Saorrento

My obsession with travel began back in 1997 where a family holiday took me for the first time out of Australia and to the likes of Singapore, England and United States. Since that time I have made a small smattering of trips of my own; revisiting Singapore a number of times and returning to LA/Hollywood and visiting Las Vegas. On the domestic scale I am no stranger to the wide open roads, having driven numerous times to Denmark and Esperance essentially covering the south west region of Western Australia. I have also had the fortune of my work taking me to places such as Newman, deep in the Pilbara of Western Australia and across to Sydney on the east coast.

There are many aspects of travel I enjoy, the first of which and probably still the most significant of these is through my hobby of photography; in my opinion nothing makes for better photography than foreign landscapes and cultures. By foreign, I am referring to anything other than local to the viewer. However in recent times I have discovered how much I enjoy the challenge of learning languages. In anticipation of doing a Russian Trans-Siberian tour in late 2009 I began to learn to speak Russian. To this date I have only a few short phrases to show for my efforts, such as ordering beverages and saying please and thank you – but that is simply because I haven’t really been putting a great deal of time into it. So imagine how good I will be when I do actually start studying it. However my Russian has been put on hold for now in light of a new challenge – learning basic Vietnamese all thanks to my girlfriend / partner in crime who bought me an audio disc and book.

New Years 2007/2008 I made a resolution; to go abroad at least once a year. This year I plan to do a double-whammy (to make up for past years if nothing else) starting with a tour of Vietnam in May.
I am very much looking forward to this trip; lately I have begun to feel somewhat overwhelmed by western culture, though this can possibly be attributed to my recent increase in watching TV - being swamped by western-dramas. I close my eyes and picture the solitude of the Vietnamese country side; through all the hustle and bustle of an over populated country with swarms of mopeds and bikes coming from all directions lays a simpler lifestyle; dramatically different from the lifestyle that I have become accustomed to over the past 25 years. I really am looking forward to experiencing and embracing the change that the Vietnamese culture has to offer.

Later in the year, around late September to mid October dream of a Trans Siberian adventure is starting to form. The month long journey through Siberia will most likely begin in the Far East province Vladivostok and journey on through to Moscow and St Petersburg, making stops at local villages on route.

For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to visit Russia. My fixation with history, particularly World War II has undoubtedly played a strong part in this, as from very early on I became enthralled by the battle of Stalingrad the pivotal turning point in Soviet history and their stand against Nazi Germany.

So much adventure planned for 2009.. Recession be damned!

The room is silent aside from the soft hum of the ceiling fan gently blowing a breeze down onto the bed below. With my head lying comfortably against the pillow I roll to my side. An outside light seeps softly through gaps in the blinds into the previously darkened room illuminating it ever so slightly.

Her eyes sparkle with the reflection of light coming through the window. She smiles; as with every other smile before I am taken back by how incredibly gorgeous she looks. She really does have the most breath-taking smile.

Earlier that evening we ventured out to Little Creatures brewery in Fremantle where we sat outside in a cozy little corner overlooking the port, enjoying a traditionally prepared wood fired pizza and pint of cider. For a summer evening it was fantastic; the sky was still bright as if it were only four in the afternoon as opposed to the seven o’clock it currently was and the sea breeze blowing through kept the air crisp and cool, making it enjoyable in Jeans and a long sleeve top.

Over pizza and a couple of pints we discussed our upcoming trip to Vietnam, browsing through a Lonely Planet book that Michelle had bought earlier in the week. We delighted in all the many wondrous things to see and experience in Nam, from the shopping through to war museums and beach sunrises – and my personal favorite: sampling the ‘Snake blood vodka’.

Shortly afterward Michelle left to freshen up after the dinner. I remember sitting back somewhat mesmerized watching as she walked away. I smiled and took a sip from my pint, the cool breeze from the ocean now gently blowing against my face, at that moment in time I vividly remember thinking I truly have found someone special.

I glance up at the table before me… The full moon really has brought in some colorful characters to the poker table tonight. To my immediate left sits an elderly woman, a widower with inherited money. I have seen her here many nights before, always wearing the same red sparkly dress, her blonde wavy hair pinned up and wearing way too much makeup and perfume. Next to her sits a young lad, Jeremy Thomas, he’s new in town and has just started working at the bakery across from the local butcher, I guess he must think he’s feeling lucky tonight to of found his way to the high stakes table on his salary.

See, with a game like Poker you play off the players around you. Therefore to be good at this game you must be good at reading people and interpreting their actions. The old dame and kid don’t faze me in the slightest, I know exactly how to play them. Though tonight brings in yet another interesting character to the table. Sitting next to Jeremy and across from me is a tall man. His cowboy hat casts a thick shadow across his face, all I can see of him is his long mustache illuminated by the red glow of his burning cigar. I have never seen this man before, I can barely see him now.

The other two refuse to make eye contact with any of the players and pretend they are the only ones in the room. Although hidden by the dark shadow of his hat I can feel the stranger sitting across from me is starring right at me.

The bet is on me, the cards are all out I either stick with the game or fold. I stare straight back at the stranger. Ash flakes off his burning cigar onto the table, floating lightly over the cards and chips laid out on it. His face, of what I can see is solemn, and his posture almost frozen as if sensing I am starring right back at him.

Without shifting focus off him, I poise my mouth ready to make my call….
I’m all in… and with those words I push my fortune, my livelihood, my life onto the table… and the game plays on…

Well here we are, what initially was to take only a day or two to transfer has ended up taking nearly a month and the job isn’t over yet; only about one quarter of entries have been transferred over thusfar.

So what have I been up to? Well, planning a trip to Russia for one, then greater Europe, resigning from my job, then not resigning, followed by putting off Europe for another year until the world economy sorts itself out. January has been a thrill of a ride to say the least, full of dreams of travel and adventure.

February so far has proven to be a far more mature month, with travel plans starting to take shape in the form of two international trips for 2009. September/October are still slated for the grand Russian adventure which came about through a girl I met a month or so earlier who also expressed interest in touring Russia, who coincidentally now is my gorgeous girlfriend.

Thinking back to that initial night I remember exactly what it was that first drew me to her; it was two things in fact, one being her incredible spirit of adventure, I found her passion for travel extremely alluring, the second was her gorgeous smile… I will never forget that night… anyway, I digress…

The second of the international trips planned is in fact slated first of the two. As of a week ago Michelle proposed a week and a half trip to Vietnam. Although only a week in its infancy the trip to ‘Nam’ is becoming seemingly realistic for May. Not only is Vietnam yet another amazing country that neither of us have yet had the pleasure of visiting but it will also prove to be rather insightful as to how well we travel together, a handy thing to know before investing a month into Russia later the same year. Though, through simple observation alone based on our desire to travel and explore I believe we will be great.

Of course all this travel needs to be financed, and although I have been purchasing a number of lotto tickets per week, currently I am still financing my life the old fashion way by pushing paper about, well, of the virtual kind at least. Work is going very well, and although working on a project for three and a bit years can be somewhat nerve wrecking at times, we are so close to the finish line it isn’t funny. Since the Visual Impact Image Expo in Sydney last year I have been busily fine tuning the software, creating printed media, cd covers and labels, help files and filming/editing videos for promotional DVDs. Currently half a dozen advanced beta’s (Preview Editions) of the program are in the field, the feedback has all been rather positive.

Just for a refreshing change I was approached by the Sales department of our parent company today to help with their new promotion for a product called Rowmark. Now I may only be a humble Software Engineer on paper, but I have made a point to lend my expertise in many other areas of the two companies I am associated with, including; project management roles, onsite customer service (not limited to software) and of course designing promotional media for our Sales department. So when Tom approached me today to share his ideas for the new campaign I was only all too thrilled to be a part of it. The theme for this year’s Romark launch: TopGear (yes, I am referring to the BBC Series TopGear). From what was loosely discussed the motto would go something along the lines of want top gear for your signage applications, look no further than Rowmark… or something along those lines, anyway, it’s a play-on-words thing using ‘Topgear’ as a keyword the design is to reference indirectly the infamous BBC series. I look forward to getting those creative juices going again; it can make the perfect break from mind numbing computer code.

Tonight was the first time I watched a complete episode of NCIS (well, I watched most of it), I really enjoyed what I saw of it. I am not completely sure just how much of the DNA research conducted in the episode was fictional; regardless though I found it quite fascinating that so much can be learnt from an individual based on a hair sample. By the end of it, the scientist was deducing the diet and what type of water the subject was drinking - most impressive stuff.

Anyway, I am going to cut my rambling here. Usually my posts are more subjective and particular than this but I have been meaning to make this ‘first’ entry for a while now, and well, 1.18am seemed like a great time to do just that.