"H" "one" "N" "one" aka "Hiney"

so... its winter season coming up here in north america/canada and well... the epidemic media hype (and pharmaceutical company windfall during recession)... has definately heated up.

So many of these H1N1 vaccines have come into canada... not kidding... something like 2 million flu shots are going be available and 'most' people in the 'top 6' categories of importance... namely children under 5, pregnant women, healthcare workers etc etc will get priority and shots up until Christmas.

Oh My Goodness. People have gone insane.

I know its important to be vaccinated against certain diseases and preventative measures are always wiser than reactionary measures for any problems... however... its just amazing how much fear has gripped people...

i still believe that more people die from the regular flu every year than so far has occurred with this strange strain of flu virus.

more people die from heart problems, cancer, aids and the rest, but you do not tend to see world wide proportions of cigarette banning or crackdowns on childhood obesity or ensuring correct educational resources are provided to those most vulnerable to certain ailments.

i'll get off my soapbox for now, but I guess our world has all its problems lopsided...

This might cause a few scorned respondents...

but if people really believe in Darwinism... would you think that H1N1 is just another way to weed out for survival of the fittest?

Truth be told... we're ALL going to die someday....

Mind you, I havent personally said that I believe any of the crap i just wrote, but I do seriously wonder where we put our energies sometimes in saving our world. Meanwhile... people die needlessly day after day in war-torn and impoverished nations... or even in our own backyards... but somehow, somewhere in the 'west' they'll spend billions of dollars over a strain of flu that may or may not infect you and in fact, you may or may not die from and lets face it... these shots do not actually PREVENT you from catching it!! It might just slow the virus down...

Ok. my rant here is done.

ps. i still feel sorry for the poor pigs who have now been ostracized for spreading something thats a little scary....

life in vancouver

so... to get a bit deep, then downright hilarious...

I am learning so much about life here in "van city" (yes thats right! its called van city!).

craigslist for one... is such a dodgy looking but incredibly useful website!

I have decided that its time to move downtown! While life in the burbs has its plusses... hmm... (cough*)... I dont think im quite there yet, to settle down with 2.3 children and a white picket fence... or so the stereotype goes!

(more like settle into regular eating wonton noodle fests while 2.3 nieces and nephews run rampant and diapers need to be changed... is more where im at these days!)

so... to lighten the load... i thought id share some of my findings on this elusive 'craigslist' for rental properties downtown...

Spacious, simply furnished room on 2nd floor of small but securty apartment building. Two storeys only. Ground floor is restaurant with karaoke, 2nd floor are a few residential units occupied by young working professionals and university students. Friendly residents, all are English speakers. If you take this room, you will share washroom and kitchen with other two young but matured males. Shared laundry room on the same floor, share wireless internet with other residents or install your own. Available on Dec 1, 2009. Rent $495 including water, gas and hydro. Term lease required. No pet, no smoking, no drug, no any illegal activity is permitted in the premises. Close to all public transit. Walking to Gastown, Downtown and Vancouver Port. Direct bus #4 and #7 to UBC and Emily Carr University and Bus#135 to SFU, shopping within block. 24 hour notice is required to view the place. Call manager......

I just ADORE the green floor! (haha, not)

I think the bits that made me laugh the most was that 1) it is upstairs from a karaoke place 2) the other two blokes are 'young but matured' (what are they, some schizhophrenic graded cheese?) and that well... thats enough to make me laugh...

hope you enjoy my journey to find a place in downtown!! will update again soon.

caffeine

im quite caffeine sensitive...

if i have a coffee at 10am. i'll still be wide awake at midnight... yes. it effects me that much.

so... to lay to rest any suspicions that hot chocolate, green teas and whatever have caffeine... i found this table on line! There IS caffeine... but not a lot of it... which kinda answers my question...

how much caffeine have you calculated you consume in a day?!

i tend to stick to herbal teas, chais, and hot chocolates... although i do worry that because its so cold here in vancouver, that i will end up like a balloon if i keep the hot choccies coming! the temptation is high in this frosty place!

blame canada

i think that was a song written by or at least performed by 'ren & stimpy' back in the 90's. OR it could just be a figment of my imagination... south park maybe?

so here i am in the land of the maple leaf.

as much as the rollercoaster of fun during the first half of my 2009 year has come to a close... the adventures, travel extravaganzas and relentlessly fending off athletes foot while wearing flip flops daily in the shower are all but fading memories...

relief is an understatement... shock awe and cultural readjustments surround me... and well. reality.

crap blogger

i think you know why!

responsible travelling-- giving.

i thought this was kinda helpful. the trickiest one about giving money to beggers is always a tough one... i pretty much thought this stuff already... but im glad someone´s put this together!
http://www.i-to-i.com/campfire/travel-guides/116-A-guide-to-giving-on-your-travels

jungle fever

hey... its been a while since ive updated my blog...

im in a little mountain town called Boquete in the far west of Panama... i went white water rafting for the first time the other day. Grade 4. Awesome!

Other adventures have included crossing the border into Costa Rica and going to the Corcovado National Park. I saw the most amazing animals and my favourite MASSIVE blue butterflies. Went on a 12km hike and saw beautiful Jurassic Park styled wilderness... took a horseback tour to a waterfall in the jungle...

I went to the Panama - one of the locks... called Miraflores...week as well. It was FASCINATING! Alot of political influence from the U.S. Plus its right near Panama City. Believe it or not, it actually reminded me of Hong Kong. It has highrises and had small freeways much like Hong Kong, except without the massive amounts of people.

Other adventures including renting a scooter and driving around Boquete. A visit to an animal shelter called "Paradise Gardens" with the COOLEST birds including rehabilitating Toucans... one which had a fetish for biting your feet... although we met some VERY strange people there... an older lady wearing leopard skin outfit (go figure) basically trying to make love 'cuchee coo' styled fetish with an anteater. hmmm.

also... there was an 'enforced' donation of $5USD to the refuge... WHA?! Thanks for that...

Anyhoo... where to next? You will find out...

panamania!!! "rocky" balboas

im going to panama! yay!

swine flu

its all a bit of hype. http://www.who.int/csr/don/2009_05_04a/en/index.html

missional living¿

a little bit preachy, but it puts into words about just being a good person methinks. here

is heading to Panama!

I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!

i quit.

yes thats right.

i was paid 140Quetzales short... mi el hefe (boss) said money was stolen and well... all the staff got paycuts this week.


I DONT THINK SO!

BAck to the drawing board...

ps. i think i might need to leave antigua and come back for jo and victors wedding. im getting antigua fever... need to get out of here!

a man with a gun standing on a sidewalk.

its amazing how many guns ive seen.

not to alarm you at all...

but the funniest thing i saw this morning on my way back from the gym (yes, i now go to a gym in antigua... it was my first pilates class in a while and it nearly killed me)...

anyways,..

i wish i had my camera... but it was a guy with a big rifle and a few cases of OJ. Yes thats right. Orange juice.

not sure why it was so precious... but there wasnt anything else around and he was just standing there in his uniform, with his gun... with the OJ.

oh... and the latest heckle i have recently gotten aside from the typical latin american men staring as i walk down the street is "chinita Chinita!" (= chinese girl)... oh dear...

at least thats slightly better than 'sayonara'. i get that quite a bit too.

ah... the racial jokes are coming back!

whats new pussycat??

i have a job.

as a bartender. at kafka. antigua. guatemala.

i am earning hot quetzales. 8Q per hour.

thankful that i seem to earn more in tips than i do per hour.

in case you couldnt be bothered doing the currency conversion. im earnining $1 USD per hour.

HOT QUETZALES!

april 17.

its officially one week since good friday...

i have been in antigua and have participated in the 'fombre' making... they have these massive processions through the streets with literally hundreds if not thousands of people... reinacting the story of Christ's death.

its really interesting.

I... helped out with these flower patterns that you make with coloured saw dust and stencilling.
they're pretty amazing... the patterns that are created... taking hours and only just walked all over by the procession just hours if not minutes later.

anyways.

i am a little non descript about all my adventures. too much to take in. i wish i was more specific.

oh, my spanish lessons are good. my teacher's name is Betty.

Me Gusta mi Maestra Betty. ( I like my Teacher, Betty).

Bueno!

Semana Santa- ing :)

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE! (or all of 3 followers of my blog. THANK YOU FOR READING!) i think i will move that box from the top, cos it looks a little sad....

Anyhoo, just realised im getting internet schizophrenia because i realised that i have 1) a facebook profile and status updaterer 2) a secret facebook group (hence probably why you are here) 3) a blog account which i havent used...

and well... i dont know which platform to use half the time, because all is everywhere...

anyhooo... enough whining.

SO much happens when youre on the road for an inexplicable amount of time.

In typical van style in the past month and who knows since my last blog entry i have

1. gone snorkelling in belize and seen lots of amazing sea life.
2. have travelled through another 3 or 4 different countries
3. been stopped by cops 6 or 7 times throughout honduras when we were crossing borders to get from guatemala to nicaragua
4. eating frijoles (beans) which a BUG in it... great.
5. been meeting some AMAZING ppl and seeing Mayan ruins in the north of guatemala (the mayan calendar is only 24secs off the space/ anatomic clock- {pls correct me!}... they are the people that basically created our modern calendar/ clock)
6. been eaten alive by bed bugs
7. seen amazing waterfalls and natural pools.
8. swum in the most pristine lakes
9. taken spanish lessons! HOLA! Como Estas? haah
10. realised that nicaraguan postal service is better and more reliable than guatemalan post!

ok. there are many more things... but i cant think of them now! xo

la cucaracha

just survived a nite of cochroach infested rooms.
we had found a place here in placencia, belize with 3 beds for simon, shani and i... although we kinda lost shani y.day cos she has an israeli passport and no visa. hopefully she will be reunited with us tonite!
all in the fun and spirit of cheap independent travel.

we are now staying in a room with cable tv, clean rooms, air conditioning and a fridge.

life is good again! ♥ ♥ ♥

Scuba Diving, 7 bus trips + 2 boat rides in 24 hours.

Ola Chicos,I am here in Placencia, Belize... a very sleepy seaside town... Have just had the most intense couple of weeks, but fun weeks of my life in Utila, Honduras, where I am now an Advanced Scuba Diver... and I had 11 dives in 5 days... yes. I am crazy.Have met some very special ppl along the way and Simon aka "See-Mon" as the locals call him... and i have had fun hanging out wiith an Israeli girl, Shani, who we have grown very fond of... and Julia from Adelaide.I could go on and on about what has happened, but essentially... its so fun here!!In the past 24 hours we have caught 7 buses, from Honduras via Guatemala through here to Belize and taken 2 boats... a little shonky as the lifejackets were attached to a trolley at the front of the "tug" boat and well... i think we would be screwed if we really did capsize. All is good however... all limbs, brains and personal belongings are intact.Love to all and hope you are well, wherever in the world you are!!

meeting locals....

so im in Granada, Nicaragua. I love it.

I also love eating local food and am enjoying trying all sorts of things that are special to the area that i am visiting.

from the Ceviche in Costa Rica (CR) which is basically lemon juice salsa thing with raw fish in it... its DELICIOUS.

anyhooo... just had a local homeless kid come and eat the dregs of my pollo (chicken) meal, plus i paid him for his reed woven cricket thing he made me. i paid the equivalent of about a $1 to this kid.. to eat the rest of my fried banana (the best fried banana chips ive had!) and gave him half of my water.

the meal was delicious too... fritas de pollo mixto.... it was on a bed of fried banana chips, banana chunks fried as well as fried chicken (they like things fried here, and frankly, so do i)... then on top a kind of salad.. more like coleslaw... and a poco (little) bag of a spicey vinegar thing with more cabbagey thing in it too-- i think its like dressing or something. I liked it. It was spicey.

Ok.... my spanish is getting better because i could manage to just order food and i went and caught the local chicken bus-- not kidding, its basically an old canadian school bus, the yellow ones... from the Masaya market today.... the locals are funny, they do make a bit of a fuss about selling to you, but generally theyre not as aggressive as the chinese, so i could handle it... i guess money talks, but i did bargan down with "precio finale" final price-- pretty much between dollar here and a dollar there, but i got excited with this crocodile leather hairclips, and i almost bought a bag... which was about $40 which wasnt that much, but being cheap, didnt buy it.

it was fun though. i love local mercados!!

i am really enjoying learning spanish... loaded with my little lonely planet phrase book (thanks mum!) its helped alot. believe it or not, i know how to say "where is" = ¿dande esta? to start pretty much every sentence.

i just have to make sure i dont say that when im asking for someones name... but i did ask the little boys name who i gave my food to at the street stall... como te llamos? "Rodrigue" he would have only been about 7 or 8. cheeky bugger.

am back at the hostel now after an eventful day and meeting other locals in nice shops.
ive found a mosaic class that will only cost me about $5. or 100 Cordobas. AM VERY excited about cheap craft class!!!!!!

i think i might jig that $25 kayak over the Islets.

Pah! Craft comes first! Priorities!!

xoxo