Jamban was running late for our date in Barcelona, found myself with more time to spare before having to meet him there. I asked my hosts in Santiago where would be a nice stop between here and San Sebastian. So I bus to Oviedo, the capital of Esturia, the region next to Galicia. Although it was also really green with trees, the mountains here are more steep, making it harder to farm yet more striking to the eyes. My host in Oviedo is the tallest man I’ve ever seen and he is ever so lucky a biologist to be working in the forest. It is a queer thing that he also happen to know a fellow Malaysian feminist. And another queer serendipity moment was the 3 CS I applied to in Oviedo was the 3 people I met on the first night there, playing English scrabble with Spanish board together. The next day I walk around the town, did some marketing, and made dinner for these 3 lovely people. I was supposed to wake up early the next day for a 6 hours hike up the mountain with my host but I couldn’t bring myself to. He came back and got me envious from the photos he took. Then we went to a typical sidreria where the waiter pour cider like teh tarik, but just once, and then you’re supposed to finish what he poured in a go. Although it was only a quarter of the glass, I had to drink it in a few gulps  with some local tapas as intervals, including whelks, which was really yummy. I think I drank too fast and had to give up all my food and drinks in the toilet. First time drinking until I puke on this trip, hopefully the last.

this is going to be an indulgent post, as you can see. my travelling post is on hold for now. cos it’s my burpday and i get to do whatever i want. and it’s my blog too heahah. hmm lame joke. ok, moving on. for most of my life, noone, other than my family remembered this day. i’ve accepted it as just another day. then later on, when i’ve met more friends that meant a lot to me, i used it as a day to celebrate how amazing their presence has had on me. and so this day had been used to spent with the people that i chose to love like a close kin.

this year, well, today was supposed to be spent in amsterdam with some of my besties. like all good plans, sometimes it doesn’t happen. so instead, i went to work, as a waitress, at an event for the festives holidays. i woke up, listen to P.Ramlee, wore the all-black outfit and went to clear tables and clean dishes until late evening. then i came home to a quiet house, put my laundry in for a wash and started typing this blog. today is a day that i haven’t spent by myself in a long, long time. and before i beat myself up, i shall count the love. because this is what it was meant to be, to remember the people that has brought sunshines and of cos you got to have rain sometime too in my life.

i am extremely honored to have friends who saved up for a year and flew millions of miles away to spent time and travel with me around europe. i am ever so grateful to friends i just made in the last year who open their homes to me, with no conditions and no deadline, to stay after i came back to brighton unexpectedly, after saying farewell for good. i am also very touched when friends came online to chat when i told them i needed to talk, some have baby to tend to, some have the world to save and some in universe knows what timezone they’re in, but they made time, there and then, for me.

i may not be someone that has lots of parties thrown for them or presents bought or  hundreds of wishes on popular social networking sites, but these people has made me feel like i’m someone to them…and to you, this christmas, burpday and many other secular days, i give you my heart.

Santiago compostela 6-10 November

First day in Santiago involved a brisk walk through the old town to shop for ingredients which I use to cook chicken rice for my host Krisha who was an American Taiwanese living here. And at night I joined in in her housemate’s birthday party where most people spoke Gallego, language of the region. Then my first airbed experience. Noisy thing it is. 2^nd day was more relax, we went for a swim in a nearby pool, my first swimming pool on the trip, followed by a drink with her friends and lunch in the old town. At night, I move to the 2^nd host, Guille’s place. The day was mostly resting time indoors because of rain or lazy strolls around this quaint ancient town with Ursula Le Guin in tow. Evening was spent cooking Malaysian dishes for my host which resulted in them breathing fire from the spice, but they seem to like it. Another lovely thing about Galicia is the seafood, it is most affordable here and fresh, and living cost is cheaper here than most parts of Spain. I felt very at ease here, as if I know these people and this place for a long time, like a friend visiting instead of a strange traveller. It is also interesting to note that the rain in spain does not fall mainly in the plain but in Galicia instead. However, being a Malaysian, from the East Coast, rain or thunderstorm monsoon doesn’t bug us so much as rather make it hard to get out of bed, unless it has flooded till that level. As lovely as Galicia has been, I needed to press on.

[just a quick note to say i'm now back in Brighton, catching up on updating my travel blog.]

Woke up in the morning and my host made me his trademark ham and cheese toast. Packed up and left Porto towards Pontevedra. After arriving in Pontevedra bus station I went around looking to top up my Spanish lebara number but unfortunately people in the shop either didn’t have Lebara, didn’t do credits top up or didn’t understand me. Finally I got to a grocery that had an Asian woman handling the till, after speaking Spanish to me for a while, I asked her in Mandarin if she can speak Mandarin, and when she said ‘yes, I’m Chinese.’ I was quite relieved. Not so much because I’m meeting a fellow Asian but finally someone who understands me. We didn’t get to top up my lebara because I forgot my number but I got another sim card from her. I managed to finally got hold of someone from Anares Environmental Project and told them I’m on my way. In the evening, I catch the bus to Berducido, we had to change to a smaller bus (which is a van) halfway up as the road got smaller. Emma from the eco-village met me at the bus stop and took me to this new home. I met Barney, whom I talked to on the phone earlier, and we had a lovely vegan supper and roast squash is now my favourite new fruit/vegetable.

the paradise i called home for 2 weeks

18/10/2011

I was planning to wake up early and live the farmed life. But it was so cool and quiet that I slept in till half past 10. After a late breakfast of homemade bread, we went for a tour around the eco-village while cutting off new sprouts of eucalyptis trees. Apparently this tree is commonly grown for paper and it burn easily, it’s now indigenous to this region and is a fire hazard for the project, so it must be cleared. We also cleared a big eucalyptis that has fallen from their land to the communal land. It was 1 hour or more of lugging logs, sticks and branches. I am impressed that I managed to stick with it till the job was done and not faint from exhaustion. I am even more impressed that Emma and Barney (the only two people running this project) are in their 50s and are amazingly strong. After a late long lunch of yummy spaghetti with Barney’s homemade bolaginaise sauce with brinjal(need to get recipe!) and fruit cake for dessert, I learnt to saw (badly) and chop woods (with axe, which I have yet to manage to chop any successfully) hehe then we lugged more woods from the house below (also known as the visitor’s house) to the communal’s house where the woods (chopped up oaks this time) would be dry under the balcony. After oak is dried for a year, they can be used as firewood. Eucalyptis need to be dried for 2 years before it can be used as firewood. Then another volunteer, Ruben, who is a local Spaniard arrived. We had dinner, conversations and off to bed. Although I was physically tired, I was spiritually refresh by being up here in the mountains, surrounded by forest and working the land. Farmed life indeed. J

19/10/2011

Woke up earlier then yesterday to a drizzle, quickly moved my laundry to a dry place then off to breakfast. Before I could sit down and eat, everyone went to move some broom woods that was out to dry into a place away from the rain so I helped out as well. Emma and Barney are very kind in the sense that they never direct the volunteers on what to do but rather ask if we can help or more often, I offer to help and then they tell me what I can do. And also a few times mentioned that I should tell them if there’s something I don’t feel comfortable in doing or am tired. All in all, a truly communal spirit. I told emma last night that if my farm project doesn’t work out in 10 years, I’m coming here to stay. Then we made lemon cheese(tofu)cake and it was yummy (rico in Spanish)! Then I cleared some weeds and planted strawberries which will bear fruit next spring, it feels really good to be growing things, I feel connected with the earth and I want to come back to taste the berries!! We had dinner and played a card game called Tichu, mui bien! (very good!)

20/10/2011

After breakfast, we went in Ruben’s car to the nearest town for Barney to check on his aching tooth and Emma to get her documents fixed. I walked around the small market and stroll down the river next to the market. Then we went to another small town to get some organic food stuff for the pantry, as well as spaghetti, sesame oil and tempeh (it’s crazy that I can find such things, and organic too, at a small village up a mountain) for me to cook something Asian for everyone. In the afternoon, we went for a picnic by the river/waterfall nearby, it was Buena vista! (nice view) I was tempted to swim but the water was icy cold, I told the river I will be back when it’s warmer. I’ve been to quite a few places on this trip but never had I felt such a strong urge to come back to a place.

21/10/2011- 5/11/2011

The last 2 weeks went by a blur, not because everything happen in a frenzy but rather because life has taken on a simple back to nature pace, where most of the work is done outdoor in the woods when it is sunny or rebuilding a house when it is rainy. After work in the morning, it was always followed by a long hearty lunch (comida) with rest or siesta, then work in the late afternoon, with a little time to ourselves before dinner at 9pm, usually followed by homemade wine and a game of cards. So I hardly see my netbook but only for the need to go online and make sure I have a host for the next part of my trip on couchsurfing. On top of my head, the things I remembered doing were weeding the veg plot to plant strawberries, making a human chain with a lovely family with 2 teenage kids to bring down some chopped eucalyptis logs, plastering the roof with clay, picking apples and then peeling tons of them to make apple puree, learning lots of yummy vegan recipes from emma and barney, learning to cook Asian food using vegan ingredients (namely sweet and sour chestnut) and taking long walks in the forest. Life aka Sustainable Living is good, we really don’t need governments or big corporations for a decent meaningful living, actually good living is only possible without them. I’ve also become really good friends with Ruben and after saying goodbye to Emma and Barney, I went with Ruben to see his grandfather’s farm somewhere not far. I already miss both of them and hope to come back next summer.

i mistaken ‘porridge oats’ as ‘horrid jokes’, if eaten raw by itself, it might as well be. but it’s still good for you.

when i said ‘bamboo shoots’, you conjured up an image of the plant with guns. and i fell a little for you, without knowing then but i know it now.

a bunch of love warriors in rainbow armors in Kuala Lumpur was surrounded by the hate advocates. they chant: you must be straight, monogamous (if you’re not a muslim), obedient (if you’re a wife); if you’re not, you’re wrong, wrong, wrong. and the love warriors do the only thing they know how to do, shine rainbows from their hearts. i send you all a rainbow kiss from here.

i’m on my third book so far: Filth by John Irving, Green Mile by Stephen King, and now short stories by Ursula Le Guin (just recently recommended by a new friend, and she so rock my rainbow alien knickers!).

i sometimes thought how i should have commenced the space and time exploration 10 or 5 years ago, when i was younger…then i would not see the world through this glasses, glasses that has seen many ways of despairing futile living or simple triumphs of the human spirits; glasses that now shows me the magnificent oak tree that is just sprouting from its seed, the beauty of friendships and small towns when old friends in slow steps say hello, hola, bonjour in the morning markets, ‘let’s have a cup of coffee because by now, when my hair is silver and bones brittle and times are few, by now i know work is over rated and breakfast with a friend is too precious to have it scribbled in the diary for another day.’; these glasses is showing me there are many ways of loving and living into a better future for all.

you touch the ruins of a roman wall, ‘centuries ago, a roman might have touch this very stone.’ and you left your hand there for a while, communicating with a human from the past.

good kind beautiful people outnumbered mean people by a lot. believe it. most of the time, the strangers i met on the street, those that welcome me to their homes, and those that i sat in a bus with showed me such kindness as i would to my good friends. fear is a manipulation of the powerful. stop believing the news.

olive oil is a many splendor thing.

if i continue on with my space and time exploration for far longer than i first plan it, will you think i’ve ran away? do i think i have ran away? what am i running away from? i am running to something? or maybe i was never running, it is the world that is moving pass me when i’m staying really still…will you/i believe me if i say i’m just another knight in a rainbow armor. and i will come riding the rainbow to you after one rainy day.

9/10/2011-16/10/2011
This is what happened when you leave a whole lot of blogging to procrastination (but the reason for procrastination is beautiful, you’ll forgive me when you read about it later). You forget things and it became a blur. And it’s really not fair, because Lagos was possibly the only beach I enjoyed in all the summer’s glory on this euro-trip. It was so hot, I bought a sun block lotion, never had one since I left Malaysia. But I still think beaches should come with coconuts.  After the sun, sand and sea, I left for Lisbon, which turn out to be my favourite city so far of my travel, historical, classic, quaint yet strangely familiar. Living in Alfama with my wonderful host who is learning to surf in her 50s, it was love the first moment I walked out the metro, climbing the coble stoned road up to her house that was built, I don’t know, since BC? Hehe I met tons of amazing people, including this Italian songtress which I recorded in my host’s house. Got lost in Cascais with another local CS (cs would now represent couchsurfing or couchsurfer), went with him and another friend to Sintra, quaint small town just outside of Lisbon. All in all, it was an amazing time that I was really tempted when my host told me that the apartment next to hers is vacant. If only I can get a job here… I also stayed a few days more than I had planned which means I could only stay 2 nights in Porto.

Porto is also an old city, though not as old as Lisbon, and more spread out with modern bits and bobs, such as a cable car that served tourists like me to see the lovely view of main river that crosses the city. In Porto, I stayed with a host that loves his partying and for the 2nd time in my trip, got dragged out till 4am dancing. Urgh I was getting too old for that. Much preferred the night with my Lisbon host when we went for a cup of coffee while listening to Fado, traditional Portuguese singing in a neighbourhood tavern. When I arrived in Porto, I stumbled upon the international wall street solidarity protest in the main square which made me thought of all my fellow friends in KL whom would have attended the same protest oceans apart. A smile rivered across my face when I felt that little hope flickering for humanity. Greed and capitalism might fall after all. Let sharing and caring triumph.

I left Granada for sevilla on a bus. I wished I could connect more with Granada, it’s such a stunning place but sadly my CS host place felt like a hostel, empty of emotional connections, not even photos of his family. And with constant CS coming in and out too. Generous man but strange in that way. I met another CS for a drink, and he took me and another CS whom was also staying at the same host’s place, around the Albacin area, that was much better. The next night, I cook dinner for them at his place. I enjoyed their company but wish we had more time together to feel a sense of connection. In Madrid, I met up with a CS to check out Toledo and El Escodarial together with. In Granada, I went around Alhambra and the town by myself. Added with the hostel like atmosphere at home, I decided to leave for sevilla, even though I didn’t manage to get a couch there. So here I am at a hostel, the first ever paid lodging on my trip. Luckily the 3 german girls sharing the room are nice. I went out for a quiet dinner by myself, went to a place where it is more quiet, a few locals inside. As I sat down and ordered, I realised that the waiter is doing everything by himself, taking orders, making drinks and cooking. He was doing it all efficiently and with a smile on his comely face. This is the kind of moments that I wish I knew Spanish and commended him on his effort. But all I could manage was gracias. Him and a few locals at the bar was laughing at (what I think) that is all tourists ever say to anything, ‘gracias’. when I learnt Spanish, I’ll come back for you, young man hehe. Anyway, it’s midnight and I think I’m coming down with a flu, what with the hot day and cold nights in Spain so far, and the constant travel and maybe tired out from menstruation as well, I’m gonna call it an early night and sleep in tomorrow if my surrounding permits. Buenos noches!

Day 2 in Sevilla is the only day i get to spend here. in the day, i met up with a American CS who is teaching English here. we walked around the city, went to her favourite restaurant and had cheap tapas (here we have to pay for tapas) but that plate is only 2.50 euros. and i tired gazpazcho, a garlic soup drink and i love it!! in the evening, i met up with another CS who works here but come from Lebanon, she and her friend are learning flamenco in Sevilla and they brought me to watch a free show, which turn out to be the best flamenco i’ve seen so far. ok, i’ve only seen two live shows but this definitely beats the one i paid in granada for sure!

i somehow felt more attached and connected to Sevilla than Granada (meeting people one can relate to makes all the difference to liking a place) so much and wished i could have stayed more but alas, hostel are expensive…moving on.

one of the many cathedrals one see in europe, they're all historical in some ways...

yummy bischoti cakes in sevilla

Sevilla is filled with old buildings like this, like many places in South of Spain.

day 2 was a lazy day of doing my laundry and trying to get couches for Sevilla and Lagos, to no avail. it was also the 2nd day of my period, so was feeling a little out of sort. thank goddess for mooncup, otherwise i would have to be aware of my period timing and hunt for pads or tampons in advance. then i went looking for ingredients to cook mee goreng mamak for Mon and Stephan, i should carry my soy sauce bottle everywhere i go instead of hunting for it high and low but it’s always been an interesting adventure to find soy sauce in all the places i go, i always find it in the end. although Mon found the mee a bit spicy, it was still well received. and we had interesting conversations of roles of men and women in parenting, the antropological and personal aspects of it. oh Mon also gave me portugese sour sop and mango to try. yums!

i wanted to wake up really early on day 3 to get a ticket to go into the Alhambra but ever since i started travelling with Jamban who is a night owl, i no longer am able to wake up before 9am unless it’s a bus or plane i’m catching. so i arrive at alhambra (palace, castle and fortress all in one, built by Muslim Kings of old) at around noon and the tickets are sold out. i walked around the free area, then walked around to check out the cool graffities that Mon told me about, then i went to look for the caves that people live in Sacremonte (mostly gypsies or those hippies type). in the evening, i checked out a Flamenco show in this cave-like bar, the music is intense and the dance more so. something well-worth watching live.

tripe stew with chorizo and other lovely pork stuff to accompany the flamenco show

day 4 my host drove me to the bus stop, but before that we manage to grab brunch of churros and hot chocolate, churros is very similar to yau cha kuai but less soft. then i got the bus at 2pm to Sevilla. the bus was one of those that stop at every small town on the way, it was interesting to pass through the small towns but the 30 celcius heat was baking me in a barely air-conditioned bus.

Day 2, i met up with another couchsurfer in town who showed me around Madrid at night and to his favourite tapas bar. it was a little like a sushi bar where the ‘chef’ behind the bar will serve you whatever tapas he thinks you’d like, with the drink you order. but the bar is way more quirkier, decorated mostly by dried garlic, corns and pork legs. and i enjoyed pressing the cider pouring machine a lot! apparently the cider here must be poured (like teh tarik) from a distance, for the air to enrich it, then drink in a shot. the ‘chef’ that looks like an italian mafia boss was so amused by this asian girl that spoke bad spanish ‘un bassa del avar, por favor? one glass of water please?’, got drunk easily and laughed too much that he poured me free cider. and because the guy i went with know the ‘chef’ very well, we had lots of free delicious tapas too. it was a wonderful introduction to the spanish tapas drinking experience.

my new friend and the 'godfather' behind the bar

Day 3 in Madrid, i move to my second host place, a friend of my friend from Sussex University. I tagged along to dinner (dinner here is usually at 930pm, lunch is between 2 to 3pm) where we met up with her friends and we went to a german place for lots of sausages, the saurkraut there was not as sour as the ones i had in german for sure. from the conversations so far, i understand that most people have to continue with Masters after their bachelors here in Spain cos work are increasingly harder to get, so the more qualified, the higher chance you’ll have. my heart strings tugged, the spanish i’ve met have been so warm, friendly and generous, this would really suck for them. but one thing they have is a fighting spirit, ole!

Day 4 i met up with a fellow traveller from couchsurfing and we head off to Toledo, an hour from Madrid by bus. A very well preserved Medieval city/town,one must enter it by its fortress’s gates. the architects and engineers of that era have done it right as buildings then do seem to last way longer that what we have now. after Toledo, we went to El Escodarial to check out the famous Monastery there where it is also doubled as a palace for the queens and kings of the olden time. it is still a monastery today where altar boys learn, live till late teens. it was lovely that we met up with a local who knows the monastery so well that we entered it for free (after closing time at that!). we then of course have to have a drink with our guides and more jamon, chorizo et all!!

Day 5 I walked around Madrid city, checked out the modern market they have in town. at night, i met up with my host and we attended this language exchange meeting that turn out to be an awesome party! we drank, danced and laughed loads! we reached home after 4am. woah, haven’t partied this hard since college i think.

Day6 me and my host discovered how difficult it is to shop for fresh food to cook on Sunday. we walked all over, followed mythical directions on google map and finally ended up in city centre most upmarket supermarket. we bought the necessary ingredients and i cooked chicken rice with the help of my host and new friends. after dinner, we played a boardgame call Party Time. boardgames are cool, must also get this one when i go home. again, i packed up and woke up early to catch a 7am bus to Granada. i met lots of people teaching English in Madrid that i’m starting to wonder if i could do the same and live here and learn Spanish…hmm

Day 6 in Brussel was a day of rest, doing laundry, cooking for hosts and friends, packing as i had to catch an early flight to Madrid. i woke up at 5am, left to take the shuttle bus that will take me to the airport. at Metro Midi was the first time ever since the start this trip of  that i was so completely lost in a place and feeling so exasperated, asked more than 5 people about where the shuttle bus stop was at, and everyone told me different things. finally i found the bus and reach the airport with still enough time for breakfast. phew! don’t want to miss another flight in  my life.