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Category Archives: Rotary

Up, up and away part 3

Posted on Posted in 2012, Food, GSE 2012, Rotary, Taiwan .

Tokyo to Taipei

This plane is significantly smaller than compared to the plane we took from Toronto to Tokyo. With nine seats to a row (3x3x3 groupings), our final flight still has a lot of rows (I’m in row 34 and here are still a more behind me). And seating is 2x3x2 for each row.

Not necessarily exciting details I realize, but the sort of observation you may have while waiting for the flight to take off and this is your third flight in a day.

Now on to the food!

We were given the option to have either dinner A or B and I was coming out of a groggy sleep when asked what I wanted. I had already read a brochure on the plane that mentioned both a traditional Japanese dinner or a Western dinner was available. When the flight attendant asked (remember, I was only half awake), all I heard was “blah, blah, shrimp, blah blah also shrimp.” To which I said, “Yeah, sure, shrimp. Yes please.” I was hedging my bets that shrimp would lead to the traditional meal… And boy did it ever! Yum!!

It was all really good, but I couldn’t eat all of that food after the multiple meals I had had since my first flight. But I will tell you that the dessert (in the top right corner) was amazing! It was like two mini pancakes with red bean paste in between and a little whip cream on the side. I also want to note that the green tea was the best I’ve ever had. I drank as many cups as I could get my hand ons. After having my forth small glass, I think the flight attendant who served me multiple times thought there was something wrong with me to be so enthusiastic about hot tea…

 

Ironically, this flight has felt a big longer than I’d like. But after a full day of travel, I’m ready to arrive at our final destination. I wonder what the weather in Taiwan will be like? It’s milder and warmer than what we have in Newfoundland and Labrador, but I don’t think it will be that “warm and gross” feeling I experienced far too many times during summers in Toronto. It is rainy season in Taiwan, but I come from the province that’s well known for rain, drizzle and fog, so I really don’t think it will bother me.

 

 

 

Up, up and away part 2

Posted on Posted in 2012, GSE 2012, Rotary, Taiwan .

Toronto to Tokyo

I never thought I would imagine myself thinking this, but a 15 hour flight doesn’t seem nearly as long as I thought it would.

My saving grace? Being able sleep for some larger chunks of time. I’ve never been on who has to get her full eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. But I’m normally not very good at napping. Luckily, I don’t have a lot of trouble sleeping on a plane.

The beverage cart has passed by a number of times and I usually get green tea since they have it steeped in a pot (pretty sure it’s just Tetley green tea, but that’s ok). I have to giant bottles of water that I purchased in the airport (as recommended by a friend in Toronto – thanks Tina!)

The meals have been good too. I’m not used to being served actual meals!

First up was lunch with a choice of chicken or beef. I almost went with the chicken until I heard the beef was “Japanese style” as the flight attendant said to describe it. There was also a small salad and a chocolate brownie. Overall, very tasty.

Hour later, we received Raman cup noodles, a mini roast slider (pretty dry, but it was good) and some cookies.

There hasn’t been any real turbulence and overall it’s been a good flight. There is a little boy (probably around two to three years old) who was asleep until just before take off. Then the screaming and crying started. Oh boy was he loud, but what can you do? His mother did everything to settle him down and in time he did… Only to start up again (and a few more times after that). But I didn’t judge or get any disapproving looks. I mean really, what can se do? Maybe the sounds of the plane scare him. Maybe his ears hurt. Maybe he’s just having a really bad day. And I have to say, when the little guy was in a good mood and walking around with his mom, he had a smile on that would melt your heart.

I haven’t watched any movies at this point, but have discovered a BBC comedy Trollied. It’s based in a grocery store chain and it’s pretty funny. The style is a little similar to Come Fly With ME, another British comedy, but this one is more of a mock reality show at Heathrow Airport focusing on a couple of fake airlines.

Me thinks it’s time to go and start watching Who Framed Roger Rabbit…

 

 

GSE Taiwan Blog

Posted on Posted in 2012, blog, GSE 2012, iPad2, Rotary, Taiwan, technology .

I case you didn’t know, we have a blog for our Rotary International Group Study Exchange that’s heading to Taiwan on March 1 (that’s only one week away! Eek!).

Please go and give it a visit: http://gsetaiwan2012.wordpress.com/

As part of my testing technology I want to use while away, my first post to the blog includes a video that I first uploaded to my YouTube channel.

Curious? check out the post now.

Left foot, right foot

Posted on Posted in 2012, GSE 2012, NL, St. John's, Taiwan .

As I get ready for the GSE to Taiwan, I’m thinking about packing light. I’ll be away for almost six weeks (four weeks in Taiwan and 11 days in Japan) and will have professional, casual and vacation clothes as well as other things.

While in Taiwan, I’m staying with Rotarian host families and won’t want to have a bunch of stuff to cart around from home to home. I’ll have my camera gear, my iPad2 and a suitcase of clothes and necessities.

I’ve been reading about techniques for dealing with jet-lag and one suggestion is to try and incorporate 30 minutes rigorous exercise during your regular REM period for three consecutive days after you arrive. I’ll need to calculate my REM period and then do the timezone math, but it’s something I’d like to try and do even for the first day or two after we arrive. I’m a runner and it’s one of the easiest ways of exercising. Slipping on a pair of sneakers, turning on some music with a heavy beat is the perfect thing for me. But my running shoes aren’t small (besides the fact that I have BIG feet, they’re not compact footwear) and I don’t see myself wearing them a lot when I have a pair of casual sneakers I’d rather wear.

I’m guilty of bringing way too much clothes and footwear when I travel, so I’m struggling with what I should and shouldn’t bring. And with the whole idea of exercising, at this point it’s exactly that: an idea. It may not even be possible to work into my schedule. The idea of bringing a large pair of footwear I may not even put on has me looking for other options.

Potential solution: my Vibram FiveFingers or as I like to call them – my toe shoes!

Vibram shoes

Don't they just look like they're full of crazy?!

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Photo Upload Test

Posted on Posted in 2012, blog, GSE 2012, iPad2, Social Media, Test .

 I’m currently looking at options for blog updates and photo uploading while I’m in Taiwan and Japan in March and April.

I have to say that I’m not impressed with the WordPress iPad app. It doesn’t have a lot of options or features, and it isn’t very intuitive.

I’m pretty pleased with the Blogsy app and I’m writing this post on the iPad using the touchscreen keyboard. I’ll have a keyboard case to use as well, but short amounts of typing on the touchpad isn’t too bad. 

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