Meet Queenstown, the “Adventure Capital of the World!” Need I say more? This is where I had chosen to spend another bornday; the charming resort-town of QUEENstown. With a name marked with royalty, I thought it’d only be fitting.
After checking into our room in the fabulous Rees Hotel, we were immediately greeted by our awesome lake-view balcony…we were surrounded by majestic mountains, as our room/balcony was nestled along the shores of the crystal clear Lake Wakatipu. Ahhhhhhh, simply breathtaking!
A couple of balcony views…
Off to the Skyline Gondola ride for a dandy view of Queenstown – mountains n’ lakes n’ streams, oh my!! …
Atop….
A bit ways from home!….
NZ’s National Bird (not fruit), the KIWI!!!
Phenomenal 8 course dinner, courtesy of The Rees Restaurant…
Delicious lake-view breakfast buffet of limitless yummies!!
Hopping on the infamous Shotover Jet! Zoom! Zoom! ZOOOOOM!!
Next, 15 minutes – hang gliding atop Coronet Peak with Tandems Ltd…
Back down on the ground…. here’s a few shots of the charming (tourist attractions driven) lil’ town…
Woke to catch the 8:30am bus from Rotorua to Manukau (to be picked up by Lundy’s extended relatives).
Shortly after noon, arrived in Manukau, where we were met by L’s uncle…. who drove us back to his place to meet the rest of the fam.
After a lil chit chat, and showing of our skydiving and hang gliding videos, we were called to the feasting table for some lunch: rice, duck, bbq’ed pork and fish/veggies soup —– felt like I was home!
After which, we took a walk to check out the vegetable and fruit garden — sweet and juicy plums, peaches, persimmons and various mints, cabbage, chili peppers, squash! YUM!
I got to really know their family dog, Levi as well as a 5 yr old girl cousin in the fam .. playing random games with a tennis ball down the driveway.. had to butter her up a bit..and win her friendship…. After I was victorious in that, she wouldn’t leave my side…and eventually got a lil’ jealous when she saw me playing with other little ones!
Meanwhile, L got to know his uncles “good neighbor,” Graham, as they chit chatted away in the driveway; Uncle and Graham had been neighbors for many years to the point where they considered themselves as “family;” Graham was invited to the evening bbq..and of course he took us up on the offer with a wine bottle in hand.
Early evening came and the party started with a few opened bottles of Corona.. which later turned into some Kiwi Beer…and eventually Wine and Champagne! This family was going all out!!
Beverages were met with grill-fulls of lamb, steak, pork, fresh mussels…. and side dishes of fried rice, sticky rice, potato salad, etc.!
GREAT FUN was had by all into the weeee hours of the night… filled with tasty food, thirst quenching beverages of sorts, story telling….and laughter!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Woke and were out the door by 9:40am’ish to visit L’s relative’s homes for thank you’s and farewells.
With just shy of (2) hours to kill before L had to be dropped off for his flight out, his cousins took us on a speedy tour of Auckland tour to include the beautiful viewpoint of Mission Bay and drive-by of its infamous, 328 meters (1076 ft)-tall, Sky Tower.
We returned to the house and picked up our bags…and started the 2-car’ full parade to see L off.
We eventually made our way to Auckland’s International airport at our designated time of 12:40pm in time for what we had thought was L’s 3:30pm departure flight….. only to learn that the flight was ACTUALLY at 2:30pm and that his flight had already begun boarding!!! After that quick episode of confusion and panic, and some hearty farewell hugs from his fam and myself , L managed to get himself on board just in the nick of time!
Thereafter, it was my turn to express my appreciation to the fam’s extremely sincere hospitality, and was given a ride to my hostel (another YHA spot) in the city center by L’s generous cousin.
After check-in, and collecting myself with the thought of being back on the solo-trek (not so easy, especially being so accustomed to having a partner 24/7 for the last 2 weeks), I headed down to the Internet Room to book myself a bus ride for the next morning up to the Bay of Islands.
Timely enough, there were 2 young Austrian lads, Andreas and Chesco (short for Francesco), who struck up conversation..and yada yada, I was invited to join them for their evening roaming in the big city. PS. I’m no fan of Auckland…”just a big ol’ city……… once ya seen one, ya kinda’ve seen ‘em all…” …and yup, that’s come from this decade-long New Yorker!! PPS. NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU… but sometimes, you ARE a beast!!
We grabbed a quick bite to eat and were off to…….. the nearby PHARMACY! YUP! We were rushed for time, because well, errrthang in NZ closes super early..and we were nearing the 5pm mark… that’s call-time for alotta places, including this grand pharmacy! Why pharmacy? Welps, because Andreas needed a few items, to which I ended playing, “token girl with a couple dudes,” in terms of being asked for advice on random items, ie. bug spray, sunscreen….and eventually a belt….and Europe/NZ adapter….and flip flops ….and sunglasses!! I was selling the entire store to them! At this point, the owner of the shop, officially locked his doors…but was nice enough to shout out, “you guys can buy the whole store, I don’t mind staying later..” So… more stuff on the counter…and Chesco had made a comment to the owner about hiring me as Sales Manager… I laughed and said, “Seriously! I should be getting commission!” The owner jetted back after locking the doors, grabbed a chewy peanut sesame bar and put it in my hand…and said, “There’s your commission. Come back Monday morning for an interview!” HA! Good sense of humor all around!
Aaaaaaaaafter that, we walked down to the wharf and stumbled upon the Minus 5 Degree Ice Bar. One of 5 locations around the world (Vegas, Gold Coast, Sydney, Queenstown and Auckland), this spot wasn’t so bad of a deal, for the novelty of it. We chose the $35NZD package…that gave us a long coat and boots, along with 2 drinks inside the ice bar. What is it? It is EXACTLY what it sounds like. A (in this case, small) room, made of ice all around — meaning, bar, bench, walls, sculptures, EVEN the cups.. 100% ice!!…. Andreas quickly read the menu and suggested for me to get the “Ice Queen.” I laughed out loud…. Is my royalty THAT obvious??!! HA! And on the second round, I went for the Frisky Penguin…… YUM! We ended up staying in there for a good hour and 20min… only to find out that the “regulation time was max’ed at 30minutes…” OOOOPS!! AND THEY SHOULD DONE BETTA IN INFORMING / REGULATING that suggestion!! Phew!! Thank goodness, we came out alive!
Next up, dinner on the waterfront at a restaurant called, ummm.. “Waterfront”..and I had myself an alright beef burrito.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Woke and caught the 8:30am Intercity/Northliner (GREAT GREAT!!!) bus up to Paihia / Bay of Islands.
Arrived in Paihia around 12:30pm and checked into the first hostel I found on “backpacker’s road”: King’s Road. I got myself a bed at the Saltwater Lodge (good stay, CLEAN and friendly!) and made my way to the sands.
Evening time, I shopped around for a good “Swim with Dolphins” deal. I mean, there are a good handful of different companies that do this, and they pretty much all amount to the same: $89NZD. HOWEVER, I found a ticket seller with a slashed price of $80NZD. I popped my head in there and asked my questions and his suggestions for which boat would allow me the best chances of swimming with my smiley finned friends. Dude was super informative and I said, well then, “SIGN ME UP WITH AWESOMENZ!” (smaller boat) for a session tomorrow AM (AM gives better chances to see dolphins)!…and the company was called AWESOME! SOOOO, I was already so giddy with the fact that I saved $9NZD, esp since EVERY OTHER PLACE had for $89. I was told to pay the 80, then tomorrow, if conditions allowed for swimming, I’d pay the skipper an extra $30 to go in. Made sense to me!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Awoke and arrived at the dock at 7:45am for 8am departure. Boat ride was of course beautiful and scenic and all that jazz. Saw MANY dolphin friends in their natural habitat in the bay…and I caught one of them, full body, it the air, mid jump, on camera!! I was TOTALLY STOKED!
We were allowed to head into the water 3 times at appropriate locations, (cleared by the skipper) to flap our tail fins with our friendly finned friends. The water itself was a bit murky, and those dolphins are swift creatures…so to this day, I am not sure if I was around and over one… I know that on the first go, I swam too far out and the so the 2nd round, I stuck near the boat..and 3rd, I kept getting water in my snorkel/goggle….but whatever! The experience was worth it!
After our swim, we were unloaded onto another dock for a 20min chill out session, for quick picnic and/or quick hike up to a fab look-out point…. with a complimentary Just Juice juicy box! (L and I lived off of Just Juice! MMMmmmmmm! mango/orange and mango/pineapple…) So, I opted for the latter and chatted about with some other swimmers, on our way up to the viewpoint…… despite the path being filled with sheep poo…. the lookout was super serene, peaceful and beautious!
Got back on the boat…. and drum roll, the skipper never came to collect my $30! Soooo I scored a good $39 “discount/savings” from my life-long dream excursion of swimming with dolphins!! SCOREEEEEEE!!
Got back to Paihia and decided to trek over to Ti Beach for the rest of the afternoon.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Grabbed some chicken n’ chips for lunch and took a $11NZD roundtrip ticket to “Romantic Russell” — historic, charming lil’ seaside village about a good 15min ferry ride from Paihia.
Hiked up to another lovely viewpoint, and trekked over to the “other side” of Russell, home to the fabulousssss Jones Beach! << Recommend this!!!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Woke, did some internet ‘ish, hit the post office, grabbed a grilled ham sandwich and returned to Ti Beach.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Woke to some clouds (first time in my stay in the Bay.. I guess it knew that I was leaving later this afternoon…)…and there was some sprinkling rain too! So, I decided to be productive and load the rest of my flicks on FB (bc doing it in the ‘Hai would just take uber long via the vpn)… hit the post office for last minute send-outs…and I returned to the hostel to stay dry.
4:30pm bus return to Auckland (= BLAH!!)
Arrived in Auckland at 8pm, walked down to BASE Hostel on Queen Street — figuring I should give the other, more famous chain of NZ hostels a try…and was rather disappointed. I think it also came from the fact that I was back in a big city setting, the hostel was HUGE… and felt super college dorm-like, and despite its supersize hostel, there was only 1 chic at reception…and well the accommodations weren’t the worst I’ve been in (Come on, I’ve done Asia…) but! it was certainly the worst of all that I’ve stayed in. Soooooo YHA Chain gets a 2 for 2 from me….and BASE gets a 0 for 1. Winner: Team YHA.
Friday, February 19, 2010
A putzed around for a bit, caught a lil catnap and was out the door at 5:20am for the 5:35pm Airbus Shuttle ($14NZD for backpackers) to the airport…. pick up stop, conveniently located just around the corner from Base. (I’ll give Base for its central location, but that’s about it.)
8pm (‘Hai local time aka 1am NZ time)… I landed back in Shang’eezy…. super loooonggg day of travel!!
Today and still…..
Daydream about New Zealand…. ho hum….. pictures/videos soon!!
And here we go again… kudos LB on the ghostwriting… and eventually my tweaks….
Oh my sooo, here I am again..this time at blazing hot Lake Wanaka. Well I’m going to make this report as brief/cliff notes as possible due to my exhaustation from the extreme adventure activities Mimi and I have done.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Drove 3 hours from Te Anau to Milford Sound and the view was absoluetley AMAZING!!! Several thousands feet snow capped mountains with turquoise-rivers rivers flowing into the pine forest dense valley with a small 2 lane highway snaking it’s way there.
The drive was filled with crazy tight twists & turns, so TIGHT that when I made a sharp left turn on a bend…our bug spray and pen flew out the open window! We were only driving 15km/hr but Mimi can attest that she had to keep her elbows inside the car to avoid “brushing” against the mountain wall.
Then we drove through the one lane Homer Tunnel through a mountain and eventually made our way to Milford Sound.
Eventually we made it to Milford Sound harbor, where stood mountains, dense ferns and trees, and the inlet of Sea Water from the Tasman sea.
Mimi & I took a 1.5 hour cruise (*sound like Gilligan’s Islands) around Milford sounds and here are the highlights: Surrounded by High Mountains, Sea Lions, Light house, dotted with water falls as high as the Empire State building and even DOLPHINS!
Then Mimi & I took a long well deserved nap in the van for 2 hours and drove back to Te Anau for another 3 hours to camp out.
With the recommendation from Pete (Soan’s fiance) we had dinner at RedCliff.
We started out with battered oyster served with Soy Sauce and chives.
Mimi’s main Entree consisted of: Medium-Rare cooked Hare servered on top of a heaping pile of sweet potatoes and the most amazing sauteed Shitake Mushrooms EVER!..cooked in olive oil and garlic, served with a 2007 Pinot Noir.
My taste buds enjoyed: Venison (deer steak) laid on top of the same amazing sauteed Shitake Mushrooms, with large beets and soft & moist turnips, and I washed it down with a 2007 Reisling White Wine.
For Dessert we had good ol’ finish Rice Pudding served with local strawberries and cream….absoluetly DEELUSH!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
The next morning, we went grocery shopping at “Fresh Choice” in Lake Te Anau then drove to Lake Wanaka. (left at 9:30am and arrived at Lake Wanaka airport at 12pm)
Mimi & I enjoyed a lunch of crackers, cheese, Pancetta (Italian Bacon), Dijon Honey Mustard, and 3 cheese Black Pepper Corn & Chive Cheese. Then washed it down with water and Mango/Orange “Just Juice”.
We checked in at “Sky Dive Lake Wanaka“ at 1pm by the Lake Wanaka Airport.
After selecting the 12,000 feet dive (45 seconds) option with 2 DVDs (a video of your free falling with your tandem parter and another video taken from a seperate sky diver) and Free T-shirt. We signed the liability waiver (including medical condition notification) and a personalize sound track of our 2 DVDs!
Mimi & I both took seperate video interviews as a our Intro for our Sky Diving DVDs.
Then we hopped on a small puddle jumper single propeller airplane and took off the air field.
The plane was circling around the airport, every increasing it’s speed to catch the altitude of 12,00 ft; during this time we got a great view of Lake Wanaka and town, several smaller lakes, flowing of the river, green grasses, cows, sheeps, clouds and of course the surrounding Mountains!
The plane ride was pretty smooth;there was 11 people in about a 20sq ft space with a ton of parachute gear.
During the flight, I was actually really clam and relax throughout the ordeal, even ask Mimi herself. I kept going over the instructions for the pre-jump.
1. Put your legs behind the plane.
2. Move your hips forward.
3. Lay your head back on the right shoulder of your sky dive partner…then off you go.
I heard the constant “thump, thump” of the propeller engine, then the door on my left hand side, slowly opens, the gush of the cold 12,000 ft altitude wind fills in the tight compartment of the plane. I heard my heart beat but I remained calm and breathed in slow-consistent patterns.
Being the FIRST PERSON out of the plane, I know I had to set the example and did my best to follow the instructions.
As instructed, I reached up and grabbed the cold white metallic pole above me on the ceiling of the plane’s interior.
Then I sat down on the edge of the plane and feeling the gash of the wind go across my body.
I tucked my legs tight underneath the body of the plane, with my breathing picking up pace…moved my hips ever slowly forward and then laid my head back on my tandem partners shoulder.
Then ALL of sudden, the coolness under my butt from the plane was gone and I felt nothing but a push forward,..then I tumbled and rolled forward into a tight flip.
Next thing I know; I see clouds flowing passed my face, then the hurdling speed of wind going across my body as I flew down to the ground at 200km/hr.
My instructors tapped my shoulders; indicating that I can release my hands from harness and be free to do what I want.
I instinctly started dancing with my hands as I was ecstatic of “flying” again through the wind (went Hang Gliding at Queenstown a couple of days ago).
The surrounding view is totally breathless…words can’t express so it I won’t go any further.
45 seconds later; I float down in a parachute and land on my bum on the field.
I actually remained calm throughout the experience and I have the DVDs to prove it!
Overall I must honestly say, it was one of the most thrilling and exhillerating events in my LIFE.
After sky diving; it was soooo hot in the upper 80s; we took a dip in the cool refreshing Lake Wanaka.
We rented a kayak and let’s just say that was an ADVENTURE itself…as Mimi would put it “It was supposed to be Relaxing!!!”…however the winds from the mountain proved to make it another adventure…our shoulders & arms got a work out…which would be needed later in our next Adventure (“Deep Canyoning in Niger River”)
After we battled the elements of Wind & Water, we arrived onto shore with my broken sandals.
We got a well deserved ice cream dip: Mimi had “Cookies-N-Cream” and I had a “Hokey Pokey” (New Zealand ice cream of Vanilla with chips & bits of caramel…hhhhmm”.
So we ate our ice cream on the park bench as we watch the sunset over the mountains and lake…HOW ROMANTIC!
Then we settled into the Holiday Park for our camper van and prepared a home cook meal of Spaghetti, Spanish Chorizo and Fresh Garlic bread; with “Speichter” to wash it down. “Local New Zealand beer…kinda like an IPA).
After the scrumbtious meal, we settled in the night to gain our rest for “Deep Canyon of Niger Creek”.
I wrote A LOT MORE than I originally intended and I apologize if it takes to much time. However, I highly recommend sky diving and ice cream if you’re in the mood for adventure & relaxation! Till the next time….Cheers Mate!
-Lundy
Sooo basically…… I ditto the above, aside from me being #2 off of the plane for skydiving…. To be honest, I was totally chilled out about it all… wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be/should be. I more or less, had a “ain’t nuttin to it, but to do it!” mentality. Wanaka Skydive staff and instructors were super calm, professional, funny and fun to work with. I most certainly recommend them for sure! But I will admit, after I saw Lundy just tumble off like a lil’ nugget, I had the immedite: “oh shit, I’m next” thought whirling ’round my head. But I really didn’t have time to react to my thoughts as my tandem instructor, Eric said.. “Ok Mimi, move to the edge.” I did as told, tucked my legs under as had been advised, flipped my head back and gave him the “OK, GO-SMILE”….AND DOWNNNNNN I WENT!!! I closed my eyes for the first .2 seconds but quickly opened them because I knew closing would just give me a more heightened/faster fall experience, and plus, I wanted to enjoy the freeeeeeee fallllllll riiiiiiide. Eyes Wide Open…… the scene was beautimousssssssssssss as described by L. I was totally rockin’ out to the camera lens (esp with Mac, my cameraman who flew besides us to capture it all — he was super charged up in getting me all pumped wayyyy up in 12,000 ft above ground!!!) Landing was super smooooooth…….. and all I can say is, the next time…. I’ll opt for higher!
Monday, February 8, 2010
We just finished another magnificent adventure of deep canyoning today, which involved: hiking, climbing, waterfall abseiling (repelling with harness; think: rock climbing), jumping, sliding, zip-lining, swimming through AMAZING creeks, crevices, gorges etc etc…
Another round of updates, courtesy of Lundy’s quick thinking bullet points because, frankly, I am just too lazy!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Drove 3 hours from Queenstown to Manapouri/Te Anau to visit my old college friend Soan.
Mimi & I, picked up a bottle of Champange & NZ Merlot for Soan’s fiance Pete’s birthday.
We arrived at Soan’s fiance’s family farm around 3pm NZ Time (21 hours difference in PST, 18 hours different EST)
Soan’s future in-laws consisted of: Pete (fiance’), Keith (Pete’s dad), “Mum” (Pete’s mom…hehe…so cute!) and the family sheep dogs: Katie & Jess.
Soan’s future in-laws were soooooooo generous in sharing their 1,000 acre farm filled with 50 Bulls, Cattle, several white & red huns, dogs and over 4,000 sheep!!!!!
We all enjoyed a cup of tea, strawberry milkshake, chocolate brownies, and desserts during Tea time, a great reprieve from the hot sun.
The farm was absolutely amazing, totally organic/free range farming which is a rarity in the states.
We saw how Keith “shaired” a 6 month sheep, (shaving a sheep with motor power razor) and threw it into a huge pile of wool.
Then Pete took us in his pickup truck and we went off roading on his family’s farm to see the bulls/cattle and sheep free range over the 1,000 acre farm…it totally felt like I was in a Kiwi safari!
Afterwards, we got a chance to play with the sheep and the pet the sheep dog which round up the sheep. ( Jess barks to herd the sheep, while Katie uses the cool/calm approach of staring them down).
Keith and Mum worked exceedingly hard in the blazing hot sun (in mid 80s) 12 hours a day for 7 days a week while their in their 60’s!!!!
We departed from the farm at 5pm, so that Pete & Soan can make their way to the Lake Wanake Music Festival to celebrate “Pete’s b-day weekend”.
From the long hard day of hanging out on the farm, Mimi and I rewarded ourselves with a gourmet “Godfather” Italian Pizza dinner by the lake front at 6pm…hhhhhhmmm..
After the tour, we settled into a camp ground with full bathroom/bathing facilities, electric (to plug in our camper van to run the refridgerator) and a play ground set.
Finished the night drinking beer on a swing set and looking at the night sky to see shooting stars!
As if living in China for my 2nd year, being lost in translation and slammed with cultural differences is not adventurous enough…
As if sleeping in a hut in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia after hours of horseback riding for my first time was not adventurous enough…
As if camel trekking for my first time and camping out in the Gobi Desert was not adventurous enough…
As if zip-lining through The Great Wall was not adventurous enough…
As if jungle trekking through Taman Negara, Malaysia was not adventurous enough…
As if traveling miles on an overnight sleeper bus was not enough…
As if backpacking through South East Asia on the solo for my first time was not adventurous enough…
I think this year’s mega-trip is gonna be a good contender to all adventures aforementioned, as since I’ll be heading to “THE ADVENTURE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD,” NEW ZEALAND! Whoooo!!
Prior to leaving the States the first time around, I had a hit list of countries on this part of the world (and so far, I’ve done pretty well with just a few more to make complete), but I had also put Australia/New Zealand on the “if I get around/chance to it, it’d be lovely” list… But lookey here now, NZ moves up a few ranks… and I’m not complaining about it one bit!
I’ll be joined by a friend from “It Never Rains in Southern California,” Lundy (meeting up with Stateside friends seems to be a running theme this year with my travels; far cry from last year, when I either trekked solo or with folks here in the ‘Hai) and we’ll be renting a campervan, roadtrippin’ through both South and North Islands for 3 weeks! (actually 2 for him, 3 for me.) QUITE UBERLY EXCITED!! (Lundy is quite the roll w/the punches-adventure enthusiast, so this trip will be action packed, I’m sure! I just hope I survive it all in one piece!! Ha!)
Who would’ve ever thunk this city gal could do such things?? Now, I’ll get to add: living out of a van to the list! My oh My! But let’s be serious now, we won’t be living out of the mobile home throughout the entire time…. only for the few pitstops along the way to our final bigger city destinations, where we’ve got a few snazzy ooh la la spots lined up!
So what’s on the itinerary of our own version of Road Rules New Zealand, you may ask? Here be the rough sketch answer:
South Island:
Christchurch
Mt. Cook / MacKenzie Country / Twizel
Lake Tekapo
Queenstown / Lake Wakatipu
Te Anau
Milford Sounds
Lake Mahinapua
Fox Glaciers
Franz Josef Glaciers
Hokitika
North Island:
Rotorua
Auckland
Coromandel Peninsula
Bay of Islands
Sights / Sounds / Actions:
An island-country known for the set of the Lord of the Rings film, beautious glaciers, lakes, mountains, quaint city dwellings, farmland, campgrounds etc. offers mucho!!! including: sky diving, bungy jumping, jet boating, kayaking, gondola riding, luge’ing, tramping, cruising, caving, camping, hiking, beaching etc…. Let’s just say there’ll be more than enough to keep our hearts thumping, adrenaline rushing and bodies in motion!…. So take that, Road Rules!!! pshhh!
I’ll try my best to keep ya’ll updated as we trek along, but as always, don’t you fret.. I’ll have my gadgets to give a full report upon my return.
PS. Interesting Factoid:
The travel time/distance between Shanghai-NZ and Cali-NZ is just about the same…and actually slightly better flight deals coming from the States. So those of you stateside who think it’s too far…. umm…. I’m traveling the same amount of hours!! “Being on this side of the world” can be so deceiving!!
To all of my many fellow Aquarian friends… let us not forget why WE ARE PERFECT IN EVERY WAY…. Happy Birthday!
and always a goodie… (think: Steve Carell in 40 Year Old Virgin)….
When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius
The age of Aquarius
Aquarius!
Aquarius!
Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revalation
And the mind’s true liberation
Aquarius!
Aquarius!
When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius
The age of Aquarius
Aquarius!
Aquarius!
- “Age of the Aquarius” from album, Age of the Aquarius by 5th Dimension (05.1969)
So my homette, K is on production team (shout out to FLY Films) for Shanghai’s David Letterman equivalent show called, Asia Uncut with John Niermann. Fun stuff as it reminds me of my times in media… but anyhoots, I was invited to check and support the first taping of the show back in early December, featuring Hong Kong (ahem. cough. scandalous. cough. ahem.) Edison Chen along with: Sopranos/Entourage’s Jamie-Lynn Sigler, and Bali’wood actress and model, Mandira Bedi. GOOD SHOW and my interest was SURPRISINGLY peaked by Edison’s smooth swagger. MmmHmm…… I am still in wonderment….. over how/why… but the boy has SOMETHIN’ going on for him…
But anyhoots, the show has been doing tremendously well and K has been doing awesome with the bookings. Though I missed out on Edward Norton, my claim to fame with that is that, had I not been the one to wake up at 8am when the messenger rang K’s door to pick up a landing package for Ed, which included a cell phone, Ed would’ve been cellphone-less. (We gals had a movie sleepover night and errrbody was passsed out…and I braved the getting up and opening door episode….)
So next up is Jackie Chan. Yeah I know who he is. Who doesn’t? But, I really was not THAT excited when I first heard. And really, I’m not one to get all super star struck by ANY MEANS — with the exception of the time, I ran into GEORGE CLOONEY and his father, taping a movie around the corner from my jobby job down in Tribeca, back in ‘04ish. Whewww! George is truly HANDSOME in person! — OK, back to topic: So it didn’t really matter to me whether or not I was gonna attend the Jackie taping or not, till the very day of, when my other homette, WH hit me on email and asked me if I wanted to roll with her to the taping that night. I shrugged and said, sure, why not.
Evening: We rolled to the studio, having NO idea of who any other guests were to be on the show or anything…. but turns out… Jackie ended up co-hosting the entire show, as part of his promotions for upcoming flick, Little Big Soldier. Upon entrance and throughout the entire taping, I found myself completely engaged in the show and of course, Jackie. WHAT A NATURALLY CHARISMATIC, HILARIOUS and NICEEEEE GUY!!! Sharing anecdotes from his stardom-beginning stages of being completely stars-struck when amongst the likes of John Travolta, Tom Hanks, Quincy Jones etc… to paying forward and giving chances to those looking for their big break in the current day, I am a hands down, complete FAN OF JACKIE CHAN!! That taping put me in such a happy mood for the rest of the week. Not to mention, his other guests were rising stars, Leehom Wong and Stephen Yoo – both given a chance of a lifetime to be trained and given the opportunity to co-star with the mega-star, Jackie Chan himself. Not only that, Jackie is a pure environmentalist; preaching to the cast on the 1st day of filming to care for their natural surroundings and all litter must be picked up before the call for the end of the shoot…..andddddd he’s musically inclined! Came busting out with James Brown foot moves to the live jazz band! So Cute!
UNFORTUNATELY, I did not have my camera with me that evening. (Made me realized how less of a photographer I’ve been as since it’s my sophomore year here… ho hum.) HOWEVER, ya’ll can keep your eye out for the episode online at AsiaUncut.com or Sundays at 10pm on the Star World Channel.
And to compensate for my lack of camera footage, I’ll grace ya’ll with a photo taken last year when some fam’a'lam paid a visit to me in late November ‘09. Here’s Cinderz and I standing with a (random) wax figure of the man, Jackie Chan, as we made our way up to the Jin Mao Tower Observatory. Backstory: While we were extremely reluctant then, (C’s mom/my sister was adamant about us getting a picture with the wax figure), but nowwwww, I am extremely happy that we did! LOL
Ta Da!…..
And here’s my sis (aka my #1 blog fan) and bro-in-law; Both received “Great Tourist/Vacationer” Awards from me during their time out here in the Wild Wild Far East…
Yuppers, I gotta ask ya’ll to flash back with me to ‘09 for a quick minute… in order to take in my ‘09 Christmas experience in Thailand… Here’s the slideshow for you impatient ones out there…
“Same Same, but Different” is a saying, often heard down in Thai Thai…and that’s kinda how I felt this time around. Though knowing my Christmas Break was to be uber short (24th -27th), I pulled the trigger and made plans to meet up with Ev (my homette from NYU days, whom I met up with in Taiwan a couple months ago) for some Christmas cheer and chillax on Thai beaches. (I mean, I can think of worst things to look forward to.) I figured, not much time, helluva lotta traveling to get down to my final destination, but why the hell not? Afterall, travel’s been my Numero Uno priority in my whole abroad experience…. soooo like to hear it, here it goes!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
School bell rang..and I was out the door. Not wanting to deal with taxi/traffic at rush hour all the way out to Pudonky Kong (Pudong), I hopped onto the Bus to Metro Line 4… switched to Metro Line 2 at Century Ave… rode out to Longyang Stop… switched to an always-treat: Shanghai Maglev (30km in 7min 20sec at highest speed rate of 350km/hr = uber speeeeeedy!) straight to Pudong Intl Airport. Arrived within an hour and plenty of time to spare. I ran into a current student and his mom as they were lining up for ticketing to Hong Kong; chatted for a couple minutes as my tastebuds retraced themselves back to my time with Hong Kong dim sum, (mmmmm!) and snapped back to my mission to head thru Security…. Laterrrrr, while in line to board, I recognized another familiar face… a former student. German/Chinese Isabella with her parents and younger brother. My goodness, these kids grow tall fast!!! I was impressed with her English… as her mom was trying to interrupt and let me know how much all parents/students miss me. I of course said the same… but thinking, they have NO IDEA HOW MUCH I miss all of my former students. (sigh) Anyhoots, little Isabella asked to have a picture taken with me and I happily obliged as airport folks double-took at us as if I was some sort’ve celebrity.Ha!
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Ummmm….. after arrival in Bangkok and errr 7 hour layover, I hopped onto an hour (+/-) flight down to Krabi. Upon arrival, bussed it to the pier and took a long tail boat to my final destination at last: Railay Beach!! After check-in at Ya Ya Resort, I hooked my starving tummy up with some thai fried rice with fresh chicken and a fresh mango shake!! Tummy satisfied, I had to get my body in real chillax mode = Thai Oil Massage (the best and cheapest in the world!!!! approx. $9usd/hour) . Now’s about 2pm’ish and I landed my butt on a spot on the West Railay Beach (designated meeting spot for Ev and I)… From trains, planes, automobiles, buses, maglevs, long tailboats, I was exhausted and just happy to be down and put somewhere.
First Impressions: Ehhhh……. this isn’t as truly “paradise” as Ev had been selling to me as. I still missed and HEART, HEART my lil’ less-touristified and AMAZINGLY puffy white sand on Koh Lipe. I was laying out on the main port in the island (west railay)… The lil’ isla is divided into 3 sections: East Railay (bars/restaurants/lodging), West Railay (beach) and Pranang (beach)….with an offshoot of Tonsai (beach) just a quick kayak or rock/pebble/dirt climb away. See map below:
But yeah, my beach snobbery has elevated to the point where I’m yay/nay’ing Thailand islands! In any case, a couple hours later, Ev and her friend Karen (NJ/SF) arrived via boat…and spotted me out (camera must’ve been on “Find Mimi”-setting.. inside joke!) immediately upon touch down. Evening came with much to catch up on and lil’ intro’s between Karen and I…. shower fresher and then walked the East Railay bar/restaurant strip…. gettin sidetracked with Thai crafts, we placed a special order to have identical customized braclets made-ready for pick up tomorrow evening… According to the girls, I was sure to let everyone know of the purpose for our bracelets as they were for our coveted Friendship!!!! (I’ll admit, I did get a tad carried away and found it necessary to inform all within ears’ reach.) Eventually we parked ourselves to Christmas Eve dinner at “Last Bar” towards the (you guessed it) end of the East Railay strip. I had a slammin’ pad thai with GOOD NOODLE BOUNCE (sign of good pad thai; i had to school the gals on the everso important bounce-factor in the rice noodles) and a deliciously fresh banana milkshake! (Ugh,,,, I’d love to have that meal right now as I am typing this, as my mouth salivates!!) Ev got a plate of some real ripe and sweet papaya salad, as K got some broad noodles. Girl talk and all that jazz with a few yawns from all parties, hinted that we were all exhausted from travels…and to call for a good night’s rest!
Friday, December 25, 2009
Christmas morning breakfast with heart shaped fried eggs to greet us. (awwww!) We three gals, then took ourselves through a mini-cave exploration episode aka “we are gonna make a fabulous photo op for fb”- Ev….and eventually arrived at Pranang Beach. A whole day of good time bummin’ w/massages on the beach…and cheap, cheap eats from longtailboat kitchens made this Christmas super fab!
Gotta have my Chang Beer!
Late afternoon, our Christmas crew was complete with Ev’s friend Alex’s (Germany) arrival. Intros, stories, chitter chatter went down…singing Christmas carols… as I busted out acapella of “Hark the Herald Angel Sing”… (and even surprised myself with knowing all the lyrics) only “bc it’s from Charlie Brown” + “All I Want for Christmas is You” ala Love Actually – duet w/Alex. Ummmm what else? K and I bonded over our love for potatoes as the story was told of her EMPHATIC answer to her 7th grade teacher’s lesson question of “what is your favorite food?” (At this point, I knew for sure K and I would continue to get along just fine!)
Shower refresher was needed and onward we hit the East Railay strip again to find us some Christmas grub at Yam Yam Restaurant. I had been infatuated with the idea of getting “Thai Fried Chicken,” esp. since Ev was co-signing it….so I went for it on the menu, but was slightly disappointed bc the chicken was a simple stir-fry, NOT FRIED as indicated on the menu. Either way, I still ate to my tummy’s content with some fried rice, freshly grilled barracuda and Mango/Banana Shake! After dinner was when things got a little tricky…. Alex decided to hit the bookstore, so we girls ventured off to “Stone Bar” which was off of the main drag. Plan = Alex to meet us at Stone Bar. BOY OH!! We ended up taking the LONGEST TREK possible in the dark, trying to find this “Stone Bar” that was situated uphill and inland…. and thereby getting a lil lost…. with a missing friend! We stumbled upon a random bar called “Cabanas,” where Ev so wisely exclaimed to the bartender and handful of patrons, “We’re looking for our friend!”… and they all shouted in unison.. “Here we are!!! We’ve been here waiting for you!!” LOL. (GOTTA LOVE TRAVELLERS!!!) There, a British and Polish gent cut a deal with us to stay for a drink, and they’d clue us in on a shortcut back to the main drag….That we did… more chittin and chattin… as K disapprovingly shoo’ed off mosquitoes (or were they made-up mosquitoes…we’ll never know…)….and eventually peaced outta there with our new knowledge of an easier trail.. Thank Goodness!!
We landed back at Last Bar where a live local band was performing cover songs…. thus, super packed…. and ta da! We found Alex…. while he was looking for us.. Phew! After managing to get a table adjacent to 3 Swede boys, we ordered up a couple of Samsong (thai whiskey) buckets and let the Christmas night festivities begin! Ev took lead in befriending the Swedes who were playing with a nice deck of cards that we were all envious of….and Ev’s plan worked…. the fellas invited us to join them in games… where Ev taught all to play the good ol’ game of Asshole… it was a sure hit! with some magic tricks in between! Fun times were had with the Swedes: Johan “aka Young Ass,” Minus but spelled M-a-g-n-u-s, so he wasn’t so much of a subtraction but an addition, and finally Mattias “aka My Tight Ass.” — Now, let me offer a footnote disclaimer: These here names were not given by us, but by the boys themselves! (Humor? Check!)
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Last day of chillax for me. Back to Pranang, and ironically, this was the first day that I actually felt “relaxed and settled.” The two previous days were just adjustment… but sigh….I had to ship out the next day. So…. I/we made the most of it… beaching, shopping, eating and the chillaxin-like…..and oh, I got my fried chicken from KFC: KRABI Fried Chicken!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Breakfast and 10am long tail boat ride for the reverse commute ….. back to the ‘Hai.
All in all, good though far too short time down in the Thai Thai!…. Though irregardless of time, new “FRIENDSHIPS” on Mulatto settings et al were solidified in Christmas ‘09!!
Soooooo of course, the over-the-top productions continue with this school. Today, our holiday show turned into a 3-hour long extravaganza!
First…. ya’ll MUST check out my lil’ 1st grader (half Colombian, half Chinese)…this kid is such a cutie… as he performs his solo, “Take Me To Your Heart”…. I guarantee, he’ll met your heart. He did mine! I mean, shooooot, he bravely sang over straight-up instrumentals!
And now some flicks from the show…
(Disclaimer: Footage from my camera stopped midway-show as since I had to head backstage to get my little helpers …as well as my belly, ready for my grand finale.)
and some Miss Santa Selects….the premise = random raffle drawing + prizes.
(Dressing up as Santa is such a tradition in my fam; started way back with my pops, then the honor was rotated amongst my brothers….and now, ironically, I was REQUESTED to put on the red/white suit all the way here in the ‘Hai. The IRONY.) But, HO! HO! HO! nonetheless…. I definitely did not disappoint in upkeeping my family’s tradition in awesome Santas……Enjoy!
My coooooooool sleigh…
My cheeks got pretty Santa-rosey by the end of my performance… I was hot under my suit!!!..and check out my cotton-brows!!
and with this all….. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD A GOOD NIGHT!!
As a continuation of our “Ciao Italia!” (intro to Italy) initiative for these lil’ chumps, each classroom was held responsible for painting their very own gondola for the grand parade and gondola race at this year’s Sports Day Event (held a couple weeks ago).
What’s cool about this school is that I can shoot for the stars with creative direction and NOT have to deal with any of the production!!! Farrrr cry from my marketing days… when creativity, production and stressing were all hand-in-hand. But here, nope! I say….and THEY make it happen! I say this to say, I was VERY impressed with how the gondola boats turned out!! I simply gave the school’s Events Coordinator a template/sketch; she took it and ran with it!
Here are a few shots of set up and parade:
(Pardon the backside view of the following. I was stuck holding the Sports Logo sign as part of the parade.)
A couple of dance routines by my 1st graders… they were soooo cute……and some of these kids got moves!!! (Please mind the back side viewing; I was standing at my designated spot, holding the sports day logo sign. ) Enjoy!
Video 1
Video 2
Phil (Ohio Native) and I were in charge of the Long Jump. Here we are being no less than dorks…oh, and be sure to read the banner.
Gondola Race
Teachers also had a Gondola Race. Try to find me below! (3rd from the front of the boat, in green tshirt and shades.) ..and we totally won!
Then I had to jump rope….This event, I didn’t do so well. But the pic is kinda cool!
The Director:
Relay Races (reminded me of my good ol’ HS Track days…sigh)
Award Ceremony (Kids who placed got their earned medals, then later all the kids got a bronzer to take home… because, drum roll….. parents had complained their children were crying last year, coming home empty-handed.) PSHHHHHH!!!!!
and one more look at how fabulous the gondola boats turned out!
, L managed to get himself on board just in the nick of time!
