Bigger and connected, the old meets the new.

After dithering over which tablet to buy, I finally settled on this. What clinched the deal was the full sized SD card slot it had. That wasn’t the only thing that was full sized. USB and HDMI ports were also the real-deal.

After years of service, my trusty Dell Axims X5 is taking a graceful retirement, sitting next to my laptop.

Still, breaking in a new piece of technology is all about creating new connections in your brain as it’s all about learning how to use it properly. One caveat about using a touch screen is that they attract a lot of finger prints. Given time the added grease adds to the ‘slip’ to the screen. Grubby, and sometimes useful.

Another hike, but the twist this time was that the weather. Though cooperative, it was very cold. Freezing in fact. I have to admit that I almost gave up, as my stomach, which was getting a strong, updraught of cold wind. One, right up the bracket you might say. I had on my scarf and down jacket. Ben, had simply zipped up his jacket up to his neck. He honestly looked like a Sontaran, a character from the Doctor Who series. He even gave a brief rendition of their battle chant. We both laughed at the chant, and the reference. Doctor Who is something we both knew. The target destination, as usual, was Yongsan station, and the electronics market.

Starting from Gu-il station, we started trekking up one of the Han rivers smaller tributaries was a wasteland of dirt and occasional parks. At one point we passed policemen doing their P/t. They might even have been trainees, but we we’re sure. The head instructor stood next to a PA, with maybe the intent of doing some karaoke numbers later to tired trainees. Before that, we walked past a driving course, the sort found at driving schools in Korea, except 75% the size. It might have been for training, but only for very small cars.

Ben and I had done this route once in the past, and before all the landscape was different, and now it was finished.

We reached the junction where the stream met the Han river. We sat, and rested, trying to work out the kinks and cramping we both had. I had particular problems with my right shoulder. It would be with great relief that I put down my bag on the hotel bed later that afternoon.

In the homestretch to Yongsan station was the electronics market. I commented positively that the actual market was a mere 300 metres distant. A grunt was Ben’s reply, as his feet were sore, and in retrospect, so were mine, I just hadn’t realised it. My new hiking shoes, bought in New Zealand off of a pal of mine who ran the shop, ironically were Asics. A Korean brand. Still they fit, and did the job. A new pair of shoes, broken in and christened.

After making a small purchase at Seong-in plaza, we continued onto Yongsan station and it’s relative comforts of low teenage Celsius temperatures.

This one, found in Matakana , north of Auckland, New Zealand. It certainly appeals as the most sculptured loo in thar parts. I was told that the local councils all over New Zealand competed to have the best loo (and so in all meaning of the words, ‘super loo’) in New Zealand. After all intents and purposes, it does New Zealand tourism a power of good. Not only did it look good, but was also well maintained.

Te Whiti park, Lower Hutt

One of the tactile experiences I miss so much in Korea is grass. A dense mat of green, tangled Kentucky rye grass and another combination of grass type made up the grass at the park that also served as a sports ground too.  Compare that to the conditions I play cricket in Korea is that a sandy gritty surface greet your hands and knees every time you go to stop a ball. Ouch. Give me grass burn everytime.

The Hutt Recreation ground

Waiwhetu stream

Taken in Te Whiti park, Waiwhetu, a Suburb of Lower Hutt. Without  a hill to stand on, and hills backing off on to me, the park presented the best solution to shooting the horizon. The effect of the high altitude clouds makes this sunset look futuristic, a sun set to supernova or a swirling white hole.

One of the great traditions that holds true in New Zealand (and probably the rest of the world) is the outdoor barbecue. Formerly done over coals or wood, now-days it’s done with a gas burner. 100% reliable since having a fire at which you can regulate the heat of, virtually takes the guess work out of the cooking. In less technological days, barbecue plates were wood-fired. If there was no oil, a suitable lubricant for the hotplate was beer. It stopped the meat burning until the fat started melting.

Memories of myself running down from where I used to work in Naenae,  to the bakery to get my lunch of a meat pie and a coke. Years later, the location is different but, the taste and sensations  (of a boiling hot and gelatinous pie filing oozing out of the pastry)  remain the same. The hot filing, which had a slight peppery taste along with the flaky, buttery pastry was delicious. All that was missing was the tomato sauce. I very rarely have sauce, you might say I’m a bit of a purist.

A Christmas tree like no other really. With the help of their mum, my two neices, aged very young, but still old enough to cause a sizable amount of mayhem, put together this Christmas tree. It even comes with its own disco ball.

New Zealand has its own type of Christmas tree, the Pohutukawa. It’s red needled flowers that bloom in December of each year, giving it’s name.

The gastronomic tour of New Zealand started with a gourmet hamburger (with roquefort cheese, more about this later) and fish and chips for dinner. All very nice. Even if the spirit is willing, the flesh was weak, as my lower intestine had told me later on.

Today’s Kiwi-fare was Pavlova. Since it’s inception in the 1920′s, it’s been embroiled in a trans-Tasman brawl over who thought it up first. But as the picture atests, it’s a dessert made with egg white and sugar, topped off with fresh cream and fruit. It tasted delicious. I even ate all of the cream too.

Further reading into it’s history and making can be found here and here.

No longer is technology aimed at the übergeek, but a more widespread audience. Well maybe, advertising has always been about the bottom line. But on closer examination of the product, who needs a waterproof harddrive case smartphone case? That would also mean that the laptop you’re using it from is also waterproof. Panasonic does indeed sell a ruggedized laptop, but I hope that the strings on the bikini are taut enough when it comes the time to use the harddrive her smartphone.