Cat or delicious snack? You decide.

If I were going to have a cat for a snack, I'd certainly want one at least as cute as Dublin.  But I don't eat cats, so she's safe as long as she doesn't get back in that elevator.

Cat in a scary Chinese elevator

     Several months ago, I decided it was time to get a cat.  I was turning 40, I’m single, I didn’t have a cat, it only seemed logical.  And for the most part, I have enjoyed having a fuzzy little friend around the house.  We are still working on a few things such as not treating the furniture as scratching posts and learning appropriate places to take a little kitty tinkle (i.e. not in my bed, especially not in my bed while I am sleeping in it).  Overall, it’s been mostly a success and I have not made good on my threat to turn her into a cat-skin rug, even when she probably deserved it. 

     So, I ‘ve gotten used to having Dublin (because she’s a girl and I couldn’t name her Larry Mullen Jr. after the drummer in U2) around.  Even though she often attacks my toes for no reason and wakes me up before 7:00 a.m. on weekends, I’ve grown accustomed to having her around.  So, you can imagine my horror last week when Dublin decided, against her better judgment, to go for an unsupervised ride in the elevator. 

     I live in a 29-story apartment building on the 29^th floor.  I had gone grocery shopping and my hands were full.   So, as cats do, Dublin darted into the hallway when I opened the door.  I dropped my bags on the kitchen table and went out to fetch her.  Mysteriously, I heard meowing, but saw no cat.  And then the meowing grew fainter and fainter.  Down she went, in the elevator, into the vast recesses of my huge apartment building.

     Panic set in.  I speak a bit of Mandarin, but my cat only speaks meow.  She also doesn’t read numbers (that I know of) so if she did manage to meow in Mandarin or Cantonese, she wouldn’t have known which numbers to meow.  Plus, I’ve heard that some people in this region of China think cats are tasty snacks.  I don’t know if any of those people live in my building, but I didn’t want either us to find out the hard way. 

     I saw that the elevator had descended to the 26^th floor.  I got there as quickly as I could, but she was nowhere to be found.  There is a large open area on the 4^th floor of the building where people go walk around and vigorously slap themselves (a Chinese method of improving circulation and health) so I thought I would check there.  No cat.  By this point, not knowing what else to try, I went outside to the guardhouse, hoping that someone had picked her up and taken her to the guard.  I am sure the guard didn’t know what to do with a flustered foreigner speaking in rapid and broken Mandarin trying to relate what had happened to my cat.  It went something like this (with frantic hand motions implied):

Me:  “My cat went electric thing (I could only remember half of the word for elevator at this point). I’m looking for my cat.  Have you seen my cat?”

The guard looked confused but he started calling people on his radio.  I walked him back over to the building and he asked me to wait.  At this point, I was sure someone had the wok fired up and the filet knife out, so I wasn’t about to wait.  I told him as much and started climbing up the stairs.  On every floor I checked for a lost cat, but none was to be found.  Finally, after a bit of climbing, I found her crouched in the stairwell on the 9^th floor.  How she got there and what she had been up to she didn’t say, but I was very relieved to see her.  We had a serious talk about riding the elevator alone, about learning her address and phone number in Mandarin (and Cantonese) and strategies for looking less delicious.  Hopefully she’s learned her lesson, but I’m a bit wary as she keeps wistfully eyeing the door.  You know what they say about curiosity and cats.  And elevators.    

Images from Alaska

What to do in Ketchikan?  See a lumberjack show, of course!

If I ever own a popcorn store, I'm going to call it Orca Corn too. 

A shot of the Space Needle from the Chihuly Glass and Garden Museum in Seattle.

Glacier bay.  Pretty mystical.  And cold.  Let's not forget cold.

My good friend Sarah who was kind enough to put up with me for a week and I in front of a glacier. 

It's not Alaska if you don't see a couple of totems. 

Aaaaahlaska

As someone that works in a school, I get asked a lot “What are you doing for your summer vacation?”  This summer I was excited to report that I was taking a cruise to Alaska with my good (and very patient with me) friend Sarah.  Her husband Wayne was kind enough to volunteer to babysit her two-year-old for the while we cruised north. 

We began our journey in Seattle.  While I was upgraded to first class on my flight from Denver (full reclining bed, in-seat movies, a meal and hot roasted nuts delivered to my seat), Sarah was unfortunately delayed in Albuquerque, and didn’t make it to Seattle until 10:00 p.m.  I was left to my own devices and took a really expensive taxi ride to the mall, about $15 each way, which is so much more than China, and saw a movie. I don’t see a lot of movies in China, so it was a treat.  I returned to the hotel, met a very tired Sarah in the lobby and we retired to our room for some girl chat and sleep.  We arose the next morning and opted to skip really expensive hotel breakfast in favor of a much cheaper meal at Denny’s across the street.  Denny’s was packed as all of the other departing cruise passengers had the same idea.  After breakfast, we headed into Seattle, checked in for our cruise and headed to Pike Place Market so that we could see the guy throw a fish.  Once the fish was thrown, we got out of there, as the cruise passengers that weren’t at Denny’s were all at Pike Place Market.  After stocking up on supplies at Target, we headed for the boat. 

We had booked ourselves on the Norwegian Pearl and arrived to welcome high fives (kind of weird, really) and our tiny cabin.  We booked an inside cabin, knowing that no one really spends time inside of their room on a cruise.   We headed off to explore the ship and to find food, as one knows that food must be consumed approximately every 45 minutes when on a cruise.  We headed for the Summer Palace dining room.  Now, I’m not a cruise ship designer, but as a student of history I know the story of the sad demise of the Romanoff Dynasty.  They all got shot in a little room.  It didn’t end well.  So, sitting in a dining room surrounded by pictures of frolicking Romanoffs enjoying the last years of their lives was just a little weird to me.  But, no one asked.  I digress.  Lunch was good.  I had the Vietnamese summer rolls, black bean burger and raspberry sherbet.  Sarah had the chicken sandwich.  We ate many meals at the summer palace, despite the creepy Romanoff portraits, as the food was decent.  And no one trampled us, like they would have in the buffet line. 

The Pearl had lots of amenities including a gym, a theatre, lots of restaurants, a casino, a zumba class, bingo and a cruise director named Pedro.  Sarah and I took advantage of as many of these amenities as possible, as we had already paid for them.  Plus, we were trapped on a ship for almost two days before we actually arrived in Alaska.  Our first night on the ship caught the Frankie Vally tribute band.  These guys were excellent singers but, I felt kind of bad for them that they had 60 year-old ladies throwing their panties at them during every show.  But, I guess if you choose to be part of a Frankie Valle tribute band on a cruise ship, you kind of know that is going to happen. 

After a very long time at sea, we arrived in Juneau.  We hopped on a tour bus with a crusty Tlinket guide named Ben.  He told us stories of the tribe.  We saw a glacier.   I practiced my Mandarin, as many of my Chinese friends were also onboard the Pearl.  We tried to order items on the menu at a Russian restaurant, but almost everything was sold out.  We looked at tacky Alaska souvineers (reindeer poop candy, polar bear poop candy, moose poop candy, necklaces shaped like whale tales…you get the idea) and headed back to the ship. 

Alaskan ports unfolded before us in a very similar fashion.  In Skagway we hopped on a three hour train ride up an narrow gauge railway build during the Klondike gold rush in the 1880s.  We took pictures, we got mooned by a guy on a passing train.  After the excitement of the train ride, we walked around Skagway, which took about 15 minutes and ate Indian food for lunch.  For some reason, Sarah wasn’t keen on visiting the museum of prostitution (apparently it was really big business in Skagway as there was nothing else to do there 100 years ago too) and we headed back to the ship.

Our next day was spent in Glacier Bay.  I must admit, Glacier Bay was really cool both literally and figuratively.  We found a good spot on deck (remember, inside cabin, perhaps not the smartest move in retrospect on an Alaska cruise) and waited on a deck chair for Glaciers.  Glaciers we saw.  There were glaciers on the tops of the mountains, there were glaciers fed by the sea.  We even saw the glacier calving.  There’s noting like an ice cube the size of a Mini Cooper falling off of a glacier into the sea.  Believe me, I’ve seen it.  As we travelled out of Glacier Bay we were visited by a pod of whales.  There were at least 20, and they were there to frolic.  I’ve seen a lot of things, and I must say, frolicking whales are pretty awesome. 

However, I’m not sure frolicking whales beat a Lumberjack show.  After Glacier Bay, we headed for Ketchikan, home of the Great Alaskan Lumberjack show.  That was impossible not to check out.  But first, we breakfast to eat and totem poles to see.  After a big plate of chocolate chip pancakes and hash browns at the Pioneer Cafe we got a tour of Ketchikan and a visit to a state park and totem museum.  After wandering through a garden of totem poles in the rain, we returned to town for the Lumberjack show.  I must say men wielding chainsaws, axes and decked out in flannel are kind of a turn on.  There’s just something about a burly guy with a chainsaw.  You know what I’m talking about.  Two hours later, Sarah and I got back on the boat and headed for our next port, Victoria, British Columbia.

By this point in the trip, we were both a little tired of beautiful nature so a city was right up our alley.  If you’ve never been to Victoria, you should go.  It’s lovely.  But go on a vacation, because unless you bought a house there 30 years ago, you probably can’t afford to live there.  It is a charming town full of beautifully constructed Victorian buildings, great shopping and a wide array of restaurants.  We ended up at an Irish Pub because that was just the kind of mood we were in after 7 nights of cruise food.  We wandered into a street festival, looked at really expensive artisanal jewelry and took a Pedi cab back to the boat (if you ever want to get in really good shape, become a Pedi cab driver.  That guy was ripped.  I guess hauling oversized cruise passengers around all day will do that for you). 

Sadly, as most things do, our cruise came to an end.  We arrived back to Seattle.  As we hadn’t eaten much all week, we decided to find a Seattle landmark breakfast joint.  Back at the airport, we picked up a rental car and hit the road in search of breakfast delights.  We weren’t disappointed by Voula's Offshore Cafe.  I try to live a pretty meat free life, but the pulled pork eggs benedict was too tempting to pass up.  They were delicious and I thank the pig that sacrificed it’s life to become my breakfast.  You were delicious.  Sarah had an early flight back to Albuquerque, so I took her back to the airport.  Once she was safely on her way (I had about 12 more hours to kill before my flight) I decided that I could stand to see another movie.  If you didn’t notice, the summer of 2013 was not well know for its movie greatness.  I settled on Superman.  It was solidly mediocre.  However, the movie chair was really soft, which made for a great nap during that one fight seen that lasted for about 45 minutes. 

Once the movie was over I decided to take full advantage of having a rental car by driving out to see Mt. Rainier.  I started driving and noticed it was a little cloudy.  That happens sometimes in Seattle, I have heard.  I drove and drove and drove.  The clouds failed to part.  By the time it was within about 15 miles of Mt. Rainier, I knew it was a lost cause.  The clouds were soupy thick and I was tired of driving.  So I turned around.  I was hungry and there was a Panera on the way back to Seattle.  China doesn’t have Panera, so giving up a chance of seeing the majestic Mt. Rainier in trade for soup, a sandwich and an apple isn’t as lame as it sounds.  Funny thing.  After dinner, it started to clear.  Probably enough if I would have waited another 30 minutes, I may have seen that mountain.  Oh well.  At least there will be something new to see in Seattle when I return. 

All in all, not a bad trip; definitely go to Alaska.  Definitely.  Whales, glaciers, poop shaped candy.  What’s not to love? 

Scenes of the Philippines

 Just a few pictures from my trip. Warning this may induce jealousy and the desire to head for a beach right now. 

 I know that the water looks astonishing clear, but this picture really doesn't do it justice.

 The latest fad in the Philippines - kittens as jewelry!

 Yes, those are sea urchins.  They may look heart shaped, but I am pretty sure they don't love you. 

 Aah...such a great picture.  Wish I were there. 

This was my favorite beach of the trip.  The water was calm, clear and there was no one there but us.  We slept in the little huts you can see in the background.  It doesn't get more perfect than this. 

It's More Fun in the Philippines (Trust Me, I've Been There)

Way back in September, I was poking around on Kayak.com looking for flight deals for Chinese New Year.  I regularly look for cheap flights, a little hobby of mine, and my jaw dropped to the floor when I saw a ticket from Hong Kong to Manila for $55 during CNY.  This was unbelievable.  And I immediately booked it.  I figured if my plans changed I was only out $55.  I then started looking around for something to do in the Philippines and found what looked like a great boat trip in a New York Times Travel article.  One of those has never led me astray before, so I booked a 5 day trip from Coron to El Nido in the Philippine province of Palawan with Tao Philippines (www.taophilippines.com).  I contacted a friend in Manila, who graciously offered me a place to sleep while there and my trip was planned.

I gave it little thought until a couple of days before leaving.  I’ve met many people from the Philippines over the years, especially during my time in Dubai, where the majority of employees working in service industries come from the Philippines.  I knew it was a beautiful country with well-educated people and that I should eat mango pancakes while visiting.  Beyond this, I didn’t know too much.

I arrived at Clark airport in Manila and immediately hopped on a shuttle bus to Mega Mall.  The bus ride was fume filled and bumpy.  I arrived at the mall feeling a little car-sick and in need of fresh air.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that this mall looked like it had been plucked from the streets of suburban America.  That’s a good thing when you haven’t been home in a while.  I sucked down a Jamba Juice and did some shopping for essentials for the trip. 

I spent two more days exploring the wilds of Manila.  I ate at the exotic restaurant P.F. Chang’s and had dessert at the equally exotic Krispy Kreme Donuts.  I saw a couple of movies.  I did visit Intramuros, the old Spanish colonial part of Manila.  I hired a pedi-cab driver who pedaled me around the place and then tried to overcharge me, which I didn’t have any of.  If you like old churches and forts, Intramuros is a place for you. 

After a few days of Manila, I was ready to get on a boat.  I hopped a flight to Coron and from there made my way to the Tao office.  I was told to come back at 7 p.m.  I decided to return to my hotel for a little nap, which was an essential part of my vacation plan.  When I arrived the power immediately went off.  Coron, like much of Palwan experiences daily power cuts.  I would guess there is too much demand on an overloaded system.  Whatever the case, Coron and El Nido experience power cuts from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day (or anytime, really, just depends on the day).

After meeting my ship-mates, 16 other people that thought a boat trip in the Philippines was a good idea, I returned to my hotel, got a good night’s sleep and prepared to set sail. 

It’s hard to do justice to this experience.  If I told you how blue the water was (turquoise, clear and teeming with  aquatic life) it wouldn’t do it justice.  The pictures sure don’t.  We spent each day pulling up to pristine beaches and reefs snorkeling, beach combing and waiting for our lunch to be prepared by the most wonderful chef ever.  He produced beautiful meals on a hotplate that many Michelin starred chefs would have been hard-pressed to create in their shiny kitchens.  Each night we pulled up to an island with no hotels, restaurants or even roads for that matter.  Most had a beach, a few locals and a couple had karaoke bars.   It is the Philippines, after all, and where would the Philippines be without karaoke?  Most nights we swam to shore from the boats, and the Tao crew would bring our bags and mattresses and mosquito nets ashore while we swam, walked on the beach or sat taking in the beauty of each new island.   Each night brought dinner, lively conversation and star gazing.  The last night as we pulled up to camp, Romy, our guide told us that we could have massages on the beach.  What?  If you have never had a massage lying on a Philippine beach listening to the waves lap on the shore, you are missing out on one of life’s more sublime experiences.

I can’t say enough about this trip.  I met great people, ate great food and saw a part of the world largely untouched by human development.  If you want to experience something authentic, this trip is definitely worth any travel you need to experience to get there.  I spent a few more days in the Philippines, but none as glorious as my five days navigating the beautiful seas of Palawan.  I can’t wait to go back.  I’m keeping my eyes open for $55  plane tickets…

Photos from Beijing

Just a few pics from Beijing.  Yes, we were there.  Yes, it was cold.  Yes, Chairman Mao looked down upon us and smiled.  Can't ask for more than that...

The Blog is Back

OK, yes, I admit I am way, way behind on the blog.  After numerous people encouraging me to start back up (including Peter Hoe…he’s a big fan) I have decided to repent of my literary sloth and get everyone back up to date on my oh-so-thrilling comings and goings.  Now, catching up on several months at once will be impossible, so I will do my best to hit the highlights since Auckland:

Summer

 While I had planned a very relaxing, low key summer, it didn’t exactly work out that way.  I left it all on the field at work last year between kids, committees and end of year loose-end-tying.  Summer was well deserved.  So I thought I would take it easy.  What really happened was I was on a plane at least every 10 days.  Funny how that happens…

Planes – on 2 of 3 trips, I had flights cancelled overnight.  Fortunately I have friends that like me enough to let me sleep at on their couches in a sprinkling of cities across the USA (thank you Amy and Darik…)

Cities – I spent time in Nashville, Bowling Green, KY, DC, Chicago (stranded over night) Nashville, Salt Lake City, St. Anthony, Idaho, back to Salt Lake City (stranded again overnight), Nashville, and Bethlehem, PA and in 3 days, I visited Pennsylvania, New York State, Vermont, New Hampshire (where I climbed Mt. Washington.  If someone tells you climbing Mt. Washington will be “fun” don’t believe them.  They are either a) delusional or b) lying), Maine, New Hampshire (again)Massachusetts, New York (again), New Jersey and back to Pennsylvania before flying to, you guessed it, Nashville.  If you are tired reading this you can only imagine how much I needed a vacation at the end of my vacation.  So, after flying back to China and losing my luggage in the process, I got on a plane the next day in a typhoon and flew to Phuket, Thailand to recover. 

Food Poisoning – This did not figure in to my plans, but alas, it happened.  Green curry chicken has lost it’s gleam, as 2 days of my body unpleasantly purging of said meal did not a happy person make.  At least I was at an awesome 5 star resort.  Sadly, I was too sick to eat the croissant bread pudding served for breakfast all but one of the days I was there.  Curse the green curry chicken served at “Surin Beach’s best Thai restaurant.”  I beg to differ.  I also met a really unpleasant man at the hotel that literally threw my towel off my chair onto the pool deck when I got in the pool for about 45 seconds.  He broke the leave for 30 minutes and your stuff will be cleared away rule and blamed me for not telepathically knowing that I was in his lounge chair.  Clearly he needed a hug, but I wasn’t about to give him one as I think he may have had rabies or distemper. 

 

Fall

 I don’t really remember much of the fall. It’s kind of a blur.  I came back to China, and fell into my routine of work, Mandarin lessons and going out for dinner on the weekends.  See, my life is really not that exciting.  I spent October break in Singapore with my good friends Amy and Phil.  I went to the night zoo.  I hung out with their awesome kids.  I went out for great sandwiches (hard to find in China) and generally enjoyed living in society where I never had to worry about getting gum stuck to the bottom of my shoe.  I spent the rest of the fall preparing for the visit of my parents to China during the Christmas holiday.

 

Mom and Dad Visit China

 I admit it, I was really nervous about having my mom and dad visit me here in the Middle Kingdom.   They had never travelled overseas before and I was worried that either A) they would get lost on the way here and stuck in an airport somewhere for days B) I would lose them somewhere and they wouldn’t be able to talk to anyone C) they would hate the food and starve for 10 days.  Fortunately none of those things happened.  Mom and Dad loved China.  I dragged them all over Guangzhou.  I took them to the elementary school Christmas program, introduced them to friends, including my Mandarin teacher Kevin, who took us on a tour of the city and introduced them to the many cuisines of Guangzhou.  I managed to break my toe the first Saturday of the break, which probably turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it slowed me down to Mom and Dad speed. 

On Christmas Eve we hopped on a plane and headed to Beijing.  I had not been to Beijing before (fortunately we got there before the black cloud of doom that hit this January) and were picked up at the airport by Charlie, the most wonderful driver ever.  He took us to our B&B in a hutong area inside the second ring road.  Cindy, our B&B host provided us with a map and several useful hints.  That was great.  We decided, even though mom was skeptical, to go out for Peking duck.  This was a great plan.  If only I could read a map.  If only my dad could read a map.  We wandered around the neighborhood for about an hour in 15 degree (Fahrenheit) weather trying to find the right road.  We finally found the duck, and it was delicious, but all of us had lost the feeling in our extremities by then.

However, as I was destined not to feel my feet for the next several days, it didn’t really matter.  We traveled to the Great Wall on Christmas Day.  It was  5 degrees.  And while it was beautiful covered in snow and ice, I am a creature of the tropics, or at the very least a creature of the sub-tropics.  It was really cold.  I warmed up a bit when we got back to Beijing for foot massages.  I had to tell the massage guy that my toe was broken, which I was able to do in Mandarin.   I chatted a bit with the entire foot massaging crew and when I told them I lived in Guangzhou, one of the guys made the comment that he then realized why I spoke like someone from the south.  So, while 20 years of Florida didn’t give me a southern accent, I certainly speak Mandarin with a twang.  I’m kind of proud of that. 

We hit the rest of the sights in Beijing including but not limited to the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace (visit in the summer, winter is too cold), Tiananmen Square, Houhai, 798 – a fun neighborhood of galleries and shops, the Bird’s Nest, the Lamma Temple, the pearl market and a bunch of other stuff that Charlie, the best driver in Beijing, took us to see.  It was a great trip.  So great in fact, that Mom and Dad decided to stay an extra day.  Well, Mother Nature and United dictated that they stay an extra day.  I really enjoyed having them visit and I am glad that they were able to see that life in China is pretty good and that I don’t live under a bridge or anything. 

 

Ho Chi Minh City

I left Beijing and traveled to Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon , for the last week of winter break.  I was able to thaw out, which was wonderful, and to spend time with my friend Andrea, who flew over from Kuala Lumpur.  We ate great food, saw lots of museums and I bought a quilt.  I have been kicking myself for the last year for not buying a quilt from Mekong Quilts when I was in Hanoi last year.  It’s a community development project for women and allows them to generate an income by teaching them to make quilts.  The one I bought is stunning.   Hand stitched, meticulous detail. I probably would have paid 5 times the price had I bought it in the US.   And it’s super warm.  I have not been a popsicle this winter, largely thanks to my beautiful quilt (and learning how to turn on my heaters, that helped too…)  I also saw the Hobbit, which I have some issues with.  Why, I wonder, did we need to make one book into 3 movies, Peter Jackson?  Starts with G and rhymes with weedy perhaps?  Hmmm…not a huge fan of that. 

 

And we're almost caught up….

 OK, that ‘s most of the interesting stuff.  And, now that I am back on the horse, a full report on my trip to the Philippines is coming soon.  And then I plan to start documenting Chinese fashion.  You have to see it to believe it.

Skydive Pics

This is probably the coolest thing I have ever done. And I've done a lot of things...

Don't Worry Mom, I Didn't Go Bungee Jumping...

OK, confession – I have always wanted to jump out of a plane. I remember being a student at UF and looking longingly at the flyers for the “Falling Gators” skydiving club. I’m not sure why I didn’t do it. Money? Fear? Whatever the case, it never happened much to my regret.

So, as I arrived in Auckland and sought activities with which to occupy my time a brochure for Skydive Auckland caught my eye. And I thought about it. And I checked out the website. I had no real intention of actually sky diving. Until I called the number and booked an appointment for this morning. I was told to meet my driver at the base of the SkyTower to await my delivery to the airstrip.

I arrived and was greeted by Stacy the driver from Wales and Allison and Liam from Australia, my skydiving companions for the day. Stacy related that he came to Auckland 13 years ago on his way to Australia, jumped out of a plane, was hooked and never left. He’s been working for Skydive Auckland ever since. Allison and Liam were teachers from Oz on a two week break. They had been out the day before, but it was too windy and had to re-schedule for this morning.

There was surprisingly little paperwork when I arrived. I wrote down my parents’ number (just in case the chute didn’t open) and signed that I realized there were serious risks involved like death or being flattened by the rapidly approaching ground should something go wrong. I signed happily. I also bought the DVD and picture package. How many times do you sky dive for the first time? Once…I needed proof.

Within 20 minutes we were on the plane. There were two benches in the back parallel to each other, no seatbelts. We all squeezed in. There was also a handle above the windows to hang on to. I wasn’t strapped to Sam from Brighton yet (the guy that I trusted my life to; I wouldn’t jump out of a plane with just anyone…I have my standards) and we continued to climb. After 7 or so minutes he announced that we had reached 9,500 feet. You know 9,500 feet doesn’t really seem like a big deal on a commercial flight. It’s a lot higher when you know you will be exiting through the roll back door on the side of the plane. At this point, as Sam strapped on my oxygen mask, I thought about my breathing. Meditation, I decided might be good in a situation such as this. I thought about the irrationality of what I was doing. It was comforting that if I decided not to jump, I still had to pay the full price. It was good incentive not to chicken out.

Quickly we reached our altitude. Liam and his dive guy went first. Then it was my turn. I thought as I slid off the bench and onto the edge of the plane that it was much less scary than a lot of things I have done. Easier, say than jumping off the high diving board. Perhaps knowing that I didn’t really have to do anything made it easier. I knew Sam was going to do all of the work. It was a rush sitting there on the edge of the plane with my feet dangling three miles above the ground. And, before I knew it we were falling.

You only get about 6 seconds of free-fall feeling when you skydive. Once you hit terminal velocity, that falling sensation goes away. Then you are just flying. For 75 seconds. And words fail to describe what that feels like. The feeling is simply impossible to label unless you have experienced it, which I highly recommend, by the way. And, as we sailed through a cloud at 5,000 feet, Sam pulled the rip cord and we soared back to the airstrip.

Suffice to say I am in one piece after the experience. Apparently it’s safer than a host of things, probably safer than getting in a car or using a toaster. But, you definitely don’t get that kind of a rush from making toast. At least not in my experience; maybe if you make toast while taking a bath and accidentally drop the toaster into the water, but that I am not willing to try. Skydiving…I’d do that again in a minute.

Auckland Pics

Just a few snapshots from my trip. I spent some time this afternoon on a lovely hill in Devenport overlooking the harbor. It was quite the spot. The other, more rugged picture is from my jaunt up the volcano. It's certainly a beautiful city.

Auckland Observations

One thing that I have noticed while here in Auckland is that things are on the expensive side. For example, here are a few items from the hotel restaurant menu:

Toasted Muesli with honey, yogurt and milk - $12.50

Fresh Fruit Salad $12.50

Delicious Omelet on Toast with bacon and cheese $17.00

I realize that the prices are in New Zealand Dollars, which is worth about

$.80 on the dollar, but it’s still pretty pricey. If I’m going to pay $17.00 for an omelet, there had better be gold flakes in it.

One thing I have enjoyed is catching a couple of movies. I have yet to go to a movie in China as I generally find DVD man and watch things at home. A movie costs about as much as an omelet, but that is a price I am willing to play. I’ve seen the Hunger Games and a British film called The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It was delightful – Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, and a bunch of other British actors tell the story of a group of British retirees that move to Jaipur, India as an inexpensive retirement solution. It doesn’t make me want to visit India, but I enjoyed the flick. Worth seeing.

Yesterday I decided to take a ferry to a volcanic island here in Auckland for a little hike. It was about a 30 minute ride to the island and all of the signs told me that it would take about an hour to climb to the summit. There were all manner of ill dressed tourists with handbags and impractical shoes. I blew past all of them, as I wanted the trail to myself. I kept passing signs and noticed that I was well ahead of pace. All in all, it took me about 30 minutes to climb to the top. I made it down in time for the early ferry. When I got to the bottom, I noticed an Arab family that were on the ferry over. Two parents, three boys. One of them, he looked to be about seven, was crying inconsolably as we waited for the ferry. I thought about asking him what was wrong, but he was clinging pretty tightly to his mother. The boat stopped at Devenport on the way back to Auckland to let off passengers and as we disembarked, I heard one of the crew members say to someone up the stairs “have you lost your family?” The boat turned around. I was expecting to see the crying boy. The crew member came back down and I was surprised to see not the boy, but the mother. Her family was waiting for her on the dock. The crew member said to her as she got off, “Next time stay with your family.” It was amusing.

Life's Little Ironies

I decided today that I would get a haircut while in Auckland, as it’s an English-speaking city. I’ve avoided getting a hair cut in China as my Mandarin is good enough to get a double cheeseburger without mustard, but not good enough to explain how much to take off the top and the sides. So, I found a little salon and booked an appointment. When I arrived Tom greeted me. He was obviously Asian. Chinese, in fact. We started chatting and I was relieved that his English was much better than my Mandarin. I asked him how long he has been in Auckland and he told me “7 weeks.” He just moved here from Beijing. What are the chances? He was awesome. Great head massage, fantastic clipping skills. I’m sure I could get a great cut in China if I learned some haircut words. I’ll make Kevin teach me a few of those when I get home. Until then I guess I’ll be flying to Auckland for haircuts.

But I Don't Even Drink Coffee...

Ever just have a whim to travel to New Zealand tomorrow? Ever act on it? Well, I did yesterday. I was in Bangkok for a teachers’ conference and as I headed home I realized that I didn’t want to spend a week hanging out in Guangzhou or Hong Kong. I wanted something a little different. So, sometime after lunch yesterday, I started scouring hotwire for travel deals. I looked just about everywhere and decided that I wanted to spend a week in Auckland. What exactly I would do during the week I wasn’t sure of, but I knew that I would figure it out as I went along and have a great story to tell about my spur of the moment trip to Auckland. At 3:30 as I was about to board my flight from Guangzhou back to China, I clicked purchase and thought about what to pack.

I rushed home from the airport so that I could swap a few things out of my suitcase and put in fall clothes rather than summer fashions. I don’t own a printer, so I was unable to print out my ticket, but I figured in a day of e-tickets, it wouldn’t be a problem. By midnight, 4 hours after landing in Guangzhou, I was up in the air again on my flight to Auckland. For the most part it was a good flight. I was in seat by myself, I had a movie screen to watch. I did wake up at one point to find that a woman had moved into the seat next to me and was practically sitting on top of me because her friend had laid down in the whole row she was in. I did some pretty wild gesturing to get across the point that it was not OK for her to sit next to me. She had her own seat. I stood up and pointed at it. She got the hint and sat somewhere else (although she sat in at least three more seats that weren’t hers taking pictures as we were getting ready to land).

As I got off the plane, I figured the fun would begin. My space invader was nowhere to be seen. I went to customs, and it was gratifying to know that they spoke English. The agent asked me what my plans were in New Zealand. I explained that I had only purchased my ticket a few hours before and I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to do. I told him I may bungee jump. He asked if I had my return ticket. I told him I didn’t as I don’t have a printer and I literally had an hour at home to pack before my flight. He typed in a few more things and waved me on. I got my bag and as I approached customs guy #2 I got waved to the special line. This was getting interesting.

I went over to the guy in line 4 and he asked me the same series of questions. I explained my story again; I had been in Thailand for a conference and decided on a whim to travel to New Zealand. I was beginning to think that not too many people travel on a whim here, as he didn’t seem to think it was a romantic or amusing idea. He looked at me like I had swallowed 50 condoms filled with cocaine, as, in his experience, people who leave Thailand, fly to China and then head to New Zealand are generally drug mules. I explained again about the printer and sitting in the airport in Bangkok deciding that I didn’t want to be in Guangzhou for spring break and that maybe I would bungee jump and that really, I did just decide a few hours ago that a trip to his beautiful country was a good idea. He asked me where I worked. I told him. At this point, I was trying to open my e-mail so that he could see that I really did have a return ticket booked for Saturday night. It was taking forever. He asked if I had a work ID or something from the conference. I told him that I took it all out of my backpack when I went home for an hour between flights. I showed him my insurance card from work. I laughed a bit and explained that I’m a Mormon. He told me everyone says that in these situations (perhaps much like Americans pretend to be Canadians so that everyone will like them…tell them you’re a Mormon so they won’t think you are trafficking drugs, didn’t work). I told him he was willing to search my bags and my person, as he wasn’t going to find anything. He said he was working hard to avoid that. I complimented him on doing his job, as he was fantastically thorough. If had swallowed a bunch of drugs to sneak into the country, I would have been sweating bullets at this point, but fortunately only thing in my stomach was a terrible sandwich courtesy of China Southern Airlines. I told him he was welcome to open my e-mail as the airport Wi-Fi still had not opened, but that was against protocol. Finally, I managed to fish a business card out of my wallet. I was really glad I didn’t give the last one away at the conference as I sensed a body cavity search in my future. He looked up the address of on the card and just like that he told me to gather up my stuff and took me back to the second line and told me to have a nice trip. I’m still not convinced that someone isn’t following me around Auckland just to see if I do turn out to be a dealer, as they will be sadly disappointed. The craziest thing I have done so far is to sit in Denny’s for an hour eating a chocolate peanut butter lava cake. It’s amazing how appealing Denny’s is when you haven’t seen one in almost a year.

Moral of this story: if you are travelling to New Zealand from Thailand via China, don’t expect immigration to give you an easy time. And, even if you don’t think you need one, buy a printer. You never know when your itinerary might come in handy.