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Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Hammer time
Hi all,
I am just here procrastinating about working on my project and was surfing the internet. I am sure everyone knows how that is? So I just realize that MC Hammer is in town (Auckland) doing some promotion for tweeter!... If anyone remembers the 80s... you hate it and you love it!... admit it, there is some weirdness going on there during that period. Anyway, if you know MC Hammer, you would know the "Hammer time!" and those pants! Enjoy...
I am just here procrastinating about working on my project and was surfing the internet. I am sure everyone knows how that is? So I just realize that MC Hammer is in town (Auckland) doing some promotion for tweeter!... If anyone remembers the 80s... you hate it and you love it!... admit it, there is some weirdness going on there during that period. Anyway, if you know MC Hammer, you would know the "Hammer time!" and those pants! Enjoy...
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Memories
Hi everyone,
We (Hannah and I) was sitting by the window watching the sunset, sipping our wine and talking about our fond memories in FIT. I thought it would be a neat idea to share it with all of you, remembering yesterday once more...
1) John...
Remember the first time we went to Blue Grotto to try out Hannah and your new drysuit. You got stuck to the ceiling in the cavern and Hannah went to help you and got stuck there as well. I was laughing so hard in my regulator. I insist on taking a picture of both of you stuck on the ceiling before we decide what to do to save both of you from bolting to the surface! And on another dive in Peacock Spring, right after the Blur Grotto event, your words are " I will never bolt to the surface again!" and again, you bolt to the surface when we came out of the cave... I was again, laughing so hard that I nearly lost my buoyancy as well...
2)Yaprak (Leaf)...
Remember the first time we partied together?... you were so drunk that you knock Hannah's lamp over. She was in Room B105, Southgate then. Your words "I am so sorry!"... we just feel so sorry but it was really funny!... then there was the time you had half a brownie... that was the time we decided that you should not have any more brownie again!... And as always you have to remove your SCUBA tank underwater when you dive to re-adjust the strap...
3) Patt...
Oh... how can we forget... the 3-phrase Patt... 1st phrase Patt... the Patt who say everything that ends with the word "mang!", 2nd phrase, Patt loves everybody and how much he regret not listening to our advise and 3rd phrase... Patt becomes quiet and finally he passed out!... However, we will never forget the party at Jessie Tan's place where we made a video, writing words of wisdom all of his face and put a snake on his body....
4) Jessie Tan...
The diving... the person who always puke on the boat without fail. Remember the time when you got caught by the fisherman when we did the shore dive... and the time when we Leaf was seemed to be humping you while putting the weight belt on you... and the time, Leaf, and me had to pull and push you down in order to get you to descend into the water...
5) Nori...
The travelling drunk indicator... when the reddness reach the tummy, stop giving her alcohol... she is DRUNK!... remember the time we watched Kungfu Shaolin at my place... you had a bottle of wine, stood up and fell over... again, DO NOT ignore those indications!
6) Robyn and Mark...
Those crazy margarita... so nice and yet so deadly... those nights where we all were dead drunk because of those margaritas!... Mark and his 3-men game and awesome yellow wetsuit!
7) Amy and Kenny...
Mexican night! :)... you know it, Kenny knows it, we know it!... when you are drunk, you are too cute to describe... at least we know you hate some type of cake!... Poor Kenny had to take care of her the whole night... and the last party we had at their place was legendary!
8) Cheryl...
Memories of us in Jamaica... how can we forget? The time when I was so dumb and slow that how many times do you need to tell me that "WE NEED TO GO TOGETHER TO RELEASE THESE CREATURES BACK TO THE LAGOON"
9) Rachel...
You will always be remembered in our Tequila parties.. the only person who threw up in the chip bowl...TWICE!
10) Neptune...
Those days when you were just a Padawan... you had to go into the river and push the kayak, and I was shouting " Neptune, I can see your head... I can see you ... hide yourself... " and the time we were shooting at the airport with the mirrors..."Just face this way, don't ask too many questions" and the first time we met on the Final Cut Pro editing program test... with a ruler in my hand :P...
11) Damla... (Leaf, you may have to tell her!)
Remember our good old days in Bahamas when you were the "PR manager"?... the Captain who you flirt with in order to get us on the night dive? and the night we added Vodka to Steven's wine and we were all laughing when we was hitting on you!
Ohhh..... memories... anyone else have any fond memories I forgot?
s
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Great Barrier Island Habitat Mapping
Hi everyone,
Sometimes, we (Hannah and I) sat on the deck, drinking our morning coffee and wonder how is everyone doing? Well, how would we know if you guys NEVER post any blog? :P
Anyway, last week was hell week for Hannah - 4 exams, 3 lab reports and have to take care of the new puppy... and to make things even worse, I have to go out to sea for a couple of days for my project. One of the projects I am working on now is mapping of the underwater habitat of Great Barrier Island (GBI). GBI is 90km northeast of central Auckland. The surveys are done with an underwater camera (no diving) which is mounted on a tripod. The 45-foot boat is very new, very modern and comfortable.
The view around GBI is great with tons of sealife. We enchored in the middle of a fiord during the evenings to get away from the waves. The view in the fiord was even more incredible.
Now, my work really starts after the surveys. I have to put together satellite images and video surveys using ArcGIS.
It was delightful to get home after the surveys... spring is here... the vineyard are blooming, the trees are green and there are flowers everywhere...
Sometimes, we (Hannah and I) sat on the deck, drinking our morning coffee and wonder how is everyone doing? Well, how would we know if you guys NEVER post any blog? :P
Anyway, last week was hell week for Hannah - 4 exams, 3 lab reports and have to take care of the new puppy... and to make things even worse, I have to go out to sea for a couple of days for my project. One of the projects I am working on now is mapping of the underwater habitat of Great Barrier Island (GBI). GBI is 90km northeast of central Auckland. The surveys are done with an underwater camera (no diving) which is mounted on a tripod. The 45-foot boat is very new, very modern and comfortable.
The view around GBI is great with tons of sealife. We enchored in the middle of a fiord during the evenings to get away from the waves. The view in the fiord was even more incredible.
Now, my work really starts after the surveys. I have to put together satellite images and video surveys using ArcGIS.
It was delightful to get home after the surveys... spring is here... the vineyard are blooming, the trees are green and there are flowers everywhere...
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Lets pretend its still July
Hey everybody!
Ok, so its been a long time coming, but its finally here. The day where I write a post on this thing, and the pictures of our new home. They are mostly on facebook because I got a bit excited and took too many, but I'll give you some other ones with stories on here and perhaps some panoramas ok?
Alright. so lets get started. In the beginning, which would be considered by linear time enthusiasts as July 10th or thereabouts, at approximately 5 am local time, we landed in New Zealand at the Auckland Airport. I was feeling cheesy so I took the classic out the plane picture which enables you to see nothing, but just believe me, its Auckland.
Later that day we went over to the island, and our very nice real estate agent met us at the ferry, and then she drove us all around and we looked at lots and lots of houses. Some of them were kinda scary as they were very old and rather moldy. But we saw one that we kinda liked and so we had sorta figured that we would end up living there.
Except.
I mentioned to Cathy (the real estate lady) that I loved houses that were described as having character. When we were still in states we spent long hours on trademe (New Zealand's version of ebay/craigslist) looking at houses, and I noticed that whenever the descriptions said that the house was full of character, it was usually one that I liked. At the time, I was only making conversation and had no idea what sort of ramifications this comment would result in.
Cathy laughed and then looked thoughtful for a moment.
"You know," she said, "I happen to have a house that is just full of character, and it will be available very soon..."
She shook her head and added, "But it doesn't come furnished at all like you wanted, and the current tenent isn't even out of it yet. If I show it to you, I know that you will want it though. Do you want to see it?"
Of course I said yes. And once we saw it, even though the drive up to it involved an extremely long steep hill, and even though the lady who lived there had stuff all willy-nilly so it was hard to see much else, and even though the house didn't even come with a fridge, we were in love. We told Cathy we needed to think about it, and we would get back to her the next day.
We didn't even make it an hour before we called her back and said we wanted it. We had the paperwork filled out by the end of the next day, and that weekend she told us we could move in. And this brings me to the second chapter of our story: Moving Day
The Saturday that we had chosen to move in was not an auspicious day. As a matter a fact, it was a gale. We heard it described as the storm of the century by several people. (As a side note though, I've now heard this multiple times about multiple storms, so I don't know how much weight I would put on that comment) Regardless, it was really windy. It was raining sideways. And we had to find furniture by that night.
We had scoped out all the garage sales occurring that weekend all around the island, and were planning on visiting them all to get furniture. We had also rented a truck. It was huge.
So here we are driving around the island in the middle of this horrible storm and there are several factors that made it even worse. First of all, they drive on the other side of the road here, so Sonny had to remember how to do that. Second of all, the roads on the island are very narrow and very verry twisty. Third, the defog on trucks windshield didn't work. All of these together added up to create this:
But we got it done. There are some more crazy stories from moving, mostly relating to a bed, and some to petrol, but this is getting really long, so they will have to wait. Ok, i will leave you with some views from my ocean-facing balcony. They are panoramas that I stitched together.
Ok, so its been a long time coming, but its finally here. The day where I write a post on this thing, and the pictures of our new home. They are mostly on facebook because I got a bit excited and took too many, but I'll give you some other ones with stories on here and perhaps some panoramas ok?
Alright. so lets get started. In the beginning, which would be considered by linear time enthusiasts as July 10th or thereabouts, at approximately 5 am local time, we landed in New Zealand at the Auckland Airport. I was feeling cheesy so I took the classic out the plane picture which enables you to see nothing, but just believe me, its Auckland.
Later that day we went over to the island, and our very nice real estate agent met us at the ferry, and then she drove us all around and we looked at lots and lots of houses. Some of them were kinda scary as they were very old and rather moldy. But we saw one that we kinda liked and so we had sorta figured that we would end up living there.
Except.
I mentioned to Cathy (the real estate lady) that I loved houses that were described as having character. When we were still in states we spent long hours on trademe (New Zealand's version of ebay/craigslist) looking at houses, and I noticed that whenever the descriptions said that the house was full of character, it was usually one that I liked. At the time, I was only making conversation and had no idea what sort of ramifications this comment would result in.
Cathy laughed and then looked thoughtful for a moment.
"You know," she said, "I happen to have a house that is just full of character, and it will be available very soon..."
She shook her head and added, "But it doesn't come furnished at all like you wanted, and the current tenent isn't even out of it yet. If I show it to you, I know that you will want it though. Do you want to see it?"
Of course I said yes. And once we saw it, even though the drive up to it involved an extremely long steep hill, and even though the lady who lived there had stuff all willy-nilly so it was hard to see much else, and even though the house didn't even come with a fridge, we were in love. We told Cathy we needed to think about it, and we would get back to her the next day.
We didn't even make it an hour before we called her back and said we wanted it. We had the paperwork filled out by the end of the next day, and that weekend she told us we could move in. And this brings me to the second chapter of our story: Moving Day
The Saturday that we had chosen to move in was not an auspicious day. As a matter a fact, it was a gale. We heard it described as the storm of the century by several people. (As a side note though, I've now heard this multiple times about multiple storms, so I don't know how much weight I would put on that comment) Regardless, it was really windy. It was raining sideways. And we had to find furniture by that night.
We had scoped out all the garage sales occurring that weekend all around the island, and were planning on visiting them all to get furniture. We had also rented a truck. It was huge.
So here we are driving around the island in the middle of this horrible storm and there are several factors that made it even worse. First of all, they drive on the other side of the road here, so Sonny had to remember how to do that. Second of all, the roads on the island are very narrow and very verry twisty. Third, the defog on trucks windshield didn't work. All of these together added up to create this:
But we got it done. There are some more crazy stories from moving, mostly relating to a bed, and some to petrol, but this is getting really long, so they will have to wait. Ok, i will leave you with some views from my ocean-facing balcony. They are panoramas that I stitched together.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
San Diego and Invertebrates
Hey guys,
A quick update from San Diego -- I'm all moved in to my adorable one-bedroom apartment in a beige three-story hexagonal building less than a mile from school. Photos of the apt will come, later, when I've comfortably feng shui'd my future couch. Most of the residents are grad students, or at least students, and everybody is friendly. There's a lot of bonding in the jacuzzi. Haven't talked to any other divers yet, though :D.
San Diego = gorgeous. The picture up above is of campus, which itself is kind of what FIT would like to look like once it gets to 3X its current size. The weather is just like Florida, with one major exception: NO HUMIDITY! It's pretty much perfect, since it gets nice and cool at night. California always smells piney to me, and here it's mixed in a bit with the sea.
A row of California palm trees at La Jolla Beach. Seriously, it's like living in the Bahamas, with 5-lane highways. Which reminds me: I have a car. Her name is Rosarita, and I love her.
Now, to the original point of this post: classes. More specifically, professors. Actually, one in particular. Watch this if you have a moment.
That's my Chemical Ecology prof. I kind of can't wait to start reading papers for my classes... it's Microbiology heaven.
More later. Wish you all a happy start of the school year or, to those of you across the international date line, a Prosperous and Efficient September.
<3.
Nori
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