Sunday 25 January 2009

Bali on a shoestring...

For the last few days I've been in Bali. Well, I was here for 2 days before Malang (where my laptop was stolen), and have come back here for a few days after.

I first stayed in the Kota area, which is the main tourist area. It is packed with bars and clubs that stay open until the early hours, catering to all tastes. It is also full of loud Australians. I get the feeling of a more chilled out (and much cheaper) Asian version of Ibiza or something. But without the drugs...

They have market stalls selling everything that a tourist could need, from sunscreen to large wooden penises...













I have no idea...

When I returned from Malang I went to Ubud, also on Bali. Ubud is much more chilled out. My room, while right in the center of Ubud looked out onto a rice field and you could hardly tell you were in a settled area...

There isn't too much to do in Ubud. Unless you like shopping and eating. The shopping there is very varied. All very artistic, locally produced stuff. In many ways Ubud is an interior decorators dream location. All kinds of art, from paintings to sculptures are to be found there. Also lots of clothes and local cloth and things like that.

The food in Ubud is awesome! I ate somewhere different for every meal, and was never once disappointed at the quality of the food. The serving size leaves a little to be desired, but I guess that is good for me! ;^)

The only real tourist attraction in Ubud (apart from all of the art galleries) is the monkey forest. I went there, it was cool. Lots of monkeys running around. You could feed them bananas if you wanted. Lots of photo opportunities to be had. The atmosphere of calm in the forest was also quite touching. Even with the shrieks of the monkeys all around...

I'm sure Bali has much more to offer (I haven't even mentioned the massages yet), but my funds have been running too low for me to take full advantage of the options available to me...

I'd quite like to come back sometime, possibly with a friend, and probably with a lot more money....

Wednesday 21 January 2009

The aftermath of being robbed...

In my blog from a few days ago I mentioned that there were reporters present when I reported my laptop missing to the police. Rumour has it that I was featured in 3 papers, with my picture in 2 of them. However this was the only one that I saw, and I made it on to page 2! Pretty big news in Malang!This is quite handy. All I have to do now to get slightly cheaper prices from the locals is to show them this news-paper report...

On a slightly related matter I bumped into the guy that was sat next to me on the bus on the way to Malang when I had my laptop stolen. He told me that he had had his camera stolen as well! Seems like there were thieves operating on the bus! Bastards! Unless he was lying and he actually took the laptop and told me that to hide the fact... He was quite forthcoming about his details though... I took a picture with him just in case...
Does this look like the face of an honest man?

PS. Could any Indonesian speakers translate what the news article says for me?

I got a translation... The transcript is as follows...

trev says:
you should do a full translation
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
lol
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
u want every single line translated?
trev says:
erm... will it take long?
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
i suppose not
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
but the rest are not that funny
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
ok here goes
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
malang
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
be careful when u take long range bus
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
just like trevor howland, 29, an english tourist who lost his laptop which was kept in his bag when he went on a intercity interprovince bus
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
his case was reported to the police in malang, daytime yesterday
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
to Radar, the guy who works as an Atm machine designher, he confessed that his laptop which was bought in his home country was stolen when he was on his way from denpasar to malang on the bus po restu mulya
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
interestingly
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
the thief only stole his laptop which was an Asus type eoc 901
trev says:
lol, they got that wrong
[It is an Eee Pc 901]
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
the case which was made of thick cloth was replaced with lipatan kardus
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
i'm not so sure what that means
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
mayb mag or something
trev says:
it was a magazine
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
from the outside it looked as if his laptop was still there
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
but actually it wasn't a laptop but a mag
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
he suspected that the person who sat beside him at chair no 7 was the thief
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
the guy with "cepak" ( idk what) hair seems to be very suspicious
[That is the guy in the photo above... I don't remember saying he looked suspicious! Funnily enough I showed the guy the newspaper report when I met him... lol]
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
"he didn't talk much and when i woke up, he wasn't there anymore," said trevor
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
The brown haired alien said that during his journey, he slept from around 1am-3am
trev says:
brown haired alien???? lmao
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
i realized that my laptop was already gone when i reached terminal arjosari, this morning" said trevor in a not so smooth indonesian.
[This is just a lie.... There is no way I was speaking Indonesian!]
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
lol
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
yea
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
bule berambut pirang
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
pirang is brown
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
rambut hair
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
bule means alien
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
as in someone not from the country
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
lol
trev says:
lol
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
His girlfriend in malang sent him to the police station
trev says:
lol
[Desy will be annoyed about this one, no wonder she was embarrassed at the article!]
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
The laptop which is estimated to be around Rupiah 5 million was kept carefully in the bag and put under the seat when he was on his journey
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
the moment he stepped down from the bus and looked inside the bag, he started suspecting becoz the shape of the laptop was not as flat as the surface of laptops
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
after opening the bag, it was proven that there was a mag inside the black laptop bag
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
the problem is not the price of the laptop but the photos of his journey and his notes/journals of his journey around asia
[I definitely told them that I had all of my pictures separate from the laptop, but they made it sound worse then it was, so it is all good!]
٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶yingoying٩(●̮̮̃●̃)۶٩(•̮̮̃ •̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ says:
the end

Tuesday 20 January 2009

Some of my core beliefs

  • Weird things happen all the time.
  • You can't explain all the weird things, so probably best not to try.
  • Anyone that thinks that they have all the answers to why the weird things happen is wrong.
  • People are often happy believing their wrong beliefs... leave them be.
  • Unless they try to convert you to their weird beliefs, in which case it is open season.
  • You reap what you sow.
  • We all create our own private versions of heaven and hell with our lives. It is a choice which we live in though.
  • We are all changing all the time (in fact everything is), so any attempt to keep things the way they are will fail, often with very bad results.
  • Bearing in mind that we are all changing all the time, we can chose on a moment by moment basis whether we will change for the better or worse...
  • As long as we are changing for the better more then 50% of the time we will be ok in the end.
  • If life throws us an opportunity we should seize it with both hands. We never regret the things we do, but we do regret the things that we don't do.

I think that is about it... I may update this as I go on...

Monday 19 January 2009

The Truth...

I'm a big fan of the truth. It infuriates some of my friends. I insist on telling people the full truth, even if it will hurt them in the short term. Well.. this isn't absoluteley true... I do have some tact...

However, the fact remains that I prefer to know the truth in situations, and I also prefer for other people to accept the truth in their situations... I truly believe that the truth will set you free...

I have no problems with people believeing all kinds of crazy things, I'm fairly open minded in this respect. In fact one of my core beliefs is that weird things happen sometimes, that are either unexplainable, or not worth going to the effort of explaining. However, when someone believes in something that can be proven, with physical evidence, to be true... I have very little patience for this.

I also see the truth as being a challenge to us all... Like when people don't want to tell someone something bad about themselves. I see the truth in this case as being a challenge to the person to step up and take responsibility. Sure, someone may be hurt by the truth, but I see this as being preferable to them continuing to delude themselves. An example of this might be telling someone that they have bad breath... It may hurt someone to hear this in the short term, but in the long term... if they step up to the plate and do something about it (rather then just licking their wounds and feeling sorry for themselves) then they can become better people in the long run...

So come on, be truthful... what do you think of the blog? I can take it.... ;^)

Sunday 18 January 2009

Losing my.... laptop

Have you ever felt an absolute rage that you just couldn't do anything about?

I have...

My story started last night when I got on the bus from Bali to Malang in Indonesia... The bus set off at 6pm, I didn't think too much about it. I had my usual setup of 2 bags with me, one full of books, and the other containing miscellaneous stuff, as well as my laptop. There was some random guy sat next to me. I didn't think too much about him either, apart from wishing that I had a pair of seats to myself.

I set myself up for the journey, read my book for a while, slept a bit, and then woke up at about 10pm. I thought I'd write a few blogs while I had some time, so I got out my PC and got to work, typing away to myself. Then I watched Anchorman. I love that film...

I was always slightly weary about getting my laptop out on bus journeys at the start of my travels, but time, and repeated journeys without incident made me a bit laissez fare about the whole situation.

Anyway, we stopped at about midnight and had some food (free buffet... travelling in Indonesia is pretty cool), and then got back on the road again... I blogged a little more and then thought I'd get some sleep, so I packed all of my things away, including my laptop in its case into its bag, then tried to get some sleep. This was at around 1am.

The next thing I know it is about 3.30 and someone is shouting "Malang, Malang..", so I get up, using my superior sense of intuition to detect that we are at my destination, pick up my bags and get off the bus. I get my backpack from under the bus, and then start going through my bags to check that everything is there. As I'm doing this the bus is pulling away...

It doesn't take me long to discover that my laptop case, instead of having a shiny white laptop in it, has an old magazine...

To say the least I'm pissed off. The bus is driving a few hundred meters down the road... probably with my laptop still on board in someone elses bag, and here I am powerless to stop it.
My first thought is to call the police and get them to stop the bus at the next town somehow. This hope is dashed when one of the people I befriended on the bus informs me that the police are closed until about 7am....

I call my Malang contact and tell her the news. In the meantime I'm sorting out a taxi to my hostel, and saying goodbye to the acquaintance from the bus....

Eventually I get to the hostel, wake them all up because I'm 2 hours earlier then I thought I would be. And tell them what has happened. They tell me the same as the girl from the bus. The police are not available until 7am, and any thought I have of trying to track down the bus myself and exact some vigilante revenge are soon put to bed... as well as me, as I try to get a some sleep with all these thought of impotent rage flowing through my head...

Surprisingly I managed to get some sleep somehow, and woke up to the news that my friend was at the hostel (it is owned by a friend of hers). We plan out the day... including a visit to the police station and set off.

After the mornings activities it is time to go to the police station, so we head there, myself, my friend (Desy) and the owner of the hostel who is her best friend. The whole reporting the incident to the police turns into a bit of a circus... First of all it is just us 3 and 2 police guys, with my 2 friends translating for me...

Then, suddenly 2 guys turn up and start taking loads of photos of us, and especially of the laptop bag with the magazine in, which I kept for evidence... Then one of the new guys interviewed me, another guy showed up and also started taking photos... The upshot of all of this is that I am going to appear in a local paper... It seems that a foreigner in Malang is big news, especially when he has something stolen! I made sure to give the reporter my blog address, so hopefully I will get some publicity in Malang, and he has already commented in my cbox! (see left)

One of the police guys is clearly trying to get in the action, and we end up with lots of photos being taken of him and me and the magazine. Finally I decide to get my camera out and take a picture of everyone there... like it is some kind of family outing or something...
From left to right we have the main police-man, the reporter that didn't speak English, the reporter that turned up late, me, the police man that loved the camera, and the reporter that could speak English...

Friday 16 January 2009

Queuing...

I had a realisation recently... Maybe even an epiphany... Or maybe it was just a thought.

Anyway, whatever it was it had to do with the humble queue. It seems like the British are obsessed with queueing up. It is almost an automatic reaction. We see a queue, we get to the back of it...

I think this had a lot to do with the collapse of the Northern Rock (a building society in the UK). As soon as a few people panicked and wanted their savings back a small queue formed, and then the British, being the British just joined on the end of the queue, and before you know it you have queues round blocks and a run on the banks... I bet if you asked the people in the queue, half off the didn't even have Northern Rock accounts!

But the British obsession with queuing isn't all bad. You see, I think it lies at the very heart of out democracy. You see; in a queue everyone is equal, implicitly. If you arrived last, then you get served last. It doesn't matter how rich you are, or how important you think you are, in a queue you just wait your turn...

So the equality of everyone in Britain (as in a Democracy, one man = one vote), is enshrined in the very attitudes of the population. I have a suspicion that those countries that don't really understand queuing, and we've all been in one (as British people we are infuriated when we see someone cut in the front of the queue and also as British people we politely don't say anything for fear of offending someone...), have a weaker grasp on democracy and the idea that everyone should be equal then those fellow countries where a queue is sacred...

Actually, on reflection, I think it was just a thought...

Wednesday 14 January 2009

Chocolate & Cinnamon Edible Body Scrub

I found this recipe for edible body scrub... Can't think why anyone would want that, but I thought I'd share....

6 tsp cinnamon
6 cardamom pods
1 vanilla pod
6 tblsp good quality cocoa powder (Charbonnel et Walker or similar)
3 tblsp honey
1/2 cup apricot or almond oil
2 cups brown sugar

mix cinnamon, cardamom and vanilla in a few teaspoons of water and heat. stir in cocoa, honey and oil until smooth and glossy. add brown sugar.
massage into skin all over, leave on for 5 minutes, rub and rinse. smile!

Or I'm sure that if you don't have any water you could find some other way to remove it...

Tuesday 13 January 2009

Dancing fish...

I was at Seaworld the other day, and they played some music just before they fed the fish...

I'm not sure how the fish knew, but they seemed to be dancing to the music...

Check it out...


Incidentally, I thoroughly reccomend the Jakarta Seaworld to any visitors to Indonesia... If you can find it (they don't seem to be strong on signs here) it is a very good afternoon out, and located in Ancol park, which has lots of other attractions to see...

Monday 12 January 2009

Becoming a thrill seeker...

I'm not sure quite when it happened...

When I was a younger chap I was never the type to take a risk. That's not actually true... But if I decided not to do something, then I wouldn't do it...

And I often decided not to do things.

I was watching Yes Man the other day, and it suddenly occurred to me... I say yes a LOT now! At some point in the last couple of years I have become the kind of person, that not only embraces new experiences, but seems to seek them out! If I go to a theme park i have to go on the scariest rides, I seem compelled to find new experiences, and have new adventures in all the parts of the world that I go to.

I can't even walk into a mall with a 7 storey slide without feeling a sudden and compelling need to slide down it!

I guess that the challenge is to find bigger and bigger thrills... Paragliding, surfing, sailing, scuba diving, parachuting, bungee jumping.... just to give me that adrenaline rush...

Seems like Australia could be quite an exciting place....

Thursday 1 January 2009

2009.... a whole New Year!

Ok.... It seems like everyone is blogging some deep and meaningful new years blog... so like the sheep that I am I thought I'd write one of my own!

First of all I guess that I should look back on the year that has just passed...

I always had a strange feeling that 2008 was going to be a good year for me. 2007 was kind of a transitional year, (I have to admit that this was at least in part down to facebook,) I was chatting to lots of people through facebook, started going out a bit more, meeting and dating women (something that had never really happened in my life before), I gave up weed for a large part of the year (before one of the aforementioned women got me back onto it) and towards the end of the year I started approaching women in bars (something which I had never done previously, and which is still a pretty daunting prospect for me).

So with all of these things coming together in my life I felt a real buzz of energy coming up to 2008, and had a really good feeling that things were going to continue to get better...

With the new year last year I made some changes to my life. I stopped the pot pretty much, I started dancing salsa (why did I wait so long?), I started going out even more, and I started planning the next phase of my life... I call this phase Traveling...

The stopping pot was essential I think. I have nothing against the drug, and I know people that if they didn't have it would be unable to relax, but for me it just sapped my motivation to leave the house and talk to people. This also enabled me to start going out to various salsa nights, and going out to see my friends more often. The sociability that this gave me also let to me getting more dates, and enjoying myself even more!

The other part of the awesomeness of 2008 was of course the setting out around the world to go travelling. The fact that I had my salsa to give the travelling some shape, and a network of people around the world to meet from facebook gave me further purpose and has helped to make my travels unique and always fun. I have seen some amazing things in the last 6 months of 2008. I dived the Xenobia off the coast of Cyprus, I saw the Pyramids in Egypt from the back of a camel, I hiked in the Himalayas wearing a pair of beat up trainers, I saw Angkor Wat, I've dived off Koh Phi Phi and I've seen some awesome citys and met a really cool bunch of people while doing it.

Now as for 2009... I'm also feeling pretty good about that. And my hunches often turn out right... I'll be spending most of it in Australia... back in the world of work, as my cash will run out soon... I have a few people to meet there... as well as one special girl that i can't wait to meet in real life... you know who you are...

All in all i think my life is going to get better and better. I told Kathryn that life seems to be like a perabola these days, for her 2008 was the bottom point... for me I think it was 2007, but the line keeps on getting steeper and steeper, and life keeps on getting better and better...

So here's to 2009. May it bring you all happiness, and everything that you need...