Beach Party

It’s time to workout day and night for Zoukout at the end of the year! Check out Zoukout’s website. Plans are already going on with Mun Hoong as when to depart for the ultimate beach party in our beloved neighbour country, Singapore, which sell Ipod Nano cheaper than Malaysia.

The 1st leg was always going to be hard as everyone gets used to the lifestyle of not sleeping for more than a couple of hours at a time, not washing, physical exhaustion and seasickness (fortunately I managed to escape that one). The rewards are huge and its such a unique and special experience. I have so much to learn about sailing but I have another 35 000 miles to work on my helming! I am stronger than I have ever been already and probably bigger than ever as am eating so much to keep energy levels up!There is a lot of laughter on board which bodes well. I have only managed to read 3 lines of my book which gives you some idea of how intense it all is! Its good to have a couple of nights on land to catch up on sleep before we are off again.

* Have you ever visited a nude beach or nudist colony, or appeared nude in public? (5 pts.)

today i did something a bit different. john’s gone for the next few days - went back home for a lecture at mcgill - and it’s really weird to be alone, out of my routine. so i hopped onto a tram from osgoode subway on queen street, and rode all the way east to the toronto beaches. i did my readings on the beach, and had an afternoon brunch. it was a really nice, relaxing day. a bit overcast, pretty humid. the best thing about the beaches is the boardwalk, full of happy people walking their happy dogs.

On Friday, we drove to Lakes Entrance. We stopped a number of times to look at some of the sights - especially the little National Trust Town of Central Tilba. This is a very scenic town and has a great chees factory where we bought a Truckle of fine tasty cheese. There ae no towns (just lots of forest) in the area around Cann River and Orbost, so we drove for a few hours without any stops. On reaching Lakes Entrance, we surveyed the town and finally selected a new multi-storey hotel at the Melbourne end of the town as our place to stay for the night.

The following weekend, the two guys with me from the company and I rented a convertible and drove the Pacific Coast Highway, stopping off in Laguna Beach just long enough to rekindle my hatred and distrust of the super-rich. On the way back to Hollywood, we stopped off at a gigantic shopping center (for research - honest), where I got to see the astonished looks on my Japanese companions’ faces as they beheld their very first WalMart.

And here’s the lake it flows into. Up on the hill you can see some of the bigger houses (mansions?) that are a ways away from us. We have canoe and going out on the lake is really a wonderful experience. You feel like you are out in the middle of nowhere, even though you are surrounded by houses and just a stone’s throw (though you never see it) from Valeydale road.

After soccer, we drove to Myrtle beach. Our first stop was a seafood restaurant in Murrell’s Inlet. I had the Grouper, and the kids had crab legs and hot dogs. Next, we played 18 holes of putt putt.

One thing I will say about Zagreb is that it is a nice city, and is not given enough credit in the guidebooks. My only explanation for the poor write ups in the guidebooks that I can think of is that in relation to the south of Croatia, it does have less to offer in the way of stunning views, beaches, and crystal clear sea (though it's not Zagreb's fault that it isn't located on the coast!).

From the look of the city it does not seem to different from any US city but its the little things like the Queens head on currency and big parks in the city centre which made the city remind me of the UK. I spent a whole day walking around Stanley Park and sitting on its many beaches. I paid a visit to the tourist area of Gastown, but it was not that interesting except watching the steam powered clock do a little tune every half hour. Close to my hostel was Granville Island, there is a great market of fresh food and art stuff here, including a stand selling the most amazing wildlife photos.

After a festive night like that, it should come as no surprise that the sun was high in the sky before we were high on the road. As we roared out of Surprise in the Town Car, heading East on Bell Ave, we still weren’t 100% sure of our destination. We thought about Lake Havasu but were leaning towards something a bit more rugged. The Apache Trail kept tugging at our hearts.

Yes, I was a ramp model. Until one day, when I was at the beach, a paparazzi took a photo of me, without my bikini top. I was so shocked I didn’t know what to do. It got even worse, when my picture appeared in the cover of the People magazine! I really got mad, I swore I’d never go back to modelling again! Eveeerrr!!!

For us this week was very much a mixed bag, as we also welcomed Alexandra Ann into the world. She came in rather unexpectedly, weighing in at six pounds, eight ounces, and dealing with some jaundice. As such, she spent her first few days starting off with blood being taken from her heel, and we were advised to start her sunbathing early. It was in so doing that I took this picture, not intending the contrasting darkness but struck by it nonetheless. There is something profoundly hopeful about a newborn, and another passage came to mind: