Monday, May 26, 2008
Ross' "E True Hollywood Stories" Party
A few weeks back my good friend Ross had an "E! True Hollywood Stories" Party - most of the other girls who went took the evening as a chance to dress up super glam. I saw it as a chance to put on a nasty red mullet wig and go as Cyndi Lauper. My Mum always said that "I HAD to always be different..."
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
I'm Home & Safe!
So I would have written sooner - but it appears that you cannot access blogger in China:(
Just to let you all know the earthquake hit before we left for Shanghai and Shanghai seemed to be uneffected by the quake (well in a physical sense anyways), Fiona's Mum rang us after the earthquake had happened but we took off from Auckland without a hitch.
I did see a few flashes on the news in China about the earthquake and when we were leaving China the country was having 3 days of national mourning with all of the flags flying half mast.
We did have one particularly surreal moment on our last day in Shanghai when we were in a taxi and there was a moment of silence for the victims of the earthquake - all the madness of the city suddenly stopped and it was quite weird as Shanghai never really seems to stop.
Will be back with some more Shanghai adventures soon!
Just to let you all know the earthquake hit before we left for Shanghai and Shanghai seemed to be uneffected by the quake (well in a physical sense anyways), Fiona's Mum rang us after the earthquake had happened but we took off from Auckland without a hitch.
I did see a few flashes on the news in China about the earthquake and when we were leaving China the country was having 3 days of national mourning with all of the flags flying half mast.
We did have one particularly surreal moment on our last day in Shanghai when we were in a taxi and there was a moment of silence for the victims of the earthquake - all the madness of the city suddenly stopped and it was quite weird as Shanghai never really seems to stop.
Will be back with some more Shanghai adventures soon!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Shanghai Eve
So today is officially "Shanghai Eve" we don't have to even check in at the airport until after 6 so I could have technically gone to work today - the other girls did. But instead I decided to take leave, it seemed like I had so much stuff to do before going to Shanghai and the shuttle is coming in half an hour and I have to admit I still only feel 95% ready - but I think the other 5% is just nerves and the general worry associated with my bag being too heavy or alternatively I have forgotten something super important (like contact lense cleaner or ventolin) but I am sure all will be fine...
I guess seen as it's only half an hour to go I best do my last paranoid check and make sure for the about the tenth time I do have that contact lense cleaner, ventolin, camera....
I guess seen as it's only half an hour to go I best do my last paranoid check and make sure for the about the tenth time I do have that contact lense cleaner, ventolin, camera....
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Is it winter yet?
Apparently it's not officially winter until June - but last weekend it was colder than you can possibly imagine at our place (unless of course you also live in Aro then you would have been just as cold as us!).
Anyways here is a couple of photos's Rich took from our flat to show the world just how cold it was - brrr snow!
Anyways here is a couple of photos's Rich took from our flat to show the world just how cold it was - brrr snow!
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Scottish Country Dancing
So this Saturday was "International Dance Day" out at the Drama and Dance School in Newtown so Fiona and I went and checked out some dancing and participated in a "Scottish Country Dancing" work shop.
So for those of you who don't know, Scottish Country dancing is kind of like that folk dancing you did at primary school. It's intolerably geeky - but a hell of a lot of fun.
So after having a great time dancing up a storm with our partners Fi and I have decided that we should really hunt out more of this Scottish Country Dancing - so watch this space for more details of geekily good dancing times.
So for those of you who don't know, Scottish Country dancing is kind of like that folk dancing you did at primary school. It's intolerably geeky - but a hell of a lot of fun.
So after having a great time dancing up a storm with our partners Fi and I have decided that we should really hunt out more of this Scottish Country Dancing - so watch this space for more details of geekily good dancing times.
Comedy Festival
So I live in Wellington and it seems every week brings about another festival of some sort...this time around it's the NZ International Comedy Festival and Rich and I managed to see two shows this time round.
Firstly was "Huntly High and Low" seen as we both lived in the Waikato for years the irony of Huntly in general was not lost on us, in particular the line "In Huntly you could be whoever you wanted - Just as long as you didn't look or act different" - it's small town NZ in a nutshell really.
The second show we saw was this weekend and it was "David O' Docherty" - who is an Irish Comedian that Rich, Ross and I saw a few years back and thought was hilarious.
When Rich and I were walking to town to watch him at the San Fran Bath House we talked about how he better be funny as the wind and rain was blowing a gale and it was FREEZING! But no need to fear - he was really funny - I've never seen a funnier guy with a keyboard.
Firstly was "Huntly High and Low" seen as we both lived in the Waikato for years the irony of Huntly in general was not lost on us, in particular the line "In Huntly you could be whoever you wanted - Just as long as you didn't look or act different" - it's small town NZ in a nutshell really.
The second show we saw was this weekend and it was "David O' Docherty" - who is an Irish Comedian that Rich, Ross and I saw a few years back and thought was hilarious.
When Rich and I were walking to town to watch him at the San Fran Bath House we talked about how he better be funny as the wind and rain was blowing a gale and it was FREEZING! But no need to fear - he was really funny - I've never seen a funnier guy with a keyboard.
Shanghai is coming up rather quickly...
So my China trip is about a week away as of today - scary stuff really! I have though done some planning both by myself and with the girls.
The solo planning involves lots of expense unfortunately. My first huge expense was visiting the travel doctors. I have done very little travelling before - only to Australia and the Cooks and neither really require much major preparation (well lots of insect repellent in the Cooks to avoid Dengue Fever but nothing too major. But China is totally different so I wanted to have a yarn to the travel doctor and get some vaccines. I was shocked at how much it cost to see the travel doctor $80! (my normal doctor is about $30) But it was good to have a chat and sort some things out with her. I also had to get a vaccine for Hepatitis A and a tetanus booster (which is super nasty and I still have a lump on my arm from it). I also bought a "diarrhoea kit" (which I am REALLY hoping I don't need) and some of those "flight socks" (yes I realise I am an over cautious traveller).
I have also bought a big suitcase for the trip (and Fiona bought one too so we are suitcase twins!) which will come in useful as I am sure I will buy lots of useless trinkets on the trip.
With the girls we worked out a lose kind of agenda of what we want to do when we are in Shanghai and here it is
TUESDAY
Go for a general looksee
Sex China Muesuem (it's new our backpackers - We can't not go!)
Pearl Tower/Jin Mao Tower (super tall building that we can see the whole city from)
See if we can suss out a good bus tour
WEDNESDAY
Century Park/Sculpture Park
THURSDAY
"God's Temple" Markets
Old town
Yuan Gardens
Tea Ceremony
General "getting lost" in Shanghai and seeing what we can find
FRIDAY
Muesuem/art gallery
Walk along the Bund (see if we can find the very cool looking cobbler in the Lonely Planet which is off the Bund)
SATURDAY/SUNDAY
Jade Buddha Temple
West Nanjing Road
MONDAY
Canal Towns
The solo planning involves lots of expense unfortunately. My first huge expense was visiting the travel doctors. I have done very little travelling before - only to Australia and the Cooks and neither really require much major preparation (well lots of insect repellent in the Cooks to avoid Dengue Fever but nothing too major. But China is totally different so I wanted to have a yarn to the travel doctor and get some vaccines. I was shocked at how much it cost to see the travel doctor $80! (my normal doctor is about $30) But it was good to have a chat and sort some things out with her. I also had to get a vaccine for Hepatitis A and a tetanus booster (which is super nasty and I still have a lump on my arm from it). I also bought a "diarrhoea kit" (which I am REALLY hoping I don't need) and some of those "flight socks" (yes I realise I am an over cautious traveller).
I have also bought a big suitcase for the trip (and Fiona bought one too so we are suitcase twins!) which will come in useful as I am sure I will buy lots of useless trinkets on the trip.
With the girls we worked out a lose kind of agenda of what we want to do when we are in Shanghai and here it is
TUESDAY
Go for a general looksee
Sex China Muesuem (it's new our backpackers - We can't not go!)
Pearl Tower/Jin Mao Tower (super tall building that we can see the whole city from)
See if we can suss out a good bus tour
WEDNESDAY
Century Park/Sculpture Park
THURSDAY
"God's Temple" Markets
Old town
Yuan Gardens
Tea Ceremony
General "getting lost" in Shanghai and seeing what we can find
FRIDAY
Muesuem/art gallery
Walk along the Bund (see if we can find the very cool looking cobbler in the Lonely Planet which is off the Bund)
SATURDAY/SUNDAY
Jade Buddha Temple
West Nanjing Road
MONDAY
Canal Towns
Craft Craft Craft Craft
So last weekend - Kat and I had one of our "Tea Parties" neither of us made any sales:( But it did make me get sorted and make a whole bunch of stuff at once **phew**
I am still intending on selling this stuff - my supplier in Christchurch sounds like they may fall over:( But I do have a back up (I think) a shop in Dunedin called "Fern" which stocks Kat's stuff.
Anyways - if you fancy anything in the pictures - it's all for sale!
A whole bunch of brooches from Barbie's accessories
Earrings - I'm quite into stars at the moment and it seems I have been able to pick up a lot of stars for jewellery making - so I am stoked.
I've also recently taken to making jewellery from hardware - in this pic is a necklance made from rubber "o" rings and earrings from washers and "o" rings (By the way - the fimo's are Rich's works of art - not mine)
Finally - my new favourite thing to make - flowers from stocking and wire and various other florist type things
80's Hair Metal Party
So last weekend my friend Kat had an 80's hair metal party - I must admit - I wasn't in a huge party mood seen as I was still recovering from some unplesant bug which had hit both Rich and I when the weather changed from "You can't beat Wellington on a good day" to "Oh @#$%$ it's cold!".
But then the lure of bad make up and too much jewellery called to be and I decided to head along for a while. Here's a photo of Katrina, Kat and I doing out best bogan girl looks.
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