Quotable Quote

"If you can't change your fate, change your attitude." - Amy Tan (writer)

Now only if I could learn that..

Star Wars III - Revenge of the Sith

Had another unscheduled outing tonight, and this time the broker took a few of us to see the new Star Wars movie. Of course it is not due for public release a few days from now, but it was a pre-screening and I wouldn't turn down an offer like that. The movie itself was great - on the grounds that it fit well with the rest of the series. The acting wasn't exactly superb, and Natalie Portman wasn't as stunning as I remember her to be. Ah well, at least I got to see the movie..

Barcelona Grand Prix

Now that I'm a bit more awake, let's recap the weekend's festivities. On Saturday night we went to Passadis del Pep, a famous restaurant by any standards. We were all served enough food and wine to get an elephant drunk and stuffed. The red wine was simply superb - it was a blended wine (85% tempranillo ,10% graciano,5% mazuelo), and it was probably the best red wine I've had. The food was excellent also.. one 'small' problem though.. they served a whole lot of seafood. (who would have thought.. haha) Which translates to me watching people eat and enjoying the wine without eating too much.. mm.. that wasn't a good combination.

Afterwards we headed to the Elephant, a see-and-be-seen nightclub in Barcelona. We were escorted to a cordoned-off area for VIPs, and drinks began to flow from very well-dressed waiters and waitresses. Fully aware that I'll need to be awake in the early hours of the morning, took off promptly when the first bus took us back to the hotel.. it was already 3am..

The morning came way too soon, and I slept my way from the hotel to Grand Prix. Luckily, the buzz and noise at the grounds woke me up as soon as I got off the bus. The atmosphere was amazing - so many fans for Alonso, given his recent success in the F1. We watched the qualifiers, and ate some free hotdogs and such. The seats we got was a bit down from the starting point, and we got to see most of the curves on the track from a far view. The race itself was pretty much a non-event, with Raikkonen leading the whole way. The best part was watching Schumacher spin out.. haha.

Hung out a little more with some new friends before heading back to the airport for my late flight back to London..

Please, just one more shot..

I think I need to start injecting caffeine instead.. having it filter through the digestive system is just way too slow.

Weekend Destination : Barcelona!

One of the benefits of working in London is the close proximity to other European cities. Although embarking on a weekend trip is declaring Monday a write-off, but when offered an all-expenses paid trip to Barcelona, I decided that Mondays were overrated. So here I am, in Barcelona writing this in my hotel room.

It was arranged for a group of us from different banks by a broker firm. As I had to work late on Friday night, I took an early flight this morning into Barcelona while the others landed late Friday for a house party. I was told that the party was really awesome, and a few people didn't make it today for the tour which I joined right after landing. They had a tour guide taking us to different tourist spots, giving his version from a local perspective. We visited Parque Guell, Sagrad Familia, Paseo de Gracia and viewed Casa Bhatllo and la Pedrera from the outside and walked around Barrio Gotico and El Born. Afterwards we headed to a restaurant by the beach called El Cangrejo Loco (the crazy crab) and had some seafood (uhhh.. right.. ). Luckily there was enough alcohol to keep me happy..

Now I'm back at the hotel, taking a siesta and enjoying the 32" plasma TV playing Spanish music videos. Woot!