1001nights' Notepad

Spain Day 4 - Barcelona's Gaudi

Jul 21

Parc Guell

We woke up early to avoid the line up, and got there at around 10, but we weren't allowed in the paid area until 11:30. Visitors are assigned a time slot during which they can go into the paid are, section with the mounments; this was done to limit the number of guests in the paid area because it can get really tight in there.

We met Rachad from Lebanon, who helped us took various pictures, and vice versa. We tried to meet up for dinner later, but the times didn't work out for us as we have to catch an early train for Valencia the next day

Sagrada Familia

This church is amazing! We are so glad we booked the tickets earlier, thanks to the couple from Boston yesterday, who suggested that we purchase the tickets online ahead of time as there was a really really long line up. The church has 3 sections: the nativity facade, the passion facade, and the glorie facade. This is a major piece by Gaudi and he did not live to see it finished. He completed the nativity facade, and someone else completed the passion facade for him (you can see the work is very different, there is a lack of details in the sculptures; it could be done intentionally and I wouldn't have known). They are still in the process of completing the glorie facade, which looks really modern while retaining some of the motives of Gaudi.

According to the audio guide, Gaudi has an obession with light and acoustics (which is apparent in his other piece of work - the Guell Palace from yesterday). He loves letting natural light into buildings, and for this church, he made it so that you can see all the colours of the rainbow as light shines in through the stained glass. It was so pretty! The roof was designed so that sound is reflected perfectly everywhere in the church, as least that was what he hoped for. Gaudi focused on the functionality of the building without neglecting the aesthetic aspect of it.

Casa Batllo

Another amazing work of Gaudi! There is a theme to this building. Gaudi integrated nature into this piece of work. There are almost no straight lines in this building, except maybe for some door frames, vents, and stairs. The ceiling structures in parts of the building reminded me of an animal's vertebrae, so does one of the structures on the roof, which reminded me of the back of the dragon (or lizard) from Parc Guell. The entrance fee is totatlly worth it, though it is quite expensive. According to the audio guide, the mosaic tiles that he used was actually a solution to cover the curved surfaces of the chimneys. He also designed the chimneys to have covers so that they would last.

Gaudi always work closely with his team, ie. all the people involved in building his designs, because he often only has a picture drawn out for the building with no actual building plans. That's probably why it took him so long to finish a piece of work. But to me, these are not just buildings, they are a form of art. I truly admire this architect, and I bought my first children book here, thinking I will read it to my class. His work was not well-received at the time, but he pressed on. He was very unconventional and creative in his designs, well beyond his time. I thought that it would be a good lesson for my students, to encourage them to think outside the box.

We also passed by Casa Mila, but it was already closed and it was covered by a huge advertiment sign. Oh well, I think we have already seen the best work of Gaudi anyways.

Spain Day 3 - Barcelona

Jul 20

We didn't have time to visit the History Museum of Barcelona (Museu d'historia de Barcelona MUHBA), so that was our first stop for today.

MUHBA (History Museum of Barcelona)

This museum has a wealth of information, and I felt like I have just taken a history lesson on Barcelona and Spain! The coolest part was that this museum was built right on top of an archeological site which dates back to the Roman Empire. There was a whole building devoted to wine making and another one for dying clothes. There is also a public bath building with a cold bath, a warm bath, and a hot bath. The hot bath was built with an underground heating system (kinda like our radiant heat system in houses, but with hot air instead), which I was quite amazed to know that this kinda of "technology" existed for people at that time. The people also developed techniques for dying and setting dyes in fabric. Who would have thought urine was used to set dyes at that time? Women, AND men, at that time all seemed to be very concerned with their looks as both genders put on make-up to whiten their faces. Overall, I really enjoyed exploring the archeological site underground at this museum. The rest of the museum housed different artifacts and displayed historic information as we move through times from the past to present.

MACBA (Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Arts)

I personally would not re-visit this museum. The art in there just didn't sit right with me; they are actually quite disturbing with a lot of political content. It's definitely not my kind of art.

Guell Palace

This building is Antonio Gaudi's work from start to finish. Guell respects Gaudi's work and he got Gaudi involved in building not only the Guell Palace, but also Park Guell, which we will visit the next day. During the planning of this trip, I read reviews about all the places that we will be visiting and this one about Guell Palace sticks with me, "It's Dr. Seuss came to life", and so I have been anticipating this visit to the palace. Well, it did not disappoint.

The most exciting part has to be the roof, the chimneys were of different designs, one remined me of an ice cream cone and gave me the idea of taking a picture of it from a distance with me licking from "the cone". Well, that attracted a lot other tourists doing the same thing. A couple from Boston saw what we were doing and asked us to help them take a picture doing the same thing. They were really nice people and we were chatting about where we have been in Barcelona, and they forwarded their itinerary for Lisbon to us because they were just there.

It was here that I thought, if Gaudi, Tim Burton, and Dr. Seuss were born around the same time, they could be really good friends. Just a thought.

The highlight of the day was that we found a really good restaurant in the neighbourhood. It's called Cera 23. It's hidden in a sketchy area, and it looks like mostly locals would go there. We came across many Middle Easterners and convenient shops owned by Middle Easterners on the way to the restaurant. The restaurant doesn't have that many seats and we tried to call and reserve but no one answered, so we thought we will just head out there before it's open. We were lucky enough to be the only ones who were able to get a table (even though it's only for 1 hour) without reservations. There were many others who showed up later without reservations and they were all turned away.

The best dishes we had there was the black seafood rice (paella made with cuttle fish ink) and the beef cheek with white truffle sauce, and the white truffle sauce trumps it! They also have really good mojitos, I had mango, and Cindy had the famous black berry. We had a very enjoyable meal there and the restaurant owner was very friendly and gave us free shots after dinner. =)

Spain Day 1 - Barcelona

July 18

Montjuic

With the 2-hour delay, we arrived later than expected. We took a taxi to the hotel and the taxi driver was friendly even though we weren't able to communicate much as he speaks little English. We then walked to the Montjuic park. It was a longer walk than we had anticipated, and a hike uphill! We were grateful to have ran into some tourists who were pointing at the map discussing about taking the cable car up to the Montjuic Castle. The view was fantastic going up on the cable car and on the Castle, but the castle itself was quite a yawn. There was also no shade in the area, so we were tired and dehydrated. It took us about 2 hours to tour around the castle just becase it was so big.

National Art Museum of Catalonia

The place was really grand! It was on the itinerary, but we kinda stumbled upon it as we took a detour through Fundacio Joan Miro and Joan Maragall Gardens. We were thankful that we finally found some escalators on the way up. The entry way and the front of the building resembles that of a palace, with the Magic Fountain in front of the entry way. A lot of tourists were taking pictures there. We didn't get to go in because they were closing by the time we got there. We did however get to go inside and check out the lobby and the great hall as those places are free. It was a really lovely building.

We ended up in the Espana Plaza, which we recognized from our ride in the taxi from the airport to the hotel, and just grabbed some dinner at a local chain restaruant called Tapa Tapas. The food was alright and the price was relatively reasonable. We also had our first experience with the Barcelona metro going home from the Espana station. ;P

I think in general, as newbies in Spain, we did pretty well on our first day. =)

Spain Day 2 - Barcelona

Jul 19

We were both really tired yesterday, so we both had a good sleep, which works out well with our long itinerary for today.

Santa Caterina Market

We headed here first for brunch/breakfast. This place reminds us both of Granville Island; it almost looks exactly the same minus the food court. Spanish people seems to be really into seafood and internal organs; it shows in their cuisines. There are a lot of fresh seafood being sold at the market, scallops, octopus, monkfish, razor clams, mussels, and other fish that I can't name (they are so lucky to have so much seafood!) There are also stores specialized in selling offal, with skinned heads of lamb (eyeball attached!) and lamb brains! I seriously think that Chinese people may really get along with Spanish people, in terms of food choices.

Picasso Museum

Having the Audio guide really helps with understanding his background and the ideas behind his paintings. The museum has a good collection of his early works. He rose to fame when he was only 15, winning gold medals in competitions with paintings done in styles that were conventional at the time. It appears that he went through different phases of self discovery, in an effort to develop his own style. He tried different things as there were paintings done with brush strokes that are reminiscent of Van Gogh's style. One of his paintings has a potted plant and it reminds me of Van Gogh's sunflower. He did a re-interpretation of the Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez and it reminds me of drawings by kindergarten students, which is totally cool, I think. I would definitely use those paintings as examples for my students in art classes, telling them that there is no such thing as a bad drawing.

Esglesia de Santa Maria del Mar (St. Mary's church?)

There are a lot of churches in Spain, and there are a lot of "St. Mary's" churches in Spain. This one is special in the sense that its completion only took 55 years, within a century, so the style is consistent. It is all built in the Gothic style (which I need to study about). We walked up the spiral stairs to the roof with the guide, and he gave us a little history lesson on all the signifcant buildings we saw up on the lookout. I was told that this church has the biggest rose window in Barcelona.

Museu Frederic Mares

We were going to visit La Catedral but the line up was WAY too long, so we decided to take a detour and visited this museum as it is on our itinerary. This is a museum with collection solely donated by Frederic Mares, a sculptor. Basically, our impression of this person is that he is a hoarder of antiques. One has to wonder how big his house had to be in order to house everything in this museum. As we entered the museum, we were welcomed by stone sculptures from the 1st to 4th century, and then we werer greeted with an overwhelmingly large collection of Corpus Christi sculptures, some done in different styles, which took up a whole floor of the building. The top two floors were mostly antiques collectibles like, keys, locks, door knobs, hand fans, etc. We finally got to see his own creations, which was housed in one of the rooms in the building. The sculptures were surprisingly well-made, but there weren't many. It's a collection of reasonable size, I guess.

La Catedral (The Cathedral) - every city one that is named "The Cathedral"

When we exited Frederic Mares Museum, the line up at this church has kinda died down. We decided it was a good time to go in. Service at this church runs every hour, on the hour, until closing, so we don't really get to see the whole thing as parts were blocked off for worship service.

YVR to BCN: an eventful flight

Jul 17

We had a two hours delay at the Toronto Pearson airport. We initially boarded a plane that was really stuffy, which was kinda expected as we were flying with Air Canada Rouge and the planes were really old. I was surprised to see that an 8-hour flight has no TV screen whatsoever! Both Cindy and I were a bit worried about the safety of the flight and we prayed together about it. It is amazing how quickly God works; right after we said "Amen", the flight captain announced that we will need to board a different plane for safety reasons. Hence, the 2-hour delay as the luagges needed to be unloaded and reloaded onto the other plane, and the flight crew had to set up the cabin of the other plane. We still didn't have any TV screens on the new plane, but that's okay because we spent most of the time sleeping anyways.

孫燕姿-害怕

just suddenly thought of this song tonight... well, while I was submerging myself into the emotion of this song... Fireworks suddenly start going off outside my window!!! HAHA XD

My Nerd Moment

This is back dated… it happened before I leave for China, but I thought I should write it down… coz it was kinda silly… =P

So I was at Erico’s place, and apparently her place has this flying ant infestation… I was in the washroom, and I saw this flying ant… I want to kill it but I don’t want to mess up my nails (we just did nail art together), so I turn on the tap, since it’s in the sink. But THEN, it always seems to be able to find its way back on the surface and “float”… It wouldn’t drown… and so suddenly this idea popped into my head… “it’s the water surface tension that’s keeping it afloat, and detergent breaks water surface tension!” And I walked out to the kitchen to grab the dish soap and squeezed out a little bit right onto the ant… And Voila… it drowned in an instant! I didn’t realized this being my nerd moment, until I tell Erico what happened… and she laughed at me saying “you are such a nerd!”

Regrets

Have you ever realized that you have hurt someone deeply but it’s too late to apologize because you probably will never see that person again?

I just came to that realization today while I was digging through my old stuff. I had a friend who once said, “cards are the worst thing to give, because you just read it and then you put it down. You don’t use it; you don’t keep it around.” Believe it or not, I actually kept all the cards I have received, and I was going to throw them all out as I was cleaning my room. I got side-tracked and started reading many of the cards I received. For some of the cards, I just couldn’t bring myself to throw them away because of the messages written in them.

As I was reading the cards, there are names of people whom I can’t even recall and there are people whom I still remember. I realized that I am not very good at keeping long-distance friendship. Out of the pile of cards, I got a lot of Christmas cards and I don’t think I have ever replied one. I just don’t send out Christmas cards… but I think I should probably change that, so I made up a list of names for sending out Christmas cards this year.

I also came upon a bunch of letters and cards from this guy. As I was reading his letters and his cards, I felt really sad. This guy really liked me then, but because I just came out of a really bad relationship, I had this twisted image of man in general, I was immature and I took whatever he did for granted. I didn’t care too much for whatever he had done. I think I have hurt him really badly. I really wanted to apologize, but I have already lost contact with this person. Seriously, I am really sorry for what I had or had not done for this person…

A Smack on the Forehead

It’s been a long time since I have updated this blog. I have been avoiding reflection. I didn’t want to think, didn’t want to look inside. Tonight, I finally decided to pick up Blue Like Jazz again… and on the page where I left off, the poem by C.S. Lewis caught my eyes:

All This is flashy rhetoric about loving you. I never had a selfless thought since I was born. I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through; I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn.

Peace, reassurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek, I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin; I talk of love – a scholar’s parrot may talk Greek - But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.

Just a week ago, I was talking about self-centeredness is human nature in Sunday school. And here I am, back where I began. I have been seeking solely for peace and reassurance, particularly about my career and my father’s health. For some of the things, I could probably be more proactive about, but I really couldn’t do much about the rest. Sometimes, I just wish that all these troubles would go away. I ask “why?” all the time, “why me?” I began to focus on all the hurt I was feeling, even though I know God oversees all things. Maybe a better question to ask is “How?” “How can I praise You in these trouble times?”

Seems like I just answered my own questions... But honestly, it may sound easy to love God with all my heart, my mind and my soul…but it is not. Not at all. It’s a tough task to connect what I know to my heart.

Talk is always easier than the Walk.

Recap…

Yup, I finally got to writing a recap of my visit to Hong Kong LAST MONTH…

This time it was quite different, because it was only me and my brother finding our way in HK… so we got to try things that we haven’t tried in HK before…

Like Mos Burger… my brother and I both had the Takokatsu burger and we were impressed by the amount of tako that was in the burger… Basically, it’s a takoyaki, flattened, and deep-fried, but the amount of tako beats the ones we get here at Bakudanyaki (corner of Elmbridge and Gilbert).

And then, there’s Itacho. The Tuna Toro we have here is nothing compared to the ones they have there. Theirs looked like a piece of well-marbled beef! And the uni is way fresher than the ones we have here, plus it’s cheaper! It’s only $14 HKD/piece which works out to be less than $2 CAD!!!

so my brother and I went all out and ordered a lot of uni… =P

Jealous?? It’s so good that we made two trips to Itacho over our 2 weeks vacation… hehe…. =D

And for those of you who will be visiting HK soon, I highly recommend shopping at Metroplaza and Kwai Chung Plaza (they are linked together), which is right out of the Kwai Fong MTR station. It’s so convenient, especially Kwai Chung Plaza, it has all the shops in Mong Kok, all in one place!!!

Testing Windows Live Writer

I have got to say, this Windows Live Writer is pretty sweet. I see my blog template as I write it and I no longer have to re-fit the margin… YES!

Yes, I know, I haven’t been updating for quite a long time… but I am back now… =)

will for sure update soon!

Tough times...

Two weeks in a roll, I have been crying in worship...

Partly because I was sad about all the things happening in my life, and the things happening in my family...

I can't cry at home, because I don't want to burden my dad...if anything happens, I don't want him to leave with worries...

and when I think about the songs that we sing... lyrics like "even though I don't know what the future is going to be like, even though I am going through tough times, I will praise Him", "I will choose to believe that things happen in His time and it's for the best"... these kind of songs just bring me to tears every time I sing it, because it's not easy to declare faith in tough times...but it is good that I cried, at least, I had my release...

With regards to my dad, he is the closest family member I ever had. He is the only family member who has been around since the day I was born. Ever since he was diagnosed with Hep B, I know this day will come. And I have been imagining (on and off) what would life be like when he is gone. I guess no matter how many times I have tried to mentally prepare myself for it, the day will still come (just because everyone will eventually die) and I would still be really upset about it...

But I am thankful, that God has found him, that we will for sure meet again in Heaven if anything happens.

The Real Jerk

"I am probably being a jerk as always....just take my word for it. It's not you, it's me"

What am I supposed to say next?

"Ookay...so you like being a jerk?
you prefer being a jerk?
you'd rather continue to be a jerk than change?"

Actions speak louder than words...

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Bitterness is contagious...
I refused to be overtaken by this bitterness
I don't want to have this bitterness standing in the way between God and me
so God help me

Cancer

It's like something that you can never get rid off...especially just when you think there is hope that it might be completely gone, it comes back to destroy your hopeful spirit. The hardest part in fighting cancer is to remain hopeful and be optimistic...

It's not an individual's battle, it's a family's battle

And for Christians...
the hardest part is to trust that God's plan is for the best, especially when you have doubts about it but there's really nothing you can do to make it better...

It's all up to God now...

曇花一現

(Nightblooming Cereus a.k.a Queen of the Night)
From my dad's little garden - his sunroom =)

Interesting....

saw this news 禮金兩萬九嫌貴怒摑36歲外母 [click here for details]...

Imagine 陳慧琳 being an 外母....WOW....

Alice in Wonderland (Tim Burton's style)

My friend from Winnipeg told me about this movie (she's a crazy Tim Burton & Johnny Depp's fan) ....and I saw the trailer....I was like..."hmm...this Alice in Wonderland doesn't look like it's suitable for children..."

it's so creepy that I love it!! HAHA XD

The Wedding Bouquet

Yah, it's my first time "catching" it...

I think it's over-rated now... from all the weddings that I have been to, single women were dragged out...they don't seem all that interested in catching it...

So what happened yesterday at my friend's wedding was:

Just before the bride is ready to throw the bouquet... one of the guys from my fellowship urged me to quickly go and get ready... he was like, "hey, you have got to get out there now... they are going to throw the bouquet and she is going to throw it to you, I have talked to the bride already..."

Then, I went... just so happened that I was in the front row... and the bride did throw it in my direction, all I had to do was to reach up and I caught it....

My friends were all so excited about me catching the bouquet...they seem more excited than I am.... I was a bit shocked that I actually got it... some guy took a series of snap shots of me catching the bouquet, and then the guy who urged me to go get ready before said "see, I told you...I paid quite a great sum in bribing the bride", and then another guy told me, "that was the best of your athletic abilities I have seen thus far"...

The Funniest thing was (well quite embarrassing too...), that right after I caught the bouquet, all my girlfriends from my fellowship SCREAMED.... and said (this was the worst part), "Daisy, you can finally get married!" Sigh....they seem more desperate in marrying me away than myself... It was probably all done with good intentions, they really want to see me with a guy.... I think part of the reason why I was so shocked after I caught the bouquet was because of their reactions too....

anyways... let's take a look at some facts, I looked up the tradition of tossing the bouquet and found the following:

1. The practice of the tossing the bridal bouquet is believed to be an outgrowth of an idea that was popular in the 14th century, particularly in early French tradition. It was considered lucky to get a fragment of the bride's clothing. In those days, the bride was treated poorly. Guests would grab at her wedding dress in order to tear off pieces.
scary, isn't it?

2. With some couples, the custom of tossing the bouquet, albeit a very old one, has come under some criticism. It seems that in the rush for the bouquet, young children have been caught underfoot, and even adults have been injured.
Wow! So that's when people actually fought for it...

3. Some modern brides feel that the custom is embarrassing and tacky, because it singles out the single women who are with all good intention "dragged" to the floor to participate in the ritual.
I felt like one of those women...

So please, whoever is going to have a wedding next, let's come up with other creative alternatives to tossing the bouquet....

Not Enough

What are you supposed to do when people around you are telling you that you are not being good enough? you are not doing enough? when you have already done certain things but what they saw were only stuff you didn't do? It seems like there's no end...

How do you come to terms with yourself when God tells you otherwise, that it's not about what you do, but who you are...and you are precious the way you are...?

I have no answer....

It's so contradictory sometimes, that I don't do things so that I can be appreciated by others; therefore I don't usually tell others what I have done behind the scenes; I don't explain myself when others accused me of what I didn't do...but then, I would like others to realize that I have been doing things, that I have done something....maybe so that they will accuse me less of what I didn't do...

I sometimes wonder, what does it really take for them to understand that I have been doing things, that I have been helping? Should I be gone? then may be they'd realize the difference?

I feel very sad...and disappointed...

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