The importance of heels

I’ve spent the last couple of days making lists.  Lists for the builder, who is still finishing off one or two things here.  Lists for the housesitter, who knows where things are but might appreciate a small reminder or two.  Most important from my point of view, lists of things to pack.

The most perplexing challenge is, do I really need to take a pair of high heeled shoes?

You see, we were all relaxed about this.  The cruise we will join in a week’s time will be on our favourite ship and we are familiar with their dress code and the style in which people interpret it.  “Country Club Casual” is easy to do and even though we enjoy dressing for dinner and even stepping it up a gear to include a bit of bling on occasion, we are comfortable with that description.   But a “formal night” has slipped in there somewhere and though I am happy that the clothes I have with me will dress up well enough to match the elegance of my hero, what about the shoes?

Is it worth carrying a pair of heels half way around the world for just one evening?

Well, the bags are packed and the decision is made.  The heels are staying home.  I snuck in an extra jacket instead.  Oh, and a pair of very flashy flats.

See you in Macau tomorrow!

Nearly forgot!

As I was sorting through the papers on my desk, I came across the map I was intending to include i my journal.  It wasn’t easy finding one which included all our destinations on one manageable sheet and I’d tucked it away carefully so I wouldn’t lose it.

You know what happened to it then, don’t you ;-)

Measuring slightly over 6 inches by 8, it was too big to fit in a journal pocket as it was, so it was time to relearn the Turkish Map Fold. 

Though I’ve done it countless times before, I can never quite work it out from scratch and always have to refer to one I made earlier, or the excellent instructions on the website.

Of course, as noted there, folding a rectangular map isn’t quite so straightforward as folding a square one.  But hey, why make life simple?

Suffice to say that we’ll now know where we are, where we’re going and possibly, see where we’ve been too.

But we still have to pack our bags.  26C in Hong Kong today, 1C in Beijing.  I think we’re talking layers, don’t you?

Visitors

A lovely day here, much appreciated after the dreary and cold times we’ve had of late.  A bit of blue sky and a fine morning really lifts the spirits, not that we were in need of such things.  We expected company for Sunday lunch, and that was going to be entertainment enough.

As a result, my morning was spent in the kitchen, roasting pork, vegetables and assembling the strawberry pavlova I’d made last night.   I baked Simon Hopkinson’s Pear and Ginger Sponge which is, in my opinion, every bit as “yummo scrummo beyond belief” as is claimed.

But at one point I stepped outside to photograph these two in the garden.

How cute are they?   Made from a single six inch square of knitting, they come together in no time and were created whilst watching TV last night.  I used 28 stitches on 5.5mm needles and a ball of angora yarn, following these instructions to transform the flat square into a baby bunny.  They will grow tails at some point soon.

In the meantime, they are showing particular interest in the pear and ginger sponge!  I’ll find a home for them before Easter ;-)

Taking a deep breath

I’m doing my best not to sink and determined not to call for a  lifebelt!

I thought it was time to get out the “Samsung Ultrabook” and give it a whirl.  Put it through its paces and make sure it could manage what I had in mind for it.  Mind you, my hero has been doing a bit of  laptop-whispering in the last few days and I believe he has made it (almost) watertight. 

Windows 8, that is.

My knowledgeable and very computer-literate friends have resorted to all kinds of desperate measures and I’ve heard all kinds of stories from those who have swum in this pool already.  We’d have been very happy to have continued with Windows 7, puttering along doing what we do and knowing how to do it.  But a new machine meant a new operating system, so we pinched our noses, took a deep breath and jumped straight in at the deep end.  Well, my hero did the jumping in…I’ve just swum a width at the shallow end.

Enough of the metaphors!  Before I even hit the “on” button, my hero reduced the number of tiles on the opening page, making sure there was no unnecessary clutter to distract us from what we wanted to do.  We don’t need a complicated laptop, just a machine which would do the normal, everyday tasks we expect it to do: email, photo management, reading and writing blogs and browsing the internet.  We’ve got our favourite bookmarks there, customised the toolbars and that’s about it.

Oh, and I haven’t put any photos on it yet.

Did you guess?

Update on Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 10:33PM by Gill Thomas

One thing did defeat me in the end - I couldn't work out how to shut it down.  Cntl-Alt-Del delivered the "shut down" option in the end.  Seemed pretty drastic to me!

Managing without – or not?

So, as regular readers will gather, our housesitters are gearing up and we’re looking forward to another jaunt.   My previous post prompted me to consider what I can safely leave behind and what bits of kit I really cannot do without.  Generally speaking, the size of the gadget isn’t the issue but as a few of you have already noted, the extra charger, transformer, wires and adapters frequently are!

So, what is going to make it into my bag?

Two things have guaranteed passage.  I really couldn’t manage without my mobile phone and laptop.  I don’t use my phone much when I’m abroad because of the costs involved, but the security of knowing that I could – if I wanted – is comforting. 

The small laptop is something we’ve debated over recently; since the advent of the ipad. We use it to back up photographs each day, to read and respond to emails (because both of us continue to read and reply to work- and volunteer-related email whilst we’re away) and of course, I use if for blogging.  Try as we might, we haven’t yet found a way to complete all of these tasks satisfactorily using ipad only, possibly because we are both PC people at heart.  Until now, we’ve used “baby laptop” – a eight or nine year old 11” Sony which is almost as well travelled as we are!  But though it’s still working ok, we’re finding it slow and felt it was time to replace (before it conked out mid-trip, provoking a panic purchase).  Bring on the Samsung.  Oh, and embrace the challenge of Windows 8…  (Linda, my hero shares your view and is still working on it!)

OK.  Perhaps they are the obvious “must haves”.  What about the “nice to haves”?

Well, first is my voice recorder.  Yes, I know there’s one on my phone, but this little one is smaller and lighter then my iphone and tucks into my bag very neatly.  Not only that, but it doesn’t need any wires, because look…

Clever, eh?  (and another reason why I need the laptop, because there’s no usb on the ipad)

Next and in similar vein, my Flip video.  Again, a clever integrated usb means I don’t have cables and chargers to bother about.  My digital camera (OK, both my digital cameras!) have video functions, but transferring huge video files from them isn’t easy and takes time – the Flip camera makes it much easier and less of a hassle.

My ipod.  Hmmm.  This one might have to work its passage, though the fact that it’ll share its charger with the ipad probably persuades me that I could be pleased to listen to a playlist or two on a long flight, so both i-pad and i-pod will be in my hand luggage.  I think as well, there’s an ipod dock in our suite on the ship, which means we could listen to music there too – if we find ourselves in there for any length of time (unlikely).  For that reason, I won’t bother taking the x-mini speakers which the Lechlade gadget girls loved so much, though.

Pogo printer.  Well, this always used to come along but these days, there just isn’t room for the heavy charger, which is twice the size and probably twice the weight of the pogo itself.  Sorry, no printing pics as we go (I can wait…)  So, Pogo, you’re staying home.

Pictures.  Hmm.  That brings me to my big dilemma.  Until now, I’ve only ever had a “handbag camera”.  You know the kind of thing, small enough to put in my pocket and not think too much about.  Recently however, I indulged in a new “bridge” camera; larger and with a bigger optical zoom and greater capabilities in less than perfect conditions.  Of course, it’s heavy.  Rather large.  Has a different battery and therefore needs a different charger from my small camera.  But surely, going to wonderfully interesting places and recording new and colourful experiences is exactly why I got it?  Of course, it must come with me!  However, I’m going to take my small camera too, because you know, there are times when a quick snap is just enough, don’t you think?  Not only that, but there could be places where I don’t really want to carry a huge camera, where I don’t want to look like a tourist (even though that’s exactly what I am!)

It’s not easy deciding what to take and what to leave behind, is it?  What to carry and what to pack?  How do you decide?