Monday, September 19, 2005

Soar

When they push, when they pull, tell me, can you hold on?
When they say you should change, can you lift your head high and stay strong?
Will you give up, give in, when your heart's crying out that it's wrong?
Will you love you for you at the end of it all?

In life, there's gonna be times when you're feeling low
And in your mind, insecurities seems to take control
We start to look outside ourselves for acceptance and approval
We keep forgetting that the one thing we should know is

Don't be scared to fly alone, find a path that is your own
Love will open every door, it's in your hands,
the world is yours
Don't hold back and always know all the answers will unfold
What are you waiting for, spread your wings and soar

So, what're you waiting for?

Saturday, September 10, 2005

free

go somewhere ya never gone
sing something that ya never sung
think about something that ya never thought
and if you're gonna give,

...give everything you got

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Hungry anyone?

what's the strangest thing you've ever eaten then hmmm?.....

The Japanese eat raw horse and fish, the French eat snails, the Aussies Kangaroo and crocs, South America spit roasted guinea pig, Mexico live bugs, Korea dog....deep fried cricket....live cobra heart - no really I saw a chef on TV do it!

But nooow I think China has taken the cake.......

Donkey meat on the menu in China
09 September 2005

BEIJING: The cat is out of the bag at a restaurant in northeast China that had been serving donkey meat spiked with tiger urine in pricey dishes advertised as endangered Siberian tigers.

Local media in Heilongjiang got wind that the restaurant was offering stir-fried dishes and medicinal liquor made from tiger meat and bones, sparking local police and health inspectors to pounce, the China Daily said.

"After inspection, the owner confessed that the so-called tiger meat was donkey meat that had been dressed with tiger urine to give the dish a 'special' flavour," the newspaper said.

The restaurant had been charging as much as 800 yuan a dish for the illegal, "rare" fare, tapping into traditional Chinese belief that tiger meat has aphrodisiacal properties.

The restaurant was shut down and fined and the director of the nearby Hengdaohezi Siberian Tiger Park, China's largest centre for breeding the highly endangered animals, reassured the public there was no way meat from its big cats had made its way to the dinner table, the newspaper said.

Only a few hundred Siberian tigers are believed to be alive in the wild in their native habitats of northern China, southern Russia and parts of North Korea.

The report did not explain where the tiger urine had come from or how it was collected.

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Typhoon

Wow, we're having a really crap day here today - I haven't seen the weather this bad before. Just glad I've got the day off work and don't have to go out - it would be impossible to get there without being saturated....or blown away.

The absolute torrents of rain are being pushed along by very strong powerful and extremely gusty winds here today and there's sirens in the distance every now and again. Quite eerie.... Last night I went to sleep listening to lashes of rain striking the roof like waves crashing against a shore.

And we are only on the outskirts of the typhoon that's striking Japan right now, I'd hate to think how terrifying being in the eye of it must be, but I saw some images on telly last night.

It's really heartbreaking to see people's homes being flooded, but what amazes me is that if I'd watched this on TV in New Zealand I would have felt it's a world away, but here I feel it's part of my world now.

I've really felt like Japan has become home in recent months and it's strange to feel so settled here after feeling so displaced when I first arrived.

Just goes to show that you can call anywhere home if you live there long enough - and I've only been here five months.

I'm still not sure what I'll do at the end of the year, wether I stay on or go further abroad, but I'll see how I feel then....right now it feels like it would be really sad to leave.

And I've never been good at farewells.

Monday, September 05, 2005

yum, yum!

Hello, hello. how was my day you ask?

oh well you know, just another typhoon - gotta love summer here huh! annnd a bit of a mixup at the gym with paying...ie i haven't!

They were sending me bills in japanese but I thought it was junk mail! It's great here though, they don't get all snarky with you like in NZ coz they're so stoked to talk to you....probably spit and cuss behind my back mind, but at least they nice to my face hey :)

Since its coming into summer over in NZ, thought I'd post this recipie for a salad i found today that sounded really yum. thought maybe you's fulla's could enjoy it on your deck or backyard if you have one eh bro - ohhhh I love summer!

anyway, let me know what you think of the salad if you get a chance to make it - its the raspberries that got me!

BABY SPINACH WITH MANDARIN ORANGES & GOAT CHEESE
baby spinach
mandarin oranges
toasted, chopped walnuts
raspberries
goat cheese
red onion slices
raspeberry-halzelnut vinagerette dressing

...yum, yum!