two steps behind

As much as we would like for him to turn around, he can’t as he is a statue, a part of the El Prado Museum Fine Art. We didn’t actually visit inside of the museum. We were taking a short cut to get to Retiro Park and found a place to rest after hours long of walking!

As for the picture, it was taken by … when she got a hold of the camera for just a few minutes but she captured so many great pictures in those few minutes compared to me spending hours and hours, trying way too hard to get a few good pictures… I don’t even know if mine were any good!

I guess, trying too hard doesn’t always take us to what we were trying to achieve! Instead… just relax, do our best, don’t force it,  just let it be… and then everything will work itself out!

This was taken in Valencia, Spain at the Museum of Art and Science center, where everything doesn’t look as if it is from its “time”. Is this how all futuristic cities would look like? AWESOME! Just keep walking at the center and be amazed by the architecture, the space and the environment. The most interesting part of this is that everything were built on a dry river bed. The landscape design that turns a dead space into a dynamic and lively space with activities from the city center to the port.

The only thing that is missing from this picture is… flying cars!

Not sleeping for 2 days along with coffee after coffee… resulted in dizziness and squinty eye while walking around the campus. The good news is… I finished with 3 exams… just 4 more to go! And because of not sleeping, I feel as if my eyes are going to explode and that lead me to this picture today. The amazing EYE of Valencia, Spain. Okay… my head is still spinning while typing.

Back to reality… STUDY time! 2 exams tomorrow, one of them is exactly 12 hours from now. Must study!

This is the real thing in Valencia, Spain.  El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe (the Museum of Sciences), which was designed by Santiago Calatrava, that’s my man!!!

Just when we arrived at the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias or City of Arts and Sciences and started taking pictures, it started to rain and we were looking for a place to hide and just following the people around which lead us into this underground tunnel like. The tunnel lead to the L’Hemisfèric — Imax Cinema, Planetarium and Laserium (also designed by Santiago Calatrava). Unfortunately we don’t have much time there so… no Imax. But on the way out… I saw this view and just WOAH!!! I didn’t feel like I was on the planet Earth anymore. It was amazing feeling, amazing view, amazing weather, amazing architecture…

amazing… EVERYTHING!

Thanks to my passion, I got to post this picture today which reminded me of that AMAZING “EVERYTHING” experience! Let see where will my passion lead me to.

Oh… Aude is in the picture too! Okay okay I’m coming, let me get this one picture… Merci

Following info is from Wikipedia

El Escorial is an historical residence of the king of Spain. It is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, royal palace, museum, and school. It is located about 45 kilometres (28 miles) northwest of the Spanish capital, Madrid, in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. El Escorial comprises two architectural complexes of great historical and cultural significance: El Real Monasterio de El Escorial itself and La Granjilla de La Fresneda, a royal hunting lodge and monastic retreat about five kilometres away. These sites have a dual nature; that is to say, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, they were places in which the temporal power of the Spanish monarchy and the ecclesiastical predominance of the Roman Catholic religion in Spain found a common architectural manifestation.[1] El Escorial was, at once, a monastery and a Spanish royal palace. Originally a property of the Hieronymite monks, it is now an Augustinian monastery.

Read more at…wikipedia

As much as I want to get into the detail of who, what, when, where, why, and how El Escorial come about… I would just get to the point. Out of all of the different ways a question that could be asked, I think that the hardest one to answer is… why. Because the “why” required us to consider about “everything” before it can be answer. Let’s use the El Escorial as an example, Who built it… can be answered by a person name or a group of people. What is it… is a monestary. When, Where and how it was built can be simply answered by researching the facts about the monastery. Why it was built ??? The reasons behind it could be answer in million ways. Is it because of one person’s passion and obsession? Is it because Spain needed a stronghold fortress / castle? Is it because someone want to impress someone else? Is it because they just want to create more job opportunities for the locals? Is it meant to be a gift to another person? Is it….. because….. The lists of questions can go on and on.

The same can be applied to our lives… we can never really answer ourselves about “why” this and that happens, “why” are we – really – doing what we are doing, “why” is the result is different from the expectations… I am sure that we can come up with some answers… and the answers only have to be “good enough” to convince us into believing that it is “the reason” responding to the “why”

Until we are SATISFIED with who we are, what we have, where we want to go,… the answer for “why” would never be a good enough answer for us. Or is it?

Valentine’s Day… It’s finally came, once again. So yep, I went out on a date… a date between me and music. At the school, we have a piano concert by Duo del Sol that will be playing songs from 2 composers. And interesting enough it was the 2 favorite composers that my dear Jenny, is so passionate about which are Franz SCHUBERT and Robert SCHUMANN. It was my first time attending a piano concert but instead of feeling weird about it, I actually enjoyed it. I was alone, but yet, I wasn’t alone.

I am sure that you must have heard the phrase that “a picture speaks a thousand words” and the same can be implied regarding music with the exception of the intensity of the words that are being spoken by the music because the vibration of the sounds vibrate in me from within.

Today’s piano concert has reminded me of the day that we went to San Diego not long ago before I came to Spain. The picture above is the crystal piano from the Museum of Making Music in San Diego. We had less than an hour to go around the entire museum, so we just went around as fast as we can, pressing every button there is on the way and listen to the different sound of the instruments. Read about the history of music and instrument, and then we came across this KAWAI crystal piano… my imaginary dream piano that actually exists!!!

One day, soon enough, I will have this piano in my living room. Last I checked, it is going for $94,000… so it is going to be a while before I get to see it in my living room. None the less, there is nothing wrong dreaming about it!

Happy Valentine’s Day… ^_^