is it m-o-n-g-o-u-a?

 journal  2 Responses »
Apr 292010
 

While I was busy being jabbed by the GP1 the other day, I received a phone call from the Embassy of Mongolia. Cue wonder, and mild worry that something was awry with my visa application.

When I returned the call, I was greeted with a simple, blank "Hello…?"

Not entirely sure I hadn't misdialled, I gave my name and said I was returning a call, about my visa application. This was greeted with silence. And then a quick and hurried conversation in the background beginning with the phrase "A woman! She says is about visas!" and ending with my being transferred.

Rinse and repeat the greeting followed by silence. This time there's also a bit more silence, and then the comment, "Riiiiiiiiiiiight…. Um… Oh! This is about Susan, yes?"

I had already given my name three times by this point, but what's one more? Thankfully fourth time's the charm, and we established that the visa application fees changed six weeks ago, but of course websites are never updated swiftly so I'd short-changed them. Once we'd established that, and I'd promised to put in a note to explain who the extra $35 was for, all was well. I've since posted off the promised money order, with the promised note.2

What's the bet it gets applied to Susan's application?

  1. only one more to go and I'll have the whole rabies set! The pre-exposure set, at least. [↩]
  2. Incidentally, that's the second time I've made out a postal money order to the Embassy of Mongolia. Each time, the postal worker in question had Asian ancestry AND HAD NO IDEA HOW TO SPELL MONGOLIA. What the…? [↩]

so many places to visit, and re-visit; so little rec leave

 journal  9 Responses »
Mar 252010
 

People, what is wrong with you? I tell you I'm going to Mongolia, and you make no comment?1 Perhaps it's because I put it right at the bottom of the post, and very few of you made it that far. Here, let me fix that.

I'M GOING TO MONGOLIA.

Travel insurance is purchased, flights are almost entirely paid for, and today I jaunted off to the doctor to discuss vaccinations. Did you know that Hep A + B, if you get the right number of shots at the right time, is lifetime protection? I did not know this. But it is good, because it means I don't have to have the jabs (more importantly: pay for them) again. The bad news is that the doc specifically and strenuously recommended the Fluvax, so I coughed over my $25 for said Fluvax despite my doubts as to the value of said vaccination. What's worse, though, is that I could have had this particular vaccine through work for free just yesterday. It's all about timing, people. And I have an arm that is aching just slightly and a wallet that's $25 lighter to remind me of that.

Of course I'm not going for a little while yet, so you'll have plenty of travel natter to endure before then ;)

Reactions so far have mostly been shock and bewilderment, sprinkled with a few responses of wide-eyed awe. Definitely outweighed by the shock and bewilderment, though.

And just as I was typing this up, the travel show on TV started a flick about the last country in the world to allow television, the only country whose capital city doesn't have any traffic lights, the one country in the world to officially rank gross national happiness higher than gross national product, the wondrous Bhutan. And now I want to go back! The agony of travelling: visiting a place ticks it off the to-visit list, but only to put it on the to-come-back-to list.

  1. Those of you who did comment are of course exempt from my present astonishment. [↩]

what the heart wants, the head fears

 journal  4 Responses »
Mar 222010
 

This evening, after a flurry of emails throughout the day between the travel agent and myself, and many tweakings and confirmings of dates, I am in possession of a quote for an entire overseas holiday. Flights, accommodation, transfers, and insurance.

And about ten minutes ago I had a moment of sheer, blindness-inducing terror, because I couldn't possibly actually go through with it.

But you know what? It's simply not true. (Dear Brain Chemistry: I'm onto you. Stop it!)

I would have the same jitters no matter where I was planning to visit, no matter how standard the destination, because I have a head that likes to throw all sorts of catastrophes and definitely-going-to-go-wrongs at me regardless of reality or probability.1

And at the end of the day, I don't want to waste what little time off I get on holidays that don't take off the top of my skull and reboot my soul. I want to see geography that makes my heart swell with awe, and to witness cultures and ways of life that break my expectations. I want to see mountains, and steppes, and deserts.

So yes. Tomorrow I'm putting a deposit on my flights, and booking my leave from work.

And I'm going to Mongolia.2

  1. And because I have a physical aversion to spending large amounts of money in one bank-account-emptying swoop, let's not overlook that charming little neurosis. [↩]
  2. Although I can't promise I won't have a few more freakouts between now and actually jumping on the plane. [↩]

living in a hotel would be kinda cool

 journal, shadow queen, writing life  12 Responses »
Mar 082009
 

Dear Melbourne:

Just stop it. Seriously. I am moving here, in fact I've now officially arrived, so you can stop all the attempts to tear yourself off the face of the earth in order to avoid me, and just settle down already. I realise that my bad luck field might make you anxious, but we're just going to have to learn to live with each other. Now behave, or you won't get to meet Spawn.

No thanks
Me

–

It occurred to me, somewhere on the Hume Highway, that I should really be taking photos of my drive south, so that you could all live vicariously through me. Then it occurred to me that my photography skills probably weren't up to making a hundred photos of various sun-scorched (and sometimes fire-blackened) hills and plains remarkable enough to be worthwhile. Plus, you know, I was driving.

While I've been busy reshuffling the dayjob aspects of my life, the internet has been busy publicising my book, which is very gracious of you all. A quick round-up:

I'm the featured writer this month at Allen & Unwin's "Writers on Writing", where I talk a little bit about writing, and the writing of Shadow Queen in particular.

Recently, Gary Kemble interviewed me about the writing of second novels. As I understand it, the interview is available free to members of the Queensland Writers Centre. Once the QWC have archived their copy of the interview, I'll look into posting my portion of it online for the rest of you (provided I remember).

Jeff Vandermeer graciously featured Shadow Queen over at Omnivoracious — here's hoping his instinct proves true.

And finally, Trudi Canavan unknowingly advertises my book on her blog — see something familiar in that first picture? Thanks to Dymocks @ Tuggeranong for putting my book right next to hers ;)

Also, in hunting down the links for the above round-up (because I am forgetful and did not write them down properly) I realised that a google search of my name now results in over 5 pages of…me. (It could well be more, but that's when I stopped scrolling and started narrowing the search terms, something I've never had to do before.)

That's … kinda staggering.

search terms

 journal  9 Responses »
Dec 062008
 

It's time for that always fun not-quite-a-meme, analysing the search terms that brought people to the site.

STOP 0x0000007e (or some variant thereof)

Ah, the dreaded blue screen of death. Sorry, people, I can't help you on this one, other than to say I share your pain. This is the BSoD error I'm getting lately, but I haven't figured out the source yet. Initially I suspected iTunes, since it started happening shortly after the installation of iTunes 8, but a rollback to iTunes 7 hasn't fixed the problem. The Microsoft website tells me it has something to do with an unhandled thread, and the second parameter should tell me everything. (It doesn't. YMMV.)

i scoff at myself

Welcome to my world. I do this regularly. I do not actually advise this practice too often, however; it can quickly spiral out of all control. Apparently I'm not as funny as I think.

chippolatas

How this got you to my website, I truly don't know. I don't even know what chippolatas are. Who talked about chippolatas on my blog?

parts of a damselfly

You won't find many scientific descriptions of damselfly anatomy round these parts, I'm sorry. I'd suggest a more specific search term, actually: <em>damselfly anatomy</em> might get you what you want.

marxist superhero

Oh yes, that's me. Truly. (Okay, tongue firmly in cheek, yes. Still.)

what is spider season in australia?

Ha! The answer to this, my friends, is ALL YEAR LONG. Doesn't matter what time of year, there's a spider in Australia that's active, and dangerous. That's the way we roll round these parts.

The slightly more complicated answer is that in mating season, some spiders become a little more nomadic, and thus a lot more common — funnel webs in particular, which I'm guessing is what led you here. White tails aren't common where I am, but they're another one to keep an eye on, although there are rumours that it's not actually the white tail causing all those necrotic wounds, it just happens to be blamed for them. Don't know. The trick is not to get bitten at all.

The even more complicated answer is that that enormous spider in your house which looks like it could chew your leg off while you're asleep is only a huntsman and really isn't interested in you so much as a nice, dry place out of the rain. It's the teeny ones you need to worry about. And the funnel webs.

how to add up hours

No idea how this got you here, but it's something the girls at work have an awful lot of trouble with. I'm guessing it's something to do with the mental jag between operating in base-six instead of base-ten.

novels set in bhutan

There's not so many of these, at least not that I know of. There's "A Stray Dog", a story about a stray dog in Bhutan from the dog's point of view, and there's "A Baby In A Backpack To Bhutan".

There's also a movie, called "Travellers & Magicians", which is not only set in Bhutan but is made by the Bhutanese — I can highly recommend that.

photos!

 journal  Comments Off
Oct 242008
 

Some little while ago (by which I mean I forget precisely when), my cousin travelled to Africa, and spent some time volunteering at an orphanage. These are two of my absolute favourite photos of her time helping out at the Kilimani Nursery.

Is it the shorts? Is it the single shoe? Is it the way he has his hands folded? Or is it the sublime expression on his face?

Is it the shorts? Is it the single shoe? Is it the way he has his hands folded? Or is it the sublime expression on his face?

I utterly adore this image

I utterly adore this image

These are the sorts of photos which make me spend all my money on travelling, sooner or later.

why, yes, it is all about me. isn't it?

 journal  6 Responses »
Aug 202008
 

I'm feeling somewhat whimsical and philosophical this morning, so, a discussion question: love at first sight — does it exist?

Me, like all good fence-sitters, I can't quite decide — but if pressed I would have to say nope, it's wishful thinking and retrospective and hindsight.

I've certainly seen and experienced "like at first sight" (which is no small thing, I think), and there are people I've met who became family in that very first instant, even if I didn't always know it at the time. (I can be inattentive at the best of times. It's a feature, I tell you, not a flaw.)

Discuss, muse, theorise… basically have at it. Challenge me. Give me stuffs to ponder.

Or, alternatively, my cousin is on the look-out for stories of when you were away from home (100-200 words, moral or lesson optional). So if you find the concept of love at first sight far too boring, tell me one of your travel stories. Bonus points for those who can combine the two! (And by bonus points I mean, er, you win nothing particular.)

i thought i needed a girl of each kind, one for the body and one for the mind

 journal  9 Responses »
May 082008
 

It turns out that hiking in high altitude actually does expand your capacity. I know, shocking news, isn't it? In a strange twist of fate that had most everyone I know gaping at me, I left the car at home and walked to work. In the end it only took ten minutes longer than driving, because driving involves three sets of traffic lights (or more precisely two sets of traffic lights, one of them twice) and hunting for a park and walking back, all of which makes it a highly inefficient process. Except when raining. I strongly suspect my new-found athleticism will not extend to rainy days, and not just because I cannot arrive at work looking like a drowned rat.

In other news, I am already planning my next trip OS (I'm told by reliable, if not always reputable, sources it's the only real cure for post-travel funk). So far I'm thinking the Inca Trail, but Mongolia is high on the list as well. What say you?

If money were no object, what would be at the top of your list?

the land of the … "rolling pin"

 journal  Comments Off
May 032008
 

I date my friendship with J from the moment I pointed out this sign, pinned to the wall of the bank in Bhutan's national capital, Thimphu:1

Some things, you simply have to share, after all.

And in a country decorated extensively by renderings, in paint and wood, of male genitalia… well, there's simply no way to ignore the phrase's many meanings.

  1. Please forgive the poor quality of the photo. I was laughing too hard to keep my hands steady and had the flash turned off in an attempt to be discreet. [↩]
 Older Entries  Newer Entries