Snowboarding part 2

Literally i jumped, screamed and squealed when they said they've found Kooper, the snowboard i lost in Snowboarding part 1. I dont have to pay for a missing board =) Money can stay in the bank! Heheh

I went up and down the mountain again, this time since no one was waiting for me, i chilled out on a beautiful spot and took in the breathtaking view of the mountains! Awesome random skiier caught in my picture. One day i must be as cool as Mr Green Pants!!

Fell on purpose again at the side of the slope to snap this view =)

The 2 hour lesson i took was really good! Its fascinating how true it is that to turn to the left, all u gotta do is LOOK TO THE LEFT! To help, just point to the left as if u are pressing the "Left" button! Hahah, makes no sense but it works! Seriously!

Snowboarding is really weird, once i found myself going too fast straight down (slightly to the left). To slow down i need to turn to the exact opposite direction and that means i have to look away from the front! As scary as it is, i had to force myself to look to the BACK, and magically i turned the other way and slowed down, just as stated in theory!

Went back to the cafe and guess who shouted out my name?

PL comes boarding by! 

Candid shot of her expertly halting to a stop. With a big smile. So cool the way she does it!

To stop i need to fall, on my butt!

YN joins us soon after =)

Three girls reunite and that means: camwhore session!!! =)

So glad to bump into them! Company! And PHOTOGRAPHS for the bloggie!

Riding the chaiflift with friends makes the ride feel a lot shorter! They tried a different route and PL was so ethusiastic about it, she thinks i can do it too and of course your blogger agreed! =)

Really steep and it was marked black (expert trail)! I went slow and it hurts the knees to go slow so i was constantly resting by sitting on the snow. People on the passing chairlift overhead encouraged me to get up so as to not miss the last chairlift ride. I noticed there were less and less people around me... the sunset was BEAUTIFUL but i knew it was for my own good to keep on moving!

There was one Mt Buller staff that came around and started scolding me, saying that the chairlifts closed 20minutes ago and was really rude about asking me to hurry! Then he disappeared leaving me alone and a little bit in panic mode!

Thankfully there were two little boys and their teacher. They were so cute, one of the was sliding down the snow on his butt, the other one was walking and carrying his board. Their teacher always waiting for them, i was so glad for company. And i followed them till we got to the cafe, where the girls were waiting for me! So sweet of them! =)

There was this other other staff who offered to carry my board and so i can walk! Haha, for parts of the journey i walked while he carried my board, then i decided to board! It was stressful with the staff constantly by my side, it felt a bit like a personal lesson!

He wasnt teaching me but with someone watching me, i had to draw on my memory of the morning's class and do it well! The pressure is on! I focused on doing the zig zag thingie.

At one instance i found myself losing control, i was going too fast down and towards the left again! I pointed to the right, hoping to turn to the right... i was looking down because i was scared. That didnt work. I ordered myself to LOOK to the right, and yes, magically i turned to the right, as desired and was back in control!

I rode the chairlift with the staff and we chatted, he said that he could tell its my first day snowboarding and said that i'm doing really well! Yay!!! Also said i did the Falling Leaf (zig zag thingie) which was good =)

This staff was really nice, unlike the earlier one i encountered! At the top of the chairlift, he arranged for another personnel to give me a ride on the Snow Mobil! 

Soooo cool and fast! Its like a jet ski but on the snow!! YN also hitched a ride after me. PL was fast enough to snowboard down on her own

We managed to catch the 5.30pm bus back to Mansfield where we went to a pub and had a feast! Pork Ribs in Jack Daniel sauce rivals TGI Friday's, and the portion is 'man size' a.k.a HUGE!! Also ordered kangaroo meat, medium rare which was lovely! My first time trying it. As usual no food pix on this blog =P

Snowboarding!

Received a What'sApp message inviting me to the snow for a day trip!

My friend PL's an avid snowboarder and so is her friend YN, so i decided to try snowboarding. Skiing was HORRIBLE. Snowboarding is much more easier!

Thats Burke Street Carpet, where all beginners take their classes. My class started off bad, i couldnt do one thing everyone had no problem doing. I was like, oh no, dont tell me i cant ski AND i cant snowboard too?

In the end the instructor discovered its because the stupid equipment shop gave me a men's L to XL sized board! I need S to M

I got it exchanged. This is Kooper and i. The equipment shop named the board, not me

The class ended at the middle section of the slope, the same slope i chickened out from in 2007 even though its a beginner's slope. I was simply atrocious at skiing!

With snowboarding, 5 minutes after my class ended i went down that slope alone! =) =) So proud and couldnt stop smiling!

Met up with PL and she lead me to where her friends are. I was so awfully slow that she was always sitting and waiting for me. At first i thought walking would be faster so thats what i did!

Wrong! It was so hard to walk down the snow, i gave up walking and just sat down and put on my board!

Rode down that slope successfully, with PL and her friends cheering me on at the bottom!!! =) =) So happy!

Then i got stuck, lost momentum at flat ground. PL said just take the board off and walk, so i did just that

Guess wtf happened....

The crime scene is so beautiful
My snowboard just slipped out of my hands, slowly at first, i tried to grab it but was an inch too far, i tried again but it got faster and before i realised what was happening, it was gaining speed! I shrieked for attention so that someone would help me! The stupid skiier just looked at my snowboard go pass him

...and i watched in horror as three hundred dollars flew off the cliff! Everyone at the cafe was looking too! I was lying flat on my belly on the snow in disbelief, hell i didnt want the first snowboard i buy to be a sacrifice to the mountains!

The wrong way to place ur idle snowboard. The bottom its slippery and that why mine went down the cliff! =(

I asked SL if he saw my board slip away. He said "yes, it was highly entertaining!" =( Couldnt help but laugh though! He said it happens to everyone... just that for them it slides a few meters, and mine went off a cliff!

The benefits of being with experienced skiiers and snowboarders is that they could go down the proper trail and look to see if my board was at the bottom

From left to right, me, PL and YN =)

Will write the rest of my snowboarding story in another blog post, need to sleep! 

Hobbies

What do u do when your boss, a Chartered Accountant, says he is a beekeeper on your first day of work?

I thought he was joking and didnt know what to say! Weeks later, during lunch, another colleague asked him about his bees. Then i realised it he wasnt joking! Hahahha, he really is a beekeeper! His has the suit and his own bee hive!

This other Chartered Accountant in the shared office is a dancer.

She dances for medals and competitions! She orders costumes and it gets sent to the office! She's really passionate about it and you can see it in her eyes, love the way she talks about it!


I'm proud to be surrounded with interesting people, who have a balanced life =) A friend commented in my old blog post

I miss those days soooo much. Got me Googling, got me excited seeing the classes and all the various levels!

Shall this be my hobby?