Bit of a contrast from my last blog but I think people will be secretly pleased its not all rainbows and butterflies living in another country...
So I started the fundraising and then quit after 4 hours. Shocking I know. Never really one to quit a job but I was fooling myself into thinking I could still do fundraising. A big pat on the back for myself for lasting 6 months of it in the toughest city to get money from, but when your working on the street, in Melbournes unpredictable weather, no uniform and just a folder, you start to lose the belief you can do it. Its mentally exhausting.
So back to square one, broke and unemployed. At the moment ive joined a temping agency in hospitality and hopefully will have some shifts by this week. Finally moved out of the hostel into a place down Brunswick Street...which to all you people back home I guess its like a really cool sunny version of Camden? Plenty of vintage shops and cute restaurants, bars and cafes. The boys and I are living above a Thai restaurant, where for 2 nights a week I work in the kitchen for free food and accommodation. Its not a job but more like slave labour lol. Its good in the sense that I am quickly becoming a masterchef of thai food and learning about different spices and stuff. But its bad in the sense that if i was being "paid" it works out to be $10 an hour. And it resembles a thai version of Faulty Towers. The thai couple are incredibly lovely though! The husband works at the bar and likes to get drunk whilst taking orders, which results in us cooking meals that nobody ordered in the first place. I just have to remember to laugh, rather than get stressed...
So fingers crossed ill be slowly but surely getting there...still yet to explore the sights of Melbourne due to lack of funds but this is all part of the journey I suppose! Just have to remain positive Ill get some work and things will start falling into place.
In the mean time were off out with the flatmates to a place called "Lentils as anything"....a place that relies purely on donation for a buffet of vegan and lentil food. Some people don't even pay! Ill put a couple of dollars in ;)
Saturday, 1 December 2012
Saturday, 24 November 2012
Oh herro Melbourne...
So, Ive arrived!
And Im very pleased to announce Im still alive. After arriving Tuesday evening to the infamous Elephant Backpackers I was dubious as to whether I wouldnt die in this hostel. But the room mates are friendly enough and my days have been filled with drinking to the early hours, waking up heading to the beach for a bbq and carry on drinking. My brain is officially frazzled.
But im pretty proud of myself, when I got on that plane and touched down in Melbourne I was filled with nerves. I never travelled alone, could I do this? But as soon as I got on that coach to the city, the sky filled with a beautiful pink sky as the sunset over the city skyline I couldnt help but smile. I was here! On my own! I was living the dream of so many peoples envy...of COURSE I could do this!
And Melbourne quite thankfully has welcomed me with open arms. Wednesday morning I has an interview and was offered a job on the spot. Although it was commission based I figured I could do it until I found something better. Still determined to have my options I abuse my Melbourne contacts for work and thanks to a friend of a friend I bag an interview in the afternoon and offered another job on the spot! Luckily its another fundraising gig and something I actually wanted to do! So I start with them tomorrow...
In the meantime my sydney boys have just arrived, so were off to do some exploring together. Loving life!
And Im very pleased to announce Im still alive. After arriving Tuesday evening to the infamous Elephant Backpackers I was dubious as to whether I wouldnt die in this hostel. But the room mates are friendly enough and my days have been filled with drinking to the early hours, waking up heading to the beach for a bbq and carry on drinking. My brain is officially frazzled.
But im pretty proud of myself, when I got on that plane and touched down in Melbourne I was filled with nerves. I never travelled alone, could I do this? But as soon as I got on that coach to the city, the sky filled with a beautiful pink sky as the sunset over the city skyline I couldnt help but smile. I was here! On my own! I was living the dream of so many peoples envy...of COURSE I could do this!
And Melbourne quite thankfully has welcomed me with open arms. Wednesday morning I has an interview and was offered a job on the spot. Although it was commission based I figured I could do it until I found something better. Still determined to have my options I abuse my Melbourne contacts for work and thanks to a friend of a friend I bag an interview in the afternoon and offered another job on the spot! Luckily its another fundraising gig and something I actually wanted to do! So I start with them tomorrow...
In the meantime my sydney boys have just arrived, so were off to do some exploring together. Loving life!
Monday, 19 November 2012
An end of an era...
So in a few hours time I'll be making my way to the airport. Onto my next adventure in life...
But before that I think its only fair to reflect on my time Ive had in Sydney.
When I first arrived here all fresh faced and travelled out with my fellow travelling buddy our plans were simple..to live in Manly, get a job in a bar or cafe near the beach for 6 months then move onto Melbourne...
Turns out our planning sucks lol. After going for an interview to do fundraising I didnt think much of it. I figured whatever job gets thrown my way Ill do it until I find something better. So when I got that phonecall saying I got the job with 2evolve, I figured it was only temporary.
Who knew it would end up being something thats changed me for the rest of my life?
Working for Make a Wish was a real eye opener. I quickly made friends with the 2evolve gang and I have many memories with them to last a life time. I was lucky enough to be sent to random places in Australia I would never of considered going with some of the best people Ill ever meet.
I was offered a more pernament role with them and as much as i loved the job and was truely lucky to be given the opportunity to stay. I knew in my heart it was never my intention to stay in Oz...and the stress of the job took its toll on my health more than once. So I knew it was best to move on...
So what did i move on to? Not a lot. The time was coming up where some of the best people ive met were either moving back to england or carrying on travelling. I knew it was time to bite the bullet and do something with my own life..
That doesnt mean to say I wont miss a few things....Shelly Beach, hanging out in Manly cooking a bbq on the beach and chilling out, the fine cuisine of Sydney...Korean, Vietnamese, Italian...n2 gelato!!! Blue mountains hiking...Hunter Valley weekend...Kiama...Sydney Opera house...getting lost in Paddys Market...travel trips to central coast and gold coast...chilling with my roommate watching trashy tv and discussing the drama that is our love lives... Aurora...god even scruffy murphys! that shithole has caused me more harm than good, and yet ill miss it... Ill miss it all cause its been spent with the people I love.
But now my bags are packed (and theyre bloody heavy- how have i collected so much shit since travelling?) and its time to say goodbye to Sydney. It really has been a home away from home, but now I need that feeling...the nervous excitement of getting lost in another city. Of meeting new people to call friends. Of taking pictures with a different background. Its time to spread my wings.
So to all my friends in Sydney...you know who you are. Thank you. Thank you for making these past 8 months incredible for me.
But before that I think its only fair to reflect on my time Ive had in Sydney.
When I first arrived here all fresh faced and travelled out with my fellow travelling buddy our plans were simple..to live in Manly, get a job in a bar or cafe near the beach for 6 months then move onto Melbourne...
Turns out our planning sucks lol. After going for an interview to do fundraising I didnt think much of it. I figured whatever job gets thrown my way Ill do it until I find something better. So when I got that phonecall saying I got the job with 2evolve, I figured it was only temporary.
Who knew it would end up being something thats changed me for the rest of my life?
Working for Make a Wish was a real eye opener. I quickly made friends with the 2evolve gang and I have many memories with them to last a life time. I was lucky enough to be sent to random places in Australia I would never of considered going with some of the best people Ill ever meet.
I was offered a more pernament role with them and as much as i loved the job and was truely lucky to be given the opportunity to stay. I knew in my heart it was never my intention to stay in Oz...and the stress of the job took its toll on my health more than once. So I knew it was best to move on...
So what did i move on to? Not a lot. The time was coming up where some of the best people ive met were either moving back to england or carrying on travelling. I knew it was time to bite the bullet and do something with my own life..
That doesnt mean to say I wont miss a few things....Shelly Beach, hanging out in Manly cooking a bbq on the beach and chilling out, the fine cuisine of Sydney...Korean, Vietnamese, Italian...n2 gelato!!! Blue mountains hiking...Hunter Valley weekend...Kiama...Sydney Opera house...getting lost in Paddys Market...travel trips to central coast and gold coast...chilling with my roommate watching trashy tv and discussing the drama that is our love lives... Aurora...god even scruffy murphys! that shithole has caused me more harm than good, and yet ill miss it... Ill miss it all cause its been spent with the people I love.
But now my bags are packed (and theyre bloody heavy- how have i collected so much shit since travelling?) and its time to say goodbye to Sydney. It really has been a home away from home, but now I need that feeling...the nervous excitement of getting lost in another city. Of meeting new people to call friends. Of taking pictures with a different background. Its time to spread my wings.
So to all my friends in Sydney...you know who you are. Thank you. Thank you for making these past 8 months incredible for me.
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
Haven't done this in a while..
How is it November already? So I've been living in Sydney Australia for almost 8 months now.
And now...It's time for a change.
Truth be told Sian and I's original plan was to do 6 months in Sydney then 6 months in Melbourne. But well...Sian left and I got caught up too much in the Sydney lifestyle...
But this is now...my third week of unemployment. After working for 2evolve everythings sort of gone pear shaped. I was glad for the less stressful life, but the dread of finding another job and somewhere to live in Sydney again was daunting. Still I manage to walk into one job...a job which destroyed my soul...and after 8 days of working I got fired. Turns out selling penis medication just wasn't my calling in life.
But after that I suppose my confidence has been knocked a bit. So this time to sit and reflect on what to do has helped me heaps. Here I am in AUSTRALIA. This is a ONCE in a lifetime thing. I should be grabbing every moment possible! And yet for some reason I felt stuck, that Sydney has become too much of a routine for me. And the thought of coming home and somebody asking me "So...where did you go in Oz?" And for me to only say...well apart from travelling the east coast I mainly stayed in Sydney. Just doesnt cut it for me. Im the girl who has always wanted more in life. Even when Ive been given Planet Earth, I still want Pluto.
So I've decided to make the jump to Melbourne. Where the weather is shitter but the guys are hotter. Where every alleyway takes you to a world of graffitti and fine dining. Although I will always feel like Sydney is my home, lately I just found myself fed up. Im fed up of people leaving me. Im fed up of hearing everyone elses exciting stories of travelling and im left doing...well what? Nothing. There is nothing keeping me here in Sydney. I have no job...I have no great love affair...least not one I care to talk about anyway...and my friends, least my true friends...are leaving in the matter of weeks. I cant be the one left stuck here. I have to keep moving. And yes its bloody scary me doing this by myself. But Its incredible how much ive changed over the past 10 months, so this will be really good for me.
And its exciting to know what I want out of life when I get back home. I want to work in charity, I want to help people, I want to wake up and go to work knowing today I will have made some sort of difference. Thats what was missing from me for all those years, every day when i woke up going in work for retail and having a heavy heart, having people make you feel like your just not good enough to do anything and the thought of not being good enough to put an outfit on a mannequin...was heartbreaking. I couldnt go back to it, knowing what I know and feel now. My life wants so much more than that.
And its not just my career, i want MORE from my life...I want to live it! I want to start saving for a house, my little house, where each room will be decorated with things from my travels, a constant reminder of how amazing my journey has been. I want to DO things over the weekend. I want to explore europe, join races for charity, take up photography, get a dog, maybe even find a man who wants all the same things as me, but if i dont. Thats okay. As much as i enjoy the male attention Ive always been my happiest when ive been by myself....its such an invigorating feeling.
So my journey is almost over. I cannot wait for the last 4 months of my time in Australia. People think im insane to not do farming work and extend my visa, and maybe theyre right. But i know in my heart ive made the right choice. No matter where I am in the world, the thing that excites me the most is seeing my friends and family for the first time in about 18 months. To laugh with them every day. To be apart of their lives again. Thats what matters most to me.
So heres to the next chapter. Sydney has been such an amazing part of my life, and Im really sad to leave but I know its the right thing to do...
And now...It's time for a change.
Truth be told Sian and I's original plan was to do 6 months in Sydney then 6 months in Melbourne. But well...Sian left and I got caught up too much in the Sydney lifestyle...
But this is now...my third week of unemployment. After working for 2evolve everythings sort of gone pear shaped. I was glad for the less stressful life, but the dread of finding another job and somewhere to live in Sydney again was daunting. Still I manage to walk into one job...a job which destroyed my soul...and after 8 days of working I got fired. Turns out selling penis medication just wasn't my calling in life.
But after that I suppose my confidence has been knocked a bit. So this time to sit and reflect on what to do has helped me heaps. Here I am in AUSTRALIA. This is a ONCE in a lifetime thing. I should be grabbing every moment possible! And yet for some reason I felt stuck, that Sydney has become too much of a routine for me. And the thought of coming home and somebody asking me "So...where did you go in Oz?" And for me to only say...well apart from travelling the east coast I mainly stayed in Sydney. Just doesnt cut it for me. Im the girl who has always wanted more in life. Even when Ive been given Planet Earth, I still want Pluto.
So I've decided to make the jump to Melbourne. Where the weather is shitter but the guys are hotter. Where every alleyway takes you to a world of graffitti and fine dining. Although I will always feel like Sydney is my home, lately I just found myself fed up. Im fed up of people leaving me. Im fed up of hearing everyone elses exciting stories of travelling and im left doing...well what? Nothing. There is nothing keeping me here in Sydney. I have no job...I have no great love affair...least not one I care to talk about anyway...and my friends, least my true friends...are leaving in the matter of weeks. I cant be the one left stuck here. I have to keep moving. And yes its bloody scary me doing this by myself. But Its incredible how much ive changed over the past 10 months, so this will be really good for me.
And its exciting to know what I want out of life when I get back home. I want to work in charity, I want to help people, I want to wake up and go to work knowing today I will have made some sort of difference. Thats what was missing from me for all those years, every day when i woke up going in work for retail and having a heavy heart, having people make you feel like your just not good enough to do anything and the thought of not being good enough to put an outfit on a mannequin...was heartbreaking. I couldnt go back to it, knowing what I know and feel now. My life wants so much more than that.
And its not just my career, i want MORE from my life...I want to live it! I want to start saving for a house, my little house, where each room will be decorated with things from my travels, a constant reminder of how amazing my journey has been. I want to DO things over the weekend. I want to explore europe, join races for charity, take up photography, get a dog, maybe even find a man who wants all the same things as me, but if i dont. Thats okay. As much as i enjoy the male attention Ive always been my happiest when ive been by myself....its such an invigorating feeling.
So my journey is almost over. I cannot wait for the last 4 months of my time in Australia. People think im insane to not do farming work and extend my visa, and maybe theyre right. But i know in my heart ive made the right choice. No matter where I am in the world, the thing that excites me the most is seeing my friends and family for the first time in about 18 months. To laugh with them every day. To be apart of their lives again. Thats what matters most to me.
So heres to the next chapter. Sydney has been such an amazing part of my life, and Im really sad to leave but I know its the right thing to do...
Sunday, 12 August 2012
An incredibly overdue blog....
As a certain American pointed out via email the other day this blog has been severely neglected. And he's right. Truth be told ive been use to putting up the odd Facebook status as a form of update, but reading back on these blogs I've realized that this is far more important. Not just for everyone to see what I've been up to...but for my own benefit. To remember this is where I'm having the time of my life. The point where I'm free to do whatever I want to do and see and one day I'll show my grand kiddies is....that's if computers and websites like this exist in later generations but whatever.
So my last blog I was just about to start my job with make a wish foundation, and what a journey it's been since then! I can honestly say its been a real eye opener, to work for a company that praises and progresses you so quickly. It's safe to say I can never go back into working for retail ever again.
In my first month of working for these guys I was promoted twice and have been living the life of a shift leader. Since then the company has sent me to various parts of Australia. It sounds glamorous...and sometimes it is, best part was being sent to Melbourne for 10 days to help the Team down there, and over the weekend exploring the city. Or being left down in the gold coast for an extra day to explore. The company really looks after you. But there are times when the job can make you feel like the shittest person in the world....the days were the weather is shit, your in a bad location, your way behind target and people are just awful to you. It can take its toll. But I just have to remember its all for a good cause and every penny counts towards my next big trip!
Recently I've been moved over to help out another charity, cancer council. It's really hard hitting because a lot of people know this charity well and I have a lot of Aussies come up to me thanking me for doing a good job cause cancer council looked after them/ a family member. But I think the point of moving me to do a different charity is to see if I'm capable of making numbers in any charity, which could eventually lead to another promotion. Although my time with this company ends in October so that's a story that will have to remain a mystery for now....
But my time in Sydney has been amazing! July was a month of pure excitement, weekend in melbourne exploring the graffiti lanes, kiama pier and chaper street....weekend after road tripping with the contiki crew to kiama...weekend after that the infamous wine weekend away to hunter valley. Staying in a swanky Villa, drinking wine and exploring the lush greenery. The month of August is less adventurous as I'm usually on a lot of travel trips for work. But ill be checking out the blue mountains for a good hiking trip. I'll be video blogging that for everyone's amusement back at home, the 1000 step challenge! Other than that not much is planned, the wife is I regret to say leavin australia. She's traveling as I type this now. Her journey has come to an end and she's happy to go home. So many memories has been shared with this girl, I know a big part of me is gonna feel at a loss when she leaves, but luckily I've made some really good friends here to support me when she goes.
My living situation has changed, I was living with a crazy German girl. For three months of my life i had the awful feeling every time I finished work that I had to go home....but now thanks to a very supportive friend, I'm staying on her sofa for the time being. She's only charging me incredibly cheap rent and we get on amazingly so I feel a lot happier to call this place home.
Today I'veplanning my next big trip, it's not for another 7 months but I'm super stoked already. North and south tour of new zealand, Hawaii and then a road trip of the dirty south of America. After that I should be pretty poor and ready to come home but again that side of the story will remain a mystery.
So that's my life so far folks, feeling pretty down I don't have the money to jet off now, but I only have 7 months f my visa left in oz, and I only get this once so I may as well make the most of it! I thought I'd move down to Melbourne for 6 months but most of my friends are here and I feel sort of settled. But we never know! That's the beauty of having my life, it can go in any direction, and only I can choose where I'll go next.
So my last blog I was just about to start my job with make a wish foundation, and what a journey it's been since then! I can honestly say its been a real eye opener, to work for a company that praises and progresses you so quickly. It's safe to say I can never go back into working for retail ever again.
In my first month of working for these guys I was promoted twice and have been living the life of a shift leader. Since then the company has sent me to various parts of Australia. It sounds glamorous...and sometimes it is, best part was being sent to Melbourne for 10 days to help the Team down there, and over the weekend exploring the city. Or being left down in the gold coast for an extra day to explore. The company really looks after you. But there are times when the job can make you feel like the shittest person in the world....the days were the weather is shit, your in a bad location, your way behind target and people are just awful to you. It can take its toll. But I just have to remember its all for a good cause and every penny counts towards my next big trip!
Recently I've been moved over to help out another charity, cancer council. It's really hard hitting because a lot of people know this charity well and I have a lot of Aussies come up to me thanking me for doing a good job cause cancer council looked after them/ a family member. But I think the point of moving me to do a different charity is to see if I'm capable of making numbers in any charity, which could eventually lead to another promotion. Although my time with this company ends in October so that's a story that will have to remain a mystery for now....
But my time in Sydney has been amazing! July was a month of pure excitement, weekend in melbourne exploring the graffiti lanes, kiama pier and chaper street....weekend after road tripping with the contiki crew to kiama...weekend after that the infamous wine weekend away to hunter valley. Staying in a swanky Villa, drinking wine and exploring the lush greenery. The month of August is less adventurous as I'm usually on a lot of travel trips for work. But ill be checking out the blue mountains for a good hiking trip. I'll be video blogging that for everyone's amusement back at home, the 1000 step challenge! Other than that not much is planned, the wife is I regret to say leavin australia. She's traveling as I type this now. Her journey has come to an end and she's happy to go home. So many memories has been shared with this girl, I know a big part of me is gonna feel at a loss when she leaves, but luckily I've made some really good friends here to support me when she goes.
My living situation has changed, I was living with a crazy German girl. For three months of my life i had the awful feeling every time I finished work that I had to go home....but now thanks to a very supportive friend, I'm staying on her sofa for the time being. She's only charging me incredibly cheap rent and we get on amazingly so I feel a lot happier to call this place home.
Today I'veplanning my next big trip, it's not for another 7 months but I'm super stoked already. North and south tour of new zealand, Hawaii and then a road trip of the dirty south of America. After that I should be pretty poor and ready to come home but again that side of the story will remain a mystery.
So that's my life so far folks, feeling pretty down I don't have the money to jet off now, but I only have 7 months f my visa left in oz, and I only get this once so I may as well make the most of it! I thought I'd move down to Melbourne for 6 months but most of my friends are here and I feel sort of settled. But we never know! That's the beauty of having my life, it can go in any direction, and only I can choose where I'll go next.
Sunday, 8 April 2012
A reflective blog if you will...
So just having a mundane day of uploading my pictures from Asia and it just occured to me...before I left on this trip, I was all set to do 2 months in asia, a year in sydney and then come back home. With the slight chance i'll catch NZ on the way back. Now it feels like I may never come home...
Okay let me rephrase that...so much has happened in the past 4 months, and yet somehow i feel like its just the beginning. Like the whole entirety of my trip planned actually isnt enough for me. I want more. I want to see more, i want to do more and i never want to come home with the feeling that I didnt do or see it all.
If i came home now, i know most my friends would assure me ive done more than anyone would of done in a lifetime, but somehow I wouldnt buy it. So thats why im gonna work my butt off at this job, to worki my way up, to stay the full year, to go see the sights of NZ and fiji...to work in NZ for a few months maybe, to fly over to the states and have a road trip with my american boy because you know what? That, for me is what lifes all about. Its not about the final picture, about what Ill eventually end up doing, where eventually ill end up settling down...its about the journey there. The ride inbetween. So fuck settling down for now...this may seem like an immature state of mind to be in for most people...but i like to see it as smugly enjoying the way of the world because Im as free as a bird. :)
So i start my job tomorrow, I am now an official employee of Make an Wish. In other words, i bug the crap out of people to sign up on the streets. Yep ive become the people i avoided like the plague originally. But you know what? Ive never been so excited to be apart of this. If i can do this job, and do it well, i could literally be changing peoples lives. So no matter how much abuse I get tomorrow, i just have to remember its all for a good cause.
Now all i need is a place to live! Wish me luck!
Okay let me rephrase that...so much has happened in the past 4 months, and yet somehow i feel like its just the beginning. Like the whole entirety of my trip planned actually isnt enough for me. I want more. I want to see more, i want to do more and i never want to come home with the feeling that I didnt do or see it all.
If i came home now, i know most my friends would assure me ive done more than anyone would of done in a lifetime, but somehow I wouldnt buy it. So thats why im gonna work my butt off at this job, to worki my way up, to stay the full year, to go see the sights of NZ and fiji...to work in NZ for a few months maybe, to fly over to the states and have a road trip with my american boy because you know what? That, for me is what lifes all about. Its not about the final picture, about what Ill eventually end up doing, where eventually ill end up settling down...its about the journey there. The ride inbetween. So fuck settling down for now...this may seem like an immature state of mind to be in for most people...but i like to see it as smugly enjoying the way of the world because Im as free as a bird. :)
So i start my job tomorrow, I am now an official employee of Make an Wish. In other words, i bug the crap out of people to sign up on the streets. Yep ive become the people i avoided like the plague originally. But you know what? Ive never been so excited to be apart of this. If i can do this job, and do it well, i could literally be changing peoples lives. So no matter how much abuse I get tomorrow, i just have to remember its all for a good cause.
Now all i need is a place to live! Wish me luck!
Sunday, 1 April 2012
Well incase you were wondering...
I'm still alive!
Arrived in Sydney over a week ago now and it feels like I've been here a lifetime. Maybe it's because I'm use to skipping towns every few days, infact thats more than likely to be it. Already I feel like I should be moving on, and yet I know I've only seen the tiniest amount of Sydders. the place is friggin huge.
So I'm currently job hunting and trying to keep a strong backbone about it. Money is dwindling away and I just want to get settled already. But my gosh the amount of ridiculous job offers I have had are insane. Mostly, and I won't sugarcoat this for you, blatent prostitution. I am at my wits end with texts offering cash in hand for discreet fun to "open minded girls" well mr. Im sorry but despite being from Essex I am NOT that kind of girl. I now know why my father gave me the speech of always maintaining my dignity no matter how rough things get. And even if i'm on my last penny and I have to come home at least I'll come home with my bits unused for money!
Its just the intial waiting for my ozzie life to start thats dragging me down. Its only been a week but as soon as i have a job, I can rent a room, and as soon as ive done that, I can start saving for my next big trip. Although if i dont get a good job saving money will be pretty hard but at least i'll be able to live here! Had a phone interview for a company in the city that i gathered went pretty well. Only downside is having a working visa people are pretty skeptical to give you a job if they know your gonna be buggering off soon. Still if i do get this job I intend to stay the full year as the moneys pretty sweet!
But in the meantime ill jus sit and twiddle my thumbs, searching countless job sites and room rentals...and then lose the will to live and go sit down by the beach to sunbathe...suppose there could be worser things to do right?
Finally spoke to my american boy for the first time since we said goodbye. Weve been emailing everyday but the time difference is pretty brutal for us to call each other. Spent a good two hours on the phone to him last night and it was like he was in the room laughing along with me. 5 months seems like a long time until I see him again but it isnt really. I waited a whole year and a half of my life to start this trip, so in the grand scheme of things, 5 months is nothing. Part of me just wants to run over to the states and see him already. But a big part of me knows that this is my time to see the world. I'll only get to do this once in my life and I want to remember and treasure every moment of it. Even moments like today I'll look back on fondly and remember how despite Sydney offering me all the shit jobs, Im determined to get my lucky break and make a life here. Lord knows I deserve this.
Arrived in Sydney over a week ago now and it feels like I've been here a lifetime. Maybe it's because I'm use to skipping towns every few days, infact thats more than likely to be it. Already I feel like I should be moving on, and yet I know I've only seen the tiniest amount of Sydders. the place is friggin huge.
So I'm currently job hunting and trying to keep a strong backbone about it. Money is dwindling away and I just want to get settled already. But my gosh the amount of ridiculous job offers I have had are insane. Mostly, and I won't sugarcoat this for you, blatent prostitution. I am at my wits end with texts offering cash in hand for discreet fun to "open minded girls" well mr. Im sorry but despite being from Essex I am NOT that kind of girl. I now know why my father gave me the speech of always maintaining my dignity no matter how rough things get. And even if i'm on my last penny and I have to come home at least I'll come home with my bits unused for money!
Its just the intial waiting for my ozzie life to start thats dragging me down. Its only been a week but as soon as i have a job, I can rent a room, and as soon as ive done that, I can start saving for my next big trip. Although if i dont get a good job saving money will be pretty hard but at least i'll be able to live here! Had a phone interview for a company in the city that i gathered went pretty well. Only downside is having a working visa people are pretty skeptical to give you a job if they know your gonna be buggering off soon. Still if i do get this job I intend to stay the full year as the moneys pretty sweet!
But in the meantime ill jus sit and twiddle my thumbs, searching countless job sites and room rentals...and then lose the will to live and go sit down by the beach to sunbathe...suppose there could be worser things to do right?
Finally spoke to my american boy for the first time since we said goodbye. Weve been emailing everyday but the time difference is pretty brutal for us to call each other. Spent a good two hours on the phone to him last night and it was like he was in the room laughing along with me. 5 months seems like a long time until I see him again but it isnt really. I waited a whole year and a half of my life to start this trip, so in the grand scheme of things, 5 months is nothing. Part of me just wants to run over to the states and see him already. But a big part of me knows that this is my time to see the world. I'll only get to do this once in my life and I want to remember and treasure every moment of it. Even moments like today I'll look back on fondly and remember how despite Sydney offering me all the shit jobs, Im determined to get my lucky break and make a life here. Lord knows I deserve this.
Friday, 23 March 2012
2 weeks can literally change your life...
Now I've been a very Bad Buddha. Last blog update was before the tour, but then that shows i've had a good time right? So much has happened these past two weeks I'm afraid I cant really put it all into order for you day by day. So I'll literally just bullet crystal clear memories for you...
Hugging a koala at Karanda. Grabbing green ants of the trees and eating them. Sailing over whitsundays drinking goon with the crew and playing games. Literally having my breath taken away at Whitehaven Beach. Having my first scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef. Goat Mustering at Kroombit park, lasooing a goat and failing miserably at it, toga party and skinny dipping in the sea fearing for my life that i'd get eaten by sharks. Have an American boy literally and unexpectedly take my breath away. :) learn to surf at surfaris and pulling muscles I never knew existed in my body. Watch the sunset over Fraser Island whilst drinking Makers Mark on ice. Singing karoake and being terrible at it and just generally opening to the possibility of the impossible. I love the fact that we've just arrived in Sydney, we've done SO much yet this is literally just the beginning of our adventure. Walking about the harbour bridge, Opera house and Botanic Gardens today I just thought. "Hell YES, this is gonna be my life for the forseeable future!" Its a sure sign I'm meant to be here as we all looked up into the sky today and some airplane spelt out Marry Me Jen. I was amazed! So Sydney proposed, and I said Yes, of course ;)
Sorry for the blunt blogs but well, I'm too busy having the time of my life. Obviously!
Hugging a koala at Karanda. Grabbing green ants of the trees and eating them. Sailing over whitsundays drinking goon with the crew and playing games. Literally having my breath taken away at Whitehaven Beach. Having my first scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef. Goat Mustering at Kroombit park, lasooing a goat and failing miserably at it, toga party and skinny dipping in the sea fearing for my life that i'd get eaten by sharks. Have an American boy literally and unexpectedly take my breath away. :) learn to surf at surfaris and pulling muscles I never knew existed in my body. Watch the sunset over Fraser Island whilst drinking Makers Mark on ice. Singing karoake and being terrible at it and just generally opening to the possibility of the impossible. I love the fact that we've just arrived in Sydney, we've done SO much yet this is literally just the beginning of our adventure. Walking about the harbour bridge, Opera house and Botanic Gardens today I just thought. "Hell YES, this is gonna be my life for the forseeable future!" Its a sure sign I'm meant to be here as we all looked up into the sky today and some airplane spelt out Marry Me Jen. I was amazed! So Sydney proposed, and I said Yes, of course ;)
Sorry for the blunt blogs but well, I'm too busy having the time of my life. Obviously!
Friday, 9 March 2012
And so the Essex girl did the inevitable, and jumped out of a plane...
Evening all! (Or to you morning, whateves)
So I thought I'd try doing the impossible and describe what 99% of Cairns describe as the "most indescrible experience of their lives" and thats Skydiving over the Great Barrier Reef.
Yes ladies and gentleman, the girl who you knew that left Essex, the one that wouldn't set foot into a room if a spider was there, the same girl who would also run away scared shitless from a slow moving cow in a field...jumped 14,000 feet out of an airplane.
I brought my travelling companion with me as moral support, but the bloody cow made me more nervous than i intended to be lol. She just kept looking at me like it was the last time she'd ever see me again and kept repeating "I'm so nervous for you..." great help!
The night before the inevitable dive we had a few bevvys in gilligans, which turned into 6 and staying up till silly o clock with a bunch of good natured lads. At least it helped me sleep, for all of...3 hours. I woke up dead at 5am and could not for the life of me get back to help. I kept thinking to myself "I'm not nervous though am i?" But my body was clearly telling me a different story. Mind over Matter as it goes! I got up at 7 and just sat on the balcony wishing for the time to go quicker, I just literally wanted it over and done with. Not in a negative way mind you, but not exactly in a I CANNOT WAIT way either. My whole body felt heightened, like it didnt want to keep still. I kept on jumping up and down in the kitchen to try and well...what exactly I dont know. Shakes off my nerves? As I said I was convinced I wasnt nervous. The type of nerves Im use to is the dip in the stomach, you know when you realise something and you feel like your bellys just flopped 10 feet? But I didnt have that feeling at all. I guess probably looking back on it all it was just pure adrenalin.
After waiting in the skydive office for what seems like hours (probably about an hour and a half, which didnt help either) some stocky dude with stubble and an army fishermans hat comes bowling up to me and announces I'll be taking the plunge with him today. My first initial thought is "Do i trust a man who wears a ridiculous hat to save me from falling to my plunging death?" But then he introduces me to Jeremy, our cameraman and I am instantly at ease. The guy has the most ridiculously good looking pair of eyes that I thought "Well least I can smile at him whilst I'm plunging to my death..."
So they seperate my travelling buddy and I and i bid her farewell, trying not to look at the state of panic on her face as i leave in the mini bus. When we get there and the guys harnassing me what I can only describe as the most unflattering nappy of all time they ask where I'm from. "Near london"..."Oh yeah where about's?"..."Essex?" ...."Ohhhhhh an ESSEX girl...." I sigh. This happens a lot on my travels, not so much in Asia but now were in western civilisation people tend to here the reputation. "Dont Essex girls have an attitude problem?" He asks. "Depends if you drop me from the plane without a parachute I might!"
The jokes contuinue on as we board the plane., I snuggle up into my parachute man, as he straps me in tighter and tighter as we go up into the sky. He makes me check his watch to see 10 minutes into the journey were only up 5000, I look down. 5000 feet my arse it is A LONG WAY DOWN. Surely by now the nerves should start kicking in, but then I catch a glimpse of the Great Barrier Reef and I am stunned. I literally cannot speak. Everything before my eyes was pure natural beauty. "Isnt she a beauty?" the typical aussie question pops out and I could not nothing but literally nod my head. Then it suddenly hits me. Not nerves, but a massive smile creeps upon my face as a realise the firm belief in my mind: I cannot wait to do this! Who'd of thought it aye? He informs me were 2nd to go. I'm pretty grateful for this, I dreaded going last in fear that I'd see people go off once by one and think "I CAN NOT DO THIS" but luckily enough I'm not even given enough time to think.
Red lights flash infront of me to inform me to pop on my safety goggles (another very attractive apparatus to wear and no doubt severely dampened my chances of ever getting the cameramans phone number) yellow lights indicate for me to cross my arms infront of my body and he wiggles me down to the edge of the plane. I literally don't even have time to look down as you have to put your head so far back all i can see above me is clouds and one two three GO.
There was literally no time to scream.
The g force is so strong I open my mouth to let out noise and realise there is no point. I can only simply mouth curses because I have literally lost my voice, or maybe I was screaming but I couldnt hear it myself cause the blistering wind just shrills through my ears. He taps my arms to remind me to get into freefall position and I uncross my arms and open them up wide. I think looking back the only thoughts going through my mind were "Oh cool, were about to go through a cloud.." and remembering the cool wet wisps of white against my cheeks as we dropped through it.
Once we were through the cloud the parachute was up and the deafening winds came to a complete stop. I suddenly remembering to breath but before I did all I could do was laugh. I was literally laughing with insane happiness. "Y'alright jennnneeyyy?" he asks, and I still keep laughing. All I could think was "fuck me, I DID IT!" I'm in the air, watching my legs dangle from a harness, seeing nothing but pure greenery rainforest and hills with the deepest blue sea beneath me. I am literally overcome with pure giddyness and all I can manage to keep repeating is..."WOW."
The next thing hes asking me is if I like rollercoasters and then decisevly grabs my hand to take hold of the parachute reigns and gives the right hand side a good hard tug, were spinning so fast Im instantly regretting I said yes lol.
As the ground gets clearer and clearer to me I spot my travelling buddy in the distance and give her a good hard wave like a proper Japs tourist. She later describe to me how she couldnt make out it was me until she noticed me waving like a bloody moron. I look back on her iphone as she filmed us all coming down, like tiny dots from the cloud we appear to take our time coming down when in reality we were only in the sky for a matter of minutes. I land onto the grass with a good hard thump, with grass ending up in my underwear my cameraman comes runnings up to me and asks "How do you feel?"
Again. All I could do was laugh and manage a thumbs up. My legs literally are like jelly as my body fights to gain normality again, and I'm left feeling like I've just dreamt the whole experience. Even whenI returned back to the hostel and took a well deserved shock induced nap I woke up and asked Sian..."Did I really just do that?"
So my pals that was my mini Cairns thrill induced adventure. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed doing it. I'm yet to see the dvd and pictures I got out of it so it still hasnt quite sunk in what I've actually just dont. But rest assured you'll be the first cretins to see it.
Now were have a chilled evening before we meet out Topdeck tourgroup bright and breezy tomorrow! xxx
So I thought I'd try doing the impossible and describe what 99% of Cairns describe as the "most indescrible experience of their lives" and thats Skydiving over the Great Barrier Reef.
Yes ladies and gentleman, the girl who you knew that left Essex, the one that wouldn't set foot into a room if a spider was there, the same girl who would also run away scared shitless from a slow moving cow in a field...jumped 14,000 feet out of an airplane.
I brought my travelling companion with me as moral support, but the bloody cow made me more nervous than i intended to be lol. She just kept looking at me like it was the last time she'd ever see me again and kept repeating "I'm so nervous for you..." great help!
The night before the inevitable dive we had a few bevvys in gilligans, which turned into 6 and staying up till silly o clock with a bunch of good natured lads. At least it helped me sleep, for all of...3 hours. I woke up dead at 5am and could not for the life of me get back to help. I kept thinking to myself "I'm not nervous though am i?" But my body was clearly telling me a different story. Mind over Matter as it goes! I got up at 7 and just sat on the balcony wishing for the time to go quicker, I just literally wanted it over and done with. Not in a negative way mind you, but not exactly in a I CANNOT WAIT way either. My whole body felt heightened, like it didnt want to keep still. I kept on jumping up and down in the kitchen to try and well...what exactly I dont know. Shakes off my nerves? As I said I was convinced I wasnt nervous. The type of nerves Im use to is the dip in the stomach, you know when you realise something and you feel like your bellys just flopped 10 feet? But I didnt have that feeling at all. I guess probably looking back on it all it was just pure adrenalin.
After waiting in the skydive office for what seems like hours (probably about an hour and a half, which didnt help either) some stocky dude with stubble and an army fishermans hat comes bowling up to me and announces I'll be taking the plunge with him today. My first initial thought is "Do i trust a man who wears a ridiculous hat to save me from falling to my plunging death?" But then he introduces me to Jeremy, our cameraman and I am instantly at ease. The guy has the most ridiculously good looking pair of eyes that I thought "Well least I can smile at him whilst I'm plunging to my death..."
So they seperate my travelling buddy and I and i bid her farewell, trying not to look at the state of panic on her face as i leave in the mini bus. When we get there and the guys harnassing me what I can only describe as the most unflattering nappy of all time they ask where I'm from. "Near london"..."Oh yeah where about's?"..."Essex?" ...."Ohhhhhh an ESSEX girl...." I sigh. This happens a lot on my travels, not so much in Asia but now were in western civilisation people tend to here the reputation. "Dont Essex girls have an attitude problem?" He asks. "Depends if you drop me from the plane without a parachute I might!"
The jokes contuinue on as we board the plane., I snuggle up into my parachute man, as he straps me in tighter and tighter as we go up into the sky. He makes me check his watch to see 10 minutes into the journey were only up 5000, I look down. 5000 feet my arse it is A LONG WAY DOWN. Surely by now the nerves should start kicking in, but then I catch a glimpse of the Great Barrier Reef and I am stunned. I literally cannot speak. Everything before my eyes was pure natural beauty. "Isnt she a beauty?" the typical aussie question pops out and I could not nothing but literally nod my head. Then it suddenly hits me. Not nerves, but a massive smile creeps upon my face as a realise the firm belief in my mind: I cannot wait to do this! Who'd of thought it aye? He informs me were 2nd to go. I'm pretty grateful for this, I dreaded going last in fear that I'd see people go off once by one and think "I CAN NOT DO THIS" but luckily enough I'm not even given enough time to think.
Red lights flash infront of me to inform me to pop on my safety goggles (another very attractive apparatus to wear and no doubt severely dampened my chances of ever getting the cameramans phone number) yellow lights indicate for me to cross my arms infront of my body and he wiggles me down to the edge of the plane. I literally don't even have time to look down as you have to put your head so far back all i can see above me is clouds and one two three GO.
There was literally no time to scream.
The g force is so strong I open my mouth to let out noise and realise there is no point. I can only simply mouth curses because I have literally lost my voice, or maybe I was screaming but I couldnt hear it myself cause the blistering wind just shrills through my ears. He taps my arms to remind me to get into freefall position and I uncross my arms and open them up wide. I think looking back the only thoughts going through my mind were "Oh cool, were about to go through a cloud.." and remembering the cool wet wisps of white against my cheeks as we dropped through it.
Once we were through the cloud the parachute was up and the deafening winds came to a complete stop. I suddenly remembering to breath but before I did all I could do was laugh. I was literally laughing with insane happiness. "Y'alright jennnneeyyy?" he asks, and I still keep laughing. All I could think was "fuck me, I DID IT!" I'm in the air, watching my legs dangle from a harness, seeing nothing but pure greenery rainforest and hills with the deepest blue sea beneath me. I am literally overcome with pure giddyness and all I can manage to keep repeating is..."WOW."
The next thing hes asking me is if I like rollercoasters and then decisevly grabs my hand to take hold of the parachute reigns and gives the right hand side a good hard tug, were spinning so fast Im instantly regretting I said yes lol.
As the ground gets clearer and clearer to me I spot my travelling buddy in the distance and give her a good hard wave like a proper Japs tourist. She later describe to me how she couldnt make out it was me until she noticed me waving like a bloody moron. I look back on her iphone as she filmed us all coming down, like tiny dots from the cloud we appear to take our time coming down when in reality we were only in the sky for a matter of minutes. I land onto the grass with a good hard thump, with grass ending up in my underwear my cameraman comes runnings up to me and asks "How do you feel?"
Again. All I could do was laugh and manage a thumbs up. My legs literally are like jelly as my body fights to gain normality again, and I'm left feeling like I've just dreamt the whole experience. Even whenI returned back to the hostel and took a well deserved shock induced nap I woke up and asked Sian..."Did I really just do that?"
So my pals that was my mini Cairns thrill induced adventure. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed doing it. I'm yet to see the dvd and pictures I got out of it so it still hasnt quite sunk in what I've actually just dont. But rest assured you'll be the first cretins to see it.
Now were have a chilled evening before we meet out Topdeck tourgroup bright and breezy tomorrow! xxx
Sunday, 4 March 2012
G-DAAAYY MATTEEE!
Can you believe it? The wife and I have touched down in oz Vegas. But before i talk about that I'd just like to reflect on the past 60 days i've spent in asia...
Things I have seen done miss or all of the above...Joma Cafe, eating snake in Vietnam, eating tarantula Cambodia, eating wild boar in Vietnam, eating water buffalo in Laos, eating frog in Singapore, having the bangkok belly, watching ping pong shows and doing far to much tequila in Phuket, shouting at more sex tourists than i care to remember in thailand, seen more breathtaking islands than i care to remember, rode an elephant in laos, rode an elephant in samui, seen how cruely they treat monkeys at the monkey show in samui, took a jungle trek and swam in a scarily powerful waterfull in samui, wanting to turn vegetarian after the markets seen in Vietnam, fell in love with the streets of Hoi An, rode a bicycle to soak up the sights of laos and vietnam, took a junkboat stay at Halong Bay, trod in the same sand as Leo DiCaprio from The Beach, taking a shot of "fermented snake" and snakes blood then instantly regretting it, rode on the dodgiest of coaches to get to ko phangan, FULL. MOON. PARTY. being locked in a toilet by a crazy thai lady, tried durian fruit in kuala lumpur then instantly regretting it, wandered aimlessely around KL taking in the sights of the twin towers, been a true tourist and took in the sights of singapore on a hop on and off tourist bus, stayed at the nicest hostels in singapore and krabi, spent a week drinking pretty much day and night in Bali, met some of the nicest and douchiest guys all at the same time, realised there are still some decent guys out there and i'll bag one of them when im good and ready to, Bubba Gumps and winning the trivia quiz questions enough saidddd, seen breathtaking temples...Angor Wat and Tulan Lot being my complete favs, taking a trek by myself and standing on a tiny deserted island sitting there in complete silence, walking through the crashing waves of bali to get the best view of the sea temples away from the tourist and sitting there completly exhilarated, smiling by myself at what it before my eyes pretty much every day...and now Australia.
Its weird to be here, i think i feel more like a foreigner here than i do being surrounded by asians! we have a week here to chill out in Cairns before our tour starts, part of me is itching for it to be over so i can see the contiki lot once more and settled down into normal life, but part of me knows despite only having 3 weeks of travelling left, I havent even started yet :)
So thats all there is to say really. Oz is bloody expensive, just wondered around Woolworths seraching for the smart price brand of everything. Mum would be so proud...
toodles!
Things I have seen done miss or all of the above...Joma Cafe, eating snake in Vietnam, eating tarantula Cambodia, eating wild boar in Vietnam, eating water buffalo in Laos, eating frog in Singapore, having the bangkok belly, watching ping pong shows and doing far to much tequila in Phuket, shouting at more sex tourists than i care to remember in thailand, seen more breathtaking islands than i care to remember, rode an elephant in laos, rode an elephant in samui, seen how cruely they treat monkeys at the monkey show in samui, took a jungle trek and swam in a scarily powerful waterfull in samui, wanting to turn vegetarian after the markets seen in Vietnam, fell in love with the streets of Hoi An, rode a bicycle to soak up the sights of laos and vietnam, took a junkboat stay at Halong Bay, trod in the same sand as Leo DiCaprio from The Beach, taking a shot of "fermented snake" and snakes blood then instantly regretting it, rode on the dodgiest of coaches to get to ko phangan, FULL. MOON. PARTY. being locked in a toilet by a crazy thai lady, tried durian fruit in kuala lumpur then instantly regretting it, wandered aimlessely around KL taking in the sights of the twin towers, been a true tourist and took in the sights of singapore on a hop on and off tourist bus, stayed at the nicest hostels in singapore and krabi, spent a week drinking pretty much day and night in Bali, met some of the nicest and douchiest guys all at the same time, realised there are still some decent guys out there and i'll bag one of them when im good and ready to, Bubba Gumps and winning the trivia quiz questions enough saidddd, seen breathtaking temples...Angor Wat and Tulan Lot being my complete favs, taking a trek by myself and standing on a tiny deserted island sitting there in complete silence, walking through the crashing waves of bali to get the best view of the sea temples away from the tourist and sitting there completly exhilarated, smiling by myself at what it before my eyes pretty much every day...and now Australia.
Its weird to be here, i think i feel more like a foreigner here than i do being surrounded by asians! we have a week here to chill out in Cairns before our tour starts, part of me is itching for it to be over so i can see the contiki lot once more and settled down into normal life, but part of me knows despite only having 3 weeks of travelling left, I havent even started yet :)
So thats all there is to say really. Oz is bloody expensive, just wondered around Woolworths seraching for the smart price brand of everything. Mum would be so proud...
toodles!
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Greetings from Bali!
MAN i am sweating my nadgers off here!
So howdy from Kuta Bali, may i just point out i am in probably the most touristy part of Bali possible. Its Aussies version of a cheap Vegas to say the least. Our hotels right in the middle of all the nightlife, and boy did we have a big one the other night! But i did manage to escape the "poor excuse of Bali" today to visit the sea temples. Leaving my throughly travelled out buddy in bed i took an hours drive with a nice Balinese man to see the incredible sights. At one point during my walk along the shore of the temples, i manage to find a secluded spot with no tourists around me, just the crashing of the waves and little crabs running along the big rocks next to me. Now THAT for me I will treasure as Bali. Kutas not exactly the place to get all Eat Pray Love on people here. For starters i wouldnt even rent a bicycle as most the roads here are filled with scooters and cars only id fear for my life. Secondly Kuta is what the Perths call there second home. Everyone here is from Perth, i met two norweigan guys last night and almost died of shock. For starters one of them was wearing a liverpool shirt so you can imagine the endless banter i had with him!
Been watching a lot of english football here too, funny how i didnt care much for it at home, but as soon as a games on here, im mesmirised. Maybe its just something from keeping me less homesick or maybe im just turning into a raging lesbian?! who knows...
our hotel is known as the "party hotel" of the island, and let me assure you. It is. Im finding it very hard not to have a whiskey with my morning breakfast in Kuta...
We were going to spend a couple of days elsewhere to appreciate more of Bali, but I think were fairly travelled out. The temples were enough for me to have my peaceful Bali fix. To know there is more to Bali than cheap whiskey and Perth boys was enough to keep me happy! Potentially doing a tour but probably doing it by my lonesome as my travelling buddys a bit fed up of moving around bless her. I dont blame her to be fair it is SWEATY out here, and i love nothing more than arriving back from the temples to just dive in the pool and stay there till the sun goes down. Luckily for us we have a 24 hour pool bar so why go anywhere else aye? ;)
But I could like to see more Bali sights if the pennies allow me, as i remind myself constantly Im probably only going to do this once in my life, so might as well make the most of it!
that'll do for now. Im sweaty and i need a foot massage.
CYARRR! xxx
So howdy from Kuta Bali, may i just point out i am in probably the most touristy part of Bali possible. Its Aussies version of a cheap Vegas to say the least. Our hotels right in the middle of all the nightlife, and boy did we have a big one the other night! But i did manage to escape the "poor excuse of Bali" today to visit the sea temples. Leaving my throughly travelled out buddy in bed i took an hours drive with a nice Balinese man to see the incredible sights. At one point during my walk along the shore of the temples, i manage to find a secluded spot with no tourists around me, just the crashing of the waves and little crabs running along the big rocks next to me. Now THAT for me I will treasure as Bali. Kutas not exactly the place to get all Eat Pray Love on people here. For starters i wouldnt even rent a bicycle as most the roads here are filled with scooters and cars only id fear for my life. Secondly Kuta is what the Perths call there second home. Everyone here is from Perth, i met two norweigan guys last night and almost died of shock. For starters one of them was wearing a liverpool shirt so you can imagine the endless banter i had with him!
Been watching a lot of english football here too, funny how i didnt care much for it at home, but as soon as a games on here, im mesmirised. Maybe its just something from keeping me less homesick or maybe im just turning into a raging lesbian?! who knows...
our hotel is known as the "party hotel" of the island, and let me assure you. It is. Im finding it very hard not to have a whiskey with my morning breakfast in Kuta...
We were going to spend a couple of days elsewhere to appreciate more of Bali, but I think were fairly travelled out. The temples were enough for me to have my peaceful Bali fix. To know there is more to Bali than cheap whiskey and Perth boys was enough to keep me happy! Potentially doing a tour but probably doing it by my lonesome as my travelling buddys a bit fed up of moving around bless her. I dont blame her to be fair it is SWEATY out here, and i love nothing more than arriving back from the temples to just dive in the pool and stay there till the sun goes down. Luckily for us we have a 24 hour pool bar so why go anywhere else aye? ;)
But I could like to see more Bali sights if the pennies allow me, as i remind myself constantly Im probably only going to do this once in my life, so might as well make the most of it!
that'll do for now. Im sweaty and i need a foot massage.
CYARRR! xxx
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
Bonjourno from Kuala Lumpar..
Well now, definatly not at a bloody beach anymore!
Arrived last night and hit Chinatown to taste the delights of lamb satay and sizzling tofu. Gotta say I am loving the veggie options here more than the meat most times, maybe thats because ive spent half my time travelling witnessing animals being slaughtered infront of me then shoved in a curry for me to eat. Or maybe its because tofu here just tastes bloody delightful! Hit the Reggae bar afterwards for "ladies night" which appears to be every hour of every night, and for 10 ringgit of "house pour" and mixer, you cant go wrong (thats just under 2 pounds for my wee british people :))
Today has been a longgg day on foot, seeing the sights we took the train to KLCC and explored...the shops. I might i add its bloody torture when you realise Kuala Lumpur holds at least 2 Topshops here. Must. Not. Spend. On. Clothes. That. I. Cannot. Carry.
We visited the infamous twin towers for a few snapsnots and bumped into one of sians friends! Funny how we werent even going to come to Malaysia, and Sian didnt even know she was passing Malaysia, and yet somehow people meet on the other side of the world! I keep having dreams I'll bump into certain people abroad so its pretty strange when thats becomes a reality for someone else!
A couple more hours of walking brought us to Bintang walk where you guessed it...more shops. KL sure do love their designer labels here. 7 hours on foot, an aquariam visit, a crafts musuem and several snapshots later we decided to call it a day. Eager to try real Malaysian food we stopped for some street food were we tasted the delights of Roti Canai with chicken. Me oh My, mix some chinese and indian together and this countrys got some real taste sensations! Cannot wait to try more tomorrow if my western belly sees fit to :)
Tomorrow weve decided to grab a bus to Sunway Lagoon, for Malysians version of a theme park and other such delights. Weird feeling slightly westernised again. The Malaysians appear a lot friendlier than the Thais, probably because no ones tried to mug us off yet with dodgy ferrys and taxis but were only here for another 2 nights then its off to Singapore we go!
Short but sweet blog, hostels fairly nice and clean, staying with a few Finland girls who seem nice enough. Will blog when im in singapore no doubt xxx
Arrived last night and hit Chinatown to taste the delights of lamb satay and sizzling tofu. Gotta say I am loving the veggie options here more than the meat most times, maybe thats because ive spent half my time travelling witnessing animals being slaughtered infront of me then shoved in a curry for me to eat. Or maybe its because tofu here just tastes bloody delightful! Hit the Reggae bar afterwards for "ladies night" which appears to be every hour of every night, and for 10 ringgit of "house pour" and mixer, you cant go wrong (thats just under 2 pounds for my wee british people :))
Today has been a longgg day on foot, seeing the sights we took the train to KLCC and explored...the shops. I might i add its bloody torture when you realise Kuala Lumpur holds at least 2 Topshops here. Must. Not. Spend. On. Clothes. That. I. Cannot. Carry.
We visited the infamous twin towers for a few snapsnots and bumped into one of sians friends! Funny how we werent even going to come to Malaysia, and Sian didnt even know she was passing Malaysia, and yet somehow people meet on the other side of the world! I keep having dreams I'll bump into certain people abroad so its pretty strange when thats becomes a reality for someone else!
A couple more hours of walking brought us to Bintang walk where you guessed it...more shops. KL sure do love their designer labels here. 7 hours on foot, an aquariam visit, a crafts musuem and several snapshots later we decided to call it a day. Eager to try real Malaysian food we stopped for some street food were we tasted the delights of Roti Canai with chicken. Me oh My, mix some chinese and indian together and this countrys got some real taste sensations! Cannot wait to try more tomorrow if my western belly sees fit to :)
Tomorrow weve decided to grab a bus to Sunway Lagoon, for Malysians version of a theme park and other such delights. Weird feeling slightly westernised again. The Malaysians appear a lot friendlier than the Thais, probably because no ones tried to mug us off yet with dodgy ferrys and taxis but were only here for another 2 nights then its off to Singapore we go!
Short but sweet blog, hostels fairly nice and clean, staying with a few Finland girls who seem nice enough. Will blog when im in singapore no doubt xxx
Sunday, 19 February 2012
Greetings bitches...
So it's my last night in Thailand tonight. I'm sitting in the porch at Glur Hostel with nothing but the sound of me typing and the birds tweeting in the trees. This place is a little haven, probably the nicest hostel we'll ever stay in thats for sure. Reflecting on the last time I paid 15 pound on a night out in brighton which resembled a mixture between a prison and a brothel. Here for just under 10 pounds a night you get a huge clean dorm, with 4 beds in and your own locker at the foot of your bed. Sian and I have been lucky enough that it's only been the 2 of us staying in the dorm so were living the life of luxury at hostel prices! Krabi is, well how shall i put it? Relaxing. A little less touristy and in your face. The scenery is far more breath taking than Samui. We took a boat trip to Hong Island, did some snorkelling and sunbathing on beaches that shit all over a week in Spain! We then took a boat over to stay in Phi Phi for 2 nights. Having a bit of a nightmare with finding somewhere to stay in Phi Phi it crossed my mind we could just do a day trip here to at least visit Maya Bay. (aka where The Beach was filmed) but how foolish i could of been. I've had the best 2 days of my life on that island, I could of easily stayed for more if we didnt already book flights out of here.
Upon entering the island, everyone had to pay 20 baht when arriving to help out the clean up. Even now you can still see the effects the tsunami had on Phi Phi. After we walked to the end of the pier it was literally a 2 minute walk into town, which evidently lead us to our hotel. Pirate Hotel. Right in the center of it all. Sian and I amused ourselves with the dccor of our room, the bathroom resembling the inside of a pirate ship, with toilet roll stuffed in the window to represent the "waves" of being under the sea, The highlight was probably the bathroom door itself, a clear window shutter....if sian and I had any boundaries there definatly out of the window now!
Then the infamous night out in Phi Phi, well what can I say? A couple of Spys and a Jim Beam later, after watching the fire show on the beach I found myself in a tattoo parlor being prodded at by a bamboo stick for life. Its amazing how reckless i've come to be. Before I even left for this trip, i bought my own spoon so I wouldnt catch anything whilst eating, my silk bed lining so i wouldnt get bitten in the night and made a promise to my nearest and dearest back home not to get too drunk and above all, not to get a tattoo done in Asia.
I think its safe to say the spoon, the bed linen and all my common sense has not been useful since ive been here.
I know to everyone back home you may be worried about me, but rest assured...its hard to describe but honestly if you were here, you might enjoy the same mentatility of life that i have right now. Trying everything and anything, why? Because if you dont do it you'll end up regretting it. Sure i may be carrying aids of some sort right now, but we all die sometime. If thats the life someone has chosen for me, then it will happen one way or another despite my actions. But for now, i cant help but smile at the pernament reminder of one of the best nights of my life so far. And what other tattoo parlour would give you a shot of whiskey after your tattoo because its pissing it down with rain and they want you to hang with them and get drunk instead? Only in Thailand! With one shot we made a run for it, and ended up in an Irish Bar where we met a couple of Irish lads to dance the night away with. They took us to another bar on the beach where it was literally just the four of us and the barman gave us the laptop to dj our own music to. From anything from Justin Bieber to Daughtry, we were up on the beach dancefloor in the pissing rain, bucket in one hand, other hand held high in the sky whilst it thunder and lightened before our eyes. It was such an exhilarating experience!
Later on we ended up back at the boys beachhouse, where sian disappeared with Johnny and I hang at the beachhut bar with....wait for him name...PADDY. Yes I met a real life irishman called Padrick, who has a tattoo of a Paddybar sign on his right bumcheek. My mother would be so proud! We sat up at the bar till 5 in the morning, drinking cans of Leo Beer whilst the bar owners friend played and sang to us on guitar. It was literally just 5 of us chilling around this tiny tiny bar watching the sun fighting to come up, i knew the next day we were on a boat trip to maya island so we had to get home.
With 4 hours sleep we got up for the infamous boat trip I'd been waiting my whole life for. We snorkelled around Dainty Island for a while, passed the Viking caves and then finally got dropped off at Maya Bay Island. And I think sadly i'd built it up so much in my mind that it didnt meet my expectations. The film definatly oversold it. Ive seen so much this past 6 weeks that Maya was undoubtedbly pretty, but not the best island ive been on. It was pretty cool though, to say, hey guess what? I went to that island, ive seen that shit in the flesh, ive had the tiny grains of white sand between my mosquito bitten toes, and swam in that clear bluey green emerald sea and of COURSE I listened to Moby Porcelain whilst sunbathing on the beach watching the birds fly above the green rainforest mountains. That was my moment. I can say ive done that. And ive never known so much hapiness and utter joy to be sitting in my heart than right now.
So thats the past couple of days summed up in a nutshell, tomorrow we depart our Thai ways and hop onto a plane to Kuala Lumpur to see what Malyasia has to offer for the next few days. Bring it ON.
Upon entering the island, everyone had to pay 20 baht when arriving to help out the clean up. Even now you can still see the effects the tsunami had on Phi Phi. After we walked to the end of the pier it was literally a 2 minute walk into town, which evidently lead us to our hotel. Pirate Hotel. Right in the center of it all. Sian and I amused ourselves with the dccor of our room, the bathroom resembling the inside of a pirate ship, with toilet roll stuffed in the window to represent the "waves" of being under the sea, The highlight was probably the bathroom door itself, a clear window shutter....if sian and I had any boundaries there definatly out of the window now!
Then the infamous night out in Phi Phi, well what can I say? A couple of Spys and a Jim Beam later, after watching the fire show on the beach I found myself in a tattoo parlor being prodded at by a bamboo stick for life. Its amazing how reckless i've come to be. Before I even left for this trip, i bought my own spoon so I wouldnt catch anything whilst eating, my silk bed lining so i wouldnt get bitten in the night and made a promise to my nearest and dearest back home not to get too drunk and above all, not to get a tattoo done in Asia.
I think its safe to say the spoon, the bed linen and all my common sense has not been useful since ive been here.
I know to everyone back home you may be worried about me, but rest assured...its hard to describe but honestly if you were here, you might enjoy the same mentatility of life that i have right now. Trying everything and anything, why? Because if you dont do it you'll end up regretting it. Sure i may be carrying aids of some sort right now, but we all die sometime. If thats the life someone has chosen for me, then it will happen one way or another despite my actions. But for now, i cant help but smile at the pernament reminder of one of the best nights of my life so far. And what other tattoo parlour would give you a shot of whiskey after your tattoo because its pissing it down with rain and they want you to hang with them and get drunk instead? Only in Thailand! With one shot we made a run for it, and ended up in an Irish Bar where we met a couple of Irish lads to dance the night away with. They took us to another bar on the beach where it was literally just the four of us and the barman gave us the laptop to dj our own music to. From anything from Justin Bieber to Daughtry, we were up on the beach dancefloor in the pissing rain, bucket in one hand, other hand held high in the sky whilst it thunder and lightened before our eyes. It was such an exhilarating experience!
Later on we ended up back at the boys beachhouse, where sian disappeared with Johnny and I hang at the beachhut bar with....wait for him name...PADDY. Yes I met a real life irishman called Padrick, who has a tattoo of a Paddybar sign on his right bumcheek. My mother would be so proud! We sat up at the bar till 5 in the morning, drinking cans of Leo Beer whilst the bar owners friend played and sang to us on guitar. It was literally just 5 of us chilling around this tiny tiny bar watching the sun fighting to come up, i knew the next day we were on a boat trip to maya island so we had to get home.
With 4 hours sleep we got up for the infamous boat trip I'd been waiting my whole life for. We snorkelled around Dainty Island for a while, passed the Viking caves and then finally got dropped off at Maya Bay Island. And I think sadly i'd built it up so much in my mind that it didnt meet my expectations. The film definatly oversold it. Ive seen so much this past 6 weeks that Maya was undoubtedbly pretty, but not the best island ive been on. It was pretty cool though, to say, hey guess what? I went to that island, ive seen that shit in the flesh, ive had the tiny grains of white sand between my mosquito bitten toes, and swam in that clear bluey green emerald sea and of COURSE I listened to Moby Porcelain whilst sunbathing on the beach watching the birds fly above the green rainforest mountains. That was my moment. I can say ive done that. And ive never known so much hapiness and utter joy to be sitting in my heart than right now.
So thats the past couple of days summed up in a nutshell, tomorrow we depart our Thai ways and hop onto a plane to Kuala Lumpur to see what Malyasia has to offer for the next few days. Bring it ON.
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
Here it goes...
I've been a bad Buddha. The blog has been seriously neglected. I would apologise but lets face it, why would I apologise for not sitting at a computer socially networking when I could be having the time of my life?!
And it is, you know. Probably the best moment of my life.
So what have you missed out on chaps?! I cant even contemplate where to begin. Cambodia on the last night was left on a high note, the day was spent looking at some beautiful temples (one being the one from Tomb Raider) and our last night out with the Asian Adventure tour. We hit a bar called Angkor WHAT and said our emotional goodbyes afterwards. Really miss those guys!
The 11 of us plodded along to Vietnam, were I idiotically booked a multiple entry visa instead of a single visa, hello 25 dollars WASTED. Still sulking is very few and far between here, I guess it's hanging around with the aussies, no one seems to get mad they just...let it go.
Ho chi min city quite simple put...mental. Hundreds and thousands of scooters beeping at you for crossing the road at a zebra crossing. You simply have to just walk and hope for the best. Luckily I only manage to get run over by a bicycle, not too sure if the guy was happy I punched his basket on the way to safety but at least it wasnt a scooter!
I cant remember what we did day for day so i'll just tell you how it is. We visited where Ho chi min was "buried" and tried my upmost not to laugh at the fact he looks like kernel sanders. And by trying, i mean REALLY trying because the communist soldiers were incredibly scary. One look at them in a funny way and its a gun in the face style! I made the mistake of trying to join a queue "in the wrong way" and almost crapped my pants when he told me off.
Highlight of vietnam has got to be nha trang and halong bay. Easily. Although in nah trang my knuckles were turning white for holding onto my bag in fear of being mugged, the beach party we went to was phenonmenal. I recorded the dj because the mixes he was coming out with were incredible. we had spa night at SuSpa were I treated myself to a Vietnamese massage and a pedicure. Bit embarassing I fell asleep but the kind asian lady assures me it happens all the time :S
Halong bay. Wow. We had an overnight stay in a junkboat, which was probably the best night sleep of my life! Lunch and dinner onboard was about 5 or 6 dishes of the best seafood I have ever encounted. I was simply in my element. We got up early to kayak along the bay to monkey island were we fed those little cretins. After all the group has gone it was just Sarah and I in our kayak surrounded by nothing but islands, only the sound of the occassional sea eagle We must of just stayed there for a good 15 minutes in complete silence taking it all in.
This is all im gonna blog for now, im pretty hungry after an eventful night out in Phuket! Will explain more later!
And it is, you know. Probably the best moment of my life.
So what have you missed out on chaps?! I cant even contemplate where to begin. Cambodia on the last night was left on a high note, the day was spent looking at some beautiful temples (one being the one from Tomb Raider) and our last night out with the Asian Adventure tour. We hit a bar called Angkor WHAT and said our emotional goodbyes afterwards. Really miss those guys!
The 11 of us plodded along to Vietnam, were I idiotically booked a multiple entry visa instead of a single visa, hello 25 dollars WASTED. Still sulking is very few and far between here, I guess it's hanging around with the aussies, no one seems to get mad they just...let it go.
Ho chi min city quite simple put...mental. Hundreds and thousands of scooters beeping at you for crossing the road at a zebra crossing. You simply have to just walk and hope for the best. Luckily I only manage to get run over by a bicycle, not too sure if the guy was happy I punched his basket on the way to safety but at least it wasnt a scooter!
I cant remember what we did day for day so i'll just tell you how it is. We visited where Ho chi min was "buried" and tried my upmost not to laugh at the fact he looks like kernel sanders. And by trying, i mean REALLY trying because the communist soldiers were incredibly scary. One look at them in a funny way and its a gun in the face style! I made the mistake of trying to join a queue "in the wrong way" and almost crapped my pants when he told me off.
Highlight of vietnam has got to be nha trang and halong bay. Easily. Although in nah trang my knuckles were turning white for holding onto my bag in fear of being mugged, the beach party we went to was phenonmenal. I recorded the dj because the mixes he was coming out with were incredible. we had spa night at SuSpa were I treated myself to a Vietnamese massage and a pedicure. Bit embarassing I fell asleep but the kind asian lady assures me it happens all the time :S
Halong bay. Wow. We had an overnight stay in a junkboat, which was probably the best night sleep of my life! Lunch and dinner onboard was about 5 or 6 dishes of the best seafood I have ever encounted. I was simply in my element. We got up early to kayak along the bay to monkey island were we fed those little cretins. After all the group has gone it was just Sarah and I in our kayak surrounded by nothing but islands, only the sound of the occassional sea eagle We must of just stayed there for a good 15 minutes in complete silence taking it all in.
This is all im gonna blog for now, im pretty hungry after an eventful night out in Phuket! Will explain more later!
Thursday, 19 January 2012
It just occured to me..
I'm not really describing a typical day in my life right now.
But then my second thought would be, every day has been completly different the moment I touched down in Bangkok.
So today, to give you a taster if you like, I got up at 6am (there usually early starts, anything from 6-8am) packed my shit together and headed to Phnom Pehn airport to catch a flight to Siem Reap. As soon as we touched down we headed straight to the hotel and caught some rays by the pool for a couple of hours before heading out on our coach to the floating villages. All I can describe of it was the smell...a complete craphole. But so amazing to see how people live yet so sad to watch the children being brought up in such a messed up society. The moment they are born there first words are öne dollar"and thats pretty much all they can say to us. Tiny children as young as three or four held pythons around their neck, half naked and covered in dirt begging for money for taking pictures of them with the snakes.
Makes a change from the man with half a face being blown off by a cluster bomb begging for money I suppose.
Suffice to say this trip has been a real eye opener, and its brought me well out of my comfort zone. We left happy go lucky Laos for the deadly heartbreaking Cambodia, all I can vouch for is the good food and the one dollar margheritas as a saving grace. The rest of it is just too sad to tell.
So we get back to the hotel, shower and all head out to dinner as a big group and just discuss our day or learn more aussie/canadian/british lingo and either shop in the markets or head back to the hotel for a drink. Suffice to say todays been pretty "plain"compared to some of the other stuff i've been getting up to! Tomorrow were heading out at 5am to watch the sunrise over ankgor wat, then heading to the cambodian orphanage to drop see the oliver twists of cambodia. I don't know how much more poverty and depressing stories I can take....X factor sad stories haven't got shit on these guys! If you think your life is pretty awful, trust me...IT'S NOT.
But then my second thought would be, every day has been completly different the moment I touched down in Bangkok.
So today, to give you a taster if you like, I got up at 6am (there usually early starts, anything from 6-8am) packed my shit together and headed to Phnom Pehn airport to catch a flight to Siem Reap. As soon as we touched down we headed straight to the hotel and caught some rays by the pool for a couple of hours before heading out on our coach to the floating villages. All I can describe of it was the smell...a complete craphole. But so amazing to see how people live yet so sad to watch the children being brought up in such a messed up society. The moment they are born there first words are öne dollar"and thats pretty much all they can say to us. Tiny children as young as three or four held pythons around their neck, half naked and covered in dirt begging for money for taking pictures of them with the snakes.
Makes a change from the man with half a face being blown off by a cluster bomb begging for money I suppose.
Suffice to say this trip has been a real eye opener, and its brought me well out of my comfort zone. We left happy go lucky Laos for the deadly heartbreaking Cambodia, all I can vouch for is the good food and the one dollar margheritas as a saving grace. The rest of it is just too sad to tell.
So we get back to the hotel, shower and all head out to dinner as a big group and just discuss our day or learn more aussie/canadian/british lingo and either shop in the markets or head back to the hotel for a drink. Suffice to say todays been pretty "plain"compared to some of the other stuff i've been getting up to! Tomorrow were heading out at 5am to watch the sunrise over ankgor wat, then heading to the cambodian orphanage to drop see the oliver twists of cambodia. I don't know how much more poverty and depressing stories I can take....X factor sad stories haven't got shit on these guys! If you think your life is pretty awful, trust me...IT'S NOT.
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
Cambodia...
I thought I had a culture shock in Bangkok but wow. As soon as we arrived we had guys hopping up with only one leg and one eye begging for money. Been to the killing fields and prison today. It was all too much for me, treading on the ground with human teeth sticking out of it knowing that thousands of people were tortured to death beneath your feet...I had to walk away. Nothing really shocks me much anymore but today has been a real eye opener. Seen enough human skulls to last me a lifetime thanks. It's ridiculously hot here too. Highlight of the day is the street restaurant. It's run by guys who have taken kids off the street and trained them to cook and waiter. And the food was incredible! Mushroom spring roll with lemon mayonnaise, chicken and pumpkin curry and fried tofu with vegetables and fruit salad. Amazing how well I'm eating now! Although the appertiser was a real rare delicacy....tarantula served with honey rice wine and pepper sauce. I mananaged half of it until it suddenly clicked I was eating a spider and I started to gag. Maybe I'll turn into spiderman now? Early start tomorrow. Off to Siam reap and some
Much needed time by the pool. Xxx
I'm
Sunday, 15 January 2012
Whilst I have some free time...
I'm blogging from my hotel room in viang vieng. After a ridiculous 8 hour bus journey with over half the contiki group suffering from a sickness bug and with no toilet...it's safe to say it was the worst ride of my life. Someone being sick every 15 minutes. I wish I could tell you I'm exaggerating but alas I am not. I'm thankful to just have my standard Bali belly syndrome which is nothing that a few crackers and Imodium can't fix. Mind over matter as our tour leader would say.
Amazing how just last month any sign of remote sickness and it was the end of the world for me. Now it's the case of either suck it up or miss out on some amazing experiences I'll never get to encounter again. Last night in puang bragang I wasn't feeling particularly hungry and it was raining outside but our tour guide assured us we had to visit this restaurant. So after wangling through dark alleys (there are no street lights in Laos. Some parts only just discovered electricity last year) we came across utopia. I was in awe, shoes not allowed, low slung mattresses, tiny tables serving the best bangers and mash I'd ever tasted. Yes I realise it is western food but the gravy was dropping with beer Laos. Plus you try eating noodles morning noon and night!!
Amazing how a simple night out for dinner can awaken my senses. I may be feeling sick physically but mentally I am so incredibly happy to be here. The only downer is missing everyone from back home. Im having restless nights sleeping which means I am constantly dreaming. And every dream so far has consisted of my Essex life surrounded by my family and friends doing mundane things. Amazing how I've switched dream worlds aye? There was a time where all I could dream of is me exploring the world and now that I'm here you guys are never far from my mind.
Enough rambling now. Tonight is an early night for me as I want to be 100% ready for tubing tomorrow! Our theme to wear tubing is hot pink. Not sure the boys are too happy about this one but they are severely outnumbered on this tour.
Friday, 13 January 2012
WOW
Ive been so terrible with my blog!!!! Apologises I just so happening to be having the time of my life.
But Bangkok looking back can only really be described in one word. Mental. We really threw ourselves in the deep end staying at a hotel before our tour which was outside a scrap metal heap yard and a brothel. Tuk tuks were a small joy and taxi men were complete arseholes. I was thankful to start to tour with contiki so I didn't leave Bangkok with a bad aftertaste. We visited the Grand Palace, did the khlongs river tour and reclining Buddha which were just amazing. Sian and I escaped to Lumphini for the day just to get out of the crazyness of Bangkok. It had a pretty nice national park and street market. The street food I LOVED but I'm pretty sure like any typical westerner it made me ill as a dog. for 50 baht you get a bowl with no idea whats in it other than knowing it was delicious. Later I discovered one of the ingredients was fish balls but christ knows what else is in there!
We left Bangkok and took an overnight train to Chaing Mai. The train itself was hilarious, drinking beer offered by ladyboys and dancing in the gangways. Our tour guide said it would be the best night sleep we'd ever had...well, someone was telling aussie porkies, and had clearly never slept on the top bunk before. The next day we were working on 2 hours sleep visiting chang Mai temple and being blessed by a monk. Later on we did cooking course and inbetween the meals I could not stop throwing up. Bad case of the "Bali Belly" and sadly didn't even get to eat the meal I made.Luckily they gave us a recipe book to remember everything so when I'm home I can made a mean Pad Thai!
The next day we moved onto Chang Rai were we stopped off at an amazing temple called "the white temple." I'll be sure to put pictures on facebook eventually! We also visited a hilltribe of tinnnyyyyy little people with long necks and big flesh tunnels. Emo boys havent got shit on these guys. So crazy to see how people live on literally nothing. That night we checked out the street markets and the guys ordered some deep fried bugs. Sadly my Bali belly wasn't into deep fried waterbug but one day on this tour i'll try some.
which now leads me to travelling to Laos. Crossing the border was amusing in itself. You literally get your departure ticket stamped in thailand, jump on a small canoe and cross a river and pay 35 dollars and your in Laos! The first day we stayed in a remote village which literally had one shop were a bought a blanket for 30,000 kip. The kip kind of makes me feel a bit gangster as it's only 11,000 kip to the pound, but rocking up with a million kip in my bag I felt I could of owned anything in Laos. The place itself it so beautiful. its crazy to think in the seventies how much this placed was affected by the Vietnam war. one bomb every 8 minutes for 9 years does not sound like my cup of tea.
But weve been here for two days now and i've loved every minute of it. Yesterday we took a bike ride around luang prabang and stopped off at the crazy snake man stall to take a shot of "fermented snake"...I can only described it as an incredibly strong whiskey that after a few seconds you have a weird sensation of floating and feeling like Popeye, then the fact that you just drank snake hits you and you feel like you want to vom. Another interesting experience has gotta be riding a bicycle whilst high on snake juice through Laotian traffic. Essex drunk driving at its new peak.
After checking out another temple (feeling very spiritual on this journey ha) we all hit the town for dinner, the water buffalo burger washed down with a strong jack daniels for only 4 pounds...I was in my element. The laotian people bend over backwards for you and there quite happy to do it too.
Which now leads me up to today...probably one of my best mornings so far, the elephant trek through the jungle. It only really hit me whilst typing this how incredibly lucky I am to be doing this. Gone are the days were I wake up with an ounce of dread of my shoulders ready for another day working in retail, today I woke up and thought...I'm going to go ride an elephant. The pictures and videos are amazing so I cant wait to show you guys! the man Cam said I was a born natural, maybe i've found my new career path? Topshop retail dog turned elephant whisperer?
Now were just killing time until we visit the waterfalls today. Its fairly chilly for Laos but i've been okay in my playsuit and "thongs" as the aussies call them. Off to have lunch with the girls. another great thing about this tour is the people. Apart from a couple from Devon were the only Brits on tour. But its made the experience so much more enjoyable and i've learnt so much from the aussies and canadians. The british couple are planning to move to Sydney after this tour so we luckily have a place to crash when we get there! Even though theres 30 of us, its a really close group and everyones looking after each other when were sick which is nice. Its only been 5 days but it feels like i've known everyone for a lot longer, and already im forgetting what my own accent sounds like. Im trying my hardest not to sound aussie but now it rolls off the tongue haha.
Okay well thats it for now! Be sure to update when I can xxxx
But Bangkok looking back can only really be described in one word. Mental. We really threw ourselves in the deep end staying at a hotel before our tour which was outside a scrap metal heap yard and a brothel. Tuk tuks were a small joy and taxi men were complete arseholes. I was thankful to start to tour with contiki so I didn't leave Bangkok with a bad aftertaste. We visited the Grand Palace, did the khlongs river tour and reclining Buddha which were just amazing. Sian and I escaped to Lumphini for the day just to get out of the crazyness of Bangkok. It had a pretty nice national park and street market. The street food I LOVED but I'm pretty sure like any typical westerner it made me ill as a dog. for 50 baht you get a bowl with no idea whats in it other than knowing it was delicious. Later I discovered one of the ingredients was fish balls but christ knows what else is in there!
We left Bangkok and took an overnight train to Chaing Mai. The train itself was hilarious, drinking beer offered by ladyboys and dancing in the gangways. Our tour guide said it would be the best night sleep we'd ever had...well, someone was telling aussie porkies, and had clearly never slept on the top bunk before. The next day we were working on 2 hours sleep visiting chang Mai temple and being blessed by a monk. Later on we did cooking course and inbetween the meals I could not stop throwing up. Bad case of the "Bali Belly" and sadly didn't even get to eat the meal I made.Luckily they gave us a recipe book to remember everything so when I'm home I can made a mean Pad Thai!
The next day we moved onto Chang Rai were we stopped off at an amazing temple called "the white temple." I'll be sure to put pictures on facebook eventually! We also visited a hilltribe of tinnnyyyyy little people with long necks and big flesh tunnels. Emo boys havent got shit on these guys. So crazy to see how people live on literally nothing. That night we checked out the street markets and the guys ordered some deep fried bugs. Sadly my Bali belly wasn't into deep fried waterbug but one day on this tour i'll try some.
which now leads me to travelling to Laos. Crossing the border was amusing in itself. You literally get your departure ticket stamped in thailand, jump on a small canoe and cross a river and pay 35 dollars and your in Laos! The first day we stayed in a remote village which literally had one shop were a bought a blanket for 30,000 kip. The kip kind of makes me feel a bit gangster as it's only 11,000 kip to the pound, but rocking up with a million kip in my bag I felt I could of owned anything in Laos. The place itself it so beautiful. its crazy to think in the seventies how much this placed was affected by the Vietnam war. one bomb every 8 minutes for 9 years does not sound like my cup of tea.
But weve been here for two days now and i've loved every minute of it. Yesterday we took a bike ride around luang prabang and stopped off at the crazy snake man stall to take a shot of "fermented snake"...I can only described it as an incredibly strong whiskey that after a few seconds you have a weird sensation of floating and feeling like Popeye, then the fact that you just drank snake hits you and you feel like you want to vom. Another interesting experience has gotta be riding a bicycle whilst high on snake juice through Laotian traffic. Essex drunk driving at its new peak.
After checking out another temple (feeling very spiritual on this journey ha) we all hit the town for dinner, the water buffalo burger washed down with a strong jack daniels for only 4 pounds...I was in my element. The laotian people bend over backwards for you and there quite happy to do it too.
Which now leads me up to today...probably one of my best mornings so far, the elephant trek through the jungle. It only really hit me whilst typing this how incredibly lucky I am to be doing this. Gone are the days were I wake up with an ounce of dread of my shoulders ready for another day working in retail, today I woke up and thought...I'm going to go ride an elephant. The pictures and videos are amazing so I cant wait to show you guys! the man Cam said I was a born natural, maybe i've found my new career path? Topshop retail dog turned elephant whisperer?
Now were just killing time until we visit the waterfalls today. Its fairly chilly for Laos but i've been okay in my playsuit and "thongs" as the aussies call them. Off to have lunch with the girls. another great thing about this tour is the people. Apart from a couple from Devon were the only Brits on tour. But its made the experience so much more enjoyable and i've learnt so much from the aussies and canadians. The british couple are planning to move to Sydney after this tour so we luckily have a place to crash when we get there! Even though theres 30 of us, its a really close group and everyones looking after each other when were sick which is nice. Its only been 5 days but it feels like i've known everyone for a lot longer, and already im forgetting what my own accent sounds like. Im trying my hardest not to sound aussie but now it rolls off the tongue haha.
Okay well thats it for now! Be sure to update when I can xxxx
Monday, 9 January 2012
Well folks...
It's here. The first blog.
So where do I begin is the main thing? I guess to say the flight here was eventful in itself. Thanks to my travelling companions mother we managed to wangle the exit seats for both flights so all 5ft 8 of me got to stretch out in style. Although the downfall was stopping off in Mumbai...where security is,how do I put it? Shit. Queueing from what seem like hours our flight was meant to leave ar 1:55am but when it came to five 2 and we were still in the queue, the angry toy story soldier simply said he "did not care" that we would miss our flight. Needless to say, if you get a chance to travel through Mumbai, I wouldnt.
When we finally touched down in Bangkok at 8 in the morning it's been a complete cultural shock ever since. After meeting some lovely old gentlemen on our flight that have travelled through Asia many a time they suggested we took the train into Bangkok...and at 20 baht a ticket (which is roughly under 50p) it saved us a hell of a lot of money. The taxis I've found over the first few days to be complete bastards. Tuk tuk it seems are all the rage here and I can understand why. Driving under a disco light with a thai boy racer in the front for less than 100 baht has been one of the many frightful yet exhilarting experiences to say the least.
Our first couple of days before our tour we seemed a bit lost. Our hotel in itself the first two nights is located outside a scrapheat and a brothel. I manage to work the train system out and we took a day trip down to Lumphini where we checked out the national park and bazaar.
Finally meeting out tour group last night we feel a bit more "westernised" although we are the only Brits on tour (bar a couple from Devon) we've met a few aussies that our only mutual subject seemed to be alcohol. Needless to say I'm sure we'll be fine here! The tour manager did warn us when checking into our hotel it would be the "worst one we'll ever stay in" and yet somehow it's one of the nicest hotels i've stayed in?! She also mentioned that our overnight train tonight we'll be the best night sleep we'll ever have...either someone's telling aussie porkies or British standards are definatly different to the Aussies!
Last night being sick as a dog (already I know. No shock to anyone that truely knows me) I missed out on a night out to "Super Pussy." Although im assured by the rest of the group that a woman threatening to shoot out darts from her vadge if they didn't tip her wasn't something I sadly missed out on.
But today feeling a lot brighter we took a trip to a big fat gold palace and some recling fat religious man. Was pretty cool! And some canal tour along the floating markets. I'm not gonna bore you with the cultural history with it all because let's be honest, I don't pay attention I just enjoy the pretty scenary.
So I guess that'll do for now, It's bloody hot here (hence me being ill, but dont' worry mother roberts I have a bottle of water constantly attached to me) but as our tour manager has nicely reminded us "It's freezing here, wait till you get to cambodia, it's silly hot"....Brilliant.
Now were off to Chaing Mai on an overnight train in half an hour...I don't know how I feel about this one. Needless to say i'm sure you'll hear about it soon!
Big kisses, miss you all xxxxx
So where do I begin is the main thing? I guess to say the flight here was eventful in itself. Thanks to my travelling companions mother we managed to wangle the exit seats for both flights so all 5ft 8 of me got to stretch out in style. Although the downfall was stopping off in Mumbai...where security is,how do I put it? Shit. Queueing from what seem like hours our flight was meant to leave ar 1:55am but when it came to five 2 and we were still in the queue, the angry toy story soldier simply said he "did not care" that we would miss our flight. Needless to say, if you get a chance to travel through Mumbai, I wouldnt.
When we finally touched down in Bangkok at 8 in the morning it's been a complete cultural shock ever since. After meeting some lovely old gentlemen on our flight that have travelled through Asia many a time they suggested we took the train into Bangkok...and at 20 baht a ticket (which is roughly under 50p) it saved us a hell of a lot of money. The taxis I've found over the first few days to be complete bastards. Tuk tuk it seems are all the rage here and I can understand why. Driving under a disco light with a thai boy racer in the front for less than 100 baht has been one of the many frightful yet exhilarting experiences to say the least.
Our first couple of days before our tour we seemed a bit lost. Our hotel in itself the first two nights is located outside a scrapheat and a brothel. I manage to work the train system out and we took a day trip down to Lumphini where we checked out the national park and bazaar.
Finally meeting out tour group last night we feel a bit more "westernised" although we are the only Brits on tour (bar a couple from Devon) we've met a few aussies that our only mutual subject seemed to be alcohol. Needless to say I'm sure we'll be fine here! The tour manager did warn us when checking into our hotel it would be the "worst one we'll ever stay in" and yet somehow it's one of the nicest hotels i've stayed in?! She also mentioned that our overnight train tonight we'll be the best night sleep we'll ever have...either someone's telling aussie porkies or British standards are definatly different to the Aussies!
Last night being sick as a dog (already I know. No shock to anyone that truely knows me) I missed out on a night out to "Super Pussy." Although im assured by the rest of the group that a woman threatening to shoot out darts from her vadge if they didn't tip her wasn't something I sadly missed out on.
But today feeling a lot brighter we took a trip to a big fat gold palace and some recling fat religious man. Was pretty cool! And some canal tour along the floating markets. I'm not gonna bore you with the cultural history with it all because let's be honest, I don't pay attention I just enjoy the pretty scenary.
So I guess that'll do for now, It's bloody hot here (hence me being ill, but dont' worry mother roberts I have a bottle of water constantly attached to me) but as our tour manager has nicely reminded us "It's freezing here, wait till you get to cambodia, it's silly hot"....Brilliant.
Now were off to Chaing Mai on an overnight train in half an hour...I don't know how I feel about this one. Needless to say i'm sure you'll hear about it soon!
Big kisses, miss you all xxxxx
Monday, 2 January 2012
Three days left..
of my sweet Essex life. Who would of thought I'd describe my life in Essex as sweet? Maybe I'm subconsciously thinking this whole year was sunshine and roses because what I'm about to do is much bigger than me and I am scared shitless.
It feels like I'm just about to go on holiday and be back within a couple of weeks. But wait. I've geniunely LEFT my job. I am JOBLESS. On PURPOSE because I am LEAVING the COUNTRY. Why is this not sinking in yet? I feel like crying but I'm not sure why.
All I know is I've had months to prepare for this journey and I still feel completely unorganised.
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