Viva Madrid! I

Actually this is a backdated post of my trip to Madrid. Been busy with classes and research. Anyway, I had officially visited the capital city of Spain, which is Madrid! Why it is officially? Because when I arrived in Spain for the first time, I arrived and changed flight at the Madrid's airport. But because of the time limit, I could not set a foot on the city itself. I went to Madrid from the 28th October to the 1st November. I was accompanied by my Malaysian friend, now living in Barcelona, Deena. The first two days, we stayed at Kak Syah's house near Legazpi and then we stayed at the Hostal Vera. Oh, Kak Syah is a student in the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid and staying in Madrid with her husband and two kids. And she is from Penang. Lama dah tak dengar dialect Penang. Hehehe..

The first morning we went to Parque Del Retiro with Kak Syah and her kids. It is Madrid's most popular and the largest park. It is a magnificent and very big park, filled with flowers, trees, monuments and also a lake.

Jalan-jalan sambil bagi makan kat ikan dan itik yang sangat comel. By the way, this is Kak Syah and her two kids.

Autumn season!

There is one famous monument located very close to the Parque Del Retiro, called Puerta de Alcala.

Then from the park we walk to the Museo de Prado. Along the way, there are many beautiful architecture building that is so much different from Malaysia. I could not stop taking pictures. Uhuhu..

The weather was soo nice, the people decided to sunbath around the museum.. =)

This is Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes a.k.a Goya, a very famous Spanish painter and printmaker. 

And then the famous Museo del Prado, the main Spanish art museum. But we did not visit it. I heard one of my friends said that if someone really want to get the gist of the museum, they need at least 2 weeks visited the whole museum. What?!

We stopped by at a place in beside the museum to buy souvenirs for ourselves and for 'orang kampung'.

Then we sambung jalan-jalan to the main centre of Madrid city, Sol. Along the way, we stop for a while for taking pictures and to have a snack. And I found this!

One of the street performer. Guess which one is the actual person, which one is not?

After a few minutes walking, we finally arrived at the Puerta del Sol. There are also a few interesting monuments there.  The famous symbol of Madrid is also here; a statue of a bear eating fruits from a tree. The statue name is "El Oso y El Madrono" (the bear and the Mandrone tree). The bear symbolizes the fertile soil of Madrid and the tree symbolizes the aristocracy.

After walking around Sol for awhile, we went for a snack. My favorite's! Churros con chocolate at Valor. Hehehe..

Then, we continued our jalan-jalan around Gran Via to Plaza de Espana until Jardines de Sabatini up to Plaza Mayor.

Madrid's Gran Via

Plaza Espana

 

Plaza Mayor

 End of part 1. Will continue on the second part of the post. Banyak pulak la gamba yang nak dipost. Maybe there will be part 3 as well. =)

xoxo, A.

Te Echo de Menos

Well it's good to hear your voice

I hope your doing fine

And if you ever wonder

I'm lonely here tonight

Lost here in this moment and time keeps slipping by

And if I could have just one wish

I'd have you by my side

Oooh, oh I miss you

Oooh, oh I need you

And I love you more than I did before

And if today I don't see your face

Nothing's changed, no one can take your place

It gets harder everyday

Say you love me more than you did before

And I'm sorry it's this way

But I'm coming home, I'll be coming home

And if you ask me I will stay, I will stay

Well I try to live without you

The tears fall from my eyes

I'm alone and I feel empty

God I'm torn apart inside

I look up at the stars

Hoping your doing the same

Somehow I feel closer and I can hear you say

Oooh, oh I miss you

Oooh, oh I need you

And I love you more than I did before

And if today I don't see your face

Nothing's changed, no one can take your place

It gets harder everyday

Say you love me more than you did before

And I'm sorry that it's this way

But I'm coming home, I'll be coming home

And if you ask me I will stay, I will stay

Always stay

I never wanna lose you

And if I had to I would choose you

So stay, please always stay

You're the one that I hold onto

'Cause my heart would stop without you

And I love you more than I did before

And if today I don't see your face

Nothing's changed no one can take your place

It gets harder everyday

Say you love me more than you did before

And I'm sorry that it's this way

But I'm coming home, I'll be coming home

And if you ask me I will stay, I will stay

I'll always stay

And I love you more than I did before

And I'm sorry that it's this way

But I'm coming home I'll be coming home

And if you ask I will stay, I will stay

I will stay

Stay by Miley Cyrus

One Month in a Foreign Land

Dah sebulan lebih di Granada. Yes, I miss my family, my extended family, my friends, KL and Malaysia. I miss all the things in Malaysia. Sekarang baru betul-betul rasa dan faham bila orang cakap 'hujan emas di negeri orang, hujan batu di negeri sendiri.'  And sometimes, I still could not believe that I am 'staying oversea.' Kalau dulu, dok berangan, apa rasa kalau belajar oversea ek. Setiap kali berangan, mesti la berangan yang best-best kan? Tak kan nak berangan dok sorang-dorang, tak de member, bosan. Tapi that is what happening to me right now. Uhuhu.. Up until now, there were not much things that I had accomplished. Even for my research not much yet. Maybe because I am still in the 'settling down' phase.

So from now on, I need to put 100% focus on my research and of course the Spanish class. And also there are many experiences that I still haven't got time to write it in here. There are also places in Granada that I still need to explore and visit. And my dreams to tour whole Spain and Europe. But Alhamdulillah, I have been to Cordoba with some of my Asian's friends. And next Friday, Insya Allah to Madrid to visit Kak Syah and her family (she is like a family to me here in Spain ^___^).  Cerita pasal my Asian's friend, luckily I met them here. I have two girlfriends from Thailand and Vietnam and a Vietnamese boy. Those two girls speaks Spanish like Spaniard. Kadang-kadang tu dengar pelik pulak Thai girl tu cakap Spanish. Ade bunyi-bunyi Thai sket. Hehehe.. But they are really nice and willing to teach me some Spanish. In my Spanish class I also have a few friends, from France, Korea, Italy, Germany, Belgium and many other countries. I feel so 'International' here!

My Asian's friends - in Cordoba

And the weather here getting colder each day. When I first arrived here, it is quite hot and no rain at all. But starting yesterday, it started to rain here. Like this morning it rains with thunders. And now the sun is shining brightly. I went out for a walk just now and it was a really pleasant walk as the weather is really nice. And strange thing happened, I was walking with a big smile on my face. I am enjoying my walk here, enjoying my life here. Sometime it is not too hard living here alone. I can enjoy myself here. After all I will only be here for another 16 months. Not too long. Go go chayok Amy! Keep on thinking positively!

xoxo, A.

Wordless Wednesday..

xoxo, A.

Tapas Night

Hari ini dalam sejarah. Firstly because this is the first time I went out  after 8pm. Secondly, I went out with my Spanish friends and thirdly is I have already tried the most famous food among the Spanish people or those who have visited Spain - the tapas. I went out with my lab friends, Rosa, Juan Antonio, Bruno (he is Italian!), Joaqin and her girlfriend Victoria, and Ignacio. We met at the Gran Via at 9 although at first I insisted to go earlier but Bruno could not make it if much more earlier. So, we went to Saint Germain bar along the Gran Via.

The Saint Germain bar. Courtesy of Mr. Google.

Mesti korang tertanya-tanya macam mana reaksi orang-orang kat sana when they saw me wearing hijab 'lepak'ing my friends and they drank Alhambra Cerveza (a famous kind of beer in Granada). Hehe.. The answer is 'Who cares!'. Ooo..selama ni dok pandang-pandang atas bawah atas bawah, kali ni buat dek je. Or maybe they are too drunk and did not care of their surrounding. So, some of my friends ordered the beer and surprisingly Joaqin and Victoria ordered sodas just like me. Then after a while, the tapas arrived.

Spanish Class in UGR

Last Friday, I had my Spanish level test (Prueba de Nivel) at the Centro de Lenguas Modernas (CLM). The Centro de Lenguas Modernas or Modern Language Centre is the place for some one to learn not only Spanish language, but also a lot of other languages such as English, French, Italian, Arabic, Mandarin, etc. The centre also provides Spanish cultural courses for those who are interested to know more about the Spaniard. Because I will be here for at least another 18 months, I am thinking to increase my knowledge and ability to converse in Spanish. So I registered and sat for the level test. As for the test, they gave nearly 100 multiple-choices' questions and 4 short essays/describing your opinions. But I think I only managed to answer around 30 questions for the first part and only 1 for the second part. Uhuhu..

Centro de Lenguas Modernas. Courtesy of Mr. Google.

So, this morning when I checked my account at the CLM website, the result has been out. And I being accepted to the Level 2. Erm.. I am not sure whether I can manage or not in the Level 2. And also after selecting the time table for my class, I need to pay for the course's fee. Around 129euro and by using the credit card. Luckily I have a credit card and I bring it here. But I think it is not suitable to ask the student to pay the fee using only credit card. What if they do not have one? And for us, the Erasmus Mundus recipients, we still do not receive our allowance yet although it is nearly one month we are here. I think it is not fair. Maybe they should give us some time limit to pay for the fee.

So my class will be on every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 12.30pm to 2.30pm. I am not sure whether I can go to the lab on that day because my lab is quite far from my house. By the way, the centre is just 3 minutes walk from my house. Maybe I can go to my lab early morning and go back early as well. I will see how it goes.

xoxo, A. 

Shopping Day!

Erm..actually it is shopping days. Yesterday and also today. Petang semalam, temankan Sari pergi closed her bank account here. Oleh sebab dia dah nak balik ke Indo next week, so she decided to closed her bank account in hoping to get back her deposited money inside. Banyak tu, around 50euro! 

Plaza Triunfo 

Facultad de Ciencias

Santander bank (inside the Facultad de Ciencias)

Thought of The Day

Ya اَللّهُ, mengapa wanita sering menangis?

Kerana... 

Wanita itu unik

AKU ciptakan dia sbg makhluk istimewa,

KU kuatkan bahunya utk menjaga anak2nya,

KU lembutkan hatinya utk memberi rasa aman,

KU kuatkan rahimnya utk menyimpan benih manusia,

KU teguhkan peribadinya utk terus berjuang saat yg lain menyerah,

KU beri dia naluri utk mencintai anak2 dlm keadaan apapun,

KU kuatkan batinnya utk ttp menyayangi walau dikhianati oleh teman,walau disakiti oleh orang2 yang dia sayangi

Wanita mahluk kuat, tapi jika satu saat dia menangis itu kerana KU beri dia air mata utk membasuh luka batin dan memberi kekuatan baru.

"WANITA..KAMU ISTIMEWA"

Facultad de Informática, UGR - The First Time

Actually I went there last 2 weeks, on Tuesday, 13th Sept. Tapi baru hari ni ada mood nak blog about it. I had an appointment with my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Enrique Herrera Viedma (bkn Enrique Iglesias, ye) at 11am. So as usual, saya ni amatlah punctual orangnye, I arrived there at 10.15am. Tu pun dah jalan abis slow dah tu. From my house, I need to walk to Gran Via to board a bus number 6 (My favourite no, btw). Perjalanan mengambil masa selama lebih kurang 10 minit untuk ke fakulti saya (sangat skema!). So the bus stop is at the back entrance of the faculty. Sampai sekarang, I never had the chance to see the faculty from the main entrance. So, this is the faculty from the back. 

The main building

The faculty's main hall

La biblioteca (the library)

Numero de Indentidad de Extranjeros (NIE)

Numero de Identidad de Extranjeros or NIE is translated as "Identity Number for Foreigners" in English. From what I heard, foreigners who want to live in Spain for quite some time maybe more than 6 months, they need to open a bank account or get a contract for utilities at home. Usually in Spain, we can go to the Police Station (Comisaría) or in my case, here in Granada, I need to go to the Immigration Office (Oficina de Extranjeros) in C/San Agapito. There are a lot of stories which I heard regarding the application of NIE, in the Internet. Mostly about the difficulties and problems that we will encounter when applying the number at the Comisaría or Immigration Office. So here I would like to share my experience obtaining the NIE in Granada, Spain. Although in other places, there might be different but who knows, maybe I can help someone here.

I am here in Granada to do my research at the Universidad de Granada and will be here for 18 months. In order to enter and stay in Spain as a student, first I need to apply for a student visa at the Spanish Embassy in Malaysia which I have done before. Once in Spain, because I will be here for more than six months, I need to apply for the NIE. To apply this, you need to go to the Immigration Office no later than a month after the date you enter Spain. I went there on the 20th Sept, 10 days after I arrived in Granada. The things that I submitted were the EX-15 form (you can get this from the Immigration Office), one photograph (with a white background), one copy of the passport and the visa page, university invitation letter and also the scholarship letter. The form is not that hard to fill in even if you do not speak Spanish. And remember for those who wears hijab, make sure your photo shows your full face and your hijab does not obscure your forehead.

I remembered arriving there around 10.30am, the officer gave me a number and I waited for my turn. Around 20 minutes later, it was my turn. I handed in the documents and also my passport. And the officer typed something to her computer and later she gave me the MODELO 790 form (I don not know what form is this, hehehe) with my NIE number on it. She told me to bring the form to any bank and pay a 15euro amount (I think it is for the tax). She also gave me a small piece of paper, which written the date and time of 26th Sept, 3.45pm and also the number A77. She said I need to come back to the office at the date and time given and wait for my number to be called. I also need to bring another 2 pieces of photo and my passport. So the time taken for sending the form: 45 minutes.

So today, I went to the Immigration Office again and waited for my number to be called. Then, when it was my turn, I submitted the two photos, the MODELO form and show my passport. The officer in charge print out some documents, take my fingerprint (not the thumbprint, but the forefinger. Strange!) and she gave me a portion of the document and asked me to come back in 30 days to collect the card. That was it. The time taken: less than 10 minutes, but make sure you already at the office at time given time.

Go back home with a happy face! ^_____^

xoxo, A.