The travelling kiwi ‘settles’ for a while (Mar – Dec 2009 in NZ)

I am home. Happy at home. It’s GREAT. I get the feeling my friends have setup a couple of sweepstakes… how long will it last? I don’t know… my gut instinct is that I will be here at least a couple of years.

So – what have I been up to in NZ? Well, just living the in the rat race really.

I got my old job back; I’m working with the same bunch of really cool people as last time and have been working on some pretty cool projects. I also got my old flat back and am living with some really cool people. I even joined my old gym. I’ve been hanging out with the same people…. it seems everyone has moved on and changed a little bit – but it is almost as if I had never left!!

The main point of difference between now and then is the yoga… I am slowly easing myself into the Wellington yoga scene. It took several months but of after a bit of a yoga crawl I finally found a great studio in Wellington to practice (Yoga Unlimited on Tory St). I’ve spent the last couple of months practicing there, the teachers are GREAT… I love it.

The other thing I did this year was study… I started a postgrad somethingaratha in Information Systems through the open university in the UK. That was a bit challenging on my time management skills (or lack thereof) but well worthwhile. I really enjoyed the studies (more so when they were finished) as they kept me busy and focused on the now (opposed to having my head in the clouds scheming future trips abroad).

So – I’ve been keeping myself busy and have been enjoying being back home. No big trips planned (yet) although I do have my first overseas ‘normal persons’ holiday planned. Yep – I haven’t been home a year and I am heading back to INDIA! I am going back to Mysore for 4 weeks of Pranavashya yoga with Vinay Kumar and then will have a few days of R&R at the beach in Goa before heading back to NZ for another year (or two) of wonderful Wellington!

So – that is where I am at. I am heading to India on 17th December until 23rd January – I can’t wait! I will update the blog again to record my travels in India and the 2nd round of yoga in Mysore. Watch this space!

Home sweet home…

So this is the last blog entry for a while…. After a good 18 months gallivanting around Asia (with a 4 month stint at home in the middle) I am back in New Zealand theoretically for good! I say theoretically because we all know its highly likely I will have the urge to go on another big adventure… life is too short, the globe is too big and there are plenty more adventures to be had!

No, seriously – I am home for good. I even signed a permanent contract (I can say the ‘P’ word now),I signed up for an 18 month gym membership, have a contract with vodaphone. Gosh, I even bought a new bed.

Its good being back in Wellington, I feel a lot more settled than when I moved back home after my other OEs (2yrs in Bangkok, 2yrs in Belgium). I think I may actually settle this time. It’s funny though, I’ve come a full circle… I got the exact same job I left in Aug 07 back (I am even sitting at the same desk) and I have moved back into one of my old flats… it’s almost like I never went away.

So my friends… this is it. For now…. home sweet home

No Ping Pong with King Kong in Hong Kong

OK, I looked fairly hard but I couldn’t find King Kong in Hong Kong… and no, little bro… I didn’t play ping pong with Suzy Wong while looking for King Kong either!

Hong Kong is pretty cool though, it kind of reminded me of lots of places…  It reminded me a little of home (Wellington) because of the hills, harbour and compactness of the city. And it reminded me of London because of the greyness, coldness, metro/tube, double decker busses, school kids in blazers, plugs and ridiculously heavy coins. It was quite a unique place to visit…  very Asian but with a nice easy familiar feel to it!

Unfortunately… as far as being a tourist in Hong Kong went it was an appalling effort on my behalf.  So bad that I will just have to come back and do all the touristy things I wanted to do (ie, go up the big escalator, get the tram to ‘the Peak’ and check out the Giant Buddha).    Why did I do such a bad ‘Tourist’ effort… well…  unfortunately I had lots of work stuff I wanted/needed to do before I got to China.  So except for one mini shopping spree at H&M (because I was so grateful to find a western chain with cheap clothes that fit me) I ended working most of the time in Hong Kong. 

 Ok… its a terrible photo but it illustrates my point about Hong Kong reminding me of Wellington… This photo reminds me so much of Wellington…. the hills behind the city, the motorway from the Hutt……   Ah…. am I imagining this?  Do you think I might be missing Wellington a little too much?!?