Nice, France!

Nice Home Sweet Home Hostel! I love our room! The decor was personally handpicked and designed by the owner, Geneviene. What talent! It's really cosy and nice. One of the best there is! Even the bathroom is perfect! I just love the beach here. Seriously... not crowded. Nice sun (I actually love the sun in Europe!) and nice breeze... Breathtaking isnt it?View from the castle... =) Strange rocks they have here isn't it? Looks a little like Salzburg to me... If only Spore can look like this... Explicit statue! Madness!! This would NEVER happen in Spore! NEVER! Tracks shared by the tram, the tourists' trains, cars and humans. I like the overall design of the town. Spacious, and relaxed. I find this scene really amusing. Can u see why?
Nice is really really nice. A perfect beach resort kinda place. The water at the beach is really really clear. Unlike Spore, the shore isnt populated with pple. It's a perfect place to chill with a book or just to sit and listen to the waves and enjoy the breeze. Szewee, CY and I did precisely that a few hours ago. Blissful! The hostel we are staying at currently, Nice Home Sweet Home, is one of the best hostels ever. The owners are so welcoming and accommodating. We really felt like we were at home. And the best thing is, we finaly get to cook our own dinner after weeks of travelling and eating sandwiches or expensive meals outside. We had fried rice, broccoli and scrambled eggs today. We invited the owner to join us. He's really warm and nice. He's from New York and he's returning to NY next month. He's really nice. He opened a bottle of red wine and its pretty good wine! I like it =)

Like any other beach resort, we didnt have much to do here. But that's really fine. That's how life really should be... carefree and easy. I will miss it here when I leave... The pple, the beach and the culture. Really slow-paced and relaxed. Oh! THe beacH! The gals are topless! OMG! I wished for an instance I wasnt walking along the beach with the guys when we saw those topless gals. It was just a teeny weeny bit embarrassing!

Disneyland Paris!

Really really love Disneyland! I felt like a child again! We didnt have a really good experience in Paris initially because CY's purse got stolen by 3 kids. From then on, we were constantly on our guard and it wasn't a very comfortable journey, especially in crowded places. But its all different in Disneyland. We could FINALLY let our guards down and totally enjoy ourselves. There was no need to watch out for suspicious characters nor constantly hold our bags close to our bodies. It was such a refreshing change of scene. The castles and architecture in Disneyland really took my breath away. But its really costly! Euros51 for one park. BUT... its totally worth it! The rides were amazing! And I love the little boat tours we had, of Pirates of the Carribean, It's a Small World and there was a ride we took that was in total darkness. Amazing! We ate this apple coated with a thick layer of sugar. I wished we had sth like that in Spore. YummY! It's a really once in a lifetime experience. Perfect place to come with your kids one day!
Look at the castles behind me. It TOTALLY looked like I'm standing in front of a giant painting isnt it? It's TOTALLY real. There are pple sitting beneath the architecture. And the clouds are for real too... love this pic!

Candies!! Sugar coated apples! Totally YUMMY!

Nice castle isnt it? It really looked like it's a picture from Cinderella or sth.

The roller coaster ride!

Disneyland Paris!

It's a Small World Ride! There was music in the background the whole time, playing the song "It's a Small World" in different languages all over the world. What a cool concept!

Haha!! I really wonder how they did this. Perfect colour scheme.

My all-time favourite fairytale: Cinderella!!!!

My cousin, Szewee, and I. Totally enjoying ourselves!

Find this scene familiar? It's from Pirates of the Carribean. Seriously, it looks EXACTLY like the same thing.

Pisa, Italy! Well... since our graduation trip doesnt include Pisa, I thought this is a pretty good substitute for it... dont u think? haha!

Below is a video taken while taking the ride "It's a Small World". I really like it. Judge for yourselves!

Madrid, Spain!

SPAIN MADRID! WE FINALLY REACHED!

Hake to the lemon! Madrid is a place for food lovers... seriously!

Chicken to the curry. Erm.. I know the name of the food sounds weird... But I am stating what's in the menu...

I like the buildings in Madrid. Artistic and historic.

Plaza Mayor! I love this place. Full of bars, restaurants, pubs, artists, music and people!

I wish Fernando Torres was beside me in person. BUT... this is a good enough substitute =)

Labor Day= public holiday. The streets are crowded!

I totally love Spring. The weather is good. Flowers are beautiful. Everywhere smells of blossoms =)

How did she manage to stay upfloat!Hazard a guess!

Outside King Charles4's exhibition.

Alven, SzeWee, ChinYee and I.

The cathedrale!

The Royal Palace!

This picture is SOOOOOOO cute. The bronze man behind the little boy... its a statue. Isnt it cute?

Paella! 2 dishes and 1 drink = 8.10 euros! We couldnt believe it. We were trying to verify this with the waitress and the tables beside us were laughing at us (in a kind way though). It was pretty amusing. Madrid... food heaveN! Some sort of parade. The police had the streets barricaded. It was pretty HUGE!

Today is some kind of Madrid Day. There were parades and parties everywhere. Gran Via streets were crowded. Plaza Mayor was really crowded. The atmosphere was fantastic! Went to a few places (other than bullfighting ring). But its plaza mayor that really attracted me. The streets were crowded. The square was really really crowded. The smell of food (especially SEAFOOD) was just simply amazing... I really like Madrid =)

Bullfighting in Madrid

I will never ever forget this sight. A strap was cut into the head of the bull so the rope could be secured to its horn and it could be dragged back by the horses. A trail of blood can clearly be seen on the ground. ARGH! The crowd was still cheering at this point in time...

A man cutting a line into the bull head so as to tie the rope to the bull. There are splatters of blood beneath the bull.

The man on the horses trying to force the spike deeper into the flesh. This is the second bull.

I think they were trying to make the other goats attack the bull but to no avail. In the end, the goats were guided back to where it came from. The bull went after, probably because it just wouldnt die, much to the dismay of the crowd... which was jeering.

Enlarge this picture. There are so many piercings... The flesh is actually torn from the skin.

The bull charging at the horse.The man trying to agitate the bull.

The huge bull fighting ring can house 25000 people! We got really really good seats for only 15 euros!

Candies galore outside the ring!

Went to the bullfighting ring today in Madrid. A lot of thoughts went through my mind today. The sport is interesting... BUT cruel. Really really cruel. What really set me thinking was the reaction of those spectators around me when the "fight" (more accurately, the torture) was happening. They were whistling and cheering. Whenever the spike pierce the bull, they will erupt with applause and cheers. I was disgusted. The first bull went in. He was a tough one. He wouldn't die. No matter how many spikes went through, he was still standing strong. Ultimately he was brought back to where it came from and hopefully, it will be spared from a worse fate. The thing is that, when it was sent back, the crowd was jeering. It was a very bloodthirsty crowd. I wonder... how can we be so cruel? Ironic that I am the one asking this question because I paid money to watch the fight. When there's demand, there's supply. So I was part of the reason why the sport still exists. I know I wouldnt watch it again. But I am curious... how many of the bloodthirsty people in the crowd screaming for death and blood will frequent the fight again (and again and again and again).

A second bull was introduced. This one was panicking from the start. It was already berserk when it came out. I wondered why they did to it before they released it into the ring. This one ws pretty quick. It was pierced not one spike at a time but two spikes at once, in quick succession. The last few times... It was pierced at a lethal spot and after the last spike, it just collapsed. It died. It's so so so fragile. Life is so fragile. I didnt realize that till today. And human race can be so cruel. It was a really interesting experience. If there is one day I would pick to be the most unforgettable day after almost a month of europetrip, I would say today is it. I am glad I watched it. Yet, somehow I wished I havent. If any of you are gonna watch a bullfight, go for it! BUT... dont enjoy it too much. If you find that you enjoy the bullfight, you should seek psychology help...