1. finally studying what I want
2. actually being good at what I am studying
3. finally met more people who GET ME
4. I know where I want to go from here and what I want to do FOR SURE
5. met a couple really awesome people I will be with the rest of my life
6. I'm in Programmers woohooo!!
7. I've grown to become more proud of being Singaporean and Cantonese!

1. less time with crysssss and other old peeps
2. fucking sore throat and schizophrenic nose and LACK OF SLEEP

Labels: 2011, misc, summary

Metro in Madrid. Looks quite new (well newer than Barcelona's hurhur) but too bad the rest of Madrid is dirtier than Barcelona! Over here you need to open the train doors yourself.

A ticket for 10 rides. You can share tickets as long as 4 people use up 4 rides. In some cases the fares here are cheaper than in Singapore coz you pay a flat rate (or a few set rates) instead of by distance.

An older train than the first.

OCTOPUS IN VINAIGRETTE YUMMYY!!! My favourite Tapas dish. 

Roasted Chestnuts yummm

 

Sangria, a Spanish summer cocktail drink. It has alcohol in it. I actually really like this, but if it gets too strong (this one was in Madrid; I had 2 more in Barcelona and they were stronger) I like it less.

Homemade Creme Caramel

Outside the Museo Del Prado. Despite it being the most visited museum in Spain (followed by the Reina Sofia in my previous post), I still preferred the Reina Sofia because the Reina Sofia had more contemporary and modern works whereas the Prado was filled entirely with boring old paintings that either had religious stuff like Mary and Jesus or other people of high status riding horseback while looking impossibly calm and lavishly dressed. I was bored shitless. Could have slept. YAWN.

The Bank of Spain in Madrid

The residential area near my hotel at sunset

I was lucky to get this shot. The bubble burst mid-air.

The Egyptian temple Egypt donated to Spain after Spain provided aid in some year blah blah blah.

On Christmas day in Madrid we had Chinese food for dinner hahahah it was actually really surprisingly good like kinda and I was really enjoying it. This is the first time in 1 and a half weeks I've had chilli *TEARS OF JOY*

I bought me some leather. Plan to keep 1 and use the other for Programmers' identities!

and now we leave Madrid for Barcelona!

The train travelled up to 300+ km/h :O

We arrive in Barcelona :') The streets are cleaner, the air is (somewhat) fresher and the people are less judgey lol. More touristy too of course. Pictured above is The Ramblas, the main tourist street of Barcelona. It connects the harbour to the Plaça Catalunya, the main plaza (or square) of Barcelona, which is also the main city of the Catalonia region in Spain (which explains "Plaça Catalunya"). On both sides of The Ramblas are popular tourist destinations like the "Barri Gotic" (gothic quarters, the old part of Barcelona with the city's Cathedral etc) and the Mercat de La Boqueria, a huge expansive market (I LOVE MARKETS). To the north of The Ramblas and past the Plaça Catalunya is the main shopping district of Barcelona, Passeig de Gracia, which also has many Modernista (Spanish Art Nouveau) buildings. A popular one is the Casa Batlló (say Casa Ba-yeo) designed by the genius, Antoni Gaudí. Photos will be up soon.

This is the Columbus Monument, a statue of Columbus resting on a multi-storey pedestal. The man faces the harbour, and this monument is near the harbour at one end of The Ramblas.

The harbour

On our first night we went to Barceloneta, the old fishing town of Barcelona for dinner. The seafood was amazing! We had razor clams and some other clams, and this past paella thingy called Fideua.

The Fideua

 

On the way to dinner we past by a Circus, Circ Raluy. We finished dinner in time for the 7:30pm show! I believe in Barcelona restaurants open for dinner earlier because of tourist demand.

The clown with violent tendencies

Labels: Barcelona, holiday, Madrid, photos, spain

Labels: music

1. Travelled from Madrid to Barcelona in a high-speed train (hate taking trainsss)
2. Lugged luggage up and down staircases in Barcelona Metro
3. Lugged luggage down The Ramblas to our aparthotel
4. Walked down the rest of The Ramblas to Barcelona's harbour
5. Ate popcorn!
6. Stuffed myself silly with delicious Razor Clams and some paella-pasta thing
7. Rushed for a Circus show after dinner
8. Walked back up The Ramblas to our aparthotel and got ice cream on the way, predictably I got berries and passionfruit flavours!

Labels: Barcelona, holiday, spain

Labels: xmas

Labels: music

The Museo Nacional Centro De Arte Reina Sofia is a modern art museum in Madrid. The most famous work the museum houses is Picasso's "Geurnica", possibly his most famous painting.

 

Aren't the tickets lovely?

A film video projector thingy.

Slide projectors. I gotta get me one of these.

One of Salvador Dalí's most famous paintings.

This section houses the museum's first collection, including many works my Picasso. Picasso's "Guernica" was in this section, and unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take photos here.

A large mobile by Alexander Calder centres the museum courtyard.

These boxoid Bosch TVs are so cute! I need to get this too!!

 

Two glass lift shafts adorn both sides of the front façade of the museum. These are pretty much all the decoration there is, including a tall sculpture.

The entrance also functions as the exit.

Labels: holiday, Madrid, museo, museum, photos, reina, sofia, spain