As of typing this I'm sitting in the Premiere Lounge at the Kl airport, relaxing, enjoying the massage I just recieved, a shower and a small buffet of food i'm so eagerly awaiting to sample. I have a 9 hour (or thereabouts) layover here, I fly out later tonight and arrive in Adelaide early Thursday morning. Looking back it feels like only the other week that Robert and I left Adelaide and landed in San Francisco, but in reality it's been a long fun 3 months, and actually felt like longer to me!!
I spent this last weekend back in London, staying at a hostel near Kings Cross, pretty central.. I was within walking distance from Soho, Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Street, so it was really cool! Unlike my first 4 days in London back in July, this time I finally found a cool little independent cafe to go to, found it just off of Oxford Street, pretty sure it was owned and run by a group of lesbians because the posters on the wall were all orientated towards 2 female models in various poses with sexual connotations, not that it matters.. because the coffee was great!
I had an awesome time at the hostel too, I was hanging out with a wide range of people, the hostel manager is from Swaziland, for instance. On my last night, Monday night, we had a birthday party for this Chillean guy who was also leaving on Tuesday, so that was a LOT of fun.Apart from that I also spent 2 days on the piss, quite literally.. getting back to the hostel on Sunday to find my Aussie mate Leighton out the front waiting for me, then taking me out to a place called Church for a long afternoon on the turps. Had a great time though! Oh yeah I also sussed out Portobello Market, it's another large outdoor market to the west of Central London, not the same as Camden Markets but still pretty cool!!
Well I can't think of much else to say right now, soon after coming home I should be starting a conracted position with a small graphic design studio in Adelaide's CBD (grote street), working with my friend George and I also studied my Advertising & Graphic Design course with! And i'll be planning a trip to Japan for 2009 (and about time too!!)
Tuesday 23 September 2008
Thursday 18 September 2008
London!!
I'm going back down to London tomorrow afternoon, so I can spend the weekend there, relaxing and such, trying not to spend much money.
Edinburgh has been great, have really enjoyed it here!!
Edinburgh has been great, have really enjoyed it here!!
Tuesday 16 September 2008
In stitches
Before leaving Australia I thought I would better myself by experiencing the world around me, and I think I have done. I've now got more patience, am more open to new experiences/people and generally have a much better outlook on life. Another skill I've picked up is looking on the bright side of things, even bad things.
Last night i slipped on some stairs here in the Castle Rock Hostel, Edinburgh, landed face first onto the steps before coming to a stop and noticing a constant drip of blood from above my left eye, like a leaky tap. It was quite gymnastic of me really. The staff here were kind enough to get me to the hospital where I hung out for a little while, chatting to a nurse who was giving me stitches in my face. I'm all good now, just a little tired.
Thought i'd learn from the incident of rolling both of my ankles simultaneously earlier this year in February? Guess again!
What an adventure Edinburgh has been!!
Last night i slipped on some stairs here in the Castle Rock Hostel, Edinburgh, landed face first onto the steps before coming to a stop and noticing a constant drip of blood from above my left eye, like a leaky tap. It was quite gymnastic of me really. The staff here were kind enough to get me to the hospital where I hung out for a little while, chatting to a nurse who was giving me stitches in my face. I'm all good now, just a little tired.
Thought i'd learn from the incident of rolling both of my ankles simultaneously earlier this year in February? Guess again!
What an adventure Edinburgh has been!!
Saturday 13 September 2008
Good things and bad people
Am loving Edinburgh so far, apart from the people spending their whole day sitting on the street asking for money, everything else is pretty cool! Yesterday I got to check out the Edinburgh Castle, had a tour guide for a half hour and he showed myself, and other people, around the main sections of the castle, throwing in some jokes and a lot of interesting historical facts. I'm even more intrigued with this place now more than ever!
At the castle I went into the War memorial primarily for the fallen soldiers from WW1, was a really cool memorial. I remember walkign through the enterance and an American family were in front of me, one of the daughters tapped on a sign saying "no talking inside" .. or something very similar, then soon as we got in the mother goes "this is amaaazzinggg".. totally oblivious to the sign she had just read! What an idiot! Also an older German couple were taking photos despite there being No Photography signs all around... some people hey!
I also made the effort to go to Carlton Hill which has good views looking from New Town and towards the docks, which is now where my friend Robert is working!
I also went to the National Museum yesterday with my friend Milena, the museum is pretty much based on this history of Scotland from thousands of years ago up till now, so that was real cool too.
I've decided to stay here until next weekend, will probably do a 3-day highlands tour during the coming week, and head over to Glasgow next Saturday with Robert, Aidan and Ben (all mates from school), then it's back down to London and back home.
At the castle I went into the War memorial primarily for the fallen soldiers from WW1, was a really cool memorial. I remember walkign through the enterance and an American family were in front of me, one of the daughters tapped on a sign saying "no talking inside" .. or something very similar, then soon as we got in the mother goes "this is amaaazzinggg".. totally oblivious to the sign she had just read! What an idiot! Also an older German couple were taking photos despite there being No Photography signs all around... some people hey!
I also made the effort to go to Carlton Hill which has good views looking from New Town and towards the docks, which is now where my friend Robert is working!
I also went to the National Museum yesterday with my friend Milena, the museum is pretty much based on this history of Scotland from thousands of years ago up till now, so that was real cool too.
I've decided to stay here until next weekend, will probably do a 3-day highlands tour during the coming week, and head over to Glasgow next Saturday with Robert, Aidan and Ben (all mates from school), then it's back down to London and back home.
Wednesday 10 September 2008
What a lovely town
So I can't say too much as i'm in a net cafe and time is limited! I arrived here in Edinburgh on Monday afternoon, met up with Robert Daniels, my mate who i was traveling with earlier in July/August, and we're both staying with our friend
Aidan (whom we know form school), funny though because Aidan's off in Poland!
Today I climbed Arthurs Seat, it's a big hil with the best 360 views of this town and was wel lworth the time spent to climb up there, was pretty windy as well but at least I didn't over-heat! In the next few days i plan on checking out the Castle which.. is brilliant, especially when lit up at night time!!
I wish i could stay and have the feeling i will come back here to live at some stage, it's just so nice here.
Can't think of much else to say but i'm safe and happy and having a great time!!
Aidan (whom we know form school), funny though because Aidan's off in Poland!
Today I climbed Arthurs Seat, it's a big hil with the best 360 views of this town and was wel lworth the time spent to climb up there, was pretty windy as well but at least I didn't over-heat! In the next few days i plan on checking out the Castle which.. is brilliant, especially when lit up at night time!!
I wish i could stay and have the feeling i will come back here to live at some stage, it's just so nice here.
Can't think of much else to say but i'm safe and happy and having a great time!!
Monday 8 September 2008
The Emerald Isle
I'm sitting on my laptop at my friend Denis' place, eating breakfast, only hours before having to leave to fly to Edinburgh. I've got nothing but positive memories of Ireland, apart from the amount of Euro I've been spending, apart from that I've had one of the best times on my trip so far! Much thanks goes to Denis and Angie for inviting me to stay here with them in Dublin, they're 2 of the best, kind-hearted people I know.. even organised accomodation for me in Galway with some mates of theirs!
Galway was brilliant, I stayed with 3 lads just outside the center of town. We went out for pints on 2 of my 3 nights there, only planning to have a couple of drinks, it always ended in half a dozen or more, but whatever, it was all good. One night in particular we went to a pub called Taaffeys (or could have also been The Quays) where there were some irish blokes playing Irish songs, I ended up having a song requested for me by one of the lads, the song was Raggle Taggle Gypsy O..
Here's a link to Youtube if you want to hear the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2QZIuFPrTo
Also at Galway I did my first touristy thing in Ireland, I went on a coach bus tour down the coast into The Burren where I was able to see the Aran Islands f rom a distance, the Cliffs of Moher, the Aillwee caves (where I experienced total darkness) and the stone shelter called Poulnabone Dolmen. It wasn't just about the main attractions for me, I enjoyed passing by the country-side.. looking at the rolling hills, traditional Hooker sailing boats, dilapidated castles and the small stone walls seperating people's properties and keeping livestock in.
Dublin has been good to me too, Denis and Angie took me to the Dublin Botanic Gardens on 1 of my first days here, took me to the beach at Portmarnock, played some hurling in the park up the road, watched Gaelic football in a pub, also watched the all Irish final of Hurling in the pub.. it's a good spectacle sport.
I hope I paint a pretty picture of Ireland but like all places there are people you'd want to avoid, those people here would be the Pikies, who are also known as travelers, basically you wouldn't trust them as far as you could throw them, in other words you'd want to avoid them. Denis here had grown up knowing plenty of travelers and knows how rough and sketchy they are, anyone with a deep-rooted culture of fighting should be avoid really. I actually saw some riding past on their horses, that's another thing.. they have horses, back home you'd never find a poor minority group owning dozens of horses!
I could keep going on but I need to pack my bags as I'm flying off to Edinburgh in a few hours. I have no more plans after this plane flight, will probably stay in Edinburgh until the 20th and only make my way back to London for 1 night or before I leave. I've also been adding photos to my picasa album if anyone would like to see some of Ireland.
Galway was brilliant, I stayed with 3 lads just outside the center of town. We went out for pints on 2 of my 3 nights there, only planning to have a couple of drinks, it always ended in half a dozen or more, but whatever, it was all good. One night in particular we went to a pub called Taaffeys (or could have also been The Quays) where there were some irish blokes playing Irish songs, I ended up having a song requested for me by one of the lads, the song was Raggle Taggle Gypsy O..
Here's a link to Youtube if you want to hear the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2QZIuFPrTo
Also at Galway I did my first touristy thing in Ireland, I went on a coach bus tour down the coast into The Burren where I was able to see the Aran Islands f rom a distance, the Cliffs of Moher, the Aillwee caves (where I experienced total darkness) and the stone shelter called Poulnabone Dolmen. It wasn't just about the main attractions for me, I enjoyed passing by the country-side.. looking at the rolling hills, traditional Hooker sailing boats, dilapidated castles and the small stone walls seperating people's properties and keeping livestock in.
Dublin has been good to me too, Denis and Angie took me to the Dublin Botanic Gardens on 1 of my first days here, took me to the beach at Portmarnock, played some hurling in the park up the road, watched Gaelic football in a pub, also watched the all Irish final of Hurling in the pub.. it's a good spectacle sport.
I hope I paint a pretty picture of Ireland but like all places there are people you'd want to avoid, those people here would be the Pikies, who are also known as travelers, basically you wouldn't trust them as far as you could throw them, in other words you'd want to avoid them. Denis here had grown up knowing plenty of travelers and knows how rough and sketchy they are, anyone with a deep-rooted culture of fighting should be avoid really. I actually saw some riding past on their horses, that's another thing.. they have horses, back home you'd never find a poor minority group owning dozens of horses!
I could keep going on but I need to pack my bags as I'm flying off to Edinburgh in a few hours. I have no more plans after this plane flight, will probably stay in Edinburgh until the 20th and only make my way back to London for 1 night or before I leave. I've also been adding photos to my picasa album if anyone would like to see some of Ireland.
Tuesday 2 September 2008
Dublin dublin dubliiiiinnn
In the last 2 days i've managed to pack in a huge range of awesome activities. The other morning we (myself, denis & angie) went for a drive down to portmarnock, a sweet little beach area, the beach was SO good, stretched for ages and the water was flat as, in the horizon I could see loads of small sailing boats just hanging out together, was either some sort of race or just a meting point. Anyway, this place was real nice, we walked down the beach for half an hour.. which meant we had another half hour walk back to the car, we hung out for a bit drining coffee and resting.
We went to a pub called Porterhouse North (there's also Central and South) to watch the Gaelic Football, we watched 2 matches and had a brilliant time, I drank some more crazy drinks, one was a double chocolate stout and a Swedish pear cider!! Heaps nice drinks too.
I've had a little game of hurling with Denis in the park up the road from his place, in the coming weekend there'll be some hurling matches and so i'll be in town to watch them, apparently they're very rough and fast-paced, having dabbled with the hurling bat and ball a little bit I'm heaps excited to see a proper game! I've seen some young teens play but they weren't very rough, have been told the older guys make for a good sight!!
I also got taken through the Dublin Botanical Gardens, it was real lovely, and there was some rain during my little visit there. I have to say that i enjoy the botanical gardens back in Adelaide but the one here is just much much nicer, the river Tolk runs through the gardens, there's ups and downs instead of the flat ground back home.. and hey, it's Ireland! This place is great!
Tomorrow i'm heading off west to galway for 2 nights, hopefully I can stay with one of Denis' mates. There's some nice coastlines in the west with big big cliffs and some castles, so i'm looking forwards to that, then im coming back to Dublin for the weekend like I mentioned.
Also there's a cheese here called Dubliner, it's possibly one f the best cheeses I've tasted.. apart from the cheese Lee and I bought in Delft. Dutch cheese is just something else!!
We went to a pub called Porterhouse North (there's also Central and South) to watch the Gaelic Football, we watched 2 matches and had a brilliant time, I drank some more crazy drinks, one was a double chocolate stout and a Swedish pear cider!! Heaps nice drinks too.
I've had a little game of hurling with Denis in the park up the road from his place, in the coming weekend there'll be some hurling matches and so i'll be in town to watch them, apparently they're very rough and fast-paced, having dabbled with the hurling bat and ball a little bit I'm heaps excited to see a proper game! I've seen some young teens play but they weren't very rough, have been told the older guys make for a good sight!!
I also got taken through the Dublin Botanical Gardens, it was real lovely, and there was some rain during my little visit there. I have to say that i enjoy the botanical gardens back in Adelaide but the one here is just much much nicer, the river Tolk runs through the gardens, there's ups and downs instead of the flat ground back home.. and hey, it's Ireland! This place is great!
Tomorrow i'm heading off west to galway for 2 nights, hopefully I can stay with one of Denis' mates. There's some nice coastlines in the west with big big cliffs and some castles, so i'm looking forwards to that, then im coming back to Dublin for the weekend like I mentioned.
Also there's a cheese here called Dubliner, it's possibly one f the best cheeses I've tasted.. apart from the cheese Lee and I bought in Delft. Dutch cheese is just something else!!
Sunday 31 August 2008
All about the craic!
One place i wasn't planning on going to, but really wanted to go to, and I made it here yesterday morning, bright and early, and it was my lucky day as it wasn't even raining! Ireland is a wonderful place, I can't really vouch for any place other than Dublin but from what I hear, the rest of the country is also great.
I'm staying with 2 friends, Denis & Angie, I met them whilst teaching in Cazorla, Spain. They were nice enough to pick me up from the airport and showed me around town all day, despite being tired from a night of drinking the previous night (that's Irish for ya). We went out last night into town, I think we came close to but missed Temple Bar, but had heaps of fun in a true Irish pub with some bloke singing good Irish songs, it was great! I drank stout all night, loads of stout, irish stout all the way! Oh I actually drank an ale called Smithwicks, brilliant ale, i'd love some more of it right now.
I'm off to the beach shortly with Denis, I don't know much about the beach but from what I hear it's wonderful, even in the rain. Later on we're off to the local pub to watch some important Gaelic Football match so should be good. I'm guessing the atmosphere will be similar to watching the AFL Grand Final back home, but Irish, and more fun.
I didn't get up to much in Belgium, only place I went to was bruxelles and i hardly saw any of that place. I got taken to Waterloo though, that was pretty cool stuff, and I didn't even know any of its history up until that point. There's also this building with a 110m painting of the battle of Waterloo, real cool stuff! On my last night i was taken out to a heaps old Belgian restaurant and was the first time I had mussels, in Brussels.. something i'll never forget! Thanks Francis and Lucie!
Peace always.
I'm staying with 2 friends, Denis & Angie, I met them whilst teaching in Cazorla, Spain. They were nice enough to pick me up from the airport and showed me around town all day, despite being tired from a night of drinking the previous night (that's Irish for ya). We went out last night into town, I think we came close to but missed Temple Bar, but had heaps of fun in a true Irish pub with some bloke singing good Irish songs, it was great! I drank stout all night, loads of stout, irish stout all the way! Oh I actually drank an ale called Smithwicks, brilliant ale, i'd love some more of it right now.
I'm off to the beach shortly with Denis, I don't know much about the beach but from what I hear it's wonderful, even in the rain. Later on we're off to the local pub to watch some important Gaelic Football match so should be good. I'm guessing the atmosphere will be similar to watching the AFL Grand Final back home, but Irish, and more fun.
I didn't get up to much in Belgium, only place I went to was bruxelles and i hardly saw any of that place. I got taken to Waterloo though, that was pretty cool stuff, and I didn't even know any of its history up until that point. There's also this building with a 110m painting of the battle of Waterloo, real cool stuff! On my last night i was taken out to a heaps old Belgian restaurant and was the first time I had mussels, in Brussels.. something i'll never forget! Thanks Francis and Lucie!
Peace always.
Saturday 23 August 2008
Some plans n ssssstuff
Right now I'm in Nijmegen with Lee and staying with this Dutch guy Maarten, who Lee met whilst in Ghana early last year, he lives in a huge student complex housing Uni students from this country and Germany, we have an awesome view out of the apartment's window.. overlooking a huge grassy area with trees and garden-beds; real lovely stuff.
We'll be here until tomorrow, which is Sunday 24th, then making our way South to Maastricht (possibly the oldest town in the NL but debatable as Nijmegen also claims to be the oldest town), I wanted to visit Maastricht at the start of my time in the NL but bailed on that as my couchsurfing host ended up being out of town, so am excited to be able to get down there!
After Maastricht I'm making my way into Belgium to visit my mum's brother in Brussels, while there I'd like to make a trip out to Bruges and Antwerp (maybe Ghent too), and in the meantime be drinking copious amounts of that famous Belgium beer, and maybe sample some pralines. I wasn't planning on coming here but since I'll be next-door to the country it'd be a wasted opportunity if I didn't see it!!
Ireland's next, I will most probably fly from Belgium direct to Dublin to stay with 2 friends i made while teaching in Cazorla, Spain. So far I don't have any plans for Dublin apart from checking it out and drinking Guiness, I might try and see some other areas if I think I have the time.
Finally, I'm going to go to Edinburgh, hopefully for 4-5 days, and for a weekend so I can check out the night-life I've heard so much about from friends who have lived there/still living there. Since this will be towards the end of my trip I'd like to make a quick step down to Cardiff, Wales, since my mum was born there and I've always wanted to go there.
That's about an exact rough-plan, though I don't have any tickets for travel or accom sorted for any place I've just mentioned, so anything can happen really.. and it's so exciting!!
We'll be here until tomorrow, which is Sunday 24th, then making our way South to Maastricht (possibly the oldest town in the NL but debatable as Nijmegen also claims to be the oldest town), I wanted to visit Maastricht at the start of my time in the NL but bailed on that as my couchsurfing host ended up being out of town, so am excited to be able to get down there!
After Maastricht I'm making my way into Belgium to visit my mum's brother in Brussels, while there I'd like to make a trip out to Bruges and Antwerp (maybe Ghent too), and in the meantime be drinking copious amounts of that famous Belgium beer, and maybe sample some pralines. I wasn't planning on coming here but since I'll be next-door to the country it'd be a wasted opportunity if I didn't see it!!
Ireland's next, I will most probably fly from Belgium direct to Dublin to stay with 2 friends i made while teaching in Cazorla, Spain. So far I don't have any plans for Dublin apart from checking it out and drinking Guiness, I might try and see some other areas if I think I have the time.
Finally, I'm going to go to Edinburgh, hopefully for 4-5 days, and for a weekend so I can check out the night-life I've heard so much about from friends who have lived there/still living there. Since this will be towards the end of my trip I'd like to make a quick step down to Cardiff, Wales, since my mum was born there and I've always wanted to go there.
That's about an exact rough-plan, though I don't have any tickets for travel or accom sorted for any place I've just mentioned, so anything can happen really.. and it's so exciting!!
Thursday 21 August 2008
Den Haag
Lowlands was an amazing festival, I met some of the best people I now know and had some of the best times of my life, so far. If I could I would come back next year to party for another 3.5 days!
But for now I've been back into the traveling bit, moved down to Den Haag on Tuesday night pretty unorganised, only found a couchsurfer that afternoon! Was pretty lucky that we could be hosted at such short notice. Lee and I have been staying with a Dutch couple; Marco + Suzanne, in a nice area of Den Haag close to the beaches. However, today's our last day and we're moving East to Nijmegen (pronunced in a very strange way). Sometime after that we should be going down to Maastricht if all goes well.
I've booked a ticket home to Adelaide for the 23rd September, arriving on the 24th. That gives me another solid month of travels and here's what i'm planning to do; See my mum's brother in Brussels (see Bruge and Antwerp if possible), spend some time in Dublin with 2 friends of mine who live there, finally suss out Edinburgh for a few days and see what the fuss is all about with that town, hopefully get down to Cardiff in Wales as my mum was born there, finally ending my trip in London for a few days before heading home.
Back to the NL; this country is awesome! The people are friendly and the scenery is amazing, I spent 17 days in Amsterdam because it's so cool there, and not for the reasons most people go there for. Out of all the few countries I've been to so far, this one is my favourite!
But for now I've been back into the traveling bit, moved down to Den Haag on Tuesday night pretty unorganised, only found a couchsurfer that afternoon! Was pretty lucky that we could be hosted at such short notice. Lee and I have been staying with a Dutch couple; Marco + Suzanne, in a nice area of Den Haag close to the beaches. However, today's our last day and we're moving East to Nijmegen (pronunced in a very strange way). Sometime after that we should be going down to Maastricht if all goes well.
I've booked a ticket home to Adelaide for the 23rd September, arriving on the 24th. That gives me another solid month of travels and here's what i'm planning to do; See my mum's brother in Brussels (see Bruge and Antwerp if possible), spend some time in Dublin with 2 friends of mine who live there, finally suss out Edinburgh for a few days and see what the fuss is all about with that town, hopefully get down to Cardiff in Wales as my mum was born there, finally ending my trip in London for a few days before heading home.
Back to the NL; this country is awesome! The people are friendly and the scenery is amazing, I spent 17 days in Amsterdam because it's so cool there, and not for the reasons most people go there for. Out of all the few countries I've been to so far, this one is my favourite!
Thursday 14 August 2008
Lowlands!!!!
As of typing this i'm also getting ready; packing my clothes and stuff for the 3-day camping music festival called Lowlands. I wont be online until at least Monday night or later.
If interested in the festival then check out: www.lowlands.nl
Woooooooo party!!
If interested in the festival then check out: www.lowlands.nl
Woooooooo party!!
Saturday 9 August 2008
Good tiiiiimmmeeesss
Amsterdam is awesome and today proved that to me once again. Saturday today, I got up and did sweet F all aaalll morning, just sat here watching band Of Brothers on DVD and eating waffles with nutella and drinking coffee, finally a Saturday where I don't have to do anything if I don't want to, I can do what I want.. when I want. I probably left Eddie's place around 1pm and caught a tram to Centraal, went for a bit of a wander for a few hours just going with the flow and stuff, ended up walking into a main area.. no idea what the name is.
Anyway I passed this street performer who looked very familiar, so I stopped to watch him, turns out I was there at the end of his act so obviously saw nothing, nevertheless I went up to him and said g'day, like a typical South Aussie would (no doubt), turns out I recognised him from Adelaide once or twice, this guy travels around the world as a street performer.. and I recognised him from the other side of the world!! We had a couple of beers at some sweet little quaint pub nearby, actually at 3 pubs, was great, even bumped into a couple of his mates who ended up buying us drinks!
So that was today, yesterday went to the cinema with Eddie and we saw Batman: The Dark Knight, at this cinema which was built around 1920, looks just the same, real nice and awesome, movie was epic too, after that we went to this pub for some beers, sat out the front and was lucky enough to see some guy ride his bicycle straight into a pole! Was pretty funny but then he fell over and that was just great, cracked me up real good!
Hmm what else, have seen police officers ride around on scooters, have enjoyed the random farmers markets popping up in open spaces, strangely.
Can't remember what else I might've had to say, have been having too much fun! Lee comes over on Tuesday 12th, heaps looking forwards to this as she's staying here with Eddie and I, and coming to Lowlands with me, should be sweeeeet!
Anyway I passed this street performer who looked very familiar, so I stopped to watch him, turns out I was there at the end of his act so obviously saw nothing, nevertheless I went up to him and said g'day, like a typical South Aussie would (no doubt), turns out I recognised him from Adelaide once or twice, this guy travels around the world as a street performer.. and I recognised him from the other side of the world!! We had a couple of beers at some sweet little quaint pub nearby, actually at 3 pubs, was great, even bumped into a couple of his mates who ended up buying us drinks!
So that was today, yesterday went to the cinema with Eddie and we saw Batman: The Dark Knight, at this cinema which was built around 1920, looks just the same, real nice and awesome, movie was epic too, after that we went to this pub for some beers, sat out the front and was lucky enough to see some guy ride his bicycle straight into a pole! Was pretty funny but then he fell over and that was just great, cracked me up real good!
Hmm what else, have seen police officers ride around on scooters, have enjoyed the random farmers markets popping up in open spaces, strangely.
Can't remember what else I might've had to say, have been having too much fun! Lee comes over on Tuesday 12th, heaps looking forwards to this as she's staying here with Eddie and I, and coming to Lowlands with me, should be sweeeeet!
Friday 8 August 2008
Haarlem, Den Hague, Centraal
The NL has proved to be what I expected, every aspect. A few days ago I caught a train straight from Eddie's house to Haarlem, a wonderful little town to the west of Amsterdam. Haarlem has a lot of canals aswell, cobblestone streets and small eateries, cafe's and bars, I took the liberty of finding a good pub to relax at for a while and drank some local beer. Dutch beer is great, and so is the variety of it! Just last night I drank a type called Gulden Draak which is 10.5%, wonderful stuff.
Yesterday I also made my way down to Den Hague (try to pronounce it and you'll get it wrong), unfortunately it was raining, but that was alright as I enjoy the rain, but it did bring a quick end to my time there, I was planning to catch a bus 5K's west to Scheveningen to check out the beach and cafe's/shops there, but couldn't do that either. The most I did in Den Hague was wonder around looking for a place to eat, getting wet until I bought an umbrella. Possibly an hour into this trip I caught the train back to Amsterdam Centraal where I decided to go for another wander, just getting more wet, I decided to catch the train back to Eddie's.
Pretty much soon as I got back here the rain decided to stop! Apparently the weather here is like that.. can be cloudy and rainy one minute, sunny the next, and back to rainclouds. Anyway, Eddie and I went for a drive to the old dockyards not far from Centraal, this is where a lot of industry was (which has now been moved downstream), so this dockland section has been renovated, new buildings built among the old, and people live there! It's real nice, we went to some pub overlooking a canal and drank some beers, was good!
Now as of writing this it's Friday afternoon, I accidentally slept in till 11 so havn't bothered to make a move anywhere, besides.. it keeps raining. Am really enjoying this freedom which comes from traveling on your own; you can go do what you want when you want, so I have been taking my time with everything! this weekend coming up Eddie and I are going to a town called Breda, not far from the Belgium border, will be checking out a museum on Graphic Design (www.graphicdesignmuseum.com) which is something I've been looking forwards to for moooooonths!!! yeeiiw.
Yesterday I also made my way down to Den Hague (try to pronounce it and you'll get it wrong), unfortunately it was raining, but that was alright as I enjoy the rain, but it did bring a quick end to my time there, I was planning to catch a bus 5K's west to Scheveningen to check out the beach and cafe's/shops there, but couldn't do that either. The most I did in Den Hague was wonder around looking for a place to eat, getting wet until I bought an umbrella. Possibly an hour into this trip I caught the train back to Amsterdam Centraal where I decided to go for another wander, just getting more wet, I decided to catch the train back to Eddie's.
Pretty much soon as I got back here the rain decided to stop! Apparently the weather here is like that.. can be cloudy and rainy one minute, sunny the next, and back to rainclouds. Anyway, Eddie and I went for a drive to the old dockyards not far from Centraal, this is where a lot of industry was (which has now been moved downstream), so this dockland section has been renovated, new buildings built among the old, and people live there! It's real nice, we went to some pub overlooking a canal and drank some beers, was good!
Now as of writing this it's Friday afternoon, I accidentally slept in till 11 so havn't bothered to make a move anywhere, besides.. it keeps raining. Am really enjoying this freedom which comes from traveling on your own; you can go do what you want when you want, so I have been taking my time with everything! this weekend coming up Eddie and I are going to a town called Breda, not far from the Belgium border, will be checking out a museum on Graphic Design (www.graphicdesignmuseum.com) which is something I've been looking forwards to for moooooonths!!! yeeiiw.
Monday 4 August 2008
Clogs, cheese and... canals
For many months I had been amping to travel through Europe by train, I heard it was the best way to travel; relaxing, peaceful, interesting.. though more expensive. Two nights ago I booked a train ticket from Hamburg>Arnhem for a pricey 82 euro, but it was worth it. This morning when I was at the train station in Hamburg I felt as excited as I felt when I left Adelaide over 4 weeks ago! I rocked up in Amsterdam this afternoon after a short 5 hour train journey though some of the most lovely countryside I've been through so far. Everything was how I pictured it to be.. here in the NL, I passed lush paddocks, farm lands and small bunches of cottages.
Rob and I spent our last night in Hamburg with his friend Sophie, whom he met at his teaching week in Spain. Sophie lived literally 5 minutes down the road from Tobii, why we moved location for 1 night I do not know, nor do I know why I agreed to it, it felt like more trouble than it was worth, BUT.. Sophie had a nice place and took us out to the Reeperbahn, showed us some nice places to eat and even stayed out so we could chill and have a beer. The Reeperbahn is a district packed with sex shops, night clubs, bars, restaurants.. oh and prostitutes. Since we went on a Sunday night, the area was fairly tame. Personally I don't like areas like this, I feel out of place, so sussing it on a Sunday was probably a good way to do so. The Reeperbahn started by the sailors who used to dock at Hamburg, remember it's a busy port.. and so the area has remained the same way.. full of bars and places for desperate men to meet desperate women.
So Germany is over, I had a good time, didn't go to as man places as originally planned but I think things worked out for the best, I stayed in Berlin for 6 days and Hamburg for 4 days, any more would've been too much. Now I'm in Amsterdam staying with my friend Edwin, I know him through an artgroup I'm apart of which has members from all over the world, I was 1 of 2 members from Australia. I have a week until I meet up with Lee, a week to explore surrounding towns.. got to go to Edam and eat some cheese etc... cliche stuff.
A bit of cool info, since couch surfing, staying with friends and the week in Spain, I would've saved a minimum of 220 pounds!.. quite good for the old savings account!! After eating hardly anything but bread and pasta, carbs, for the past month.. I'm setting out to eat some healthier food, get back into some fruit and veg!! Lets hope this can work haha.
Rob and I spent our last night in Hamburg with his friend Sophie, whom he met at his teaching week in Spain. Sophie lived literally 5 minutes down the road from Tobii, why we moved location for 1 night I do not know, nor do I know why I agreed to it, it felt like more trouble than it was worth, BUT.. Sophie had a nice place and took us out to the Reeperbahn, showed us some nice places to eat and even stayed out so we could chill and have a beer. The Reeperbahn is a district packed with sex shops, night clubs, bars, restaurants.. oh and prostitutes. Since we went on a Sunday night, the area was fairly tame. Personally I don't like areas like this, I feel out of place, so sussing it on a Sunday was probably a good way to do so. The Reeperbahn started by the sailors who used to dock at Hamburg, remember it's a busy port.. and so the area has remained the same way.. full of bars and places for desperate men to meet desperate women.
So Germany is over, I had a good time, didn't go to as man places as originally planned but I think things worked out for the best, I stayed in Berlin for 6 days and Hamburg for 4 days, any more would've been too much. Now I'm in Amsterdam staying with my friend Edwin, I know him through an artgroup I'm apart of which has members from all over the world, I was 1 of 2 members from Australia. I have a week until I meet up with Lee, a week to explore surrounding towns.. got to go to Edam and eat some cheese etc... cliche stuff.
A bit of cool info, since couch surfing, staying with friends and the week in Spain, I would've saved a minimum of 220 pounds!.. quite good for the old savings account!! After eating hardly anything but bread and pasta, carbs, for the past month.. I'm setting out to eat some healthier food, get back into some fruit and veg!! Lets hope this can work haha.
Saturday 2 August 2008
Hamburg
This place is excellent! I'm enjoying Hamburg more than Berlin, partially because Berlin is so spread out and to find something cool that you need a friend to show you around, but Hamburg is either small (or compact) that you can lose yourself and end up somewhere sweet.. which I did about 4 times yesterday! I actually tried to get back to the center of town but ended up where i started.. I rode around in a HUGE circle for about 40 minutes.. finally asking someone for directions! haha, what an adventure.
I'm not sure if i mentioned this to anyone but Robert and I are staying in Hamburg with a cool guy called Tobii, I found him on CouchSurfing; an old concept under a new name. Tobii lives in Dammtor, it's near the center of Hamburg, he owns 3 bicycles.. 2 of which he has let Robert and I use as much as we want, so we've been riding around copious amounts of times, leaving in the morning and coming back by late afternoon.
There's a massive gay pride parade/festival on here, not something I'd normally care for but it's actually pretty cool. It has been going for about 2 days now, there's a load of food stalls and places to buy beer, actually there's always loads of places to buy beer, I've been riding around on bicycles either drinking beer at the same time, or eating ice cream. If i'm not riding a bike then i'm drinking beer in the streets, as it's legal and accepted here, unlike Adelaide.
Last night we went to this small beach near the docklands, and had a BBQ wth some of Tobii's friends and peeps from the CouchSurfing Hamburg network, was really cool. We've had nothing but good times so far here and have only been here for 2 nights, and have 2 more nights to go.
I could talk about so much more but that'd mean I have to look in my journal and sit here typing for another.. ages. I uploaded photographs from Spain into my photo album so click on the link to the right and suss them out.
Oh yeah, we've been drinking beer every day, it's a bit hard on the taste buds, but there's so many types of beer here it'd be a tad silly to miss out on tasting them all. Another factor is the beer being so cheap, and being able to drink it anywhere. Have also been eating bratwurst which is different as i very rarely eat snags, but the ones here are just so tasty, and again.. cheap!
I'm not sure if i mentioned this to anyone but Robert and I are staying in Hamburg with a cool guy called Tobii, I found him on CouchSurfing; an old concept under a new name. Tobii lives in Dammtor, it's near the center of Hamburg, he owns 3 bicycles.. 2 of which he has let Robert and I use as much as we want, so we've been riding around copious amounts of times, leaving in the morning and coming back by late afternoon.
There's a massive gay pride parade/festival on here, not something I'd normally care for but it's actually pretty cool. It has been going for about 2 days now, there's a load of food stalls and places to buy beer, actually there's always loads of places to buy beer, I've been riding around on bicycles either drinking beer at the same time, or eating ice cream. If i'm not riding a bike then i'm drinking beer in the streets, as it's legal and accepted here, unlike Adelaide.
Last night we went to this small beach near the docklands, and had a BBQ wth some of Tobii's friends and peeps from the CouchSurfing Hamburg network, was really cool. We've had nothing but good times so far here and have only been here for 2 nights, and have 2 more nights to go.
I could talk about so much more but that'd mean I have to look in my journal and sit here typing for another.. ages. I uploaded photographs from Spain into my photo album so click on the link to the right and suss them out.
Oh yeah, we've been drinking beer every day, it's a bit hard on the taste buds, but there's so many types of beer here it'd be a tad silly to miss out on tasting them all. Another factor is the beer being so cheap, and being able to drink it anywhere. Have also been eating bratwurst which is different as i very rarely eat snags, but the ones here are just so tasty, and again.. cheap!
Thursday 31 July 2008
City of Contrast
A friend of mine from back home had asked me to elaborate on my thoughts on Berlin, as what I said to him came across as a bit of mixed feelings. I've found the best way to describe Berlin is as a city of contrasts. You'll know what I mean if you've been here, if not I can explain further.
One day Robert and I were strolling along the Berlin Wall at a section called the East End Gallery (one of 3 large remaining sections), it's a famous section which had once been a major attraction to artists, now most of the original layers of paint have crumbled off or been chipped away at people wanting to sell parts of the Berlin Wall, so it's a mixture of crappy graffiti and what was once there. We stumbled upon an enterance to a bar situated between the wall and the Spree River.. the bar was a man-made beach with loads of sand and deckchairs. So there amoungst history is a new-age bar resembling something from South-East Asia.
Berlin's a city with loads of awesome old buildings, some of which still have bullet holes from WW2, a piece of history again.. but then you look down at ground level and the walls are covered in crappy graffiti.
You can buy a bottle of fizzy apple juice for around €1.30 or a 500ml bottle of beer for €1.20. Actually you can buy beer much cheaper off the shelf in supermarkets, which still ends up around € 0.40 cheaper than 1L of milk.
There are more examples but I think you can get the gist, besides, I'm going up to Hamburg today so most of my attention is focused on that, and not on updating my blog with interesting facts and stories. Some more information on what Robert and I have been doing... checked out Topographie ds Terrors (1 of the 3 remaining stretches of The Wall which has been left in its original state, and once site of the SS headquarters!), played hide-and-seek in the Jewish Memorial last night scaring people, found the former site of Hitler's bunker (nothing special), saw the Brandenberg Gate flood-lit at night, drank beers on a bridge with a hundred people on a work night here in Kreuzberg.
One day Robert and I were strolling along the Berlin Wall at a section called the East End Gallery (one of 3 large remaining sections), it's a famous section which had once been a major attraction to artists, now most of the original layers of paint have crumbled off or been chipped away at people wanting to sell parts of the Berlin Wall, so it's a mixture of crappy graffiti and what was once there. We stumbled upon an enterance to a bar situated between the wall and the Spree River.. the bar was a man-made beach with loads of sand and deckchairs. So there amoungst history is a new-age bar resembling something from South-East Asia.
Berlin's a city with loads of awesome old buildings, some of which still have bullet holes from WW2, a piece of history again.. but then you look down at ground level and the walls are covered in crappy graffiti.
You can buy a bottle of fizzy apple juice for around €1.30 or a 500ml bottle of beer for €1.20. Actually you can buy beer much cheaper off the shelf in supermarkets, which still ends up around € 0.40 cheaper than 1L of milk.
There are more examples but I think you can get the gist, besides, I'm going up to Hamburg today so most of my attention is focused on that, and not on updating my blog with interesting facts and stories. Some more information on what Robert and I have been doing... checked out Topographie ds Terrors (1 of the 3 remaining stretches of The Wall which has been left in its original state, and once site of the SS headquarters!), played hide-and-seek in the Jewish Memorial last night scaring people, found the former site of Hitler's bunker (nothing special), saw the Brandenberg Gate flood-lit at night, drank beers on a bridge with a hundred people on a work night here in Kreuzberg.
Monday 28 July 2008
Berlin
Okay so I'm now in Berlin, it's nice here so far although a lot of the streets are dirty, I don't know if that adds or detracts from the charm?! I can overlook that, but what I can't overlook is all of the bullshit graffiti.. it's everywhere, even on the sides of lovely old buildings and doorways... maybe that's the German way!
I've been here for 3 days now so i've done a few things. Firstly, we're staying with my friend Dorota, she's Polish but living here in the center of Berlin in her own little flat, a very central location and only forking out €300 a month! Crazy. On our first day we did sweet F all due to being exremely worn out from the long days and late nights in Spain, Doro showed us around a little bit until she had to leave us to see some friends. Robert and I made our own way around the East Side Gallery, which is just part of the old Berlin Wall which has some paintings on it.. it looks pretty shit but the history side of things is rather cool.
Since then we've been to the Jewish Memorial area which is very cool, the Brandenberg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie (where I lost my wallet, only figuring it out 5 hours later when i was about to buy a pair of Birkenstock sandals)... (oh yeah, ended up finding my wallet at some cafe near the checkpoint where i bought a very terrible coffee). Have been all around Alexander Platz and the Mitte District.
Yesterday, Sunday, Doro took us to the Flohmarkt in Prenzlauer Berg.. it's like a huge hippy market in some parwith loads of cool shit to buy, I bought a nice t-shirt which was designed and printed by the guy who sold it to me, since he knew Doro he gave me a €5 discount!! We drank beer in this cool make-shift bar outside under some trees, then finally got a taste of true German culture with a Bratwurst in a small bun!! Cheap as and very tasty. For someone who very rarely eats sasauges, I think I could go for a few more bratwursts!!
Last night, Doro took Rob and I to some park where her friends were playing some football (soccer), a park in the middle of Berlin, and we were able to chill there drinking beers and generally having an amaying time. It was awesome! We also met a few of her friends which was also really good... somethi we wouldn't be able to do if we had chosen to stay in a hostel!
I havn't had much time online recently and havn't had any time to connect to the internet on my laptop, which is why I don't have any new pictures to show. hopefully I'll get my laptop online when in Hamburg in the next week.
Stay tuned for more exciting news and drunken stories.
I've been here for 3 days now so i've done a few things. Firstly, we're staying with my friend Dorota, she's Polish but living here in the center of Berlin in her own little flat, a very central location and only forking out €300 a month! Crazy. On our first day we did sweet F all due to being exremely worn out from the long days and late nights in Spain, Doro showed us around a little bit until she had to leave us to see some friends. Robert and I made our own way around the East Side Gallery, which is just part of the old Berlin Wall which has some paintings on it.. it looks pretty shit but the history side of things is rather cool.
Since then we've been to the Jewish Memorial area which is very cool, the Brandenberg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie (where I lost my wallet, only figuring it out 5 hours later when i was about to buy a pair of Birkenstock sandals)... (oh yeah, ended up finding my wallet at some cafe near the checkpoint where i bought a very terrible coffee). Have been all around Alexander Platz and the Mitte District.
Yesterday, Sunday, Doro took us to the Flohmarkt in Prenzlauer Berg.. it's like a huge hippy market in some parwith loads of cool shit to buy, I bought a nice t-shirt which was designed and printed by the guy who sold it to me, since he knew Doro he gave me a €5 discount!! We drank beer in this cool make-shift bar outside under some trees, then finally got a taste of true German culture with a Bratwurst in a small bun!! Cheap as and very tasty. For someone who very rarely eats sasauges, I think I could go for a few more bratwursts!!
Last night, Doro took Rob and I to some park where her friends were playing some football (soccer), a park in the middle of Berlin, and we were able to chill there drinking beers and generally having an amaying time. It was awesome! We also met a few of her friends which was also really good... somethi we wouldn't be able to do if we had chosen to stay in a hostel!
I havn't had much time online recently and havn't had any time to connect to the internet on my laptop, which is why I don't have any new pictures to show. hopefully I'll get my laptop online when in Hamburg in the next week.
Stay tuned for more exciting news and drunken stories.
Cazorla
Okay so bit of a round-up of events, I lived with a bunch of Anglos, people from Canada, US, UK, Ireland and Australia.. coming together to teach English to a group of Spaniards who're already at an intermediate level of learning English. I would've been the most under-qualified person there, most people haven finished a university degree or two, and there I was.. a college drop-out socialising with professors and academics of all sorts.
The 8 days in Cazorla were some of the best days I've had so far this year, I learnt how confusing the English language is and how many stupid sayings we have (the last straw.. for example), learnt a little about myself, a lot about the Spanish; their cultures and languages. I made friends with people I will befor the people I met keeping in contact for a long time to come, hopefully some I will be able to see again!
I find it hard to some up my experience as a whole, each day brought new experiences, each night brought new experiences. The copious amounts of wine at lunch and dinner was an experience in itself, who knows how much Euro I saved from mostly drinking this wine instead of buying drinks at the bar!
I recommend this Pueblo Ingles program to anyone and everyone, if you'd like more information just ask me. There's more places you can go to teach, I'm already thinking about going to teach in Pals which is just North of Barcelona, sometime next year.. partially so I can see some of my Spanish friends who live in or around Barcelona and Madrid. That also gives me good reason(s) to finally learn some Spanish. I already know how to order a coffee on ice, but that's deffs not enough to get me by!!!
The 8 days in Cazorla were some of the best days I've had so far this year, I learnt how confusing the English language is and how many stupid sayings we have (the last straw.. for example), learnt a little about myself, a lot about the Spanish; their cultures and languages. I made friends with people I will befor the people I met keeping in contact for a long time to come, hopefully some I will be able to see again!
I find it hard to some up my experience as a whole, each day brought new experiences, each night brought new experiences. The copious amounts of wine at lunch and dinner was an experience in itself, who knows how much Euro I saved from mostly drinking this wine instead of buying drinks at the bar!
I recommend this Pueblo Ingles program to anyone and everyone, if you'd like more information just ask me. There's more places you can go to teach, I'm already thinking about going to teach in Pals which is just North of Barcelona, sometime next year.. partially so I can see some of my Spanish friends who live in or around Barcelona and Madrid. That also gives me good reason(s) to finally learn some Spanish. I already know how to order a coffee on ice, but that's deffs not enough to get me by!!!
Monday 21 July 2008
Cazorla
Cazorla (ka-thor-la) is a small town in the South of Spain, below Madrid.. but not quite at the Mediterranean. For those who don't know.. I'm teaching English here for a week, it's volunteer work which means I don't get paid, but I'm put up in a villa with free food and lots of free Spanish young wine. I have the best views from my bedroom. For example, and this is the truth, from my bathroom I can be showering whilst looking out of the bathroom window, looking towards the horizon and all I can see are Olive groves... as far as the eye can see!!
Behind me would be some big hills, and on the opposite side is a famous National Park. The moon rises from behind these hills, the past few days it has been a full moon too.. so it lights up with sky, but then you get the silhouette of the hills! It's great! There's also a castle here within view of.. where I'm teaching. It isn't just me here, there's a bunch of people teaching English, people form Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia and America.
This has to be the best way to experience Spain; going to a town off the tourist trail and experiencing a side of Spain most people never have the chance to see. I've become friends with many of the Spaniards here, a few of them are very high up in their respected industries.. yesterday I had a 1-on-1 with a man who works as an engineer within Nuclear Power Plants/stations, there's another bloke.. Javier, who is a Health Inspector.. so if someone complains about a doctor.. Javier will go and sort out the problems. I'm learning a great deal about the Spanish, Spanish culture.. and of course myself. Something this program does to people is it makes them reassess their lives, opens up our eyes and can literally change lives. That's not taking things over the top, this is an amazing program.
I have plenty more to talk about so I'll leave that for another time, keep looking back for updates!!
Adios.
Behind me would be some big hills, and on the opposite side is a famous National Park. The moon rises from behind these hills, the past few days it has been a full moon too.. so it lights up with sky, but then you get the silhouette of the hills! It's great! There's also a castle here within view of.. where I'm teaching. It isn't just me here, there's a bunch of people teaching English, people form Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia and America.
This has to be the best way to experience Spain; going to a town off the tourist trail and experiencing a side of Spain most people never have the chance to see. I've become friends with many of the Spaniards here, a few of them are very high up in their respected industries.. yesterday I had a 1-on-1 with a man who works as an engineer within Nuclear Power Plants/stations, there's another bloke.. Javier, who is a Health Inspector.. so if someone complains about a doctor.. Javier will go and sort out the problems. I'm learning a great deal about the Spanish, Spanish culture.. and of course myself. Something this program does to people is it makes them reassess their lives, opens up our eyes and can literally change lives. That's not taking things over the top, this is an amazing program.
I have plenty more to talk about so I'll leave that for another time, keep looking back for updates!!
Adios.
Madrid
I once thought Adelaide was slow-paced and relaxed but I think I might have to change my mind about that! Madrid is wonderful, peaceful and... just awesome. It's not as much a tourist destination like some fancier Spanish areas (San Sebastian for example) but is still very good. Spanish coffee is the best I've ever had, I can order a cafe con leche (coffee with milk) for 1.20 euro's.. which is cheap, especially for such a great coffee!
I actually did quite a bit in my 3 days here, whilst I have a journal with information on everything Robert and I got up to, I wont bother touching on more than half of it. There are a lot of squares here... open areas, where people hang out and drink or eat, or both!.. mostly both. I enjoy this sort of thing and spent some time, even on my own, sitting in cafe's experiencing this part of the Spanish culture. Another facet i enjoy is the siesta break.. most if not everyone who works will have a siesta in the middle of the day.. which could go from 40 minutes to 2 hours. People seem to work longer hours but they do get a 2-hour break in the middle, some people sleep, some people hang out in plaza's/square's.. some people go swimming.
Madrid also has a good network of public transport, both overland buses and underground trains called the Metro, it's quite similar to London's tube system with 2 exceptions; the Metro isn't as old as the Tube, and instead of varying types of English.. everyone here is Spanish!
Some more things I saw/tasted.. Spanish wine, Sangria, Paella (which is not pronounced with the L's), chocolate con churos, proper pizza + pasta, spanish beer, coffee's and pastries.
In short, Madrid is wonderful and I want to see the rest of Spain, I also want to learn Spanish once again so hopefully I can get some lessons sometime, somewhere!
I actually did quite a bit in my 3 days here, whilst I have a journal with information on everything Robert and I got up to, I wont bother touching on more than half of it. There are a lot of squares here... open areas, where people hang out and drink or eat, or both!.. mostly both. I enjoy this sort of thing and spent some time, even on my own, sitting in cafe's experiencing this part of the Spanish culture. Another facet i enjoy is the siesta break.. most if not everyone who works will have a siesta in the middle of the day.. which could go from 40 minutes to 2 hours. People seem to work longer hours but they do get a 2-hour break in the middle, some people sleep, some people hang out in plaza's/square's.. some people go swimming.
Madrid also has a good network of public transport, both overland buses and underground trains called the Metro, it's quite similar to London's tube system with 2 exceptions; the Metro isn't as old as the Tube, and instead of varying types of English.. everyone here is Spanish!
Some more things I saw/tasted.. Spanish wine, Sangria, Paella (which is not pronounced with the L's), chocolate con churos, proper pizza + pasta, spanish beer, coffee's and pastries.
In short, Madrid is wonderful and I want to see the rest of Spain, I also want to learn Spanish once again so hopefully I can get some lessons sometime, somewhere!
London
My last post for London right now. So I've mentioned that a couple of my friends are overseas right now as well, and my last day in London, which was Monda the 14th, was spent with friends Ben and Kara.. and obviously Robert. I hadn't seen Kara since May when i was fortunate enough to accidentally bump into her at Adelaide Airport when she was leaving for the UK.. so was good to catch up again.
One of the best things we did today was chill out in Regent Park, it would be similar to the East Terrace parklands in Adelaide.. except much nicer, more flower beds and fountains.. and squirrels!! We spent some time gawking at a particular couple who were asleep and had a squirrel running all around them and sometimes climbing onto their legs! Oh yeah Ben took photographs.. and he looked like a massive perv!! haha.
I finally got around to buying a UK sim card for my mobile phone, but in order to use the sim I had to get my phone unlocked, most people who can unlock phones are all indian/paki and rip people off, most of these people said they could unlock my phone in 2 hours and it'd cost 25quid, this was shit as Robert got his phone unlocked in 15 minutes only 2 years ago. As luck would have it we found a shop which could unlock my phone in 15 minutes.. but still charged me 25quid.. i couldn't argue, i wouldn't have anyway, so just accepted it and tryed to forget about it. Everything ended well, I bought a sim with O2.. one perk is free texts to any UK number within the UK!
One of the best things we did today was chill out in Regent Park, it would be similar to the East Terrace parklands in Adelaide.. except much nicer, more flower beds and fountains.. and squirrels!! We spent some time gawking at a particular couple who were asleep and had a squirrel running all around them and sometimes climbing onto their legs! Oh yeah Ben took photographs.. and he looked like a massive perv!! haha.
I finally got around to buying a UK sim card for my mobile phone, but in order to use the sim I had to get my phone unlocked, most people who can unlock phones are all indian/paki and rip people off, most of these people said they could unlock my phone in 2 hours and it'd cost 25quid, this was shit as Robert got his phone unlocked in 15 minutes only 2 years ago. As luck would have it we found a shop which could unlock my phone in 15 minutes.. but still charged me 25quid.. i couldn't argue, i wouldn't have anyway, so just accepted it and tryed to forget about it. Everything ended well, I bought a sim with O2.. one perk is free texts to any UK number within the UK!
Tuesday 15 July 2008
Tower Of London, Tower Bridge
By now we had relocated to a much nicer hostel with a great location.. literally 20 seconds or so walk from Piccadilly Circus! This was great as we were now central to London, made the most of this with an early start to our Sunday in London and went to the Tower Bridge, having lunch on some grass nearby, then crossing the bridge, and then making our way to the Tower of London.. this VERY old structure everyone should see!
A Beefeater a large group (which we were apart of) on a tour of the Tower, he was pretty funny and involved the crowd at times, was a great story-teller as well. It's not easy trying to explain how cool this place is, I could go on and on about its history but until someone sees it.. what I type are just words on a screen, to be here is just something else. Maybe do a wikipedia.org search and you'll learn much more than I could tell you in a couple of paragraphs.
After the Tower of London Robert took me to this almost secret pub, hidden down some backstreets in a part of London I can't even remember. The pub is called the Lamb and Flag and is around 150 years older than Australia as a country! Crazy hey! Almost everything there is original, the floorboards are even slanted and on different angles to each other, probably just by so many people walking over them in the course of time, I presume. We had some proper English ale.. the type silly Australians complain about saying "they drink warm beer over there!" Turns out it's not warm, it's below room temp, and in a cold climate.. why would you want an ice cold beer?!
Rob and I ventured out to China Town for dinner which was alright, the portion of food here is much smaller than it is back home, and way smaller than the asian food I had in Thailand. I still find this strange, but didn't let it get to me, it was nice food however.
Pretty sure we went out tonight to a place called O'Niels, apparently it's really good on Saturday nights but was a bit average tonight, and due to being etremely tired I called it a night after 1 beer and finally had a bit of an early night (11pm) back at the hostel, excited for what was to happen on Monday!
A Beefeater a large group (which we were apart of) on a tour of the Tower, he was pretty funny and involved the crowd at times, was a great story-teller as well. It's not easy trying to explain how cool this place is, I could go on and on about its history but until someone sees it.. what I type are just words on a screen, to be here is just something else. Maybe do a wikipedia.org search and you'll learn much more than I could tell you in a couple of paragraphs.
After the Tower of London Robert took me to this almost secret pub, hidden down some backstreets in a part of London I can't even remember. The pub is called the Lamb and Flag and is around 150 years older than Australia as a country! Crazy hey! Almost everything there is original, the floorboards are even slanted and on different angles to each other, probably just by so many people walking over them in the course of time, I presume. We had some proper English ale.. the type silly Australians complain about saying "they drink warm beer over there!" Turns out it's not warm, it's below room temp, and in a cold climate.. why would you want an ice cold beer?!
Rob and I ventured out to China Town for dinner which was alright, the portion of food here is much smaller than it is back home, and way smaller than the asian food I had in Thailand. I still find this strange, but didn't let it get to me, it was nice food however.
Pretty sure we went out tonight to a place called O'Niels, apparently it's really good on Saturday nights but was a bit average tonight, and due to being etremely tired I called it a night after 1 beer and finally had a bit of an early night (11pm) back at the hostel, excited for what was to happen on Monday!
Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Eye etc.
Today was a good day, the first stop was at Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, seeing these 2 places up close was pretty amazing, so I celebrated with a muffin from Tesco's and walked in the opposite direction towards the London Eye, this is a HUGE ferris wheel and is pretty stunning when you see it up close, if it were cheap to go on then i'd do it. While walking around we passed through Waterloo Station which was some fun, you could catch a train there and go to the centre of Paris in a matter of hours!
Next was the unimpressive Tate Modern, strange that i'm into art but didn't enjoy this place.. suuuure it's HUGE but the quality of work is low, although not understanding most of the exhibits had something to do with this. So I left there impressed with the size of the building but unimpressed with the work on show, and we made our way over the Millenium Bridge and to Saint Peters Cathedral whch was pretty cool, and old.. like all of London really!
We squeezed all of that in before lunch-time, which is when Robert and I met up with long-time school friend Ben, in Piccadilly Circus. This was really cool as the last time we were all together was at a pub back in Adelaide, and talking about our up-coming trips! Eventually we made our way to Hyde park to drink some beers and relax, which we did pretty well!
Ben had to leave to go to his sister's place in Fulham, so Robert and I met up with one of Robert's friends, Josh, and had dinner at some pub in Hammersmith, the meal was really nice.. a burger and chips + salad for close to 4quid! (beats subway anyday). Later in the night we made our way to Soho for a bit of a night out on the town but since I forgot to being my ID card we couldn't do much, and left just as soon as we got there!
Next was the unimpressive Tate Modern, strange that i'm into art but didn't enjoy this place.. suuuure it's HUGE but the quality of work is low, although not understanding most of the exhibits had something to do with this. So I left there impressed with the size of the building but unimpressed with the work on show, and we made our way over the Millenium Bridge and to Saint Peters Cathedral whch was pretty cool, and old.. like all of London really!
We squeezed all of that in before lunch-time, which is when Robert and I met up with long-time school friend Ben, in Piccadilly Circus. This was really cool as the last time we were all together was at a pub back in Adelaide, and talking about our up-coming trips! Eventually we made our way to Hyde park to drink some beers and relax, which we did pretty well!
Ben had to leave to go to his sister's place in Fulham, so Robert and I met up with one of Robert's friends, Josh, and had dinner at some pub in Hammersmith, the meal was really nice.. a burger and chips + salad for close to 4quid! (beats subway anyday). Later in the night we made our way to Soho for a bit of a night out on the town but since I forgot to being my ID card we couldn't do much, and left just as soon as we got there!
London
So before I go on about London I have to mention something that happened at LAX; Robert and I were waiting to check in with Air New Zealand when a bunch of religious finatics (catholics we assume) began singing and playing the tambourine, we were very glad that we weren't on their flight to Sydney!
I can't be bothered going back to update something from mid last week so i'll just ramble on about London, London's great, I was excited for a change of scenery as well and the colder English climate tickled m fancy, turns out that my first day there was quite warm.. maybe 19-degrees celcius, though did rain briefly. Robert and I stayed at this hostel in an area called Bayswater.. a nice place really. Out hostel was a big crummy, breakfast was below mediocre and the place could've done with some general maintenance.
We got lost 2 times trying to find the hostel which wasn't a good start, especially considering when Robert has the pocket-sized A-Z street guide of London, but we found the place eventually and that's all that matters now. Our dorm had a balcony which was pretty cool, we sat out there for a bit and ended up doing some drinking there too.
I can't be bothered going back to update something from mid last week so i'll just ramble on about London, London's great, I was excited for a change of scenery as well and the colder English climate tickled m fancy, turns out that my first day there was quite warm.. maybe 19-degrees celcius, though did rain briefly. Robert and I stayed at this hostel in an area called Bayswater.. a nice place really. Out hostel was a big crummy, breakfast was below mediocre and the place could've done with some general maintenance.
We got lost 2 times trying to find the hostel which wasn't a good start, especially considering when Robert has the pocket-sized A-Z street guide of London, but we found the place eventually and that's all that matters now. Our dorm had a balcony which was pretty cool, we sat out there for a bit and ended up doing some drinking there too.
Friday 11 July 2008
Quick update - London
I still have a couple of posts to do on Santa Monica, but I'm in London now, it's my first day here and am really enjoying it so far, have already been on the tube numerous times, sussed out Picadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square, Oxford Street and stuff.. i saw Big Ben from a distance!
No idea if i'll have time to update this in my 4 days here, maybe i will.. if not then i'll try to when i'm in Madrid for 3 days next week. The week from the 18th July i'll be in a small town South of Madrid teaching English and won't have internet access.
Peace always!
No idea if i'll have time to update this in my 4 days here, maybe i will.. if not then i'll try to when i'm in Madrid for 3 days next week. The week from the 18th July i'll be in a small town South of Madrid teaching English and won't have internet access.
Peace always!
Thursday 10 July 2008
Santa Monica, Hollywood, Venice
This place is amazing, so relaxing and easy-going, it's similar to the Gold Coast.. but better, SO much better. There aren't high-rising buildings which is great, there's a 3-block promenade similar to Surfers Paradise's Caville Mall.. but the one here is still better.. part of that has to do with being in California. 1 block away is the well famous Santa Monica pier which has a roller coaster, ferris wheel and other rides and games on it. Crazy how this massive pier is able to support so much on top of it.. and not sink in the sand!
Our first day here consisted of roaming around and just sussing things out, didn't really do much today that I can remember.
Our second day started with one of those popular tours to movie stars homes, hollywood and some other stuff. This was alright, and by alright I mean really average, how lame can you be to gawk over movie star's houses? Truth is a lot of people do this and record everything on their video cameras. I find it strange that people (especially tour-bus drivers) waste so much time of their life spent talking about lives of movie stars, just baffles me! So this first section didn't interest Robert and I and we were quite bored.
Rodeo Drive was next and this area is average, just upper-class shit, expensive shops and places to eat. Robert and I had lunch here though which was a bad decision as the next stop had a nice shopping area with a Farmers Market.. had cheaper and better food.. oh well! Next was Hollywood and the Hollywood sign.. we saw it from a large distance and much thanks to LA's smog.. the sign was hardly visible, nevertheless the view from our lookout was really nice. We also went to the main boulevard with the stars in the concrete and all of that jazz, once again not something I particularly cared about but was worth seeing... i guess?!
The main good aspect of the tour was being able to be driven around for 4-5 hours in a comfy bus and having many sights packed into this small tour. Robert and I were thinking of going to some of these places on our own, which would've taken ages!!
Later in the afternoon we hired old fashion bicycles and cycled down to Venice, all the way along the boardwalk area on the beach! This was so amazing, being there cycling along a famous beach (which is nice, as well as famous) was just something else.
Our first day here consisted of roaming around and just sussing things out, didn't really do much today that I can remember.
Our second day started with one of those popular tours to movie stars homes, hollywood and some other stuff. This was alright, and by alright I mean really average, how lame can you be to gawk over movie star's houses? Truth is a lot of people do this and record everything on their video cameras. I find it strange that people (especially tour-bus drivers) waste so much time of their life spent talking about lives of movie stars, just baffles me! So this first section didn't interest Robert and I and we were quite bored.
Rodeo Drive was next and this area is average, just upper-class shit, expensive shops and places to eat. Robert and I had lunch here though which was a bad decision as the next stop had a nice shopping area with a Farmers Market.. had cheaper and better food.. oh well! Next was Hollywood and the Hollywood sign.. we saw it from a large distance and much thanks to LA's smog.. the sign was hardly visible, nevertheless the view from our lookout was really nice. We also went to the main boulevard with the stars in the concrete and all of that jazz, once again not something I particularly cared about but was worth seeing... i guess?!
The main good aspect of the tour was being able to be driven around for 4-5 hours in a comfy bus and having many sights packed into this small tour. Robert and I were thinking of going to some of these places on our own, which would've taken ages!!
Later in the afternoon we hired old fashion bicycles and cycled down to Venice, all the way along the boardwalk area on the beach! This was so amazing, being there cycling along a famous beach (which is nice, as well as famous) was just something else.
Tuesday 8 July 2008
Haight/Ashbury
Does Haight/Ashbury ring a bell to anyone? Well apparently it's where the whole Hippie movement began.. although you wouldn't think that if you hadn't previously been told. With such a fruity history you'd think this area is just amazing, but it isn't.. it has nothing on Byron Bay (if you didn't know, i used to live there for 6 months). Despite that, it's a nice little area and its main street is Haight Street, strangely enough. This street is packed with good shops, selling shit from second hand gear to brand spankin' new gear... I ended up buying some white shoe laces. We also had some really nice burritos for lunch at some Mexican corner store.. not as good as Burp Burrito back in Adelaide but at least here you get authentic Mexicans serving you Mexican food.
Oh yeah, Haight is right next to the Golden Gate Park! We went there as well, being my second time there, I knew exactly where to roam. Robert and I passed an open air Salsa dance class.. anyone walking past could join in for free. Seriously, it looked really cool and fun, people were joining in with no shame.. and no Robert and I didn't dance.. though we did joke about giving it a shot haha. We ended up in the Japanese Tea garden, sure it has nothing on the real-deal in Japan but it was still quite nice and relaxing.
From the GGP we obviously went to Haight, then back into downtown San Francisco to the main shopping district that is Market Street. We ended up in Union Square again which was great, I was laying under a tree on some grass writing in my journal while Robert was over checking out the HUGE Macy's department store. They have 3 HUGE stores, one of children, one for women and a small one for men! I hung out in the main sitting/open area of Union Square and when Robert came back from Macy's he commented on how I looked like a local just sitting there relaxing! We decided for a better view of the square and went to the rooftop decking of Macy's, there's a restaurant up there as well. The view was well nice, there was a flat open section with tall buildings on every side just leaning in on it.
This was our last day in San Francisco and it ended up being very nice, the first 2 days we didn't do much but then packed in a lot in the last 2 days. We were to catch a Greyhound coach bus from here to LA.. as of writing this I'm now in LA.. in Santa Monica, so I can comment on the bus.. it was crap, the floor was sticky and there was food scattered all around, the chairs were average, and we ended up being dropped off at some totally shit bus depot in a shit area in downtown LA. I'm glad to have chosen a bus over a plane.. the experience was good.. now I know how bad buses can be haha, it's my own fault anyway for wanting to take a bus.
Entrance to the Golden Gate Park.
Free swing-dance lessons.. no I didn't do it :-)
Japanese Tea Garden, GGP.
Burrito and corn chips for lunch in Haight.
Union Square, San Francisco.
Oh yeah, Haight is right next to the Golden Gate Park! We went there as well, being my second time there, I knew exactly where to roam. Robert and I passed an open air Salsa dance class.. anyone walking past could join in for free. Seriously, it looked really cool and fun, people were joining in with no shame.. and no Robert and I didn't dance.. though we did joke about giving it a shot haha. We ended up in the Japanese Tea garden, sure it has nothing on the real-deal in Japan but it was still quite nice and relaxing.
From the GGP we obviously went to Haight, then back into downtown San Francisco to the main shopping district that is Market Street. We ended up in Union Square again which was great, I was laying under a tree on some grass writing in my journal while Robert was over checking out the HUGE Macy's department store. They have 3 HUGE stores, one of children, one for women and a small one for men! I hung out in the main sitting/open area of Union Square and when Robert came back from Macy's he commented on how I looked like a local just sitting there relaxing! We decided for a better view of the square and went to the rooftop decking of Macy's, there's a restaurant up there as well. The view was well nice, there was a flat open section with tall buildings on every side just leaning in on it.
This was our last day in San Francisco and it ended up being very nice, the first 2 days we didn't do much but then packed in a lot in the last 2 days. We were to catch a Greyhound coach bus from here to LA.. as of writing this I'm now in LA.. in Santa Monica, so I can comment on the bus.. it was crap, the floor was sticky and there was food scattered all around, the chairs were average, and we ended up being dropped off at some totally shit bus depot in a shit area in downtown LA. I'm glad to have chosen a bus over a plane.. the experience was good.. now I know how bad buses can be haha, it's my own fault anyway for wanting to take a bus.
Entrance to the Golden Gate Park.Free swing-dance lessons.. no I didn't do it :-)Japanese Tea Garden, GGP.Burrito and corn chips for lunch in Haight.Union Square, San Francisco.Golden Gate Bridge
Saturday 5-7-08
The day we finally chose to cycle across the world famous Golden Gate Bridge ended up to be the best day we had in San Fran! We considered ourselves quite lucky to have had the bridge in full view as for the days leading up to today.. the bridge was blanketed in fog. The cloud lifted soon as we approached the bridge, so had some brilliant photo opportunities there. Once on the bridge though.. the fun really began!
I'll try to explain the size of the bridge; it looks massive from afar and looks massive from up-close. It really is an impressive structure and I'm baffled at how it was created SO long ago.. incredible. We were having such a good time that we ended up getting sun-burnt, I was worse off with lovely pink forearms which (now 4 days later) are still pinkish. Also, I taunted a little boy who was also cycling over the bridge, I rode up right behind him and ringing the bike's bell frantically.. he shit himself and peddled off real quickly!! Once over the bridge you have the chance to drive/walk up to this lookout which is roughly at the same height as the highest part of the GGB.. this was crazy.. we could see the clouds rolling into the bay and over the bridge, in fact we were IN the clouds at times! It was very windy and quite cool.
From here on we cycled to a little fishing village called Sausalito, a beautiful little town with some wikid nice cottages and views of San Francisco.. which is pretty much directly opposite it over the bay. I could imagine living here.. if I had my dream job here that would be nuts.. and if you want to goto San Fran you could just catch a ferry there.. which is what we ended up doing. We had lunch in a little cafe which was pretty cool.
Waiting for the ferry was pretty relaxing, everyone who was riding bikes just let them stand in line and everyone would walk off... then come back in time to catch the ferry. Robert and I did this too, bought some iced tea and chilled out by the water's edge. The ferry ride back to SF was nice, and once off the ferry we had to ride along the bay to drop the bikes back off at the bike rental stall.
So you can understand just how much of a good day this was, every other day was foggy, even in the CBD. Clouds were out in force from the morning with only a small break in the afternoon.. and back out again in the late afternoon, so having an almost cloudless 3-5 hour period was just awesome.
There it is!!
Leaning on the Golden Gate Bridge.
View from the hill on the opposite side of the bridge.
Relaxing in Sausalito after hours of riding.
The day we finally chose to cycle across the world famous Golden Gate Bridge ended up to be the best day we had in San Fran! We considered ourselves quite lucky to have had the bridge in full view as for the days leading up to today.. the bridge was blanketed in fog. The cloud lifted soon as we approached the bridge, so had some brilliant photo opportunities there. Once on the bridge though.. the fun really began!
I'll try to explain the size of the bridge; it looks massive from afar and looks massive from up-close. It really is an impressive structure and I'm baffled at how it was created SO long ago.. incredible. We were having such a good time that we ended up getting sun-burnt, I was worse off with lovely pink forearms which (now 4 days later) are still pinkish. Also, I taunted a little boy who was also cycling over the bridge, I rode up right behind him and ringing the bike's bell frantically.. he shit himself and peddled off real quickly!! Once over the bridge you have the chance to drive/walk up to this lookout which is roughly at the same height as the highest part of the GGB.. this was crazy.. we could see the clouds rolling into the bay and over the bridge, in fact we were IN the clouds at times! It was very windy and quite cool.
From here on we cycled to a little fishing village called Sausalito, a beautiful little town with some wikid nice cottages and views of San Francisco.. which is pretty much directly opposite it over the bay. I could imagine living here.. if I had my dream job here that would be nuts.. and if you want to goto San Fran you could just catch a ferry there.. which is what we ended up doing. We had lunch in a little cafe which was pretty cool.
Waiting for the ferry was pretty relaxing, everyone who was riding bikes just let them stand in line and everyone would walk off... then come back in time to catch the ferry. Robert and I did this too, bought some iced tea and chilled out by the water's edge. The ferry ride back to SF was nice, and once off the ferry we had to ride along the bay to drop the bikes back off at the bike rental stall.
So you can understand just how much of a good day this was, every other day was foggy, even in the CBD. Clouds were out in force from the morning with only a small break in the afternoon.. and back out again in the late afternoon, so having an almost cloudless 3-5 hour period was just awesome.
There it is!!Leaning on the Golden Gate Bridge.View from the hill on the opposite side of the bridge.Relaxing in Sausalito after hours of riding.Saturday 5 July 2008
Independence Day
Today wasn't as crazy as I expected, there weren't idiots running around doing dumb shit, people were like the were on any other day. My day began with another morning stroll down the the bay to write in my journal, heading back to the hostel shortly after and then leaving once again, but this time to Golden Gate Park. I was going with a Danish couple who were interested in checking out some museums, the first one we went to was based on comic book art.. but was closed!! So we caught the metro to GGP.
The park was fairly blanketed in fog which was pretty typical by now, but really cool (literally) as being inside a cloud is sort of wet and cooling. The park is huge and I only covered a small area, there's a lot of plants and grass and flower beds.. and joggers! SO many joggers. We bought discounted tickets for this 9th floor observatory town with amazing views, once again.. the fog was an issue, so my view stopped after 200m or so. Bu still that was cool, I then left the couple and made my way back downtown, had some taco's for lunch in the main shopping district along Market Street.. and then making my wa back to the hostel for the Independence Day rooftop BBQ!
The BBQ was SOOOO good, everything supplied for us, food, salad, bread, sauces! I had 2 vegetarian hotdogs and some salad, drank some Stella and hung out in the sun chatting and watching a fellow guest beatbox on his microphone. The hostel roof has a wooden decking so was lovely to be on, and had some nice views towards China Town. After lunch we walked to Market Street to check out the shops, there's some huge department stores here, they even have a Westfield which was really cool. Not spread out much.. it just goes up many floors. Union Square was alright.. nothing that fancy.. but a nice area to hang out in I guess. We went back to the hostel for dinner, back up on the rooftop again, and I had a nice home-style cooked hamburger.
Later on we were hanging out in the common room with 2 English lads, getting our drink on a little and only left the hostel around 9:10PM... knowing full well that the fireworks began at 9:30. Drinking the whole way to the wharf, we managed to get there just in time for the last 10 minutes of fireworks. Downside was the clouds were back over the bay so half of the fireworks could hardly be seen, just large bursts of colour really. We're not sure why but after the fireworks almost everyone left the wharf area, the cit really needs to capitalize on the crowds and somehow keep them down there to party longer, ultimately.. to spend more money and have fun. We actually left as well so can't really bag out the locals haha, and we ended up in an Irish pub we went to on the pub crawl.
These English guys have no shame, whatsoever, lucky they couldn't see themselves from someone else's point of view because 2 drunk English guys break-dancing in the middle of a pub is only half as cool as it sounds, but made for good laughs + conversation starters. I left a little after midnight, Rob stayed there for a bit longer and told me some funny stories of things that happened later on, like some random guy out the front of the pub who could do back-flips. This is a fascinating city, San Francisco.
Drinking Stella on hostel's rooftop
Rooftop BBQ
I love love
The park was fairly blanketed in fog which was pretty typical by now, but really cool (literally) as being inside a cloud is sort of wet and cooling. The park is huge and I only covered a small area, there's a lot of plants and grass and flower beds.. and joggers! SO many joggers. We bought discounted tickets for this 9th floor observatory town with amazing views, once again.. the fog was an issue, so my view stopped after 200m or so. Bu still that was cool, I then left the couple and made my way back downtown, had some taco's for lunch in the main shopping district along Market Street.. and then making my wa back to the hostel for the Independence Day rooftop BBQ!
The BBQ was SOOOO good, everything supplied for us, food, salad, bread, sauces! I had 2 vegetarian hotdogs and some salad, drank some Stella and hung out in the sun chatting and watching a fellow guest beatbox on his microphone. The hostel roof has a wooden decking so was lovely to be on, and had some nice views towards China Town. After lunch we walked to Market Street to check out the shops, there's some huge department stores here, they even have a Westfield which was really cool. Not spread out much.. it just goes up many floors. Union Square was alright.. nothing that fancy.. but a nice area to hang out in I guess. We went back to the hostel for dinner, back up on the rooftop again, and I had a nice home-style cooked hamburger.
Later on we were hanging out in the common room with 2 English lads, getting our drink on a little and only left the hostel around 9:10PM... knowing full well that the fireworks began at 9:30. Drinking the whole way to the wharf, we managed to get there just in time for the last 10 minutes of fireworks. Downside was the clouds were back over the bay so half of the fireworks could hardly be seen, just large bursts of colour really. We're not sure why but after the fireworks almost everyone left the wharf area, the cit really needs to capitalize on the crowds and somehow keep them down there to party longer, ultimately.. to spend more money and have fun. We actually left as well so can't really bag out the locals haha, and we ended up in an Irish pub we went to on the pub crawl.
These English guys have no shame, whatsoever, lucky they couldn't see themselves from someone else's point of view because 2 drunk English guys break-dancing in the middle of a pub is only half as cool as it sounds, but made for good laughs + conversation starters. I left a little after midnight, Rob stayed there for a bit longer and told me some funny stories of things that happened later on, like some random guy out the front of the pub who could do back-flips. This is a fascinating city, San Francisco.
Drinking Stella on hostel's rooftopRooftop BBQI love loveJuly 3rd
It's not easy knowing what to expect for July 4th, there seems to be some clouded hype about it for people outside the US, turns out that it's more of a family orientated public holiday, the real partying goes on the night before (though might not be the case everywhere). I started the day with a walk down to a bunch of piers, sat and had a coffee and wrote in my journal, finally making my way back to the Hostel where I caught up with Rob, and we went to a corner diner for some lunch.
The next few hours was spent wandering the streets, photographing many steep streets and admiring the cottages overlooking the bay area. We meandered through Fishermans Wharf again but this time it was very packed and the atmosphere was good. Lombard Street was next, it's the most windiest street in the world.. apparently. All I know is living there would be shit as your street would constantly be filled with tourists, if you were in a hurry you'd have to plan to leave your house at least 10 minutes early! Filbert Street is another steep one and with a funny name too :-)
We had a new girl in our dorm, Sheila, who is from Ireland.. and we took her to a local pub for happy hour, being Irish she was glad to come along. This pub was small and only sold local micro-brewery beers. There were 3 American guys about my age pissing on pretty hard, mirrored the cliche image of an American Jock from all of those football/teen movies. Funny guys, spent most of their time asking for high-5's from passerbyers.
We went out on a pub crawl that night with Sheila and her friend Jennifer, as their old hostel was doing a pub crawl. It was pretty fun.. getting cheap drinks and checking out some quaint bars, I think I left the group around midnight as I was (and as of writing this.. still am..) very tired from my flight here.
The next few hours was spent wandering the streets, photographing many steep streets and admiring the cottages overlooking the bay area. We meandered through Fishermans Wharf again but this time it was very packed and the atmosphere was good. Lombard Street was next, it's the most windiest street in the world.. apparently. All I know is living there would be shit as your street would constantly be filled with tourists, if you were in a hurry you'd have to plan to leave your house at least 10 minutes early! Filbert Street is another steep one and with a funny name too :-)
We had a new girl in our dorm, Sheila, who is from Ireland.. and we took her to a local pub for happy hour, being Irish she was glad to come along. This pub was small and only sold local micro-brewery beers. There were 3 American guys about my age pissing on pretty hard, mirrored the cliche image of an American Jock from all of those football/teen movies. Funny guys, spent most of their time asking for high-5's from passerbyers.
We went out on a pub crawl that night with Sheila and her friend Jennifer, as their old hostel was doing a pub crawl. It was pretty fun.. getting cheap drinks and checking out some quaint bars, I think I left the group around midnight as I was (and as of writing this.. still am..) very tired from my flight here.
Thursday 3 July 2008
San Fran: Fisherman Wharf/Mission District
Today was Robert and my first full day in the city, started with a brisk 6am start thanks to the sun and noisey people in the dorms.. strange how the dorms dont have doors and the walls sectioning off each room don't reach the ceiling! Anyway, we went for a stroll in random directions, one of the first things to happen just near our hostel was some (possible gay guy) yelling out at us from across the street.. "HEY GUUUUYS" in a typical gay accent, it was hilarious; best start to the day!
The streets are fairly steep here which is fun, I think the steepest street is California St which has an incline of 31.5% or so. We found another street so steep that the footpaths were steps; just to make walking up/downhill that much easier. We loitered there for a good photo opportunity, then moved on towards the Wharf areas again. If i were to live here I'd want to stay in the North bay area, the houses here are marvelous and the views fairly incredible. I think the only downside is the large homeless population, but they tend to keep away from these nicer areas.
We sussed out the Mission District after lunch time, it's a mostly Latino area, I felt pretty uncomfortable there as most of the people looked sketchy as. I also took note on how people acted towards each other, there seems to be no sense of community, looks like the people who speak Spanish separate themselves from everyone else, and the latino/black/white people stay in their own groups. Though I could be wrong, but that's my observation. I noticed this most when in a little dingy supermarket similar to some in Adelaide's China Town, and some little negro lady and her son were wanting to buy something but couldn't get to the end of the line, so I let her in front of me, and although she was very thankful.. I could tell that the people behind me were rather unimpressed. It's not fair to pigeon-hole American society based on a couple of experiences, but I get a feeling that any largely populated city here is exactly the same as the next, and that the friendly people live in smaller towns.. maybe I should go to the towns? :)
After the mission district we hung out at the Hostel chillin with the Serbian girls who were sharing our dorm with us, they were really fun, one said I look like Justin Timberlake and thus led her to call me JT for the rest of her stay here haha. Rob and I ended up going to Fisherman's Wharf again, this time the fog had cleared and the place was busy, compared with this morning when the area was dead and cold (but that was at 7am). We ended up having a pint of Anchor Steam Beer (San Fran lager) at some pub at the wharf, was really nice, eventually making our way back through the Itaian district and to our hostel for beers and food. The beer here is cheap, especially the imports!! The rest of the night we chilled at the hostel, talking with Danes and a guy from Melbourne, eventually ending back in our dorm and out on the fire escape getting high on the outside fire-escape with a guy from the Philippines and a guy from El Salvador.
Am living by this quote right now, "everyday of my life's the best day of my life!".
Peace always.
Very steep hill photo opp.
Fisherman Wharf + busy crowd.
San Francisco Lager, very nice!!
The streets are fairly steep here which is fun, I think the steepest street is California St which has an incline of 31.5% or so. We found another street so steep that the footpaths were steps; just to make walking up/downhill that much easier. We loitered there for a good photo opportunity, then moved on towards the Wharf areas again. If i were to live here I'd want to stay in the North bay area, the houses here are marvelous and the views fairly incredible. I think the only downside is the large homeless population, but they tend to keep away from these nicer areas.
We sussed out the Mission District after lunch time, it's a mostly Latino area, I felt pretty uncomfortable there as most of the people looked sketchy as. I also took note on how people acted towards each other, there seems to be no sense of community, looks like the people who speak Spanish separate themselves from everyone else, and the latino/black/white people stay in their own groups. Though I could be wrong, but that's my observation. I noticed this most when in a little dingy supermarket similar to some in Adelaide's China Town, and some little negro lady and her son were wanting to buy something but couldn't get to the end of the line, so I let her in front of me, and although she was very thankful.. I could tell that the people behind me were rather unimpressed. It's not fair to pigeon-hole American society based on a couple of experiences, but I get a feeling that any largely populated city here is exactly the same as the next, and that the friendly people live in smaller towns.. maybe I should go to the towns? :)
After the mission district we hung out at the Hostel chillin with the Serbian girls who were sharing our dorm with us, they were really fun, one said I look like Justin Timberlake and thus led her to call me JT for the rest of her stay here haha. Rob and I ended up going to Fisherman's Wharf again, this time the fog had cleared and the place was busy, compared with this morning when the area was dead and cold (but that was at 7am). We ended up having a pint of Anchor Steam Beer (San Fran lager) at some pub at the wharf, was really nice, eventually making our way back through the Itaian district and to our hostel for beers and food. The beer here is cheap, especially the imports!! The rest of the night we chilled at the hostel, talking with Danes and a guy from Melbourne, eventually ending back in our dorm and out on the fire escape getting high on the outside fire-escape with a guy from the Philippines and a guy from El Salvador.
Am living by this quote right now, "everyday of my life's the best day of my life!".
Peace always.
Very steep hill photo opp.Fisherman Wharf + busy crowd.San Francisco Lager, very nice!!Tuesday 1 July 2008
San Francisco
It's about 11:15pm here, am mega tired.. pretty much spent 27 hours getting here and had some amazing broken sleep, sucked hard.. i need to get one of those sweet travelling pillows. The stop in Auckland was alright, the airport is nothing special but the food they gave us on the plane was awesome, especially the NZ wine.. Montana.. very nice stuff!! I had 3 glasses :)
The transfer to San Fran was smooth, real nice flying in to the airport.. on my side of the plane was a lot of rivers and.. wetlands (i think), quite stunning really. Has been dark the entire time i've been here so am looking forwards to seeing the city in the daylight tomorrow.
Can't really say much more right now as I havn't done any cool stuff yet. Oh I must comment on Americans; they have the most goofy accent I've ever heard. My first encounter with one was on the plane from Adelaide > Auckland,
he asked me how i was and i replied fittingly, then asked him how he was and all i got in response was "yep". Though we have met some nice americans, one in particular helped us get a train ticket from the SF airport > CBD. I hope I don't meet too many negative ones.
The transfer to San Fran was smooth, real nice flying in to the airport.. on my side of the plane was a lot of rivers and.. wetlands (i think), quite stunning really. Has been dark the entire time i've been here so am looking forwards to seeing the city in the daylight tomorrow.
Can't really say much more right now as I havn't done any cool stuff yet. Oh I must comment on Americans; they have the most goofy accent I've ever heard. My first encounter with one was on the plane from Adelaide > Auckland,
he asked me how i was and i replied fittingly, then asked him how he was and all i got in response was "yep". Though we have met some nice americans, one in particular helped us get a train ticket from the SF airport > CBD. I hope I don't meet too many negative ones.
Sunday 29 June 2008
Adelaide, last day!!
Woooooow, so it's the day before I jet off on my 1-way ticket around the world, time seems to have gone SO quickly from when Robert and I decided to team up and leave the country. A lot has happened since then, have made many new friends.. all of which I will miss a lot. New opportunities I've aimed at for a long time and will now be put on hold for some months, some of which have come about in the past fortnight which is very bad timing, but as I keep reminding myself.. it's better late than never!!
I've been amped to travel for so long and now that it's happening.. I realise even more how much I actually enjoy Adelaide. Although I'm keen to live elsewhere for a while I know I'll come back to Adelaide, it's just inevitable. Everything I want is here, except for the experience of new places. Sure there's a lot of opportunity overseas but it doesn't mean that quality of life will be better.
I've actually been offered my dream job as a professional graphic designer, for a small studio here in Adelaide. So stoked for this opportunity and I was able to work there for 2 days last week, it's so good there, very creativity driven, awesome dudes, and located in a top spot = 1 block from China Town :) Maybe something to look forwards to when I come back! (yes, coming back earlier than expected is an option).
So, next time I update this I could be in San Francisco, London, or Madrid. There's amazing fun times coming up so I hope friends will read this and be involved in my journey. Life's too short to not make the most of everything, and that's now why I'm going away indefinately, I'm so excited to see how life unfolds.
WOOOOOO!! :)
I've been amped to travel for so long and now that it's happening.. I realise even more how much I actually enjoy Adelaide. Although I'm keen to live elsewhere for a while I know I'll come back to Adelaide, it's just inevitable. Everything I want is here, except for the experience of new places. Sure there's a lot of opportunity overseas but it doesn't mean that quality of life will be better.
I've actually been offered my dream job as a professional graphic designer, for a small studio here in Adelaide. So stoked for this opportunity and I was able to work there for 2 days last week, it's so good there, very creativity driven, awesome dudes, and located in a top spot = 1 block from China Town :) Maybe something to look forwards to when I come back! (yes, coming back earlier than expected is an option).
So, next time I update this I could be in San Francisco, London, or Madrid. There's amazing fun times coming up so I hope friends will read this and be involved in my journey. Life's too short to not make the most of everything, and that's now why I'm going away indefinately, I'm so excited to see how life unfolds.
WOOOOOO!! :)
Tuesday 17 June 2008
Day 8: Last Day
So it was my last day today and for breakfast I had a piece of bread which was pre-packaged with this slimey green paste which is a sweet taste, apparently contained coconut! Next was a coconut-taro filled bun; the inside was a purple paste and tasted slightly like honey.. the actual bun was the nicest part though. My third breakfast bun was coconut-pandan filled and its inside was green, it had a subtle taste but was sweet.
Shaun, Laura and I went back into Patong for lunch and ended up at Enjoy.. surprise surprise! I had satay chicken skewers and fried rice.. and yet another coconut smoothie... best smoothie and only 60Baht!!
No idea what the time was but we finally caught a taxi to the Phuket Airport Hotel, took us a while to find it but we arrived and the place was small and cosey, all of the bedrooms were centred around a small swimming pool. There was a little open dining section where we had dinner and played free games of pool. I spent some time in our bedroom watching Pirates of The Caribbean 3 and read Harry Potter for quite a few hours.. drinking Lemon Iced tea and eating potato chips.
My breakfast bread slice with strange green paste.
Pre-packaged Coconut-taro filled bun.
My room with Shaun and Laura.
..Changs!
Original Lays??? haha
Shaun, Laura and I went back into Patong for lunch and ended up at Enjoy.. surprise surprise! I had satay chicken skewers and fried rice.. and yet another coconut smoothie... best smoothie and only 60Baht!!
No idea what the time was but we finally caught a taxi to the Phuket Airport Hotel, took us a while to find it but we arrived and the place was small and cosey, all of the bedrooms were centred around a small swimming pool. There was a little open dining section where we had dinner and played free games of pool. I spent some time in our bedroom watching Pirates of The Caribbean 3 and read Harry Potter for quite a few hours.. drinking Lemon Iced tea and eating potato chips.
My breakfast bread slice with strange green paste.Pre-packaged Coconut-taro filled bun.My room with Shaun and Laura...Changs!Original Lays??? hahaThursday 12 June 2008
Day 7: Kamala Beach
Today was a nice chance to sleep-in, it was a good change from the early morning starts I was accidentally having. I got up around 10am and sat on the Internet for a bit, then went back to my room and read Harry potter till 3pm.. only because I was waiting for Shaun and Laura to wake up and get ready so we could go to town for lunch. Around 3:30 the 3 of us caught a tuk-tuk up to Kamala Beach (where FantaSea is) and found a nice little restaurant where we would have lunch. I had stir-fried vegetables and fried rice. After lunch we walked to the beach and sat on some reclined deck-chairs on the beach.
All of a sudden loads of dogs came up around us, it was really annoying.. these were street dogs, no owners, they were shaggy and no one cared for them.. and since I'm not a fan of dogs I wanted to get straight out of there, and so we did.. but not before a stop-over at a 7/11. I bought this pre-packed bun with a sweet coconut custard filling.. these pre-packaged buns are awesome and found everywhere here! We caught a tuk-tuk back to our hotel and swam for a little while, just relaxing.. as we didn't have anything planned.
We went into Patong for dinner at Enjoy, a restaurant we had now been back to about 4 times! I had a pad Thai and a coconut smoothie.. this would be our last night in and around Patong as the next day we were to leave and stay at a hotel near the airport. The 3 of us spent the next couple of hours shopping/browsing.. we accidentally stumbled into the biggest stall complex.. dozens and dozens of stalls selling the same old crap. I was sick of looking at so much mediocre clothing that I ended up playing with a couple of tasers.. almost trying one out on myself! haha.
Not an overly exciting day, more so relaxing than anything else.
Shaun and Laura on Kamala's main street.
Lunch, cucumber Adidas logo?!
Kamala Beach umbrellas.
Relaxing to the max!
Pre-packahed buns, one with a gooey green coconut paste! YUM :)
All of a sudden loads of dogs came up around us, it was really annoying.. these were street dogs, no owners, they were shaggy and no one cared for them.. and since I'm not a fan of dogs I wanted to get straight out of there, and so we did.. but not before a stop-over at a 7/11. I bought this pre-packed bun with a sweet coconut custard filling.. these pre-packaged buns are awesome and found everywhere here! We caught a tuk-tuk back to our hotel and swam for a little while, just relaxing.. as we didn't have anything planned.
We went into Patong for dinner at Enjoy, a restaurant we had now been back to about 4 times! I had a pad Thai and a coconut smoothie.. this would be our last night in and around Patong as the next day we were to leave and stay at a hotel near the airport. The 3 of us spent the next couple of hours shopping/browsing.. we accidentally stumbled into the biggest stall complex.. dozens and dozens of stalls selling the same old crap. I was sick of looking at so much mediocre clothing that I ended up playing with a couple of tasers.. almost trying one out on myself! haha.
Not an overly exciting day, more so relaxing than anything else.
Shaun and Laura on Kamala's main street.Lunch, cucumber Adidas logo?!Kamala Beach umbrellas.Relaxing to the max!Pre-packahed buns, one with a gooey green coconut paste! YUM :)Sunday 8 June 2008
Day 6: Phi Phi
Best Sunday in a long time! had free breakfast at the hotel, then had to rush to catch the bus we organised to pick us all up and take us to the wharf on the opposite side of the Island. The bus came at 7am, and I was up at 6am.. and with a late one last night I was well tired, but enjoyed the lazy ride in the backseats of the bus, just chillin and listening to my iPod. The ferry we had to catch was great, had about 4 decks and loads of people. I sat on the 3rd deck with my feet dangling off of the side, and many people copied me :) It was a liberating feeling and I could see many islands out in the distance.
The ferry took about an hour and a half to get to Phi Phi, then took us on a loop around some islands, we saw Viking Cave and the entrance to the popular beach where The Beach was filmed (the ferry was too big to get us in there).. eventually stopped near Monkey Beach, where people could do some snorkelling. Just before this I had met this Canadian back packer, Eric, and we sort of teamed up in the water.. instead of snorkelling on our lonesome. Snorkelling was awesome and I want to do more of it! I had fins and could dive down deep.. real close to the coral.
After that we had lunch on Phi Phi, lunch was organised by the tour operators we went through for the day. After lunch we had around an hour and a half for ourselves, so I made the most of it and bought a mango smoothie and sat in the water! How typical :) The scenery here is so good, big rock-faces and loads of trees clinging to them. I even saw a couple there for some extreme rock-climbing! The 4 of us (Shaun, Laura, Eric and myself) hung out together on the ferry for the trip back to Phuket. This time there were more waves and wind, and since we sat near the front of the ferry we got showered with a lot of spray from waves crashing against the ferry!
We parted ways with Jasmin and Steph as they were staying at Phi Phi for the next 2 nights, so it was now just Shaun, Laura and . We went into Patong for dinner again, I found a little stall with 1 guy making food, he made me Pad Thai for 50Baht.. $1.40 AUSD (my cheapest meal yet!!) and was extremely tasty, it even had seafood in it, which I hadn't had in Pad Thai before but now quite like. Shaun and Laura ordered food from a stall a few stalls down, their food as also really good, and the tables had the best table cloths I've ever seen.. so full of colour!
We ended the night at Thavorn Beach again, on the deck-chairs on the beach.. drinking Chang longnecks until the early hours of the morning, affirming my statement of best Sunday in a long time.
The ferry crew
Boat and island in the distance, cool and relaxing
Just dangling the legs :-)
My new favourite Lemon Iced Tea, in front of an island.
Eric the Canadian and myself after snorkelling.
I got excitable after lunch, here on a beach at Phi Phi.
Cheapest meal of my trip, Pad Thai for 50 Baht.
Drinkin Changs whilst Shaun & Laura have dinner.
The ferry took about an hour and a half to get to Phi Phi, then took us on a loop around some islands, we saw Viking Cave and the entrance to the popular beach where The Beach was filmed (the ferry was too big to get us in there).. eventually stopped near Monkey Beach, where people could do some snorkelling. Just before this I had met this Canadian back packer, Eric, and we sort of teamed up in the water.. instead of snorkelling on our lonesome. Snorkelling was awesome and I want to do more of it! I had fins and could dive down deep.. real close to the coral.
After that we had lunch on Phi Phi, lunch was organised by the tour operators we went through for the day. After lunch we had around an hour and a half for ourselves, so I made the most of it and bought a mango smoothie and sat in the water! How typical :) The scenery here is so good, big rock-faces and loads of trees clinging to them. I even saw a couple there for some extreme rock-climbing! The 4 of us (Shaun, Laura, Eric and myself) hung out together on the ferry for the trip back to Phuket. This time there were more waves and wind, and since we sat near the front of the ferry we got showered with a lot of spray from waves crashing against the ferry!
We parted ways with Jasmin and Steph as they were staying at Phi Phi for the next 2 nights, so it was now just Shaun, Laura and . We went into Patong for dinner again, I found a little stall with 1 guy making food, he made me Pad Thai for 50Baht.. $1.40 AUSD (my cheapest meal yet!!) and was extremely tasty, it even had seafood in it, which I hadn't had in Pad Thai before but now quite like. Shaun and Laura ordered food from a stall a few stalls down, their food as also really good, and the tables had the best table cloths I've ever seen.. so full of colour!
We ended the night at Thavorn Beach again, on the deck-chairs on the beach.. drinking Chang longnecks until the early hours of the morning, affirming my statement of best Sunday in a long time.
The ferry crewBoat and island in the distance, cool and relaxingJust dangling the legs :-)My new favourite Lemon Iced Tea, in front of an island. Eric the Canadian and myself after snorkelling.I got excitable after lunch, here on a beach at Phi Phi.Cheapest meal of my trip, Pad Thai for 50 Baht.Drinkin Changs whilst Shaun & Laura have dinner.Monday 2 June 2008
Day 5: FantaSea
Much thanks to the invention of the air conditioner I woke up copious times during the night due to being cold, although I did have a sleep over with Shaun and Laura which itself is pretty rad. Shaun had pre-ordered breakfast for today from last night, somehow they got extra food, thus providing me with a free breakfast! (thanks again Shaun) From now till around 2:30pm the 3 of us were just lazing about in the hotel's swimming pools; playing water polo and generally relaxing, and this time we took care to keep the pool balls from getting punctured haha :)
We all caught the free shuttle-bus from the hotel into Patong around 3:30pm, once again went to a quaint little restaurant, this one is called Enjoy. I had fried rice and stir-fried vegetables which was amazing as always, and obviously I had a shake, this time it was Coconut. Straight after lunch we booked tickets to this place called FantaSea, part amusement part theatre spectacular, tickets set me back about 1500Baht or so, I also bought a ticket to go to Phi Phi Island for the following day which was even more pricey.. possibly 3000Baht!!
Shaun, Laura and I caught a taxi to our hotel, leaving Steph and Jasmin to do some shopping around the many street stalls. Our taxi driver was the best/worst driver we've ever encountered. This driver had the most high-pitch squeaky laugh ever! I can't explain explain who it goes.. but he'd laugh for no reason, he'd also beep at other drivers and people on scooters.. for no reason, then he'd laugh some more, and beep, and say things to us.. possibly to make us laugh? I don't know, but this guy was in a world of his own.
FantaSea is insane, so many bright lights and cool statues and everyone was so friendly! There were tones of side-shows aswell, and fun little shops. After some browsing, the 3 of us went into the giant food hall,
this thing was massive! It could seat 40,000 people, and 4 buffet sections to accommodate. I find the underlying thought of buffets as ridiculous; I prefer having enough food to satisfy my hunger.. without there being too much to make me so full. Anyway, dinner was good.. I started on dessert and worked backwards as the desserts were too good to leave to last!
Around 8pm we made our way into this massive theatre decorate with stone elephants and things, we weren't even allowed to take our cameras in. The show was a blend of myth and.. comedy/magic.. strange really, the show began with elephants being walked along walk-ways out through the crowd and onto the stage. There was a lot of fighting and story telling, even acrobats hanging from trapeze from the ceiling! Around half way through some magicians came on stage and were being silly, this is the weird bit.. it had nothing to do with Thailand nor the show itself, apart form this the whole place was quite magical. I ended up having photos taken with the elephants form the show and their trainers.. it was a good night!
Shaun and I at the entrance to FantaSea
Mimicking this sweet statue
Some super hypo section...thing..
The foodhall
This was my dessert, weird little things!!
Le Gang photograph with costume person
We all caught the free shuttle-bus from the hotel into Patong around 3:30pm, once again went to a quaint little restaurant, this one is called Enjoy. I had fried rice and stir-fried vegetables which was amazing as always, and obviously I had a shake, this time it was Coconut. Straight after lunch we booked tickets to this place called FantaSea, part amusement part theatre spectacular, tickets set me back about 1500Baht or so, I also bought a ticket to go to Phi Phi Island for the following day which was even more pricey.. possibly 3000Baht!!
Shaun, Laura and I caught a taxi to our hotel, leaving Steph and Jasmin to do some shopping around the many street stalls. Our taxi driver was the best/worst driver we've ever encountered. This driver had the most high-pitch squeaky laugh ever! I can't explain explain who it goes.. but he'd laugh for no reason, he'd also beep at other drivers and people on scooters.. for no reason, then he'd laugh some more, and beep, and say things to us.. possibly to make us laugh? I don't know, but this guy was in a world of his own.
FantaSea is insane, so many bright lights and cool statues and everyone was so friendly! There were tones of side-shows aswell, and fun little shops. After some browsing, the 3 of us went into the giant food hall,
this thing was massive! It could seat 40,000 people, and 4 buffet sections to accommodate. I find the underlying thought of buffets as ridiculous; I prefer having enough food to satisfy my hunger.. without there being too much to make me so full. Anyway, dinner was good.. I started on dessert and worked backwards as the desserts were too good to leave to last!
Around 8pm we made our way into this massive theatre decorate with stone elephants and things, we weren't even allowed to take our cameras in. The show was a blend of myth and.. comedy/magic.. strange really, the show began with elephants being walked along walk-ways out through the crowd and onto the stage. There was a lot of fighting and story telling, even acrobats hanging from trapeze from the ceiling! Around half way through some magicians came on stage and were being silly, this is the weird bit.. it had nothing to do with Thailand nor the show itself, apart form this the whole place was quite magical. I ended up having photos taken with the elephants form the show and their trainers.. it was a good night!
Shaun and I at the entrance to FantaSeaMimicking this sweet statueSome super hypo section...thing..The foodhallThis was my dessert, weird little things!!Le Gang photograph with costume person
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