A little restaurant by the sea

Dinner was a lovely affair. With my extremely limited Spanish I didn´t want to venture far from my hotel to eat at the main promenade where rows and rows of beautiful cafes and restaurants line the beach.

You see, the Spanish here have a limited command of Ingles (engrish la) and ordering food without my spanish speaking colleagues is a challenge.
Excuse number two is that I hate to dine alone in restaurants where there are no other solo diners.

Villanova is a resort town. People come in pairs or families to enjoy the sight. After 2 days here, I have discovered that I am the only Chinese in this town, and probably the only solo diner anywhere possible.

So I decided to dine in the pretty restaurant of my hotel tonight. A balcony built into the garden of the hotel, it was blue and white , with airy linen curtains all over the open air al fresco area. So pretty. Later in the night the lamps were lit and candles were brought in. Very nice.

I was comfortable enough to eat alone, as the staff know me. But you see, dining alone in a beautiful place is a lonely affair.

Fortunately the food and the ambience made up for it.

I had a wonderful salad buffet of Spanish salads with gazpacho and spanish omelette. The tomato and goat cheese, the preserved capsicums in olive oil, the arborio rice, the cous cous, the pinenuts, the walnuts and much much more. The spanish salad is wonderful. And I love the tomatoes in this region. Sweet succulent and juicy. Wonderful with goat cheese. Mmmm.

And I didnt know the cold gazpacho could taste so good. Its a cold tomato soup served with a blend of other stuff and is amazing on a warm summer day with the fresh green salads. Yum Yum. The spanish omelette is also served cold, a bit like a Bt Timah chai tow kway but cold, though hard but nice. Cannot complain about the freshness of the food here.

Then I had the most beautiful baby sotongs for main course. These are baby squids lightly fried and served with a sour tangy sauce. I could almost taste the sea in these little creatures... Wonderful.

If only I had friends to share this meal with.

I think I´ll have more sotongs for dinner tomorrow night.

Stealing time

I am happy that I will be back in spore for a few hours this weekend!!!!

Time to see cheyanne mummy will be short, but i am so looking forward! Woo hoo!!
I hope that eyelicious will be free too so we can all meet up. O how i miss everyone!

Quote ¨¨ Every morning I wake up and dedicate myself to making you happy. Can you feel my love?¨¨

While Spain is wonderful and memorable, there are the people and places that have been with me which formed my perception of Spain the way it is today. I dedicate this post to these people who have been with me along the way. No cobblestones or gothic churches. No Gaudi or Dali. No Jamon iberica or seafood paella.

Got Zion Rd Char Kway Teow, Bt Timah Chai Tow Kway, Joo Chiat Kim Choo Bak Chang, Zion Rd Tang Yuan, Wala wala wings and Hoegaarden. Sometimes Heineken also can. You want? Come eat and drink with me la :)

ps Just so you appreciate these numerous posts, spanish keyboard is not the same as english keyboards. Me is brain-fried.

Villanova

I am now in Villanova, a 30 min or 100 euro cab ride away from barcelona.

It is a seaside resort town facing a beautiful beach. In fact my room window opens into the sea view just metres away from the hotel. Hotel is basic in amenities as it is designed to promote a beach front lifestyle. There is a 24 hr mini buffet of orange juice, water , cereals etc at the top floor which is a all white balcony with free internet access where i am typing this right now.

All the furniture here is white. I could blend into the furniture except for my huge sunglasses.

The view here is beautiful. That is why I prefer to be here than in the room. The best part of the room is the super comfy pillows and the bed.

The hotel´s color scheme is blue and white. So nice!

This tiny town is different from Barcelona in architecture and design. There are no gothic ancient buildings , no tall buildings or towers or cobblestone streets all over. In fact the town has grid like roads which is good for people like me.

I explored the principle rambla this afternoon by foot and took me something like 30 min to explore the busy part of the city. I know where the market is , the major shopping stretch, and of course the beach. It´s this tiny, but quaint.

I had a croissant, a dark chocolate gelato and a packet of olive oil chips for lunch. My limited spanish could not get me too far in terms of food. I shall be more adventurous tonight as I am craving to have some seafood in this city surrounded by the sea.

Story has it that this town was created in the medieval times. A feudal lord decreed that all brides of the town must sleep with him on the first night of marriage. One couple decided to seek help from an opposing warlord who gave them a piece of land to build their house upon in his land. This freed the couple from the sex-craved feudal lord.

Soon other young couples sought help from the opposing warlord and more people started to reside in this town. Villanova was thus created. Villa = village, Nova = new.

As time passed, the land belonging to the 2 feudal lords merged to form villanova the way it is today.

I also read that this place is famous for horse riding, I´d love to try but i think it would not be possible for me as i have so little time left.

This is why I have to come back to BCN again.

BCN

Barcelona is a magical city. The ancient city is made alive by the trade, the people, the lifestyle, the art, the cuisine, the culture and the interactive mix of all the other possible factors that make Barcelona the way it is.

Every corner I turn in the alleyway there are surprises. The Ramblas, the Carrers, the avenues are not in grid lines; they turn and twist leading you to discover a new square, another old church or a new store in this ancient city of cobblestones and amazing amazing gothic architecture. It´s as though all the modernities of this world has been transported back in time to relive in the ancient streets and buildings. It´s beautiful and so different from other major european cities I´ve been to.

Each time I ventured out of the hotel, I´d remember the land mark stores and shops for me to remember the way back- the Decathlon, the korean store at the junction, the paella store selling dark chocolate magnums in a box, the rituals bath store, the iconic newsstand - without these land marks, I´d probably be lost.

Just 30 min by foot from the centre of the city is Barceloneta. A beautiful promenade and beach facing the sea. Incredible, that such a beautiful beach rests just minutes from the Gucci, Zara, Berscha, Oysho, LV, Massimo, Desigual, etc one was browsing in. It´s really amazing. So I see people in bathing suits walking along the promenades, some to the city etc.

It´s been hectic for me in Barcelona. Work is interesting and intensive. Language and Culture added another dimension to the work too but in all everything is good.

Sunset is at 10 pm. I start the day with coffee about 8 with croissant or one of those mini baguettes with jamon (delicious) I could not get enough of. Lunch is at 2pm, and depending on where I am, it could be another jamon sandwich or something from Pans, or a full spanish lunch yummy. More photos when i can upload. Dinner is usually at 9-10pm and lasts till midnight. It could be at a tapas bar or we sit for a proper meal at a restaurant. Then back to the hotel at mindight to prepare for another day ahead.

It´s good that the hotel is located just 2 min from La Rambla in the old city. Near to the shopping district and walking distance to Pl de Gracia, and mins away fm Park Guell and La sacramento familiar and other Gaudi creations. This will be in a diff post.

Had I more time, I´d take better photos of the city and visit more sights. Secretly, I´ve made up my mind to come back to Barcelona.

Box or no box?

Having heard about the Clarkes shoes my god-daughter is accumulating, I browsed the shoe section of the dept store on my way home last night.

Lo and behold! I caught sight of a very comfortable pair of round toe wedges. Tried it on and fell in love with it. Unfortunately they didnt have my size in the turqoise green. I settled for the cream shade.

I wouldn't normally buy cream colored shoes cos I find them difficult to match with my grey and black work clothes. But that was then, and now I get to wear almost anything I fancy!! Yea!! So I brought pair back to the hotel. It's called Champagne Lea. :)

My roving eyes caught sight of another pair of Camper shoes on the way to the cashier. It's got a yellow flower on the mary jane strap, patches of blue/white polka dots, red and yellow patches on a white base. Excellent conversation starter.

So I bought them too. And told myself not to shop anymore before my trip.

And now as I pack my luggage I am contemplating should I bring the shoe boxes back?? They're so colorful and cute!! This would normally not even come across as an issue. Just that these boxes are so fun!

Oh the effort they put into making shopping such a fantastic experience for the consumer.

I know what eyelicious would say if faced with this dilemma... heehee

Teh or Coffee?

Had lunch at a random mamak stall just next to KLCC today. Ooh the rendang and curries had the right amount of OOMPH!

This is where the locals have lunch around this heavily touristed area of overpriced food courts and substandard food quality. True enough mamak stall didnt disappoint. ( mental note : Opposite Ave K )

Another place my colleagues recommended was Nasi Kandar Pelita just a few minutes walk away. Open 24hrs (mental note to self : must try on next road trip)

I thought about the Starbucks here costing some RM 10 for a latte, how do the locals afford this stuff? Even lunch costs rm6-7 in the city area, which is getting more expensive as fuel prices rocket.

What a disparity amongst the latte sipping tourists and the teh tarik drinkers at the mamak stalls. Interesting.

I must take a night shot of the twin towers before I go home.

Jurlique and Aesop

Thank goodness for Jurlique's Rebalancing Mask. It's now sharing my top spot with Aesop's Primrose Facial Mask as top favourites.

The former does a good job of rebalancing moisture needs and deep cleansing, while the latter is an excellent glob cleaner.

I should post a photo of these 2 gems, but I forgot to bring along my cable during this trip.

Why am I blogging abt masks? Cos my skin is in need of rebalancing during this hectic trip. And now the scent is wafting me to sleep gently, relaxing my state of mind, recharging me for another day ahead.

Lonely away fm home

Hey hey - was surprised that someone included a photo of me in his facebook profile shot. But hey, if I'm blogging, what do I expect right? If I have a fb account, what less can I expect duh!

But anyway, short entries for the week. Busy busy busy. All I can say is that what does not kill, can only make one stronger, blisters and all. Ah hahaha!

Each day I soak my tortured feet in my bath tub and wonder how I managed to survive. But hey look, the sun still rises the next day. I'm away from home this week, and how I miss the doggies.

Cheyannemummy is also back home this week, but I am out of town. Sigh, looks like atas drinking session has to wait for a while more.

But anyhow I is HAPPEE!! Happy happy happy!