its been a year..

Just wanted to sorta commemorate me having the autumn goodbye a year ago and setting foot for the first time in the UK.. Its been a wonderful year at Aberwatever =)

Anyway, my course just started this week and workload is already skyhigh. So far, I've had introduction of 4 modules and every lecturer has conveniently wrap up the class by saying something along the lines of 'please read chapters 1-5 of the manual', when the manual only has 14 chapters!! Coming into the course, I knew it wasn't going to be easy and have prepared myself for it.. but having mocks, assessments and deadlines incessantly announced for the past two days has sent me into some panicky and overwhelmed state. No worries, give me some time and I'll cope. Its a good type of scare anyway.

So, for those of you who doesn't know, your dear friend is currently doing her post-grad Bar Vocational Course in Manchester. Its so that she can wear an ugly wig with robes that make her look 'huge' (as xw puts it) and attain sleep-inducing advocacy skills with her load of legal jargon XD

Alright, here's really hoping that I'll survive this mountain of a course and emerge all good and satisfied at the end of it!!

Cheers~

Hola Espanyol!! Part II

Continuing on with the road trip.. We departed from Segovia after breakfast and arrived in Madrid two hours later.

In an effort to locate the hotel, we drove around the city for abit. Like any other major capital city, there was quite a traffic to navigate through and this gave us the opportunity to admire the vibrance of neighbourhood. Again, one can't help to be impressed by the breathtaking architecture in the buildings all around.

the statue of Cybele, the earth goddess on a lion-drawn chariot to guide the sun in its daily path across the sky

the home of Real Madrid FC

After checking into the hotel and lunch, we went exploring the city on foot till dinner time.

we went to the Caixa Forum, a cultural centre

Among the exhibitions on display were:

Alphonse Mucha, a Czech artist who inspired art featuring angelic young women in flowy robes surrounded by flowers

Charlie Chaplin, a celebration of his work where bits of his films was shown.

Next we went to the Royal Botanical Garden:

Random shots of the city:

I've found the location of Transformers' headquaters!! XD

there's an awkward looking Nadal ad: presenting Rafa the tennis hero! yeee, puit puit =P you can just sense how much of a big shot he is locally

Sol Plaza, went shopping in this area the next day

Last up on our Madrid list was the Palacio Real de Madrid, the official residence of the Spanish monarchy.

this ginormous place has too many rooms to count

facing the palace is a church

After getting back to San Sebastian, we went to Bilbao the next day. There's pretty much only one must-see place here - the Guggenheim Museum.

the building resembles a ship, made of glass and titanium.. ignore the bear

I was told that it appeared in one of the James Bond movies. if you ever come here, word of advice is not to visit the exhibitions, total waste of money if abstract art isn't your forte

alrite, now attention on the bear, they're real flowers!

Among the highlights of my Spanish experience is the FOOD!! Totally fell in love with the local dishes.. Throughout the trip, I've had loads of good food and a couple of unpleasant (its only a personal opinion) ones.

a must try rice dish - Paella!! there are many different versions, but this is the best I had so far..

this chocolate is HEAVEN!! uber-thick, rich and creamy.. it is for drinking and also for dipping..

... Churros!! its a perfect match, I'm craving for it right now..

Spanish staple food, bread (pan).. taken during every meal, they eat it with everything..

traditional pan making. this place serves really good lamb.. so good that we didnt take a photo of it before we gobbled up the whole thing

i forgot the name of this dish, but its gooood~~ if not mistaken, its made of rice and has a crispy texture

yup, that's chuleta steak alright.. looks good from the outside, and i was given a small piece of it.. thing is, like all people in European and American countries, they like it..

... medium RARE!!! look at how raw that thing is!!!

I was super freaked out, but was kinda obliged to eat it.. so I closed my eyes and *chomp chomp chomp* my way through it... ok, so it wasnt totally horrible when you dont have to cut it while the red juice oozes out.. but still, blegh.. wouldnt eat it again if I absolutely dont have to..

this is a lighter version of the chocolate, colacao.. tastes just like the average hot chocolate in the UK

tortilla de patatas, potato omelette

our breakfast spread

pastries galore!

gazpacho - a chilled soup to cool the summer heat

black spaghetti

arroz negro, black rice.. guess why its black! cause, its made with squid ink!! i was feeling eew-y at first, but it doesnt taste bad at all.. hehe!

I've come to appreciate the Spanish food after the trip. Nowadays, when I do my grocery shopping, I'll grab Spanish produce that I recognise and like, and also try to incorporate them into my meals =)

Don't know if you people realised, but I celebrated my 21st birthday in Spain! twice!! hahaha.. Once on the actual day and another on the day before we left.

On the actual day, we were in Segovia and celebrated it in the hotel:

I got a Spanish birthday cake!! Torta de Mil Hojas, thousand layer cake, does this mean I get a thousand wishes too? =D

even the vanilla ice cream was good cause it was made with fresh vanilla pods, yum..

The second time was at a fancy restaurant:

an even bigger one!! XD

it was fun to get wished feliz cumpleanos!

Had a truly memorable time in Spain..

Hola Espanyol!!

After attending my graduation, my family took the opportunity of being in Europe and hopped to a couple of neighbouring countries for some good family time =) Hence the reason for me being m.i.a. for the most of July, tee hee!

Posts ahead are highlights of my trip, so be prepared to be swamped with photos..

We kicked off the trip with San Sebastian, the northern basque country of Spain bordering southern France with a spectacularly picturesque coastline.

Here's proof:

the amazing view from Mount Igueldo

The weather here is just nice - sunny but not too hot, with the light summer breeze keeping us cool.

no wonder its such a popular beach resort

the twins all the way from the US!!

After lunch up in Mount Igueldo, we did a little shopping before more sightseeing:

saw a castle from across the port

surprised that Eva Longoria is the spokesperson for walls ice-cream.. O.o

lol!

this dude is really freaky sitting in the streets like that

authentic Spanish restaurant, good jamon served here..

The next day, we crossed the border and went to St Jean de Luz of southern France, another popular beach resort and tourist attraction.

the crazy number of sunbathers..

luckily no one was au naturel, hehe..

On the way back to San Sebastian, we stopped by a castle to have tea:

its like a small town in here, this is the road leading up to it..

part of it was medieval-ish..

..and some parts really modernised

On the third day, we took a road trip to Madrid, staying a night in Segovia and passing Burgos on the way.

The town of Burgos has a sort of old town feel to it, surrounded by ecclesiastical monuments:

the square

the streets..

Our Lady of Burgos Cathedral

The interior of the cathedral:

It was late in the afternoon by the time we reached Segovia. After some rest and a hearty dinner, we went for a stroll in the city. One can easily tell that Segovia was once under the Roman ruling from the architectural influence in this ancient city.

the aqueduct, unmistakenly Roman and superbly preserved

its really exciting to see the structure especially having played Caesar before

we had breakfast around that area the next morning, so here's a day shot

a handsome looking Segovia Cathedral

For some odd reason, I am slightly taken by the balconies in Segovia, haha..

Suckling pigs are Segovia's signature delicacy:

we had some for dinner the previous night but nothing beats good ol' char siu and siu yuk XD

More to come!!