Good Moments

One of the best, yet simple, things I love to do is lounge around in Mama Inés Café, calle Hortaleza, while chatting with my friends, especially Takeshi, which helps me forget all the burdens and occasional loneliness in my heart and lifts my spirit up.

A couple of weeks ago, Takeshi, Shin (a hunk japanese teacher with very nice personality) and I met at Chueca, the nightlife centre of Madrid, to spend a gayly night together in some cafes around there. Shin always stood out because of his physical appearance :) While Takeshi and I would ocasionally shine if chances allowed. And since we shared various characteristics in common, sometimes I even wondered if the Europeans could really tell one from another.

From Diurno Café to a Chinese restaurant in Fuencarral, we ended the night in the sanctuary of all gay men in Madrid, Mama Inés. We talked and simultaneously enjoyed men-watching as usual. The topics ranged from interesting anecdotes in our daily life to the success of asian twinks over Spanish men.

That night a couple of sissy gay men, a madrileño and a parisien, decided to join us. They were so passionate about Asian cultures, especially Japanese one. So the conversation went on, all about Japan. Questions about Thailand were at times asked, so I wouldn't feel left out. Observing Takeshi's reaction, I realised it took him some efforts to continue the conversation since the topics, on his part, weren't of his interests.

We continued our endless analysis on Spanish guys and other trivia, like a gay episode of Sex and the City or a milder version of Queer as Folk, in that dark cosy café until midnight. I was specially in good mood, mixed with a bit of longing for the past.

The Xmas illuminations on the streets, the hapiness, smiles and warm feeling from people around me were conspicuously perceptible, which made me think of my gay friends in Bangkok, of the time we spent chatting restlessly at nights, of my conversations with my Filipino friend Evans in "Africa" and, more than anything, of my boyfriend Pat whom I hadn't seen for years. It was a mix of emotions; optimistic, positive, yet sadly nostalgic.

Maybe I had spent too much time away from Bangkok and my Pat. Madrid, good as it was, couldn't always hold all my solitude accumulated during the past two years. Maybe it was time to return to my roots, even temporarily.

Living with the Enemy

Though this blog was originally created to keep my friends update about interesting aspects of my life, I've avoided certain delicate issues, filling the content up with my emotinally-exaggerated opinions or mentioning someone in specific with negative statements. This long-haul attempt, nevertheless, has just came to an abrupt halt precisely today.

Since the first day I moved in to this apartment, the essence of loathing and hatred for my uneducated and unrespectful flatmate, the columbian Jorge, has been making their own space in the inner me. Enough for the respect that I have been giving by not mentioning the shameful behaviour of his. From this paragraph on, everything I write is going to be sheerly emotional.

My feeling towards this wrecthed colombian is the mixture of different negative attitudes which can be summed up into abomination, pity, scorn and contempt. The reason? Nothing in particular, only that everything he does bothers me. His attitude, his action, his lifestyle, his speech, his accent, his laugh and etc. He's a tangible and solid form of abstract disgust to me.

Jorge the Columbian; this name brings back the memory of a person who likes to throw scandalous fiestas without any notice beforehand, let alone respect, mind you. Making noises and laughing out merrily and stupidly while enjoying leisure time on weekend's nights (Uh, well, that's not his fault since everyone DOES enjoy doing so...I'm full of prejudices here). He's so passionate about bar-hopping (and bed-hopping, another biased comment from me) that going out at night is one of the greatest features. Definitely a typical party animal who adores rock music with an unrefined attitude towards life. No serious matters! Just plain mirth and joy!(See Spain = Fiesta and Life is a Roller Coaster)

He is capable of turning our flat into a hotel by hosting his many friends every month, again without telling me who's coming and going; even a hotel receptionist is a lot better informed than me.

He represents a walking shame who lacks social decencies and the basic rules of cohabitations. Setting aside the fact that he rarely cleans the public domain of the house, some unwashed and dirty crockery accumulates here and there once in a while as a fruit of his disgusting behaviour.

Despite his job and monthly wage, this rueful sot is pretty picky about how to save more money by reducing light and water bills. He once told me to use the "half-quantity" function of the washing machine so that we would pay less for the water. But damn him, how that function was supposed to clean ALL my clothes at once, provided that there were many of them, if not a few, in there. He tries to make a saving out of necessary basic things in daily life, as to spend that particular money on vodkas, beers, rums, martinis or whatsoever that will colour up his merry life.

There are much more disturbing trivialities about this person I can spend all day long ranting about ceaselessly. But for fear of transmitting my contagious negative energy to my beloved readers, I will end it all here. At least, you now have some ideas of what kind of human being I'm living with. And with that, I'm satisfied.

This article admittedly serves me as a therapeutical solution, i.e. to help me get on with this miserable man in real life. But since it is extremely biased, I have decided to exclude it from the tag archive. It should be buried deep down in this pile of many blogs I've written, as my real feeling towards him kept at the darkest depth of my hateful side. Well hidden but never forgotten.

How to Kill Talking Spaniards

Gag them, shut their mouth up and in no time, they will finally burst out and die down due to the needs to...TALK.

My experience has proved that, generally speaking, the spaniards tend to be less capable of restraining themselves from the verbal expression.

The closed mouth means a significant blockage of speech and expression of ideas which may cause a stressful state. At least, that is my theory.

Stopping a spaniard from talking can't be more challenging as my experience has proved.

Enjoying the exchange of information and expressing themselves verbally is an essential part of the spanish people's daily life. Unlike most Brits or Asians, Spanish people can't stand the silence. It kills them. In order to survive, they need to talk, talk, talk and talk everywhere, be it at work, in class, metro, buses, theatres, elevators or in queues.

In my Master class, when it came to the arrangement of make-up classes (or whatever), it always took more time than necessary to draw a conclusion. The americans are the most resolute in this situation; they tried to keep the discussion straight to the point, while the Spaniards kept launching their suggestions and ocassional unrelevant comments across the room. As a traditional Asian (plus my low level of Spanish back then), I maintained my oriental silence. This, for example, never happened in my Diploma class where we were all foreigners.

In general public services such as banks or hospitals, the already sluggish administration is undermined by the staff's lack of alertness and energy; their priority being that talk first, serve later.

In Caja Madrid Bank, a lady staff took some time leisurely gossiping with her colleague before bothering herself to serve me (while keeping talking, of course). The same happened at times in Santander Bank. In La Paz Hospital, my japanese friend Takeshi, while giving his personal information to an admin staff, tried to show her a copy of his social security application form in vain. The girl, enjoying the conversation with her colleagues while attending us simultaneously, didn't even take a look at the document and told us that it was useless. o_O?! Takeshi made three attempts before the brain-dead lady realised that it wasn't a medical record but a social security thing (extremely necessary to get a free service).

In metro, there's a big difference between one in Bangkok and in Madrid. Everytime you catch a metro, you'll always come out of it with a sort of stories, even though you never attempt any sort of eavesdropping; what has happened to Juan, who has flirted with Marta in the club, with whom Natalia had sex last night, why the couple on the second floor has broken up, until when Ignacio, Salvador and Maria stayed at the party last night, the son of Mr.Perez is gay, etc. Mostly in Bangkok, talking loudly in metro ranks on the top of the list of bad manners. There's no need for other people to know about your problem, and so it's your duty to keep it private.

The same happens in elevators. It's one of the most awkward situations for the talkative Spaniards. I reckon it must be VERY uncomfortable for them to be trapped in a vertically moving box with such limited space like this. An honour for those who manage to keep their mouth shut without saying a word before the metallic doors slide open. :)

All in all, the Hispanic Iberians are inclined to excessive talking partly because of their frank nature and cultural formation. It's in their joyful daily life and can't be got rid of. Although sometimes it can be quite bothersome and despite some negative consequences, it's a strong uniqueness that forms a part of Spanish charm waiting to be discovered by any incoming foreign guests.

Until next time, enjoy listening!

An XS guy in an XL city

When it comes to fashion, I always wish I were 10-cm taller. In Bangkok, I didn't have much trouble finding clothes that perfectly fitted me. But here in Madrid, my fashion life gets tougher and going shopping isn't a great fun anymore.

"Shopping" in my vocabulary also includes going from rack to rack in hope of finding the appropriate XS size that will hopefully fit my body.

I know that the europeans have bigger stature than the asians. But I fail to understand why most shops are totally flooded with XL and XXL. And this fact automatically erases me from the ideal customer list.

As an XS guy, I should theoretically avoid buying off the rack. However, this is practically impossible, especially when living in an XL city like Madrid. Going to the tailor is off the list; too luxurious a choice. So, what's left to be done? Here are some tips that worked for me and you might be interested in :)

First - Keep up with any change each season. When the new collection comes out, go immediately and find your targets before the others do.

Second - If that doesn't work, especially in discount season, the preparation and survey must be made a lot earlier. Lingering on other issues is a complete waste of time in such critical moment and may makes the mission impossible; all of the XS will magically disappear from the racks ON THE FIRST DAY (And, ironically, that's when you realise that you aren't the ONLY XS in the city!!!)

Third - Since the small size is proportionately minimum in most shops, going to bigger stores or busier shops is also a solution. There are more choices and, therefore, more XS. Going to less frequented shops in some deserted areas doesn't always guarantee the availability.

Four - When the hope seems thin, just put the priority first on the size and then the design. This option, for someone who takes fashion so seriously, equals suicide. But as for the XS minority, do we have other choice?

Five - When one of your feet have already crossed the threshold of desperation, go to the Kid's section, there you will find something that miraculously fits you. Watch out for a Mickey Mouse patch on the back of the shirt. If it perfectly fits you but with Pokemon smiling on the sleeves, leave it right then and there. You'd better look shabby than ridiculous.

Six - If all of these tips fail to get you a good set of clothes, go home and wait till the next season. Don't try to buy any M or L with a thought that they might fit you because they won't! You'll end up looking at your wardrobe with regrets, wondering how those clothes have made their way in.

Additionally, when I buy a pair of jeans, I have to bear in mind that some extra money will fly off my purse for the fixing. They're ALWAYS few inches too long. I can't do anything but pay the money and curse myself for being too short (and too thin).

Physically pumping myself up is also a solution, a long-term one. But since I'm not energetic enough at the moment, the choice is ruled out.

Till I find a long-lasted solution, my XS fashion pilgrimage in this XL city will go on.

Periodontitis : Another Lesson Learned

I'll put this as easy as possible. When you get sick, just go to the hospital. Don't expect the weird symtom to vanish without any proper treatment.

Actually this is what we have all been told since we were kids. However, some of us (such as me) don't give a damn about it. On the contrary, all we (or me, in this case) do is wait, wait and wait until things get worse before going to the doctor (crying, moaning, begging or whatsoever).

When the first sign of Gingivitis appeared, I hardly paid attention to it, hoping that it would miraculously disappear soon. Despite of the constant (but wrong) dental hygiene that I usually did, the gum got redder than ever and bled easily when brushed. The gradual recession began to make a notably fast progress until I couldn't hardly brush my teeth anymore for fear that it might cause more damage to my gum. In a nutshell, it's a Gingivitis-turned-Periodontitis situation.

It took me almost a year to gather my courage to go to the dentist. It's just as well that I didn't wait any longer or I would have lost more gum or, in the worst case, my teeth.

I paid a fortune for the treatment; root scraping and smoothing (technically called Curettage). The treatment, though painless, was a real horror to me since I didn't have a good impression of going to the dentist at all. After a couple of treatment sessions, my gum magically turned to its normal condition. And here I am! Eating apples and nuts again!!! That was worth it. :)

Sometimes you are told and taught but never care to remember. Only being there in a certain situation would you learn to listen and follow. And such was my case.

Hospital Nightmare

Hospitals in Madrid, especially public ones, as far as my experience concerns, are desperately competing at full throttle with the Spanish banking system to get a Champion Cup of Administrative Sluggishness and Ineffectiveness.

And obviously they're going to win the race very soon.

My painful experience of Appendicitis taught me that even in a private hospital, you must not get your hope too high of receiving a prompt and rapid emergency service from the staff, let alone the doctors' gentleness to the suffering patients. (See Operación Triunfo in the old archives).

My other literally irritating experience of Urticaria gave me a formula for the time a public hospital takes to attend a patient; double or multiply by three the total time you stay in a queue in a private hospital to see a doctor, and that's the time you have to spend in a public one waiting for your turn. (See Life is a Roller Coaster).

The administration disaster is even more noticeable in the Emergency Units. Takeshi, my japanese friend, who had a not-so-complicated intestinal hemorrhage was admitted in a public hospital's EU and stayed there a couple of days. In the second visit I couldn't find him, so I asked the Information for his room and was told to go to the counter on the right. And so I went, but it was closed, I had to wait until the nurses came (which was very late, and I was worried because the visit time only lasted 30 minutes or so). After rummaging through papers and reports, a kind nurse told me she had no idea where my friend was!!! None of the activities concerning him were registered in the reports, nor in the computer! What an unbelievable excuse! Finally, the problem was solved when she called the EU, which took quite some time (seemed like the EU had troubles finding out what had happened as well), and informed me that Takeshi was set to freedom (at last!) since the morning. Lucky him, being able to get away from such nightmare so early, since the condition in the room was depressing; 30 patients or so filled the room, high temperature, no windows, no clock and small corridor.

Nevertheless, some medical centers have their merits. Recently (and also today), I have undergone a series of Periodontitis Treatment (Examination, oral cleansing and curretage) in a private dental clinic that belongs to my Health Insurance company. I left with good impression, to say the least. They arranged things quickly in a well-organized manner, and were able to bring forward one of my appointments and gave me useful advices, always with smile, of course. This is the quality I have always dreamed of (which is not rare to find one at all in Bangkok).

Until next time, when you go to a hospital, bring a book with you, relax and smile because you never know how long you'll have to wait.

Banks Suck

Going to the bank in Spain is, among other eligible choices, the last thing that I would ever wish to do.

Once you pass the entrance, you will feel the air of idleness and inefectiveness floating around the hall. Everything seems to be normal, which is absolutely abnormal. The small number of the staff with impassive look on their face, regardless of the branch, can't possibly attend to the endless numbers of agitated clients that are hopelessly finding someone to serve them. The only solution is to wait between 15 to 4o minutes until it's your turn...well, this is an average waiting time. If you got 15 minutes, consider yourself fortunate and buy a lottery. The only solution for us, the loyal clients of spanish banking, is to go there early and spare yourself lots of time. If we can't change the way they work, just adapt ourselves to them, take prozacs and complain less... (Wow! sounds easy!)

As for service, you get lucky that they don't bite you for asking them a favour. Oops, a lil' bit exaggerating...I mean...just don't expect the clients-are-king kind of service. This is not Asia; the "service-minded" is an unknown word in the Spanish vocabulary. Try to go in the morning, the staff tends to be happier than the late hours (logically).

The administration of documents is, in general, disastrous. My thai friend, Now, waited for almost 2 months for her credit card because they had sent the card to the address in Thailand, instead of the one in Madrid, TWICE; the first was a mistake, but the second was a stupid mistake. In my case, it took them a month because they sent the blessed card to Thailand just once...lucky me. (If I want a credit card in Thailand, why the heck did I have to fly here to apply for it?!?).

I consider these the most common problems. In fact, each person may encounter different kinds of administrative wonders in each bank or branch, depending on his/her luck.

But be warned, this patrons' nightmare doesn't keep its limit to banks only, but it's also lurking in every corner of some hospitals in Spain as well...

To be continued.

Case study for this article: Banco Santander, Avda. Complutense. The renovation of the office doesn't improve the service at all, why bother?

Spain = Fiesta

Spain is extremely active in terms of fiestas.

This is not an opinion, but a FACT. That's why it should remain in present tense forever and (hopefully) be added into the content of Wikipedia and, later on, the next edition of World Encyclopedia.

During the past two years, I have enjoyed, and been bothered by, as many fiestas as I could have imagined. Everyone here throws one or two parties once in a (frequent) while.

Dozens of excuses have been used as a motivation to organize a delirious time of non-stop drinking and eatting experience. The most commonly ones are, for example, graduations, birthdays, anniversaries, housewarming, work promotions, welcoming, goodbye and etc. According to my detailed and (TRULY) reliable observations, these motivations are universal and make up 50% of all excuses.

10% are the less common, yet more creative, ones such as friend reunions (after not having seen each other for...1 week!), contests (e.g. cocktail making/drinking/presentation contest) and cheer-up party before, during and after exams.

So, what about the rest? The remaining 40% just does it on a whim. You know, there's plenty of things to enjoy in life. Let's get the most out of it. Good time, great friends, loud music, big laughters, dirty jokes, pastas, tortillas, Bloody Mary, drunkards, litters,...what can be more pleasant?

This is actually not reserved only to Spaniards, but also can be applied to most of the hispanic party animals, be it columbians, argentinians, chileans, mexicans or etc.

It's all in their blood; venereal, contagious, uncurable. The innate ability. The instinctive behaviour. The natural characteristic...you name it.

Nevertheless, most of the time it is not that bad as described. With responsibility and a little bit of consideration, fiestas can be extremely joyful.

On the contrary, you will wake up in the morning and witness the havoc wreaked upon your living room, kitchen and corridors; furniture out of place, dirty dishes left unwashed till the evening of the next day and floor left uncleaned.

Bear this fact in mind and arm yourself with the maximum optimism before coming to Spain. Especially, when you are going to share an apartment with untiring party animals, because you will have to deal with endless problems every weekend nights.

In case you ADORE parties, you should be blessedly immune to any kind of the consquences.

Enjoy the party!

Prague: The Eternal Charm of Bohemia

One of the most impressive trips in my life. Not only because the places were visually spectacular with the most romantic atmosphere, but I also had a great travel companion; my japanese friend Takeshi!

If you are looking for places where you can spend some unforgettable romantic time with the love of your life (or even lover!), this is the place for you!

Although overly crowded and very touristic, Prague still maintains its mystic charm and constantly put those who have crossed its threshold under its enchanting spell of old age.

Nostalgic, ancient and artistically beautiful, Prague will immediately take you to the glorious past of Holy Roman Empire and Bohemia Dynasty. While strolling along the streets in the old town, I couldn't help imagining what the lives of the czechs had been like in these exact same streets hundreds of years ago.

Autumn is, in my opinion, the best time for such romantic visit as you won't miss a view of Prague covered under the misty morning veil. Among the fascinating features you'll find nice people with their hearty smiles, traditional czech dishes that will satisfy all needs and palates, shining bohemian crystal arts, classical concerts in medieval churches and marrionette theatres. Truly impressive.

Here are some of the touristic, yet charming, sites we visited.



Old Town Square; this one of the most beautiful spots in the city is situated in a labyrantine part of the old city. Just follow other tourists to get there :)



The famous ever-crowded Charles Bridge.



Bridges of Prague under the shroud of morning mist. This photo was taken on the belfry of St.Vitus Cathedral in Prague Castle; after climbing 284 steps, nothing was better than losing yourself in the panoramic view of Prague.



A view of Prague Castle and St.Vitus Cathedral from the other side of Vltava river. How come it was defined as a castle, I hardly have no idea, but it didn't seem to me in any way like a fort or castle at all.



Wenceslas Square; not so much a square as a boulevard running through the heart of the city. From this point on, you can find almost everything to satisfy your shopaholic need and materialist impulses, be it clothes, food, drinks, fashion accessories or adult entertainment.

Nevertheless, Prague is unfortunately not blessed with the kind of endless night life you can find in Madrid. Don't expect hundred of people roaming the nocturnal streets here in Prague. Every bar and club opens as VERY early as it closes.

After spending some good time in a (literally) underground gay bar, we made ourselves scarce at around 2 o'clock (yep, very early) since there was hardly anyone there! We then spent about an hour searching for other interesting places, but nothing. We got so desperate that we decided to take a look at an erotic bar, which was not at all of our taste. A sign read "Body painting, oil massage, striptease, blah blah bla, ring the bell if you want to enter" let us know that was not absolutely a place for us.

We were hesitantly discussing whether to enter...but not for long. Suddenly the bell burst out ringing and the gate was automatically opened welcoming us in! Surprised by the fact that we were being observed from a CCTV hidden in the area, we broke into a run!!! Takeshi first, followed by me at a lightning speed. In less than 5 seconds, we were two blocks away from that place! I roared with laughter! I didn't know why we had just bolted away like that! It was purely instictive. I was damn surprised by that bloody bell. And realising that the guy who was watching us through the camera must be killing himself laughing even made it harder for me to suppress my delirious laughter.

After the runaway, we spent more or less half an hour more roaming the streets in hope of finding some good warm place to fit in. No luck. Just some seemingly ordinary bars and cafés. That was when we decided to go back to the hostel to take a rest. Strangely, we were the first ones who got to the room, other four roommates were still out there, enjoying the amazing night life of Prague. Well, they were lucky, at least they had a place to enjoy. I made a promise to myself that from then on, I would make a very good preparation in the next trip if I wanted to lounge around some nice places (with some nice guys, if possible). :)

We also had a chance to go on an excursion to Cesky Krumlov, an EXTREMELY beautiful small town in the south. The town itself was worth seeing. The castle and the baroque theatre were totally impressive and well-preserved. Describing it here would only be an insult to its beauty since my narrative ability is not competent enough to convey all the breath-taking beauty of the town. That's why I will leave it to you to see it for yourself. Just go.

All in all, Czech Republic is a place that you can't miss. Although much less visited than Vienna, Munich or Paris, it isn't in any way less charming than any other european cities. Add it into your list, and you will never regret.

Life is a Roller Coaster

Sometimes (and somehow) your life just gets unexpectedly out of control. It suddenly decides to kick you out and take the rein itself, whether for the better or the worse.

Recently mine has just taken its authority over my well-planned lifestyle. The results were simple; everything was screwed up.

From time to time, I ponder on the seemingly predetermined pattern of life and still marvel at how it works.

One fine day it gets so high that you feel reaching for a star is more than possible, then, unexpectedly and without warning, the sky abruptly comes falling down over you and the earth is torn apart as if to swallow you down its bowels. While in such a never-ending torment, out of chaos comes a promising sunshine that will wash away all the menacing darkness and light up your day once more. And life gets into its normal track and goes on as if nothing had happened before.

Such was my life two weeks ago.

After spending days and nights worrying about the renewal process of my resident's card and putting my future tasks into their priority, I got inevitably stressed without knowing that my physical condition was worsening. I could sleep only 6 hours a night during the whole 2 weeks, which totally drained me out. It was topped off by the great labor of the removal and installment stuff.

Then my poor abused body couldn't stand it anymore and decided to manifest its chemical rebellion. Rashes began to pop up on my ankles and made their way up to my thighs, my arms, my hands, my neck, my ears and finally around my lips!

It was hives, or officially named Urticaria. It is supposed to appear as an allergic reaction to some chemical or biological substances such as pills, food or even drinks. However, in my case, it was probably because of the stress itself.

That was what I was informed of after waiting in an emergency unit for 3 hours. Ironically, the waiting room was called "Box rápido" which was not, in any bloody way, fast at all. Three bloody hours of waiting! With that itchy feeling all over your body! Can you imagine that? That was (and still is) how thing works here in Spain. If you don't drop dead or stop breathing right there at the feet of a doctor, just queue up and wait for your damn turn, as you usually do in the bank!

I had to strictly take anti-histamine pills which caused drowsiness for over two weeks; the greatest of all torments. I could hardly concentrate on anything and spent all day yawning and dozing, be it at work or in metro.

To make matters worse, I had a paid translation to finish in only 3 days, of course, under the effects of the pills. Besides the natural linguistic difficulties of the text itself, my project was hampered by a night-time gran fiesta that an apartment mate of mine threw on Saturday. So I had to put up with the loud music, thunderous laughs and boisterous conversation and resisted all the urge to pull my hair and let out a big scream and jump out of the window.

But precisely that night, I finished that damn traslation. As soon as I lay down, I hardly noticed anything around me and fell asleep so fast like I had never done before.

It was the best sleep I could ever get during that period.

From then on, everything seemed to get back to its normal course. I had renewed my card. The symtoms were gone. I began to take pills less frequently and had more time to finish any pending minor tasks that had been set aside, or even to prepare myself for the upcoming trip to Prague!

That was when I started thinking about how mysterious life can be. It sure is a roller coaster. Some times you reach the peak and stay there for a long long time, the others you go down (or are pushed down) nosedive to the bottomless void. It is always like this; up and down alternately, contrary to my previous pessimistic perception (Yeah, I used to think that these bloody series of unfortunate events would never end. What a shame, wasn't it?).

And so was the enlightening lesson I got.

Until next time, hold on to the optimistic side of yours and never let it go away.

Out of Africa

After a long hard day of removal, nothing is better for me than sitting in my own empty room and writing my last tribute to my second home of Nuestra Señora de Africa...

Without the ear piercing rock music my stupid spanish neighbour is playing right now, I would surely have more imagination and concentration to summon the nostalgic sad feeling that may inspire memorable heart-breaking phrases like "I can't bear the thought of parting from my beloved Africa".

On the (extreme) contrary, I am so desperate to get out of this greenish student's residence.

Not that I don't bring any good memory during my stay with me, but the present is so unbearable that I just can't wait to try living a real life out there where people and things are different.

By the word "different" I mean...

- No more stupid spanish brats (oh yeah, I'm being a racist here, but mind you, it's not my fault!) who played music so loud as if their parents had never educated them before.

- No more itchy feeling while entering the Comedor. Lately when most of my friends have gone, I feel quite uneasy while walking through the canteen's door and most people turn their head to observe me (actually, they are observing whoever making the entrance, dramatic or not). I won't waste a paragraph to analyse the cause of my uneasiness here since it is obviously about unexplicable emotional thing.

- No more dealing with people that I don't get along well (at least for my part). Well, to tell you the truth, this problem never has a permanent solution. Everywhere you go, you are destined to bump into someone who has a different tune. But for me, the problem in Africa has at last come to an end. Phew!

- No more bloody rules that sometimes make things more complicated and turn the residence into a prison.

- No more dealing with the brain-dead Residence's Management Team. Bye bye Fabien!!! Hope you get lots of praises from future students!

You may think that I'm being so damn negative here (as always). To counterbalance all the cons above, I have squeezed my brain (till the last drop, of course) for some good things about Africa as well!!!

Here are what I have found out...

- I have had chances to meet interesting (and not so interesting) people who gave me their friendship and the opportunity to widen my perspective and taught me about tolerance. Thanks guys! You really teach me a lot, though unconsciously. If you spent time with me here in Africa and are reading this, there's no doubt that the message is for you :)

- Africa has become a crucial turing point in the road of learning for me. Thanks to everybody who was, has been and is part of it and has accompanied me along the way.

- My spanish has improved dramatically since I arrived because of the conversations in the Comedor and the cafes. Living here did help me master my language in various topics and fields.

- I can now say that I have eaten (almost) all the possible traditional spanish food. It's like a one-stop eatting experience; stay here for one year and you will taste it all! (ahem, I'm not talking about the food quality though, just want to keep things nice).

- The staff such as cleaning ladies, Carmen and Luisa in the laundry, Felipe and Juani (and Jimbo the dog) at the reception and José the tecnician are all very nice. Hate to say goodbye to them.

- Swimming time in summer! Ooooh, I really LOVE that. And it's free! (Beware! The water is so damn cold that you may get cramp easily within minutes).

- My ears have never had a rest here due to the constant gossips that fly here and there through out the building (but I has always been the last one to know about the most interesting gossips! I don't understand why!)

- If you are a dude, you have quite a chance to enjoy pretty pleasurable sights ( which I didn't) provided that there are so many girls here. Beautiful, cute, model-style, fashion conscious, conservative, liberal, humourous, talkative, showy, bitchy, sensual...You've got it all for you.

- But since I'm not in for girl watching (or hunting), I have to talk about guys instead, heheh. The point is that there are (and were) quite a few attractive guys here, so I can't say much about that; Not that they are unattractive, but the type I like can not be found here... until recently :) when new (and young!) spanish students came. That's really a pity for me to leave Africa. I can even see that some of 'em are gay and can be good prospects for a "my partner" position. Heheheh. Anyone interested?

Well, I think that's all I can think of. Too bad that I can't make it more sensational so that it can jerk some tear out of you.

After this incredible two full years which have passed so fast, it is finally a time to say goodbye to Africa which is and will be one of the most impressive memories in my life.

As everyone says "Life goes on", mine also does the same, although I don't even know exactly where I am heading. But surely at some point and some time in the future, along the road, I will look back and think of you and the good time we all spent in Africa. And in this way, I will be able to smile and keep going on again until I reach my destination.

Bye bye Africa.

Telón.

Chronicles of Mod : Invading Edinburgh

I loved Edinburgh! Even more than London, I can say. It was in no way as vibrant as glamourous London but it was so enchanting that I promised myself that someday I would go back. A scottish friend of Now's told us that we were partly right; all the year round Edinburgh was normally covered with sheet of rain, fog, and even snow. We were too lucky to experience sunny Edinburgh amidst the hightlights of "Fringe" Music and Shows Festival, celebrated annually in summer.

Tourists from all over the world gathered there to witness the scottish summer liveliness. Shows, theatres, street cultural presentaions were available all day long. We didn't have a chance to get to see any except those in the streets though.

One thing I liked here was that, according to the laws, nobody was allowed to smoke inside the building, be it pubs or clubs. Well, that might sound a bit pathetic for someone, especially for the spaniards, but I loved that!

I "point-and-shoot" the above scene while strolling along The Royal Mile, the long main street in the Old Town which led from the Castle Hill to the Holyrood Palace down below. Most of the activities were taken place here.



This photo was taken at the new town of Edinburgh. The old one was situated on the hill, from which we could see all the new town and the sea beyond. From here, the new neighbourhood, we wormed our way to a bar&restaurant on the top floor of a building from which we were able to admire the majestic beauty of the Castle bathed in the topaz light of sunset while sipping coffee. :) One of the best moment of the trip.



A view from the terrace where we had coffee with Lucy, Now's friend.



To end the trip, we walked down the Royal Mile to Holyrood Park. Unfortunately, we didn't reach the Holyrood Palace in time, it was closed then when we arrived. We walked up (and around) a giant rock mountain till sunset.



Edinburgh from afar.

Despite all the fuss about security threat in airports, 3-hour delayed flight, hair-raising takeoffs and landings from EasyJet, lost baggage (Now's baggage, with my nutcracker inside), immigration problem (In Barajas, Madrid: The officer told me that I didn't look like the photo in MY passport and didn't want to let me pass, SOB!) and etc., this trip had taken its top position on my list already. One of the most impressive and unforgettable trip ever!

All of this would never have happened without the great travel companion like Now :)

Chronicles of Mod : Invading London II

After satisfying our curiosity over the legendary Tower of London and admiring the Coronation Crown and the Sceptre, embedded with the grand diamonds Cullinan I and II, and the rest of the priceless Royal Jewelry, we wormed our way passing the turrets and towers out to the bank of the Thames.



Changing of the guards. It was, for me, the same as other changing of guards in any cities (e.g. Coppenhagen or Athens). The only differece was that lovely (yet wierd) red outfits with furry black hat (or something alike, I don't know what it's called). The Changing here was a lil' more fancifully and musically performed than any other places. It would have been more impressive if less crowded and we didn't have to wait an hour before "the show" begun.



Hyde Park. Surprisingly one of the place I like most. I parted from Now after visiting Buckingham Palace to take a walk in this enormous public park. The day was gloomy, but I felt at ease and relaxed while walking along the serene lake Serpentine, habitat and sanctuary of dozen of species of birds and fish.



Portobello Market is a crowded open-air market in which you can lose yourself through thousand pieces of antiques and trinkets or even street gastronomy. Be there early on Saturday's morning to make the most out of it. A place for tourists and local people alike. By the way, Now found the same skirt she bought in Bangkok at a shop here, priced at 30 pounds. The one sold in Bkk cost her like 3 pounds though. Heheh.



Sincerely another destination that I felt obliged to visit. I like museums in general, despite of their size. But I have a real phobia for overcrowded museums ablaze with camera flash, in which all you have to do is make your way through tourist-turned-photographers to get a glimpse of relics. As chaotic as Le Louvre, British Museum is really a great place to explore the history of mankind, if you have lots of time, of course. The Asian Collection is the mutt's nut! Don't miss it. :)

Chronicles of Mod : Invading London I

From August 9th till 16th, Now and I had a fascinating and exciting trip to London and Edinburgh.

The weather was moderately cool and partly sunny. Thanks to the BBC's weather forecast that helped me in preparing a suitable collection of clothes :)

For someone who has grown up in an urban environment like me, I fell in love immediately with the Metropolitan as we walked through streets from St.Paul to Covent Garden (Whoops, that was quite a long long way!). Trees and flowers were everywhere and this was what we couldn't find in Madrid. At first I couldn't imagine why so many people wanted to live in London, but then and there the same desire and impression were developing inside me.

Too bad, I couldn't see a picture of me living there. Everything looked (and was) expensive, but the quality was equally high as well (At this, I give a standing ovation to the packaged food in supermarkets like Marks & Spencer or cafes like E.A.T. and Vita. I have never found any food so fancifully decorated and packaged like here! Once there, I felt the urge to buy and eat them all. Yummy).

Here are some of the places we visited during our first four days of the trip before heading to Edinburgh, Scotland.

Standing on Millennium Bridge, overlooking Thames and series of bridges along the grand river. Our hostel is only five minutes away from this spot.


St.Paul Cathedral has the second largest dome in the world, after St.Peter in Vatican City. We stayed in a hostel near by, feeling closer to the Celestial Being than ever! Imagine the chimes eminating from the belfry every morning and evening, isn't that cool?!? :)



Westminster Abbey, crowded as always. Impressive in its majestic grandiosity and numerous tombs of the fallen British personages, including Elizabeth I, her sister Mary, Shakespear and Churchill.



Chinatown...I LOVE this place! A Mecca for food lovers (mostly with low budget). We went there almost every day to fill our starving belly with all the fanciful ranges of oriental and international selection. Yummy.

We felt at ease here in London. Being able to witness the multicultural intergrity of the Metropolitan was quite comforting. Racism was notably less practised and observed there. It is something that Madrid is still lack of.


Walking from the Abbey to the Parliament, we stopped for a serie of photos of Big Ben and then continued along the street to the Westminster Bridge which led us to the other side of the bank. From there the view was spectacular. Before riding the Millenium Wheel, I felt obliged to take a typical photo with this beautiful gothic parliament :)

More photos and stories are still coming. So, stay tuned!

To Stay or Not to Stay

There's only 1 month left and my happy-time scholarship will automatically cease its life cycle, which means...

No more 600E per month.
No more super shopping experience in H&M, SPF, Zara, Principe Pio, etc.
No more european trips every now and then.
No more Colegio de Nuestra Senora de Africa (And with this, no more badly-cooked and hardly edible food in the Comedor as well! Yeah! Finally!!!)
No more first quality health insurance from DKV
Etc.

Soon my student/resident card will expire and I'm bound to head home to start my life anew there.

I DON'T WANNA GO HOME!!!

Well, not yet, at the moment.

Come on, I don't plan to stick here forever with the bulls and the flamenco dancers (spanish dudes are an exception, of course!)

Despite lots of things to take into consideration, I've finally come to a well-thought conclusion (Which means...even my family can't change my mind, heheh)

For the moment, I'm gonna stay in Madrid till April, guyssssssssssss!!! Hurraaaahh, good news for those who reside in Madrid, or even in Barcelona (I don't forget u Evans y Bong!) and supposedly bad news for my buddies in Bangkok (Don't cry! I'll be there in the end, my whole life is on that track, not here).

Let's see if I can make it through until April (or even further). Becuz I don't really know when my company will kick me out, in case their well-planned million-euro project fail (Ojala no!).

And here come the time and opportunity to...

Live in a shared apartment with my lovely austrian lost love Trixi :P and the gang.
Work, work & work (I don't complain about this though. Actually I appreciate that I've GOT one).
Cook what I really wanna eat (and learn how to!!!) :D
Do the cleaning.
Do the laundry.
Hang out with friends freely whenever I WANT without having to go back to the Colegio in time for a meal.
And much more....

It's about time to live a real life here. Despite the two years that I have been here, I feel like I'm as inexperienced as those who have just arrive yesterday in term of living on one's own. It's like I have not really been living in Madrid (like all others) at all because things in Africa is too systematically prepared and organized. Everything is too easy. I can get (almost) everything without efforts here.

As for those who are in Bangkok, they can surely wait for me. Hey! I'm not taking u guys for granted, but I'm just trying to say it's just 6 months or a year more! And we'll have quite plenty of time to hang out together! (Including u, Patto!)

Until next time, plan your life well and tell me about it!

Measures to take when confronting an emotionally devastating individual.

One of the highlights of this year: I had a chance to know a person (anonimously reffered to as "Person" in the following) who at first seemed energetically active and optimistic, but it was not that way when time proved the underlying true nature within Person.

Have you ever felt extremely depressed when having a supposedly light chit-chat with someone?

Have you ever felt degraded when listening to somebody's comments or stories?

Have you ever felt meticulously, though subtly, interrogated in such conversation?

Have you ever got bored of listening to the same repeated stories that along the way have been losing its charm and interest?

And...have you ever felt being compared with by your interlocutor?

All these sensations came in a form of an emotionally disturbing conversation with Person, one of a few individuals who are capable of emitting a destructive energy towards me.

All in all, Person is the one who has power to obliterate (unintentionally though it might be)your morale and courage if you stand in his/her way.

I am sure that Person is not the only one of its kind. Person is everywhere and in every society, though a rare chance to meet someone like Person is so thin that we think they don't even exist. But the truth is... they are around us.

Person would start the conversation by mentioning his suffering-but-worth-it past that Person had had in this you-know-where country years ago and then would fill you up with all the minor details that Person could ever think of. At first, all of this seemed super-interesting and I was really attentive. Days and months went by, the conversations though followed the exactly repetitive same pattern and, of course, old content.

When Person began to brag about his/her successful professional life, his/her fight against enemies, his/her connections with other people and how hard his/her life had been, you started to realize how boring this could be. Especially, when it was time that Person asked, for TWENTIETH time, such annoying questions that you had never thought you would hear from someone so "successful" like Person: How is your academic life? Where have you been travelling? How is your work? How much you get paid? How much money do you have in your bank account? (This one, though, Person wouldn't ask directly but instead would tell you the digits in his own account and look at you, waiting for you to do the same).

The questioning would end with an expected serie of unsurprising, yet annoying, comments: Why don't I have as much money as you do? Why haven't I ever travelled as much? Why haven't I ever experienced such romantic love like you do? Why, why, why... Every "Why" only concerned Person, no one else. Just Person.

Person always compared himself (or herself) with everybody, only to feel more motivated to dedicate himself (or herself) harder to become better (or superior) in any way than you.

Person would tactically slow the pace of his (or her) competitor by describing in detail the hard labours Person was up to at the moment and showing you how dedicated he was to get to his goal, all of which would make you feel like a lazy idiot who had hardly done anything in specific. The impact would finally discourage you and put you to a mentally-coma state.

You would end up feeling totally discouraged by the negative power Person had given you.

You would take days to recover from this effect.

Possible solution for a faster recovery: alleviate the destructive energy from Person seeded in yourself by sharing it to someone else; talk to your best friends and vent about what you have been through. That helps a lot... at least for me.

These are only few examples of what Person is capable of doing. There are much more courage-draining behaviours one could ever think of.

Until next time, just keep away from Person, who could be anyone around you, if you really care about your mental health.

Remember, Person is everywhere.

13.23
Sunday 16th, July, 2006

1-year break... Whoops! That was more than enough!

It's been more than one full year that I haven't updated my blog.

All the reasons that I can come up with can be extracted into one reasonable excuse; I didn't have time.

Last September, I decided to embark on a grand certificate-hunting mission by enrolling in a course of Hispanic Studies as a Diploma which would take away all of my precious spare time I had always had in the first year.

My routine activities were no more than waking up, going to class, coming back for lunch, doing homeworks, going to another class, coming back for dinner, doing more homeworks and going to bed.

Not that I didn't have any chance to get relaxed by going somewhere else, but I just couldn't travel as much as I had done the year before. And that was excruciatingly boring.

However, I tried to make the most out of the little time I had to see the world. Italy, Greece and Valencia the main destinations I travelled to during this academic year, not to mention another trip to Barcelona and Paris with my family :)

Well, as summer approches, now I eagerly await for my next well-planned trip to London and Edinburgh with my best thai friend, Manao. I'm so sure that it's going to be one of the most expensive and least comfortable trip that I have ever taken, taking in to account the ridiculously high cost of living of this british metropolitan. Anyway, we'll enjoy it, I'm sure of that.

Actually I have loads of interesting stories in my mind waiting for their turn to be told, but I hardly have organized what to write first and later. That's why I decided to begin first with this introduction before I really come up with the reviews of what you guys have missed during this period!

So... see ya on the next post! :)