so, an old year has ended ... a new one begins HAPPY 2008 ! so much to look forward too ...
watch out ! SEXCASSETTES in 2008 !!!!!!!
malaga sunday 30th december 2007 - wednesday 2nd january 2008 day 108 - 111 (malaga: another coastal city)
so happy to have left cadiz. this city is ok. not my ideal place to spend the new year but it will have to do. since i am already here, i may as well make the most out of it. another coastal city with crappy beaches.
(malaga: random shots of old city)
i read the guide when i arrived and it says malaga has one of the highest crime rate in spain. i was like wtf ? i thought it was barcelone. but then again its a 2001 guide. so. its probably dated. it feels safe just like madrid or barcelona.
was lucky to arrive on the day when the picasso museum is free. but had to queue about 40 minutes to get in. it was worth the wait coz i really enjoyed the museum.
(malaga: more random shots of old city) the city itself reminds me just like sevilla. u know. there is the old city, the cathedral, the bull ring ... etc.) they took a model of a city and press control-C and then control-V everywhere around spain. (malaga: the cathedral, of coz)
the new year eve celebration was pretty mad though. spent it with a group of insipid amricans (of coz), australians (of coz) and brits (of coz). they are everywhere. hehe. everyone was putting up a front in front of each other and bitching behind everyones back. its great being asian becoz u always stay neutral and ppl each to you. haha. and i agreed with everyone of them. so i just nodded. haha.
met another film maker from the states who is currently making a docco in morroco. man. she speaks real fast. i swear she could regurgitate like 100 words in 10 seconds. its like she has to say everything before the clock striked 12. haha.
also met this english girl from birmingham who lived there all her life and she spent an hour convincing me not to go there becoz its such a shit hole. i was thinking, no where on earth could be worse than atlanta.
(malaga: NY crazy nite)
the clock struck 12. we had champagne, had to eat 12 grapes for good luck (dont ask me why but i m so going to have a great year) and wear new undies ;)
(malaga: more NY crazy night !)
so glad to have left cadiz and hit malaga. for some strange reason, everything always works out in the end.
so, how has 2007 been treating y'all? has it been a fantastic year ? it has been one hell of an amazing year for me. i wrote down 8 things that i have to achieve this year (my 2007 new years resolution). to date, i achieved 6 ! this is like my all time record. i am looking forward to 2008 because its going to be even better !
cadiz friday 28th - sunday 30th december 2007 day 106 - 108 (cadiz: random sea shots) the plan was to look for some small enough town in southern spain and spend the new year there. so i picked cadiz. everyone told me it was a wise choice. its really beautiful there and i'll have a great time. i had a smile on me face and was really looking forward to it.
when i arrived, i thought this was a beautiful town. the old town was beautiful but being old, its really run down. being a coastal town, its very much a tourist town. and because of that, things here are not surprisingly expensive. for the amount i have to pay for something that run down, its just not worth it at all.
(cadiz: more random sea shots)
also, coming from sydney, i have not seen any beaches that has wowed me. the only consolation here is that i got to see what i thought spain should be - white and gold houses everywhere.
(cadiz: the white buildings spanish feel)
(cadiz: a bridge to some old fort) had to escape this place after one day here. its everything i dont want my new year to be. fortunately, i still managed to find some places to stay in malaga (which was never in my list of places to visit) on sunday morning at 10.15am. i took off as soon i got some churros for breakfast. i literally ran to the bus station, just so i could catch the 11.15am bus. what a relief.
so, counting down the days till the end of the year. start counting ya blessings too. many of you are probably off holidaying somewhere nice. that should be the way. y'all so deserve a good break. so do i ! sevilla tuesday 26th december - friday 28th december 2007 day 104 - 106 (sevilla: random shots) ok. i dont really know whats the fuss about regarding sevilla. everyone seems to rage about this city but i actually found nothing special. its just another spanish city. nothing like barcelona nor madrid. instead, it reminds me more like malaysia. again, i dont believe i made it all the way to spain to see and feel what i can see and feel 7 hours flight from sydney. haha.
take churros for instant. everyone seems to have it for breakfast and its in fact 'yau zha guai' ! except they either have it with chocolate or coffee. also they sprinkle sugar over it. wait. they add sugar to everything here in spain. that is why most of em are em. fat. but no where close to australian or american fat.
orange trees seem to be everywhere in this region in spain - andalucia. apparently anyone can pick from the tree and get free oranges. imagine if someone comes over to your house and got you oranges as gifts. haha how insulting is that.
(sevilla: orange tree & churros aka 'yau zha guai')
the cathedral boast to be the biggest cathedral in the world. it was huge. but its just like every other cathedral except bigger in size. the walk up the clock tower was fun. and the view from the tower was quite spectacular. but then again, any view from the top is quite spectacular.
(sevilla: the cathedral)
(sevilla: the cathedral inside shots) (sevilla: clock tower) (sevilla: view from the clock tower)
walking randomly, we found what used to be a shipyard - dos de mayo. we call it 2nd of may. that was a good find plus it was free. and even better, no one was in there. how good is that.
(sevilla: dos de mayo)
also, visited the bull ring. it was off season, so we didnt get to see any fights. would have loved to see a fight and eat the bull afterwards. ox tail soup mmm. visited the museum and found out how much the matador gets paid. they get about 2 - 5 millions just to kill a bull. gawd. imagine being a butcher. don't they feel extremely ripped off ?
(sevilla: the bull ring)
found the pillars of hercules. just 4 pillars pointing towards the sky. if only hercules is actually there. i might shake his hands and then pray for the next lotto numbers.
(sevilla: pillars of hercules)
the most impressive find in this city is probably the plaza de espanol. impressive building and square. just look at them pix.
so, i got the best christmas present this year. sheryl crow's new single ... love is free, kick ass ! after 13 years or so in writing and producing music, she still got what it takes ! i hope you ppl all got some free love for chrismas.
ok maybe trying to go anywhere during boxing day is a mistake. not only we had to queue for almost and hour at the train station ticketing counter, we missed 3 trains because they were full. eventhough we got to the train station at 10.30 am, we didnt get out of madrid till 2.30 pm.
cordoba tuesday 26th december 2007 day 104 (cordoba: signs and random shots)
we arrived at about 4.30pm. there were no lockers at the train station, so we went to the bus station instead to use the lockers. by the time we made it to the mezquita, it was almost 5.00pm. thankfully, the mezquita closed at 6.00pm. so we got a good one hour.
(cordoba: mezquita & courtyard) so so glad we made it. it has to be by far one of the best piece of architecture i've seen in this trip. i never thought a mosque could look so spectacular. ok what was a mosque. the spanish are very environmental and economical. unlike the other idiots who tear down a great piece of architecture, the spanish just changed the use to a church and expanded it.
(cordoba: mezquita hallways)
walking through the hallways of what look like an endless array of columns, so reminded me of the dwarf mines in the first lord of the rings. fucking impressive and mind blowing. i just walked with awe. (cordoba: mezquita window detailing) (cordoba: mezquita ceiling)
there were so much attention to detail, everywhere,the walls, ceilings, floors, doors, windows, altars .... and this place is fucking massive. wall paintings, sculptures, columns, great use of materials etc. (cordoba: mezquita walls)
(cordoba: mezquita altars)
the mezquita is so massive that there could be something like 40 services running simultaneously. ok maybe not quite that many but still alot can go on at one time.
(cordoba: mezquita domes)
it was definitely worth stopping by at cordoba before shooting off to sevilla.
meanwhile, don't forget to check out sheryl,s new song... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvo1y2M-iho
so, i am attempting to write some spanish. me alegro mucho de conocerlo. gracias por mostrarme alrededor. tenía un gran rato. espero volver a verlo pronto.
toledo saturday 22nd december & monday 24th - tuesday 26th december 2007 day 100 & 102 - 104 (toledo: random shots) a very nice old town. made the trip here twice. first time was to see jesus and the second time was to get away and be somewhere quiet for christmas. glad i did. it was raining the 1st time and foggy the 2nd time. but it eventually cleared up and became a very beautiful 3 days here.
(toledo: the fog) (toledo: jesus and i) first thing i noticed is that there is a church in almost every corner. so many churches for just a small town. fascinating though. some has been converted into museums, some into a bar and even some into a club. how cool is that. there is a river that surrounds the town. a bit polluted. i always thought pollution in rivers and on the streets were an asia thing but after coming to this side of the world, hell no. its universal. where there are human existence, there is litter. hehe
((toledo: the castle walls)
(toledo: the library and military admin building)
spent christmas here. exactly how i wanted it to be. quiet. nice to be walking around when there are hardly anyone around. everything was closed. the only restaurants that were opened was either kebabs or chinese. we opted for chinese instead. chinese food here is interesting. they look different to what i m used to but taste exactly the same ! hah !
(toledo: iconic) (toledo: the riverwide) (toledo: symbolism)
Happy Christmas everyone ! i even attended a midnight mass all in spanish just to see what it is all about ;)
so, still hanging on in dubai ? you should be finishing your year by now right ? any plans to stay on or travels ? update me !
avila friday 21st december 2007 day 99 (avila: random shots) wanted to do a day trip out of madrid. it was either avila, segovia or salamanca. after contemplating for a few days, i picked avila. dont know what the other town is like, only hear stories and seen pictures, but avila was worth the trip. so far i think one can't go too wrong with a spanish town. this town is fully fortified. kinda reminds me of a bigger version of carcassonne back in france except you have to pay to walk the walls. man, the spanish are cheap. otherwise, like all other spanish cities, there is the cathedral (how can one miss that ?), the fortified town and the new town. very pleasant to just get lost. many great photo-ops.
so, having a good semester break ? well, thanx for getting me in touch with justo. he is a great host. showed me around, introduced me to some fantastic people and showed me what being spanish is all about. having such a great time. you have to make it here sometime soon. justo is waiting for you ;)
madrid thursday 20th december & sunday 23rd, monday 24th decemeber 2007 day 98 & 101, 102 (madrid: random shots) ok. after a hideously long 9 hour overnight train ride from santiagoDC, i arrived in a wet city. it literally rained the whole day. gawd. walking in the rain is painful but somewhat fun at the same time.
(madrid: the cathedral and the palace) madrid is probably the most advance city in spain. the public transport here is every efficient. madrid connects to the rest of spain. the subway is fantastic. only problem is the cleaners are on strike. what is me and strikes ? the subways are filthy as. not trashed by the patrons by the cleaners (just to prove a point). i think thats dumb becoz they will eventually have to clean up all the gunk after the strike anyway. idiots. (madrid: more random shots)
called up justo. he came out immediately and hang. boy i am impressed. he showed me the city in the rain. was kinda fun. got completely soaked and realized that my new pair of shoes isn't waterproof. sigh. i hate soaked socks. took me to some amazing local bar/restaurants. that night we went to alcala de henares, 30 minuted drive north from madrid and hang with several of his friends. ironically i saw more cars than people in that town. three, 30 something spanish guys, do really know how to have fun. i hope i dont lose it when i reach that age. we went to have some amazing tapas, went to a salsa club, a disco club and another pub. whoa. all that in one night. ok. i am an old 25 year old. just cant keep up !
(madrid: justo and gang)
sorry for the lack of pictures in madrid. it was wet and cold. too cold to take out the camera. hehe
