Last Week in España

So it's my last week in Spain until the christmas holidays! I can't believe it! My summer has been so incredibly long (four months!), yet it seemed to fly by! I've been so busy these past four months, and i've had such an amazing summer, and these last three weeks in Spain have been the perfect end to my holiday.

I had a really nice, relaxed night on friday. I went out to dinner with Chloe (my sister) and two of her friends. We went to a really cosy italian restaurant in Soto Grande. It was by a port so it was really pretty, by the water and boats.

My beautiful sister by the port.

Yacke and Emii. The restaurant gave us blankets (as you can see on their laps) because we were sitting outside and it was relatively windy. How sweet ^^ All restaurants should offer comfy blankets!

I love Soto Grande, I find it really pretty. I came here for dinner with Logan in January, and we tried to cross the beach, from one side to the other... in complete darkness. Well, me being a wuss, we only got half way because I was grabbing onto his arm like a little girl, terrified of being eaten alive by a wild dog, or some kind of nighttime beach monster ^^

Photo credits to Chloe ^^

Chloe and I taking selfies... the usual sisterly shenanigans ^^

Saturday, I went to Algeciras with my family to do some shopping. I took some photos in the square where we stopped to have tapas. It was really colourful, and very 'spanish looking', so I felt the need to take some photos haha ^^

Tapas for lunch again, yay! This dish is called boquerones en vinagre (anchovies in vinegar). I love anchovies, but I actually wasn't that keen on these ones, because the vinegar was too overpowering.

This dish is called ensalada russa (russian salad), and it's one of my favourite tapas dishes. I love potato salads!

This dish is called patatas bravas. It's just potato chunks sprinkled in a sauce... it's good!

After lunch we headed to a shopping mall, which I don't think i've been to before, maybe when I was little... but I don't remember. Anyway, it was a really great mall, but I only managed to go into some shops due to lack of time. BOO! However, I did manage to buy myself yet another pair of boots! Oops. I now officially own seven pairs of boots... don't ask me how it happened... because I honestly don't know how. Well, actually yes I do, they were so pretty, I couldn't NOT get them!? I bought them in a store called Marypaz, this store is everywhere here! And everytime I go in I want to buy something. My sister bought me these really nice shoes for my birthday from there that I had had my eye on, I still haven't worn them yet though because i'd probably break my neck wearing them in rainy Wales, on a drunken night out walking up and down slippery hills! Eek, no thank you! I might give them a go this winter though, as long a taxi ride instead of walking is guaranteed! ^^

After my guilty purchase, we had coffee and dohnuts at a cafe called Duffin Dagles, which is pretty much the same as Dunkin' Dohnuts... haha ^^

Chloe and our shared dohnut (I totally could have had my own, but I decided against my greed ^^).

Yesterday, I spent the day in the sun, and my family had a BBQ. I'm a sucker for sardines, I absolutely love them, especially grilled. I thought my family and I were the only people on the planet that liked sardines... but apparently not... my bestie Rita loves them too! I've always told her we were soul sisters, and our love for sardines just proves it. Amen. ^^

My gorgeous, gorgeous dog Gizmo! No, Gizmo is not a boy, she is in fact a girl. Because her name isn't very girly, everybody mistakes her for a boy, poor thing! She's my cuddle buddy, my little Gizmo, and i'm going to miss her so much when I go back to the UK! D: She's just a fluffy bundle of joy and she never fails to make me smile ^^

-Alyssa xo

Silver Lining

I had a really lovely day today, even though I didn't do a whole lot... just went out to breakfast at a local Spanish cafe in San Roque with my parents and mis abuelos (grandparents), and then went for tapas at another local restaurant for lunch ^^

I haven't really blogged much about my time in Spain... mostly because as it's home for me now, the places I go just seem average, and I don't think anybody would really be interested. But I realise, looking at my blog audience stats that a lot of you guys live else where in the world, and so perhaps you would be interested to hear about Spain? Spain really is a very beautiful country and has such rich culture that I would love to share a little bit of it with you, even if my days aren't very eventful ^^

I often feel that my life is one big adventure, with having lived in four different countries (England- from birth till the age of thirteen, Singapore- from the age of thirteen till eighteen, and now Wales (for university) and Spain - where 'home'  has been since December due to my parents moving here... resulting in me coming 'home' to Spain during my holidays). The friends I made in Singapore can all relate to this, as they also have lived in various countries. Our conversations often consist of sharing our feelings towards our live's as 'third culture kids', and similarly we feel that we don't 'belong' anywhere. That it gets so complicated when somebody asks you where your home is! I often get upset over it. Purely because I feel that home is Singapore for me, simply because I spent my adolescent years there and spent the most important of my 'developing' years there. I am the person I am today because of my five years in that beautiful little island, and I miss it incredibly, and still consider it my home.

 However, now, technically I live in Wales, yet my parents live in Spain, and i'm half english (half my family living in England) and half spanish (half my family living in Spain), yet I still consider Singapore to be 'home' even though it's been a whole year since I lived there D: ....do you see how complicated it all is for me!? haha ^^ Anyway, as you can see it does frustrate me a lot, feeling like I don't belong anywhere, and being so confused as to where to call home. However i'm in the process of learning and accepting that maybe yeah... I don't belong anywhere in particular, but instead that I belong in many places. That I have many homes rather than just one... and well when I look at it like that I feel better and I don't feel so 'lost' in the world, but instead, I feel more connected to it. If that makes any sense??? ^^

But anyway, the point I was getting at...

Even though occasionally I do get upset feeling like I don't really belong anywhere, I've always really appreciated the life i've had, all the wonderful places i've lived and all the beautiful places i've been able to visit, all the extraordinary people i've met, and all the incredible memories I have made ♥

I've began to look at my parent's move to Spain as an opportunity for me to greater explore my spanish side, and therefore I intend to make the most of my time here. Unfortunately I don't speak fluent spanish, and i've always hated the fact that I can't! My dad speaks fluent spanish, but as my mum is english, he never spoke to my sister and I in Spanish, and therefore, sadly we don't speak the language fluently. I'm trying to improve my spanish, and, obviously being here pretty much four to six months of the year is helping me achieve that, slowly ^^ Another reason i'm so grateful for my parents' move to Spain is that i'm able to see my family sooo much more than I was able to when I lived all the way in South East Asia. I'm really enjoying spending a lot of time with mis abuelos, and my aunt, uncle and younger cousin ^^

As I am trying to get the most out of my time in Spain, I would really love to blog more about it, and document my time here as best I can, and to share with as many people that are interested! ^^

One of the things I really enjoy about being 'home' in Spain is the many breakfasts that I have out at cute little local cafes ^^ This morning I had a napolitana and a cola cao (a type of hot chocolate that i've had since I was little, and still have every time we go out for breakfast ^^).

The pretty fountain by the cafe. Look at the rainbow created by the water! ^^

Another thing I love about Spain is Tapas! I've always loved tapas, and I have so many fond childhood memories of late night tapas in Spain (when we lived in England, we'd come to our holiday house in Spain every holiday.... our holiday house became our permanent home in December when my parents moved here ^^). The food I had at lunch today was so delicious!  The restaurant's called Gambrinus, and all the dishes we shared were fish (because I don't eat other meat).

I think the first dish we had was called Gazón al adobo?? Not entirely sure of the spelling because I didn't check the menu. But anyway, no matter the name... it was delicious! ^^

The second dish was called chipirones a la plancha con cebollita (grilled squid with onions). Again, it tasted really good. However, it did still seem to have some sand left on it! Shows just how fresh out of the sea it was, haha ^^

I love this dish, and have had it before. Logan also loved it when he visited Spain in the winter holiday, I look forward to taking him to have it again when he visits for the second time (hopefully this coming winter...fingers crossed!) It's called pisto con huevo de codorniz (ratatouille with quail eggs).

So as you can see i've been enjoying the food here in España! ^^ I'll certainly be savouring it before I have to go back to the UK. Likewise with the sun! I'm getting the most out of my summer wardrobe whilst I still can! I'm not looking forward to winter, but I am looking forward to being able to wear my new boots! There's always a silver lining! Haha ^^ Just like my move to Spain... although I miss my home in Singapore, I'm enjoying my new home in Spain.

-Alyssa xo

Until Next Time Olivia!

I've been back home in Spain now for the past one and a half weeks, and I've been just chilling out at home really.... sunbathing, reading, hanging out with my family. Friday night I went out with my sister and her friends, and I had a really great time. Her friends were all really welcoming and friendly, and I had loads of fun. I had slightly a bit too much to drink, because the amount of alcohol in the drinks here are much higher than in the UK, and well I didn't really take that into consideration.... uhoh, haha ^^ But yeah it was super fun, unfortunately I didn't take any photos, so I can't share them with you! Maybe next time (if I get the chance to go out with them all again before I leave!).

Yesterday I had a really lovely day with Olivia. I've known Olivia since I was thirteen, and we met in our school (Overseas Family School) in Singapore. We were best friends, like sisters, throughout our years together in Singapore. Olivia moved to Barcelona, Spain three years ago, whilst I was still living in Singapore (I only moved from Singapore last summer). Her family moved further south (in Spain) last summer, and my family moved to southern Spain in December, so now our families live within an hour away, and I get to see her a couple of times a year! We met up for the first time in three years in April, and then we met up for lunch in July, and so yesterday was the third time we've spent time together since we were apart ^^

We spent the day at Marbella beach, and the weather was perfect. The sun was shining, and the heat was perfect, and the slight sea breeze made it all the better! We're both trying to soak up as much sun as possible before heading back to the UK for the start of University! I go back on the 20th of September and  am so not looking forward to leaving the sun behind! I belong in the heat! And I've seen that it's down to like 14 degrees celsius in Bangor at the moment! CAN'T DO IT! D:

 Anyway, here are some photos we took at the beach together ^^

I always have such a lovely time with Olivia and I love how we always have so much to talk about! We only see each other a few times a year, and because we're such busy bodies, always on the move, we always have so much to tell each other! I love spending time with her because our friendship means so much to me, and is a little piece of Singapore, that just makes me treasure it all the more! I won't be seeing her for a while now as we're both going off to university, but I look forward to keeping in touch and sharing each other's experiences in our second year of university! Neither of us can believe we're already going into our second years! Time certainly does fly when you're having fun!

-Alyssa xo

p.s I've also joined the bloglovin network, so you can follow me there if you like ^^

My Wonderful Last Days in the U.S

Part of me doesn't want to write this post... purely because I hate the fact that my time in the U.S has ended! However, I had such an incredible time during my last few days in Tennessee and in Chicago with Logan, and therefore it really does deserve to be documented and remembered.

The day following the day we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame (which I told you about in my last post) Logan and I and Logan's mum went shopping for stuff Logan needed for his new apartment in Chicago. That night was really lovely, Logan and I went to Cheekwood Botanical Gardens to see LIGHT, which is an outdoor art installation by a British artist named Bruce Munro. The gardens were covered in glowing optic fibre materials, and as you may already know, i'm a huge lover of pretty lights, so it was a really romantic date night for Logan and I ^^

The following day Logan, Logan's mum and I went shopping to buy the rest of Logan's college stuff. And we went to a restaurant called Peter's Sushi & Thai in Franklin for lunch, and I finally got to have my sushi I'd been craving! I hadn't had sushi since I lived in Singapore, which was an entire year ago! So you can only imagine how excited I was to finally have some ^^

Friday the 23rd, Logan, Logan's mum and brothers, and I went to Joe's Crab Shack in downtown Nashville for dinner. The crab came in big buckets and those who had the buckets were given bibs to wear. It reminded me of East Coast Seafood Centre in Singapore :') (Sorry about the terrible photo quality, they were taken on my phone).

The following day we went to The Parthenon replica in Nashville. The original parthenon is a Greek Temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. The photo below of Logan and I (although you can't see us very clearly!) has the replica of the Athena sculpture (again, sorry for the bad photo quality!).

After The Parthenon we went to a really huge mall called Opry Mills. Exciting! ^^ We went for dinner at TGI fridays and then went to a diner for dessert and I had a sundae, I just had to to have a typical american sundae in an american diner before my first time in U.S was over!

Our last day in Tennessee, Logan and I went to the mall and I finally bought myself a pandora bracelet! I've been wanting one for years, and I'm so happy I finally have one, and that it and my first charm were bought during my time in the U.S <3 I also bought my new boots that day, and they're so beautiful, i'm so in love haha ^^ The whole time I was in Tennessee I'd been wanting to buy myself a pair of knee high boots, every one wears them there and they all looked so good. As soon as I tired on the boots I just had to have them! ^^

For our last meal in Tennessee we went to a pizza restaurant called Mellow Mushroom. I really enjoyed staying with Logan's family and i'm going to miss them this year. I really hope I can visit again next year, fingers crossed I make some money this coming school year so that I can!

The following day Logan and I flew to Chicago. Although I was sad to leave Tennessee, I was also excited to be in Chicago again, and have the chance to explore it properly (seeing as the first time I was in Chicago it was only for about two hours, and the second time was only for one night; our stop off between Iowa and Tennessee). I was also really happy that my last few days in the U.S I'd be able to spend alone with Logan. My time in Chicago was incredible, and it was the perfect end to my trip.

Our flight to Chicago was delayed, so Logan and I ended up getting into the city in the late afternoon. Logan took me out to dinner at an italian restaurant and we shared two pastas :) The following day we woke up early and set off to go to the Adler Planetarium, which is a popular attraction in Chicago.

This is the Chicago flag :)

This is Gemini XII space craft, which was flown in 1966. Pretty cool!

 Piece of the moon! :O

We discovered a really cute little beach by the planetarium!

And Logan got a Chicago style hotdog by the beach  (I didn't, because I don't eat meat) ^^

I love this photo of Logan, he looks so cute ^^

That night we made stir fried vegetable noodles, and just chilled at home :)

The following day we went to the Shedd Aquarium, and oh my gosh it was cool! It was really big and there was so much to see and take photos of ^^

Beluga whales are the cutest! ^^ I just HAD to get my self a cuddly beluga teddy! ^^ (I honestly don't think i'll ever grow out of my cuddly toy obsession, meehee).

(Excuse the grossness of my face, I've just removed all my makeup. BUT MEET BELUGA^^)

The Shedd Aquarium was awesome, and I had such a lovely day there with Logan. The day ended perfectly too! We went to Cloud Gate (aka 'the bean') in Millenium Park, which was really cool. There were so many tourists there taking their photos with it. It's a big attraction in Chicago, so I'm really glad I got to go and experience it ^^

 And not that the day could get even better ... We got take away pizza on the way home, yum! ^^

The following day we went to The Field Museum. It's HUGE! I only got three quarters of the building into this shot! Logan and I were there for five hours, yet we didn't manage to go into all of the exhibits. Of what we did see though, it was really great, and super interesting. My favourite was the Lascaux Cave exhibit, however photography was prohibited and therefore I don't have any photos to share with you. The Lascaux Caves were used as a ritual site in southwestern France, and they are famous for their Paleolithic paintings dating back 17,300 years. It was a really neat exhibition, and Logan and I spent a good hour looking around it.

This is the world's largest, and most preserved T-Rex!

The Mummy exhibition was really interesting ^^ There were real mummies (as seen in the photo below), some were adult size mummies, really tiny infant ones (which were really sad to see) and animal mummies such as cats (Egyptians loved their cats!)

My dinky little feet compared to a dinosaur foot print ^^

The following day was yet another action packed day. We went shopping in the morning, and I went to my first ever Macy's store! It was absolutely huge! ^^

In the afternoon we went to The Willis Tower, and went up to the 103rd floor onto the sky deck. It was really cool to be able to see the whole of the city. There's a glass box that juts out of the side of the building that you can step out onto and allows you to look all the way down, and see the city below your feet. It was a truly unique experience, and I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to do it ^^

The birds eye view from the glass box!

 One of the many things that I love about Chicago is that they have artsy stuff every where, and it just adds so much colour to the city! I really loved these jeans with the flowers, there were more of them next to this one, and they really livened up the street.



Our last dinner together until December! It was perfect! Logan took me to a pizzeria called Lou Malnati's to have Chicago deep pan pizza. I had to have Chicago's signature dish before I left!

My last few hours with Logan the following day were perfect <3 He took me to Navy Pier, and I really loved it. Although the weather wasn't great, the sights from the pier were beautiful. I love water, and I love city skylines, so the two together was really pretty to see. 

After Navy Pier, it was time for us to go to the airport </3 Saying goodbye to Logan is always so difficult, even though we've been doing it for three years now. I don't think there will ever be a time that I don't cry at the airport when I'm hugging him goodbye. The moment you have to break your embrace is the hardest part, because you know it'll be your last for a long time. Long distance relationships are a lot of hard work, and I get asked all the time how Logan and I have managed to make it work, and how we manage to cope so well when we're apart. I always answer by saying that yeah, it is difficult, but it's absolutely, 100%, worth it, and that's all that matters to me in the end. The few months a year I get to spend with Logan are always the best times of my life, and I wouldn't trade him or our relationship for anything in the world <3 (I'm mushy yes I know ^^).

-Alyssa xo