Contrast

Tammie (my niece) with my 95 year-old grandma.

Just can't help noticing the age difference between them, about a century of difference. My grandma was born in China and most probably had a childhood in a poverty stricken environment. Yet, my niece is one of the luckiest baby I have known!

The status of animals in Asian's point-of-view!

Cruelty of Whaling (Whales are mammal like us)


Cruelty of Bear Farming (Bears are mammal like us)


Cruelty of Shark Finning (Sharks just don't deserve this after all their hardwork in keeping the ocean healthy)



What's wrong with all asians???

Spanish Delight -- Seville!

The Cathedral. Catholic churches are everywhere and Virgin Mary is has an equal or higher status than Jesus. Virgin Mary was depicted in almost every religious art work dated back the early stages of Christianity in Spain.

The Cathedral in Seville hold the tomb of Christopher Columbus. He was the Spanish who discover the new world and hold a high status in Spain till now.
Two of the 4 statues holding Columbus' tomb. Cool!

Panoramic view of the city from the top of the Cathedral.

From the other side!

Part of the old town of Seville. Cafes can be spotted everywhere. I saw 3 Starbucks in less than 1 km radius and more of other cafes.

The Alcázar of Seville (Spanish "Alcázares Reales de Sevilla" or "Royal Alcazars of Seville") is a royal palace in Seville. Originally a fort, the Alcazar (from the Arabic القصر, al-qasr, meaning "palace") has been expanded several times.
The palace is one of the best remaining examples of mudejar architecture, a style under Christian rule in Spain but using Islamic architectural influence. Impressive detail craftsmanship incorporating both Islamic and geometric design.

Seville arguably holds some of the most elaborate processions for Holy Week. A tradition that dates from Counterreformation times, or even earlier. The "Semana Santa en Sevilla" is notable for featuring the procession of "pasos", lifelike wood sculptures of individual scenes of the events that happened between Jesus' entry in Jerusalem his burial, or images of the Virgin Mary showing restained grief for the torture and killing of her son.

Due to bad weather, the procession of the Semana Santa (Holy Week) was canceled on our first night in Seville. The wooden sculpture of Jesus and Virgin Mary were hundreds of year-old and were too fragile to be exposed to rain. But we manage to visit one of the churches and had a glimpse of the paso of Jesus and Virgin Mary.

Noticed the vivid sad expression on the face of Virgin Mary?? Amazing!

Another figure of Virgin Mary behind hundreds of candles.

Chairs by the 1000s were set up during our first night in Seville but due to bad weather, the procession was cancelled. The procession was carried out the second night but we missed it as we had to catch a train to Barcelona. Damn!!!

The highlight of my trip -- Flamenco Show in La Caboneria! Can you see the intense expression on the lady's face? Wow!

Flamenco dance depicting the bull fight (famous in Seville). We missed the bull fight season by a few days. It starts after the Semanta Santa (Holy Week) festival.

Spainish Delight -- Madrid.

XX-large flags are everywhere.

Somewhere in Madrid.

Scenic Retiro Park in Madrid.

Somewhere in Retiro Park.

Prado Museum, houses the art works of Goya, Valazeous and many great artist.

Goya, another great artist.

Velazouez, a great Spanish artist.

The classic symbol of Spain - the Bull.

Palacio Real de Madrid (Royal Palace, Madrid). Imposing and bold design!

Almudena Cathedral.

Almudena Cathedral in Madrid. It ook more than 100 years to complete. Amazing structural design!

Plaza Mayor

I have no idea why those instrument are there under the sun!

Laid back lifestyle of the Spanish. Terrace (terraza in Spanish) around Plaza Mayor are full with cafe serving coffee and Tapas (Spanish finger food).

Pass this head sculpture on the way to our hostel!

Crosshair!

Finally, I have decided to buy the Oakley Crosshair.

Moleskine!

I got a Moleskine notebook for a price that not much people would pay (in RM) for a 192 pages notebook. The notebook is handmade in Italy with a long history. It is sort of like a notebook for guys with midlife crisis. Its like, " I am using a Moleskine, what have u got??" type of notebook!

People buy these notebook because the company which produced these notebook claimed that Van Gogh had sketched on these type of notebook, Picasso had used it and Hemingway had written on one with similar design (elastic band to hold the notebook shut).

Moleskine had numerous type of notebook, sketchbook, etc. I think the one worth buying is the sketchbook and city notebook (for travelers to major city like Paris, London, Beijing, etc). If I do paint, I would definitely get the Moleskine water-colour notebook with 200gm papers (Shyang, go get 1).

But, I definitely wouldn't buy another one for everyday use. (The one I bought is for our travel log!)

Revisit the Stonehenge!

Meeting friends, thousands of mile away from home is an amazing experience!