Dominion road is an interesting place.  It’s an eclectic mix of asian food stores, mobile phone shops and chains such as Burger Fuel and Hells Pizza.  Amongst the mix is Vinyl cafe which is distinctly its own.  They serve Cafe Supreme coffee which is always a good start.  They also have a fantastic selection of vegetarian options for breakfast or lunch.  If you are cruising past be sure to pay a visit.

Theatre cafe is squashed between food chain stores on Auckland’s electric K’Rd.  This road has a colourful present, and past and the Theatre cafe was a part of this, as a theatre showing some of the original films back in the early 1900′s.  It has had many incarnations since then, but in the last few decades coffee has dominated .  It is an incredible building with the arched ceiling (the former entrance way into the theatre) and old theatre up the back.  The coffee is divine but it is easy to get distracted by the architecture of the place and forget you are drinking something incredible.

I’m a big fan of Freitag.  They are a swiss company who make bags, wallets and many other things out of recycled truck canvas, seat belts and bicycle inner tubes.  Not only are their products extremely durable but they are helping the planet to.  After trying to apply minimalism to my day bag I’ve finally got it down to 11 items.  My next goal is sub-10.  What don’t I need?

I’ve had a few phone cameras in my time and have generally found that Sony Ecrisson’s make the best as they also have cybershot technology in making their digital cameras.   In December I finally got a smart phone, a blackberry which has a 2MP camera.  It’s not too bad in light conditions, but predictably poor in anything remotely cloudy or dark. 90% of the time a camera of some sorts is in my bag, along with the rest of the kitchen sink, nonetheless it is a good back up.

I’ve been learning a lot about minimalism.   I’ve always liked it, but am slowing, and gradually taking it to another level. Leo Babuata recently started a great new blog called mnmilst which has some great ideas.   The thing I like about minimalism is the lack of clutter, how environmentally friendly it is reducing consumption, and waste, and it simplifies life to enjoy the things you really like.  Back to my original point – it’s time to apply minimalism to by day bag!

I love gadgets.  These typically include computers, mobile phones, cameras and such like things that are functional and generally make my day more effective or fun.  I’m not interested in flash TV’s or games.  When the iPhone was released in NZ it came out with silly plans that did not suit my budget or my intention to move countries.   As soon as I landed in the UK I was off to the O2 store to get hooked up an iPhone, but they wouldn’t let me as I did not have a UK credit rating, being a fresh foreigner and all.  I had to wait 6-months they said as I tried to smile through disappointed teeth.  This delay allowed for other companies such as Orange to stock the iPhone and soon Vodafone UK.  This waiting period allowed me to research other options, so I asked myself, why do I actually want an iPhone?  The feature list included:

• Usual phone functions
• WordPress application
• Email
• Internet
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Googlemaps, GPS
• Skype
• A good price plan with at least 500mins and 500 text messages

As I researched it appeared Orange was out, at 80p for an international text, with O2 still my only option, and 2-months left to wait on my stand down I started looking at other smart phones, and other companies.  The Blackberry Bold took my eye as functional, and durable (something I was worried about with the iPhone as I constantly drop my mobile phones).   The Bold can do everything on my list so I thought hmmmm maybe I should go for one of these instead.  Upon researching the plans I found out I could get 600-any time minutes, 1200 texts, unlimited email and internet for just £20 a month with O2.  £15 cheaper per month than the cheapest iPhone plan to suit my needs.  It was an interesting experiment researching each company. Orange, Vodafone, 3, T-mobile, all offered the Bold with great phone, text, and internet plans, but ultimately the decider was the international texting rate.  It ranged from 25-80p on these networks, but only 11p with O2.  Pays to research well.

I really like having a QWERTY button keyboard, it suits my larger than average hands, unlike touch screens where by fingers touch two letters at once.  And after a friend of mine keeps sending me texts by accident from her touch phone I’m quite glad I went for buttons.

There are many benefits to having a smart phone.  Some people don’t like them as they are ‘on tap’ 24-7.  Nonetheless I think you are only ‘on-tap’ if you answer…  I’ve found I use my computer a lot less, and some days don’t even turn it on.  It’s come in handy, such as on the bus I attend to emails, or find the number for pizza, to ring and order to have one freshly out of the oven on the way home.  Love technology! Another benefit is that I can use email as texting internationally and it is included in my data allowance instead of paying the international text rate. My sister and I text via email as she has an iPhone. Now I just need my other international recipients to get smart phones!

So, I’m well impressed with the Blackberry Bold.  It’s functional, smooth, quick and fun.