Monday, 6 April 2009

C is for Chile: Part 6 - Region XV & Region I

A welcoming sign

Previous: Part 5 - World's Highest Everything

My 13 hours bus ride to Iquique in Chile started in La Paz at 7am. The morning felt slow, the streets were quiet without much traffic or pedestrians and the air refreshingly cold, but it was a different scene at the bus terminal. There were already a horde of people inside the terminal when I arrived, most were sitting on the bench wrapped in blankets, some were strolling aimlessly from one bus counter to another.

I also noticed that not everyone had luggage, instead they looked and smelled as if they had spent the night on the bench with the one blanket they possessed, I suspect that the bus terminal also doubled as homeless shelter, hence the activity comparing to downtown.

Chilean Border Post

The journey was smooth on a nicely paved road and a bus with proper heating - hardly a surprise since it was a Chilean bus. The road to Chile took us past isolated farming communities where pet llamas roamed like wild chicken, the bus had to break hard several times so mama llamas and kiddos could cross the road without incident.

Mt Quisiquisini, Lauca National Park

Crossing the border was easy, the Chilean border post is located about 20 minutes from the Bolivian one, smack bang on the edge of Lauca National Park, probably the most beautiful border post I've ever been through. Just before reaching the border post, emerald coloured Lake Chungará with an imposing Mt. Quisiquisini came to view, creating a picture perfect welcome to Chile for me.

Chile has strict quarantine law which means all the luggage aboard the bus must go through x-ray to scan for fruits, meats, dairy products and possibly drugs. I learnt that you can test positive for cocaine if you chewed coca leaf or drank mate de coca (coca tea), I was glad I didn't buy a cup of mate de coca to keep warm while waiting for the bus back in La Paz.

Volcan Chungara, Lauca National Park

Lauca National Park is gorgeous, the highway to the cost snake through the dry and rocky plateaus, with dark green alpine scrubs sprouting all over, and looming at the background, the snow capped Andes cordillera. Its wildlife was plentiful too, I saw bright pink Chilean flamingos frolicking in the lake and group of llama lookalike vicuñas grazing on the pasture along the highway.

As the bus journeyed on from the Altiplano to the arid coastal region, the scenery changed, the colour brown gradually replacing green, and sharp edged mountain terrain became sand dune-like hills. It was fascinating yet I couldn't keep my eyes open, I fell asleep the whole way till we got to the first stop at the town of Arica, bummer!

Playa Bellavista, Iquique

Iquique is a resort town with great surf, is one of the world's best paragliding spot, has a couple of casinos, but the thing that impressed me most was the sight of the ocean. I could spend hours watching the seabirds dancing with the sea while looking for goodies brought in by every incoming wave, listening to the roar of the mighty Pacific Ocean, observing water-prints left by the wave on the beach, watching fishermen throwing their lines into the sea and body-boarders lying on their boards hoping to catch a good wave.

I've missed the sight and the salty smell of the sea while travelling inland.

Playa Brava, Iquique

Apart from the beaches, Iquique has a pretty town square called Baquedano, around the square stood several characteristic Georgian style buildings (see pic), the Casino Español, a mercado central (centre market) and a couple of malls. The Georgian style buildings were erected during the late 19th Century following a nitrate mining boom, nowadays they just sat there looking their age, bringing an old world charm to the town.

Georgian style near the Banquedano

After visiting Bolivia, I got used to the idea on how I could travel around a country without worrying much on budgeting, not anymore! Even though I was warned that Chile is expensive, I didn't think it was that expensive, for example, the exact same Pachamama (Earth Mother) stone statue cost 5 Bolivianos/USD0.80c in La Paz but cost 2,000 Peso/USD4 in Chile. To be fair it is still cheap-ish by Western standard, I stayed at a decent 3 stars hotel for USD50 and enjoyed a very good seafood meal for USD30.

Comparing to Argentina and Bolivia, the banknotes of Chilean Peso are issued in 6 denomination, starting at 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000 and 20,000, I had to learn new counting words quickly and more importantly, their true monetary value.

Next: Part 7 - Region II

Monday, 30 March 2009

B is for Bolivia: Part 5 - World Highest Everything

Piper posing at Ville de la Luna, La Paz

Previous: Part 4 - Road to Potosi

For once in this trip, I've decided to treat myself by buying a plane ticket from Sucre to La Paz. Sucre, Bolivia's constitutional capital, is the closest airport I can get to from Potosí and to complete this experience, I also hired a taxi to get me to Sucre.

The taxi should take 2 hours instead of 4 in a bus, the ride cost BOB160 (BOB7 = USD1, BOB = Bolivianos) and I was willing to pay that just to avoid the bus. The taxi picked me up at 10am, right on time, and the driver was driving like an F1-nabe but he was steady at the wheels so I felt safe even though the road was winding - the road by the way was paved, hurray!

At our snack stop half way before Sucre, my driver told me, Sucre no es pasa... My Spanish was not good enough to fully understand what he was trying to tell me and for 10 minutes I can only focus on the words I know, Sucre + No... Surely they cant block off the ONLY road from Potosí to Sucre, no government would do that, right?

Not in Bolivia!

Stuck!

The road was indeed blocked off! All because of a motor rally! Unsurprisingly, my petrol-head driver got very excited, he asked me to stay in the car while he ran off to watch the show. Fortunately for me, the rally ended an hour earlier at 3pm, I was able to hold off an extra 3 hours on food and water rationing (so I can avoid the stinky baño publico, public toilets) till we get into Sucre. Later, I learn that road blocks are common in Bolivia, for my remaining time there I always ensure I have enough food and water with me.

The flight to La Paz was delayed for one hour, but it was ok, this is Bolivia. While in the air, the scenery on terra firma was beautiful; I could see isolated Andean communities in the middle of nowhere, on top of a mountain range and the roads leading to these villages are narrow and winding, like a serpent. From a distance, I could also the see biggest salt lake in the world, Salar de Uyuni, it was white as snow but flat as, er, a lake.

La Paz with Mt Illimani at the background

La Paz is a city of 1.5 millions, it lies on a small valley surrounded by rather steep hills. These hills caught my attention because they are covered by countless square dwellings - most are made of brown bricks and it seems that the dwellers didn't bother painting their houses, the dwellings have the same colour as the land, which is fascinating. As a result, the slopes around La Paz appeared square-ish from a distance.

Public transports in downtown La Paz

La Paz is also a city that is full with drivers that like to toot their horns and awful smelling fume puff out of the many public transports sprawling around the city; its streets are very steep, I wonder what do they know when they say the world's steepest street is in Dunedin (New Zealand), I say come to La Paz!

Mercado de las Brujas, La Paz

Part of the city is quite charming, especially the area around Mercado de las Brujas (Witches Market). There, you can see dried up llamas foetuses on sale for a spell, candies for offering to the Pachamama (Earth Mother), and various magic potions which I didn't bother finding out about. The "witches" also sell touristy items such as ceramics, beanies, beads, bright colours weaving, belts, water bottle holders, dolls, bags, hammocks, ponchos, jerseys, and silver jewelries. The Aymara ladies that tend the stores were friendly, they always address me as amiga (friend). Friend... I like it.

Crossing the Estrecho de Tiquina, Lake Titicaca

The bus journey from La Paz to the lakeside town of Copacabana (the one in Rio copied its name) by Lake Titicaca, took 4 hours even though it doesn't look far from a map. At one point, our bus has to go on a barge in order to cross the lake from one side of the road to the other, just to reach Copacabana. We humans have to buy ticket to get across on separate boats. The lake was brilliant blue and the snow caped Andes made a nice backdrop. It is huge, I couldn't see the other end, which lies Perú, from where I stood.

Isla de Sol, Lake Titicaca

The return bus journey left Copacabana at 6pm, the sun set soon after and darkness fell, I could see stars glittering brilliantly in the night sky. The bus ride was freezing cold, they either can't afford heating or don't believe in it. After 4 hours, I was glad to be back in the hotel standing under a hot shower, not to mention a much needed visit to the baño. Now I know why the local ladies always carry a blanket-like wrap with them like a fashion statement!

I've broken my world highest everything record by just visiting Bolivia:

  • World highest Capital city - La Paz, 3660m above sea level
  • World highest lake - Titicaca, 3800m
  • World highest island - Isla del Sol (Sun Island), with a peak of 4076m - The Incas believed this is the birthplace of the sun.
  • World highest city - Potosí, 4090m

To give you an idea: Mt Kilimanjaro of Tanzania is 5882m, Mt Kinabalu of Malaysia is 4095m and Aoraki/Mt Cook of New Zealand is 3755m. In a way, I appreciate that I could just jump into a bus to reach these heights without too much of a hassle.

Christopher Colombus statue, La Paz

(Cristoforo Colombo, 12 Ottobre 1492, Navigare necesse est vivere non necesse, it is necessary to sail, it is not necessary to live)

Travelling in Bolivia was a photographer's dream and definitely quite challenging for me - from battling altitude sickness, surviving dust buses, dealing with delays, eating llama tongue (yuck), basically everything that tested my senses and patience, without a doubt it is not a place I will forget in a hurry.

Next: Part 6 - Region XV & Region I

Friday, 27 March 2009

B is for Bolivia: Part 4 - The Road to Potosí

Cerro Rico (Rich Mountain), Potosí

Previous: Part 3 - Salta

My journey to the Argentine border town of La Quiaca began very early in the morning from Salta at 6am. I needed to give myself plenty of travelling time to reach Tupiza so that I wouldn't get stuck at Villazón, the Bolivian border town known for seediness, so an early morning start it was. La Quiaca was a 6 hours bus ride through magnificent mountain views and dusty Amerindian towns, the journey was a joy but when the bus finally stopped, my nightmare begun.

As soon as I arrived, I realised that in order to get to the border post, I had to walk from the bus terminal, which is about 1km. Without proper signage on where the border is, I had to ask, in my crappy Spanish, donde esta Bolivia? (where is Bolivia) and the locals would point to the correct direction. In that fashion, I checked out of my beloved Argentina, on an unimpressive concrete bridge and farewelled by handsome and flirtatious border guards.

Argentine and Bolivian border, view from La Quiaca

I walked into Bolivia feeling the glares of stern faces, two border guards even went through my passport page by page, as if admiring the number of stamps I've accumulated. Fortunately the rumoured fee was not mentioned, my passport was stamped and welcome to Bolivia!

Villazón is a typical border town with many shop outlets, hawkers, and people just hanging around the streets, here I saw many Bolivian ladies in their traditional outfit - bowler hat, big and bulky looking umbrella skirt, thick brown stockings, black platform-less/open toes shoes, and some with colourful aprons. Many ladies also carried their child wrapped in colourful rug looking material that tied around their shoulders. After changing my Pesos into Bolivianos and 2 hours waiting around, I was ready to get on my bus to Tupiza.

El Dusto bus ride from Villazón to Tupiza

The bus ride was a nightmare, and unbeknown to me, Bolivian roads are a nightmare in the south-west, it is gravel all the way! The vehicle I travelled on was old, possibly an ex-Greyhound bus that has seen its heyday in the US back in the 50s, another reminder I had arrived in Bolivia, there is no such thing as Cama or Semi Cama nonsense here.

The locals all scrambled aboard way before the bus starts and have a habit of leaving their luggage or bags on the aisle, they also like to wait patiently by the exit at least 5 minutes before their stops, often leaning against the passengers seated by the exit for balance. I was seated closest to the exit for the first half of the ride...

Bus ticket booth, Tupiza

The bus journey can only be described as dusty - dirt flew into the bus through the open windows from the gravel road, sand coloured adobe villages along the way looked like chalk work, even the sign post showing Evo Cumple (Evo Fulfills) were partially covered in dust.

To add to my discomfort, most locals has an unpleasant body odour, it was especially unpleasant when their behinds were in my face as they bent over to pick up their luggage. At the end of the journey, I was covered in dust, my bags are covered in dust, there was dust in my hair, in my eyes (contact lens wearers be warned), in my ears, in my nose, everywhere! I was totally exhausted from the bumpy ride and was so happy when I finally took a hot shower.

I've also learn an important lesson to never take the seats closest to the exit in a Bolivian bus!

Downtown Tupiza

Tupiza is another dusty Bolivian town with few unimpressive buildings, the most notable historical event was that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid were gunned down in the nearby mine they were robbing. Most travellers used Tupiza as an overnight pit stop to go on to Uyuni (to see the giant salt lake) or onto Potosí, like myself. The bus ride the next morning from Tupiza to Potosí took 8 hours, 7 were on gravel road. I have never been so dusty and uncomfortable in my life till travelling on a bus in Bolivia, many times I wished I could beam myself to the destination.

Casa de Moneda, Potosí Mint

Potosí is the highest city in the world at 4,090 meters above sea level, it also made walking a challenge when suffering altitude sickness, I felt like I have walked up 5-storeys after just walking about 100 meters. Minerally rich, Potosí was the richest city in the world in the 1600s, but the silver ran out in the 1800s resulting in its decline.

Balcony, Potosí

Today, the once impressive colonial buildings are slowly deteriorating, it was still possible to admire the craftsmanship of centuries long gone walking on its cobble stone alleys. Unfortunately the Bolivian drivers are fond of tooting their horns at every corner, creating a sense of chaos in an otherwise tranquil town.

Up to this point, I've found the people are not as friendly comparing to the Argentinians, perhaps the Amerindian's hook nose and stern eyes doesn't seem as friendly. Instead of the friendly smiles I got so used to in Argentina, I got stared at often in Bolivia, maybe I was as exotic to them as they were to me!

Next: Part 5 - World's Highest Everything

Tuesday, 24 March 2009

A is for Argentina: Part 3 - Salta

Quebrada del Toro, Salta

Previous: Part 2 - Córdoba

I arrived in Salta in a similar fashion to my arrival in Córdoba, that is, comfortable long distance bus ride which arrives at the destination very early in the morning - this will soon be the ritual of my travel throughout my South American journey.

View of Salta from cable car

Only this time I was very well looked after by the bus attendant with the look of classical Latino film star, whom I think, took a shining to me. The attendant made sure I ate all my food, drank my share of soda, wrapped up adequately in the bus blanket when resting, and he even woke me by gently stroking my cheek for breakfast in the morning. Talk about all round service!

Salar de Olaroz, Jujuy

Quechua ladies

Located in the north-west of Argentina, Salta is closer to the Equator comparing to the rest of the country; position wise it should be warmer but having situated at 1,152 meters above sea level on the foothills of the Andes, its air was freezing cold on the early Winter morning of my arrival.

Like the climate and terrain, the Argentinian faces also changes in Salta. There are more Amerindian population and people are generally darker, but they still attain an air of sophistication and slight snobbishness which I delightedly find in an Argentine.

Adobe house, near San Antonio de Los Cobres


For a day's trip, I visited a little Amerindian town called San Antonio de los Cobres, located at 3,750 meters above sea level and a 3 hours drive from Salta on dusty gravel road. The town used to be an important route for silver from the Bolivian town of Potosí to be transported, using mules, to the Pacific coast of Arica in Chile. With a population of approximately 4,300, its inhabitants now depends on tourism, llama or sheep farming and mining as a mean of livelihood.


Viaduct La Polvorilla

The famous Train to the Clouds ran from Salta to San Antonio de los Cobres, where the world's highest railway bridge is (I think, at 64m, see picture). During my visit, the company that operate the train has gone bankrupt and the tourism authority talked about resurrecting the service again. I didn't see any clouds so I guess the train is not going!

Next: Part 4 - The Road to Potosí

Thursday, 19 March 2009

A is for Argentina: Part 2 - Córdoba

Córdoba Cathedral

Previous: Part 1 - Buenos Aires

After spending more than a week in lovely Buenos Aires, I made my way to the northeast of the country. Córdoba is a major city that lies between BA and Salta, my destination. To avoid a straight 20+ hours bus ride, I decided to take a short break at Córdoba.

Plaza San Martin, Córdoba

I arrived at the sleepy town at 6 in the morning after a 10 hours ride in a Suite class bus from Buenos Aires. The bus ride was great, not only the seats are like business class travel - wide 180 degree reclining - we also get served meals and drinks. Almost all Argentinian long distance buses are double-decker equipped with an on board toilet on the lower deck, TVs, heating and a host who looks after the passengers.

The buses usually come in three classes, Suite (180 degree reclining seat, available only for major cities), Cama (150 degree reclining seat) and Semi Cama (smaller seat with no service). It was the most comfortable long distance bus ride I've experienced.
Hotel Sussex

I also learned an important lesson from this trip, it was to always check for available accommodation before arrival! Without having a pre-book accommodation, I decided to check out this hotel which I received its leaflet at the bus stop from a lady who was distributing them, I thought it should be available if it's advertising itself at the bus station, right?

Well, after a 15 minutes taxi ride across town, I found to my dismay that it is fully booked. I was tired, cold and hungry, I just want to lay my backpack down and get some decent rest as I couldn't sleep a wink from the excitement of seeing the countryside.

Since there weren't any accommodation nearby, and the taxi which dropped me off has left, I had to walk to the nearest available accommodation according to my map. As I walked alone in the cold dark Winter morning, the city slowly came alive with early morning traffic, it did not distract me from feeling panicky because I have not passed any hotels after a 40 minutes trek.

Just when I was almost in tears from this ordeal, suddenly the word Hotel Sussex appeared in the horizon like a mirage. I rushed toward its direction to find a Spanish colonial type building; despite its rough exterior and equally as not so fancy interior, I decided I cannot walk any longer so I got myself a room and collapsed on the bed.

I told myself to always check for availability before arriving in a new place and I have never been caught short in the same situation since, well at least not in Argentina!

Iglesia de Santa Teresa

Córdoba is a university town with lots of young people and also lots of colonial architecture such as historical monuments, cathedrals and Jesuit blocks. Most look grand from a distance but close up you will notice they all desperately needed a face lift, like many other colonial buildings in Argentina.

There were not much to do in Córdoba unless you are a colonial architecture buff. It was especially boring on the Sunday when I was walking around trying to kill time before my night bus to Salta, the usually crowded pedestrian mall was eerily quiet, I thought maybe Lonely Planet was right about Córdoba being the most Catholic city in Argentina...

Iglesia de la Compañia de Jesús

I managed to find the key to the puzzle when I stumbled into a city mall, cleverly converted from a colonial building, it seems everyone in Córdoba who's over 15 and under 35 were there. Córdoba was nice, but I was happy to jump on the bus to Salta.

Next: Part 3 - Salta

Friday, 20 February 2009

A is for Argentina: Part 1 - Buenos Aires

National Congress Building, Buenos Aires

I started my South American journey at Buenos Aires, also affectionately known as BA. First of all, Buenos Aires is a beautiful city, during its hey day it was known as the Paris of the South.The city has many grand building in French renaissance style, although many of them are quite run down and desperately needed a face lift, those located in the posh suburb of Recoletta are truly grand.

Secondly, it was cheap! Comparing to my first visit in July 1999 when the Argentinian Peso was pegged to the US Dollars, I could afford to do so much more this time. How cheap? Well, a good quality bottle of Malbec in a fancy restaurant cost 60 pesos, about USD20; a piece of big juicy sirloin steak cost 20 pesos, about USD7, and I love steak!

Caminito, La Boca

To really embrace what BA life is all about, I went to a Boca Juniors home game at the La Bombonera stadium (The Chocolate Box) in the suburb of La Boca. The atmosphere was amazing at the Boca Juniors v. Gimnasia de Jujuy game. What impressed me most was the 12th player, Boca Juniors fans who occupy one end of the stand and decorated the stand with yellow and navy colours of the club, they waved their flag (no.12) around and sang non-stop throughout the game. There was also drumming and trumpets from the stand.

Boca Juniors beat the visitor 3 - 1, it was no contest, Gimnasia de Jujuy was mediocre and played too defensively, there were some good shots but all were saved by Boca's keeper.

The 12th Player Stand at La Bombonera Stadium

The crowds were surprisingly orderly, although there were riot police about, there were no incidents from the 12th player stand; maybe it's because the visitor came from outside Buenos Aires and the rivalry is not as great comparing to another Buenos Aires' team - River Plate.

For those of you who are into football, Boca Juniors most famous player was Diego Maradona, and yes he is almost God here, the current most well known player is Juan Roman Riquelme (no.10), he used to play for Barçelona FC in Spain and recently returned to Argentina.

Buenos Aires street on May Revolution Day

I also took a bike tour around the city on Saturday, which took me to the middle class suburb of Palermo and posh Recoletta. We rode through some nice parks, there were the Porteños - people of Buenos Aires, city dwellers - everywhere, there were people dancing the tango, roller blading, rowing boats, or simply sat on the grass enjoying their mate (some kind of herbal tea that taste like bitter coffee).

Cemetario de la Recoletta, Buenos Aires

There were dogs everywhere too, you will often see professional dog walkers around the parks, sometimes taking up to 10 dogs in all kind of shapes for their walk. Unfortunately with the amount of dogs there is also a lot of doggies left overs, making walking on the street, particularly in the suburbs, potentially hazardous. Despite this slight drawback, BA has so much to offer I was willing to turn a blind eye and focus on its wonderful architecture and beautiful people instead!

Next: Part 2 - Córdoba

Thursday, 12 February 2009

Sam the Koala, Dave the Fireman




Sam the koala was found by fire fighter Dave Tree looking bewildered in a burned bushland in Mirboo North, during the Victorian bushfire disaster. A touching moment watching Sam accepting a drink from Dave, even putting her burn left paw on his right hand for balance.

A note to Dave, koala is not a bear, as an Aussie you should had known better :)

Saturday, 17 January 2009

Swimming Against the Tide


Have you been confronted with damned if you do and damned if you don't situation? Well, I have one in hand right now.

The situation, when it first happened, was supposed to make me happy but it is making me feeling very depressed as the way things progress. It is about a job.

One would think an unemployed bum like me would jump for joy to get a job offer, especially at a time like now, I do. The job itself sounded very attractive - a well known international firm which reputed to look after its employees, the tasks are what I can do and find interesting, the pay sounds good, the office is located not too far from home, and then there is the economic crisis and the recruitment agent...

Well the economic crisis came first, this firm came under spotlight and was unable to hire due to a global headcount freeze. Fine, I thought, I will just get on with life and see this as a positive turn in my job search effort, everything went back to normal after this little bump.

Two months later, the recruitment agent called and said this all may go ahead, yay I though, good things does come to those who wait, this is finally happening. I was happy until the agent called again, saying that they have managed to move around this headcount freeze road block, by hiring me as a recruitment agency staff to be contracted to the firm.

Having been on a recruitment agency's book before, I am all too familiar with the ups and downs of being a contracted staff, but if this is the only way to get me a job so be it.

The twist of this arrangement is that, the usual obligations from an employer to look after its employee does not apply. That means no medical leaves, no annual leaves, no public holidays pay, no superannuation, no employee benefits, and it sounds to me neither the two companies will look after my welfare for the duration of 12 months. Oh, there is also a 20% reduction in the pay level, which I assume will go to the recruitment agency.

Suddenly, the job doesn't sound so exciting anymore.

I felt that the recruitment agency was working for me but now against me, by listing all these conditions which seem to me is quite unfair. I can't help but feeling quite angry and cheated, and at the same time, this job offer is becoming more of a moral burden than anything else. I understand that I have nothing now so I am not losing out by taking the job, but at least I choose nothing, I didn't choose to be treated to the above conditions.

Do I take the job and accept the conditions as they are, and work as a disgruntled employee, or continue living as I am? When will such opportunity arise again? When it does, will it be better than this - I believe it will be. If I do not take this job will the people around me be disappointed? Will I be letting the people supporting me down? Does working as a disgruntled employee better than living as an unemployed bum? Do I want to be taken advantaged of? Will I kill my career by not taking this job (actually, I believed my career has been killed off already)?

Argh, it is damned if I do, and damned if I don't...

Wednesday, 31 December 2008

Farewell 2008!

It's time of the year again, raise your champagne glass, watch a firework display, follows by a loud cheer when the clock struck midnight. It's a routine most of us know too well, but does it mean anything other than a bloody good excuse to drink yourself silly? Hmm...

I have been through a few New Year's eve events over the years, as time goes by they are becoming blurred images in my mind now, some are more memorable than others.

I still think Sydney's firework display is the most awesome I've seen so far, a house party thrown by some leftists (with a giant Ernesto Che Guevara's portrait at its door) in a Melbourne suburb was the most unforgettable, and serving drunken ravers behind a bar at an Auckland New Year's Eve dance event was the funniest.

The last day before the New Year is now just another day to me now, I've grown tire of the crowd and the drunkenness, and then the mess. I think the celebration of a New Year should fall on one's birthday, it is more meaningful for the individual but on the other hand, I guess celebrating birthday lacks a sense of togetherness when everyone can celebrate together on a common New Year. The cleaning up on New Year's day will continues.

To sum up, 2008 has been a roller coaster ride for me to the highest of high and lowest of low. It was an intensive and exhilarating ride with exhausting slow climbs, breath taking bends, unforeseen drops, followed by quick lifts to the top, and again. I was lucky not to suffer a heart attack in the process!

Tonight, let me bid my farewell to 2008. Adios!

Friday, 26 December 2008

Sad Teddy



You will never look at your teddy bear the same way again.

The funniest and probably the most disturbing clip I've seen from the hit TV show Supernatural, to share with you.

Enjoy!