Wow, thanks to friends who were concerned after reading the last entry. ;P No worries peeps, I just needed to let out some steam and I’m totallllyyyy ok. Besides, I had a really great Monday (how rare is that?) and I’m all perked up for … for the rest of the year!! All I need to keep this up is… enough sleep! 
Oh, and I know that I’m very selamba sometimes, but to quote my friend Steph, “Just because someone doesn’t say out something that they are unhappy about, doesn’t mean that they are not angry. They are, it’s just that there are different ways of handling something.”
And yes, me… someone who my friends say is a “fighter cock” / “always scolding” / other very unflattering descriptions of me… when I choose to remain silent over something, I don’t know why I do that either. There are a few cases which only a few of my friends know about. The more I think about it, the more pissed off I get. So why don’t I say something about it? Hmmm…
Anyway, I have time to continue with the Madrid travel posts because… I am now hooked onto Mafia Wars (some Facebook game) and erm… I have some time before I can level up. (Friends, please don’t remind me that this is gonna turn out to be Travian Season II.)
Our third day in Madrid was the busiest one, because I was determined to do a bunch of stuff, and I have to say that Ben was very layan-ing towards my requests, although sometimes I thought he was on the verge of breaking down. If not mentally, then definitely physically, as he complained about yet another night of being unable to put his feet firmly on the ground.
There were only a few things that I really wanted to do in Madrid, and they were all settled within one day. One was to do a “walkaround”, after I randomly got a list of “do-it-yourself” sightseeing walks online. The other was to see a flamenco show. And lastly, it was to eat paella. There were some other things that we did consider… like the Telefrico, which was just too inconvenient and the locals themselves (ie, the hotel staff) did not seem to think it’s that great. There’s also Warner Bros park that you could consider if you ever find yourself here, but that is even further away and it’s not worth it if you don’t spend a FULL day there.
Oh yeah, and how could I forget – if you really want to, of course there’s the bullfighting to see. But Ben is a gentle person who was very adamant about NOT seeing it. No worries, I checked the dates that we would be in Madrid and there were no bullfights schedulled any way. Would I have watched if there *were* fights going on? To be honest – I didn’t really think further after I saw that it was not showing. So no further comment.
Do note though that Madrid is not really the place to go if you want to get authentic paella. Well, there’s probably a hole-in-the-wall restaurant somewhere that’s REALLY authentic, but we aren’t that “in the know” la, k? We did eat paella a few times (as tapas and as a main meal) whenever we could, but they say that Valencia has the most authentic paellas as that is where the dish originated from.
So for the walk itself, we started at Cibeles and honestly, the “places of interest” that was marked on the map were really random. Sometimes it is a not-very-impressive fountain in the middle of the road, or a building of some government related building. However, I enjoyed walking around simply because I do like walking around. Whether it’s in KL, or even Subang. When I was younger and less lazy, I liked to walk or cycle everywhere, and I generally trust myself on foot more than on 4 tyres. The weather is also perfectly lovely for walking around — bright and sunny and DRY.
Some of the places that we saw (or supposed to have seen) on the trip :
- Paseo del Prado
- Cuartel General de la Armada
- Museo Naval
- Bolsa de Comercio
- Hotel Ritz
- Museo Nacional del Prado
- Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
- Academia de la Lengua
- Casón del Buen Retiro
- Museo del Ejército
- Palacio de Buen Retiro
- Iglesia de San Jerónimo el Real
- Jardín Botánico
- Cuesta de Claudio Moyano
- Plaza del Emperador Carlos V
- Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía
- Ministerio de Agricultura
- Museo Etnológico
- Observatorio Astronómico
- Parque del Retiro
- Puerta de Alcalá
- Plaza de la Cibeles
And some pictures along the way. Lots of camwhoring because I was intrigued by my hairstyle that day. Botak-looking style, that is.
This is supposed to be the National Post Office or something like that.
Sorry about bad photography, ie : lamppost right in the middle, but we were erm… in the middle of a busy intersection.
Paseo del Prado… Paseo apparently just means “pass”, like a walkway or something, but this was like a very pretty park!
Letting my Asian tourist-ness SHINE through!
A serious painter at the pass… he is not a street painter. Probably doing this for a hobby or something. From my photo, it looks like he’s pretty good, huh?
Ben said some famous fountain is found between these two hotels. Erm… squint and you can see it.
The national museum, which we did NOT go to… cos we want to see Picasso’s Guernica! Well, I did.
Me and the museum… which turned out more like me and a tree and random chick in the background.
Now you know why I call this my botak hairstyle.
Royal Botanical Gardens… supposed to be really pretty, but since this was end of summer / autumn, from outside I could see like, it wasn’t really all in bloom. -___- Anyway, our main goal was the Retiro Park which had FREE entry as well. 
Parting shot.
Pretty sidewalks.
Ben had lunch at McDs while I had none since I was stuffed from buffet breakfast. Still, the visit was essential for me since I had to get a list of the cost of McDs for a gym instructor. Hahaha! He posted a lot of weirdass comments about my Madrid trip on Facebook, I’ll post the comments here for your reading pleasure. I had fun reading his comments! Actually, everyones comments la… *layans*
Anyway, Ben is posing in this pic because apparently the instructions on this cup is very dumb. Something about how to poke a straw into the cup to get to the refreshing Coke inside. Reminds us of this famous blogger’s way of writing — addressing her audience like they are a bunch of special-ed kids.
Lecturing / bitchy look.
As with the Lourve, I had to go into an art museum. And between the National Museum and the Reina Sofia, I decided to go to the Reina Sofia solely because Wikipedia said that the “must-see” Guernica is located here. I think modern art museums are so fcuking awesome, although I don’t “get” everything that they are trying to convey in their artwork. Hahaha. At least it’s interesting, it’s somewhat fcuked up, but it’s undeniably a conversation starter.
Also, because Dali and Picasso are both from Spain, their artwork are featured prominently here. One floor is dedicated to more recent works of art, one floor dedicated to the evolution of art (here is where the Dalis and Picassos are located, as well as the much-talked about Guernica, which IS very beautiful and moving), and the remaining floors in the museum are for current exhibits. While we were there, there was a display by Jose Muñoz, who is a man of many interests, as his exhibition ranges from artwork (drawing and paintings), to sculptures (clay, iron or wood) to working with motors, light and sound. No doubt that he’s talented, but some of the descriptions for his pieces (on the audio guide) are so poyo that it annoyed me. [More information.]
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Modern Art Museum!
Part of a series of sketches by Francisco de Goya. This one is called “The Filiation” (1855).
“Jardin de Aranjuez Gloreita” by Santiago Rusinol (1907). Very pretty and realistic, right?
“Woman in Blue” by Pablo Picasso (1901). He painted this two days after he left Paris as a commentory on the hypocritical lifestyles of the nouveau riche.
The original painting was very dramatic and haunting… but me messing around with the colors takes away the effect. 
Too bad, cos it’s hard to get a good photo of a painting. That’s why you should go to the museum yourself! This one is called “Countess of Paradise” by Hermenegild Anglada-Camorasa. It is sensual, detailed and fantasy-like.
I really like this painting, but it was just labelled as “sketch for advertisement” by Julio Remero de Torres.
“The Blood of Christ.” Yes, yes, religious themes abound.
Series of drawings by Joan Miro, my most hated artist in the gallery. I think he doesn’t deserve to have any paintings exhibited. -___- These two are entitled “Painting” (so descriptive) and “Pastoral”. Apparently starved himself into delusional state before painting and what you see are his dreams / hallucinations while in this state. The audio guide praised him for his simple drawings with severe lines (what the fuck) that depict his models in “fantastic universes”. WTF WTF. Time to become an artist!
“Carnival Life”
Portrait of a friend of Dali’s.
“Figurines” by Salvadore Dali.
“Vital Moment” by Leandre Cristofol. Don’t you think the figurines look a bit… wrong.
Oscar Dominguez’s “Electro Sexual Sewing Machine”.
This painting was a commentary on Hitler (you can see his photo in the middle of that… plate), done by Picasso. Can’t find the name of the painting though.
“Face of the Great Masturbator” by Dali.
Tilt your head to the left to see the face of the great masturbator. It’s supposed to be the artist’s profile.
Various parts of the painting are symbolical (can Google for what they are supposed to represent – everyone has their own ideas), but generally the woman is supposed to be his lover and the fish hook reminds him of how he hooked her. LOL.
“Portrait of Dora Maar” by Picasso. Later found out that she was his lover.
I think I wouldn’t want my lover to immortalise me in this manner…
“Monument to the Spaniards who died for France” by Picasso.
The ever famous Guernica by Picasso.
“The Great Prophet”, one of the first works with iron that emphasized the importance of negative space. By Pablo Gargallo.
Juan Miro again. The title of the painting is ON the painting itself – woman, flower, snail, star.
Guernica WIP.
“The Black Plane”. I wonder if Photobucket is going to pull this photo from my account again. -___- For violating terms and conditions. -____-
“Toy – Good Fairy” by Oskar Schlemmer. Seriously, I think I drew something like this back in primary school wtf.
Some triad ballet shit also by Oskar Schlemmer that Ben loved.
“Girl At Window” by Dali. Supposed to be of his sister. Anyway this one was interesting because it was a painting within a painting.
“Self Portrait” by Alfonso Ponce de Leon. A painting he made as a prediction of his death that occurred later that year. Creepy shits. (But I don’t think he died as how he portrayed in this painting cos this was supposed to be parodic / dark satire.)
“Nude” by Roberto Fernandez Balbuena.
Gym instructor : I don’t get this.
Me : What is there to not get?
GI : Is that a guy or a girl?
Me : Girl la! Your biology so fail?
GI : Looks like a girl that took a lot of protein powder and did a lot of upper body workouts.
-____-
“Rackstraw and Pamela” by Alex Katz.
I like peaceful, simple paintings like this la… won’t mind something like this in my house.
Don’t mind this either — “Another Little Breakfast”.
I like most paintings by this artist – Guillermo Perez Villatta. The title of this painting is realllllly long :
“Grupo de personas en un atrio o alegoria del arte y de la vida o del presente y del futuro”. More like a description than a title.
By the same artist as above. “Artitas en uno terraza o conversaciones sobre un neuvo arte mediterraneo.”
“La Serpiente” by Rafael Perez Minguez. I liked what Fadh commented about this painting on Facebook. She said “macam doodlings of a bored boy in class je.. but yah yah yah… i’m sure there’s some sort of Meaning to it… like the serpent signifies his manhood and how guys tend to think with their d**k, so he’s fighting the demon within. or sumthing. =P”.
Forgot the title of this painting, but it was supposed to be something like “who is the painter?” or something like that.
Series of photographs.
“Crimen Pasional” by Rafael Perez Minguez. Something I got from the museum :
Rafael Perez Minguez advocated a radicalisation of the figure of the artist and the need to form a combative group to recoup painting with narrative and intellectual content. His painting brought his own ghosts to life through a very personal assimilation of the developments of “Pop Art” which he applied to influences of highly varied origin : from advertising images to Assyrian low-relief carvings, or the Italian “Quattrocento”. He interpreted them in a provocative manner, with a savage and violent irony pushed to the limit. Due to his early death, he had only two shows, in the Amadir and Buades galleries, but they made him a legendary reference for all his colleagues from that generation.
“My thanks to the hand on the dagger because it killed me so prettily.” – Rafael Perez Minguez.
“Chalets Adosados en la Manga del Mar Manor” by Javier Utray. There were a lot of little houses, all very cute. But I don’t think you’ll appreciate me putting em ALL up.
After seeing the more “normal” modern art in Reina Sofia, we went to the higher floors, which had Ben muttering to himself, “This pisses me off… this is so fcuked up!” over and over again. The artwork up here is really random and erm.. hard to interpret. Some are pretty… like there was one display which had randomly placed tubes which had colored water running through it. The artist then placed lights at some points of the tubes so that it lighted up everything prettily. That was nice to look at, but some of the more weird stuff I saw was something like a 30 second film that kept looping itself, and all that was being projected was a year (e.g “1792″) for that entire 30 seconds. Damn pointless lor. There was also a show being screened which was very random. It had a guy dressed in a bear suit (damn cheap looking bear suit btw) running through the forest carrying a tray of sushi. Damn dumb wan!! And then the bear falls down, and the sushi scatters… I couldn’t bear (pun unintended) to keep watching that shit…
Some pictures from the Jose Muñoz exhibition:
Bronze figurines, located outside the museum, but around the grounds.
Creepy clay statue called “The Ventriloquist’s Dummy” or something like that. It’s creepy cos the mouth actually moves!! T_____T And the audio guide asked in a creepy manner, “But where is the ventriloquist?”
Okay, I admit I only took this because I could get myself into the picture.
I quite like this one! It’s hung high up on the wall. I like how the two figures seem to be enjoying themselves so much … it is quite different from his other “provoking” exhibits.
This one is called “Many Times” and I find it quite racist. And creepy.
Poyo description of this exhibit was something about how Jose Munoz is a magician because from afar, he has you thinking that this is an exhibit of a train crash… but as you walk nearer, and look inside the train, there are little furniture, like a “little world” inside the train. Something about how something that looks like what it is, may not be what you THINK it is… and he has fooled you like a magician with sleight of hand…. *poyo*
Coming out from the Reina Sofia (fyi – quite happy that I managed to get audio guide here… it’s really very useful, and what I liked to do was to look at the picture first and think about what I thought about it before switching on the audio guide to hear what the “pros” had to say about it. ), we then walked to the Parque del Retiro. Cheap fun, it’s a gorgeous sprawling park with a humongous lake in the middle for boating.
Ben scanning the description of walk that I had printed out.
Small little stands selling books.
Parque del Retiro
Breath-takingly beautiful. 
By the bridge.
Ben trying to emulate my pose and failing.
Too many photos of myself hor.
Picture that I put on FB that got a lot of response because I said that it looked like a romantic couple, and my friends disagreed.
Gym Instructor : Guy said – ” I thought it was you last night…I am so sorry.”
Girl said – ” I am so upset, you know that my twin sister has a mole on her backside! Moreover she is not in town!”
Guy said – ” Yes, I checked for the mole, its not there. But I did know till we are done, that is your mother!!!!! “
* sick man *
Me : haha… your imaginary conversation is horribly creative. at least your last sentence shows that you know what to label urself.
fuzz.. yeah romantic conversation la. like :
girl : i can’t believe that this economic downturn is affecting us like this… at this rate, we will never be able to get married. *tear*
boy : don’t worry baby… even if i have to work 4 jobs, i will make sure that we will get married by the end of the year, just like what i promised. cos i can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you…
WAHHHHH!! Romanticnya…!
Gym Instructor : this is what really happened….
girl: look at the asian girl over there, she’s taking our picture!!!!
boy: okie, hon, she’s disturbing our peaceful conversation, and probably will take and put it up on facebook. I will go and bash her up!
girl: nevermind, let her take, we can enjoy the comments they she will put up there with her friends!
So-called “broccoli trees”.
Requisite photo-taking.
Pretty fountains.
Statues and stuff in the middle of the lake.
Again, another photo that drew comments from friends, because I said, “Good looking guy! But why did he make the girl do all the rowing?”
Gym Instructor : Couple of possibilities -
1. Maybe the girl want to work on her “stroke?”
2. The girl’s bone structure and size is bigger than the guy.
3. The girl is pretty ugly, that the guy don’t give a shit
Tried to camwhore @ the lake…
But enlisted help from a random German tourist instead. He moved us around like furniture to ensure he got good shots.
Random!
City of Cibeles… walking towards the “rich people area” as Ben terms it.
Half-hearted attempt at my “sartorialist” thing that I enjoyed so much while I was at Les Marais. Anyway, I think the girl really pulled off the maxi dress look. Very pretty.
Rich people area has “Baby Deli”… a special place for people can’t even sit up on their own yet.
Ben’s contributions at this point :
“Fcuk, my feet are in fcuking pain.”
“St James Park is better, srsly.”
“Fcuk, this park has two lakes. We’re just going to see one la, ok?”
“I don’t know where the fcuk we are.”
“You are such an Asian tourist.”
etc.
[Ben, you see, I do listen to you.]
Ben is a strange person, in the sense that he complained about walking through Retiro, but once we arrived back nearer to Opera (where we stay), he was very concerned about where we would have our dinner. We walked and walked and checked out so many restaurants and their menu before he was sure that this particular restaurant had paella. -___- We had paella negro, and it was actually quite good already, even though I suspect that it was some ready made thing. No complaints about the restaurant, but it was just some random place we found, not famous or really anything to shout about.
Ben camwhoring with the bright yellow wall at the Metro station.
Searching for a good restaurant.
Paella Negro.
Yummy desserts. I had cherry.
Obligatory daily elevator camwhore moment.
Think we spent the night watching the Audrey Tautou film “Hors de Prix” (Priceless). It was soooooo good, and sooooo sexy. Gosh, I love her!
By the way, this may sound bitchy, but it’s more of common sense to me… but I laugh at travel bloggers who go travelling, but then say they don’t do this or that due to lack of funds. I mean, why bother then, really. Because you like airports that much?
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