This is something so beautiful and moving I just have to share.
Tartufo Love
One of the many things I love about Florence is the food. I’ve blogged about Florence before but I wonder why I didn’t mention anything about the food! There were lots of great eats but what was most memorable was trying truffle for the first time. Yes, it took me 23 years and a 15 hour journey to discover it.
Hard to believe that such a simple looking fungus which somewhat resembles a potato or tapioca can be so expensive! White truffles can cost more than 3000 euros per kilo while the cheaper black ones cost about 200 to 600 euros per kilo.
My first taste came in the form of a tiny truffle sandwich which I shared with a friend. I’ve been warned that it’s an acquired taste but no, it was love at first bite for me (sounds so True Blood, haha). We then had the wonderful fungus again on a pizza at Trattoria ZaZa. Trattoria ZaZa also happens to be an excellent restaurant which I would highly recommend. Great food, great service and nice funky decor. If you happen to be visiting Florence, it’s located right next to Il Mercato Centrale. Need the address? Piazza del Mercato Centrale, 26r. Here’s what we had for dinner.
So, back to truffles. I visited Il Mercato Centrale on my last day there and got to sample various truffle products like honey and jam. I bought a little jar of truffle jam back to Singapore so now I can still enjoy it at home! I only eat it once in a while though. Can’t bear to chomp down chunks of it in one go. I dread the moment when I have to scrape the last bits of it from the bottom of the jar.
Rorschach’s Journal
“Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach. This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout ‘Save us!’… And I’ll look down, and whisper ‘No’.” Watchmen, Alan Moore
How can you stop reading after an opening like that?
Great covers
I don’t usually like covers, especially if it’s of a song I really like. One of the reasons why I don’t like talent/singing type shows like Idol. But I don’t detest all covers. On the contrary, there are some I really like at least at much as the original, maybe even more (Marco Hietala’s vocals alone already makes Nightwish’s High Hopes so much better than the original. And we aren’t even talking about the arrangements yet.). These are usually covers where the musicians give the song a whole new feel and interpretation and play it in their style. Listen to some of my favourite covers and you’ll get what I mean!
Helden/Heroes Original by David Bowie
Wonderwall Original by Oasis
High Hopes Original by Pink Floyd
Ain’t Nobody Original by Chaka Khan
Cute gone bad indeed
Can’t believe I went through every single strip. Some are so cute and funny I’ll never see said items the same way again.
To Mega Therion
It all started in 2004/2005 (my memory fails yet again) with me letting Lucas listen to some Final Fantasy VII and VIII soundtracks which I enjoyed so much. He then recommended me this band, Therion, which he thought I’d like judging from my tastes. I then got home and searched the almighty Internet for some of their stuff and found The Rise of Sodom and Gomorrah. I really liked what I heard so I asked Lucas for more songs and I ended up having their Crowning of Atlantis album. Therion then slowly became my favourite band and I now have many of their CDs and DVDs in my possession.
There are a couple of reasons why I like this band so much. The first and most obvious one would be their combination of orchestral and metal elements. At that time, I was already listening to bands like Black Sabbath, Metallica and the Japanese band Malice Mizer. But Therion and the whole symphonic metal genre was very new to me. I was pretty fascinated and soon decided that I rather prefer this kind of music. Which is not to say I’ve stopped enjoying other genres though.
In terms of musical style, Therion’s has evolved from album to album while still maintaining its characteristic traits. So in a way, it never grows stale and there are different songs to suit different moods. Well, since what I listen to largely depends on the mood I’m in at the moment anyway. I really liked that Secret Of The Runes was a concept album focused on Norse mythology. It still remains one of my favourite albums. Another favourite is Gothic Kabbalah which was released in 2007. This one had a rather drastic change in style and was much more progressive. And this was strangely in sync with my musical taste then since I was starting to listen to a lot more progressive stuff in the form of Dream Theater and Opeth.
Next would be the mythological contents of their songs. Ever since I could read, I was very interested in Greek and Roman mythology and read rather widely within the subject. At 10 years old, I knew all the major Greek gods and goddesses at my fingertips. So as a teenager, listening to a band sing about all these characters I was so familiar with all my life was very exciting. And as their songs are not just limited to Greek and Roman mythology, I also started to learn more about other myths and legends. Norse and Egyptian mythology, for instance.
This is The Blood Of Kingu from their Classic show in Miskolc. My favourite live performance of this particular song.
Being a fan of a band that’s so obscure in Singapore can be quite frustrating at times. Of all the merchandise I own, only one CD is from the local HMV and it cost more than twice the price of other more common CDs. The rest are from overseas or ordered from their online store. And it’s extremely unlikely that they’ll ever play live here. Oh well.
More Therion here: Official Website, MySpace, Therion Store
In The Mood For Love
As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, I’m a huge Wong Kar Wai fan, my favourite film being In The Mood For Love. Click play to enjoy some snippets of the film as well as one of my favourite tracks off the soundtrack.
Herbs and Spices
No, I’m not talking about the oh-so-good restaurant that used to be along Upp Thomson Road. I’m talking about me being bitten by the cooking bug!
Maybe it’s one of the effects of unemployment, but I’ve been spending quite a lot of time in the kitchen. Now, this would come as quite a surprise since I never liked cooking. Home Econs was never my favourite subject in secondary school. Every practical exam, I would search for the simplest recipes ever and take all sorts of shortcuts like buying ready chopped vegetables. At home, I used to loathe helping Mummy out in the kitchen. Even the simplest thing like watching a pot so it doesn’t boil over seemed like such a chore.
But now, surprise surprise! The kitchen beckons! I suddenly find myself sourcing for recipes on the Internet or in cookbooks, paying the neighbourhood supermarket frequent visits and cooking dinner for my family once every few days. I’ve been enjoying it immensely and now have the urge to recreate all my favourite food myself! And fortunately, I haven’t had to deal with any kitchen disasters yet and my 3 pastas, 2 chicken dishes and 1 curry have been successful.
I plan to tackle desserts next. Starting with either tiramisu or panna cotta.
Student No More…
So, after one hell of a loopy roller coaster ride, here we are, all dressed up like we belong in Hogwarts. It’s been four long years and though I’ve never expected my degree to be worth much, I must say I did still feel that certain sense of achievement during our convocation ceremony. So I guess it’s all worth it after all. All those endless deadlines, countless hours of having my nose buried in books, the mini fortune spent on coffee…
I was never big on school events and activities and such but I am truly grateful for the few firm friendships made on this journey. No way can I say that nothing good came out of my university days.
Here’s a big, heartfelt Congratulations to the Class of 2009. We survived!
and I wouldn't have done it without you two...
