Monday, June 30, 2008

Holy Cow Toto, We're not in Kansas anymore, Bangalore to Mysore, 29 June 2008

I arrived in Bangalore right on time. The flight (Jet Airways) was surprisingly wonderful. Nice plane, great service and a vegetarian sandwich on the whitest of white bread along with some sort of yummy ginger spice bread. The Bangalore airport is a new one (opened last month) and is beautiful! Very clean and modern. Incredibly my luggage arrived right away. Even more incredibly my driver was right out front holding a sign with my name on it. That’s now 13 flights, 1 greyhound bus trip and one 4 hour car trip in the last month with out a hitch!

No hitch, but OMG!!! The car ride to get here. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. There are lines on the roads but no one seems to pay them any mind. Cars, trucks, busses and motorised rickshaws, motor scooters and pedestrians all sort of enter into this dance to compete for space. I say dance because it doesn’t seem aggressive. When you need to get some place you just go there and magically traffic parts to allow you access. There is a constant beeping of horns and flashing of lights at night and I’m not sure if that’s to signify where you want to go or signal your presence in one particular space. Anyway, it’s crazy to say the least. I just had to let go and trust that my driver knew what he was doing. I didn’t see any accidents.

What I did see amazed me though! People everywhere. Well, that’s to be expected. It’s India after all, one of the most populated countries on earth. But where these people turned up was mind boggling. I saw this young woman dressed in the most beautiful sari just walking down the motorway. I didn’t notice an exit or really any destination for at least a kilometre so God knows where she was going. And there were groups of men, presumably trying to hitchhike, that would just walk out onto the motorway and try to stop the cars.

And the motor bikes. Yikes!!! Everywhere, going all sorts of directions. Men driving, women riding behind them, side saddle in their saris hanging onto who knows what. Some were carrying babies in their laps and on more than one occasion I saw a family of 4!!! On one motor bike!!!!!! Dad driving, Mom in back sometimes perched on the metal rail at the back of the seat and the kids either on the gas tank or between Mom and Dad. Unbelievable. I was amazed, I just had to take it all in.

Then, of course, as if in a movie a cow walks across the road. Why did the cow cross the road? God knows, but in India they’re sacred so if a cow wants to cross the road traffic parts and lets them. It all got to be too much after a couple of hours when I saw the three camels. No wise men, just camels. It had gotten dark by then so I couldn’t see clearly but it looked as if they were carrying something. I think that put me into sensory overload and I couldn’t keep my eyes open so despite the traffic and the constant swerving in and out, despite the incessant honking of horns, despite the pollution (yes the driver had the windows open during the entire trip) I fell asleep! I woke up in Mysore.

On a tree lined, relatively quiet (I’m told exceptionally quiet for India) neighborhood. My driver picked up someone named Ganesh’s boy (I briefly met Ganesh, he runs the local Internet cafe and arranged for my driver) and they took me to Mr. Chez Joseph, my abode for the next month.

I have the rooftop bungalow. It sounds nicer and more romantic than it actually is. More on that tomorrow when I’m more awake.

Peter and Jude waited up for me and made me a cup of tea and shared some biscuits with me. That was incredibly sweet. They’ve been here for a few days but Peter has been sick and Jude is on “ladies holiday” so they haven’t started their practice yet. Tomorrow they will take me down to meet Guruji and hopefully I can begin the next day....

Wow, I’m here! I’m really here.

Flight to Chennai, India, 29 June 2008

It’s been awhile since I’ve been this far outside my comfort zone. I woke up this morning at 4:45 for a 5:45 pickup to the airport. They were late, but I made it on time. I managed to check my bags straight through to Chennai (Madras) on Thai and got my boarding pass for both flights even though I am on 2 separate itineraries.

They warned me about the heat (no big deal for me), they warned me about the pollution (a bit worried about asthma), they warned me about the dirt (I’ve travelled to third world countries before, I can handle it) what they didn’t warn me about was the body odour. OMG, it’s overwhelming among men! Now, I like a musky smell, but this is never used deodorant kind of a smell. I noticed it as soon as I got to the gate for my flight to Chennai. I managed to sit away from the most flagrant offenders and boarded without problem.

Then I looked around. I saw exactly 3 white faces. Wow, I hadn’t expected this.

The guy that I sat next to barely spoke English but I did find out that this was his first airplane flight (or more probably the return to his first one since he was definitely Indian and not Thai). I had the window seat but he kept craning his neck to see outside. I finally asked him if he’d like to switch and I got the first of what I’m certain will be many head bobs over the next month. If you’re not familiar with the head bob, it’s a particularly Indian tradition where their heads look a bit like those old bobble dolls that people used to have. Not yes, not no. I’m really not sure it has a meaning. I’m yet to find out. Anyway, I took this particular bob to be a yes and switched.

He was determined to milk the free food and drink available on an international flight to the max ordering first a beer and wine together and then at last count two additional beers and a wine. He also asked for another dinner (which he didn’t get).

The food wasn’t bad. I had veggie curry, just spicy enough. The roti was good until it turned cold, then not so much.

We landed in Chennai and whoa! There are armed security guards with machine guns at every entrance (not sure what that’s about yet) and they checked our boarding pass as we were LEAVING the jet way. I’m not sure what they were checking for. You obviously had to have your boarding pass to get on the plane and I didn’t see anyway someone could get on the jet way other than from the plane sooo...

The lines at passport control were outrageously long and slow. The gentleman in front of me asked if I was a foreigner (ya think?) and told me I could go to the line without any queue. Okay....off I went like a wide eyed foreigner only to be met by a stern looking man asking me what I was doing here; he explained to me that this wasn’t a queue. I said innocently, “but sir, the gentleman in line told me to step out and come here.” He laughed (I would have too) but a kindly older gentleman took pity on me (older men have always loved me, you would think that my appeal would diminish as I myself approach 50 but it still seems to be working for me). He asked to see my passport, which I handed to the younger man that stopped me. The younger man looked at it, laughed again and said, “New Zealand”. I don’t know if he was laughing at the country, at the fact that I certainly don’t sound like a Kiwi, or at the fact that I was trying to pull one over. Whatever it was I didn’t care because by this time the older man was motioning me forward. He checked my documentation, gave me a quick smile and threw my passport back at me (to save face with the younger guys?)

I’m quickly realising that India is not a country for those of us with weak bladders who have to constantly pee. As soon as I got off the plane, and before the passport control incident, I headed straight to the bathroom. There were two stall; one marked EWC and one marked IWC. Whatever could that mean? Then I saw the one marked IWC open and quickly figured it out seeing nothing inside but a hole in the ground. Ahhh, Indian Water Closet. I’d run into the hole in the ground scenario in a much cleaner airport bathroom in Singapore and declined to use it, I certainly was not going to use this much dirtier one...I opted to wait until the European Water Closet door swung open. Then there was the problem of what to do about my hand luggage. After several attempts to wedge them in with me a lovely lady took pity on me and offered to watch it outside. Relying on the kindness of strangers and the fact she had an innocent looking face I left her with my roller bag and backpack containing my American passport, all of my itineraries, my one paper ticket (one of the last to be issued, I should scrapbook it), all of my jewelry and all of my worldly documents which I am carrying around the world with me so that I can establish my identity as soon as I arrive in Sydney in August. The quickest pee I could muster (never figured out how to flush the damn toilet, even tried to throw a bucked of water in it from the big tub next to it) and I was out the door. Relief (in more ways than one), the kind lady and my bags were still there. I’ve resolved not to drink water again until I get to Bangalore when my driver can watch my bags for me.

My bags came off the carousel without a hitch and I was off to find the domestic terminal (customs didn’t even X ray my bags). I’m traveling with a gazillion vitamins which I am taking in lieu of the shots recommended (I’m of the no vaccination persuasion) and I keep expecting to get stopped for drug trafficking, but so far no one’s batted an eye lash.

I still haven’t been able to get any rupees as the only ATM I’ve found requires going up steps...and now I have all 4 bags I’m traveling with. That’s okay, the only thing I’d buy is water and I’m not going there!!!

After passing through two security checkpoints to get to the domestic terminal, re-arranging my luggage so that my roller bag weighs less than 7 kg and pre-screening my check in I stood in line for 15 minutes at the Jet Airways counter only to be told that it was too early to check into my 5:10 flight...it was only 1:45. I was told the luggage would get mixed up...that doesn’t sound good. Okay, so I sit here in what can only be described as the grungiest airport terminal I’ve ever been in on a seat covered in filth waiting for 3PM. Waiting for what? I’m sure to sit in an equally filthy chair on the other side of security. I’m so going to need a shower when I get to Mysore!

More Phuket Pics










Pics: Permanent residents and Crazy morning fruit basket!

Phuket, Thailand, June 28, 2008






Pics:  Entrance, Reception area with Thai musicians, View from my room, View from reception, Sunset from reception.

I'm sitting in the bar at the Dusit Thani Laguna in Phuket. I'm overlooking the ocean and what promises to be a beautiful sunset. (Aren't they all? It's Phuket after all).

My goal in coming to Phuket was twofold. First of all, my yoga teachers in Auckland recommended going somewhere to decompress between the frenetic pace of my real life (as well as the three weeks in the States) and India. Thailand is on the way so, why not Thailand? Secondly to start my yoga practice again after not practicing for 3 weeks in the States (bar three partial ones)

I have wanted to come to Phuket specifically for about 15 years or so. My friends Dick and Jeri from Dallas came here on their pre-honeymoon (Dick's travel schedule wouldn't allow them to take a honeymoon after they got married). Jeri described the beauty of Phuket and the fact that she was so relaxed their that she slept for 24 hours straight (much to Dick's chagrin).

If that wasn't enough, Spalding Gray's (may he rest in peace) description of it in "Swimming to Cambodia" mesmerised me. I was hooked and it was a must see.

I can say I haven't been disappointed, but it also hasn't lived up to those unrealistic expectations set 15 years ago. I'm older, more experienced and have certainly seen more of the world than I had then. I've also lived in New Zealand for the last 6 years and, after you've done that, beauty is relative. It's hard to compete with what I think is the most beautiful country on earth. What it does have that NZ does not, however is heat...lots of it and I love it!!! I almost titled this post "it rocks to be hot" or "I was born to be warm". Both are true. I've been sweating since I arrived and I love it. Right now it's a comfortable 80 degrees as the sun sets over the Andaman Sea. There's a warm breeze blowing and I'm in a sleeveless dress.

I went swimming today in said sea and it was like bath water. No wet suits needed here! :)

The Thai people are nice and accommodating (although they don't compare to Fijians in my opinion).

The hotel is nice. I'm staying in a quieter resort off of the beaten path. It's part of a complex of 5 resorts and you can use the facilities in each. I've been touring and taking advantage of some of these, but I think the Dusit where I'm staying is the nicest. It's not the flashist, but I think it's the most authentic Thai with the most beautiful view of the ocean. My room is about a 50 meter walk to the sea and I hear the waves crashing on the beach when I have my door open, which isn't often because the windows steam up if I do.

Since I arrived I've had 1 - 2 massages a day (some in the spa, some by locals on the beach or in town). I've also had a manicure and pedicure. I've napped most days, shopped in Patong (just a big tourist, shopping, night clubbing mecca), had great food and really enjoyed the atmosphere.

I've kept my promise to myself and have done a full yoga practice each day, trying to get my fitness back up. I've worked out my sore muscles through massage and it's been wonderful.

I did get some shopping in; buying 4 pillow cases, a beautiful oil painting of a circle with half of the Buddha's face and a carved Buddha in some kind of green stone (I can hear Brad groaning from 1/2 way across the world). The stone Buddha is the first piece for my alter when I get back home. I plan to add some Hindu deities when I get to India.

Well, off to dinner. The hotel has 5 restaurants, including a wonderful Italian one. Tonight is Thai, however at a beautiful pavillion.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Waiting to Board Flight to Bankok, June 23, 2008

I'm sitting in the Star Alliance Lounge of LAX.  This has to be the worst international airport in the world with the worst premium lounge.  The chairs are hard, the carpet worn.  Bad sushi, good strawberries.  I happen to be enjoying a glass of Bayley's over ice (free of charge) at the moment though.  Not a bad way to spend my time.

My experience in business class during my flight from Auckland to SFO 3 weeks ago made me hunger for more.  Especially after I found out that the flight from LAX to Bankok was 17.5 hours.  OMG!  That means when I hit the 12 hour mark, when I would normally be landing in Auckland I have another 5.5 hours left!!!!  That's longer than the flight from Boston to SFO!!!!  When I checked in I got a wild hair and asked about an upgrade to Premium Economy...a couple hundred dollars.  Not bad, "I'll take it...what do you get with Premium Economy"?  A bit more let room, but the same small seat.  Hmmmm, then I started thinking about laying in an actual bed and having loads of room and wonderful service.  "How much for Business Class?" I enquired...a bit more that a couple of hundred but before I knew it I was whipping out my credit card.  Gives new meaning to "whip it on" (Tony Robbins joke).  

The course was great.  I'll write more about that when I'm not so tired.  The longer I sit here the more tired I get.  I'm really just typing to keep from falling asleep.  I'm afraid of missing my flight.  

Anyway, the course was great.  Got lots of new ideas and signed up for a coach.  It's the next step, really.  I need someone to kick me in the butt and get me to implement all of these ideas floating around my head.  

Leadership was awesome!  I loved working with the participants.  From explaining parts of their financial plan to helping them decide what's next for them to pouring them water.  They really touched my heart.  I could get addicted to this stuff (actually I plan to).

Ran out of the hotel at 3PM to catch a cab to the airport only to find out that my 5PM flight was delayed to 6:40 due to the wild fires in Big Sur (there are wild fires in Big Sur?  news to me, I've been out of touch for awhile).  The good news is that the 3:30 flight had been delayed to 5:30 and was almost empty.  I got on that and, miraculously so did my luggage so I made it in plenty of time.   Talked to a very nice and attractive man in line as well...unfortunately we didn't get to sit together.   


Thursday, June 19, 2008

Ode to Whole Foods Market

Sandi asked me what I missed about living in the States last night.  I had to think (and am really not sure I ever answered her).  Mexican food?  Yes, but then the availability of good Mexican food in Texas resulted in 47 lbs / 22 kg's of unwanted weight.  Bed Bath and Beyond?  I used to miss that but not so much any more.  Friends and family yes, but I see them often.  TV shows?  Movies? Get all I want to watch overseas.  

Then it hit me today.  Whole Foods Market.  Is Whole Foods the strictly organic store that it was when it started out in Austin, Texas in the 1970's?  No.  Sometimes you have to search for organic fruits and veggies (depending on the season...but then eating local and eating in season is a whole other discussion isn't it?).  Is it accessible to the everyday family allowing Joe Lunchbox to feed his family with natural, organic and wholesome foods?  No, their price point is certainly at the high end.  Has it been corrupted, to some extent by corporate greed?  Almost certainly.  But I think it's done well to stand true to it's founding philosophies of caring for people and caring for the planet in the midst of the age of technology and shareholder profits.  You get the feeling that they care.  The San Francisco store that I've just visited is selling recyclable bags to feed the hungry.  When I asked one of the clerks for the location of plastic, resealable bags he showed me, he didn't just blindly point the way.  And when I went to check out another clerk grabbed me and opened another register for me so I didn't have to wait in line.  

But more than service, shopping at Whole Foods is an experience.  You feel good about yourself when you're walking through the produce section full (in this case a lot) of organic fruits and veggies gleaming seductively in all colors of the rainbow.  You feel proud of yourself for choosing the sprouted bread from the cooler with a sign above it telling the story of the woman who makes these breads, instead of that processed stuff from a sterile metal rack showing nothing but the brand name, that's so readily available in the more mundane supermarkets.  And you feel downright triumphant when you choose a braised kale and seaweed salad to go with your turkey panini (ahhh, turkey sandwiches...now that's an ode unto itself).

My trip there was complete with a few bottles of Naked Superfood (sorry Brad, I'm no longer an Odwalla drinker...I've discoverd the joys of being Naked) and some dark chocolate covered goji berries for my sweet tooth (I've got to wean myself off of Ben and Jerry's somehow!)

Now, my fridge has been delivered to my room and all of my snacks put away to be deployed during the long Tony Robbins course days.  It's time to make my way to the lobby to register for my course.

Reflections on the trip so far, 18 June 2008

I’m typing this on the flight from Boston to San Francisco. First time to fly Jet Blue and I have to say I’m really impressed! I must have paid the extra $10 for “even more” leg room. 38” worth. It’s wonderful. It also puts you on the front of the plane which I like. Fast and efficient service and DirectTV with satellite radio. Listening to the 70’s channel now of course. Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street” right now. Reminds me of my senior year in high school. The line “Another year and you’ll be happy, just one more year and you’ll be happy, but your crying, you’re crying now.” Came out in ’79 and summed up my senior year. Hated being in Tennessee and couldn’t wait to graduate and get out.

Those sentiments certainly don’t describe my life right now though. I’m happier than I’ve ever been and having a great time on my vacation. The future is bright with lots of options and new adventures to look forward to. So exciting.

I’m rested and relaxed even though I’ve been running around like a crazy woman. It’s been great though. For those of you who have read “Eat, Pray, Love” I’ve decided I’m doing my own version. The first 3 1/2 weeks is my eating phase. Boy have I been doing that! I think I’ve had ice cream (Ben and Jerry’s of course with the exception of one day of Cold Stone on the Freedom Trail....mmmm) every day since I left San Diego. I gorged myself on cheese in Nashville with my fellow Wisconsin born and raised mother, seafood in Boston with the only woman on the planet that loves seafood more than I, my oldest and best friend Vanessa, and potatoes almost everywhere I’ve gone. New Zealand soil lacks a few minerals for growing good potatoes so I’ve been deprived for 6 years.

I’m actually doing things a little differently than the author of “Eat, Pray, Love” did in that I’m combining my eating phase with my love phase. It was really important for me to spend time with those people in my life that mean the most to me. Real, quality time and I’m so pleased I did.

My dinner with Caroline was short but oh so important to re-establish the connection after leaving Brad. Caroline is more like a mother to me than a mother-in-law and I truly hope we can remain friends post Brad. After all, Brad and I are remaining close friends, Caroline and I should be able to do the same.

Kristen’s graduation was fantastic and a bit poetic (I was at her baptism). Getting to spend time with the whole Marks clan (including Vanessa’s mom and dad) and getting to know the three girls separately was awesome.

My 24 hours with Anna was so great! We haven’t spent quality time together like that since before I got married. Our conversation never stopped. It was deep and soulful and just what I needed.

My 3 days in Boston with Vanessa was a dream come true and was 20 years in the planning. We had to wait for the kids to grow up enough so they could spare her but the timing worked out perfectly for this week with the oldest 2 being at camp.
Vanessa and Matt got married shortly after Ness and I graduated from Ohio State and they had Heather right away, then Kristen, then Robyn so travel wasn’t really an option. Add to that the fact that I moved to Boston, Texas and New Zealand and they moved to Florida, back to Ohio, Massachusetts and Michigan. A few trips to see them in the early years was followed by many years of just sporadic emails and phone calls. Luckily I started dating Brad who was from Ann Arbor in ‘99; only an hour from where Matt and Vanessa have settled over the last 12 years. Our yearly trips back to see his parents included an afternoon with the Marks’ when time would allow. But the only time we’ve been alone together since we graduated from OSU in ’88 was 17 years ago during the trip to Florida when I attended Kristen’s graduation we spent a day at Epcott Center.

Friendships like Vanessa’s are so very special and I treasure her and what she’s meant to me. I really learned how to be a good friend from my friendships with both she and Lisa, the third in our triumvirate during college. Unfortunately we’ve both lost track of Lisa but luckily we’ve kept track of each other and these last 3 days we picked up like no time had passed. We’re both a bit older and we’ve lived very different lives but love each other like sisters. It was easy and did we have fun!!!

Addendum from my hotel, the San Francisco Marriott, 19 June 2008

My friend Sandi picked me up from the airport.  I haven't seen Sandi since my wedding and haven't spent any time with her really since I left Dallas in 1997.  She and I got together with Brad and her old boyfriend a few times in Austin, but that's really it.  

Sandi is definitely one of my most interesting friends.  Highly travelled (over 100 countries and counting she said last night), she's a recovering accountant like myself.  We met when we both became Board Members for the American Women's Society of CPA's.  She left the corporate world in '92 and has done a number of different things including owning a pet photography studio, being a web designer, making her living as a public speaker and an author.  She is a regular contributor to Intuit's newsletter, for all of you geeks out there.  Oh, and she's one of a handful of women to have co-piloted a single engine plane around the world.  

She's now moved to San Jose with her new boyfriend and seems to be having the time of her life.  She should be, she's a happiness consultant!  Check out her stuff...it's really interesting.

She and I had a great visit and started several conversations that need to be continued.  Who knows maybe we can do something together professionally.  We're certainly on the same page about a number of things.

The Good Life, Our day among the rich and famous in Newport Rhode Island, 17 June, 2008





Pictures: Marble House, The Elms, The Breakers, Rosecliff and a  pretty walkway at Rosecliff.  


Tuesday turned out to be a bright day in the mid ’70’s and a perfect day for a drive to Newport to tour some mansions. Vanessa got to experience Boston traffic at its best. We were on 93 south and at a dead stop due to a tractor trailer flipping over on its side. We got off when we could and navigated our way with a fairly un-detailed map through side streets until we found an alternate way.

The mansions were all built around the turn of the 20th century and represented the best of the guilded age. High society indeed. The owners of these mansions represented the captains of industry and financiers of the time. The Vanderbilts, the Ascots and many other names that I didn’t recognise, although I certainly recognized their companies including Dominoes Sugar.

Opulence and fine living at it’s best where women were regularly expected to change into 4 - 7 outfits during the day for various activities (how they had time to actually do anything with all of that changing of clothes is beyond me!)

We got to see 4 mansions during the afternoon. The two Vanderbilt mansions: The Breakers with its outdoor loggia and incredible sea vier, wonderful fireplaces, incredible bathrooms with tubs carved out of 1 solid piece of marble and hot and cold running SALT water and Marble House with more marble than I’ve ever seen in my life! The woman who built Marble House was quite a strong personality and was one of the early suffragette movement leaders. She had china made with “Votes for Women” imprinted on them. Didn’t stop her from working her scullery maids to death or from torturing her daughter by making her wear a metal device designed to give her the “neck of a swan” in preparation for marrying her off to a British nobleman. We also saw The Elms and Rosecliff, setting to many famous movies (“The Great Gatsby” and “The Betsy”) and more famous scenes (the tango scene from “True Lies” and one of the weddings from the more recent “27 Dresses”).

After our mansion excursion we walked around the harbour where I was pleased to see a yacht flying a flag depicting red socks at half mast. My Kiwi friends and any die hard sailors will know exactly what that signifies. For the others please google Peter Blake and read all about New Zealand’s arguable most famous sailor who took the Kiwi’s to victory and one successful defense of the America’s Cup (we won’t talk about the last 2 defenses).

We felt weighted down by all of the money we were carrying around so were obligated to leave some of it in a few of the shops around the waterfront. Dinner was a fun, seaside restaurant where we both had baked, stuffed lobsters (for those of you keeping count, yes...I had 3 lobster dinners in a row). Nothing like New England lobster! After a quick trip to Ben and Jerry’s (conveniently located by our car) we drove back to Boston and narrowly escaped the gridlock that ensued after the Celtics whooped the Laker’s butts in an NBA playoff game at the Garden.

The Freedom Trail



Monday was Freedom Trail Day (see below for full description).  We started in the famed Boston Common at Frog Pond (where they used to dunk witches).  Here's Vanessa posing with two of the newer visitors...check out the can of worms in the foreground.  

More Freedom Trail





Pictures: The Massachusetts State House with gold leaf dome, John Hancock's grave (first signer of the Declaration of Independence), Paul Revere's original grave and monument and King's Chapel, the oldest church in Boston and originally commissioned by the King of England.  They still have services and an active congregation.  Check out the pew boxes!

One if By Land, Two if By Sea...Our adventures on the Freedom Trail







Pictures in order: Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church, the window that Robert Newman escaped from the Old North Church after hanging the lanterns in the steeple, the USS Constitution and the Bunker Hill Monument.

Monday was Freedom Trail day. The Freedom Trail is a 3 mile walking trail that takes you past a bunch of dead people and the places where they hung out. Why would we want to walk 3 miles to see this? It so happens that these dead people are some of the most prominent patriots in our nation’s history and these places were ground zero for some of our nation’s most important events like the revolution (where we through the bums out...the same bums I had to swear allegiance during my New Zealand citizenship ceremony).

I’ve done the Freedom Trail before, but this time it meant a lot more to me. Maybe because I’m older. Maybe because I appreciate the US more from an ex-patriot perspective. Maybe because I have a new appreciation for freedom after having suffered 7 1/2 years of tyranny under good ole “W”. Maybe all of the above. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the graves of Paul Revere, Sam Adams (no, he’s not just a beer), Ben Franklin’s parents, Mother Goose (not a patriot but still kind of cool) and countless others whom I can’t remember but of whom I have pictures. Not only that but we saw a number of old churches including the Old North Church where someone who’s name I also cannot remember Robert Newman hung the lanterns in the steeple which launched Paul Revere’s famed midnight ride to warn the colonists of the British invasion (the one before the Beatles). They’ve recently re-discovered the window that he escaped from in the church which had been boarded up. It’s now been preserved and President Ford hung a third lantern during his administration to “light the way for world peace”. We also saw Paul Revere’s house, the USS Constitution (the world’s oldest continuously commissioned battleship), Bunker Hill and a number of other historical sites.

We ended the day by walking up and down the famed Newbury Street. I’ve always wanted to walk down this street knowing I could afford to buy something on it. Living there just after college I was always to poor to even contemplate it. I did buy one of a kind make up and jewelry bag and 2 sets of three water colors depicting Beacon Hill, the Public Garden and Newbury Street itself. One set is of these three during winter and the other during summer. Should go nicely with my already eclectic art collection.

Lunch was at an Italian bistro in the North End between Paul Revere’s house and The Old North Church. Dinner that night was at the US’ oldest continuously operating restaurant, Union Oyster House. Union Oyster House has been visited by many, many historical figures and celebraties over the years, one of the most famous of which was Daniel Webster (lawyer and dictionary fame). Mr. Webster was known for drinking a large tumbler of Brandy and water with every 1/2 dozen oysters he ate. He, apparently regularly ate 6 oyster plates...makes you wonder just how he could spell after all of those Brandies! Scallops for Vanessa and a lobster salad for me. We could barely eat it after our Cold Stone ice cream a few hours before.

More Aquarium...too many great pics to post!!!





Wednesday, June 18, 2008

New England Aquarium, 15 June 2008






One of my favourite places in Boston. Vanessa and I both got in around 1PM (her by plane me by Greyhound bus from White River Junction, VT). We stayed at Nine Zero Hotel right on the Common so after freshening up we walked across the Common and had lunch at Cheers (it would have been rude not to) and then went to the aquarium. It's just as good as ever, with a new jelly fish exhibit. Dinner at Legal Seafood, a Boston institution (lobster for me, crabcakes for Ness).

Look for Sea Dragon in bottom right corner of this pic.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, 12 - 15 June 2008






I greeted my Aunt Norma and Uncle Jim at the Manchester airport Thursday afternoon. My uncle took one look at me and said, “are you wearing eye shadow under your eyes or are the dark circles from being tired?” Hmmmm....was my crazy, hectic lifestyle of the last few weeks really becoming that obvious on my face or were my other friends and family members just being too kind to mention the black rings under my eyes? A quick inspection in the ladies room told me that, indeed, he was not exaggerating. As we got in the car to make the 2 1/2 hour drive to Danville, Vermont he and my Aunt told me in no uncertain terms that I was to take the next 60 hours (my time with them) to rest. No agendas, no trips anywhere, just rest, relaxation and the occasional walk. Sounded good to me.

My aunt and uncle are very special people and I’ve been coming to visit them in Vermont for 20 years, exactly. I graduated from college in 1988 and moved to Boston, just 3 hours away. At the time they were living in Groton, a small hamlet about 10 miles over the New Hampshire border about an hour south of where they live now. They had over 60 acres on a large hilltop overlooking New Hampshire’s White Mountains. The house they lived in had been designed by an artist and was covered with windows. It was beautiful, as were their many gardens that they spent a lot of hours on. It was heaven on earth to me. A place I could come and escape from the city; from the stress of beginning my accounting career with a Big 4 firm. This is my forth trip back since moving from Boston. They have always welcomed me with open arms anytime I needed a rest. This was no exception. They no longer live in the sprawling, sunny house on the hill (downsized due to upkeep) but it’s still heaven on earth.

My aunt and uncle and their two children lived overseas most of the time while I was growing up. He spent many years with the CIA, having been recruited for his language skills, and helped to start one of the original cold-war stations in Germany. They lived there on and off from 1957 to the early ’80’s.

Just before I was in Kindergarten my Aunt and my two cousins moved to Oconomowoc (my home town) while Uncle Jim did a tour of duty in Vietnam. My older cousin, Jeff, is 5 years older and wanted very little to do with his little sister and cousin. I remember him scaring me when I was younger; I was very shy. His little sister, Steff is more like a sister to me being only 10 months and a few days older. Uncle Jim and Steff used to visit quite a bit during the summers and we went to see the whole family in DC during the US Bicentennial.

My uncle used to tower over me at 6’6” and has had a handlebar mustache as long as I’ve known him. You can certainly pick him out in a crowd. He is unique and has a heart as big as the outdoors; being involved in many forms of community service, from the Rotary, the Boy Scouts, his church and driving cancer patients to their treatment appointments. He also is one of the best gift givers I’ve ever known. I used to get very well thought out and special gifts from around the world.
I got to know my Aunt a lot better during my many trips to Vermont back in the late ’80’s. She went to nursing school later in life, graduating in the late ’70’s. She and I used to have so much fun driving around Vermont seeing the different sites. Both of them came to visit me in New Zealand in 2006 and that trip is one of the highlights of my life. We took a week and drove around the East Cape of New Zealand and then spent a few days in Hawkes Bay, eating and drinking to our hearts content! It was wonderful.

So, now I’m nearing the end of my 2 1/2 days with them and feeling much more rested than when I came. I’ve spent a lot of time reading, napping, walking and talking to these two beloved people. They are both 76 now, but their minds remain sharp even if their bodies are slowing. They are both interested in politics (Obama supporters from the beginning) and world events. We have interesting conversations against a backdrop of the ever present classical music. We are all older, but visiting them in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont is still heaven on earth!

Chicago, 10 - 11 June 008


I got out of the cab at Anna’s door and fell into her arms crying. I hadn’t actually realised that I was so stressed. The lack of sleep due to my bouts of insomnia (much less frequent now, though with the asthma attack of the night before I only had 3 hours), my inability to breath, my flea bites and the general stress of visiting my mother and seeing my soon to be be ex-mother in law for the first time since I left her son had taken it’s toll. Anna is one of those rare friends with whom I can be completely authentic and I knew that I could fall into her arms crying and she’d understand. She’d let me cry.

We had less than 24 hours together but made the most of it, never letting the conversation lag. I worked with her in Austin at TMP. Since then we’ve both gotten married and divorced, she’s had a kid and moved to Chicago and I, of course have moved to New Zealand. This was the first time we’ve been alone together since all of that happened. We had a lot to catch up on and I think we did. We also had a nice lunch and a great sushi dinner (probably the best I’ve ever had...with my Las Vegas sushi connection coming a close second). Thank you for being such a great friend!

Nashville, 8 - 10 June 2008

Mom picked me up from the airport and we headed straight to dinner. I decided to treat her to a new restaurant I heard about in San Diego; the Melting Pot. It’s a fondue restaurant and the full experience includes a cheese course (Wisconsin three cheese medley for us, of course), a salad (I had the California with gorgonzola and roasted walnuts and she had the house), the main (Lobster, shrimp, chicken and veggies in a coq au vin broth) and dessert (chocolate, caramel and pecans, flaming with strawberries, bananas and assorted sweets to dip). It was yummy!!!!!

Mom and I had a good time while I visited. We saw “Sex in the City” one day and shopped the next (ahhhh, proper malls, one of the true delights of the US). The trip was marred by the fact that I couldn’t breath the entire time I was there and that I left covered head to toe in flea bites. The asthma came from the fact that the house she lives in is over 200 years old and has lots of dust, dust mites and mold. That and her two cats. Hence the fleas. It took 2 days to recover from the asthma attack (after finally using my Aunt’s prescription for Advair) and 3 days and counting for the fleas. I look like I’ve got a bad case of the measles. I will need to find another way to see my mother. I’m never going back there again. I haven’t had an attack like that in years.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Recap of Leadership Academy and Detroit, 7th June 2008

Insomnia again.  I had cracked it during the week this week and was sleeping quite soundly but only got about 2 hours Thursday night after the course ended due to going to the bar with my fellow participants and celebrating until after 1AM.  My alarm rang at 4:30 and I woke up earlier than that because I was so wired.  I arrived at Vanessa's today (more on that later) and really thought I'd be able to sleep but after an hour woke up and am now pretty wide awake.  I decided to navigate the still very uncertain terrain of the wireless Internet (I got my iPod to work and thought I'd try my laptop).  I'm not sure what I actually did to get it to work but it seems to be working.  That's how I operate though, just start playing with stuff until it works and figure out how it works later (I can feel Brad's frustration all the way across the Pacific and the US).  :)

So the Tony Robbins course that I attended this week was Leadership Academy.  I wasn't really sure what to expect.  You're never really sure what to expect with his courses until you get there.  This is my fifth Tony Robbins event and I have to say the best.  By a mile!  And that's saying something because at least 2 of the first four were pretty freakin' awesome, one was excellent and one was just plain good.  But this one!  Oh my God!  

This one pulled back the curtain and started to expose some of the tools that Tony and his team use to create change in people, systems and environments.  Not only did it expose these tools but it taught them to the participants so that we can all use them in the world to create positive change in our own lives and those we touch.  It's also the first course in my ultimate goal to become a trainer.   I can honestly say that I've never learned as much from one course, book, experience or event than I learned from this one.  That and the fact that Tony's training style (based on Neuro Linguistic Programming amongst other things) makes sure that you have fun learning what you learn.  This was also one of the most fun weeks of my life.  This was all topped by being with the best team I've ever been with and getting to a level with this team that I've never been before, with the possible exception of being in the military...and that experience for me was more from a fringe perspective than right in the middle of it.  This group of people was (is) extraordinary and I was blessed to share this week and to work with each and every one of them.  

So, not only did I learn some tools which will create positive change in my life and hopefully many many other peoples lives, I had a great time doing it and heard some of the best speakers I've ever heard in my life.  

One of our guest speakers was a self-professed "Ragin' Cajun".  An incredible woman who used to work for the FBI doing profiling, coached Bill Clinton through his court appearances, is coaching Barrack Obama right now and has written several books on her subject which is body language.  Her name is a Jan Hargrave.  Another was an even more incredible woman named Robyn Benecasa who is one of the "fittest women in the US.  She was on the first American team in 2000 in Borneo to win the Eco Challenge.  She's a top adventure racer (for those of you who don't know what that is google it and be amazed!!!) a fire fighter for the city of San Diego and an excellent public speaker on team building (you need a good team to race non stop for 10 days in the jungles of Borneo or wherever).  She's also an amazingly feminine and powerful woman.  Definitely a highlight for men and women alike in our crowd.  
As if they had to top that....they invited Charlie Wilson, subject of the new movie "Charlie Wilson's War" starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts to talk about his experiences in funding the covert operation against the Russian army in Afghanistan.  The point being, sometimes it only takes one person with persistence and determination to change the world.  Think what you will about the ramifications of that and the rise of Al Quaida, but the man did change the world.  Bless him, he's new to the speaking circuit and it looks as if his fast life has caught up with him healthwise but he was incredibly interesting.

On our last day we saw Chloe Madanes, the US foremost family therapist (voted by her peers 10 years running) who is working with Tony several projects taking this work into the therapeutic community.  She was incredible also.  She sounds and looks a bit like Dr. Ruth but what a force to be reckoned with!  I was truly struck by the lives she's touched.  The amount of people she's kept out of the mental health system and off drugs (prescription) is incredible.  

And if all of the above wasn't enough we ended our 5 days by breaking through an inch thick piece of solid wood.  So, I've now walked on hot coals, jumped off of a 58 foot pole, and smashed through a piece of wood with my bear hands.  There's truly nothing that I can't do after those experiences!!!!

I can't wait to test these new skills out in a couple of weeks when I attend my first course as a leader in San Francisco.

Enough about Tony, on to the rest of my trip.  As I said, I flew to Vanessa's today.  For those of you who don't know her she's my best friend from college and my Matron of Honour from my wedding.  Her middle daughter, Kristen is graduating from high school tomorrow and I flew in to see that and spend time with the family.  All three girls are tremendous, thanks to excellent parenting by Ness and Matt.  Heather, the oldest just finished her freshman year in art school.  She has an incredible talent and is also writing not one, but two books (science fiction / fantasy).  Kristen has been accepted into the honours program at Ohio State (our alma matter) for Chemical Engineering and Robyn, their youngest, will start high school in the fall.  All three have always maintained straight A's, all are into athletics, band and drama.  They are amazing kids and I'm so blessed to be here and be part of the festivities this weekend.  Coincidentally I stood up at Kristen's baptism about 17 years ago when they were living in Florida.  That was the last time Vanessa and I have spent any time alone together.  We're meeting up in Boston week after next for 4 days of girl fun.  I can't wait. 

In addition to seeing Matt, Vanessa and the girls I'm also getting to spend time with Vanessa's parents, whom I haven't seen since their wedding 20 years ago (we all look a bit older).  :)

Okay, that's all for right now.  I'm going to shut down and get some shut eye.