My road to self-discovery.

There's so much to say about Portugal and Spain but like how it normally is, when there's stuff to say, things just slip off my mind and now i am clueless as to what i wanted to say.

A list of things i discovered about myself (and Fiona for some):

1. Shopping makes me full.
2. Only in Spain, will people 'Konichiwa' me.
3. Only in England, will people associate me with China.
4. I love long train rides.
5. I enjoy long night bus rides.
6. I don't like budget airlines.
7. Fiona and i miss our cars.
8. We also miss being driven around.


In Lisboa, a football match between Porto and Lisbon was held. It was a really huge match so we decided to go to the stadium to see what it would be like to watch soccer in Portugal. Everywhere, there were policemen. People fighting and at the ticket counter, a few men were kicking the counter because they could not get the tickets they booked earlier. The police appeared to be from the Special Operations Command type since all were padded and wearing helmets. People managed to push the police right into the stadium without having tickets. It was a wild night. Fi and i were being typical tourists, photographing people going crazy about soccer. We even managed to enter the press and Television broadcasting area without getting caught. It makes me wonder how we could easily do that without being stopped. In the end though, we were caught. That ended our adventure and we then visited the shopping centre nearby for dinner and soccer (live through cable!). It ended with a draw.

Pedro, our host told us how Portugal's national spirit is heightened by soccer. Previously, people were not very proud of Portugal until four years later when a Brazilian coach came over to help Portugal into the World Cup. It is amazing how soccer brings the world together... or sometimes, break people apart.

The Portuguese are much nicer people than the Spanish. They are amiable, more than any other people i have seen so far. Apparently, the Spanish and the Portuguese are like Singapore to Malaysia. They have strong contestations in some areas.

The Portuguese are funny people. Some of the things they said amused me:

"Portuguese people are friendly. Give them drinks and they talk to dogs, cats and anything".
"We were everything. Then, the English and French came. Bloody pirates. Now, we're nothing".
"We elected that dictator Salazar out and now, we're electing him into our Goverment again because he is the best".
"Portugal is funny. Last time, we conquered everything. Now, we give the land we conquered away so freely. So why did we conquer in the first place?"

Another thing about the Portuguese is how they are so warm by nature. It is normal to just give each other pecks on the cheeks and say hi. They'll insist that you join them for dinner when they're halfway eating. They make you feel at home. No formality at all. The way they talked is also amusing. I thought they were arguing but it is just them saying hello in the loudest brightest way they are able to.

Fi and i went to the University of Coimbra. There, we saw this group of people called the Tuna, who will come together wearing formal wear and just sing loudly. They can sing ANYTHING, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE. At 1 a.m., our host brought us around town and there were people just sitting in groups laughing and screaming around the neighbourhood without the neighbours making a huge fuss about the noise. It was so happening that we realize we are missing something in Singapore. No one feels out of place. Everyone joins in to whoever is singing whether or not you know the person. The University town concept is evidently succesful in Coimbra.

There's more to say but i am a little tired right now. Hmm.. i better start writing down everything. Won't want to forget those moments five years down the road.