Christina was very restless, but they managed to take some decent photos of the three of us.

Call quality has been improving and from opinions I’ve read about call quality, it’s somewhere between a cellphone and a landline.

The Skype subscriptions page states that for US$5.99, you can get unlimited calls to landlines within your own country, which also includes cellphones in some countries (not Taiwan yet, but I suspect soon). US$12.99 gives unlimited landline calls to anywhere in the world, but unfortunately South Africa is not included, so a local package will be my first choice.

To make it convenient, we’d need a telephone which supports Skype, without the computer turned on. This kind of phone connects to the wireless router to make the Skype calls. The total savings could reduce our phone bill by about NTD1000 (US$30) which doesn’t sound like much, but adds up over time. The savings would be even more if cellphones for Taiwan get included.

Just a little something for today.

So here I am jogging my memory.

The earliest time I can recall seeing snow was when we were in Giant’s Castle. I can’t remember how old I was, but must have been in Senior Primary or thereabouts. After we got to the Drakensberg it got very cold and started to rain. It was raining in the camp, but we knew that higher in the mountains it was surely snowing. The first day after the rain it was just too wet, so we didn’t attempt to go and see the snow. But the day after that we set out on a long walk to go and get to the snow. It was a long trek and the path was quite wet, but we did get to the snow. We made a little snowman, which I remember we have a picture of somewhere at home in SA.

The next time was a time when we went to Nottingham road specially to go and see the snow because it had snowed the night before. The snow was deep and there was enough to make snowballs and throw them at each other.

The most memorable time which I had completely forgotten was the time when we were at Mbona. Now Mbona is a private farm area that was converted into a holiday place. If you head out past Howick and then past Umgeni Valley and keep going until the road turns to dust and then continue another five kilometers or so, that’s about where it is. We were there for the weekend or some length of time and we had taken our bikes with us. It was raining in the night and getting colder. But the next morning we woke up to see the ground blanketed in snow. The first thing I could think to do was to get my bike and go for a ride. It was nearly impossible and it was too slippery to go far, but it was pretty excellent. The cottage we stayed in that belonged to my Dad’s friend Alan was the third highest cottage in the area and further down the hill there wasn’t any snow.

And the video I mentioned in the beginning. Dad, Mom and Nicola were actually at Nottingham Road and it snowed during the day, lucky fish. I will post the video sometime, eventually.

The time really does fly. I remember meeting Ava back in 2002 and the year and half before we got married. Our weddings in ZA, Tainan and Taipei, what a busy year that was. And now four years down the road, it’s the three of us rather than the two of us only.

Ava’s oldest sister and Rice looked after Christina on Thursday evening and Ava and I went to the Pot Pie Cafe for dinner. Just a relaxing evening together and a chance to sit down for a chat and focus on each other, we even went to the stationary store nearby and Ava commented how it’s a treat just being able to do that without Christina pulling everything off the shelves. Although we love her to bits of course.

Don’t forget to check our movies and photos (both recently updated).

Suite 103, 1st Floor Kent House,
1 Neptune Rd, Essex Terrace
Westville, KZN
South Africa

Their website is at http://www.i-kiosksolutions.co.za

Can anyone suggest any good B&B’s in the area, there will be three or so people for two nights. I can’t remember exactly where Essex Terrace is (Westville North somewhere, right?) and Google maps doesn’t have great maps of Durban.

Leave your suggestions as comments on this post if possible. And links to websites if possible.

For those who want it go to http://tools.google.com/pinyin/ and click on the “big blue button” to download it.

Install it the usual way. And continue when finished.

From the language bar, click the “EN”, then select “Chinese (PRC)” to change the language.

The google language bar appears.

Right click the blue ball part of the google bar, and select the item shown.

Select the fourth tab.

Check the “Traditional Chinese” option.

Click “Apply” to apply the changes, or “OK” to apply and exit the options page.

All the characters that appear when using the tool should now be Traditional Chinese. The characters in all the menus and options remain in Simplified Chinese.

Rebecca, enjoy.

On Saturday I drove to take my first look at Giba Gorge MTB Park near Marion Hill (along side the N3 Toll Plaza between Hillcrest and Pinetown).

I was fortunate to enough to go out on my first exploration ride with non other than the owner, Chris. I got the full tour. Chris took me over a sampling of the parks trails. From the family level dirt roads, the smooth sweeping single track, all the way to the freshly cut technical single track with berms and switch-backs, and finally he showed me the crazy freeride run. All these trails take in the green countryside with forests, indigenous bush, grassland, rivers and three waterfalls!

The bonus is that the park is based around a thatched visitors’ center. With reception, a small bike shop and bar with light meals and good Italian coffee. Future plans include a restaurant, conference center and spa.

This might all come across like a marketing pitch, but it’s just cause I’m an MTB freak who wants to spread the word, and I’m pleased that someone with passion and vision has at long last created a quality all-in-one off-road biking venue within easy reach of Durban.

http://www.gibagorge.co.za/

So if you are interested, it sounds really cool, something I would like to do on my next vacation, and it’s within riding distance of Westville.

Ava went to the Chinese doctor, but on a weekday, so I couldn’t help out with Christina. She went into the doctor’s office, and the whole clinic was quite busy.

While she was in the doctor’s office, Christina started to walk around to explore. When she went to the closed curtain, the doctor told Ava that there was someone in there getting acupuncture, they usually use the outside beds but it was busy, and that she would call a nurse to help with Christina.

“She’s got my needle,” was the next thing that was heard as she pulled one of the needles out of the poor patient.

Kids are just too cute, and quick. Awww, sweet.

Starting on July 23rd, I will be doing Technical Writing instead of teaching.

This involves writing technical documents for my new company iEi. I will know more about exactly what is involved when I start.

This has been some time in the making and I have been quite unexcited by teaching recently. It was great to start off with, but I really did need to move on to something else. This kind of job is one of the few other jobs that is open to foreigners here, just because the language requirement is English, and almost all other regular jobs need Chinese. It will be interesting being in an office environment, and being in the computer industry, which is such a thriving one here.

One of the other factors that made a big difference was that a friend of mine, Paul, told me of the position at his work (he’s head of that team) and that from seeing my websites, thought I would be quite suitable for it. So my ongoing thoughts about my career, plus the offer, plus the timing (end of school semester) were too much to ignore, and there you go.

I’ll have to get used to actually working hard again. I’ll have to wear long pants, even when it’s not cold. I’ll need to get used to work in an office. I’ll have to do a BIG commute (possibly and hour ride by bicycle or motorbike, up to one and a half by bus). I’m going to have to learn a whole new skillset. But its all good, I need something to push me and make me work hard.