Andulusia -Part 3

Started the day with great weather. view from balcony from our hotel

20th December 2006-Gilbratar

Third day decided to take it easy and went to somewhere nearer. Gilbratar, which Ron was totally fascinated ,as he said he never thought he would come to Gilbratar. It was the most southern part of Spain and it was under British ruling. As such ,we had to bring our passports along just to cross to this little penisular to catch a glimpse. Very small place but we had a great time walking up to the rock of Gilbratar and taking pictures. Of course, learning about the British warfare in the world war 2 where deep tunnels and trenches were built.It was so ironic that though we were in Spain , we were in this area where we had to pay in pounds. And guess what, we had fish and chips for lunch!!! We almost gone crazy!! Are we in Spain?



21th December 2006-Granada

i am so glad that i came here. As EJ has recommended, this place was pretty! I love it because of the Alhambra and the Generalife which was on e hillside of the city. Gosh, the architecture was simply breathe taking. The extensive intricate carvings on the walls, the detailed town And after abandoning the idea of making another day ski trip to Seirra Nervda, we had more time to explore the whole place.We ended up driving around the whole city which was a total disaster. i guessed we were too tired to walk at the end of the day and poor ron was coerced by me to find" Sacromente"We did not manage to find the place and ended up meeting two old men who tried to talk us to in Italian, French, Spanish and failed in all attempts:)

22th December 2006- Malaga

Though most people will arrive at the airport and give this place a miss ,BB and I decided to explore this place . I am glad I went. It did not have the grandeur of the other places we went but Malaga itself has its own fair share of attractions. We spent most of our time wandering in the streets which were filled with various kinda of entertainments and indulged in the festive christmas mood.The highlight of the trip was our visit to PICASSO museum. I am a big fan of PICASSO arts and visiting Malaga( where he was born) was totally fascinating to me. I had so much fun finding out more about Picasso and appreciating his artworks and poor BB was stuck in an art museum with me that he had to take a small snooze at a small corner.:)I bought myself a small book on "The Seven Lives of Picasso" and finished it in two days.I felt fulfilled.

23rd December 2006- Mijas and Costal

We decided not to go to another big city , Cordoba where you can see beautiful sunflowers ( in summer!) and decided to drive up to this beautiful white village called Mijas. I love that place coz it was small and cozy. Guess what ,we met fellow Singaporeans who travelled on tour packages and were en route to Madrid and Barcelona. That was a tiny surprise to us but very heart warming to meet fellow Singaporeans. What I found interesting about this place was there were good museums ( very different from typical ones) where you can discover more about the activities in Spanish small towns in ancient times ( from the day of an Andulusian to his work at the farmlands). There were life models and instruments for you to experiment. The day ended with a satisfying meal of gaspacho and paella back in Costal de Sol

Check out who is the matador? The bull!Good one!

Andulusia-Part 2

19th December 2006- Seville

One of the things which i enjoyed in Spain is I can finally put my spainish into use. And i think when one wants to learn a language, is always good to stay in that country , if not pay a visit. I felt my learning was so much concrete after this visit. All those menus, road signs, shopping, practically everything is in Spainish. I will say is pretty useful if you are able to pick up some Spanish conversational phrases as most of them could not speak English very well. I am not sure about the big cities like Madrid or Barcelona but at least in the Southern, most of them are pretty comfortable with their native language.

Anyway second day was a 216 km drive from Costal del sol to Seville, the most talk about and popular destination to all. The drive along the motor highway was much faster than expected. Took us about 2.5 hours and could be shorter if the city jam wasn't too bad. One important thing to do a road trip in Spain is always to have good city maps readily available and you can reduce all those hassle once you reached the place. I am really glad i spend the time to find all the maps and parking place to go to . This saved so much time for us.

I wasn't really fascinated with Serville . I thought it was overrated. Probably i still prefer the backcountry kind of travel. Serville was pretty unique in her own ways that it was pretty cozy . I love its unique ceremic tiles which you could probably find in every corner of the street. ANd not forgetting tons of the Naranja ( Oranges) trees planted everywhere in the city. We love the trees and the little narrow streets again ( which i think is a typical trait in most of the cities in SOuth Spain)Our first stop in Seville was a Tapa bar recommended by the guide book. We were very impressed by the quality and of course the price.--super affordable !!!We ranked this place as the top tapas bars after trying out tons during our trip.We were super recharged after a good meal.

Thereafter, we went to the Alcahaz which i was impressed by its Jardines and fine Moorished influenced architecture. It was built by moorish craftsman for King Pedro who lives and rule in this place.Later , did i realised the Alhambra in Granada was much more impressive than this.The 12th century cathedral was very impressive from the exterior but too bad it was under renovation and we couldn't go in.Took a picture of it.

The Giralda

After that,Ron was suggesting to get some warm clothings for him as he did not pack enough for this trip as he thought it was not so cold. We went to the high street shopping in Seville which was in La Consitution.Very touristy. Did not really like it. And one thing to note : if you want to shop, please take note of the siesta the spaniards practiced. Stores are usually closed from 2pm to 5 pm and reopened thereafter. So plan your trips well to avoid disappointment. Nontheless, major stores will still be open during these hours.

Yup, though it looked sunny, it wasn't that warm at 18 degrees. i was expecting it to be mild but i still need to wrap myself with my winter coat which explained i looked the same in all the pictures with the same coat!:)Anyway, i wasn't in the mood for shopping even though there are tons of ZARA and MANGO which were supposed to be very luring to me in the entire trip. I think Ron has enough of my whining of saving money and asked me to buy if i really like it. This guy needs some financial planning man!:)

The rest of the day was spent eating again and walking around the city. Some sights were beautiful and my favourite picture of the day was this picture of the Museo. Check out the reflection in the waters. When you flipped it upside down, you could not even tell the difference .:)

Andulusia ,here we come!-Part 1

We just touched down from gatwick on the eve on christmas. What a quiet london city. It wasn't too bad to travel on the eve of christmas. Everybody seemed to be pretty much into festive mood and couldn't care less about all the formalitiesand custom check.
Thank god for safe journey and great weather for our days in Spain. We had really great fun for the past seven days in Andulusia. It has been one of the most relaxing and hassle free holidays we had.

17th December 2006-Costal de Sol

We arrived in Malaga airport in the evening and got our hired rental car from Crowns. Abit of hiccups initially as Ron was not used to manual drive after being spoilt by his auto Mazda car in States. We took a bit of time to figure out how to reverse the car out of the carpark lot. The drive to the hotel was much smoother than what we expected. The highways were well lited and there were signs everyway . It took us about 15 minutes before we arrived at Vistarmar Aparthotel at Costal de Sol.I am totally pleased with the accomodation . It was one of the best so far in Europe. We had our own kitchen , living room and a bedroom. The bathrooms were clean and huge!!!We retired for the night early that day and got ourselves all ready for the big day tommorow.

18th December 2006-Ronda

I am greeted with a lovely sunny day with a fantastic view of the Mediterrean Sea. Ooohh...you could imagine how excited I am as I went and woke up poor ron who was still in bed to have a look at this beautiful sight.

We have a small bite and off we went to our first destination Ronda- a beautiful white village which is the last fortress on a towering plateau in the mountains. the drive was lovely though the mountains roads were winding and we had to be careful not to fall off the cliffs. We love the mountains , the oceans and the sea.Of course, Ronda itself was breathe-taking for our first stop in Spain. We walked around the old Jewish town separated by the plunging river gorge known as "El Tajo".I am so tempted to buy many lovely stuffs they had but i had to control myself as i had exceeded my baggage limit back to States already.Anyway, we practically just hiked through the whole place with a little map, got lost in the country afew times but got a taste of the way of life of an Andulusian in tiny narrow cobbled streets and white washed houses.

I also went to my first bullring which was one of the oldest and prettiest in Spain. Have a tour in the museum and couldn't believe how humans could regard the sacrificial of animals as a kind of entertainment in these modern days. But nevertheless, the chinese had their own cockfighting, the americans have their hunting...

One good thing about not following tour package and doing your own road trip is you never know what you will expect to see along the way and you get to stop as and when you like!


While driving down the mountain back home, we saw these whole rows of wind turbines on the mountains. Trust me , they looked more spectacular in reality than in this picture

And of course, we decided stop at one of the "mirador"to take a picture of ourselves with our trustworthy tripod and canon digital i60

AvenueQ-HIghly Recommended

EJ said I am Raine Monster because I am pretty much like Kate who wants to set up a Mostersorri Special School. We went to watch the west end musical "Avenue Q" yesterday and boy it was one of the best musicals I have watched so far!!! Is a must watch and if you get a chance to watch this in London or New York , Please do so.

I am worried initially as i am afraid that i will not be able to catch the brustque jokes they made in the broadway. But hey, it turned out this musical was a life reflecting one through an unholy alliance comedic alliance of humans and puppets. The cast were good, they can sing well and the puppetry were good. Precise timing with the lightings,music and changing of scenes, absolutely perfect!!!Interesting combination of the TV screen with some witty jokes.

The musical was a stark representation of the life in New York where Princeton lived in the dogy streets of Avenue Q and made many sincere friends to help him find his ever-elusive purpose in life. Made you reflect what is the true meaning of life,your pursuits, the ever rapidly changing society with the affluence of Internet and wealth, the disintegration of community based living, racism and the prosmiscuity of sexuality.

Lots of tears

last day at work today. Sudden surge of sentimental feelings. All those hugs and kisses from the fellow workers whom I never thought I have built close frenships with touched the little corner of my heart. Just wished I could stay on longer. Is always hard to move on when frenships have started to develop. But isn't that part and parcel of growing up? People come and go in your life . I treasure those who made effort to maintain the frenship and those who took time to care. Nothing matters more ,just to have a few who geuninely cares .

So now all ready to pack and go again. Flying back to States in three weeks time. I am not too sure if everything will be as beautiful as it is now. But I trust the lord to take care of them all. Surely, he will provide if we seekth his will. I know I can count on him for wisdom and strength. Am I ready for the jet set in one week's time? I think I am .But yet many things are running through my mind. I guess is coming to the end of another year. Time to reflect on what has been going on this year and the year coming ahead.

I am looking at the beautiful cards and letters I received from Aileen, Faye and Lilin. Beautifully created with love and their precious time.Those kind words and encourgement meant so much to me. I looked over and over again. Aren't I silly or not? Such simple stuff can really touch me and made me cry. I pray that god will bless them all, and all my friends back home in Singapore. I pray that they will be joyful in whatever they are doing.

And my family. Have conversation with TOO papa yesterday.He always had this way of expressing himself out of the blue which made me want to cry. He said" I am glad you are happy and doing well now." I want to cry again. The words are so simple but yet they came from someone who has raised me through these years and have no expectations of me returning anything at all. How awesome is that? Reminded me of Jesus's love ,his sacrificial love for all of us.

Dear Lord , I prayed that you will make me more like you and give more to others .Make me a good reflection of your ever kind,gentle,loving ,patient,giving and faithful nature. Amen.

Sensitive Woman

The love one came back with a bouquet of flowers which surprised everyone who has gathered at our place for bah choy mee .Taken aback ( he did not know there is a party), he placed the flowers on the table while I am trying to hide my happiness and excitement. Everyone turned to me and said" He bought flowers for you!" I am too shy and blushed to say anything or looked at him. But when the party ended and everyone left, I gave him a big teddy hug and kiss.He was in the clouds when I blabbered,"What have you done wrong today that you are trying to redeem? " He rolled his eyes and shuddered at this unappreciative woman.Hiak!

Ori's Farewell 25/11/2006

Ori's farewell was greeted with a Mexicana theme. Check out the portebllo, paella,guacamole and chips, sangria matched by a crowd who dressed in white , green and red. I had fun pigging and making a new bunch of Singaporean friends.
Thanks Oriana for being such a sweet dear fren during your short stay all this while . I prayed that you will be able to pursue your dream job and many blessings upon you and Reuben in the years ahead.

Ronald and I with our new found baby-Danielle ,two years old.

Brughes- The Chocolate Factory

I have the most enjoyable trip last weekend. The guyz and I went to Brughe -Belgium over the weekend. I was not particularly excited about it initially but it ended up to be one of my best trips ever.On Friday evening, after work, we hopped onto EJ's little smart car and began our journey. It took us two hours to drive to the EuroTunnel before we went through the hassle free custom and got onto the train. i was impressed about how convienient the whole process went.It then took another two hours ride before we cross the France border and then reached the Belgium Border.

Brughes is simply spectacular. After finding our way through the small little city which apparently had lots of one way streets, we finally reached our Bed and Breafast at 12 midnight. The house was so beautiful. We were greeted by a friendly couple who has furnished their house with cute paintings and little antiques. The place was a relaxing corner for the two nights stay. I would recommend this Papegeno to anyone who is going to Brughes. The owner is friendly and the rooms are excellent. I love the little secret hiding place i had in the room and looked how blissful i looked just by lying inside the cupboard

Brughes is a place for beer, and i said lots of beer. We went out to the pub after checking inI am impressed by the range theyhave and how they matched each type of beer with a designed cup. My favourite is the Bumblebee Honey beer. I am not a beer lover but this sweet beer was smooth and not bitter. Asides from that I have my fair share of the HOT CHOCOLATE!!!!!Gosh...the chocolates are heaven!I dipped them into the warm milk and they melted into a hot cup of chocolate drink.o f course, when we think of Belgium, we think of chocolates. There are tons of chocolates shops around. My gowd!!!!They have all kinds of chocolate and very pretty ones!!!I went to different shops and bought about 100g -200g each as Christmas gifts.

This city practically made me so alive!!!!!With all those little cute things , stylish fashion,interesting house furnishing, i guaranteed all boys and girls will love this mediaval town.