some more...

shots...i just got my cam probably a month before this trip...bear with the technicalities

goes and wanders

frustration

i ask myself why i never upload my pics then i realize that when i do upload them, facebook just makes me so frustrated because of all the 'upload unsuccessful' i get...i am currently trying to upload the start of all this travelling in Europe; Brussels...technically it was Italy but i am living here so...not really a trip...

anyway, here are some artsy fartsy shots i took in Brussels

On today's menu: Snow

goes and wanders

malta's weird signs

some of the weird signs i saw in malta...

it would have been funny if i saw some maltese try and make their horses swim...i never even saw that many horses to begin with!

now this is just ridiculous isn't it???no topless???

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absence

so i haven't been updating yet again.

i have been so lazy. every time a trip ends, i go and just sink into the sofa and be as productive as one can be on a sofa. my room is a mess. all the leftover stuff from my neighbors are still overflowing and is also creating mess on the kitchen counter.

anyway, so i have 14 as of Malta. i have 12 patches with me now! i dunno why but i just decided to collect them when i was in Stockholm, so i missed buying France, one country i havent returned to. i also missed buying one in Amsterdam. Good thing these countries are worth going back to. imagine if i missed Slovakia. haha. I'm too harsh on Bratislava. I'm sure it has more to offer.

ill follow up an entry for the trips. azure window and dolphin show at mediteraneo

i have a some papers to write for Uni. and maybe i'll pop in for the french exam of Fran just to have an extra grade. it's all basic anyway. of course, i have been putting off starting the damned thing until i really have to do so! i havent even been going to class anymore!

i told you how i loved barcelona, right? well, i do. and since i love it so much, i booked a flight again to barcelona! ill be there for a week this time. i need to learn another language and that is Catalan! ill be so swamped if i actually do what i want when i get back to the phils.(learn German, Spanish, Catalan, Swedish, French...plus add to my knowledge of Italian)

i went to the beach the other day when miriam came back to padova! it was nice! the weather was perfect and it added to my tan from Oslo, Barcelona and Malta. now, im back to being my usual color. which will be more on my next trip.

Jesolo beach with friends

i also met Tonyo, Lee and Anton in Venice. They seemed exhausted from their trip. understandably. the tour theyre doing has them on a bus and a day in each of the cities. im not sure if its worth it for me but they seem to be enjoying it! the long bus rides do take its toll somehow. Gio was supposed to be there too but he had to leave half of the trip when he was in Rome for some interview for law school! such a waste of money! oh well. i felt i needed to show them around but they were in that condition so all we did was chill by the grand canal and drink some wine and beer. good vibes.

by the grand canal

well, so thats what's been happening. weather is so much better and the days are getting longer and longer. sometimes, it actually is too hot.

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may 11

wow. the day was just awesome. Barcelona, i think i'm in love with you.

day before, i was riding a bicycle by the shore of Barcelona. you can't imagine how much excitement was going through me. all the vibes were just so good. i kept thinking if it was really happening that im just there riding a bike like i was a local. i can't promote this enough, Couchsurfing is just the best way to travel. i would have been stuck with them tourists in a hostel if it weren't for Luis and Kevin.

i watched Luis teach Roman how to windsurf. met Kevin, my other host at the port. laid down on the beach. ate some magnum gold. biked around. etc.

after, went back to the port. rode back to the center with Luis and stopped for some very good tapas and cava. the place was just as i imagined Spain. packed and everyone was just having fun. then we moved to another bar with mostly just locals. drank wine from a chato(sp?) and ate some fried fish. had a good chat with Luis about passions, life and all that. being all serious with me turning twenty two by midnight. then we left again to go biking and see some sights. las ramblas, placa real. catedral. etc. it was just great.

by midnight, we were on our way home. i was helping Luis pick up some junk people usually leave out on mondays. things that are actually still very useful! i wish we had the same back home. all these materials to build stuff. Luis was planning on making stuff out for his van. make it more homey. so yeah, turned twenty two doing that. haha.

the next day, my actual birthday. woke up and decided to go and actually be a tourist and visit some sights. went straight to parc guell and then to sagrada familia. they were worth the trip. just those two im set for coming back to barcelona. haha. who am i kidding, just with the beach, im set to return. but, truly, Gaudi really is an imaginative guy. the designs of those places were just like something out of a tim burton movie. i couldnt help but think as well how much support he got to be able to have the artistic licence to design a whole park and church. have to research more on this guy though...

anyway, after sagrada. rode the metro back to rocafort and met Luis back at the flat to get the bike and go to Port Olympico again. we talked about SAILING the night before. so we did. what a birthday gift. from someone who i haven't even spent five days with. i cant thank this guy enough really.
this was the same model as the one we used. can't upload photos yet!

after, he went windsurfing again and i explored with the bike again. went back to the port and headed home to cook paella. the day just kept getting better. regalo! an authentic spanish meal, sailing...and last night, i spent the night at Kevin's, in his YACHT. this birthday has been the best. no doubt about that.

again, ive been babbling and rambling on and on. i dont even have the patience to read what ive typed. im sure its shit but there just so many things i want to record on this blog about this experience...last year, how i spent my birthday, it was me and dave sleeping on the floor of the night train from Shanghai to Beijing. this year, learning sailing, sleeping on a yacht, biking around Barcelona. how can i beat this next year.

im still on the yacht now and will leave for madrid tonight. but summarizing this post,

SAILING, PAELLA, SLEEPING ON A BOAT...creaming my pants in excitement...

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BARCELONA!

i havent even seen anything yet but the vibe of the city is just awesome. i can really feel how the sea is just close by. i landed from Oslo yesterday at 930pm. an hour early. the flight disruptions the day before scared me but thankfully, the skies cleared up. i was supposed to be riding with my CS host but he couldn't pick me up after all from the airport but it was no hassle at all. the bus ride was easy and i basically just slept through it. then from the bus i took the Metro to Rocafort where my host picked me up. the passion for the sea on this guy is just amazing. i really wish i had a strong enough passion for something. i mean i do have passions, problem is they are too many that i feel my attention is way too unfocused and i can't get the most of one thing...oh well.
after reading so much about the theft in this city, i am just getting too paranoid.
this will be okay. LOOK OUT LOOK OUT LOOK OUT. i have to constantly remind myself that for my whole stay just to be safe.

oh and Oslo turned out okay! not beating Stockholm still but its still nice. just too expensive. i'll go back when im a millionaire. :)

off to the sun

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stupid start

i slept a few hours to catch the bus and be in the airport early only to realize the bus i got on was on the way to Venice. not the Treviso airport. fuck. bus driver said i could get a bus from Piazzale Roma. then the girl by the bus stop said there was no bus coming til 10am. my flight is at 945am. last option which was to take the taxi cost me 65 effin euros. no more luxury for this whole trip. blew it all on the taxi fare.

im in oslo now. it's a pretty expensive city as i have noticed with being here less than an hour. haha. what a start. this seriously has to get better soooooooon. i'm amazed with how stupidly i started the day. how off am i with this trip!?!?

hope my host is cool though! no, he is cool. i'm sure. anyway, i'm at Use-it tourist info now. whoever started this whole tourist info for young travellers thing really understands the needs of travellers. i've used Use-it before in Brussels and it was very helpful as well. gaaaaah. i hate how stupid i am today... i can't even promote use-it and couchsurfing! haha...update on the stupidity, i think i withdrew too much. confusion with all the events just ruined my conversion skills. what am i gonna do with Norwegian Krowns?!?! let's hope they're worth like gold in Barcelona...fat chance, dumbo

will update when i am feeling better about this trip. or ....no, nothing else will wrong ...

by the way, owen was wrong. Oslo has nothing on Stockholm. still number one.

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carpe diem

time.

i stumbled upon this calendar. a simple one. it was just a 12x31 grid. the realization below it just gave me the urgency for a 'carpe diem.'

365 squares out of the 372 squares on this grid made up the whole year. each day you shade one square out. simple. but then you realize that that one day, you shaded it out forever. a day you can never get back. 24 hours you will never be able to live through again.

i know haven't lived each day with the urgency to make the most out of every passing second. in fact, i saw that calendar a few weeks ago. and yet, i have found myself on the sofa. pressing the stumble button out of sheer boredom. what makes it worse is that i am in EUROPE. i personally don't know how to classify a day as 'made-the-most-out-of' but i do hope to keep trying. i certainly won't be getting the 8+months i've spent here back. but i can learn from the fact that i missed out on days when i chose to curl up in bed rather than do something more productive/creative!

i'll be starting my birthday trip. oslo, barcelona, madrid, malta. let's hope time stops somewhere in between the trip. allowing me to step back and make up for my lazy days.

some graffiti in prague. the picture above is no way related to the post. i tried but no. haha. time-bomb. yeah, well, a grenade is a bomb, right?

goes and wanders

Sirmione

so since my friends were in Rome and i got stuck up here in the north, i got up from my sofa one lazy friday noon, turned off my computer and headed to the train station.

i originally planned on going to Desenzano but while biking, i decided maybe it's better to go to Trieste. but when i arrived, the ticket lines were impossibly long. plus, i didn't know the transfers for Trieste. back to the original plan. bought my 120km ticket at the tabacchi and waited for my train with my bike. then i realized i needed supplement for bringing my bike on the train. saw Stefano and left my bike with him. ran to the machine but having less than 5 minutes, the line was hopeless. got back to the tracks and thought maybe i can pay for it on the train! alas, i could!

got to desenzano, bought my return ticket and headed to the lake! too bad it wasn't as sunny as the day started out to be. from the lake in Desenzano, Sirmione looked like a mission...i just told myself, 'i'll bike along the coast. no pressure, i'm coming back.' good decision since i got to explore more and discover other things around the area...then Sirmione was just around the corner before i even realized it.

i didn't know about Sirmione! such a beautiful place! and so close! must return to swim! and see more!

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oh and it was so cool! on the train to Desenzano, i saw a white peacock walking by the tracks. awesome!