Usually when I go to write a blog post I compose it in the notes section of Entourage (my email client). Last month my friend Jarrod asked me to write an article for his website and I happily agreed. Even though it took at least 20 combined hours to write and it made me hella procrastinate because of it's tediousness, I finally completed it 2 days ago by forcing myself to sit down and plow through it. It was so ready, it could have been cut and pasted that day. To ANYTHING. But I ignored my better judgement and said to myself, double backup is paranoia. So yesterday entourage decided that the database was corrupt and would no longer access ANY of the data. That includes email, notes, contacts, preferences etc. Nobody ever said anything about the 2GB data limit of entourage. If I could strangle any software program till my fingers leave imprints on it's soft tender flesh and bruises on its trachea, this would be the one. Thanks Microsoft. Thanks a lot.
PS. yes i said hella.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Back in the good ol' US of A
So I'm back. In Chicago. I'm not sure whether it's the reverse culture shock of being in the states or just being back here in my hometown after being absent for ages but it's weird. I'm suspecting it must the latter since it's been way more about what I've noticed having changed or lack there of, and the things that still remain that I've completely forgotten about. Perhaps it's a testament to how much I've changed as well. Chicago is nostalgic and completely foreign all at once. I'm disoriented, a stranger in my own city and it's only through the comfort of being with my closest friends and family that I'm able to keep from succumbing to the alienation that threatens to swallow me up at times.
I remember what it was like to live and walk amongst these inhabitants. The feeling of the city was and is still very solid, cemented and real. Chicago is a no nonsense town. People don't change much. In Chicago, you follow routine and do the things you are supposed to do like everyone else. You go to school, you get a job, get married, buy a house, have children, and grow old. You don't wander very far and when you do you almost always inevitably return. In recent months I've been contacted through facebook from email blasts from the past. Old high school classmates, best friends, acquaintances, etcetera. The majority of them still live within a fifty mile radius of Chicago and all of them are married, possibly with kids and a house somewhere.
Weird.
Kids.
Arriving into O'hare was the 1st time I actually thought about my own mortality in a long time. Afterall, in what seems like a blink of an eye, 15 years have passed since high school graduation. I joined the army, finished college, moved to another city, have had multiple long-term relationships, traveled around the world, and just plain lived out my strange and sometimes surreal life. There's not a whole lot different from before. I still rent. I'm still single. I don't have much in material possessions and barely a savings now that I've squandered half of it on traveling. I feel like I'm standing still but time is moving very fast. My life is a collection of experiences with hardly anything tangible to show for it except for some pictures and a blog I try to keep up with once in while. Oh yea, I have two cats but even they are at the midpoint of their lives and will be ghosts before the close of this next decade. My relationship with my parents and sisters are essentially the same. We're still kids to them and even to ourselves. I'm not sure what my parents think about us. Occasionally my mom will show concern about the parade of partners I've steadily streamed through but I think deep down she knows she might never see grandkids from any of us in her lifetime so she never bothers asking.
In less than 2 weeks I'll be back in SF. Not sure how that's gonna be. I'm worried I might fall back into nasty old habits. Traveling has made me re-evaluate and reconsider what is important in life. Is it career and social mobility? Or is the key to happiness simplicity and staying present? I thought traveling would answer a lot of questions for me. Instead it's only created more.
I'm not really sure what i'm trying to say with any of this. Guess I'm only trying to make sense of it all.
I remember what it was like to live and walk amongst these inhabitants. The feeling of the city was and is still very solid, cemented and real. Chicago is a no nonsense town. People don't change much. In Chicago, you follow routine and do the things you are supposed to do like everyone else. You go to school, you get a job, get married, buy a house, have children, and grow old. You don't wander very far and when you do you almost always inevitably return. In recent months I've been contacted through facebook from email blasts from the past. Old high school classmates, best friends, acquaintances, etcetera. The majority of them still live within a fifty mile radius of Chicago and all of them are married, possibly with kids and a house somewhere.
Weird.
Kids.
Arriving into O'hare was the 1st time I actually thought about my own mortality in a long time. Afterall, in what seems like a blink of an eye, 15 years have passed since high school graduation. I joined the army, finished college, moved to another city, have had multiple long-term relationships, traveled around the world, and just plain lived out my strange and sometimes surreal life. There's not a whole lot different from before. I still rent. I'm still single. I don't have much in material possessions and barely a savings now that I've squandered half of it on traveling. I feel like I'm standing still but time is moving very fast. My life is a collection of experiences with hardly anything tangible to show for it except for some pictures and a blog I try to keep up with once in while. Oh yea, I have two cats but even they are at the midpoint of their lives and will be ghosts before the close of this next decade. My relationship with my parents and sisters are essentially the same. We're still kids to them and even to ourselves. I'm not sure what my parents think about us. Occasionally my mom will show concern about the parade of partners I've steadily streamed through but I think deep down she knows she might never see grandkids from any of us in her lifetime so she never bothers asking.
In less than 2 weeks I'll be back in SF. Not sure how that's gonna be. I'm worried I might fall back into nasty old habits. Traveling has made me re-evaluate and reconsider what is important in life. Is it career and social mobility? Or is the key to happiness simplicity and staying present? I thought traveling would answer a lot of questions for me. Instead it's only created more.
I'm not really sure what i'm trying to say with any of this. Guess I'm only trying to make sense of it all.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
The end of this blog?
Today I went to the beach and took my camera with, but because there were going to be so many people on the beach I thought perhaps I should bring it in waterproof bag that I got in Thailand from the songran festival. So i put it in there along with the 30 euros I brought with me into the water, was having a nice chat before I decided to double check the bag and what do I see? a potentail $300 dollars blown. fuck me. keep your fingers crossed that after i let it dry out it'll miraculously work again. Should I pray to jesus hard the next 2 days? Somehow I don't think he's gonna help me. Plus it looks like the on button got pressed while it was in the water. sigh. i'm screwed.
safe and sound in valencia, spain.
Did you know that people here clap when the plane lands safely? I didn't.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Cambodia: Part 2
The morning after my arrival into Phnom Penh. The night before I had arrived after dark and made the mistake of allowing a tout con me into taking me to his guesthouse of choice that I didn’t want to stay at. It was obvious that this was a place that paid half the tuk-tuk drivers in the city to bring backpackers to since it was teeming with them in a neighborhood that obviously was away from the main the drag. Because I had decided I didn’t want to stay there I spent a good half an hour having him drive me around in search of other crappy little guesthouses that didn’t prove much better. I finally settled on a cockroach infested room close to the waterfront area and had to pay him extra for the runaround. I was ready to punch the guy in the end.
In search of food.
Finally found something adequate. Sadly, I can’t say Cambodian food is all that good. Most of their dishes are rip-offs of neighboring country’s dishes.
The Royal palace
The National Museum
Tuol Sleng Genocide museum. This was an old high school converted to a detention center where Pol Pot sent several thousand people to be tortured and killed. Read about the killing fields and the mass atrocities that were committed in cambodia between 1975 and 1979 here. 
The Rules
Not sure what this means but I made sure I maintained a solemn composure whenever I was around it.
On the ground floor of Building A there were a series of rooms that were used as the torture rooms. On the walls hung portraits of various victims laid out on the metal beds.
Large screens of mugshots taken of detainees before they were sent to their fate. There were hundreds of these pictures spread out through several rooms.
Building C had classrooms that had been divided up into individual cells. In those cells the victims would be shackled to metal bars in rooms that were barely the width of half a twin mattress.
To be sure, this ain’t no “Welcome Back Kotter” 
I think the only example of graffiti I saw in cambodia. I have a deep suspicion it was done by a westerner.
Cheap goods abound in the Russian market. Get your pirated DVDs here.
Central market. it was like a giant beehive.
This was the American couple, Amanda and Leighton, that I traveled with while in Cambodia. I met them at the border and we rode to Siem Reap and met up in Phnom Penh together. 
Leighton getting a wee bit drunk. 
Ramshackle homes along a riverside as we bused it towards Saigon.
The typical traffic.
While we were waiting for the ferry, dozens of peddlers rushed the vehicles to try to sell their wares. 
Seeing them really gave you a perspective on how poor the locals are as you witness them jostle each other for that potential sale.
Oh yea, it might look like it’s cold but we were in the middle of the hottest months in cambodia. 
I witnessed a nearly full water bottle casually tossed out of a truck and 1 young boy and his friend quickly picking it up to gulp down the contents before the rest of it spilled onto the pavement.
All of the sudden they noticed me watching and ran up to the bus banging under my window trying to get my attention. 
Propaganda party signs were everywhere.
She was interesting as she was a very serious business woman who minutes earlier had pulled out a VERY large wad of cash from her bosom. This was the last pitstop before crossing over into vietnam.Next stop: VIETNAM
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Cambodia: Part 1
Yes, I’ve finally gone through my cambodia pictures!! Traveling in Asia made it very hard to update since I didn’t have the convenience of pulling out my laptop to work on photos and writing while there was downtime. Just didn’t want to attract that kind of negative attention. So I’m finally now getting some freetime to play catchup while on stopover in bahrain, awaiting my departure to frankfurt, Germany. My SE Asian segment ended today and I’m quite not sure how I’m feeling about it. Perhaps a twinge of wistfulness mixed with apprehension for europe? Considering its always been hard for me to switch gears quickly, I’ll say I’m sad to be leaving behind family members and friends I had amazing memories in asia with. That leg of the trip was a whirlwind time and I have to say after traveling through most of the mekong region I definitely have a MUCH greater appreciation for asia more than I’ve ever had before. In fact not only would I love to go back and travel again, I’d even consider moving if money was right.
Before arriving in poipet, I was a mess of jumbled nerves after reading sketchy accounts of the numerous unsavories that eek out their livelihood by badgering the living hell out of newly arriving tourists. That combined with well meaning family members constantly reminding me how gravely concerned they were for my safety and how they were going to do whatever possible to get me safely across by calling in favors to their cambodian contacts, it was a miracle I didn’t literally die from a massive panic attack. I tell ya though it wasn’t easy, I damn near did after all the paranoia they were fed me. By the time I said goodbye to my cousin my stomach was in such tangled knots I seriously thought I would throw up. It turns out that it wasn’t nearly half as bad as I thought it was going to be. In preparation for my journey I did some internet research and found a great website that detailed exactly what to expect once across the border, listing concise instructions to where to find the touts and the different transportation choices available, even going as far as providing an illustrated map of where to go on the other side. The website talesofasia.com coincidentally is maintained by an american expat who ran the guesthouse right next the guesthouse I ended up staying at. They had free wireless and although I didn’t stay there I did end up going to the café a few times to make use of their wifi. If you should ever end up taking the same route I took to siem reap, I highly recommend giving the site a once over. The information was accurate and if you’re looking for a second opinion I’d also say skip the buses, you’re better off getting a share taxi even if it slightly more expensive. It’s not hard finding fellow travelers to split the costs with and you get there much faster than taking the bus since sometimes the drivers like to delay the traveler as much as 6 hours just to get you there after dark and take you to their guesthouse of choice ensuring themselves a commission. But also realize, even though everyone is trying to make a commission off of you, it’s not necessarily all a bad thing since a lot of times the guesthouses are adequate and fair in price. In the end I’d rather save an hour of my time rather than tow a heavy pack around town to save myself a buck or 2. Definitely NOT worth it.
When you make it to the other side you can’t walk 20 meters without immediately being pounced on with a what-is-your-name and where-are-you-going spiel. Eventually after standing around looking every bit the tourist I was, I resigned to the bleakness of my situation and broke down and talked to a guy who was a liason for an associate driving a share taxi. With my somewhat shitty thai, I managed to get him to down to the low low price of $29.99 for not a 3, not a 4, BUT a 5! hour car ride on a dirt highway to siem reap with 2 other americans I met in the passport line by asking if they wanted to split a taxi to our destination.
Having assumed that cambodia would be exactly the same as thailand it was crazy to witness the landscape change from somewhat lush green to red dustbowl in a matter of 30km as we motored through the border.
Lots of dust as we drove past overcrowded pickup trucks and wooden stilt homes along the main highway. Cambodians as a whole relies heavily on farming for their sustenance.
Not once did I see a petrol station along the road. Instead these cars are outfitted to used compressed gas. Don’t ask me how much or how efficient the fuel is. I wouldn’t have a clue but it definitely have to be a lot cheaper than what we pay in the states.
A rest stop along the way.
For $6 a night you can get a great fan-only room with a private bathroom. Also, most guesthouses in cambodia require their guests to remove their shoes outside the front lobby reception.
The guy to the left worked at the hotel, the guy to right was our hired tuk tuk driver for 2 days. It wasn’t actually a tuk-tuk though. It was a motobike rigged with a cart.
Our first day towards the ruins. This is the main road that leads to angkor wat.
At every temple ruin there are throngs of kids trying to sell you books, beads, postcards, water, whatever it is they can convince you to buy. For the most part they are harmless but be ready for some serious persistence even AFTER you break down and buy something. they ask you to buy more but understand that due to strict laws govern the area, this is their only way they make their money so don’t turn your nose up at them.
Our initiation to the temples.
Interior Bas relief.
temple #2: banteay kdei
This was the site for the temple ruins they used in tombraider. (Ta Prohm) Mostly because these ruins is of the ones that were left the most intact with jungle overgrowth. These days it’s been cleaned up and restored a lot but it gives you an idea of how it was found over 700 years later by french explorer Henri Mouhot.
this guy was ultra friendly. with a fucked up leg and bad limp he led me off the beaten path to photo op areas that he thought were worth photographing. it was all things he found beautiful. so endearing.
he even told me to get into the tree for a pic.
You saw these ensembles everywhere. they are landmine victims who no longer can work and depend on donations as musicians.
While heading to the bathroom, I noticed a kid whacking a tree branch with a big stick collecting ants and their eggs. Not sure how they were going to be prepared but I know it was for consumption.
it was a scary climb to the top.
heading to wat thom compound.
banyon was the exquisite centerpiece of the compound.
after 8 straight hours of temples we decided to call it a day and that we would save angkor wat for sunrise. That evening we spent the sunset at banyon.
Never got to try them.
All across asia I saw these bottles with whole cobras clamping on the tails of huge scorpion in their mouths. Drink it and you become powerful like He-man.
for some reason walking around asia at night reminded me of nights at burning man. maybe that’s where the inspirations for some of the camps came from.
yep I made it up after much persuasion from leighton and amanda, the american friends I ended up hanging out with in siem reap and phnom penh.
I wasn’t prepared for the beauty of angkor wat but I was really thankful we had waited til the next day. it definitely earned it’s reputation as the crowning glory of the temples.
Interior courtyard.
The dark parts is from the oils of peoples hands touching the bas reliefs. shame on everyone! Admittedly i wanted to touch it too.
The kids were always curious and friendly. At first it started off with the little guy and the rest just followed suit.
while I was walking out, there was a crowd of people waiting to get their picture taken in what looked like a traditional Cambodian cowboy outfit.
this monkey was just moseying down the walkway like he was on a mission. once he was teased by this kid and the monkey lunged at him. moral of the story: don’t mess with monkeys. ps. you have no clue how many monkey horror stories there are out there.
We were just about to head home when amanda noticed the long procession of monks and decided that she wanted to stay and take photographs. I’m glad we did, it was quite the scene. Did I mention that she’s a professional photographer? And a good one at that!
Tired of temples yet? yea now you know how i felt after a day.
In SE asia, 3 is NOT a crowd.
on the way to phnom penh. stay tuned for part II!
Before arriving in poipet, I was a mess of jumbled nerves after reading sketchy accounts of the numerous unsavories that eek out their livelihood by badgering the living hell out of newly arriving tourists. That combined with well meaning family members constantly reminding me how gravely concerned they were for my safety and how they were going to do whatever possible to get me safely across by calling in favors to their cambodian contacts, it was a miracle I didn’t literally die from a massive panic attack. I tell ya though it wasn’t easy, I damn near did after all the paranoia they were fed me. By the time I said goodbye to my cousin my stomach was in such tangled knots I seriously thought I would throw up. It turns out that it wasn’t nearly half as bad as I thought it was going to be. In preparation for my journey I did some internet research and found a great website that detailed exactly what to expect once across the border, listing concise instructions to where to find the touts and the different transportation choices available, even going as far as providing an illustrated map of where to go on the other side. The website talesofasia.com coincidentally is maintained by an american expat who ran the guesthouse right next the guesthouse I ended up staying at. They had free wireless and although I didn’t stay there I did end up going to the café a few times to make use of their wifi. If you should ever end up taking the same route I took to siem reap, I highly recommend giving the site a once over. The information was accurate and if you’re looking for a second opinion I’d also say skip the buses, you’re better off getting a share taxi even if it slightly more expensive. It’s not hard finding fellow travelers to split the costs with and you get there much faster than taking the bus since sometimes the drivers like to delay the traveler as much as 6 hours just to get you there after dark and take you to their guesthouse of choice ensuring themselves a commission. But also realize, even though everyone is trying to make a commission off of you, it’s not necessarily all a bad thing since a lot of times the guesthouses are adequate and fair in price. In the end I’d rather save an hour of my time rather than tow a heavy pack around town to save myself a buck or 2. Definitely NOT worth it.
When you make it to the other side you can’t walk 20 meters without immediately being pounced on with a what-is-your-name and where-are-you-going spiel. Eventually after standing around looking every bit the tourist I was, I resigned to the bleakness of my situation and broke down and talked to a guy who was a liason for an associate driving a share taxi. With my somewhat shitty thai, I managed to get him to down to the low low price of $29.99 for not a 3, not a 4, BUT a 5! hour car ride on a dirt highway to siem reap with 2 other americans I met in the passport line by asking if they wanted to split a taxi to our destination.Having assumed that cambodia would be exactly the same as thailand it was crazy to witness the landscape change from somewhat lush green to red dustbowl in a matter of 30km as we motored through the border.
Lots of dust as we drove past overcrowded pickup trucks and wooden stilt homes along the main highway. Cambodians as a whole relies heavily on farming for their sustenance.
Not once did I see a petrol station along the road. Instead these cars are outfitted to used compressed gas. Don’t ask me how much or how efficient the fuel is. I wouldn’t have a clue but it definitely have to be a lot cheaper than what we pay in the states.
A rest stop along the way.
For $6 a night you can get a great fan-only room with a private bathroom. Also, most guesthouses in cambodia require their guests to remove their shoes outside the front lobby reception.
The guy to the left worked at the hotel, the guy to right was our hired tuk tuk driver for 2 days. It wasn’t actually a tuk-tuk though. It was a motobike rigged with a cart.
Our first day towards the ruins. This is the main road that leads to angkor wat. 
At every temple ruin there are throngs of kids trying to sell you books, beads, postcards, water, whatever it is they can convince you to buy. For the most part they are harmless but be ready for some serious persistence even AFTER you break down and buy something. they ask you to buy more but understand that due to strict laws govern the area, this is their only way they make their money so don’t turn your nose up at them. 
Our initiation to the temples.
Interior Bas relief.
temple #2: banteay kdei
This was the site for the temple ruins they used in tombraider. (Ta Prohm) Mostly because these ruins is of the ones that were left the most intact with jungle overgrowth. These days it’s been cleaned up and restored a lot but it gives you an idea of how it was found over 700 years later by french explorer Henri Mouhot.
this guy was ultra friendly. with a fucked up leg and bad limp he led me off the beaten path to photo op areas that he thought were worth photographing. it was all things he found beautiful. so endearing.
he even told me to get into the tree for a pic.
You saw these ensembles everywhere. they are landmine victims who no longer can work and depend on donations as musicians.
While heading to the bathroom, I noticed a kid whacking a tree branch with a big stick collecting ants and their eggs. Not sure how they were going to be prepared but I know it was for consumption.
it was a scary climb to the top.
heading to wat thom compound.
banyon was the exquisite centerpiece of the compound.
after 8 straight hours of temples we decided to call it a day and that we would save angkor wat for sunrise. That evening we spent the sunset at banyon.
Never got to try them.
All across asia I saw these bottles with whole cobras clamping on the tails of huge scorpion in their mouths. Drink it and you become powerful like He-man.
for some reason walking around asia at night reminded me of nights at burning man. maybe that’s where the inspirations for some of the camps came from.
yep I made it up after much persuasion from leighton and amanda, the american friends I ended up hanging out with in siem reap and phnom penh.
I wasn’t prepared for the beauty of angkor wat but I was really thankful we had waited til the next day. it definitely earned it’s reputation as the crowning glory of the temples.
Interior courtyard.
The dark parts is from the oils of peoples hands touching the bas reliefs. shame on everyone! Admittedly i wanted to touch it too.
The kids were always curious and friendly. At first it started off with the little guy and the rest just followed suit.
while I was walking out, there was a crowd of people waiting to get their picture taken in what looked like a traditional Cambodian cowboy outfit. 
this monkey was just moseying down the walkway like he was on a mission. once he was teased by this kid and the monkey lunged at him. moral of the story: don’t mess with monkeys. ps. you have no clue how many monkey horror stories there are out there.
We were just about to head home when amanda noticed the long procession of monks and decided that she wanted to stay and take photographs. I’m glad we did, it was quite the scene. Did I mention that she’s a professional photographer? And a good one at that!
Tired of temples yet? yea now you know how i felt after a day.
In SE asia, 3 is NOT a crowd.
on the way to phnom penh. stay tuned for part II!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Yay! I've managed to squeeze out another one!
Ok so I’ve come to realize how hard it’s becoming to keep up with posts and I’m now considering perhaps just making it a goal of posting pictures only instead of going through the trouble of creating interesting commentary to go along with it. Maybe if I did it this way, then the posts will become more frequent. Since I’m so very far behind and still needing to finish up New Zealand before I forget all relevant info I will commence with posting up my time in Wellington now.
The morning I rolled into Wellington from Taupo.
Our first stop was at the top of Mount Victoria for a view of the city.
This is Rachel. Rachel and her flat was my very first couchsurfing experience. At first I was nervous because I was unsure of what to expect but it was my perfect initiation into couchsurfing! If you don’t know what couchsurfing is check it out here. So far I’ve surfed with 5 hosts and they’ve all been pretty rad.
From L-R that’s Rachel, Charlie, ALEK! (said just like that. ALEK! had a strong personality to say the least. strong personality = amusing bossy Macedonian), and Hollie. That couch you see in the foreground was my bed for a few days.
These guys had an enviable living arrangement whereby in addition to their weekly rent they contributed a fixed amount to the communal pot which went towards bills and groceries. Flatmates took turns buying groceries and cooking whenever they’d feel the urge. The ones who didn’t cook would do the clean up. House rules were fairly loose from what I saw as everyone seemed pretty self regulating. Having communal groceries meant that food was available to everyone equally thus eliminating the danger of quibbling over whose was who’s. Of course in order to become a resident of the Ghunzee street apartment, one also had to be subjected to a rigorous interview process in which the whole group was involved. Funnily enough, the apartment had somewhat of a strict vegetarian policy even though the majority of the housemates were not. Apparently it was a carryover from the original tenants, Charlie having the tenure of longest resident there.
L-R: Hollie, John, and Charlie. That night we all went out for a walk and stopped for gelato. The original plan was to go check out one of their friend’s performance at some bar down the street. This was spearheaded by ALEK! But 10 mins into our walk, plans changed. As soon as we arrived ALEK! ran into another friend out front who convinced him that we should go check out the giant shadow box instead. Of course he convinced us all to go but he himself had to return movies first and so would meet us at the shadow box later. Long story short, we went, we saw, and he disappeared. Keep in mind ALEK! did all the persuading and basically was the mastermind behind our excursion. Funny guy that ALEK! The flatmates themselves were a lovely bunch. Not only did they live together but they all could and DID oftentimes go out together as friends. Oh yea. The official flatnames were Rachel, John, Charlie, Hollie and Joel. ALEK! is an honorary roommate who came with Charlie. You’ll meet Joel later.
Cuba street. I totally lucked out in location. I couldn’t have asked for a better place! Upon my arrival Rachel invited me to check out a happy hour theatre production showing around the corner at a bar/venue called Mighty Mighty. What a great introduction to the city’s cultural nightlife!
I always wondered how and where they sold stuff like spraypaint in other cities overseas. This was in a skate shop in the neighborhood.
The building to the left is the National Gallery, a free art museum featuring all new zealand artists.
Behind the gallery was a backview of the library –one of the first places I ended up when I arrived in Wellington. I had thought that if any place would have free internet, it’d definitely be the library. Boy was I wrong! Nothing is free in New Zealand. Not even ketchup packets or should I say tomato sauce packets.
If you stroll further along past the National Gallery towards the waterfront you run into this walkway and pier with integrated wood and iron sculptures. Wellington has the highest concentration of publicly funded art spaces in all of New Zealand. Everywhere you go there are large scale sculptures and installations justifying the city’s reputation as a city with soul. The first time I was in New Zealand I was told how much I would like Wellington but sadly was never able to check it out til now.
Their version of a parking meter.
Right before I snapped this shot there was a guy who walked past this and had to stop to rub the dogs head like it was an actual dog. It was kinda cute actually.
Wellington has a cable car that takes you up to the top of the hill with the botanical gardens and cable car museum and then directly back down. It only has that one route. People like to make comparisons to SF because of it but I don’t think they should. Cable cars aren’t that cool and neither is SF.
Why is it museums love to have mannequins with bad hair pieces doing strange things?
The top of the hill. I mentioned that earlier there’s only cable car and one route that takes people from the top of the hill down to the bottom but I also forgot to add that many of the old homes that sit on steep hills have their own private pulley and elevator systems. Of course they have stairs too but I wonder, why doesn’t SF have something like that?!
The walk down from the top of the hill down to the city center is only about 30-45 minutes.
Wellington had lots of ferns and moss. I would say a good portion of NZ could qualify as temperate rainforest.
I loved this apartment building because it makes me think of a lifesized dollhouse where even though each unit’s floorplan may be almost identical but are vastly different depending on the dweller. It makes me want to make up stories about the people that live there.
On the way back I passed by the oldest cemetary in the city. It was where some of the first colonists were buried.
This is the parliament building which is nicknamed “the beehive.”
I think this is Lambton quay. Wasn’t very far from the flat. As I said earlier, I couldn’t have asked to have been situated in a better place! I was right around the corner from the alternative area yet still super close to the city center.
I didn’t know that the Hara Krishna’s were still a cult! These days they tend to look a little more normal from the waist up. Check out the guy with baseball cap!
There was a crew of these devil looking guys and girls wandering the street that day. They looked like they were on a scavenger hunt.
Saturday night we roamed the city looking for a place to hang out and went to at least 5 bars before settling on this café with a live jazz trio. We went everywhere but for some reason that night the city was dead. I hear it happens sometimes.
The beetch my last day.
So you know how sometimes you’ll see people playing volleyball, hackysack or even soccer at the beach? Well these guys on the left were playing cricket, which coincidentally there happened to be an international game going on that day as well. While we decided on the beach, Hollie and my english traveler friend I had met 2 towns ago attended that instead. Don’t bother asking me anything about the game. All I know is, it sounded B-O-R-I-N-G. It’s suppose it’s like our baseball, you go as an excuse to drink.
Rachel and Joel. Joel is a frenchy from Christchurch, a graphic designer AND the newest member of the household. He was a delight too!
Rachel was a stupendous host. She actually offered to drive me to the ferry terminal at the ungodly hour of 7am even after I protested. I don’t think I’ve said enough about Rachel but I will add that she was a fireball of energy. In a good way! Bye Wellington. It was a great 4 days!
The morning I rolled into Wellington from Taupo.
Our first stop was at the top of Mount Victoria for a view of the city.
This is Rachel. Rachel and her flat was my very first couchsurfing experience. At first I was nervous because I was unsure of what to expect but it was my perfect initiation into couchsurfing! If you don’t know what couchsurfing is check it out here. So far I’ve surfed with 5 hosts and they’ve all been pretty rad.
From L-R that’s Rachel, Charlie, ALEK! (said just like that. ALEK! had a strong personality to say the least. strong personality = amusing bossy Macedonian), and Hollie. That couch you see in the foreground was my bed for a few days. These guys had an enviable living arrangement whereby in addition to their weekly rent they contributed a fixed amount to the communal pot which went towards bills and groceries. Flatmates took turns buying groceries and cooking whenever they’d feel the urge. The ones who didn’t cook would do the clean up. House rules were fairly loose from what I saw as everyone seemed pretty self regulating. Having communal groceries meant that food was available to everyone equally thus eliminating the danger of quibbling over whose was who’s. Of course in order to become a resident of the Ghunzee street apartment, one also had to be subjected to a rigorous interview process in which the whole group was involved. Funnily enough, the apartment had somewhat of a strict vegetarian policy even though the majority of the housemates were not. Apparently it was a carryover from the original tenants, Charlie having the tenure of longest resident there.
L-R: Hollie, John, and Charlie. That night we all went out for a walk and stopped for gelato. The original plan was to go check out one of their friend’s performance at some bar down the street. This was spearheaded by ALEK! But 10 mins into our walk, plans changed. As soon as we arrived ALEK! ran into another friend out front who convinced him that we should go check out the giant shadow box instead. Of course he convinced us all to go but he himself had to return movies first and so would meet us at the shadow box later. Long story short, we went, we saw, and he disappeared. Keep in mind ALEK! did all the persuading and basically was the mastermind behind our excursion. Funny guy that ALEK! The flatmates themselves were a lovely bunch. Not only did they live together but they all could and DID oftentimes go out together as friends. Oh yea. The official flatnames were Rachel, John, Charlie, Hollie and Joel. ALEK! is an honorary roommate who came with Charlie. You’ll meet Joel later.
Cuba street. I totally lucked out in location. I couldn’t have asked for a better place! Upon my arrival Rachel invited me to check out a happy hour theatre production showing around the corner at a bar/venue called Mighty Mighty. What a great introduction to the city’s cultural nightlife!
I always wondered how and where they sold stuff like spraypaint in other cities overseas. This was in a skate shop in the neighborhood.
The building to the left is the National Gallery, a free art museum featuring all new zealand artists.
Behind the gallery was a backview of the library –one of the first places I ended up when I arrived in Wellington. I had thought that if any place would have free internet, it’d definitely be the library. Boy was I wrong! Nothing is free in New Zealand. Not even ketchup packets or should I say tomato sauce packets.
If you stroll further along past the National Gallery towards the waterfront you run into this walkway and pier with integrated wood and iron sculptures. Wellington has the highest concentration of publicly funded art spaces in all of New Zealand. Everywhere you go there are large scale sculptures and installations justifying the city’s reputation as a city with soul. The first time I was in New Zealand I was told how much I would like Wellington but sadly was never able to check it out til now. 
Their version of a parking meter.
Right before I snapped this shot there was a guy who walked past this and had to stop to rub the dogs head like it was an actual dog. It was kinda cute actually.
Wellington has a cable car that takes you up to the top of the hill with the botanical gardens and cable car museum and then directly back down. It only has that one route. People like to make comparisons to SF because of it but I don’t think they should. Cable cars aren’t that cool and neither is SF.
Why is it museums love to have mannequins with bad hair pieces doing strange things?
The top of the hill. I mentioned that earlier there’s only cable car and one route that takes people from the top of the hill down to the bottom but I also forgot to add that many of the old homes that sit on steep hills have their own private pulley and elevator systems. Of course they have stairs too but I wonder, why doesn’t SF have something like that?! 
The walk down from the top of the hill down to the city center is only about 30-45 minutes.
Wellington had lots of ferns and moss. I would say a good portion of NZ could qualify as temperate rainforest.
I loved this apartment building because it makes me think of a lifesized dollhouse where even though each unit’s floorplan may be almost identical but are vastly different depending on the dweller. It makes me want to make up stories about the people that live there.
On the way back I passed by the oldest cemetary in the city. It was where some of the first colonists were buried.
This is the parliament building which is nicknamed “the beehive.” 
I think this is Lambton quay. Wasn’t very far from the flat. As I said earlier, I couldn’t have asked to have been situated in a better place! I was right around the corner from the alternative area yet still super close to the city center. 
I didn’t know that the Hara Krishna’s were still a cult! These days they tend to look a little more normal from the waist up. Check out the guy with baseball cap!
There was a crew of these devil looking guys and girls wandering the street that day. They looked like they were on a scavenger hunt.
Saturday night we roamed the city looking for a place to hang out and went to at least 5 bars before settling on this café with a live jazz trio. We went everywhere but for some reason that night the city was dead. I hear it happens sometimes.
The beetch my last day.
So you know how sometimes you’ll see people playing volleyball, hackysack or even soccer at the beach? Well these guys on the left were playing cricket, which coincidentally there happened to be an international game going on that day as well. While we decided on the beach, Hollie and my english traveler friend I had met 2 towns ago attended that instead. Don’t bother asking me anything about the game. All I know is, it sounded B-O-R-I-N-G. It’s suppose it’s like our baseball, you go as an excuse to drink.
Rachel and Joel. Joel is a frenchy from Christchurch, a graphic designer AND the newest member of the household. He was a delight too!
Rachel was a stupendous host. She actually offered to drive me to the ferry terminal at the ungodly hour of 7am even after I protested. I don’t think I’ve said enough about Rachel but I will add that she was a fireball of energy. In a good way! Bye Wellington. It was a great 4 days!
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