4:54pm -- 12.31.07 [new zealand time]

it is official. we did see jermaine from flight of the conchords. after we left the internet cafe yesterday we went up the cable car to the botanical gardens. the cable car is just like the one in hong kong that takes you up to victoria's peak. it's old and steep and just goes up and down back and forth. the botanical gardens were eh. so we went back down the cable car and then back to our hotel. we futzed around a bit before deciding to head back to the center to get some dinner. we decided on this asian place called chow. and guess who was dining next to us. JERMAINE!!!! alex spotted him cuz his back was to me for the most part and alex kept looking over before jokingly saying to me "well see how good my face recognition is. that guy over there looks like jermaine to me." but he was just kidding. so i looked over and once he turned around i was like "oh shit. it IS him. wtf?!?!!?" so once he and his dining partners left we asked the waitress if that was him. and she said it was and that he lives nearby and comes in rather frequently. she said that brett's brother has a bar nearby so they all come in from time to time. how fucking weird is that? we saw jermaine twice in two nights. i mean seriously.... wellington isn't that big but still. it's like the time i saw jared leto in LA two days in a row. i was like wtf is going on here? so yea. that's our big story of the trip. haha

after dinner we got a beer at a bar and called it a night. it was sunday and most bars were closed and not too many people were out. i think because it was sunday and because people are gearing up for tonight. i reckon if the weather holds up (it was slated to rain today but was just overcast this morning and is now sunny...i'm crossing my fingers) it will be a delightfully drunken fun evening. i have no idea if fireworks go off on the wharf but my guess is they will. and luckily all the bars are in a concentrated area just near there so it should be good times.

today we woke up and did some last minute shopping. souvenirs and the like. then went off to the wellington zoo. we saw a kiwi! they bring the kiwi out for an hour a day and we saw him. he was so cute. poor thing was rescued from the wild and has only one leg!! but he was still adorable. hopping around and all. we saw some other random animals and spent like an hour or so there. then we took the bus to some random area of the city and just walked around. and now we are here. don't really know what else to do. like i said before, this city isn't very touristy which is cool but also doesn't lend itself to many attractions. auckland has a lot of neighboring islands to visit and take hikes on and such. but here it's just sort of a place people live. i wouldn't want to spend another day here cuz i wouldn't know what to do. so the amount of time we had was just fine. tomorrow we fly back to auckland at 3pm and then back to LA at 7pm. so basically we're going to wake up, get some late breakfast and just be on our way. happy new year everyone!

5:00pm -- 12.30.07 [new zealand time]

i'm in wellington now! it's gorgeous out. so why, you might ask, am i at an internet cafe? well, wellington isn't a super touristy place and it is the holiday season so the area we are in isn't totally filled with things for us to do aside from like the regular things you'd do in a city. like shop and such. we did go to the museum but i'll get to that. we must continue in chrono order. where i last left off, alex and i were in auckland looking for a bar or two to hit up. we went back to this place we walked by the other night in hopes it would be open. and it was! it's called honey champagne & cocktail bar. it's super awesome. it's really pretty inside. like dainty pretty. nice chandeliers and such. it's tucked away in the back alleys but it's well nice. it's pricey but they have THE MOST AMAZING cocktails i've ever seen. the menu is unreal. they infuse a lot of their vodkas with things like chocolate, cinnamon, lychee, blueberry, pear, etc. it's like anything you can think of they can make it. they also have a $100 long island iced tea made with tanquery ten, grey goose vodka, reserva de la famila, havanna club 7 yr, and louis XIII (which alex informs me is $100 a glass in the states). anyway, the place was nutso awesome and i wish i could have afforded to try everything there. though the menu is so extensive it would takes days of going back there to try everything. but alex and i each had 2 cocktails. it was hard to choose but we just sort of caved to the pressure and went for something yummy without trying to overthink it.

after that we got some late night grub and headed back to the hotel to pack. the next morning (yesterday) we woke up butt ass early to catch our trail to wellington. the train was supposed to arrive at 7:25am but it was like over 30min late AND their system for getting people on the train is ass backwards so we left like an hour late. consequently we got into wellington at like 8:15pm instead of 7:30pm. oh well. on the way the ride was gorgeous. i didn't stay awake for half of it but what i saw was gorgeous. i mean seriously, some of the best lush green scenery ever. we made several stops on the way to pick up people but the major stop was in one of the national parks. we got out for some light lunch and to look around and take photos. once we arrived in wellington we went straight to our hotel and then out to get some dinner and go to some bars.

we ate at this indian place which was amazingly good. man....i love me some good indian food. then we walked around in search of some bars that we found online, in lonely planet, and heard about from alex's friend. in walking around i realized that yes, wellington is very much like SF. it's a very compact city with narrower roads, hills, and buses that run on power lines. it's a cute, quaint city. i could totally live here for a few years. we went to 4 bars in total. the first was this awesome bar called alice. it's alice in wonderland themed. it's attached to this bar/club called boogie wonderland which is more for when you are trashed and just want to dance. but alice is SUPER CUTE and dainty. when you first walk in you feel like you are in the wonderland. everything seems smaller due to the way they set up the bar. you feel really tall because the bar is super low and the people that work there stand really low. you get used to it after awhile though. the best thing to order there (which we did) is called the mad hatter's tea party which is a mixture of vanilla vodka and chilled peppermint tea, served in a dainty china teapot with two matching teacups. it's awesome. i think i could get trashed off of it. laurel, if you're reading, you and your friends would have LOVED this place especially with your themed clothing party. haha

anyway, after alice we went looking around some more. we went to malthouse which is this bar that has a lot of beers (of course). they sell this sam adams utopia beer which is $25 for 30ml (shot glass size) or $500 for 750ml (large beer bottle size). clearly too pricey but a definite standout amongst the plethora of beers on the list. we got something more normal and local and cheaper of course. then we headed to havanna bar which is like this reggae type place. our bartender had dreads and some guy was spinning reggae. i didn't love it but alex thought it was cool so we got a drink there. then finally we headed to matterhorn which i think is owned by the same people who own alice. i'm not sure. if not, they have similar decor. matterhorn isn't particularly themed but it's a long established bar in the city and it looks cool. i got a whiskey sour and i have to say, the bartenders in NZ take great care with their drinks. for example, my whiskey sour was made the traditional way alex said. they don't use a sour mix, they make one out of liquors and egg white. thusly the drink tastes lighter and less sugary. and it took him awhile to make. i appreciated that. and it was just a basic whiskey sour.

once we were done there we decided to go home because it was getting late. we were walking back to our hotel when i saw this guy who looked like jermaine from flight of the conchords. now, previously alex had told me that those guys were from wellington and i was joking like how it would be so cool to see them there. but so unlikely. well....

so i spotted the guy and he was with this blonde guy (clearly NOT brett) and i told alex. they were walking the way we were walking so we followed them til they went their own way. i got many glances of his face and despite the fact that he had facial hair and slightly longer hair, i was 99% convinced (can't be 100% because we didn't actually ask him if he was jermaine) it was him. alex was not as convinced but alex doesn't have the superb face recognition that i have. i mean i spot all the famous people, not him! and he did agree that the guy's voice sounded just like jermaine's. so i'm convinced!!! how awesome is that?! seeing 1/2 of the duo in their hometown. such an awesome star sighting. we didn't want to ask him because we didn't want to be "those americans." it's bad enough that there are pictures of them around town (and in auckland) and their dvd ads and such. i mean we can't be like that. we just can't. but hell, i did want to be for a moment. haha

today has faired decently. we walked from our hotel to the parliament area to see this "beehive" building. then we walked down this main road and down by the water to the te papa museum which is this truly awesome interactive museum. and it's free! it's got some art at the top but a lot of it is installations and things to play with explaining the culture here and the history and such. we spent like 2 hrs there. then we walked down the funky area called cuba street. it's sort of like melrose or haight ashbury. but the buildings look like havanna apparently. or at the very least, my perception of havanna. it's quite odd. alex and i haven't been able to figure out if there is a history or cultural meaning behind it, or if it's just plain kitschy. more research when we have some time (lonely planet was no help in this regard). wait! alex looked online just now. apparently it was just made to look like that. BOO. not nearly as cool. oh well. time to sign off. tomorrow is new year's eve. the downtown will be POPPING i think. it's supposed to rain during the day which sucks cuz we were going to go to the botanical gardens and maybe the zoo. we'll see. but it should clear by night in time to celebrate!! :)

10:30pm -- 12.28.07 [new zealand time]

well it's much later than we usually go to the internet cafe but today was such a hodgepodge of stuff and we got back later. etc etc. anyway before i forget, on the way to the bay of islands/paihia we stopped at this famous toilet in a small town. the toilet was designed by friedensreich hundertwasser! rick would know what i'm talking about. he was a famous austrian artist who rick and i saw some of his work in austria. it's a very particular style that can't be mistaken and we saw this house of his and stuff. apparently he retired to NZ in his later years and that's why this public toilet exists. i took a bunch of photos which i'll post when i return.

anyhoo, so where i last left off we were off to ponsonby for some good eats. well first of all, half the stuff on the street was closed on account that it was boxing day and that's a holiday here. secondly, there weren't as many good eats as we had hoped for. luckily we ran into this indian food place that looked tasty and we decided to try it. and hell, it was quite good! i have to say that auckland is very diverse. i see a lot of chinese, japanese, and indian people running around here. there are a lot of ethnic restaurants and such as well. i thought it was going to be very blond and white here but it's not really. i was pleasantly surprised! anyway, after dinner we went back to the bar to get alex's card and then we looked around for some bars we read about in lonely planet but they were all closed so we just went back to the hotel.

the next day (yesterday) we headed out to the coromandel region. it's basically southeast of auckland by about 2.5 hrs and it's on the other coast of the country. it took longer to get there than we expected but when we go there it was well worth it. thank god alex likes to drive though because it was quite the journey. we had lunch in the town of thames and then headed to the hot water beach where you literally dig for hot water. the water coming up on shore is not all that hot but because it's a thermal bed, if you dig under the sand you hit really hot water. it's hilarious looking because there's so many people there just digging around and making little wading pools of hot hot water. i took loads of photos. it was really fun and comical. after that we went down to the next beach (there are 3 main ones in that region) where cathedral cove lies. the problem though was that we got there so late that we didn't have time to hike down to the cove. it was 45min each way and we had to get back to auckland at a decent hour so that we wouldn't be driving in the dark. so we just looked at the cove from afar and then headed back to the city. we got pizza hut for dinner and at it in our room. the pizza hut is right next to our hotel and i thought it would be fun to get pizza and take it back. it reminded me of when we had dominos not once but twice in iceland. but that's because everything was so fucking expensive that dominos was one of the slightly affordable options. haha

today we headed out to waiheke island which is a 40min ferry ride away from auckland. we couldn't make it down to rotorua because all the tours that went town there to the spas, maori cultural experience, and the waitomo glow worm caves all left too early and we had to return our rental car. hertz opens at 7:30am and the tours leave around 7am because rotorua is so far they have to get a start on the day. so we couldn't go down there. so we decided to go to waiheke island for some kayaking and wine tasting. there's a lot of vineyards in NZ and NZ wine is emerging apparently. there are a lot of vineyards on the island but we were just going to go to one. once we got off the ferry we went to the town center for some lunch. we found this takeaway fish place that had amazingly good fish and chips and even better calamari. seriously, THE BEST calamari i've ever had. alex couldn't stop raving. we liked it so much we went back for a few more pieces after kayaking. kayaking was fun. i've never done it before. it's tiring but it's fun. we had this guide named ross who was hilarious. he took alex and i and this family of 4 out for 2 hrs around the island. we just went around the bend a bit and then back. it was good fun though now i'm totally baked from the sun. oh well. i had a good time. good to get in the water a bit considering this whole place is surrounded by water wherever you go! like i said, after the kayaking we returned for some more calamari as sort of a light dinner and then headed back to the ferry and back to auckland around 7pm. we went back to the hotel to schlep around a bit and now we're out again. our eating schedule is fucked as we aren't hungry now and after this brief internet stop we are headed to a bar. probably to be followed by some post-bar grubbing.

tomorrow we have to wake up butt ass early to get on our 12 hr train to wellington. we decided to take a train rather than fly (about 1 hr flight) because we knew the scenery would be goregous and it would be a way for us to see the length of the country. so the train leaves at 7:30am and gets in at 7:30pm. i can't wait! i hear wellington is like SF and i'm dying to see if the comparison is true or not.

7:12pm -- 12.26.07 [new zealand time]

wow, we came to the same internet cafe at the same time as the last time we were here. how funny. i think it's because we like to do it after our full day of travelling about and before dinner. anyhoo, it's been a very full 2 days since i last posted. so let me recap.

after i left this internet cafe the other day we were headed to indian food. well before we could even get there we realized that alex was missing his amex card. NO GOOD. so we thought about where it could have gone. we concluded it either just plain fell out of his wallet OR we left it at the bar from the night before. so we went back to the bar which was luckily a block or two away and we asked them. good news was they had the card. bad news was the manager stored it safely in the safe and wouldn't be back til today (the 26th) due to the xmas holiday. so we would have to return for it. no biggie since we are now back in auckland but yea. a minor inconvenience. once we dealt with that we went off to the indian restaurant only to find that it was closed for the holidays. not to reopen til the first week of january. BOO. so we went to this indonesian place down the street which turned out to be fantastic. alex still got his lamb, just in different form.

after that we went to that minus 5 bar i spoke of and hell, that thing was weird. first of all, you have to pay to get in like i said. this includes two cocktails. now how it works is you get there, you pay, they suit you up and you go in. you are outfitted with a heavy jacket complete with fur hood, boots if you so desire (disposable socks provided) and gloves. the bar is tiny and everything inside is made of ice for the most part. there are ice sculptures, ice seats (with fur over them so you dont sit on pure ice and slide around) and an ice countertop for the bar. there is one person tending bar and you give them your drink tickets so you don't have to fuss with money. the cocktails are poured in glasses made of ice. you hold them with two hands and drink from a straw and if you want to set them down you have to put them on a special sticky mats so they don't slide around. it's just plain bizarre. it's also really cold in there. i mean at first it's not too bad but after a bit it's quite cold. so even though you are only allowed 30 minutes inside, that's plenty. i think we left before that cuz we were just too cold. so i can now somewhat imagine what staying at the ice hotel must be like and MY GOD it would be weird. and cold. VERY cold...you weren't allowed to take photos in there so i have nothing to show for that. oh well.

yesterday (christmas day) alex and i embarked on our journey to the northern region called the bay of islands. it's like 3 hrs north of auckland and on the eastern coast. we got our rental car from hertz and set out. alex started driving and it was VERY disorienting. i started freaking out because he was going veering over the line and stuff. it was just really freaking me out. so much so that we started to argue and then i started to cry. yes i know this all sounds ridiculous in retrospect but at the time i was really really really frustrated and worried. i mean we had to drive over 3 hrs to get to our location and if we were having trouble staying in the lines when we first started, how was this going to get any better? but it did. alex adjusted (though he still sometimes veers to the left...) and all was well. the freeway changed to a plain 2 lane highway for the most of the journey and it was quite scenic and beautiful. but then we encountered the rain as i expected and that made it less beautiful. we arrived in paihia (the town in the bay of islands region where we were staying) and found our hotel to be right at the beginning border of the town. not too bad overall considering the town was super tiny. but the hotel was a bit crap. our room smelled and i found a dead bug on the bed. eeeewwww!!! once we situated ourselves we set out on a walk.

we walked along the beach into the center of town. first of all, it was raining a bit and therefore what i thought it would be like turned out to be a reality. a sort of crappy town area 3 hrs north of auckland and thusly not worth the journey. plus it was christmas and nothing was open. the beach was mostly big rocks surrounded by bits of sand and overall it just was not pretty. we walked into town along the water and went to the center where just about everything was closed. a few restaurants were open thankfully and we picked this pizza place with weird concoctions for our dinner later on. we got some gelato (seemed that everyone was doing it...maybe cuz it was open?) and sat around. we took some photos though everything was drab. then we walked back to our hotel and got our car. we drove a bit to the waitangi nature reserve which looked like it might be nice if it wasn't raining. we drove for about 5 miles to the harruru falls which were pretty but nothing special. then it started to really rain so we drove back to the hotel. we hung around for about an hour and then went to dinner. dinner was full of tourists in the same boat as us. christmas with no place to eat. alex and i encountered this last year in iceland except there they gouged us for our meal. here we paid a normal price for some small pizzas. we got three and one had pumpkin on it! i love pumpkin! after that we returned to the hotel for an early night since there was really nothing to do in town.

this morning we woke up to the sun blasting through our window. my god, what a beautiful town! it really makes a difference when it's NOT raining. it was like night and day. i regreted saying how ugly and unhappy the day was because it was damn gorgeous outside. the water was all sorts of shades of blues and greens. the other islands looked amazing from afar. the town center was busy with all sorts of people walking about. seriously, it was totally different. we spent a bit of time there having some breakfast and such before heading back to auckland.

along the trip back we decided to make a couple stops. the first was the kiwi house in whangarei. alex was DYING to see a kiwi bird but they are elusive being nocturnal birds. so we went to this kiwi house where they had one bird. you have to walk into this really dark curtained off area where there is this whole habitat behind glass. much like at a zoo. in there was the lone kiwi. it took awhile for our eyes to adjust and for us to find him in there but once we did, he was super cute. we tried to get a couple of pix/vid but it was damn hard since it was nearly pitch black in there it seemed. but he was quite the cute bird. so odd looking. alex was grining from ear to ear.

after that we got back on track and stopped in some town about 30km outside of auckland to get some lunch. then we continued on to auckland to re-check into our hotel. then we drove just outside the city to this antartica museum. it's called kelly tarlton's antartic encounter and underwater world. it's a small aquarium type thing where basically they have some fish to look at in these big aquariums that you see as you stand on moving walkways and then they have this ride where you get to see penguins. they simulate the climate of antartica for the penguins and it's all very cute. of course i've actually been to antarctica so it's not really anything new or special to me but alex hadn't really seen penguins outside of a zoo so he found it really cool. i found it cool but not really cool. though they did have emperor penguins which i didn't see when i went to antartica because those types only live on this side of antarctica and i went on the south america side. we spent about an hour at that place before heading back to the city. we parked our car at the hotel, put our bags in the room and then headed back out to random stores before arriving at this internet cafe yet again for some early evening internet-ing. we are debating what to do with our final day in auckland (not tomorrow, but the day after) so we got some brochures for possible sites to see or day tours to take. tomorrow we are headed to cormandel region to the hot water beach (where you dig into the sand and hit hot water! zach said it really awesome) and some other sites around there. the weather forecast says it'll be sunny and 22C so i'm hoping to get some sunbathing in for a bit. we shall see.

tonight we are going to find some good place to eat. i think we're going to this area called ponsonby where ther are some good eats and maybe good drinks. then back to the bar alex left his card at to retrieve that and have a couple of beers. then back to the hotel at a decent hour so we can get up early and be on our way! til next time...

7:08pm -- 12.24/07 [new zealand time]

we're here and we're alive! it's fucking gorgeous here. the weather is way nicer than i expected. i kept checking the weather and it was slated to be sort of warm but hell it's HOT during the day. and the sun. goddamn the sun is intense here. apparently people here have like the highest rate of skin cancer in the world or something. i can believe it. the sun is fierce. sunblock galore! and it stays light til like 9pm. it's awesome. anyhoo...

the flight over was damn near perfect. we took off around 9pm and landed at 7:30am NZ time. i believe they are on daylight savings here so it's 21 hrs ahead of LA instead of 20 which i originally read it was. so really that's just 3 hrs behind and one day ahead. so it's super easy in terms of jetlag. alex and i slept most of the flight which meant it felt more like a 4 or 5 hr flight versus 12.5 hrs (i previously thought it was 13.75 but that's cuz i didn't know about the daylight saving thing). so basically the flight was perfect. we landed and felt well rested and got started on our day. we arrived at our hotel too early to check in but the woman was so nice and upgraded us so that we could get into a room right away. maybe my haggard face was enough for her to have pity on us. haha our hotel is centrally located. it's fucking brilliant. we showered and then set out.

we walked down the main street and headed to...DING DING DING....wagamama!!!! stacey, i hope you are reading cuz yea. there are 3 wagamamas in NZ. and alex and i had our first meal there. it was so rewarding since stacey and i didn't get to go last year in london. the food is just as i recall. it's nothing particularly special but i love it so.

after that we haded down the main drag some more and towards the wharf area. we looked at this place as a possible dinner spot but the man there was SO FUCKING RUDE to us that we vowed to never return. the restaurant is called soul. if you are ever in auckland, DON'T go there!!! the man was so rude to us.

then we walked down to the ferry terminal and bought a ticket to go to devonport which is a 12 min ferry ride outside of auckland. it's sort of like a suburb and it's super cute. once we got there we did this walking tour thing. we had this walking guide thing from lonely planet and we just followed it. it took us down the main road and up to two inactive volcanoes. basically they look like mountains. one was called mt. victoria. that was the first and it was a fairly steep hike but the views were gorgeous. the walk had us wrap around the city and down by the beach which lead us to hike up the second mountain whose name i forgot. that one was an even steeper hike with even better views. then we went back down and around to the ferry terminal and back to the city. we returned to our hotel to take a break. this break turned into a nap that was like 2 or so hours. we woke up at like 9pm and had to find something to eat. we went to this belgium pub place because they are known for having good mussel pots and alex loves mussels. and considering we are in a seaside city, all the seafood is super fresh. so alex wanted to try it out. he said his mussels were fantastic. every around us also seemed to be eating them. i hate mussels so i had some sausages. clearly not the best food on the menu but oh well. tasted fine enough for me. after that we were going to partake in the casino fun of the sky city complex but the casino just sucked balls so we left and called it an early night.

today we hit the road around 10:30am. first stop was back to the sky city complex. basically sky city is this "entertainment center" inside of this tall ass hotel/tower. the sky tower is the tallest structure in the southern hemisphere and it's also a hotel, casino, bar, etc. people jump off the tower in this free fall sort of manner stuck to a harness. it's just this big attraction for the city. and they have an observation deck that you can see the whole city from. so we were going to go up there. except when we got there we found out it cost $25NZ which is like $20US and i was NOT having that. i mean i've been in all sorts of tall structures in the world to see city views and never have they cost that much. NEVER!!! so fuck it. we didn't go. plus we were going to hike up this other mountain later with good views so i was certain it was just a rip off.

after that we went down the main drag to a couple stores and then took a bus to the auckland museum to see a maori performance. the performance was alright. not spectacular but at least we got to see some of the maori customs. then we parused the museum a bit before leaving. we are going to go to this really great museum in wellington that has better maori exhibits and such so we didnt want to waste too much time at this one.

we walked from the museum to parnell which is a cute district in the city. there are some shops and a lot of good restaurants on the main road. we ate at this seafood place for lunch. the fish and chips there were fucking great! god i love fresh fish. it makes such a difference. then after that we walked up to mt. eden which is another inactive volcano. the hike up was a bit more than i expected but well worth it. the view was incredible. better than anything the sky tower bullshit could have offered. and this was free and totally more rewarding.

after mt. eden we decided to walk back to the city center rather than take a bus. this way we could see more of the outskirts of the city. we walked a LONG distance. we went down k road which is this sort of dive-y street of shops. i guess comparable to like a dingey haight street or something. some shops were cute and some were just dingey. haha then we went back down the main road but on the other side that we hadn't been down and then back to our hotel. by then it was about 5:30pm. we relaxed a bit there and then came down to this internet cafe for an hour. actually our time is nearly up so i planned this entry perfectly. after this we intend to go back to parnell road for some good indian food for dinner. seafood is big here of course and so is lamb since there are so many sheep around. so alex is keen on some lamb curry. and this place got a really good rating in lonely planet and some local restaurant guide thing so hell, i'm down. then we're off to this bar called "minus 5 degrees" which is really just that. cold as shit. everything is made of ice. the drinks are servedin ice glasses. etc etc. it's like the ice hotel in bar form. you have to pay to get in but that includes two cocktails so it's actually not that much to actually pay to get in. and that pretty much pays for renting the clothing to wear while in there cuz it will be cold as fuck.

tomorrow we're driving to this area 3 hrs outside of auckland where we are staying the night. it's another beach town. but it's a town. not a city. so i expect it to be reclusive. except it's supposed to rain tomorrow. BOOO!!!!! i'm also scared about driving on the other side of the road. i'm told you get used to it and that really the only weird thing about it is the turning part. but we shall see. wish us luck and cross your fingers for us. i don't want any problems....especially with the rain predicted. til then....

well, we're rounding the bend here. tomorrow (technically today since it's past midnight), alex and i will be on the plane to new zealand. i have just calculated that the flight to auckland is 13 hrs and 45min. UGHHHHH.....so fucking long. on the way back it's 12 hrs. damn the fucking man. anyway, we leave at night so i'm hoping to get settled in and watch a movie or two and then sleep for the night and wake up still with like half the flight to go or less. anyway, work is not really winding down yet i am leaving so fuck it. leave during the chaos. haha lots of people are leaving actually. thank god this company values the holidays and time off. AA would have none of that. speaking of which, laurel and i calculated and 15 people have left the office in the past year. isn't that nuts? i mean the office has less than 30 people at any given time so that's a 50%+ turnover. this is because working for "the man" is a goddamn fucking nightmare. what i'd give to run into him on the street and just tell him off. i've already sort of planned it out in my head should ever the time arise. haha

i'm sitting here a bit tired and knowing i will be very tired in the morning for work. but hell, i had a lot to do tonight. including getting my legs waxed and packing up the rest of the bags. i fear our bag will be too heavy and we'll have to shit weight around. luckily i have brought a carry-on bag that isn't really full at all and a duffle bag in case we buy too much shit. btwn all that, the weight should be distributed fairly. i think once i get back i will buy another suitcase of decent size. i haven't decided what kind to get. something not too pricey. i love hard case types but they are always so pricey and the weight of the bag increases just because the bag itself is heavy. so we shall see. i also have to buy my computer!!! that will be first thing since i have already bought some of the extras for it already. and then i have to get my car serviced for it's 60,000 mile checkup. i suspect that itself will run me $500 or more. ugh. i hate car maintenance.

ok, enough of this. the next time i write will likely be from NZ. unless i find that internet is hard to come by/expensive for a traveler. then i'll just wait til i return.

ughhhhhhhh......

i said i didn't want to go to some shit pool hall and eat shit food. and look what happens. i get fucking food poisoning!!!!

on friday my company had it's holiday party at fantasia billiards in burbank. i hate pool and i don't really like bar food (unless it's just potato wedges with good dip). so i was not too thrilled with this idea. but hell, i understand the need to save money on a silly party so that we can get CS3 for the office. that is more important. i get it. but i hate pool....

so we left work at 1:30pm and set out for the pool hall. immediately everyone started ordering food. i ordered a chicken quesadilla. i figured that was pretty simple. people picked off my plate and i picked off of someone's mozzarella sticks plate. all was well for a couple hours. then we did the prizes thing and i started to feel a bit unwell. oh and by the way, i didn't win the ipod touch, or the iphone, or the nanos that they were giving away. POO. i got an itunes gift card but i never buy itunes music so i just gave it to alex. anyway, after the prizes i ran to the bathroom and did my business and took some imodium AD. but then i just felt crappy the rest of the time. so i sat around mostly chatting here and there. if i hadn't carpooled i would have gone home. but i had to stay. i started to feel ill. but i held it together and finally when i got home i just laid down. i was supposed to go to D'As goodbye/birthday party with rick but i couldn't manage. rick got home and sat there with me and i was just feeling crappy. after a bit i decided i wouldn't go so rick went to visit his sister and her new baby and i just laid there. alex was at his house entertaining stacey, brian, and jessica over some games of darts and wii cranium. sounded like fun. i was in bed feeling crappy. but then the puking began. it was a slow build. and then finally it all came out. you know how you hit the point where you are dry-heaving. i hit that point around 12:30am i think. and then i started to feel a bit better. alex came over around 1am when everyone left his house and he gave me some ginger ale and crackers.

the next day i felt pretty good overall. did my errands (i was so glad i wasn't totally laid up cuz i had so much shit to do) and then took a little nap before the stevie wonder show. but when i got up and went to alex's to go to the show, i started to feel crappy again. i went to the bathroom once and took some imodium. we got to the venue and went inside and i proceeded to go to the bathroom not once, but twice in the span of like 15min. so i took some more meds. and i was feeling really crappy. if i wasn't at the show i would have been laying in bed. but i couldn't miss stevie. the tickets were a gift from alex's parents and they were expensive and hell it's fucking STEVIE WONDER!!! i couldn't miss that shit. so we went to our seats and i held it together but i felt really fucking bad. sitting in front of us was natalie portman and lucas haas. wtf? like RIGHT in front of us. i couldn't tell if they were dating. he had his arm around her. i hope they aren't dating. she can do better. anyway, i was sitting waiting for the show to start and feeling crappy. i took one more bathroom break before the show started and then for the rest of the night i pulled it together. i didn't feel TOO bad but i still felt crappy. i think it was the pizza i ate earlier. my stomach wasn't ready and relapsed. but the show was fantastic. stevie still sounds amazing at his older age. his daughter is beautiful. he had a slew of guests on stage to sing with him including john mayer who played with him on "superstition" where the crowd just went wild. man that sock fucking rocks. i had a good time overall but i would have had a GREAT time if i felt 100%. oh well. at least i didn't have to get up during the show.

yesterday i felt totally better. woke up butt ass early to go to the denim sale with the girls. got one pair of skinny jeans. they look great. did some laundry and errands and slight preparing for NZ (ugh i'm so behind!!). then alex and i went to see before the devil knows you're dead at the new landmark theater. it was playing in the "living room" theater which means you sit in couches instead of theater seats. it's cool and really comfy. the movie was great and i would recommend it to people who like that sort of thing. it's dark and twisted and goes further than i expected.

now i'm in the final stretch before the NZ trip. i feel highly unprepared. though to some i'm probably more prepared than they ever are for a trip. we have all accommodation and transportation booked. and all documents are printed in duplicate. but we don't totally know what we are doing when we get there. not that that has to be planned to the minute. but i like to be familiar with the options. i must look over things this week. and i have to make my packing list. and then pack. and then mentally prepare for the LONG ASS flight. and i want to bring a little lego xmas tree with me so i am going to run over to the lego store tomorrow night after work and see if i can get some loose legos to build the tree. i like taking a little tree with us on these trips. it's cute and festive to some degree.

ok time to do some actual work. it's nearly 10am!

ok so i said that i wouldn't have time to do a list of best albums for 2007 but then i realized that i could go to my itunes, turn on the view year column, sort by year, and just scroll through all the albums i own from 2007. my biggest hangup with figuring out my list was that i plain forgot the albums that came out this year. so i did a quick stroll through my list and immediately caught the best ones. i mean if i didn't get it on first glance, i wasn't going to get it. i figure that what makes something "best" for me is instant recognition of how good it was because i listened to it so many times i just can't forget how damned good it was. so i was half hunting through the list and half just looking for clues to recall the stuff i liked. anyway, suffice is to say, this list of 15 was chosen within 5 minutes. and i don't hesitate to say that they are really my top 15 of the year. why 15? well when i parused my itunes i came up with 16 albums actually. but as "luck" would have it, one of those albums was the MAGNIFICENT "ornacular spectacular" by the band mgmt. this album was released this year on itunes but won't be released on proper cd til next month. therefore it's one of those borderline albums which for that sake, i will deem a "bonus pick" and will be listed at the end. so without further adieu...

jen's 15 favorite albums of 2007 (in alpha order)

01. !!! - myth takes
admittedly i never liked !!!. so when this new one came out i was a bit skeptical. but alex got it and told it was dancey. i thought to myself "dancey? really? chk chk chk is dancey? hmmm...." so i gave it a listen. and umm YEAH, it's dancey alright. and since i've been on a dance/electronica kick in recent times, i couldn't help but enjoy it. is it an amazing piece of work? no. but did i listen to it over and over and want to dance my ass off? yes.

02. amy winehouse - back to black
amy, amy, amy....so talented and so fucked up. i learned of amy winehouse back in the latter part of 2006 when james put "rehab" on a mix for me. i didn't fall in love with the track but i thought it was pretty good. and once i saw that she was playing coachella, i figured there must be something about her to pay attention to. so i got a hold of her album and hells fucking bells. it did me in. seriously, HOW does that sort of music come out of someone like amy? the amy that we have come to know and love (or loathe?) in the tabloids snorting up the white powder and clumsily getting through a performance on stage? well, i can only chalk it up to the album being made during a more sober time perhaps. no matter the case, it's fucking awesome and surely she will win some grammys for it. "back to black" is just phenomenal as the title track. but check out the rest because it's all really damn good.

03. arcade fire - neon bible
this might have been one of the most anticipated albums of the year (along with most anticipated tours) because when "funeral" came out everyone LOST THEIR SHIT for arcade fire. i will never forget the tingles down my spine as they bursted out their set at the troubadour back in jan 05. seriously, i was going nuts. so i had high high hopes for this follow up album and while i don't love it as much as "funeral," i do still think it's pretty fucking good. it took some time to grow on me, that's for sure. but in the end i had "antichrist television blues" (to name just one) stuck in my head for days.

04. black rebel motorcycle club - baby 81
yea yea, it's not as good as the rest of their albums, but it's still pretty solid. if i had to trim this list down to 10 albums, this would be one i'd cut. but being that i love brmc's sound, i still do quite enjoy this album. it's not amazing all the way through, but there are definitely some good, standout tracks.

05. blonde redhead - 23
if "silently" doesn't make your head spin, then i think there is something wrong with you. or to quote my former carpool buddy, byron, "this is the jam." i turned it on one day in the car as we were on our way to work, and that's what he said to me. and he was right. this is the jam. well maybe not the jam, but a mighty fine song indeed. i used to HATE blond redhead til this album came out. and for people who are fans of their older stuff, this album might not be raw enough. but it's just right for me. it's beautiful. seriously, just beautiful.

06. justice - cross
if i was forced to pick a #1 album of the year, it would probably be this one. i know, crazy huh? an electronica album. but FUCKIN HELL, this shit is SO FUCKING GOOD. i can't sit still when i hear this album. i just can't. "DVNO" was not an immediate favorite but after awhile i found myself listening to it on repeat for days on end. with the exception of track 8, i'd say the album is perfect. perfectly sequenced and perfect for you to cut a rug to. i want to list all the standout tracks but that's just stupid when the whole album stands out above the rest. don't get hung up on "D.A.N.C.E" because that's just scratching the surface of this album's greatness.

07. klaxons - myths of the near future
i could barely remember this album came out this year because it came out so early on and i had heard a leak of it back in '06. but nevertheless, the crazy ass brits did release this album this year and being that it fucking rocked my ass when it came out, it deserves a spot on my list. i haven't listened to it in awhile but i know it's still good. i can hear the tracks in my head and i'm still diggin 'em. and fuck do they put on one hell of a live show.

08. lcd soundsystem - sound of silver
this is another album that leaked so early on, i barely remember it as a 2007 album. but again, it is and it's awesome so it must go on my list. this album is definitely more mature and put together than lcd's previous one. not that the self-titled wasn't good. it's just that this album really came together i feel. i immediately connected with "someone great" being that i had heard snippets of it from "45:33" which they released for nike. as a whole the album is quite dancey but it chooses to end on a slow note with "new york, i love you but you're bringing me down" and i think it's a perfect and fitting ending indeed. and MAN what a great live show. MAN....

09. maccabees - colour it in
i could NOT stop listening to this album when i first got it. "latchmere" is just such a catchy tune. i don't care what anyone says. this album didn't get great reviews and likely the maccabees will be resigned to mediocrity back in their homeland of england, but they will always have at least one fan out here -- ME! i know they aren't reinventing the wheel. but they are showcasing a very lovely, functional, contemporary wheel and that's just fine by me.

10. mark ronson - version
i saw an interview with mark ronson last month and damn is he precious or what. shit. it's unreal. haha but that's besides the point. the man knows how to rework a song. all the horns. ALL. THE. HORNS! man i fucking love horns in a song. and he really throws a lot into these songs. and i love his pairing choices. amy winehouse's rendition of "valerie" (a song that really just has no substance when sung by the zutons) is so god awfully good. i mean i was going apeshit for it when i first heard it. i think that song alone could have gotten me to buy this album. fortunately there are a lot of other great tracks on there to help ease the listen.

11. midnight juggernauts - dystopia
i waited FOREVER and a day for this album to come out and on first listen, i was truly disappointed. i was hoping every song sounded like "shadows." but they didn't. and this is probably for the best because i think my legs would fall off and my heart would stop if all the tracks were like that. seriously, "shadows" is ranked high up there on my list of amazing dance tunes. but after a few listens i realized the beauty in all the other tracks and that in fact they were just as good in their own ways. the album is quite danceable even if the LA crowds would have you thinking differently. fuck 'em. what do they know?

12. panda bear - person pitch
of all the albums on this list, this one and blond redhead are probably the two biggest surprises. i mean i used to HATE blond redhead and i HATE animal collective from which panda bear was spawned. so i basically would have written off this album if not for the fact that when james sent it out, i wasn't really paying attention and just started downloading and listening. and before i knew it, i was hooked. i didn't even know the guy was from animal collective. i just knew i really dug the music. the songs are long and lightly trail on and on and on. it's like animal collective meets the beach boys. my favorite track is called "bros" which i always find slightly amusing.

13. peter bjorn & john - writer's block
yet again, another album that came out at the start of the year and i nearly would have forgotten it was officially a 2007 release if not for the fact that at the end of 2006 when i was making my list, i thought about putting this one on there because it had come out in europe already. but i decided to save it for '07 when it was released in the US and therefore i never forgot about it because i had made such a point in my mind. this album is just fun. snap your fingers and tap your toes. this album is sickly sweet and totally groovy.

14. radiohead - in rainbows
ah radiohead. how i love thee. and how i love thee even more that thou self-released this album. moreover that you sneakily put up a message on your site just days beforehand. but would this highly anticipated yet highly secretive album be any good? the answer is yes. really damn good in fact. alex and i were saying we think it might be their best since "ok computer." it's mature and beautiful. thom's voice shines on "nude" and really grabs you. it's not rocking and it's not overly synthy. it's a proper next step in radiohead's career. i can't wait to get my hard copy!

15. white rabbits - fort nightly
"navy wives" is SUCH a good song. i mean the whole album is good but that track is just FUCKING GREAT. i played it on repeat so many times i worried i might burn a hole through the cd. seriously, these guys need to make it big. why don't more people know about them? cuz they're damned talented. listen to this album NOW!

**bonus pick** mgmt - ornacular spectacular
last but most certainly not least, mgmt. i can tell you that being a person who likes to abbreviate words like background (bgd), attention (attn), and international (int'l), i appreciate this band's name purely out of ease in typing. management is so cumbersome compared to mgmt. good choice guys. but nevermind the name, it's the music i'm here to rave about. i didn't know who these guys were til kellis messaged me one day and asked if i had their album. not only did i not have it, i didn't know who they were. so he sent me the first track and i was hooked. i had to find this album. and i'm SOOOO glad i did. shit, if you were to check how many times i've listened to this on itunes, it's probably my most listened to album of the year. maybe even more so than justice. it's just THAT good. "electric feel" is a song i could play for days. like the time when kyla made a whole cd of the song "another chance" over and over and over. yea i could do that with this track. ugh. i cannot wait for these guys to explode. rolling stone says they are one of the top 10 bands to watch for 2008 and i really hope that's true. cuz this shit is da bomb. yes i said it, da bomb.

goodnight.

holy hell i completely forgot to mention that i saw the last TWO episodes of dexter over this weekend. alex and i found a place online to stream the season finale and we couldn't wait a week to watch. holy HELL that show is good. i haven't seen such a good tv show in ages. seriously. every week i'm like, hell yea i can't wait to see more. and the season finale really wrapped things up. i won't say anything in case anyone watches it. but yea, fucking great shit.

behind again. i chalk it up to just having too much random crap to do. i mean i have a long ass list of small things that need to get done. everything from reducing the amount of vacation days i requested for this NZ trip by one day to buying some more concealer to calling otis about their flash class. i mean the list is like at least 10 things and some are more important than others. like shit for my 401k and such is important. buying concealer, not so important. and i also would like to maybe figure out some coachella picks and come up with a top 5 or top 10 or top whatever # list of best albums of the year. but hell, those are way less important than finding my flash class. ugh!

anyway, this weekend was packed with stuff. friday night i went to see juno starring my fave, michael cera. it was quite good and i would recommend it to anyone really. thumbs up! saturday i did errands (i think) and then went to two parties at night. cynthia's first and amanda's second. cyn's was good but i don't know most people there. it's very low key. but good way to start the night indeed. amanda's was more poppin and of course i knew a ton of people. so it was quite fun overall. i didn't drink ANY (wow, what a shame, not even a sip) wine despite it being a wine and cheese party. i just ate the cheeses and tasty snacks she prepared. i was the DD for the night. sunday i can't even remember what i did. i bet it was a waste of time. haha

last night i went to cha cha cha on santa monica with cynthia for their infamous happy hour. i've heard so much about it for so long but had never gone. so we decided to go and hells bells it's great! $12 for a pitcher of sangria, $1 plaintains, and $5-ish plates. can't beat it. we ended up staying there for like 3 hrs just eating and chatting. really good times. reminds me that i need to hang out with cynthia more. she's awesome!

now i must return to my plethora of things to do. top priority -- finding a flash class for the spring.

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