The keywords are: Sangat Comel...

Suka hati suka hati
Yang penting kita happy
( Happy Happy )
Yang penting kita happy

- Aboi's "Yang Penting Happy" -

The batgirl is back in her cave, doing all batly things in the dead of the morning (or as Kak Moonie puts it: morning-morning blind), such as doing her laundry, unpacking her stuff, chatting to her mom, and updating this blog :)

hola everyone!! (hehe, bet u thought that was coming, kan?) i'm back in London, in my humble room, with my lovable laptop, and a mug of vanilla tea..its good to be back home! especially after enduring almost 12 hours of travel...almost mengalahkan balik Malaysia! i don't know which one is worse, sitting on your butt for straight 13 hours, or lugging your stuff across countries, in various types of vehicle...

btw, thanks for the well-wishes everyone :) ! it's a really nice thing to come back to and feast my eyes upon ..mucho gracias! and Idlan, i'm free on the 3rd..let's do dinner! makan mane yer..*eyes wondering off*..

oklaa, on with the travelogue...

well, our journey to valladolid was allright..we didn't manage to meet up with Jean Simpson (the lady who was supposed to travel with us to Vitoria from Valladolid) before boarding, so we decided to try and find her when we arrived at Valladolid..i only have her description to go by with..tall, dark-haired, presumably alone...so, once we landed, and KAk Moonie practiced her spanish with the imigration officers (who, btw, was sangat friendly and comel, and KAk Moonie sudah jatuh cinta pandang pertama..never mind that he's greying..hmm..) we saw a few ladies who could be JEan, but i thought one lady wearing an Elle t-shirt and denim skirt kinda stood out and fitted the description better..as she got her bagage of the wheel, and we summoned our courage to ask her..she came up to us and introduced herself as JEan! yay! she said se recognised us when we came on to the plane, but didn't have the chance to say hie then..

so, we waited for the group from NEtherlands (Charleroi) to arrive, and chatted for a bit..Jean is a divorcee, who brought up a family with her partner, but is now separated and stays alone...about an hour later, while we were showing her some photos, the Dutch clan came..they terdiri oleh Tinny, a middle-aged, very sempoi Dutch lady..a married couple, Soski (not sure of the spelling) and Richard..and their 2 friends, Cyril, and this botak Moroccan guy whom i've forgotten the name about 2 seconds after shaking his hands..ehhehe..btw, they are friends of the groom, Rob, who's of Duch-English parentage...

a bit about the bride and groom..the bride, Irune, was KAk MOonie's close friend when she was studying in the UK, back in 97..and she's Spanish, and her family lives in Vitoria, so the wedding will be held there..Rob, was also their uni-mate and had started going out with Irune back in 97..so, basically both bride and groom are KAk Moonie's friends, and as i so often told the others, i'm just there for the ride :)
p.s: i think its sweet that they ended up together...walaupun after 7 years..

so, the 8 of us, got into our rented cars, Jean, Tinny, KAk Moonie and I into the Ford Focus, and the Dutch clan into their PEugeot...and off we went to Vitoria..the scenery along the way was beautiful...very different from English countryside..it was more of vast land, and dotted with yellow and red flowers..and the green is different..as i commented to KAk Moonie, hijau English countryside is hijau yang telah dimanjakan, never seen the sun, but hijau Spanish countryside has this burnish tinge to it...we stopped for food about half-way through the journey, where i had my first Spanish meal...Champinons (err, mushrooms) with bread..and KAk Monie had the tortilla de patatas (potato omellete) which kinda became our makanan ruji for the next few days...

our journey to Vitoria took about 4 hours, and we arrived at Vitoria after 7 p.m...Vitoria has a small town, and this gorgeous park in the middle of it..they pointed out the hotel where the reception will be held the next night, and we drove around looking for the bride and groom's wedding party..after several rounds around the tiny town, we came to a stop by a park, and waited for them to fetch us..tengok-tengok, yang datang was Rob's parents, Karen and David (sangat friendly and chatty), their son Phillipe (yang SANGAT comel!*sigh* soo tergoda..hehe), and Rob's ex-colleague, Ido, who's also Dutch (and Kak Moonie sekarang sudah jatuh cinta also..)..so they told us that we had to walk to our hotel, as the hotel is located in an area yang kereta tak boleh nak masuk..so, off we went, lugging our bags..women (read: me) can never travel light..soo, padan muke...anyhoo, they were all amazed that Kak Moonie came all the way from Malaysia to attend the wedding..as for me, tak aci, cuz i'm technically from London :p

our hotel is located along this type of boulevard with bars and cafes alongside it..it is soo charming, but with quirky Versace-type trimmings...marble hallways, bright lightings, outstanding statues and ornaments...out room is really nice, as it has a balcony that looks out on the boulevard...and one thing about the balcony, it's surrounded by stained-glass windows, and it only contains a round marble table, with a large flower arrangement on it, and two very decorative lamps by its side..the lighting is controlled by the hotel establishment, and i think the balcony is only for decor..in the room, panelled mirrors, lacy kelambu, iron beds..and the toilet, get this...a statue of a parrot belakang pintu..yes, i'm not kidding...a colourful parrot...at first, i mistook it for a burung Kenyalang, but then again, what would a burung Kenyalang be doing in a Spanish toilet kan? exactly...apa lagi, bergambar sakan laa...heheheh..

the whole group assembled at the bar in front of our hotel, and it was a HUGE group..about 15 of us kot..all sitting around, drinking..KAk Moonie met up with Irune and Rob,introduced me to them and started chatting...i just sat there and got to know a few other friends of theirs...Ingun (Norwegian) and hubby, Donald, Karen and Phil (Londoners) who are both lawyers, but Karen says to shush it, and not tell anyone..Brad, Kak Moonie's classmate...and a few other family friends...they were really nice,Karen especially, who's really chatty, sarcastic and hilarious.. and we just sat there and chat..while everyone got drunk on their drinks, me and kak Moonie ended up laughing hysterically as well (macam kitorang je yang had terlebih drinks), padahal we could prolly float in our Cokes by then..the party moved from the bar to another cafe at the Plaza, which was really nice..borak-borak found out that Phillipe *sigh* has been in Malaysia for the recent F1 and is still studying, but is taking a gap year doing AIESEC work..Ido, was an engineering graduate but is now working as a financial controller (boleh? apparently boleh..)...but we left early, cuz we were tired, and they wanted to go to more bars..so, we left with Rob and Irune, who also wanted to leave early...yelaa, nak kawin kan the next day...anyhoo, another thing which i find is really cute is how Irune calls Rob to leave, when Rob was chatting with his friends.."ROb" while clapping her hands twice..ehhehe..then their friends started immitating her, implying queen-control-ism...haha...

instead of going to bed, we roam the tiny bit of that part of town..sangat charming even in the middle of the night..even discovered an Italian ice-cream shop,and Chinese restaurant...go to Spain, makan Chinese food, boleh tak?? heheheh

oklaa..so panjang already..i'll leave the wedding party to another entry...wanna go off to bed..planning to go for Italian lunch later with Kak mOonie and her friends...soo craving food of other kind than potatoes, eggs, and seafood ..hehehe..

nitey-nites!