Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Had a great evening last night. I met Dave after work and we went down to the TV studios to meet Simon. The Foo Fighters were on at 6.30, so we had a quick drink while we were waiting. They were actually doing a live TV show for one of the cable channels, it was absolutely packed and the atmosphere was really mad. I was actually surprised I knew a lot more of their songs than I realised. They played for about 40 mins, not bad for a free gig! So when that finished we jumped in the car and drove to Dave’s for his home-made pizza, which I must say was really yummy. I tried artichoke hearts for the first time, and they are really nice, actually the guys were really shocked that there were so many foods I have never tried, I’m hoping to get an invite again for their asparagus which is supposed to be great!
After all that pizza I needed some exercise, so this morning I set my alarm to go to cycling, but after last week I really couldn’t face it, so I went back to sleep for a while and then went for a run instead. I had another awe inspiring moment when I was running by the water with the view of the Opera House and Harbour bridge with the sun coming up, (sorry I’ve probably repeated myself from previous times, but it never gets any less spectacular!)
Busy week this week, off out with Sue tonight, then I’m going to Grant and Sue’s on Thursday, then it’s Hunter Valley on Saturday…I’m counting down the days!! It doesn’t get any better than this ;o) (as you’ve probably guessed, I’ve got over my down phase!)

Monday, May 30, 2005

Sue and I went to a couple of different bars in the city on Saturday night, It’d been 5 months since I’ve been in an Irish bar, so I thought I’d better put that straight! One of the bars was called Scruffy Murphys, it was quite good in there, although we did feel a bit old…it was full of youngsters!! Actually I was talking to this lad and he couldn’t believe I was 30, he was like wow, you must have been like Miss Universe when you were 20…haha, that made me laugh, didn’t quite know how to take that ;o) After there we walked to the Burdekin (our local) to meet Todd and his friends. It was absolutely heaving in there, the music was great, they had a dj and drums and trumpets, was really cool, there just wasn’t any room to dance. Anyway, we stayed there till late, then a group of us walked up the road to another bar/club. I think I got home at 7am, so needless to say I was very tired yesterday! I did however, manage to actually do something, I jumped on the bus to Coogee and met up with Jason and Todd. We went for a walk along the coastline, stopped for a snack and a drink, then went back to their flat for Big Brother eviction night…I don’t think they were too happy about having to sit through 1.5 hours of it ;o)
Was a bit hard getting up for work this morning, Satomi must have had the munchies last night, she woke me up in the middle of the night cooking food, no idea why, maybe she couldn’t sleep, then she went back to bed and did it again later on, very strange!
I was just overhearing a couple of my colleagues talking, sounds like they want to extend my contract a bit longer as there is some work coming up, trouble is I will only be able to do an extra 2 weeks anyway as my 3 months will be up then, but the other thing is it doesn’t suit my plans, I’m moving back to Sue and Grant’s on the 1st July for a couple of weeks and I don’t want to have to travel into the city everyday, apart from it being quite expensive, it will take forever to get there in the rush hour, will have to see what happens. I’m hoping to get a job in the pizza shop near their house (Matt works there) so if I don’t get that, then I’ll have to consider staying on for the money…we’ll see.
I’m off to see the Foo Fighters tonight, just had a mail from Dave, they’re doing a free concert at the Fox Studios down the road, should be cool, although I don’t really know much of their music. Dave’s going to cook a pizza after, yum!!

Thursday, May 26, 2005

ooh, crikey, I've been feeling a bit nostalgic, so I thought I'd have a look at my online photo albums (incl. my Munich leaving party photos) trouble is I'm feeling really sad now...that was a bad idea. Was nice to see everyone again, but it brought a tear to my eye....I miss everyone :-(

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Remind me not to do a cycling class in the morning again, it's so much harder than going in the evening (if that’s possible), I don’t know where I found the energy from this morning. It was a shame that that class is in the morning, cos the teacher was really good and the music was great, mind you, that’s probably why I managed to keep going! I feel good now, just a bit sleepy.
The house is back to being a mad-house, my landlord got back from his 2 week holiday last night, and now I’ve forgotten what it was ever like to have any peace and quiet. He has his Italian friend staying now, who I think must be deaf cos she’s really shouting all the time. Also, Satomi has started getting up whenever I’m up, this is a bit annoying as she doesn’t need to cos she doesn’t start work till later and she just gets in my way and always wants to chat which makes me late (as you can probably guess I’m not a morning person!)
It’s supposed to be 23degrees today, but I think they were lying, it’s really cold out, especially when I went to the gym at 6.30am, freezing!
I’m really sucked into Big Brother now, I don’t know how it happened! I’m really enjoying it, which I never thought I would…imagine watching 14 people you’ve never heard of living in a house together! Trouble is it always conflicts with another show that I’m into called My Restaurant Rules. 6 couples are given a property which they have to open up as a restaurant, then they have to battle it out for 10 weeks to make it the best restaurant in the competition… and whoever wins at the end wins their restaurant. The final is on Sunday between Sydney and Adelaide (actually we saw the restaurant on Saturday in Manly, big queues outside as you can’t reserve tables) Yes, I have turned into a TV addict, well I haven’t really watched TV for the past 5 years, as living in Germany I didn’t have Sky and I never really bothered with local TV, so I guess I’m just happy I can watch it again ;o) (actually, I’m not that bad really, there are only a couple of shows I watch….too busy for any more)

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Friday night was good fun, I met Dave and a few others down the pub, it was nice to catch up again and we always have a laugh. I ended up going home to get my camera so I've got some photos of everyone, hopefully I'll be able to get them online soon. Was up early on Saturday to meet Sue, we got the ferry to Manly, unfortunately I missed most of the scenery cos we were talking so much.... I did manage to get a couple of piccies though. It was a beautiful day, the weather was perfect. We had a short walk along the beach, then we sat outside of one of the cafes on the beach front and had some lunch, then we sat on the beach for a while just watching the world go by. It was so lovely just to sit there and relax, and it was definitely hot enough to sunbathe, although the beach wasn't that busy, it was just right. Later on we met up with Todd, Matt and their other friend Tim, we had a beer with them in one of the pubs, then we all walked back to Matt's and then drove to Harbord, which is just north of Manly. There was a big rugby game on so the boys wanted to watch it. They took us to the Harbord RSL club (which is our equivalent of the British Legion) although it is nothing like what we have in the UK (not that I've been to many) It was full of gaming machines (I still can't believe how big gambling is here) and giant TV screens everywhere, nothing like I expected. Anyway, it turns out that Matt got the time of the game wrong and we were there 2 hours early, Todd, Sue and I decided we didn't really want to hang around so we went back into Manly and went for dinner. I had the lovliest Thai green curry, I'd been getting cravings for Thai food since I left Thailand, so I really enjoyed that meal. We had some wine, a good chat, then we got the ferry back into the city, by which time I was really tired. Todd went off home and Sue and I walked back too. I was in bed by 10pm, I was going to try and watch the FA Cup final, but I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer!
So today, I was up bright and early again. I went for a walk through Kings Cross and over to Rushcutters Bay and Darling Point, my plan was to walk all around to the different bays, but they're not really connected so well so I ended up having to walk up and down really hilly windy roads to try and get to the next point, I didn't have a map either, so I had no clue where I was going, anyway, I gave up in the end cos it was really tiring work....I ended up back at Rushcutters bay, sitting down in the sun for an hour or so. There is some amazing scenery to be seen around there, I will have to go back at some point, and the houses are gorgeous, very expensive I bet, it reminded me a little bit of back home near the coast, apart from there are palm trees here!
So after that I came back home to get some food (this is part of my trying to save a bit of money scheme) I ended up switching on the TV and I got sucked into the second half of the FA cup match, quite an exciting match, sad that Man U didn't win, anyway it was a bit weird watching the game on my TV, it's really bad reception and it was like watching a match with 3 teams, the blacks, the reds and the little green men (due to the ghosting) it was quite difficult to see what was going on at some points!!
Wow, I've ended up writing an essay again, just so much to tell!!

Friday, May 20, 2005

The training course went ok on Wednesday, we were there to learn how to use this filing/archiving software, not the most exciting of things! There were 10 of us there plus the trainer who was a bit of a flapper….it took him forever to get things set up. Actually it was quite funny, cos we had just gone for the 3rd day of a three day course, and I ended up actually knowing more than the others did and I’ve only read instructions on how to use it previous to the course. I got a bit frustrated actually, cos they were really slow to pick it up. I had to help Dragon a few times, but because of this I kept missing the next steps so the teacher kept jokingly picking on me. Anyway, I learnt a lot that will help me with my next exciting job of archiving 50 boxes of files…can’t wait!
On Wednesday night I just went round to Marie’s house for an hour or so, for a chat. Yesterday was a bit boring, just went to the gym again.
Today we have a clean-up day at work, everyone has to muck in and clean and tidy stuff up. Actually it’s not too bad cos they’ve provided loads of food, so I’ve been eating all day!! And the day is going really quick which is also good ;o) I was just beginning to change my mind about Dragon, when you are on your own with her (like at the course) she can be quite nice, but then today, she’s in a right foul mood, I archived a file that she still needed and she got in a right strop, then she’s just been walking around moaning at everyone, I tell you, I’ve never met someone with such a grumpy disposition, jeez, it wouldn’t kill her to smile once in a while and have some manners!
I’ve got quite a busy weekend ahead, after I clean the house tonight I’ll be meeting up with Dave, I haven’t seen him for a couple of weeks, so that’ll be nice. Then tomorrow Sue and I are heading off to Manly, we’re meeting Todd and Matt. As Sue will be moving there soon, I thought it’d be nice to introduce her to Matt as he lives there. I think the boys are going to be surfing and we’ll probably go for a walk and have a look around until they’ve finished.
I’m really excited, I’ve just booked our trip to Hunter Valley (wine region) for the beginning of June. I got a really good deal, it includes return bus, 1 nights accommodation, wine tour, pizza dinner and breakfast. The owner said we go for the wine tour on the Saturday for the afternoon, do the wine and cheese tasting, then buy some wine and go back to the hostel where we open the wine and eat the pizza dinner, then head off to the pub down the road for Karaoke. The next day, we can relax by the pool and have a sauna, they have bikes which we can use and also horse riding…. sounds like it’s going to be a great weekend ;o)

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Last night I had my first nights sleep since I’ve been living in the city without getting woken up by anyone in the morning. Satomi wasn’t working (she got fired yesterday bless her, cos her ‘Engrish’ wasn’t very good) and my landlord is away…bliss!
I’ve just been told I have to spend the whole day with the Dragon tomorrow on a training course…I’m really scared! She’s just told me off cos I didn’t tape over a tiny hole in a box I was sending out, and that the writing on the label wasn’t big enough…even though it covered the whole size of the box! Wish me luck!
Just off to the gym now, made the mistake of going home first, I didn't want to leave the house again, it's miserable. I think I got too used to the sunshine, I've acclimatised too well...brrrrr!!
Back again, I was just about to go and I've just read some sad news that Kylie has been diagnosed with Breast Cancer, poor woman. She's cancelled the Australian part of her tour, what a shame, I was really looking forward to that on Saturday :-(

Sunday, May 15, 2005

Sue and I went to see the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy last night. We both really enjoyed it, it was a bit silly, but I like that kind of thing. Very easy watching. As you know the plan was to have a quiet weekend, but after the cinema we made the fatal mistake of going to the pub 'just for one', yes those famous words, and I don't think I got home until 4am!! Had a really fun night, we met a group of people literally before we'd even ordered our drinks, so we ended up having a laugh and a dance with them.
I've just got back from meeting Gavins work colleague Ellen and her friend, they are only in Sydney for a couple of days, unfortunately they didn't pick the right time weatherwise. We just met and had something to eat, they were both very nice, we had a talk about India and all my travels, Ellen want's to see some more of the world too. They've got tickets for a show at the Opera house, they asked me to go with them, but unfortunately it was fully booked when I tried to get a ticket, last week, oh well, Star Wars is on the TV tonight!

Saturday, May 14, 2005

I had a lovely suprise on Thursday night, Immeria, a friend I used to work with at HP in Munich phoned me up for a chat. We had a gossip about what had been going on back in Germany and about what I'm doing now, was great to catch up with her ;o)
I ended up staying in last night, I've been feeling so lethargic all week, not quite sure why, but I just haven't had any energy. I left work early as I'd started earlier and went straight to the gym...I did have to force myself! Then when I got home I watched Big Brother (never seen any of them before, so it's a first for me) actually I can see how people get addicted to it, Sue says it pretty much the same as the UK, although I don't think it's as big here as it is in the UK. Then after that it was American Idol...they're down to the last 4, god I've never watched that before either, how sad am I!! So I was pretty much rested when I woke up this morning so I went for a run, I felt good at the time, but now my legs are starting to seize up and I'm struggling walking anywhere.
I've been a real tourist today, I went to the aquarium down at Darling Harbour, that was pretty cool, loads of different things to see, and you get to go through the walkways and see the seals and the sharks (in different sections of course). There were some pretty big and unusual looking sharks there, and it said on the signs that because of the tunnelled glass the sharks appear 25% smaller than they actually are.
After that I walked through Darling harbour, they are having a Buddha day, so there's lots of celebrations going on there with lots of Asian food stalls. I went into the Chinese Gardens, which were lovely, it was very tranquil in there, just like being in another country altogether. There were a couple of Chinese weddings going on there too, the brides and the bridesmaids dresses were absolutely stunning, they were so colourful.
So that's it so far, I think next stop is the Anzac memorial museum in Hyde park.
Oh, and I think the rat is out of the house, I saw one this morning on the bench in the garden, I thought it was dead, but I looked again a bit later and it's moving slightly, poor thing, it must be the poison giving it a slow death, I feel really sorry for it, it's only a baby one too...then again, I am glad it's not in the house anymore!

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Well, it’s no wonder that we are getting animals in the house, Satomi left the front door wide open again this morning! I saw that the rat had eaten some of the poison that we’d left out, so hopefully it will be able to get out the house before it kicks in.
The weather has taken a turn for the worse, it's just started raining and it’s forecast to be like this for the next few days, I’ll probably go and use my aquarium ticket on Saturday if that's the case. The friend that asked me to go out on Friday night texted me last night to see if I just wanted to go round hers to watch DVDs instead, so that'll save a bit of money.
I have been pretty bored at work, I am getting jobs here and there, and I’m really trying to drag them out, but even that doesn’t help always and I still end up sitting here half the time doing nothing. The assistant here makes me laugh (the dragon) she refuses to do jobs people give her, and then she bosses everyone around and tells them what to do (and they put up with it…. mind you, they’re probably to scared to object) She told me earlier I couldn’t go to a meeting cos I had to man the phones, aargh!! never mind, only another 6 weeks to go!!

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

I’m feeling really tired this week, I haven’t been sleeping very well since Satomi told me that she’d seen a big rat in the house. She saw it on the stairs (which are just by my room) when she’d got up in the middle of the night on Sunday, so I’ve been a bit of a nervous wreck. I keep imagining waking up with a rat on my bed….I have quite a large gap under my door, so I’ve been stuffing a blanket under that, I’ve been checking under my bed with my torch each night and everytime I go out of my bedroom I have to open the door slowly and peek out first to check it’s not there. Everytime I see something move out of the corner of my eye I jump a mile, it’s awful! My landlord has bought some poison now, but the trouble is we don’t know whether it’s still in the house or not (unless of course I see it and then the whole neighbourhood will know!!) I just love living in an old house that all these animals can get in to, (said with a slight hint of sarcasm!) I’d only just gotten used to the cockroaches!
Apart from that it’s been a pretty quiet week so far, I went to Sue and Grant’s for dinner last night, it was nice to see them as it’d been a while since my last visit, had a lovely dinner and some of Jess’s birthday cake.
I’m going to take it easy this weekend, I was invited out on Friday night, but I’ve had to turn it down as I really need to save a bit of money and I need a rest from drinking. I’ll probably go to the cinema on Saturday night, and on Sunday, a Russian colleague of Gavin’s is coming over from India, so we’re going to meet up and I’m going to show her around a bit, she sounds really nice and she’s so excited about visiting here. There’s no shortage of things to show her, so it won’t be too much hard work!

Sunday, May 08, 2005

Had another hectic weekend. Friday night I went out for a few drinks with Dave, Simon and a few others, that was a fun night. We were supposed to be going to a birthday party, but Simons date was really late in arriving, so we didn't make it in the end. Then I was up early yesterday, Todd's flatmate Jason kindly offered to take me to the Blue Mountains. So he picked me up at 9.30 and we set off. The weather didn't look too promising on the way there, but it was a 2.5 hour drive so we thought it might get better when we got to Katoomba, also it was forecast to be sunny. Anyway it didn't clear up at all, it was drizzling rain and very very misty, so we couldn't see anything, absolutely gutted :-( We took a walk down to one of the 3 sisters (rock formations) but we could only see that one, it's supposed to be a spectacular view, and we didn't even see the mountains either. There is supposed to be a blue haze which comes from the eucalyptus trees, hence the name Blue mountains, so I was really annoyed I didn't see that. (I've added a link on the right if you're interested in looking) So anyway, we got some food and then set off up the road to go to the scenic railway, which is the world's steepest railway. We decided to walk down to the bottom and then get the train back up as it was a really long way down (very sensible idea). The walk down through the rain forest was great, you had to be a bit careful tho as it was very slippy, I nearly came a cropper a couple of times! When we got to the bottom we had a look at all the coal mine info and then we caught the train back up, I must admit I was a bit scared, I thought the cable was gonna break as it was so steep and it looked really old, luckily it was only a short ride up! We were going to stop off and look at Wentworth Falls on the way back, but the visibility was just too bad so we just set off back home.
Then last night Sue and I went into Coogee to meet Jason and Todd. We had a really fun night, we went to this massive place which had bars on all three floors. There were so many different types of people there, and if you were a girl and you weren't wearing a hat you weren't in at all! I was told the band Scissor Sisters started that fashion, anyway....we went downstairs later on and had a dance, I can't believe how many letchy men there were there, Sue and I were surrounded at all times, it was hilarious, I've never seen anything quite like it!!
Today I felt a bit unsociable so I took the bus to Coogee for a coastal walk. The coastline is so spectacular here, I feel so lucky to have the chance to see it. I walked along Coogee beach, then past Gordons bay. On the way to Bronte there was the biggest graveyard I think I've ever seen, it was quite something, and at the risk of sounding morbid, it's a nice place to be laid to rest as it's right by the ocean....anyway, next stop was Bronte where I had a rest and treated myself to a bag of chips (which were yummy) I sat there for a while taking it all in and watching the surfers, it's so beautiful there. Then it was past Tamarama beach and finally Bondi where I had another rest and a glass of juice. That all took up about 4 hours, I really enjoyed it, but am a bit tired now!
Think I'm going to have a quiet night in front of the TV tonight!

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Well, so far it's been a pretty uneventful week. I've been to the gym lots, but that's about it. Actually I was looking forward to finishing work tonight and doing nothing, typical though, I got asked to stay behind to help prepare for a meeting tomorrow, and all those times I've had nothing to do there! It was quite funny, I feel like a real computer techie working there, and that's saying something as I'm pretty hopeless.... they have no clue at all, I keep getting asked really easy things, that they have no idea about, makes me feel good that I know the answers anyway!!
It's been quite noisy at home the last couple of days, they are pulling down some trees in one of the neighbours backyards. The other night I woke up early and found that Satomi had left the front door wide open...luckily there is another iron bar door in front of it which was locked, but still any animal could have got in, or a very thin person. I was waiting outside my room for a while cos I thought I heard some heavy breathing, maybe I was just imagining it, but I was so glad I had a key on my bedroom door! That's the second time she's done that.
Sue is popping round later, I'm looking forward to hearing her news, she hooked up with a guy at the party on Saturday and they went out last night!

Sunday, May 01, 2005

I had another great night last night, Sue and I were going to go to some bars in the city but I had a text from Todd in the morning asking if I wanted to go to a party in Bondi, so we went there instead. It was really cool party, the guy whose party it was was Italian, he had a really cool flat and loads of people were there, he even had a dj, so we ended up dancing the night away again! Afterwards Sue and I got a taxi back to the city and had another couple of drinks in the pub around the corner from mine so it was quite a late night, had a brilliant laugh though ;o)
Yesterday daytime I went for a drive with Marie, we drove to Bondi and past all the beaches including Bronte (thats where the shark attack was the other week!) and Coogee, I'm definitely going to have to go back there and take a proper look. We sat on Coogee beach for a while, I really like it there. Marie wants to go to Melbourne at some point, so maybe we will do that in the near future. I'm aching a bit today, I did another new class yesterday morning, was at the gym for a 9.30 body pump class, it involves using a weight bar, I really enjoyed that one although it was hard work, I think I'm gonna do pilates tomorrow.