Australia

Hola, hola! Ahir va ser un dia magnific (perdoneu els accents, estic amb un teclat australia) passejant pels carrers i l'espectacular port de Sydney... Crec que no havia vist mai una manera tan bonica d'obrir-se al mar...

Quan hi torni, el dia 4, intentare pujar alguna fotografia... pero aixo no es Singapur, aqui Internet va carissim...

Ara mateix estic a Canberra, hi he volat aquest mati i mhe trobat amb la meva amiga Ruwanthie qui amablement ha estat acompanyant-me tot el dia... Hem vist el Parlament Australia (l'edifici vell i nou) i una mica la ciutat que es molt verda, tranquil.la, de clima continental, i una mica artificial... Com no es posaven d'acord entre Melbourne (Victoria) i Sydney (New South Wales) van decidir un terme mig i van crear Canberra...

No us creureu que la recepcionista es espanyola! La gent es agradable, oberta i curiosament sorollosa com els espanyols tambe! Es un tret que m'ha cridat molt l'atencio... res a veure amb els britanics... Petons des d'Australia!

Off to Sydney

Ahir va ser un dia molt intens en la verda capital de Singapur. Gairebé vaig arrasar totes les destinacions turístiques que hi ha a la ciutat. Singapur es pot veure perfectament en 3/4 dies, tot i que si sobren dies sempre hi ha coses a veure...
Podeu veure algunes fotografies a Picasa (cliqueu la fotografia del post anterior).



Entre d'altres, ahir vaig anar als Jardins Botànics i em vaig quedar bocabadat... la calor (uns 30ºC) i la humitat (entre un 90 i un 95%) fan de Singapur un emplaçament tropical privilegiat on creix la famosa Rain Forest. Aquí creixen les orquídies com les nostres roses a l'abril...

Singapur és una guerra contínua entre ciment i selva. A vegades no saps ben bé qui guanya! Aquesta ciutat és tota una experiència i estic molt content d'haver-hi fet una parada. Si no fos pel clima, seria un bon lloc per viure. Suposo que t'acabes acostumant però no recordava aquesta sensació de xafogor extrema des de Shanghai o Bangkok, tot i que són ciutats ben diferents. Singapur estaria al nivell de Hong Kong quant a serveis i tipus de ciutat però Singapur és més verda i mou menys diners en volum de negocis.

El millor de Singapur és la seva gent. Impossible descriure-la amb només una paraula. Avui mentre dinava uns noodles with smoked duck en un petit restaurant xinès on no entenien gaire l'anglès, m'he parat a mirar la gent... La barreja és espectacular...

En el museu de les civilitzacions asiàtiques, una guia americana, tres americans i jo, hem repassat la història de Singapur: els orígens, el comerç, el Sr. Raffles, etc. Un museu molt interessant i molt ben exposat on pots intentar entendre la mescla de colors i cultures, similar al Museu Històric que havia vist en Macau fa uns anys. No oblideu el carnet d'estudiant!

Confesso haver anat de compres, inevitable en una ciutat com aquesta... Quan busques alguna cosa barata, a Chinatown; quan vols dinar, passa't per Little India; per prendre una copa, pots anar a algun dels luxosos hotels de l'antiga zona colonial; i per últim, pots perdre't pels mercats àrabs de Arab St. I tot això amb menys de 4 parades de MRT (metro)!

Havia promès escriure alguna cosa en català i aquí està... Es fa difícil no escriure 30 pàgines sobre tot el que he vist, sentit i olorat... Pròxima parada, després de 8 hores de vol amb el flamant nou Airbus A380: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Canvi de guia, canvi de dialecte (aquí parlen Singlish), canvi de moneda i canvi de clima! Ciao!

Neat Singapore

This is my first day out on my own... I must say the thing I miss the most already is being able to talk to somebody and share my thoughts about this impeccable city. I though my grandmother was the best at cleaning but she was overrated... I had never been in such a clean city, everything runs so smoothly, it makes you even uncomfortable sometimes, as if you wouldn't fit.

Singapore is, above all, an incredible mixture of people, ethnics and cultures. Signs are written in four languages: English, Malay, Simplified Chinese and Tamil. My hotel, the Bayview Hotel Singapore is nice and well communicated with the city center. I left my big luggage back at the Changi Airport. By the way, the Airport was incredible, the most silent, efficient and of course clean airport I have ever seen. The Barcelona-Frankfurt flight was delayed but hopefully I managed to get to the other side of the never-ending Frankfurt Airport on time. Singapore Airlines, so far, the best airline you could dream of (in Economy Premium Class), they even have a PC on board for every seat with a USB port and you can work there all flight long (thanks to Sun Microsystems). Off for now, I want to see the Night Safari Zoo. Miss you all!

Got my visa

I am so sorry I let most of you down about my good-bye lunch/dinner but I had to fly to Madrid to get my student visa which turned out to be a work visa. Anyway, now I have every single paper I need in order to stay in NZ and undertake my Master Thesis, so I am relieved and happy...


Passport loaded, now I have to take care of the packing issue... You all know the famous question: "What would you take with you onto a desert island?". Well, the problem here I think it's even further complicated... How would you pack a nine-month luggage into two pieces without overweighting 20 kg? Please if you have the final answer, let me know...

As I said though, this is a minor problem. Some of you might have thought "Well, why don't you pack 20 kg and send the rest via a courier?". Okay, to bring some light into that, you need to know that sending 1 little kg of stuff down there costs around 100 EUR. Now we are clear... :-)

In case someone is interested in the paperwork, please note that you need an electronic authorization to enter Australia and there is no need for a special visa if your stay is shorter than 3 months long either in Singapore or NZ (although you have to prove that you have enough money to sustain yourself, that would be around 1.500 EUR, and a flight ticket reservation to fly out of the country). It's a complete different story if you want to go there to study or work, you might want to take a look here if you precise more information and check out your local Ministry of International Affairs website.

I couldn't close this without saying 'thank you' to my very best friends in Madrid who kindly hosted me and helped me out although I came out of the blue. Un saludo muy especial a Esther y a Luis.

Got my air-ticket

Today I just got my 'Round the World' ticket which put me in the good mood... This is happening and there is no turning back... This is also somehow scary, this will be the first time that I travel on my very own, I will try to keep you posted.

My first stop is Singapur, a city-state which I have been wanting to visit for a very long time... I will be staying there for three days only, they say there is no much more to see but the truth is that I wanted to stay more days in Australia (my next stop). These are my scheduled flights:


My final destination (for now) is Auckland in beautiful New Zealand where I plan to stay the next nine months undertaking my Master Thesis on 3D Television. I am really looking forward to it. All these last days, I have been trying to set my visa paperwork right but I have the feeling it won't be ready on time.

It's time to say good-bye to the beloved ones and sometimes I just feel really sad for that, hey, after all, I am going to the antipodes. Although distance may shock huge, it is not the end of the world. New Zealand is among the richest countries in the world and the first country in the world when it comes to do business. Why is that? I am about to find out.