Formula 1 – Ayrton Senna

‘If you no longer go for a gap, you are no longer a racing driver’ - Ayrton Senna.

When you are a child, you seem to remember exactly where and when you found out about the news of certain tragedies.  I remember exactly where I was when I first heard about 9/11, the death of Princess Diana and when I was four, the passing of the greatest Forumula 1 driver of all time, Ayrton Senna.

It is rare to find a talented, motivated person who also has a heart of gold.  Senna as a driver was one of a kind and absolutely stunning to watch.  For someone like myself, who does not really appreciate the difference of driving style between say Vettel and Hamilton it is clear to see that Senna’s style was on a whole different level.

Senna was not only an athlete but also became a symbol of the people of Brazil.  His generosity and kindness has impacted and continues to impact people today.

RIP.

Here is an introduction to the great man that was:

Chips Challenge

I am a 90s baby and growing up in the 90s was the best thing ever.

My generation has been privy to the technological advancements of computers, which has a strong correlation to what we did in our spare time. Obviously, I mean gaming.

I refer to the pre-world of warcraft/call of duty days where I didn’t need parents because I had Mario Kart (the original version on Nintendo 64).

Before that, we had Super Mario Bros on our gameboys.

But even before that, was CHIPS CHALLENGE on windows 98 (I think). For those who remember, Chips Challenge – it was awesome! 

Does anyone know where you can download the game? And does it have a Mac version?

Love A xx

World Press Photo

THIS IS THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO DO THIS YEAR.

World Press Photo is a photo-journalism exhibition that travels around the world - so there is no excuse for missing it!

The winning photo from last year:

STORY behind the shot: (extract) – Bibi Aisha, 18, was disfigured as retribution for fleeing her husband’s house in Oruzgan province, in the center of Afghanistan. Men arrived there one night demanding that she be handed over to be punished for running away. Aisha was taken to a mountain clearing, where, at the orders of a Taliban commander, she was held down and had first her ears sliced off, then her nose. In local culture, a man who has been shamed by his wife is said to have lost his nose, and this is seen as punishment in return.

Some shots from the previous years:

Love A. xx

Berlin Street Art

I LOVE BERLIN STREET ART!!

I managed to capture some of my favorites on my last trip:

Hope you are all spoiling your mums!

Love A. xxx

Russia!

I love Russia.  The country has a steriotype, which is strengthened when an airline chooses its marketing strategy to be this:

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If you can get a visa, I highly recommend you pay it a visit.

Here are some general humerous observations:

• Due to traffic it took 1.5 hours to drive 35km at 8pm on an 8 lane freeway. Apparently this is not peak hour.

• Moscow has a metro (underground trainline) and it absolutely stunning. It covers only the very centre of the city. When getting on the metro in an outer station dad was eating a burger, he was then chased by a pack of wild dogs….

• In reference to above dad is ok because an onlooker chased the dogs away with a stick, which he carries around with him to chase away dogs – to potential travellers – do not worry about this because I guarantee you will never visit this station during your travels.

• The ‘standard’ Moskovite car is the Porsche Cayenne turbo…in this city, owning a Lamborghini Gallardo is nothing special.

• If you cannot afford a luxury car, Donkeys are a perfectly appropriate means of transport.

• If your a girl wear high heels everywhere and to all activities (gardening included).  No exceptions. With trackpants is perfectly acceptable.

• Aeroflot…it will leave the airport 2 hours late but arrive at its destination 15min early averaging a ground speed of 843km/hr (average is just under 500).

• That said, I always fly Aeroflot because it has THE BEST food, carries THE MOST alcohol and since the company had its internal restructure (in about 2006) an excellent international safety record (emphasis on international, flying within Russia is different).

• Alcohol is sold at every bus station.

• Often you cannot buy cold coke/water but can buy a cold beer.

• 700ml Vodka can sometimes be cheaper than 600ml bottled water.

Having a blast.

Love A. xx

Stockholm and Uppsala!

When planning euro-travels one often overlooks Stockholm.  I am guilty of this and therefore had absolutely no expectations.  Yet, as my pending departure draw nearer and nearer I am unusually melancholy because frankly, I had an absolute blast!!

As a country, Sweden itself has had a unique political history – neutral during World War I & II.  Now days, the Swedish progressive mentality has translated to a equal parent leave policy (there are A LOT of men with prams) and yet despite this, the Swedes are very traditional – girls can expect to have all doors opened because chivalry in Sweden is very much alive (I liked this very much!).

April 30, is a celebration in Sweden called Valburg.  All super party animals should head to the university town of Uppsala for copious amounts of alcohol, all other people can celebrate the coming of spring Stockholm style – HUGE BONFIRE!

Here are a few snaps of the iconic attractions:

One last thing – a very happy birthday to my wonderful papa!

Love A. xx

A Sunny Saturday in Berlin

As far as aesthetics go, I do not rate Berlin – being beautiful is not a virtue of this city.  However, every time I go there I have some sort of quirky experience that keeps drawing me back over and over again.

On Easter Saturday, I asked to tag along with some Berlin-ers just to see what they do.  I ended up exploring a complex of abandoned warehouses located about 10 min from the center of the city.

What google tells me is that the complex was used as the main food processing plant in East Berlin during the soviet era.  I could not find the date it was abandoned but judging by the state everything was in, it seems to be 20+ years.

I found it hard to capture this eerie yet beautiful experience but here are a few photos from the day.

Notably, I did exert some Australian influence – we finished off the day with a barbeque on the roof watching the sunset.

Thank you all who made this day amazing.

Love A.