourist-free, semi-charming city with tons of character. It also happens to be the birthplace of the Pizza Margherita, though I happen to be really annoyed with the original restaurant that touts to be the birthplace of said pizza (that’s another story). My friend made a very insightful comment when he said that the attractions of Naples do not pale in comparison to the attractions in Rome, but the lack of advertisement, civic-concern and well.. just perhaps a lack of interest in showcasing these to the world means that these beautiful buildings are semi-condemned to a life of graffiti and neglect. I mean, just look at Piazza Reale above.. it reminded one of San Peter’s Square in the Vatican, yet here, the open spaced is littered with pieces of trash and little kids playing soccer.

[view of Naples from my hotel window]

I remember the day we got off the train and headed to our hotel, that upon seeing the dinginess of the streets and incorporating such scenes with the plethora of well-intentioned advice ranging from “Naples is not too safe, beware of pickpockets” to “Naples doesn’t feel like a European town, it’s.. too dirty”, I well had the intention of shutting myself out in the comfy (ok.. not exactly too comfy but still..) confines of the hotel and not venture out into the dark, dangerous city. but then, look at the view.

[Galleria Umberto, shopping mall resembling Milan's famous  Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II]

it was only when our Italian friends decided to bring us on a tour did we really discover Milan’s charm – and charming and unpretentious was what we found. Galleria Umberto strikes you as a super high end mall with its furnishings – indeed the Milan version has Gucci, Prada and Bottega Veneta as its main tenants.. here, we see Zara, United Benetton of Colors and some really cool porcelain shops.

[night scene of Naples, shot from Castel d'Ovo (Castle of the Egg)]

the seafront of Naples actually looks magical – this stretch has glitzy restaurants and luxurious looking hotels that probably counts as its “touristy” district. but its really quite beautiful nonetheless.

so I ended up enjoying Naples quite a bit (the annoyances regarding people and service is another issue that I’ll talk about soon but.. oh well). I realised I haven’t gabbed about Roma as well.. that’s for another day.

Arrivederci, Italia.