Kiwis for a week

* Overview

One of the best parts of the trip was meeting new people from all over the world. Our tripmates hailed from Bulgaria, Germany, Malaysia, England, Holland, various parts of the U.S., and Australia. About half of the people we met were Aussies, who had a lot in common with the New Zealanders so they were able to teach us a bit. Here are some helpful translations we picked up on the trip.

Legend:
== equals
~= close to equal
!= not equal
** just different

U.S. => Australia/New Zealand

Hello == Gidday

Friend == Mate

Guy == Bloke

Vacation == Holiday -- "i'm on holiday in new zealand"

French Fries == Chips

Chips == Potato chips -- but our potato chips are better than their potato chips

Bathroom == Loo -- like "your poo goes in the loo"

Right == Left -- you drive on the left and your steering wheel is on the right

Australians == Aussies

New Zealanders == Kiwis -- yeah, like the fruit. but the fruit was named after the kiwi bird which is all the rage over here

Breakfast == Breaky

Lunch == Dinner

Dinner == Tea

Midnight snack == Supper -- so eating could be a bit confusing.

$1.00 USD ~= $1.20 NZD -- but things are a little more expensive here so you don't get much on the conversion

$1.02 == $1.00 -- they round everything to the nearest 10 cents in New Zealand. this is awesome.

$2.00 ** $2.00 -- prices include tax and tip. no mental math necessary when dining out.

21 == 18 -- they get to start drinking a bit earlier

Fosters != Beer -- they hate Fosters and they're embarrassed by the commercials.

McDonalds == Mackers -- it's a cute little nickname for our nationally recognized fast food chain

Absolut == Smirnoff -- they love the smirnoff over here. it's the premium vodka. we laughed when we found that out

Rum == Bundy -- which is their brand of rum over here. it's awful, even in a rum and coke.

Peter Jackson == God -- they really like lord of the rings over there

Soccer == Football

Football == Australian Rules Football -- this is like a cross between american football and rugby

Rugby == Awesome -- i watched a few games on the flight over and in the bars. this sport is sooo much fun.

Coffee ** Coffee -- they have the most delicious espresso drinks. julie says it's only because we're drinking from a ceramic cup, but i think they make it better

Ketchup == Tomato sauce -- they call it tomato sauce over here (pronounced like "i say tomato" in the song that goes "you say tomato, i say tomato")

Ketchup packets ** Tomato sauce packets -- their packets are awesome. it's kind of like the little jam packets you get in breakfast restaurants, except there are two little butts of ketchup on the back instead of a big square. you just squeeze the butts together and ketchup comes out the other side.

Ketchup ** Tomato sauce -- they need heinz because their ketchup is awful

* Kiwi pride

We did notice a huge amount of national pride over here. We think it's partly because NZ is on the small side (~4M people) and also because they have a national rugby team called the All Blacks which unites the citizens. Everyone is a rugby fan.

* Anzac Day

We were fortunate enough to be here during Anzac Day, which is their version of Veterans Day, sort of. The difference is that over here they are much more into it. It is a holiday celebrated in New Zealand and Australia to remember and give thanks to the combined Australia New Zealand army which entered WWI together. They were our allies in the war and lost a lot of men in the battle of Gallipoli. They dedicated this day each year to remember that battle. The amazing thing was how grateful everyone still is for their sacrifice. You don't see that type of gratitude in the US, even for our WWII or Desert Storm vets. The 20 yr olds telling us the story of Gallipoli had tears in their eyes. It was touching.

All across NZ and AU people would get up at 6am to go to dawn service where you hear the story of the battle. Dawn service is very similar to our Passover Sedar, except there are no jews involved and all that stuff really happened. Also, there isn't any food, wine, or jewish ghosts to drink said wine.

* Contiki

Contiki tours are pretty interesting. It's a tour bus filled with 18-35 yr olds and a tour manager and bus driver. The idea is to travel as a group so you save money on transportation costs while at the same time you get to meet a lot of new people from all over the world. And you have a group to go out with at nights. It's mostly for singles since it's a great opportunity to hook up with strangers. But we weren't the only couple on board and it wasn't really awkward or anything. We were still able to make some new friends even though we're really hot but they never had a chance to hook up with us.

Our typical day was something like this:

- Wake up at 7am, eat breakfast, and get on the bus by 8am (earliest we were on the bus was 6:55am)

- Drive for a few hours to our next destination

- Eat lunch or grab a coffee on the way

- Arrive at our destination in the afternoon and check into the hotel, get situated

- Activities all afternoon -- this is the real fun part

- Then dinner, usually with the group, and usually something special for the area (like a dinner cruise, a cultural event, etc)

- Go out for drinks/fun after dinner

The trip was pretty awesome, and we really liked meeting everyone. It was also great to have the transportation and lodging completely taken care of. The activities were pretty good since they've done this so many times they know what's good and what's overpriced, not worth the time, etc. We didn't stay in the nicest hotels, but for the price they weren't too bad. They were clean and warm, and that's all you really need for a trip like this. You don't get any price breaks on the hotels or activities, but it's not a bad deal at all. You do spend a lot of time on the bus though, and there are some times when it does suck to be part of a large group since you have to wait for everyone.

Summary: We would do Contiki again if we didn't feel like planning a trip or if we didn't know enough about the area to do a good job on our own. But we'd prefer to plan our own trip if possible. We'd definitely recommend it for our siblings to at least try though, since it is a lot of fun.

Now, on to the city highlights.

* Christchurch

Day 1 - Christchurch

- We saw the Church. It had swastikas on the wall, which they said were egyptian symbols, but I think they just hate jews

- We saw the Botanical gardens. There were flowers.

- We spend a lot of time the next day driving/ferrying to Wellington. The ferry made a few people sick to their stomach since it was pretty choppy, but we were ok

* Wellington

Day 2 & 3 - Wellington and Taupo

- We rode a cable car to the top of a big hill then walked all the way down (~1 hour) with friends from the trip.

- We saw a museum. It was ok.

- We went to the grocery store and got fun New Zealand food

- We played the lottery and lost

* Taupo

- We rode a Huka Jet which is the fastest most awesomest boat you'll ever see. The driver had so much control over the boat (traveling super fast) that we would head straight for the wall and he would turn on a dime and we'd miss it by inches. It was awesome.

- We went on a Contiki dinner cruise which kinda sucked since the food was bad, the drinks were bad, and it was overpriced. This was the only really bad activity. Question: how do you screw up a rum and coke? Answer: by using awful rum from australia

- Segways

* Rotorua

Day 4 & 5 - Waitomo and Rotorua

- The town kinda stinks because of the sulfur springs

- We went in the sulfur springs (cost us $20NZD). They were warm, but a smelly.

- We had a nice dinner just the two of us at a fancy restaurant that was on a mountain outside of town. The restaurant drove even picked us up and dropped us off. It was delicious and there was a great view.

- We went Zorbing! This is the most fun you will ever have in a giant bubble surrounded by another giant bubble.

- We went luging! This is the most fun you will have on a little plastic car that you ride down a hill.

* Waihai

- Sheep show. We got to see someone shear a sheep on stage (very cool) and I got to go up on stage in front of everyone and milk a cow. It felt weird and slippery, but a pretty cool experience nonetheless.

- Black Water Rafting. This is where you put on a wet suit and raft down a river that's inside a cave using an inner tube. There were glow worms in the cave to light the way. One of the more amazing experiences in NZ, this was by far the coldest thing we've done in a long time.

- Bar night. We had a few nights at the bars with our Contiki trip mates, but this was the best. The bar had good beer in chilled mugs, decent music, and a good time was had by all.

* Paihai

Day 6 & 7 - Bay of Islands

- The best fish n chips (fried fish and french fries) we've ever had

- We rented a car and drove on the left side of the rode. It was kinda scary at first, but not too bad. They gave us a giant van though, and I hate driving big cars.

- We drove all the way to 90 mile beach (actual length, 72 miles) which is unique because the beach itself is a registered highway. You're allowed to drive 100kph on the sand!

- The rental agency said we were not allowe to drive on the sand, but we thought what the hell, we'll do it anyways. [Despite this warning sign]

- The sand driving was going ok until we tried to turn around. It turns out that you want to drive on the wet sand, not the dry sand.

- We got pretty stuck, but we flagged down cars filled with some nice blokes who helped us push it out.

* Auckland

Day 8 & 9 - Auckland

- Minus 5 ice bar

- Public transportation

- Tower jumping (didn't happen)

- Museum

- Davenport (another ferry ride)

Disney Land

2/4/08

Oahu, Hawaii

9/3/07

Oahu

Ben in HYD #2

07/02/07

It's been a fun week in Hyderabad, but I'm now very happy to be home in Mountain View. I leave for Michigan in a few hours, but you're lucky enough to get Trip Report.2 before that. Notice how early I'm up - that's the magic of a 12.5 hour time difference.

As usual, this report comes in bullet-point form.

Poverty:
- There are a lot of poor people in India. Far more than I would have expected given the recent economic growth here from the IT industry
- There is a much larger dichotomy between rich and poor than you would think. Rich people make $10k+ / year, while poor people make at most a few dollars per day. And the poor far outnumber the rich.
- Poor people have little to no chance at success here. They can't afford schooling, won't be able to learn English, will never go to college, etc. Rachel is working on some of these issues in the US, but even the poorest people in American don't compare to the poor here. Starving children knocking on your car window begging for money are extremely common place. It was heart-wrenching.
- Because of the vast numbers of very poor people, there are an excess number of service jobs. These jobs are mostly filled by men, very few cleaning ladies or waitresses in India
-- There are so many people for these jobs, and they are paid so little that you are getting constant attention. Do you like it when people watch you eat? I find it disturbing.

Food:
- My teammates took me out to local cuisine where I ate some weird stuff. Pastries filled with a spicy liquid, some weird curds on flatbread, beans, vegetarian dishes, and random breads and spices
- I ate all my pop tarts, because they're delicious
- I have no idea how Lee survived here for 3 weeks. It must have been some sort of Indian miracle
- I enjoy Indian food, and I ate well here. However, because Indian food is so different than my normal cuisine, it all tends to blend together. So needless to say, I'm ready for some American food. Top eats when I get back:
-- Good breakfasts, including eggs, potatoes, bacon, etc.
-- Good orange juice. All the juices were so sweet here, I couldn't stand it by the end
-- Fried chicken
-- Pizza
-- Google coffee. The machines in Hyderabad just weren't the same. I miss my self-made espressos with the perfect kiss of foam

Getting sick:
- As far as I know, I didn't contract malaria or hepatitus. I'll keep you posted if this changes (aka, 'oooh, my duodenum is acting up')

What to do at night in Hyd:
- Not much, it's such a pain to get anywhere
- Mostly worked
- Eat dinner with the team

Entertainment during travel:
- Gameboy
- Laptop
- Books (reading Ender's Game series for this trip)
- Movies and TV, but only on the return trip. Partial viewings of the following:
-- Blades of Glory, Talledaga Nights, 300, Shooter, The Office, Simpsons, Futurama, Scrubs

Ben in HYD

6/24/07

This is my first tale of my adventure in India. And quite an adventure it's been. I spent over 36 hours traveling, including 14 hours on the flight to Hong Kong and a 10 hour layover in Singapore. The layover was actually pretty nice - the Singapore airport is the nicest I've ever been in. I rented a hotel room for the day so I could relax and shower. I got a 30 minute back massage from an old Sinaporan lady with really strong hands. And I got to go on a free tour of the city, complete with boat ride. Nothing was too exciting about the travels, except that I ran into three Googlers at the Singapore airport. We went on the tour of the city and had dinner together - and they helped me get a cab once we got to Hyderabad. One of the best things about working at Google is that when you run into someone you work with, there is a 90% chance that they'll turn out to be awesome. The people I met, who work in the Hyderabad office on Adwords, were no exception - they were nice, friendly, and very welcoming probably the whitest guy on that airplane.

Lest I not ramble too much, here is the Ben Lewis expected bullet-point version of my trip so far. More to come later in the week:

* Got into Hyd at 11:00 pm on Friday having gotten only a little sleep in the past 36 hours. Took 90 minutes to get my single piece of luggage, after which a 1 hour cab ride took me to the hotel. Yes, I was tired.
* Slept until 11am on Saturday, explored the hotel, and found out that breakfast was no longer being served. Room service was pretty good though.
* I had an early dinner of nice, spicy, Indian food. The menu only market my dish as 'one chili' and I was barely able to eat it, so I now know better than to order anything with the dreaded 'two chili' icon at this hotel.
* I took a cab into the city to explore a little and get a cell phone in case of emergency. By far, the scariest part of my trip so far was that cab ride to and from the city. Driving here is completely insane. The only rule of the road that I can perceive at all is "try your best to stay on your side of the road, but feel free to drive into oncoming traffic if you honk your horn". Cars are honking constantly, driving across lane lines, sharing lanes with other cars, etc. But despite this apparently stupid behavior on the road, I saw very few cars with serious damage. If there are frequent accidents (and I have to assume there are), the relatively small sizes of the vehicles here much make the accidents less extreme than the ones we're used to.
* I had a delicious brunch this afternoon with pancakes, bacon, indian food, naan, and dessert. I was also given the opportunity to make my own drinks which I thoroughly enjoyed.
* I'm about to head off to a museum and some sight-seeing. It's monsoon season but the rain looks like it's stopped for today

Trip Report.2 will come after I've had a chance to see our Hyd office.

Las Vegas

5/15/07

Kauaii, Hawaii

9/3/06

Kauai 2006

Ben in Moscow: Tetris Homeland

6/17/2006

Wow,

It’s been quite a trip. By the time this email leaves my outbox I’ll be home and asleep on wonderful American soil. God bless this country. After two weeks of constant traveling I’m more than ready to get home and relax. Moscow was ok, but certainly my least favorite of all the cities on the trip. We did some cultural stuff around the city, but our two days were poorly planned and we were late to everything. It turns out that in Moscow you don’t take official cabs. Rather, you just find someone going in your general direction and give them money to bring you along. Half of our “cab drivers” got lost because we don’t speak Russian and we couldn’t effective tell them where to go. The other half got lost because they were dumb.

Some things I did:

- I bought 25 bottles of Vodka

- We went to the Kremlin, but it was closed by the time we got there because they felt like closing early

- I went to an opera at the Bolshoy. That ‘s the place that’s famous for ballets, which we were supposed to see. Unfortunately it’s not ballet season so we saw an opera. It was an Italian opera and the subtitles were in Russian. I was ridiculously bored but fortunately we missed most of it because our cab driver got lost. I looked really good in my opera outfit.

I’m glad to be done with Moscow, and don’t intend to go back anytime soon. Oh, I forgot in my last trip report to mention my visit to the great wall of china. It was a big wall, in fact it was the biggest wall I’ve ever seen. Nice scenery and all that, but it wasn’t overly spectacular. There were bears though, and that’s pretty cool.

Here are my trip pics:

Ben Feels Tall

06/14/2006

It’s been a crazy trip so far. I know – I’m a bad son who hasn’t emailed his mother in 10 days. Fortunately, I’m not dead. After an amazing stay in Tokyo I went to Korea, Shanghai, and then Beijing. I’m now on my way to Moscow for the last leg of the trip.

In natural Ben-style I have a bullet point list of some of the things I’ve done on this round-the-world trip:

Japan:

* Went to the Japanese fish market at 5:00 am to watch people barter for fish. At 6:00 am I ate sushi and it was the best sushi I’ve ever had.
* Saw Shinto temples which were really boring. Other people took pictures.
* Went to Ahakihabra, the electronics district of Tokyo. It’s amazing what some people will buy. We had a contest where you had $100 to buy the craziest thing you could find. We ended up with a USB banana and a Hello Kitty ice machine. We came in second to this weird massager that sent electric shocks through your muscles.
* Presentations/company visits where we learned about the Japense internet culture and why we are #2 to Yahoo
* Karaoke with the Japanese Googlers. This was awesome.

Korea:

* Ate some bad Korean food and some ok Korean food. By the end of Korea I was really happy to have my airport McDonalds
* After work we went to the strangest club ever. It’s called a booking club if you can dig it. You reserve these rooms for $500 (there were 20 of us) and they bring an assortment of alcohol and food. There’s also karaoke and the waiters bring you women. See, the waiters “book” girls who are dancing in the club and bring them to your room. Then the girls talk to you for a few minutes and stay if they like you. It’s a great opportunity for the ladies out there. Unfortunately, to the dismay of my single friends we don’t speak Korean so the girls didn’t stay too long. What a concept though!

Shanghai:

* Shanghai was awesome. We were there on the weekend so we didn’t have to do any work. We just ate and drank and had a blast.
* I got a custom-made silk shirt. I had to bargain in Chinese (which I don’t even pretend to know). We just passed a calculator back and forth. Very weird. The shirt is awesome though – I’m quite studly.
* I went to a museum which was only kind of boring.
* I got a Chinese massage. Not as boring as expected.
* I went to the best bar ever. It was at the top of the tallest building in Shanghai, which is taller than any building in America. I think it was 500 meters. Anyway, the view was incredible and the atmosphere was perfect. Drinks were well done, but the alcohol + altitude made me slightly tipsy.
* We saw lots of cool buildings and cultural stuff. The architecture in Shanghai is great. I highly recommend a visit if you get a chance.

Beijing:

* Lots of work (yuck!)
* We got a tour of the Lenovo design center. They have some great products in China and a commanding market lead there. They will soon bring some of those products to the US where I expect them to do very well. I like their consumer laptops better than any other Windows laptop.
* We saw the forbidden city and tiannamen square. That was ok.
* All we ate in China was this lazy-susan meal. The waiters would bring dish after dish, but all I wanted was some plain rice. I’m looking forward to Russia.

Now I’m headed to Moscow for hopefully more fun and excitement. Our schedule is pretty packed but I’ll be home pretty soon.

Ben APM Trip and Japanese Toilets

06/04/06

I’m officially in Japan. Day 1 was pretty exciting (and exhausting). We had a very strange Japanese style dinner that was pretty yummy. The waiter didn’t speak English so we had to point to things on the menu. Of course, there were problems with that method of communicating so he brought us whatever he felt like. We ate some weird food, and I tried it all. Even gross things like tiny little fish where you eat the head and everything.

We went to Japanese bars and clubs last night too. I was exhausted, but how often do I get to go out in Tokyo on a Saturday night? I did some Japanese style dancing and watched my friends strike out with the Japanese girls.

BTW, the toilets here are weird. I’ll upload photos when I have time. FYI, my intl cell phone doesn’t appear to work in Japan. Apparently they use a weird version of CDMA here. So for now I’m only available by email and if you call my hotel phone. 03-3476-3000, room 2911. It’s the Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel.