Some cute signages that I saw

sometimes the difference in culture and languages give different meaning in words
the moment we touched down at Madrid airport from Paris, we were changing from Bonjour to Ola

searching for an exit...we switched from Sortie *French* to Salida *Spanish*
but before we can get our asses out from the airport we need to retrieve our luggages and this was what I saw
Cinta = Loading belt

Yes I know u very "Cinta" me but where's my luggage????
it took some time for it to make its grand appearance with me breathing a heavy sigh of relief

then I google-ed translate the word Cinta
it also means Band, tape, cassette, headband, film, ribbon

As we were traveling down south to Andalusia by train, JS and Monkey were joking
JS: "They said no pasar here, means no operating your goreng pisang nasi lemak etc stalls here"
hahahahha oh my, u were right...it's so clean!!!!!

Pasar = cross, skip, go, pass

But the best culture and language and word reference indifference happened in Seville
Monkey: "Hablas ingles???"
Waiter: "uhhh a little bit...."
Monkey: "Okie buen. Agua minerale sin gas uno botella."
tried to sound her best in spanish which she learnt during the 2 hours Plane ride
but totally failed dot com
however Monkey managed to order yummy good food all the time
worse to worst just describe with hand gesture, finger pointing and sounds mimicking a certain animal. Yeah now u laugh but it works every time in ever single country.

so.....the story was...we saw some really huge ass Langoustine on display
the size of my hand + wrist + palm
price goes according to kilos and it was about Euro 140 per kilo. We ordered 3 huge ass ones
before it goes onto the grill, the waiter put the fresh seafood onto a stainless steel plate to show us

out game 3 huge ass TIGER PRAWNS

Monkey and JS were in horror
"Langoustine!!! not gambas!!!"

Waiter then was ku-li-ku-lu in spanish which we totally don't understand and being smart enough to know that Langoustines don't emit any sound, hence I can't mimick its sound to give him the correct animal or seafood...watever -_-

I'm hungry....go to the kitchen and show him wat we want!!!

Finally, JS did wat needed to be done
ku-li-ku-lu waiter then came to me: "senora!!! ku-li-ku-lu ku-li-ku-lu CIGALAS!!!!"
ok ok ok I got u...it's called Cigalas not Langoustine

how would I know the same thing in France is Langoustine and in Spain it's cigalas
and u call your prawns langoustine
ARRRGHHHHH
and u call your shrimp gambas
>.<

later....when asking for recommendation on dessert
Waiter: "Ku-li-ku-lu ku-li-ku-lu"
Monkey: "What was that???"

Waiter: "it saaaa a bacon from heaven....from the sky..."
it doesn't sound like an interesting dessert at all -_-

whatever I'll just try your bacon from heaven bestowed by your angels, trust me u'll be surprised by its bacon from heaven kekekekekeke
will post about this place soon....it's fun to travel and learn new things from locals. really fun and hilarious :))))))

I promised myself I will download a translator the next time we go to Spain
So.Kenot.Get.it.Spanish

Andalusia, Spain

Never cross my mind that we will be Andalusia....but we did :)))
crossing the country from west to east in Southern Spain was a beautiful journey
like a postcard pictures for hundreds of miles
olives tress, persimmon trees, orange and lemon trees, vegetables plantations, maize, cotton tree and so many other pretty plants
it was fun guessing what were there :P

so our journey goes down to South of Spain to Seville and stayed at the most fabulous hotel ever
*ever ever ever*
okie I will do a separate posting on this historical fabulous beautiful hotel :)))

visited the world most gothic cathedral, where Christopher Columbus tomb is
and had a run around the most preserved Bull Ring
*yes u got it, I ran with my hands on my head depicting horns of a bull charging*
**well I really dun care what other visitors are thinking but I had an amazing time :D**

drove to the Sherry producing province and had sherry tasting
walked through 2,600 barrels of sherry aging with music on the background
*yes they put on music bcoz happy sherry needs happy sounds to age happily and produce excellent sherry*

then off to the river mouth in Sanlucar de Barrameda where Ferdinand Magellan set sail to find the New World back in 1519. As though we haven't had enough of history, we headed down south to Cadiz a beautiful small town with a star shaped fortress by the Ocean

Berr, Sheep Sheep & Labbit watched sunset on top of the fort facing the Atlantic Ocean
don't think I've seen the Atlantic Ocean yet
there's alwiz a first :)))))

not as ambitious as Magellan our lil "expedition" then headed East to find the beautiful Palace built by the Nasrid Dynasty in the middle of 10th century

the said palace is Alhambra :))))))
*i am sure u've learnt this in history*
looked like something out of 1001 Nights or the Arabian nights
right? right right right???

I felt like an Arabian princess with a veil on her face walking through the Courts of Lions
*bahahahahahaha*
the entire palace has got fountains and water features everywhere
it sure felt at peace with the sound of water trickling all the time
aaaAAaaaaaa we lived the life of royals for a few hours...kekekekeke

so our journey has yet to end
:D:D:D
we are heading back to Paris for *u know what*
and of coz more museums visit
will keep u guys posted :))))

Next destination :))))

Last week during my usual weekday dashing around from meetings to meetings, Monkey managed to zoomed into the book store and got the book I wanted......so I smacked it into JS's face...
"Okie this is it...this is where we are goin in a few months time!!!!"

frankly my travel buddy aka JS is quite mixed when it comes to traveling
he only prefers places that he's familiar with, or even better if he's been there before.
-_-
then this is not called adventure darling!!!!
but on the bright side, he's pretty adventurous if there's another crazy partner aka ME who'll go with him :))))

even better if Monkey does all the research, reading, planning, bookings etc aka tour guide lar
but I've been playing his tour guide for the past few years, inclusive of reading out all the historical facts of all the places that we've been, history and biodata of chefs for restaurants that we dined in, name of artworks and its artists and year of conception, name of masons and how they died for all the stone carvings/buildings that we visited...
sigh...
isn't it easier if we have a personal paid tour guide???
coz I don't get paid....ok ok lar...I got paid in kind coz JS takes me for holiday :)))

but I really enjoy the process of getting there
bcoz I learnt so much and when we visit the actual site, we appreciate it even more

and when I google Seville....instead of seville oranges....I found the above pic
WOWWWWWWW
so Moorish with a lot of Arabian influences

I can't wait to visit you!!!!
:)))))))))))))))))))))

Seville's old town is the 3rd largest in Europe after Venice and Genoa
read again...OLD TOWN...
wow so this gonna be another Indiana Jones trip, I like!!! :))))))))))

Then I did more readings on Andalucia and found Malaga!!!!
wow what a beautiful and huge BULLRING!!!!

those who don't know Malaga, it's lies just 130km north of Africa and has one of the most beautiful beaches in Spain.
Founded in 8th BC, it is even older than ROME.
It was then called Malaka...hmmmm familiar???
Are u thinking wat I'm thinking??? Malaga is only 400km away from Portugal *portuguese conquered Melaka*
hmmmm Melaka? Malaka? Malaga

Anyway....Pablo Picasso and Antonio Banderas were born here
I hope there's a nice Picasso museum there :)))

oh my oh my...now I need 1 month in Spain~~~~
let's forget about Paris Ok???

I can forgo all my shopping for these!!!!

TOTALLY!!!

then my readings got into this place!!!
wat the hell is that????
I dunno wat Rock is that but it makes me wanna climb it!!!!

this beautiful Rock is situated very very near to Morocco
almost at the end of the Continent of Europe

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory so they are technically the responsibility of the Brits
so they govern their own politics and affairs...
how interesting!!!!
and yes English is the official language and Sterling Pound is their currency

the Rock of Gibraltar
:))))))))))))
and Monkey was trying so hard to convince JS....that Gibraltar is just a few hours away from Seville

so how to do Seville, Malaga and Gibraltar in a week???
plus we have Madrid, Paris, Bourgogne, Rhone then all the way down to Provence???
yea how to squeeze all those in one month???
*smacks forehead into the rock*

so u see....Monkey is meant to come here
and scale up the Rock of Gibraltar

but today, u dunnit to climb it....
there's a wonderful invention called the Cable Car that will take u all the way up there

JS, can we go to Gibraltar after Seville?
Please please please please~~~~~
I'll bake u all the Madeleine that u wanna eat every single day :))))
Please please please please~~~~~

:)))))))))))))))