Noel & Via

My teacher just showed me their updated webpage, Programma Italiano. And it already includes my profile
The other people whose pictures are posted aren't my classmates- some of them were ex-students (ex-ospite as they are called by the school) And I don't have any classmates really, as classes are conducted one-on-one. This space in their site will be dedicated to my Italian writing and other possible projects, like the exhibit they are suggesting I do about the similarities between Italian and Filipino culture. If you have any ideas, please send them to me. Thanks!

Posted by Via at 09:58 AM | Permalink

This is me eating an orange peel from my champagne cocktail over at Cafe San Carlos in the center of Torino. This was the most expensive 'aperitivo' (finger food served free for every beverage you order) we ever had in Italy. It was worth it though. We really needed a break from school. They served the best Cafe Marocchino I've ever tasted.

Posted by Noel at 03:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

A much-needed breather we took this weekend by staying the weekend in Torino, just Noel and me. We saw the last full show of Kill Bill (in English yay!) and had a leisurely Chinese dinner before that. (Only we won't recommend the restaurant/house because the lady was very cranky! Too bad, their food wasn't bad)

The next day we set off for Porta Susa, the other train station in Torino to look for the Filipino Consulate. We didn't have much luck there. They reportedly closed about 5 or 6 months ago, according to a nice Italian man who lived next door to the former consulate. Oh well, there's always Milano...

We met Ben and Tom the next day for apperitivo at this swanky looking coffee shop (pictures included) called Cafe San Carlo. We all had a nice Japanese dinner in this pretty authentic place called XIA. Then they helped us lug our stuff from IKEA on and off the train in the rain! UGH!

Ben asked us to: "Wake me up before you go go." Because we were all so sleepy on the train. That induced fits of giggles from me which were difficult to put out right away.

We had a nice quiet nightcap at Tom's place, just listening to music and sipping tea and sampling the exquisite Sacher torte that Tom received from his folks for his birthday. Then we started exchanging stories about all the other wonderful cakes we've tried. They were so amused when they heard about Manila's BTS chocolate cake. (Better Than Sex) We were very tired when we went to sleep at around 2am- tired but happy. :)

Posted by Via at 02:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Today was my Italian teacher, Brunella's, birthday. After our lesson, she made me listen to a classic singer-songwriter (cantautore) named Gino Paoli. She fast-forwarded to the specific love-song that she was telling me about in class: Il Cielo in Una Stanza (The Sky in a Room). Soon after I heard the violins (more like a whole orchestra) and Gino Paoli's rich voice croon into the microphone, I was immediately flooded with memories of lazy Sundays with my grandparents in the family house, crazy adventures and misadventures all over Italy, cooking meals in our new apartment, an old man professing his overwhelming love for this woman... and to my sheer and utter horror- I myself began to flood.

I did not wet the floor thank goodness, but I burst into tears! I was struggling with "Non posso spiegare perche non ho capito niente!" (Translation: "I can't explain because I have not understood anything!") And the magic of it all was, my teacher understood and did not think I was a weirdo. She even said that it's difficult to trust someone when you never see them laugh or cry.

It was very baffling how I was so affected. His music really struck some sensitive chords- all the feigned bravery about being ok in a foreign land suddenly gave way. And what a relief it was. It's wonderful how music can transcend language barriers that way.

Posted by Via at 10:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

One of our goals for our long trip about a week ago was to develop design solutions for a water/amusement park. We came up with a "wearable" technology that would look cool and enticing to the visitors of the park. It features glowing patches on the chest, LEDs and speakers on the cuffs. This is supposed to ask trivia questions to visitors. The picture above are concept sketches from our presentation.

Posted by Noel at 04:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We just finished a 2-day symposium on foundations of interaction design I never knew how broad this field was until today. We had speakers from the field of psychology, sociology, computer science and industrial design. I especially liked how Bill Moggride (co-founder of IDEO) ended the symposium, this was the boost us students needed. He expressed how important interaction design was in our everyday lives.

Posted by Noel at 07:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We just finished a 2-day symposium on foundations of interaction design I never knew how broad this field was until today. We had speakers from the field of psychology, sociology, computer science and industrial design. I especially liked how Bill Moggride (co-founder of IDEO) ended the symposium, this was the boost us students needed. He expressed how important interaction design was in our everyday lives.

Posted by Noel at 12:12 AM | Permalink

We have been to so many beautiful and interesting places, I will have to work backwards and start with the place Nicole (my new travel buddy) and I went to yesterday. (It's too bad we don't have any photos)

Nicole and I scrambled to catch the 430pm train yesterday- not knowing we would get lost and it would take us more than 20 minutes to get there. On the way, there were these 2 guys we ran into and one of them was giving me really scary looks. Of course Nicole and I increased our speed- much like nervous mice lost in a maze.

When we finally made it to the train station, we thought we would jump on the next train which was arriving in about 5 minutes. I later on laughed at the way Nicole recounted the sheer panic on my face as I braced myself for the big jump across the railroad tracks. She couldn't believe I was seriously about to spring over just to get to our track number- Noel later on explained this extreme measure is a result of train rides gone wrong, one time too many.

But Rimini was a woman's paradise! Lots of little shops, mostly clothing stores and some bars and pasticcerias. We also entered an old church and witnessed a German Sheperd making friends with a mini Doberman pinscher. All this was just a 10-minute train ride away! We had a quick warm drink before heading back to Riccione for a nice dinner with the rest of the group. Thanks Nicole for being such a fun travel mate! :)

Posted by Via at 12:34 AM | Permalink