Into the Fire!

Peaceful week that went by saw the crossing over to a new month and remembering the Saints and our departed loved ones.

I spend All Saints' Day with a day trip to Pompei with a Singaporean couple who were down in Rome for a holiday. They are from my home parish (St Bern's) and are making their rounds in Italy before heading back to Singapore sometime next week. The Pompei trip was a very fascinating look at the typical life of a Roman community that mirrors, in an ancient way, what we would usually do now. Until that fateful day, that is, when Vesuvius blew its top and covered that entire city in ash, dust and volcanic lava leaving behind its wake, death and destruction. :-P

What we saw there are the remains of the ancient city that was incredibly preserved over the centuries and now excavated showing remarkable semblance of a thriving and busy city it was in its heyday. While we were trudging over the area and looking at their houses, amphitheatre, shops and the streets, it was as if we were walking among 'ghosts' locked in time, silent sentries of an era long gone and left under tragic and catastrophic circumstances. It was also a little wet and drizzly when we were there which made the atmosphere all the more gloomy and somewhat morose.

Now, back at the College and relaxing a bit over the weekend, I have to prepare for Sunday's lunch and Mass gathering among our Malaysian-Singaporean group with our invited guests. I am cooking a dish that would be familiar to all: fried kway teow or bee hoon, as long as it is something fried! :-D

Have a good weekend! :-)