ola! barcelona

dear daisy, past two weeks were well spent with my sister's family whom i never met in two years, only phones and skypes. the sunny sun shine in sheffield reminds me of our 4 days trip to barcelona, spain. yesterday was the hottest and nicest day of the year so far, or just another reason to skip office and spent half the day drinking frappuccino with friends for up-to-date 'out of our world' gossips. as usual, me, andy and mai (also joe) went out to get ourselves some tan look, although mai insisted to use her umbrella. barcelona is a city of attraction with its long beach, gaudi architectures, cultures, food, fashion (manolo blahnik, who?) and the famous cataluna circuit. only the bad side is, it is capped the capital of pickpockets. that was why to avoid large crowd and vulnerability to ever get pickpocketed we resorted to use hop and off buses to get to all tourist attractions around the city.

4

an escapade to madrid.

dear daisy,
although it sounds inconvenience to travel with just a pair of trousers and a t-shirt for 4 days trip, it was well spent. aftermath from snow did not hamper our spirit to the city of madness, even when all of our plan gone haywire. we didn't even bring our tooth brushes, but thanks to room service, we managed to get our tooth cleaned and smell pleasantly when talking to spaniards.

and again, it was my first time having to go abroad with my little brother, my brother in law and his friend (all 17 year old with different wavelengths compared to mine).

all looking tired in the train when we first arrived in madrid.

day 2.

on our way to train station las matas from travelodge which was walking distance of about 10 minutes.

madrid.
never trust other people's verdict about madrid unless you've been there for yourself. some people will favor barcelona than this city, but hey, this city offers more than just sea side and gaudi's architechure.

the travel madness

dear daisy,
(notes from 5th february 2012)
finally we arrived in terminal 2, barajas-madrid after 5 hours of delay due to snow and tiredness from lack of sleep due to having to walk for 3 hours in snow at london, only to arrive in our room at 1.30am. then we had to catch a bus to standsted airport at 5.30am. that night we were on our way to cambridge when heavy snow made the road slippery and disrupt almost all transportation means in london. our car was skidded few times and hardly maneuvered that mr.M decided we had to go out and check in somewhere else. it was almost ten p.m and along with the heavy snow, the trains and buses also freeze, making us and thousands of londoners trapped in cold.

the nearest place we had in mind to check in was mara house, near to paddington station as it is reliable for us to get to the airport on time the next day via bus or train. we hoped that mara house would give us a shelter to stay for few hours at reasonably price - courtesy of malaysian hospitality. we were wrong. not only we were charged ridiculously at 30 pound per person, there were no heater, no hot water and the rooms were crap! i thought of reporting this to consumer association, but there was no receipt and no record of us were in that night.

fun with snow, before we traveled to cambridge.

pictures: at kensal green - had to wait for an hour before we were told that there wouldn't be train that night.

me and mr.M decided to walk about 4 miles (i guess) to paddington because we afraid that the snow might not stop soon also the kids were getting tired and jet lagged. they just arrived from malaysia the night before. mom's wrath was scarier than having to stay at the station all night. we knew that our moms would be angry if we didn't check into hotel that night.

our journey to hotel was like 'bear grills' how to survive in cold concrete jungle or like liam neeson's new movie set up in alaska. (minus the wolves and bears).

+ 1 hour. daylight saving time. and thought about food.

dear daisy,
the time is now fasten to an hour - in approach to make the full use of daylight. (great! - it is sunny sunshine outside and the time is now 11.36 am (but the clock on the wall says 10.36am). it feels like a jet lag, even with an hour difference like when i was in korea after coming home from holiday in malaysia.

today's update is all about food during my last trip with my brothers.
(jalan jalan cari makan ala' man vs. food) although i do not indulge in gastronomy, i celebrate the ideas and the joy that food can bring.

1. tinsletown, queensway, london, united kingdom.
american steak and milk shake. (halal)
favorite place for steak and lamb chops.

2. chocolate and churros, in front of san miguel market, madrid, spain.

3. san miguel market, madrid, spain.

4. student's budget food. made with love. travelodge, madrid.

5. shawarma and turkish food. near to del prado museum, madrid.

6. paella and catalan food. around madrid, spain.

7. hard rock cafe, madrid.

8. a cafe in madrid. (less rockin')

9. just a random food shop, madrid.

10. a candy shop near to mayor plaza, madrid.

dear daisy,
i'm glad that i took the time off when my family were here during the past few weeks. i had been on and off the lab for quite sometime, working in odd hours just to compensate the time i spent with them. i can't wait to finish this off and be back home, although i must not say this - life in here is less stressful than anywhere that i had been to. (broke but happy).

as the spring begins to bloom, so does my spirit. i feel like a newborn again, loved and full of life.

the house is now quiet and less organized, i just could not bother about housekeeping for a meanwhile because i want to keep the feeling of having people around me until at least this weekend. (pathetic right?)

mine and mr.M's youngest brothers were here for a month since january, to kill their time while waiting for their SPM results. (the result is out now and both are doing good with flying colors). their company was great, the camaraderie reminded me of what i used to have with my older brother and sister, dahlia when we were young.

today we had to let go our beloved car, a stylish, sleek and sexy black benz for something less due to tight household budget. fluctuation in fuel price, insurance and living cost have finally eating us alive with a single digit in our bank accounts.
the car that caught us by the first sight was exchanged for a mini called fifi, funny name compared to ours, sylvia and the first car, megan fox.