We're counting down the days to Christmas here in the Philippines too as long as you can forget about the 85 degree weather with 75 percent humidity...
I hope you're all getting in the Christmas, Hanuka, tacky decoration Spirit!!
If there is a baby animal in my immediate 4-8 foot vicinity I am going to make a bee line for it. (BTW. Bee line? b-line? I've never typed that before.)
I failed at catching baby ducklings.
And I have to give Chris some credit here for stopping while driving TWICE last week so I could pet baby goats.
Also, just so you know I NEED A BABY GOAT ASAP!!
Because I'm trying to put a happy spin on bad things this week here are my silver linings from today's disappointments and frustratons:
The Bad: The awesome night time kayak time I had booked stood me up.
The Good: That means I don't have to spend the $35 dollars I had planned for the excursion!
The Very Good: That means I can go to the awesome Friday night SALAD bar. (whooooo salad! I'm so crazy! And wild!)
The Bad: I got a little lost today and ended up walking for almost 4 hours and covering almost 20 kilometers (about 12.5 miles)
The Good: I got lots of exercise!
The Very Good: I will sleep so heavily that I won't wake up again at 4am when the couple next door (who are almost 70) have sex! (or maybe this is a bad... but I'm trying to stay positive here!)
I hope your days are filled with silver linings!
The Bad: The awesome night time kayak time I had booked stood me up.
The Good: That means I don't have to spend the $35 dollars I had planned for the excursion!
The Very Good: That means I can go to the awesome Friday night SALAD bar. (whooooo salad! I'm so crazy! And wild!)
The Bad: I got a little lost today and ended up walking for almost 4 hours and covering almost 20 kilometers (about 12.5 miles)
The Good: I got lots of exercise!
The Very Good: I will sleep so heavily that I won't wake up again at 4am when the couple next door (who are almost 70) have sex! (or maybe this is a bad... but I'm trying to stay positive here!)
I hope your days are filled with silver linings!
From The Daily Mail:
"Sometimes when you buy a pair of shoes, one of them can feel snug while the other one does not quite fit.
Tom Boddingham certainly knows the feeling.
When the 27-year-old ordered a special monster-design slipper to fit his oversized left foot, he was sent this size 1,450 one – because manufacturers failed to spot a decimal point.
He had requested a 14.5, as well as a smaller size 13 for his right foot. The pair cost £15.50.
However, manufacturers in China misread the measurement and accidentally made the whopping seven foot-long slipper, which was shipped to him along with the correct smaller size.
Now 6ft 7in Mr Boddingham, who wears custom-made shoes because of the different sizes of his feet, will sell it on eBay."
"Sometimes when you buy a pair of shoes, one of them can feel snug while the other one does not quite fit.
Tom Boddingham certainly knows the feeling.
When the 27-year-old ordered a special monster-design slipper to fit his oversized left foot, he was sent this size 1,450 one – because manufacturers failed to spot a decimal point.
He had requested a 14.5, as well as a smaller size 13 for his right foot. The pair cost £15.50.
However, manufacturers in China misread the measurement and accidentally made the whopping seven foot-long slipper, which was shipped to him along with the correct smaller size.
Now 6ft 7in Mr Boddingham, who wears custom-made shoes because of the different sizes of his feet, will sell it on eBay."
If you want to backpack the world and keep your backpack small and under 30 pounds there are several things you have to leave at home. For me, an easy choice was my beloved MacBook. While my laptop is fabulous, it's heavy, bulky, not exactly water proof, and I know I would be upset if it was stolen, lost, or broken.
Even though I don't have a laptop, I, of course, want to stay in touch with the Internet, send emails, keep up with the news, etc. But, I really don't want to do all of this while paying for an Internet cafe or using a computer in the lobby of a hotel.
Insert the iPod touch. My iPod is most definitely one of my favorite travel items and after doing some app adding I have definitely customized this sucker for travel.
Extra! Extra!
With regular internet connection it's easy to stay in touch with what's happening in the world.
-CNN (Free!)
-NPR (Free!)
-New York Times (mostly free. There is a pay wall for any articles that are not top stories)
-The Economist (not free at all but subscribing to the online only version is relatively cheap)
I see that my news sources maybe are slanted in one specific political direction. But honestly, I just can't bring myself to even search for an app that's for a news source that aligns itself with Sarah Palin (**shudder**). But maybe I should add The Wall Street Journal to balance things out? Not to mention support my friend Mary who is a WSJ reporter in Berlin. (Check out her articles here!)
A book or two
Chris and I also use our iPods as digital libraries. We have copies of guidebooks, novels, and non-fiction always with us in our pockets. While I still have traded, borrowed, and bought books I love having the electronic guidebook with me. Nothing marks you as a vunerable tourist more than staring into a Lonely Planet on the side of the street.
The other stuff
- daily yoga app so I can get my stretch on (free. See the pattern now?)
- global convert-- this app is awesome. It not only can work between pounds to kilos (damn you metric system!), it converts currency and updates the exchange rate every time you connect to the Internet! (Fahhh-ree-heee)
- social media apps so I can keep a tab on my people and maybe do a little stalking of those Halloween costumes you'll all be sporting this weekend (ok, who's going to be the sexy cop this year?)
- free magazines like Elle and More (yes, I do realize that I'm not in their target "older woman" demographic but it was free, damnit!)
Anda suka belajar banyak bahasa? (translation from Indonesian: "do you like studying many languages?")
Whenever I arrive in a new country I like to come prepared with a few key phrases and a basic understanding of numbers. World Nomads, one of the world's largest travel insurance providers, has a series of apps for almost every major language from Arabic to Swahili to Vietnamese.
These FREE (whoop whoop!) apps provide basic translation of helpful sentences, numbers, and some even provide audio to help with pronunciation.
On the not so free side, one of the most helpful learning apps I've ever used is Anki. Anki is a online flash card program that already has thousands of card decks loaded. It's a free download for your computer but a hefty $25.00 app. While that's a huge amount of money the Anki app has help Chris and I more than any other language guide out there.
Even though I don't have a laptop, I, of course, want to stay in touch with the Internet, send emails, keep up with the news, etc. But, I really don't want to do all of this while paying for an Internet cafe or using a computer in the lobby of a hotel.
Insert the iPod touch. My iPod is most definitely one of my favorite travel items and after doing some app adding I have definitely customized this sucker for travel.
Extra! Extra!
With regular internet connection it's easy to stay in touch with what's happening in the world.
-CNN (Free!)
-NPR (Free!)
-New York Times (mostly free. There is a pay wall for any articles that are not top stories)
-The Economist (not free at all but subscribing to the online only version is relatively cheap)
I see that my news sources maybe are slanted in one specific political direction. But honestly, I just can't bring myself to even search for an app that's for a news source that aligns itself with Sarah Palin (**shudder**). But maybe I should add The Wall Street Journal to balance things out? Not to mention support my friend Mary who is a WSJ reporter in Berlin. (Check out her articles here!)
A book or two
Chris and I also use our iPods as digital libraries. We have copies of guidebooks, novels, and non-fiction always with us in our pockets. While I still have traded, borrowed, and bought books I love having the electronic guidebook with me. Nothing marks you as a vunerable tourist more than staring into a Lonely Planet on the side of the street.
The other stuff
- daily yoga app so I can get my stretch on (free. See the pattern now?)
- global convert-- this app is awesome. It not only can work between pounds to kilos (damn you metric system!), it converts currency and updates the exchange rate every time you connect to the Internet! (Fahhh-ree-heee)
- social media apps so I can keep a tab on my people and maybe do a little stalking of those Halloween costumes you'll all be sporting this weekend (ok, who's going to be the sexy cop this year?)
- free magazines like Elle and More (yes, I do realize that I'm not in their target "older woman" demographic but it was free, damnit!)
Anda suka belajar banyak bahasa? (translation from Indonesian: "do you like studying many languages?")
Whenever I arrive in a new country I like to come prepared with a few key phrases and a basic understanding of numbers. World Nomads, one of the world's largest travel insurance providers, has a series of apps for almost every major language from Arabic to Swahili to Vietnamese.
These FREE (whoop whoop!) apps provide basic translation of helpful sentences, numbers, and some even provide audio to help with pronunciation.
On the not so free side, one of the most helpful learning apps I've ever used is Anki. Anki is a online flash card program that already has thousands of card decks loaded. It's a free download for your computer but a hefty $25.00 app. While that's a huge amount of money the Anki app has help Chris and I more than any other language guide out there.
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