Generally I try to speak clearly and enunciate like a Spanish woman. Though sometimes when tired would speak like a Spanish guy (slur), which is perfectly acceptable in conversation. And when tired and brain is not working properly, would mix up words like ‘aqui’ (here) and ‘ahora’ (now). Very good, am mixing up time and space when tired.
I think that the evolution of words is this way. For languages that have the same root, e.g. Latin for Spanish, Italian, French and English we find that words can be very similar especially for those that were formed when the world was new and cultures and languages had not fragmented as much. And then later we get the middle period where each sub-culture forms their own words irrespective of the developments in others. And lastly we get a newer shared vocabulary which is part of globalization and its new contents e.g. computer/ordinator/ordenador/(dunno wat it’s in Italian). Wish I brought my Steven Pinker book with me, then probably I could provide some more examples here.
Asked my teacher how to say ‘yet’ and ‘already’ today and she didn’t understand the English so had to tell her the French and she translated beautifully. ☺
Movie
Watched a movie in class acted by long-time-ago flamenco greats. The characters seem mostly confused but actually know what they are doing. Of course most people are the opposite. Haha, kidding. Don’t take offense, sensitive people out there. I don’t know who you are. ;)
Annoy
The Spanish word for ‘to annoy’ is ‘molestar’.
Zoo
I didn’t actually go to the zoo, and may not. Am just putting a note here to say that the Spanish pronounciation of the letter ‘z’, at least in Barcelona, makes the word sound like ‘ThO’. And it kills me. I just want to roll on the floor laughing, only I don’t cos it’ s eye-catching enough being a young-looking little Chinese girl in Barcelona standing upright.
And by the way, ‘zorro’ (‘ThOrro’) is the Spanish word for ‘fox’.
jeudi 25 décembre 2008
Cash
Cash goes pretty slowly after the first week when the excitement and the ‘’setting up house’ expenditure has died down. Am getting smarter about bringing food to school and buying the Metro card (more on that below), as well as not eating out so much. Still plan to draw money once a week from the Citibank at the Rambla Catalunya. It’s funny but it’s still nice to use an ATM which speaks English as a first language, and says conversationally, ‘What would you like to do today?’, even though one knows that the machine has absolutely no idea what it’s talking about. So yeah, I look forward to going to the ATM every week, to hear a familiar language.
lundi 22 décembre 2008
Tere's Art
Some of the works done by Tere. which she changes occasionally around the house every few weeks..
Metro card
Cracked my head trying to figure out which Metro stored-value ticket to buy the first week. The first ticket I bought was a T10, which was valid for 10 Metro rides (including changes of train {so effectively after you use the card to gain entry into the Metro station you can effectively shove it into your bag and forget about it}). That cost E7.20 and lasted me for about 3 days, since I was running around a lot when I first got here.
So debated on the next card whether it was to be a T-50/30 (E29,80) which gave u 50 rides within 30 days, a T-Familiar (E43,80) which was 70 rides in 30 days, or a T-Mes (E46,25), which was unlimited rides in 30 days. You would (or wouldn’t) be surprised to know that the cost per trip for the T-50/30 was actually cheaper than the T-Familiar (59c vs 62c) So I mean duh. I figured if I was going to be here for say 49 days then I might as well get 2 x T-50/30 i.e. 100 trips for 49 days which on average should work out fine if I didn’t go out much on weekends or walked more, which is easy cos the apartment is really accessible and 20min walk from the city centre.
And one other thing is that the T-50/30 really is a good balance on the risk/return continuum cos other than the risk of losing the card, there is a real possibility of the T-Mes wearing out and being unusable before the month is over, on account of the card really being no more than a medium-weight piece of paper with a magnetic strip running across the length. And the card needs to be fed into the gantry for processing before they eject it again, so who knows how well a dog-eared one will work. Yes you should see how I keep my Metro card. It gets knocked about by pens, pencils and keys quite a lot. At least I don’t bend it.
Etiquette for public transport - Metro
Always ask the person who’s blocking your exit at the next station if they’re getting off as well, instead of saying ‘excuse me’ immediately. If you are standing near the door, stand close to the door early to indicate your intention to alight, else someone will do the former to you. If you are standing close to the door and you don’t intend to get out, open the door for the folks who do.
There are two types of doors on the Metro. The older ones have a lever which you push in the direction where the 2 doors meet and release so the doors can swing open. Or the newer trains have a green button that lights up when the train has come to a safe stop and the doors can be opened. These buttons are fun. If you wanna, press them before the person on the other side of the door does but don’t be stupid about it.
The word for ‘bus-stop’ is ‘parada’.
So debated on the next card whether it was to be a T-50/30 (E29,80) which gave u 50 rides within 30 days, a T-Familiar (E43,80) which was 70 rides in 30 days, or a T-Mes (E46,25), which was unlimited rides in 30 days. You would (or wouldn’t) be surprised to know that the cost per trip for the T-50/30 was actually cheaper than the T-Familiar (59c vs 62c) So I mean duh. I figured if I was going to be here for say 49 days then I might as well get 2 x T-50/30 i.e. 100 trips for 49 days which on average should work out fine if I didn’t go out much on weekends or walked more, which is easy cos the apartment is really accessible and 20min walk from the city centre.
And one other thing is that the T-50/30 really is a good balance on the risk/return continuum cos other than the risk of losing the card, there is a real possibility of the T-Mes wearing out and being unusable before the month is over, on account of the card really being no more than a medium-weight piece of paper with a magnetic strip running across the length. And the card needs to be fed into the gantry for processing before they eject it again, so who knows how well a dog-eared one will work. Yes you should see how I keep my Metro card. It gets knocked about by pens, pencils and keys quite a lot. At least I don’t bend it.
Etiquette for public transport - Metro
Always ask the person who’s blocking your exit at the next station if they’re getting off as well, instead of saying ‘excuse me’ immediately. If you are standing near the door, stand close to the door early to indicate your intention to alight, else someone will do the former to you. If you are standing close to the door and you don’t intend to get out, open the door for the folks who do.
There are two types of doors on the Metro. The older ones have a lever which you push in the direction where the 2 doors meet and release so the doors can swing open. Or the newer trains have a green button that lights up when the train has come to a safe stop and the doors can be opened. These buttons are fun. If you wanna, press them before the person on the other side of the door does but don’t be stupid about it.
The word for ‘bus-stop’ is ‘parada’.
dimanche 14 décembre 2008
Toiletries
Lived the first week with just a bottle of shampoo and body bath. At the end of that week, my scalp was yelling out for conditioner, so went and got some. And a comb too. So now have nice hair again. It’s amazing how difficult it is to find conditioner when most of the brands out there either just sell shampoo only, or they sell the 2-in-1 shampoo + conditioner, which is bloody useless to somebody (me) who has a bottle of freshly-opened shampoo back at home waiting to be paired with a bottle of conditioner. So anyway, found a bottle of Timotei conditioner. The Timotei here is nothing like the one we used to have back in S’pore. Does not look like it, does not smell like it, but is still it, apparently, according to the branding.
The Supermarket
The supermarket round the corner is called Dia (day) and they have branches everywhere in the neighbourhoods that I’ve walked through. I prefer the staff at a supermarket called Keisey a bit further away cos they are more friendly and less snotty. And also Keisey does not make you pay for plastic bags. At Dia they cost 3 cents each. Which I refuse to pay cos it’s just like less than 10m from them to my front door. So as you can see, I go to Dia much more often, but when I do, I bring Keisey plastic bags with me.
dimanche 7 décembre 2008
Chinese Bliss
Joan brought me Chinese sausage (so I can finally make some fried rice!) and bak kwa from 美珍香, and eyelash curlers (bimbotic, true, but I left them in Singapore and I HAD to have them. Here in Barca they cost a tiny bomb) from home.
Along with the tricolour packet of peppers that I found cheap in the supermarket (Consum) where Joan was getting groceries on her first day, these things have perfected my life in Barca. :)
Joan and Co. from Singapore
Joan from my Spanish class came to Barcelona yesterday. With her were her 3 kids and her daughter's friend.
We took a stroll from their apartment off the Passeig de Gracia, down to Placa Catalunya, through La Rambla and then to the Ciutat Vella (Old Town) to visit the Eglise de Santa Maria del Mar (Church of Saint Mary of the Sea), the oldest church in Barcelona, very big and beautiful.
Opposite the church we passed by Bubo, arguably the best pasticceria in Barcelona (if the prices are anything to go by - E3.50 for a small strawberry shortcake). Their small cafe was crowded around 8pm in the evening though..
Notes from a visit to the Fundacion de Joan Miro
Joan Miro is also the person who designed the logo of La Caixia ("The Cash"), the largest bank in Catalunya.
New words:
Retrato – n. portrait
Autorretrato – nm. self-portrait
Paraguas – nf. umbrella
Sol y sombra – sun and shade
Anemacer – v. dawn
Puente – nm. bridge
La estrella matinal – nf. the morning star
El diamante sonrie al crepusculo – the diamond smiles at the sun
Poema – nf. Poem c.f. visual poetry
Estrella fugaz – nf. shooting star
Exhibition I: Permanent Collection of the Works of Joan Miro
Joan Miro was born in 1893 in Barcelona and died on 25 Dec 1983.
He was influenced by Van Gogh, Cezanne, the Fauves, and the movements of Cubism and Futurism.
1918 – picked up the calligraohic style of painting aka Francis Picaba.
1920’s – influenced by the style of Surrealism after a soujourn in Paris
late 1920’s – desire to ‘assassinate painting’ though through the use of collage and assemblage etc.
July 1936 – April 1939 – Spanish Civil War
1960’s onwards – move from reality to sign. Painting besomes not an end in itself, but becomes gestural, to trigger a certain state of mind e.g. meditation. c.f. Japanese painting.
Tryptiches:
a) “Painting on White Background for the Cell of a Recluse” (1968)
b) “Fireworks”
c) “The Hope of a Man Condemned to Death” * (my fav of the three)
Friends who donated works to the Fundacion Miro to commemorate their friendship with Miro:
Man Ray
Richard Serra (“Paciencia”)
Valerio Adami
Antoni Tapies
Robert Rauschenberg
Marcel Duchamp
Exhibition 1: Modernitat Americana: Obras de la Conrcoran Gallery of Art
Modern art in America in the 20th Century, in seven sections:
1) Under the spell of Paris
2) Landscapists s.f. French Symbolists
3) The Impact of the Avant-Garde
4) Photography
Inherently documentary in nature, and therefore linked to the development of realism. Helped bring about change in national laws when the artists showcased real life. E.g. Gordon Parks (convergence of social, documentary and artistic aims)
5) Realism
Contemporary urban life e.g. George Bellows, Edward Hopper (“Ground Swell” (1939) geometric organizational lines, physical and metaphysical time) [realist], Milton Avery [transcendental]
6) Post-War Abstraction
7) Between Abstracion and Figuration e.g. Guy Pene du Bois
1st mvmt: Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Ad Reinhardt / 2nd mvmt: Cy Twombly* (street painting, mythology), Helen Frankenthaler, Richard Diebenkorn, Robert Marigold (“5 Colour Frame Painting”)
Europeans in America: Marcel Duchamp, Piet Mondrain, Yves Tanguy
dimanche 30 novembre 2008
Apartment renovation
Tere just bought a new couch and to accommodate it spatially and aesthetically she did a whole rearrangement of the living room which included:
a) moving the location of the computer table and modem, which actually improved my wireless connection a tad so am actually quite pleased with it. I don’t know how these things work, cos it works better when the computer is moved further AWAY from my room. So go figure. Or maybe you already know and you don’t have to figure it out at all, and I will never know even if I thought about it some more so there is no point I should even try. Duuh.
b) Tere came into the kitchen while I was multitasking (watching Spanish TV (dubbed cheap Hollywood flick)/typing this blog/worrying over laundry/thinking of what to do for the weekend/eating cereal in milk) and said – “Adina! Is it okay if I take the green chair in your room? Just to try and see if it goes with the new sofa. If it doesn’t go, then I’ll return it to your room. If it does, then you take this chair (pulling out wooden folding chair from a slot between the refrigerator and the oven (well I’ll be!)) for your room, okay?” Uh, okay.
I am now sitting on a wooden chair in my room as I type this.
c) Tere’s changed the paintings in the house quite a number of times already so I think she actually does work even though I never see her in action in her studio, which is off down another corridor in the house. I will feature a separate post on some of her works. For goodness’ sake please don’t go palm these off to other wannabe artists/cons cos I think Tere would be pretty peeved. And I am already doing a lot of things that risk me finding my bags on the sidewalk when I come home from school one day. Not.
samedi 29 novembre 2008
La Rambla
This is some of the sights on La Rambla, the busy shopping street in the city centre. It's full of pickpockets so don't get distracted!!!
dimanche 23 novembre 2008
MNAC: Museu National De Arte de Catalunya
Kyle, Andrew, Katherine and me went to the MNAC yesterday. As an introduction, Kyle and Katherine are on my course. Kyle's from Indiana in the US, and Kat is from Liverpool in the UK. Andrew is Kyle's fiancee, also from Indiana. Kyle stays with me in the apartment and she's a really funny sense of humor, and she tells it with a straight face. Andrew comes over almost everyday to cook, so we usually hang out in the kitchen for a bit in the evenings.
Back to the MNAC. This is one of the best museums that I've been to here. It covers all the periods of art from 11th century Romanesque Art, to Gothic Art (13-15thC), Renaissance and Baroque (16-18thC), all the way to Modern Art (19thC). So it's great. We got through the Modern Art and some of the Baroque on the 2nd floor in about 2 1.2hr and saw a good cross-section of the great Catalunyan artists during that time.
There were both paintings and sculptures. Of course there were Picassos, and also some others like Ramon Casas, Gaudi, Dali, Julio Gonzalez, Joaquim Mir (he's got crazy colour sense), and Mariano Fortuny. If you have a moment, Google all these folks on Google images and you'll see what I mean by they are good. :)
Understandably, we were all hungry by the time we were done so we all went to me and Kyle's house to get some food. Saving the first storey (there are 2 storeys to the museum) for next time!
dimanche 16 novembre 2008
Laundry
Doing the laundry kills me. Am sitting next to the washing machine now in the kitchen and listening to my clothes die, and there is nothing I can do to save them. To top it off I have forgotten to throw in the wash the shirt I have on my back (literally, the T-shirt I wear in the house. Which means it will have to wait till the next available wash. Arrgh. So reminiscent of the glasses on the head syndrome, right??) But back to the catastrophe at hand. For starters when I opened the washing stuff cupboard it appeared different from when my landlady first showed me that I had to combine this washing powder with that blue liquid and put equal amounts in the washing machine compartment that holds the suds. So I just chose the two most interesting solutions and understood them with my best Spanish (fwah!) and then poured them in and went to step two.
Step two comprises of choosing which type of fabric and which temparature to wash them in. I had with me socks, sweaters, spaghetti straps, tights and a dress that had instructions which said “Do not wash at more than 30degrees temperature.” So I was like, okay, looking at the dial. The setting Tere told me to put it at was Synthetics/40degrees. And I thought – this would not be right. It would ruin the dress. And I didn’t want to turn the dial to in-between ‘frio (cold)’ and 40 degrees, cos I am a bit doubtful that if I turn the dial to where it is supposed to mean 30degrees, it will be washing at 30degrees. For all you know once the machine starts it will click happily to 40degrees.
Anyway, as the luck of the draw would have it, I chose Wool. (This is why it is a good idea, if you are not a manual-reader like me, to at least make the effort to know what spin cycles are available on your washing machine before you choose an option and press the ‘Start’ button. Cos once you press start and the clothes start spinning, you will have to just pray ur way through to the end of the cycle if your machine does something you didn’t expect and are not thrilled about) The Wool setting is at 30degrees, which was good, and also I had some cottony stuff in the bunch of things I put in the machine. Now, the thing that started me worrying was that 20min into the cycle, when everything was sailing along fine, the machine suddenly stopped for a while. Then I tried to open the door, thinking that the cycle was done. But no, it was not the case. Then the tumbler started spinning really fast, and I mean really. And the spinning sound got higher and higher pitched until I thought the machine was going to explode (in the back of my mind I was thinking: very clever, this Wool setting. You have to replace the machine and your clothes every single time you choose this cycle).
(Oh wait, let me check the machine… Clothes are safe! Clothes are intact!!! YAY! :)) Okay, am a lousy writer as I have already given the ending away. But let me continue. )
Is there any Emergency stop button on these things? Like an oh I changed my mind, Wait!!! Can u just stop the washing and rinse out my clothes and can I have them back already, thank you very much - button? So the machine started spinning real fast and I was just sitting there ostensibly in silent contemplation (in case Tere walks past I didn’t want her to see me flapping around the kitchen lest she thinks I cannot be trusted to be left on my own with any household appliances), thinking, oh shit, will my dress be torn apart at this speed? I’ve only worn it once, and what about my tights?? Etc, etc… So anyway, the laundry turned out fine, better than the first time it came out a bit green, so, think I will choose Wool again next time. ;) Yes, the daredevil in me.
Step two comprises of choosing which type of fabric and which temparature to wash them in. I had with me socks, sweaters, spaghetti straps, tights and a dress that had instructions which said “Do not wash at more than 30degrees temperature.” So I was like, okay, looking at the dial. The setting Tere told me to put it at was Synthetics/40degrees. And I thought – this would not be right. It would ruin the dress. And I didn’t want to turn the dial to in-between ‘frio (cold)’ and 40 degrees, cos I am a bit doubtful that if I turn the dial to where it is supposed to mean 30degrees, it will be washing at 30degrees. For all you know once the machine starts it will click happily to 40degrees.
Anyway, as the luck of the draw would have it, I chose Wool. (This is why it is a good idea, if you are not a manual-reader like me, to at least make the effort to know what spin cycles are available on your washing machine before you choose an option and press the ‘Start’ button. Cos once you press start and the clothes start spinning, you will have to just pray ur way through to the end of the cycle if your machine does something you didn’t expect and are not thrilled about) The Wool setting is at 30degrees, which was good, and also I had some cottony stuff in the bunch of things I put in the machine. Now, the thing that started me worrying was that 20min into the cycle, when everything was sailing along fine, the machine suddenly stopped for a while. Then I tried to open the door, thinking that the cycle was done. But no, it was not the case. Then the tumbler started spinning really fast, and I mean really. And the spinning sound got higher and higher pitched until I thought the machine was going to explode (in the back of my mind I was thinking: very clever, this Wool setting. You have to replace the machine and your clothes every single time you choose this cycle).
(Oh wait, let me check the machine… Clothes are safe! Clothes are intact!!! YAY! :)) Okay, am a lousy writer as I have already given the ending away. But let me continue. )
Is there any Emergency stop button on these things? Like an oh I changed my mind, Wait!!! Can u just stop the washing and rinse out my clothes and can I have them back already, thank you very much - button? So the machine started spinning real fast and I was just sitting there ostensibly in silent contemplation (in case Tere walks past I didn’t want her to see me flapping around the kitchen lest she thinks I cannot be trusted to be left on my own with any household appliances), thinking, oh shit, will my dress be torn apart at this speed? I’ve only worn it once, and what about my tights?? Etc, etc… So anyway, the laundry turned out fine, better than the first time it came out a bit green, so, think I will choose Wool again next time. ;) Yes, the daredevil in me.
jeudi 13 novembre 2008
mardi 11 novembre 2008
School days
So it’s just me and Hannah from Sheffield in the UK for the first 2 weeks of Spanish school. Hannah has not background in Spanish so it’s pretty interesting how most of the classes pan out over 4 hours everyday.
Hannah asked me how long I took to do my homework everyday, and she asked like ‘1 hour?’, so I nodded. Then she said, ‘Wow, it actually takes me 3 hours, if not the whole day…’. I’m like, okay. Actually I take like 15min, but am not actually able to bring myself to say so. But heck it, I’ve paid my dues with 3 years of French class, so why should homework not be a bit easier for me now?
:)
Today she got frustrated in class cos she didn’t really understand everything and I was just whizzing through the tasks. Oh well. Tough lah. Don’t know what I would have done in her shoes. Probably worse than saying, ‘Well she’s got 2 months of classes on me so of course she knows what’s going on while I’m still trying to understand!” to our poor professora, who is really very nice indeed.
Still, outside of school Hannah’s great and tho she’s vegetarian, she brings me things like mozzerella and tomato sandwiches or penne with pesto for lunch almost everyday. For me I bring pasta with mixed vegetables which I bring the ham separately and throw it in the pasta after she’s taken her share, or I make an egg/tomato/cheese sandwich and another egg/tomato/cheese/&tuna sandwich to bring to school and we are both happy.
We pig out a lot at school though, must be all that thinking were doing. Seriously! We start classes at 9am and by the first break at 10am I am already scarfing down a mini butter roll. Then by 12pm I am hungry again but have to wait for class to be over at 1pm before I can have a go at my Tupperware. And note that I do have breakfast before I leave the house at 815am. By the way, am not getting phett. If I were (subjunctive tense! Ahahaha…) getting phat, you would see it written in capital letters on my blog first thing. And it would probably go on for about, oh 10 or 20 or so full screens on your computer.
Hannah asked me how long I took to do my homework everyday, and she asked like ‘1 hour?’, so I nodded. Then she said, ‘Wow, it actually takes me 3 hours, if not the whole day…’. I’m like, okay. Actually I take like 15min, but am not actually able to bring myself to say so. But heck it, I’ve paid my dues with 3 years of French class, so why should homework not be a bit easier for me now?
:)
Today she got frustrated in class cos she didn’t really understand everything and I was just whizzing through the tasks. Oh well. Tough lah. Don’t know what I would have done in her shoes. Probably worse than saying, ‘Well she’s got 2 months of classes on me so of course she knows what’s going on while I’m still trying to understand!” to our poor professora, who is really very nice indeed.
Still, outside of school Hannah’s great and tho she’s vegetarian, she brings me things like mozzerella and tomato sandwiches or penne with pesto for lunch almost everyday. For me I bring pasta with mixed vegetables which I bring the ham separately and throw it in the pasta after she’s taken her share, or I make an egg/tomato/cheese sandwich and another egg/tomato/cheese/&tuna sandwich to bring to school and we are both happy.
We pig out a lot at school though, must be all that thinking were doing. Seriously! We start classes at 9am and by the first break at 10am I am already scarfing down a mini butter roll. Then by 12pm I am hungry again but have to wait for class to be over at 1pm before I can have a go at my Tupperware. And note that I do have breakfast before I leave the house at 815am. By the way, am not getting phett. If I were (subjunctive tense! Ahahaha…) getting phat, you would see it written in capital letters on my blog first thing. And it would probably go on for about, oh 10 or 20 or so full screens on your computer.
dimanche 9 novembre 2008
Semana Una: La vida en Barcelona
At the end of the first week in Barcelona I have finally managed to settle down this weekend to settle things like emails, travel itineraries , school etc. As the dust settles I think that at the end of this time away and I am back in Singapore I will be clamouring to do something really productive and useful.
Just to give an overview of my environment:
So I reached the apartment and immediately got whisked into having a cup of instant Nescafe. It was good that the hospitality was sweet but not that the coffee was the same.. yuucch. So I live with a painter called Terese and her husband, who teaches at a secondary school. They are a really sweet couple. Terese is trying to learn English from me while she is teaching me Spanish. Occasionally we speak a little French, which is close to Catalan, which all the Spanish in Barcelona speak, besides Spanish, which is spoken by the whole of Spain. Catalan is the regional language of Catalunya.
I have to cook for myself now, hahahaa.. In the beginning just started with ham and cheese sandwiches, and now have moved on to pasta and spinach, tomatoes, meat.. You know I don’t really take to rice so have not bought any. Maybe when I am bored of pasta and bread. But please don’t hesitate to leave me ur recipes! ☺
The shower makes me laugh. To turn on the hot water, you first have to turn on the tap in the kitchen to let the hot water run, then when the light on the heater comes on, scamper to the toilet to turn on the shower till the hot waters starts running, then go back to the kitchen to shut off the tap. The trick is that one has to be very careful in the shower not to let the water run too cold, lest u lose the hot water altogether and have to run back out into the kitchen covered in suds and little else.
There’s a nice looking café that opens up to the Placa Catalunya from one of the centrally-situated buildings at Placa Catalunya, called Café Zurich. I will be going there one day to people watch. :D
Just to give an overview of my environment:
- The Apartment
So I reached the apartment and immediately got whisked into having a cup of instant Nescafe. It was good that the hospitality was sweet but not that the coffee was the same.. yuucch. So I live with a painter called Terese and her husband, who teaches at a secondary school. They are a really sweet couple. Terese is trying to learn English from me while she is teaching me Spanish. Occasionally we speak a little French, which is close to Catalan, which all the Spanish in Barcelona speak, besides Spanish, which is spoken by the whole of Spain. Catalan is the regional language of Catalunya.
I have to cook for myself now, hahahaa.. In the beginning just started with ham and cheese sandwiches, and now have moved on to pasta and spinach, tomatoes, meat.. You know I don’t really take to rice so have not bought any. Maybe when I am bored of pasta and bread. But please don’t hesitate to leave me ur recipes! ☺
The shower makes me laugh. To turn on the hot water, you first have to turn on the tap in the kitchen to let the hot water run, then when the light on the heater comes on, scamper to the toilet to turn on the shower till the hot waters starts running, then go back to the kitchen to shut off the tap. The trick is that one has to be very careful in the shower not to let the water run too cold, lest u lose the hot water altogether and have to run back out into the kitchen covered in suds and little else.
- The school
- Public transport
- The city
There’s a nice looking café that opens up to the Placa Catalunya from one of the centrally-situated buildings at Placa Catalunya, called Café Zurich. I will be going there one day to people watch. :D
For those who know that I was trying to find a Citibank branch, there is one at 12, Rambla Catalunya.
*Please note that the Internet connection sucks. Really it does, I just have to capitalize on the times when it does get connected with a signal strong to upload all the pictures that I wanna put online.
- The weather
*Please note that the Internet connection sucks. Really it does, I just have to capitalize on the times when it does get connected with a signal strong to upload all the pictures that I wanna put online.
samedi 8 novembre 2008
Primero dia: Aeroporto de Singapur
Hi all,
This is us at the airport.. We look nice! Thanks for sending me off, family people. :D Btw, it was a good flight to Barcelona.. 17h did not seem very long or uncomfortable - thank goodness!
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