Author Archives: shadengk

New Zealand: Otago Chocolate Company Takes Chocolate to Art

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The Otago Chocolate Company makes some of the smoothest chocolate bars available in New Zealand. The chocolate is silky, satisfying, and full of flavor. When combined with other flavors of New Zealand, you have a winning chocolate experience that few other companies can match.

The metallic stickers on the cardboard outer wrappings have an upscale look to them and clearly state what’s in the bar and where the chocolate beans come from. Some of the wrappers feature images from Te Papa, New Zealand’s National Museum. The horopito and kawakawa berries chocolate bar makes use of the natural spice in New Zealand’s flora. The beans are single sourced from Papa New Guinea. The farmers receive a fair price for their work.

Those familiar with manuka honey will enjoy the Beekeeper. The beans are from Papa New Guinea, but this 70% dark chocolate comes with honey, bee pollen, and puffed amaranth. That’ll kick up the health factor of this treat a notch. It’s good for “growers, makes and eaters alike.”

The Otago Chocolate Company (OCHO) makes their chocolate in Dunedin, and you can find it in local stores and at the Royal Albatross Centre. You can even get it at the airport, so be sure to look in the gift shops while waiting for your flight out. This is one treat you’ll want to enjoy no matter where you’re from.

Preorder ‘Tales at an Alaskan Cabin’

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“Tales at an Alaskan Cabin: 16 short stories to pass the time” is set up and ready for pre-order in eBook format. Simply, head over to Amazon.com and place your order today.

Tribute to the Decameron

I wrote this in the style of the “Decameron“, one of the oldest pieces of European literature. Completed in the 1353 by Boccaccio, the “Decameron” predates Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” (1400) by about 50 years. The “Decameron” focuses on ten wealthy, young people who flee the plague, and the scandalous and dangerous behavior of those in a town that has no law or moral decorum due to all the death, by going to their estates outside of town. At those places of rest, each person is charged with telling a story on a theme, with the exception of one young man who claims the right to tell the last story of the day to help improve upon any of the earlier stories or the mood as he sees fit.

At the Cabin

In this story, four men rent a cabin in the Alaskan wilderness during the winter. They decide that they will pass the time by telling each other stories. There are science fiction stories, myths, stories from other cultures and history, and personal tales from their lives. Some of the tales are related to Alaska; most are straight fiction. If you like reading short stories, this one should keep you entertained for a few hours.

How to Pre-order

The only way to pre-order is to go to Amazon.com and get the eBook. If you want a hard copy, it will be released on or about Feb. 11, but you won’t be able to read it right away as it will need to be shipped. The eBook for “Tales at an Alaskan Cabin” will be available immediately when Feb. 11 arrives. Read it first and find out what stories men tell in the cabin. (You can find a preview of the first part of the book here.)

New Zealand: The Penguin Place Photos

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The Penguin Place was paired with Monarch Cruises. Here penguins are rehabilitated, and a sanctuary has been set aside for the rarest of penguins – the yellow-eyed penguins to roost. If you head over to our Etsy shop and adopt a flat friend, we will donate $1 to the Penguin Place.

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New Zealand: Royal Tiki Tour Ride to the Royal Albatross Center

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We loved seeing the little blue penguins at the Royal Albatross Centre, but before we got there, we took a trip down the peninsula as part of the travel package. If you’re interested in helping the Royal Albatross Centre, consider adopting our Franklin Penguin or Persimmon Penguin – $5 from the adoption fees go to support the work of the RAC.

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