I recently arrived to New Zealand from Fiji. A lot of people have tattoos around here. Here’s my sketch for one. It also doubles as a calendar if I lose track of time.

Posted by api at 23:57 - 1 Comment »

Yarr.

The photo above is borrowed from some fellow traveller that had the pleasure of seeing the airport city of Nadi in Fiji.

I’ve been staying at a place called Grand Melanesian and it is indeed grand in that respect that it does not have cockroaches and electricity is on 24 hours a day.

I strolled down the main road and got pestered by tricksters and conmen about 6 times in about an hour. I also took a cheap haircut at around 6 dollars (3 euros). For that price you get a bald look or “zero hair?” as my indian barber wanted to confirm.

I had the film in my disposable Fuji quicksnap camera developed and about a third of the shots turned out decent enough. After that I stumbled upon a movie theatre and decided to go in to chill out for a couple of hours while enjoying a Bollywood creation called Dosti – Friends Forever. I found it very entertaining especially because the audience was laughing quite a lot and it helped me spot all the humorous parts in the movie.

An indian night club called Rangeel was unfortunately closed yesterday due to a public holiday, but I think I’ve had my dose of indian culture for the moment.

Posted by api at 08:34 - 2 Comments »

Well, I still have no digital camera, so I have to rely on other people’s shots of the area I am in right now. The picture above is from one the waterfall sites on the island.

It is really quite primitive down here. The generator is on from 6 pm to 9 pm at my place, so I have to really plan cell phone charging and all that carefully.

Yesterday I had a nice Christmas dinner with a bunch of other western people at a place called Coconut Grove. I met a friendly bloke from Manchester. He is working for a local video production company at the main island. They have one national tv channel and one of the shows is a “solve this crime” show which is done by a local policeman who just turns on a consumer video camera by himself and steps in front of camera to make a quick “Do-It-Yourself” tv show to tell about and ask for tips about the latest crimes in the area.

My garden has a bountiful supply of passion fruits, bananas, powpows and coconuts.

That’s all for now. Catch you later, friends.

Posted by api at 07:34 - No Comments »

View of the Somosomo Straits from the deck of Matei Pointe in Taveuni, Fiji.

The island of Taveuni has a lot of beautiful things… waterfalls, pristine jungle and beaches and above all, a great community of friendly and happy Fijians. One thing it doesn’t have though is Internet. There are only a couple of places down here to connect, so I’ve been off the grid for quite a while. My internal clock has totally switched to ‘Island Time’ which pretty much means that time stands still.

In other news, the old faitfull Digital Ixus i I’ve been carrying with me decided to end it’s contract with me on a snorkeling trip. I bought a disposable camera to replace it for the moment.

There is a lot of different kinds of spirituality in the air over here. My host Mr. Bibi is a passionate catholic and yesterday I met a nice cook/saxophone player from Seattle who was on his way to a remote island to worship a local Guru, Adi Da. Adi Da is leaving for California soon and he is taking an entourage of at least 40 followers with him. The cook had volunteered to come to the island to help with the farm work while the guru is away.

I also met some very nice people down South in the village of Vuna. One of them was a shark tamer. That encounter along with a solitary zen moment at the Lavena waterfall swimming hole (where they shot The Return to the Blue Lagoon) have been the most enjoyable experiences so far in this wonderful country.

Merry Christmas to everyone! I’ll be back in air around New Year.

Posted by api at 01:20 - 3 Comments »

I didn’t really pay much attention to all the pre-premiere buzz about this movie. I just saw Narnia yesterday, which was a bit of a disappointment, so I wasn’t really expecting anything much with this one either. Luckily the movie easily lived up to all the hype. It has the kind of truly epic storytelling that the blockbuster movies have lost while trying to give a little bit of something for everyone. I think Narnia suffered from that approach as have many other movies that have tried to snatch in both the kids and parents with one swat.

Anyways, the amazing color work is worth seeing all by itself. The soundtrack is also very well made. The Kong himself is full of primal energy and you can really relate to him while he tries to save the damsel in distress. This might not be a bad movie for a date, by the way. I enjoyed the predictable and slightly sappy plot immensively all by myself though. Peter Jackson masterfully recreates this story with cinematic tools developed for action movies and larger than life classical drama structure. As another reviewer noted, it is bound to become an instant classic.

As a side note, the attendants made a few inspection walks down the aisles to check that nobody was videotaping the movie. I think there was also some sort of theatre specific digital fingerprint composed of green streaks of light at one of dinosaur fight scenes.

Posted by api at 06:55 - 5 Comments »

This neat little gas heater has a radio frequency remote control! It also acts as a terrific replacement for a televison. The fake wood in the heater looked completely convincing with a red hot glow and all.

I believe television was originally developed partly as a replacement for a traditional fireplace in the post second world war era. Families could gather around it’s glow to spend time together and chat. Nothing beats the atmosphere a real fire creates though.

Fireplace-Direct appears to sell quite similar cast iron stoves

Posted by api at 23:01 - 1 Comment »

The East Bay Depot for Creative ReUse

The East Bay Depot for Creative ReUse is a nonprofit corporation devoted to getting people to reuse materials. Since the early ’80s, the Depot has been promoting solid waste diversion and resource conservation by collecting and redistributing reusable materials for education, arts & crafts, and a wide variety of other creative projects. The Depot also spreads the word about the importance of waste reduction, recycling, and reusable materials through a school-based environmental education cirriculum and a annual junk art contest. In the Depot Store are displays of many creative reuse projects that have been developed by our staff, customers, and local artisans. We invite you to come in to be inspired to create something useful -or simply beautiful- for yourself or for someone you know. The prices will amaze you!

I met this fellow customer at the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse. He said he was the jack of all trades and master of none. I think his name was Uno something. The depot was just full of interesting stuff to use in all kinds of art projects. There was a whole crate full of old slides, stencil letters, oak handles, a recipe book for ground beef, fabrics, traffic light reflectors etc.

Posted by api at 08:05 - 1 Comment »

Originally, the producers of the TV show wanted a blonde, a redhead and
a brunette for the three Charlie’s Angels cast members but they wanted
both Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith so bad that they gave up the idea.

John Forsythe was not the first choice for the voice of Charlie. The
originally hired actor showed up drunk for work and John agreed to take
the job.

The hair style worn by the character “Jill Monroe” was so popular that
shortly after the show began, a large percentage of America’s females
were wearing “Farrah Fawcett Hairdos”.

Robert Wagner reluctantly accepted 45% ownership of the show as payment
for a prior contract he had with Aaron Spelling. He said that he felt
the show was the worst idea he’d ever heard!

Posted by api at 09:39 - 2 Comments »

I
I wish you could swim
like the dolphins
like the dolphins can swim
though nothing
though nothing will keep us together
we can beat them
for ever and ever
oh we can be heroes
just for one day

One thing I really love about the culture here on the West Coast is that prejudice against race, age and style are not as much as an issue as they are in many European countries.

Posted by api at 19:17 - 1 Comment »

On my way to 47th street near Martin Luther King Jr.

curfew [O.Fr.,=cover fire], originally a signal, such as the ringing of a bell, to damp the fire, extinguish all lights in the dwelling, and retire for the night. The custom originated as a precaution against fires and was common throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. The curfew has most recently been used in times of turbulence, such as revolution or civil disorders. It is a restrictive measure forcing all persons into their homes to reduce activity against the government or the occupying force. In some communities it has been applied to curb juvenile delinquency.

I’ve always enjoyed walking around at night, but in some areas there is something distressing about the way that people hide in their homes or automobiles when the sun goes down. A sort of a curfew (of decent people) seems to be norm in some big cities.

Posted by api at 18:08 - 1 Comment »

Palmistry

Chiromancy or cheiromancy, (Greek cheir, “hand”; manteia, “divination”), is the art of characterization and foretelling the future through the study of the palm, also known as palmistry, palm-reading, or hand analysis. The practice is found all over the world, with numerous cultural variations.

Modern palmistry can trace its roots back to gypsy fortune tellers and Indian mystics, but often modern palmists combine traditional predictive techniques with psychology, holistic healing, and alternative methods of divination.

Spotted this palmistry reference at College Street in Berkeley. My culture shock has been pleasantly reduced by the presence of local Finnish people. It’s quite a bit warmer than I expected.

Posted by api at 04:41 - 3 Comments »

Impressive tire on the rear wheel

Lufthansa has wi-fi in their planes these days, yay! I feel like I’ve just joined the mile high club.

Posted by api at 00:55 - 1 Comment »

The trip to the Tyrolian mountains was a great success. No broken bones or other problems. Snowboard rental, lifts etc. worked like an Austrian clockwork. The weather was very foggy and the visibility was poor, but that didn’t harm the actual beef which was decent vertical drop, fresh powder snow and a comfortable and fast gondola ski lift. I got stuck in deep snow a couple of times, but it was fortunately at the end of the day. It was a truly exhausting task trying to climb back up on more solid snow.

The autonbahns were full of Audis, BMWs, Volkswagens and other wonders of German engineering. I learned that BMW is actually short for Bayerische Motor Werk. Other stake holders have been trying in vain to buy out the family that owns a substantial portion of this fine european car manufacturer. I was observing in awe when Natascha drove her Audi station wagon at close to 200 km per hour at times with one hand only and nonchalantly chatted with us at the same time.

The food, the archtitecture and a lot of other areas of my interest have been unexpectedly impressive here in Southern Germany. All in all, a great start for this long journey. This is my last entry from here… off to San Francisco tomorrow.

Posted by api at 22:53 - 1 Comment »

I have landed safely here in Munich. This silent couple was standing in the Olympic park for no apparent reason.

Off to Tiroli tomorrow to do some snowboarding or “shredding” as it is more fashionably referred to.

Posted by api at 22:43 - 1 Comment »

Star Alliance Round the World Calculator

Look-Plan-Create-Buy

With 795 airports in 139 countries and a network of 16 airlines, our unique Round the World Fare opens up a world of itinerary options, which fit into your plans rather than the other way around.

Harmonized flight schedules, efficient check-in facilities, comfortable lounges, reliable baggage transfer systems and excellent frequent flyer benefits help make this major journey a rewarding and ’seamless’ experience.

The Round the World Mileage Calculator (RTW MC) puts you in control of the route planning process. With the latest schedules at your fingertips you can plan your round the world trip at your own pace. Try ‘what if’ trips, see which routes fit the standard rules. Once you have successfully completed a valid trip you can send it to your favourite Star Alliance member carrier for re-confirmation and further handling.

This tool is just indispensable if you are planning a round the world trip on a tight budget. I managed to squeeze Germany, California, Fiji Islands, New Zealand and Bangkok within the 26000 mile limit of the cheapest round the world fare of Star Alliance.

I’m leaving on Sunday so the updates to this blog will be slightly less frequent until March, 2006.

Posted by api at 00:14 - 1 Comment »