so, are you people back from your holidays yet ? i am sure you all had a great break. do tell me all about it via email, facebook, comments etc. since i am spending time updating you people, i want to know what you people are up to too. some pics would be nice.
granada wednesday 2nd - monday 7th January 2008 day 111-116 (granada: random city shots) (granada: random upper city shots) i booked to be at granada from the 2nd to the 5th of January. when i was in malaga, i tried to book a ticket to the alhambra online. knowing my luck, i couldnt get a ticket till the 5th. so i went fine. i got my ticket for the alhambra for the 5th.
(granada: more random upper city shots)
(granada: more random upper city shots)
luck came pouring down on me. as soon as i left malaga, it started pouring real heavily. as soon as i arrived at the pension, i was soaked. i heard that its really unusual for it to rain in granada. i also found out that people come to granada to ski because there is a ski field nearby. unfortunately for them, the ski field had to be closed because of the heavy rain. and it poured till the 4th. (granada: more random upper city shots)
(granada: more random upper city shots)
(granada: view from the pension)
as soon as the sky started clearing on the 4th, i went exploring the city. i fell in love with this place. it is really charming and has alot of character. the food here is amazing too. the best part about is every bar u go to, when you order a drink, you get a free tapas. how cool is that. so i booked to stay here for another 2 days .
(granada: bits of the alhambra)
it was the most beautiful weather on the 5th. the sun came out, the cold went away, making the alhambra so pleasent to explore. its definitely worth the hype. the palaces has the most amazing detailing on the walls, columns and ceilings. it would have been even more wow if i had not seen the mesquita at cordoba. still it was pretty amazing.
(granada: random bits of the alhambra) (granada: more random bits of the alhambra)
what they say about the crowd is true. this place is packed and they only allow a few hundred people at a time, every hour to enter the palace. you have to be there at the allocated time. you are free to explore the other parts of the alhambra at your own leisure. check out them pics.
(granada: the nazaries palace of alhambra) (granada: the nazaries palace of alhambra)
(granada: detailing of the nazaries palace)
after a whole day of walking, i went back and move to another pension because the one i am in is fully booked for the weekend. feeling exhausted, took a short nap and the woke up for dinner. i went across the road and ate some spanish cuisine. after dinner i head back to the pension. it was my first time opening the security door, i spent a few good minutes twisting and turning the key. suddenly, someone tapped me on the shoulder. i turned around and it was the man from the bar across the road. he waved my digital camera at me. i was like omfg. and thanked him profusely. firstly, it was so kind of him to return the camera to me and secondly, if i had not had to struggle with the door, he wouldnt have been able to pass the camera back to me. its amazing how the universe work ! (granada: the alcazaba at the alhambra) (granada: view from the alcazaba)
spent the next few days just exploring and chilling. check out them pics.
so, the start of a brand new year. any big hang overs ? any excess baggage from yesterday ? moving on ....
ronda tuesday 1st january 2008 day 110 (ronda: random city stop)
saw a picture of ronda at the hostel and i was sold. i had to make a day trip there. except i didnt want to go on new years eve because i dont want to come rushing back to a big city with everyone else to celebrate the new year.
(ronda: city's edge)
(ronda: the bridge between 2 sides of the city) (ronda: view from the bridge [*no pun intended]) instead, woke up early on new year day. everyone else were down with a really bad hang over or just completely trashed. apparently some people threw up the whole night. (ronda: city walls) (ronda: view beyond the city walls)
ronda is pretty. dejavu on arrival, reminiscent of bruges in belgium. this place is infested with old american retirees. except this time we see 60-70 year old men snogging 18 year old girls. dont blame them though. they are dying soon and think of all the cash they are going to inherit. i'd so do the same. didnt expect a small town like this to be such a touristy destination. expensive. then again, orsen welles wrote alot about this place.
(ronda: city walls and me)
the highlight of this town is the enormous bridge that links two mountainous side of the city together. i found that fascinating but more fascinating siting by the walls of the fortification gazing at the open wild.
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
