Plums - cute little šljiva

Many will be able to identify this fruit as the modest Plums (Prunes are the dried equivalent). They are called šljiva in Croatia. It is a very common fruit in Croatia and they are used in a variety of sweet treats. Pita od šljiva is a delicious pie with Prune pureé and a hint of cinnamon. Using Cinnamon to flavour pastries is a usual practice here. Most of the time, they get cooked into jams.
Enjoy your daily prune fresh!

Sweets of Croatia - Dunja

The fruit on the right is known as DUNJA (Doo-Nee-Yah). Let me introduce you to its English counterpart, Quince. Now you know what fruit it is? Here is the Wikipedia link.

The very delicious looking candy on the left is the sweet made from Dunja. It has a jelly-like texture. Not too sweet. It tastes sour at the same time. There are bits of walnuts hidden in the confectionery too. Very delicious!

Hopefully I get to learn how make it soon.

Heil to sweet tooth!

Where it all begins...

How did I get acquainted with Croatia? Well.. to make the long story short.. it all started from LOVE.

I was working and studying in London at that time. It was a mate's birthday that day. 19th March 2005. After a nice round of drinks at the pub, I took a London bus to another mate's place in the centre of London. That evening, my favourite DJ Sven Vath was spinning at Fabric. My or our favourite club. After chatting with my mates for a while, I took another bus to where the club is located. I couldn't remember the time, guess it was about midnight. I got into the club after some queueing in the middle of another chilly London night. Found the tightly packed room where Sven Vath was and settled myself there. Dancing like a crazy woman as usual, suddenly I felt someone poked me. I turned around intending to give the "poker" a piece of my mind and I saw him. He smiled and we got acquainted. It was really dark in the club. Despite the loud blaring Techno music and the sweaty crowd, our love blossomed.

After that night, he left London for home. He was on a tour at that time. We met again on the second chilly London night after my work when he waited two hours at freezing Kew Gardens. Our kiss sealed our fate to be bounded forever no matter how hard the next two years would be for us.

In April, I decided to visit Croatia! My first trip! Not knowing what lay ahead for me and us. I embarked on my flight from Stansted to Trieste. If you checked the map, Trieste is on the northeastern tip of Italy. It takes only one and a half hours to drive from Rijeka (his town) to Trieste.

I shall omit the rest of the torturous process of sticking together.

That's the story of me and Croatia.

Cheers to True Love!

Let's start from here.

Cold but sunny day

Good day to you! Or Dobar Dan as we say it in Croatia. This is the view from the balcony of our parents' flat. On the right, is the way to the Adriatic Sea (Jadransko more). The flat is located in Pehlin on the western side of Rijeka. Most of the residents live in flats. Little old houses dotted various parts of the town.

My first impression of Croatia was I love the nature! There's so much nature here that I could never be able to see in Singapore. I always love travelling to other countries to admire the vast spaces and plentiful beauty of nature. And now that I'm living here. I feel like it's a dream.

Not forgetting those people who I came into contact with. They are lovely once they drop their defences and mumbled the few English words that they know. I want to tell those that I've met: Don't be afraid to talk to me! I'm learning Croatian too!

Life is beautiful.

Dobro došli!

This is my attempt at documenting my daily life in Croatia. I have decided to move to Croatia to join my fiance. Now we are getting all the documents required to get married. I've been here for over a month and still waiting.
Hope this blog helps those who are like me, alone in a foreign land. A different culture and language. Please do leave a comment or line if you are in the same position as me.