Dreams of planes on boats and then some
So I have very frequent vivid dreams,and last night I had one too! I used to blog about all my epic dreams, but stopped after I realised how time consuming it was. But everyone asks if I have a dream diary, and I said no. So I will try and maintain one this year. That being said, I don't really get superpower/save the world dreams anymore, so that saddens me a little. Those were the best! Anyways...First one I remember for 2017 happened last night, here it is:It started with me on board a large plane bound for overseas, not sure where, possibly Asia or America. At a guess it would have been a 2/4/2 seating arrangement since my brother was sitting next to me (but I don't recall there being another seat or person next to him). As we were being taxied, I noticed that the plane was actually on a very large boat - especially as I could see the sea around us. I would describe the boat as a naval kind of boat - very bland looking as it had to have enough room to include a plane and a runway. However, if I looked up, there were so many excited people looking out from windows, as if the boat was actually a cruise liner. They were all watching and cheering at this plane I was on.This plane was also see through; I wasn't restricted to just peering out of a tiny window. In fact, I was on a whole, intact plane, but I could see ahead of me, to my left side, and down, just fine. It was as if the other passengers (apart from my brother) and the rest of the plane (apart from our seats) were invisible.Two things then occurred to me: I had run out of anti travel sickness medication, so I asked my brother if he has any (since he needs them more than me; I don't really suffer travel sickness but prevention is better than cure, so I always take a tablet these days), but he didn't have any either. I wasn't too worried. What did concern me, however, was how our massive plane was going to take off from this ship. As the taxi ended and we were on our own, I was really hoping we wouldn't fly and crash.We sped up towards takeoff, but not significantly so. In fact, we were going so slowly that I thought we wouldn't have the speed to lift. But we did, and at a really low angle, I wasn't sure we were going to clear anything, especially that pole that was in the path of the right wing (which I could see, but from an external point of view, as if I was looking at the plane from the outside). I had nothing to worry about though - that pole was designed to not interfere with takeoff, and it was flexible and simply bowed to let the plane pass. As the plane rose ever so slowly, I leaned over, peered over my feet (which were in these black toeless shoes, almost like sandals but not quite because I knew the rest of the shoe was enclosed) and could see people still smiling and watching us. We were so close to them though! I thought we were going to crash back down but the lift continued until we were safely in the skies.At that point I finally relaxed and sat back, and was wholly in a plane again, without the invisible walls. I was able to walk around the plane since it was quite roomy, and noticed a person I know from dance sitting in a seat, so I had a chat. He presented to me a leather portfolio (with the little coloured flag stickers on it too - you know, those little markers you used back in high school/university). He also all of a sudden had really nice wavy, light, flowy, shoulder length luscious blonde hair? (not in real life though) and I got to run my fingers through it? Yeah that's a bit creepy. But hey, it happened in my dream.After that I figured I wanted to go to a cafe... so the scene changed, and I ended up in the streets of Adelaide. I was in the suburbs in somewhere I didn't recognise at all. I walked for a bit, knowing I wanted a cafe that I would enjoy (and hopefully be recognised at), but after walking for a bit and past a busy 4 way intersection, I realised that I wouldn't make it in time to catch my connecting flight (which was due to leave at 2PM that day). At the same time, I was consciously aware of the fact that me not being on a plane right now wasn't right, because I didn't have a ticket for the connecting flight; I was meant to be on that same one until I reached my destination.Once I'd realised that, the scene changed yet again, and this time I was with some really old man with greying hair, and while he looked like the dance person I mentioned earlier, this person was different and supposedly a relative of mine who wanted to talk to me. By that, I ended up at a very fancy restaurant (which I feel, rather than recall, was in Sydney, at the harbour looking out at the bridge, but was not a real restaurant) with dark red carpet and traditional round tables that seated 4-10 people. It was very classy and there were only a few diners so it was also very quiet. I didn't actually remember the details of the lunch itself, I was actually uneasy during the lunch with this man, because I didn't know him very well or what his motives were. The waiters were very nice though and wore white suit jackets.I was so unsettled that once I'd finished my meal, I immediately went to the counter and enquired if they did split bills. They said yes, so I went back to this man and said that I would pay for my half of the meal. He didn't seem to care and let me did what I wanted. So back I went to the counter and paid my half... (I spent slightly less than half but for the ease of bill splitting, went 50/50) which was somewhere along the $360-$370 mark. Yes, that was half. It was a $700+ meal. I remember seeing the price and thinking it totally wasn't worth the cost, that I'd dined better for that amount (Attica, Noma Australia. And I believe this scene may have been triggered by the fact that I looked at my Attica receipt last night and saw $930 split between 3 people.). But since I ate the food, I paid. Then for some crazy reason, I paid the other half straight away? I said it was for the old man, but the "second" credit card I took out to pay was my very own one that I just used!After this was done, I went back to the table that we were at... only to find the table had been removed. All that was left was the old man sitting in his seat, surrounded by shopping bags - the colourful and sturdy ones you get from department stores. They definitely weren't there earlier. I said I would be leaving now, and it was then that he said he wanted to give me something - and handed me a black leather portfolio, with the same colourful sticker markers I mentioned earlier. I cannot confirm if it's the same one I saw earlier on in the dream or a different one. Either way, I took it, walked off... and that was the end of my dreams.The end!
Goodbye, 2016
I've actually had this sitting as a draft since January. At the time, it was titled "A year in review" for 2015. But I never ended up completing it. However, I've had two amazing years in a row and some of the most enjoyable moments of 2016 were offline in my newly acquired hobby. So I figured I may as well put this all somewhere so I get to look back on it one day. So here it is starting off with last year's stuff.I never usually write one of these, however 2015 has been a particularly epic year, spanning several countries and states. Plus it's nice to be proud and reflect on achievements made in an entire year, so why not :)First of all, Cape Town. Never had I actually thought I'd visit such a place, and I ended up spending three months there. Made some work friends, made some barista friends too. Sure I had a cushy experience since I didn't have to worry about accommodation, bills or transport, but I did do a fair amount of exploring on foot, which I'm really proud of.While I missed out on a San Pellegrino Top 50 restaurant there due to me underestimating the potential quality of food there, I made up for it in volume - 84 unique cafes and restaurants visited in 84 days. I also managed a few physical feats - climbing Lion's Head, something I wouldn't have even tried had it not been for the encouragement of workmates. The view was absolutely breathtaking. I also managed to get sunburnt quite badly and I still have the tan line to show for it!I managed to visit a shanty town and survive (even though I accidentally hit a local when I was wildly flailing my arms to emphasise some exciting thing; he stared me down for a whole few minutes while I maintained my "touristy ignorance" before walking off), and ate some weird stuff - including a sheep's head, a mopane worm, and having some super authentic local fare (some spicy soup with knuckle, tripe, tendon with a side of paap) and found out that chicken livers are actually delicious.I had my first tasting of kombucha there and realised there are some wonderfully beautiful hipster things in Cape Town - my favourite being Oranjezicht City Farmer's Market, a real slice of paradise tucked away from the messy city sprawl, yet only a short walk from the hotel I was staying at.Following this adventure, I'd also essentially stayed awake for about 30+ hours (unless you count successfully sleeping for a little bit on the plane as actual sleep) upon waking up in Cape Town, then flying into Dubai and making the most of a 22 hour stopover.It was the first time I've been in an entirely foreign country all alone - and I fared pretty well apart from fumbling with their public transport system. I dined at Fortnum & Mason for the first time ever, and also managed to successfully stumble upon a "coffee office" and behaved appropriately in order to sample some coffees that they had. Then, managed to go up the Burj Khalifa - the views weren't too great since it's in the middle of a desert, however it was still quite an experience, then descending to watch the water show from the ground up. It was great seeing just how international and how culturally different the place was. While I loved the experience, when I was relaying this to others once I got back, it was interesting to see the varied opinions people had on Dubai as the tourist areas were highly manufactured and did not represent the UAE accurately at all. Those different points of view all added to my worldly experiences.I also took up dancing - ballroom and latin - after years of thinking about some sort of physical activity, plus the fact that I've been interested in dance ever since high school (possibly even before - I actually still recall being part of a dance group in primary school, so I guess it was always in my blood). And when I started, I loved it! I actually never though I'd love it so much that I attended as much as I could.For the first time, I was also asked to be a bridesmaid for a friend's wedding. Turns out it's the first friend's wedding I've attended, and that was lovely as we ended up having a house in the Hunter Valley for two nights. The makeup and dress process was super daunting, but the whole event was wonderful and I loved the time away in the wine region.I also managed to finally find my coffee tolerance limit, as returning to Sydney in a booming cafe bloom resulted in mass dehydration, where I physically felt ill and made a bad decision to travel further from accessible infrastructure, leaving me near incapacitated on a bench at a bus stop where I sat, drank water, and very luckily managed to recuperate without having a heart attack. I had lost my appetite for the next few days as well as my ability to drink pretty much any coffee, and I think my body is still sensitive to this - with my coffee and food limits being greatly diminished now.If that wasn't enough, I also managed to end up moving to Perth! After living in Adelaide for 2.5 years, watching my local cafe come to life and grow, with the baristas there becoming friends with me, it was time to bid them farewell and enter the next stage of my adventure. And I'd only just started learning how to dance too! So, packing my things and shipping my unexpected wine collection back to Sydney, I began my journey westward.Perth, a place as dodgy at night as Cape Town. It felt remarkably unsafe at night, but I had to continue my dancing. I also had to navigate a limited transport system to a city that sprawled as much as Sydney to continue my coffee adventures. There was also the added difficulty of needing to find accommodation, for unlike Adelaide, I was relying on just myself. With the most amazing luck, I found a place that I could share that was close to everything I needed - most importantly, a cafe! It's not the best specialty coffee shop, but it'll do. I was so used to the warmth and hospitality that Exchange gave, that I had to reset some expectations of what "just another specialty coffee shop" would be like. Only one cafe since has responded to a coffee geek in the way I'd expect them to (recognising the type of order immediately as "not just another coffee drinker") - opening discussion about coffees, regions, brew methods.I also managed to very quickly make a friend through my continued interest in dancing, and realised there was a whole dancing world out there where every different state and studio had different moves, and that was further motivation and inspiration to continue learning. Though, admittedly, having been very comfortable in doing things by myself for so long, I was unsure as to whether offers of friendship were normal or if people had ulterior motives! I'm still not sure... so I'll simply let my social ineptitude weed out people I don't understand or have the patience for.So much physical change, yet I still maintained my creative passions.I've still been drawing and working on my story all this time, albeit at a significantly slower pace. I still have new characters, new plotlines for existing characters, and working on designs for all. With so much moving, I also managed to bring my story online, which was very fortunate, for somehow my portable hard drive has gone missing. I hope that I continue improving and updating my cloud version, so that I can access it anywhere - I'll need it for the near to mid future.Cooking, cafe-ing, fine dining. Still doing all of that too. It's more difficult to obtain inspiring ingredients, especially at affordable prices, but every now and again, there'd be something special like a whole pasture raised duck.
Dear Diary
Dear Diary,I attended a real ball the other day in an old style building. Everyone was dressed up really pretty in floor length gowns and suits and bow ties.It was a lot of fun and I even got to dance a lovely Viennese waltz with my instructor!I was so happy!Until next time,Reine
A book that became a movie that became "real life"
It seems now I have limited time to post things, yay! I still have to post about Melbourne because out of the three trips I've made, I haven't posted a single one yet! Aaah! But that means going through pictures, editing/cropping, etc, which is such a pain.So instead, I'll post about other things that I don't document nearly as frequently as I should - and that's my dreams. Had a great one last night if I can remember all the details.It started off with me being me, trying to read a book (since I haven't read books in ages!), and I realised just how out of practise I was because reading took a lot of effort (which is true in real life). Instead, I decided it was probably worthwhile watching a movie version of my book.I'm not sure if I actually ended up at a cinema though, but I was watching some action from a distance (sci-fi themed, generic flying vehicles shooting lasers at one another while zooming through a skyscraper filled city). But of course, my dreams never stay that generic for long. Then, I was me, in a different world, walking with people I've never met before. We were walking down the street, this time not surrounded by high rises, but instead more like an abandoned part of town - lots of concrete everywhere, like empty carparks. Whatever we were talking about, it was pretty normal so I don't remember the conversation, until I said something that they didn't like.That's when one of the males stopped and grabbed my arm - quite violently too. He was quite mad for some reason, though I have no idea what I said to offend him. I bet it was about humans, because he was actually an android. The girl I was with was an android too. He reminded me that I was a captive, and to watch my place because he could kill me at any moment. I was totally calm through the whole thing, so much so that he ended up commenting on that too - he said, "actually, I kind of like you because you don't whimper on or show fear when I threaten you," to which I replied, "well you're obviously stronger and could kill me at any moment, so why should I worry about these things? It's not like I could escape." And he seemed to like that too, so became friendly with me again.In fact, between the grabbing of the arm and his comment, there was also a moment where the girl went all crazy and started touching my hair... saying how nice it was and how she would like to wear it. And it was more than just her hands on my super long and super soft hair, there were at least two other pairs of hands from ... who knows! That's when I realised that the androids were all made from human parts, so I had to be careful. Or something. That actually freaked me out moreso than the manhandling I got from the male android.Alright, after that little kerfuffle was sorted, we finally made it to our destination - some futuristic building that was in the same vicinity of the initial "movie scene" I was experiencing. We went down a shiny lift and some mini robots were making a fuss over us, as if something was wrong. It turns out we had been involved in some other sort of conflict while we were above ground (but I didn't experience this at the correct chronological point in my dream, I only realised that here. Either that or it was during my hair grabbing scene), and there was a virus-spreading bunny-like robot on the loose, and we had to make sure we didn't make contact with it. I was immune since I was fully human, but the androids all had to be scanned.The male android (they didn't have names, so this is about the only way I can describe them) was adamant that he was careful and avoided any interaction with the bunny, and the female android agreed - she was saying how he was very careful and didn't even walk over the same places on the footpaths. But of course, as stories go - he scanned positive for having contracted this virus and had to be sent to quarantine.Our "hero" group (yep it has now become a save the world kind of dream!) was now one person down, and we had entered into chaos. The flying vehicles were still shooting at each other and it was a bit of a warzone - and that meant casualties. The female android started treating the injured as soon as we had set foot into this next set of streets (I guess if I analyse the geography of this, we were at a much higher elevation when we were walking through the concrete-filled suburbs, and this was a lower area filled with futuristic towers, much more built up but the sky was still visible). We had no cover and were doing our best to look after everyone, we'd get walk ups with people asking for help.That's when I started seeing the female android very clearly. She had the face and voice of Amy Acker (LOL, think Illyria from Angel) but had green eyes and hair. She was obviously very proficient at triage and somehow had a cure-all on hand - it was either a) a very placid lizard with thick spikes that could be pulled off, b) a spiky plant with a very strong and fibrous stem or c) an plastic device that dispensed thick spikes filled with a healing liquid, but I can't remember which it most closely resembled in my dream. All I knew is that is was very valuable and we had limited amounts and would have to wait for the spikes to grow back if we used them, but they could reduce symptoms of sickness and lessen the pain of wounds. In fact, when I looked at one of these spikes, it looked (and had exactly the texture of) like aloe vera leaves - thin and pointy ones. I guess in all three scenarios (yes even the lizard), aloe vera leaves were perfectly normal to sprout from them?The more I looked at her and how she was helping the injured, the more I started wondering, how come I wasn't getting hurt? How come I was still alive? How come she hasn't killed me??? That's when I realised I was probably somewhat special and had a part to play. And the biggest revelation: she was probably very special, a super android who was immune to the bunny virus and knew exactly what was going on, and that she was the key to saving the world.So what started as just reading a book got really epic, but that's where my dream ended! While I've had several other crazy dreams, I can't be bothered posting any that are too far back. But this one will be a satisfying read for future me!The end!
