Ciao Italia! (part 1)

8th June 2022

Hiiiii I know it's been a long time since this blog got updated... my school work just got hectic and it's the school holidays finally...

Today I wanna share a Lil about our International Understanding Day. The theme for this year 2022 is......... *drumroll please* Ciao Italia!

As I am in charge of preparing the information about Italy, I'm going to give you a sneak peek at the subtopics that we will talk about. This blog is also suitable for people who want to make a simple presentation on Italy or learn more about Italian culture. DISCLAIMER: The pictures are not owned by me, I got them from the Internet so... credits to the owners. Pls, forgive me if I have left out anything or made mistakes.

Let's start off with the geographical aspect of Italy. 

Italy is a Mediterranean country located in southern Europe. It is bordered by the Adriatic Sea on the east coast, the Tyrrhenian Sea on the west or Mediterranean coast, and the Ionian Sea to the south. In the north, Italy is bordered by the countries of France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia.

This is what Italy looks like on a map:

Famous cities in Italy

Venice

Featured snippet from the web

Venice is a city that oozes love and charm and is often considered the most romantic city in Europe

Venice cityscape with Rialto bridge in the background.

City world-famous for its canals, its bridges and for its palaces built on water. The Serenissima offers a multitude of different impressions: with its busy canals, labyrinthine back streets and some off-the-beaten-track areas, such as its authentic gondola workshops still in activity.

 

Venice, Grand Canal

Venice is the Capital of the Veneto region, with a population of over 260,000.

 Florence

Florence, view from the Galleria degli Uffizi. 

Capital city of the Tuscany region. From 1865 to 1870 the city was also the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. Today’s Italian is based on the Tuscan language of Florence of the 14th century.

Florence skyline at night

Milan

Milan, Piazza del Duomo

Famous worldwide as one of the capitals of fashion and design, Milan is also home to a cathedral of an unrivaled beauty, the second largest catholic cathedral in the world and the fourth largest one in the world. – 

Arco della Pace, Milan

Italy has a long history from the Empire of Rome till today. Thus, there is a lot of mind-blowing from the past. 

Colosseum

• Built between 72 A.D and 80 A.D under Emperor Vespasian
• Built-in the heart of Ancient Rome. 
• Made from stone and concrete
• Built with the manpower of tens of thousands of slaves
• Largest amphitheater in the world! 
• Oval in shape, it measures 189m long, 156m wide, and 50m high. 
• Has 80 entrances and could seat approximately 50,000 spectators. 
• Events included gladiatorial combats, wild animal hunts, and ship naval battles! 
• The event was seriously brutal, though - around 10,000 animals were killed in a single day

Pantheon

•  a temple dedicated to all Roman gods.
•  built by Emperor Hadrian
• The inscription at the entrance of the Pantheon reads, in Latin: “M.AGRIPPA.L.F.COS.TERTIUM.FECIT”.
• translates roughly as “Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, having been consul three times, making it
• the height from the floor to the oculus and the diameter of the dome is the same: 43.2 m

 Leaning Tower of Pisa

• a medieval architecture, in Romanesque style 
• began in 1173 and was completed in the 14th century, in 1399      
• architects and engineers: Bonanno Pisano, Gherardo di Gherardo, Giovanni Pisano, Giovanni di Simone
• Pisa got its name in 600 BC from a Greek word meaning “marshy land.”
• several other towers in Pisa that also lean: the bell tower at the church of St. Michele dei Scalzi, and the bell tower at the church of St. Nicola.
• The original completed height of the Tower of Pisa is 60 meters.
• The weight is approximately 14,500 tonnes
• There are 251 steps from the bottom to the top of the Pisa tower.

How Italy got its beautiful name

"Italia" surely evolves from Oscan word Víteliú (spoken by the Samnites), meaning "land of young cattle".

Learn with me~ the most beautiful language and the language of love~ Italian

Ciao~ Hello/goodbye

Grazie~ Thank you

Mi scusi~ excuse me

Per favore~ Please

Ti amo~ I love you

Italian traditional clothing

• The women wear colorful embroidered skirts and bodices over light-weight chemises or blouses, with elaborate hats decorated with flowers or fruit. 
  
• Men's traditional clothing tends to be simpler but doesn't lack attention to detail, with embroidery and metal buttons and pins.

Italian traditional dance

Ballet

• Ballet originated in Italy in the 15th Century but women were not allowed to dance in public until 1681, so couldn’t join the Ballet.
• Male dancers are incredibly strong and can lift over one to one and a half tonnes’ worth of ballerinas during a single performance. 
• Ballet dancers use enormous amounts of energy during a full performance. If fact, they use the same amount of energy that it would take to run 18 miles or play two full football matches
•  a tutu takes up to 90 hours to create – that’s almost 4 days.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV1qLYukTH8

• 
  
  
  

Tarantella

•  Couple folk dance of Italy is characterized by light, quick steps, and teasing, flirtatious behavior between partners; women dancers frequently carry tambourines.
•  The music is in lively 6/8 times. 
•  The tarantella’s origin is connected with tarantism, a disease that appeared in Italy in the 15th to the 17th century and that was associated with the bite of the tarantula spider; victims seemingly were cured by frenzied dancing.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uuer7Si9b94
  
  

Pizzica

• Pizzica is a popular Italian folk dance, originally from the Salento peninsula in Apulia 
•  later spreading throughout the rest of Apulia and the regions of Calabria and eastern Basilicata. 
• part of the larger family of tarantella
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33Vl2HOzd3A
  
  

Italian instruments

Opera-Born in Italy more than 400 years ago during the Renaissance, opera—a combination of vocal and orchestral music, drama, visual arts, and dance—has been inspiring people for ages

Piano 

  

•  was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731) of Italy.
• Cristofori was unsatisfied by the lack of control that musicians had over the volume level of the harpsichord. 
• He is credited for switching out the plucking mechanism with a hammer to create the modern piano in around the year 1700

 

Italian festivals

https://traveltriangle.com/blog/italian-festivals/

Carnevale

Image Source

• decorated with the great extravagance and splendor to commemorate the beginning of Lent (a period in which Christians don’t indulge in revelry and also don’t consume meat) and Easter during the Carnevale. 
• has its roots from the 12th century and Pagan Festival. 
• parties, parades and masquerade balls are organized.

When: February/March
Where: Venice, Viareggio, Ivrea, and Cento

Palio di Siena

Image Source

• compete against each other in the horse riding game.
•  The winning champion rider is awarded a Palio. A special mass, blessings from the horses and grand procession starts of the main race-day of this festival. 
• When: July/August

Where: Piazza del Campo, Sienna

 Battle Of Oranges

Image Source

•  the largest food fight in Europe  
•  represents the uprisings that took place in Italy against the cruel ruler Ranieri di Bankrate. 
• All participants are divided into nine teams and they hurl oranges at each other either by running around on the streets or from the battle buses.

When: February
Where: Ivrea

Italian food
 

Pizza

 pizza making is a form of art. ultra-crisp stone-baked dough, tomatoes bursting with the countryside from which they were grown, creamy mozzarella and simple toppings scattered with fresh basil leaves. 

Pasta

Macaroni

Lasagna

Spaghetti

Risotto

KL Trip (Shangri-La hotel) Day 1

 1st May 2022

Happy Labour Day! So today I'm gonna share my experience of being in KL for two days and one night. 

We woke up pretty early and we drove to KLCC. It took about 2 hours since there wasn't any traffic jam. Meanwhile, the lane for cars going the opposite of us (probably going from KL to their hometown for Raya) had a terrible traffic jam. I felt their frustration when we went back coz we also faced a long jam.

We reached there at 10 in the morning. I was pretty fascinated by the shops there. There were so many designer shops and luxury items that I am unable to afford😮......being in the small town of Teluk Intan that's something you don't see often. There were like Gucci, Prada, Dior, YSL and so many more. #feelingbroke😔😔

Chandeliers are so grand 💖💖

We went to a bookshop (Kinokuniya) and two things were at sight all times: loads of books and people......There were so many book choices that it was really difficult for an indecisive person like me. There were also books that have wrappers and were not available for sampling. So I figured that I'll have to judge the book by its cover. 🤣🤣I will lookout for a Bestselling book or author, the synopsis behind it, and most importantly the price tag. Here are a few books I've bought.....Can't wait to digest it😁😁😁

Has anyone seen the last kids on earth on  Netflix? 

We had lunch at Penang little cafe.....The noodles there were scrumptious, I love the noodles I ordered. 

Little Penang cafe ambassador Lee Yen Yi🤣🤣 (just kidding)

We booked tickets to the Petronas Twin Towers sky bridge. I liked the view on top and the lift played music. It was a matter of minutes in the lift but I seriously enjoyed it. There were really breathtaking views and tiny models and figures of the Petronas twin towers, amazing overall.🥰🥰I took some flyers too.

We then checked in to Shangri-La hotel. The nice thing I loved about hotels is the chandeliers hang above shining brightly. Our room was comfy, we settled in almost right away. I was super obsessed with all the paintings on the walls almost everywhere. 😊😊😊😊

Definitely my fav painting of them all

We went to have our afternoon tea. I love the tarts and teas. We had a TV in front playing the news but somehow I didn't hear any sound......it was a really calming atmosphere😄😄

Then, we went to the fun zone. The fun zone wasn't how I expected it to be: I am not a child so I don't know maybe kids would love it. I was too old to get in there so I watched mean girls on Netflix. 

I believed many have watched this movie, it totally rocked

After like an hour, we went to have evening cocktails (we literally eat so many meals, we're never losing weight, however 'hard' we try) I liked the table for our evening cocktails better as we have a window view, it was stunning. My favorite parts about going on holiday and eating would be having however many pieces of honey melons you like.

A series of events: (a thread)

Lemme try this

Yummmmm It tastes good

Why are you taking pics of me? I just want to eat peacefully

It was all great we freshen up and it was time for dinner (actually almost supper)

We were like we should get the McDonalds nearby, and so we walked there. Thank you to all the drivers who stopped just so we could cross the road. But then when we reached there, we thought we should probably try something different since we have it in our hometown...So we decided to walk further till we reach KLCC. It was exhausting, my feet hurt. We reached there just in time to watch the 9 pm Musical fountain...It was colorful and the water really vibed to the music. 

To be honest I was impressed but after that came the bad news. All the shops there stopped taking orders and we weren't able to dine there. We had absolutely no choice but to walk back to Mcdonald's. I was pretty mad and hated the fact that we came here just for the fountain and I sulked all the way back. It was pure hatred.

We were at Mcdonald's and I was gobbling up fries to take out my stress and anger on them (poor fries) I felt a lot better after that. I dried my hair (the hairdryer was a Lil too small and the wind was really little) and went to bed.

I'll post the second day on my blog soon.......what do you think of my first-day trip?

How aluminium is recycled

 1st April 2022

Do check out how glass is recycled as well........

This is an essay I wrote myself, comment on how to improve😁😁😁

    Aluminum is used extensively in construction, manufacturing, and consumer products industries, to make items large and small. aluminum cans and foil can be easily found in every household. Therefore, it is important to recycle them to reduce the amount of waste on Earth.

    The aluminum recycling process is tremendously efficient. Firstly, the aluminum cans and foil are thrown into the orange recycling bin. It is then collected and taken to a treatment plant. The aluminum is sorted and cleaned, ready for reprocessing there. Next, it goes through a re-melt process and turns into molten aluminum. This process removes coatings and inks that are present on the aluminum. After that, the aluminum is made into large blocks called ingots. Each ingot contains about 1.6 million drinking cans. The ingots are sent to mills where they are rolled out. This gives the aluminum greater flexibility and strength. They are then made into aluminum products such as cans, chocolate wrapping, and ready meal packaging. Lastly, in as little as six weeks, the recycled aluminum products are sent back to the shops and supermarkets, ready to be consumed again.

    aluminum can be recycled infinite times as it doesn't lose its quality after recycling. It is important that everyone gain awareness about the importance of recycling and recycle as much as possible in their lives in order to reduce pollution and waste on Earth in a systematic and efficient way. 

A youtube video that helped me.......Thank you

How glass is recycled

 1st April 2022

Hiiiiiii so this is actually an interesting topic to me as most of us never really get to know how things are actually recycled......we just know that they are sent for recycling and that's it ( or is it just me?)

So here's an essay I wrote:

    Glass is a very important inorganic material that is one of the largest productions of industries. We all use glass in our homes, for example, windows, mirrors, disposable bottles, and many more. So instead of throwing all the glass into the bin, we should recycle them. But do you know the process of recycling?

    First, glass is disposed into the brown recycling bin. It is then bulked up and transported to a glass treatment plant. The glass goes through a pre-treatment process, In this process, jets of air is used to remove any paper or plastic. Besides, magnets are also used to remove any metal objects. Next, the glass is sorted by color and washed to remove any impurities. Lastly, the glass is crushed, melted, and molded into new products such as bottles and jars that we see on supermarket shelves. it can also be made for brick manufacture or decorative purposes.

    Glass doesn't degrade so it can be recycled again and again, but remember, some glass cannot be recycled. For example, mirrors, eyeglasses, and windows. We should all make it a good habit to preserve our environment and make the Earth a better place for our future generations.

For better understanding, you guys should check out this video, it helped me a lot

https://youtu.be/IERzI9KxihU

Saving the earth

 1st April 2022

Happy April Fools! Recently, I've been learning a lot about saving the environment in school so I decided to tell you guys about it.

Recycling ( an essay I wrote)

We produce a lot of waste every single day. Imagine if we throw out a bag of rubbish per day, then our country Malaysia would have produced tons of rubbish. In no time, rubbish will overwhelm the whole world and it is a huge problem. Therefore, recycling is a brilliant way to overcome this worldwide issue.

Recycling is the action of sorting out the items that can be recycled. It is categorised into three groups, the blue bin for paper, the orange bin for plastic and aluminium and lastly, the brown bin for glass.

Many people still don’t see the importance of recycling. Recycling helps reduce the amount of waste on Earth. Besides, recycling also reduces the number of raw materials being used. The land, rivers, seas, and oceans will also be much cleaner and safe for the animals to live in. This prevents pollution and it is a sustainable way to preserve our environment.

There are a few countries in the world that have made recycling programs a great success. Sweden uses its trash to generate heat for their homes during the freezing winter while Germany is able to reduce 70 percent of its waste, which is a million tons of trash per year. I believe that Malaysia should follow their footsteps and do the same.

The government should mandatorise recycling in every household. They ought to provide more recycling trucks to go around neighbourhoods at least once a week to collect the recyclable items. Recycling centres should also be easily accessible to everyone. Public places like parks, public toilets and bus stops should also provide recycling bins.

Schools and the media also play an important part in recycling. They should work together to organise monthly recycling competitions for the community to encourage recycling with rewards such as prize money or gifts. Campaigns that educate the people are also equally important to let people understand the whole process of recycling and its importance.

Even though the media is constantly urging people to save our environment and we were educated to carry out the 3R’s, which are reduce, reuse, and recycle since young, our laziness seems to always take over our rational thinking mind. By making recycling easy and simple, we will be able to make recycling our daily habit. Everyone should set up bins to sort out daily waste next to the garbage bins such as old newspapers, aluminium food tins and plastic bottles or containers.

Small changes make a big difference. Preserving our environment is a responsibility of all. I hope that more people will recycle and make society a better place.

I will also cover another part about how glass and aluminium are recycled.....so stay tuned😊😊thank you

Picnic in the Car

 17 August 2021

Hi there! Today I had an extraordinary experience. I was picnicking in the car! 

So this is how it happened:

My brother wanted to go to the beach. So, mom said he had to do 5 pages of his Chinese workbook, and he did it the entire afternoon.

Here's a sneak peek of our lunch

Unfortunately, it rained cats and dogs. My brother is being irrational. he said we are going to the beach no matter what. At 5 pm, the rain was slightly smaller, dad ordered good food and drove us to Pantai BNO. When we arrived, it wasn't raining much but still, we didn't get out of the car. 

I think the picture explains it all. The car seat can be tilted outwards so we could enjoy the scenery without getting wet. There were scary dogs everywhere but they didn't bother us. It was not much compared to the vacations we went before MCO, but it was really nice to be able to come out again.

I hope we can try fishing in the car someday but it is quite impossible to drive it near the riverbank. Comment down what you think. 

Bye!