Nespresso

Yes, I like shopping...but really only for gadgets or good deals. You know this from my blog description.

Well I've finally found my coffee solution. Since becoming a coffee addict (going on 2 and half years now) I've been searching for a better deal, and coffee, than shelling out $5 to Starbucks everyday. I've tried the french press (doesn't that sound dirty), I've bought a number of bialettis (electric as well as conventional) and I think I am on my second milk frother. The annoyance of them all is that there is a ton of clean up, the coffee is ok but not great, they don't make real espresso and I frequently have to clean up spills.

A few weeks ago I had a major coffee incident at home. I was making my morning latte using a bialetti where you are supposed to heat the milk in the top portion and it builds steam and you are supposed to get a real espresso latte out of it. What really happens is that the seal sucks, some coffee leaks into the milk early on, the coffee is heated in the milk and the whole thing tastes like crap. It was $69.99. I had given up on adding the milk in there but must have poured past the fill line for the water. Coffee explosion. Large lake of it. Major hassle to clean up as I was running out the door to work.

This same day I was heading for dinner with a friend. I didn't even get to my coffee drama when she told me about how she only drinks coffee at home since she bought an espresso maker. I lamented that I wanted one but they are like a grand and I just can't afford that and I'm tired of all the clean up with the cheaper stuff. Then she told me about Nespresso. Now this friend knows about the finer things in life and strikes that balance between over the top expensive luxury and good value. So I knew this was a good deal.

And is it ever. The whole system cost me $340 (incl. tax) and I also got a $50 credit for buying coffee. There are 16 different types of coffee/espresso that come in individual pods that equal one shot of espresso. They cost 58 cents each. Definitely cheaper than a Starbucks latte. I was thinking the pods thing was kind of a rule breaker for good espresso but apparently in Europe (where they know coffee) this is the way to go. And the adds for it in Italy have George Clooney. That totally sold me.

Clean up is almost nil and the coffee is so good. You can order it on-line or buy at the store. I figure I am breaking even on this machine, in comparison to buying a latte everyday, after 3 months. Trying to get a group of people at work to go in one for there. We will need it starting in the fall.

Come by my place if you want to taste Nespresso good. You can also go to their store and they'll make you a coffee. They're in the Bay (although not affiliated with the Bay) on the market level.

Joey's Birthday!

Better late than never with this one. Summer is here and I just don't want to be on the computer when I am not at work.

Joey turned 40! Almost all the Dunnet kids were in town and Mum hosted a birthday party. Cake, kids and balloons all made it very festive. Chach made some super cute name tags. Big year for the Dunnet family with an all Dunnet children reunion scheduled, first sibling to turn 40 and first Dunnet daughter to have baby. Man are we ever getting old.

Rachel with two, or is it three, boys. I like to think she is slightly clairvoyant and was hanging out with the young men to get a sense of what then next few years will be like.

Garmin good

In a fit of wanting to get back into running I made a few purchases. While actual running is free there are a few necessary pieces of equipment.

So I went to the running room and laid out $180 for new shoes (ridiculous cost but I can't put a price on my health/knee and joints) and got some good socks. Then I decided I need a new gadget to make the training more fun and help me figure out if I am getting enough kms in to do a 1/2 marathon in the fall. I only want to run 3 times a week max so those runs really need to count. I've been coveting the Garmin Forerunner 305 as my new gadget. I checked it out at the running room, said I would think about it, and then went over to Costco and bought it for $90 less than what they were selling it for there.

It is amazing. Wore it for a walk first and it was super cool to come home and download the walk and see an actual map of Vancouver where we had been.

Then I put together some of the workouts I would normally do on the Garmin Training Centre software and loaded them up. Since I am all about the run/walk training method I am pumped that this puppy does it all. Heart rate, speed, time...you name it I can enter it in as the method to calculate intervals. You can even denote intervals, like a one minute rest, as actual rest so it doesn't calculate into your average speed for the workout. There are 5 heart rate zones and 10 speed zones which you can adjust for yourself. For instance, the default fast jog is my 1/2 marathon pace and speed zone 10 default is faster than I could ever run. So I adjusted for my less than speedy running capabilities.

Amazing. And worth every dollar. Love that you can see where/when you get tired and how your heart rate is up and your speed is down.

Now if they could just combine this with an ipod I would be down to just the one gadget.

PS Totally realised on my 9.5k run yesterday that the ipod is way off on mileage. Like way, way off. It was a punishingly long 9.5k followed be the cold bath/hot shower at home to recover.

Shame post

I've been shamed into posting. While I wait for my milk and cheerios to digest before I run I thought I would catch up. Well, not a full catch up but at least a partial. No going back to post photos from the trip (y'all can see them on Facebook anyway) but maybe filling you in on my last 3 weeks.

I jumped right back into work when I arrived. Not really both feet at first. I would say week 1 I had one foot in and the other was just thinking about my next vacation/trip. The bonus from this last trip is that it had clarified for me what kind of travelling I want to do next year.

Realising that I am getting older (yes, sadly true), and not everyone enjoys some of the places I want to visit, I'm going with a theme for my 2010 travel. Are you ready for it? 'Developing worlds and trekking/hiking.' I want to do everything I can't do with kids or a bad hip. And I want to check off some of this really big, once in a lifetime adventures.

My draft itinerary goes a little something like this:

Mid-April 2010 - Finish work. Have a few drinks. Pack up my belongings and put them in storage.

~ April 20, 2010 - Hawaii for a week or 10 days of relaxation and working out. (you will see why the working out is important. Hawaii is great for training. A lot of people go vacation there to train for ironman)

~ May 1, 2010 - Fly to Delhi and then on to Kathmandu. Go on 15 day trek to Mt. Everest Base Camp.

~ Mid-May 2010 - Fly back to Delhi. Travel around seeing Agra etc. If time, possible trekking in Rajasthan.

June, 2010 - Fly to Tanzania. Climb Kilimanjaro. This will be followed by an overland tour through Africa.

First week of July 2010 - Stop and rest up in either in coastal South Africa. I am thinking of Zanzibar.

Third week of July 2010 - Head back to Vancouver to enjoy the rest of the summer.

September 2010 - Start work.

In theory, doesn't it all sound great? I think I end up visiting 8 countries in 10 weeks and 7 of them will be new ones for me.

Off for my run.

Olives and Eggplant but no beer

Photos will be added later. This PC has no USB port.

Arrived tired but with lmuggage to Casablanca on Saturday. Got ripped off by taxi but was still less than if I was in Europe. The cheap taxis here are the petit taxis and there was only grand taxis at the airport.

First time joining a group tour and it was kind of nice to just show up. Immediately noticed the difference with it being an Muslim country. Wanted to spend my afternoon sitting at a cafe but there were only men at the cafes and I was getting the evil eye.

Met up with group the night I arrived and the 15 of us went for dinner. I had chicken with fries but tried the tapas at the table. Not a fan of olives or eggplant and that seems to form the base of everythin. Oh well. Also noticed no alcohol on the menu. Will have to save the drinking for Spain.

Not much time in Casablanca but we visited the third largest mosque in the world on the way out that morning. Here is a photo....oh right...no USB port.

We then visited Rabat and a lot of mosques. Our guide took us to a restaurant in Meknes where he was obviously getting a kick back because it was extremely over priced. I think that is just how it works here because same thing happened today but the food was way better and it was not quite as expensive. I have had 2 more chicken meals as chicken seems rather safe.

The best part of the first day was seeing some Roman ruins in Voullabis. So amazing. We were on this beautiful hillside and it was sunny. I could have spent hours there. The ruins were further ruined by teh Lisbon earthquake so they are all open but you can see the tile mosaics in the wealthier houses/ruins.

We arrived in Fez at about 8pm last night and hunted down a restaurant rather than caving to the McDonalds next to our hotel and eating a McArabia. Not kidding. It is a real item on the menu.

Au revoir for now.

Theoretically

Trip has started off with a bang. Running on 2 days with 3 hours sleep total. Had bad middle seat on flight and was book ended by older people that really didn't want to move when I had to go to the bathroom. I did manage to drink 1.5 litres of water on flight but I probably broke even on hydration as I had champagne and red wine.
It is raining in Paris as I wait for my flight to Casablanca.
Airline has screwed up on my luggage but they have told me that 'theoretically' it should be on my flight to Casablanca. They just can't confirm that it is.
Hopefully more posts later. This stand up kiosk for internet is not made for someone 6 feet tall. I thought Europeans were all amazons but maybe not the French.

3 more sleeps

I really have no excuse for not blogging other than fatigue. Life has been very busy with exciting things I could blog about but it has all been in anticipation of a vacation which starts on Friday.

10 days in Morocco and 7 days in Spain. Lots of sightseeing planned for Morocco and some day trips and beach time in Spain.

Other than the waiting for vacation I have been slowly recovering from 16 sport events along with numerous other work commitments over the last 3 months. This past 5 day weekend, with plenty of quality family time, has somewhat restored me but I am definitely counting the hours left until my departure.

For those of you interested, my itinerary is below. I am testing out my light packing skills for this trip in anticipation of my 10 weeks of travel next year around this time. Fingers crossed. You will see a lot of photos of me wearing the same thing.

April 17th - Depart from YVR! Stop over in Seattle and Paris (but no time to go tour the city :( )
April 18th to 24th - Arrive in Casablanca - meet up with Gap adventures. Much like the light packing I am testing them out for 2010. Have heard good things. They are not Contiki tours. For more info. on what I am up to from the 18th through 24th you can see the itinerary here.
April 25th - Meet up with Rachel and Chris in Marrakesh. Day of sightseeing.
April 26th - We're still debating the overnight train vs. day train to Tangier. We want to catch the ferry on the 27th from Tangier to Algeciaras to get over to Spain. It leaves at 7am and 4pm. I am voting for 7am and taking a train during the day on the 26th.
April 27th - The three amigos...okay...the happy couple and third wheel land in Spain, pick up rental car and drive Marabella.
April 27th to May 3rd - We have some rest and relaxation planned along with day trips to Gibraltar, Cadiz and Alhambra. Rachel and Chris drop me in Malaga on the evening of May 3rd and I fly home early the next morning.

Are you tired yet? I am really hoping I am not. I think the mix of sun and Spanish wine will be just what I need.