Leave of Absence

Going to Tübingen and Stuttgart the next few days. Will be back on Sunday. Ciao~

A Talk by Patrick Awuah

Eng Han sent me the link to the following video. It's rather inspiring. The speaker is Patrick Awuah, a Ghanaian who studied in Swarthmore College and worked in Microsoft in the US. He went back to his native country of Ghana to set up Ashesi University College, a liberal arts college, and is the current president of the college.



Ghana achieved independence in 1957, the same year that Malaysia did. Which explains why I've heard news reports before of comparison between the 2 countries. However, as far as we Malaysia have come so far, there are still things I think we need to change and improve on. And if positive change can happen in Ghana, I feel there is still hope for Malaysia.

Antoni Gaudí & his works

What can I say? In my opinion, his architecture designs are one of the most unique and imaginative I've seen. I can't claim to know a lot about architecture; I'll leave that to architecture students and arts people. But I have always been interested in architecture/buildings that are different from the usual squarish boring blocks and skyscrapers, such as Frank Gehry's works (of which I have managed to see one: the Dancing House in Prague).

But anyway, back to Antoni Gaudi. You can read his history etc. in Wikipedia so I'll cut most of that out. On our Barcelona trip we managed to see some of his works. On the 2nd day: Casa Batlló and Casa Milà, which are both along Passeig de Gràcia. Nothing much I can say about Casa Batlló except that it kinda has a skeletal and sea theme to it. I liked the balconies. All in all a stark contrast with the buildings next to it:

As I mentioned in a previous post, it was expensive to enter Casa Batlló so we skipped it and entered Casa Milà instead. It was cheaper and there were audio guides (though some weren't functioning well). Casa Milà is also known to the locals as "La Pedrera" ("The Quarry"), and this is because of its mountain/rocky look. We got to view the floor directly below the attic, and there were rooms there furnished based on early 20th century styles. Gaudi designed the rooms to have a lot of natural light (except for the maid's room. Oh well). The curvy designs were a breath of fresh air compared to modern squarish/sharp-edged houses.

At the attic was a permanent display on Gaudi's works. There was one thing that fascinated me a lot. Imagine holding a string by its ends (not too far apart) and letting it hang naturally. This was one of the ways Gaudi designed his arches. In fact, he had whole building designs based on this principle. He would create an upside-down model using chains hung from the roof and place a mirror below to see its reflection:

The reflection of the "chain-model"

The audio guide mentioned that nowadays computers are used to design such arches (with equations and what not. Look up Catenary), but there were of course no computers in his time. He was ahead of his time.

Catenary arches

Apart from buildings, Gaudi actually took a step further and designed door knobs and furniture as well. And they were actually relatively ergonomic:


The highlight (at least for me) was the roof terrace. It was basically a sculpture's playground. The best thing was that it was nearing dusk so the sculptures were basking in an evening glow, and the colour of the sky complemented the sculptures really well (of course, there were also additional floodlights around).

You can get funny faces through the holes!

Me and Seungwon

One of my favorite photos to date. Thanks a million to the wonderful photographer Bernard!

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So the next day, we went to the most famous Gaudi work of all, the yet uncompleted La Sagrada Familia (The Holy Family). Since it is a church there are many designs and symbolic references to Christ, Christianity and the Bible. As of now only 8 of the 18 towers are completed. 12 towers represent the Twelve Apostels, 4 towers (taller) represent the Evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), 1 tower (yet taller) represents the Virgin Mary, and the tallest tower of all represents Jesus Christ.



There are 3 main façades, of which 2 are more or less completed: The Nativity façade and the Passion façade. The façades are also main entrances into the church and they have a lot of symbolic sculptures, carvings etc., presenting the life of Christ etc.

"Magic Square" (not very magical actually. notice that 14 and 10 are repeated). The numbers add up in many ways to 33, the number of years Christ lived on Earth.

Fruits at the top (yes, they were meant to be fruits based on Gaudi's directive)!

The interior... equally amazing. There were different-coloured columns which were so because they were made from different materials, and were chosen based on how much load the columns had to bear. Couldn't understand parts of the audio guide coz there were a lot of technical terms concerning church architecture. The columns branched out near the top, looking like trees (in fact, they were kinda designed to imitate nature).

The main hall (dunno what's the technical term)

We paid (and queued) to go up one of the towers.

View of 2 of the older towers from one of the newer ones

The way down. Nothing to hold on to at the centre so kinda dangerous I think.

There was also a museum in the basement, which showcased the designs, models and history of La Sagrada Familia.

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Later the same day we went to yet another project of Gaudi's, Park Güell. This was meant to be a residential area for the rich, but it seemed like a really fairyland/children's playground type of place. The 2 buildings at the entrance resemble Gingerbread houses. Walking up from the entrance you'll see the famous multicolored mosaic dragon fountain.

One of the "gingerbread houses"

Tickling its chin (actually also to wash my hand as it was a bit dirty).

Behind the dragon is what was meant to be the marketplace. There are 86 columns, and they support the sandy open area above. Anyway, most of the columns that we saw at the park usually supported something above, such as a pathway, but if you were to walk along the pathway you wouldn't realise there were colums below.

The Marketplace

Extra column of a woman figurine (and Seungwon).

Ah... I felt like Lord Elrond (Lord of the Rings) looking out from the balcony at Rivendell.

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Well, that's all I have. If you wanna read more just click on the links I've provided above.

Will be visiting my German friend René this Friday in Tübingen, and will come back on Sunday from Stuttgart.

Barcelona Trip (Part 2)

Ok, let's go on with it!

Day 3

We woke up rather early again. The 2 empty beds in our 8 bedded room was now occupied (Someone overheard them say:"let's check if any of our stuff is stolen"). Anyway, as Eng Han wanted to show us around Park Güell (he knows the place well), we went to La Sagrada Familia in the morning.

I've finally seen this in front of my eyes! Haha. But it's a bit different from what I saw in books when I was younger, coz they've constructed newer sections. The ultimate completed building might take decades to finish; they rely solely on donations and entrance fees to support the construction.

It was built as a church but it's definitely very unconventional! Again, as this is a wonderful work of Gaudi I'll leave it aside first. Spent one whole morning there. We then walked to Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. It's also full with fantastic architectural designs a la Gaudi. Found it more suitable to be the site for a university or college rather than a hospital. But anyway we then made our way to Park Güell. I guess I should've gotten more details before deciding to walk coz maps usually don't show you any elevation. It was kinda uphill most of the time. Grabbed some stuff to eat along the way.

One of the buildings in Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. Notice there's a yellow ambulance.

Anyway, we entered Park Güell from the side and wandered about, mostly near the large sandy terrace area. There was a long continuous bench lining half of this area, and it was all covered with broken tiles (to waterproof it). Its design was practical yet aesthetically pleasing. It was also surprisingly comfortable to sit on it. Anyway, my friend came after some time and we walked around the area.

Does anyone remember what movie/poster was made like this? Please tell me!

The entrance to Park Güell consist of two houses which look like gingerbread houses from a children's fairytale story. There was also a famous multicolour dragon fountain near the entrance. Will say more in my next post.

"Gingerbread House"

(l-r): Daisuke, Bernard, Seungwon, Hayato, Enrique, Eng Han, me

After that Eng Han brought us up the hill to the highest point. We had a view of Barcelona from up there. Wasn't very clear as it hadn't rained for days and the city was shrouded in a thin cloud of dust.

Anyway we went down and Daisuke wanted to visit a Parvello Mies Van der Rohe, an architecural/design exhibition place quite far away so he split from us. Eng Han then brought us to the booth he was volunteering at earlier that day. It was World AIDS Day. So we got some postcards, stickers, condoms (they gave out female versions as well) and strawberry-flavored lubricants. Then we went to a shop selling FC Barcelona merchandise but it was all too expensive. Hard Rock Cafe was next because Bernard always likes to buy some souvenirs from there.

It was there (Plaça de Catalunya) that we witnessed a rally of people. Police were guarding the situation and keeping everything in place (unlike Malaysia...). They were rallying against the recent chaos in train systems and demand that the rights are shifted to the Catalonia Autonomous Government. I came to understand that Catalonia was kinda like a separate entity, or nation, as they had their own language and culture which they are proud of. Wonder if they'll ever become an independent country. But spain already has to deal with the Basque region.

Protest. They were holding placards like "F*** SPAIN!!! CATALAN STATE!!!"

So nevermind, we then went to have some local desserts at a popular restaurant. Had to queue. Daisuke called informing that the place he wanted to go to was under renovation so we wanted to meet us again. So me and Hayato went to the station to wait for him and guess what? I met my junior college further mathematics teacher! Crazy. What are the odds? We were both 1000s of kilometers from where we last met (in Singapore, at least 2 years ago).

Mr. Ng Hwee Kiang and me, in Barcelona.

Yummy local Catalan desserts. The swiss chocolate (hidden under the whipped cream) was strong. We were supposed to dip the Xurros (the brown colour thingy like 油炸鬼/油条/Yau Zhar Guai) into the chocolate.

So then Eng Han had to leave to do other stuff, and Hayato and Daisuke went to watch Flamenco dancing. The rest of us walked down La Rambla all the way to the sea. Eng Han joined us later. We walked past the shopping centre and down the beach. Then we went to have some "flaming" shots at a bar. Got a bit lightheaded after that. Haha. Then we went to try the local small dishes "Tapas" at Plaça Reial. The waitress was Chinese and we all chatted a bit.

Then we thanked Eng Han for being such a nice host and went back.

Day 4

I forgot to mention we have our breakfast in the hostel every morning (it's in the package). After checking out we made our way up Montjuïc on the funicular train. Walked towards the Olympic Arena to see the magnificent Torre Telefónica Communications Tower.

Olympic Area, site of the 1992 Summer Olympic Games. Apparently the tower also functions as a sundial.

Looking towards Plaça Espanya from Plaça de Carles Buïgas

There wasn't much to do. We merely walked around the place a bit and then took a train back to Paral.lel, which is the nearest station to our hostel. Took our bags and headed to Plaça de Catalunya to take a bus to the airport and back to Munich.

The End!

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A special big thanks to Eng Han!

Next up, a post on Gaudi and his wonderful creations.

Barcelona Trip (Part 1)

Before I start, let me just say that I really like Barcelona~! It's a rather lively city, and above all, has amazing, fantastic architecture. Like no other city I've seen in the world. It's a city Gaudi, Picasso and many other amazing "artists" left their mark. Whilst I learnt more about Jews in Berlin and experienced Eastern Europe in Prague, Barcelona was an architectural feast. So much so that I'll be blogging Barcelona in 2 parts + a special extra part on the works of Antoni Gaudí.

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Day 1

The 6 of us met up at Hauptbahnhof (which we usually write as Hbf) and took an S-bahn train to Munich International Airport (MUC). At the counter the lady was amused: She received passports from 2 Japanese, 1 Korean, 1 Hongkonger, 1 Singaporean and 1 Malaysian. Ah, the fun of diversity.

So anyway, soon enough we were flying off to Barcelona. We were on board Clickair which was recommended by Victor. It's one of the cheapest LCC that flies Munich - Barcelona.

One thing that was pleasant was that instead of feeling that I'm the average height of women (here in Germany), I felt more of less the average height of men in Spain. Haha.

Ok so it was already kinda dark when we reached Barcelona, so we bought a T10 card (for 10 trips. Since we shared it amongst ourselves we used up 6 straight away). Went to our hostel HelloBCN(Nice hostel btw. At least the security is top notch) to check in. Eng Han (a guy whom I met during CSP8 and who was going to show us around Barcelona) suggested we eat something cheap first so we had some kebab. He showed up later and we had introductions blah blah...

As it was kinda late there wasn't much we could do. Walked a bit round La Rambla and Plaça Reial. Then he brought us to this bar (geez. I forgot the name) that was popular among foreign students. There we bought 2 pitchers of authentic Sangría (spanish wine punch). Had quite a long chat with Eng Han (about Malaysia, education issues, US universities etc. ). Was 1+am when we went back to sleep.

Day 2

We woke up rather early and bathed. For this morning we planned to follow the suggested route by Lonely Planet and meet Eng Han near his university in the afternoon. Went to Plaça Reial again. It was all quiet there. The palm trees were interesting... guess I find it a bit strange to see them in Europe.

Anyway, we continued on the route, passed some historical/important buildings but nothing particularly striking (as in, like buildings elsewhere in Europe). However there were some apartment-like buildings with nice balconies, and there was a mix of different architecture everywhere.

Bridge of sighs. Didn't know what it was then. Just found it interesting.

Went into a cathedral, La Catedral de Santa Eulàlia. It was different from most other churches/cathedrals coz there was an open air space where they bred ducks (for what? I dunno). I've gotten quite tired of visiting cathedrals/churches but I can see the designs are always different. It was a plus this time as there were 2 architectural students accompanying us.

Sketches on a wall. Someone famous drew them but I can't remember. Isn't it interesting that so few lines are sufficient to portray an event?

Continued walking (getting lost/confused at times, but still fine). Went into Mercat Santa Caterina, which is basically a market. The place had been a site of activity for centuries but new additions have always been made, the most recent being the colourful wavy roof. Anyway, nothing much to do inside coz we didn't wanna buy meat and stuff (if you are interested they sell rabbit meat as well, which apparently is rather popular in Catalonia).

The market

We walked through some of the narrow alleys too and at one spot we could see Santa María del Mar church and it looked rather pretty bathed in sunlight as we approached it. After that we went to Palau de la Musica Catalana, a museum for Catalan music. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to visit it.

Santa María del Mar

Palau de la Musica Catalana

After finding the Picasso Museum, we then proceeded to meet my friend at Plaça de la Universitat, which is in front of Universitat de Barcelona. Along the way we passed by Plaça de Catalunya, which had the largest amount of pigeons I have ever seen in my life. Had to stoop down when a huge flock flew to the sky.

Anyway, met with Eng Han and he brought us for lunch at this restaurant along Carrer d'Aribau (I think). It was €7 but was inclusive of a pasta main dish, choice of 3 spanish tidbits, salad, a drink + dessert. Hard to get a deal like this in Europe. Eng Han suggested this Tigernut drink so we all tried it. It was nice! Kinda like almond + soybean.

We then walked down Passeig de Gracia. We saw 2 of Gaudi's works along this road, Casa Batlló and Casa Milà (also known as La Pedrera "The Quarry"). It was expensive (and from the advice I've heard, not worth it) to go into Casa Batlló. Casa Milà was much cheaper (even with an audio guide). The scenery on the roof terrace was nice as it was nearing dusk and we took lots of photos. Will blog more about them in a future post. So no photos too. Haha.

Didn't meet up with my friend after that as we didn't want to trouble him too much. Walked around to some places like Arc de Triomf. Wanted to do shopping but most of the shops were closed. Went back to the hostel and slept.

Part II coming soon!

CSP 9

Application for the 9th China Synergy Programme for Outstanding Youth has commenced! For more information, check out the official website CSP9. Excerpt from the main page:

"In order to extend our vision of “Learn More About China and Chinese Culture”, the 9th China Synergy Programme for Outstanding Youth (CSP9) is now available for application. Simply refer to the Application section for recruitment criteria and online application. The Programme date will be 1 – 17 July, 2008. Visiting cities will include Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Xian, Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai. For any enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact us."

N. B. Unfortunately, this programme is only open to application for people who are Chinese descendant, i.e. have Chinese blood from their paternal and/or maternal side. Also, the applicant must be a full-time undergraduate or postgraduate when he applies.

If you have been reading my blog you would know that I was a participant in CSP8. Whilst all CSP batches definitely visit Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Beijing and Shanghai, there are always some differences in the itineraries between different CSP batches: CSP7 went to Macau, CSP8 went to Hangzhou, and now CSP9 will be going to Tianjin. To read about my experiences during the trip, I've provided the links below:

CSP8 (part 1)
CSP8 (part 2)
CSP8 (part 3)
CSP8 (part 4)
CSP8 (part 5)
CSP8 (part 6)
CSP8 (part 7)

Accommodation, transport and food are all included in the 16-day package, so you don't have to pay for it! The only fees involved (after you are selected) are the plane tickets to Hong Kong (the starting point) and back, a non-refundable deposit of US$200 plus your own expenses on souvenirs, snacks etc. It doesn't matter a lot if you are interested in Chinese culture or not; I personally treated it as a summer holiday in China. However, I have made a lot of new friends and contacts through this programme and based off purely on that I would recommend you to join this programme, especially if you have nothing better to do during the holidays. Besides, it might look good in your résumé ;)

Ability to understand Chinese is not necessary, however I think it is helpful. English is supposed to be the main lingua franca. Knowing some Cantonese would be nice too. It'll be advantageous if you have had a myriad of different experiences in your life as well as if you are from a country/university where not many applicants are likely to apply(Germany for example).

So if you are interested you can read up on the website I provided; read through the FAQs etc. If you need help concerning filling in the application forms, document proofs, résumés etc., don't hesitate to ask me =) Always willing to help. Don't be afraid that you have a lesser chance because you are not a "high-flyer". There's no harm trying! The application deadline is 28 January 2008. Don't wait til the last minute!