SPAIN & PORTUGAL 2019

Revisiting after 30 years

I felt no deja-vu. 

Spain and Portugal progressed 
and remodeled with the times, 
and I evolved too.

GOYA (1746-1828)
On this visit to the Prado, I couldn’t find “Saturn Devouring His Son.” This Goya was transported from a wall in his residence. I’m guessing that in his last days, family cannibalism summed up his view on humanity. I didn’t know real pain 30+ years ago, but on this round it could had been healing therapy to see this work again.  The best thing I saw in Madrid was the Goya ceilings in the Church of St. Anthony. Never had I seen a dome depicting godly events like Hell. St. Anthony was blessing creatures that were supposed to be human. Cherubs were floating around like pests. A big thumbs up to Spain for supporting out of control artists like Goya, Picasso, El Greco, Dali, and Gaudi. 

GAUDI (1852-1926)

Unlike Goya’s grim world, Gaudi’s was an exaltation of God and nature in everything he designed. He was only 31 when he was entrusted as chief architect of La Sagrada Familia. Imagine the gall he had to change a traditional design into his own indulgence. Imagine the gall he had to continue, knowing that in such a pace it will take more than his lifetime, and perhaps to be left, as it turned out, for a century and a half, an undone eye-sore in the heart of Barcelona. And so it was true that an absolute artist must also be an absolute egotist! And that’s how masterpieces were made! The cob towers that I saw in the 1980’s had turned deep earthy brown in contrast to newer constructions toward finishing the basilica. Looking at the new additions, I sensed that his original designs had been broadly compromised for cost and time.


ROME / ISLAM / MOORS
Rome certainly has its footprints everywhere in Spain. What marvelous engineering, beauty, and function was the Segovia aqueduct! No wonder the remnants of columns and stones need to be preserved in place; only so could we phantom the scale and craftsmanship of magnificence at some ancient sites. Interesting was that Columbus, Spain’s great pride, was an Italian. That, again, shows how Spain supported the funky, in this case, a funky explorer. History goes that after 1492 Spain became Catholic strong, and Muslims and Moors were erased out. Even so, beauty was universal and sanctified from destruction. Granada’s Alhambra and Seville’s Alcazar were kept unharmed and remained highlights for tourists. Lacey curvy carvings, colorful mosaics, and reflective ponds in Islamic architectural designs exhibit a lyrical, meditative, and peace seeking culture. Salaam Alaikum!

BULLFIGHT
“Bullfight is savage, it ought to be banned forever!” I was no more bloodthirsty than those who said those words but were not vegetarians. If I hadn’t seen a beautiful bull-killing 30 years ago, I probably wouldn’t care to see it again. On that occasion, the matador slid the sword so smoothly and precisely into the bull that the bull didn’t even react, and when the matador motioned his red cape for the bull to lay down, the bull obeyed and layed down to final death. This time however, based on two matadors getting jabbed and seriously injured by their bulls, I suspect that the skills of matadors have gone down, perhaps because this art form is no longer mainstream popular. There was a legacy of human against bull as indicated by cave drawings. Back then, I’m sure human didn’t always win. Fast forward, I don’t know how the butcher does it, but a quick bullet may be the most merciful way to kill for meat. Otherwise, a good matador aims to do the same but with some finesse.


FLAMENCO
Near the Seville Alcazar, 20 euros included a drink, a 3-course meal, and the show. Guests began to pack in no sooner than 8 p.m. A little round table for the four of us was right by the small floor stage. We got our drinks and finished our appetizers when the guitarist, the singer, and the dancer began. There was much to love about a live flamenco performance at a tiny bar restaurant! The solo acoustic guitar certainly did strum my heart, the singer’s lamenting voice cut into my soul, and the dancer’s gut wrenching passion mesmerized me like a matador’s bull in the cusp of life and death. All that with wine was a perfect evening. After the show, in sprinkling rain, we walked the cobblestones feeling happy along old shops back to our Airbnb near the Metropol Parasol.

menu v. real
restaurant in Toledo

PAELLA
Whatever I had years ago on the top floor of the Galleria Department Store in Barcelona must not had been authentic. I remember the pan of fragrant and flavored rice cluttered with bone-in skin-on chicken wings, chorizo sausage, octopus, clam, and shrimp. It was memorable! As paella was invented in Valencia, we consulted our Airbnb host; she recommended the Restaurante Neptuno. We ordered rabbit chicken paella and seafood paella. Although theirs was indeed the best among others we tried on this trip, my personal conclusion is that I shall not miss eating "authentic" paellas that were soggy, under-cooked with scanty toppings.

2 standard taxis

TAXI
In anticipation of landing in Madrid airport, I had first opted for but later cancelled an online pickup service when I found out the company counted even purses and backpacks as luggage. Online also advised about maximum 4 people and luggage limits on a standard airport taxi. To avoid unnecessary gibberish, our group of 4 each with a carry on and a personal bag took the airport express bus to Atocha Station. Until we found out how convenient and inexpensive (cheaper than Uber) Spain taxis were, we used Uber in Madrid, Porto, and Lisbon. In fact, standard taxis could take all 4 of us plus our luggage, handbags, and more in Granada, Valencia, and Barcelona without fuss.  Having said that, we did have a minor scuffle in Barcelona with a confused elderly driver over spare change. Perhaps it was a syndrome in big cities like Madrid and Barcelona.


PORTO & LISBON
When my friend and I picked up our Airbnb key, the guy at the Welcome Center said, “It’s just around the corner.” By that he meant we walk 2 blocks uphill on a 15 degree slant. As tourists, looking at Porto’s vertical cityscape from Dom Luis Bridge was a nice spectacle, or riding Lisbon’s Tram 28 up and up to Castelo de São Jorge was fun, but imagine having to live on those hilly streets everyday! Give them sugar. We enjoyed the eyeful of selections at every pastry shop. Get a cup of coffee, even a glass of wine to go with a nata tart or croissant and take a break in a chandelier lit corner. There’s a way to survive anywhere.

in Valencia Cathedral

HOLY GRAIL

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

“This is My Blood, the blood of the covenant that is poured out for many.”

XINJIANG 2019

On TV I saw weathered face men in Muslim garbs trading sheep and goats out and about an open air bazaar.  “Aladdin” came to mind.  And this was in China? On TV I saw the Chinese government hot on stopping anyone slightly suspicious, and face recognition cameras captured everyone’s every move.  The tour itinerary showed a drive cutting across the Taklimakan, that massive desert smacked in the middle of Xinjiang.  Gotta go!  

On the flight from Shanghai to Urumqi, a Uyghur woman asked if I would exchange my aisle seat for her window seat.  “Yes,” I was more than eager.  Down below were ever changing monochromatic latte colored earth bodies with ridges, veins and vessels.  Earth was alive and organic, graphically similar to the innards of animals and plants.  Feast for the eyes!

Urumqi’s Hongfu Hotel on Wuyi (May 1 ) Road was perfect for tourists to access food, stores, and buses.  It was a 30-minute walk to the “Starlight Night Market,” which began at 8pm.  Urumqi was 2 hours west of Beijing, so technically 8pm was 6pm, but all of China adopted the same time zone to more conveniently conduct business across the country.  Asians love night markets.  There, cravings for food and human interaction were met; Oktoberfest every night!  The stalls sold many alluring treats, from kebab to ice cream, noodles, even snail.  Entrance was checked, and as anywhere in Xinjiang, there was police presence. As such, visitors should have no worries but eat drink and be merry.  I aimed my camera at a youthful party.  They asked and I answered I was from the U.S.  A young fella came over to hug me, and then a young girl too.  I wanted to buy them more beer, but I didn’t know how to pay by cell phone. 

Kashgar is Xinjiang’s western-most province neighboring Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.  Along with China’s resurrection, I saw major public works done and in progress:  tree-lined streets and stone paved walkways, plenty of overhead bridge highways, landscaped parks, and stacks of generic residential buildings and shopping complexes.  I also saw newer constructions already looked dated and vacant.  Money was poured in to prepare Kashgar’s future, and significantly sponsored by City of Shenzhen, according to roadside posts.  Perhaps Shenzhen’s own success have reached a threshold and needed to expand labor and land; it would be win-win for developing business and upgrading slower provinces.  On the other hand, ethnic Kashgarians (Uyghurs, Kazakhs) did not seem too enthusiastic.  A people’s cultural identity is utmost sacred; never mind folks prefer living in crumbling adobe huts and toileting in fly infested holes. Across the street from the recreated “Old Town Kashgar” of nice shops and homes was the historical remnants of the old citadel.   Forcing change is a thin line between “invasion” and “improvement.”  Xinjiang  had been China’s sovereign land, other than crushing any coup d'état attempts, it seemed that the Chinese government did not interfere with Xinjiang people’s traditions per se.  Kashgar’s Sunday animal trading bazaar was like that of a hundred years ago.  Women, men, and children donning Xinjiang Muslim clothing were seen proud and beautiful everywhere.  Naan bread making was prolific in all neighborhoods.  So, the biggest contention was the destruction of mosques.  Let us remember that communism is not big on any religion.  The Chinese government also tore down churches everywhere.  To feed, house, and keep 1,419,888,555 citizens safe into the future while battling ankle-biting forces in this internationally politically charged time may explain China’s tough government.   

On way to China’s Karakul Lake on top of the Pamir Mountains, the tour bus took China Pakistan’s Friendship Highway 314 aka Karakoram Highway.  At destination, the lake was certainly beautiful, but I marveled more at the landscape en route.  

Our 191km drive from Kashgar to Hoten supposedly takes 7-8 hours ended up more than 10.  Our 600km drive from Minfeng to Kuqa crossing the Taklimakan Desert was scheduled 10 hours took 17.  Our driver explained that bus speed allowance changed recently, from 80km/hour to 60km/hour.  His driving was automatically monitored, whenever he over-sped, a “beep” alerted, and violations were tallied at traffic authorities and at his bus company.  On that Taklimakan stretch, another issue was the 2 a.m. bus curfew that challenged our driver at 60km/hour (37miles/hour).  He couldn’t risk leaving us parked overnight; we didn’t know how he did it, but we made it to the hotel.  Every vehicle was also at the mercy of the wills and whims of each police checkpoint operation; there was a check-point passing each town big or small, which took minutes to an hour or longer.  Our Kazakh tour guide knew ahead to show his and the driver’s IDs, a list of our names, and the stack of our passports.  A few times officers got on board to photograph each of our faces and/or write down our U.S. phone numbers.  A couple of times we got off the bus to walk through the station’s scanner. One time our group of 12 was invited to get processed inside the station’s office, apart from other passersby.  The station was well staffed, but they were either extra careful with us or they weren’t familiar with passports and visas; we were there for an hour.   A female officer served us water and allowed us to use the station’s WC.  While in the office, I saw there were monitors instantly capturing and identifying every occupant including children in every vehicle at the checkpoint.  Apparently checkpoints didn’t share data, even though the same was processed at previous towns on the same highway.  Each station’s liability was at stake, not a fly could go through unchecked (LOL). 

Xinjiang has spectacular canyons, deserts, grasslands, mountains, and lakes, but with Tibet below, Mongolia above, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan left, and Mainland China right, Xinjiang is nowhere near an ocean.  Based on geography, I’m surmising that Xinjiang people’s connection with the world is still through the old silk roads and from China’s media.  In front of her family’s hut at the foothill of Hemu’s grassland, school was out for May 1st Labor Day celebration, a teenage girl grilled lamb kebab for 10RMB a stick.  She asked me what America is like.  Perhaps older folks prefer or has succumbed to this grassland's simple and unhurried life, but unrest could fester in younger minds that may be vulnerable to extremist ideologies if they are not expose to other lives over the encompassing hills.  A little boy rode his horse over and offered a ride for 50RMB.  Human beings could get bored even in a utopia; that’s why we must travel.  I hope this young girl and the little boy get to do so too.  I answered America is like Shanghai. 

party slogan	1 RMB fare
multi purpose sidewalk stones	hanging out
got naan?	got naan pillow?
recreated "Old Kashgar"	Old Kashgar
chow here, or...	...here
downtown Urumqi	Kashgar Sunday market
classic beauty
Karakul Lake	Malikawat Ruin, Kunlun Mountains at distance
traveling on Taklimakan Google Map	on way to Kizil
Kizil Grottoes	Kuqa Tiashan Great Canyon
N/S highway marker	N/S on Silk Road
Altay Mountains	Hemu grassland
Kanas Lake	Urumqi Tianshan

MEXICO 2019

Teotihuacan

Montezuma's Headdress

Behind Mexico City's Metropolitan Cathedral was kept a piece of ruin--remnants of Templo Mayor.  Nearby a ground model displayed the layout of the Aztec's architectural magnificence--Tenochtitlan 1325 AD was a walled city, with two broad roads crossing at the main temple. Temples and buildings were placed in great balance and precision against each other denoting clean straight geometric lines and grids.  The whole of such city planning showcased Mathematics, Science, and High Art! The Aztecs did "Art Deco" way before the terminology.  Behold this architectural sensibility in Teotihuacan as early as 150 BC. 

The Aztecs could had flourished if not for their one fatal flaw--human sacrifice!  The Templo Mayor, although stately beautiful, was a death machine.  Not expressing "enlightenment" from math, science, and art were the docile and dull expression of faces on archaeological figurines.  How livable was life if any citizen could had been next on the death podium.  So came the Conquistadors, or anyone for that matter, the sooner the better. 

La Gruta Restaurant

It's amazing how U.S. restaurants gentrify ethnic food, including Mexican cooking.  I thought about nachos: toasted tortilla chips topped with thick mellow refried beans, chopped grilled steak, fresh chunky tomato salsa, warm melted cheese, cool guacamole and sour cream. Reality set in quickly--there was no such nachos plate in Mexico! And no burritos as I knew them.  Local cooking was salty and coarse, and "rice and beans" were not automatic sides.  

As a favor our uber took us once around the Constitution Plaza before dutifully entered downtown.  Mexico City’s downtown was typically metropolis with dense foot and vehicle traffic. Next thing, our uber meandered through vendor tents and pedestrians until he could go no further.  We got out and walked into a covered warehouse structure, La Merced Market. Size of a football field. Bigger than Costco. 

Along the highway, there were many “Disponible” (“available”) billboards.  Interstate roads looked new, well paved and in excellent condition.  Many fabulous sculptures and statues popped up and caught my eyes.  Now and then, we saw pilgrims walk along the highway.