Coloring
2015 is the year my love for coloring is rekindled.
A few things are close to my heart: reading, traveling and studying languages. But I have forgotten about my love for coloring. When I was a kid in primary school, I loved participating in coloring contests. I’d buy magazines with my pocket money and the first thing I did was flip the mag to the contest page and started coloring. I’d then […]
Exploring Latin
For a while I was learning Latin (after I got the hang of Italian) but then got distracted by other pursuits. I must admit I do get easily distracted. I'll poke around at some new things and if it's something I really want to dive into, for example Italian, I'll commit. If not, I know I've tried and it's not really my thing.
River God
River God by Wilbur Smith is my first epic historical saga. I immediately took an intense liking to Taita, a very talented and intellectual eunuch slave. This novel—the first of the five in the Ancient Egypt series—is narrated by Taita. According to Wilbur Smith, the story in River God is real, based on the scrolls found at the Temple of Karnak, and this is why the river Nile is important in the story.“
It is safer by far to live unseen and unremarked, as I always attempt to do.” Although Taita is a very handsome man with many talents, he prefers to live a low-profile life. […]
Hong Kong Bar, Penang
For the first time after five years of living in Penang, I finally step foot into Hong Kong Bar at Chulia Street. For this, I must thank a friend, Simon Penny, because without his and his friends' postings on social media, I wouldn't have noticed this super cool, old-fashioned (but in a very good way) bar.
I took the bus, stopped at the Jetty and walked my way to Chulia Street.
The Art of Happiness
A few weeks ago I finished reading THE ART OF HAPPINESS: A Handbook for Living by His Holiness The Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler. It was my constant companion every morning while commuting to work in the bus or while waiting for it.
Having just finished MINDFULNESS FOR EVERY DAY LIVING by Christopher Titmuss, I expanded my reading to include The Dalai Lama's book. These two books are some of the best things that have happened to me recently.
Coursera: Miracles of Human Language
Today I received my fourth certificate from Coursera for the course MIRACLES OF HUMAN LANGUAGE: An Introduction to Linguistics taught by Leiden University.
My first completed Coursera course was way back in 2013, […]
Coursera: Miracles of Human Language (Notes)
It's a wrap!
This is my final weekend geeking out in the Coursera course on MIRACLES OF HUMAN LANGUAGE by Leiden University. The course deadline for all quizzes and final exam is May 11. All good things must come to an end and I must say I LOVED THIS MOOC (massive open online course)!
Ottavia e i Gatti di Roma
Here’s my very brief Italian review: Mi è piaciuto molto la storia. È bella e i gattini sono carinissimi! Mi è piaciuto anche l'avventura. C'erano la gente gentili e un vecchio gatto bravissimo che ha aiutato i gattini persi. Mi manca Roma... (In English: I really liked the story. It is beautiful and the kittens are so cute! I also like the adventure. There were nice people and a great old cat that helped the lost kittens. I miss Rome...)
OTTAVIA E I GATTI DI ROMA (Octavia and the Cats of Rome) by Claudia Cerulli and beautifully illustrated by Leo Lätti is [...]