seated statue of ramses II

that's one big pharoah.

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 i like the scooters too.

scooters were rampant in europe. (but they were straight crazy in spain!)

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.

these pictures were taken on my way to the train station (gare d'austerlitz). i left for barcelona that evening... au revoir paris... tu me manqueras!!

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.

la pedrera

... gaudi again...

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.

WHERE am i, you ask?...

... in BELGIUM!!!

so kp is in the middle of our first ever european show and to update: we rule.

no matter what, these guys can't get enough of our "exotic-ness".

i can't get enough of the "oooh"s we get when we rock our spanish dresses, or the "woohoo"s we get when pandango and tinikling come on, and the even louder "woohoo"s we get after singkil... and of course there's the shocking and awkward silences that we get when the dudes are wearing the bahags. those are awesome! we're so "sex", di ba?!

and dudes, we totally know how to rock the party. the la noche celebration last night almost made us a sight to remember in a not so good way, but thanks to us, we kept the party movin (and drinkin!) til the early morn... jus keep randy away from the beer from now on. i have bruises! so yes, we did our part to promote friendship and togetherness positively last night. i WILL post pics when i get back!

anyways, this blog is mostly for my kuya gary. thanks for pushing me to get into filipino dance... it's really been a great experience.

i know that you may be reading this, cuz i'm your favourite cousin and all, and if you are, i want you to know that in kp, YOU are NOW known as "gary, mer's cousin" cuz i'm no longer "mer, gary's cousin". woohoo!

:o)