iPhone 101 sa Tsim Sha Tsui

Short trip sa land of the hongkees, Miromay and Stella's favourite place (Lantau) with my folks (they flew in from Manila, while I flew in on day 2).  Wala lang, para akong lumipad ng HK to give my father a crash course on the proverbial iPhone. Masaya naman. :)

Yesss naman. hahaha.

Eh dahil la la land of toys din ang hk, someone's ready for September. :D

Paris

Ay sori naman, hindi na ako nakapag post ulet tungkol sa Europe trip namin. I know I still owe you more stories, and I have to document all these good memories before I forget (and acquire more good ones). So....Paris... (in lomo and my trusty compact cam named chiquita...mukhang nde kinaya ng blogger ang dami ng photo uploads ko, kaya eto nalang muna. oh well. )

Ahh... I also loved Paris. Never mind that I only know of two phrases when I went there, which were Bonjour and Excusez-moi I learned my troisième and quatrième words onsite):

Deux
Kakadating lang naming Paris, transitting to Barcelona via Orly airport. We took this transfer bus from the airport (at 7am, freakin’ 10 degrees in the morning). Sabi ko kay madame driver (na naastigan ako, kasi waw…isa syang big bus driver na babae, na napaka gracious and witty. This I find amusing kasi A)babae sya B)she’s French (so kala ko ba ‘di sila friendly?) “two please?” Sabi nung madame, “deux?”. Wah. So ayun pala yun. Call it my most abused word for the entire French –speaking trip (Paris, Cannes, Malta).

Bonsior
Sabi ko sa cars le france driver nung galing kaming Orly Sud, for our last leg of the trip “Bonjour!”, tapos sumagot sya ng “Bonsior!”, tapos napaisip ako—is it the “Bonjour” way to address women? Tapos ni-google ko, at jomaygas—good evening pala ang ibig sabihin nun! josko.

What I love about Paris is this certain air of fine, old world culture that’s oozing with effortless sophistication. My ‘omaygad, I’m in Europe’ moment lingered here, starting even, with Charles de Gaulle Airport driveway. It was so foreign yet somewhat accessible. We stayed in this small hotel around the 10th Arr. The easiest reference to it is the Tour de Eiffel and adjoining Champs de Mars, which is literally two blocks away. Our usual morning and evening route consist of bypassing the nearest Metro station (our hotel had one beside it, the Piquet-Granelle), walking past the Eiffel and taking the train from any metro beside the Seine to anywhere. We even tried walking from Champs Elysses to our hotel. Twice. All these resulted to very tired feet, of course, but we could have not done it any other way (naaks). Walking brought us to Invalides, Km 0 (Isle de Paris), Palais de Tokyo, Musee de Arab, Marie Antionette’s kinky ‘play village’ (we took the train to the outskirts—Château de Versailles) and the banks of river Siene. Madali lang i-navigate ang Paris (well, kasi mas naligaw kami ng ilang beses sa Barca kesa dun. Hehe). Isa pa, kahit saan ka yata magpunta may famous landmarks and place of interest. And the weather was ‘waw’. May lamig, may sunshine at magaan. Ang hindi ko lang gusto sa Paris ay yung airport nilang CDG. Marahil dahil nakatira ako sa Singapore, at nakita ko na ang airport ng Barcelona (na naiyak si Jay sa pagka-mangha. I repeat. Haha), pero hanep talaga. Parang hindi ko malaman kung ano ang mas okay, yung NAIA natin, o itong CDG. It looked okay naman sa arrival. Yung departure lang talaga siguro—parang lalo kang naeexcite na uuwi ka at hindi ka na magtatagal pa sa airport nila. Haha.
Feeling ko ay napaka overrated at super hyped ng Champs Elysee. Mas nagustuhan ko pa ang vibe ng Avenue George V na tahimik at feeling posh talaga, compared sa mahabang kalyeng ito na parang nasa gitna ng EDSA at Orchard Road ang lapad. Madami ngang tao, pero para namang hindi espesyal. Or it’s jas me. Madami ding taong nagsabing iwasan ang ‘tourist trap’ na lugar na ito, kung saan mataas ang krimen at presyo ng bilihin. Eh sa kadahilanang gusto kong bumili ng *ehem* souvenir--pinuntahan namin sya.
Ang paborito kong lugar ever sa Paris ay ang--hulaan nyo.

Yung Shakespeare and Co. na antiquarian bookstore.

Ang boring ko talaga.

Ay! nagpunta din nga pala kasi sa kung saan saang museums sa kadahilanang gusto naming (reads: ko) sulitin ang aming museum passes. Bumili kami ng pass kasi may malditang gustong maki-usyoso dun sa dating bahay ni Marie Antoinette sa Chateaux de Versailles na asa labas ng Paris. Kung bibili ka ng museum pass na good for 3 days, makakapasok ka dun, sa Louvre, sa Centre de Pompiduo at sa kung saan saan pa. Mukhang nasulit naman namin itong pass na ito, dahil sa totoo lang mahal kung iisa isahin mo yung kada museum. Iwas pila pa. Well, somehow.
Syempre hindi mawawala ang Eiffel tower experience, kung saan, salamat sa research nung researcher sa amin (ako yun!), napag alaman na kumikinang pala ang tore na ito on schedule sa gabi. Kumikinang at mega dancing lights. Nakita nyo na ito malamang sa youtube, pero I'd have to tell you--it felt and looked so much better when you're there, breaking a case of stiff neck.

Syempre sino ba ang makakalimot sa 'Jay moment'? Hindi si Jay. Definitely. :P

here laid (and lied) Marie Antoinette (and friends). hehe.

Chateux de Versailles.

Au Revoir, Paris. :)

About Barcelona

Casa Batlo's resident ass display-er. :)

You do know that we've contemplated about moving to Barcelona, right? Surprised? We've seen looks of people shift from pleasant to 'wtf??', some even retorting 'ay, baket?' or 'Talaga? I didn't like it there, mukhang madumi eh'. Well, we loved Barcelona. Of all the places we've been to in our Euro trip (well, Mediterranean trip, plus Paris to be geographically correct), it's where we felt at home. Para bang walang ka-hassle hassle. I mean yeah--Las Ramblas was packed with tourists, also Gaudi's Parc Guell. Pero for some reason we haven't really figured out yet, it felt like a place you can call yours. Well, ours. A friend of ours supposed "Ano, familiar yung mga lugar? May Echague ba, o Avenida Asturias?" Yeah, she's referring to our streets in old Manila. Can it be the reason we felt more 'at home' there? Hindi siguro. Yes, there were very familiar names (for one, the surname Castaneda, with an enye felt so much in place in that enye-abundant country. hehe) and words (napalaban ako ng espanyol sa taxi, aba siningil kami ng extra. Well, okay--that's pushing the term 'napalaban' too far. hehe. Pinaliwanag kasi nung driver na may tarifa. Edi napa "Tarifa? Para?" ang lola mo (yun lang, pota. hahaha). Edi paliwanag si Senor...kasi daw nga galing kami ng cruise center. "Bueno" sabi ng lola mong halos bumagsak sa Spanish 101 at Advanced Spanish in college, even if she sings Enrique Iglesia's 'Solo en ti', with matching voicing to save her life. )

shooting Barcelona (from Tibidabo).

yes, this aeroplane ride overlooks that view from above picture.

Casa Mila (La Pedriera)

Mabalik tayo. Barca is not the cleanest city in the world, nor is it the safest. But it's so alive, and I don't even mean 'night club or bars' alive. It's got lots of things going on in it--very diverse and active arts scene, interest groups for every erm interests (hehe), it's got this very cool 'by-cing' (bikes you can rent from the side walk) atmosphere, different sorts of people and personalities, it's got a monastery carved out from a mountain (Montserrat), scenic places from each end of the city, one of which even has an 'antigo' theme park in it, just below a small cathedral , a bustling port, effective transport, ZARA everywhere, and an omg chica airport. Pramis, chica ang airport nila, that when my husband walk through it, he looked like he was ready to cry. Barca strikes me as a place na walang ka kiyeme kiyeme sa buhay. Hindi insecure, and things were just happening naturally.

And art is soo accesible. Below is a "metro art". Actually, lahat ng stations eh ginawang playground ng artists. Para bang naisipan lang nila, while deliberating all these na gumawa ng 'call for tender or collaboration among these artsy people". Hanef.

best metro art ever. Was soo inspired from looking at this that when I get a room to vandalise, I'll do something inspired by this quirky tiled mural. aww.

somewhere in la boquiera...

check out those legs. hehe.

you know pare--that's sagrada. you know. :)

pictures pa dito o!

Oh, have I told about the Mussels (tahong)--the best and freshest I've ever tasted. At ang Bacalao?? Josko. Seafood heaven. Even their goodies for desayuno (breakfast)--salami, queso and jamon were unforgettable. And the people? Mababait. Very informal.

Oh yes, we're soo coming back. :)

p.s. Syempre, dahil Pinoy tayo, and we can be found anywhere in the world (kahit sa antartica, according to reports, haha)--madami ding Pinoy sa Barca. Most of those we've come across are families, as in mga Ilocano couples na may kids, plus the lola and lola. Sabi nga nila, there's this huge probability that the person preparing your paella is Pinoy. They seem to have integrated very well, some of them are even Spanish citizens na. I was really glad to hear about this, kasi their stories are not of the 'paiyak' varieties. Very empowered and proud. Wala lang, i had to put this down, kasi ang galing eh. :)

naknang... (blogging from blogger)

Well. I tried importing a new blogger template to give this page of mine a new lease in life. And it was an epic fail. Josko. All I wanted was a template that does not chop my pictures when I post them big and effing big. I'm looking around for other alternatives--livejournal or wordpress, but Im not keen on moving again. Not yet. Ugh.

Anyway--a few weeks back, we were in Napoli, Italia. With Mt Vesuvius in the background, we walked around the once buried (and forgotten) city of Pompei.

potable water. in Pompei. o ha.

It was cool and creepy at the same time--thinking that this excavation site, now uncovered from Ash (but not totally) was once a flourishing city. Fave part of the tour was the brothels. Hehe. Ang kyut kasi eh, their 'menus' were 'pictured' on the walls, while some of the hand writings bespoke of 'customer feedbacks'. Oh. And the phallic markers were everywhere. Ganyan cguro talaga nung mga panahong wala pang ESPN at wii. :)

this way po, sir/madam. :)

and the menu goes on and on...

speaking of menu (minus the lewdness)-- we ate 'Napolitan food' for lunch, which consisted of pizza Napolitana, Spaghetti Vongole and calamari fritti. In any order.

Ay, ang Vongole ay napaka sarap. And although we heard not so good feedbacks about Napoli (it being crazy and not safe), that Vongole made it so much better.

with matching musicians. weh.

Our first gelatto. one of how many. :)

more. more. more.

p.s. excuse my sudden illiteracy (not that illiteracy is funny, it's not. naaks) , I'll try to blog more often. It's just that Im into something right now that's just sucking the life out of me, yan tuloy I'm always too tired to blog. saka na kwento. hehe.

Tuesday morning. I must be in Valetta, Malta

Date: 20 October 2009

inevitable question: ano kaya itong specialty nila na

Lampuki Pie? (above)

eto pa yung iba!