He he...new snowboards!!! YAAAAYYYY!!

Ok, so we were going to the sale just to have a look...but oopsie, we kinda bought ourselves our new winter babies, thanks to Matt and his friend Mikey's excellent assistance...
So here are the pretties...


Mum, don't worry, I didn't pay the price on the tag...They're '07 models so a loooootttt cheaper...
For those who are interested Khan's (the longer, b&w one) is a 157 Salomon David Benedek (my fave boarder) Signature Series and mine is the 150 Burton Feelgood ES. Both are really nice boards, apparently mine is the Rolls Royce of girls boards in that style, so I'm excited to actually get out there and try it out...2 months to go...booooo
Only thing I'm concerned about is that the gold on my board may clash with the silver on my bindings...ohmygoddd! And, I have a lot of black going on...
Anyways, onto other, less important things, we've moved into a basement apartment, 1 bedroom place in Kitsilano, mostly furnished, in a really nice suburb, that Khan says is a cross between Clifton Hill and St Kilda. We're close to everything and the beach is just around the corner, and there's lots of restaurants, bars and cool shops...internet and all utilities is included in our rent which is sweet...It was the first and only place we looked at but the only shite thing about the place is that we've been struggling to get rid of the stale ciggy smoke entrapped in everything...We're loving our new hood and it's really nice to be feeling a little normal again...
I've joined a yoga place up the road and seem to be getting a few well paid freelance jobs in, one that I've also managed to get Khan into as well so hopefully we maybe able to leave Van in 2 months with a clean credit card and some cashola still in the pocket, fingers crossed.
If you'd like to send gifts or money (or my teddy bear mum!), our new address is 2926 W 5th Ave, Vancouver, V6K1T6, Canaduh.
We've given up on the car search for the moment as cars in BC are expensive and we really don't need one in Van, as everything is a short bus ride away.
As far as where we're heading for the snow this year, it looks like we will be going back to Nakiska, it does seem to be our best option and a bunch of our buddies are going back there so it'll be a cool reunion. We'll be getting a car asap once we're there though, everything is too far away and we're going to need to do some day trips to other resorts as everybody knows the snow aint great at little kiska.
Ok must run, need some tv time, haven't had any english tv except BBC world for 7 months so we've got a bit of catching up to do...

New photos! Now!

hello,
soooo after 7 months we've made it to a (maybe) final destination (for at least a while) of Canada. For those who like figures, in the past 48 hours we've been in 4 countries, spent over 15 hours in planes, paid $130 for a cab ride through Moscow, 5 hours going through customs and immigration, 3 of those in 2 lines in Canada have 7 different currencies in our pockets and have spent ooooohh so much time waiting...

But we're here now, with an ugly dislike for Russia, we were in transit the whole time we were there, spent $300 on visas, $35 on 2 coffees and a snack each, the exorbitant taxi ride as the airport had neglected to update their website which clearly stated there was a $10 bus 24 hours on the hour that took you from one airport to another. Oh and the people were not nice at all, or maybe that was because I was overly grumpy due to the amount of money passing through their country was costing us. GGGGGRRRRR!!! This is about all we saw of Russia/Moscow...




Anyway, onto more pleasant things, I've uploaded some more photos, go here to see em. There's 2 lots, first one is Japan/Thailand/Cambodia the second is Munich/Prague and a few other odds and ends...

But, short version of events since leaving Jay-pan. We've basically been doing a lot of not much as we are seriously running short of money so spending time reading or just fart assing around in our hotel room has been a lot of what we've been up to. Munich was wet and beery, we did a couple of tours including a beer tour and drank waaaaayyyy too many steins. We also made a day trip out to the once concentration camp at Dachau which even though had a tragic past, paled in comparison to the horrific things we saw and learnt about in Cambodia.

Prague was great. We found out the day before we were getting there that the hostel we had a booking at had neglected to inform us they were actually closed so after a mad scramble we managed to find a place but then found this awesome place that had apartments for the same price (actually less) than a hostel room with no ensuite! $39 euro scored us a top floor apartment with a loft, jacuzzi, full kitchen and a rad castle view! We then moved to another place which didn't have the view but was equally as cheap and didn't have to share anything with any other stinky backpackers! Yay...so over dorm rooms...the one we stayed in in Munich was 12 bed...ugh...why is that somebody always needs to get something out of a plastic bag at 5am?!?

Onto beautiful Praha where we spent a lot of time sheltering from the rain and when it wasn't raining, wandering aimlessly around the cobblestone streets, it really is a cool town, very much a western european city now though. My birthday went by without too much fuss, thanks for all the birthday wishes from everybody! That day we went for an excursion out into the countryside to Kutna Hora, home of the bone chapel, yes, human bones...over 40,000 people from the plague times...




Then spent the night in an absinthe bar where we managed to drink 6 different absinthes and oh boy, feel the wrath the next day...don't think i can handle the smell of anise without dry retching now...

Afetr having a day of rest we ventured out into the countryside to visit 2 of the local(ish) castles. Krivoklat was first stop where we paid for a tour and were handed a book in English and had to wander around with a group and tour guide speaking Czech...strange...then back onto the clinky old train which you board by walking over the train tracks and jumping on, the trains were so much like Thai trains, it kinda felt like we were back in Thailand again but with the wrong scenery and the totally wrong temperature which was averaging around 17 degrees.

Now we find ourselves in Vancouver, temp around 20 and sunny...it seems which ever country we're in we have dramas with visas or some beuracracy, Canada no different, however at least it's all in English and can understand what we're being told...I just laugh now...it's so good being able to read every sign along the street and eavesdrop on other peoples conversations as they go past...7 and a bit months in non-English speaking countries has affected me a little...I ordered 2 coffees this morning and put 2 fingers up to symbolise how many i wanted as I am so used to doing that and the asian looking girl behind the counter looked at me strangely, maybe she thought i didn't think she could speak english so i quickly had to apologise and explain myself, the funny thing is she made us the wrong type of coffee anyways...

We found out this morning the HR manager at Nakiska has quit after only a month or 2 of working there...alarm bells are ringing so it is now in doubt again whether we will be going there...we're now thinking Lake Louise might be a safer option...it's just hard cos we have friends going back to Nak Nak...

ok, enough for now, i must run and get some toothpaste...