When In Madrid, Eat Like the Locals - Tapas!

So Spain is famous for its gourmet availability and one of the must try there is Tapas. I was told to just pop into any pubs and order tapas of varieties. Skip the main course at all times because there are just so much different tapas to try.

For our very first meal in Madrid, we did just as was told. From the hotel, we made a left turn at the corner and just pop into the nearest pub we saw.

Most pubs are small and you are expected to eat while standing. Tapas are the best way to have a great lunch or dinner together with a glass of wine. There are just so many types of them that we do not know how and which to order. Besides, the menu is in Spanish too. Hence the best way to go about this is to ask the chef to recommend. It was good!

First, we have salmon with caviars! Yummy!

Secondly, cheese baked oyster. Meat was so tender and juicy.

Next come the must try recommendation from the internet. This is the local spanish soup with an eye, bread, onions and pork. Having a hot plate of soup during a cold windy day is always a blessing.

Sweet juicy piece of lamb on top of a well toasted bread.

And then came the hero of the whole meal - the dried pork. It is said that it takes approximately 3 years for this meat. Hence this type of pork is always sliced thin and eaten with its original taste. It was really yummy. Meat was tender but well marinated with salt. Normally the thighs are hang around the pub and taken down to slice whenever there is an order for it.

By now, i was already stuffed. I was also busy snapping away. Although the chef was not fluent in English, he wanted to help just take a photo. Happily we let him do it. And i must say thanks to him, this is the only couple photo we had for this trip. haha

And lastly, we had the crisp fried  fish with grilled pepper and bread. I love this the most! The fish was so fresh and juicy. Eaten together with the pepper, it was superb!

Before wrapping up the meal, the chef handed us a plate of sweets and on the house. Thanks so much. I think it was made of mango mixed flour and eaten together with icing. It was the perfect note to end the meal with.

And thus, we have a very happy and stuffed customer smiling into the camera!

Being Real in Madrid

Madrid is a very nice and modern city. The flight from Algiers to Madrid takes only 90 minutes and viola, you are back to the world of civilization with skyscrapers, beautiful buildings, people dressed to the latest trend and most importantly, you are instantly greeted in English!

The moment English is seen or heard, it's like music to the ears and calming to the souls.

Another best point of Madrid is how convenient and cheap the transportations systems are. Our hotel is situated in the middle of Madrid. Normally which ever airport in the world you go to, you first feel the pinch in your wallet by paying the costly transportations you have to take in order to get to the city.

In this case, the metros are so conveniently connected and so easy to follow, it took us only 20 minutes to reach our destination. That was not the best part just yet. It cost only 2 euro per person! And within 20 minutes, you will have this before your eyes.

Madrid is vibrant. People are not as snobbish as the French and they are normally very helpful. Somehow even though Spain is a country that practices French but they prefer to speak either Spanish or English. And another great thing about Madrid is having scenes and scenes of our best buddies walking along the street, but i would say they didnt really behave themselves very well..

We booked ourselves in to Hotel Lusso. Like i said the hotel situated right in the centre of the city and from the metro station, it was just a mere 300m walking distance. And guess why i chose Hotel Lusso amongst all that were available?

Simply because Starbucks is just right opposite of the hotel! Hooray! Hahaha well not really. Mainly is because the hotel was having a really good promotion and it is in the area where pubs and cafes are aplenty. And the most interesting fact is that this area had somehow turned into a gay districts over the year! Wooo... that will be really good experience for us. Well we did had a fair share of views, from two same sexes holding hands to passionately kissing on the mouth. Not sure if there were tongues involved but let's not go there shall we?

Once we checked in, we explained the situation to the front desk. He is very helpful and made sure that he got all the information needed. Throughout the next 2 days, he was helping us looking out for our bag and making calls to the airport. It is just too bad that at the end we had to go to the airport personally to retrieve the bag ourselves. When we came back with the bag, he was shaking his head but smiling and telling us "Finally!" with a rather sorry look on his face too. Nice guy.

After all the hassle, next stop, of course to have a nice lunch at any of the cafe. Tapas lunch! Spain famous and most try gourmet! And so we walked out of the hotel, made a corner turn and decided to venture into just any restaurant. 

I know i should continue showing off the delicious food but i am a little lazy now. Plus, i need to sink myself into Bones. They are finally getting together!! More tomorrow folks! Miss ya all and love ya all too!

It comes in 3!

Yep back from a short trip to Madrid and i am just exhausted. I think i need a break from the break i had.

Madrid was memorable! Indeed it will be the most memorable trip i ever had to date. Well, not because of Madrid as a city by itself but because of the whole experience i had.

Come to think of it, besides being fatigue as i am now, it was rather "fun" in a weird way.

We landed in Madrid happily and then proceeded trough all the custom checking and immigration as usual. Then happily we saw our luggage came out real quick and we grabbed it. After that, thinking that we had all the time in the world, we casually spent our time at the airport refreshing ourselves while planning what to do next.

And for some reason, KC thought that our bag looked rather suspicious and decided to open the lock just to be sure. Who knew, he was right! We got the wrong bag!!! The bag that we took was exactly the same bag that we have - color, size and brand. What makes it irony was that the bag was originated from Algeria to Madrid and flew on the same airlines as we were too! What are the odds of that right?? It was like in the movie where things happened in the most bazaar and most "coincidental" ways that it could be ever!

And at this point, i cant help but laughed out loud. It was hilarious! I have always heard stories about missing luggage but only watched about mistaking of luggages from movie! Apparently the same passenger on our flight named Christ took our luggage! So for the next 40 minutes, we were busy speaking to the lost and found people, writing down our particulars while figuring what were there in the bag that were "lost".

Anyways the airline promised to call us once they received any information of our lost luggage. Once we reached the hotel, we told the front dest what happened and what to expect from the airlines and straight away we went ahead for some shopping on stuffs that we will be needing for the first night at least.

I should say i am not complaining about this part because which girl will complain about shopping right? Moreover, now i have the most legit reason to do so! hahah So we went and had a great time shopping at some of the 2 most famous local brands - Mango and Zara etc....and happily went back to the hotel.

The next morning, we woke up with hopes that Christ had finally realized the mistaken bag and had return it to the airport. With anticipation, KC called the airlines and was told that indeed Christ took the bag back to the airport yesterday. Somehow the airlines thought that it was no rush for them to return the bag to us?! And to make the matter worst, the airlines said that now they have to look for the bag because they could not recall where the bag is placed. OMG! Anyways they promised to call once they got hold of the bag.

And we waited....and waited.... after awhile (6 hours later) we decided to call the airlines instead. Good news! They found the bag and it had already arrived in our hotel! And back to the hotel we went.

Guess what we found in the room?

We were speechless! For a moment, i asked myself if we had took a different bag for this journey rather than the blue one we thought. I thought i was hallucinating! This is exactly the bag i have but i am sure that it lies at the top of the cupboard in Algeria. Did we take a wrong bag really?? The color, the size and the brand is exactly the same! And it is from Algeria to Madrid too!

And thus we checked the label and the receipt again. The stupid airlines had made a HUGE mistake! How could they sent us a bag with a different reference number? Furios, KC called the airlines and gave them an ear full. Then he demanded that the airlines to come pick up the bag from the hotel.

At this point, i really find the whole situation extremely funny! What are the odds really?? 2 similar bags in a roll and both are the wrong bags. hhahaha

KC decided to go personally to the airport to check out. When we reached the office, we were told that the airlines had to now reopen another case because our case was "closed". They asked us to go to belt 13 to collect the bag, only to be diverted to belt 9 again.....finally we got the bag but is was already the last night of our trip in Madrid.

Oh ya, i said it comes in 3 right? For "IT" i am referring to bad luck here. On the 2nd day of the trip, just after we knew that our bag was sent back to the hotel, another bad luck stroke. KC dropped the camera on the floor. As a result, the filter was broken. The irony of this was just right before the incident, i was warning him against dropping the camera and he said proudly that he WILL NEVER allow that to happen. Within an hour, i heard "bang" and the camera was there, lying death on the floor! Check out the crakes on the filter and on the pictures....sob sob

Well, i hope that will ends the strings of bad luck...

p/s: I guess i must be the bad luck bearer! I came back with a "death" toe nail hanging at the edge of peeling off... and i just got burnt by cooking oil! WTF!!! I think i need a flower bath to cleanse my luck!

Blabbing..Blah,blah,blah, blah, blah!

I woke up today with a really stiffed neck, as though i was beaten up numerous times during my beauty sleep. Last year, i was having trouble sleeping on the hard-like-rock pillows. After 2 times of back forward to KL, KC managed to bring me 2 pillows from our bedroom.

And i thought i have solved the problem. Well, this is Algeria and life could be ever so unpredictable. Last year, we had to use 2 single beds and combined them together to use as a king size bed. While i was gone, the company finally bought us a king size bed (that was after a request put up for 1 year). So now we have a king size bed which is as hard as rock!

The other day i happily sat my big ass on it, waiting for the "bouncing" of my ass. Instead, my ass yelled in pain because i had simply "bounced" them on rock!

So now each night, i have to sleep on rock instead of bed. If so why bother having a bed? I might as well sleep on floor! Hiss!!!!

Cofi's v/o: I have this soft like feather bed and you stupid human don't! Neh neh neh!

Anyways i am just blabbing rubbish here.

We went to visit Yokouchi and his family over lunch yesterday. Both his 2 daughters Sasuki and Yuki are just adorable. Especially Yuki. I finally understood the expression of "lighting up the whole room with her smile". Didnt manage to snap any pics but they are coming over for dinner soon so let's see then.

Enough for now i think.... Oh ya KC told me that we were invited by the Malaysia embassy to dine with Mahatir's son on tues. Did i mention i hate entertaining? (as if i i got the chance to speak to him even! Thick face me!)

And... I am back!

Yep! I am back to blogging after a really really long hiatus of more than 3 months!

And what "motivates" me to start blogging again? Hahha nothing! Just simply because i am back to this remote land of the world. I am back to Algeria! A land where i have all the time in the world to do anything i wish.... well not anything because there are so much things that i could not do here. Things like shopping, movies going or even fancy dining are impossible here because there are simply unavailable.

Well to flip the coin, it's kind of a good chance for one to really take things slowly and try to enjoy ones life rather than being eaten up by all the seduces in a modern world. What best is for me, it is the best time to learn to be patience and tame my temper.

I have been listening to someone here complaining about how bad and suck life in Algeria is and i am getting really irritated being with him. There are times when i wished to tell him to just shut up and try to at least look at the bright side of everything. When life throws lemon at you, would you just suck them up and whine or make lemonade out of them? Hiss!

I guess i could come to terms with whatever changes in my life. One thing though, i still cant believe i did not bring over Cofi with me this time. Having her with us the last time makes it rather difficult to not have her here with us now. It is like something is missing. Somehow i still think that she is lying on the floor, hiding in some corner of the room. Sigh... i missed her so badly! Have been dreaming about her a lot too!

So.... the next best thing to do is to arrange for her to come over. Working in progress now! Wish us luck!

May Their Children Burnt In Hell!

Thanks to my friend Marcia, i had the opportunity to visit an old folks home today.

It is an old folks home near the MAA building in Sg Besi and situated just right next to the Chinese tombs. So together with my mum and my youngest brother and some friends of Marcia, we visited the old folks home this morning.

It is a great experience. It is also a very sad reality. To be honest, I was not prepared for what i was going to experience because this was the very first time i have visited one. And i didnt take any photos because somehow i felt it was not a right thing to do when i was there.

I always thought an old folks home will be what we have always seen from the TVB dramas - clean, bright, spacious and with happy old folks. And all i needed to do was to go there and say hi and the grandpas and grandmas will be happy. After that i shall just leave with a happy heart.

Well, some part of the above fable are true. I did came back home with a very happy heart knowing that i have helped and I think we all did make the grandparents feeling happier when we were there. But sadly most part are not.

The old folks home we went is by the name of Tong Sim Senior Citizens Care Centre. It is not in a big and fancy house. It is actually just occupying the second floor of a shop lot where 58 of these old folks live together. There is a long alley where single beds were put close to one another and they will sleep there. There is also a kitchen where the voluntaries will cook dinner and lunch for these residences. And there is a small separated section where 5 of the grandpas are staying. They are being quarantine because of certain illness they have.

According to Miss Chan, the person in charge, these old folks are those who have been betrayed and abandoned by their own children. Most of them were transfered from the General Hospital to this centre because their children could not be contacted. Most of the information such as house address and telephone no used when they were registered are all fake. The children has abandoned their parent intentionally. The worst part is, these children are not even poor where they could not support their parents anymore. Some are rather well to do! Miss Chan said it is through the daily conversations that these grandpas and grandmas had during the days that the truth came out.

Most of these grandpas and grandmas are still healthy. Some still sit around the table and chit chat. There was a grandpa who was saying aloud that how Malaysia is a better country to live in compared to Japan because there is no volcanos here. So cute!

Others are not as privilege. Some are blinded in one eye, some has either one or both the legs removed due to diabetes,  some could not speak, some could not even get up from the bed and have to eat and drink lying, and some have to be in adult diapers all the time. Miss Chan even said those 5 who are being quarantine are just waiting to "leave" this world when the time comes.

And even more overwhelming is when any of these folks died, it is also normal that none of them will have any family by their side. Thus, the centre will use any coffin available at that time, normally donated by someone else earlier on, and buried him/her.

I was overwhelmed when i hear this. My heart actually ached for them. Their children should be punish for what they have done to their parent. They are just a shame to the society! They should be put in jail!

So for the rest of the few hours, we helped Miss Chan distribute lunch, fed them and clean up over lunch. After that we distributed some packeted biscuits so that they could keep it near to them and eat them when they are hungry at night. It will be safer and easier for them because they will no need to walk around and perhaps fallen and hurt themselves.

For those who are interested to help out, do contact them. All you need to do is to donate clothes, food, adult diapers and whatever you deemed useful. Not rice though because they cant consume that much but perhaps canned food, biscuits, milo, or any raw meat or vegetables. The centre will take in anything useful and helpful. And if you do have time, it is also a good idea to just help them out. All you need to do is just talk to them, help to clean up and feed them.

Tong Sim Senior Citizens Care Centre

同心樂齡開懷中心

朋友（善）心委員會

陳寶珍 

017 - 682 - 5589

No. 19E, Jalan Lapangan Terbang Lama, 50460 KL

The Love of Our Lives -Jeff Chang In Action 2

One more, before i call it a day - 過火，Overboard.

The Love of Our Lives -Jeff Chang In Action 1

And the best way to be reminisce again is to listen to Jeff's beautiful voice via one of my favorite songs “不要對他說”

The Love of Our Lives

It's no one but the great Jeff Chang!

I was introduced to Jeff Chang by Jess  during our primary or perhaps, secondary school days. It was a time when music tapes were still in use and very much savored. It was a time when i will saved money just so that i could buy one of my many favorite Jeff Chang's tapes at one time. Sometimes, i got lucky if my father decided to venture into a music store. There i will have the chance to pick out and buy another album of him that i would really want to have. It was also a time when Jess and i would listened to his songs in either mine or her room and then we carefully read into the lyrics. It was also a time when we had daydreams of him. haha

And this year, lucky us because we got to see him in person in Genting. So before i even came back from Algeria, Jess had already bought his tickets. We were thrilled and cant wait to go to his concert. And of course there are many others like us who listened to his songs while growing up and love him as much as we do. The tickets were all sold out within days!

So on 2nd October, we dressed up in our best and took a taxi up to Genting 4 hours before the show because we didnt want to be stuck in the jam later. For me, i was a little nervous as well. What if the concert didnt turn out as good as i expected? What if his voice is not as lovely as his album when he sings live? What if there are a lot of empty seats in the stadium? That will truly breaks his heart! 

So after a really quick dinner, finally it was time for the concert we have been anticipating for such a long time. Silly me! All me previous worries were just unnessary, the stadium was full and people were cheering and shouting for the concert to start! And from where we were seated, we were pretty close to the stage and had a fantastic view of the stage. Well done Jess for picking such great seats.

And the concert started! The crowd went crazy! Jeff Chang looked amazing for his age! In fact, we thought he didnt age that much really. Jeff didnt do anything fancy but just did what he did best. His voice is still as soothing as ever. His live performance was effortless and errorless. He just filled the stadium with his famous songs continuously. And while he was singing all his famous songs, i was almost tearing. His songs actually brought me walking down my memory lane again. There was a sense of fulfillment in my heart. 

After so many years, Jess and I are still his huge fans. We could still sing his songs loudly from all the embedded lyrics in our hearts. I was telling Jess that his songs still melts my heart so much that i would have do anything for him! There would be nothing that i will not do for him. Hahah

It was truly a night that i will remember for the rest of my life.

Eat. Shop. Massage! - Heavenly Bandung Day 4 Finale

Every thing good will and must comes to an end. So was our shopping spree. However, since Airasia did what they did best by delaying our flight from morning to night, we have so much time more to pamper ourselves before going back to reality. So again we went for a nice massage at the same place. We wanted to visit the famous pork noodle around that place but did not know where to go. Hence we thought of just grabbing any food available there. We must be lucky because the famous pork noodle shop was just opposite of the massage parlo! Wee!

This is a must try in Jess's list. Teh Botol = tea in a bottle. Haha but it is nice though.

I swear to god that this is the most spicy chili i ever taste! It teared me so much!

Jess's selection - the famous spicy pork noodle.

As for me, i opted for the fried prawn noodle since i was not feeling well.

But the noodle was as spicy! At the end, i can hardly finished my noodle.

But lucky for me, i can always fall back on having a juicy "char--siew" pau. Yum yum.

Cute and very obedient doggy dressed in Burberry. She was told my her "mummy" to say salam to me and he actually lifted her paw up when saying salam to me. Just so adorable!

We check ourselves out from the hotel and we still had about 4 hours to spend. Thus, we decided to ask Pak Emut to come pick us up from the hotel and headed to a very Kota Raya place like where Jess could shop for clothes as souvenirs as well as getting her mum so really nice batiks.

After this last minutes shopping spree, we wanted to go to the famous duck place which was also very near to where we were. I must say the food actually tasted quite ok. Perhaps it was me getting sick then or perhaps the food was just a little overrated.

Dont play play! The duck is fierce!

Normal fried.

Chili fried.

And then it was time to go. Pak Emud didnt forget to bring us to one last stop that was a must. That is to buy souvenirs back, ie local delicacies. So we bought all kinds of snacks, sweets as well as the famous chocolate cakes.

One bag only? Of course not! We have checked in others!

I bet Jess's friends must really love her a lot especially seeing so much local delicacies. Yum yum.

As for me, after popping my flu medicine, i just wished i could be at home then and sleep.