Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Wow, it certainly has been a while since I wrote anything for the ol' blog, eh? Let me tell you what my days have been filled with the past few weeks.

Snow has fallen in Banff, and it's definitely winter here. That has brought a few changes to my routine. The biggest? I've traded by bike for hiking boots, spiffy looking North Face ones. I walk everywhere now, and even with the hiking boots I still have moments of arm-flailing terror occasionally.

The winter weather has also brought an increased dependence on hot beverages. Recently (alright, a couple hours ago) I discovered the blissful combination that is apple juice and tea. Seriously. Instead of water, boil a mixture of apple juice and water - I use an equal amount. Obviously this won't work well for every kind of tea, but I've tried it with lemon ginger, and am contemplating a chai trial next. I'll keep you posted!

The third change has been in music. I try to make a new playlist each month, and October's list was very acoustic. This is usually the case. When the weather turns cold, I'm drawn to a different sort of music than in the summer: I want jazz, acoustics, vocals. Suffice to say, I've been listening to a lot of KT Tunstall, Amy Winehouse, the Delgados, Jamie Cullum, Feist, and all the other autumn standbys. Soon I'll be breaking out the Christmas jazz, I guess.

Until next time!

Photo (cc) me

Snow Days

Mother Nature has apparently decided that the West Coast hasn't had enough winter loving in the last few years. My hometown of Victoria has been hit with a considerable dump of snow apparently, as has Vancouver, and the weather conditions in Seattle, WA, have been granted an appearance on CNN.

Here in Kelowna, I'm sat at a chilly -20, though it "feels like" more when wind chill is taken into account. This might be one of the most hilarious parts of weather reports during the winter: on top they'll give the actual air temperature, and then below (usually in italics or a different colour font) will be the "feels like" temperature. Hilarious, but depressing.

All in all, though, I'm glad to be in Kelowna. Yes, it's a temperature difference of over fifty degrees from Singapore (aieah!), but people in this city know how to deal with winter. Victoria? Not so much. Cancel ALL THE THINGS.

Really, that's all I want to say. Doing that thing where I procrastinate from writing again. Heheh.

photo by me.

the Rain in S'pore

video by me, music by Melody Gardot (c) Verve Records 2009

Pre- or Post-monsoon?

Being a nation in the tropics, Singapore only has two seasons per se: Southwest monsoon and Northeast monsoon. The best way to describe the difference is "wet" and "damp." SW monsoon is just ending now, and NE monsoon starts in December. I've no clue what this means, but we've been having lots of lightening storms lately. And rain. And wind. Like, wind that tore the paint off of the exterior walls of my rez building. Apparently the strong winds don't even start until December, also known as when my plane takes off. Yah. Welcome to my tropical paradise!

image by hersheydesai

Music Monday: Singin' in the Rain

This feature is in sore need of a combo breaker. Looking back, past Music Mondays go a little like this: female vocalist, female vocalist, female vocalist, and, oh! female vocalist. I get it, I like my ladies singing. But there are some men on my playlist, too!

So this week you're getting a track by Jamie Cullum, a British singer-songwriter of the jazz persuasion. This song is his cover of the classic Singin' in the Rain.

Why this song? 'Cause it's what I've been doing all weekend. As a tropical nation, Singapore gets its fair share of rainstorms. Suffice to say it's been a damp weekend. But the dampness is somewhat welcome, as it not only makes the humidity seem a little more natural (and therefore acceptable), but it also cools the air temperature to a much more reasonable 25 degrees or so. Plus, Singaporeans have devised an expansive network of covered walkways throughout the city and on campus, so you never really have to be under the open sky if you don't want to. And believe me, you never really want to. The aforementioned humidity prevents your clothing from becoming dry, making movement a monumental effort once the dampness has set in.

As such, the sunny days are my favourite ones, though the rain provides a little respite from the heat every week or so. I just run to the nearest covered area and appreciate the rain from a distance, is all.

Music Monday: Lightning and Turbulence

So as I said last night, I've arrived safe and sound in Singapore. Despite my current safety, it was one bumpy ride to get here.

Making the trip over the Pacific is always interesting, at least in my experience. Flying up the BC and Alaska coastlines we hit a lot of turbulence. Like, plane sometimes dropping in those nifty air streams. It felt like a roller coaster, which I very much enjoy so it wasn't really terrible. However, we had screamers. Every time the plane so much as vibrated there were gasps. The same turbulence hit us while flying parallel to Japan. It was a long 11 hours.

Shanghai to Singapore was much more calm, although we had to make a very slight change in course when we flew beside a raging lightning storm. Now, I love lightning and thunder. So, obviously, I was glued to the window. I also switched my iPod from the "Downtempo" playlist (12am-5am flight, I was wanting to sleep) to a song called Turbulent Rock Anthem by 3LAU and Kap Slap. I had it on repeat. I listened to it four or five times. It makes for a rad storm soundtrack, hahah.

Oh, and the song is a mash-up. If you don't like those, don't click the link. Or, click it anyway and see if I can change your mind.

photo by snowpeak