Christmas presence

The Boy asked me today to make a list of the things I wanted for Christmas. I dunno. I've always wanted STUFF but I'm not sure I want to make a list so he and his family can buy them for me. That's weird. However, I could probably do with never receiving a bath set again. People. I used to sell Avon. I have enough bubble bath to last me until 2015.

The thing is, gift-giving has always been a little weird in my family.

Exhibit A:
My brother gave me a Lynn Miles cd when I was little, for Christmas. I had no idea who Lynn Miles was, but he liked her a lot. It was a 2-in-1 gift. Buy me something that he can enjoy. Joke's on him, though. I love Lynn Miles now.

Exhibit B:
My mother gave me a necklace (nice) and a bottle of folic acid for my 24th birthday.

Exhibit C:
My sister in law gave me cellulite cream for my 25th birthday.
Note: I was depressed for two months leading up to my 25th birthday and took this milestone really hard.

Exhibit D:
My mother once took a Hello Kitty collectors plate OUT OF MY BEDROOM, put it back in its packaging, hid it away for months (I looked for it everywhere but she had apparently forgotten all about it and had no idea what I was talking about) and then. gave. it. to. me. for. Christmas.
I had purchased the plate from ebay. with. my. own. money.

Your honour, I rest my case.

The thing is, this year I don't even really want anything. I don't NEED a Wii fit. it I want the Hello Kitty necklace I lost. I wish I'd never lost it in the first place. I want to lose 30 pounds. I want a yoga studio in a great big house with a double wall oven and a cooking-school kitchen. I want my piano back. It's smaller that the big piano I bought out of desperation, and for god's sake, I had a freaking connection to it. I played it for hours a day for 11 years. I learned on it. I taught on it. and now my sister in law is holding it hostage. But she'll never give it back to me. And it breaks my heart, I literally JUMP.. every time I'm over there and they're having a birthday party for one of the kids, and their kiddy friends jump all over the piano and bang on the keys. I'm sure I used to do it when I was littler. But that thing was MINE. :(

So, Boy. What do I want for Christmas that you can get me?

Please, just love me. There's nothing in the world I want more.

And lululemon gift cards would be nice.

Obrigada!

yesterday was our last day of sightseeing! We went to Sintra by train (extremely efficient) but it rained as soon as we got there. :( We explored one of the palaces and bought some portuguese liqueur and port, ate some more portuguese food (the Boy had a burger, he's gearing down from tourist mode, i think). We were soaked at this point, so just hopped back on the bus and took the train back to Lisbon.

Our plan was to sleep and then wake up for dinner, and just stay up until our flight (we'd have to leave around 3 to get to the airport on time), but we ended up watching more 30 Rock, eating, then sleeping until we had to leave! we got to the airport super early (the checkin counter didn't even open until 4:30, and no coffee places were open, of course). Somehow on one of the flights, I caught something so fierce the flight attendants took pity on me and made me a hot toddy with brandy. it was yum and made me regain some colour, according to the boy, but that might be
because i'm asian and turn red when I drink. Anyway, we are now home SWEET home and i am a little sicky. :(

*moaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnn*my poor sinus.

It was a super fun trip. It was the first time The Boy and I had spent that much uninterupted time with each other, and it was fine. it was fun. i didnt' want to kill him, EVER. i love him! and I'm happy to be home.

mm. Pasteis...

We've had great success with the hop-on-hop-off tours, so we decided to hit one up here in Lisbon. The City Sightseeing company hasn't done us wrong, but the Yellow Bus company goes to the same places, the ticket is valid for 48 hours instead of 24, and you can use the same tickets for the tram and city buses too. Convenient!

We took the bus to Belem, where we stopped off and saw a Snoop Dogg lookalike hawking sunglasses. we took some pictures at the Torre de Belem and then walked over to the Padrao dos Descobrimentos monument to take some pictures. that thing is huge and stunning! We saw the monastery and searched for the Ultramar Garden, this botanical garden that is full of these amazing peacocks and a little insectorium (they were all dead and preserved,
thank goodness!). Gorgeous!

In Belem, you HAVE to have a pastel de Belem, which is kind of like a chinese egg tart, but fluffier, creamier, with cinnamon, and with a little more charring on top. Delicious. Only the girl who served us at the shop was a stupid bitch who rolled her eyes at me, was short and angry, slammed the plates down on the counter, and I paid for six things, and she only gave me five. I had to show her my receipt in order to get it, and even then, she asked the cashier if it was true. she gave it to me grudgingly. I also ordered one pastry in TUNA but she gave it to me in ham and cheese. Stupid, crass whore. Why did she have to start being rude with me? I didn't do anything wrong! All I said was that she was missing one of the croquettes! And she was rude to begin with! Racist bitch.

Belem left a bad taste in my mouth, so we decided to head to the Aquarium next. The Aquarium is gorgeous and was really fun! There was one tank with school fish who all swim in one direction but there were a couple of odd fish who were swimming against the school. so cute.

We came back downtown and got some food at Cafe Nicola, which was recommended in a little tourist guide. Our server recommended the rabbit dish, but it was so salty, The Boy and I could barely eat it. The flavouring would have been lovely if someone maybe didn't mistake a tablespoon for a teaspoon? maybe...

Then we retreated back to our room with tunisian wine, mango juice, and a bunch of 30 Rock episodes. We're just so tired. It's fun to be away but we're overtoured, I think.

Lisboa!

We have arrived in Lisbon! For our first day in Lisbon, we got a map and trusted it to have the right street names on it. Who knew this city would be so damned hilly? My ankles hurt from all this climbing. And sure, the city has tried to help in some instances by installing stairs, but my QUADS crazy hurt too! Thank goodness we recovered from the marathon before coming here. Thank goodness the marathon wasn't here! Ow ow ow ow ow.

First things first, we visited a pastelaria. The Boy chose two - one of them had shrimp in it. Poor guy (he is allergic to shellfish). Then we found our way (eventually) to Castelo de Sao Jorge. I expected some palace with a tour of the rooms and you could see old beds and clothes and decorations and the like. What we got was more ruins. It was cool, though, and my fear of heights got the better of me and I couldn't quite get to the highest points. The Boy and I were even able to look at the streets and find where we are staying, plus where we needed to be next, the Se Cathedral. Ice cream stop, then on our way to the Se.

We wandered and wandered and then finally stumbled upon Igreja de Santa Maria Maior instead. It was pretty, and there were lots of tourists, so we went inside and took pictures. And then we asked, and yes, this was the Se Cathedral. Why don't you Lisbonians effing label stuff the way it is on the damned map!? Poor Boy was so frustrated at the map. I tried to make it into an adventure, but he still wasn't that impressed. We also found Lisbon to be a little grungy. It would be so beautiful if the buildings were pressure-cleaned once in awhile. And also, the curse of the construction has caught up to us, and a few things that we wanted to see (Praca de Commercio and Casa de Dos Bicos) were closed. It only took one portuguese man (pointing and slashing his hands viciously) and about twenty construction workers for us to figure it out. *sigh*

We walked to Baixa, super close to where we are staying, and Lisbon's downtown and maze of pedestrian walkways, full of shops (yay!) and cafes (yay!!) and monuments (yay). We took pictures of the Elevador de Santa Justa, this random elevator built in 1902 in the middle of the city centre, and then went to find some more pasteis. Lisbon Day by Day recommends a place called Pastelaria Suica .. does that mean SWISS Pastries? Not interested. we found Nicola cafe
instead and feasted on some pork and chicken-stuffed goodies, portuguese beer (for the Boy), and gijinha com fruta (for me). Gijinha is this cherry-flavoured liquor. You get a shot of it (I sipped) and then you eat the cherries at the bottom. Yum! (and by "Yum" i mean "wooooooo", that sound you may or may not make when you try an alcohol-soaked fruit that is very very very very strong)

Dinner consisted of cheeses (including one amazing dried goats cheese), ham, sardine paste (more delicious than it sounds), bread, and a lamb stew thing called Cabrito de Beirao, and for the Boy a white port to start, green wine during the meal, and a red port for dessert. I will have to find the recipe for that lamb dish! It was amazing!

We were both tired, so came back to rest. While putting on moisturizer, I realized that I forgot to take my hello kitty charm and the gold necklace i have been wearing since i was 12 out of the safe on the ship. I am SO upset. I emailed Royal Caribbean right away to see if they could find it, but what are they going to do- knock on the door and ask to look in the safe? Ask the new people in 2539 if they found my necklace? Probably not. They will have to wait to see if the new people in that cabin turn it in. and they won't, because it's a beautiful necklace I have never seen on anyone else (I think my parents bought it in Hong Kong) and it's a really unique charm (I bought it in South Korea for a million bucks.. or what felt like a million bucks anyway). I will never get it back and I'm SO sad about it. :(

Our vacation is almost over. :(

I'm going to miss this ship, I really am. I'm going to miss the hot tubs, the sitting by the pool or on Deck 6 reading, the 7-course meals. If The Boy and I are going to retire to a cruise ship (instead of a retirement home), we are going to have to start saving now!

Malaga!

After the Tunisian organized tour, The Boy and I KNEW that we didn't want to participate in a coach tour with old people anymore (ooooh one of these days, these words will come back to haunt me). We resorted back to the hop-on-hop-off and explored on our own. First, we headed to the Bull Fighting Ring, which was gorgeous and big and full of culture. We entered the Bull Fighting Museum (upstairs) and saw big stuffed bull heads, costumes, models, and ..shock of the century... bloody pictures. I wasn't really prepared and may have shed a tear or two. I mean, I new that bulls were killed in bullfighting, but I didn't realize how barbaric it really is! I couldn't handle it. :(

Our next stop was Gibralfaro, this fortress thing (more ruins!!) with some crazy narrow passageways and heights. I coudln't make it up to the topmost point, but The Boy did, with the camera. He went up there and then said "you won't like it up here." and I responded by putting my jacket on. Stupid acrophobia.

We headed back down the hill to try and find Picasso's birth house. It looked like it was under renovation, so we didnt' go in (but T and N told us later that they were able to go inside, so maybe we were just looking at the wrong thing?), but we stopped for Tapas #1! For 11E, we got a glass of beer, a glass of wine, four tapas selections, bread, olives, two coffees, and chocolates. And everything was delicious, especially the pineapple chicken. mmmm.

After that snack, we went to the Malaga cathedral, meandered down little streets trying to look for the Picasso Museum (we eventually found it, and it was really fun to go inside and see his early works. The Boy was less impressed and offered to draw a box with a face inside with a triangle on the bottom for me), then went to the Roman Theatre. When we got lost (again), we stumbled upon an archaelogical dig! That was interesting.

We were getting tired so needed a sit-down (more tapas!). In the old town, in Constitution Square, we found a nice cafe with horrible english placemats for more tapas. It was a little more expensive, but it was tasty. Salty, but offset nicely by my delicious sangria. mmm!

By this time, it was siesta time, and all of the museums and places we tried to go from there were either closed for siesta or closed for renovation. *sigh* Even the "river" was all dried up. We tried to go shopping at El Corte Ingles, but man, that place is expensive. :( we hopped back on the bus and headed for the port.

Our boat wasn't leaving until 7:30, and we wanted to make the most of our day in Spain, so we had one more tapas experience before going back to the ship. We found the pedestrian street, Alameda Principal, and tried to look for tapas, but apparently 6PM is too early for tapas and dinner. The Boy said "we ask three places, and if nobody is serving, we just go back to the boat, ok?" :( But lucky for us, our third try was successful! We had a great little tasting platter, beer, and sangria.

So, my spanish is extremely limited, and I was able to communicate with the other two tapas places "the Boy cannot eat shrimp." (el no peude comer gambas...?) "allergico?" "si." "si. no gambas." perfect. except that our mixed platter had a rice dish with shrimp in it. no problem, i ate that. and washed it down with the MOST delicious sangria. Only partway through the sangria i start to feel itchy. and then I look at the fruit floating in the bottom. "Boy," I start, "is that KIWI FRUIT?" ARGH. but the server apologized (not his fault) and got me a new sangria with only orange in it. it wasn't as delicious, but it was still good.

At that Tapas place, we ran into some kids (three girls, two boys, all under 25) who were also from the ship. We started talking to them because one of them saw my lululemon jacket and asked me if I was from Canada. They said they were from the Royal Caribbean ship and I was surprised and said "really? oh.. i'm sure we would have noticed you! there are not that many young people on the ship." but then our food came and we didn't continue chatting. When The Boy and I told T and N about it, they said "are you sure they don't WORK on the boat?" ohhhhhhhhhhh yeah. still not enough young people on the ship. :P

All in all, Malaga in a word: delicious. :)

Our cruise ship passed the rock of Gibraltar:

3rd place

The highlight of today's sea day was The Boy participating in the Wii Super Mario Kart Tournament. There were four heats, and in the first three, little kids won (an 8 year old, a 10 year old, and a maybe 16 year old with terrible facial hair). Then in our heat, The Boy won. So in the finals, there was an 8 year old, a 10 year old, a 16 year old, and a 32 year old. Yeah. And he said he threw the race so that he wouldn't look like the crappy old man who beat the little kids. And still came in 3rd (over the 16 year old!)... lol my hero!

We also spent time in the pool, reading (Madeleine Wickham/Sophie Kinsella's Gatecrasher), and hanging out. There isn't much to do for someone under 50 on this boat, but we've found ways to keep ourselves really busy anyway. Some of the activities aren't half bad (avoid line dancing at all costs), and it's really a treat to be able to sit around and read. :)