Ou est le Swimming Pool?

Today was my day off and so I decided to splash out (pardon the pun) and go to the Tignes Spa for a relaxing few hours.

I'm trying to be really healthy at the moment so I started the day with a power walk and a bowl of muesli and pear before heading out with a few friends to the swim centre. The cool thing about being here is that, while normally, you would hop in your car or walk to the local pool, we skied.

And it was worth the journey. It was my first time to the Tignes leisure centre and it was an absolutely incredible swimming centre (but you'd hope so for 15 euros). I started by doing laps of the pool. But not your regular pool. This pool played music under water, so you could listen to music as you swam. Amazing!

Then we enjoyed Turkish baths, a sauna and spa as well as sun-baking on sun-beds on a sun-deck overlooking the snow-covered mountains just next to us.

All of the facilities had glass windows that looked onto the pistes and so, as we did our breaststroke, we could take in the incredible view.

After the relaxing swim I got dressed, put my ski boots on and skied home. Brilliant.

I will definitely miss the convenience of traveling by skis- even after five months the novelty still hasn't really warn off!

The Hills

Only recently, with exams and assessments for the most part out of the picture, I have developed a dangerous addiction to the Hills. It's not quality television, that's for certain, but it is entertaining and highly glamorous.

The Hills provides an insight into the lives of four girls; Heidi Montag, Lauren Conrad, Audrina Patridge and Whitney Port (she's my favourite). The four girls live in Los Angeles, California and work in events, fashion and music PR. They drive Mercedes and BMWs and have their own personal trainers, get their hair done and go shopping as they please. Their lives are interesting, but also very superficial.

I suppose it's fascinating seeing what the lives of the rich and famous are like. Sure, the girls work hard. Lauren and Whitney are interns at Teen Vogue, Audrina works 9-6pm and Heidi works ridiculous hours at night clubs running events. It seems to me like they've been given their amazing jobs either because their parents are 'somebodies', or because of the coverage their companies will receive from being on MTV's reality TV show.

The girls aren't incredibly bright (bar Whitney) and don't have the best work ethic, so you wonder how they are excused when, for example, they allow their friends to crash important nightclub events or they just don't bother showing up when they're supposed to be working.

They have obnoxious boyfriends and their apartments are furnished extravagantly, but you can't help but wonder whether they are completely oblivious to the real world and what it's like to pay bills and to have real problems and responsibilities. For the most part, it's all about feuds between friends and "loyalty" between guys.

But maybe that's the reason it's such compulsive viewing; you can escape your daily life for that of the rich and famous and, after twenty minutes of the Hollywood lifestyle, you can return to your bedroom refreshed and with your dignity in-tact.

I've just finished Season Three and I can assure you, I'll be finished the next season in no time at all.

Photo courtesy of: http://imagineannie.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/the-hills-400a-0822071.jpeg

Hunter Escape

Today I was talking with a friend and she proposed that, together with two guy friends, we go away for a weekend to the Hunter Valley. I couldn't say YES fast enough. I love weekends away, particularly in a place as beautiful as the Hunter Valley.

Where else would you want to be in the middle of winter but tasting wine in picturesque vineyards daily, then returning to a crackling log fire and amazing food in the evening? Not to mention the possibility of time to unwind and to get away from the rush of daily life. To relax in your PJs with good company and good vino. It sounds like the perfect way to spend a weekend!

I am also lucky enough to be going away on a ski trip with Year Nine and Year Ten from the school where I live/ work. We will be doing activities including skiing, cross-country skiing, abseiling, BMX riding, orienteering as well as camping IN THE SNOW. But, fortunately, that is only for one night. I went last year and literally froze. I couldn't sleep the entire night we camped out, but hopefully I'll be better prepared this time around.

At the moment I live for travel. I am so excited about the French ski season I'll be doing at the end of this year, and love love love planning the destinations I'll visit after I finish the season: Italy, France, Spain, Greece, England, Holland... the list continues. I have a feeling that perhaps after thirteen years of schooling and then an extra three years of university, I am well and truly over working and need a break before work begins, bills are to be paid and houses are to be saved-up for.

Photo courtesy of: http://lodging.uptake.com/blog/files/2009/01/wine-glasses-fireplace-inn-above-tide.jpg

Beautiful Bali

I recently spent ten days travelling around Bali with my beautiful family. It was an amazing experience and I thoroughly enjoyed being exposed to the glorious culture that is Bali. The people I encountered were genuinely pleasant, sweet-natured, good-humoured and although it might be a generalisation, they all seemed very content.

I aspire to reach that inner peace and tranquility - I find that burning incense always helps, oh and the massages (which are the equivalent of AUD $6) certainly don't hurt.

I adored creating wood paintings, visiting a traditional Balinese village up in the hills of Ubud, and visiting gorgeous spice farms near Kintomani Volcano. I was enthralled by the Balinese dancing and enchanted by the xylophone style music played for us each morning by a lovely local blind man in our resort.

An additional bonus of the trip was the incredible shopping opportunities. I bought the most ridiculous amount of "stuff" (read 11kgs of extra weight in my suitcase upon return to Australia): custom-made leather boots, six sun dresses, two pairs of leather thongs, three pairs of sunglasses, a fedora hat, 13 DVDs, batik sarongs, facials, six Bintang singlets for friends, mani and pedicures, as well as silver jewellery. I literally took only $300 and struggled to spend it all. I was doing my duty by supporting the local Balinese retail industry after all.

My favourite beaches, if you get the chance to travel to Bali, are Geger Beach and Pedang Pedang - think turquoise water, white white sand, sun beds, beach umbrellas and you're about halfway to imagining the beauty of these places.

Here is the link to the YouTube video I created from our holiday:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdkr6RcoFyc

I'd thoroughly recommend a holiday to Bali - I know there are reasonably priced airfares to the beautiful Indonesian island at the moment... why not make the most of them?!

Image courtesy of: http://www.fortunatur.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Beach-Club-at-Geger-Beach.jpg

Just a tea-ny bit obsessed.

I have an addiction. But don't worry, it's not serious. You see, it's been around for quite a while. Since 2737 BC, to be precise. My addiction is tea and like many addictions, I'm not too fussy about it's form - whether it's a warm bone china cup of English Breakfast tea with a dash of milk, a zingy peppermint tea, or a cooling tisane tea, i'll drink it.

I have a ritual when it comes to tea. I drink a cup of English breakfast (as described above) each morning before work. I'll then have coffee mid-morning, and after lunch I'll have a peppermint tea, which aids with digestion. Then, at about 3.30pm, I like to have a cup of tea with soy milk and a spoon of honey. And then, after dinner, another cup of peppermint tea. So yeah, no obsession to be found here.

My favourite place to shop for tea is a fantastic tea chain called T2. You can check out the website here. T2 is the ultimate shop for any tea lover. It has over 60 varieties of tea, some of my favourites being China Jasmine, Creme Brulee and Gorgeous Geisha, although I wouldn't profess to having tried all of them.

Another favourite tea-associated place I love to visit is the Observatory Hotel in the city. It's website can be checked out here if you're curious. I actually had my sixteenth birthday there and we were given the most amazing afternoon tea. Below is a look at the kind of high tea you can expect when you visit the Observatory Hotel. Oh, and be sure to check out the bathrooms... weird, perhaps? But they are so luxurious and well worth the visit.



Is there a tea I've missed out on? Enlighten me, please.

What are you reading at the moment?

Books are one of my favourite ways to spend time (apart from doing Body Attack classes, of course). If I have had a pretty social day, it can be nice to not have to talk to anyone and to be able to use my imagination by escaping into a good read.

Over the Christmas and New Year, people often get an hour or two to chill and read or snooze after a big lunch. Many people reach for a good book, often one that they've been given for Chrissie.

Here is a list of some of the books I have read recently and would recommend.


• Mama Mia: A Memoir of Mistakes, Magazines and Motherhood by Mia Freedman
This book was given to me for my birthday by one of my beautiful friends, Emiley.


• Never Say Die by Professor Chris O'Brien
Unfortunately Prof. O'Brien passed away this year, but it tells of his struggle against a brain tumour after working as a head and neck cancer surgeon for over 20 years.


• Committed: A Sceptic Makes Peace With Marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert
This author wrote one of my fave titles Eat, Pray, Love so I was curious to see how this book compared to her best-seller. Fortunately I was not disappointed- Gilbert explores the institution of marriage all over the Western world and challenges our modern conceptions of what it means to wed.


• How To Break Your Own Heart by Maggie Alderson
I love love love Maggie Alderson’s weekly column in The Good Weekend and also found this book oozed her easy-to-read tone and was filled with likeable characters who were facing big changes in their lives.

Did you get a great book from Santa? What have you read recently - or maybe not so recently - that you'd recommend?

Body Attack.

Anyone who knows me relatively well will know that I am an exercise fanatic. If I don't do exercise I get grumpy. No really. I'm addicted. How can you possibly be addicted to exercise? It's called 'endorphins'. My most recent source of endorphins came this afternoon when I did my regular Body Attack class. This is a Les Mills class I do at Fitness First. According to Les Mills, "BODYATTACK™ is the sports-inspired cardio workout for building strength and stamina. This high-energy interval training class combines athletic aerobic movements with strength and stabilization exercises. Dynamic instructors and powerful music motivate everyone towards their fitness goals - from the weekend athlete to the hard-core competitor!"

The average calories burned in a Body Attack class is 700 - that allows for a pretty large hunk of chocolate cake afterwards.


The most recent Body Attack program has an awesome variety of music. This is the list of songs you'll sweat it out to:
1 Closer (Chris Crew)
2 Release Me (Agnes)
3 Gimme More (Mandy Brewer)
4 Rock It (Bhuvan Brothers)
5 Boom Boom Pow (Beat Factory)
6 Number 1 (Beat Bandits From Outer Space)
7 Put A Donk On It (Northern Accelerators)
8 Take Me To The Clouds Above (Global Nation)
9 Zombie (Andrew Spencer & The Vamprockers)
10 Wherever (Stafford Brothers vs. Hoxton Whores feat. Frank Stafford)
11 Goodbye (Jessica Friendly)
12 People Get Ready (Seal)

So I've painted the picture of what to expect in Body Attack, but I want to explore how exercise and endorphins work to create exercise fanatics, such as myself.

Endorphins are produced by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus in your vertebrates when you do strenuous exercise, get excited, experience pain, consume spicy good, and orgasm. Interestingly, endorphins resemble opiates (i.e. heroin) in the way they produce analgesia and well-being. Feeling sore? Endorphins are also natural pain-relievers. Oh, and if you're a bit of a language freak like me, and take interest in learning the origins of words (known as etymology FYI), you might like to learn that endorphin consists of two parts: "endo", being from the word "endogenous" - from the body - and "orphin" a short form of morphine - meaning "a morphine-like substance originating from within the body" (Goldstein & Lowery).

So I might not have a boyfriend at the moment, but it's good to know that I can receive that same endorphin release from strenuous exercise as can be achieved by other means. Body Attack is definitely my favourite way to spend an hour winding down after a busy day at work... If you're looking for a fun and high-energy way to exercise, I thoroughly recommend it.

Music as therapy

Today marks the final day I will be spending with one of my best friends, whom I have been so grateful to have lived with this year. This gorgeous friend will be travelling overseas for two years and, while I am extraordinarily happy for her and so proud she has been able to organise everything for her trip abroad, I will miss her terribly.

This is a very bittersweet moment for me, but I’m so grateful that I still will be living with amazing people next year.

In a situation such as this, I love to turn to certain songs to ‘pick me up’. For me, music soothes and its familiarity is comforting.
Personally, my favourite songs to listen to when I’m struggling or upset are:

• Look After You by The Fray
• It’s OK by Atomic Kitten
• The Special Two by Missy Higgins
• Fast Cars by Tracy Chapman
• Don’t Panic by Coldplay
• You Make It Real by James Morrison
• Hold Your Hands Up by Cascada
• The Last Day on Earth by Kate Miller-Heidke
• Band Aid by Pixie Lott
• Golden Ship by Gin Wigmore

Alternatively before I go out at night, I’ll listen to certain music to ‘pump me up’ or prepare me for being in a certain mood or mindset.

How does music serve to improve one’s mood? Of course there are scientific and psychological explanations for the effect music has on the individual.

According to Trajoa (2001), admittedly cited from Wikipedia, “when unpleasant melodies are played, the posterior cingulate cortex activates, which indicates a sense of conflict or emotional pain. Eisenberger goes on to say that “the right hemisphere has also been found to be correlated with emotion, which can also activate areas in the cingluate in times of emotional pain, specifically social rejection.”

Trajoa explains that this evidence, along with observations, has led many musical theorists, philosophers and neuroscientists to link emotion with tonality.

What do you enjoy listening to as a ‘pick me up’ song, or to pump you up before going out? Do you think music is able to effect your emotions?