WOW! I will admit one thing. This 'blog' is an epic FAILURE! I promised I would keep this up to date and the last post I wrote was at the beginning of June! Well what has happened since? What hasn't is more like the question. Lets see.. my summer was AWESOME! I have never been able to say that I have had a truly amazing summer, until now. I got a new job working as a sales associate for the BCLDB (British Columbia Liquor Distribution Board). Its a great job with decent pay and good benefits. I've been working there since May now, and I have yet to receive my own name tag LOL. Anyway's, apart from being able to buy alcohol at work, everything there seems to be ok. Except for the drama that is. I wont get into it mostly because its political bullshit and I think that everything will work itself out.

Apart from working with some really great people, my summer was filled with parties, drinking, exploring, and coming up with some brilliant business ideas. My friend Karen and I have been thinking of opening up a wine bar around the world where we can serve up some special wines from around the world to people who wanna pay some big bucks for a glass of fermented grapes. Its all very exciting, and that's about all the information I am willing to give about that.

I am now into my 6th week of my second year in University. And what a year it's been so far. I love it! However, about a month ago, I received an e-mail from Emirates Airline from Dubai, offering me a position as a Load Control Officer based in the UAE. This has been a dream of mine for about 7 or so years now. In fact, I kinda lost hope in my dream after I left my previous job at YVR to pursue "bigger and better" things. Ha that's another story in itself.

So anyway's, I responded to the e-mail with so much excitement and enthusiasm, and now I have been shortlisted for the position and November 4th, I am flying out to Toronto for an interview. Im keeping my fingers crossed (one set -Alicia/Mike) in hopes I get the job and move to Dubai. IM SO FREAKIN EXCITED!!!.. (btw, if you haven't seen "Surprise Party" - by the funniest guy (Craigery Morgan) in the world, youtube it, ur guaranteed to laugh)

What else can I say right now? All i know is that it's Sunday, I have class tomorrow morning and i'm pretty sure I got some homework to do. So I will leave you with a picture of me on Halloween of 2007, Im having a hard time figuring out exactly what I want to be this year, and if anyone has any suggestions, please comment!! Im running dry for costume ideas :( and I really want this year to be AMAZING!

That's all folks! I will try to keep this updated as much as possible. Also if anyone has any hints or advise for living and working in Dubai, I would be more then excited to hear what you have to say!

-Andrew Novo

Photo Of The Day #2

Personally, this is one of my favourite places in the world (so far:). I took this picture at Praia Mole (Mol-ee), on the east coast of Florianopolis. Floripa (for short) is an island in the southern part of Brazil, in the state of Santa Catarina. Sometimes, it's referred to as the "Brasilian Ibiza"

I recommend this place to everyone!

Novo

Bikram Yoga

Today was my second class of Bikram Hot Yoga. Holy sh*t. This is the most insane thing I have ever done to my body. All this weird intense breathing, bending my body in was i never knew I could bend, and the complete feeling of pure relaxation.

This was now my third yoga experience (one normal?? two hot), and I have to say: right now I am totally feeling it. My arms, legs, and especially my back, has this weird tingling sensation in the muscles. Don't get me wrong, it feels amazing.

So today I went to the 6:15 class and as soon as I walked into this place, I knew we were going to have a huge class. Did I mention I was also there about 35 minutes before class even started!!! It was insane. So time ticked away and the previous class was dismissed. The room was cleaned and it was time to Yoga.

As soon as the clock hit 6, the doors were opened and we all piled into a room looking for the best place to put our mats down. With 80 or so people compiling into a room, it wasn't long until the bare wood floor was covered with people and mats.

Within seconds most people were starting to break a sweat due to the 38C (100F) or so degree temperature inside the silent room. Not one sound came out of anyone's mouth, cause they know if you speak in the "Quiet Room" you get yelled at hahaha. But on a more serious note, it's really crazy how the ambience in the yoga room totally relaxes you. You breath slower, your heart slows down, it's pretty cool stuff. That is until the instructor person comes in and starts the class.

It wasn't long into the class, did I know I was definitely getting my money's worth today! Within a few minutes of breathing exercise, I was already covered in sweat. I was pushing my limits today and I really do feel a difference since last time I went. However, by doing so made me kinda light headed here and there and needed a lil 10 second break to get back into it. With that said, I can honestly say I completed every move and have yet to puss out on one.

The 90 minutes of hardcore Hot Yoga seemed to go by a little faster this time around and just a little more enjoyable. The girl who did the class was good and before we knew it, the lights were dimmed and with a calming "Namaste," class was over.

I don't know when I will take another class.. maybe tomorrow.. maybe not, all depends how I feel. However my pass is good for 2 weeks unlimited and it was only $30, so i've already saved $10.. not bad :)

Now I'm tired and need sleep.

Good Night

Novo

Picture Of The Day #1

Im going to be doing this thing where everyday, I will post one of my pictures from a certain experience and share its significance to you. I have no idea how it will tun out, but it can be fun!

To start, here is my first picture (above). I took this one on day 1 of my 7000 mile motorcycle road trip in the USA. We were somewhere along the Oregon coast, riding south on the #101, maybe an hour north of our first pit stop in Newport Beach, Oregon.

Novo

Ugly Wednesday - What is all this #BTJE stuff?

Well, I woke up this morning with the hopes that the sun would be shining and we would all have a wonderful day in the Metro-Vancouver area. I was wrong. It's cold, the skies are grey, and its raining. For heavens sake, IT' JUNE already! Where is the sun? The beach weather? Obviously not around today. Oh well, it's supposed to be nice on Saturday.

So I was thinking to myself, with this new blog and stuff, what would be one of the first things I would like to share with everyone? And you know, i'm still trying to figure that one out LOL. What have I been up to for the last little while? What has been the centre of my attention? You know what I came up with? Nothing. However something along the lines of Travel Job competition popped into my head.

That's right. I might as well tell you all about the #BTJE competition that my best friend Anastasia and I are competing in. It's called the Best Travel Job Ever. This was definitely an eye opener into the life of Social Media. Using twitter, Facebook, and all these other SM sites to advertise our video. We both learned so much about online marketing and this is actually one of the reasons why I have started my blog. Time to get my name out to the world ;)

So the rules for the #BTJE was to make a 2-4 minute video explaining why you deserve to win this job travelling the world and getting paid for it. Fight Centre Canada, along with many other sponsors, such as Air Canada, Intrepid Travels, Henrys Photography, and Roots, are sending 3 groups of 2 around the world to blog their adventures. One group to South America (Peru) one to Asia (China) and the last group to Europe.

The goal was to get as many votes for your video as possible. Out of the top 25 'Most Votes' videos, judges were to pick the top 6. Anna and I moved up from 30 something position to 8th!!!! Finishing off with 2299 votes for our video. Unfortunately we did not make the judges cut (possibly because we were in a group of 2) BTW Congrats to : Fiona+Sonja for team Asia, Jason+Mike for team South America, and Sam+Tim for team Europe. Your all going to rock it!!

However, there is a bonus assignment which is going on right now, and that is to win a trip blogging California. Pretty much the same rules apply, get votes for our video, and this time, get people to comment as well. This morning I checked how our video is doing, AND WE ARE IN FIRST PLACE with almost 550 votes!!! We are killing it.

We may not have won the first round, but the Bonus round is looking pretty good for us. So that was a little insight to what the whole BTJE is about. If you want to take a look at our video, and see other submissions, you can do so here: http://besttraveljobever.com/anovo

Vote for our video if you think we deserve a trip blogging California and also leave us a comment;)

You can follow what's going on @ #BTJE on twitter and http://besttraveljobever.com

Check it out:)

Novo

Why Do this?

Well its simple, I really want to get into writing about some of my past and present experiences. I want to share some of my travelling stories with you, including some parts of a wicked motorcycle trip I took with a good buddy of mine; meeting random hookers in Eureka; to screaming and throwing wicked "SHAM-SLAM's to the whales @ Sea World; and the list continues. I have travelled to many parts of this world, in fact, stepping foot onto 4 of our continents before turning 18. So I do have some interesting stories up my sleeve which i'm sure will entertain a few people. But it's not only stories that I'm planning to share with you all.

I want to give myself the challenge of updating this blog daily, with what's happening in my life. I haven't worked in about a year and money got pretty tight. I did however just get a new job and as odd as it may sound, it's like a new chapter in my life, where things are starting to look up for a change, and I think it would be cool to have it all documented and shared with the world.

With that said, hope you all enjoy what's to come.

Time to sleep

Good Night World

Novo