Of all the things I miss ...

Overdue Update: Imogen, Danie Visits, Cornwall and Elme's Bday ....

2006-12-03T14:12:00.000+02:00

Halloween concerts, Trips to the beautiful Cornwall, Visits from old friends in SA and Birthday activities for E in London ... a few things have happened.

But at the back of my mind the last 2 months? Going home to Sunny, sweltering SA for Xmas. I am pretty homesick ...

Fully pics up at http://xenophin.spaces.live.com/photos/

Technorati tags: Travel, England, Imogen Heap, Cornwall, Ice Bar, Wax museum

Geek Supreme: I have the biggest CPU fan you have EVER seen

2006-10-27T01:40:00.000+02:00

I love my Windows Media Center (which is running Vista RTM build btw!) 2 big problems though:

Adhering to my strict 'minimalist' look - I want the damn thing SILENT and hidden away. I bought this awesome TV unit which is soundtight, etc. but then the MCE overheated within 15 mins!
It had 512mb RAM ... no can do for a sexy sleek AERO experience.

So I finally whipped out the Amex - and got the BIGGEST, MEANEST watercooling CPU solution I could. OBSERVE my MCE metamorphosis from overheating, crawling, pile of bits. To my 2 GIG RAM, SUPERCOOLED, SNIPER-SILENT ... MONSTER! :) Isn't she pretty :)

(BTW: It's the Nautilus 500 ... and took my 2 hours to build into my casing which is smaller than standard casings. I am becoming scarily proficient at drills and other brutely DIY stuffs.)

DIY Hell!

2006-10-15T23:29:00.000+02:00

Ok. DIY ...? I totally need SEDIFU (Someone else do it for you!!)

Spent the ENTIRE freakin' Sunday trying to get these to rudding shelves mounted in my lounge. 3 trips to the hardware store later, blisters on my hands, and a GIANTAMOUS hole in the wall ... and the shelves are finally 'up'. Lets just say:

a) I would hate to be the book on the shelf risking my life waiting for my world to cave in under me...

b) I should TOTALLY stick to IT. If people were to revert to abacusses and ditch Pc's ... I would be screwed.

Pics up here.

Laterz.

Canada Roadtrip

2006-10-11T10:16:00.000+02:00

Just got back from the Microsoft SOA BPM conference in Seattle. Took the opporunity to fly via Canada to meet up with Erin for yet another Roadtrip - this time through Canada!

Did Ottawa, Toronto, Niagara Falls and Montreal. What did I think? Mmm. Well Canada is Nice, but not one of my favourite places so far (I apologise, but still prefer USA :) )

Pics are up here:

Exciting news!! I got myself a new camera. This is my sweet sweet sweet new Canon 400d Rebel Xti Digital SLR cam! w00t w00t! Erin's pics always come out so well! So I gave in and put the cash down to enter the world of professional photography :)

Now I am back in the UK, sleepless - with my normal installment of Jetlag (been up since 4am). Its so good to be back - especially since most of my new furniture (LEATHER SOFA!!) got delivered while I was gone. Otherwise its freezing in UK; and I have a cold ... darn.

"Driving down the 101" - Californian Roadtrip

2006-09-25T12:38:00.000+02:00

A few weeks ago Erin (one of my buddies) and myself flew to California to do a roadtrip. Did approximately 1600 miles in this beauty (v6 Ford Mustang Convertible):

Did the whole shabang (Los Angeles, Venice Beach, Santa Monica, Santa Barbara, Morro Bay, Big Sur, San Fran, Napa Valley, Sonoma, (WINE WINE :D), Driving down the 101, I5, 1, etc ...)

Highlights? mmm. Well I love the whole of California - probably going to the filming locations [http://www.seeing-stars.com/OC/ThePier.shtml] for the OC (which aint that easy to find, I will have you know).

Universal Studios and Alcatrez are a must see ... but above all - if you are going to do this ... get the mustang!

Awesome trip! Pics are here

Goodbye BlogSpot

2005-07-09T17:51:00.000+02:00

Due to my recent career moves; AND problems with Hello.com, I have decided to suspend this journal.

I will continue with my new MSN Myspace @ http://spaces.msn.com/members/xenophin/

Do pop in there :) Cheers

2005-06-19T18:31:00.000+02:00

Then there was Parys (Afrikaans for Paris). This little gem of a town is home to the old and largest Meteorite Impact site, wonderful little coffee/antique/art shops and of course: Abseiling :) (You can even spot a Baobab fruit in this one)

2005-06-19T18:13:00.000+02:00

Random snaps from along the road ....

2005-06-19T18:11:00.000+02:00

We booked into a private game ranch (Klein Bolayi of Dirk und Ingeborg Lempertz ;) ) Africa really has a mysterious beauty huh?

2005-06-19T18:10:00.000+02:00

Bella-bella (Warmbaths). This sign is distinctly South African :)

2005-06-19T18:01:00.000+02:00

Here are some of the animals we saw on the ranch during our private game drive. Now, I dont condone the fact that the owner keeps trophies - but this is Africa - you need to understand.

2005-06-19T17:57:00.000+02:00

Drove through Warmbaths, NaboomSpruit, Potgietersrus, Pietersburg (Polokwane), Louis Trichard and finally in Musina. Why Musina? I lived here 12 years ago. I found our old house despite how much the area had changed since I left there at the age of 11.

2005-06-19T17:52:00.000+02:00

So I left my previous employer; and took 1 month off before heading for the UK. Elme and myself decided to do a little South Africa exploration trip. (It's always embarrassing that the foreigners see more of one's own country that you do). We traveled all the way up to the North (Zimbabwe bored) and back, stopping at the quaintest little places along the way. Here I am, close to Musina - next to a Baobab tree. These beautiful trees grow all over the Limpopo province.

2005-05-26T17:31:00.000+02:00

Dean + Beer ... :)

2005-05-26T17:30:00.000+02:00

Flippie + Beer ...

2005-05-26T17:29:00.000+02:00

This ones for you Stephan :) ... this is what we got up to last weekend :)

2005-05-26T17:27:00.000+02:00

Cellphone Pic: Tonsillectomy. Over and done. One big pain to end them all .... (Oof, I look crap)

2005-05-16T09:00:00.000+02:00

and no trip to Cape Town is complete without doing a quick trip to the Stellenbosch wine-route to restock! aah, bliss.

2005-05-16T08:56:00.000+02:00

This is how close we were to her! Literally about 1 meter from touching her! Cool huh ??

2005-05-16T08:54:00.000+02:00

How is this for a dedication? Just had my very painful tonsillectomy 5 days back before hopping onto a plane to Cape Town to see Avril Lavigne live! We had shirt made for us with Avril pictures all over; show as a HIT! :)

2005-04-26T13:57:00.000+02:00

I have been very reluctant to post any of these pictures ;) This, dear friends, was our night at Rocky Horror Picture show. With the invitation to dress in drag when seeing the show, we decided to throw sanity in the wind and went all the way. FLTR: Cliffie, Dean, Danie, Pieter, Andra, Ilandi, Flippie ... and ofcourse, me: The cute nurse in white ;)

2005-03-13T18:26:00.001+02:00

Decommissioned: These little puppies have served me so well; so so well ... been in every single country I have. I will miss them dearly :(

2005-03-13T18:26:00.000+02:00

Yep - the end is nigh. Spend a large part of the weekend packing ... for my crate back to SA

2005-03-13T08:22:00.000+02:00

Cheers Mate! :) [Nobu - being very Japanese - loves to use this British verbalism .. heheh]

2005-03-13T08:20:00.000+02:00

Nobu, Xen, Ilaria, Jim @ Moomba

2005-03-13T08:19:00.000+02:00

Last weekend in Manila involved clubbing in areas I had never been before; Embassy in the Fort, Queson City; This is Moomba where we danced all night

2005-03-07T08:22:00.000+02:00

And this was the same place in 1991 :) BIIIG BANG

2005-03-07T08:20:00.000+02:00

And here we are - swimming inside the volcano; it reminds me of a movie i saw years back - dont know the name. It was about a couple of friends that trecked the hills to swim in a hidden lake :)

2005-03-07T08:12:00.000+02:00

See see this! The inside of the volcano... What a sight!

2005-03-07T08:10:00.000+02:00

We climbed and climbed, and hiked and hiked, and jumped and jumped ...

2005-03-07T08:09:00.000+02:00

Sunday we decided to go to see the Volcano (Pinatubo).

2005-02-28T05:02:00.000+02:00

mmm, just received a ransom note for my Sharky. Sharky has travelled with me to every country I have been ... this weeked some guys from work broke into my room and is demanding a ransom of Sweets .... mmm

2005-02-28T04:06:00.000+02:00

Beijing - China; Feb 2005

2005-02-28T03:58:00.000+02:00

And finally - me chilling in the Cathay Business Lounge in Hong Kong ... Cheers to China!

2005-02-28T03:55:00.000+02:00

Peking Opera. This was ... erm ... interesting. Its very strange to see what they consider opera. Dancing and jumping is one thing, but the shouting and screaming that sounds something like german yodelling and arabic singing mixed, is another. OK, maybe I need to develop a cultural palette for this one, but it was cracking me up to see how people would get more and more excited the more false they guy would sing ...

2005-02-28T03:50:00.000+02:00

Thousands of people flock to this one specific restuarant in Beijing of the Peking Duck served here. It is exquisite! A real feast - with a myocardial infarcion waiting to happen

2005-02-28T03:48:00.000+02:00

Me on the Great Wall new Don Yuan Pass. There is a saying in China: You cannot be a hero until you have walked on the great wall of China. Just call me super-Xen ;)

2005-02-28T03:46:00.000+02:00

Some things never change :D ... My ever continuing quest to drink Starbucks in every country in the world. MUHAHHAHA!

2005-02-28T03:45:00.000+02:00

On the roof of a Chinese house/temple you can see little mythical creatures on the rims. The number of creatures indicate how sacred the building is with 11 being the max ... cool huh!

2005-02-28T03:44:00.000+02:00

At average maximums of -12 Celcius I needed to upgade my South African Winters clothes a few notches ...

2005-02-28T03:42:00.000+02:00

I call this one: "Snow". It was freezing. Never having seen snow before in my life, I was like a kid playing in the snow! My first snowman!! I quickly learnt that snow is very very very cold.

2005-02-28T03:40:00.000+02:00

Aaah cute :P China has about 1000 of these little guys left and populations are declining. Here is one sitting! and chomping away at Bamboo. They have a lifespan of a about 30 years and really bad digestion...

2005-02-28T03:38:00.000+02:00

The first night we arrived in China we had "Hot Pot". A funny yin-yan deep frying style. Tip: Stay away from the red side... It was hilarious to see all these Chinese guys laughing at us - no clue how to use the HotPot and no clue what the red side holds ... We found out soon

2005-02-28T03:33:00.000+02:00

This was our Valentines dinner at Kai's. A few minutes earlier bombs had just gone off outside our hotel - but these lonely expats would not let that stop a nice dinner on Vday ...

2005-02-07T17:37:00.000+02:00

Just a weekend of fun in the sun; we did some jetski'ing after this ...

2005-02-07T17:36:00.000+02:00

For 500pesos a 150cc Motorcycle is all yours for 5 hours. I learnt that not having driven a motorcylce ever, it is not advised to jump to these puppies. I really bust up my hand badly ... when i flipped from 3rd to 2nd and sped into a truck

2005-02-07T17:34:00.000+02:00

This is how u would get between the islands; bonca style baby!

2005-02-07T17:33:00.000+02:00

We wanted a fresh Coconut (buko) drink - and he took us too literally; Sonny's worker grabs us some coco's

2005-02-07T17:31:00.000+02:00

Chrystal mountain - after much persisting and 75 pesos our boatman took us; the underground caves are amazing!

2005-02-07T17:29:00.000+02:00

4 trekking souls having their supper on the beach

2005-02-07T17:27:00.000+02:00

The famous white sand beaches of Boracay ...

2005-02-07T17:24:00.000+02:00

The lady said I bargain like a Filipino... behold the fruits of my asian labour ... A suunto dive computer with Laptop Interface. Can't wait to play with all the funky matlab integration features *geek*

2005-01-31T07:21:00.000+02:00

Thailand; Kinda like the Philippines; more crime, bigger language barrier - JUST LOOK at the Sign? no ENGLISH!

2005-01-31T07:20:00.000+02:00

Typical Thai ...

2005-01-31T07:18:00.000+02:00

Being taken from place to place in a TukTuk; this is a thrilling experience to zip infront of high speed vehicles in a motorised Sardine can :P

2005-01-31T07:16:00.000+02:00

This is the Skybar; on the 64th Floor of the State Building.... AMAZING view

2005-01-31T07:15:00.000+02:00

Having supper at the Thai Restuarant in the Peninsula Hotel; one of the Best Hotels in Asia

2005-01-31T07:13:00.000+02:00

Even the McDonalds is Buddhist; look at the Ronald ... Sadawee Karp

2005-01-31T07:12:00.000+02:00

This Alvin. The SA guy I hooked up with. We are having Tom Kai Ghai; A REALLY good Thai coconut soup. Spicy though ...

2005-01-31T07:10:00.000+02:00

Buddha's Buddha's Everywhere. This is typical of Thailand. Didnt really excite me particularly; this one IS made of SOLID Gold ... thats about all that makes it special

2005-01-31T06:57:00.000+02:00

This is a Barong, the traditional business attire for a Filipino. So ... when in Rome ...

2005-01-26T17:45:00.000+02:00

Funny as hell!!! muhahahahah

2005-01-24T02:35:00.000+02:00

The guys - so many of them are leaving Philly now - really sad :(

2005-01-24T02:34:00.000+02:00

This is Mat. Mat just realised he accidentally erased all of Stephan's pictures. This happens when American's try to understand German-instruction cameras :)

2005-01-24T02:31:00.000+02:00

Weekend in Anilou - serenity at its best

2005-01-20T07:15:00.000+02:00

Our new suits from Hong Kong inspired this "First Gentleman's Club". XO Hennesy @ Mandarin Oriental :P

2005-01-17T16:44:00.000+02:00

Hong Kong - I'll remember it for monte blanc, stylish suits, new beginnings, IRONIES in WangChai, unbelieve tech and good friendships

2005-01-17T16:36:00.000+02:00

The german (grey and needs a shave) poses with a classy little blonde number from Gucci

2005-01-17T16:34:00.000+02:00

Thanks for a GREAT time Flora - a true Hostess she made us feel as chinese as the rest of them! M-Goi'i!!! :) Flora who will know as my hello-kittypink'nfluffysnoppymickey friend from UCT

2005-01-17T16:29:00.000+02:00

The -20 degree celcius Russian Vodka Bar! You need Baclava's to go into this one! we were freezing our @ss's off in this little Russia

2005-01-17T16:24:00.000+02:00

Friends in Hong Kong! Too a really amazing weekend! To great times ... to many more ... to never standing down ... and never giving up!

2005-01-17T16:02:00.000+02:00

Have you ever seen anything like that before?!! Hong Kong's view from the the mountain at night blew me over!

2005-01-09T19:06:00.000+02:00

And then there was 2005! Hope it is a gr8 year for all ...

2005-01-09T19:05:00.000+02:00

All in all a good party for me - some ppl would disagree of course :)

2005-01-09T19:01:00.000+02:00

Yes we got a little silly! Xen, those are not swimming trunks! *blush* ... Think my Scuba craze is getting to me

2005-01-09T18:54:00.000+02:00

Whats wrong nic?

2005-01-09T18:48:00.000+02:00

New Years party was very strange - turned out to be a reunion with a lot of old friends (erin and nic), a camera-fest, braai ... and a very very happy bunch of friends

2005-01-09T06:37:00.000+02:00

Christmas Tree 2004

2005-01-09T06:33:00.000+02:00

My twin cousins - during Xmas. :) Already learning the SA way - Beer and Pap

2005-01-09T06:29:00.000+02:00

Always comes a time to move on .... Selling my Beautiful Alfa 147

2004-12-12T16:23:00.000+02:00

and to all a good night ...

2004-12-12T16:22:00.000+02:00

Merry XMAS all

2004-12-12T16:15:00.000+02:00

For the Vodaphone XMAS party; I danced for our 60's group ... don't know how i managed to get roped into these things. NONETHELESS :) We won

2004-11-29T17:41:00.000+02:00

Then we were off to the Chinese cemetry - This guys really are not satisfied with a normal tombstone; full catacomb houses! Here Charles and Myself are infront of one

2004-11-29T17:39:00.000+02:00

Lunch in China Town - I think I am becoming quite a chopstick-samurai

2004-11-29T17:38:00.000+02:00

Manila Bay Cathedral

2004-11-29T17:37:00.000+02:00

At the Entrance for Fort Santiago - Intramuros - with Tina

2004-11-29T17:36:00.000+02:00

Touring Manila Bay; at the boardwalkd

2004-11-29T17:35:00.000+02:00

Xmas is starting - my hotel put up this bigass tree this w/e. I feel all jingle-belly now!

2004-11-20T04:19:00.000+02:00

HOWZIT?

2004-11-20T04:18:00.000+02:00

THIS PIC is hilarious. See that thing, its a GIANT CLAM. Paul was taking the pic, while I was tickling its insides. ALL of a sudden the thing snapped shut. I was horrified! nearly drowned laughing afterwards, though.

2004-11-20T04:16:00.001+02:00

These little buggers are amazing - can you see them??

2004-11-20T04:16:00.000+02:00

Lion fish !!

2004-11-20T04:15:00.000+02:00

Paul being attacked by a school of Jack (see the school in the background?)

2004-11-20T04:14:00.000+02:00

The friendly locals under the sea welcome us :P

2004-11-16T17:57:00.000+02:00

Palawan, Club Paradise .. 2004

2004-11-16T17:55:00.000+02:00

And the trip came to an end - Bye Club Paradise; Paul is off back to France - fine wine and french bread awaits him again ... Cheers buddy!

2004-11-16T17:48:00.000+02:00

Ze Germans (unt Austrian) are a little crazy, ja? ...

2004-11-16T17:44:00.000+02:00

Teheheehe - I do remember *some* moves from Varsity days, eh?

2004-11-16T17:41:00.000+02:00

Supper on the beach - anything your heart desires at Club Paradise