Two Weeks, One Post, Let's Go! Sa Fira, Tagalog and into the Misty Mountains

Some of the keener ones amongst you reading this right now will probably have noticed that I haven't blogged for while. The simple reason for this is that there hasn't been much to talk about. However, to make up for my lack of activity I am going to put the best bits from the last two weeks into one blog post. Two weeks, One post, just over one hour to write it in before picking Simó and Júlia up from school. Let's do this!

Think I'll start by going back to two saturdays ago (23rd November 2013). After the customary lunch at the Poli in Sa Pobla, we headed into the town centre to check out an event called Sa Fira de Sa Pobla. Literally translated as 'The Fair' (seems appropriate seeing as Sa Pobla means 'The town'), Sa Fira is an event that happens in each of the major towns across Mallorca over the winter months and this saturday was Sa Pobla's turn. It's a time where the people of the town show off and sell their local produce and goods in the form of market stalls dotted around the town while dressed in traditional clothing. With all the interesting stalls, and the fun fair for the kids, there was something for everyone and despite the cold it made for a much better day than being sat around the house. My favourite stall by far was the one promoting an Animal Shelter in which an Animal Carer managed to get two tiny pigs to do all kinds of tricks including pushing a trolley and closing a file cabinet which was both really impressive and adorable at the same time.

Marina riding with Spongebob and Patrick at the fun fair

Simó on the bumper cars (coches de choque)

Market stalls in the street

Poor donkey!

The main square of the town

All the kids on the train

Marta buying cheese

Pigging about

The week that followed although very grey cloudy and overcast did contain a few mini personal highlights. First of which, I finished the 20 Hour Video section of my online TEFL course meaning I now only have to complete the Review Assignment in the 50 Hour Teaching section to finish the course in its entirety. Freedom, I can nearly taste it. Speaking of tasting things, on Tuesday's weekly wander I sat in the Plaza Mayor and had Chocolate con churros, for me this is an essential to do whenever I'm in Spain and it was quite pleasant to sit outside and watch the preparations for the upcoming Christmas markets.

FOOD OF THE FORTNIGHT: Chocolate con Churros, always a winner

Another cheaky courtyard picture, just begging for a photo op

Thursday as always was a good day, I bought Jake Bugg's new album 'Shangri-La' which I have now reviewed in my first article for Pyramid Online which is a music blogging site, here's the link: http://pyramid-online.com/2013/12/01/album-review-shangri-la-by-jake-bugg/. Regular viewers of my blog will be aware that most Thursday nights I am likely to be going out into the centre of Palma to check out the nightlife and the music that's on show. However this week I felt particularly tired so instead I decided to go and watch a film in Spanish, yet another first for me. The film in question was called 'Metro Manila' which I saw at the cinema in S'Escorxador- a small shopping centre/restaurant/community centre complex just 5 minutes walk from our flat. I chose to watch the film as for each ticket sold a small donation would be made to help victims of the recent Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines where the film is set and Marta and Josep had told me that the cinema is a non-commercial one which shows many types of Foreign and Spanish films rather than the big Hollywood blockbusters, a bit like the Cornerhouse in Manchester. Basically, by seeing this film, everyone was a winner, I made a donation towards the Typhoon victims and a small business and in return I got to test out my Spanish skills. I don't want to leave any spoilers but Metro Manila, directed by the Oscar nominee Sean Ellis, tells the story of how a family from the Northern Philippines moved to the Filipino capital of Manila to try and improve their quality of life only to be faced with abject poverty and desperate living conditions. To pay the bills, the mother becomes an erotic dancer and the father (Oscar) gets a job working for a security company that transfers large amounts of money to different locations and once the money gets involved that's when things get dangerous... I'll leave it there but I definitely recommend it. It's a really well directed film with Sean Ellis doing much of the directing, producing and even camera work, very committed effort with a compelling plot and fantastic cinematography-the opening first five minutes alone is like watching a HSBC commercial and reminds you just how amazing Asia is. What I hadn't bargained for when deciding to see the film was that due to its setting the film was fully spoken in Tagalog (the dialect of the Philippines) with Spanish subtitles. This was all very strange for me as when I was growing up in Hong Kong I was often surrounded in people talking in Tagalog like my nanny May and Mum says back then that I could work out some of what they were saying and watching this film is the only time I've really come across it since. When hearing Tagalog, it sounds like a mixture of Spanish and English words with a bit of Asian dialect so when watching the film it made for a very funny linguistic experience-listening to Tagalog, reading subtitles in Spanish, translating subtitles in my head into English then hearing the odd English word in the Tagalog! I was indeed surprised at how I could follow about 95% of the Spanish subtitles and the film as a whole, a real indicator of how much my Spanish has improved in the past year.

My ticket for the film

Film poster

Finally I'm on to this weekend just gone, the eagerly anticipated hiking trip in the Serra de Tramuntana with the family friends 'Los Padres' who we'd met up with back in October for a footy match (http://fraserontour.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/ktberfest-yahh-nightswimming-football.html). For my second visit to the Serra De Tramuntana we hiked up to the Castell D'Alaró (Alaró Castle) which took a very reasonable two hours or thereabouts to do it in. The site is a ruin of an old castle dating from the 15th century that once stood overlooking the town of Alaró and the surrounding mountainous area including Puig Major, the tallest mountain in Mallorca which was appropriately snow-capped for the season. Yes, snow in Mallorca! weird right!? The miserable weather and bitter cold couldn't detract from the beauty of the area and as designated family photographer I used the opportunity to take plenty of photos which you will have seen if you're lucky enough to have me on facebook. I couldn't help comparing the ruins of the castle and the mountains around to what I've seen of Macchu Picchu, definitely worth considering a visit if you want to something slightly different in Mallorca. We spent the night up on the mountain in a youth hostel style place next to a small chapel that's just above the ruins where the families and I spent some quality time together. We played tons of board and card games including Uno, Chess, Ludo and of course their favourite game-Rummikub before having an excellent meal to round the day off. Overnight, the mist and fog descended over the mountain with plenty more rain and cold then when morning came we were treated to a rare glimpse of sunlight followed by an even rarer sight- a rainbow. I don't think I've ever seen a rainbow at such close range before and what's more special was that you could see the end of it. SPOILER ALERT-There's no pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. After a sumptuous Paella lunch, we headed back down in some more glorious sunshine to finish off what was a very enjoyable weekend and something I definitely didn't imagine doing before I came out here.

Start of the walk

On route

Halfway point

rocky trail

Hello MTV, welcome to my crib 

Castell d'Alaró

Me with Puig Major in the background

I'm on top of Mallorca!

rainbow on Sunday morning, doesn't get any more perfect than that

Overview of the castle ruins

Sunday's Paella

Group photo

Family photo

On the way back down, totally pulling off the headgear

Well that's it for now, exactly 12 days until I leave for home and I will make sure I spend them in the best way possible. I'll leave you with a humorous photo from today. It's clear Eroski supermarkets must have read my blog post last month (http://fraserontour.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/50-days-50-observations-of-englishman.html) in which I complained about the lack of tea in their supermarkets as I came across this while getting a few things earlier.

FP

#FraserOnTour

Tea, tea and more tea! looks like my prayers have been answered

Never come across this brand before, strange name, never knew tea could have that kind of effect on people