✈ Vienna

Oktoberfest.

I guess this would have to be the first disappointment of my Europe reverie.

I was really looking forward to my next trip after Italy, having decided that in conjunction with Oktoberfest, we will be heading over to Munich for a real beer fest, followed by Füssen and Vienna. Alas, with an unforgiving timetable and minimum 80% attendance requirement, I have no choice but to skip Germany altogether, only being able to make it for Vienna over the weekend. Disappointment #1.

If all was not bad enough, we had no idea that there was no bus service on Sundays, which was our only mode of transport to Castellanza train station on a Sunday. Disappointment #2. With our heavy backpacks weighing on our backs, we trotted slowly to the train station, each step weighing heavier. When we finally board the overnight sleeper train from Milano Centrale railway station, we were exhausted.

Little did I know that I had forgotten to bring my DSLR's lens and forgot to charge my point-and-shoot camera as well, so there will be NO capturing of stills, only fleeting memories in my absent-minded brain. Not even for our short stay in Vienna. :'( Disappointment #3.

3 disappointments. 1 heart to take it all.

I will be back again, will I?

When it is not just pizza and pasta

School has officially started in the second week of September at Università Carlo Cattaneo (or LIUC for short), my partner university for my fall semester exchange. Despite having the perks of cutting some slack as international exchange students, our traveling plans were unfortunately still being reduced tremendously as we have to attend to mandatory administrative matters such as orientation, registering for classes and taking Italian assessment tests.

Now in Castellanza, a university town that is a good 35 minutes train ride from Milan, grocery shopping pretty much sums up our entertainment here. Since we're "home bound", there is plenty of time at home to experiment and hone our cooking skills (with the blessings of a dishwater to clear our mess ^^;).

It has almost become a daily routine where we will do our rounds in Billa after school and shop for the ingredients and condiments in preparation for dinner.

Here are some of the Asian food we've conjured that actually taste as good as it looks!

1. Half boiled eggs - Yakun style

Half boiled eggs can never be complete without soy sauce. I must really thank my friends for packing along these uniquely Asian condiments which just complements the food so well T_T

2. Onion Mushroom & Cheese omelet

So good. The melted cheese that oozes out when you take a bite...

3. Chawanmushi (cute cup, courtesy of my exchange partner)

          

 4. Pan-Seared Salmon with Honey Glazed Onions

5. "ABC" soup which is essentially Pork Ribs (replaced with Chicken) with Potatoes, Carrots and Assorted Vegetables

Sorry to disappoint if you think I churned out the above dishes. My only contribution was to peel garlic and skin potatoes, and at best, during our lazy days, cook pasta (sauce not made by me). I will improve, I promise!

Introducing the busy chef while I was snapping away

Home in Castellanza

Here's a visual tour of our home in Castellanza for 4 months, booked via airbnb!

Looking back, I'm really grateful to my exchange mate for navigating the way from Milan to Castellanza and finally to our apartment. It would have been nearly impossible for a direction klutz like me to find my way about in a foreign land alone. Sometimes, I'm really amazed at how other people's sense of direction work so well for them!

Back to our apartment, we were really blessed to be able to find a place that is only a short 5 minutes walk from our exchange university. Although I would've loved to live on campus - considering that I've already missed out on hall life in Singapore - living outside school do have its perks as well. For starters, we have the luxury of space and freedom!

Admittedly, our home is way too big for two ^^; It's a two level apartment with a bedroom, toilet, living room and kitchen on the ground floor, and an attic bedroom (loves!) attached with toilet on the second floor.

But soon you will understand why even cleaning the house doesn't feel like a chore. :)

The living room where we hanged out most of the time, watching movies, playing games and cooking

The bedroom on the ground floor
Most of the lovely furniture are from IKEA
OUR FAVOURITE ATTIC BEDROOM!!!    I really like how my landlord designed the attic bedroom, and the slanted ceiling and shortened walls somehow give a cozy and warm feel to it. I could spent the entire day in the room, shut out from the outside world, just having my own me time ♡


Home sweet home :')