Family Pride.

Family fury. Pack pride. Tribal tradition. Belonging. Whatever you want to call it, watching the All Blacks run onto the pitch stirs a deep emotion,and it's one that Ivé not felt all too often. Since I will never go to war, or be an olympic champion. I am savouring it. Sure seems like the further us hobbits get from the shire the stronger the need feel connected again, to have hobbit parties and talk oflittle kiwis chics spread far and wide are watching too. That alone makes me feel warm and close Marmite and FOTC(Flight of the conchords-worth a google). Call it the shared realisation of national identity,this patriotic feeling reaches me in Dubai from ''42 below''(the name of the latitude line that runs through N.Z , also the name of a great homemade Vodka).The best thing is I know other to the nest once again. Aww.

With the Rugby World Cup final looming , I feel this family pride stir inside. Trips to dubai mall become missions to find black and white face paint, and the taxi driver who takes me there beems with delight to find out Í don't ''have marriage'', that I'm a kiwi, then turn to dissappointment as he sadly discovers that im not into cricket.I'm into Rugby. As the words roll off my tongue I feel like a fraud. Cognitive dissonance anyone? I can't say I am that passionate about rugby,I can count on one hand the number of matches Ivé been to. I would even choose Sophora vouchers over game tickets anyday. Besides, I dont know all the rules, heck I don't even know all the All Black's names let alone average scoring rates. Then I realise something. NAtional pride and rugby go hand in hand. So deeply ingrained is rugby in our culture that if you're a kiwi, you're an All Black mascot. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, whether you like the game or not is irrelevant. This is national success, and I have the passport to leach off it. So I'm back in the game.

The Haka is going to be the highlight of the match. This symbolic ritual has created some controversy in the past and never ceases to entertain even those on the periphery of rugby love. Remember in 1980s Haka when Ireland vs NZ and Ireland staunchly walked up to the kiwis only to be nose to nose with thier opponants. Other memorable moments include when the Australians completly ignored the Haka and choose to continue warm up drills.

Some call it bad sportsmanship, intimidating the opposition by shouting and stomping. Intimidating? Yes. Bad sportsmanship? Try translating the words and you are more likely to be confused rarther than threatend. Furthermore the haka is a ''thank you'' and a war dance in one. It's a war dance called ''Ka Mate'', a tradition we celebrate thanks to wikipedia but mainly to Te Rauparaha to commemorate his escape from death during an incident in 1810. Chased by his enemies he hid in a food-storage pit under the skirt of a woman. He climbed out to find someone standing over him, who, instead of killing Te Rauparaha, turned out to be another chief friendly to him. In relief Te Rauparaha performed this ancient haka, which had been performed all through Aotearoa (New Zealand) for centuries. You can see what I mean when I say it runs deep in our veins. But just to prove we don't take oureselves too seriously the All Blacks changed the words in August 1903, when we played Australia in Sydney when the warcry was "Tena Koe Kangaroo."

So for all those non fluent Maori speakers including myself, below is the translation in English on what the All Blacks are actually shouting.The "Ka Mate" haka generally opens with a set of five preparatory instructions shouted by the leader, before the whole team joins in:
"Ka Mate"
Leader:
Ringa pakia!
Slap the hands against the thighs!
Uma tiraha!
Puff out the chest.
Turi whatia!
Bend the knees!
Hope whai ake!
Let the hip follow!
Waewae takahia kia kino!
Stomp the feet as hard as you can!
Leader:
Ka mate, ka mate
'I die, I die,
Team:
Ka ora' Ka ora'
'I live, 'I live,
Leader:
Ka mate, ka mate
'I die, 'I die
Team:
Ka ora Ka ora "
'I live, 'I live,
All:
Tēnei te tangata pūhuruhuru
This is the hairy man
Nāna i tiki mai whakawhiti te rā
...Who caused the sun to shine again for me
A Upane! Ka Upane!
Up the ladder, Up the ladder
Upane Kaupane"
Up to the top
Whiti te rā,!
The sun shines!
Hī!
Rise!

I hope this will build your anticipation for the game. Look for me, i'll be the one streaking across the feild. No not really, on a slightly less extream note, I will be wearing body paint,slapping my thighs and shouting like a babboon unleashed. Why?Identity, national pride.I may never go to war like Te Rauparaha but that feeling remains the same. The need to stand with my brothers and cheer them on till I can't no more.

GO THE ALL BLACKS!!

Love Livy

Psycho Flight Attendant---NicoDerm Commercial

The Julie and Julia inspiration

If any of you have not seen the movie Julie and Julia, see it. 365, 263 recipies a frustrated secritary cooks her way through Julia childs french cookbook and blogs about it. Simple and hilarious. Anyway, after watching this film all tucked up in bed I was inspired myself to try a choclate tart which features in the first part of the movie. But I didn't stop there, I also made hershey chocolate chip and walnut cookies,classic oat cookies and some winter vege soup which I pureed and froze in a snaplock bag. Funny , on the days i feel most under the weather are the days i want to cook a snowstorm.Anywho I spose I just love the idea that each time I bake the same thing I get better and better till you don't need the book. That's the thing about cooking, you can be ADD and still appreciate it because it doesnt take much time and you have constructed something beautiful from scratch. As Julia would say "you can have the worst day at work and everything falls down but you can come home and male cocolate pie and know it will turn out thick!"

Now to the recipe..if you care like me and do not have all the fancy kitchen equipment converting using online metric converters can be quite a task especially when measuring 175 grams of butter ( like 19T) however it only takes a wee while to do and its totally worth the calories

Here is the recipe for the chocolate tart

Prep time 30 +mins +1 hours chilling cooking time 15 min

1. 175g plain four
2. 6tsp butter
3. 1tsp caster suger
4. 1 tsp water
5. filling 100g full fat cream chees
6. 2 T caster suger
7. 1 small egg,lightly beater
8. 50grams dark choc

To decorate:

1. piped cream
2. dark choc spinkles or curls(whatever amount of patience you have left
3. coaco powder to dust

1.sieve the flour into a mixing bowl.cut butter into small pieces and run in with your finger tips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.Stir in the suger.Add enough water to mix into a soft dough and cover and chill for 15 min

2.Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and use the 18 mini tartlet tines or mini muffin tins. prick base with fork

3.Beat together the full fat soft cheeese and the suger. BEat in the efgg and melt the chocolate and beat it into the mixture. Spoon into the pastry cases and bake in the preheated oven 190 degrees for 5-15 minutes, until the pastry is crisp and the filling is set. cool completely

4 chill tarts. pipe cream on topand decorate!

Bueno petito!

Vanilla Manilla

Trying local food in Manilla markets is similar to graciously eating a sandwich offered from a smiling janitor. However I 'maned up' and did try a lot... and got sick, but that was from gorging out on crew chocolates before landing lol. This trip was probably my most active trip infact, i was so full of energy on this trip it was incredible (and yes Dad the shopping had a LOT to do with that). The smells, are overwhelmingly delicious and the food so cheap i had to contain myself. Krispy cream doghnuts, deep friend seafood,crab and lobster,adobo, and fresh fresh fruit and following that for 25 dirhum each ( 270 pasos) i can enjoy a full body exfolients,facial, pedicure and eyelash perm to assist digestion.

However the best thing about manilla is the Greenfields mall, where the phillipinos customer centered nature makes barganing a breeze... just ask what they are offereing and work convert that to Dirhum, then half it and somewhere inbetween you'll have a bargan. I really loved the phillipeans and here's a brief list why (i love lists)

1.The friendliness- this race are naturally anticipative of needs and given the chance will rush to help.
2.The temperature 36 degrees-tropical weather means tropical fruit and the best dried mangos
3. The exchange rate.. one dirhum is equivilant to 12 pasos and it cost 10 dirhum for a facial...ahhhh
4. That anyone over 6 foot has instant celebrity status
5. The safety in the city, you feel very at ease however always check with the concierge how much it cost usually to catch a taxi (they may help you with your bags,smile,offer you mangos and at the same time rip you off on the taxi fare big time)
6.The amazing leadership we had on this flight. Although the flight was 8hours it didn't really feel like we were working.

"So your Nan lives in Oamaru too?!"

Here we are two girls who met in Dubai only to discover our grandmas sing in the same church choir in small town Oamaru; New Zealand. Not only that, our parents got married in the same church in Oamaru...
Bex is a really cool chilled chick who is soon to move to Beijing China, but we have arranged that when I have an Emirates flight to Beijing, i'll be there.

That's the crazy thing about Dubai, it seems all these connections are made dispite temperal nature of everything.

Capetown seafoods

BUnny Chow in Durban

Here we are on the periphery of Durban town center at 'Casa de sol' local restaurant 5 minutes walk from Durbans south beach.