“A real loser is somebody who is so afraid of not winning that they don't even try.” Little Miss Sunshine
On the subject of losing, reality has set home that I’m not as fit as I used to be. It happened somewhere between being overtaken on my bike by someone thrice my age and going out for what I thought would be a leisurely 5 mile jog only to feel like my lungs would explode 5 minutes in. I miraculously completed my 5 mile jog so all is not lost. I even managed a sprint finish!
As I settled down I began to have flashbacks from when I first started jogging. I was more of a sprinter than an endurance runner but thought it’d be an easy enough transition from one to the other. Instead my first attempt resembled the jogging scene in Run Fatboy Run. I did manage to get a bit better, well a lot better and I didn’t need to be chased by someone with a spatula to get there! My training has dropped down my weekly to-do list which is unfortunate as I do love jogging. Luckily my second job keeps me active. I certainly have a new-found respect for waiting staff. It’s harder than it looks that’s for sure.
I’ve gained some extra cash and managed to lose a few pounds which is a bonus. I figure that, not only do I need to be in pretty good shape for all the hiking I intend to do, I need to try and be as slim as I can. The reason for this is simple, I intend to stuff my face. Nothing new there. Those who know me have come to realise that I am a fat person trapped inside an average sized (I wouldn’t go as far as slim!) girl. I have curves in the right places yes, but I also have curves in the wrong places and that aint good. I’m not annoyed or sad about my shape. If I was really that bothered about it I’d eat the right things and exercise more but then I wouldn’t be happy. I’d rather be a bit fat and happy that I can indulge whenever I want than be thin and miserable. I would be miserable without cake in my life, FACT.
In general terms, backpackers usually lose weight. They’re active and are living on a shoestring so inevitably lose weight from living off of rice and beans. I, however, think I will defy this cliché as I have grand plans food-wise. I want to eat a pretzel the size of my face as well as the best pie ever in America. I want to gorge on BBQ’d errrr everything in Australia. New Zealand has good cake so there’ll be no stopping me there. Noodles and rice dishes in Thailand…you get the picture. I’m probably going to have to get a credit card just for my food indulgences alone. I don’t think I’ve ever met my match when it comes to my insatiable sweet tooth and love for food in general…there’s still time.
I think my mum’s trying to fatten me up before I go. She’s going through a baking phase at the moment. Not that I’m complaining of course but it does make me laugh. If there is a period of time during my trip where I have to scrimp on food then that ample supply of cupcakes that accumulated on my thighs will come in handy. Whatever makes her sleep better at night.
Days to go: 153
Number of times I’ve been addressed as Daniel since last blog: 3
Cash fund: Pitiful
Sunday, 27 March 2011
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Soooo...Japan?
“Hey...Don't ever let somebody tell you you can't do something...You gotta dream, you gotta protect it. People can't do something themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. You want something, go get it. Period.”Chris Gardner (Will Smith) The Pursuit of Happyness
Distraction is a winning tool at the moment. I mentioned in one of my previous entries that Mother Nature is kicking our arses at the moment and she’s showing no signs of stopping! What has happened in Japan is truly awful but I’m trying to avoid thinking about it too much.
At the moment it is advised that people should only travel to Japan if it is essential. For future trips it is a case of waiting until the damage has been assessed. With the threat of aftershocks and the continued problems at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, it’s not really determined when that time might be. So in the meantime I’m just going to wait it out and see what happens. This, I feel, is the logical route. Others who are in the same position as me, however, seem to have a different approach. Either panic or pure idiocy…perhaps both. The media doesn’t help I guess but it’s comforting to know that there are people out there who are more of a stresshead than I am!
The Lonely Planet Thorn Tree forum is a perfect platform for this. We have the “heeey it’ll be alreeeet” attitude or the “you‘d be crazy to go! The risk is too high.” thought train. A lot of people aren’t even hanging about to find out whether it’s ok to go when they depart and are cancelling now. Some are doing this purely for safety reasons and would rather go when everything has settled down. This is especially true with families and those taking youngsters – fair enough in my opinion. But some fear that they'd offend locals if they went and don't want to seem like they're having fun while everyone around them is in mourning. They also believe they'd be a drain on their already depleted resources. Not just food and drink, but their hospitals too. I'm not sure what those people get up to on their trips but when I travel abroad the hospital is the last place I'd want to visit. Heck, in my own country the hospital is the last place I want to visit!! At this point in time, I can kind of understand their thinking as food and drink supplies are low in some areas. But it can't be predicted what state Japan will be in in a couple of weeks or months time. I'm not going to be so hasty. Japan is the first stop on my trip and I've had my heart set on visiting for a long time now. I don’t plan on skipping down the street singing "sunshine, lollipops and rainbows. Everything that's wonderful is what I feel when weeee're together" although I did plan on devour a sushi bar or two. Is it selfish that I want to visit this beautiful country? If all the tourists run scared then their economy is almost certain to skydive which would be even worse.
Some people are asking forum users for advice on whether they should visit in a few weeks or even a couple of month's time. It's not just me who thinks that is an impossible question to ask. I love one response:
"...you don't need anonymous posters to justify your reason either way, do you?"
Some are waiting for others to make that decision for them. For me it's simple. If it's safe, I'm going.
With the research that I have done, I have found Japan to be a very friendly and welcoming country. Japanese people are more than happy to help and are encouraging when it comes to speaking their language. Something which reassured me as I’m sure there will be plenty of times when I’m ordering food and in fact propose marriage or something mad like that. I am forever putting my foot in it. Bridget Jones has NOTHING on me! Obviously I cannot speak for the whole of Japan but I’m sure they wouldn’t turn their backs on visitors. I think a lot people place a social stigma on “tourists” like we’re all loud, brash, ignorant louts who have no regard for anyone but ourselves. That and the dreaded backpacker! Oooo. Sheesh, get a grip.
There's still time for things to settle down before I go so I’m choosing to stay optimistic (not like me whatsoever!). There's no point in getting worked up over something I have no control over. There's no point in thinking of the what ifs and try and plan what I should do if I can't go. Instead, I’ve decided to focus my energy on something more productive...my shopping list. So Japan might not have a choice in the matter…I have insect repellent, I’m going dammit!
Distraction is a winning tool at the moment. I mentioned in one of my previous entries that Mother Nature is kicking our arses at the moment and she’s showing no signs of stopping! What has happened in Japan is truly awful but I’m trying to avoid thinking about it too much.
At the moment it is advised that people should only travel to Japan if it is essential. For future trips it is a case of waiting until the damage has been assessed. With the threat of aftershocks and the continued problems at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, it’s not really determined when that time might be. So in the meantime I’m just going to wait it out and see what happens. This, I feel, is the logical route. Others who are in the same position as me, however, seem to have a different approach. Either panic or pure idiocy…perhaps both. The media doesn’t help I guess but it’s comforting to know that there are people out there who are more of a stresshead than I am!
The Lonely Planet Thorn Tree forum is a perfect platform for this. We have the “heeey it’ll be alreeeet” attitude or the “you‘d be crazy to go! The risk is too high.” thought train. A lot of people aren’t even hanging about to find out whether it’s ok to go when they depart and are cancelling now. Some are doing this purely for safety reasons and would rather go when everything has settled down. This is especially true with families and those taking youngsters – fair enough in my opinion. But some fear that they'd offend locals if they went and don't want to seem like they're having fun while everyone around them is in mourning. They also believe they'd be a drain on their already depleted resources. Not just food and drink, but their hospitals too. I'm not sure what those people get up to on their trips but when I travel abroad the hospital is the last place I'd want to visit. Heck, in my own country the hospital is the last place I want to visit!! At this point in time, I can kind of understand their thinking as food and drink supplies are low in some areas. But it can't be predicted what state Japan will be in in a couple of weeks or months time. I'm not going to be so hasty. Japan is the first stop on my trip and I've had my heart set on visiting for a long time now. I don’t plan on skipping down the street singing "sunshine, lollipops and rainbows. Everything that's wonderful is what I feel when weeee're together" although I did plan on devour a sushi bar or two. Is it selfish that I want to visit this beautiful country? If all the tourists run scared then their economy is almost certain to skydive which would be even worse.
Some people are asking forum users for advice on whether they should visit in a few weeks or even a couple of month's time. It's not just me who thinks that is an impossible question to ask. I love one response:
"...you don't need anonymous posters to justify your reason either way, do you?"
Some are waiting for others to make that decision for them. For me it's simple. If it's safe, I'm going.
With the research that I have done, I have found Japan to be a very friendly and welcoming country. Japanese people are more than happy to help and are encouraging when it comes to speaking their language. Something which reassured me as I’m sure there will be plenty of times when I’m ordering food and in fact propose marriage or something mad like that. I am forever putting my foot in it. Bridget Jones has NOTHING on me! Obviously I cannot speak for the whole of Japan but I’m sure they wouldn’t turn their backs on visitors. I think a lot people place a social stigma on “tourists” like we’re all loud, brash, ignorant louts who have no regard for anyone but ourselves. That and the dreaded backpacker! Oooo. Sheesh, get a grip.
There's still time for things to settle down before I go so I’m choosing to stay optimistic (not like me whatsoever!). There's no point in getting worked up over something I have no control over. There's no point in thinking of the what ifs and try and plan what I should do if I can't go. Instead, I’ve decided to focus my energy on something more productive...my shopping list. So Japan might not have a choice in the matter…I have insect repellent, I’m going dammit!
Sunday, 6 March 2011
Seldom Seen Kid
I’m fighting for the pennies right now. My purse strings are tighter than ever. A second job helps, not only to add to my trip kitty, but also means that I hardly have the time or energy to do anything social! I think the lack of social activities coupled with the tiredness isn’t helping with my current state of mind.
The littlest of things are making me happy/angry/sad which is pretty mind-boggling. For some reason people are increasingly spelling my name incorrectly. This does stem from my days in school where one teacher persistently called me Daniel. I gave up correcting her in the end! But people do not have an excuse, my name is in the title of my email address! Sheesh. Normally I’d just go “pffft morons” but now I shout expletives at my computer screen. It’s a good job I’m on my own in the office. It’s just me and Radio One. I get a little release when a patronising sales guy calls up. I understand that people have a job to do so when they’re nice, I’m nice, but when they’re sarcastic arses…well it’s only fair I return the gesture!
I used to get a little boost every time I booked something or paid off a part of my trip. Now most of my trip is paid for that feeling has dipped a little. Surprisingly it still doesn’t feel real. I know, ridiculous. I don’t think it will truly sink in until I’m sat on the plane to Japan. Then there will definitely be no going back!
Now that things have settled down it’s hard to get excited about things as it seems like such a long time away. It also means I’ve stopped panicking…for the time being at least! It’s sort of drifted to the back of my mind for now. Until someone reminds me and I’m like “Oh yeah!! I’m leaving!” Sounds stupid but everyday I wake up and my first question is - What day is it? My brain is slowly being drained of its batteries and some days I’m on the ball and I have things in control and other days I can be useless. I feel like I’m in a relationship with my job/s. It’s the last thing I think about before I go to sleep and the first thing that crops into my head when I wake up…after I realise what day it is of course.
There is hope though! One thing I can be proud of is how surprisingly well I’m doing on my photography course despite my decrepit brain. My aim is to take some semi-decent photos whilst I’m away and get the best out of my compact camera. I’m the only one in the class with a compact. I felt embarrassingly inadequate next to everyone else with their beasts (the technical term is digital SLRs). I needn’t worry though as the tutor paid me the ultimate compliment recently: “You’re taking photos on your compact camera that everyone else in the class wants to take with their SLRs”. It’s not all dependent on the equipment, it’s what you do with it that counts. Not everyone sees the same shot and apparently I have “the eye”. I’m not sure how that happened as I always used to take blurry pictures with terrible lighting. I still think that everyone’s just being nice. In the same way as when a child scrawls a picture of a horse that looks more like a turd and you say “aww, that looks beautiful” and pin it on the fridge. I hope my photos aren’t turds but it’s nice to feel that I’m doing something right . As long as I like the photos it doesn’t really matter anyway.
I tell a lie though, things have moved forward slightly. I have officially handed in my notice for my full time job. Not everybody in the office knows yet but it will be interesting to see how everyone reacts. There’s a mixture of personalities in the office so I’m not really sure what people will say. It seems that those who have travelled are really excited and happy for me. I’m listening to them more than the sceptics. They’ve been in the same position I’m going to be in so it’s comforting that they’re being nothing but positive and encouraging. They’re not filling my head with any horror stories which is how I like it! Ignorance is bliss…
The littlest of things are making me happy/angry/sad which is pretty mind-boggling. For some reason people are increasingly spelling my name incorrectly. This does stem from my days in school where one teacher persistently called me Daniel. I gave up correcting her in the end! But people do not have an excuse, my name is in the title of my email address! Sheesh. Normally I’d just go “pffft morons” but now I shout expletives at my computer screen. It’s a good job I’m on my own in the office. It’s just me and Radio One. I get a little release when a patronising sales guy calls up. I understand that people have a job to do so when they’re nice, I’m nice, but when they’re sarcastic arses…well it’s only fair I return the gesture!
I used to get a little boost every time I booked something or paid off a part of my trip. Now most of my trip is paid for that feeling has dipped a little. Surprisingly it still doesn’t feel real. I know, ridiculous. I don’t think it will truly sink in until I’m sat on the plane to Japan. Then there will definitely be no going back!
Now that things have settled down it’s hard to get excited about things as it seems like such a long time away. It also means I’ve stopped panicking…for the time being at least! It’s sort of drifted to the back of my mind for now. Until someone reminds me and I’m like “Oh yeah!! I’m leaving!” Sounds stupid but everyday I wake up and my first question is - What day is it? My brain is slowly being drained of its batteries and some days I’m on the ball and I have things in control and other days I can be useless. I feel like I’m in a relationship with my job/s. It’s the last thing I think about before I go to sleep and the first thing that crops into my head when I wake up…after I realise what day it is of course.
There is hope though! One thing I can be proud of is how surprisingly well I’m doing on my photography course despite my decrepit brain. My aim is to take some semi-decent photos whilst I’m away and get the best out of my compact camera. I’m the only one in the class with a compact. I felt embarrassingly inadequate next to everyone else with their beasts (the technical term is digital SLRs). I needn’t worry though as the tutor paid me the ultimate compliment recently: “You’re taking photos on your compact camera that everyone else in the class wants to take with their SLRs”. It’s not all dependent on the equipment, it’s what you do with it that counts. Not everyone sees the same shot and apparently I have “the eye”. I’m not sure how that happened as I always used to take blurry pictures with terrible lighting. I still think that everyone’s just being nice. In the same way as when a child scrawls a picture of a horse that looks more like a turd and you say “aww, that looks beautiful” and pin it on the fridge. I hope my photos aren’t turds but it’s nice to feel that I’m doing something right . As long as I like the photos it doesn’t really matter anyway.
I tell a lie though, things have moved forward slightly. I have officially handed in my notice for my full time job. Not everybody in the office knows yet but it will be interesting to see how everyone reacts. There’s a mixture of personalities in the office so I’m not really sure what people will say. It seems that those who have travelled are really excited and happy for me. I’m listening to them more than the sceptics. They’ve been in the same position I’m going to be in so it’s comforting that they’re being nothing but positive and encouraging. They’re not filling my head with any horror stories which is how I like it! Ignorance is bliss…
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