Waste

18 December 2008: My first thought on this sunny, birthday morning was: i'm 27 years old - this sucks.

My next thought was: it's Thursday - my morning workout day. And I felt better.

I find my mood is more affected by my activity level, less by the weather. I've come to believe in the power of perspiration, not precipitation. So, I sweat. And I smile.

On Skype, I update mom and dad with my birthday goal:
- J: At 27 years old, I should have a 27 inch waist.
- M: You should be 127 pounds!
- J: What?! Mom, at the end of high school I was 148 pounds and in fine swimming shape...

- M: No, at 127 you'd be svelte.
- J: I'd be bones!
- D: Bones and svelte...

image from: espion

Band

17 December 2008: Team Albi strikes gold at the Canterbury Volleyball Association 4-man social beach games.



At our infancy, I offered a selection of team names:
- "flight of the volleyballs"
- "who likes to rock the party?"
- "brett, jermaine, murray, and mel"
- "you, me, you, and jermaine"
- "team albi"

But now, we are called the champions!

Play

12 December 2008: Flat outing - La Cage Aux Folles.

Feathers, songbirds, and lots of panache.


image from: the court live theatre

Transport

07 December 2008: I've been counting the numbers of bicycles I've seen in Auckland's city streets.

Fredette, my Auckland host, counts the numbers of people we see walking barefoot in the city.

She wins.

image from: sadie shooter

Vocal

06 December 2008: Alicia Keys concert in Auckland.

Soul - oh, duet - with her backup man, and trio - with me. What a musical feast!

image from: stuff

Feet Tucker

04 December 2008: Sailing on the R. Tucker Thompson tall ship in the Bay of Islands.

image from: jackie

Feet Traction

Mountain biking in Lake Clearwater with Tall.

Image from: jackie

Clearwater

02 August 2008: I was told my mountain bike ride around Lake Clearwater was a true New Zealand outdoor pursuit adventure.

Getting lost, bush bashing, bike bashing, extreme, and in-stream.

My rear gears broke and I was stuck huffing and puffing uphill or spinning my wheels downhill. We even attempted mountain biking through snow...

Needless to say, I had a blast!

Image from: jackie

Well

06 July 2008: World Youth Day rally at Christ the King Parish welcomes the pilgrims from New Caledonia.

Sr. Deborah of the Beatitudes addresses the pilgrims (in French) and - as usual - I cry (in Spanish). The woman truly knows the meaning of beauty and praise.

Other highlights included the New Caledonians joining hands around the New Zealand residents and singing the Our Father.

And after more prayers and songs, we're left to socialize. I break the ice by examining cultural differences. Do the New Caledonians, like the French, utilize a fourth item in rock-paper-scissors, namely, the well?

After a good amount of translation and laughing. I introduce the pilgrims to bear-ninja-cowboy. Priceless.

image from: not much about something

Front

05 July 2008: Happy Birthday Small!

I plowed my 4wd through the snow and up the hills to join in the celebrations. The wind was howling - and so was I - with crippling back pain.

Sadly, I will have to hang up the bicycle this week.

image from: geoftheref

Feet Board

30 June 2008: Snowboarding at Mt. Hutt with Tall.

Image from: jackie

Staccato

25 June 2008: First practice of the World Youth Day Cathedral choir.

We're singing for the pilgrims en route to Sydney. I decided not to go to the event, but if I sing to the pilgrims, they'll leave New Zealand for sure...

Our choir director, Ken, reads the sheet music in Braille. Quite fascinating.

image from: wikipedia

Leggy

05 June 2008: My bicycle ride home now faces the challenges of winter weather.

My advice is: Do not listen to Flight of the Conchords in the cold.

I was smiling so much my lips froze to my gums.

image from: luzer

Breakfast

02 June 2008: I also got the joke of the weekend award.

Monday morning, Small notes she's surprised she can eat the same breakfast every day and not get tired of it.

I reply: It's called monogamy.

Then I had to quickly exit kitchen stage left because Tall and Small started to coo at each other...

image from: babi_santander

Buildering

13 May 2008: Today I had my first outdoor climb - scaling the university library.

Phillipe was there for moral support, and other members of the UC Climbing club were in fancy dress. Some in no dress at all...

Afterwards, I ate a celebratory sausage with my strong, sausage sized fingers.

Please check out the local news coverage video and pictures.

image from: jackie

Lights

7 November 2007: First night of Diwali - Festival of Lights - and I celebrate with lights, camera, action as a Bollywood extra.

We're not talking Bollywood blockbuster - the show is a popular TV series, Kaajjal. There's no Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, nor Shahrukh Khan (each superstars of the Khan trio), but I would like to introduce my Bollywood stage name: A. Mary Khan.

The scene is a dance party in Goa. I am typecast as a tourist. I could complain to my agent, but he doesn't speak English.

Basically, I sit on the edge of the dance floor with Craig (American Bollywood extra, Carolinas USA). His blog, American Mumbaiker, details his work for a month now. We entertain ourselves watching belly dancers do basic steps while the director tells us to cheer or jump right into the dance.

The night shot was long, so I was happy to sit instead of do the tourist twist to Jennifer Lopez's If You Had My Love from 5PM to 5 AM.

A particular scene I enjoyed involved the main guy working his way through the tables, bar, front stage, and dance floor, as shimmying women blocked his view from his woman in waiting. Waiters also pass through and one comes up to my table to deliver a drink.

Take two: When the waiter sets the drink at my place again, I flip a coin onto his tray. He sets back and laughs. The scene continues and he returns my coin, teasing me it's a mere one Rupee. Serves him right, I wanted beer, not orange Fanta.

Dwo

6 November 2007: I met my former Brown housemate, Mandar (Solid Mechanics Professor, India), and his sister for dinner.

Unfortunately I won't be able to join their houshold for Diwali. Mandar's family continues to deliver wedding invitations for the December 2nd event and his mother has fallen ill.

Regardless, it was a pleasure to spend time with Mandar and get to know his sister. She was quite the helpful tutor. Now I can read Hindi numbers in order to catch the right bus.

Image from: Mandar (L-R: sister, bride, groom, mother, father)

Predicate

3 November 2007: Leeds to London and met up with a Brown classmate, Emily (Consultant, Japan/India).


[insert photo: family likeness] After lunch we wandered into the National Portrait Gallery to try to find her grandfather's portrait. Unfortunately the image was recently removed (I explained they were making room for Emily's portrait), but there were paintings, caricatures, and even a bust to be found in the museum computerised archives.

I savored my last night in the UK with my parents over dinner. And fell into a tipsy conversation with my dad about math and logic, of all things, which was actually quite thrilling. (Dork alert).

I'm going to miss my parents terribly, but after meeting Emily's gap year travel buddies for evening drinks, it was reassuring to see healthy supports even all the way around the world.

Belly

2 November 2007: 2nd day in Leeds with Frank (BioMechanics Post-Doc, Philadelphia) and Stephanie (Yoga Instructor, Ohio).

After a morning at Frank's lab at the University of Leeds and a wandering walk to Hyde Park - I rested in the afternoon doing yoga for the first time, ever before the "hat party" tonight.

Frank showed me yoga push ups and four other moving or holding shoulder poses. It was quite tiring, so I was thankful the routine actually concluded with a "yoga nap".

Anyway, it was during that time I felt and explosion in my belly chakra. I disregarded it as gas...

However, when I told Frank, he notified me we were doing Aura yoga, which does target the electromagnetic properties of the gut! Who knew.

As a yoga instructor, Stephanie was delighted to hear of my experience.

Waterwall

26 October 2007: LA-like tour, as we visited where the mountains meet the sea.

[insert photo: Go board and lunch] The Maritime Museum was a treat, even though I lost my folks during a self-guided audio tour. Where could they have gone after stop #4 and we're on the same pace? Maybe they're rowing with the reconstructed galley.

Anyway, we met up again and headed to Port Vell for a razor clam, prawn, and calamari lunch where I decidedly beat my father in our daily Go competitions.

[insert photo: fountain] At sunset atop Montjuic, mom and I descended from the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya to watch the Magic Fountain show. I was thrilled to find the van der Rohe Pavillion and touched the Mecca of my HA85 modern architecture course.

I would have liked to have spent more time around the small, winding streets of Poble Sec. People were pouring out of a small tapas bar with drinks in hand and no chairs. Mom could have rolled me home.