... and celina and my quickchange corner. yeah, we don't complain. we don't have it bad at all.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
this is randy at our big grand finale... and i don't need to say it again, but i will: we ROCKED. i don't have ANY performance pics of us, but when i do get them, i will post them. we had a really great time in edegem, and i was feeling melancholic that we were going to leave. this little ceremony happened after our last performance. it was awesome to see the all the other groups on stage with us as well. (it sorta felt like it was supposed to be like an olympic closing ceremony). the next morning, we were off to dendermonde for one final european performance.
brussels awaits!
here, we're on the bus from dendermonde to brussels international airport. everyone's so happy... except for romeo. *L*
we were so tired from our amazing dancing extravaganza, but also very pleased with ourselves. what an amazing accomplishment for kababayang pilipino. we definitely made ourselves and our culture known to the belgians.
so this bus took the whole group to the airport where most of us went back to vancouver, some out to england, and the rest were left to fend for themselves... finally the vacation can start!!
after watching the british airways luggage handlers take all the oversize baggages (including the bamboo poles which were not to be brought back cuz we were already over limit... bonga!! *L*), a small group of us (rhoel, mark, wil, edric and celina and i) got down to business. we planned our way to the city via metro (thanks to the cute info guy!), bought our train tickets to paris (us girls) and amsterdam (the guys), checked out a bit of brussels in 4 or 5 hours and headed back to the train station to part our seperate ways... til we were to meet up again in paris.
my highlight of brussels was that we found a kickers store! finally, i could buy a pair of kickers shoes again! and to think, they're most likely a belgian company. even mark found something he liked :o).
china street!!!
this reminded me of when i used to live in victoria with annie... this was the only concentration of asian restaurants and stores we encountered in brussels. i would've just refered to chinese things, but as you can tell, they eat pho here too!!
hehehe... talk about S-M-R-T!
so we were walking down a street in brussels, heading towards the comic book museum, and i spotted this cute car... it looked like a hybrid of a delsol, a clk, and a boxter... then as i got closer, i found it was a smart car! as you can see, the back wheel is already mounted on a towtruck... it was getting towed for its parking violation... bet the driver was all "what the?...". *L*
église st-catherine
it's kinda sad. i don't know if you can still go into this cathedral to pray or hear mass or what, but it looks so disheveled. this is the back view of it, but at the front there were people setting up a stage, preparing for some open-air concert. celina and i figured that if belgium just tried to clean up their old buildings, they won't look so ugly. other places in europe have nice and clean old buildings. wonder why belgium doesn't do the same. oh yeah, and those big plastic containers are NOT port-o-potties... they are huge recycling bins. i personally got really confused with them so i just left my bottle on the side of the bins for someone else who knows to put it in for me. and i'm lazy ;op.
Le centre belge de la bande dessinée
i'm beside a model of the rocket found in a comic book issue of belgium's most famous comic export, tintin. this museum used to be a department store designed in 1903 by the famed art nouveau architect, victor horta.
more funny signs...
and what a coincidence... the centre belge de la bande dessinée's street was renamed "smurf street".
sugar? maybe with a cup of tea and your grandmother!
this sign was on the platform that celina and i waited at in the trainstation in brussels. our train was about 10 minutes late (no big, cuz the ride to paris is just over an hour and a half), and i was even approached by this young lady who wanted me to take some "papers" for her cousin to paris... i felt bad that i had to say no cuz it was supposedly her cousin's homework or something, but the last thing i would've needed was to have problems before my real vacation began. besides... we were off to paris!!
Saturday, September 09, 2006
paris!
so here we were finally in paris! i was originally going to be here all by myself but after the madness on august 10th in london heathrow and whatnot, celina decided to spend a couple days with me before flying off to seville. we met a few nice people on our way (the nebraska couple, the metro info guy at station st-lazare, the desk clerk at timhotel opéra madeleine) and then some weird ones: the "are you chinese? can i take you out to dinner?" guy, the "do you have anything to trade for this pen?" guys, the argueing americans in front of the obelisk... yeah paris is sorta weird like that. but we had an awesome time.
this photo is a bit out of order, but it's the only one... i took it the second night we were in paris. we went out to the eiffel tower (by suggestion of the desk clerk at our hotel) to see the lights sparkle and there we encountered a bboy battle. this guy won, and rightly so. he really kicked the other bboy's butt. after, celina and i ate cheese, drank wine and talked til the early morning... and to think, both our cameras died so NO other pictures were taken that night!! well, the memories are forever emblazoned in our minds.
le jardin des tuileries
this place is so huge that they even had a fair at one end of the jardin!
our first day consisted mostly of walking. mind you, later on we found out that most of our days were spent walking. but it was fine. you just needed to look around as you walked and really, you cover a whole lot of ground without even knowing it. paris is totally a great place to walk in and around. and if you get lazy, the metro system is the best ever!!
bon appétit!
celina and my first breakfast in paris! of course on the menu was a baguette and crêpes!
later on, we discover the great meals at monoprix are cheap and delicious, and of course, i end up eating a few "chocolatines" also known as pain au chocolat (chocolate croissants!). mmmm so awesome.
water anyone?
a huge fountain on the way to the louvre from the jardin des tuileries. i swear, europe totally knows how to do it up with the fountains. it makes for the best chill out spots anywhere! i think vancouver should get into it.
l'arc de triomphe
it looks calm now, but at night it's like waiting to see accidents happen! and when you ride around it... hold on!!
chez clément, elysées
the seats were made out of jeans, and the light fixtures were made out of welded spoons!!
after a long day of walking around (and a little bit of shopping), celina and i decided to grab a nice dinner. we stepped into chez clément, elysées almost right away. the decor was amazing and the food (and prices) were great. i checked out the site and apparently they have a dozen restaurants in paris and the surrounding paris areas, all with different ambiance and decor. i can't wait to try out the others!!
louvre at dusk
one of my best shots... this was taken the early evening before celina and i actually went into the louvre, hence the lack of crowds. i'm just including it cuz it's beautiful.
the sacred feminine perhaps?...
i just had to pose with the upsidedown pyramid. how could i go to paris and not do ANY corny da vinci code stuff? turns out our hotel was right across the street from the gare st-lazare... yeah, the only other da vinci code spot i went to.
baboons!
i really don't remember the deal with these guys. i just thought they were pretty funny all lined up like they were doing a new edition dance routine!
so this is when we actually got into the louvre and looked around. tip: visit the louvre on a sunday. otherwise there's practically nothing else to do in paris on a sunday. not even eat at monoprix cuz everything's closed on sundays!!
sekhmet
she was the goddess of war. apparently she even brought on fierce thunderstorms. i guess even the egyptians knew that hell hath no fury... like a woman!
more egypt
lotsa sarcophagus... -es?... sarcophagi?... well, obviously, the whole egyptian part was MY favourite.
diana the huntress
to think, we spent our whole time in 2 wings of the louvre. did we see mona lisa? no. did we see psyche and cupid? no. but at least we saw practically the whole richelieu and sully wings... which leaves just the denon wing the perfect size for a return trip to the louvre.
things i liked about europe in general...
the fountains. they're everywhere!!
and check out the little boats! i like boat races!
i only saw this kind of stuff on that horrible "learn to speak french" tv show that used to air on the knowlege network like 15 years ago!
and check out the little boats! i like boat races!
i only saw this kind of stuff on that horrible "learn to speak french" tv show that used to air on the knowlege network like 15 years ago!
l'académie nationale de musique
i want to check this place out. celina and i walked past this building at least once every day we were in paris. in retrospect, we walked a LOT.
basilique du sacré coeur
i really wanted to see the inside but it was too late by the time i got there. so i just puttered around til it got a bit darker. i am quite impressed with this picture i took (*pat on the back*). this basilica is found in montmartre, THE MOST romantic part of paris. seriously, they say it in the guide books, but if you go there, it really is. painters and artists drawing scenes and portraits line the sidewalks on the hilly streets. the buildings house little cafés and boutiques and shops... and the view is amazing.
café des deux moulins
for those of you who watched amélie, you KNOW what this café is! i was SO lucky to be here and it wasn't busy at all! i drank a café crème and even sat in the booth where amélie was writing backwards at! too bad the waitress was totally acting like she hated her job. oh well, the ambiance otherwise was awesome. i know i'm a geek, but i made it a point to see this place. i just HAD to. this pic is dedicated to my homie: romeo.
got change for a 20?...
so i got to actually see a "vending machine convenience store". if ever you needed the basics of anything, you could just go up to this huge machine, pick out your items and work it like a vending machine! it was hilarious!! since i had some change, i decided to test it out. it worked! look at the bottom left item in the machine... it was...
... where i bought THIS package of pink toilet paper. i was laughing so hard. so as i was watching this huge mechanical arm move over and grab my toilet paper, 3 police cars pulled up behind me and the officers got out and stood right behind me just staring at what i was up to. seriously, i felt their breath on my neck! so i very snobbily picked up my toilet paper from the chute, stared at them with a snobby nasty look and walked away. they were harsh rude, i can't even explain. but really, if they were to ask me what i was doing that night, i'd reply "well, duh! i'm buying toilet paper, what does it look like?!"
but seriously folks, the police in france are sorta like american marines... act now, think later. i'm actually a bit surprised that i didn't get arrested for my dirty look. rumour has it that they can stop you just to ask to see your papers (what, are we in ww2 poland?). and if you don't have your passport or any citizenship documentation on you, they can arrest you. yeah, i don't think i'd want to be blogging from a french prison, thanks.
notre dame
... from the back... i think. among other things, i will be going to see the notre dame again. it's so beautiful. and huge! next time, i'll get a good shot of gargoyles and flying buttresses!! note to self: buy a zoom lens.
barcelona!
this is how our hostel looked... from the outside, that is. the actual sleeping quarters and facilities were in a building built behind this beautiful ex-hospital. our building was modern, clean and above average standards for a hostel i'd say... but you had to get up quick to take a warm shower otherwise you're lathering in the cold! what i guess bugged me the most is that we kept on being put in rooms where the other roomates were early-to-bed types. i'm sorry, but why would you go to bed on a friday or saturday night at 11pm when you're in barcelona? they didn't even wake up so early! although it was an interesting and experience (i kept on thinking "it could be worse!"), i would not hostel unless i absolutely had to. for real.
so after we dumped our stuff we headed to the department store nearby called el corte ingles. it's like a super mega hudson's bay. we ate, i mailed my postcards, we looked around a bit, then we headed straight to the strip called las ramblas. it's SO busy there. but the food... and the shopping!... my gosh, i really could have spent ten times longer checking out all the shoes, all the purses, all the clothes... nobody knew my shopping skills til i was let loose in las ramblas!
what were the odds?!
... twice in one trip?!!
on las ramblas, the first night we were there, we encountered a bboy battle. it was pretty cool. this guy ended up winning.
anytime is TAPAS TIME!!!
mmm!... as you can see, the calamari was perfectly fried, the cheese and olives were abundant, the pizza and bread were so tasty and the the little pork sausages were greasy goodness!! we also ate the richest paella i've ever tasted. food soooo good!!!... with sangria all around!
after a long and productive day of shopping (24euro for a sweet lacoste purse, 5euro pants at zara!!) we went back down to las ramblas to putter around some more. i totally wanted to eat at la boqueria, but i'll do that myself next time. instead we went off las ramblas and found this tapas restaurant. i must admit, short of water, my beverage of choice was sangria... and this place had the best.
getting my culture fix
i enjoyed the shopping, and the eating, but what i LOVED about barcelona is GAUDI! this is the inside of the unfinished sagrada familia cathedral. this man was a genius, let alone an artistic one! i will never again use the term "gaudi" to refer to something considered visually obnoxious. i love his work.
casa batillo
... and more gaudi. i just loved walking around and seeing his beautiful buildings. i wouldn't have been able to see them at any other time! i'm happy that i got at least a little bit of culture while i was there.
the sagrada familia at night. aparently it'll be finished for the 100 year death anniversary of gaudi... in 2026 i believe. this cathedral is already so beautiful. i just can't wait!
this was taken on the night tour we had of barcelona. there were a bunch of other places we saw but my camera died right after taking a picture of this huge, phallic, LED blue illumitated business building... that sorta sucked. but i still took a few pics with my phone. inlcuding a mini bellagio-esque fountain music and light show down the street from the placa espana. i spent the least amount of time in barcelona, but my curiosity is completely peaked. i will return with a list of things i have yet to do out there.
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