Loem Pia ! Please visit my city as often as you like, bookmark it if you can, and maybe... it can grow into a respectable city in the states =D For those who are clueless with the naming, Loem Pia is taken from Loempia (Lumpia), a tasty delicacy which Semarang (my hometown) quite famous of. Sometimes, people will refer Semarang as lumpia city =D

So after a year I'm going home afterall. You know, the term 'going back' or 'pulang' really depends on whose the person I'm speaking with. If I'm speaking to someone here (I'm writing this while waiting for connecting flight in Atlanta) in the states, most likely I'm refering to going back to Semarang. But whenever I speak to my family or old friends, 'pulang' really means going back to US. Anyways.. it doesn't really matter, does it? It's true that I have only one hometown, a city where I spent all my childhood... a place where all my childhood dreams and memories were written. But seriously, after all this while... I think I started to call Columbus my second home... *sigh* Uhm, I dunno what else to write now, so I'm putting my journey here, for those who care to read.. I will try to always keep this updated, but of course it depends on internet connection.

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Okay, my back is stiff, my feet have been yelling for some relaxation. It’s time to get some rest…

Just transiting in Barcelona for one hour, then we depart to Amsterdam. Nothing to do in Schiphol, but we must wait for almost 5 hours. So window shopping is the only thing to do. Buy liqueur for dad, and a power ball for myself :P

Seville is a place which Flamengo dance come from. We visit Maria Lusia Park, Andalusia Government Office, Spanish Square, America Square, and… Flamengo Dance Show. great one :P

Yay, at last we are in Portugal! Do not know what you think, but in my opinion, Portugal is even worse than Spain in term of discipline and cleanliness. Still, they are far better than we on Indonesia are :( We passed the Golden Gate when entering Lisbon (yep, it is identical with the one in San Francisco), and then went to a restaurant. On 4 pm, we were already inside Estadio da Luz! Hell yeah! ^_^ There are some games on the outside of the stadium, win a cap from a sponsor there, but many others also win this prize. Short story, the opening ceremony began at around 18.45. The opening ceremonial was superb, Nelly Furtado came and sang Força, the euro 2004’s theme song. She’s pretty... isn’t she? Saw Christiano Ronaldo warming on the field. And he entertains all the spectators with his ball skills :p love that… The game is on, and it was… rather boring I should say ~_~ The Greek defense has been a problem for every team, and that include Portugal. And then, it happened yet again. A quick counterattack from one side to another, resulting a corner kick. And Greek used that opportunities to score the only goal in that final match. 1-0 for Greek, and all the “Hellas” supporter gone wild ‘til morning ^^ A night to remember by every Greek in all over the world

Hmm… from Toledo, we went to Caceres, where we could eat, and see some architecture. We also see how to make a unique gold medal. Using special technique to decorate it with pure gold leather, they could produce a high quality gold medal. We also gone to the downtown, see the local fair, and admiring the Saint Maria Cathedral. It is a very old church, with a unique building style, could not bring the name to mind, sorry.

On the trip from Madrid to Caceres, we passed Toledo, and saw some interesting places there. We went to Puerto del Sol, Toledo Cathedral, Alcazar, Toledo’s Town Hall, and el Greco’s Painting. Not much that I could tell from them, ‘coz they are near each other (we went on foot), and the architecture are using the same style. On the other hand, El Greco’s painting is fabulous. I cannot recall the name, but it tells about the funeral of the city’s former major. If I am not mistaken, his name is De Orgaz. This painting is fresco, in other word, wall painting. That is why, the painting will never move out from this place. From the local guide, everyone will conclude, that Greco is a pure genius. He made the painting with a very high detail, natural color, and extremely high imagination, which is amazing. I could not write the history of the painting now, but later on, if I found the full history of the painting, I will post it here.

Different from Amsterdam, Spain is sunny. The temperature is not very different from Indonesia, but the air is very dry. I think, Spain’s weather is the same as in Hawaii. We went to a coliseum, where matadors risking their live by fighting bulls, not an ordinary bull… but huge one; let us say… about 300-500 kg each? After taking some photos there, quickly we went to a place called “Palacio Real de Madrid”. Yep, that is Madrid’s Royal Palace. There are many statues, paintings, fresco, antique tables, and decoration from centuries ago. Wonderful architecture, but it is shame that they do not treat it as the English do with their palaces. There are many bird nests, and we could say that they do not hire enough man to clean the rooms. Sometimes, you can see dusts here and there… Oh yeah, the Greece beats Czech! hohohoo… what a surprise…

Got a chance to test a free internet access here in Changi - Singapore, while waiting for transit. The gate will be opened soon, so I won't tell you many things. One thing for sure, this airport is huge. There are so many hot spot for computers/notebook with wireless card. But if you don't have it, it will be such a waste. The stores are also great! Okay, see you in Amsterdam. Hope I could get another free inet access there. Ja.. mata ne