There and Back Again: A Musicians Tale - Hobbiton New Zealand

All thirty of us sat patiently as the last few people got onto the bus. Nobody had even as little as a half a smile on their face. The excitement radiated into thick clouds that you could feel in the bus. As it got moving, I looked around and saw that some people were in costume while other people brought some of their favorite memorabilia with them. We drove for an hour through gorgeous New Zealand countryside and passed through farmland where the cattle and sheep ran through the rolling green hills. Finally, we saw the sign we were looking for. At first it was too far away to see correctly. Some of us stood up in our chairs a little and squinted our eyes, hoping that our pupils would focus in on the text on the sign. We got close enough after a few seconds to read it clearly. The thick, now heavy, clouds of excitement thundered and poured as we all cheered screamed out loud in joy. We finally made it! We arrived at Hobbiton, NZ: The movie set for the Lord Of The Rings trilogy and The Hobbit movies.

Sheep grazing the hills.

Hobbiton NZ.

            We pulled along side a two-story building that is used as the attraction’s main office. The bus doors opened and a young, skinny teenager got on board. The doors closed behind him and we started to move again. The kid got onto the loudspeaker and introduced himself as Tim and he was going to be our tour guide. We drove through some small hills and Tim explained that the New Zealand arm cleared and created these roads especially for the movie. At first we passed some of the more “lame” sections of the tour such as where the movie trailers were kept and where they kept the animals for the films (which were no longer there).

We at last made it to a parking lot where we stopped and Tim announced that we were going to do the rest of the tour on foot. We all ran out of the bus, pushing and shoving, eager to get to the site. After we all got off the bus, Tim led us there. About 60 seconds on a dirt trail revealed its self to the site. It was surreal to look at. The rolling green hills with lush gardens (real ones) and several hobbit holes tucked away in each and every one of the hills. From that point nobody heard a word Tim said. We were all awe struck. Cameras came flying out of every direction. All of us took pictures of every square centimeter of the place. The gardens bore real fruit, which Tim said we were allowed to have so I picked and apple from a tree and took a bite. It was sweet and very delicious.

The Shire.

Hobbit hole.

Every hobbit hole we visited had a different look and different colored round door. They recreated brooms and wooden cages and old picket fences accurately. No detail was too small. Everything was perfect. After walking around for 20 minutes or so we finally got to the main attraction. We walked in front of Bag End: the home of Frodo and Bilbo Baggins. It was scary seeing this image that was burned into our minds from a movie screen, and now seeing it in real life. The detail of the stain glass windows down to the mailbox was flawless. Above the hobbit hole was a large oak tree that was created from plywood, paint and other materials to make it look exactly how it was described in the books. Bag End was on the highest hill of the site and overlooked the rest of the hobbit holes, the Party Tree, the Party Field, the mill and the stream and lake. The view made you feel as if you were in the story yourself. It was an amazing feeling.

Bag End.

The view from Bag End.

We walked down the trail from Bag End and made it to Samwise Gamgee's home. His home was larger than most of any of the other hobbit holes; but not nearly as large as Bag End. It had some laundry out on a line outside which was a nice touch.

Moving on, we reached a bridge that crossed the stream and passed a working water mill. On the other side of the bridge you are lead to the Green Dragon Tavern where they served food and beer. Going inside, the wood detail was the first thing I noticed. Everything was carved and decorated with great care and detail. A large fireplace was off to the side, which had several wooden dinner tables in front of it. The chairs were upholstered in old leather and varnished dark wood. Once again, no Monday details were over looked. Everything looked as if it belonged to hobbits themselves. It added to the feel of the entire place. I ordered a sandwich and had water that was served in handmade ceramic cups.

Green Dragon Tavern.

The mill.

After being at the site for a few hours, we need to head back to the ship. None of us wanted to go. We joked that we should just live in the vacant hobbit holes and just live off the fruits and vegetables in the gardens. The place was so nice that nobody wanted to get back to reality. For a few short hours, we got to escape from the mundane life on the ship and get transported to this other world created by J.R.R. Tolkien. We managed to forget about work, crew safety drills, company policy and standards, filling out paper work and escape completely to The Shire.           -DB

The garden.

Bag End.

Bag End.

Samwise Gamgee's laundry.

Samwise Gamgee's home

Samwise Gamgee's home.

Auckland on Foot

Today brings me to the 'City of Sails' - Auckland, New Zealand. Instead of trying to see all of Auckland's attractions and sights, I decided to just walk through the city and see what i could find by foot. The following are a few snapshots I took with my iPhone on the streets of one of the most "Livable cities in the world"...

The last day of the Auckland Arts Festival

Performances for the kiddies at the Auckland Arts Festival.

Auckland Arts Festival.

The view of the city, the harbor and the Sky Tower which is the largest man made building in the southern hemisphere. 

The city and the Sky Tower.

Queen St.

The freeways.

A cool little guitar shop that I went into.

The civic theater.

Amurica.

Music Minus One: The Show Must Go On

While I was eating lunch I got the terrible news. Our drummer Francois’ father was rushed to the hospital with pneumonia and Francois was leaving the ship the next day to go see him. As a terrible thing that this was, it was also bad for the band because we would be without a drummer for an indefinite amount of time. With him gone we were not able to do many of the shows that we were scheduled to do this cruise.

            For the rehearsal for the show that final night, our band manager Monty asked if I could make a rehearsal the next day at noon to try a new drummer. The cruise director David found a Filipino cabin steward who also plays drums on the side and we were going to give him a whack at the set for the Diva’s show. Monty said it might be a quick rehearsal because if this guy doesn’t get it by the first song, we’re going to just drop him and cancel the show. They gave the guy the video of the performance and gave him one night to learn the 10 songs.

            The next morning the bass player and I were getting our haircut and I asked him “What are the odds do you think that this guy will be able to do the set?” He quickly replied (partially joking) “probably about 8%”. We laughed and knew that was probably going to be the case. We had our reserves about this guy as he had tried the previous day to play through another guest entertainer’s show and basically bombed it. With only 24 hours to learn a set, even professionals would have a hard time learning the songs let alone an amateur drummer who works full time during the day.

            We get to the rehearsal at noon and while setting up, this short, skinny Filipino guy, still in his steward uniform approaches nervously to the stage. Monty walks up to him and asks if he had a chance to learn the songs. He replied by shaking his head up and down rapidly. The guy’s name was Aria and he spoke almost no English. Monty tried to speak slowly so he could understand him and asked him to sit behind the drummer’s chair. I said hello to him as we walked by me and he said hello back and sat down behind the drum kit and grabbed the drumsticks.

            We started the first tune River Deep-Mountain High. Monty counted it off and we began. He played very timidly and barely hit the drums with any force. However he kept good time and only made a few minor mistakes. When we finished we looked around and Monty seemed content with his performance so we moved on to the next one. Through out the set he played with good time and learned most of the set very well with only a few mistakes along the way. After we were finished we knew that we could make the show work with him. Monty told him that he played fine and that he just needs to hit the drums with more confidence and clean up the few mistakes that he made. We thanked him and we scheduled one more rehearsal later that day at 4:30pm.

            We got together at 4:30 and ran through the set one more time and he played more or less the same as before: playing timid and a few minor mistakes. After we finished running through the set, we thanked him and told him once again to just hit the drums a little harder and with more confidence and the show will go just fine.

            The show started at 8:30pm and I got to the stage at about 8pm to warm up. Aria showed up shortly after with the wrong colored shirt on and looked extremely nervous. I asked him how he was doing and he said, “I am SO nervous!” I told him not to worry because the lights are so bright on the stage, he wont be able to see anyone in the audience. He then said, “I’m not nervous about the audience, I’m nervous to be playing with YOU guys! The orchestra!” I laughed and felt a little flattered at the same time. I told him not to worry and he’ll do just fine. Monty came over and explained that we had to play the cruise director on to the stage so he can announce the show. He needed to do a drum roll and play 8 bars of ‘Hold on I’m Coming’ to play the cruise director on. After Monty explained it to him, I tried rehearsing it with him unamplified for a few minutes so he could get use to the idea.

            The lights on the stage blacked out and Aria played a quiet little drum roll on the floor tom. Monty counted off Hold on I’m Coming and Aria missed the first bar. He caught on to the second and played the rest fine but it put the band off to a shaky start. After the cruise director announced the show, Monty gave the count off for River Deep-Mountain High and we were off. Aria finally started hitting the drums with power and confidence. The show was actually working. He played the show with a few (new) mistakes but still kept good time and kept the show moving forward.

            By the end of the show, the audience gave a huge round of applause and we knew we were in the clear. After the curtains drew, we high fived Aria and told him he did a good job. He apologized profusely for his mistakes during the set and we laughed and told him not to worry about it. I told him “we make mistakes all the time!” and he had a good laugh about that. He looked at me and said, “feel my hands. They’re so cold!” He grabbed my wrist and indeed his hands were freezing from nervousness. Monty told him to go rest because we had one more final set at 10:15pm. Aria then replied, “ I can’t, I have to go back to work between sets”, Monty’s eyebrows rose suddenly. “You mean your boss didn’t give you the night off?!” Monty exclaimed. Aria laughed and shook his head and said “No”. We were shocked but also admired his work ethic.

            We met backstage at 10pm for the 10:15pm set and did the same thing again. During this second set I thought to myself he must be really excited to be doing this. He probably works 6-8 hours a day with no days off and minimal pay and gets no time to play drums. He is thousands of miles away from his home, family and his drum set and finally, with one unfortunate mishap, he gets his one shot. He has an opportunity to play with professional musicians and do something that he loves: playing the drums. Against all odds, he busts his ass and learns a whole hour set overnight and steps it up to play on the main stage under the sound and lights to strut his stuff. It was pretty inspirational, almost like a musical version of the movie Rocky (but in this version he wins!).

            We finish the show with out a hitch and the cruise director after the show makes a special announcement. He tells the story of our drummer leaving and the amazing tale of us acquiring a new drummer from an unlikely place at an unlikely time. He learns the songs overnight and gets to play on the main stage with the Ocean Princess Orchestra. The cruise director asks him to stand up. He rises from his drum throne and the spot light shines on his face. The audience gives him a thunderous round of applause and for a moment for this meek man, he wasn’t just another nameless Filipino cabin steward, he was Aria, the rock star.

Aria saves the day.

Aria.

Francois stayed for the first rehearsal before his flight to give Aria a few pointers.

Rehearsing the set.

Cool, calm and collected...

Teresa leading with her vocals the NEW Ocean Princess Orchestra.

Tasting Samoa

Today I’m here in Apia, the capital of Western Samoa and I've decided I wanted to try to experience the tastes that the Samoan islands had to offer. After doing some Internet research, I found what seemed to be a great local restaurant to check out. I specifically tried to look for a place that was popular with the locals as to experience what the common people here eat. I wanted to try some dishes I could only perhaps find in here in Samoa. After walking through the town for about 45 minutes (and also through a  nice farmers market), I managed to find the restaurant.

The name of the restaurant was Amanis; a quaint little building on the side of the main road. The parking lot infront was packed with cars, which was a good sign. I walked in and looked at the menu hung above the counter. It consisted of local dishes, fish and chips, burgers and a breakfast menu. They had right in front a large glass heated case where they kept most of the food. I walked over to it and looked at all the different varieties of food. Chicken curry, mixed vegetables, sliced pork, sweet and sour chicken and several local dishes I did not recognize.

A very nice Samoan woman from behind the counter approached me and asked what I would like. In reply, I asked her my two favorite questions in any restaurant that I’m unsure of : “what’s good?!” and also “Which ones are your favorite?” These questions are great for a variety of reasons. They first of all start a playful rapport between you and the server or who ever it might be. This rapport can sometimes lead to them doing extra things for you and also among other things, make sure they don’t fuck with your food. It also narrows down the possibilities when it comes to ordering. If you have no idea what to get, asking them these questions will help you at least weed out their “bad dishes” and let you know what their “good ones” are. The woman smiled after I asked her the questions and pointed out a few of her favorite dishes and one of them she said is a local favorite dish called Palusami, which she explained is onions and coconut cream wrapped in Taro leaves and baked. The consistency looked more like cream spinach but I decided I had to at least try it anyway. I also ordered some sweet and sour chicken and chicken curry with a side of white rice.

At Amanis they charge everything by the scoop and it seemed that when they mean one scoop, it ends up being two because everything thing that I ordered, she gave me a HUGE double scoop portion of it. I sat down on the patio outside and started to dig in.

The first thing I had to try was the Palusami. I reached in with a spoon and took a bite. The first thing you taste is the coconut, a LOT of coconut. It had a nice creamy and rich texture but the coconut was very strong. I went ahead and moved on to the sweet and sour chicken. The taste was a little disappointing. The sauce tasted more like a cleaning detergent more than a sweet and sour sauce. I think I would have preferred the sweet and sour from Panda Express to this to be honest. Lastly, I tried the chicken curry. The curry its self was actually really nice. A nice spicy flavor without overloading your taste buds with too much zing. The downfall of this curry was actually the chicken. Every little bite of chicken was riddled with tiny little chicken bones. I probably spent more time picking bones out of my teeth than I did actually enjoying it.

I then realized that the Palusami was the better of the three dishes so I decided to try to finish that. It was obvious at that point that there was no way I was going to be able to finish the whole plate. Then I realize why the Samoan people are so massive. The portions here are too fucking huge! This would put any McDonalds super size family meal to shame. They probably feed their infants super sized big macs for breakfast and substitute breast milk for a 64oz diet soda before they can even walk!

After getting a few more spoons full of Palusami, the coconut starts to catch up with me. Not in a sickening sort of way, just that I was getting overwhelmed with the coconut flavor. I tried dumping the rice into the Palusami to dilute the flavor, but it did very little in taming the ferocity of the coconut. I finally just gave up on it. I asked the nice woman behind the counter for a to go box (as not to insult the people that I ate maybe only half of the meal) and went on my way.

On the way back I stopped into a farmers market, which they call Marketi Fou where they were selling local food, crafts and “Samoan Pancakes”. The Samoan Pancakes are simply banana bread that they roll up into a ball and deep fry. For 10 cents a pop, I had to at least try a few. I ordered a couple and sat down and tried them. They had a nice crunchy outside (which I expected since they were deep fried) and inside it had a sweet, warm banana flavor on the inside. They tasted very nice, however I think I would of liked to taste a little more of the banana from it. For 10 cents each though, I don’t think I had much room to complain.

"Samoan Pancakes"

            The tastes of Samoa I think are ones that can be truly appreciated by its people. It recipes that have been shared and passed down from grandmothers to granddaughters for generations and is some thing they have grown up on and learned to love. A foreigner like myself however, was not as impressed. I think the local dishes have some unique visions but maybe lack the proper skills for execution. It could have possibly been Amanis’ recipes weren’t good or perhaps it’s both. I’m not sure, but for someone who is just passing through, the food wasn’t a selling point. I’ll leave it next time for the locals