I was up at six this morning. The sun is not due for another hour. I refreshed the web page on my laptop to get the latest report on the ski field. It is open! Off to Mt Hutt we go. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now. Last Sunday, the uncertainty around the weather conditions meant that we had to postpone our plan. Today, according to the forecast, the sun will come out to play.

After last year’s experience, we’re better prepared this time. We arrived at Mt Hutt by 9:30. Putting on the snow chains took longer than expected. Nonetheless, we had enough time to sign up, and collect our rental gears before the lesson starts. As everyone said snowboarding is easier, we decided to give that a go this year. We signed up for the Starter Pack. If you have the Entertainment Book, there’s a 25% discount voucher in it.

Ten minutes before the lesson is due to begin, we got ourselves geared up. With only a snowboard to carry around, I’m already starting to like snowboarding more. The boots are much more comfortable too. We waited at the assembly area amongst the other eager beginners. We were soon greeted by our instructor, Greg.

We were given a brief introduction on our gear—the snowboard. It has a nose, a tail, curved edges, smooth bottom, and two boot bindings on top. Before we can strap our boots onto the snowboard, we had one question to answer. Are you regular or goofy? I’m goofy. Funnily, so are most of the group. We soon found ourselves skiing around on the snowboard with one foot strapped in. This proofed to be quite punishing on my legs. However, I’m no quitter. I persisted on despite the discomfort.

On to the fundamentals. We were shown:

• the basic stance;
• how to move in a straight line;
• how to do a toe-side turn;
• how to do a heel-side turn;
• how to start off balanced on the heel edge;
• how to start off balanced on the toe edge; and
• how to link turns.

After two hours of learning the basics, and a lunch break, we were ready to move on to the beginner slope to perfect what we’ve learnt. For the first time, both our feet are strapped on. We were given a preview of more advance techniques, such as jumping. I managed a 45 on flat ground. You’re probably more familiar with the 360.

The instructor was great. Greg was able to point out what I was doing wrong. His advice, and positive encouragement really helped to boost my confidence. Can’t quite say the same for the ski instructor last year; who shall remain nameless.

I started off the day feeling more comfortable with toe-side turns. However, as the day goes on, I found myself more confident doing heel-side turns. No beginner lesson is complete without a spectacular high-speed fall, which I dutifully performed. I also learn why skiers hate snowboarders so much. I, for one, like to sit like a rock on the slope when recovering from a fall; turning it into an obstacle course.

By the end of the day, I can’t say I’m ready to head up Highway 72. I’m not confident enough that I won’t slide off the edge of the slopes, or run down other skiers in my path. However, it is definitely something I will do again.

The Challenge

Visit all the Coffee Culture stores around Christchurch within the month

The Prize

A Coffee Culture t-shirt to prove that you… have nothing better to do?

The Story

It all started when I mentioned the challenge to my sisters while we were in Lyttelton for the Festival of Lights street parade. Turns out I got the date wrong but that’s another story. To make the trip worthwhile, we dropped by Coffee Culture instead. We had to specifically request for a receipt. I suppose most people have better things to do than to collect receipts from each of the Coffee Cultures.

Anyway, we did some complex calculations and realised that we need to consume on average 2 to 3 coffees a week. We don’t normally go to Coffee Culture that often, that’s for sure. However, as it was only Week 1, we are right on track.

One by one, we visited them. Some days, I didn’t even feel like having coffee and yet I go. It is turning out to be quite a chore. By this morning, we had done:

• Lyttelton – Jun 5
• Lincoln – Jun 7
• Merivale – Jun 9
• Bush Inn – Jun 14
• The Roastery on Durham – Jun 20
• Main North Road – Jun 21
• Sumner – Jun 23
• Palms – Jun 26

That’s 8 out of 10. We decided this madness has gone on long enough and it’s time to end it. We headed to Riccarton for a quick takeaway. Turns out the quick takeaway wasn’t so quick. After losing another 10 minutes of my life to the challenge, we zoomed over to High Street to complete our tour.

I still have my takeaway Chai latte in my hand.

I realise things have been quieter than usual here. That’s because I have been spending most of my time on a new project – a personal notebook. The lucky ones will get an invite. The others are welcomed to try and find it. All I will say is that it is publicly accessible.

It’s been interesting learning how to manage and use a wiki. TikiWiki to be specific. I’m currently busy planning an upcoming trip to Australia on it.

I’ll try my very best to keep this blog active.

Set in war torn Saigon in 1975, amidst the turmoil of the Vietnam War, an American soldier and a Vietnamese girl fall in love, only to be separated during the fall of Saigon.

I went to the Miss Saigon musical at the Isaac Theatre Royal today and it was awesome. The story also fits in with the Anzac Day theme. I’m not sure about the significance of Anzac Day actually; but to me it’s about the army and war.

I’m no expert when it comes to musical. This is actually the first I have ever attended; second play. I have never been a big fan of musicals. All the singing can get a bit annoying. In this particular case, I sometimes couldn’t even hear what they were singing but I did get the gist of the story. In spite of that, I really enjoyed the show. Anything that starts with girls stripping couldn’t go much wrong.

I’m really impressed with the set; the level of detail. The last play I went to only had a single scene. This one had a moving helicopter. There is, however, one thing that really dissapointed me – the shooting scenes. In both scenes, there were no blood. Even a red scarf would have been better than nothing.

I’ve been thinking of going for ages and now I have. It was an interesting experience; in a good sort of way. I was up for quite a lot of things but I drew the line at live grasshoppers. I did try, in order of wildness factor:

• Deep Fried Grasshopper - Crunchy but not much taste to it. Definitely not bitter like I expected.
• Live Huhu Grub - Despite what everyone says, it doesn’t taste like peanut butter. The texture is more watery compared to peanut butter, and it has a familiar pleasant-ish taste that I couldn’t quite describe.
• Wasp Larvae Ice Cream - By far the worst thing I had. The gritty texture is horrible. I couldn’t have done it without the ice cream.
• Barbequed Huhu Grub - If you can handle a wriggling huhu grub, try a live one cause it’s heaps better.
• Worms for Wimps (worm in V energy drink) - Couldn’t taste it as it is so tiny.
• Chocolate Worm Truffle - Tastes just like truffle. Wouldn’t have known there were worms in there.
• Tasty Titties (cow’s udder) – It was seasoned and BBQ’d. Tastes okay but is basically just a lump of fat. Similar to pork fat.
• Mountain Oyster (bull’s testicles) - I never had oyster but the taste reminded me of mussels.
• Pig Brain - Couldn’t pick out the taste of the pig brain from the pate.
• Punga - Not sure how to describe this one but it was good-ish.
• Kava - Not as bitter as I was led to believe but it could have been toned down.
• Kowlua and Milk (coffee liqueur with fresh unpasturised cow’s milk) - I could only taste the Kahlua.
• Crocodile - White meat that tastes just like chicken. Honestly.
• Kangaroo - Red meat with similar taste to beef. Perhaps a bit tougher.
• Shark - Once battered and fried, not much different than your average fish from a fish and chips shop.
• Bison - Tastes like beef but tougher. It might just be how it was prepared though.
• Honey Comb - Pure honey. Need I say more? It’s a bit hard to get the comb down once the honey is gone.

Now that I’ve listed them, it looks like a lot. We did share the food. Expect to spend at least NZD 50 per person. More if you want to get boozed up too. That is excluding the entry ticket which costs NZD 30.

If you’re thinking of going next year, check out the official website of the Wildfoods Festival at www.wildfoods.co.nz. Be sure to sort out your accomodation early.

This is turning out to be a sporty weekend. Today, I went to the 3rd ODI Cricket between the Black Caps and India at the AMI Stadium. My first time at a cricket match. The sun was scorching but this time I’m all wrapped up with a hat and all.

I won’t comment too much on the game as I’m no cricket expert. I hardly recognise any of the players but I do know enough about the game to follow what is going on.

India, who batted first, got off to an excellent start. Sachin Tendulkar, one of the few names I do recognise, got well over 160 runs but had to retire due to injury. By the end of the first innings, India had 392 runs. I wasn’t sure if it’s worthwhile staying to see the Black Caps bat but we did. The decision proved right as the Black Caps also got off to a promising start, maintaining the required run rate around ten. I have never seen so many fours and sixes in a single cricket match ever. Come to think of it, I have never followed a cricket match from start to finish either.

If I understood the game correctly, might I say the Black Cap’s middle order collapsed. The batsmen were sent off by the Indians in quick succession, extinguishing any hope of the Black Caps winning. That is until these two batsmen, whose name I can’t remember, stepped onto the pitch. They played great. I even believed that the Black Caps could still win. There were these two boys holding a placard saying “The Black Caps will lose. Yeah right!”, copying the Tui ads.

In the end, India won the match. Nonetheless, it was an awesome game with over 700 runs played in total.

The highlight of the game happened off the field though. Whenever the ball ends up lost somewhere in the construction area, you get to see these people running around frantically looking for the ball. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating.

This is Day 3 of the HSBC NZ PGA Championship at the Clearwater Golf Club. Having never been to a professional golf tournament before, and with the talented Danny Lee playing, what better time to go.

We had a free family pass, as should all Christchurch rate payers, which entitled us to two free adult entries. As there were three of us, that was NZD 20 for the extra ticket. Parking was NZD 8. A draw sheet, an additional NZD 2. While we were expecting it to be a free event, NZD 30 for three people wasn’t too bad.

We arrived fairly late, just in time to see the leaders tee off. The atmosphere was fairly quiet. That is until we caught up with Danny Lee’s group. He had a throng of spectators following him around. If you want to find him, just follow the crowd. That’s what we did.

In the process of trying to get a good shot of Danny Lee teeing off, which I failed miserably, I ended up on TV3 News. It was for a very brief moment; the duration of a swing. I would probably have missed it if I wasn’t paying attention. I was there in the background. The cameraman in the photo is the TV3 guy.

All in all, it was an interesting experience. We did not see anything particularly spectacular that day. It was a bit difficult tracking the balls at times. However, it’s much better than watching it on a 2D screen. The possibility of getting hit by a ball, though unlikely, does add to the experience. All the walking around is also better than slouching on a couch.

I did get sunburned in the process. Slip, slop, slap, and wrap. While I did slip, slop, and slap, evidently I wasn’t thorough enough. My uneven application of sunscreen means that I will be permanently blushing for the next few days.

I had to take a cold shower just now and I’m a bit peeved about it. I wouldn’t have mind so much if it is a hot summer day, which it isn’t. I miss gas heating.

Anyhow, I paid for my first song on iTunes store yesterday. NZD 1.79 for Love Story by Taylor Swift. It fits the moment, seeing as it is Valentine’s Day today. The only thing missing seems to be my Juliet. Maybe things will be different this time next year.

Today also happens to be the start of the Chinese Lantern Festival at Victoria Square. I took some photos, which are now on Flickr, but I’ll try and post them on here tomorrow. The lighting condition wasn’t ideal. In other words, I was there too early in the day while the sky was still quite bright. I guess there’s always tomorrow night if I’m really that keen but I very much doubt it. The food was meh, but the lanterns are definitely worth checking out.

My pay rise for the year was announced today; and I’ve spent it all already. It wasn’t much, but I guess it’s better than nothing. On the positive side, if the inflation drops, that’s like a pay rise too.

In case you’re wondering, I got myself a Nokia N82. It’s a great camera phone. I figured, with the pathetic interest rate, my money isn’t doing much sitting in my bank account. Plus the prices of electronic goods are set to rise with the weakening New Zealand currency. So, I might as well help get us out of recession.

On a side note, the battery in my Logitech VX Revolution has finally died. A single AA battery will last approximately three to four months. This is a great mouse. The only annoying thing was that for the past week, the system tray icon for the mouse won’t stop flashing because of the depleted battery. I get the point already! I just don’t want to waste a battery that’s still usable.

There are a lot of things that I would like to achieve this year. Six weeks into the new year, I’m struggling to keep everything on track. I guess I should prioritise my goals. That way, even if I don’t achieve everything by the end of the year, at least the important ones are done.

I’ve already made some pretty big changes to date and am quite happy with how things are progressing. My schedule has changed significantly, hence the lack of blogging time. I’ll have to reserve some time for that.

There are a number of topics that I’ve been meaning to blog about for a while now; but I guess they can wait till the weekend.