Grabs from the recent past.

I had an email from a reader today pointing out that I hadn't written on Superchilled for a year and encouraging me to start posting again. I checked the blog and it has indeed been a year. I'm a little flattered that I've been missed. Truth is I have a number of half written posts in 'notes' on my iPhone accumulated over this time. Times when I've felt inspiration on a plane, train or in a gap somewhere in a consciously chaotic world. 

So I'm going to post some of these unfinished posts, because maybe they're more interesting unfinished than they would be if I finished them. Not quite the 'unfinished symphony' but grabs at least from my mind over the recent past. 

About New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve until I was in my mid twenties was spent around a campfire with extended family and perhaps an odd smattering of friends. Staring at the animated embers, chatting about the past year and contemplating the year to come. There'd be an occasional song, a lot of laughter and at midnight the big thing was streamers being thrown at the person opposite you over the fire then falling into the fire and burning..

About Love

Falling in love is the subject of countless songs, books, movies and, undoubtably, psychology sessions. It's a time when your whole biochemistry is modified. You see the world in a different hue. The person who is the focus of your attention is fascinating, beautiful and flawless. At least that's how you'll see it. You want to spend all your time with them and pine for them when they're not around. You may even feel incomplete without them.

It's understandable that people get addicted to falling in love and move from one budding relationship to the next once the biochemistry normalises, the flaws enlarge and beauty fades. And right now you're expecting the talk about 'staying for the course'..

About Travelling

And as I sit down on this Free-seated Yangon Air flight I sense something in the air. And it's not the plane. There must be years of vomit here, all not quite completely cleaned up. And every seat I try has it. I start to wonder if their budget for cleaning and customer experience is higher or lower than their maintenance budget. And pray that it is lower, much much lower.

Not a hell of a lot of postage. But there you go. I started reading the second book by the author of London Preppy during my recent travel, finishing it while on my annual pilgrimage to Byron Bay. "HIGHLIGHTS OF MY LAST REGRET" by North Morgan. I enjoyed the read, but yet not. It's an unrested book. Maybe finishing it and moving onto something a little closer to me was what let me finally relax, and mid way through the break my sense of unrest was gone, a light switched off. 

Happy New Year, oh but wait it's already February.

I've been absent both here and from home for a few weeks now. Nothing like a trip around the world to start the year. But a sure fire way to make January fly by. Literally.

During that time away I learnt a number of ways to BEHAVE BADLY as a TRAVELLER.

1. If you are from Russia,
Take your newly found 'lady of the night' to one of the classiest restaurants in town. Be loud to ensure everyone notices you and pop your 2 large bags of McDonald's take-out right in the middle of the table. Keep it there right through the sensational dinner. Better still, get your mate to do the same with you. All class. Departing early, leaving the girls to enjoy the rest of their meals in relative silence is your only saving grace.
CHI CHA restaurant, Cusco, Peru

2.
From Germany
When your tour guide, who has literally just finished a 4 day mountainous trek (which you missed because you didn't turn up on day 1) is going to the first proper bathroom he's seen in days, demand that you really need to get going for the next leg that you're catching up with, and that he's wasting your time. Sensitive.
Machu Picchu, Peru

3. From Israel

If it's a popular national park hike in serene surrounds, be sure to have a loud and animated conversation that drowns out the sounds of wildlife and running streams for the entire duration of the walk. Ensure than EVERYONE on the track hears you and only you, even though nobody else seems to need this volume to be heard by their fellow walkers.

El Chalten, Argentina

4. From everywhere English speaking: when a local doesn't understand what you're saying, turn the volume up! Surely if you speak louder everyone will understand. Intelligent.

5. I'm not sure where from but smoking cigars relentlessly in a large hotel lobby/restaurant open space to the point that everyone reeks of smoke is the definition of wanker.

El Calafate, Argentina.

Perhaps I'm just over sensitive.

Oh and Happy New Year.

J'ai SUPERFROID

Right now I'm wearing this t-shirt. It translates "I'm super chilled" though I guess it could also be read "I'm super cold", and I guess different people may have different takes on that. I bought it when I was in fact quite chilled in the French Alps a day or two ago, though I'm about to be wearing it in Rio. Does that make it a whole different class of chilled? I don't care. On the flight here I finished the first book I've read in years, "exit through the wound" by North Morgan, who I know as London Preppy. In the back of the book the publisher, Glasshouse Books, states "Glasshouse books has a simple mission statement. To publish books for people who don't read."

I tick that box.

When I started the book I was unimpressed. Not only was the main character straight rather than gay, yet the same character from london preppy's blog. Some of the work was pure cut and paste from the blog, and there was so much drug use I felt I was at work. But it grew on me. Certain bits have been updated for current consumption, which disappoints, but despite this I enjoyed it and in the end I was just burning through the pages under a narrow beam from my reading light as everyone else on my flight slept.

And on this Iberia flight from Madrid to Rio there are pieces of tape holding together the mirror and ventilation filter in the one toilet I've visited. I hope the engines and fuselage are more convincingly held together, but then this is a Spanish plane and we are deep in GFC2.

The reason I referred to the book is that it reinforces an opinion I've developed recently that I need to stop caring what people think. I have no reason to be self conscious and if people don't understand me they can ask. I don't need or want to explain myself. I'm calling it self respect. And I'm going to be more demanding with it in future.

Which brings me to an issue I've been grappling with for a few years now. A good friend disowned me for personal reasons, his not mine, some time back. A friendship I enjoyed greatly and have missed, and the demise of which I do not and will probably not ever truly understand, though I am certain there is miscommunication, misunderstanding and a deal of emotional content that's difficult to decipher. My mistake then was to allow it to happen and not enforce a face to face discussion, even if the end result were to be the same.

But now I'm giving transparency the flick. If you want to know what I'm thinking, deserve to know it first, then ask. I'm taking no prisoners, jumping into 2012 and running with it, not waiting for anyone to catch up. Keep up or make your own way. Be sure to have fun though. I certainly will.

June 2011

Wandering around Paris it really seems the city of love is more a city of unhappiness. Almost all the faces one encounters looks like it's just been told bad news, or is pissed off with everyone around it. Maybe the high temperatures in recent days have been a catalyst for discontent, but I have never really sensed a great 'love' any time I've been in Paris. I know scores of people who rave about how they want to return here, and dream of living in Paris, but I really don't get that feeling. Don't get me wrong, I thinks it's a great city with a lot of positives, great food, loads of things happening (often closed the day or time I turn up, we'll call it bad planning) , but the sense I get is that the people who actually do live here are dreaming of being somewhere else too. Oh and the traffic is awful, (but the trains are great).

There are a host of hot men, but I don't get a sense of there being much of a sporting environment here. Which is something I would need to work on.

Utah Rocks

sunrise: monument valley

We've just crossed from Utah through Arizona and into Nevada heading back to Las Vegas. The sun is lowering on the horizon and I can't wait to get back.

We've been exploring Utah's national parks where the USA's 'everything is bigger here' continues. We had a ball. Non stop exploration and activity, but that's not about to stop. I've been told Utah has America's cutest men, but the cutest we saw were European men in the parks. I've subsequently been updated that you have to go farther north. Sigh.
We sure did see an abundance of grey nomads in their RV's the size of trucks. Actually I'm sure many of them WERE trucks. Anyhow, I'm glad we can tune into Vegas radio and tone down the country song quotient which is fun for a while, just.

There's a surprising amount of nothing out there. I thought that was a typically Australian thing, but there were an abundance of huge mountains, deep wide valleys, monster canyons and great roads with not much else along them. Great for getting away from it all. Not so great when you need fuel!

I ran at altitude in Bryce Canyon national park today. I was the only person running and got loads of attention for it. Stunning scenery is a good distraction when you're hurting. The training for Noosa must continue.

And so as the sun sets in the west, Las Vegas awaits. We have a stack of activities planned and I can't wait.

(note: this was written in transit a few days ago)

Japanese Cuisine?

Wandering the Shinjuku district of Tokyo last week I stumbled across this sign for a restaurant (?). I thought maybe someone had scratched off part of the sign, but it was exactly the same on both sides. I couldn't read the menu but wonder what their specialty is...

Go Go Go

It was HOT, damned hot. The Northern summer has roasted & toasted me, and spat me out. And it feels good. Back in the Southern Hemisphere it's cool and I'm loving it. I feel like I've been warmed up to withstand the local cool, superhot here at superchilled. But it's extra so because I'm on a mission, one that I thought I'd no chance at. But more of that later.

During our travel...

Our luggage travelled better than we did

We discovered translations that made us question our safety

and some that made us laugh.

And then there were the ads that encouraged us not to smoke.

And that was just in Japan. There's more. And a restaurant that sells, well, I'm not quite sure what but it deserves its own post.

On arriving home an email arrived...

It seems I've won the lottery. Not a fake Nigerian one, and not a million dollars.

A lottery for a competition entry (bizarre but true) and the result: I'm competing in the Noosa Triathlon in October!! So I'm back in training - full on - until it hurts.

More to come.

Launch into USA

I want to know the places to go - the roads to crash on, the national parks to get lost in, the cafes to tantalise one's tastebuds in, the stores one can't help but melt plastic in, the Cities one must not die before passing through, the museums to sleep in, the Architectural wonders to sick my Canon onto, the humanity to lust after and the experiences to die for in The grand ol' U S of A.

That's right I'm asking you your most memorable experiences, places and all of the above that you'd care to share (GPS positioning most welcome) as I plan a trip to the place I swore I'd avoid during the Bush Administration and now have an obligation to fulfil and return to. It will be in the early fall (autumn for non USA-ites) and I'm very excited about the potential. Don't forget I love to swim, so swimming locations will be greeted with all manner of appreciative gestures.

It's your chance to tell me where to go.

I'm counting on you!

Byron Bay Ocean Swim Weekend

pre-race preparations

The crowd assembles at the beach at the start of the race.

This weekend was spent in Byron Bay, as is our tradition for the first weekend in May. The annual ocean race there attracts keen swimmers, and those just keen to jump in and do the 2.2km from Wategoes Beach to Byron's Main Beach with around 2000 other competitors. The beach was crowded with speedo clad guys & girls before the race as the various waves headed out in age groups. It's hard to know where to look, with Byron in true form throwing a combination of spectacular scenery, crystal clear warm water with perfect waves, and stunning men (and women I'm told). These photos taken by one of our group while I limbered up for my swim. Its always hard leaving Byron Bay, and though it's the second time we've been there this year, I'd happily go back again and again. Thanks to our entourage for making it a fun weekend and looking after Amélie while we swam! She had a ball too. Before we know it she'll be competing too .

Merry Superchilled Christmas

I'm lying naked in bed in the far north. It's warm and the sound of the ocean is lazing its way into the room. It's certainly not the White Christmas of last year. Santa has made a comeback this year though and any time now will be heading down our chimney to deliver gifts for the newest addition to the family. We had been debating the institution of Santa this year, and whether he would be alive and kicking for Amélie's first Christmas. The stranger danger, the stupid red hot suit, the lying to your child issues have been put aside and we're embracing the unique childhood fantasy that is Christmas time. And I love it. There are stocking out already filled with gifts as with evidence of a hastily departing man in a red suit. Santa has been kind to us all and delivered the most gorgeous men to the beaches and quite frankly everywhere around here, so I'm thanking him every day, tomorrow Amélie will get to have her own fun.

Let the games begin.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Are you Mr Green Card USA?

Have you got your Green Card yet?

In Australia you might think this is your medicare card, but if you're interested in working & living in the USA it's essentially your entry permit. Lavi Soloway has informed me of the nearing of the closing date for the green card lottery, which is your chance to get one of those elusive green cards drawn essentially from a hat. The USA is now also withdrawing the HIV positive ban on those entering the states which may make a big difference for those affected.

Those who are looking to make it big in the States, or just to live and work there for a while or ever, should consider applying. There is more information here to get you started, thanks also to Lavi.

Good luck!!

Midnight Running

Saturday night around midnight, Federation Square Melbourne. There is a buzz on the street with people out and about, eating, drinking and stumbling home. I'm headed back to the hotel after a progressive dinner in a few funky restaurants and find myself in the middle of a group of women, the tallest comes to about my armpit. I rapidly find out they've been celebrating (we'll call her) Sharon's 30th birthday. Sharon rapidly approaches (are they kidding me?! surely this is a 40th celebration, and I'm being kind) and before I know it I have an intoxicated, overweight woman hanging off me with closed eyes and pursed lips pushing in my direction. The emergency evacuation buzzer alarms and I'm out of there before you can say "gay man's nightmare". I hear the words "he's shy" from the group she's with as I'm running across the busy street narrowly avoiding cars and trams. She has good friends.

A Wild Wednesday on a Thursday.

I've been chatting with Guy* for 4 years or so. The exact time we started chatting and the exact internet site that we met on is a little fuzzy now, but we've managed to chat every now and again on various electronic media and keep a basic knowledge of what's been happening in each other's lives over that time. It hasn't been intense and there can be months between chatting, but it's regular and warm and it has worked both ways. So on our recent visit to France with a little time to spare we tee'd up a time to catch up. The evening was free and Guy invited us to dinner at the home he shares with his partner. Our first meeting, dinner, in . Perfect. I love the intimacy of dining with people in their homes. You don't have to worry about restaurant staff, fellow patrons nor filter your conversation from prying ears.

Knowing he is a student I was expecting a tiny flat in the middle of nowhere, but the concierge at his sparkling apartment building directed us to the elevator and the 29th floor. He was as handsome as I'd come to know in 2 dimensions, but a whole lot warmer and welcoming. The apartment was grand, and as we walked in there was central Paris before us, the sun was setting over the financial district to our left and the Eiffel tower flashing away directly in front of us. His partner was labouring away in the kitchen where they had both been working prior to us arriving.

I would have been happy with toast really, but we were in France after all and the food was simple yet gourmet. The conversation, a mix of French and English, moved through a host of topics and I really didn't want the night to end. A connection finally made tangible. A fun experience and 2 great guys. A very good Thursday night.

Its been a long time since I've posted a Wild Wednesday Challenge, but one of my favourite things is inviting new people to dinner just as Guy did us. It can be a whole lot of fun. Midweek is great for it too. I'd highly recommend taking up today's wild wednesday challenge and invite someone new to your home for dinner tonight or later this week. There are some great people out there, invite them home!!

*name might not actually be Guy.

Traveling Tracks

I hold one ear piece up to check which side it fits and then place each in the appropriate ear, turn on the tiny switch at the base and thread the ipod-on-a-clip through my shirt clipping it onto the belt loop at top of my shorts. I press play and look up, it's a whole new world. I'm in a subway, it's Paris, there's a city of people I'm threading through, and they me, there are sounds of trains here and on other levels, people, clattering, footsteps, I can hear them all, but it's a little more distant now, the background sound to my opening credits with a sound track that changes tack every few minutes.

A woman stops and enters my movie. She has a casual Parisian elegance as she pauses, looks at the time and continues off at a faster pace. She's on her way to meet her lover and he's always on time. She wants to arrive just after him but needs a quiet graceful entry at the restaurant so she needs to make time to slow time. She disappears in the tunnel just as a young blonde tourist comes into view. He's standing at the platform dressed in khaki cargo shorts, a white t-shirt and a golden tan. He looks at the map a friend is holding and laughs confidently before turning it the right way around. This is not his first trip to Paris, and while now he speaks in accented English, his French is fluent and unaccented. A combination of an affluent education outside this country mixed with plenty of local exposure. He is staying in an apartment, that he shares with his brother, which has a slightly interrupted view of the eiffel tower. He secretly loves the strobe lights that flash on the hour every night all over it and tries to be in a position to see them without being noticed. He laughs again with his friend and his white teeth glow in the crowd, then the train comes to swallow him up, and he's gone. An older man replaces him. Dark grey hair and a few too many chocolate eclairs have filled out his dark blue shirt. He is standing on the train expressionless. Swaying irregularly in sync with the movement of the carriage. He's on his way home from work in the interior ministry. It's been a busy day, half of his staff away on leave has made it a tough week. He's looking forward to his own week off, just a few days away. He will visit his new grand daughter with his wife. She has been busy preparing meals for their daughter over the past week in preparation for their visit. He thinks of the fluffy little stuffed monkey he has bought for her, wrapped delicately inside his briefcase and a smile edges its way onto his face. The train starts to brake, his smile subsides and he picks up the case as the doors burst open and is flushed out with the crowd onto the platform.

I look down and feel for the button skip tracks, when I look back up, I'm in Athens. A baggage carousel is spewing mostly black but some splashes of red and blue suitcases to a tired looking crowd. A woman is standing in dark orange tights, something of a flamenco look blouse with hair that has been coloured and recoloured a thousand times and is now a mix of reds and blondes all frizzed on a bed of grey. Eye makeup has exploded onto her face, half of which is now blue, it seemed like a good idea when she woke early this morning for the pre-dawn flight here. She feels a little more awake than she did then, but her eyes have looked completely awake all day. She's returning home to Athens where she lives by the port. She had never travelled much until the cheaper airlines started to fly and her weekend in London with an old friend was lot of fun, but more expensive than she had planned. She will have to wait a few months for the next trip now. Work at the port isn't exactly well paying, but her son who lives in central Athens helps out when she needs. She is sure that his flat-mate is his lover but has never had the courage to ask. She invites them both whenever there is an event on just in case. A cute couple in their late 20's walk by pushing a trolley stacked with bags. A fuzz of blonde hair is trailing them on the body of a toddler who has been so out of control, they now have little energy left to chase him. He has run into the security lady, picked up an old baggage tag off the ground but just before putting it into his mouth found another distraction and is running off towards a dog emerging from a fellow passenger's hand carry on the floor. His parents laugh together recalling the man from the Hotel this morning who joked about their son "The Destroyer" as he called him. The dog now freed, the toddler runs laughing towards the carousel with those bags that look like a great challenge to climb.

Madonna's "Give it to me" bounds into the sound track and the rest of the movie is paused while a short film plays out in my head. This one's a real one, unlike the other ones I've concocted in my travels, so my imagination is less essential right now. It is another holiday experience though. The track ends and a new one begins, and so my journey continues.

It's all Greek to me

We're escaping to Greece next month and need your help.

We're there for a brief stay, but it wasn't planned in advance and we're not really sure where to go. We'll be landing in Athens and leaving from Santorini, but the rest is unchartered. Have you been to Greece? Is there anywhere you'd recommend? Suggest we avoid? Places that are MUST SEE. I need to be able to swim - but I'm guessing that won't be a problem anywhere. Any accommodation and boating recommendations are also appreciated.

Thanks guys.

Stacked up in Byron Bay

When in Byron Bay we choose not to stay in Bunk Beds, however where forced to (as above for example) bunks may be entirely appropriate, even preferred.

Where we did stay this weekend had loads of space for a group of us, but not a whole lot of us, spending considerable time in the great outdoors rather than in the beach house. The weather guys got it quite wrong this weekend, and while there was rain, and good amounts of it, there was ample sunshine and beach time to be had. Though at times the two did collide, once with an additional tornado of sorts off the beach. It hung around for about 15  minutes.

low res. phone image... apologies

Initial exploration of the main beach found us with countless men not unlike those above and below (thanks to Andrew Christian's Spring Range - awesome photo-shoot guys!). Experiencing the jaw droppingly attractive is a nice way to spend the day. But the focus of the weekend was the Byron Bay Ocean Swim Classic, and the conditions were perfect. There were lifesavers, and quite a lot of them, though I'm not sure they were actually needed. We don't mind them littered about though. I even managed to meet an imported one or two from the south. I think I'm going to have to get caught in more rips in future. 

Ah and I did do well in the swim, so well in fact I went back the next day to do it all again - though in a more informal way. I got to chat with friends along the way, chase the fish, catch a wave or two and spot a stingray or three.

Oh and did I mention the food? We tested out some old and some new - the new including a place called Satiate in Bangalow, a degustation worth a taste; Pacific Dining Room which was really a step above & a whole lot of fun; and then there's the old faithful Utopia Cafe which is pretty much as the name says, though I'd like a truly utopian milkshake please next time to match the food. 

There was more, a whole lot more, but the week has begun and I've lots to do. Thanks to everyone who made the weekend as awesome as it was, even those who will never know, like the backpacker filling a water container at Wategos beach loosely wearing a sexy pair of underwear and nothing else, I swear it needs to be the new beach trend.

France: less than 3 hours from Sydney

Now I knew they spoke French in New Caledonia, but less than 3 hours from home and we might as well have been in France. The architecture, the people, the cars, even the supermarkets were straight from France. Butter, cheese, salami, yoghurt, biscuits, wine, foie gras... pretty much everything, oh and the pastries, yum! 

There were a few things that weren't particularly French, like the reefs and the tropical fish. We jumped into the natural pool - picine naturale, a short stroll along a sandy tidal river bank on The Isle of Pines, and in the middle of chasing the multicoloured fish we found ourselves surrounded by a bigger school of fish. You'll see a short video of these below which turned out to be, I think,  quite mesmerising.

I could have stayed on the island a whole lot longer. Spending most of the daylight hours on or in the water is my idea of a perfect escape, and The Isle of Pines is made for exactly that. Oh and the food, bloody expensive, but oh so fine. 

Superchilled Out

The Transparent Stimulus Package was voted in overwhelmingly by the senate poll, and I do hope you all enjoy this fine stimulus which superchilled will be sending out to all registered readers marked "Easter Bunny Package". Look out for your delivery man.

Easter is a hop step and, wait no, just a hop and step away, and we're up, up and away. Headed to a land of French speakers for the holiday plus a little more. Nouvelle-Calédonie is the destination du jour, and I think I'm just going to collapse in a heap when I get there. A relaxed and twisted wreck of me lying on the sand, morphing through the water and being drip fed French inspired, Pacific infused food. It's not a tough existence, though there's always the prospect of a LOST experience should the plane decide it needs more adventure in its life. Even then, so long as I survive the landing I'd be happy to play out the pacific life for a while. 

Life has been busy, full, work is non stop but I'm loving it, and for Easter, leaving it for a bit. I've been very good and have given away most of my Easter eggs, but still some make it through the defences. I'm not sure what the New Caledonia Easter experience is, but I'm hoping they have a lot of hot Easter Bunnies. Do Croissant's come in hot cross versions? This intrepid explorer will be seeking all of the above and more. In the meantime I wish all Superchilled readers a great Easter break or at least a spectacular weekend if you don't get holidays with it. I'll be back and hopefully more energised next week.

FootVolley - Rio Style

In the past I have played a lot of beach volleyball and loved it. Over the New Year in Rio though, I noticed the newer version of FootVolley taking over the beaches. It's basically the same as volleyball, only you can't use your hands or arms.  I guess with the popularity of football/soccer in Brazil it's not a surprise that this is taking off. The guys playing it have to be quite fit and in general they look incredibly toned and athletic, which makes watching a game not very difficult at all as you'll see in these photos. (sigh) I have enough trouble being able to use my arms, but these guys make it look easy, I imagine it would be as easy as playing tennis without a racket.

It was mostly men playing, but obviously not always.

They all seemed to be having a lot of fun, but I guess, they were on the Beach in Rio, it's hard not to. 

Click on images for larger versions.

The Race Continues...

Long time readers of superchilled will recall the Race Around the World... Where your challenge is to identify the location of the photo shown, or to create an interesting story to go with it. Today we have a new pitstop and it is a segueway into my next post. I need specifics, it isn't too hard.  Whoever gets the most accurate and most creative answers wins, and I might even send them a larger version of the photo (you know you want a close up of the men). For a medium size image - click on the photo. First and best win. 

The race is on.