Maxi Danger Uncut

Saturday, July 02, 2011

Goal Tracking - May '11 Status Report

Again getting a bit lax, it's already past the end of June and I'm only just punching out the May report. Highlight for May was definitely the Vietnamese mission - headed over to Hoi An to visit JD. Syme and Flick were having an argument about Flick wanting to go on another holiday. He's like "we just got back from our honeymoon - look, I'll show you how expensive the tickets are", then checked jetstar's website only to find return tickets for $600. "If they're that cheap, then I'm going too" was his next comment...
Flick spoke to Kaz who was also keen, Syme sent me a text reading "buying tix to vietnam for 6 hungy return in 5 minutes, let me know if you're in" - "GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!" was my reply. Turned out Lou (Flick's bro's gf) would also be travelling through SE Asia at the same time, plus also I bumped into an old school friend (Grundy) at a music festival (GTM) who happened to be planning a visit at the same time. To make it even better, Jetstar offered us a business class upgrade for $150, so we pulled the trigger and decided to head across in style. Syme and I even had our flight-plan organised - make sure we drink our one fiddy's worth, interlaced with inappropriate comments directed at the skankiest hosties, with the aim being to get at least one warning. And it doesn't count, unless it comes from the pilot. We even had our responses ready - "why don't you go fly for a real airline, top gun" and "how bout you head back into the cockpit with your little boyfriend there, goose".
On the day of departure we got to the airport nice and early, plane was delayed by half an hour or so, but that's no problem when you're sitting in the lounge sipping champagne - just means you get to smash another one before jetting off. Highlights of the trip were:


Catching up with Joel. He was pretty busy and has only just started at his new job so couldn't really take any leave, so we didn't get that much face time, but it was great to hang out for the first time in ages.  
JD rippin' it up
Chillin' on the streets of Hoi An with my $12 slab.


BBQ pork sticks. JD took us to this local 'fast food' joint, and as soon as we arrive they bring out all this food, no order necessary. One plate was full of pressed pork threaded on kebab sticks, bbq'd, fucking amazing. Even though I had eaten only 30 minutes beforehand, I ate like 1000. The food in general in Hoi An was awesome - great restaurants, we ate as much as we could and drank cocktails all night, I think the most expensive bill was $20 each. 

Vietnamese fast food.
Doing it in style. Flew biz class there and back (thanks to the cheap upgrades), stayed at JD's five star resort which was really cool, infinity pools all over the place.

Practicing my superman impersonation
Karaoke + Club Night. On the Tuesday night we hit the town, in a big way. Dinner, vodka shots, karaoke, vodka, then onto the club for some dancing and more vodka. Ended up in the pool at 3am in the morning, good times, good times.

The gang, smashing it Vieto Style
Local bike tour. Went with a small group on an organised tour of some of the surrounding villages, got to see close up the conditions that locals live and work under. When you see someone weaving mats all day to earn the princely sum of $2 a day, makes you stop and think how lucky you are.

Giving the basket boat a try, and the watchful eye of the old Vietnamese lady.

Bullock on the road we were cycling on

Ice-cream Sandwich in Singapore. Slice of ice-cream between 2 bits of white bread, what more could you want.

Ice Cream Sandwiches - Glorious.
Lowlight, predictably, was coming home. We only went for a week, from Saturday to Saturday, and by the time you take out the connecting flights (Melbourne to Singapore, Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City, HCMC to Da Nang) then we were only at the resort for a full three days, with half days on either side. Don't think I'll go OS for such a short period again, if I'm going to go through the pain of getting everything super organised and handed over at work, then I think 10 days off is the minimum. Man, but travelling with mates, that's where it's at.

Owing to the impromptu holiday, I guess it was a pretty good month overall. Let's checkout the results:

Goal Category
Monthly Trend
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Writing
-
Reading
-
Listening
Saving
Contributing
-
Healthing and Fitnessing
-
Work/Life Balancing
↑↑

  • Writing: Amber (static). A couple of posts in May - last months review, plus a couple of book lists. I guess that scrapes through for a pass.
  • Reading: Amber (static). Had a little bit of time on the plane, so whipped through Dune (Frank Herbert). Good book, although the classic problem with a 'hero' story is that you know how it's going to end up - they're going to win. 
  • Listening: Amber (down). No gigs in May, poor form, however cos I went to so many the month before I think I'm still ahead of the curve (hence the amber rating).
  • Save: Amber (up from red last month). Still not smashing it, however I did implement an automated savings plan (deducting money on pay day into a savings account that I don't use everyday). Now the challenge is to make sure I don't dip into the savings fund.
  • Contribute: Red (down). I am still a leech on society.
  • Health and Fitness: Green (static). Making running to work a habit. Good to see.
  • Work-Life Balance: Green (up 2 pips). This is a funny one. Even though I had a week off, it was pretty stressful getting everything organised. Note that I use 'stressful' in the loosest sense of the word, I know my job isn't life and death, although to get ready to leave I had to work late nights most of the week prior just to make sure everything was in order. That said, crushing beers by the pool for a week, just hanging out with the crew is enough to skyrocket this category into green.