Cairns Baby!!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

I woke up to some man and girl talking. Drifted in and out of sleep to their voice until I finally woke up at 930is. There was a shuttle bus provided for free by our hostel, Njoy!, and I wanted to catch it before its lunch break at 1130. I got up and gave Anu a wake up call--- she didnt answer. I proceeded to get dressed and someone came in. Her name is Emma and she is my hostel mate along with her boyfriend, Scott . They are from England and they decided to come for the year to work. Emma had just gotten back from the market to pick up some groceries for Scott. Apparently, they wanted to work on a banana farm but the farm didnt need them, Scott found work this morning but she didnt have anything lined up. We exchanged stories while I got ready for the day. She said she would bring us to the city center because she needed to go back. I proceeded to bang on Anus door and then we walked down together. (fyi- alyssa was scuba diving so she was gone for the day. I couldnt afford the scuba trip so thats why I stayed back). Njoy hostel and Anu

Cairns isnt a big city like I expected. Its really very small; one mall, no beach, a cute marina, lagoon for swimming, 2 museums, some shops and restaurants and well thats kinda it. But i like it. It took me a bit to warm up to it but it was a cute place, real relaxed and laid back. Heaps of Indigenous.

Emma dropped us off at the mall and pointed us in the proper direction. We walked around a bit for a while, down Spence St, till we met the "water", more like where the water was supposed to be. It had started pouring rain and we were both hungry (it was about 11 am) so we decided to grab a bite (hamburger and chips for me) and wait till the rain stopped. Anu apparently hates the rain but she was willing to get up after we were done and brave the rain which was in the form of sprinkles at this point.

In cairns there is an Esplanade- not for swimming for there are crocs. I expected it to be filled with water but it must have been low tide and so you could see the bottom with heaps of crabs chillaxin.
L: crabs close up. M: view to the Left. R: view to the right.





On the coast side they have a man made beach so that I guess you dont get tempted to go swimming with the crocs. It was mad cute, with these adorable fish.
We walked down to the marina next. It was really cute. I thought it would be fun to walk around the board walk for the boats. After a bit it decided to start pouring. We kept walking, hiding under my umbrella. I got a phone call from Dell that they would be delivering the part tomorrow to the house (yay). After a bit it stopped the down pour and the sun came out. At this point we had reached the end of the boardwalk. We walked back to land, trying not to slip and fall on our arses (we had flip flops on and it was crazy slippery). View from the marina at the boats

We walked around the coast and sat down for a bit and just got to know each other a bit. We really didnt know one another at all. She had gone to some study abroad dinner I went to and we meet briefly but that was all I knew of her until this point. More crabs on the rocks near where we sat.

It then started to rain (again) so we got up and made a move to walking under cover. Walked to the shopping center that we were originally dropped off at by Emma and grabbed a choc top for 1$ (god, why dont we have these in the state???). We ate outside and then walked back to the hostel. A sign I encountered on my walk back to the hostel.... rum bar, sounds like a cool place...



Anu decided to take a nap but I didnt want to waist my time so I decided to (first take a shower and then) read in the main room of the hostel instead. I started a book I borrowed from Peters private library, A Sight for Sore Eyes by Ruth Rendell (i do not suggest it). I read for a good while till Alyssa came back and then talked to her because I wanted to hear everything. I havent seen her in ages and it was nice to be reunited again. We went upstairs so she could get ready for the arvo and chatted with Emma. While Alyssa was in the shower Scott (who I had not really meet yet) came back from work. He was all nicely burnt so I let him have some cocoa butter and we got to know each other. Both of the hostelmates are mad sweet. Once Alyssa got done in the shower we chatted a bit, woke Anu up, and then went to dinner.

Part of Njoy is that it offers a free dinner at a local restaurant/pub. We all walked to it together and on the way encountered a good heaping amount of bats.
We got to the Woolshed for dinner and ordered our food (pasta bolognase for me) and ate. They were having a deal that night, 20$ for 5 drinks so Alyssa, Anu and I decided we would come back at 9 when it was going down. Scott and Emma went to use free internet at Mackers while we decided to check out the night mall.
Its kinda like Victoria Market or Paddys. A variety of Aussie stuff for cheap. I found a great prezzy for Briana there (cant say what it is) and found some interesting food (didnt buy tho).
Emu, crick, kanga, and beef jerky--- yumm.
After walking around we went outside to chat for a bit until it started raining again. Alyssa and Anu dont know each other, they just know me. Alyssa and I in the rain, Anu didnt want to be in the photo.

Once the rain started we decided to head back to the Woolshed for our drink deal. Anu didnt feel like drinking so only me and Alyssa got em. Drank mostly vodka cran and vodka sunrises (introduced Alyssa to them,hhehe). We ran into a girl I had meet the first day of Orientation, Nadia, along with Zoe and Caroline (remember them(bitt po)). We chatted with some guys from England among others. There was a goldfish race where they had racing lanes and you blew bubbles through a straw to make them get to the finish line. Very interesting. Five drinks and 2 hours later I was a bit pissed and Alyssa and Anu were ready for bed (I could keep going but that was another matter). We all walked back and I was too pissed to remember how to get back and the only thing on my mind was peeing (hahaha there were a few bushed I considered). We managed to get back along with a good amount of giggling from Alyssa and I. and then it was bed time.

Lets do it!!!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Woke up and had to pack..... spring break baby.
Packed all my ish into a backpack and handbag. I honestly dont think ive ever packed so light in my life. However i did bring more than necessary-- aka heals and a dress. You just never know, you might want to go out on the town and need one. Better safe then sorry i say.

After packing and double checking i didnt leave anything I decided to sort my computer out a bit. Ive been working on sorting it out since the "incident" on thursday but I really needed to sort it out today because it would be the last time in a while that I would be home to do it. I wanted to have it fixed by the time i got back. Anyway-- I got on to dell and they decided to ship me the hard drive i need from australia in a couple of business days. I then got onto some computer people and found myself a place i liked with a good price (the one micheal showed me was going to be 200$ min, i needed cheaper than that). I then left Anita with directions as to what to do with the part once it came.

It was then time to go. My flight boarded at 8:30pm and so I left at 5ish to get on the train to the skybus to the airport. Since I didnt have luggage it made life easier and I went through security with heaps of liquids/jells and no issues (god that would never happen in america). Went to the flight board and it says the plane was delayed for a good couple of hours till 11pm. Geeze.

So I sat my butt down in a chair, read my mx newspaper I grabbed from the train station and waited for anu to join me. She had called me on my way on the skybus that she was still busy doing things and she wasnt ready to get to the flight. I had called her up to let her know she didnt need to rush and she arrived an hour later. We chatted for a little while and then she decided she needed a rest. She went to go take a nap on the floor and I attempted to attack a sudoku. After maybe 2 hours of realizing I was NOT doing as well as I had thought when I got to the end and I had two numbers in the same group, I gave up and decided to make some phone calls.

I called my dad and gave him an update on my computer stuff. We figured that I might need some things shipped for it, ie my windows vista discs etc. I quickly called up Alyssa to let her know not to wait up, for we wouldnt get in till maybe 3am. After that I called up my one bestie Marianne. She was ecstatic to hear from me and I was just as happy that she actually picked up. We talked for about a half an hour trying to fill each other in on all the new things going on in my life. It was really nice to hear her voice and know that she was doing well.

By the time I finished, and after browsing through Anu's cosmo, it was time to start boarding. Yay. I woke up Anu and we got in line. She realized that her boarding pass didnt have a seat number like mine did (I realized that she had printed her flight confirmation instead of actually checking in) so i told her I would wait with her stuff while she went to find some Tiger worker. She did and they said the cannot check her in because its less than 45 minutes from lift off. Well that was an annoyance. I told her to get to the gate and argue it, they shouldnt have let her past security without a proper boarding pass. She got up to the gate and the guy printed one off no worries.

Walking to the plane I decided to capture the momentous occasion....

I then proceeded to get yelled at. Apparently no picts allow, HAH.
Turned out that Anu and I sat next to each other. I did my best to nap and so did she. Because we flew with the cheapest airline out there we didnt get any complimentary peanuts or drinks but its ok because I saved more by flying with them.

Woke up when we were touching down. It was about 3am and I was stilled tired (duh). We both only had carry on so we didnt have to wait for baggage claim which was nice. We got out to the street and couldnt find a cab. After a bit of searching we found one and got on with two other couples. The driver dropped us off after his first stop and it was only 7$ (cheap as!). We then checked in and was showed to our two different rooms. Anu was in a room with eight other people and I was in a room fitting four with Alyssa. Got dressed and out like a light. The other beds were full and I thought she said they were both girls...

Another Birthday Party Day!!

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Today is Becs family bday party.

Woke up, got dressed, finishing touches on the house and then.... Party!!!

People started showing up around 2pm. I got to meet Anitas family, see Peters side again, meet people from Peters side that I havent before. Mic and Sarah came along with Chloe and her parents. I got to have a good chat with her parents which was super nice. I also chatted with some family members who have a son doing essentially what im interested in doing for my profession- forensic science. At this time, Kat comes to the party (the actress cousin that I watch on tv every day) and is in the same room as me. I totally dont take notice bc i am so deep in conversation about dead bodies and such. Then she leaves!!! I didnt even get to meet her!!!! nooooooooo..... it was very sad. I got to meet my sisters old penpal Laura from back in the day. Its funny, i got to meet her bf chrissy did. Hopefully we can arrange a meet btwn them and another chance for me to meet kat.

Appetizers were passed around for a good couple of hours and then it was time for speeches and cutting of the cake. Peter said some nice words along with her godfather. We then sang the appropriate song and cake time.


L: Bec, Micheal and me


R: Bec and her delish cake

B: Mic, Bec and Sarah


After the party we looked over some of the things she got and relaxed for a moment. We then had to clean up all the stuff, clean the dishes, throw out the trash, put all the furniture back. Bec and I decided that we wanted some real food so we went and grabbed a pizza before getting back to watch the Kat in the Offspring.

Spring cleaning

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Got a good sleep in from the party, which was well appreciated. Got up around 11/11:30.

When I finally got up I came out to the family area and everyone was busy re-arranging everything for the family birthday party for bec that was planned for tomorrow. I hadnt taken off any makeup and my hair was still in curls so bec and I compared the damage. we both decided our hair was still good, but I had to wash my face.

The day was mostly spent cleaning/prepping the house for the party. The furniture had to be rearranged so that the heaps of fam members would fit. The weather was nice so I did some yard work until i "retired" because I couldnt really tell the difference between australian weeds and real plants. (sorry anita).

After a day of cleaning we put on some nice clothes and Micheal, Bec, and I met up with Mic and Sarah at a mall for dinner at TGIFridays (doesnt get more american than that). I was a bit surprised bc the menu was a tad different and the prices were way more expensive. still good food (i had nachos and a cosmopolitan).

After eating and just full on enjoying ourselves we parted and went our separate ways. Bec, Micheal, and I had very much the adventure getting back to our car. The entrance we came in through was blocked off and we had to resort to walking around the outside of the mall. In the meantime we came up with some horror story about what was really going on because it was so ridiculous how confusing it was to find our way back to the car.

Party Time

Friday, September 17, 2010

Umm so today was fantastic.

Started off early in the morning with a champagne breakfast. Bec, Jess, Chloe and I meet at Mocha Joes and had champagne for becs bday and a bagel for me.

After breakie Chloe, Bec and I went over to Chaddy to see if we could find me a dress for the party for less than 40$. I was told this was going to be difficult and I did figure as much judging from the prices ive seen previously.

The first shop we went into was Edge. We told the shop girl about my budget and she took me to the sale rack. Picked out a few dresses for myself and went to try on. While doing this Chloe and Bec picked some out and gave em to me to try. This was really useful because without them I would never have noticed the dress that i ended up getting. I decided to see if there was anything else i liked better in another shop but in the end I ended up going back to Edge and grabbing the dress for (get this) 30$!!!!!!

***** Culture Note: America is very big into internet shopping and browsing. Here in Australia you go onto a stores website and you cant see the merchandise and you cant buy it online. This is kinda annoying because I dont know the shops and I kinda would like to get a preview of the merchandise AND the prices. If you dont believe me check out the Edge's website*****

After finding me a dress, and some jewelry for bec we jumped in the car to get on with our day. Dropping Chloe off we made our way to get becs hair done at her hair dressers. We got there and chatted it up when the owner decided he wanted to do something with my hair super quick before we left. It was so super nice of him. Bec got big volume and curls and i got little curls in an updo that he kinda created on the spot. It was really fantastic and seeing as how I have never a. gotten my hair done, or b. had curls, i was very happy.

After hair we went back to Chaddys to get make-up done at Napoleon. We met up with Laura and Jess who got theirs done before us. Ive also never gotten my make-up done so it was really nice as well. Id like to thank Lauren and Bec for helping me do this.

After make-up we made our way to the car trying not to mess up our hair/make-up. We drove home to get dressed to get ready to go. Micheal met us there and we all took photos of how fantastic we looked.


Umm... so we look fantastic, no?

After photos we tried to get a hold of mic and sarah who said they would drive Bec, Micheal, and me to the Arcadia where the Bday party was. However, they left late from their house so we jumped in the car with Anita and Peter.

Some setting up was involved and then people started to arrive. So many people showed up; footy guys, family friends, uni friends, and close friends. It was super nice because I had meet so many of them already that I didnt feel at odds at all. She had a music going the whole time that she had prepicked and a slideshow of her life going on two televisions. Here are some photos from the night....

L: Me and Micheal. R: Uhh just me...?











L: The footy guys, bec and me. R: Jess, Jana and Me












L: Daniel, Chloe, Bec and Me. R: Dale Bec and me










During the party there were waiters with food which were delish and an open tab (to a certain amount). I had a good bit of Malibu and Coke (seeing as how it was becs bday and her fave drink).

At the end (around midnight) a flood of people started coming in our private function. We were all kinda like WTF? Some of us went to guard the prezzy's while others went to go figure out what was going on. Apparently we had only rented the room till a certain time. Although it was before the time they decided to let people into the room without warning. It would have been ok if they had given us a warning but they didnt and that was a bit selfish. We got the presents out to the car and had a "chat" to the manager about the problem (well i didnt but Bec and micheal did). We then went to go outside to chat with some party goes real fast. It was kinda frigid outside when we were chatting so this guy that I litterally met like 10/15 min before offered to keep me warm which was super sweet. We then jumped in the car with Mic and Sarah and drove back home.

Totally zonked out (but hungry) we decided, once we got home, to grab mackers before going to bed.

It was a pretty amazing day.

4 Days in Summery

Here is the next 4 days in a short condensed version so that i can catch up (and because nothing of real interest happened that i need to dwell on)


Really, Nothing Interesting...
Monday, September 13, 2010

This is an on week. I had Indigenous Studies, Psych Prac, Genetics Tute, and Genetics Lecture. I handed in a Lab that I had worked on in Psychology practical but other than that the day was ordinary.
Here is a picture of the building i have my indigenous studies lecture in, called the old arts building. i liked the architecture so i took a pic.



Iced Choc Fail!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Today i had indigenous studies, politics lecture and indigenous tute.

I went to the library to work on a paper for politics after indigenous studies lecture. I got a good bit done. The paper had two different approaches, you could either write one of the essays that the prof gave or one from the tute guy. I figured my tutor might enjoy reading one of his topics so i chose his even though it was out of my comfort zone. He wanted us to think for ourselves and not site others bc it should be our thoughts. This isnt my specialty. Im very good at writing a research paper but I dont like to philosophize and come up with my own political theories. But i figured it would be a good experience so i went for it. hopefully i made the right choice.

I went to go to my politics tute but the lecturer was sick or something so we didnt have it. I figured I would grab an iced choc and then work on the paper but I met a classmate on my way out and he had some time so we sat and chatted for an hour. I got an iced choc from a new venue and it was CRAP. it was just chocolate milk...... uhhh did i ask for choc milk? no. Anyway I had a good chat with him, Blake, hes a indigenous homosexual and a super sweet guy.

Anyway, those were the highlights of my day.



Interesting??
Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Since its an on week i have genetics prac. The prac wasnt too bad, we looked at a lot of algea and fungi and such. ohh so interesting... not. It wasnt as rushed because we were observing and then drawing. However, at marymount we never had to do technical drawings so mine arent up to par on how to do them. We had like a 3 question quize and then had to hand in our drawings (shit- hopefully they werent too bad). Its not that my drawings are bad, its just that i dont know how to properly scale things and such. Anyway...

After prac I went to go work on my paper some more. I got pretty far. I practically finished my 2,000 word essay except for revisions. proud of myself. now lets cross the fingers that its what he wanted. (im a bit worried that it might not be).

Then I had genetics lecture and afterwards jumped on the tram, train to get to peters work to go to visit Kitty! They had just returned and it was nice to talk with them. Im getting excited about my trip to the great barrier reef and queensland and it was nice to talk about their travels to iceland and such.

Thats my day, the most interesting of parts that is.... well maybe not all that interesting but oh well.



Becs Bday!
Thursday, September 16, 2010

Today was kinda like, FML day.
Last night I was being a bad student and just surfing the internet when my computer freezes. So i turned it off and on again thinking it would just reset itself. When it turned back on i got this death message of "Startup error, running startup check. might take a few hours" so I leave it on, all night. I called my dad that night and asked him what the hell was i supposed to do. He said to let it run, it might need a while, and see what it says when i wake up. So i did. When i woke up the same thing that i left it doing was still doing. Nothing new had happened. This is after a good 9 hours too. So I called dad again, we both agreed that i should take it into the university to have the IT service look at it. Well guess what, there is no IT service for students (just for university problems). Before class I decided to chat with the ppl at dell about my laptop problem on a school comp. They told me to run some analysis using F12 or something. I then ran to class bc i was late and figured it could to the analysis as I was in class.

I walked in late to psychology class and took a seat. 10minutes later my computer decided it had found an error (which is what i wanted it to do) and proceed to alert me by making a loud as noise. I figured I just had the volume up so i tried turning it down, same noise. Turning the volume off, same noise. closing my monitor, same f*&(&&% noise. Everyone was really looking at me now. Like the class had stopped. I picked up my comp and ran out of the class as everyone was cracking up. It wasnt embarrassing i just felt bad that i interrupted. I got to the hallway and wrote down the message (as it was beeping the hell out of itself), turned it off and went back to class.

Class finished and i got on to dell again this time with the error code (which meant nothing to me but something to them i guess). they told me to run the test again. GOD. Some time and stupid beeping later I gave them the new error code. They told me my hard drive was corrupted. Apparently I needed to restore my data and transfer it onto a new hard drive (trusting that I CAN restore my data... GOD). I then spent the next couple of hours on the phone with different people trying to see if they could restore my data. At one point I had to call up dell again to see if I could get the hard drive shipped to Australia since it was bought in America. I had to transfer ownership first.

Next class, politics lecture and then tute.
I decided to come home after school bc it was becs bday. She had to run some errands but I got to see her a bit which was good. Micheal told me of a company i could go with that was reliable to restore the data which helped me relax.

Chinease Museaum, Finally

Sunday, September 12, 2010

For a good while now I have been planning to go to the Chinese Museaum. However for one reason or another this has not happened. Well now it has, and here it goes.

Woke up and got on the train to the city. After some map reading and asking for directions I finally found the museum (now remember i have been there already..... why did i not know where it was then...).

But here it is!

Concession was about 5$ which was fantastic. The first level contained the entrance desk and free entrance to their little shop (and i mean little, just a couple of paper fans and coins) along with the history of chinese in melbourne. The main level also had part of the museum dedicated to the Dragon.

This is the Millennium Dragon. It was meant to replace Dai Loong the Big Dragon which needed to retire. The Millennium Dragon is the worlds largest processional dragon. He leaves the Museum twice a year, for the Chinatown Chinese New Year Festival and MOOMBA festivities.
If I remember correctly, the practice of making dragons had died out. No one had made one for 2 generations until melbourne wanted one and then sent back to china to get one made. The grandson of a dragon maker agreed to give it a go so he worked it out and made the Millennium. If it wasnt for him and melbourne then dragon making might have completely died out.

This is the old dragon they used for parades before the Millennium Dragon was created. Its called Dai Loong the Big Dragon and its very old and run down looking. Definitively good they got a new one!

These are the props used during the parade. It includes Little Dragons, fish, crabs, dolphins, other random animals and weapons.







Lower ground: Lower level has a cool thing on chinese immigration during the Australia gold rush time. Its amazing how boys would leave their families, jump on a boat, and go to work in a new country, looking for gold to bring money back to their families in a few months time. They didnt expect to stay, and some of them went back. Others stayed longer due because they wanted to become richer in the mines. You werent allowed to take pictures so I respected their wishes. Here is what the pamphlet says about the exhibit: "through sound, smell and movement, the adventures of Chinese gold-seekers on Australias 19th century goldfields are recreated using contemporary technology, A deep, winding mine carved from the soil below the Museum takes visitors from one real life scene to another. From a sailing ship on the high seas to Cantonese food in Ah Changs cook shop. Seek your fortune in the temple of Guan Gong, be entertained by Cantonese opera in a goldfields tent theater and hear differs doubling their winnings in a Chinese lottery."

level 1: Level one had a changing exhibit of Chinese art. The art was by a couple of different people and consisted of photographs. They were on sale as well. The pictures were from the orient and were really nice. I felt bad taking photos of it so I didnt. However their was a piece of work there that seemed like a permanent exhibit so I grabbed a shot of it. Its a... well i dont rightly know what it is but it has wonderful carvings on it.

Level 2: Level 2 is the "Bridge of Memories Exhibition".
"The incredible ethnic diversity of Australias 21st century population of 22 million makes it one of the most culturally rich and linguistically divers nation on earth. Austalians come from over 200 different countries whose people speak 230 languages. Numbering close to 700,000 people, 3.3% of the Austalian population define themselves as ethnically Chinese. Most migrated here in the last 50 years.
The new Bridge of Memories Exhibition explores the complexities of "identity" through the personal experiences of Chinese Austalians who have migrated to Australia from China, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam."

No pictures here either. Essentially you went around to each country, read the facts about the country, read the story of an immigrant from that country, pressed a button to listen to what they had to say, and read facts of immigrant population and such in Melbourne. It took me a long time to go around the room.


Level 3: Gallery of Chinese Australian History
"The gallery contains artifacts and photographs depicting 150 years of chinese immigrants and their descendants in australia. On display are antique costumes; ceramics; musical and scientific instruments; wedding gowns woven in gold; the furniture of master cabinet makers; relics of market gardenrs, herbalists, and trades; and the stories of chinese community associations from the earliest mutual brotherhood groups through to the social and sporting clubs of the 20th century.


Here we go...

Musical instruments



God its been so long since I went to this museum. I believe this was a betting table??






Chinese inventions: Paper money (following a shortage of copper used to make coins), noodles (archaeological discovery of a 4,000 year old bowl of noodles supporst the chinese claim), silk (made by boiling silkworm cocoons which can then be spun, developed 6-3,000 BCE), abacus (used by 1,200 CE as a counting device), umbrella (386-532 CE, created form oiled paper made from the bark of mulberry trees and their design was very similar to the modern umbrellas we use today), compass (knowledge of magnetic pull of the earth was used by the 3rd century CE), and chopsticks (used for over 3,000 years).


Used to tell the direction of a tsunami - super cool!






Chinese herbalist materials





Bamboo weaving talent.







Cool soldier statue (used for the dead?)





Foot Binding Shoes: Foot binding was practiced in china from 10th century to early 20th century, although it was not a custom of the women from the north or the boat women from the south. the practice started amongst the nobility but from the 17th century millions of women of all socioeconomic backgrounds had their feet bound. A young girls foot were usually both between the ages of 5-7 years. the process involved an elaborate method of soaking the feet in various ingredients before the arch of the foot was broken. all of the toes except for the big toe were then bend beneath the foot and the foot tightly bound in cotton bandages. The process was excruciatingly painful and the girl would be rehabilitated for many years. Even as adults it was difficult for women to walk without assistance. The ideal shape of r a bound foot was shaped like the bud of a lotus flower- full and coming to a point at the front.


Wedding dresses with gold threads. Nothing against them but my wedding dress will not look like these!!












Amazing cabinet. Beautiful carvings.











The end of the tour. I took a walk back to the china mall where there is a target to go look (not buy) shoes. The streets looked cool so i had to take photos.




I then went on the train to go home. It was a long day in the museum but i feel like i could have used more time.