Malta: Living on the Edge of Europe » Malta

VER I ♥ U

Sandro — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:18:40 +0000

VER I ♥ U

VERA I ♥ U

VERDI I ♥ U

VERILY I ♥ U

VERBALLY I ♥ U

VERMOUTH I ♥ U

VERACIOUSLY I ♥ U

CONVERSELY I ♥ U

VERONICA I ♥ U

AVERSELY I ♥ U

VERGIL I ♥ U

VERMIN I ♥ U

VERY I ♥ U

Election mode

Sandro — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:28:13 +0000

The no confidence vote in parliament might have been defeated earlier today but what this is what I found in my letter box when I got home:

Monday: after training, before work

Sandro — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:41:49 +0000

Kinnie – Malta’s national soft drink

Sandro — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:37:15 +0000

I have been enjoying this drink ever since I was a child. Way back then I also appreciated its angular shaped bottle, so distinct from other soft drink bottles and even more so when compared to the bland PET containers of today. I remember the pleasure and sense of pride I felt when I discovered it in a supermarket on the outskirts of Nicosia, Cyprus, in the 80s. At the time I was attending an international youth camp organised by the Leo Club and I couldn’t help but point it out to the fellow participants who were shopping with me; it goes without saying that I bought a few Kinnies to share with them too. Thirty years on and I’m still recommending the product, this time to my classes of mixed nationality students who come here for a few weeks, even months, to improve their English language skills. I don’t do it because I have a lucrative promotional contract with the bottlers, Farsons, but primarily because it satisfies my taste buds. Secondly, it’s a local product which I believe deserves more international recognition.

One of the ingredients which goes into the making of Kinnie is bitter oranges, although the label simply states “oranges”. Now I don’t know about you but I got thinking – just how many bitter oranges are actually used in a 1.5 litre bottle? Hence my email enquiry to the company yesterday, asking them exactly that. Once their reply comes in, I’ll attach the information to this post.

Three things I don’t like about Franco Debono

Sandro — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:09:01 +0000

He is so full of himself, always going on about how brilliant he was as a pupil and how exceedingly important his proposals for legal reform are
His perpetual emphasis on the suffering he has been undergoing while ignoring the fact that the vast majority of Maltese don’t have the privileges he enjoys
His silliness for continuously checking his mobile phone for calls and messages while being interviewed on national television

Week 11 of 34 – Something’s happening

Sandro — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 23:05:59 +0000

That’s one-third of the 34 weeks over and finally the signs of progress are making an appearance. The first, and most important, is that I can run. When I targeted the Super Maratona dell’ Etna, I was undergoing therapy for a partial tear of the left calf muscle. My training then consisted of short, gentle jogs on alternate days. Now, thankfully, I run most days. The sessions have become longer and the designated long runs even longer – Sunday’s run saw me set out when the sun was still slumbering and return home 150 minutes later. Another progress marker is that resting heart rate is going under 50bpm more regularly. Concomitantly, my pace is becoming faster without pushing up the heart rate. A third thumbs up is for the sensations I’m having while tackling hills. The strength is returning, as is the confidence; I’m seeking out hills of any length and any gradient. I tackled three new ones during Sunday’s long run:

Palma – 1.3k, an elevation change of +103m and sections with gradients of 16%
Bingemma/Nadur tower – 2.6k, an elevation change of +159m and gradient peaking at 14%
Tas-salib church (Fiddien) – 1k, an elevation change of +71m and top gradient of 11%

Here’s the course profile:

Training hours: 9 / Weight: 71kgs / Body fat: 12.4% / Muscle mass: 69.5% / Water: 57.7% / Bone mass: 3.0 / Resting heart rate: 48

A parliament for cry babies

Sandro — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:35:44 +0000

Since the 1990s, the member of parliament’s equivalent to a child stamping his/her feet is to:

go whining and sniffling to every TV station and newspaper that’s ready to offer you a tissue of space on its media
exhibit emotional stigmata
proclaim love for your country while crucifying colleagues and government

White fury

Sandro — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:17:23 +0000

Christmas dolls and St. Valentine bears

Sandro — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 07:40:48 +0000

At the end of October of last year, Christmas decorations were already being put up on roundabouts along the arterial roads (see post: Merry Christmas). I was heading to the beach for an afternoon swim when I saw them adorning the perimeter of one of the Xemxija twin roundabouts (doesn’t have the same ring to it as “twin towers” but that’s what this country can afford). Holly and candle shapes and a Merry Christmas sign – all waiting for the night to fall and the electricity to flow, to flash these out-of-season greetings. Eventually, plastic dolls representing holy families, sons of god and wise men mushroomed in the turf and camped for a few months in the maelstrom of fumes and horns, screeching tyres and irate drivers. How the mighty have fallen!

Now it’s St Valentine who’s impatient to make his entrance – and an elevated one at that. A billboard is already up on the way to St Julians (the town, named after the man who slaughtered his parents) advertising teddy bears as an ideal gift for the 14th February. What exactly does this furry soft toy say to your romantic partner on the day? “You’re ever so huggable darling” or “Isn’t it time you got an all-over epilation done?”. What I’m really looking forward to are the restaurants’ special menus – essentially bog-standard meals but with over-the-top prices – that will soon make an appearance in the newspapers. You know the sort: a tomato soup starter is renamed Romeo’s Bleeding Heart; a main of chicken breast with chips becomes Juliet’s Welcoming Bosom; for dessert, Arouse My Passion, two scoops of ice-cream with a strikingly erect wafer tube.

Troubled skies

Sandro — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 21:48:59 +0000

Dying – what a jolly activity!

Sandro — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:32:15 +0000

The paralysing influence that the dictatorial North Korean leadership has on its people and country also extends to the Malta-Korea Friendship Association. For the evidence, just take a look at the “activities” page of its website and you’ll see that the most recent update is way back in June 2007; the one before that is May 2006. Morbidly enough, these two “activities” are in fact obituaries. More of the North Korean joie de vivre rubbing off here?

Welcome to reality

Sandro — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:44:23 +0000