Spain makes you crazy!

Spain is a very crazy country!They make you do crazy things! First, they make you run with the bulls, then they throw tomatoes at each other and then they make us miss our bus to our farm! Yup... we actually miss our bus to our farm because of some bicycles that we rent! (This happen a week ago while we are still in Valencia)

The story goes like this:

25th August: We rented 2 folding bicycle from this shop called Good Bikes. We were suppose to return it the next day, and the owner is going on holiday, the owner sister agreed to be at the shop the next day around 6.30pm to collect the bicycle.

Good Bike... so good, they let us cycle for free and caused us missed our bus!

So we happily cycle around Valencia, even brought it to Bunol for the Tomato fight (But didn't get to cycle much cos it's damn bloody hilly! Fun going down hills, cursing madly when going up!! So don't bother bringing a bicycle to Bunol if any of you planning a trip there! Get a scooter instead!).

At the train station, with the bicycles folded up waiting to go Bunol for La Tomatina

Bunol

26th August: After the tomato fight in Bunol, we went to the shop straight wanting to return the bicycle as tomorrow, we have a 10am bus to catch. Arrived at the shop, it's still closed, so we call her mobile number, the operator speaks in Spanish pulak! We are guessing that she can't answer the phone, so we called the shop number, no answer. Repeated the process a few times and decided that we should head back to the hotel first to get clean (At that time, there's still tomato pieces in my ears, on my feet... not very comfortable!) Reached the hotel, called the mobile again and this time, asked the receptionist to explain to us what the operator is blabbing about. She explained that it's 'leave a message' thing. So we did. 12 midnight, still no return phone call. So we decided to head out early, hoping to return the bike and catch the bus in time!

27th August: 8am, cycle to the metro station with a backpack is not fun! Especially you've only learn the art to cycle straight! 8.30am, still no sign of the metro coming... panic... 9.15am, the metro finally arrived. 9.45am, arrived at right metro station, got out and I was assigned the task to find the bus station, while he is responsible to bring the 2 bikes back. She still haven't return our calls. Asking for direction in Spanish is easy, trying to understand them is tricky! I can only guess by sign language if I'm in the right direction or not. The best part is, they showed me to the wrong bus station!!!!! Apalah! SOoo... by the time I found the right bus station and the platform, it's 10.16am... bye bye bus.... bye bye £30 per person...
We just could not believe that we actually miss our bus! For the very first time in our life!!! haha..
we spend half an hour, laughing at ourselves, still constantly checking if there's any chance that the bus might be delayed and at the same time, wondered what the hell are we going to do for the whole day!

not very happy...

In the end, we chucked our bag into a locker in the bus station, went back to the bicycle shop and took the bicycle and continue cycling around in Valencia. We went to the beach, eat some Paella, freshen up by the beach and then cycled around the park...

putting things in the gigantic locker

Some nice grafities

We were too stingy to spend on another night accomodation, so we decided to sleep in the park... bad choice! It's kinda creepy cos there's this man, constantly walking pass us... so we can't really sleep... then we moved to another spot, the bloody sprinkle went on!! Wonderful timing!

berus gigi di taman

28th August: 5am, we cycled back to the shop again and this time we know why she hasn't return our calls.... We got the wrong mobile number!!!! who to blame? Do we really care? neah...
Well, at least we have the experience of missing our bus and sleeping in the park, which both are not pleasant, but have always wondered how's it like... so... there you go....
10.00am, paid another £30 for the bus ticket, jump into it and slept like a baby!

Amsterdam

For a moment, my blog title is in Spanish! Luckily, after refreshing it, it came back as English! Phew..

Anyway, we just finished our 3 days trip in Amsterdam and now in Spain. Pretty tired because didn't really get to sleep. We took a 12.30midnite bus from Amsterdam to Germany's Airport to catch our flight to Valencia, Spain. We arrived at the airport at 4am, our flight was at 6am. Arrived Valencia at 8.20am. The taxi driver have no clue at all where the hell is our hotel, so round and round we went on numerous roundabouts, U-turn here and there and she finally decided to call and ask a friend. After half an hour of seeing the same road sign, we finally arrived at our hotel, and found out that it's actually in the middle of industrial zone! cham lar!

Nevermind about that... Amsterdam is really a pretty place with canal system right in the heart of the city. And guess what... we actually stay in a boat!! the room is not the greatest and not the biggest you can get, but how often can you actually say that you've stayed on a boat.. in Amsterdam! Wicked ler..

We went round Amsterdam on rented bicycles. Good practice for me! A couple of falls during the ride, minor accident with other cyclist but no major injury.. so I consider myself pass as a cyclist! hehe... It's actually very safe to cycle round Amsterdam because it has bicycle lane almost everywhere! So you don't have to worry cycling next to a speeding car on the highway and knock you down!

Anyway, check out my facebook for pics!

To run or to fight?

If you are planning to go to Spain next year or even any time soon and wonder which one is nicer to watch, I can definitely recommend the bull run! It's so much more exciting than anything else!

For the bullrun, It's like you are hoping that nothing bad will happen to anyone but at the same time secretly hoping that something will happen (nothing major of course!) during the run to spice it up! I know I'm a bit mean here... but I'm pretty sure most people feels that way too! =D

If you watch the video, you'll notice that there's a man that was stampede by the bulls... ouch.. Just glad that it wasn't me there!



However, if you are watching the bull fight... well, to be honest, bull fight is only fun to watch during the 1st match or even the 2nd match, by the 3rd match, you'll secretly hope that the bull will smarten up and attack the Matador instead of chasing after the dress cape... Again, I may sound mean, but trust me, you'll feel the same if you see what they did to the poor bull!

1st, they make the bull tired by fooling around with it.
2nd, a picador on horseback will stab the bull twice
3rd, 3 banderilleros will stab the bull again with 2 razor like stick each to wound the bull even more
then only finally, the Matador will kill the bull by stabbing it with a sword between the shoulder blades and through the aorta or heart (after at least 15 minutes of fooling around with the wounded bull!)
That's when you secretly hope that the bull will charge and attack him!




This video was taken after the 10th million times I press 'stop & record' in order to capture the Matador maneuvering the cape, putting the sword into the bull and slowly watching the bull dies..

One thing about bullfight that you will like is that the bull fight arena is divide to 2 section. Sol & Sombre (shaded & not shaded) Not shaded one is the one that no one really pays attention to the bull fight, instead, they squirt Sangria with watergun on everyone (ESPECIALLY TOURISTS!!!), throw fruits at you.. making sure that you are soaking wet with Sangria! They mean no harm but plenty of fun! haha.. after that, they offer you very nice and refreshing home made Sangria! Yum!!
The shaded area are for experts that analysis the bull fight...
You won't miss them as they are the one, sitting guai guai at their seat with clean clothings and dry hair!

Sangria stained shirt & wet hair with drunken look & 3 cups of Sangria.. what more can i say?

I love Spain! Next, we'll be at Valencia for the La Tomatina... will update you guys if we can get decent internet connection! :)

Why I like...

I like Paris because branded or high class stuff in Malaysia is just normal regular stuff there. I discovered that the Segafredo that Malaysian worship so highly is actually just a lousy kopitiam in Paris... haha..

Doesn't it reminds you of kopitiam with the plastic chairs? =D

today is good!

Today is a great day for me...

My best friend from secondary school finally proposed to his gf.. the girl he tries to date since Form 4 and only was given the chance in Uni time... Well done! :)

My ex-boss from Dell has finally proposed to his gf too after countless time of us asking him when is he gonna propose...

So excited for them!!!!

today is a good day... wonder who's going to propose next? =D

Malaysian Boleh?!

After spending 3 days of planning & re-planning, the room is in a mess and paper work everywhere, we've finally slowly have a plan for the next 3 months to come...

We'll be flying off from Manchester on the 21st August to Amsterdam and spend 2 days sleeping on a boat. hehe... it's actually a hostel but it's in a boat rather than the conventional 4 wall building.. cool ya?!

Then, we'll take a flight to Valencia for... FOOD FIGHT!!! La Tomatina! If you've never heard of it before, it's basically an event that the Spaniard celebrate every year by throwing tomatoes for a solid 1 hour! No body knows the actual origin of this fight, but some people say that it started with people throwing tomatoes at unpopular politician while some say that it was a street brawl near a fruit store. Anyhow, this fight happens every year on the forth Wednesday in August!

tomato fight!!

So, we are going there to collect some tomatoes, some bruises and maybe lose some clothings (Hopefully not!!!!)... and then we will start our farm work in Andujar from the 27th August onwards!

It all sounds so exciting... until our piggy bank screams for our attention... After breaking a few calculators, we realised that we've only got £1000 or less to spend from now till the end of December, traveling from here to Amsterdam to 3 different county in Spain, to Portugal, to Italy, to Greece & finally to Turkey...

Question: Bolehkah?????!!!!!!

Last day

Today is the last in little Austwick! yahoo!
Well... I think we'll probably miss this place soon... not for now... but maybe when we go back home, we'll think about the peacefulness, the tranquility & the sheep that scattered all across the hill!

We'll miss our colleagues and friends that helped to make our life here better.. simply by being our friends... thanks guys...


Today is the last in little Austwick! yahoo!
Well... I think we'll probably miss this place soon... not for now... but maybe when we go back home, we'll think about the peacefulness, the tranquility & the sheep that scattered all across the hill!

We'll miss our colleagues and friends that helped to make our life here better.. simply by being our friends... thanks guys...

Next up, we would like to meet up with CY & FH, but this time round, the train fare is freaking expensive!!!!!! :( now trying to see if we can meet half way.. if not, have to IOU de lor.. :(

Then, we'll take an overnight ferry to Amsterdam and spend few days there, then head down to Spain again, this time to Valencia for La Tomatina. So far, the hostels there are fully booked, left those overly expensive hotels... so we might just take our chance by arriving there without any accommodation and then ask around the locals for a spare room to zzz... wicked ya? hehe.. otherwise, train station or bus station shall be our shelter.. :s

After that, hopefully we'll be able to confirm our placement for organic farming in either Spain or Portugal. We are hoping to go whale watching while we are in Portugal! =D

Then, hopefully, we can organise our placement in France, Italy, Greece then finally Turkey before head back to UK to meet up with Dom's brother, spend Christmas in Southport and then plan to travel again!

Oh, Ling, I know that you are interested to travel abit in the Europe but not wanting to spend too much (like us), this website might be helpful. www.helpx.net
It allows travellers to volunteer in exchange for food & accomodation. It not only involve farm work, some has horse ranches, hostel work or even just giving the local a hand in repairing their house.. so it's more versatile compare to WWoof.com.uk (which only list out organic farm work). Helpx membership fee is £18 for 2 years for all over the world where as Wwoof is about £20 per country per year...