Mt. Kinabalu Race - October 2010

I wrote this post directly after completing the Mt. Kinabalu race in Borneo, Malaysia and then forgot to post it!! Please enjoy the recap!


Kinabalu Climbathon – October 23rd, 2010
It all started as a mere suggestion in August and came to fruition today. I am in Borneo, Malaysia and just attempted the 21km Mt. Kinabalu Climbathon. I say attempted because I did not complete the summit. In fact, I missed reaching the summit by 700m; I know- heartbreaking. Instead of feeeling disappointed, though, I am proud of myself for what I accomplished today because I did not think that I would make it as far as I did, not by a long shot. We flew into Kota Kinabalu at 8:55pm and did not make it to Kinabalu Park until 11pm. We then discovered that our reservations were in fact for the next 2 nights, and not Friday night. The staff at the park was great and found us another hostel to stay at because all accommodations at the park were fully booked. It was midnight when we finally reached our hostel room. Things were not looking good; I had early symptoms of a nasty headcold, and was due to complete a race the next day with what would be 5 hours of sleep. I was not optimistic and was struggling with the choice of going for it, or copping out.
The alarm went off at 5am and I wasn’t feeling too tired, surprisingly. I still wasn’t too psyched at the idea of attemtpting the race, so I initially decided to not race. I went into the common area to cancel the transportation and found 3 men that looked like they were participating in the race (today’s race was for all women and senior men). They were so excited when I said I was doing the race, so I gave into the peer pressure and decided to compete. I am so glad that I went for it because it turned out to be a wonderful experience. I am feeling great physically, and am looking forward to watching Steve complete his daunting task tomorrow; the men’s category only gets 2.5 hours to summit and 3 hours to get down.
I started the race feeling good and entirely unsure as to what the mountain held for me. Though I had completed the hike two years ago with Cassie, I had never completed the hike as a race. The terrain is tough as the steps are uneven and quite high at times and all the hike does is go up, up, and up more. I initially thought that I would only make it to Laban Rata, a guesthouse at 6.5km (altitiude), but I felt good enough to continue persevering. The last 2.5km of the hike is quite treacherous as it is up the face of the mountain and the only tools are limbs and a rope to climb. It also started raining at this point which made the already wretched rocky terrain quite slippery. Luckily I bought Panadol Nasal Cold and Flu at the HK airport and took some in the morning, hoping it would keep the cold at bay; it did. I also made myself stop every 30 minutes to quickly hydrate, eat a little (half a date or a bite or an energy granola bar), and blow my nose- a seemingly good system. The result? I made it to 8km (3929m) in 3.5 hours and was politely told that my time was up at that point, even though the summit is 8.7km (4095m). I promptly turned around, and made it down Mt. Kinabalu + 3.2km to finish (about 20km in total) in 6.25 hours (the cutoff was 6.5hours). So why didn’t I make the summit? The one thing that held me back (I think) was the altitude and subsequent lack of air. The air was extremely cold, and many people said on the way down that this definitely affected the climb. Everyone was moving really slowly close to the summit as it was difficult to push any further. Plus, the summit was so foggy I couldn’t actually see where the top was! This was more mental than anything, but it would have been good to see the dangling carrot as I had no idea how close I really was.Overall, I am really proud of myself for attempting this race given the fact that I had many reasons not to. Don’t we all have reasons not to do the things that scare us or seem hard? I will leave you with the tagline of a TV show theme song and ask: what have you done today to make you feel proud?
This race recap was brough to you by (not officially, but the following helped me along the way today): Panadol Sinus Cold & Flu, ForeverGreen Electrifire, Vega Sport Optimizer, lululemon athletica, North Face, Hydrapak, Asics, Kleenex, and viewers like you. Thanks for reading :)
I am now off to relax and scuba dive in one of the top ten dive sites in the world: Sipidan.

Long weekend Hong Kong hiking & camping

I heart long weekends.

We have completely lucked out this month, as we have two long weekends in a row. Yay! For our first long weekend, a group of four of us hiked along McLehose trail in the New Territories and camped at Tai Long Wan beach. Hong Kong is known as a booming metropolis, but the New Territories takes away all of the typical HK hustle and bustle. For those in the area, take the MTR to Diamond Hill station (red line to green line), exit to the Transport area, then take bus 92 to Sai Kung. from Sai Kung take the 94 to Pak Tam Au. There, cross the road and begin Stage III of the McLehose Trail. The (brief) challenging hike is about 1 hour and 20 mins and at the end is an amazing reward in the form of a beach restaurant with the most delicious salt and pepper calamari. This restaurant also rents out tents, sleeping bags, coolers, and sells charcoal, flashlights, drinks- you name it. If you want more isolation, continue hiking to the left where you will get to another section of Tai Long Wan that is more secluded. We made a fire (I sacrificed my crappy book, so bring newspaper), roasted hot dogs, drank beer, and made s'mores. it was the perfect evening! The view is spectatcular and the sound of the waves crashing at night made me sleep like a baby (despite sand as a mattress!). The swimming is nice as well, even for being salt water.

I first did this trip a year and a half ago, and will definitely make this trip again.

Great Canadian Death Race recap

Whew! It's August 2nd which means that our team completed the Great Canadian Death Race in Grande Cache over the long weekend. We had a really great time even though we were unsure what exactly we were getting ourselves into. Here is a recap of the weekend- enjoy!

Death race rundown: (from the Great Canadian Death Race official website)

"The Canadian Death Race is a 125km all-terrain extreme adventure race course on very challenging terrain including three mountain summits and 17,000 feet of elevation change"

Roadtrip - July 30th: Justin picked me up and we were on our way! The trip to Grande Cache from Edmonton was awesome. We had sunshine and great tunes all the way. We even ran into some fellow competitors and had a chance to talk to about the race as we were all very curious and excited. We arrived in Grande Cache, setup our awesome tent (thanks, Tim!) and obsessed over the course map and leg descriptions. I guess the point is to be scared and kept in the dark because the race itself was not organized well to those who have never done it before. Let's just say that there was a lot of guess work! After a pasta dinner and a great chat with some other fellow racers, we went to bed, but didn't get a lot of sleep because we were all nervous of what the next 24 hours would hold!

July 31st 0806 - Death Race start

We arrived at the Rec Centre and checked in at 7am. then, our fearless captain Jenn took the coin and timing chip and set off when the gun was fired. this leg is described as a "downtown jaunt" but I think Jenn would beg to differ!

1030 - Leg 1 complete in 2hrs 32mins!

19km later we met Jenn and she passed the coin and chip off to Chris. Jenn was hurting pretty badly from muscle cramps so we took it easy, walked around the transition area, and got her some fluids. At this point our first teammate had come in and was pretty roughed up. I was scared. What would I face?

1630 - Leg 2 complete in 5hrs 55 mins!

Chris did so well in this leg. in 26km, he climbed 2 peaks, dominated the "slugfest" in the sweltering heat and gave it all he had. Literally. Ziebart's don't stop so Chris pushed through and made it to the end with a smile on his face. He passed the coin and chip to Justin for leg 3. As Chris sat down the heat stroke set in. Chris ended up going to the hospital due to dehydration and was put on a saline drip. I'm so proud of Chris, he totally represented. Might I add that Leg 2 is seen as the most tehnical and difficult leg of the race.

1900 - Leg 3 complete in 2 hrs 27 mins!

Justin pushed through this 22km trail and made the time cutoff even though 9 minutes was taken off of the original cutoff time! The heat was still in full force, yet J persevered and made it. This was the longest Justin had ever ran in a race and he did awesome!!! At this point we were very close to the cutof times for the 4th leg of the race and we were all a bit uncertain if our team would finish. Julie took the coin and chip from Justin and absolutely throttled the next leg of the race (a whopping 36km on a treacherous course!!). Timing is everything in this race. Julie needed to be at her check in point (10 km up up up from the start of her leg) by 2215 in order to keep going. We tried to see if she had made it, yet the race centre could not give us a clear answer which was really frustrating. We all just sat and waiting, sending Julie good thoughts of being strong, safe and happy (our three words of focus for our legs). I was a nervous wreck! At this point, 3 of our racers were done and I banned the phrase "I am so glad it's over," because it wasn't even close for me- I hadn't even started my leg! This was possibly the worst part for me as the day was full of excitement in seeing my teammates finish, but also full of anxiety because I still had to wait!

0050 - Leg 4 complete! Julie's husband got a text saying she was done! The problem was that we had to drive to the transition area and we were planning on leaving at 1am! I was ready to go so we all hopped in the truck and made our way as quickly as possible. Julie finished in an amazing time of 5hr 37mins. Her predicted time was 6.5 hours and she absolutely thrashed this!! It took about 10 minutes to get to the transition area, where I was about to (finally!!) begin my leg! My timing chip was 20 minutes and running, and I hadn't even started yet. I gave Julie a huge hug, took the coin and timing chip, and was off! I could hear people cheering for me as I turned on my headlamps (one on my head, one around my waist) and made my way into the complete darkness.

The final leg was was amazing and spectacular. The terrain was rough, uneven, unstable and uncertain most of the time. The trail, however, was clearly marked and easy to navigate through with the headlamps. I met some incredible people along the way and was passed by only one person at the very beginning; Otherwise I was able to pass a mixture of solo and team racers as I cheered them on with a "Go Death Racer!!" Though I did not get to enjoy the full scenery around me because of the darkness, I knew that there was incredible nature all around me. I did find myself psyched out a couple of times because I thought that I had heard grumblings, which made me run faster! I was even spooked by my shadow a few times... 3. :) At 10km in I was ferried across the Smoky River and gave the coin to the Death Master to be able to proceed. Then I had an amazing climb, which definitely gave me a run for my money. I think it was better that I was in the dark because I couldn't exactly see what was in front of me, therefore I kept surging ahead. Some excellent advice was given to our team before the race and one piece was "don't look up, don't look down, and don't stop." This advice was so true for me and it definitely kept me focussed. I had a few potential trip-ups and ankle rolls from tree roots, etc. but held my ground and came out scrape-free. The last part of the leg was unforgiving as it was a steady uphill gravel road. I thought of my good friends Dave and Yvonne and thought, "what would they do?" My answer was: RUN! So I did. I ran back into the town of Grande Cache pumping those arms and pushing with all of my might to finish my 22 kms. I was nearing the last loop to the finish line and there was my team, cheering me on. They joined me for the last stretch and we all crossed the finish line together. It felt amazing to finish with all 5 teammates.

Technically this was the hardest race I have ever done in my life. Mentally and physically it was not as I can say that (surprisingly) my training had paid off. I had a great team that supported me and I ran and pushed for them because they had done their absolute best to get me to where I needed to be. I had 7 hours to complete my leg so the pressure of time was off completely. I enjoyed it, yet pushed myself to finish in under 3 hours - my Garmin posted 2.53.32 (the final chip time was 3.11.25 because of our transition error). My time prediction was 4 hours, so I couldn't be happier.

We had 24 hours to finish this 125 km mountainous race and we finished in 19 hours, 43 minutes, and 30 seconds. We rocked the Death Race. I can now look at other challenges I face and be motivated to do even better, because our team was able to complete this race. Thanks to all of you who supported me and our team along the way! It helped me cross that finish line!

Great Canadian Death Race- gettin ready!

On Friday I will leave for Grande Cache with my cousins Chris and Justin, and other teammates Jenn and Julie. When Chris and Justin first approached me about running the race last summer, I must say that I said yes without doing my research. After looking into the race, I was intimidated but definitely intrigued. So in January, I signed up as 1/5th part of the Kananaskis Weekend Warriors.

My leg is described below:
Fifth and final leg, 24km, The River Crossing
Includes 1 km pavement, 6 km gravel road, and a river crossing. The rest dirt trail, grass, and single track. Net elevation change of over 2500ft. This section runs from the Northwest end of the Hell’s Gate Access Road southward to the Sulphur Gates Road, across from the Hell’s Gate emergency aid station. It crosses the Hell’s Gate road and heads down to the Boat Launch road . Runners will be ferried across the Smoky River. There is an emergency aid station on the west bank of the river. From the raft crossing, racers will proceed up the east shore of the Smoky River and follow the trail to the Sulphur Rim trail. The course passes the Firemen's park, heads up Firemen's Park Road and continues to the Finish line in the Grande Cache town square. Please note: For most runners this leg will be completed in darkness with much of the trail under a heavy canopy of trees, so eye protection is required. Although this section is well marked with reflective markers, flags and signs, we recommend you bring a halogen headlamp with brand new alkaline batteries. Daylight training on this part of the course is highly recommended.

We have all trained so hard and we are all looking forward to this experience! I will admit that I am a little nervous, but I am up for the challenge :) Send me amazing, positive thoughts this long weekend as I compete in my most challenging race to date.

Check it out!
http://www.canadiandeathrace.com/

All dogs must go to heaven

It's true. Our lovely, sweet, funny, amazing family dog is at the end of his time. At 15 years old (people age... that's like what, 100 in dog years? :)) he has had a great life and has even had the chance to interact with a lot of YOU! So this post is for him- my adorable, incredible Wicket. I am sorry that I can't be there, but know that he is in excellent hands- and is even getting the best food of his life this week, right Mom?

Big hugs and kisses to you, Wicket. You have been the BEST family dog. Kisses and love always.

Kung Hei Fat Choy!!

Happy Year of the Tiger!

Since it is the New Year, Cassie and I will have to make a trip to HK to have our fortune's read again. The last time we went I was told my health would get better in the fall, and that was the time that I was able to start eating dairy again! Coincidence? Possibly. It was still fun though.

So here in Macau the fireworks start as soon as it gets dark and don't really stop until the wee hours. I am grateful for my ear plugs!

Life is really busy, and will hopefully resume to some normalcy in the next month. Everything that is happening is all good, and all at once, leaving me feeling slightly overwhelmed.

1. The Student Council is organizing a benefit concert to raise funds for Haiti on Feb.26th - yay! We have about 20 acts performing, it will be great!
2. From March 7-13th our students are on Experience Week and I am the lucky leader of a scuba trip to Phuket, Thailand. This has been a lot of work to organize, but I know it will all pay off.
3. Student Teachers from U of A start on Monday and will be at TIS for 9 weeks! I am sharing 2 student teachers which will be a great new experience for me! I have a feeling that it will be nice to have my classroom back at the end of April :)

Also, I haven't made this too widely known yet, but I guess it is overdue- I am staying another year here at TIS! I will be home for the summer and also plan to come home for Christmas and New Years as well. I am really excited with my choice of staying and look forward to the opportunities for me to develop even more as an educator.

I guess that is all for now! I am finding myself glued to any Olympic information that is out there, though access to programs are sparse! GO CANADA!

Exploring India's Spiritual Mecca

First of all, Merry Christmas!! It is December 25th and Cassie and I are relaxing in Delhi for the day before heading to Jodhpur tomorrow...

Varanasi was incredibly unique. By the 3rd day we had a pretty good grasp of things. The time volunteering at the school was interesting, as they asked us to come back at 12;30pm, which we did. We then helped serve lunch and were told that the school day was over! So much for that- but it was great to see the kids, interact with them and get to know their lives a bit better. Their English lesson for the days was Q: "What is the name of your school" A: "My school name is Learn for Life." Cassie and I had all of these extravagant plans of teaching them an English sounds song or maybe a Christmas song and didn't get to do either. The teachers overplanned, once again!

We treated ourselves to a spa afternoon at Hotel Surya; the treatment we chose included an Ayurvedic massage and a steam bath/shower which was so nice considering our hotel did not have hot water. The ladies were so sweet, though one insisted on watching me get dressed and then gave me a thumbs up while saying "verrry nice!" haha

We also spent time along the ghats and saw the evening festivals consisting of rituals and cremations. One ghat, the Burning Ghat, has cremations all day and this is where the bodies go that are carried along the path that we encountered on the first day. Of course cameras were not allowed so we have the memories only (though burning bodies are not what they are all cracked up to be! Except maybe slightly disturbing!) The next morning we were up early to take a sunrise boat ride along the ghats which was AMAZING. I am so glad that we chose to take the boat ride, it was one hour and only 100 rupees. The sunrise was beautiful and being in the water was very peaceful, even though there were so many other boats around. It is seen a purifying to bathe in the Ganges River so we also got the chance to see many people bathing, dipping, praying in the Ganges River (which is very polluted; mad props to those who venture in!). The boat ride has been one of my favourite experiences so far.

We then made it for a morning yoga class at Om Shanti. The class was 2 hours long and consisted of breathing exercises, 80 minutes of yoga, and then a meditation at the end. It was only Cassie and I so we had our instructor all to ourselves. He was very nice and forgiving at our lack of flexibility!!

After eating lunch at our favourite little bakery, we went to check out of our hotel and head to Delhi. The train ride was a much better experience that the 3 bed per side sardine can experience a few nights previous. We actually got a pillow, sheets, and a blanket! It was heaven! I didn't even have to put on my sweater that was purchased from a men's shop in Agra! (Oh yea... the sweater is HOT)

All in all, Varanasi is not to be missed. It is an amazing assortment of Hindu and Muslim cultures and the oldest city in India. The 'old' aspect has been well-preserved... and not to mention the gorgeous silk fabric they are known for!!

We are now in Delhi, taking it easy on Christmas Day. We are hoping to see a Bollywood film tonight, so that should be fun!!

Hope Santa is good to you all!!!! xo

Taj Mahal, sleep train, Varanasi = very crazy!

Hello!!!
Yesterday we went to the Taj Mahal for sunrise and it was so beautiful. Though the gates didn't open until 7am, it was still so peaceful to be there with 40 or so others instead of hundreds! We managed to get some great shots, and even got some jumping shots!! I will definitely post when back home. It was stunning- how else can it be explained? Magical. Then we went to explore Fahetma(sp?) Sikri, the capital of Akbar the Great, which is 40 minutes outside of Agra. Akbar's Mausoleum is also spectacular. It is located in Agra and again adds to the amazing collection of architectural wonders in India.
In the evening we set off to Varanasi via the night train. We bought a sleeper ticket, which ended up being 3 beds to a side = squishy sardines!!! Cass and I bear-hugged our packs (I brought my bike lock and locked it to the pole) and tried to sleep. Emphasize tried. We are currenty running on about 4 hours of sleep in the last 36 hours so yea... kind of tired!! Do all men in India snore?? I swear, snores were heard round the train last night. My favourite was this one guy who was snoring, but it sounded like he was choking through his nostrils. It was so sporadic and very distracting! Thank goodness my iPod had a great snooze playlist, which helped me.
So we made it to Varanasi and our hostel is outside the Old City, which is a lot safer for women. The Old City is like a crazy maze and there are soo many people. While walking to the ghats today we saw (no lie) about 6 bodies being carried to th ghats. The bodies were covered in orange cloth and flowers are were getting ready for cremation. The Ganges River is te most spiritual place in India so many people are cremated here. Many people also come here on a pilgrimage. Tomorrow we will see the evening festival and will also take a boat ride along the ghats. I can't wait.
Tomorrow morning Cassie and I are going to volunteer at a school nearby that helps children learn the basics of English. It was created by the owner of a German bakery, and they now even have a program to empower the women of the community - very cool. I will let you know how it goes!!
Until then - good night and namaste.
Lisa xo

I Resolve to Blog More for 2009... here is a story from India

Ok... so my last post was waaaayyy back in September. Whoops. If it is any consolation I have been having a lot of fun with a lot of work mixed in?!

Right now we are on Christmas holidays and Cass and I are in India. We arrived into Delhi yesterday after 21 hours of travel! We toughed it out, and it was all worth it... or has been so far! We didn't get to spend too much time exploring Delhi as we left for Agra this morning on the train.

The train ride was an experience in itself; it was great!!! We were put with the locals because all of the other (better perhaps?) seats were sold out. I tell you though, we got the best seats in my opinion!! The car we were in was packed, with people standing in the aisles and then entrepreneurs were bustling through selling coffee/tea/breakfast/samosas/newspapers, etc. It was BUSY! The train ride was 3 hours, but it was a great time to just watch people and watch the countryside pass by. And to think... we only paid 75 rupees... less that $2 CAD!!

I will try to add more tidbits as we go along...

Painful memory of the day... I was enjoying the views of Agra Fort when I turned the corner... and caught a guy uhmmmm "pleasuring" himself. I almost died. And barfed. At the same time. So what did I do? Well, flight or fight kicked in and I ran. I ran so fast that I scared Cassie coming around the corner. Oh yea... maybe a mix between Napoleon Dynamite and Forrest Gump. Hopefully the trauma level hit it's peak for the trip...

Whoaaaaa! Forgot!

Excellent news: this week I have been toying with the idea of trying more dairy products. I have been eating yogurt for about a week now, so I decided to try some cheese. No problem. Tonight I treated myself to some Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream and so far so good.

Could this be? I'm off the dairy-free?

I don't think I could go all out eating dairy all the time, but it is incredible to know that I don't have to order pizza without cheese anymore. Now, is it a coincidence that my naturopath meds came in and I have been taking them for a week and a half? I don't know, and I am not asking questions. Just crossing my fingers.

xo

I really can't comprehend the fact that it has been a month since I last posted. I definitely need to do better.

The beginning of the school year has been an awesome experience. I love that I am teaching my students from last year. Teaching grade 10 is a nice experience as well, it is such a different feeling working on the high school floor. This year I am the teacher leader for Student Council so I am really looking forward to getting involved in the student side of things as well.

I am making sure to get out, see the sights and try new restaurants. Tonight a group of us (around 24 people) went to a restaurant we call "Garlic." The name speakes for itself. The food was incredible, in particular I was a huge fan of the fish that was cooked 3 different ways and the roasted garlic prawns. We had 10 people at our table with food leftover and the bill came to about 100 MOP each = $15 CDN. That included beer!

Hellooooo... to all you Grey's Anatomy fans you will be happy to hear that Cassie and I watched the season premiere this morning, while eating a celebratory breakfast. Amazing. It's the little things that make life abroad bearable for extended periods of time. Grey's Anatomy is one of these simple pleasures.

Lots of things coming up: my second sprint tri- this one in HK Disneyland on Oct.18th, a one-week holiday in Guilin, China at the end of October, and a 10k run and weekend in Bangkok in November. December brings the Macau half-marathon and of course, Christmas in India.

I know that I have it good here. SO I am committed to making the absolute most of this last year away. Keep in touch and keep me updated.

Miss and love,

Lisa

My (So-Called) China Life, Year 3!

I say 'so-called' because I have not actually lived 'in' China... Taiwan and Macau are both technically China, though. All of those SAR, PRC, SEZ China acronyms are hard to keep track of. :)

I had an incredible summer as I had the opportunity to spend quality time with a lot of really amazing people. Lucky me! I also was able to Crossfit it up with Deanna and the Crossfit Zone crew in Vic AND with Chad and Crossfit Lethbridge! It helped that I wasn't working (ahhh, life of a teacher, perk 1,634) so I was able to take a trip out to Alberta and do the rounds of family and friends all over the prairie map. It was sooo good to see everyone that I was able to visit. I also had a lot of time to reflect, clarify, and re-focus which definitely has helped my transition back to Macau.

So, now here I am, entering my third year away from home. It's funny; when I moved to Taiwan I thought that I would only be away from home for a year. Then I was hired in Macau for a 2-year contract and here I am, fulfilling my 2nd year of that contract. I flew back on Saturday and I am really happy to be back. Slid right back into the groove of things, back with the morning running crew (Road Runners) and my lone biking buddy as we attempt the arduous hills of Coloane (aka Tour de Coloane). I am living in the same place I moved into in June, but with a new roomie, Cassie (aka travel buddy!). Fun fun fun!!

It is great to be back in the classroom as well. I am very fortunate to have followed (or stalked as they like to say) my students from last year to Grade 10. This semester I am teaching 3 classes of CALM (Career and Life Management) and next semester I teach 2 classes of LA 10-1 and 1 class of SS 10-2. It has been really great to not have to deal with the 'September hoopla,' a love-hate time for most teachers. I know my kids, they know me, let's go! I'm feeling great about this year so far.

What lies ahead? A break in October is screaming MAINLAND CHINA so I am going to book a trip to Guilin very soon. A weekend in Bangkok is booked for November (Plans: 10k race, shopping, and eating copious amounts of thai food). Then, Christmas in India- can the travelling get any better?? As for anything else I am playing it by ear. Hoping for some more family/friend visits this year?

Holidays in case anyone has the travel bug!!!!
October 24-November 1
December 19-January 3
February 13-21
April 2-11
May 21-23

I am going to try and update this more regularly... so stay tuned!!!!

Lisa xo

New home, sweet home in Macau... and summer soon!

Hello and happy June!

The past few months have passed by in the blink of an eye and here I am, home in 20 days for the summer!! My plans include spending July in Victoria and then spending 10-14 days in Alberta doing the infamous annual tour at the beginning of August! I am very excited!

Also, I have a new address as I have moved!! We found an amazing apartment, get this... with an oven!! I know.

So, my new address is:

Lisa Ziebart
Rua de Evora
Prince Flower City, Block 1, 7A
Taipa, Macau

Please let me know if you are in Vic or Alberta for the summer so we can meet up!!

Lisa xo

Boracay, Philippines

I find myself extremely spoiled as of late. The present case is the fact that I am in the Philippines for Easter holidays in Boracay. It is spectacular here. So beautiful beyond words. Also, the people make a place and the Filipino people are really amazing. So nice and friendly.

So far we (Cassie and I) have spent our time tanning, writing postcards, reading, eating, taking in the sunset with $1 drinks in hand, enjoying the nightlife, and island hopping. Our island hopping experience is one to remember as this was Cassie's first snorkel experience and also my first jellyfish sting and 'shipwreck' as we will call it.

For one stop we went out and saw some beautiful coral and a lot of coloured fish. I was feeding bread to the fish, having a great time. A couple minutes in I realized that the current was a lot stronger than I thought and so I looked around to find the boat a long ways away. There were 3 of us from the boat that chose to snorkel so everyone else sat on the boat and socialized, not realizing that we were pretty stranded. We tried our hardest to swim back but got absolutely nowhere. We were getting pretty tired and I was getting a little panicked as I didn't think I would need a life jacket (I have a natural buoyancy... my bum).

Our boat guide came to swim up back with us in a group but even he couldn't move!! The Ocean Ranger (think: old man in a little blue wooden canoe) came along and got me to hold onto the back of his boat- and then he proceeded to crash into another boat while I was hanging onto the back! The owners of the commercial 'sailboat' (named the Sea Monster) ordered us to hop onto the boards that balanced the boat. It was then that I felt an immense stinging on my legs!! I was sure something was there! I couldn't see a ting so I tried to swat away whatever it was to no avail. Finally I made it aboard the ship. The stinging stopped and we had no plan. By this time the Ocean Ranger paddled away. Thanks. After about 5 minutes the guys were like "hey, you can swim from here, right?" Umm. My inside voice: "If I could swim from here I wouldn't be on your boat right now buddy!" My outside voice: "Umm, maybe not yet."

Then at last our boat had a genius idea to use the rope. So, they threw the rope with all their might and sure enough, we held onto the rope and found our way to safety. Whew! Meanwhile, no one on our boat had ANY clue that we were in any sort of imminent danger. They were all like "Really? You couldn't swim back? Oh, that's what took you so long!!" Dorks.

As a side note here, the jellyfish are small and invisible. Thankfully the sting wounds were gone within a few hours and life goes on. The sunburn acquired, however, is still prevalent. The curse of the buoyant bum!! I am grateful for Banana Boat Aloe Vera gel.

More stories to come... and pictures too!

Macau Madness

Hi!

It has been a really long time since I last posted. Since the beginning of January we have had yet another holiday: Chinese New Year. I spent my holiday in mainland China with Cassie's incredible family. I spent time in Shenzen, Tianjin, and Beijing. I experienced REAL Chinese fireworks, made authentic delicious dumplings, saw the sights of Beijing, and even walked along the Great Wall (from the Simatai entrance).

On February 22 I ran my 3rd half-marathon in Zhuhai, China- right across the border from Macau. It was the very first run organized and a really great, easy route. I also achieved a pb of 1.59

Last weekend I jumped from the highest commercial bungy jump in the world right here in Macau! I jumped off of the Macau Tower, a drop of 233m. It was incredible and scary and everything all in one.

This week was 'experience week' and since the trip I was supposed to chaperone was cancelled, I took my grade 9 stragglers under my wing and we had a great week. Yesterday we spent time with children with disabilities and it was fabulous. Disabilities are really swept under the rug here, not really acknowledged, so it was fantastic being immersed in their daily routines in school. We did some art activities and played games in the afternoon. I think we all took something from the experience.

Tomorrow I am heading to Hong Kong with a group of teachers here to go on a hike and experience some parts of Hing Kong that I haven't seen yet. Speaking of things that I haven't seen yet, I am also going to Coldplay this week in Hong Kong!! I am so so excited because FINALLY it works to see them live. I can't wait!!

Here is the video that I made from the jump... enjoy!!

Youtube video- bungyyy!!

Happy 2009!

Hello!!!

Happy New Year! May the year 2009 find you happy, healthy, and full of love, as always.

My trip to Indonesia was excellent, and I am happy to be back in Macau (believe it or not!).

Highlights include:

1. The temples of Borobudur, and Prambanan (including the 'hidden' temples) in Yogyakarta. Tip: wear sunscreen and watch out for the paprazzi, because as a foreigner EVERYONE wants a picture.

2. Ubud, Bali. The beautiful countryside and open-air markets make Ubud a definite must. Cheap wood carving, jewellry, art, and spa treatments are everywhere.


3. Legian, Bali. Though the beach is quiet and up the road from crazy Kuta, Legian is a nice getaway. Legian/Kuta is good for shopping and buying everything faux including dvd's, clothing, sunglasses, watches, you name it. Massages/pedicures/manicures are offered everywhere, even right on the beach for next to nothing. Reasonable and nice places for accommodation can be found, but book ahead (2 months) if you are going during a peak time- like Christmas/New Years!

Next times include: Sanur and Tulamben because I did not get in any snorkelling or scuba this time around!

Tomorrow is back to the classroom and I am excited to see the students and hear all about their adventures. In 3 weeks time I leave on the next holiday: Chinese New Year! I know. Life is hard. I am so lucky as I get to experience a tru CNY with Cassie and her family from Northern China. We will also spend some time in Beijing doing all the good old touristy things.

Macau International Half-Marathon! (Half #2)

Hello! Happy December!

This month has been so busy at the school. The time has gone by so quickly and in one week we will be out for Christmas holidays!

Last Sunday I completed my second half-marathon (second in my life and second in 2008!) here in Macau. It was an incredible run. The day was perfect: slight breeze with a bit of sunshine at the end. I ran with 2 ladies from the school, Mona and Yvonne. In comparison to my first half in February I can honestly say that there was a huge difference running with others rather than alone. The motivation is so much greater and the time goes by because you have someone to talk to. In February my finishing time was 2:28:01. This time around my finishing time was 2:03:35!! Crazy! So now I have a new personal best to try and beat. Next on the horizon is a 10k challenge in Hong Kong in February so I am going to try and do more speed training to get under 50 mins. Is it strange that I find all of this so addictive and even... fun?

(again, with food in my mouth. A trait I inherited from my Mother)

Indonesia is just around the corner! I fly out on Sunday into Jakarta. I will then work my way down to Yogyakarta for Christmas and finally, Bali for one week. It will be great to relax, but I often find that 'holidays' are tiring in themselves because there is so much to see and do!! But please, don' take pity on me :)

I am really loving my grade 9s. They are really meeting my high standards as I continually push and challenge them. This past week they presented incredible debates in Language Arts, and carried out running their own businesses at the Christmas Bazaar for our Social Studies project: the ApprenTIS (Play on words for The International School of Macau... I know). On Monday we are giving Booktalks and then I am letting them relax a bit as we compare mediums: The Grinch Cartoon vs. Movie. Busy times, but incredibly fun times!

I hope this time of year finds everyone happy and healthy. Thanks so much for keeping in touch, it means a lot to me! :)

Lisa xo

Kinabalu, Chris Brown and 2-7

I know that I haven't posted in awhile. Again! Here's the update...

At the end of October we had our end of term break where I went to Malaysian Borneo. I do recommend it to anyone! The people are lovely and it really is a beautiful area. I went first to Kota Kinabalu and hiked Mt. Kinabalu with another teacher, Cassie. This was the experience of a lifetime!! The mountain was over 4000 meters and we hiked over 2000 meters of it. It was fantastic! So inspiring! I am doing a write-up for my friends website. It is not up yet, but check out www.travellingbackflip.com

Last weekend was a busy one as Chris Brown was in Macau, and it was my birthday celebration. Chris Brown was a great concert (believe it or not)!! He is a very good entertainer and wow, the boy can dance!!! We had a lot of video ops and it was a teenage-fest, filled mostly with students of mine. 'Highlight' of the night (sarcastic) was having to kick one of my students out of the Bellini Lounge after the concert. Um... 15? Yea, don't think so. She wasn't too happy- but she obliged.


The next night was my birthday party... a Bond 00(2)7 Birthday. It was a great night and everyone dressed up and looked great! There were copious amounts of martini mix and other alcohol and plenty of olives to spare. I give the best dressed award to Foxy Cleopatra, aka Christine.

In other news:

- Saw my first Macau movie, the new Bond. So good! Though I must say I like the first Daniel Craig Bond movie better. Lack of Bond-love perhaps?

- The half-marathon is coming up!! December 7th! Training is going well, and there have been some tough runs. I am looking forward to the challenge.

- I have also registered for the 10k run in Hong Kong in February!! The half was already full. Should be fun!

- Made my first slip up in-class today. Was about to say 'the next class' but in my mind was 'the second class'... and what came out was 'THE SEX...' and that's where I stopped. My kids thankfully have a good sense of humour and we just laughed it off. And my face turned bright red. I do have to give props to my one student who said 'what happens in that class?'. Oh the love of junior high.

Adventures...

I haven't posted in awhile so let me bring you up to speed...

* I booked my Christmas flight to Jakarta, Indonesia. I plan to work my way down to Bali for New Years. Soooo excited. Hoping to visit Yogyakarta and maybe one more stop one the way down, but who knows.

* Tomorrow I leave for Malaysia Borneo where I am going to hike Mt. Kinabalu, the highest peak in South East Asia! The last couple days of the trip will be spent in Kuching where I will indulge in some much needed beach time. Stay tuned for pictures!

* I am trying to take advantage of most of the entertainment that comes to Macau or Hong Kong. Chris Brown is coming to Macau in November so some of us are going to see him, cannot wait!!

* In other news: I found a hair stylist which is so wonderful (well, Cassie did!), I also discovered that the 'import' grocery store sells Happy Planet juice (fresh from Vancouver) so that makes me happy, I have given in and am reading the Stephanie Meyer 'twilight' series which is turning out better than expected, the half-marathon training is going really well (6-week countdown), AND I am loving surfthechannel.com for providing me with the newest Grey's Anatomy episodes (for free!).

Life is sweet, no complaints!

xo

L

(Happy Halloween!!!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello!!

October 12th... big shout out to Miss Sarah Kelman who is celebrating a birthday today!! Happy birthday Sarah!!!

Also a happy belated birthday to my Dad as he celebrated his birthday on October 8th. Happy birthday Dad, it was great to talk to you!!! :)

Thanksgiving is always a time to reflect on the important things in life and I am definitely feeling an overwhelming sense of being grateful, thankful and happy etc. all at once. I have had a few months to reflect on all of my experiences from last year and I do see that everything was necessary in order for me to be sitting here today. Things do happen for a reason and thoughts do become things. The law of attraction has an enormous power on us so in saying that it is always good to check-in to ensure that what is being attracted is really what you want most. I do feel as though I am living a completely different life here in Macau, but it is so much more positive and productive in every sense. I feel as though I am exactly where I need to be right now and I just hope the same for YOU.

Above all, I am so thankful to have wonderful people in my life who make the effort to keep in touch, even if it is in small ways, it still matters! My endless efforts of becoming a better long-distance friend are somewhat paying off, but I know I need to try harder. So, thanks to all of you for being you! :)

Lisa xo