Icebergs off NZ


If you have watched the film "An Inconvenient Truth", you will understand why this short clip from YouTube is so terrifying.....

My Days are Numbered

I know that I spend my time thinking about things which are far too frivolous in today's world. I think about things like shoe styles, whether my wardrobe needs another update or whether my husband will notice a deviation in our budget when I say I am grocery shopping (but really was salivating over the new heels in Gucci).

This past week, I have had time to ponder bigger things.

Firstly, a dear friend of mine died suddenly from a heart attack. He was my mentor, colleague and friend who I cherished dearly. I am still sitting here in disbelief that come Friday, I will be in North Jakarta mourning his loss, holding his wife's hand and not fully understanding why he was taken away so early in his life. Above all, this is what occupies my thoughts the most.

Secondly, upon returning from Dubai on Sunday, I had the good fortune to watch " An Inconvenient Truth" - the film which lays out the gloabl warming phenomenon with chilling honesty. If we hope to see an earth for our children to live on, the time to act is NOW. If you haven't seen this movie yet, make it a priority.

Thirdly, today in the International Herald Tribune, I found this by Rick Moranis, the creator of a country music album "The Agoraphobic Cowboy". It is titled "My days are numbered":

I have two kids. Both are away at college.
I have five television sets. I have three DVD players, two VHS machines and four stereos.
I have 19 remote controls, mostly in one drawer.
I have three computers, four printers and two non-working faxes.
I have three phone lines, three cell phones and two answering machines.
I have no messages.
I have 46 cookbooks.
I have 68 takeout menus from four restaurants.
I have 116 soy sauce packets.
I have 382 dishes, bowls, cups, saucers, mugs and glasses.
I eat over the sink.
I have five sinks, two with a view.
I try to keep a positive view.
I have two refrigerators.
It's very hard to count ice cubes.
I have 39 pairs of golf, tennis, squash, running, walking, hiking, casual and formal shoes, ice skates and rollerblades.
I'm wearing slippers.
I read three dailies, four weeklies, five monthlies and no annual reports.
I have 506 CD, cassette, vinyl and eight-track recordings.
I listen to the same radio station all day.
I have 26 sets of linen for four regular, three foldout and two inflatable beds.
I don't like having houseguests.
I have 184,000 frequent flier miles on six airlines, three of which no longer exist.
I have '101 Dalmations' on video.
I have 14 digital clocks flashing relatively similar times.
I have nine armchairs from which I can be critical.
I have a laundry list of things that need cleaning.
I have lost more than 1,000 golf balls.
I am missing 37 umbrellas.
I have over 400 yards of dental floss.
I have a lot of time on my hands.

Finding 'the gap' in my wardrobe

I often lament the fact that 'The Gap' does not have stores in South East Asia. Sure, there is a Hong Kong version such as Giordano but it doesn't quite cut it at times.

Imagine my surprise when out walking in Singapore the other weekend, a bus rolled past advertising the three new Gap stores newly opened in the city of the Merlion! I don't remember the rest of the walk to my brother's as visions of skinny jeans and versatile casual wear swam in front of my eyes.

So fellow shoe divas, here are my latest purchases.

1. Gap skinny blacks - no, I don't look like this in them BUT they are very flattering and do look great with ballet flats or heels:



2. High waisted super skinny dark indigo jeans from TopShop. These are going to look fandabydooby with my new knee high boots for winter in England. No, I don't look like this in them but one can dream.....



3. Who else has discovered the super cool 'Forever 21'? Firstly, you don't have to be 21 to look good in these clothes. Secondly, you will not look like mutton dressed like lamb (unless you want to). Picked up these three great bell sleeved/kimono type tops - love them, love them, love them!





4. Cute wrap top with the coolest mid-bell sleeves from TopShop:



5. I was looking over all the online articles and photos from London Fashion Week (I love their style in the land of Grooving Fungus) and saw lots of long costume jewellry necklaces with large love hearts, anchors, all sorts hanging off them. Found these funky finds at Forever 21 too - all under $10 a piece!



I know, I know, no shoes. I am mortally ashamed. But to make up for it, picked up these in camel colour the other day back in Manila. They are like the black ones with the turquoise inners I posted a while back - these have the funky orange inner :-)



Note to readers: Contrary to popular belief, I do not spend all my time shopping.

Books Babylon

Aside from shoes, one of the greatest fashion assets is a good book. Not only does it make you look semi-intelligent to tote these words of wisdom with you, the book cover can sometimes be matched to your outfit of the day!

This post is actually prompted by my good friend M who recently emailed with some of the great books she has been reading:

"A Long Way Down" by Nick Hornby
"A Spot of Bother" by Mark Haddon
"Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda Speak" by by Jean Hatzfeld, Susan Sontag, and Linda Coverdale

I must add that upon her recommendation, I read "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini which I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED.

I have read so much since pursuing my life of leisure that I felt it might be a good idea to share some of the titles I have enjoyed over the last few months.

If you haven't read the Babylon books yet, head down to Borders and part with some of your well earned cash. These insightful little gems show the down and dirty side of three areas of our world - airline crew, hotels and the fashion world. Addictive and hard to put down, these books will have you thinking twice about being rude to air stewards or purchasing that Gucci bag in the black snake skin.





For all those teachers out there, this was a journey book which I happened to find perusing the shelves at Power Books. As the blurb tells us....."This is the comic story of one man's painfully slow metamorphosis into a teacher at an everyday comprehensive and his encounters with other remarkable teachers and pupils along the way. The good, the bad, the violent, the victimised and the clinically insane....."



It was the title of the next book, sitting on my husband's bedside table that captured my attention next. Emergency Sex? Did we need this for a healthy relationship? Was he turning into a freak? It's actually about three young civilians working for the UN and their experiences in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Somalia, Haiti and Liberia. A bloody good read!



I picked up the following two books in a WH Smith in an airport - sometimes my best finds. Perhaps I am feeling more open to the world when I am about to board a plane? The first won the Orange Prize 2004 - it explores a point in England's past when the first Jamaicans arrived. The themes of the great British Empire, prejudice, love and war are covered - written with real passion, a little anger and some good dry English humour too.



There are more of the 'Merde' books which I have yet to read. This was a hell of a laugh with an Englishman living in France and his experiences with girlfriends and opening an English tearoom in Paris. I plan to buy the others as it made me laugh out loud!



Of course, my reading would not be complete without a little rough house and rugby thrown in. When England actually won the Rugby World Cup in 2003, I felt that a lot of it came from the influence of Martin Johnson as captain. There is a hell of alot of rugby, rugby politics and rugby experiences in this book - perhaps not for everyone. However, it was interesting for me because Martin Johnson actually played for the NZ Under 21's when he did a small stint playing in Aotearoa. Plus, he has good taste and ended up marrying a Kiwi!



For a bit of fun try "The Rise and Fall of a Yummy Mummy" by Polly Williams - a woman's struggle to fit back into her pre-baby self.

History buffs will love "What If? Military Historians Imagine What Might Have Been" which is edited by Robert Cowley. It explores major military points in history and what have have happened if they hadn't turned out the way they did. If the Persian Empire had conquered Greece? If the Mongols had conquered Europe? If Cortes had never conquered Mexico? Hitler's Desert Storm? Interesting stuff.

At the moment, sitting waiting to be devoured on a quiet afternoon:

"Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood" by Koren Zailckas
"The Sunday Night Book Club" which are various short stories
"Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" by John Perkins

What have you been reading? Do post and let me know what's on your shelves at the moment.....

Fashion Faux Pas

Teaching is never a profession associated with the heights of fashion. I mean, teachers are meant to be those people in the world shaping the minds of the young and impressionable. So tell me then, why are most teachers so bloody unfashionable? It truly is a conundrum.

In my ten years of teaching, I have experienced so many fashion faux pas that I wanted to offer a class at various conferences entitled "Fashion 101 for teachers". I guess the terrible fashion I encountered may be a part of life in South East Asia. What does one wear in a climate that only has two seasons - hot and humid which leads into hotter and humider (yes, I just made up that word).

When I first moved to the Philippines, I made many fashion blunders in my attempt to adapt to my environment. On my stopover in Singapore, I some how bought a tie-died sack of a dress which I somehow thought was 'breezy' and 'tropical'. Try instead 'fatty' and 'dodgy' and ' you look like a right twat in that".

Or in the first few months when I hadn't quite acclimatised and attempted to wear jeans and boots. I have a faint memory of cutting the jeans off my legs because the blood wasn't reaching any moving parts.

We all made those mistakes. Grooving Fungus, for example, had lived a charmed life when he first came to Manila. He basically moved from an air conditioned car to his air conditioned office and back into the airconditioned car where he would alight into an air conditioned mall. When we were posted to Singapore, he truly had a fashion melt down. One day he came home with the type of sandals that one's Dad would wear and tried to convince me they were trendy. I had to drag him to the mall, make him buy some longish shorts and a pair of Chuck Taylors. Luckily, his fashion has evolved otherwise there would have been no way we would ever have been married.

But, I digress. Fashion in South East Asia is one thing - fashion in an international school is another. Please allow me to enlighten you and your wardrobe.

A mullet is never a fashionable hair cut. Ever. No, not even for David Beckham.

It is completely unacceptable to wear a jersey dress if you are obese. Especially if when you stand up, the front of the dress gets caught in the folds of your stomach and you end up showing your faculty those grey granny knickers with the stretched elastic. True story - I can only just begin to talk about it now. Traumatic.

White sports shoes with white ankle socks will never say 'professional'. You know you've seen it on a male faculty member near you.

Worse, mid-calf length floral skirts never look good on anyone. Least of all with the black-listed white sports shoes.

Rough linen shirts with elephant shaped buttons have never been trendy.

There is absolutely no social situation when you can wear tie-dyed pants. No, I don't care if you bought them in Ubud and everyone else was wearing them.

Shoes with large square heels were only in fashion for five minutes, if ever. Even if they cost you a lot and are made from the softest leather.

If you have a fat stomach, buy pants that fit. Do not attempt to wear them over your gut or under it with that belly protruding like a keg of beer.

Never, ever wear a short sleeved shirt with a tie. Yes, your father did but 1976 was twenty years ago.

Low riders and thongs in a classroom. Never a good thing.

Try not to be wearing a fitted wool jersey when there is a fire drill in which you need to stand outside for at least twenty minutes in 35 degree heat.

Hand carved wooden parrot earrings can be admired on a jewellry stand when travelling through Cambodia/Thailand/Philippines/Indonesia..............but they should never be purchased or worn.

White underpants should never be worn under white trousers. And while we are on the topic, did somebody mention VPL? Ladies, underwear should fit.

The four boob effect? One of your teachers is wearing a bra that is wayyyyy too small and suddenly she looks like one of those weirdos off that Arnold movie on Mars. Two normal breasts and two small ones above, popping through her shirt to say hello.

I never declared I was a fashionista. Never. However, if you have ever made one of the mistakes above, take heed. It doesn't take much to be trendy as a teacher.

As a true shoe diva, I will leave you with one major pearl of wisdom. Shoe selection. I don't care who you are but Croc's should never be seen in a classroom..........small exception made for those who are PE teachers required to be pool side for the day. Birkenstocks fall into the same category. Sorry but who the hell invented those things?

Teachers constantly wax lyrical about being 'professionals' and 'respected within the community". Easy solution - if you want to be treated like a professional, you should physically present yourself as a professional. Most teachers only ever dress up and look decent for Parent-Teacher conferences........what does that tell you?

Where have you been?

create your own visited countries map

Thanks to Super Kimbo for showing this first and then BZ for his forays around the globe. Thought I would post mine too for a laugh - I am a visual learner.

Ballet flats

I was just reading another great post from the Bargain Queen and saw that she had me linked under 'Fashion'. Shock, horror, I realised that my blogging addiction had veered dramatically from the path of shoes to boring things like Halloween and rugby!

I had to slap myself silly and repeat "I am a Shoe Diva, I am a Shoe Diva" and quickly go and take photos of my shoe collection.

Today, we are talking ballet pumps or flats. Comfortable, practical and oh-so-cute with skinny jeans or leggings. It is timely that I write this because this particular pair come from my favourite shoe shop in Singapore, X:odus. And tomorrow, Fungus and I are off to Singapore for sevens rugby, shopping and oh yes, shoes from X:odus!

Soft, suede slippers......



.....but look closely and you will see why these are a favourite!



Stay tuned for new X:odus acquisitions next week. What more could a Shoe Diva ask for?

Hallo-what?

Growing up in New Zealand doesn't prepare you for the big business of holidays. In one sense, we are much like the British. We celebrate Christmas, New Year, Easter, and Guy Fawkes in an almost conservative fashion. You don't see flashing reindeer or Jack-o-Lantern displays on the front lawns, complete with laser light shows and professional decorators. Why spend fortunes on a Christmas or Halloween display when the money could go towards tickets to the next All Blacks game? We Kiwi's are a simple people.

In the Philippines, Halloween is the harbinger of the Christmas season. Together with All Souls Day and All Saints Day, Halloween is observed all over the country. Fungus and I joke that Halloween displays and hordes of children trick or treating is a commercial American innovation. We were told that the influence of American culture was most evident here during the holiday season and that our village becomes a virtual Halloween Disneyland at this time of the year.

So today, in honour of holidays, I am going to present to you the best and worst of Halloween displays in our immediate neighbourhood. Prepare yourselves - these people either have too much money or way too much time on their hands.



Spot the real zombie in the above picture! Next comes a spider display which this family have had up for a month now.....




A couple of interesting individuals:











We have figured out that if you have some sort of Halloween display at the front of your house, you are open to children trick or treating on Halloween. That's fine. But come on, make an effort..........



Because monkeys are scary.



Apparently, in the Philippines, American Indians have a lot to do with Halloween........



There will be no trick or treating at our house. Not just because Fungus ate all the treats last night but because our Halloween display moves, growls and likes to consume small children. Like any good "all black", she's protecting our investment at Eden Park.



P.S. The R.I.P is for Australia and our next Tri-nations win......ha, ha, ha.....

Rugby Chicks

I haven't found the time to blog in ages - it is almost like an obsession some weeks and gets pushed to the back-burner at other times. Suffice to say, I am back in action.

One of the things which occupies alot of my time here in Manila is womens touch rugby. I play for an awesome club called the Manila Nomads. Not only do we train twice a week and play on weekends but the club is also involved in raising the profile of touch rugby in the Philippines. A couple of weeks ago we helped with rugby clinics for MAAP and the Philippine Police Cadets - that was an experience. The women had buzz cuts like the men!

Two weeks ago saw our team, the Nomads Bullettes (the blokes are the Nomads Bulls) on our first tour to Cebu. For those unfamiliar with Cebu, it is an island in the Philippines. Cebu is more than 200 km long and just 40 km across at its widest point, at the centre of the Visayas. It is locked between Negros, Leyte and Bohol. It is the main island of Cebu province and the location of the capital, Cebu City. On a short 55 minute flight from Manila, it is a great getaway.

We were playing in a triangular tournament with the Cebu Pink Dragons and the University of the Philippines Green Hornets. It was the first tour for the Hornets and the first tournament for the Pink Dragons - great for womens touch rugby!

Like all good rugby tours, ours did involve a fair amount of drinking, tour costumes and fines. As the fine master, it was my privilege to fine the girls 20 or 50 pesos for a variety of on-tour offenses. For 50 pesos you were not allowed to:

1. Complain about a fine
2. Argue or try to reason with the fine master (yes, moi)
3. Bitch about the tour itinerary
4. Bitch fullstop!!
5. Gossip in public (but alot went on in the privacy of rooms)
6. Fail to wear assigned team costumes
7. Bring more than one gym sized bag on tour
8. Refuse to drink team shots
9. Be late on any occasion
10.Use your cellphone in front of team mates

For 20 pesos you were not allowed to:

1. Drink with your right hand
2. Finger point - lips or legs only
3. Utter the following words:
Your name or anyone else's on the team (we all had outrageous nick names for the tour)
Your husband or boyfriend's name
Your children's name
The word 'Cebu'
The word 'beer'
The word 'wine'
4. Swearing in restaurants in bars

By the end of the tour, I had fines collected to a total of about 5000 pesos! Once we were all drinking, tour mates were just handing me 100 pesos and saying "Put it on my tab". Great fun.

The following photos are in no way indicative of our rugby playing prowess nor our sense of fashion or style:











So, did we win the tournament in between all the drinking, eating and drunken debauchery? Too right we did!





It was a great first tour of the year for us all. And like all great rugby tours the drinks kept flowing. We all made new friends..........



..........even if it was with four bottles of beer!



Yeah, that's my room mate - on ya Aussie chick!

Even our pilot on the way home got into the spirit of things and wore our team medal home. Well basically, he had no choice. What else do you do when your last flight of the night is full of drunk rugby chicks?

Two years and counting.....

It is hard to believe that two years ago, 16 October 2004, Grooving Fungus and I got hitched!

We celebrated our two years in style, having dinner at the very same restaurant where we had our first date. Being back in the Philippines helped I guess since we have returned to the country where we first met. L'Incontro was the restaurant, a fabulous little Italian that hasn't changed a bit. Papa Gino, the proprietor, still remembered us and despite having a full house, made sure we had our own table and plied us with house specialties and free grappa all night.

Sweetest of all - the arrival of these over the weekend:





Fungus went the wine and dine, flowers route while I decided to go creative. For those of you who might not know this, cotton is the traditional gift for a second year anniversary with china being the non-traditional choice. All of the gifts for Fungus were 100% cotton, including a cotton card and cotton clues for all his cotton gifts.

Yes, he got the gist of it.

Happy anniversary to us! Thanks to Mum and Dad, Sandra & Gooseman, Andy, Sarah & Nathan, and Calven for remembering us - we love you long time.

Best Songs in the World

Puan Besar inspired me - she recently posted about Q's top ten songs and then her own (which make a lot more sense me thinks). And although I can see the musical merits of Nirvana, my world of music centres mainly around hip hop and r'n'b (no Fungus, Muddy Waters will not count in this case). Some may think this sad at the age of 32 but I really don't care. If you have never delved into the realm of rap or hip hop music, listen to everything on this list and you'll be hooked.....

Award Tour - A Tribe Called Quest
Nuff' Respect - Big Daddy Kane
Still Not A Player - Big Pun
Breathe - Blu Cantrell
Big Pimpin' - Jay Z
Signs - Snoop
Dirt Off Your Shoulder - Jay Z
Right Thurr - Chingy
Hits from the Bong - Cypress Hill
Rebirth of Slick (Cool like Dat) - Digable Planets
Forget About Dre - Doctor Dre (feat. Eminem)
Jamboree - Naughty by Nature
Push 'Em Up - Eddie Kane & DeVille
Guilty Conscience - Eminem (feat. Dre)
Gin'n'Juice - Snoop Doggy Dogg
Straight Outta Compton - NWA
Pretty Girl Bullshit - Mario Winans (feat. Lil'Kim)
Juice (Know the Ledge) - Eric. B & Rakim
Live It Up - John Legend
Gone - Kanye West
I'll Be There For You - Method Man (feat. Mary J. Blige)
Business - Eminem


You may notice that 2Pac isn't even mentioned - blasphemy! That is because he is so cool he gets his own section:

Hit'Em Up
All About U
Can U Get Away
Old School
Ambitionz az a Ridaz
Can't C Me
Heartz of Men
Keep Ya Head Up
Life Goes On
Me & my Girlfriend

Also, add in ANYTHING by Mary J. Blige and you'll be sorted. "Share My World" is by far the best album though - you will love every single song on that album.

Black & white

I have lived in South East Asia for nine years. I have adapted, evolved and moulded my fashion style to suit the constant feeling of sweat trickling down my back. So, you would think when I was faced with the dilemma of a beach wedding in early 2005 I would know EXACTLY what to wear. Think again.

Armed with a big wad of cash, I went shopping for a "wedding outfit". This is what I ended up buying:



No dress. No skirt and top. No amazing black and white linen trouser combo. No, I bought shoes.

It wasn't my fault, honest. They lured me into Kenneth Cole. The shoe was in the front window, lit up with this groovy back detailing in black and white which I LOVED instantly and screamed "Buy me! Buy me! You don't need me but I am so pretty!":



I ended up wearing a chocolate brown Mariella Rosarti dress to the wedding and gold hand made shoes from Ruby Sky.

To date, I have never worn the black and white shoes.

Typhoon Survival 101

What do you do when you survive 260 kmph winds, torrential rain, no running water or electricity and afterwards you emerge to be faced with scenes like this?





Survival Tip #1: Drive two hours south and catch a banca across to a tropical island.



Survival Tip #2: Drink a heinous amount of shots summed up as a "Shark Attack".



Survival Tip #3: Dance around and sing really loudly to songs like 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and 'ParkLife'.




Survival Tip #4: Sing some more but only with really great friends around you who won't mention it the next day.




Survival Tip #5: Go island hopping with a hang over, swim with lots of sandy children and eat authentic Italian pizza on some remote island in the Philippines.




Survival Tip #6: Do not allow blood alcohol levels to drop to 'Sober'.




Survival Tip #7: Sing karaoke really badly in a dodgy old club.



Survival Tip #8: Try to avoid really sweaty Englishmen [please note: my friend in this photo with Grooving Fungus is still my friend and does not hold it against me that I married this man]



Thank you for attending Typhoon Survival 101 - I sincerely hope you gained some invaluable knowledge from this lesson.