Getting Comfortable

Ahhhh the first week and a half is already gone...no worries though, it's been AMAZING.

After that lovely meal we had that I last told you about quite a few things happened.

On one day I went with Des, Des' mom, Des' friend Kelvin and Kelvin's GF Jackie to the Salvador Dali Exhibit. I think we spent about two hours at the exhibit and I learned a lot about Dali. I like how eccentric he was and how all around he tried to be. Kinda inspiring.

We've done quite a few things since then...I'll start by talking about a few of the little places we've eaten.

Bistro Thierry (french, lunch) This place looked awesome, from the french billboards right down to the aged wood bar. But the service was terrible. I've never seen such blatantly obvious devaluation of customers. There were five of us (the group that went to the Dali exhibit) and it was very obvious that they couldn't have cared less. Probably (per Des' hypothesis) because we were majority young people, and all non-white (forgive me but it had to be said i'll make it clear in a second). We had to ask to get our order taken, and the waiter, while polite, was quiteliterally only doing his job. I noticed that we were serving ourselves water (which is fine since that's what im used to) and more disturbingly that not once did a waiter come by to ask how we were doing or if we were in further need of assistance. I happened to have a seat which gaveme direct view of an elderly white couple and a table of five thirty-something white people and I noticed very different treatment given. THe elderly couple was practically waited on hand and foot with waiters coming ALL THE TIME to help them (again semi-expected but so blatantly obvious). THe group of people was constantly refreshed with water, brought more bread than us, and asked at least twice if they would like anything further. I was also disturbed that when Mrs. Chiam asked if her salad was wrong (because she had ordered the main salad and this thing was TINY) they werevery rude in "assuring" her that the item placed in front of her was what she ordered. I liked the food, but I could do without the attitude. I had an awesome steak, and a really good creme brulee. =) see i ended on a good note.

Akita (japanese, dinner) This restaurant was probably my favorite so far. We had some amazing Japanese food from here and the service, as well as aura of the place was amazing. I tried the black sesame ice cream (cause Des claimed it was awesome) and I have to say, I have a new fave! I also really liked the Tonkotsu (not to be confused with Tonkatsu) which was pork spare ribs cooked in soy bean paste. Those were so awesome you literally peeled the meat off the bones. I give this place a ten out of ten.=)

Ros----something...I forget the name (western, dinner) Des and I ate here with his friends Tim and Angela (I'll mention this later) and we went to this really nice little restaurant. Ang had this risotto which she kept going on and on about and I have to say when i tried a little bit i was really impressed. I had steak (i think) and Des had lamb. All the food was amazing, the bathrooms were really unique, and the service was awesome. AFter that dinner we went to this bar called EQ....didn't like it much. Drinks were too expensive ( i only ordered a chai latte) and the music was super off...we're talking trance to classic R&B off...

MART (the R is actually supposed to be reversed causeits meant to be tram backwards) (breakfast, western) We got to this quaint little converted tram station called Mart 130 and Deskept raving aboutthe french toast...lemme explain why. It's french toast made using organic Brioche. So in other words, its set up to be awesome before its even done. We had hot chocolate and Des had the corn fritters. Such an awesome breakfast followed by a walk around the park directly adjacent to the restaurant. It was one of the best breakfasts I've ever had.

Ok now on to some non-food related things.

I've met quite a few of Des' friends so far and its been very fun and really nice getting to know that people in his life. He's kind of awkward sometimes but that's ok. It's tricky bringing in someone from an entirely different social sphere into one of your other spheres. If you don't get that ask me about it and i'll explain but thats too lengthy a topic for here.

Some other interesting things that have happened...


Movies- Movie theaters here are the same and yet soooo different. For one thing, seats are assigned. I kind of like this because it assures that (provided you buy your ticket early for a popularmovie) you will be sittting with whomever you go to the movies with. Also, popcorn here (sorry...) kinda sucks....they're low on butter and HIGH on salt. yick. Oh well. The best thing I've noticed so far though...and check out the picture if you dont believe me...is that the seats are way morecomfortable than in the US. I like how organized the theaters seem to be here, and you can also get these ubercool tickets for special theaters within the movie theater that have extra comfortable seats and a special lounge and stuff. So far we've seen Transformers 2 (twice...) and The Hangover. =)

Housing- Well the original plan was that I would move out of Des' place and stay at his friend Eileen's place for the rest of my trip. Well due to the fact that that living situation would have caused some problems and created a few risks, I'm staying at Des' place still. I'm quite happy with it and I have to say that it's a blessing. =)

MJ- I found out about the death of MJ from Des. I had just woken up and he came into the room and told me that Michael Jackson had died. My first thought was that he was joking, because how could such a huge icon simply pass away when he wasn't even that old?! I remember feeling inspired to perform just by watching MJ videos, and his songs were always somthing that brought the generations of my family together. It was devastating to feel that someone so amazing, and so misunderstood was gone. Through all this media hype that tends towards the negative, I can only feel love forMJ. He was forced into his career young and so he literally worked his whole life to be a world class performer. He was an amazing dancer as all dancers can vouch for, and he was a good parent. I choose not to believe everything the media says and I have faith in the manbehind the icon. A nice littleoccurence that happened while Des and I were out strolling around Melbourne, we saw a car drive by with the license plate THRLER and coincidentally the car was playing that exact song. It was a nice little smile from MJ in my opinion, because that person could have been cycling through all of MJs songs as a tribute to him and we just happened to see and hear him passing by when that particular song came on.much <3>


CLUBBING- this is going to take a while so im going to subsection this one!

dress- it's cute, people still believe in getting really fancied up for clubbing here.unlike in the US where we throw on a hot pair of jeans or shorts, some comfortable shoes, and a hot partyesque top. girls here were wearing all sorts of cute little dresses, had done their hair, and I would feel safe saying that99%of them were all in heels. Haha it was cute. In the US people dont usually getthat dressed up forclubbin unless its a special event or they're in vegas. So that was kinda funny. The guys were operating on a much bigger spectrum though. Some came in suits, some in slacks and a nicetop, somein jeans and a nice top and some in jeans and a tshirt/hoodie...yeah weird right? hahaha oh and girls were wearing all these nice thick coats to keep themselves warm so the coatcheck was PACKED. kinda funny...

bar- the bar I think was pretty typical for a bar, except that everyone was obsessed with getting drinks and then standing around drinking them and chattin and falling over each otherdrunk. I liked the signs that were postedaround that saidsomething like if you are drunk act drunk or behave in a drunken manner you will be kicked out. I also really liked the sign that said "No Passouts (don't even ask...)" LOL RIGHT?!

music- ok this was the second to worst part...one of the DJs didn't know how to play a song (anysong) for longer than 15seconds...and some of themixing was just terrible...some of the music was alright to dance to but for themost part...not what i thought of when i went clubbing...

people-ok so crowd was 97% asian which I dont mind, but i wouldsay95% of thecrowd was drunk and 98%of the girls who were drunk were stupid little asian girl drunk...i hate stupid little asian girl drunk. If you can't control yourself, take care of yourself, or get a grip while you're drinking alcohol, then I find you annoying and you should learn how to drink better. I got elbowed three times by this one b**** and had I been in a fighting mood I prolly would have told her off...her and the rude guy who kept shoving me out of his way...>.<>

DANCING-ok here we go...they do NOT dance in clubs like they dance in the US. straight up. For my american readers, imagine a freshman-sophomore high school dance scene...with less grinding. And you pretty much have the dance scene at the club. What made this more awkward was that more than enough people were content to just sitaround the dance floor (on couches they rentedoutfor the night) and either recover from the alcohol they had stupidly overconsumed or jsut sit and mean mug everyone trying to have a good time. What I did like about the dancing was that people were just having a good time and that girls could dance and not feel threatened by the guys around them and guyscould just dance with their friends who were girls and not come off as creepers, i think that redeemed the dance floor for me.

Last thing about clubbing, Big thanks to Wenona for helping us get in really fast (we basically just walked into theclub) and for the first shot of the night, we probably wouldn't have made it in to the club if it hadnt been for you.

Ok so finally PICTURES!!!!!!! I'll try to make these captions more entertaining and not "lame" *cough*ANDREW*cough*. so enjoy! and sorry this blog was so long...I think I still missed some stuff but I'll catch up again soon!!!



K so here's this cool candy called Aero which is chocolate that's been aerated and so it crackles and melts when you eat it! This one's mint flavored and AWESOME!


This was from Relink the Elements 6, the battle Des and I went to, this was the coolest picture I was able to snap so I thought I'd share.



Here's Des preparing for his battle, they won the first round but lost in the second round in a weird three way battle, I'll be posting vids to youtube and facebook soon, no worries!


Here's us prepped for clubbing, I DO NOT normally get that dressed up for clubbingbut I figured I would try to blend. haha outfit courtesy Urban Outfitters. lol


Here are some graffiti artists (commissioned by the building owner) who were designing a mural for this branch of the firefighters union.


These are some more examples of some awesome graffiti that I've noticed around. The top one is a wall of faces that represent a multitude of subcultures. The bottom is a manical mickey mouse who is Ever Fresh. Hehe shout out to thedancecommunity and thatsfresh.com.



Ok so this is the theater where we watched Transformers 2 (the first time we saw it). As you can see in the top picture these theaters are decked out.


Haha bet your heart leapt a little when you saw those prices! They pay on a different system here and how's this for weird, you pump your gas first then go inside and pay, no pay at the pump and no pay first. silly aussies...<3 onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoMLOO_Gn1ybgWGX1D8TW2uLHym3udzbwSsHvLXy_Bfj1-sdp8RcxEWd0T6jT_DdxK6YOHR9gSLBBsfm4PBqET3mU7hSDWTkvDPNOiUSPa8E1umggbBxADzTRVLiVbo7dL2vlGQcbs4AiH/s1600-h/DSC01902.JPG">Hehehe safeway. NorCal <3 onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3tlRD9n1SD5MOmhHv8sAje7kfp_MbQxj_T5SysaYq6YbYgeDcsUcCg56upMCA5Q69oE_M2jgfgAp6-r57AdvrTrgu6WbDpuLQqmJx3mETMNjcIQAgkeGHE6wXzzmdc9vHFeRZEo8ak9IK/s1600-h/DSC01919.JPG">And according to Des this is the typical "I've been to Melbourne" picture...so I figured I would post it. Haha




<3 bam

p.s. i JUST realised after uploading pics and stuff that I totally didnt mention the BBOY battle we went to....promise I'll talk about that next blog...my brain is hurting now...

First steps...

I apologize for taking so long to write about my adventures down under, but here is the start of the updates and newsflashes of awesomeness from Australia. I feel so blessed to be here right now and so lucky to be back with theone I love. =) God really is good.


Ahh Australia, the trip I have been waiting for these past five months is finally realized. The wait was killing me but it was well worth it. =) The plane trip here took about13 hours for the international leg, and then for the domestic transfer it took about an hour. I had a window seat next to this really sweet couple. Unfortunately though, while we were all sleeping the passenger in front of the man in my row dropped a suitcase (ironically his) on his head and for the remainder of the flight (3-4hours) our row was under constant supervision by the flight attendants and the poor man had to be given his own oxygen tank. He seemed ok though, if a little disgruntled. I was a little flustered when I got to the airport in Sydney though, because we found out we had to go through customs reclaim our baggage and THEN walk across half the terminal to re-check in our baggage for the domestic flight, then go through security again, then take a bus to the other terminal. I suppose though that the bus trip albeit short was a good intro into Australia because I was blessedwith being able to see the most beautiful sunrise ever come up around Sydney. I would attempt to describe it, but it was honestly the most beautiful and majestic sunrise I have ever witnessed and my words would in no way do it justice.

Getting off the plane I was so excited I could hardly contain it, in only a few short moments I would be seeing the one person I know I can't be without and whom I hadn't seen in over five months. As I walked through the terminal I was full of anxiety because I was so flipping excited, so imagine how much happiness I felt when I walked towards the baggage claim and noticed a striking figure, in a white hat, dark jeans and Pumas. Haha it was probably the best hug I've received in years that followed.

The drive back to his place was a blur, on top of being jetlagged, I was so excited to be next to him again that I kinda forgot to snap my camera out right away. haha No worries though, I'll be posting many pics of Melbourne and anywhere else we go.=) When we pulled up to his house I was so relieved because I would finally be able to rest up a little, since sleeping on a plane in no way counts as resting.

I would like to point out that it has taken me until today to fully overcome the jetlag I was experiencing. I haven't been on an international flight in 10 years so I was overwhelmed by the nausea, dizzyness and slight disorientation that I experienced.

The first few days we've been taking it easy. I've been to a few restaurants/cafes now and I have to say, the food scene here is EXCELLENT. Hahaha babe took me to Ganache which is a chocolate cafe and I had a cinnamon hot chocolate...and my taste buds werein HEAVEN. =D We also went to another chocolate cafe Max Brenners and the waffles were absolutely DELISH!!! It was crazy how good those babies were, but babe says that the shop we went to wasnt the original or something so we're gonna go to the "better one" and im expecting to be blown away once again. We've also eaten at a few bakeries, since babe and I have an affinity for bread. We've been to Chimmy's and Dench and I have to say that my tastebuds are LOOOVING IT! hahaha At Chimmy's I had what's called an open toastie (imagine an open version of grilled cheese) except the cheese was placed and melted on cherry tomatoes sliced on to the bread with basil on top of the whole thing. AtDench I had this awesome sandwich (and they do sandwiches differently here...but I'll get a picture next time) with roastbeef and some interesting mustard and some weird veggie they call rocket. It was interesting. Ok and on a total American trip we went to KFC cause babe held that it was betterhere than in the US, and while it was good I think it was regular KFC. I think though that babe has ONLY had the KFC by campus (in Irvine) and that one without a doubt BLOWS. So his judgement was slightly skewed. The homecoked food has also been amazing. Last night was actually my favoriteso far, Des' dad cooked this rice with chorizo (different from the US kind), chinese sausage, and ham along with searing freshly caught Tuna (Des' dad caught it himself) and then cooking some fresh celery. Des topped off the night by making an awesome apple dessert, and we tried to make ice cream, but des' ice cream machine has decided to malfunction...we can still make it using the freezer but thats going to take a while. It'll be ok though, the pizza we made the other night was excellent as well.

So in case you're wondering where I'm staying, I'm actually at Des' house right now but in a few days I'm moving my stuff into his friend Eileen's apartment as she's gone for the holiday and was willing to let us borrow her room while she's out. I'll be there for the rest of the trip but no worries its only 15min away from Des' place.

Ok I suppose this is getting quite long, so I'll wrap it up with some pictures and a few captions to let you know what's up. Expect a full photo upload on facebook. =)

The scenic drive. There's a cool building in the background which you might have to strain to see.

Your eyes are not deceiving you, yes they drive on the other side of the road.

This is the view from the second story of Des' law school.


Having some fun while drivint around the city.


Australian GPS....ok sidenote. We got lost and guess who figured out where we were and how to get to where we wanted to be...I'll give you a hint...it wasn't the Aussie.


The cool looking building on the left is part of UniMelb the buildingin the far right behind the yellow one is Des' law school building.


My first excursion into the City of Melbourne.


Waffles + chocolate + fruit at Max Brenners.


Des' pug Otis. He's awesome. =D


Des' room. Can you spot the Aussie?


In the kitchen....yeah I dunno what he's up to.

My current room, it's vibrant.



Ok so everyone thinks I'm obsessed with shoes well guess what Des is obsessed with?!?



OK so read the sign on the lower right...it says exactly what you think it says and yes those buildings are what you think they are...ew.




So funny story, Melbourne went through all this trouble to try to figure out how to keep the possums out of the trees and guess what finally ended up working...sticking a sheath of plastic around the tree trunk, lol.

Hot chocolate in Hug Mugs (cause you have to hug them to drink them) from Max Brenners.



And finally, there is some really interesting graffiti around Melbourne which I'm hoping to capture so you can see how cool it is. But like this one says, Ciao...for now!!


<3bam

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I'm in australia!!!! I'll be using this to keep people updated!! Don't have time right now but stay tuned for posts and pictures!! ...no kangaroos just yet but dont worry theres plenty of time left!



<3samBAM