Barcelona

Dawn broke sometime during my flight from Amsterdam to Barcelona. It was a welcome sight because it meant my 15-hour flight was drawing to a close. I landed in Barcelona at 9am, bleary eyed even though I had the luxury of stretching out across two seats on the 12-hour flight from KL to Amsterdam. A few quick questions later, I found myself waiting in line for the bus to the city. The bus was comfortable enough, even though the driver short changed me by €2, something I didn't notice until several hours later.

The bus dropped me off at Plaza Catalunya, a huge plaza in the center of the city. From there, it was a 2-minute walk to my hotel. I'd booked a room in Hotel Lloret, right on La Rambla, the main tourist street in Barcelona. At €40, it was more expensive than a backpackers, but with my business clothes and laptop in tow, I didn't want to risk it. In any case, I was very happy with my room, which was clean, had an en suite bathroom and a comfortable bed, and came with breakfast and wifi too - what more could a traveller ask for?

After a quick breakfast, I set off to explore La Rambla and as much of Barcelona as I could before the jet lag kicked in. La Rambla is a hip and happening pedestrian thoroughfare flanked by two roads for cars. The nice thing about this system is that if you're walking in the middle, you don't have to stop at every junction for the cars to pass. It's filled with stalls on either side of the wide thoroughfare selling everything from iguanas to flowers and paintings. Those human statues also seem to be really popular there. It's not a very long street - it took me maybe 20 minutes tops to reach the end of the street, where it joins the coast.

My first stop of the day was La Boqueria, a market filled with local produce and eateries. I love going to grocery stores in new cities, so I had a really pleasant time strolling through the market. I came across some really bizarre sights like a goat head and something full of holes hanging from the ceiling of one of the shops. Any idea what that is?

I'd just had breakfast so I wasn't very hungry, but I did come back here the next day to El Quim, a tiny restaurant where you can only eat at the bar. Apparently the tapas here is really good, but I was distracted by the plate of octopus the couple next to me had ordered, so I got that too.

The Galician style octopus turned out to be fantastic - octopus sauteed in olive oil on top of two soft fried eggs and served with a basket of bread. Heart attack on a plate! :D

Further down La Rambla, I came across this shop
Seems like I can't get away from KL even after a 15 hour flight!

After that, map in hand, I started wandering down the streets and alleyways of Barcelona. I love how tiny alleyways open up into a large, gorgeous plazas.

I came across this restaurant in one of the plazas. Eating until you're stuffed takes on a whole new meaning at this place.

I also found this little shop that was selling "Happy Pills." Care for some, anyone?

The next day was Gaudi day. My first stop was Casa Battlo, which was only a short walk from my hotel. Also known as the House of Bones, the building was awe inspiring. All the details were so thoughtfully planned and the best part was that there were no straight lines. Everything was fluid and flowing. Gaudi used an undersea theme which meant blue tiles and blue stained glass in the windows. The effect was beautiful.

I passed by the other famous Gaudi building, La Pedrera on my way to the Sagrada Familia but decided not to go in. The Sagrada, however, is a must see. They've been working on this building for more than 200 years now and it's still not complete but it's easy to see why when you're there. It's definitely not just another cathedral. Here, again, Gaudi was inspired by nature, creating spiral staircases like those seen on a sea shell and using columns that look like trees to support the vaulted roof. One of my favourite things about the cathedral is how the light dances on the walls as it shines through the stained galss windows. If you take the lift up one of the towers, you get an amazing view of the city. Here's a tip: There are two lifts, one in front with an incredibly long line, an another, lesser known one, at the back. There's also a museum at the back, explaining Gaudi's methods and inspirations. You could probably skip that part, but I thought it made the visit more meaningful.
That night, I made my way to the Plaza Espana to see the famed magic fountains, only to discover that they were closed for maintenance. Big disappointment. I did, however, come across this little chocolate shop/patisserie that had this yummilicious flower pot on display. I thought it would make an excellent Valentines day gift.
I had tapas for dinner again that night. In fact, I had nothing but tapas my whole time in Barcelona. To be honest, I didn't find the food particularly fantastic, except for the octopus. One thing I really enjoyed, though, was the churros. One can't leave Spain without trying the churros or Spanish doughnuts.


All in all, I had a great time in Barcelona, although I wish I had someone there to share it with me. It's no fun travelling alone :(

Flying high

Yet another flight-related accident/injury in the news today, this time with about 30 people injured, 10 of them seriously, in a Northwest flight from the Philippines to Japan. Officials are blaming it on turbulence, but that’s little consolation. Last week there were two accidents, with the Continental flight from Newark to Buffalo crashing into a house and killing all on board, and the British Airways plane crash landing at the City Airport and injuring two. Earlier in February, there was a crash in Brazil after the plane flew into heavy rain. Twenty four people died. And of course, who could forget the January incident when a US Airways flight ditched into the Hudson River after flying into a flock of birds. Luckily only one person was seriously injured.

Five major accidents this year alone, and we’re only in mid/end February! All this at a time when I’m about to begin regular flying again. If I were a nervous flyer, I’d be shaking in my boots by now. Except I’m not a nervous flyer and I’d be crazy to wear boots in this weather. But still, none of this is very confidence-inducing.

Perhaps the only silver lining for me is that the majority of these planes are run by US airlines and I’m not about to go there anytime soon. But then again, so many of my friends are in the States. Sigh. I wonder if any of this is tied to cost-cutting measures? Because if it is, these airlines need to think seriously about what constitutes appropriate and feasible cost-cutting. General rule of thumb: Don’t skimp on anything that could threaten lives!

In transit again

Last weekend, I found myself sitting in airports for about eight hours as I waited for flights in Palma, Madrid and Amsterdam. Yes, my transit lifestyle has begun again. February may mean a different things to different people - Valentines, Chinese New Year, start of the Spring term... This year, February heralds my return to the working world after a seven month hiatus.

My new office is small compared to my old office in New York. Currently there are two of us in the office, my country head and me. Luckily we share the office with another company, or to be more precise, we're squatting in their office. Luckily, this means that there are other people around, enough that we can get a lively conversation going at the lunch table, like today's one about one-handed keg stands and the workings of a beer barrel. Yes, it's good to be working with people of my age :)

This week I've been given a reprieve from travelling, allowing me time to settle down in my new office and get to know the other people. Next week, however, the airport runs start again, this time with a project in Bangkok. I'm looking forward to it, to be honest. Staying close to the office means I don't have to battle through the ridiculous traffic jams on the way to work. Luckily traffic isn't that bad on my way home. I'm not looking forward to the early morning wake up calls or the idle time waiting for planes, but I'm definitely excited about discovering a new city, getting to know new colleagues, and yes, the hotels. Oh and the food! Gotta love Thai food :D

Yes, being in transit again definitely has its plus points, best of which is... I GET PAID!

Rrrribbit

It's only 3pm but I'm exhausted. It's taken me only four hours to explore everything South of Plaza de Catalunya in Barcelona. Maybe I walk too fast, but I think it's lots more likely that I've simply missed lots of interesting stuff. And there is a lot to miss, every winding alleyway a host to dozens of delightful, hidden secrets. But I'm simply too tired and jetlagged and so I've beaten a retreat to my hotel, that's thankfully right on La Rambla, the main tourist street. More on Barcelona later. Right now, I'm more interested in things happening at home.

The country was in an uproar less than a year ago when the opposition managed to steal several states from under the nose of the incumbents. But now, the term "frog" isn't reserved only for the French. After three assemblymen resigned from the Pakatan team to become Independents but friendly to BN, the incumbents seem to have the majority again and have now seized the opportunity to take over the Perak government. I suppose it was the opposition's fault to start with, after all the talk back in September that they would steal enough people from BN that they would have the majority in Parliament. But no matter who started it first, this isn't the way politics should be conducted.

In Malaysia, people vote for the party just as much, if not more than we vote for the person who's running for the post. So if a politician should suddenly decide to jump ship, no matter which party (s)he's jumping to, the people should have a right to decide if they still want the person to be their representative. In short, a by-election should be called. To make things simple, perhaps the constitution should be ammended to state that anyone who decides to switch parties while holding a post in the government should give up that post and start again in his/her new party. That would get rid of the incentive to jump ship and cut down on all the bribing that's going on.

In any case, it's high time Perak, and Malaysia in general, leaves all this childishness behind and concentrate on the task at hand - leading the country out of the current economic mess. It's mind-boggling how the PM is still in denial about Malaysia being in a recession. Sure, we may not be in a technical recession, but look how long the US denied their problem and look how well that turned out.

One of the suggestions to combat this recession that we're not in is to buy Malaysian products, but I saw the most amusing article in the New Straits Times the other day about how vague the term "Made in Malaysia" actually is:

What constitutes Malaysian-made goods include pre-packed goods with the name and address of a manufacturer in Malaysia on it; products that are made, assembled and modified locally; goods that go through the final process in Malaysia; and foreign goods manufactured under licence in Malaysia.

Apparently this ranges from anything that is completely sourced from and made in Malaysia to something that is merely assembled or modified locally. In other words, that Starbucks latte in your hand is Made in Malaysia because the barrista assembled it here and so is that McDonalds burger. Oh and those Peugeot cars sold by Naza are also Made in Malaysia. Suddenly the boycott American goods campagin during the recent Gaza war just got so much harder because guess what - everything is Made in Malaysia!