Melanie's Adventures

I am a shameful blogger

2009-01-24T20:10:00.002+10:00

I know it's been a super-long time since I last posted, and shame on me for being such a terrible blogger!

Lets see, things that have happened since August:

Camping trip for New Year's at Perigian Beach with a bunch of mates
Celeste's first Christmas!
I became a godmother for the second time, this time to my niece Bubberoo aka Chubba aka Squish
Went to Sunset Sounds festival recently - was great! Danced away to Cat Empire, Franz Ferdinand, Gin Club, Blue King Brown, etc etc etc
Went to Billy Joel and got upgrade to third-row seats - huzzah! Damn I wish I could play the piano that well.
Job going well, doing some freelance stuff as well, finishing off my post-grad.
New car! Which is hot.
Pip has grown heaps - she's still cute though, and slightly insane, and I think she might be nuts, but all good!
Went down to Coolie today to see the Australia vs NZ vs Saffaland beach cricket - was fun, just ridiculously hot.

I'm sure more has happened (I hope it has!), but I can't think of it right now.

Hope everyone is well!

So You Think You ... Wear Pants

2008-08-22T21:31:00.002+10:00

This is possibly the most beautiful dance routine I've ever seen:

In other news, not too much to report. Lovin' my new job - keeping me super busy! Been to Melbourne and Sydney so far, but it was manic. Just the way I like it, really! Tafe has been pushed to the wayside unfortunately.

On the plus side, Leah and I made our annual pilgrimage to Canberry to visit Alice. On the agenda - food, going to a gig and meeting up with Kirri, Questacon Science Centre, and pretty much freezing our butts off. Oh, and did I mention I forgot my wallet? Yeah - smart move.

Both the babies - Celeste and Pip - are growing so much! Both giving lots of love now - so cute!

Right... I need sleep!

Babies of all kinds

2008-07-20T17:35:00.004+10:00

It's been a busy couple of months. First and foremost, dealing with a kitten who had some toilet-training issues (believe me - not pretty!). It's honestly like having a child. You clean up, and within a few hours the floor is littered with her 'toys' again. She has a liking for an old pair of stockings, balls of scrunched up paper, scarves, leaves...pretty much anything she can attack. My legs and arms still show the hallmarks of her efforts. Still - super cute! We're having a lot of fun having an animal around the house.

Speaking of babies, my niece Celeste is now more than three months old and getting chubby, which is what we all like to see in babies. She had her christening on the weekend, and I became one of her two godmothers (no godfathers). Ironic her parents chose an atheist as her godmother, but I'm pretty sure the whole idea of godparents has changed somewhat over the ages. Anywho, a good day had by all - very short church ceremony, followed by bbq lunch, cake, more cake, and barefoot bowls by the water at Wynnum. Oh, and Celeste was cute too.

In other news, I have a new job! That's right - I've left the shift work of Police behind and have embarked on a really exciting role in the Corporate world. I'm in a communications role (the only one they have, and newly-created) at a big construction company. It's a really great opportunity and so far it's working out really well.

Not too much else to report really...singing and ballet continue, pointe shoes are crushing my toenails, but it's all part of the fun! When I grow up, I'm going to be a ballerina.

Introducing....Detective Pip Benson Loy-Bruekers

2008-06-17T13:55:00.003+10:00

Don't ask about the name - I actually wanted Ranger McCat but this works!

So yes - this is our new kitten! We brought her home today (and now I look like I've got track marks up and down my arms, but whatever) and she's currently sleeping underneath the washing machine.

She'll get too big for that eventually.

Anyway, she's seven weeks old and our new baby!

In other news, been busy finishing off uni (already know I got a seven for one subject - hooray!) and working and ballet-ing, and singing and so forth. Such busy times are these! Also babysat my gorgeous little niece last week - she's growing super fast, it's so weird to think she's already 11 weeks old! Exciting stuff.

Her baptism is scheduled for July, and as I'm her favourite aunty (and, ironically, the resident family atheist) I'm going to be a godparent - hooray for Team Mel!

Team Mel has been triumphing a lot lately. You should all join me on my quest.

Aunty Mel is the best.

2008-04-07T19:10:00.003+10:00

Our family is not known for being very patient, and it seems its in the genes with the arrival of my niece, Celeste, four weeks early on Friday. She's so tiny - only five pounds, two ounces - but gorgeous!! She just slept the whole day on Saturday. Because she's a bit early, she's had a few feeding problems, but they're getting there and hopefully she'll be home this week. It's so amazing to think my sis is a mum, and that's her daughter! Naturally I've gone a little nuts. As soon as I finished taking photos and having cuddles at the hospital on Saturday, I went and got said photos developed, bought frames, and went a little nuts at Pumpkin Patch. If she's my niece, she's gotta look good!

So of course we're all completely over the moon in the Loy/Harris family. Welcome to the world, Celeste! We'll try not to screw up your life.:)

Under your arm is on top of the world

2008-03-21T10:55:00.000+10:00

Ah, ads from the 70s!

Baby love

2008-03-06T19:56:00.003+10:00

My sister is having her baby shower on Saturday afternoon - it's kinda exciting, being my first niece/nephew and all (don't worry, it's my older sister, not my teenaged one!). However, today I went shopping for presents and, despite the help of a list my sister compiled, it was excruciating! Who would've thought a kid could need so many things? Or that there were so many kinds of things, in so many different brands, colours, materials, etc? Or that there were so many things for different stages of development?

But that really was the least of my worries. The biggest issue - what can I buy that won't risk killing it? Seriously, I was looking at things going: 'That's cute, fluffy, etc, but will it suffocate the baby?' or, 'that is also cute, fluffy, etc, but will the baby choke on it?'. Not to mention that it might be allergic to certain materials, dyes, and all of that stuff. I was so stressed by the end of it, not to mention I'd just bought a whole heap of things which I'm sure are useful, but not entirely amazing gifts. Is that what happens when you buy gifts for people who have/are having babies? Do gifts stop becoming cool and start becoming practical? Then they become fun gifts again when they're a bit older?

And then when the kid is actually born, what do you buy then, given it will probably have everything from aforementioned baby shower? I figure it's a bit like the engagement party followed by the wedding - what presents you don't get from the first, you put on the registry for the second. Honestly, married people and people having babies are so selfish!;)

Stewie sings Eminem's 'Kill You'

2008-02-27T18:41:00.001+10:00

Okay, you have to be a Family Guy fan to get this, but my god it's funny!

(also, cover the ears of young 'uns, choice Eminem swearing involved)

Vroom!

2008-02-04T16:11:00.000+10:00

For my birthday, my mates put in and got me a V8 racing experience, whereby I got to drive a V8 around Queensland Raceway for five laps. I was totally stoked! I'm secretly a bit of a rev-head.

So a couple of weeks ago I trekked out to the raceway, with my faithful friends Casey and Mitch, for a morning of fast car fun! Because my uncle volunteers out there, I got more than the standard five laps of driving - I think I got about eight, and it was fantastic! I have no idea how fast I went because I was too busy concentrating on not crashing, but my god it's a thrill! I got a DVD that gives a good perception of the speeds you reach. Was totally awesome.

Then, as an extra because I'm awesome (and so is my uncle), I then had one of the professional drivers take me out for a spin, which was fantastic! Now I want to be a race car driver too! I'll add that to my list of things I'm currently striving towards - the next Australian Idol, and the next winner of So You Think You Can Dance.

Speaking of the latter, my housemate and I had our first ballet lesson on Friday night. It was fun, but my calf muscles have never been so sore! I'm going to have awesome legs, but it's going to hurt.

And this weekend I went up the coast for a bit of r 'n' r with some of the girls from work. It was great to have a girls' weekend - we sat around and ate and drank, got prettied up and went out and ate and drank some more, fell asleep in the wee hours, woke up and ate and ate and ate more, went for a swim in the surf, and generally relaxed. I really needed it!! I've had a busy couple of weeks, which included travelling up to Rockhampton for work, so ti was nice to just chill for a bit. Unfortunately, as is the way of such things, it was over too far. So now, back to working and so forth...

The Contraband Shorts of Dischord

2008-01-11T17:50:00.000+10:00

What's wrong with this picture?

There's no bacon.

Also, apparently what I'm wearing in this photo is inappropriate for work. Or, more specifically, the shorts/trousers are apparently inappropriate.

Yes, today I was told not to wear these again as they are inappropriate for work. Despite the fact that they're pin-striped, cuffed, AND part of a suit (didn't wear the jacket - too hot) that I got from a rather nice store.

I questioned this of course - why are these appropriate when some of the girls wander in in little short skirts? 'Oh we'll be pulling up on that too, soon.'

Yep.

So, the top of our priority list is not the low staff morale, the high staff turnover, the lack of understanding of 'duty of care'. No, that's right, it's girls wearing 'shorts'.

So the question is - do YOU think this in inappropriate? I'm interested in your thoughts.

Basically, it's on. 'Bring It On' style. Minus the cheerleaders.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T20:50:00.000+10:00

Wow, can't believe it's 2008 already! Has been a whirlwind. A quick recap:

Jobs - started a job at the University of the Sunshine Coast in January, where I worked for a few months before land my current job with QPS. The shiftwork is rough, but the work is always interesting.
Travel - not as much as I'd like, to be honest. A trip to NZ early in the year was sadly brought on by the devastating circumstances of my friend Cath's passing in London. However there was a cheerier trip to Canberra to visit Alice and Kirri later in the year, and much fun was had!
Home - after living for a few months with my sister and her husband, I finally moved out to a nice little unit at Manly West which I share with my housemate Casey. All is well in the jungle!

Study - I decided to go back to uni and so enrolled in a Graduation Certificate in Communication. Only did one subject last semester, but got a 7 for it which is a good sign! I'm hoping to change to a Masters degree now. May as well go all the way!
Hobbies - still gymming it up, and last year I added distance running to my repetoire as Leah and I completed the 12k Bridge to Brisbane run. Hooray for us! Injury, however, is hampering my continuing with this sport. We started a regular tennis game for a while, but come winter when it got chilly outside we got lazy. I've also taken up singing lessons this year, and progress is being made!
Family - we were all really excited this year to learn my sister is expecting her first child in April this year. I'll be an aunty - the best one ever, of course. My lil sis finished high school, my bro started his undergrad, and all is well.

Anywho, to celebrate 2008 a few of us headed to a masked ball at Gianni's at Portside last night. Much fun and merriment was had by all, and we got to witness a scrag fight too which was awesome, totally made my night!

To celebrate Christmas, we had breakfast at Ma's with her side of the family - waffles with ice-cream and maple syrup, fruit, bacon and eggs... mmm I ate so much, it was great! Lunch was then at my housemate's family's place, where more food was eaten - loads of seafood and barbequed goodness. Then back to mum's for a roast turkey dinner, more seafood, and desserts. Much food, pressies, and lots of fun with the family. Good times!

As for 2008, I'm hoping it will bring a bit more travel around Oz - planning trips for Airlie Beach, country Queensland, and hopefully Melbourne and Sydney. And we'll see where else I end up going...

Wishing everyone a fab New Year!

Spending my birthday in jail

2007-12-11T18:38:00.000+10:00

Yes, you read right - I'm spending my birthday in jail. Well, part of the day. The reason? The new Brisbane Correctional Centre (formerly Sir David Longland Prison) is about to open, but before that happens Corrective Services are opening it up to the public for a sneak peek at life behind bars, and it just so happens it's this weekend! So that's happening on Sunday - a group of us shall trek out to Wacol to check out jail, before prisoners check in in January.

However, to celebrate my joining Club 24 I'm hosting a Luau on Saturday. All things Hawaiian are included, such as leis, grass skirts, coconuts, pineapples, swimming, and cocktails of course! Bring on 24, it had better be an awesome year!

I'm not a Toolie!!

2007-11-21T21:34:00.000+10:00

My work can be extremely stressful and tiring, but occasionally it has its perks. The last five days I've been down the Gold Coast for Schoolies Week. I know most people will say 'but all the drunk horrid teenagers! How can that be a perk?'. Ah, but it can be if you're working evening shifts so you've got all day to do whatever you want! I decided to treat my little sojourn as a bit of a holiday - every day I went for long walks along the beach and swimming in the surf - lovely! And today I met up with my lil sis, who is a Schoolie, and we went to Harbour Town. Many bargains I bought, including two fabulous pairs of shoes for only 30 bucks each - hurrah!

Anyway, back to the BrisVegas office tomorrow morning, then back on nights next week. Back into my bubble, that is...

Bringing sexy back

2007-11-13T09:00:00.000+10:00

Can you believe it's November already? Crazy talk, I know! And yet, there it is.

So not a great deal has been happening. Work has been crazy busy and I've just finished my eight-day night shift stint, so I'm coming back out of a bubble. I've now got three days off, and then I'm heading down to the Gold Coast for five days for work - Schoolies week is kicking off, and that means intense media interest. I'm doing the evening shifts, which means I'll have the mornings to enjoy the beach (and hopefully all the teenagers will still be asleep at that point).

In other news, a few weeks ago, Casey, Cinda, Cinda's sister and I all went to see Justin Timberlake's Futuresex show at the BrisVegas Entertainment Centre. All I can say is, he's my future husband, and I don't even believe in marriage! The boy can sing, dance, and play piano and guitar. *insert more gushing* Next time he comes to town though, I'm going to spend the extra cash on better tickets though. There are certain shows where it's worth paying the extra moula.

And that's about all that's happening really. I've almost finished all my Christmas shopping, and I'm going to try and get away for a weekend soon. Holidays beckon!

Also, the following clip made me laugh and laugh (even if I am going for Kevin 07)!!

Hot town, summer in the city

2007-10-09T20:49:00.000+10:00

Summer has arrived in BrisVegas, as told by the humidity, the heat, and the storms! Yes we've had our first few summer storms of the season and they've been pretty spectacular. My uncle took some photos from Canon Hill of the lightning over the city last night, very impressive.

In other news, there is no other news. Just a whole lotta workin' going on. Back on night shifts as of Saturday, but then I get three days off to sleep and sleep and sleep some more...

...I seriously need a holiday.

Caberrrrrra

2007-10-03T07:29:00.000+10:00

Last weekend my friend Leah and I headed off down to our nation's capital, Canberra, to visit our friends Alice and Kirri. Alice moved down to Canberra earlier this year, and she was starring in a production of the Producers, so we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see this all-singing, all-dancing, all-taping girl of power in action!

Kirri picked us up from the airport, it was awesome to see her again. She also moved to Canberra earlier this year. Seems to be some sort of mass exodus happening... anywho, we headed off to Floriade, the annual Canberra flower show, straight away, and we weren't disappointed - it was gorgeous! Having pretty much no sense of smell was a little disappointing though, as by all accounts the smells were beautiful.

From there we met up with Alice at her work, ANU, for a nice lunch, and after a wander through the National Portrait Gallery we headed home to get prettied up for Alice's show in the evening. It was brilliant, such good fun and they had some brilliant singers in the cast. Well done!! After the show, we met up with Kirri and some of her Doctor friends for a few drinks, before heading home in the chilly temperatures of the early morning.

The next day saw the four of us head out for breaky, before Kirri, Leah, and I headed to Parliament House. I'm a big nerd, and very interested in politics, so I was really keen to see the House. I wasn't disappointed - it's really a beautiful building, and it was exciting to be in the Upper and Lower Houses. The tour we went on was really brilliant - our Danish tour guide knew so much about the building. I really recommend going on a guided tour should you ever be in Canberra.

From there we decided a good ol' fashioned bike ride around the lake was in order. We hired bikes for an hour and set off. That's the thing about Canberra - it's such a well-planned city that riding around is very easy. We had beautiful weather all weekend, albeit kinda cold, so it was gorgeous to ride around Lake Burleigh-Griffin and take in the surrounds.

From there, it was time for a nice afternoon tea in the city, before heading home for a well-needed nap. Alice had to perform again in the evening, so Kirri, Leah, and I went out to dinner before heading off to check out the city's nightlife. My image of Canberra had been tarnished by Bill Bryson, and I was glad to find that image was unjustified - there are some very funky bars in Canberra, and the opportunity for a boogie, so a good night was had by all!

with us before our departure, so we all slept inThe next day Alice was able to spend some time of course! We went over to the Australian War Memorial for a little while - you really need a whole day to go through that place, it's massive. It's also extremely impressive, they've done such a good job of the place. We also entered what's called the Discovery Zone. According to Alice, this zone has been somewhat controversial. It's opened as a kids attraction in the memorial, and has all these different areas that each represent a different conflict. There are trenches you can go through, you can dress up in old uniforms, you can pretend to fly out of Saigon in a helicopter. Many people are saying it trivialises war to children, or it's inappropriate for kids. So naturally we got all dressed up and walked through trenches and flew out of Saigon!

Then it was time for lunch, before heading back to BrisVegas. So Mel's rating of Canberra: A very well-planned city, nice wide streets, very clean and feels safe. Quite a few things to do if you know where you're going, and if you have a car to get around - public transport lacks. And given it's the capital of Australia, SHAME ON YOU if you don't get there! I'd go back to visit mates, but I don't think there's really much more to see now that I've done the War Memorial and Parliament House.

I'm back in Blogspot Land

2007-09-30T21:10:00.000+10:00

Hi everyone! As my website has now reached capacity, and they want me to pay more money, I've decided to head back to good ol' blogspot. I'll start posting all my old log entries on here soon, so that everything is collated.

Poor ol' screaming-flea.com is destined to be no more...

NEW BLOG!!!

2005-11-10T01:29:00.000+10:00

Hi kids! If you haven't heard already via my e-mails, I have a new blog/website. Click here to be redirected.

It's not terribly impressive, but I can do more with it.:)

If you have any suggestions for my site, I'd be more than welcome to hear them. Shoot me a line or leave a message in the guest book.:)

Whatever the Weather

2005-10-28T22:27:00.000+10:00

There really hasn't been a lot happening since my last update... but I feel the need to update anyway because it was my 'little' brother's 18th birthday last week, so:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISY-POO!

Other than all of that stuff, we played netball on Wednesday night and, despite it being a really good fast game, we lost. We'll still be in the finals next week though, competing for third spot, which is okay I reckon. It'd be nice to be a bit further up the ladder, but the result certainly wasn't for lack of trying!

The other item of interest is the weather - It's nuts! Yesterday it got up to 22 degrees or something - the warmest recorded day for this time of year in London in a very long time. And yet, we're apparently meant to expect the coldest winter since 1963... I'm not quite sure what's going on!! Today is mild as well - top of 18 degrees. I'm sure we'll probably have a couple of days of this and then WHAMMO! Freezing again! The whole world has gone mad.

Also, I've booked my flights for Dublin - I'll be visiting Casey from Saturday November 19 to Monday November 21, which should be rockin'. I'll be keeping an eye out for Leprechauns, James Joyce and stray Guiness bottles.

Speaking of leaving for stuff, The Amazonians are off on their adventure very shortly. Good luck to Dave, Laura, Jin and Cathy!! I'm sure they'll have a blast and a half. The Jungle Party was held in their honour on the weekend, and here are some pics. None of me I'm afraid - you'll all just have to cope!

Yes, apparently there are Lions, Tigers and Giraffes in the jungle...

Isn't it Romantic?

2005-10-24T22:22:00.000+10:00

One of the best purchases I've made since being in the UK is an Art Deco music collection from the Victoria and Albert Museum. Three CDs of pure joy! Think Fred Astaire and Nina Simone.

That aside, it's been a while since I last updated. 'A while' for me constituting a week.:D

So, the general update:

- Very busy week at work last week, and organising my life, culminating in a trip to the bank, and angry phone call to a certain company which made my trip to the bank all but pointless.

- I had Friday off work to show Andy and Sara and their kids around London. The weather started off terribly, but got finer though cold. We ended up hopping on a tour bus which was the best way to see everything at a glance, then we went to Hamley's (THE BEST TOY STORE IN THE WORLD!!! I could seriously spend hours in there) and then to Harrods. It was so lovely to see them again! Hopefully I'll be able to steal a photo off Andy in the near future...

- Saturday night I went to Laura and Dave's jungle party which was rockin. Didn't leave until 3.30am, which is always a good sign! Heaps of people there, and some fabulous costumes. Once I upload my photos I'll post a few up here.

- Sunday, after eventually extracting myself from bed, I met up with my housemates in Piccadilly to discover they were also a little worse for wear. We ended up in Lillywhites, a HUGE sports store that has this sale on the moment ('All stock must go!' type of thing) which was a very good sale, but I'm being a good girl and I didn't buy anything but lunch.

- Went to the accountant this morning which gave me a big relief and I know I'm going to be okay. I guess I knew that all along, I just expected things to be worse. And Inland Revenue actually rang me! SHOCK, HORROR - GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT RINGS PERSON, RATHER THAN JUST EXPECTING THEM TO KNOW SOMETHING'S WRONG! Anywho, I got what I needed for them from the accountant this morning and have faxed that off, so I should get an National Insurance number soon (like Medicare).

- Got the forms I need for the bank, from the company that should have known better given they do this stuff all the time (grrr!), so I can hand those in tomorrow and get all that stuff sorted.

Finally, the ball is rolling!! I'm still going to have a few bills at the end of this, but at least it'll be organised.:) Maybe I'll be able to afford that weekend to Dublin after all....

Walkin'

2005-10-18T23:52:00.000+10:00

I've had a bit of a tough time recently, feeling incredibly homesick and financial woes. They've both combined to make me quite anti-social of late, and stressed to the max. So it was nice on the weekend to get out and relax a bit, despite me still not being able to sleep. Have to learn to switch my brain off!

Anywho, my housemate Tang and I went by train down to Kingston on Saturday morning. Kingston is in the very South-West of London, still on the Thames. It's a university town and has a really great vibe to it. From there we walked all the way down the side of the Thames to Hampton Court Palace. The Palace is MASSIVE. When I'm no longer poor (perhaps in a few years!) I'll go back and pay to have a look around the inside and the gardens. Although, we did get a sneak peek at the gardens through the fences at the back. We wandered through a gate into what's known as the 'Bushy' - a cute wooded area behind the Palace - and then back up to Kingston. All-in-all, a VERY long walk but it was a beauitful day and I was just happy to get out in the sunshine.

Hampton Court Palace

Hampton Court Palace and the River Thames

Sunday morning most of us were up fairly early and we decided to go to Starbucks for a coffee. Kerry and Audrey - two of my South African housemates - and Kyle's friend Ryan (who is staying with us temporarily) and I all walked to Southfields and then hopped on a tube. We alighted at London Bridge and I proceeded to take them on Mel's Tour du Londres! I'm constantly amazed at how much useless information I keep in my head. I can organise myself at work, organise other people, but can't organise myself and can never remember important dates and details, but I can remember useless information! So basically, I was a walking guide book. Despite being in the country for some time now, Audrey had seen very little of London and Ryan had only just arrived in the country, so it was a good chance to see the place. Again, it was a beautiful day although it clouded over by evening. We walked past the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, St Paul's Cathedral. On our way to Covent Garden, we had to take a rather long detour because they had a central road blocked off - they were making a movie in which there was an explosion and there were hundreds of extras around and dirty busses and things, all part of the explosion effect. So we got to Covent Garden and then wandered to Trafalga Square where we met up with Kyle. From there we took in Leceister Square and Picadilly, before taking a bus along Whitechapel and past Downing Street towards Parliament House and Big Ben. We alighted there and walked around Westminster Abbey before heading home.

We found this statue on the banks of the Thames and thought it was pretty....that's pretty much the only reason for the photo!:D

Tower Bridge on a nice day!

Pawo, our old housemate, left us his tellie when he went off to Ethiopia and so Kyle has hooked his playstation up for us to watch DVDs ... and we've been watching DVDs every night for the past week or so! It's cool though - one of our landlords owns the video store in Southfields and so we hire DVDs for free. All very convenient!

I've been super-busy already this week, just trying to organise my finances. I've got an appointment with the bank tomorrow and one with an accountant on Monday, along with applying for my NI number last Friday (THE definition of 'frustration') and sorting out my ltd company stuff... It's going to be hectic! I'm also taking Friday off because Andy and Sara will be here from Oz and I'm going to show them around.

Once I get this finance stuff sorted, I know I'll be poor for a really long time ... but at least everything will be above-board. *sigh!* Life would be great were it not for money!

Money Makes the World Go 'Round

2005-10-14T22:18:00.000+10:00

*sigh!*

Stressing out, not sleeping, running around like a chook with its head cut off and over what? Money!

I hate how the whole world revolves around it. It's like you can't do anything in this city without worrying about how much it's going to cost you in the long run.

Why does money have to be so important? Why can't we just go about our daily lives without worrying about it at all?

GAH!

Anyway, today I'm off to get my National Insurance number organised, but I know it's going to be a big fat waste of time - I won't have enough proof of address. And the Northern Line hasn't been running at all either today or yesterday, so to get there is going to be a hassle-and-a-half.

Whinge whinge whinge, I know!

To Be or Not To Be

2005-10-11T22:38:00.000+10:00

Whew! It's been a busy few days, so I'll try and keep the recap as short as possible ("Hah!" I hear you all say!). In the first most important piece of news, Dave, Jaimee, Laura and I are all going to the Bon Jovi concert at Wembley next year. Huzzah! I can't wait, it's seriously going to rock. Of course I HAVE to wait until June... but these things happen.

Also, on Saturday while I was out, our landlords came over and told us we all have to be out of the place by January 13 because they're demolishing the building. It would have been appreciated if they told us this BEFORE Lauren and I moved in, but whatever. We've decided to take it as a good thing - we can find somewhere nicer, perhaps with a little garden, and get a cat!

And the reason I wasn't there on Saturday to hear this news was because I went to the Home of the Bard: Stratford-Upon-avon! Early Saturday morning I boarded a bus at Victoria and started the 3.5 hour drive. We passed through some beautiful country, up into Warwickshire, through the town of Warwick itself and Leamington Spa. It's very typically English countryside, rolling green hills and mist. I'm intrigued about Warwick after passing through it, I really want to go back and check out the castle there.

Once in Stratford, I headed to the town centre and bought an all-day tour bus ticket. Basically, thanks to my International Student Card (don't ask how I got this!), I paid 6 pounds and could hop on and off this bus all day, and it took you out of the town to the sights that are a bit further away. I stayed on the bus as we passed through the town centre, and then got off at Anne Hathaway's cottage (Shakespeare's wife's house).

It's really cute and preserved really well. The gardens are absolutely lovely and obviously a lot of care has been put into the preservation of the house.

From there I hopped back on a tour bus and headed past Mary Arden's house and back into town. From here I wandered the little cobblestone streets and made my way to the Holy Trinity church, where I gazed upon the grave of the Bard himself.

It was quite eerie, made more so by the fact that the weather was completely miserable. By this time it had started pouring down with rain and, despite my umbrella, everything from my waist down was soaked. It didn't help when I inadvertantly stepped in a puddle, either, and ended up with shoes full of water and probably a few guppies swimming around my ankles.

Deciding to find somewhere dry and warm to rest, I headed around the corner to Nash House (owned by Shakespeare's son-in-law) and found it now houses a tea room. So I had the obligatory scones with clotted cream and jam with tea and wrote my postcards and dried off a bit.

From there I headed towards Shakespeare's birthplace, along the way stopping to take a look at the Royal Shakespeare Company's theatre building. Yes, all they ever play is Shakespeare's works and if I'd had more time I would have seen a performance of "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

To Shakespeare's birthplace! Realistically, they have no idea if he was actually born here, but it is known that his parents lived here. Like Anne Hathaway's cottage, it's decorated to the style of the period and the interior was very cute, and the gardens immaculate. If there's one thing I noticed about all the properties pertaining to Shakespeare in Stratford, it is the amount of effort they have put into the preservation of the buildings and the appearance of the gardens.

The rest of the town is a mixture of more modern buildings with the old, some dating from as early as the 1400s. It's just incredible to walk around knowing how old these places are. The AlmsHouses, for instance, were built in the early 1400s and people still live in them today.

So after a long day of sight-seeing I headed back to London. On Sunday morning two of my housemates - Kyle and Audrey - and I decided to go to the Camden Markets. The weather was fabulous and we had a really good time. Camden markets are known for their wackiness. While Notting Hill has a lot of clothes and antiques and jewellery, Camden has lots of tattoos, piercings, goth clothes and GREAT food. So we spent the afternoon walking around before catching a bus through central London (where I took on the role of tour guide for my South African friends!) and heading home.

Hopefully tonight we'll be going to the London Eye. There is a promotion on at the moment where, if you have an Oyster Card, you can get on the Eye at 2-for-1 prices. Oyster cards are travel cards used on the underground, overland trains and busses. The weather's holding out so far... I hope it stays nice tonight!

In the meantime, I know Mum particularly was interested to see what my new room was like - don't look to quickly though, we'll be moving again in three months! But here's a couple of shots:

They're not particularly good pics, I know, but you get the general idea.

Also, as promised, pics from Kensington Palace and Hyde Park from a couple of weeks ago:

Me outside the palace gates

Casey on our paddle boat!

The Orangery - now an extremely expensive cafe - at Kensington

A MASSIVE statue built in memory of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's hubby

Royal Albert Hall

Squirrels! So cute! We hand fed them... I want a squirrel!

Okay, that's about it.

See, I said it would be short!:D

A Message From the Universe

2005-10-06T00:32:00.000+10:00

So a bizarre thing happened to me yesterday - not that that is a terribly unusual occurrence when it comes to me - which I thought was worth blogging about.

As I walked out of the tube station towards my office yesterday morning, I felt something sticky on the bottom of my foot. My first thought was, "bother, I have a hole in the bottom of my shoe." Upon arriving at the office, I took my shoe off to investigate and there was no hole... so I took my sock off and it would appear I had a postage stamp stuck to the bottom of my foot! That caused laughter enough, but the truly bizarre thing was it was an Australian postage stamp. How an Australian postage stamp got stuck to the bottom of my foot, I shall never know, but it was funny nonetheless! Made me think that it's probably a sign of something to come...

...or I should clean the bottom of my foot more thoroughly.

Anyway, that's about it. New place is working out really well, hopefully going to Stratford-Upon-Avon this weekend, we'll see how we go...

Palaces, Moving and Hangovers

2005-10-02T20:52:00.000+10:00

I know I've been slack in updating this thing, but you'll all get over it I'm sure.:)

Last weekend was Casey's last one in London, so we decided that rather than spend a fortune getting to Stonehenge, we'd do London-ish things instead. Saturday we met up at London Bridge and, as the weather was quite nice, wandered across the city to Hyde Park. Along the way we got caught up in a big anti-war protest, but we got there eventually! We fed squirrels (SO CUTE!!) and hired one of those paddle boats and went around the lake. Some horrible little cretins decided to throw rocks at us from the bridge, but other than that it was nice. We then wandered off and found ourselves outside the Royal Albert Concert Hall and the massive statue dedicated to Prince Albert.

Sunday we again started off at London Bridge, but this time took the tube to High Street Kensington and, after some geographically-challenged walking (on my part!) we made it to Kensington Palace. Kensington was the home of Princess Diana, and is still used by the royals today. As such, like Windsor and Buckingham, only part of the palace is open to the public. It costs 11 quid to get in, but the audio guides are free. The first part of the tour is kind of disappointing - only a handful of rooms had displays in them. One room had a collection of Diana's dresses, two rooms had collections of the Queen's dresses and her memorabilia. The other rooms, however, were just empty rooms with little plaques describing what they were used for. The second part of the tour, however, was much more interesting - from the amazingly decadent King's Stairway you enter the state rooms which are just lovely. It was quite funny - one room had four massive chandeliers and, according to the audio guide, these are just copies. The original four were 'lost'. How, I ask you, do you manage to 'lose' four great big bloody chandeliers?! And even if they were stolen, how do you get them out of the palace unnoticed?! I wonder about some things...

From there we went and explored the gardens around the palace a bit, which are absolutely beautiful, complete with hedges and a lake and more squirrels (which we hand-fed again!). Very pretty indeed.

Tuesday night Casey headed off to Dublin and from what I've heard so far she's enjoying it.:)

In other news, I went out for a couple of drinks with Laura on Thursday night after work, then Friday night we decided a decent boogie was in order. As such, I met up with Laura after work at Victoria station and we went to a pub - the Royal George. The pub is quite famous because during WW2, the nazis were trying their best to bomb Victoria station. They bombed the bejesus out of the surrounding area, but never actually hit the station. The only buildings that survived that particular campaign were the station and the Royal George. During the day, World War 2 vets come in with their uniforms and medals on and drink there, very cute. Anyway, Laura was having drinks with people she used to work with at Westminster City Council, so we joined them for a few hours, and we all eventually moved on to a very funky cocktail bar around the corner.

From there, Laura and I went to meet up with Dave at a big club called Scala at Kings Cross. We danced the night away there and got home about 4am.

Come 8am Saturday morning, and I'm not feeling too pretty. And I had to get up to move. Moving + hangover = very delicate Mel. Justine, my editor, was a gem and her and her boyfriend came and helped me move. Justine has a car, a very rare commodity among my connections here! Eventually, after a slight hitch on my part, all my stuff was moved. Needless to say, by yesterday afternoon I was not in the mood to go out, but Nicole from my netball team is about to take off travelling for three months and was having a little celebration. So we went bowling at a place called Funlands in Piccadilly Circus. My bowling-fu is not best, but we had a great time just chatting away. I was home and in bed by midnight, though, I wish I could've stayed out longer...

Today I'm tidying up Jody's place and then going to do some grocery shopping. Food is always a plus when you're living somewhere. Unfortunately, one of my new flatmates went on a total cleaning spree while I was out last night and threw out my vegemite, thinking it belonged to a previous flat mate:(. No vegemite for me, so I'm going to have to get to the Australia shop at some point.

Anywho, my next update I promise to put up some pictures of my new room and of Kensington Palace. This week not a lot happening, which is good given how crazy the last week has been... Melanie needs a rest!!

Flat hunting

2005-09-24T05:14:00.000+10:00

After surviving - barely - the horrible flight back to London, which included two stop-overs, I'm now back into the groove of looking for a place to live. Which would be much easier if I actually had my deposit back from my previous flat.

I was talking to Casey earlier, who is moving to Dublin this week, and we were both lamenting over being poor and how ridiculous and frustrating it is that everything in life has to revolve around money in some way. We were going to go to Stonehenge tomorrow but it's just going to be too expensive to get there. So instead we've opted for a wander around Hyde Park and a picnic. We've decided that one weekend, perhaps, she and Emma and Rachel will pop on over from Dublin and we'll hire a car and split the costs to do a road trip of sorts. Assuming it all goes to plan we'll encompass Stonehenge on the way, possibly go to Stratford-Upon-Avon and whatever else we can fit in.

That's the plan for now, anyway. In the meantime, it's sorting out tax, an NI number and finding a flat. *Sigh!* I'm quite sure I didn't sign up for this!!!

Packing and Sniffles

2005-09-20T19:10:00.000+10:00

It would appear that four weeks of partying, no sleep and a little too much fun has left me feeling a little under the weather. Not exactly ideal, given I'm going to get on a plane tomorrow for a ridiculous amount of time. But what can you do? I'll make sure to have a healthy breakfast this morning followed by a concoction of vitamins and see how we do.

The last four weeks have absolutely flown by - it's been mad! I had a lovely dinner with Leah and Alice on Friday night at our favourite - and fairly expensive - restaurant at New Farm. Cocktails, Tapas, champagne and cheese - what more does a girl need?!

Me, Alice and Leah at Girties.

Thursday night held much boogie for us all! We started off at Belushi's but the really poor standard of kareoke was annoying us. So we wandered off to Birdy Num Nums - silly name, but AWESOME club. We danced until the wee hours of the morning, and the DJ played the song that Jess and I go nuts to. (read: whenever Chrissie Agger's 'Dirty' comes on, we're on the podiums, or the stage or the table ... whatever's closest!) So a good night was had by all. Unfortunately, that was the last time I am going to see Kerrin and Jess for a long time:(.

Cat decides she rather likes the look of Mitch's boobs

Now that he's on TV, Kerrin must take up the majority of all photos;). He's smilin' with Leah and Jess

Mitch had to do the hard yards and snuggle up to two girls (Alice and Cat) - sigh! It's so tough being popular sometimes!

Me with Cat

Me and ma girlies

Saturday night Andy, my old 'boss' at the Garden City Shingle Inn, organised a few drinks at his house with the old Shinga gang and it went off with a 'bang' - literally! Matthew, Cam's boyfriend, managed to procure a few fireworks. I felt like a such a teenager again - total flashback! - walking around the streets at night down to the park to set off fireworks. Kinda weird, I'm too old for that stuff now! I was freaking out!!!! Andy and his wife, Sara, will be coming to the UK in a couple of weeks for a holiday. I'm going to give them Mel's Illustrious Walking Tour du Londres when they get to London. Also, Kimmy and her new hubby Simon will be heading to Old Blighty come December. Simon's from Reading, and is Andy's cousin. I'll be giving Kimmy a shopping tour when she gets there.

Sunday morning was Yum Cha - it was meant to be with the entire Adkins clan, but they cancelled last minute. Sarah and her fiancee, Bradley, still came along and Yum Cha'd with Michelle, Jeff and I, and we had a lovely morning stuffing ourselves. After that, we wandered the Valley Markets before heading into the city. I said goodbye to Sarah (again, won't be seeing her for a while) before having coffee with Tony and saying my goodbyes to him.

Yesterday Ammie and I did some groceries, visited my Pop (who is looking much more sprightly!) before heading down to the waterfront for a long walk and a D&M while sitting on the Pier. It was really awesome weather - the sky was perfect, and the tide was out so we wandered out onto the mudflats and took in the scenery. As Ammie said, if there was any place in the world to be right at that point, it was where we were. It was just gorgeous.

Last night I went to see the dress rehearsal of Alice's theatre group's latest production - Oklahoma! It went really well, I rather enjoyed it. Very colourful, and their leading ladies have beautiful voices. Again it was goodbyes to people.

Today will be pretty much packing and washing. My sister has bestowed on me the fabulous gift of a full body massage *drools* this afternoon. Then tonight will be dinner with all my family.

Back at work on Friday with any luck. I have to catch up with Casey this weekend before she heads off to Ireland, as well as look for flats. Eeek! A very very busy time ahead....

Parting is such sweet sorrow...

2005-09-15T11:06:00.000+10:00

Now begins the start of my last week in Oz. It's gone so quickly! I've been super busy - it doesn't really feel like a holiday, just three or four weeks of too much alcohol and food:D.

Anyway! My last few days here I'm pretty much fully-booked. Tonight I'm off to dinner with Alice before we head to the valley for Kareoke night at Belushi's! Tomorrow morning it's morning tea with Michelle and a few other people, tomorrow night it's dinner with ma girlies at our favourite restaurant, Gertie's, on Brunswick Street. Saturday morning there's a high possibility of Yum Cha occurring, followed by Saturday night at Andy's with the old Shinga girls for a good ol' piss-up. Sunday morning is Yum Cha in the Valley with the Adkins and my sister and Jeff. Sunday arvo is coffee with Tony, the night is recovery.:D

Monday night I'm off to see Alice's theatre group rehearse their latest production - Oklahoma - as I won't be able to see the full production. And Tuesday night is dinner with the family for a pow-wow before I hop on a plane Wednesday afternoon, bound for sunny England!

Whew! In amongst all of that I've got to do some things for work.

Of late, I've been doing much partying in the Valley and lots of shopping and doing lunch/dinner with people. Yesterday I went with Cat and her mum to this awesome Turkish restaurant at South Bank (for the uninitiated, South Bank is this huge parklands by the Brisbane river, on opposite side to the city central. It has a freshwater lagoon and a mini beach, along with lots of play equipment and cafes and things - very nice place to hang out when it's NOT school holidays!). We ate SO much! Which didn't stop me from having afternoon tea with my Pop, who is looking much more sprightly, and dinner with Mitch and Kim at Balmoral, followed by Cold Rock of course! God I love Cold Rock ice-cream.... *drools*

Anywho, for those who don't come from my neck of the woods, I took a few photos of the Wynnum-Manly waterfront the other day when I went down there for a run. Wynnum (known to us locals as 'The 'Num') has a reputation for old people, and young derros. Although it's come up a lot in the world in the past 15 years particularly, there's still a bit of work to be done on the locals.:D Hence why I moved to the north side of town as soon as the opportunity presented itself! It really is a lovely place, with an interesting history. We just need to get rid of the white trash.:D Okay I'll shut up - here are the photos:

In the background you can see St Helena Island, which was originally a convict colony. Lots of ruins there now, mostly a tourist attraction. There's a stack of islands in the bay, including the big ones like North Stradbroke and Moreton Island, and little ones like Coochimudloo, Green and King.

Tide's out! On the right is the bathing pool. It's tidal - rises and falls with the sea - and was built during the depression. As kids we used to go down there after school. Bit of a problem with broken glass and horrible things in the bottom of it though.

Random image of pier.

Random image of Pandanus Beach.

Hey look - seagulls!

On a completely unrealted note, I've now added links to my blog (with thanks to Jaimee!).

Home, Sweet Home

2005-09-08T02:33:00.000+10:00

I've been incredibly slack, I KNOW! Apologies to anyone who regularly read/reads this ridiculous and unimportant blog.

But anyway, the last two weeks have been very very busy. It's so tough being popular!;) I've decided dot-point form is probably best, so:

Drinks at Belushi's - I have photos now!
Mum's 50th Birthday party went really well and everyone had a lovely time.
I've been shopping, drinking, shopping, shopping, shopping...
My Pop was put in hospital last week and it didn't look very good, but he's managed to pull through ok and may be allowed home soon.
My cat has become incredibly fat while I've been away - Weight Watchers for Poppet!
My party was cool fun - SO MUCH FOOD! We had all the usual BBQ stuff, including home-made rissoles, sausages, bread rolls, green salad, pasta salad, potato salad, and then all the snacks including delicious chocolate chip cookies made by Leah, cheese, crackers, lollies, chocolates... the list goes on and on and on!
This week I had dinner with Andy and his wife and kids which was lovely.
Today went shopping with mum.
This weekend going up the coast for much needed beachness.

GAH! I can't remember it all, but suffice it to say I've been uber busy and having heaps of fun! Only two weeks left though:(.

And now - photos!

These are from my first night out back on the town ... or in this case, the Valley ... at Belushis:

Me and my two bestest buds in the WHOLE WORLD - Alice and Leah

My other bestest bud - Kerrin!

Tony and Jasmine:)

Jess and Kerrin-san

Nick and I

Jasmine and Alice

Marvellous Mitch! He's so fantastic, EVERY GIRL NEEDS A MITCH!

Julian and Leah

And my mum's fiftieth birthday:

Me, my little sis Anne-Marie, Mum, brother Chris and older sis Michelle, who I am staying with while I'm here.

Mum and her boyfriend Steve

My mum's 'little' brother, Uncle Mike, me and her other 'little' brother Greg.

Uncle Mike and Greg's partner, Yvette

Mum's cousins, Lyn and Kate, with Kate's mum, Aunty Ann

I swear I am not related to this man.

Have picked up my tickets and such. My lil sis is on holidays next week so I'll be able to spend some time with her. Only two weeks left til I leave again for London... it's all going so quickly!

Jet-Lagged

2005-08-26T07:57:00.000+10:00

I don't know whether anyone will be reading this since I'm back in Oz... but anyway! The flights over here were fairly uneventful - long and sleepless, nothing new. But I felt pretty good on arrival and managed to stay awake all day. Michelle, Mum, Alice and Leah were all there to meet me which was awesome:). Everyone looks really well!

So the last couple of days have been pretty busy - did some running around with Michelle on Wednesday after we got back to her place and I unpacked a bit, had a much-desired shower. Wednesday lunch we had at the Fish Cafe and I had an AWESOME ceasar salad, followed by sushi train for din-dins. Yesterday getting my head off the pillow was a very big task. I could have slept all day. Instead, I crawled out of bed at about 10am and got ready for mum's birthday brunch/lunch. We did a bit of shopping at Balmoral and had really nice salads at the Citrus Cafe. From there, I headed back to mum's and had a go at driving for the first time in eight months - scary!! But after going around the block a few times I headed out into traffic and didn't kill anyone, and my confidence was back. Just like riding a bicycle!

In the afternoon we went to my lil sis's school to pick her up - she had been on camp. Their arrival back to the school was later than expected, so mum and I took a trip down memory lane and walked around the campus. I'm so jealous - they're getting a music hall!!! They've made quite a few changes since I was in high school, most of them good.

We headed back to where the busses were pulling in and one arrived which we thought was the grade elevens, so mum and I didn't pay much attention and kept talking. The next thing I know, I hear this 'OH MY GOD!' and see this girl run across the road lugging a bag and pillow and sleeping bag and crash tackle me. Ammie was back! She was so cute, she just kept saying 'Oh my god!' and hugging me and then started crying! SUPER CUTE! According to her, I'm not allowed to go away for that long ever again. Righto. And apparently I'm 'hot with a PH', whatever the hell that means.

In the evening, Mitch picked me up (hooray! He looks awesome!) and we went in search of some speakers and booze (as you do). After helping me to set up said speakers, he toddled off (here's hoping he got home - the car was not well) and Steve and Sam came over, as did Shell and Jeff and Allie, and we all had dinner for mum's birthday. Then it was sleepy time.

THEN I WOKE UP AT 6.30AM!!!! WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THAT?! My body clock is TOTALLY out of whack.

Today mum and I are off to get some more stuff for her party tomorrow night, then she's going to work. I'm going to go for a run/walk by the waterfront (assuming Shadow, Steve's dog, is up to the challenge. She's scared of water), and try and do a few things for the party. Tonight is BOOGIE! We're off to Belushi's to begin with so that I can dance on the podiums (it's been too long!!) and then we'll see how we go from there. I can't wait to see everyone.:)

Tomorrow morning at some ungodly hour I'm going to watch Ammie play hockey, and then get ready for the party. Sunday I might actually have some more time to see friends, you never know! Have to go visit Andy and Maria at their respective Shingle Inns, assuming Maria's still at Indro, set up a hair appointment for my lil sis and pick up my tickets for my flights back to London.

Oh, and apparently I have an accent. Which, according to Mitch, is 'cute', but I understand why I have it - walking around yesterday hearing some of the Aussie women speak really grated on my ear! I'll try and get some photos tonight and put them up here.

Destination: BrisVegas

2005-08-23T00:11:00.000+10:00

In just under 6 hours I will be on a plane.

In just over 24 hours I will be in BrisVegas. There is something seriously wrong with how long it takes to get there, not to mention losing 10 hours due to time zones.

But hey! Light at the end of the tunnel, right?

Wheee! Very excited! Just hope I can sleep on the plane... we all know how successful THAT task was on the way over (read: by the time I got to sleep in London, I'd been awake for 36 hours).

See you all soon!

Ashes and Aeroplanes

2005-08-16T18:23:00.000+10:00

Well the Ashes is the talk of the town here at the moment, which certainly makes a pleasant change from terrorism and social problems that have become the filler of newspapers.

And, shock horror!, there have been news items on BBC in the morning about THE ENVIRONMENT. Whoa! The world is going completely crazy!!!

In other news, I moved to Jody's place on Sunday which was a bit of an effort. I can't believe how much stuff I've managed to accumulate in the past 8 months. No furniture or anything, just clothes, shoes, make-up, stationery etc etc etc... It was a lot, suffice to say, to fit in Jody's flat. But she's a gem-and-a-half and we've managed to squish it into a corner.

Also, including today, it's only four days left of work before the weekend and then - *drumroll* - I'm on a plane! Hooray!

This weekend is going to be super-busy: Saturday I'm cleaning the flat and trying to go shopping for some last-minute things, and Sunday I'm meeting up with Anna and Alex (finally!). Monday I don't have to be at the airport til 6ish, so I've got the day to do my last-minute washing and packing and things.

And of course, because it's a weekday and I have to be in an office, the weather today is GLORIOUS - 25 degrees and sunny, and tomorrow is going to be 27 degrees. *sigh!* There had better be some sunshine in Oz when I get home! *shakes fist at Mother Nature*

Oh and I'm a bad, BAD godmother/cousin - I know Kaitlin's birthday is August, and I have a feeling it's the 22nd, but I also have a feeling it's the 14th... and then I have the feeling that I actually have no idea. So in spite of this, this is a birthday shoutout:

Happy Birthday Kaitlin!!!!

Bodies, Fictional TV Characters and Nebulae

2005-08-12T00:57:00.000+10:00

The last week or so I've been extremely busy at work, trying to get all my stuff done before I head back home. It struck me today just how diverse my workload is, though, after I stopped to think of what I have achieved the last few days. Specifically, I've written about nebulae, arson investigation, Tracy Beaker games, sacred ground, norse Gods, the ABI-310 genetic analyser, Celebrity Killers and revised two interviews.

I really do have the oppotunity to learn a great deal of useless information here!

Anyway, other than that, not much to report. Going to have to push back lunch with Alex and Anna to next week (squeezing it in around cleaning and packing), and my tickets for New York arrived today - finally! - which is pretty cool. It's pretty awesome thinking that last year I spent New Year's Eve in London, this year will be in New York and next year ... well, who knows?:)

I've also started compiling a list of the things I want to do/have/eat when I'm back in Oz. I've got four weeks to achieve the following:

1. A decent ceasar salad - meaning, a salad with EGG, BACON, CROUTONS, SHAVED PARMESAN CHEESE, a DECENT DRESSING, and CHICKEN. You have no idea how horrible the salads are here. Bluuuurgh.
2. Fish and chips - yes, apparently England is famed for its Fish 'n Chips. Don't believe a word of that trollop. The chips are fabulous (dare I say, better that Aussie chips) but the fish is repulsive.
3. STEAK! Medium-rare! - It is impossible to get a decent steak in this country, let alone medium-rare. It's either charcoal or still mooing.
4. Drinks at the Pig n Whistle in the Queen Street Mall.
5. Visit Andy and Maria at their respective Shingle Inn's.
6. Go to Ikea with Mike and Philipa to get their engagement present.
7. Dance on the podiums at Belushi's.
8. Go to Mooloolaba and visit Kerryn.
9. Go swimming IN THE SEA. - I never thought I'd crave that as much as I do.
10. Play with Poppy-Cat.
11. See my little sister play Hockey.
12. See my little bro play footy - and by footy, I mean REAL football (AFL) as oppose to Soccer.
13. Buy a State of Origin jersey - the female version.
14. Buy a Wallabies jersey - again, the female version.
15. Dinner/Breaky at the Fish Cafe with my sis and my bro-in-law.
16. Dinner at Jackpot Noodle with the drinking kids.
17. The RE or the Victory with The Kids.

Notice how a lot of that revolves around drinking/eating? I'll come back here as fat as a house. At least I will have enjoyed myself! After all, that's what holidays are for, right?

Ah, Weekends, How I Love Thee...

2005-08-08T06:37:00.000+10:00

This weekend has been very nice - relaxing and yet productive, all at the same time! Friday night I saved money by NOT going out and amusing myself by going to the gym and veging in front of the tellie. Boring, but I was so tired it was all I could be bothered doing.

Saturday morning I ran a few errands before going to Casey's place in Brockley to celebrate her birthday. It was a lovely afternoon of dodgy barbequeing and lots of Pimms. Mmmm, Pimms....

This morning I slept in nicely, before popping down to Clapham Common to relax and play silly games in the park with Casey and her two housemates, Emma and Rachel. It was a great afternoon - I heart Clapham Common so much! It's absolutely HUGE. Think the Botanic Gardens in Brisbane, and quadriple the size. Remove the poncey little gardens, have big green trees, beautiful big lawns and little lakes, and you've got yourself a common. The Wimbledon one is quite big too (no, I have not seen any Wombles yet!). The common at Clapham is a big antipodean hang-out, and today was no different. Lots and lots of people, heaps of Aussie accents floating around. Here are some photos:

Casey! Taken from me lying down...getting up was a whole lot of effort.

Rachel and Casey

Emma. One of the badges on her jacket reads 'Too Cool for School'...I think it's Irish humour;)

Me - again, taken lying down. A very nice position to be in on a nice day!

This evening I started packing up my room in earnest. Still a LOT to do, but much can't be done until next weekend when I actually remove myself from Ricards Road and pop on over to Putney. I'll miss this little flat! But I can't wait to get home and see everyone! Today marked two weeks until I hope on the plane, making it two weeks and two days til I'm back in lil ol' BrisVegas again...

This week holds a LOT of stuff for Melanie to do, including being very busy at work so that all my stuff is done before I leave, and a few other things on the agenda. But, at least if I'm busy, I won't be on the streets causing chaos.:D

A First-Class, One-Way Ticket to Albuquerque

2005-08-04T19:07:00.000+10:00

The craziness! Every few days or so they've been upping the number of cops patrolling the streets and railway stations. Today is one of those days - about 6,000 police throughout the city at travel points. Waterloo this morning was interesting. Picture a whole lot of bobbies in their bright yellow jackets walking around, up and down escalators, on trains and off again... and then the ones holding semi-automatic weapons.

You kind of get into this self-concious quandry though, because you can't help but stare at these weapons, but then you don't want to look nervous or dodgy, so you try NOT to look nervous or dodgy and just achieve the complete opposite effect. Luckily I'm a white little girl, so they don't really look on me with suspicion. You end up just feeling very nervy when the apparent aim of this exercise is to make commuters feel more confident and safe!

In other news, last night's netball game went well - we won! We had a new player and she hadn't played for years, and she's a tiny little thing but we had to put her in GK because we don't have enough defense players any more and she didn't really remember the rules. So considering that, she played quite well and we obviously played well enough to win. Got a bit rough though, but that's nothing new:D.

This weekend it's Casey's birthday BBQ which should be rockin', and there's also been a few other birthdays this week, so a shout out to:

JODY - Happy Birthday!

MIKE - Happy Birthday!

CASEY - Happy Birthday!

And yesterday marked three weeks til I'm back in Oz, so it's now 2 weeks, 6 days til I touch down in good ol' BrisVegas. Can't wait!

Feelin' Ill

2005-07-30T22:29:00.000+10:00

Imagine being repeatedly punched in the head with a sledgehammer while standing next to a set of speakers at Live8, and you get some idea of the type of headache I'm experiencing right now.

Vodka will do that to you!

Had a fabulous night last night to celebrate my 'graduation', Waxy's was a top venue, but I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't very pretty by the end of it all. Apparently I'm meant to go to party tonight - my head does not agree! Despite Darren's insistence, I believe Jody and I are just going to have a quiet one and see a movie while resting our sore heads...

But yes, a fun night had by all who came I believe!

As to the rest of the weekend, well, we'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow:D.

3 weeks, 5 days

2005-07-29T23:11:00.000+10:00

TGIF! Tonight is my 'graduation' drinks. And by 'graduation' I mean in theory, as I'm still waiting to hear back from UNE on where, exactly, my official results transcript is. They're about as helpful as a wet sock, that lot.

But anywho, we're off to Waxy O'Connors in Leceister Square which should be loads of fun. And the weekend is shaping up quite nicely too, got a few things planned. All-in-all, I can't wait for the weekend to begin!

Next week we start back at netball. Luckily, because we're coming in at the beginning of the season this time, we got to choose our own name. So we're no longer 'Fruit Tingles' (yes, I know, how gay is that?) but the 'Red Dragons'. We were just the 'Dragons' but I think there was another team called that.

Also hoping to catch up with Anna and Alex next weekend, which would be fabulous. And I have to start organising myself for my move/trip etc. Lots to do, little time to do it! On the upside, I have booked/paid for my flights to NYC for Christmas/New Years - hooray! Can't wait to go, it's seriously going to rock!:D

Okay, got more itunes to burn.... Full update with pics and things coming shortly, I promise!

Upside-down and inside-out

2005-07-23T06:10:00.000+10:00

Things just go from crazy to completely off their rocker around here. Poor Casey had a rough time with the bomb threats yesterday (see her blog). Today's shooting, in my humble and unimportant opinion, completely nuts. How do you justify holding a gun to a man's head and firing FIVE shots into it? Suicide bomber or not, how the hell is he going to detonate anything with one bullet in his head, let alone five?! And how can you prosecute someone for a crime they've yet to commit? Just a little bit excessive.

Yes, yes, a lot of people say we should shoot all terrorists and people who are going to do these horrible things should be dead. I see their point, especially after our recent atrocities. But really! You can't get information out of a dead man.

This is Mel's pro-democracy, anti-war, pacifist political mode.

Other subjects I'm passionate about include the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, women's rights, child abuse, I think all prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay prison should be given fair trials (and should have been given them FOUR YEARS AGO), our mandatory detention laws are crap due to a ridiculously under-staffed federal bureaucracy, and I really don't like John Howard or his eyebrows. Free Tibet, rid the world of poverty, work on cures for AIDS and cancer, burn all Maccas and KFC franchises, make children exercise every day at school, free-range eggs only, 'life' imprisonments should actually mean 'life', not 25 years, sexual predators (rapists, stalkers etc all included) should be jailed for life not given piddly little sentences because they're "remorseful" (as I read of one such case in the Courier-Mail online the other day) and abolish the death penalty.

Oh and there should be a lot more cartoons on TV.

Mmmm..that's about it. For now *shakes fist*. Not that what I think about any of these things means anything in the big scheme of things, but meh.

And now, it's time for chicken.

Stuff and Bother (read - Mel's Rant and Rave for the Day)

2005-07-22T07:42:00.000+10:00

If you've heard about the latest problems on the tube lines in London, which undoubtably y'all have, don't worry, I'm fine and everyone's fine. Strange time of day to set off a bomb though... Anyway, it's a little bit worrying to think people are still targeting the tubes, but what can you do?

Meanwhile, I've had Christine Anu's 'Island Home' stuck in my head all day. One of the curious things about living away from home is you get a better understanding of your own identity, or at least I have. I've learned a lot about myself, and I continue to, and I like it! It can only help me to become a better person. But I've also learned about that part of my identity that I relate with my home - being Australian. I may not be an Indigenous Australian, and lets face it, most Aussies are a bunch of mongrels with God knows how many different nationalities in their family trees. But I'm at the very least fourth-generation Australian. In fact, I don't even think of myself as an X generation, I just am Australian, and proud of it. Though I'm not Indigenous, I still have a connection to my land.

I guess that's the thing that bothers me most about terrorist acts like the ones we've just experienced in London - innocent people are targeted. A country is more than its government. It is the people, the animals, the plants, the intrinsic values embedded in personalities, and that certain x-factor that makes us unique from other places. If a person has a problem with a government decision, target the government, not the people. Though due to what we term 'democracy' ultimately we are responsible for who is in power, at the end of the day we are usually completely ignored when politicians make decisions. We were ignored over the 'Sorry Day' protests and ignored over the anti-War protests, both massive movements. And how do they justify this? They don't, because they don't have to. Our political systems are fantastically flawed. And for that reason alone, the people of our countries shouldn't be held responsible, and made to pay the ultimate price, for decisions we didn't make.

It's for this reason, in an odd way, that I can understand how people in Iraq, Palestine and Israel feel. Though we haven't the history they have, or the religious connections, their land is important to them too, and it is their governments and leaders who are continually placing innocent life in danger. Where do principles and pride stop, and logic and a bit of humility begin? Is it so hard to admit they were wrong? Of course it is - especially in an election year!

GAH.

Sorry, I DO go on:).

In other news, had an embarrassing fall on the tube this morning which has resulted in a MASSIVE bruise on my thigh (courtesy of arm rest and muscle collision). Had a session with a trainer last night at the gym which has also resulted in sore muscles. Moan moan moan, I know!:) On happier, or at least less painful, notes I had a lovely dinner with Jaimee and pals the other night a cute little communal vegie cafe at Vauxhall - three courses for ten quid, can't go wrong there! Saturday I'm back to the dentist, Sunday shopping with Jody. Next week will see a fair bit of social action as well, including some celebrations in honour of my graduation (touch wood, the pieces of paper still haven't arrived yet!) at a cool pub in central London on Friday week. Huzzah!

Other than that, zip zilch nadda.

Oh, and it's 32 days til I'm back in the Land of Oz, or at least on the way there... I should check that or something.

FANTASMAJORICAL

2005-07-19T02:47:00.000+10:00

In today's news: Melanie has passed her final two subjects, and therefore has GRADUATED!

Hooray!!!!

Touch wood that nothing goes wrong in the meantime, it should mean I should get my degree in the mail at some point. I'm so happy and relieved!

In other news, I've just been to the dentist and feeling slightly woozy after having stage one of my root canal done. Ugh, I hate anesthetics! They always make me feel awful:(.

All the leaves are brown...

2005-07-18T07:35:00.000+10:00

The wonderful thing about living in London is that you can always tell a seasonal change. Winter is shown by the bare trees and, occasionally, snow, spring by flowers, summer by leafy streets and hot long days and now, it would appear, autumn is beginning to rear its ugly head.

Walking along the streets the past few days I've particularly noticed how the leaves are starting to drop from the trees. It's disappointing really, I'm not ready to go back to skeletal trees, freezing nights and short dark days. I'm enjoying being able to run around in just a skirt and top, or beign able to go out at night and not have to wear ten layers of clothing! Summer in London is fabulous but, evidently, short-lived. I guess that's one of the things I miss most about home, that I never thought I would - warm weather! Of course, warm weather in London, despite being in the low thirties during the day, is never quite as hideous as it is in BrisVegas, so I've been quite spoilt. Nevertheless, when I do eventually make my final trip home, I am going to be looking forward to an Australian sunshiney day...

Speaking of which, it's now only 5 and a half weeks until I'm back in Oz. I'm getting so excited! I wish it was here right now!:)

As to my activities of late, on Wednesday night we had our netball final. I filled in for a team before my game and it was hideously hot, I was almost completely exhausted by the end of that game. Then, of course, by the time our game starts it's a torrential downpour. Murphy's frickin' Law. It meant that we were absolutely drenched, the court was dangerously slippery and nobody could hold onto the ball - it just kept slipping otu of our hands! We lost, but it was a good game, and the GS on the opposition was a very accurate shot, so kudos to them.

Thursday night we celebrated Liam's birthday (from work) by going into Soho to a pub, and then to a place near Carnaby Lane called Social. It's a cute little place, hidden away in the backstreets, but with a reputation for amazing pies - and we weren't disappointed! I had a steak and guiness pie which I couldn't finish, but was fantastic. Really hit the spot. That and the vodka. Which lead to a late night and a very tired Mel come Friday morning at work. So Melanie had a quiet one Friday night, relaxing on the couch with my Sex and the City DVDs (I've recently purchased seasons five and six, I already had three and four courtesy of Leah and Nik).

Saturday morning I hit the gym, and did a spot of shopping, after a bit of sleep in, rudely interrupted by the Real Estate agent showing people our flat. They're looking at filling in already and we've still got seven weeks on the lease left! That was pretty irritating. I was so NOT in the mood for that, so I sat out on the balcony and was very anti-social.

Last night Casey and I went to a party at Laura's house in Shepherd's Bush. The theme was 'Tube Stops' (yes, this was decided PRIOR to the bombings) and ashamedly, Casey and I were the only ones not in costume:(. But it was a great night, and some people really came up with some fantastic costumes, they looked fabulous! Some favourites were 'Manor House', 'Barbiken', 'Waterloo', 'Knightsbridge', 'Paddington', 'Baker Street', 'Bank', and Greenwich', among many others. If I can get some photos off Laura I'll put them up here because people looked fabulous!

After a lazy morning today I headed over to Jody's where we enjoyed the afternoon warmth and sunshine with cheese, crackers, a BBQ and copious amounts of Pimms in her little backyard, followed by watching 'Bring It On', which is a fabulously tacky movie.:) I'm so down with Pimms, I'll have to bring a few bottles back with me duty-free. Mixed with lemonade and a whole heap of fruit, it's like a perfect summer punch, but alcoholic.:) More Pimms in Australia, I say!

This week there's a few things on the agenda. Stage One of my root canal at the Dentist's tomorrow afternoon (bluuuurgh), hopefully dinner/drinks with Jaimee, Ben and Michelle perhaps on Tuesday night, and maybe a little shopping at Selfridges on the weekend. Who knows? I really can't afford to buy anything, but we all know that where I'm involved, shopping will invariably follow!

The Weekend Starts Here

2005-07-10T19:46:00.000+10:00

Busy McBusy-a-lot, that's what they'll call me.:) Yesterday Casey and I went on Mel's Illustrious Walking Tour de Londres. We met up at London Bridge (after some difficulty - another security scare on the tube meant I had to opt for a bus instead) and from there walked across to the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge, doubled-back to St Paul's Cathedral, through to Covent Garden and Trafalga Square, along to Buckingham Palace, up to Harvey Nichols and Harrods... a LOT of walking! And eating too...we headed back to Wimbledon and ended up at a little Italian restaurant. Great service, GREAT food ... we stuffed ourselves:D.

Here's Casey and I!:

WE'RE LOOKING A LITTLE CRAZY:D

Today it's a beautiful BEAUTIFUL day! Yesterday was quite overcast, today it's sunshiney and warm. I think I might go for a walk to the park or something...

Sumo Wrestlers

2005-07-09T06:26:00.000+10:00

Just watching a classic James Bond - 'The Man with the Golden Gun' - there's something to make you smile!

Today was weird, very surreal. I took the tube from Waterloo, which is usually packed at that hour, as it was yesterday...and the carriages were only half full. Usually you fight for standing room, today there were seats spare. I have a feeling most of the network was like that today. Coming home it was a little more crowded, but again not nearly as packed as it usually is.

In other news - This weekend I'm giving Casey 'Mel's Illustrious Walking Tour de Londres'. Casey is a friend of Cinda, a friend of mine from uni. And in classic six-degrees of separation that accompanies Brisbanites, her brother played footy with my brother, and she worked at the Fish Cafe with my older sister, a couple of months after I left there. Casey arrived in the UK on the 24th, and I met up with her Wednesday night for a drink and a wander around the streets. Tomorrow we're hoping to see a bit of the city, but I guess we'll have to wait and see if it's all back up and running.

Hehehe...I love how in these old 007 movies all the Asian people automatically are karate experts. And the villains are all crazy deformed rich people. If there's no evil giant, there's an evil midget, or someone with glass eyes or diamond teeth or whatever. And the standard 2.3 Bond Girls (sometimes extended to 3.3 - the .3 is for MoneyPenny).

London Bomb Blast updates

2005-07-08T03:15:00.000+10:00

The latest death toll is 37, and the latest injury toll 700. All the horror stories have filtered in by now, people on the tube carriages screaming for help, bodies on the tracks and the streets... It's still kind of surreal, it's all sinking in very, very slowly.

The thing is, there are often evacuations on the underground. People leave a bag or something behind, someone reports and all of a sudden an entire section of a tube line is shut down. So today, when I was sitting on the tube at London Bridge and they said there was a power surge, most of us just sat there and waited for them to say how long it would take to get moving again. So it really did come as a big surprise to have this person running along the platform yelling at us to get out of the train and the station...that's when I knew it was something more than a 'power surge'. Especially after they said the entire tube network was closed. For most people, an attack against Britain, particularly in London, was not a matter of 'if' but 'when', and today was that day.

This afternoon getting home was going to be an issue, but the South-West trains were still running from Waterloo. John, my boss, gave a few of us a ride there and when we got out it was the silence I noticed. Apart from a few police cars and an amulance, there weren't many other cars and everyone was just really quiet, very still. When I got to Wimbledon, many of the shops had closed early, particularly those around the train station. Again, everyone was just really really quiet, even the local teenagers that hang out around the shopping centre.

The next few days should be particularly interesting. They are expecting the majority of the tube system to be up and running again tomorrow, and hopefully the busses in central London will be back up as well.

So what does Melanie do when she's a little shell-shocked, and thinking that she could have been a victim today? She goes shopping and spends too much money, of course. Retail Therapy DOES work, don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

In the meantime, thanks again to everyone who tried to call me, or hopped online just to check I was okay. It's nice to feel loved, even if it is under such circumstances.:)

London Chaos

2005-07-07T20:00:00.000+10:00

Thanks for all the texts and stuff guys - It's really sweet of you to think of me.

Don't worry, I'm okay. I was on the tube at the time and we stopped at London Bridge and were told there was a power surge, then we were told the entire underground system was shut down (6 million people a DAY use it!), then this guy comes running along going 'you have to leave the train and the station NOW!'.

So far reports are still filtering in about the bus explosions. And I took a bus to get to work from London Bridge.

FABULOUS.

It's kinda scary, but I'm okay.

I'm blame the French. We all know they're poor losers.:)

Coincidence this happened the day after the Olympic decision? METHINKS NOT.

J'taime Paris!

2005-07-05T08:15:00.000+10:00

I heart Paris THIS much! It seriously rocked my world. Napolean may have been a slimy little man intent on world domination, and the Kings of France may have pillaged their own people, but they left some amazing architecture in their wake. That's the first thing that struck me about Paris - although it has its horrible parts like any city - is that it is so pretty. Big tree-lined boulevardes and amazing, decadent buildings... *sigh!*

Although I was there for four days, I still didn't see everything I wanted to see, but I gave it a really good shot! So here's la recap, avec photographique.

Day One - Thursday
After an early start, I was on my way to fair Paris on the Eurostar. We pulled into Gare du Nord and I found my way to my hotel...and got a tad confused and realised that yes, my hotel was right near a train station, but not a Metro station. The Metro is the Parisian version of the tube, fairly easy to negotiate and just as reliable in terms of the number of trains per five minutes. So I checked into my hotel, and then went in search of the Arc de Triomph, which I thought was much closer than it actually was. After a fairly length - but enjoyable - walk, I found myself looking at the grandeur that is Napoleon's Arc de Triomph. Walking up the street and seeing that in front of you is just amazing...

Arc de Triomph - note that it's now the middle of a massive roundabout, and a very busy one at that, as it's at the top end of the Champs Elysees.

Looking up at the Arc de Triomph from underneath.

The tomb of the unknown soldier and the eternal flame. On my second day as I was walking back to the hotel there was a ceremony going on to mark WW2, and Jacques Chirac was there, as well as a navy band and some other military contingent. The poor guys were standing there in the pouring rain for this ceremony, getting absolutely drenched!

I then climbed to the top of the Arc which afforded an amazing view of the Champs Elysees, the Sacre Couer and, everyone's favourite, L'Eiffel Tour!

The Sacre Couer from the Arc de Trimoph

Champs Elysees

Me, at the top of the Arc! I climbed so many freakin' stairs on my holiday, this was the first climb - 230 steps!

From the Arc de Trimoph I walked down the Champs Elysees, perhaps the most famous stretch of shopping in the world, and the most luxurious! Picture pairs of shoes on display for 1000 Euro, as standard!

Shopping, shopping, shopping...

The massive Louis Vuitton bag - I could so live in that! Paris, for those who haven't heard, is in the running for the Olympics for 2012...as is London, which only adds to the never-ending rivalries between England and France. Front page of all the papers today was something along the lines of 'Chirac's Tirade Against Blair' ... it's fairly standard.

The Cartier store...sigh! Diamonds are a girl's best friend!

I walked the length of the Champs Elysees and ended up at the Louvre. The Louvre was originally a Palace, built by one of the Louis' and the complex bankrupted the city. After the revolution, it was claimed by the people and became an art gallery, open to the people. It is just an amazing building - absolutely HUGE! I got there an hour before closing, so while there were no queues, I only got a running look at it. I'll have to go back and spend at least half a day there ... we all know what an art freak I am and I can happily spend hours in galleries, so I'm disappointed I didn't see it all. But there's always next time!

The Louvre

Maybe the highlight of my trip - THE Mona Lisa:). You don't get much better than that.

The Venus de Milo, aka. Aphrodite

Inside the Louvre

The Winged Victory

Another inside shot - this is such a tiny section of the building, but it gives a good idea of just how big it is

One of the ornate ceilings...

On the way to the Louvre, you walk through the Place de Concorde. These days its a massive roundabout, but back in the days of the Revolution it was where the guillotine was set up, and where Louis and Marie Antoinette lost their heads.

The Place de Concorde holds an Egyptian obelisk, and was in the throes of being set up for Bastille Day.

By this time it was getting a little late, but it was still light until about 10pm. I headed back to the hotel courtesy of a red tour bus. For 22 euro, you get a two-day pass on these busses and can hop on and off as you please at any of their designated stops. They're open top busses, like the ones you see in London. There's also a rival company of green busses. They seem to do bigger, different circuits - up to Montmatre. Anyway, I had bought a ticket and, on my way home, drove past Notre Dame. I had dinner at a lovely little restaurant, and then stayed up to call my lil sis - HAPPY 15th BIRTHDAY AMMIE!

Day Two - Friday

After breakfast at the hotel, consisting of croissants of course, I headed off to get to the Eiffel Tower as early as possible. I got there about 10 minutes after it opened and only had to line up with ten people in front of me. I then hopped on the lift and it was up to the top of the tower. Although it has to be the most stereotypical thing to do/see in Paris, it really is incredible to stand underneath it and be at the top. Coolest. Thing. Ever.

From the bottom...

...to the Top!

Trocadero, from the Tower

Champs de Mars from the Tower

Arc de Triomph and the Champs Elysees

After the Tower I popped across the road to Trocadero, and then back on a Red bus and down to Notre Dame.

The front of Notre Dame

As expected Notre Dame was incredible. It is absolutely massive! Not to mention incredibly ornate and spectacular in its detail. You can take photos inside, but it just didn't feel right, in a church. But being the good Catholic girl that I am *wink wink* I gave a small donation and lit a candle. As to Notre Dame, imagine if you can huge high domed ceilings, small chapels all around the permimetre, equisite statues, mosaics...it's amazing. I then lined up and climbed the towers...400 steps later! "Buns of steel" became my mantra in Paris.

One of the infamous gargoyles overlooking Paris.

After Notre Dame, I went to meet up with Jody under the Arc de Triomph. She had been in Paris for a conference, and Friday was our day to meet up. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, every trip I make I seem to learn something from my mistakes. This time, it was remember your phone charger and to organise to be able to top up your phone credit over the phone... So after finding a phone card (in Paris, you can only use a phone booth with a phone card which you buy at little stores), and then finding a phone booth, I contacted Jody and we met up. She was a little under the weather, so we had a great lunch on Champs Elysees. If there's one thing I love about Paris more than its art and culture, it's the food! I ate SO MUCH the four days I was there...mmm...croissants, pain au chocolats, crepes, fromage, French wine ... needless to say the gym is my friend every night this week, and I'm still feeling ill after eating all the things that I can't eat. But yes...foooooood....

We headed back to our hotel to get ready for our entertainment for the evening - The Moulin Rouge! Yes, it's expensive, but so worth it. We had great seats - right next to the stage. The food could have been better, given the price, but it's a once in a lifetime thing. Unfortunately you can't take photos inside - you have to hand your cameras in before entry - but you'll just have to believe me when I say the show was a mix of "spectacular spectacular no words in the vernacular", cheesy EuroVision dance and music, and comedy and acrobatic acts. Very cool. It's smack-bang in the middle of Montmatre, the red light district of Paris, but we still felt very safe despite all the sleazy men.

Me outside the Moulin Rouge

Day Three - Saturday

So we didn't get away as early as I would've liked on Sunday, because the Kiwis were playing the Lions and Jody was glued to the TV. But after her day was brightened by their win, we headed off to the Basilique du Sacre Couer (Basilica of the Sacred Heart). It's this amazing church on the top of the highest hill in Paris, in the Montmatre district. If you've seen Amelie, the scene where she returns the book of pictures to that guy - the stairs there are here at Sacre Couer. It's a lovely church, I actually liked it better than Notre Dame...just so peaceful and very beautiful. We climbed to the top (buns of steel!) and had a great view of Paris.

Jody on our way up the hill

On the steps

Jody and I

View from the top!

From there we wandered down through Montmatre and towards the George Pompidou centre, after a failed attempt to go on a boat tour up the River Siene. The Pompidou centre is full of modern art and design. But on the way we discovered a whole lot of awesome backstreets filled with cafes and shops. Again the 'Paris is Great for Food' mantra came into play. We indulged in ice-cream (I forgot to mention it was REALLY hot in Paris Saturday and Sunday) - the best I've ever had! I had dark chocolate and a scoop of blackberry *drools*. We ate our ice-cream while sitting next to the centre, watching a magic show and taking in the Paris afternoon. We didn't have time to do much in the centre, so that's also on my 'next time I'm in Paris' list.

The outside of the centre...

After dinner at a little restaurant near the hotel we ate a whole lot of cheese and drank red wine. Mmmm...cheese. French camembert is GOLD.

Day Four - Sunday

Sunday morning we headed off the the Paris Catacombs. At some point in the 18th century the French, in their infinite wisdom, said "Our cemeteries are over-crowded. Lets dig up six million skeletons and rebury them in tunnels underground. Only lets stack all the bones neatly and make crosses out of the skulls occasionally!". During WW2, the tunnels were used as the headquarters for the Resistance. Nowadays, it's a tourist attraction...a very macabre one. But we went! Let me just say, it is the creepiest thing I've ever seen. Walking down this long dark damp tunnel into all these 'hallways' lined with real skulls and bones... it's cool in a bizarre way. Jody and I were a little freaked out, and made sure there were other people around us because we were scared little school girls:D. We met up with another Aussie girl down there who was by herself and we invited her to come with us. She was very grateful.

A very tiny section. You can't use flashes down there, so I apologise for the poor quality of hte picture, but you get the general idea.

From there we headed somewhere more pleasant - the Jardin du Luxembourg. Napolean dedicated these gardens to the children of Paris, and rightly so - they're so cute! Lots of play areas and you can still float model sail boats on the pond. The palace there is also very lovely and, like most palaces, these days acts as a gallery.

The entry to the gardens, the palace in the far background

A cute little nook in the gardens

From there we all went in search of food and found the most incredible patisserie. It's impossible to describe it properly - but think of all the most amazing cakes and treats, baked with detail and love... We drooled for ages. From there we took our lunch and treats and sat by the banks of the Seine, where I had my treat - chocolat eclair, the best I've ever had. It was heaven!

From there we walked back up the Champs Elysees with the intention of going to the Chanel store..but I got side-tracked and missed our turn off and by the time I realised we were too far along and I was too bloody hot to care. So we went shopping instead and bought perfume and muppets dolls. I now have my own Waldorf and Statler! And Jody bought me Gonzo (courtesy of a running joke - one of the many sleazy men who stared/talked to us told me I had a 'beautiful nose', and we all know what Gonzo's nose is like...:D We laughed a fair bit over that comment, and others including 'you are so beautiful I'll draw you for free' and 'would you like to do romantic tango with me?').

After that, it was time to head back to London. Apologies for the long entry, but I love Paris so much! I can't wait to go back!

Destination: Brighton

2005-06-27T04:24:00.000+10:00

When the English go to the seaside, they go to Brighton. And they go in droves! The recent warm weather inspired many, including myself, to wander on down to the pebbly beaches of Brighton.

It's so easy to get to - only 50 minutes by train from Clapham Junction. The train is at the top of a hill, and looking out from there you can see down to the ocean. Brighton is a very pretty city, many of its buildings are from the 1800s. And the ocean is surprisingly clean too. Anyway, from the train station I went in search of my hotel and found it on the main road, right across from the beach. After checking in (my room was very clean, but very hot! The windows only opened about six inches.), I wandered down to the beach. The weather wasn't that crash hot - just my luck, I thought, after a week-and-a-half of gorgeous hot, sunny weather in London, it would rain, wouldn't it? But it held off raining, and I wandered along the beach.

Yes, it is completely pebbled until you get to the water lane, where it is sand. And the pebbles are really bizarre! You actually sink into them as you walk along...which, obviously, makes walking a little more difficult than expected. All along the beach front is a wide footpath, which runs along under the big wall that has built the city up, and keeps it from washing away I guess. The wall is also home to lots of pubs, cafes and shops. There are also lots of little market stalls. And, for the hefty fee of one pound, you can hire a folding chair for half a day and bask in the sunshine.

View along the beach from the road

This carousel is on the beach and is a famous attraction.

Empty chairs at empty tables ... or, empty chairs on a pebble beach:D

One of the famous attractions along the seafront is the West Pier. It was built in 1866, and was basically shops and restaurants, it even had a concert hall! But due to lack of maintenance it was declared unsafe and in 1975 it was shut down for good. Then it burned down. Then it fell down. And now most of it's in the water and it's a ncie home for the giant seagulls (more on them shortly). It still stands out in the water though, and there has been some talk of rebuilding it. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen, given the phenomenal costs that would be involved. Anyway, photos!

The West Pier today

The ruins along the beach are basically just large iron pieces, covered in seaweed which is not only indicative of how high the tide can get, but also gives them a strange jungle look...very surreal

Further along the beach is the Brighton Pier, the sister structure to the West Pier, but it happens to still be very much intact. And tacky. It's gloriously tacky though! It's got a theme park with rides at the end of it and all these arcade games and things. But it's also a kinda cool place to hang out and look at the view. And the Giant Crazy Seagulls! And they really are giant - I've never seen anything quite like it. They're probably about three times the size of a regular seagull, and with a volume of voice to match. They're really bizzarre...

The Brighton Pier.

Crazy big seagull!

Loungin' around on the pier...

From there I wandered over to the Royal Pavillion. It was originally built by George III, and then became the favourite party palace of his son, George IV. Basically, he drank a lot and had a few harlots hanging around. Not to be outdone by anyone, he then spent a stack having it remodelled...and then to keep up with the Eastern fashions of the time, spent a whole lot more having it remodelled again. It really is the height of decadence, all decked out in ornate oriental furnshinings, artworks, carpets, even the wallpaper! It's amazing...and kind of funny too, when you look at it. Probably the highlights were the grand dining room with it's massive chandelier, and the music room, also with incredible chandeliers. The Palace was built as a summer home, evident in the french doors which line the rooms of the bottom floor and the large balconies on the top floor. I finished my tour with a Sussex Tea (home made scone with jam, clotted cream, and tea) on the terrace of the Queen Adelaide tea rooms, on the top floor of the Palace. From there I had a great view of the lovely gardens on the west side of the Pavilion.

The gardens, also known as the West Lawn.

The exterior of the Pavilion is currently undergoing some maintenence work, but you get hte general idea of what it's like. Very bizarre seeing this Eastern building in Brighton! By the way, as per most of these stately homes, photos were not permitted inside, unfortunately, so you'll just have to believe me when I say the inside really was spectacular!

The exterior from the West lawn.

Me, on the terrace of the Pavilion.

From there I went to The Lanes, which are these beautiful little cobble-stone streets lined with funky shops and cafes. The thing about Brighton is that it has this really funky, kinda bohemian vibe to it. It's full of 'alternative' people, despite it's popularity as a weekend getaway for Londoners. Think vegetarian restaurants, second-hand book and record stores, crazy stores full of really funky knick-knacks, clothes and furniture. Yes I went a little mad, and I may or may not have allegedly come home with twice the amount of luggage I had before I left. Allegedly. Anyway, GREAT place to shop, whatever you're after.

A small section of The Lanes

After nipping back to the hotel for a quick kip, I wandered off to find some dinner, and found a nice restaurant over-looking the beach (after passing a plethora of pubs on the beach front, one with a live band playing which I sat and watched for a while), and had fish and chips for dinner - very apt! I then went in search of some nightlife, and ended up at the Walkabout - a very sad, ridiculous chain of Aussie themed pub. Brighton seems to be the place for Hens' Nights, too, as I came across so many groups of girls doing the whole Hens Night thing, most of them dressed in matching costumes and whatnot. And all so young! It was mad... Anyway, a couple of things along the way really annoyed me, and so I wasn't really in the mood for partying. I went back to the hotel.

This morning it was bright and clear and lovely. After a great breakfast at the hotel, I wandered along the beach again, this time dabbling in the water for a bit. It was beautiful and calm and clear...it really reminded me of home! It was SO NICE to be at a beach again. I eventually wandered up into the township and went along North Laine, this street which is full of more crazy homeware stores and cool funky stalls. Also did a little more shopping, which I shouldn't have, but what can you do? Sometimes I just need to a do a little shopping, it's my kind of therapy:D.

After lunch at a pub on the beach, I headed on back to London. I may or may not be a little bit burned - although I prefer to say 'bronzed with a red hue' - but I had a great time. I'm in love with Brighton! Next time I go, I'm going with a few people to party REALLY hard:D. And explore a bit more of Sussex.

All in all, a lovely weekend and it was great to get out of London. And speaking of getting out of London, Paris on Thursday!

By the way, I'm aware my posts are ridiculously long sometimes... sorry! But I'm a writer, it's what I do! THat's my excuse and I'm sitting to it...

Tennis and Pebbles

2005-06-24T02:10:00.000+10:00

I suppose I should say SOMETHING about the tennis, given I live in the suburb where it's being held.:) Suffice it to say that a combination of the beautiful warm weather, the late sunsets (yesterday was the Summer Solstice - I was walking home last night about 10pm and the sun was still setting:) - awesome!) and the tennis means Wimbledon is really buzzing at the moment. About the time I was walking home there were streams of people walking down the hill from the village, and on the busses, and in cars, all coming from the tennis. The pubs and restaurants are burgeoning at the moment, and there's a great vibe in the air. The only downside is, of course, the train station has been bedlam in the mornings, but I'll get over it.

As for actually going to the Tennis, working full-time is putting a stop to that, as is my trip to Paris and paying for flights for the end of September. Never mind, there's always next year! In the meantime, I'll just enjoy the atmosphere.

This weekend I'm going down to Brighton. Although the weather isn't expected to stay so lovely, I'm determined to go and try and make the most of any sunshine and warm weather. There are storms predicted, but the sunshine is supposed to come out on Sunday. I'm staying in a hotel right on the esplanade, which should be good - very close to all the attractions. I'll go Saturday morning, do some sight-seeing, stay over Saturday night, and come back Saturday afternoon ... and hopefully get a swim in there somewhere! I may be being overly optimistic, but we'll see how we go...

Anyway, for now I'm enjoying the lovely warm weather - even if I am working in an office with no air conditioning and only a few little fans - and experiencing being a blonde for the first time in about 5 years.:D Got it done last night after netball. Speaking of netball: Definition of 'hot' - playing centre for a full game of netball in the sun when it's 30 degrees. I seriously nearly died - I have no idea how I got through that, but there you go! Of course today I'm utterly exhausted, hence why it's going to be a very relaxed night in tonight.

Less than a week til Paris now!:) Huzzah!

Goodbyes and Baking

2005-06-22T07:46:00.000+10:00

I suppose I should update on what I've been up to on the weekend. Friday night I went to dinner with Dani and Lauretta - a very quiet affair to say goodbye to them as they head Oz-side. It was just Dani, Lauretta, me, Laura and her friend Mizzy (sp?). Weirdest thing ever - Laura I had met a couple of months ago through Jaimee. It turns out she went to high school with Lauretta, but we didn't make that connection until a couple of weeks ago. Bizzarro World! So that was cool. We just went to a little thai place in Fulham that we'd been to before. Photos:

Saturday morning I went to the Dentist (bleh!) and have to book in to get a root canal done in the next few weeks. Oh boy, can't wait. After that, the weather was BEAUTIFUL, and I needed to go to the Australia Shop, so I went into Covent Garden. We're talking amazing weather at the moment - the last four or five days have been high 20s, it was 33 degrees on Friday! It's bright and clear and hot, I'm absolutely loving it and I never thought I'd say that. But I guess it's okay if it's only for a few weeks of the year, rather than the four months of the year it's like back home! So I wandered around the city and took in all the street performers in Covent Garden, looked on with amusement at the people cooling their feet in the fountains in Trafalga square, and wandered across the Westminster bridge... it was wonderful:).

Saturday night I went to Jody's and we wandered over the bridge into Putney and got some dinner then wandered back to her place where we Kill Billed the night away.

Sunday I had plans on heading into Hyde Park because it was a beautiful day again, but alas a massive migraine burrowed its way into my head and I found myself lying on the couch all afternoon, unable to get up because of my head. Ugh. I hate migraines. I haven't had one that bad for a while actually. We're talking incessant throbbing, muscle cramps all over, extreme sudden tiredness, forced horizontal position... ouchies.:(

Monday night, however, I was back to my usual self and Jody, and Jody from work (yes, TWO Jody's!) went to a trivia night in aid of cancer research. Okay, firstly let me just say the questions were a)English-centric; b)for Old people:D. And by 'old', I of course mean older than me. So anyway, we didn't do TOO badly I suppose. We came third-last...but that's not LAST!:D We got most of the muppets questions right...

As to the week ahead, not a great deal happening. Went to the gym tonight, netball and a hair cut and colour tomorrow night (finally!), and the weekend is still unclaimed, so I guess we'll wait and see what pops up on the social radar. Anything can happen in this crazy universe.

Life

2005-06-20T19:24:00.000+10:00

My great-grandmother died early this morning (my time). At 94, it wasn't a bad innings at all. She had two heart attacks, but they still thought she'd be strong enough to pull through. Apparently not. Her mind was completely gone though. My sister visited her a few weeks ago and apparently she had no idea who she was, and kept thinking she was my great-aunt Claire. I don't think she even realised her daughter had died.

I really REALLY wish I was home right now to be there for my Pop. He's lost his wife, his sister and his mother in the space of 10 months. It just doesn't seem fair. It explains why when I rang him the other night he was so distant - MoreGran was in hospital by then, she'd had a fall apparently.

Anyway, Rest in Peace MoreGran. Right to the end she was an inspiration and greatly respected.

Detox Day 3

2005-06-17T04:20:00.000+10:00

So far, so good! Apart from my hot chocolate in the morning - I can't live without it - I've declined tea, chocolate, cheese, milk, bread...Although I'm really tired, I feel really good! So if I can make it through to Thursday, I reckon I'll be feeling great!

Ankle is all good now, the knee's still a bit of an issue, but I still managed to play three games of netball last night. I got there early because our game wasn't until 8.15, and a couple of teams needed fillers, so I jumped in. Needless to say I was absolutely exhausted by today. But what can you do?

Tomorrow night I'm going out to dinner with Dani and Lauretta to say goodbye before they head off to the Spanish Islands, and then back to Oz. So it should be a good night, but sad. I just wish we'd both known we were in London a bit earlier!

The weekend holds nothing spectacular at this point. Dentist on Saturday morning - oh hooray. Also, the real estate agent rang my housemate, Dan, today to say our contract's up in September. So Dan's moving in with his girlfriend, Rich has a job placement up in Leeds already...so I guess it's up to me! The problem is, of course, that when the change over is meant to take place I'm going to be in Oz, so that should be interesting to see how all my planning and organisation (or lack thereof, generally speaking) pans out.

Never mind. I'm sure everything will be just fine. Everything always is!

So what happens now?

2005-06-14T08:55:00.000+10:00

Well!

I just finished my LAST EVER ASSIGNMENT (assuming I pass), and the relief is almost instantaneous. I can't believe how quickly the last four-and-a-half years have gone. It's just surreal.

Because they have the graduation ceremonies in July at UQ, I'm not going to go to mine. But meh, the thought of sitting around for AGES to be handed a piece of paper doesn't appeal to me, although it would have been nice to have a pic in the robes and hat holding the piece of paper. I'm sure we can have some fun with photoshop:D.

So what happens now? I'm certainly not going back to uni! I'm going to enjoy a life without assignments constantly hanging over my head. I might do a DTP course in a couple of years or something, who knows, but it'd only be a TAFE thing - I couldn't go through uni again! Sure, it was fun while it lasted, but constant assessment, coupled with no time to enjoy yourself, kinda doesn't appeal to me any more.

Onto other news - and Jody and I booked our accommodation in Paris yesterday. We're staying in the suburb of Champs Elysees, not far from the tourist attraction itself. I can't wait! I'm really looking forward to this!

In a weekend round-up - after the frivolities on Friday evening, Saturday morning I worked on my assignments before wondering off to Heathrow to say goodbye to Kristine, who has moved back to NZ after two years here. So that was kind of sad. Saturday night I stayed in to work on, you guessed it, assignments. Sunday mornign was much of the same until Jody rang and we went to a pub in Putney for a couple of drinks and a meal. On the way home, I was walking past one of the many pubs in Wimbledon and saw my housemate in one of them, so I joined him and his friend for a drink rather than go home and do assignment things. Typical:). Then Dani rang and ended up crashing on our floor last night. So yes, I've managed to fill up my free time quite easily.

Tomorrow night I'm off to a BBQ with the girls from my netball team. A 'bonding' session, which is more just an excuse to eat and drink. Having said that, I started a detox today, so none of the following:

- alcohol
- tea or coffee (apart from herbal teas)
- red meat
- chocolate (this one is going to kill me!)
- sweets
- white rice, bread etc.
- dairy products (also a toughie!)

Realistically, it's not that different to the diet I keep myself on now - fruit, veg, chicken. But I do love my cheese and tea, so that's had to stop. It should be interesting to say the least, but I'm determined to do it.

After all, I have a an awesome black dress I have to fit into in Paris.:D And that's all that matters, right?;)

I Like to Party

2005-06-11T20:15:00.000+10:00

Well I've had a very busy week, far too social and not nearly productive enough as far as assignments go. But there's all weekend for that....sort of.:)

Thursday my chocolate cake was a complete success, if I do say so myself. But apparently the smells of it cooking were wafting down the hallway and kept my housemates awake. So I've promised to bake the boys a chocolate cake at some point.

Thursday night Jess Ross was in town. Jess is a girl I used to work with at Justice, and is now living in New York. Her cousin lives in London, and they had just been on a tour of Ireland together. So Jess was in town for one night only, and we celebrated with a big catch-up and gossip session and drank a whole lot of alcohol and ate a big slice of chocolate fudge cake *drools*. That cake was SO GOOD. Anywho, Jess is still her funky self and looks fabulous, so it was great to see her. Couple that with Jaimee and Beth came along, and it was four ex-Public Affairs personnel in one place in London.:) Kinda weird, actually. But here are a couple of photos:

Jess, striking a pose like there's nothing to it, vogue..

From left, Jaimee, me, Beth and Jess, at the Railway pub in Putney.

Last night I went out with Dani and her girlfriend, Lauretta, and a bunch of their friends to a pub in Fulham Broadway. We had a few drinks there, then went to dinner next door at this fabulous Thai place, then back to the pub for a few more drinks and a boogie. It turned out my housemate had been in the same pub all night, we just hadn't seen each other. May have had something to do with the fact we were both kinda blotto by the end of it.:D Here are some photos from last night:

Me, Dani, Lauretta...

Their friend, Lachie and Nicole...

More friends!

Even more friends! These guys were great - we danced the night away!

Today I'm going to make decent progress on my other assignment, before heading off to Heathrow this afternoon to say goodbye to Kristine. She's been here two years now so has to go back to Kiwiland, which is kinda sad.

And tomorrow - I don't care if the weather is still this FABULOUS, NO GOING OUT MELANIE. YOU STAY PUT AND WRITE ASSIGNMENTS.

Ouchies.

2005-06-09T07:38:00.000+10:00

I have to be THE most intelligent person in the world sometimes (*insert sarcasm here*). So not only did I manage to stack it at netball tonight and do a Jaimee - Sprained my ankle quite badly - but I took all the skin off the other knee as well, which then proceeded to bleed quite profusely. Oh and then I started to think the ankle was feeling better so I walked home from the station...and now it's twice as sore and swollen.

Well done, Melanie, well done.

In other news, I went to the dentist yesterday and lo and behold, I have to have some root canal thingy done to my ouchie tooth. At least it'll stop hurting then. And the great thing about this dentist is I rang them on Monday, got in on Tuesday afternoon! And I can claim a lot of it under the NHS scheme, which I'm now registered with, so it's not too expensive at all.

And tonight I have baked a devilishly good chocolate cake - LOTS of dark chocolate, LOTS of cream, LOTS of sugar - for a girl at work whose 30th birthday is this week.

HUZZAH FOR MULTI-TASKING!

Upside-down.

2005-06-08T14:33:00.000+10:00

Welcome to Mel's Giant Fuzzy World of Stress. It's a scary place in here... much of the no sleeping and the physical signs to prove it. And the baking late at night. At least I'm putting my 'can't sleep so I'm staying awake' time to productivity.

Meanwhile, Jody and I booked our Eurostar tickets to Paris today AND *drumroll* tickets to the Moulin Rouge! Dinner and the show! I can't wait, I'll be singing the Elephant Medly all the way home...

Other than that, still stressing over assignments. I have netball tomorrow, but I'm trying to devote all my spare time to working on these horrible assignments. I have finished one though! At 2am the other morning...after I finished it initially, went 'oh my god, that has to be one of the most horrible things I've ever written.' So I scrapped it and started again. Very intelligent. But it's out of the way, the progressive log thing is about half done, and I've started on the other research/review assignment. Problem is, I'm not sure what to review...but we'll sort that out tomorrow.

In the meantime, I'M GOING TO PARIS! HUZZAH!

Canned Heat in my heels...

2005-06-04T21:57:00.000+10:00

Again I've had a very busy and productive week, although I can't say much for the assignments I was meant to have written... they'll get done, though, it's just a matter of finding the motivation! And finding things to say...

Monday was a bank holiday and the weather was really bad which was fine - it meant I wasn't too keen to go outside and instead stayed in with the intention of writing my assignments. I wrote half of one - it's a start, right? RIGHT?!

Wednesday night I played netball - centre all game again, so I was exhausted by the end - and it was raining and miserable, making for a very slippery, dangerous game. But we won! And we got our terribly unattractive team shirts too. At least we got the light blue ones - some of the other teams have gotten stuck with hideous colours.

Last night was surprise drinks for Kristine, who is heading back to NZ after two years here. We had a great time - I drank FAR too much red wine and, true to form, danced the night away in ridiculous heels and stayed until the club closed at 3am. My feet are very very very very sore today! So at 3am this morning I was walking barefoot down Regent Street in Soho - very classy look. You know the one - bag in one hand, heels in the other, trudging along and singing.... We had an 'interesting' ride home. The taxi driver stopped at an all-night Tescos for us and I stayed in the car while he tried to convince me to call him and hook up with him and his extended Lebanese family at some point. Although completely off my face, I was sober enough not to answer in either the positive or the affirmative - just laughed at him:D.

So we got back to Jody and Kris' and at 4am this mornign were cooking Nachos as the sun rose. There's a reason I shouldn't eat stuff like that...I'm feeling ever so delicate today:S. Needless to say, when we got up this afternoon the kitchen was a nightmare and we were all feeling very under the weather. I managed to walk to the train station in my heels, but once I got to Wimbledon I went straight to H&M and bought a pair of thongs (I mean, 'flip-flops':D) to walk home in...and I may or may not have allegedly bought a dress while I was there. Once I get photos from Jody from last night I'll post them up - They were taken early on so I don't look too trashy.:D

Also, in good Organised Mel news, I've FINALLY got a proper bank account with a card I can use anywhere around the globe AND in shops, so hopefully the Turkey no-money fiasco will not be repeated. Also my business accounts are almost set up. Next week's primary task will be organising to register with a Doctor and a Dentist.

So yes, busy week, but a fun one.:) Hopefully the next week will bring more of the same.

Oh and I didn't realise that people couldn't leave comments on this journal unless you had your own blog, so I've now changed that so anyone can leave comments if you so desire.:)

Oh Happy Day

2005-05-30T05:35:00.000+10:00

This week I've been a busy little bee, trying to get organised and get rid of a whole lot of things that have been hanging out on my 'To Do' list for some time. Aside from those things, I had a good game of netball on Wednesday night with my new team, and although we lost it was only by three - not bad for a team who have only just met and have started half way through the season! I'm also attempting to write two assignments this weekend, which should be interesting given how quickly and easily my social calendar fills up ... and how very good I am at procrastinating whenever uni work needs to be done.:)

I managed to fill yesterday by going to my first ever football game! My friend Jody works for Coca Cola Europe and the company sponsors one of the football leagues over here. They have their own corporate box in the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff, and were giving away tickets to their employees for the games this weekend. So Jody managed to get three - one for herself, me and Kristine - and off to beautiful Wales we went! Free alcohol, food and a ticket in a corporate box was more than enough to entice us to spend the 50 quid required for a return train ticket. The game was the grand final of the second division, so it wasn't technically the best game to see, but with 20,000 people there the atmosphere was fantastic and it was very easy to get caught up in it. The game was between Lincoln City and Southend United, and we were on the side of the stadium that held the Southend supporters, so that's who we ended up going for - or we may have been killed. Just as well we did go for them because they won 2-0, scoring both goals in extra time. After that we stayed around for a couple more drinks, then went to a local pub for a few more and to soak up the atmosphere, and we got back to London about 11pm last night.

Here are some photos from yesterday:

Cardiff Castle ... we didn't get much of a chance to see Cardiff, but I'd love to go back and see the castle. It's a really pretty city!

A busy Cardiff street on game day...

Crazy Welsh!!! Everything is written in both English and Welsh, although hardly any Welsh people speak/understand it. They're trying to regain their lost language, part of the whole 'assert ourselves from England' thing. Meh. It's a crazy language, dominated by a complete lack of vowels! I have no idea how they pronounce it...

Me, at the Millenium Stadium

Let the game begin!

The Lincoln City fans....

Some of the Southend U fans.

This weekend is a long weekend because of a bank holiday on Monday. The reason? The beginning of Summer apparently.:D Friday spoke to that - 32 degrees in London!!! It was fantastic! Hot and gross, but FANTASTIC! It's so nice to be able to wear a skirt to work! Hopefully the hot weather will keep up for a bit, although today isn't looking particularly promising. Meh. A long weekend is a long weekend! Can't argue with that.:)

Windsor & Eton

2005-05-23T05:20:00.000+10:00

Yesterday Jaimee and I wandered on down to Windsor Castle and, despite the weather being pretty awful for most of the day, it was well worth going to see. The castle is just amazing, really the height of Royalty and decadence. And at over 900 years old, it's doing pretty well! Unfortunately you aren't able to take photos of the interior, which is a real shame because it's absolutely beautiful. We're talking oriental carpets that were gifts from visiting Heads of States, gold candelabras and utensils, chandeliers the size of my room, ornate ceilings decked out with the most incredible paintings and detail... *sigh!* I WANT A CASTLE! We were lucky we got there early too, we hardly had to queue at all, but by the time we left there was a queue going all the way down the street.

Anyway, the rest of Windsor is aslo very pretty. Here are photos from outside the castle and around Windsor:

Windsor Castle...

Windsor Castle again...

The Round Tower of Windsor Castle, unfortunately the interior is off-limits

Crazy leaning Tea House in Windsor

Windsor castle once again... it's kinda big!

A view of Windsor Castle with St George's chapel on the left

Changing of the Guards...again, this area is restricted.

Outside St George's Chapel. No photos are allowed inside, but the detail on the outside is somewhat indicative of what the inside is like ... multiplied by about 100! If you watched the Charles and Camilla prayer service, this is where it was held, and you would be able to see the inside from that footage. It's REALLY impressive, what with all the dead King's and Queens (including Henry VIII, Jane Seymour - one of Henry's wives - Edward III, the Queen Mum, King George V, Princess Margaret..... lots of dead people!).

Another pic outside the chapel...

More pics of the Castle...

Hey look it's another pic of the castle!

After the castle we got some lunch at one of the local pubs - a really lovely atmosphere, dark wood interior, and we sat by an open fire to keep warm while the rain pelted down outside and we dined on steak and ale pie with mash and vegies - all very stereotypically English! Then we wandered off down to Eton.

Eton is also very pretty. TO get there you walk over a pedestrian bridge over the Thames, which is just beautiful. Lots of green weeping willows and swans and ducks and whatnot:

View from the Eton side of the river across to Windsor Castle.

River Thames, with lots of Swans and all that jazz

View across to Eton from the Windsor side of the Thames

Eton, as I said, was really pretty. As it was the weekend, a lot of the boys were out and about, mostly in plain clothes but we did see a few in their very poncey uniforms - pin-striped trousers, white shirts and black suit coat with tails... There's a lot of money around there! Jaimee and I had a guided tour of the old school which, apart from the Chapel, is hardly used any more. It was built by Henry VI and the original buildings still stand. The Chapel is beautiful too, with wall murals and an amazing organ. The old school rooms are quite cool to look at as well - hundreds of years of boys scratching their names into the wooden desks and pillars and things! And above those, the original King's Scholars rooms are still used. 60 boys are granted scholarships every year and are known as Kings Scholars, and get their own rooms and dining room. It's all very prestigious. Anywho, these are pics of the school:

Part of the original Eton College. The statue of the Virgin Mary somehow surived the Reformation in England. It is thought it may have been hidden or covered up at the time.

One of the courtyards at the old School. These buildings today are mostly used for administration purposes, although the original King's Scholars dining room is still used (on one side of this courtyard).

The original buildings, built in the time of Henry VI, and where the King's Scholars still live.

The Chapel of Eton College...

And again!

Last night I went over to Jaimee's place and there were a bunch of antipodeans there, all drinking and watching the EuroVision Song contest. It's quite a big thing, for all it's tack and trashiness. Every country in Europe (and 'Europe' is fairly loosely defined...) submits an act, either an individual artist or group who has not been signed with a major record label, and then there are 20 finalists. Then after all the finalists have done their thing on stage, everyone in Europe can vote, but you can't vote for your own country. So a lot of the voting comes down to neighbourly love and political issues. For instance, Cyprus gave no votes to Turkey, but gave all their points to the UK. Greece won, after Switzerland and Latvia were leading the game for a while. Anywho, a good night with good company!

Today I have to start on assignments. I'm so scattered at the moment...there's a million things I have to do, some of which pertain to things on the other side of the world, and I just don't know how to deal with all of them at once...

I'm sure everything will work out just fine.:)

Teeheeheeheehee!

2005-05-18T18:51:00.000+10:00

A Weekend of FUN:)

2005-05-17T13:05:00.000+10:00

This weekend I kept myself very busy, with the exception of Friday night when I crashed (uber exhausted Melanie). Saturday, after talking to Annie Park for the first time in years, I decided to go to the Victoria and Albert Museum. Annie, who lived here for a wee while, used to work there. And it was really awesome! Lonely Planet described it as "the nation's attic" and I'd have to say I totally agree with that analogy. It's a massive - and beautiful - building filled with just random ... stuff! Expensive stuff, no doubt. But it's really incredible the collection they have in there - artworks, silverware, materials, clothing, antiques, cabinets, jewellery, tableware, statues, copies of statues ... it just goes on and on. But it really is hard to explain, so I took a few pictures:

The exterior of the building...

Some of the clothes from the fashion area...needless to say I spent a bit of time looking through there:)

The museum has a collection of Queen Maud's wardrobe. Maud was a British Princess who eventually became Queen of Norway. They had everything from her Going Away dress, ball dresses, and ski outfits, to her Coronation Dress (above).

One very cool art installation - they're pillars wrapped in photos of bark, with a white ceiling and a mist floating through it. Very cool forest effect.

The above are items from the Japanese and Chinese collections.

This was one of the rooms that held a cafe. How cool is that?! The detail is just incredible.

This inkstand is made from the gold of 20 snuff boxes given to some English guy from some French dude...I dunno, I wasn't really paying much attention, it was just really shiny!

This has to be the biggest wine cooler in the world...I need one of these!

The above is the collection of copies of great artworks, a lot of them presented to Queen Victoria from their country of origin. They have full-size copy (plaster cast) of David - He's really tall!

Saturday night I headed out to Hainault, near Essex (read: The Ipswich of London) to visit friends. Took an hour-and-a-half to get there from Wimbledon via the tube, but it was worth it. By the time I got there Angela and Jason had had a few and were in the mood to party. We went to a pub nearby which was pretty dodgy, but they had a great band playing so there was much drinking and boogying. I stayed the night at Angela and Jason's place - they have two housemates, another kiwi and an Aussie girl who just happens to come from Brisbane too! She has an awesome bag she got from the Valley Markets that says 'Viva Bris Vegas'...I so gotta get me one of those! Here are some pics from Saturday night:

This is Angela!

Me, Jason, Sharon and this old Tibetan guy who said he was going to buy us all a one-way ticket to Tibet because it's so great.... Righto.

Me, Jason and Sharon

Tibetan guy, Ange and Jase

Jase and Ange

Yesterday the weather was lovely so we had a picnic and kicked the soccer ball around a bit, before relaxing in front of a couple of DVDs in the afternoon. I ended up staying over again last night and went straight to work this morning from Hainault. All-in-all, a fun weekend!

Breakfast for dinner.

2005-05-10T12:12:00.000+10:00

This morning I was feeling a tad under the weather. It may or may not have had something to do with the fact that I had a lovely afternoon/evening with Jody and Kris yesterday, in which I ended up drinking a whole bottle of red. But it was lots of fun!

This week hopefully I'll be able to catch up with Danni, and maybe get a game of netball tomorrow night.

Other than that, I'm finally getting organised bank-accounts-wise and I'll get around to registering with the NHS ... eventually.:D

It's a Small World After All...

2005-05-08T08:32:00.000+10:00

Okay, so the WEIRDEST THING just happened. Actually, a lot of weird things have been happening lately ... Jasper Fford fans - there's been a big increase in Entropy:).

Anyway, today I had just finished at the gym and decided to pop into Safeway to grab a sandwich, and I walk in the doors and hear "Melanie Loy!". And who is it but none other than Danni Allen, a girl I went to school with and haven't seen in years! Tres bizarre. It really is bizarro world at the moment. But yes, for those of you who know her, or knew her, she is really well and living here with her girlfriend. Danni's been here for about two months now, but she'll be going back to BrisVegas in July. Then they'll head back up to Cairns.

Other than that, had a more social week this week - Wednesday night I went for a couple of drinks at Covent Garden with Jaimee and her friend Laura and we had a lovely evening, chatting away.:) And last night I filled in for Jaimee's netball team. We lost. May or may not have something to do with the fact that I was allegedly shooting. But it was good to have a run around on a netball court, it's been a while! Hopefully I'll be joining a team soon.

As for the rest of the weekend? The world is my oyster, apparently.... Slimy, grey and unsatisfying:D.

I'm bored, can you tell?

2005-05-06T10:15:00.000+10:00

Cruel Irony, or Happy Coincidence?

2005-04-30T16:09:00.000+10:00

I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Certain things happen because they're meant to lead to other things. And I truly believe that the universe sends us signs, tells us what we're meant to do or what we're not meant to do. Today was one of those days ...

So I was on the train on the way to work and I fainted (don't worry mum, I'm fine!) and it's funny because on the trains and on the tubes here no-one talks to each other, let alone makes eye contact. Although sometimes I do the latter just to freak people out:D. But of all the trains to faint on, I did so on that one. And the people around me were really nice - gave up a seat for me, some guy gave me his bottle of water, two women gave me some sugary food they had in their bags, and another tied my hair back for me and held my cardigan. Sometimes it's nice to have your faith in human kindness reaffirmed, even if it is because of weird circumstances. Anyway, when we got to Waterloo this woman helped me off the train and took me to the Boots chemist and bought me a lucazade, even though I had my wallet out ready to pay. We introduced ourselves along the way, she asked what I did, I told her I was a journalist and, lo and behold, so is she! Not only that, but she's the head of the Special Programs division for GMTV, probably the biggest network and news program here next to the BBC. And she said to me if I wanted some freelance work to send her my details (she gave me her card), but obviously she couldn't guarantee anything.

Funny how things turn out, isn't it?

ANZAC Day Tour

2005-04-28T16:42:00.000+10:00

Needless to say Anzac Day was amazing, but I do apologise for the lengthy entry that is to come. However, it's for my benefit to keep a good log of my adventures, and if you guys like to read it that's cool too! But never fear - I have used SUB-HEADINGS! Which, as we all know, makes reading so much easier because you can just skip to the parts that hold some interest to you. And lots of piccies helps too.

So, here we go!

DAY ONE - ARRIVAL IN ISTANBUL
Okay so the arrival probably wasn't as successful as it could have been. Got up at some ridiculous hour, like 3am, and I had booked a mini cab the day before to arrive at 4.30, to get me to Heathrow by 5. But I couldn't sleep and was pottering around for ages going crazy and stressing about details. And then my mini cab didn't turn up. So I rang them, asked what was going on, and they eventually sent a car out to me. At 5am. But I got there eventually, hopped on the plane and was on the way to Istanbul!

I flew with Malev airlines which are Hungarian, and they were really good - nice comfy seats, nice food to for an airline. We changed planes in Budapest about 2 hours later, and then arrived in Istanbul about two hours after that. On the way I met a few Aussies ... and by a few I mean the majority of all planes were filled with Aussies and Kiwis. In fact, everyone I met that weekend was either a backpacker who had been on the road for ages, or a Kiwi or Aussie who lived and worked in the UK. I don't think I met anyone who came all the way over from Australia for the ceremony.

ANYWAY.

Got to Istanbul and realised my ATM card didn't work. Luckily I had changed a little bit of money before I left, but other than that I was going to be relying on the meals they provided us with and my surival instinct (bred through suriving living out of home, at uni and working at a cafe!). In the end it became a challenge to survive four or five days in a foreign city with only 60 quid. And my visa cost me 20 Euro once I got there...

So I met up our tour operators and they drove us into Istanbul. I was freaking out at bit - we're talking a REALLY massive city. 14 million people. But being as tired as I was, I decided to go to bed and leave the exploring for the morrow...

DAY TWO - ISTANBUL

Meeting people, seeing the sites...

Today I decided to make my way to the Grand Bizarre and, with my trusty Time Out guide to Istanbul in my hand, I headed out onto the streets of Istanbul. It's really intimidating, walking around by yourself in that city. I hardly saw any women out, but the men were everywhere and they don't seem to do anything all day other than sit around, stand around, outside shops and smoke and watch people, occasionally yelling stuff at you. I got down the main road and was consulting my map and getting thoroughly confused (sometimes it's a good idea to know exactly where you are on the map before you head off) when I saw a group of people walking towards me who looked suspiciously Australian. The conversation went something like this:

ME: Hey, are you guys Australian?
THEM: Yeah!
ME: If you're heading towards the Grand Bizarre, mind if I join you?
THEM: For sure!

So I tagged along with them for a while and we heading towards the Grand Bazarre...

The Grand Bazarre

Along the way we stopped off at this mosque. Istanbul is the city of the mosques, it's just amazing how many there are! And a few times a day they broadcast their prayers from loud speakers so the wailing floats through the city, it's quite surreal.

Mosque on the way to the Grand Bazarre

Eventually we got to the Grand Bazarre. It has so many different entries and gates, we went in through this tiny doorway at the bottom of an alley, lined with shops. The Bazarre is just incredible. There are apparently 4000 shops inside, and you can buy anything and everything there. Having said that, there's a lot of the same, but it means they're willing to make good deals if you haggle them down enough.

It's quite an amazing place, and had I had the money I probably would've gone nuts, so it's probably just as well my ATM card didn't work!:) The people there were much more friendly and less creepy than the ones hanging around our hotel. I know it's probably because they had stuff to sell, but they also seemed happy just trying their English out on us and talking to us about Australia, and one guy taught us a few Turkish words too! We spent a good couple of hours there just walking around looking at things, and eventually left through another little doorway. As we were walking out onto the street we were harrassed by people selling fake perfumes, but we also heard a guy yelling out 'Fresh bread!' - seriously, Lauren (one of the girls in the group I was with) walked in and he pulled a loaf out of the oven, stuck in in a paper bag and gave it to her - it was just delicious!

Turkish Currency

Okay, so my prediction about no Euros was wrong - in Turkey, ANYTHING goes. They've still got their old currency circulating, so a lot of things are still adverstised as 5 million lira, for instance, whereas in the new currency it's only 5 lira. They've basically just chopped the zeros of the end. So there's those two, then they also accept Euros, American Dollars and Pounds at some places. They will seriously take almost anything because almost anything is worth more than their own currency.

Byzantine Tower

From there we walked to a little kebab shop for lunch and then on down the hill, just basically winging our way around with no real idea where we were going. We ended up at a major ferry terminal (some of Istanbul being on the European continent, some on the Asian Continent), and walked across a bridge, up the hill to the Byzantine Tower.

View across to the hill - Byzantine Tower visable at the top.

Hey look, it's me!

The Byzantine Tower is incredibly old - built in 582AD. That's the thing with Turkey, of course, is that it is such an incredibly old country and was a major trade route for centuries, that there's many things in it that are extremely old. From the top of the tower you have 360 degree views of Istanbul. Unfortunately the day was rather rainy so I probably didn't get the best pictures, but you can still see how prominent the mosques are, and how incredibly built-up the city is.

From there we wandered back towards the direction of the hotels we were staying at. It would have been nice to see the Blue Mosque but I ran out of time - I had to get back to the hotel in time for our tour Welcome Dinner.

The Welcome Dinner

I met up with our tour group in the hotel lobby and got myself some new travelling buddies - mostly kiwis, but again we're all living in the UK. From there we piled onto a bus and headed to what appeared to be a sporting club for our dinner. It was kind of disappointing, not going to a real Turkish restaurant or anything. But there was a belly dancer after a while, and we all go free beer because there had been so many organisational problems caused by the tour company. For instance, a couple of people in our group were by themselves after being separated from the friends they booked with - for some reason they were split up from their groups. And the rooms at the hotels weren't organised properly. Some people had a room to themselves with three other spare beds, while I know of one guy who ended up sleeping on the floor in someone's room.

But we had an okay night and headed back to the hotel ready for a very early morning...

DAY THREE - TO GALLIPOLI

A 5.30am wake-up call later, and we all met for breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Turkish breakfasts, we were to discover, were odd to say the least. Cucumber, hard-boiled egg, tomato, olives, fetta and crazy bread rolls were the stable breakfast wherever we went.

After breakfast we got into the bus and drove the four hours to the Gallipoli peninsular. By going two days before the service, we were able to walk around without the large crowds. We first went to the museum which is on a ridge opposite to the memorials. That was pretty interesting, but I wish we'd had more time there. Some of the more morbid things were a skull with a bullet in it, and a boot with the skeleton of the foot still in it. Those were kind of gross. But they also had collections of shrapnel and weaponry and the kits and clothes of the New Zealanders, Turks and Australians.

View from the museum over to the Peninsular.

The Digger kit

From there we drove down to Anzac cove and had a look around at North Beach and the cemeteries. It really is quite incredible to be there, to see so many graves, and read the inscriptions. Some of the kids that died there were only 17, 18 years of age. And when you look at those cliffs, you realise just how tough it must have been to get as far as they did.

The 'Sphinx' - a natural formation - and the area where the dawn service was held.

Looking out from the sphinx area towards the sea, and the set-up for the dawn service.

One of the beach cemeteries...

Me, at another beach cemetery

Anzac Cove

The grave of John Simpson, the digger who became famous, along with his donkey, for moving the wounded from the battlegrounds down to the beach hospital.

From there we drove up to the Lone Pine memorial. We really weren't given a lot of time there, but it was still great to be there. I saw the name 'Barr' and 'Aitkin' on the wall of names of men who died but whose graves are not known. Those are both the names of family of mine, although I wish I had investigated further before I left as to who I was looking for. Many of the cemeteries at the peninsular are mostly gravestones marking the spots where people probably lay. Many of the diggers who died there simply don't have graves. The space Lone Pine takes up - all of about 150m long, is where 2000 men died, allied and Turks. It really is incredibly humbling.

The Lone Pine memorial.

The remains of one of the trenches. The hillside has lots of overgrown ditches that were all once trenches.

From there we went up to the NZ memorial and had a look around there as well. That was the furthest point the Anzacs got to. They held the position for three days before they were pushed back from the Turks. It was a prime position as it oversaw the Dardenelles, and if they had captured the Dardenelles they would have been able to take over Constantinople (Istanbul)

To the Hotel!

We then drove two-and-half hours to our hotel, crossing on a ferry from European Turkey to Asian Turkey. It really is so weird to do that! We were driving along the coast and the sun was setting to our right, over European Turkey, while the moon was rising to our left, over Asian Turkey. That was really awesome.

We got to the hotel quite late, I discovered I had no hot water, and when I turned on the hot water tap in the sink brown water came out. So that wasn't the best way to end the evening!

DAY FOUR - RURAL TURKEY, AND A CAMP OUT

The Agean Sea

We woke up the next morning and looked outside and ... it was sunny, beautiful and the sky and sea were so beautiful and blue! We were right on the edge of the Agean sea, the water was crystal clear, and to our right were mountain ranges where you could see the tip of Mount Olympus, which we did when we drove past it later. That was really cool - the home of the Gods! These days it's called Mount Ida.

The beach at our hotel, looking out over the Agean. Now I want to go to Greece!

Driving past the mountains, Mt Olympus is just visible above the other mountains - it's the mountain peak with snow on it.

The 'Nomad' Village that never was...
We drove to what was supposed to be one of the few nomadic villages left in Turkey, but what turned out to be more of a business opportunity for Sammy, the guy whose tour company we were with. He's a sneaky fellow that one - fingers in every pie! One side of his business card is 'Sammys Travel Agency', while the other side is 'Sammy's Real Estate Agency'!.

The village was more like a few token women sitting around cooking for us, and a big rug sale. We got free drinks and food, but this was more a tax write-off for Sammy - basically, he had a deal goign with the Turkish government. He brings tourists to this village which is apparently a 'cultural icon' which the government is trying to preserve. Here we tourists get a speech about how if we buy rugs - which are made by tribal women are are, I will admit, authentic hand-made turkish rugs - the money will go back to the village. But because of that, they would not leave us alone which soon got incredibly irritating. I was very happy to leave soon after that!

Back at the hotel we all sat around the pool for a few hours in the sun. Having most of us come from England, we were all craving for sunshine and no matter how chilly the wind got, we were all determined to sit around in t-shirts and shorts (although some very brave girls got into their toggs) and soak up some sunshine. It was then time to rug up, pack up and start back to Gallipoli...

Camping out...

Firstly, let me say that I was so dissappointed to hear about all this uproar about the 'mess' the Anzac site was left in. Really, the focus should have remained on how 20,000 people came to Gallipoli to commemorate this occassion. No alcohol was allowed, which was great because things may have gotten hairy if it had been. But we had two bus stops, and every single person had to have their bags checked as we walked onto the site. As it was, we were bus number 168 into the site and had to walk 3kms to get there, and in the end there were 600 busses on the peninuslar! It was a logistical challenge-and-a-half! The Turkish army were there in force with semi-automatics at the ready which was a tad scary, so security was really tight.

But back to my original point - you put 20,000 in a really small space and no bins, you're going to have a mess, and I dare say there would have been even with bins. We took our rubbish with us, but many people wouldn't have. As it was, people had been there from 6 in the evening, so they would have had their share of rubbish. It really irritated me to hear that we were apparently 'disrespectful' when we were all anything but. All 20,000 people were well-behaved and very respectful towards the occassion. We all knew why we were there - to honour the dead. But it's a VERY long time to wait for the dawn service to start! We got there at ten and the prelude to the service didn't start til 4.30am. We were very lucky to get seats (in the wooden stands) and thousands of people walked in after us and weren't able to get seats anywhere. Many ended up climbing a little way into the hills behind the stands. As to the 'Stayin' Alive' thing I keep hearing about, they played the Bee Gees 'One Night Only' concert DVD just to keep us entertained - we had to watch SOMETHING for all those hours! And the Bee Gees are Australian, so in that they were appropriate. It makes me very embarrassed to be a journalist when you read all the stuff that has been written about the ceremony.

ANYWAY.

Sorry, slight grip there:).

It was freezing! I had a t-shirt, turtle-neck jumper, jumper, tour t-shirt, denim jacket, parker, gloves, beanie, scarf, long socks, jeans and I sat in my sleeping bag (indeed, we all looked like caterpillars sitting and standing around in sleeping bags!) and that was the only way I could keep anywhere near warm!

Camped out in the stands with my new Kiwi friends - Jody and Kris.

I am a tea-towel head.

DAY 5 - THE DAWN SERVICE

I must have managed some sleep sitting up, because the time passed more quickly than I thought it would. At 4.30am they had a Prelude to the service, which we'd had a preview of the night before. It was an incredible light and smoke show across the bay, accompanied with music played by a string quartet with didgeridoo (sp?), and a very moving mini-doco played on the big screens which included photos and stories from the troops, along with a letter written by a NZ colonel to his wife just a few hours before he died, which was very moving.

The HMAS Anzac was out in the bay circling around all night and was all lit up, and some of the sailors came on shore for the ceremony which was really cool too.

By this time the PM had arrived, along with all the other dignitaries, and then we could see Prince Charles arriving - from our view up in the stands we could see the big cavalcade moving down the road. When he arrived the service started which was very beautiful, lots of lovely music and readings. The only criticism I'd have about it was John Howard mentioning the English stuffing up on the day we lost so many lives - I didn't think the blame game needed to come into it at that point in time. The service finished with the Last Post as the sun rose over the hills, and the national anthems of Turkey, Australia and New Zealand. Corny as it sounds, standing there at Anzac Cove on that day, at dawn, and singing our national anthem was a really special thing.

Dawn rises over Gallipoli...

[EDIT: I'm trying to get some photos of the light show - my camera didn't take very good pics of it, but one of the other girl's camera did.]

The Australian Ceremony

When the Dawn Service was over we headed up to Lone Pine. We had been told to wait for the VIP busses to leave, which we thought they had, but as we walked out of the gates towards the Lone Pine track, we passed a VIP bus. And, being the curious cat that I am, I stopped right in front of it and looked to see who was inside and lo and behold, there's John Howard, his wife and Helen Clarke waiting to leave in the front seats! So I sat there and waved my flag at them and yelled out 'Yeah! Go Australia!'. The PM and I gave each other the thumbs up before I yelled out 'See you up the top Johnny!'. Heheee..It amused me, and him too...

Walking up the track to Lone Pine was lovely - started to get a bit warm along the way - and many people commented how if it was slightly difficult for us to walk up there, imagine how hard it must have been for the diggers with little water, carrying their packs and dodging bullets! The track went past a cemetery and past Shrapnel Valley. It also afforded amazing views out over the cove.

We eventually got to the top and found some seats quickly, as the place was filling up fast. None of the grave areas were roped off, and with so many people in such a small place people were soon forced to stand in between the graves. We had a few hours to wait until the ceremony started, and we soon tried to nod off to sleep.

After a while the PM turned up, as did Peter Cosgrove, and both got a warm welcome. I think it was more that they were high-profile Australians who made the effort to come. But also, and much to their credit, when they got there they spent ages walking around through the crowd talking to people, taking photos and signing autographs, which was really cool. Not soon after the Mexican Wave started up. It was a really electric atmosphere.

But perhaps my favourite part of the whole ceremony, and many people I've spoken to since have agreed with me, was when just before it began the MC came on the mike and invited any veterans in the crowd to come down and sit in the VIP area. Well, that was just really special because when the vets did walk down, everyone gave them a standing ovation and cleared a path for them. They must have felt so proud having thousands of Aussies paying such respect to them. And when they got to the VIP area there weren't enough seats but many of the 'dignitaries', including high profile military officers, gave up their seats for them.

Prior to the ceremony they had a thing called the 'Beating of the Flag' which is a very special military march, performed by the Navy, Air Force and Army. When that was over, we waited for Prince Charles to arrive before the ceremony started.

The view across from where we sat at Lone Pine, before the place filled up.

The Ceremony begins.

It was all a bit too religious based for my liking, and the first hymn was terribly long, but the choir were really good, as was the army band. The wreath laying ceremony was kind of irritating - every man and his dog got to lay a wreath! There were all these random, and irrelevant, Aussie politicians there who all got to lay wreaths. I really don't understand why the Premier of Tasmania was there, but there you go.

Again, the Last Post was played, followed by 2 minutes silence and then the National Anthem which again was a very special moment.

And then it was all over. Our ceremony was running late and we had known that we would have been pushed to walk to the NZ ceremony in time anyway, so we elected to stay and wait for a few hours for the busses to start filtering through. As it was, the NZ ceremony was delayed anyway so we could probably have made it. But shoulda coulda woulda. Waiting for the busses took ages as it was, and then once we got on a bus we pulled up on the road side not far from the site to wait for all the other Sammy's busses to turn up and sort out luggage. It really was terribly organised, nobody knew what was going on. But eventually we got back to Istanbul for our last night in Turkey.

The End

And that's about it! Okay, so that's got to be one of the longest blogs in history, and I don't blame you for not reading it and just looking at the pictures! God knows I'd probably do the same!:)

In conclusion, Anzac Day was definitely worth it, despite whatever the media back home are dissing us about, they were there and they saw how packed it was. Istanbul was scary, but although I'd like to go back some point I'm certainly in no rush to do so. I'm now more intrigued about Greece and Budapest!

And now - bed, for some much needed sleep! Oh, and once I get more pics I'll put them up.:)

By the way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHELLE!

I am wearing the jean pant.

2005-04-21T06:48:00.000+10:00

Off on my holiday tomorrow - I can't wait! Of course I have to leave at some ridiculous hour of the morning because the tubes, for all their thinking they're all that and a bag of chips, don't run early enough to get me to Heathrow by 5.30am. So I'm going to have to spend 25 quid on a mini cab.

However, it will be worth it I'm sure! Assuming I don't get terribly lost. And thankfully the Turkish government have sorted out the Lira ... to some extent. Speaking of which, I had this idea in my head the other day that I'd be using Euros, and then remembered that Turkey has that whole 'we took over Cyprus and we don't like the EU' thing going on, and were still using Liras. BUT, remember the game Where In The World is Carmen SanDiego? You could always find out where she was by certain things like pictures or the currency she was using, and she was often in Istanbul using Liras, or in France using francs. Now the Euro's come in, they're going to have to rethink a lot of that game! They could be all like 'she was caught cashing in Euros' - so what?! She could be anywhere on this giant continent!

I think too much about irrelevant stuff.

Anywho, I promise lots of pics when I get back:).

Most Over-Used Pun Ever Award goes to "Phantastic"

2005-04-17T05:57:00.000+10:00

The coolest thing about London is that you can just rock up to a theatre after work on a Friday night and see a show. Last night, on a total whim, I decided not to be completely buried in work all weekend and instead go and see Phantom of the Opera, which was just AMAZING. It's so cool being able to see professional theatre companies perfoming these big shows 6 nights a week, as well as matinee performances, and not have to clamour for tickets or wait for the show to come to town, like we do in BrisVegas.

And, like a big sissy girl, I cried during 'Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again' - I always think of Gran when I hear that song. But yes, totally awesome, the cast were fantastic - I think the guy who played Phantom is so much better than Michael Crawford. Lots of theatre-obsessed buffs out there are going to track me down and kill me for saying that, but the fact remains that this guy was awesome. As were the sets - really impressive, especially the masquerade scene.

So yes. I'll stop raving on about how cool Phantom and the theatre scene here is and actually write another assignment.

BUT IT'S JUST SO COOL!

Reading, Writing and Arithmetic

2005-04-10T12:55:00.000+10:00

I know I haven't updated for a couple of weeks but I've been Boring Mel, more or less. I've been attempting to catch up with uni work, and save some money. Also my editor and another writer have gone away on holidays so I'm going to be kept busy at work for a couple of weeks.

However, I finally booked my flights to Istanbul today, after much hassle. Basically, because all the airlines are hiking up their prices thanks to Anzac Day, if I wanted an airfare for under 300 quid I have to go on a dodgy airline and have a brief stop-over in Budapest on the way there and back. But that's the way the cookie crumbles, and it's my own fault for not getting organised earlier! Also, to get a flight under 400 quid I had to leave a day earlier, but it means I'll get to spend a full day in Istanbul before the tour gets under way, but I'll miss out on a day of work. But the extra night will be nice and it only costs an extra £19 at the hotel, so I think I can cope with that.

Anywho, I'm going to attempt to write at least one assignment this weekend... wish me luck, for I am the Queen of Procrastination. As is evidenced by the cake baking, kitchen cleaning, bathroom scrubbing, vacuuming, washing ...

Easter Weekend

2005-03-29T11:02:00.000+10:00

Firstly, it was so nice to get out of London! After spending faaaaaaaaar too much money on Saturday, I packed a few things Sunday morning and hopped on a train for Banbury ... or so I thought. I kind of sort of got on the wrong train and ended up in Swindon. So after a few public transport trips later I ended up in Oxford and met up with Alice, her mum, her stepdad and stepbrother, David, who lives in a village called Blakesly outside of Banbury. We walked around Oxford for a bit which was really awesome - some parts of it are incredibly old. I'm definitely going back when things are actually open and doing a tour of the university.

From there we headed back to Dave's house in Blakesley. It's this beautiful old vicarage, over 150 years old, and he lives in the top third of it and pays dirt cheap rent. It's all furnished by the landlord with beautiful antique furniture, and has a master bedroom, spare single bedroom, guest bedroom complete with ensuite, living room and kitchen - he pays half of what I pay per month for a tiny little room in Wimbledon!

Anywho, this is the house and gardens:

This morning we went for a drive to Henley-on-Thames which is a beautiful little village which is apparently famous for its regattas. It was really cute, and again parts of it were really really old.

Lots of swans there too which, incidentally, are really ugly creatures when they're not swimming...

From there we drove to Windsor. The castle wasn't open but we had a quick drive around it - it is absolutely MASSIVE. Buckingham Palace has nothing on this piece of brickwork. I'm going to have to go back and do a tour, I'm so intrigued now. These are some pics Alice took out the window as we drove past the castle. It was far too busy to park anywhere, even with the castle not being open.

David was nice enough to drive us back to Wimbledon, so the chances of my getting lost were not quite as high as they might have been if I'd taken a train:D.

All-in-all, a great couple of days and I got to see a bit of the countryside ... and lots of sheep.:)

Whatever the Weather...

2005-03-20T03:15:00.000+10:00

The weather the past four or five days has been absolutely brilliant! And by brilliant I mean sunny, dry and WARM! Yes, you heard it first here, temperatures in England can get to the high teens *gasp!*.

It's so nice to be able to go outside and not feel cold and, rather than wishing you'd worn an extra layer, be able to take one off! On our lunch break yesterday we went to a pub called the Moby Dick which is right on the Thames, which actually looked blue for the first time since I've been here, and the sun was shining and the weather was just perfect. It's lovely to get some fresh air and not freeze.

It also seems like the entire mood of the city has lifted with the weather change. People don't seem as grumpy on the tube, although they're still rude, and I have a feeling people are smiling more, or it could just be I'm delusional with happiness over the warm weather.

Anywho, I spoke to Linda last night who headed off today to live in Shanghai with her boyfriend for a while. That's got to be tough, living in a country where you don't know the language, but I'm sure they'll have an absolute blast and see lots of amazing things.

And I'm going to see Les Miserables tonight, which should be awesome - I've only ever seen in done in amateur productions (which were great!), so seeing a professional company do it I hope will be worth it. I've got a really good seat, but I think just being there, in London, seeing a show on the magnitude of Les Mis, will be enough to keep me happy.:)

And now, I've a very busy day ahead, so go away and don't bother me because I'm much too important;).

Goodbye Andy!

2005-03-18T04:45:00.000+10:00

Last night was the farewell for Andy with everyone from Pipsqueak at a Turkish restaurant at London Bridge...and here are the pics:

And Happy St Patrick's Day!:)

A Marketplace of Ideas

2005-03-15T08:36:00.000+10:00

This weekend I found myself walking along Portobello Road, Notting Hill, through the markets, which are absolutely amazing, not to mention HUGE. I spent a good two hours there and even then I only quickly skipped through the clothes section. It was just HUGE. They have everything from fresh fruit and veg to antique furniture, jewellery, homewares, clothes, shoes, leather work ... nothing like I've ever seen before, a very different market to those of Hong Kong, which meant no knock-offs or stolen goods, but cool stuff. I went a little mad and bought a whole heap of vintage costume jewellery - it was uber cheap! On the way to the markets from Notting Hill station I passed this:

George Orwell's house

From Portobello Road I headed off to Harrod's, so I got to see a bit more of London that I had not seen yet. After Harrod's, which is just amazing - the Egyptian Hall is incredible - I headed off to Harvey Nichols for some Sushi and found the place absolutely packed, so I didn't really enjoy it as much as I did last time I was there. However, I made an appointment at the hair salon there, Daniel Hersheson's, who is credited with Kylie Minogue as one of his clients. And no, I was not prepared to pay the £250 he charges for a haircut, but I was prepared to pay the £65 for one of the other stylists...so I guess we'll see if that money is worth it next weekend:).

Ah, fickle vanity;).

So after Harvey Nicks (courtesy of AbFab) I decided, somewhat stupidly, to walk to Piccadilly through St James' park which was gorgeous, and it meant I got to walk past Buckingham Palace, and the Marble Arch (below), but I was really wearing the wrong shoes and my poor feet were SO SORE by the time I got to Piccadilly I just searched for a seat somewhere, anywhere! BUt all the daffodils are now in bloom in St James' and it was just beautiful. I took lots of piccies:

Marble Arch

So I got to Piccadilly, sat down, walked to Leceister Square and tried to get tickets for Les Mis, found they were sold out for that night, so tried to get tickets for Phantom to find they were also sold out, which is REALLY weird...usually you can just rock up and get a ticket, as these are shows which play not for days or months but YEARS. I was dissappointed, but took it as a sign from the Gods and so tottled off home, and ended up walkign to Waterloo. A REALLY stupid thing to do when my feet were as sore as they were, but I'm a glutton for punishment. Now the sun is up much later - ie. not setting til about 7pm - I managed to get this lovely picture from the Jubilee Bridge:

London Eye and the Dali Museum on the left, the River Thames, and the Houses of Parliament on the Right

And yesterday I spent the day curled up in bed feeling sick. And because I slept during the day I couldn't sleep last night, which was actually alright - My Fair Lady was on!

Home Sweet Home

2005-03-10T18:35:00.000+10:00

There are some days here where I really wonder 'what the hell AM I doing here?!'. Mostly it's brought on by loneliness - I still hardly know anyone, and apart from Alice I don't have any friends here really, and I'm finding it very difficult to make friends. People just don't seem to be willing to make friends over here! There's a lot to be said for Australian attitudes, most of it good.

Another thing that brings it on is news from home, when things happen that I feel I should be there for. Like my sister getting assaulted at her work - I want to be able to track down the guy and kick the crap out of him - or my other sister WEARING MY CLOTHES! ooooh - so angry! I gave her the best tirade I could over the phone, but it would have been far more satisfying in person!

And then I think to myself that this is one of those 'once in a lifetime' things, where I'm living somewhere with the opportunity to travel to so many other cool places. And I wonder what I've got back home - no job, no 'home' as such, but all my friends. I'm not coming back for a while, because I know homesickness is a common thing, and I'm sure things will pick up come summer time, and I've still got so much travel I want to do over here.

And now I'm listening to 'David Hasselhoff is Stalking Me', written and produced by my good friends Tony and Alex, aka Tour de Piss. And for the moment everything is okay:)

White Men Can't Jump ... and White (English) Girls Can't Dance!

2005-03-08T05:22:00.000+10:00

Is what I've learned from this weekend.

After a fairly boring week at work, Alice and I went to Tiger Tiger, this massive club in Picadilly, on Friday night. It's about four floors with different areas and really awesome boogie music! So needless to say Alice and I, after a jug of cocktails and cowboy shots (which were actually the equivalent of two shots in one glass), were the centre of attention on the dance floor.:) Those English girls just can't dance! I'm not sure whether it's because they've got no rhythm or were too worried about messing up their hair and make-up... but I'm sure it's my mission from God *insert the spirit of James Belushi* to teach them the ways of the boogie.

Me trying to look sexy when really all I look is drunk ... but it's okay, because I'm AWARE of it!:)

Alice and I in Picadilly

Sunday I decided to do some of the touristy things that I haven't done yet, and so headed off to the Tower of London, which was just incredible. It still hasn't sunk in just how old it is - parts of it are over 900 years old! The highlights were definitely the Crown Jewels, and the Bloody Tower, which has carvings in the walls from prisoners, including Walpole and Thomas Dudley. They Yeoman, the traditional guards of the Tower, were fantastic as well - they do tours but I didn't go on one, but I just stopped and listened if I came across them. Very dramatic speeches they give, and very fine livery they wear! Instead, I bought a tour book when I got my ticket, which proved to be really helpful. It's written in a logical order and it means I could go at my own pace around the complex. In all, to see everything thoroughly, it took me about 2 and a half hours. And I finally bought something for myself! A necklace from the Crown Jewels shop. I seem to be spending a lot of money on gifts for people ... and then the postage. Anyway, I highly recommend the Tower of London!

Tower of London from outside, with the Tower Bridge in the background

Inside one of the towers - this was probably a private chamber for a person of status

"Quoth the Raven" ... Legend has it when the crows/ravens/whatever fly away from the Tower, disaster will befall London. So the Yeomen keep their wings clipped, just in case...

Next stop was the National Gallery, which just blew my mind! They have some of the most famous pieces in the world there - Boticelli's "Venus and Mars", a whole heap of Van Gogh's (who I just adore - I bought a mini print of "Sunflowers", which just took my breath away), Monets, Cezannes (not as many as the Tate though), and they usually have a collection of Da Vincis, but apparently they're on loan in Italy at the moment. The building itself is as much a work of art as the collection it holds - it's absolutely stunning inside. Oh there were so many more amazing paintings but I can't remember them right now ... but I bought a book on the Masterpieces at the Gallery from the bookshop, to help job my memory later in life:D. Suffice it to say I could live in the National Gallery with nothing but the paintings around me and be the happiest girl in the world:).

And the light was better yesterday, so I got a few good pics of London:

Looking towards South Bank from the Houses of Parliament, we see the London Eye and the Aquarium, part of which houses the Dali museum, a planned stop next weekend!

Big Ben

The gates at Trafalga Square at the promenade leading to Buckingham Place and St James' Park

A view towards the city from St James' Park. In the mid-ground is the parade ground for the Royal Cavalry.

And now finally, here are some pics from the snow we've been getting a few times a week. These are taken on my way to work a couple of weeks ago:

View from my bedroom window

Lakes Road, which I walk down every day...

Just walkin'...

And I've forgotten my glasses today, so apologies if there are many a typo...

I Heart Picasso

2005-03-01T04:10:00.000+10:00

This weekend had it's moments of fervour, firstly with an evening spent in the company of Alice in Leceister Square. We had planned on going to see Les Miserables but they only had single seat tickets left, so we decided against that and instead ate a whole heap of steak, followed by a whole heap of delicious dessert from a fantastic place called Rendezvous. Then we made the mistake of going to see the Aviator - far too long for what it is, and what it is is far too Hollywoodised for my liking. And no matter how much facial hair you put on Leondardo DiCaprio, he'll still look like he's twelve years old. So when he's making out with Cate Blanchett it looks REALLY weird.

Saturday was spent doing nothing much at all - sleep and cleaning prevailed, and a wee bit of shopping.

Yesterday we went to the Tate Modern Art Museum which was just incredible - they have Monet's 'Water Lillies' and Picasso's 'Girl in a Chemise', as well as the rest of their collection of Picasso's, Cezannes, Matisses, Brusques, a couple of Dalis.... needless to say I went a little mad. And their collection of Warhols is amazing - they've got the Marilyn Monroe piece and the red Jackie O... *sigh!* They've got a couple of exhibitions on their at the moment but nothing to entice me to pay some ridiculous amount to get it. Having said that, the Tate is free, they ask for a donation at the door but it's not pushed on you or anything, which is nice. It's built in this old powerstation, so it's absolutely MASSIVE. Apparently they get 5 million visitors a year, which doesn't surprise me - even yesterday, a Sunday afternoon, absolutely freezing and miserable, it was still really busy. I know where they make their money though, apart from the exhibition - the gift shop! That was my contribution.

The Turbine Hall - the main entry to the gallery. It's kinda big...

Crazy Optical Art - seems to be a new thing. The things in this room really messed with my eyes...lots of lines and aluminium and suspension. It was cool!

The view of St Paul's Cathedral from the Tate

Now I've done the Tate, next on the list is the National Potrait Gallery and the Salvador Dali Museum. I can't wait for the latter - bit of a Dali fan!

For now however, it's another week of work ahead. Hooray for me.

Oh, and I finally sorted out my Gallipoli tour - it's definitely happening, all paid for. Just have to book some flights to and from Istanbul and it's all sorted. Tops!

Super Snow Me

2005-02-23T10:41:00.000+10:00

The snow kept coming last night and again today - it's just magical! I was walking home last night from the gym and the snow was falling and the footpaths were covered in snow, as was all the trees and houses, and just with the street lights it was so beautiful and peaceful.

And I was kind of covered in ice by the time I got home, but that's really beside the point. I took some photos this morning on my way to work so I'll try and post them later.

As to the news about work, one of the editors has resigned and will be leaving in a couple of weeks, at which point I will be taking over editing the Tracy Beaker website! Tracy Beaker is this show that is incredibly popular about some kid who is an orphan and lives in a kiddies home somewhere...and by the sounds of things she should probably stay locked up there. But that's really beside the point. The point is the website is very popular. So I'll be working with a designer and editing what the Tracy Beaker people send to us and making sure it's all up and online. And I'll keep writing for Stargate and CSI as well, which will keep me very very busy no doubt, but at least it's variety. As Gran used to say, "It's there for variety!" (*insert everyone else* "who is Variety? Where is Variety? If Variety isn't here then I can eat it!").

So fun and games and all that jazz.

Tracy Beaker - or TB as I've affectionately called her:) - will keep me going through til January. Stargate looks like it'll be finishing in August at this point, and CSI a bit after that.

And I had my first Yoga class last night and my back muscles are VERY VERY SORE today. Ouch ouch ouch. It's been a long time since I've used those. In fact, it's been a long time since I've used any muscles:). Some of the class was reminiscent of some gym training, but I can also see how a lot of it would be very beneficial to gymnasts if incorporated into training. *insert Gym Coach Mel here*

And now, back to all these things ... like writing a feature article about Angels. Riveting stuff, really.

Snowy McSnowSnow

2005-02-22T10:59:00.000+10:00

It started snowing today!!! Terribly exciting for one who has never seen snow fall before. Most of it has now melted, but they've forecast more for tomorrow! Here are some piccies my boss took for me at work:

Also, exciting newsish work - but I'll leave that for when things are bit more set in concrete. Suffice it to say things are going to get busier, but more varied.:)

Celebrity Watch

2005-02-18T16:22:00.000+10:00

I got a little distracted tonight on my way home - ie. I was daydreaming, big surprise - and missed my stop (Waterloo) so I got off at Westminster with the intention of catching a tube back one stop but the platform itself was PACKED. I had time to kill and decided to walk across the bridge to Waterloo instead. I'm glad I did - Houses of Parliament lit up at night in the drizzling rain is kinda cool - eerie, and more foreboding, if that's possible.

Then I was walking along the South Bank near the London Eye, mind my own business tonight, when who should walk by but JERRY HALL!

So that was bizzarro world.

More bizzarro world was she had someone holding her umbrella for her. And what was SHE doing that made her apparently so uncapable of holding her own umbrella? Smoking a cigarette.

TSK. Celebrities!

So that all happened on my way to dinner at Vauxhall with Jaimee where I met a bunch of Aussies, one kiwi and one Brit and had a really yummy dinner at this crazy little Ethiopian restaurant. Tres delicious. And cheap too! Only £9 each, the service was fantastic, the food delicious and filling, and a lovely atmosphere. It was good to meet more Aussies and talk to more people outside of my little sphere.

I also had my first appointment at the gym yesterday - it was great! I'd forgotten how good it feels to work out and have a good stretching session. I also had a lovely swim and a spa and nice hot shower...I like this gym! I have another appointment on Saturday and I'm hoping to book in for the dance class on Saturday as well.

Meanwhile, there may be hiccup in the Gallipoli plan.... more news on that as it develops.

Back to Kerrin in the studio!

Wimbledon

2005-02-13T12:13:00.000+10:00

Today I decided,on a bit of a whim, to go to the Wimbledon Law Tennis Centre and Museum and I'm really glad I went. All my childhood dreams of being an international tennis star, although dashed not long after the dreams arose, helped to keep my excitement humming.

After a little bit of geographical displacement, I eventually got there - and just in time for a tour! It was really awesome - I got to sit in Centre Court and Court One and see the press centre (another dream, mostly dashed seeing as Sports journalism isn't exactly my forte....yet) and a whole heap of other cool stuff. The tour went for about and hour-and-a-half, and the price of £13.45 included museum entry as well, so it was well worth it.

The museum was REALLY impressive - they've got an amazing collection of things from a whole heap of awesome players, right back from Rod Laver through to Pete Sampras and Steffi Graf and the Williams sisters etc etc. Anywho, the photos turned out okay, and a picture says a thousand words apparently, so here they are:

Court One. Interestingly, or perhaps ridiculously, Court One and Centre Court are not played on at any other time of the year other than Wimbledon. As soon as the championship is over, they take down the nets and start on grass preparations for the following year.

Junior Championships Board - including such names as R Federer and Miss M Hingis

Henman Hill, where they set up a huge tellie so that people with Ground Passes, as oppose to court tickets, can watch the action at Centre Court and Court 1.

One of the Centre Court entrances

Centre Court

Centre Court ... and ME!

Press Seats at Court 1 ... Bide your time, Mellie, bide your time...

Entrance to the Millennium Building, where the players hang out - includes a MASSIVE gym, physios, private gardens, restaurants...it's kinda cool.

Player's reception...obviously:D

Press Centre in the Millennium building...I should be so lucky.

The Desk in the press centre where the players sit.

Memorabilia, including Steffi Graf's outfit from the last time she won Wimbledon, Boris Becker's shoes and raquet, Monica Seles' dress, Pat Cash's sweat band and wrist band...

Venus Williams' personalised shoes.

The coveted trophies...

A Loverly Bunch of Coconuts.

2005-02-12T04:09:00.000+10:00

Last night was lots of drunken frivolity...again. I went out with the people from work for goodbye drinks for one of the guys. We went to this pub at London Bridge, just across from the Borough Markets. When I was leaving about 11pm they were already unloading all the produce for the next day. The place is huge! I'm defintely going back next weekend to get lots of fresh fruit and veg and flowers and things.

So anyway, back to the drinking, while we were there I met up with my friend Jaimee who I used to work with at Justice. She's been here for about six months now and it was really awesome to catch up with her. Hopefully next week I'll be going out to dinner with her and some of her Aussie friends - expand my circle a bit.:)

I was one of the last to leave and, being a bit intoxicated, upon finding the entrance to the London Bridge tube closed it didn't occur to me that there may be other entrances. So I went wandering off in search of another tube station. By myself, in the rain, late at night, and no idea where I was - probably not the best idea I've ever had but at least the intoxication meant I wasn't scared:D. So eventually I came across a tube station, caught it back to London Bridge, changed trains, changed again at Waterloo. By this time, I really needed a bathroom, so I went to the one at Waterloo and they charge 20p to use the toilets!!!! And they only take 20p coins or two 10p coins. Just as well I had a 20p coin on me...

So anyway, back on the train, I had sobered up sufficiently by the time I got to Wimbledon to consider that taking a taxi home would be wise.

I walked into our building and the resident cat was there curled up on one of the doormats. He's so cute! Big and fluffy and white with orange spots! We've built up quite a repore. He followed me all the way upstairs and came into the flat and explored for a little bit while I defrosted a bit of mince for him.

And really, considering my late night and far too many glasses of wine, today I'm feeling quite chirpy. It's all about Vitamin B, people.

And the Brits have done it again!

2005-02-10T04:45:00.000+10:00

http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1407814,00.html

I'm not quite sure what to think of this...

It had to happen sooner or later...

2005-02-08T09:02:00.000+10:00

I think it's about time I put something stupid on this blog, and not leave all the stupid and raving and rambling to my other webblog which, for reasons pertaining to my reputation, only certain people are allowed to see:D.

So here we go!

I'm Super - Performed by Big Gay Al

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bombs are Flying,
People are Dying,
Children are Crying,
Politicians are Lying too..

Cancer is Killing,
Texaco spilling,
The whole world's gone to hell..
But how are you?

I'm super, thanks for asking!
All things considered, I couldn't be better I must say!
I'm feeling super, no nothing bugs me!
Everything is super when you're..
Don't you think I look cute in this hat!?

I'm so sorry, Mr Cripple..
But I just can't feel too bad for you right now
Because I'm feeling, so insanely super!
That even the fact that you can't walk
Can't bring me down!

He's super, thanks for asking!
All things considered, he couldn't be better he must say!
Yes, i'm super! No, nothing bugs me!
Everything is super when you're..
Don't you think I look cute in this hat,
These little pants, This matching tie,
That I got at Merv's?!

I'm super, in the barracks and the trenches as well
Big Gay Al says, 'Do ask, Do tell'
Yes he's super, and he's proud to relay
Every-thing-is-super-when-you're-gay..
When you're gay!

A busy weekend.

2005-02-07T12:30:00.000+10:00

This weekend I kept myself very busy during the day. It was good to go out into town today and refire the brain cell that says 'be exicited - you're in London!'. Yesterday was confined to Wimbledon, however, where I bought a few things for my room - sheets, pillowcases, doona - and did a few errands, like sending mail and dropping off my coat for dry-cleaning, FINALLY. Hehe, it was funny, I handed the coat to the woman behind the counter and she looked at it and then said 'well, we'll do our best'. It was kinda dirty. She said they'll have a couple of goes at it.

Today I got up late and headed to Knightsbridge with the intention of going to Harrods, only to realise while I was reading my guide book on the tube that Harrods is closed on Sundays. So I went to Harvey Nichols instead, and I can now say with confidence I HEART HARVEY NICHOLS. It's totally awesome! They have the most amazing food hall on the top level - absolutely incredible range of food, and three different cafes. I had lunch at the biggest sushi train I've ever seen - it was enourmous! And the food was fantastic.

After that, I wandered down stairs through the levels and fell in love with clothes. They have everthing there - Marc Jacobs, Dolce and Gabbana, DKNY, Stella McCartney etc etc etc. And then I gave in and bought some Lacome juicy tubes and got a gift pack with it, and got sucked in to Dior makeup. Dammit, it's just so good!

I eventually left and hopped back on the tube to Covent Garden. Sundays there are great - they've got a whole heap of street performers and the markets and just a fantastic atmosphere. Then I went to the Australia Shop to top up on Vegemite, and wandered off again and somehow found myself in China Town. I have no idea how I got there,but I'm glad I did. Preparations for Chinese New Year are in full swing, and the place was packed. I got me an egg tart, and it was real tasty:D. I also visited a couple of Chinese supermarkets and got some pork buns and bok choy and tea and things. I love Chinese supermarkets! Then wandered to Piccadilly Circus and back home.

It's so tough shopping sometimes.:D

Chinatown today

Last night I booked a Gallipoli tour for Anzac Day. This year being the 90th anniversary, it's probably going to be pretty busy, so I booked well ahead. The tour itself is pretty awesome - four days in total, we start in Istanbul and stay in a hotel there overnight, after a welcome dinner with bellydancers and then a trip to a local nightclub. The next day we head to Gallipoli for a look at the War Museum and the trenches etc with a tour guide. The idea is we'll be there two days before the Dawn Service so we'll have lots of time to see the place. We'll then go to a 'luxury' hotel and relax there and have a big buffet dinner.

The next day we're going to visit a couple of rural Turkish villages. One of them is apparently the last example of really old-skool Turkey. We have an early dinner at the hotel that night, then head off to get a prime position at Lone Pine.

The next day is obviously the Dawn Service, and later in the afternoon we head back to Istanbul where we stay overnight and leave the next day.

It's going to be really awesome and it's CHEAP and a lot of meals are included, so i'm really looking forward to it.

HOORAY!

Oh, and I had a conversation with an Indian in a London souvenir store about the Australian cricket team today.

Although I couldn't understand half of what he said.

But he had been to Brisvegas twice, Sydney and Cairns, and the only reason he went to Australia was to see cricket matches.

Gallipoli

2005-02-06T10:41:00.000+10:00

I'm giving very good thought to going to Instanbul/Gallipoli for Anzac Day. Flight Centre have a four day package which includes hotels in Instanbul, coach transfers, and some meals, and a cruise on the Bosphorus, and flights for only £99 starting price. I'd love to do it, and the trip allows time for exploring Istanbul.

Hmm...the possibilities are ENDLESS!

Beauty/Fashion Advice from a London-based Lass

2005-02-04T04:22:00.000+10:00

Here's a few things you desperately need if you're planning on staying in London at any length of time:

1. Baby oil - it's super cheap, so put heaps in a really hot bath and soak for ages. Your skin will get really dry here, despite all the damp in the air, especially seeing as you're going to be covering it all up. Make sure the bath is really hot to get the circulation pumping - another consequence of being cold is the lack of circulation, especially to legs, hands and feet.

2. Lip balm, and LOADS of it! For those of you who, like me, enjoy the fruitilicious smells of Body Shop lip balm, there's heaps of Body Shop shops here. But their lip balm isn't necessarily the best to combat the cold here. Instead, try lip glosses that leave a really thick coat on your lips, like juicey tubes which I think are made by Lacome.

3. Drink plenty of bottled water - while the tap water is drinkable, it tastes disgusting. Bottled water is super cheap anyway. I buy the six-packs of 1.5L vittel waters and keep them at work. Apart from the obvious dryness cold windy weather is going to give you, you'll be loaded with tea which dehydrates!

4. Face wipes - I've found these awesome tea-tree oil face wipes over here. They're great to get rid of make-up and because they've got the tea-tree oil in them they heal skin as well. But it's not just for getting rid of make-up - after a day in the city, you're going to end up with a thin layer of grime on your face from smog and cigarette smoke and god knows what else. It's amazing how much dirt you wipe off your face at the end of a day.

5. While heeled boots are really awesome, a large percentage of the streets in London are still old cobblestones, a lot of which the grouting in-between the stones and bricks has worn away. I learned the hard way that heeled boots were not made for walkin', after tripping over numerous times and ending up with really sore ankles and knees. Unless it's a special occassion, it's all about flat comfortable shoes.

6. Hair irons are a must if you like straight hair - The wind and rain here will destroy blow-dried hair unless you have ironed it straight. Get a decent quality one.

7. Still on hair, get yourself a REALLY good conditioner. Let's face it, when you've got long or thick hair and you don't dry it before you go out in maximum 6 degree weather, your head is going to freeze off and roll away down the street. So it's really important to dry it every day, but for that reason it's also really important to use a really good thick conditioner and probably a leave-in conditioner as well. I use a spray in leave-in conditioner, but hair masques are REALLY big over here.

8. Hand cream - even when wearing gloves your hands are going to get really dry. I carry around hand cream with me wherever I go because applying more than once a day is often necessary.

9. Get a decent moisturiser for your face and one for the rest of you - a decent face moisturiser needs UV protection, even in the dreary weather here. And get a really thick, oil-based moisturiser especially for your legs, even if you don't usually use oil-based moisturisers.

Having said all of that, here's the dish on fashion for the winter season coming up - eventually - in oz:

1. Cowboy boots are going to be HUGE - not necessarily leather, although they're quite popular, but suede as well. About calf-high, often with a bit of detail, and scrunched at the top. Most people are wearing them over jeans.

2. Sheepskin wool vests - again, really huge, although I'm not a fan of the ones that use real sheep skin, because it's usually from one-year-old lambs that have only been shorn once. The wool itself though is pretty important over here. Worn over long-sleeved sweaters with jeans and usually a pair of Ugg boots or cowboy boots.

3. Speaking of the Ugg, the designer ones were still in this season. Find Uggs with belts around them that tighten them to your calves. They're uber comfortable and warm. Ah, the humble Ugg....

4. Wellington boots were in for a while, although I'm not a huge fan, but they were generally knee-high and all sorts of crazy patterns, which I'm sure the more eclectic people will appreciate.

5. Forget black and brown coats, get yourself a pink or a white/cream one, and one that emphasises the waste - ie. tapered in or with a belt. It's all about figure accentuating coats, not figure-hiding coats.

6. The classic pin-striped suit was huge for women this year - long pants and a fitted jacket.

7. As always, designer handbags were huge, especially from D&G, Fiorelli (which have the most beautiful bags ever seen over here!) and, of course, Louis Vuitton. If you haven't, like most normal people. got the budget for these and can't get a knock-off, Accessorize stores hold a whole heap of gorgeous bags. Accessorize are EVERYWHERE over here, even in Waterloo train station, and I know they're springing up more and more in Oz, so get yourselves there and check out their handbags.

8. While on the subject of Accessorize, they also have a whole heap of really gorgeous jewellery. The Boho look, courtesy of Sienna Miller, was also huge. We're not talking smelly hippy Boho, but classy boho. Heaps of intricate jewellery, detailed belts, bright colours, scarves. If you've got any of this stuff left over from 'back in the day', drag it out and freshen it up.

9. Jeans - the humble denim will never go away, and this season was no exception. Get yourself a decent pair of fitted jeans and some awesome detailed belts to kit it out with. It's all about accessorising this season, so belts, bags and jewellery are all there to dress up jeans.

And now, that I've wasted a good hour, I'm going to actually do some work:D.

A few things...

2005-02-02T00:23:00.000+10:00

It doesn't matter where you go in the world:

1. Real Estate agents will treat you like garbage and try and screw you over if you're renting;
2. I will always lose socks;
3. I will always be confronted with screaming children in supermarkets;
4. There will always be bad TV shows;
5. People will be obsessed with their weight; and
6. Gwen Stefani will always rock.

Australia Day Pics!

2005-01-30T02:55:00.000+10:00

Hooray!

Crazy Sydney lads.

The perfect football jersey.

The guy with the scarf...

Alice having a pose.

That Hat was stolen...and then stolen back.

It's hat guy again!

If you're going to be patriotic, at least do it in style.

WHAT IS WITH THIS?!!??!

Beanie McBeanBean. Courtesy of some souvenir store in the Queen Street Mall, for five bucks ... Made in China

Stylin'.

Ironic headlines.

2005-01-29T03:58:00.000+10:00

"Howard's tough stance on migrants attracts voters"

"Howard denies refugee policy is rascist"

Sound familiar?

It's Michael Howard, leader of the conservative opposition party in Britain, wanting to tighten control of refugees entering Britain. He wants an Australian-style system, apparently.

Amusing from my point of view.:) Ah, irony.

A License to Dance

2005-01-28T03:59:00.000+10:00

So apparently pubs need a license to allow dancing. WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?! Hence, in our Australia Day celebrations last night at the local Walkabout, we were kicked off the furniture (we were dancing on it) and told 'This is only a pub'. The Brits really need to get a sense of fun.

The Walkabout was PACKED with every single Aussie in Wimbledon, and they played lots of Aussie music like INXS and Silverchair and the Living End, the latter there was much jumping up and down and head-banging to. Heaps of drunk Aussies, which was great - you get a few Aussies together in this town, and it's not hard to do, and it's just chat chat chat chat chat. I also found amusing when this guy walked up to another guy and they shook hands and said 'g'day mate, how you going? can i buy you a drink?". That doesn't happen here - it's a very Aussie male thing to shake hands with a friend I think. Here they just sort of grunt at each other.:) But it was good to be surrounded by Aussies again, you do tend to miss the carefree attitude we tend to have, especially in pubs.

So all in all it was a great night, spoke to heaps of people from BrisVegas, quite a few from Sydney, stole a guys Fosters hat, stole a guy's scarf, which Alice used to mop up a beer spill and then handed it back to him, stole a sign from a construction site and put it on a car ... the sign had been moved this morning to another car ... and ended up absolutely reeking of cigarette smoke and beer. As such, I'm going to have to get my coat dry-cleaned. Luckily I've got a spare. As soon as Alice has uploaded the photos we took last night, I'll post them up.

As for everyone back home - HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!

Observations of the NATURAL kind...

2005-01-26T03:45:00.000+10:00

Just a few things I haven't mentioned yet, but have been thinking about. Firstly, the variety of birds over here is amazing! I'm not quite sure why I've noticed it, and I'm not saying we haven't got a great variety back home, but I think it's because here they're so different and ... stereotypically English in a way. Cute little robins and blue birds and swans and geese and ducks and all sorts of cute little finch-like chirpy things. Very cute.

Also there was a fox outside our work the other day, which was rather weird...he was kind of cute though, wandering around scavaging and doing fox-like things. And there appears to be an abundance of squirrels in certain areas. They're REALLY cute, and put the humble possum to shame. I love possums, but when you compare somethng that looks like a giant rat with a squirrel, the choice is made up quite easily in terms of 'adorableness'.

And, although it's not really a 'natural' thing because I doubt the ones I'm wearing are really made out of sheeps wool and skin, but whoever invented the Ug boot should be given a medal and a bunch of flowers and a nice tasteful gift that shows we're not cheap, but we're not wasting tax-payers money either (I think I learned a thing or two at Justice!).:)

EuroDisney update!

2005-01-25T16:02:00.000+10:00

We survived EuroDisneyland!! After leaving at some ungodly hour of the morning to get to the train station on time, I fell asleep on the train and missed the channel crossing and all, which is only 20 minutes anyway, but when I awoke the sun was rising over the French countryside and it was just gorgeous. Little cute villages with quaint little houses and churches, and chimneys chugging out smoke. It was just adorable! (Side note - forgot to mention something else adorable - they mail is delivered THROUGH A SLOT IN THE DOOR!!!)

So of course I had a croissant with jam for breakfast. We changed trains at Lille which was FREEZING. Why? because for some reason they've decided this huge major train station in a freezing part of France does not need proper walls. So we waited around there for a bit and froze, got on a train and wound up in Marne de Vallee, the Disneyland station. From there it was a quick train ride to Bussy Saint Georges - Chassey where our hotel was. It's an eeerie town, obviously built to accommodate tourists, of which there were few because it was the low season. So it was almost deserted, and all the buildings look the same. After checking in and finding our room had the most hilarious smallest bathroom ever (below) we headed off to our first day of Disneyland adventure!

SMALLEST. BATHROOM. EVER.

The entrance to Disneyland is pretty spesh, and there's a place called Disney Village just outside the station which is a collection of touristy things, like a HUGE Planet Hollywood restaurant and a big expensive souvenir store. Interestingly, we had to have our bags checked to go to the village, but there was no security at all at the entrance to the actual park, which I found surprising. I was at least expecting a bag check...but yes, crazy french.

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

First stop was Fantasyland and Alice's Curious Labyrinth, in which we went a little mad. Me, because of my obsession with Alice In Wonderland, and Alice, well, because her name is Alice. Unfortunately we didn't actually see Alice or the Mad Hatter or the March Hare - the tea party was closed for refurbishments. But I did get to see the vowel-singing, pipe-smoking caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, the white rabbit, Mome Raths, and we got to go in the Queen of Hearts castle. And we saw a rather mad Queen of Hearts, crazily enough.

And of course, we had to do the tea cups:

After that, there was Big Thunder Mountain, which we ended up going on about 3 times over the weekend, most of Frontier Land, the Pirates of the Carribbean ride, which wasn't worth the 40 minute wait, and the parade at night time, which was kind of disappointing. Most of all, it was COLD. I'm talking so cold my toes were hurting, adn I had about three or four layers of clothes on.

Back it the hotel, there was some wacky dubbed tv shows on, and sleep and, it appeared, a bit of snow overnight. My first snow experience! (speaking of which, it snowed around town today but not at my work)

The next day was more Thunder mountain, a crazy haunted house ride, more Thunder mountain, and Discoveryland, which was really disappointing. A couple of the big rides, like Space Mountain, were closed, and unless you were interested in video games there really wasn't a lot to see there. We also saw Mickey's Winter Wonderland ice show, and got to see Mickey and Minnie have a romantic skate together (aw!):

Afterwards we trotted off to the Princess Parade which, despite being in the daytime and therefore no lights, was much better than the parade the night before. Then it was back to (slightly warmer) London and not enough sleep before work today:). I have heaps more photos, so these are just a teaser really.

Anyway, it's good to be back in London but it has given me a taste for France, especially the possibility of Paris. 20 minutes under the Channel really is very weird.

A hole in my bucket.

2005-01-22T04:26:00.000+10:00

The last few days have been quite 'mild' (the Brits love to use that word) which has been fantastic. I don't feel terribly cold most of the time...until today. They're forcasting the possibility of snow for the end of this weekend, and today I'm already feeling the cooler weather change. I don't think I'll go out much today! I've looked at the forcast for Paris this weekend and it's much the same story, except getting down to negative four and negative six degrees, Saturday and Sunday respectively, and only maximums of 6 degrees, so it should be interesting. They're forcasting snow for Paris as well, but not until Sunday nght, when we'll be Eurostarring it back to London. So hopefully all the rides at Disneyland will be available. I have to do the Pirates of the Carribean ride and the tea cups, and get my photo taken with the Mad Hatter and March Hare.

Our train leaves at 6.30 tomorrow morning, which means we have to take a 5.30 train from Wimbledon. Yuck yuck yuck. But as Alice and I are both poor, cabs are not an option. I'm down to my last ten pounds today, but I was paid yesterday. The only problem being that I can't cash my pay cheque until I get a bank account, and I can't do that until Tuesday when I have an appointment at HSBC. Even then I may not be able to get it because of lack of 'proof of address'. However, there are places around that will cash cheques, but they do take a percentage of it. Luckily my friend Justine, a fellow Aussie, has been there done that and has offered me a bit of money to get through the weekend, which I'll pay back to her when I eventually get my bank account up and running.

Other than that, not a lot happening. Had a fantastic inteview yesterday with Suanne Braun, who played Hathor on Stargate. She's fantastic! We had an absolute ball and went through two bottles of wine - all very professional - and spoke for about 2 and a half hours. Really very lovely.

And now I should really get back to work and finish transcribing said interview...well, at least the first twenty minutes of it anyway.:)

Things, things, things...

2005-01-17T09:48:00.000+10:00

I've finally decided on a name for my company that I'm setting up - Screaming Flea Media.

My mum will know where that came from;).

Anywho, initially I was going to set it up just because I'm being employed and paid as a freelancer, so by setting up a company I can pay less tax and claim things like a computer and phone when tax time comes around. But then I got to thinking that perhaps I could have a viable business here - the basic idea being I am a source for freelance writers and designers mostly in Australia, but eventually world-wide. I already have friends who are writers/designers in places all over the world, and I'm sure they wouldn't mind a bit of extra cash. So it's a source for both big and small projects. For instance, like what happens at the company I work for, they are contacted by companies such as MGM to produce magazines about their shows. I could source that sort of work, as well as smaller projects. For instance, if something happens like the Tsunami and a newspaper or magazine needs the story, and I have writers on my books who are in those areas, I can source them.

So I'm going to register my business name after the financial year here ends in April, and in the meantime go about setting up my website and all the other sorts of things one has to do.

I'm pretty excited about it:). I really think I could make something of this...obviously it'd take a while, probably a few years, before it becomes somehting I can do full-time viably, but I'd really like to do it. And I really think this is where the future lies...

Apart from that, it's been a good weekend - did a bit of a wander yesterday and had dinner at Kris and Darren's - friends of Alice - last night. And I didn't get up until 11 this morning:). Back to the grind tomorrow however.

And write to me!!! I love getting letters - I've already sent a few back home so hopefully you'll get them soon. If you want my address again, just e-mail me.:)

Time for an update!

2005-01-16T04:21:00.000+10:00

It's certainly been a busy week, but an exciting one nonetheless. First things first, my job - so far I'm absolutely loving it. I get to write about the most insane stuff, and the crew there are fantastic. Great sense of humour and lots of fun to be around. I had my first real London drinking experience on Thursday night, courtesy of the guy I'm replacing having goodbye drinks. Turns out he's not really much of a drinker. However, I didn't pay for one drink all night, which was great for my wallet, not so great for my head! But I survived - after we went to the pub near work, a few of us (including the boss) moved on to London Bridge and finished the night off there. I was fine apart from a slight headache - I refused to have sambulca shots. So work yesterday was good. We went to a different pub for lunch - it's called the Mayflower, right on the Thames, really really old. It's one heating element is a fireplace.

I also had another drinking experience with Alice last night, after we had a bottle of wine at dinner. There is a pub up in Wimbledon Village called the Dog and Fox where a bunch of Aussies work, so they were playing Pete Murray and Crowded House and all those sorts of patriotic tunes. It was fun until we got kicked out at 11.30 - we were the last ones to leave:). Walking home was interesting.

In other news, Alice started thinking about quitting her job to go travelling, and she hated her workplace, on Tuesday, and did it yesterday. So she's now unemployed but she'll still get her next month's pay and her holiday pay. She's planning on moving back to a friend's house near here before she goes travelling in Europe before the money runs out. So I'm going to miss her again, but on the upside Richard and Dan are fine with me staying here and taking over Alice's room, so no more flat-hunting and I actually have a semi-permanent address now. I'm staying in Wimbledon which is great cos it's lovely.

Apart from that, that's pretty much all that's happening. Looking forward to Disneyland and Paris next weekend, and I'm sure I'll take heaps of photos and put them on here:).

First day over

2005-01-13T16:29:00.000+10:00

Today was my first day at my new job and I definitely think I made the right choice. It's a really cool space to work in, great relaxed atmosphere, the hours are good, I can wear whatever I want to work and I get to write a whole heap of stuff on all sorts of things. For instance, today I started working on a spread about ghosts...oooooooooh scary!:)

Tomorrow night we're going out for drinks to say goodbye to the guy I'm taking over from, and it's a welcome for me as well, so that'll be a good initiation. They seem to be a really fun-loving bunch, not to mention incredibly talented, especially their designers.

Apart from that, not a great deal else happening. I went to look at a flat tonight that would be perfect, I'll hear back about that on Friday. I'm also going to have a look at a place on Saturday that's really close to Wimbledon centre as well. So hopefully I'll be able to say in a week or so "i'm going to have a room of my own!". For now, all my stuff is in two plastic crates I bought, and my suitcase...and in random places. It'll be nice to have a bed to myself, and some drawers/wardrobes....I'm looking forward to it, though here has been great.

Quick Update

2005-01-11T19:33:00.000+10:00

So I decided on the Stargate mag job, and I have an interview this morning with their company directors, which is apparently just a formality. And I start tomorrow! I can't wait to start earning money! I'm not sure when the pay day is, so I'll have to ask today.

Alice and I decided on a whim last night to go to Euro Disneyland the weekend after next, so we're all booked. I'm so excited! Disneyland! Paris!

And I'm going to have a look at a room in central Wimbledon tomorrow night. It's not available until February, but that gives me time to get some money together for bond etc.

And now I must away!

Career Crisis

2005-01-11T09:32:00.000+10:00

Well, not so much a crisis as a decision to be made - I've been offered both the job at Stargate Magazine or, more broadly, Pipsqueak Media, and the job at Robert Walters.

At this point I'm leaning more towards the former. It sounds like a lot more fun, the pay is better, it's office environment is similar to Scene mag back home which was fantastic to work in, and they can guarantee me work for at least a year. It's a quite a bit further to go than RW, but I think the work there would be quite boring, and there's no guarantee that after a few months they'll make me a permanent.

So it looks like I'm now working in the entertainment journalism industry, starting Thursday! Wish me luck!

5 pound coins

2005-01-09T07:55:00.000+10:00

Courtesy of the commeration of the Battle of Trafalga.

Anywho, I got called back to Robert Walters yesterday for another interview - this time with a guy called Darren Lancaster, who would be my boss should I get the position I've gone for. He's a Bid Writer, and I'd be a Bid Writer Assistant...makes sense. It's basically proof-reading, editing, desktop stuff which is pretty cool. It's on a temporary basis to begin with but could become permanent. I'll find out about that on Monday.

On Monday I'll also find out about the Stargate mag job. That'd be a pretty cool job, but it's in a totally different area of London. I'd also have to compare the pay rates... but we'll see what happens. I'll leave it up to the gods. Either way, having a job would be awesome - funds are starting to get a bit tight now, so I'm going to be very frugal for the next couple of weeks.

On a lighter note, Alice and I went to see the Reduced Shakespeare Company's Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged last night - it was HILARIOUS! They combined all the comedies into one, and the histories into an American football game. There are only three actors, so they play all sorts of parts with varying degrees of success. The company also does The Bible, The Complete Word of God, and The Complete History of America, both of which I want to see based on last night.

The pubs here are ridiculous, in that they have really stupid licensing laws so they all close at midnight. So ridiculous. So because of that, if you want to stay out later you have to go to a club, and they all have stupid cover charges of like £10-£15 after 10pm.

I can see a lot of drinking is going to have to be done at home:D.

That being said, apparently we're going out tonight but I'm not sure where to, so that should be an adventure. I really want to go see Windsor Castle, but I think I'll save that for Monday.

Yesterday I went to the London Transport Museum, mostly because it's at Covent Garden and I was there, and also because I'd seen a few books about the underground tube stations and rail networks - there's a whole heap of stations and tunnels that just aren't used anymore, and I find that really interesting. I was to be disappointed, however, because it was very much a government-funded/focused display, so there was nothing about these unused rail networks, but there was a whole heap of stuff along the lines of "The tubes are not commercially viable and are very expensive to run, and the government only keeps them running because they have to for all the people of London" *sob!*. Oh, aren't they are heart-felt government?

On my way back I went through Trafalga Square and somehow ended up on Whitehall, which is where all the government buildings are, like the office of Cabinet, and where Downing Street is which, incidentally, has also suffered under the scare of terrorism here and is blocked off on both ends by gates and three police officers. However, I can now say that yes, I have seen Downing Street, and I probably saw the PM's house, except I couldn't see street numbers:D.

And now, it's time to veg out some more. We've had gale force winds here the last couple of days and today is no exception. It's much better to be inside.

Crazy observations

2005-01-07T03:59:00.000+10:00

I've noticed a few things the past week or so...

This place is not at all disability-friendly. So many places, including department stores and tube stations, don't have lifts or escalators. And the majority of places don't have automatic doors. It really is kind of archaic for such a big city.
Another archaic thing is their rubbish collections system - they don't have garbage bins to put out, they just pile up their bags of rubbish on the footpath, and then once a week a truck with foor guys walking beside it comes along and the guys pick up all the rubbish and throw it into back.
The ads on TV in foreign countries are always interesting! There seems to be a lot of ads here about financial help and debt consolidation. There's also a lot of ads they show in oz, but with British voice-overs instead.

Other than that, not a lot happening. Still applying for jobs, though with a two-year visa, rather than a longer one, it is proving difficult.

Never mind, I'm sure everything will work itself out...

The job search begins in earnest!

2005-01-06T11:15:00.000+10:00

Today I had an interview for a sub-editor/writer position for Stargate SG-1 magazine and CSI magazine - such a sweet gig! It's very similar to the operation and atmosphere of Scene Mag, and the same sort of conent. Basically they're fan mags, and they're produced in conjunction with MGM. Richard Dean Anderson and Amanda Tapping (the stars of the show, for those who have yet to be introduced to Stargate) even look over it in the approvals process. Very sweet job. I hope I get it - the interview went well, I have to submit a 100-word piece on Telekenisis (don't ask, it's a long story), and it's such a great little office. Only thing is you get paid as a freelancer, not on a payroll, so I'd have to sort out my tax and all that sort of crap myself. Bluuuurgh. It's about £120 a day, five days a week, 9.30-5 each day. So about 600 pounds gross - or about 1500 Australia dollars - a week. Pretty sweet, except from what I've heard they'll take about a third of that in tax.

I also had an interview yesterday with the recruitment agency that Alice works for - Robert Walters. I'm interested in a Bid Writer job they've got going there, but also for temp work if I can't find anything else, so I'm going to ring them soon and find out what they've got for me, if anything.

And today I FINALLY found a handbag! I braved Regent street which, luckily, was nowhere near as busy as last week, and after a few hours and many frustrations I finally found the perfect bag - long enough strap to go over my shoulder, plainish black, big enough to fit my crap in but not too big - for 45 pounds. By this stage, I was so over the never-ending search that I bought it. It was marked down from 90 pounds, so I think I did okay.

And now, off to make phone calls!