Jinba Ittai

"Rider and Horse as One"

So I was driving down the M4, on the right lane, cruising along, passing cars on my left, not really watching the speedo. I looked down and it read 120km/h! Shit I didn't even notice I was going that fast! I thought I was doing 100 or something. The car was steady as, as if I was doing 80. So I decided to test this baby and pushed it up to 140km/h. OMFG. She was as steady at 140km/h as she was at 80km/h. Handling was still responsive, no shaking of the steering wheel, no rattling as if it was going to fall apart and it was steady at 4500rpm. I felt totally in control of the car. To be cliche, I felt a oneness with the car, as if I AM the car, rather than a little human being trying to control a tonne of metal hurtling at speeds of 140km/h. In short, I have experienced Jinba Ittai :D As you can tell, I love my car :)

Been listening to the soundtrack of the movie Walk The Line. I watched the movie a couple of weeks back and really enjoyed it. I felt Joaquin Phoenix did an excellent job portraying the legendary Johnny Cash. If Philip Seymour Hoffman beat Joaquin Phoenix at the Oscars for Best Actor, then his performance must be PHENOMENAL! Gotta watch Capote. Anyway, I'm really getting into the songs of this sound track. It's mostly stuff from Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon singing the songs of Johnny Cash and June Carter respectively. hehehe Can't believe I have yet to hear a song by Johnny Cash :D

I'm in the early stages of planning a trip to New Zealand towards the end of this year. This will be my interim holiday before my big move to live/work in the UK in late 2007. I really need a holiday as I don't think I can survive another year without a break. From all my friends who have been to NZ and their photos, it absolutely looks like heaven. If you're into mother natures' beautiful creation then you really gotta go. I'm planning on doing the Milford Sound, 53km, 4 day trek which is suppose to be the MOST beautiful trek in the world. That's a big claim. Another must do is to see the glaciers (before they all melt) :D