......clandestine fable....

We have a group project about castle for the tourism attractions and events. We were assigned to do some research on one of the castles in Bellinzona, which is Castello Di Montebello. The castle together with two other castles in Bellinzona have been inscripted in 2001 as World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It's a nice castle which is located on top of the hill but there is not many activity available. So our tasks will be making a proposal on activity or event to cater the kids and also to suggest what type of performances or events will suit the visitors' need. The main important thing is to justify the proposal which will be based on logic as well as viable.

There are five of us in a group but only 3 were able to make it to the castle. We've been planning to go there but the weather didn't allow us to go.

Anyway Sunday was brighter and sunny although it was a bit chilled especially in Bellinzona. There was snow on the mountain :D We arrived at Bellinzona at 1.30pm which was about 25 minutes by train from Lugano. Since it was located on top of the hill we have to hitchhike for about 20 minutes to reach there. There are buses to go there but not on Sunday. We were there for about 2 hours visiting the place and taking some pictures as well. There were not so many visitors there. We were lucky because normally there's an entrance fee of CHF3 to enter the castle but there wasn't any fee on Sunday. The bad thing about Sunday, shops were closed! Anyway, we were there not to shop though but usually for us, it would be killing 2 birds with one stone :p There is a museum inside the castle and we were supposed to visit it too but unfortunately we have no luck. It was closed during the winter season. It will only reopen in February 2008.

After the visit was over, one of our friends went home. The two of us, Salma and I stayed there and met another friend. She's a Latin American (from Chile), studying in the same university as ours but with different course. She's working in the government hospital in Bellinzona which is related to her studies as well (something to do with hospital administration and economics...not sure). It happened we were so hungry and she cooked pasta for us...liciiinnnnnnnnnnn hahaha.. The chill temperature has always made me wanting to munch something all the times! Anyway, I'm currently on a 'my-own-diet-plan' by cutting down the intake of rice, to avoid of getting a bulgy tummy :p I've tried to eat more salad now...cehhh tu diaaa....I seldom or maybe never touched raw vegetables back home and for all I know now, it's enjoyable to eat them just like that :D

Anyway our Chilean friend, her name is Katarina (hope I spelled it correctly) has stayed in Malaysia for 3 months sometimes this year of last year..sorry couldn't recall well :p. She attended a course in INTAN. She loves Malaysia so much and I'm so happy that a foreigner like our country. She likes INTAN because of the place, room and the MEAL!!! Yeah most of us who have attended a course in INTAN would definitely like it for the MEAL, which would be offered 6 times a day! hahahaha...but that was old INTAN! I forgot to mention to her that INTAN will not offer 6 meals a day now. Btw she gave me a packet of chillies which she got it from a friend. She couldn't eat it because it's too spicy and hot for her. I was so happy to get it as I've been wanting to get it but I've never got a gut to buy because it's so damn expensive for a small packet.... selama ni tahan2 ja x dpt makan lada...hahahaha....I'm not that chillies addict though but sometimes I miss the spicy food back home....so a bit of chilies would be good to have meal...

After having a good lunch we went over to her friend, Anna and we walked around the town center. Most of the towns in Switzerland would be empty, dull and dead on Sunday. Shops and shopping mall are closed except some bars. So we went to another bar to have our hot drinks. As usual I'd take hot chocolate with me. We stayed there for about 1 1/2 hours I guess. Salma and I left Bellinzona at 7.15pm train. It was an exhaustive day but still an enjoyable one!