There are 3 of us who don't like red meat, so we counter that by having either chicken or turkey. Ever since I've arrived it has been turkey on the menu and it has been great. I hadn't eaten turkey in years as it is not readily available in Oz (or if it is, it's really expensive). As a result, we have all been really sleepy with the trictophan (I SO know that is the incorrect spelling, but it is the stuff in turkey that makes you sleepy). It's 8:30pm and I am WIPED! It could also be all the walking I'm doing, as well as waking up early. This morning we were told we were leaving the house at 8am, so I woke up at 7am to take my time. We didn't leave til 9. I was pissy! But eventually we left and got to St Lawrence Market just before 10. It's a market selling mainly food but also souveneirs, clothes and other stuff. Just like any other market. Similar to Queen Victoria Market in Melbs, but smaller. And I'm sure it's busier in the warmer months, but as today was the first day it felt like Autumn and not Spring, the crowd probably stayed home.
I tend to make the common error of not having breakfast before I leave in the morning because when my blood sugar drops, it really DROPS! I'm too full to have anything in the morning but when I do get hungry, I will eat and drink anything. Unfortunately my desperation for something to drink and eat took me to Starbucks. Bloody awful shit. The Japanese and the Aussies do a better Starbucks - and we don't even need a Starbucks in either of those countries coz there are so many top notch coffee houses that we don't need that inferior shit. At least it turned me off from coffee houses there. But that awful crap was enough to get my blood sugar back to a normal level and I was OK for a little while longer. We went walking along downtown Toronto and it was pretty deserted for 11am. We went into Dawn's workplace to get a map and we decided to walk in The Path, which I may have mentioned before, is a 27km underground pathway that takes you to all the shops and all the major landmarks downtown. When it gets cold in Winter, there is no need to even go outside and tolerate the cold weather: the Path will take you to anywhere you need to go. We walked from Union Station - the central hub to Eaton Centre. Dawn was in charge of the map reading. She's an ace with maps - and even she got lost a few times! Happens to the locals too. There are quite a few water features and sounds of the soothing water in the Path. That is because in Winter time and during peak hour, the Path gets crowded - REALLY CROWDED. People tend to panic and a combination of no windows and lack of fresh air mixed with people crowded together in a fairly confined space during peak times, people get crazy. The water features and the sound of the water is meant to calm them down. And I know it would work - I can vouch for it. I do use the sound of the ocean waves crashing to fall asleep and to also wake me up in the morning when I have to go to work. Even today when I hear the ocean, my first instinct is bed time! So I was all relaxed and calm when I was in the Path today. And also because there was nobody there - being a Saturday and all! We eventually got to Eaton Centre which is the main area of downtown Toronto at Younge and Dundas. I thought I was back in Japan - especially with the traffic lights. In Japan, there was a very loud sounding system for pedestrians. If the light was green, a loud alarm type beep sound would holler throughout until the lights changed. If I closed my eyes, I could have sworn I was back home crossing the road at Sendai station. You know how there are senses that can trigger memories? I know smell is the strongest, but I'd say sound would have to come second or third - tied with taste. It was a very nostalgic moment.
I had been waiting for a 'streetcar' to pass by at Younge and Dundas, as I had seen some tram tracks and was curious to see what the trams looked like. Very small! Afterwards we made our way via subway to Scarborough - which involved us catching 3 different lines. Dawn and Judy like to use scare tactics to warn you of things - but they go all out and give you the worst case scenario. So they were telling me to be careful of being pushed in line, watch out for psychos, etc. Coming from a big city myself, I know that I have to keep my guard and wits about me. And I find Melbourne is worse than what I experienced in Toronto and it got to the point where I had to block it all out and ignore what they were saying. If you listen to them, it feels like you are living in fear and that is no bullshit I want to be a part of. So I had to lay low and keep my mouth shut coz I know that they were just preparing me, but living in Melbourne is enough preparation!
The subways were quite clean. We had fun going through all the names of the weird stations. There was a guy who was not 'with it' and just kept talking to himself. He wasn't causing harm to anyone, he was just loud with his self-talking and bad ass rap 'singing'. The station that he disembarked was called 'Warden'. Dawn and I couldn't help but laugh our pants off!
The fact that the prices displayed are not the FINAL price tags that you end up paying has stopped me from buying compulsively, but they were pissing me off. I tried buying something that was labelled $3.50 and it ended up being $4 just because of the stupid GST and PST. Fuck man, just put THE WHOLE price including taxes so I don't have to get pissy! Honestly, that stops me from buying food too, as I had to budget for stuff. That's one stickling point of contention I have......:(
It took a while, but we got to Scarborough and it's just like any other big shopping complex. The only reason I bought a drink there was because they had the price up INCLUDING TAXES! That's how I'm gonna buy things from now on: if the price of tax is not included, I'm not buying it (Wish Andy luck everyone! She's gonna need it!) After some window shopping, we all got a lift back home via the local 'Zellers' (kind of like K-Mart) to get in, buy some towels and get out. It took 90 minutes because of the bloody staff getting it wrong. Got home and rested a bit before having dinner and having another early night. Tomorrow we are off to Niagara on the Lake. Not quite Niagara Falls, but still on the way and with lots of nice things to see.
It's been a week since arriving in Canada already and it hasn't felt like it at all. I've got to organise my time in Wisconsin. I've already checked out some cheap flights to Chicago, then I am catching a 3 hour bus to Madison - and the prices are quite reasonable. Just need to finalise the dates, as also we are going to Niagara Falls and staying overnight to see the lights on the Falls, as well as have Christmas dinner with the family before I jet off to sunny Buenos Aires. DAMN! Time is flying folks!
OK, turkey is making me sleepy...off to bed....nighty night!
Sunday, November 9
Saturday, November 8
Walking tour
Seems I've been doing a lot of that - walking! This morning we went downtown. We left the house at 10am and I got back at 1:30pm. Judy walked with me, then took the bus back while I went to explore downtown a bit more. Today was meant to be one of the last warm days for Autumn, so I wanted to take advantage of that. There were several murals around town that depict the history of Oshawa and they were all pretty cool. We ended up at the Memorial Park and I wandered around. That's the place where people come to pay tribute to all the people who fought on all the wars, etc. I was at the main monument reading about the history when a man came up and told me more about as he saw me. I told him that I'm Aussie and he gave me more of an insight about the Aussies and Canadians as an allied force. That was cool too. Turns out that he is a war veteran and we got to chatting about it some more, and me basically learning more history of war. One thing I'm learning is how patriotic they are - one thing that is severely lacking in Australia. We pay our respects and all, but you do feel that sense of pride everyday here, not just on Remembrance Day or ANZAC Day. It really hit me today as I was speaking to the veteran. So I'm hoping to get to Memorial Park on Tuesday for Remembrance Day. And Memorial Park is really beautiful. It is well maintained and aside for it being a place to pay respect to the soldiers, it's predominantly a place for meditation and peace - and you get that feeling instantly despite it being a place that was built to remember (and to arguably glorify) war. I spent a good time there relaxing, seeing the beautiful white grandstand there that is used during Summer for bands to play. They're getting stuff ready for Christmas as well - with REAL Christmas trees being decorated and squirrels jumping on them.
Walked back home (and bless my good memory - I made it back in one piece again) and we started baking, as I had wanted to learn how to make molasses buns (when we were living in Sendai, Dawn's mum sent her a care package with these buns - I tried them and fell in love instantly! SO DELISH!) And I'm learning how to make them - they are a similar recipe to gingerbread men, so we made them today. All good! I'm gonna try and make some truffles and I'm kinda hoping nobody likes them. Everybody is fussy here, so I'm sure I'll get my wish, and then the truffles will be ALL MINE!
Tomorrow we're all going into Toronto to visit the world famous St Lawrence Market. Whatever you can think of, it's there. Everybody recommends it and I've read up on it, and I'm ready for it. Can't wait.
And as I've been blogging this, I'm also helping my best friend with her wedding. She's got a date ready and the reception place - it's all set for next October. 3 months after I get back home, so it's official bridesmaid duties from July to October. And the bridesmaid dress is HOT! I'm gonna look fabulous. And my hairdresser friend is online too, so I'm getting prices and all that and sending them to Jackki instantly. So I guess I'm on duty now! This is excting. As long as I have known her, Jackki has always said, "I'm never ever getting married". Now she knows exactly what she wants for her wedding! I've always said that I wanted to elope, so hopefully that remains :)
OK, off to bed. See ya!
Walked back home (and bless my good memory - I made it back in one piece again) and we started baking, as I had wanted to learn how to make molasses buns (when we were living in Sendai, Dawn's mum sent her a care package with these buns - I tried them and fell in love instantly! SO DELISH!) And I'm learning how to make them - they are a similar recipe to gingerbread men, so we made them today. All good! I'm gonna try and make some truffles and I'm kinda hoping nobody likes them. Everybody is fussy here, so I'm sure I'll get my wish, and then the truffles will be ALL MINE!
Tomorrow we're all going into Toronto to visit the world famous St Lawrence Market. Whatever you can think of, it's there. Everybody recommends it and I've read up on it, and I'm ready for it. Can't wait.
And as I've been blogging this, I'm also helping my best friend with her wedding. She's got a date ready and the reception place - it's all set for next October. 3 months after I get back home, so it's official bridesmaid duties from July to October. And the bridesmaid dress is HOT! I'm gonna look fabulous. And my hairdresser friend is online too, so I'm getting prices and all that and sending them to Jackki instantly. So I guess I'm on duty now! This is excting. As long as I have known her, Jackki has always said, "I'm never ever getting married". Now she knows exactly what she wants for her wedding! I've always said that I wanted to elope, so hopefully that remains :)
OK, off to bed. See ya!
Friday, November 7
TURN AROUND!
That's my new game I like to play here in Canada. I have an obvious Aussie accent (well, obvious enough to stand out from the crowd, especially in a small town like Oshawa) and everytime I talk, people turn around to see who is talking. I know it's done in good fun and for a curiosity factor, but it makes me laugh to see a) how many people turn around and b) how many times the same person can turn around. So everyday Dawn and I are counting to see if I can break my daily record. Today's total is 23 and 1 person turned around 3 times. A new record!
This morning Judy and I took a really nice walk to their local gym. It's a workout in itself to walk there - especially on such a beautiful day. I didn't even need a jacket. I find it funny that it's been warmer here in late Autumn than it has been in the middle of a Melbourne spring. I'm working on my tan here! It took us around 45 minutes at a leisurely pace. We were going to see if we could get a deal for me to have a 5 week membership so I can go in anytime. Got shown around and it is a HUGE gym! The do classes, cardio stuff, circuit, swimming and aqua, etc. They were gonna get me to pay $24 a week (still cheaper than the one I worked for in Melbs) until we asked if we could transfer Dawn's membership to me for 5 weeks, which they agreed to at no extra charge. The gym membership has been paid off already and I did offer to pay my way, but was told not to worry about it. So more free gym membership! YAY! They tend to follow me everywhere!!!
Walked back to the house and I am slowly picking up on all the different bike paths and ways to get from one place back to the house. There are so many ways you can go about it and I'm taking advantage of the nice weather before it reverts to coldness on the weekend by walking everywhere. Had my trusty vegemite for lunch and decided to go for yet another walk after eating. I walked to the discount shop and satisfied my naughty chocolate craving and walked back to the house. Checked to see if any of my peeps were online, they weren't so I went out yet again for another longer walk - this time to Walmart, where I went last night by car. Here's something else I learnt: Road rules are weird to master here. At a red light, you have to stop, but if there's a red light and the road is clear, you can make a right turn. Some instances you can even turn left. I'm still trying to get my head around that one!
It was 30 minutes to get to Walmart and it was predominantly an uphill walk. Had to sit for a while, bummed a bit before making my way back when I discovered it was starting to get cold. Made it back in one piece! So altogether, I walked over 3 hours. No wonder I'm tired now!
On the second day I arrived, we all bought tickets to see an equestrian show that was playing at Oshawa. It was the "World Famous Lipizzaner Stallions", with horses (obviously!) but it was very interesting and cool. They went through all the main things done when doing dressage events, the origins, etc. If anything, I got to learn more about and appreciate the art (sport) of equestrian and all the things that go with it. It's here thatI played Turn Around with Dawn and it's here I broke my record. Quite funny!
Tomorrow is another beaut day and we're going downtown (I think to Oshawa Centre, which is another bloody long walk. YAY!) I'm getting more exercise at least! And I've been cooking some more and adding my own flavour to stuff. Tomorrow is burger night and I'm gonna see if I can experiment with some stuff...hmmm.....It's going to be an interesting time to cater to 3 people in the household who eat differently (2 people allergic to stuff and 1 who is a fussy fussy eater. I like the motto I have grown up with when it comes to food - "Just eat it and shut up!") Wish me luck!
I'm off to bed, it's another early start and I want to rest my legs!
Bye :)
This morning Judy and I took a really nice walk to their local gym. It's a workout in itself to walk there - especially on such a beautiful day. I didn't even need a jacket. I find it funny that it's been warmer here in late Autumn than it has been in the middle of a Melbourne spring. I'm working on my tan here! It took us around 45 minutes at a leisurely pace. We were going to see if we could get a deal for me to have a 5 week membership so I can go in anytime. Got shown around and it is a HUGE gym! The do classes, cardio stuff, circuit, swimming and aqua, etc. They were gonna get me to pay $24 a week (still cheaper than the one I worked for in Melbs) until we asked if we could transfer Dawn's membership to me for 5 weeks, which they agreed to at no extra charge. The gym membership has been paid off already and I did offer to pay my way, but was told not to worry about it. So more free gym membership! YAY! They tend to follow me everywhere!!!
Walked back to the house and I am slowly picking up on all the different bike paths and ways to get from one place back to the house. There are so many ways you can go about it and I'm taking advantage of the nice weather before it reverts to coldness on the weekend by walking everywhere. Had my trusty vegemite for lunch and decided to go for yet another walk after eating. I walked to the discount shop and satisfied my naughty chocolate craving and walked back to the house. Checked to see if any of my peeps were online, they weren't so I went out yet again for another longer walk - this time to Walmart, where I went last night by car. Here's something else I learnt: Road rules are weird to master here. At a red light, you have to stop, but if there's a red light and the road is clear, you can make a right turn. Some instances you can even turn left. I'm still trying to get my head around that one!
It was 30 minutes to get to Walmart and it was predominantly an uphill walk. Had to sit for a while, bummed a bit before making my way back when I discovered it was starting to get cold. Made it back in one piece! So altogether, I walked over 3 hours. No wonder I'm tired now!
On the second day I arrived, we all bought tickets to see an equestrian show that was playing at Oshawa. It was the "World Famous Lipizzaner Stallions", with horses (obviously!) but it was very interesting and cool. They went through all the main things done when doing dressage events, the origins, etc. If anything, I got to learn more about and appreciate the art (sport) of equestrian and all the things that go with it. It's here thatI played Turn Around with Dawn and it's here I broke my record. Quite funny!
Tomorrow is another beaut day and we're going downtown (I think to Oshawa Centre, which is another bloody long walk. YAY!) I'm getting more exercise at least! And I've been cooking some more and adding my own flavour to stuff. Tomorrow is burger night and I'm gonna see if I can experiment with some stuff...hmmm.....It's going to be an interesting time to cater to 3 people in the household who eat differently (2 people allergic to stuff and 1 who is a fussy fussy eater. I like the motto I have grown up with when it comes to food - "Just eat it and shut up!") Wish me luck!
I'm off to bed, it's another early start and I want to rest my legs!
Bye :)
Thursday, November 6
The Amazing Race
I'm currently in a blog race with Chris. Now that we're in a closer proximity to each other, we've got similar schedules!
So today was a super easy laid back day. Was woken up to go for a walk along the neighbourhood and to find some squirrels! Yes, I know. I'm obsessed. There were none out there coz a dog was scaring them away. But at least I know my way around Oshawa. All the places tend to be in a round circle so you'll end up at the same place that you started. It's a very nice neighbourhood, I really like it. As it was another absolutely gorgeous day, I planned to go exploring some more later in the day. We went back home and I eventually had the place to myself, so ideally I was going for a walk. Got distracted when I realised that 3pm my time is the peak time where everybody else is available online - and they were all so happy to hear from me that it got dark by the time I wanted to go for my walk. I've got 6 weeks - there's no hurry at all!
When Dawn got back from work we made a beeline for The Future Shop (STILL can't get enough of that name) and Walmart to find a battery charger - one I thought I'd get from the first shop. They were all pricey and I tried my luck at Walmart and BOOM: Found a USB charger, so I don't need an adaptor. HOORAY! Only set me back $10 whereas the other one would have cost me $50. Very happy with that!
Tomorrow we're walking to the gym and we're going to see if they can do me a deal for me to go to the gym while I'm here. They know of me, so a deal will be made. Fingers crossed - I'm busting for a Pump class!
Well off I go to beat Chris!
Bye
So today was a super easy laid back day. Was woken up to go for a walk along the neighbourhood and to find some squirrels! Yes, I know. I'm obsessed. There were none out there coz a dog was scaring them away. But at least I know my way around Oshawa. All the places tend to be in a round circle so you'll end up at the same place that you started. It's a very nice neighbourhood, I really like it. As it was another absolutely gorgeous day, I planned to go exploring some more later in the day. We went back home and I eventually had the place to myself, so ideally I was going for a walk. Got distracted when I realised that 3pm my time is the peak time where everybody else is available online - and they were all so happy to hear from me that it got dark by the time I wanted to go for my walk. I've got 6 weeks - there's no hurry at all!
When Dawn got back from work we made a beeline for The Future Shop (STILL can't get enough of that name) and Walmart to find a battery charger - one I thought I'd get from the first shop. They were all pricey and I tried my luck at Walmart and BOOM: Found a USB charger, so I don't need an adaptor. HOORAY! Only set me back $10 whereas the other one would have cost me $50. Very happy with that!
Tomorrow we're walking to the gym and we're going to see if they can do me a deal for me to go to the gym while I'm here. They know of me, so a deal will be made. Fingers crossed - I'm busting for a Pump class!
Well off I go to beat Chris!
Bye
Wednesday, November 5
Taking it easy
MONDAY: Day 3 in Canada and it's very laid back once again. I had a sleep in and my body was dying for exercise, but Dawn's mum didn't want me to get lost, so she came along with me for a walk around the neighbourhood in the late afternoon. It was a very nice walk. I saw squirrels for the first time running around the bike path near their house. If my batteries were working properly, I would have gone and taken photos. But I didn't bring my camera. I've got 6 weeks to take photos of the local area, so I'm not too worried about it. We went walking all towards where Dawn drove us the day before and it was so close I could walk it. Then I remembered the fact that Dawn hates walking anywhere, so I'll be forced to go out on my own, which is what I like anyway.
One of my blondie moments: We were walking along the neighbourhood and I saw a lot of police tape on the outside of the houses. It was surreal seeing it in real life as opposed to just seeing it in Law and Order. I then asked Judy, "How safe is this area?" she said, "It's a very safe and good area to live in" just as we walked past a 7th house with the yellow tape. I looked at her, pointed at the 8th house and asked, "Are you sure?". She then broke down in hysterical laughter and said, "They're just the Halloween decorations that people have in front of their houses. They leave them out for days just before the Christmas ones come out!". Yeah, but I laughed my butt off too! Got back and spent the rest of the time cursing hotmail for screwing things up. When I opened my inbox, I couldn't bring the page down to even write any messages, although I could still read them. I tried everything I could, even got Dawn to look at it for me, but to no avail. I gave up and decided to get a gmail account, and that was a hassle too just coz I couldn't think of any names for my email address, aside from "Spanish Help Desk", so then Chris helped me out for a thingscorp addy (Thanks dude, as soon as I sort out the 'outgoing' shit, I'll have it up and running). With that one, once again I can read emails but cannot send them, which was giving me more of the shits. After a bit of a whiny session (thanks Chris!), I finally changed email addys and am much happier. Bloody hell, last month it was myspace, this month it's facebook and hotmail. Please let it be all that changes! I wanted to go to sleep but couldn't, so I stayed up bumming a bit before finally drifting off. Although I had an early start, as I was heading off to Toronto for my first day trip fairly early in the morning.
TODAY: For the first time since working in Melbourne, I had to get up at 7:30am. Was prepared fairly early and ready to go out into town with Judy. I had the trippiest flashback moment EVER when we were at the bus stop. This girl was at the stop with her back facing towards us, and I could have sworn it was OLYMPIA! Seriously, this was dead ringer time again: she had the short straight hair, had the beanie on, bag across the shoulder and resting on the hip, jeans with runners. She had the same posture, same height and build, same mannerisms. Then she turns around and has the exact same pair of glasses Olympia does. I was just looking at her and kept looking at her to see if it was her. My jaw just dropped. Even on the bus I kept asking myself, "Is that her?" I wanted to take a picture of her and talk to her to see if she sounded like her. I'm sure she did. But I chickened out. She lives in Dawn's area, so I may bump into her again sometime.
I also learnt something else today (it seems I'm just learning new stuff everyday. Cool!): Canadians who are not living in Toronto are over-prepared for the cold all the time, even if the weather is meant to be beautiful. For example: today was 17 degrees and that's very high for this time of the year. Usually it would be snowing, but it was like a beautiful Autumn day, similar to Autumn in Melbs: the sun was out, the leaves are still falling. I look around to see what they are wearing and it's this: a beanie, a heavy duty goose down coat more suitable for skiing rather than just shopping at the corner store (I feel so gay for saying corner store: my heart and my gut says 'milk bar' but my adaptation tool that I use frequently when I go overseas says 'corner store', or 'grocery store'); Heavy duty boots, like ugg boots but more practical, very warm pants that are once again more suitable for the skier and not the local just living an hour out of town. I thought to myself, if ppl back home had this weather, they would still be wearing board shorts and thongs (for your feet, let's straighten that up right now!) It was a really interesting observation, considering that it gets much colder than this, you would think ppl would take advantage of a lighter layer just before the cold sets in. I know I did! I just had 4 layers as opposed to my usual 7!
And something else I learnt: they are quite loyal about Rememberance Day, which is next week. Everybody is wearing the poppy badges and you get hassled downtown if you're not wearing one (hassled to buy one, and if you say no, you are being unpatriotic and you are questioned over it, etc). So before we left the house, I was given a poppy to pin on me so we wouldn't get hassled. Fair enough. I was wearing my leather jacket and didn't want to put it on there, so I put it on my bag (It was quite prominant. I didn't want to have a Seinfeld moment - the episode about the AIDS walk and Kramer won't wear the AIDS ribbon, even though he gets hassled about it quite a bit, until the 2 thugs he is scared of yell, "WHO, WHO DOES NOT WANT TO WEAR THE RIBBON..because I am wearing the ribbon, he is wearing the ribbon, we are ALL wearing the ribbon, so why aren't you wearing the ribbon". I was laughing to myself all the way to the city thinking it would be funny if something like that happened to me, because I would have just let rip with something! Anyway, Judy and I were walking to the CN Tower and this guy stops her and says, "You've got your poppy badge on the wrong side". It was on her right lapel. He said, "It's meant to be on your left side, above the heart". I looked at him and thought to myself, "WTF, at least she's wearing one, go hassle someone whose not - like me!". She was very polite and diplomatic about it and said, "He's probably a veteran himself". Still, I don't think it was such a big deal- like I said before, at least she's wearing one. I had to remind myself that I wasn't in Australia or Argentina, where I can get away with being a bitch by saying I'm a local. I think I could write a whole Seinfeld or Curb Your Enthusiasm episode about this. Maybe Curb, so I can write "Fuck" in the script repeatedly! Or just get into a fight with this guy like Larry and just go on and on and on...and let it be unscripted and uncensored. Yeah, Curb Your Enthusiasm. But I betcha it happened to Larry David, which inspired that Seinfeld episode. Too funny!
After the bus ride, we caught the train from Oshawa that takes an hour to get to Union Station, the central hub of Toronto. It was my first day out and people were asking me for directions. I thought that was sweet, but then I handballed them straight over to Judy! I'm still getting the 'turn around' whenever I am talking. I speak to Judy, they hear my accent and they turn around to see where it comes from and try to figure out where I'm from. Still funny! I got that a lot at the Dollarama! It really was a gorgeous day as people were outside and had short sleeves - kind of like Londoners when they get a pale glimmer of sunlight: off with the jumpers! Seems like I have brought my Melbourne weather with me up here and it's awesome! We went towards the CN Tower, which was the main thing I wanted to do in Toronto that wouldn't have too much walking: I'm saving my walking tours for when I'm on my own. I could spend the whole day walking, but I didn't want to burden Judy with it. She stayed downstairs and I went up and it was good. Something I can cross off my list! I wanted to take a photo of this but I wouldn't have been allowed to: when you go through security, you walk through this silver cubicle pod, you stand there and air is sucked out from the sides and blows all over you. I really wanted to take a pic because it is almost identical to the one used in that episode of Doctor Who, where the Doctor and Rose are in 2 separate elevators and are being 'disinfected' at the hospital with the evil nurse cats: they get showered with water, then air dried as if nothing had happened. This security measure was so cool! Next time when I'm in Toronto I want to ask a security dude if I can take a picture of it, very futuristic!
The CN Tower is the largest free standing tower in the world. It's quite an impressive tower. You have the observation deck (where I met an Israeli girl travelling on her own), you go higher and you have the glass floors (I met a Japanese guy who had the Canadian accent down packed!) and then you can go even higher on the sky pod. Just like Tokyo Tower really. The only thing that would have been nice is if they had signs that had the major landmarks and buildings in Toronto instead of people just looking aimlessly at buildings and stuff like that. EG: Tokyo Tower had signs that told you where Mt Fuji is located, etc. They had told you that you can see New York on a clear day, but not which direction, bla bla bla. I'm not gifted with "East West North South directions" To me, everything up is north, so it would have been good to have that. Right at the top I met an English girl called Violet who came to Canada just for a week from Plymouth. She got a good last minute airfare deal, so it got me to thinking about going to Madrid for a week, coz I did find a cheap ticket there. Well, my boyfriend is not going to read this, so it doesn't matter! Anyway, Violet and I were on our own and we were taking photos for each other, as we knew quite well the perils of going to these great places on your own and only having photos of scenery and none with you in them! All up I spent 2 and a half hours at the tower - thanks to the people I've met! Afterwards me, Violet and Judy went out to lunch at The Pathway, the 27km underground path that takes you all over downtown Toronto. When it's too cold or too hot to walk on the street, the underground path is used a lot as it takes you to all the places you can think of. It's an undercover galleria that is very well maintained with every shop you can think of: I found The Body Shop! We had greek food and I befriended the owner, who asked me where I was from and told me he wish he could go back to Melbourne! I so wanted to speak Greek to him, but the only words I know, I wouldn't say to a guy I've just met unless I'm trying to pick him up! After we ate I said "Yasu", which I thought meant 'Thank you", but I think it means hello, coz then he said 'Adio", which is goodbye (Adios en Spanish). Best Greek food ever: the chicken wasn't dry like it normally is back home - I'm in love with this place: Opa in the food court. Try it!
Back to the pathways: Everybody has said, "I dare you not to get lost in the pathway". And my sense of direction is quite good (apart from telling me to go 4 kms north west. Just tell me left or right!!!) so I am up for the challenge and have been ready for it since I've been reading up on Toronto. But again, that'll be when I'm on my own. Something to look forward to! We said goodbye to Violet, met up with Dawn and went home. Fell asleep on the train (and they are clean here in Canada!), got picked up at the station by her Dad and we went to a family restaurant. Their menus are so bloody huge. And something else I've learnt: they don't write up all of their prices: they don't include the GST or PST, so if something says it's $3.99, don't be fooled. That's what's been tripping me up and pissing me off (Violet too!) You've got to at least add $4, which is a pain. But at least it's stopping me from buying stuff compulsively.
Tomorrow is an easy day. I'm going to go for another walk in the neighbourhood. I need to buy a battery charger and hopefully we'll get it soon - before Saturday as me, Dawn and Judy will be going to St Lawrence Market, the world famous one. I like to go when it's crowded, but nobody else does :( but at least we're going on the weekend when it's all happening.
I'm gonna go and rest. And I can comment on MySpace again. After some thought and some sooki la la moping from my man, I have opened up a comment only myspace account. So my blogs will still be here, but I get to comment on all of yours again. I've been missing that and perhaps being out of the loop because of it. Now I have quite a few blogs to comment and catch up on: exactly a month's worth. YAY!
See ya later.
One of my blondie moments: We were walking along the neighbourhood and I saw a lot of police tape on the outside of the houses. It was surreal seeing it in real life as opposed to just seeing it in Law and Order. I then asked Judy, "How safe is this area?" she said, "It's a very safe and good area to live in" just as we walked past a 7th house with the yellow tape. I looked at her, pointed at the 8th house and asked, "Are you sure?". She then broke down in hysterical laughter and said, "They're just the Halloween decorations that people have in front of their houses. They leave them out for days just before the Christmas ones come out!". Yeah, but I laughed my butt off too! Got back and spent the rest of the time cursing hotmail for screwing things up. When I opened my inbox, I couldn't bring the page down to even write any messages, although I could still read them. I tried everything I could, even got Dawn to look at it for me, but to no avail. I gave up and decided to get a gmail account, and that was a hassle too just coz I couldn't think of any names for my email address, aside from "Spanish Help Desk", so then Chris helped me out for a thingscorp addy (Thanks dude, as soon as I sort out the 'outgoing' shit, I'll have it up and running). With that one, once again I can read emails but cannot send them, which was giving me more of the shits. After a bit of a whiny session (thanks Chris!), I finally changed email addys and am much happier. Bloody hell, last month it was myspace, this month it's facebook and hotmail. Please let it be all that changes! I wanted to go to sleep but couldn't, so I stayed up bumming a bit before finally drifting off. Although I had an early start, as I was heading off to Toronto for my first day trip fairly early in the morning.
TODAY: For the first time since working in Melbourne, I had to get up at 7:30am. Was prepared fairly early and ready to go out into town with Judy. I had the trippiest flashback moment EVER when we were at the bus stop. This girl was at the stop with her back facing towards us, and I could have sworn it was OLYMPIA! Seriously, this was dead ringer time again: she had the short straight hair, had the beanie on, bag across the shoulder and resting on the hip, jeans with runners. She had the same posture, same height and build, same mannerisms. Then she turns around and has the exact same pair of glasses Olympia does. I was just looking at her and kept looking at her to see if it was her. My jaw just dropped. Even on the bus I kept asking myself, "Is that her?" I wanted to take a picture of her and talk to her to see if she sounded like her. I'm sure she did. But I chickened out. She lives in Dawn's area, so I may bump into her again sometime.
I also learnt something else today (it seems I'm just learning new stuff everyday. Cool!): Canadians who are not living in Toronto are over-prepared for the cold all the time, even if the weather is meant to be beautiful. For example: today was 17 degrees and that's very high for this time of the year. Usually it would be snowing, but it was like a beautiful Autumn day, similar to Autumn in Melbs: the sun was out, the leaves are still falling. I look around to see what they are wearing and it's this: a beanie, a heavy duty goose down coat more suitable for skiing rather than just shopping at the corner store (I feel so gay for saying corner store: my heart and my gut says 'milk bar' but my adaptation tool that I use frequently when I go overseas says 'corner store', or 'grocery store'); Heavy duty boots, like ugg boots but more practical, very warm pants that are once again more suitable for the skier and not the local just living an hour out of town. I thought to myself, if ppl back home had this weather, they would still be wearing board shorts and thongs (for your feet, let's straighten that up right now!) It was a really interesting observation, considering that it gets much colder than this, you would think ppl would take advantage of a lighter layer just before the cold sets in. I know I did! I just had 4 layers as opposed to my usual 7!
And something else I learnt: they are quite loyal about Rememberance Day, which is next week. Everybody is wearing the poppy badges and you get hassled downtown if you're not wearing one (hassled to buy one, and if you say no, you are being unpatriotic and you are questioned over it, etc). So before we left the house, I was given a poppy to pin on me so we wouldn't get hassled. Fair enough. I was wearing my leather jacket and didn't want to put it on there, so I put it on my bag (It was quite prominant. I didn't want to have a Seinfeld moment - the episode about the AIDS walk and Kramer won't wear the AIDS ribbon, even though he gets hassled about it quite a bit, until the 2 thugs he is scared of yell, "WHO, WHO DOES NOT WANT TO WEAR THE RIBBON..because I am wearing the ribbon, he is wearing the ribbon, we are ALL wearing the ribbon, so why aren't you wearing the ribbon". I was laughing to myself all the way to the city thinking it would be funny if something like that happened to me, because I would have just let rip with something! Anyway, Judy and I were walking to the CN Tower and this guy stops her and says, "You've got your poppy badge on the wrong side". It was on her right lapel. He said, "It's meant to be on your left side, above the heart". I looked at him and thought to myself, "WTF, at least she's wearing one, go hassle someone whose not - like me!". She was very polite and diplomatic about it and said, "He's probably a veteran himself". Still, I don't think it was such a big deal- like I said before, at least she's wearing one. I had to remind myself that I wasn't in Australia or Argentina, where I can get away with being a bitch by saying I'm a local. I think I could write a whole Seinfeld or Curb Your Enthusiasm episode about this. Maybe Curb, so I can write "Fuck" in the script repeatedly! Or just get into a fight with this guy like Larry and just go on and on and on...and let it be unscripted and uncensored. Yeah, Curb Your Enthusiasm. But I betcha it happened to Larry David, which inspired that Seinfeld episode. Too funny!
After the bus ride, we caught the train from Oshawa that takes an hour to get to Union Station, the central hub of Toronto. It was my first day out and people were asking me for directions. I thought that was sweet, but then I handballed them straight over to Judy! I'm still getting the 'turn around' whenever I am talking. I speak to Judy, they hear my accent and they turn around to see where it comes from and try to figure out where I'm from. Still funny! I got that a lot at the Dollarama! It really was a gorgeous day as people were outside and had short sleeves - kind of like Londoners when they get a pale glimmer of sunlight: off with the jumpers! Seems like I have brought my Melbourne weather with me up here and it's awesome! We went towards the CN Tower, which was the main thing I wanted to do in Toronto that wouldn't have too much walking: I'm saving my walking tours for when I'm on my own. I could spend the whole day walking, but I didn't want to burden Judy with it. She stayed downstairs and I went up and it was good. Something I can cross off my list! I wanted to take a photo of this but I wouldn't have been allowed to: when you go through security, you walk through this silver cubicle pod, you stand there and air is sucked out from the sides and blows all over you. I really wanted to take a pic because it is almost identical to the one used in that episode of Doctor Who, where the Doctor and Rose are in 2 separate elevators and are being 'disinfected' at the hospital with the evil nurse cats: they get showered with water, then air dried as if nothing had happened. This security measure was so cool! Next time when I'm in Toronto I want to ask a security dude if I can take a picture of it, very futuristic!
The CN Tower is the largest free standing tower in the world. It's quite an impressive tower. You have the observation deck (where I met an Israeli girl travelling on her own), you go higher and you have the glass floors (I met a Japanese guy who had the Canadian accent down packed!) and then you can go even higher on the sky pod. Just like Tokyo Tower really. The only thing that would have been nice is if they had signs that had the major landmarks and buildings in Toronto instead of people just looking aimlessly at buildings and stuff like that. EG: Tokyo Tower had signs that told you where Mt Fuji is located, etc. They had told you that you can see New York on a clear day, but not which direction, bla bla bla. I'm not gifted with "East West North South directions" To me, everything up is north, so it would have been good to have that. Right at the top I met an English girl called Violet who came to Canada just for a week from Plymouth. She got a good last minute airfare deal, so it got me to thinking about going to Madrid for a week, coz I did find a cheap ticket there. Well, my boyfriend is not going to read this, so it doesn't matter! Anyway, Violet and I were on our own and we were taking photos for each other, as we knew quite well the perils of going to these great places on your own and only having photos of scenery and none with you in them! All up I spent 2 and a half hours at the tower - thanks to the people I've met! Afterwards me, Violet and Judy went out to lunch at The Pathway, the 27km underground path that takes you all over downtown Toronto. When it's too cold or too hot to walk on the street, the underground path is used a lot as it takes you to all the places you can think of. It's an undercover galleria that is very well maintained with every shop you can think of: I found The Body Shop! We had greek food and I befriended the owner, who asked me where I was from and told me he wish he could go back to Melbourne! I so wanted to speak Greek to him, but the only words I know, I wouldn't say to a guy I've just met unless I'm trying to pick him up! After we ate I said "Yasu", which I thought meant 'Thank you", but I think it means hello, coz then he said 'Adio", which is goodbye (Adios en Spanish). Best Greek food ever: the chicken wasn't dry like it normally is back home - I'm in love with this place: Opa in the food court. Try it!
Back to the pathways: Everybody has said, "I dare you not to get lost in the pathway". And my sense of direction is quite good (apart from telling me to go 4 kms north west. Just tell me left or right!!!) so I am up for the challenge and have been ready for it since I've been reading up on Toronto. But again, that'll be when I'm on my own. Something to look forward to! We said goodbye to Violet, met up with Dawn and went home. Fell asleep on the train (and they are clean here in Canada!), got picked up at the station by her Dad and we went to a family restaurant. Their menus are so bloody huge. And something else I've learnt: they don't write up all of their prices: they don't include the GST or PST, so if something says it's $3.99, don't be fooled. That's what's been tripping me up and pissing me off (Violet too!) You've got to at least add $4, which is a pain. But at least it's stopping me from buying stuff compulsively.
Tomorrow is an easy day. I'm going to go for another walk in the neighbourhood. I need to buy a battery charger and hopefully we'll get it soon - before Saturday as me, Dawn and Judy will be going to St Lawrence Market, the world famous one. I like to go when it's crowded, but nobody else does :( but at least we're going on the weekend when it's all happening.
I'm gonna go and rest. And I can comment on MySpace again. After some thought and some sooki la la moping from my man, I have opened up a comment only myspace account. So my blogs will still be here, but I get to comment on all of yours again. I've been missing that and perhaps being out of the loop because of it. Now I have quite a few blogs to comment and catch up on: exactly a month's worth. YAY!
See ya later.
Monday, November 3
The Flight
10:50am NOV 1: I always like to go last on the plane, just so that I can get more stretching done (yes it's gay, but yes it works!) The announcement came and said, "This is the final call for flight 93 to Los Angeles" bla bla bla. So I made my way to my gate, but it was closed. There was a security swinging door that was just in my way. I didn't want to open it, as it would sound off the alarm. A guy who had been observing this for a while just said, "Jump under the barricade, that's what everyone else has been doing". And there was room, just not for me and a bulging backpack. I took the backpack off but still had problems with my shoudler bag. I said, "Fuck it" and opened the security gate. And what do ya know - the alarm is a loud fucker! I went down the escalator and 2 security guards quickly came by to see what happened. I was on my way down to my gate and the other guy knew it, so he told them what happened. I yelled out "Thank You", as I had already made it downstairs. I hear a "You're Welcome" back. I guess you had to be there.
The flight was full and I asked for the window seat for the first time since I was a kid. Emergency ones were taken, even though I made a beeline to the service desk and asked. Sat with 2 Californian older dudes who made the flight go by quicker. It was 13 and a half hours, but there was lots to do. Time just flew by (Literally. hehe!) And I didn't get 'jet lag' as I quickly got used to the change of time and all. As soon as we passed the international date line, it grew dark and I just dozed off and relaxed with the help of my meditation music. Not having much sleep before the flight actually helped me out. So that's what I'll be doing from now on! Had the chance to watch Casablanca, but I was in a kinda dozey mood - I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much. I will wait til Spain!
13 AND A HALF HOURS LATER............
7:30am NOV 1: I'm in LA. And it's not as bad as I remember! Of course the lovely hispanic customs guy Diaz helped out a lot - I started chatting to him in Spanish (I love my surname - and I'm keeping it!) and he was wondering if I had a boyfriend in Canada, coz he didn't know why I would want to go there! I forgot about the Spanish speaking in the US - it felt like I was at home! Had to get my boarding pass from LA and had a wee bit of trouble with where I had to go. But thankfully everyone I spoke to were very helpful and I finally got what I needed. Had an hour to spare before heading off to Toronto. Bought some water, tipped a guy and waited. Almost missed my "This is a final call for flight number xxxx to Toronto" as I was too busy checking out the 'small' sized coffee cups and thinking "What the hell...." as well as checking out other flights. But I made it and had a victory: The plane was nearly empty, so everyone spread out and had 3 seats to themselves! I lifted the arm rests and made a bed and dozed off quite a bit. That's probably something else that saved me from 'jet lag'. Flight was fine here.
4 HOURS AND 40 MINUTES LATER.................................................
5:30pm NOV 1: I'm in Toronto. Before I departed I sent Dawn a few emails about Canada. This was one of the things I asked: "Do you want me to hold up a sign that says 'I'm Dawn's friend, feed me!' at the airport so your folks recognise me, or will you be there to pick me up?". Do you want to take a guess as to what awaited me when I passed through customs in Canada??? It was a huge sign that Dawn's mum was holding....fucking hilarious! You've never seen a girl piss herself laughing so much at the airport! Apparently when other passengers were passing through and saw it they too pissed themselves! I can't remember what the sign said exactly, but it was along the lines of "I'm Dawn's Mum, picking up her dorky friend from Australia" I didn't need the sign though - coz her Mum is a dead ringer lookalike! And Dawn was hiding somewhere, so I wasn't expecting to see her there til she ran up and said 'HI'. So good to catch up with her and meet her folks.
They bought us all dinner and asked me what I wanted to do while here, gave me some suggestions of things to do, etc. Her parents then told me that they were going to drive to New York and stay for 4 days, primarily for the Thanksgiving Day parade and asked me if I wanted to go with them. HELL YEAH BABY! I'M OFF TO NEW YORK! It's perfect timing too, as I was going to go to the US in early December anyway to see Chris, Michael and Mike. This is the rough plan: Wednesday drive down to New York and base myself in Jersey for a few days with Dawn and her folks, stay for the 4 days and on Sunday, make my way to Wisconsin. I've been investigating flights or buses to take and so far, flying to Madison is going to be the best option. After 10 days, I'll be headed back to Toronto and so far, the bus is the best option for that. I'm still looking. I may have to consult my gorgeous travel agent who is in Spain, but I think he is off somewhere soon...will have to check!
Got back to Dawn's place, an hour out of the city, and I have my own room, which is SO COOL! I felt like I was at home straight away, which was good. My legs are wanting a run! I just wanna jump on a treadmill and run for ages. I've been wanting exercise for a while and I know I'll get it soon.
TODAY (NOV 2, I think!!!): I slept over 10 hours, but daylight savings ended here, so the clocks were turned back. I think it was 10 hours! Anyway, best sleep I'd had for a while. They knew I was coming and stocked up on green tea. I could not feel anymore at home everyone! Dawn, her mum and I went exploring around the local area. Went to a flea market in Oshawa (can't remember where....) and it's getting a bit cold. It's the wind that is cold coz the sun is out brightly. Heard some Newfoundland music at Walmart (interesting experience!) went out for ice-cream (SO COOL! Apparently I'm one of the few non-Canadians who goes out for ice-cream in Winter. GOLD!) Went to the "Dollarama' (The Reject Shop, 99 Yen Shop - whatever it's called around the world, you know what you're getting!) to pick up some headphones. I didn't realise that Canada uses 1 cent coins, so if something says it costs $2.23, I'm used to rounding it up, as in Australia we've got the 5 cents as the lowest coinage. I thought it was the same here and was astounded at the change I got from the ice-cream I bought! Something else I gotta get used to! Had dinner and was happy to discover that The Amazing Race was on and we're ahead of the Aussies! I still missed the one where they were in New Zealand, but I got to see the next one and caught up. Love that show to bits!
Oshawa is a laid back small town. I like it. They have the typical yellow school buses - which I had never seen before; the yellow hydrants which are in the process of getting decorated for Christmas; The Halloween decorations are still out and brightly lit; Christmas ones will be out soon too. There are some great things I want to take pics of, but my camera battery charger doesn't work, even with the adaptor and even with me changing the plugs. My laptop works fine though, so I'm gonna have to buy one from here (The electronics place is called "The Future Shop". Apparently I was the only one who found it funny!) I'm going for a run/walk tomorrow and going to Toronto on Tuesday. Probably some time next week or the week after I will want to go to Niagara. But I want to sort out New York and Wisconsin first.
So that was my first day and a half here. It's going to be a very laid back time, just what I need after the hustle and bustle of Melbs. Looking forward to the next while.
Gonna go, see ya!
The flight was full and I asked for the window seat for the first time since I was a kid. Emergency ones were taken, even though I made a beeline to the service desk and asked. Sat with 2 Californian older dudes who made the flight go by quicker. It was 13 and a half hours, but there was lots to do. Time just flew by (Literally. hehe!) And I didn't get 'jet lag' as I quickly got used to the change of time and all. As soon as we passed the international date line, it grew dark and I just dozed off and relaxed with the help of my meditation music. Not having much sleep before the flight actually helped me out. So that's what I'll be doing from now on! Had the chance to watch Casablanca, but I was in a kinda dozey mood - I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much. I will wait til Spain!
13 AND A HALF HOURS LATER............
7:30am NOV 1: I'm in LA. And it's not as bad as I remember! Of course the lovely hispanic customs guy Diaz helped out a lot - I started chatting to him in Spanish (I love my surname - and I'm keeping it!) and he was wondering if I had a boyfriend in Canada, coz he didn't know why I would want to go there! I forgot about the Spanish speaking in the US - it felt like I was at home! Had to get my boarding pass from LA and had a wee bit of trouble with where I had to go. But thankfully everyone I spoke to were very helpful and I finally got what I needed. Had an hour to spare before heading off to Toronto. Bought some water, tipped a guy and waited. Almost missed my "This is a final call for flight number xxxx to Toronto" as I was too busy checking out the 'small' sized coffee cups and thinking "What the hell...." as well as checking out other flights. But I made it and had a victory: The plane was nearly empty, so everyone spread out and had 3 seats to themselves! I lifted the arm rests and made a bed and dozed off quite a bit. That's probably something else that saved me from 'jet lag'. Flight was fine here.
4 HOURS AND 40 MINUTES LATER.................................................
5:30pm NOV 1: I'm in Toronto. Before I departed I sent Dawn a few emails about Canada. This was one of the things I asked: "Do you want me to hold up a sign that says 'I'm Dawn's friend, feed me!' at the airport so your folks recognise me, or will you be there to pick me up?". Do you want to take a guess as to what awaited me when I passed through customs in Canada??? It was a huge sign that Dawn's mum was holding....fucking hilarious! You've never seen a girl piss herself laughing so much at the airport! Apparently when other passengers were passing through and saw it they too pissed themselves! I can't remember what the sign said exactly, but it was along the lines of "I'm Dawn's Mum, picking up her dorky friend from Australia" I didn't need the sign though - coz her Mum is a dead ringer lookalike! And Dawn was hiding somewhere, so I wasn't expecting to see her there til she ran up and said 'HI'. So good to catch up with her and meet her folks.
They bought us all dinner and asked me what I wanted to do while here, gave me some suggestions of things to do, etc. Her parents then told me that they were going to drive to New York and stay for 4 days, primarily for the Thanksgiving Day parade and asked me if I wanted to go with them. HELL YEAH BABY! I'M OFF TO NEW YORK! It's perfect timing too, as I was going to go to the US in early December anyway to see Chris, Michael and Mike. This is the rough plan: Wednesday drive down to New York and base myself in Jersey for a few days with Dawn and her folks, stay for the 4 days and on Sunday, make my way to Wisconsin. I've been investigating flights or buses to take and so far, flying to Madison is going to be the best option. After 10 days, I'll be headed back to Toronto and so far, the bus is the best option for that. I'm still looking. I may have to consult my gorgeous travel agent who is in Spain, but I think he is off somewhere soon...will have to check!
Got back to Dawn's place, an hour out of the city, and I have my own room, which is SO COOL! I felt like I was at home straight away, which was good. My legs are wanting a run! I just wanna jump on a treadmill and run for ages. I've been wanting exercise for a while and I know I'll get it soon.
TODAY (NOV 2, I think!!!): I slept over 10 hours, but daylight savings ended here, so the clocks were turned back. I think it was 10 hours! Anyway, best sleep I'd had for a while. They knew I was coming and stocked up on green tea. I could not feel anymore at home everyone! Dawn, her mum and I went exploring around the local area. Went to a flea market in Oshawa (can't remember where....) and it's getting a bit cold. It's the wind that is cold coz the sun is out brightly. Heard some Newfoundland music at Walmart (interesting experience!) went out for ice-cream (SO COOL! Apparently I'm one of the few non-Canadians who goes out for ice-cream in Winter. GOLD!) Went to the "Dollarama' (The Reject Shop, 99 Yen Shop - whatever it's called around the world, you know what you're getting!) to pick up some headphones. I didn't realise that Canada uses 1 cent coins, so if something says it costs $2.23, I'm used to rounding it up, as in Australia we've got the 5 cents as the lowest coinage. I thought it was the same here and was astounded at the change I got from the ice-cream I bought! Something else I gotta get used to! Had dinner and was happy to discover that The Amazing Race was on and we're ahead of the Aussies! I still missed the one where they were in New Zealand, but I got to see the next one and caught up. Love that show to bits!
Oshawa is a laid back small town. I like it. They have the typical yellow school buses - which I had never seen before; the yellow hydrants which are in the process of getting decorated for Christmas; The Halloween decorations are still out and brightly lit; Christmas ones will be out soon too. There are some great things I want to take pics of, but my camera battery charger doesn't work, even with the adaptor and even with me changing the plugs. My laptop works fine though, so I'm gonna have to buy one from here (The electronics place is called "The Future Shop". Apparently I was the only one who found it funny!) I'm going for a run/walk tomorrow and going to Toronto on Tuesday. Probably some time next week or the week after I will want to go to Niagara. But I want to sort out New York and Wisconsin first.
So that was my first day and a half here. It's going to be a very laid back time, just what I need after the hustle and bustle of Melbs. Looking forward to the next while.
Gonna go, see ya!
Last 3 days in Australia
I've noticed that I haven't yet blogged about my last few days in Australia. So here it is!
THURSDAY: My last day at work. And it felt weird, only because I was working with all the oldies - and while I have worked with them all at one stage, I have never worked with them all on the same day. Needless to say, I felt so young! The second youngest working there was 42! Bloody cool. I said goodbye to them, but I knew I'd see most of them on the following day. Got home and was doing more packing - shrinking bags down and whatnot. I packed all that I could think of and only got to 13 kgs - very impressive for me! I could have packed 32kgs for the US and Canada, but I am going to Europe and they have a 20kg limit, so best not to risk it. I finished most of the packing, and I must say it was a very relaxing process. I finished with my cleaning of my room - took me 3 months to do it - and amongst my clothes, I found an envelope with $1200 cash! I completely forgot about it. I decided to give it all to Mum in case she ever needs it while I'm gone. She then felt bad about it, so we compromised and we got half each. Pretty good deal! Watched my last ep of The Amazing Race, even though it only just started here and has been 'fast tracked' from the US. I'm gonna miss when they go to New Zealand :(
FRIDAY: I was hoping to get a sleep in today, but I woke up at 7am with no chance of getting back to sleep. I decided to go into the travel agency to see the agent before I go. I had to sign an amended itinerary when I added Chile to the mix and I'd been delaying it through lack of time. Seeing as it was my last full day in Australia, I thought I'd get it done then! I then went into work to get my last pay and got to say my final farewells. It took an hour, coz I didn't want to go! I was surprised at how that came about, but I didn't cry. Got my last home-made meal from Mum and it was a beauty! She then went to work and I sorted out my carry on luggage. That backpack I've got is a good decent size. Got everything ready, watched a few eps of season 3 of The Office, chatted to the boy and then went to bed.
SATURDAY: Feeling refreshed after only about 5 hours sleep, but it was good. Jackki and Bill came to pick us all up for the airport. We had brekkie and watched The Office - Bill, Mum and I were PISSING ourselves laughing. Jackki's "I think this is a piece of shit" look was priceless! The last thing I remember watching was an episode about the Sri Lankan festival "Diwali". Michael and Dwight were singing acapella this really stupid song where they just repeated "Diwali" all the time. That was the last song in my head and it was the one that was stuck there up until I got the option to block it out when the inflight entertainment started!
Got in line at the airport to check in and Mum and I spotted a familiar face behind us. It was our old neighbour from our old place in North Balwyn! Her husband was off to China and she was seeing him off. It was a classic! Of all the places to bump into. Mum knew he was going overseas at the beginning of November, but just didn't know when (the same day as me, apparently!)
Said my goodbyes to Mum - and neither of us cried! SERIOUSLY! And we're an emotional pairing. We just knew that absolutely everything was going to work out for the both of us, so we were both fine. It was a nice way to leave things and I was extremely happy about it. Now I could focus on having a great time on this trip that I have planned for over 2 years.
Next blog: The flight!
THURSDAY: My last day at work. And it felt weird, only because I was working with all the oldies - and while I have worked with them all at one stage, I have never worked with them all on the same day. Needless to say, I felt so young! The second youngest working there was 42! Bloody cool. I said goodbye to them, but I knew I'd see most of them on the following day. Got home and was doing more packing - shrinking bags down and whatnot. I packed all that I could think of and only got to 13 kgs - very impressive for me! I could have packed 32kgs for the US and Canada, but I am going to Europe and they have a 20kg limit, so best not to risk it. I finished most of the packing, and I must say it was a very relaxing process. I finished with my cleaning of my room - took me 3 months to do it - and amongst my clothes, I found an envelope with $1200 cash! I completely forgot about it. I decided to give it all to Mum in case she ever needs it while I'm gone. She then felt bad about it, so we compromised and we got half each. Pretty good deal! Watched my last ep of The Amazing Race, even though it only just started here and has been 'fast tracked' from the US. I'm gonna miss when they go to New Zealand :(
FRIDAY: I was hoping to get a sleep in today, but I woke up at 7am with no chance of getting back to sleep. I decided to go into the travel agency to see the agent before I go. I had to sign an amended itinerary when I added Chile to the mix and I'd been delaying it through lack of time. Seeing as it was my last full day in Australia, I thought I'd get it done then! I then went into work to get my last pay and got to say my final farewells. It took an hour, coz I didn't want to go! I was surprised at how that came about, but I didn't cry. Got my last home-made meal from Mum and it was a beauty! She then went to work and I sorted out my carry on luggage. That backpack I've got is a good decent size. Got everything ready, watched a few eps of season 3 of The Office, chatted to the boy and then went to bed.
SATURDAY: Feeling refreshed after only about 5 hours sleep, but it was good. Jackki and Bill came to pick us all up for the airport. We had brekkie and watched The Office - Bill, Mum and I were PISSING ourselves laughing. Jackki's "I think this is a piece of shit" look was priceless! The last thing I remember watching was an episode about the Sri Lankan festival "Diwali". Michael and Dwight were singing acapella this really stupid song where they just repeated "Diwali" all the time. That was the last song in my head and it was the one that was stuck there up until I got the option to block it out when the inflight entertainment started!
Got in line at the airport to check in and Mum and I spotted a familiar face behind us. It was our old neighbour from our old place in North Balwyn! Her husband was off to China and she was seeing him off. It was a classic! Of all the places to bump into. Mum knew he was going overseas at the beginning of November, but just didn't know when (the same day as me, apparently!)
Said my goodbyes to Mum - and neither of us cried! SERIOUSLY! And we're an emotional pairing. We just knew that absolutely everything was going to work out for the both of us, so we were both fine. It was a nice way to leave things and I was extremely happy about it. Now I could focus on having a great time on this trip that I have planned for over 2 years.
Next blog: The flight!
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