THE CLAAAAAWWWWW

We all know that big cities are a seemingly endless source of possibilities, where you can find all kinds of plans: restaurants, experiences, museums, signature cocktail bars, speakeasies… But sometimes, no matter how much variety a city can offer you, we run out of ideas, alternatives or we simply resort to the same old places or plans that require eating or drinking.

Although experiencing different forms of leisure can sometimes get us stuck, a trick I have is to have a note on my phone dedicated solely and exclusively to places I would like to go to or that I would like to try. Every time I see something on the street or while scrolling on TikTok and I say: “wow, I have to go!” I write it down in my notes, because otherwise, the same thing always happens to me: I end up going to the same places because my mind goes blank and having this type of notes is great on those days when I can’t think of anything.

Guay Panda. Photo Dew Ariza.

One of those days when I felt like doing something different, something other than eating or drinking, so I did some research… And I found a very peculiar place –and, in my opinion, fun– and an alternative to the arcade places (I'll tell you about it soon…) but in a similar style.

If you ever have to wait for someone, need a quick plan, or kill time for the next plan you have and want to have a good time laughing at your lack of talent for machines, I recommend Guay Panda (c/ Fuencarral 100. Metro Bilbao / Tribunal)

Guay Panda. Photo Dew Ariza.

Guay Panda is a leisure place where the only thing there are are grappling hook machines. Yes, the typical machines where you have to catch an object with the grappling hook, like the one in Toy Story. Here you can practice your fairground skills (or try to prove that it's the machine's fault that you don't get anything) and get a stuffed animal.

Guay Panda. Photo Dew Ariza.

From adorable cats and toast stuffed animals, to dinosaurs and animals or horrible creatures (really ugly ones), the variety of stuffed animals you can get is quite wide. Also, if you get several you can exchange it for a bigger one (not my case).

If after several attempts, losing money and the little dignity you had left, you don't get anything, don't worry. After 5 attempts, if you don't manage to catch anything, you can choose a stuffed animal you like and take it home. A bit of a cheat in my opinion, but it made me take home a black cat stuffed animal, which I love. My talent is definitely not mastering the hook but I did find it fun.

And you? Would you try it?