The hearts

Before we left Toronto for Australia, Steven and I got a very special gift from our friends.

The card reads:

"Dear Sandy + Steven,

From our hearts to yours before your big journey!

Just some words of advice and ideas of things to do together on your year-long adventure. There's more where this came from...so complete 3 heart ideas, let me know & I'll send your SPREADSHEET of love ideas! <3

Adrienne"

I've been friends with Adrienne since I was 2, and she's always been an excellent gift giver. This really topped the list though!

Each heart in the stack had a "thing to do" or a wish for safety and happiness and the survival of spiders, cockroaches and killer sharks.

We completed our first challenge tonight!

Observations about the supermarkets:

1) Prices seem steep, but they really aren't. Everything here is measured in kg, whereas back home we do lb for some items, like apples. The apples here ranged from 3.99 per kilo (granny smith), to something like 5.99 per kilo (for pink lady).

The Loblaws flier for back home shows me 4.39 per kilo for apples, or 1.99 per pound. See? Not really a big difference for a fruit that seems to be in season in both Toronto and Sydney.

Now, we did notice that grapes were crazy expensive--16.99 per kilo! But that might be seasonal. I don't think grapes are in season back home either.

2) There are funny names for some foods, like "Paw Paw" (giggle) and Capsicum (so scientific!)

3) Tropical fruits are readily available! Mangoes, papayas, pineapples, and melons! Wonderful selection for winter-broken Canadians.

4) Eggs weren't sold in the fridge. Why aren't eggs in a fridge?!?!

5) There are family-owned fruit or vegetable stands here in some suburban malls, which helps cut costs for people like us (trying to save as much as we can)! I got 2 green onions for free from the nice man at the vegetable stand just by asking for it!

"You sure? Two is enough?"

"We're only here for one evening and we're cooking dinner..."

"You only feed him one green onion for dinner? What kind of diet is this!?"

"Umm...."

:)

So the supermarkets here really aren't that expensive or different. Steven and I have kept ourselves fed (and vegetarian!) for quite a few meals by cooking at home.

More challenges to come!

Hong Kong to Sydney

Hong Kong airport is by far my favorite of all the airports I've been to (Narita, Japan is a close second).

Free wifi, big seats in waiting areas, lots of charging stations, excellent food court! 

Walking through the airport while using Facetime with family (excellent wifi coverage) just made Hong Kong all the more awesome.

I also did some stretching :)

By the time we got to Sydney, it was nearly 10 at night. 

It was such a relief to be greeted by a familiar face, my friend Minnie. I hadn't seen her in about 5 years, so it was a big reunion for us. 

She was letting us crash until our backpacker's holiday really began. 

Oh, and crash we did. 

I woke up really early, around 5 AM, and got to work. 

I did my practice, including drop backs, and felt strong and ready for the day. 

Coming back to a home practice, the quietude, the concentration and determination, was such a revelation to me after being committed to Mysore for the past few months. My practice has grown in ways I was not aware of. 

I'm not necessarily more flexible, stronger, or really any different physically. But I hold myself more accountable to the sequence, more accountable to the nature of the practice, the meditation. It's easier to slide into it, and when I'm interrupted, I'm eager to return. 

Very cool to me. 

Anyway, the day passed quickly. After getting mobile numbers and bank accounts, Minnie took us for an excellent coffee and cake.

I made a humble vegetarian dinner for us.

 

Chick pea and eggplant curry with green beans baked with celery salt. 

Not my best work, but decent! More on Sydney soon! 

Leaving Toronto

I'm exhausted! We've been in Sydney less than 24 hours, but it's been a lot of fun so far. Here's what you missed:

Leaving Toronto was hard and sad.

Our roommate, Angela, got me the best chocolate fudge cake. I packed a box to bring onto the airplane in case vegetarian food sucked (which, btw, it didn't. IT WAS AWESOMESAUCE).

Then, we packed up our stuff into the cars, including the humans (but not the dogs).

At the airport, we met a few of my favorite people.

The one taking the picture, middle left, brought me a box of cupcakes from my favorite cupcake place in the city (and probably the best one, too).

This dude also showed up. He's been a good friend since junior high school, so it was awesome to see him and share this #Asianstakingpicturesoffood moment with him.

After a little mix-up with the visa and a 30-45 min wait (my double names, English and Chinese, always messes things up), we boarded the plane.

I popped Gravol and fell asleep, leaving Steven alone with his 3 movies, 2 tv shows or whatever it is he did during that time...

Safely in Hong Kong

Not much to report.

We landed into the Hong Kong International Airport (might be my favorite airport ever) just an hour ago. I'm having a coffee now and reading my favorite blogs.

As for the first 14-hr-leg of our journey, I popped Gravol and slept through most of the flight.

Being a vegetarian is awesome. I get served my food first, and I always get a great selection. For instance, I had pancakes this morning. WAHAHAH! Veggie FTW.

I'll probably pop another Gravol before the next flight so that I can pass out again. It's another 8 hours before Sydney.

How to keep from freezing on a run

This is one of my last runs before a year abroad in Australia. 

So I took the time to really enjoy the dots of frost on the grass.

And then I offended all the Fashion Gods with my running outfit.

Leg warmers, warm tights, long sleeved shirt, running pullover, down vest, hat! + Vibrams and gloves, and we're done.

I ran REALLY fast to keep from freezing. The Garmin said I did a 6:15min/km average, with my fastest pace being something like 6:09.

I was really cold.

16:06 min
2.58 km / 1.60 miles
6:15 min/km
189 calories

By the end of the run, I had a single triumphant drop of sweat drip off my nose.

I sat around after my run trying to get the feeling back into my toes.

The dogs refused to sit on my stinky feet. They decided to fight each other instead.

All-in-all, a successful run. I didn't feel loose in my legs until 8 minutes in, and by then my feet were numb.

Hey Vibrams, can you make something for winter running?

Please and thank you.

Run: Blurry Garmin Photos

I did it. I ran.

And it felt GOOD!

In order to keep all the gains I've had recently in Ashtanga (not only bound Mary D, but friggin' half lotus twice on my bum knee!) I had several goals this run.

1) Play with Jen's Garmin:

I put it by the door, which must be made out of lead because it couldn't find a satellite for a good 15 mins. So, I moved it next to the window in the living room, and it got it in 2 minutes.

Keeping track of the distance I'd already covered made it easy to...

2) Stay under 1 mile:

Sorry for messing with your eyes.

Here's what it says:

Time: 8:22:7
Distance: 1.34 km or 0.83 miles
Pace: 6:15 min/km or 10:03 min/mile
Calories: 98

Just as I got home, I started to feel less hyperventilate-y and my legs felt like they finally found a pace. It sucks that I have to keep my runs under 1 mile because 1 mile feels like a warm up. I really hope that working up my mileage slowly will allow me to keep my flexibility in my hips, and pain out of my knees.

Staying under 4 miles a week will be worth it in the long run when I'm both a superstar runner and a rockstar Ashtangi.

Patience and determination.

Yo.

Teaching my last Ashtanga class

It's my last week here in the T dot O dot. So, it's a week full of last classes and sad goodbyes!

Last night was my final night teaching my beloved Ashtanga level 1-2 led primary this year.

Among the people I'll leave behind is this great guy over here.

Nobody else would let me take their picture (not true, I just didn't have time), but basically everyone who showed up last night (including you!) will be missed so, so, SO much.

Corner guy also got me this:

"An apple for the teacher," he said.

There are no words for how awesome this is. Especially since I own this:

Yes, I wear this in public and IT IS AWESOME.

OK, I don't always dress like an 11-year-old child. Especially since dating this guy, and all the gifts he gets me, I've become quite well dressed! See?

Anyway, the point of this post is that I will miss teaching Ashtanga. A lot. And that coming back to see my friends will be fantastic. I can't wait to see how much, in a year's time, they would have progressed along in the series, and in their lives!