Day 5

This morning I caught the train all by myself. Josh didn't even have to help me buy a ticket. I found the English button on the ticket machine and it was very helpful.

I was heading towards "checkpoint Charlie", one of the border crossings run by the Americans during the wall years. There you could see a museum with lots of information about what it was like when the wall was still up. Most of the exhibition was dedicated to those who had tried to jump over the wall. There were some ingenious methods. One family built their own hot all balloon. Another person hid inside a suitcase, or a car fuel tank. Others built tunnels. It was a very interesting museum but altogether way to much information. I had hired an "audio guide", a kind of mobile phone like device where you type in the number of the exhibit and it will read out some of the info for you, a bit lazy but worthwhile. However, I didn't find the exhibit number for a long time so I had to back track once I found where they were written. A lot of the numbers were missing too so I had to guess what they might be. Altogether I think I stayed there about 2 1/2 hours.

after that I called Emily and we were to meet up at potsdamer platz, which was a walking distance from where I was. One the way I walked through the "topology of terror" exhibit, which is a section next to the wall that has a lot of old cells form some reason, I think from the Nazi days. This was all in German,and I went in from the wrong entry so I didn't hire a audio guide this time. I didn't have enough time until I was to meet Emily anyway.

potsdamerplazt is a area that used to be cut in half by the wall, but now is a very modern shopping and business district. I met Emily at the fountain in the Sony building and we had a lunch of pretzels (my favourite). After that was a little bit of window shopping at H&M, emily's favorite shop.

we decided to walk back towards the Berliner dome, which I had forgotten to take a photo of yesterday, via unter den linden street. This took us past a lot of sights including the new "memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe" site, the Brandenburg gate etc. It was a nice walk because the rain had decided to stop again. We decided to walk all the wall to Alexander platz (where the TV tower is) via "bode strasse", I had to take a photo. There were some big statues of Lenin too so I took a photo next to that.

from Alexander Platz is was back on the train to zoo to do some more window shopping. I have decided I need to buy a new pair of shoes because after all this walking my feet are getting sore, I don't think these runners are designed for that much exertion. But we didn't find anything suitable yet. I will go back on Thursday I think.
we visited a CD shop where you can scan the CD and it will play the songs on the CD into the headphones provided. Upstairs in this department store, kadewe, was the nicest looking chocolates. There was a huge 3 meter bell made out of chocolate too. Yummy.

by now it was time to go and meet up with josh and ulf and Claudia at a Station called sennefeld platz. We had cocktails at a cool cafe which actually had sand on the floor. And then walked through nice streets to a Spanish restaurant. We sat outside next to one of those big heaters.

one thing that I have noticed about German restaurants is that they don't mind that you split the bill up as many ways as you want. They will even sit there and divide it up for you. Also instead of having to go up to the cash register, they bring all the change out with them when they bring the bill in a kind of purse. Good customer service.

we caught the train home and then I crashed straight away again. All this walking!

Day 4

Today I met up with ulf and his girlfriend claudia to go sightseeing. Peter eventually turned up around 45 mins late, but then again his party went on till around 3am so I forgave him

it was my first try at catching the train by myself. Josh helped me to buy the ticket because he was going to the station anyway to go to uni, but I had to figure out how to change trains by myself. I did it and I was very proud of myself.

our meeting place was at the "Australian ice cream shop" in Friedrich strasse. I don't know what Australian ice cream is but according to my German friends it is quite nice. They also sell Australian chocolates...

anyway while we were waiting for peter we walked over to the pergamon museum, but it seems that all museums are closed on Mondays. So by then peter had turned up and we decided to walk to the Reichstag (parliament building). It is this really old building which was semi destroyed during the war, set on fire by Hitler before the war, but been done up with a new glass dome which you can walk up ramps to the top on. Everyday there are always lots of people lining up because you have to go through a security point like at an airport. Peter jumped the queue so we had to follow ;) so instead of taking hours it took about 20 mins. Its really cool building, from the top you can see down into the parliament when it is sitting, but it wasn't today. You can also see a long way around the city. The best part was it was free

it was lunch time by now so we headed back to Friedrich strasse and went to an Italian restaurant where the pizza were half price for lunch. And really huge. We ordered one each but most of us couldn't finish it. At a lot of German restaurants you cant get water for free either. I would have had to buy a hole liter of evian for like $5 which I thought was ridiculous, so I ordered a coke but it was tiny and ended up being about the same price.

next we walked through the museum district, not being about to go in because they were all closed, but we found the "bode museum" which has lots of art works donated by a guy called Mr bode.

around this area you can still see buildings that have bullet holes in them fro the war. I am going to go back another day and take some photos of them.

not far from here we left peter because he had to go to uni and we continued to walk through past all the opera houses and concert halls. Lots of amazing old buildings

we got on bus 100 which follows the same route as most of the tour buses, because it passes past all of the famous buildings, and headed back to zoo station. Here there is an old church which has been left in the state it was after the war. Next door they have built the new church in a modern style. In the platz next door were these guys doing break dancing which was very funny.

at this point it started raining. I tough this was supposed to be summer? We got back on the bus because ulf was sure it would stop again and we decided to go to the east side gallery

the east side gallery is a section of the wall on the east side that has been left there and artists from all over the world have painted on it with their feelings about the wall when it came down in 1989. Parts of it have been damaged by the elements, but in 2000 they have restored half of it. it is about 1.3 km long so it takes a while to walk it all, but we were lucky that the rain did stop.

by now it was time to go home, claudia had to go off to uni and I had to tackle the train system again. I managed and luckily Emily has home at the apartment to let me in. However, just as I left the train station it started raining again so I got soaked!

but altogether another fun day. My legs are going to be really good after all this walking.

Day 3

Today we slept in till around 10am and then got ready to go out to Potsdam, the area where Josh used to live and where the Institute he goes to now is located is. We were going to see a big park called Sans Souci (meaning "without worry") which has many large palaces and buildings in it.

It only took about 20 mins in the train to get out there. On the way we passed a whole lots of "holiday houses" as josh called then which have been built along the side of the railway tracks. Apparently they are places for the people of Berlin to escape to on weekends and a place where they can have gardens. In Berlin most people live in apartment blocks so they will go out into to the country to relax, but these houses are only 20 mins out of the city so I don't really get it.

we arrived at Sans Souci station and we walked into the park. The first building we visited was the Neues Palais (new palace). We paid around $5 to be able to go inside and see how the royalty of the day lived. Actually the king who built this palace never actually lived in it because he decided he likes his old palace better. We paid a deposit of $10 to get a walking tour guide book which explained all the rooms I detail.

we sat outside this palace and ate our lunch. We had bough sandwiches at the station on the way to the park and the weather was being nice to us so it was very pleasant.

our next stop was a building called the orangerie which is kind of like a green house to keep plants warm during the summer. This is josh and emily's favorite building. While we were there it seemed like they we setting up a film set. Josh said that mission impossible 3 is being filmed in Berlin so it may be connected to that.

we didn't pay to go inside the main palace, schloss sans Souci, but we wandered around the outside and in the garden. Nearby was a really cool wooden windmill

on the way out of the park we passed schloss charlottenhof and the roman bath house which both had very nice gardens surrounding it.

it was another day of lots of walking and by 5pm we were pretty tired, but my friends from Japan were having a party which we were supposed to be at by 6pm. So there was no rest for us.

my friend peter's house was not that far from the apartment so we decided to walk. Josh and Emily decided they wouldn't stay long and I needed to be able to get home myself so we pushed their bike with us on the way. Josh had estimated it would take about 10 mins to get there but it was more like 30 mins.

the address that peter had given us was only the street number and not the apartment number. This is a problem in Berlin because most apartment blocks have 3 different sections under the one street number. I couldn't find his name on the letter box so we tried going up each of the 3 building's staircases but with no luck. Eventually I called a friend who was at the party and had a mobile, and he came down to find us. I wish we had called first so then we wouldn't have had to run up all those stairs!

at the party was only 2 people that I knew, ulf and peter, but it was nice. I met some more people and chatted about Australia and Germany. Josh and em stayed till around 8pm and I stayed till 11ish. Then I rode home on their bike. It was weird riding on the wrong side of the road. But it was only about a 10 min ride so I survived. And then crashed again into sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Day 2

After arriving at josh and emily's apartment in Berlin at around 11am from the airport, showering and unpacking (most of my pack seemed to be fully of chocolates and lollies), we headed off to explore the town.

their apartment is really cute, it is up on the 3rd storey of an apartment block in a nice part of the city. It is really well located and we are able to walk to most of the important areas of Berlin.

first of all we headed off towards the victory column. This is a big tower like object with an angel on top. Today there was a kind of festival setting up with lots of food stalls and bars. We witnessed a bit of bicycle rage there too. We were not sure what the festival was for, but josh told me there are lots of really boring festivals in Berlin every month. Later we asked some friends and they said this was a gay festival.

next stop was a walk through the tier garden to the Russian war memorial. Just a little bit further down the road was the Brandenburg gate where a large protest about GM food and NATO was going on. Lots of police in riot gear. This was where we passed from the old west part of Berlin into the eastern part. The place where the wall used to be is marked by a row of bricks along the ground.

we then wandered down unter den linden (a nice street with trees down the centre) to fredrickstrasse for lunch. In Berlin there are lots of Turkish people so there are lots of kebab shops. Really yummy and really cheap. Only 2 euro and its very filling

in mitte we wandered through a famous artist squat place called tacheles where there are strange sculptures in the garden and then down oranienburger strasse towards hackescher market which is a groovy shopping and arty district. Also we wandered around the back streets where there are still signs of the damage from the war over 50 years ago.

last stop was Alexander platz where a large television tower is. It has a revolving restaurant in the top so we are considering going there one day. Near Alexander platz is a lot of nice old buildings including the town hall. By now it was around 5pm and we all had very tired feet and were getting a little hungry again so we started to head home.

we stopped off at zoo station to get some groceries and then came back home on the underground train to make some dinner. I crashed by about 10pm. It could have been the jet lag or it could have been the beers we were drinking. I actually don't think I got that jet lagged even though I changed time zones by 8 hours and was on the plane for almost 30 hours. I guess I slept enough on the plane.

Day 1

I arrived home from the karaoke party at 2am Friday morning. My plane for Germany was leaving 12pm the same day, meaning that I had to be at the airport at 10am, had to leave my house at 9am, and be alive by 8am. And I hadn't even packed yet

as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light and when the alarm went off at a few minutes to 8, it felt like I hadn't slept at all. But this was part of my plan to stop jet lag, if I could sleep on the plane then I would be fine right?

when I say I hadn't packed, it was more like organized chaos. Everything I planned to take was on the bed, but I had no idea if it would actually fit in my pack or not. But to my amazement it did and it only weighted 16 kilos. I guess with a pack it is hard to go over the limit anyway, cause you actually have to be able to lift it and carry it on your back.

scoffed down a quick breakfast. No milo left so I had to settle for nesquik (yuk), and then mum and I were off.

we arrived at the airport with lots of time to spare. I checked in while she parked the car. It was really strange the airport was almost completely empty. But they tell you that you have to go through the gates about an hour before your flight so I did what I was told. Said goodbye to mum at the "wailing wall", not like there was any wailing this time, I am only gone for a month.

so I had lots of time inside the airport, customs took like 1 minute, and there really are not that many shops to tide you over on the other side. I didn't want any duty free, but the 2 1l bottles of baileys for $50 were really tempting.

we boarded the plane at the correct time, but then disater hit. The plane had a broken freezer and it "had" to be replaced before we could leave. Even though this plane was only going to Sydney. So they took their time removing the freezer and putting a new one in to find that they couldn't get the new one to work either! So after all that they put the old one back in again! What a great way to waste an hour while you are stuck in a tiny plane seat.

so eventually we departed Melbourne and arrived in Sydney. I still had a few hours till my next flight so I found my gate and tried to get my boarding pass for the next flight. However at the gate there was noone there, we were way to early. So I sat down on a couch and read a book for a while.

with about 30 mins to go I went and found my gate again and got the pass. Cause I had left it so late I ended up with a pretty crappy seat. The window seat. Its a bit passe. And annoying when you want to go to the toilet.

at least this plane left on time. The guys I was sitting next to were quite nice, they were Germans who had been working in Australia and were going back for a holiday. They gave me chocolate and skittles to eat.

I had originally thought my stopover was in Singapore, because that was what my travel agent had told me, but apparently it was in KL. Nice hot and steamy KL. It took so long to get there, no view out my window because it was night.

next stop was Vienna. On the way the sun rise happened and it was really beautiful. Another thing I noticed when we were going over Iran or maybe it was Iraq I saw some kind explosions. Maybe it was some attack, but then again it could have just been gas venting.

Vienna airport, another boring place to wait. And once we got on the plane, and were out onto the runway, the Pilot could get the engine started so we had to go back to get a jump start. I didn't know that jump starting a plane would take 1.5 hours! All the while josh and Emily were waiting at Berlin airport for me. I felt really bad, but they had checked online if the plane would be delayed at it had told then it was running on time.

Berlin airport is really tiny. Josh compared it to Canberra airport. The plane didn't pull up to the terminal so we had to get on a bus. At least the did have conveyer belts for the luggage, not like Hobart were you get your bags off a little truck.

it took about 10 mins on the bus and a little walk to get to josh's apartment, but I will talk about this all next time. I will tell you all about my day in Berlin too. But it is time to go out to Potsdam now. So I will sign off

From Berlin with love

Hi all

just a quick update to tell you all that I arrived alive and safe this morning. After 2 delayed planes (on e in Melbourne and one in Vienna) and I made Emily and josh wait 1 1/2 hours in Berlin airport.

we are at a cool internet /vending machine cafe in the eastern part of Berlin. Been walking around getting orientated all day, but I still have no idea where I am.

will post more updates later

time to go rest my sore feet.

not long now

just sitting eating breakfast
trying to get everything finished. i think i have 15 mins till i have to leave for eth airport

last night o got home from karaoke at 2am, so i havent had much sleep, but i have 22 hours of plane time ahead of me. fun!

well, i will try and keep posting regularly while i am gone, or i will see you all when i get back! enjoy the wintery weather while i am sunning it up in europe

dont you just love computerised translations

I receieved this email in german from one of my friends i will meet up with next week when i am there.

Hi Leute!
ich wollte Euch zur "Carly´s welcome to Germany Party" und meiner
verspäteten Geburtstagsparty und zugleich Abschiedsparty einladen.
Am 3.07. Fliege ich für 2 Monate in die USA - es ist nicht die Ewigkeit,
jedoch werde ich den Sommer in Berlin sehr vermissen.

Carly ist eine sehr nette Bekannte, die ich in Japan kennengelernt habe,
und die nun eine kleine Europa Tour macht.

Es wäre nett, wenn Ihr was zum Essen mitbringen könntet, wenn nicht, dann ist das auch nicht so schlimm. Für Getränke werde ich sorgen.
Falls jemand diesbezüglich Sonderwünsche haben sollte, solle er sie mir bitte bescheidsagen.

Nun zu den Daten:

Time: Sonntag 27.07.2004, 18.oo Uhr
Location: Meine Wohnung, Brüsselerstarsse 16, in Berlin-Wedding

Ich weiß, es ist ein Sonntag, deswegen wollte ich früher anfangen, damit die arbeitende Bevölkerung auch partizipieren kann :-)

Falls Ihr kommen könnt, dann mailt mir bitte wen und evtl. was Ihr mitbringt.
Also bis Sonntag

now i cant read german, so i decided the best option was to use Bablefish
this is what it gave me

Rear people!
I wanted to you to "Carly's welcome ton of Germany Party" and my late birthday party and parting party invite at the same time. To 3.07. I fly for 2 months to the USA - it is not the eternity, however I will miss the summer in Berlin much. Carly is a very nice acquaintance, which I became acquainted with in Japan, and which makes now small Europe a route.
It would be nice, if your which to the meal could bring along, if not, then is that also not so bad. For beverages I will provide. If someone should have in this connection special wishes, he is to answer-say her to me please.

Now to the data:
Time: Sunday 27.07.2004, 18.oo clock location:
My dwelling, Bruesselerstarsse 16, in Berlin Wedding I white, it is one Sunday, therefore I wanted to begin in former times, so that the working population can also participate :-)
If you can come, then mailt me please whom and possibly which bring along it.
Thus until Sunday
Peter

dont you just love it?

Exams all over

So this morning i finished my last exam for the semester. Marketing law
such a gratifying feeling to know that you don't have to "think" again for at least 1 month.

so now only 2 more sleep to go!
but that includes two days of work. i should really get started. i have been here almost 30 mins and all i have managed to do it turn my computer on

The countdown continues

Only 4 days till i will be in sunny Europe

i have done nearly everything on my list now.

i don't need to reconfirm my flights, according to the qantas and Austrian air websites.
i don't need to get euro, cause i can get it from any ATM once i arrive
i have most of my friends phone numbers now
dad did my photocopying for me yesterday at work
i have emailed most of my friends to sort out my schedule too.

what have i forgotten?

pack!

Plan for next few days
Go to the movies tonight cause i am way over study

Do this marketing law exam tomorrow morning
And then go to work for half the day
Watch sound of music at my cousins house on Wednesday night so i don't look silly when I get to salzburg (if i do)

Go to work on Thursday all day
Then go out for dinner and drinks with friends after work at Yak Bar in the city
Tossing up between a few places i saw on Postcards the other day as where to go after dinner. The apartment. Lustre, Cherry, or good old bridies.
Cant be too late though, i have to leave home at 9am to get to the airport on Friday.

Be at the airport by 10am cause you "have to check in 2 hours early"

Arrive in Berlin at 8am
Josh and Em, you are coming to pick me up right?

Its all happening now!

neurocam?? what is it really

i linked through from Kate's Funny face i Love you site to EgoTript and also Jumping on the bandwagon to find out what all this Neurocam stuff she had been talking about was.

now i am more confused than ever. That is just weird.

I was actually in Fed Square on the 19th June for the Scavenger Hunt and saw all of the "happiness" stuff and some of the protest. There was a very strange man at around 10am screeming weird stuff to everyone in the square, but maybe it was unrealated.

After looking at the website, i have decided that this Shelly Innocence must be a man. She looks more like a man than Miriam from big brother did. And the guy on Big brother could pick it straight away.

It all seems like some big elaborate hoax. Or some kind of movie plot. But then again, strange things do happen in Melbourne too.

maybe it is a bit like that movie with micael douglas "the game"?

through my google-ing, it seems to be somehow connect to VCA because there are links to the Neurocam sites on this site. and information about this mysterious Robert Healy

strange

How safe do you feel letting other people children in a car with your L-plater?

Being a very "youth exchange" oriented family, we have been discussing the horror car accident yesterday where among 4 others from the one family, a French exchange student was killed

the driver of the car was a 17 y.o learner driver and the car was apparently a V8.
but why did she crash? Was it because she was inexperienced and the car was too powerful? Perhaps we will never know. The truck driver who they hit said that the car was all over the road.

Imagine having to tell the family of that poor French girl. This in mostly unrelated, but remember that scene in Japanese story when Toni Colette had to face the Japanese guy's wife?

but the main thrust of the discussion i had with my parents was about should exchange students be allowed to be in cars when learners are driving.

With rotary exchange, the student already have a lot of rules they must follow, namely the 4 D's - no drinking, no driving, no dating, no drug. Recently they have added a new one - No defacing you body (i.e. no tats, or body piercing). DOnt get me started on teh no dating rule...

So the student already have a lot to deal with. Should a further rule be added? A rule that would go above and beyond the legal duty of care Rotary has for its students?
By the way, the French student who died was not a Rotary student.

People seem to feel a greater responsibility to children who are not their own. When my brother was on his L's, my parents would not let him drive the exchange students around, but they had no problem letting us in the car with him.

It seems they have an added feeling of responsibility to overseas exchange students because they would let Australian students in the car when he drove

they said that they always ask Australian people if they feel comfortable with a learner driver and would listen to their wishes. I think with an exchange student they wouldn't feel like they could say no. That's why my parents don't even give them the option.

In this recent accident involving the French student, the whole of this family, bar one, where in the car. It was not just the exchange student but their own children at risk too.

And then again, who is to say that it was the fact that she was an L-plater was why there was an accident. It could have happened to anyone and does everyday. I don't think it is possible to say to exchange students that they are not allowed to go in a car with a learner driver, hey, it might be even more dangerous for them to go with a P-plater. This is not the issue.

The number of accidents involving students is not high enough to ban it. In this district there hasn't ever been a major accident involving an exchange student. There are so many dangerous things in this world. If you thought about all of them you would never leave the house. (that's how i explain my dangerous hobby of bike riding to my mum anyway. She freaks out everytime i go out riding, well that is probably because i have had 2 big spills in 4 months)

What i think is needed is to make sure the students realize there is a choice. They don't have to go in the car with them if they don't want to. If they feel unsafe then they have to make sure that it is known. I guess this applies to a lot of situations. I know that when i was an exchange student it was hard to stand up and say i feel uncomfortable because you don't want to feel like a burden. The host family is already going so far out of their way by letting you stay in their house. But it is important that you feel safe.

The love of online shopping

i am quickly becoming a fan of online shopping. Armed with my credit card, nothing can stop me

most recently i have purchased a new memory card for my digital camera
centre.net.au sells lots of bits and pieces like computer stuff and even camping supplies and books.

and was the cheapest by far for my memory card. $111 for 256mb. And i get back $10 of that duty free when i go through customs on Friday!! That's a good deal. I never knew you could get duty free when you shopped online. All I have to do is take my receipt and show them the card at the special desk at the airport. Then they reimburse me the $10 onto my credit card. If anyone has any duty free orders for me, tell me soon?

And even better, i ordered it on Wednesday night last week and it arrived on Friday morning. That's quick

here's to lots of happy photo taking in Europe!

Music for the masses

My house is becoming very tehnologically advanced. but to our own detriment.

over the weekend, my younger brother has set up a music server. He has put all of our mp3 music in one place and connected it to the stereo in the lounge room. So now, from any computer in the house we can remotely start the stereo playing. That's cool cause we are on wireless now too. So if we were having a party, we could take our laptop downstairs and control the stereo from there.

however, as we discovered yesterday, it is not only us who can start the music playing. i was sitting in the kitchen doing some exam study (really i was!) last night when all of a sudden the stereo jumped to life playing a lovely song called "I'm a mummy"
i was the only one on the computer and i knew i didn't start it.

much to our surprise, my brother who is in Germany had decided that we needed to hear some music and he had started it from all the way across the globe. i have a feeling he might continue to do this at strange times of the night just to scare us. The only way to stop him is to make sure the power switch is turned off on the stereo.

on a different note...

Only 5 days till i go to Germany! Yay!

and only 1 exam left. i haven't started studying for this one (marketing law) which is on Wednesday. i have a bout of procrastination.

i have been spending the morning sorting out what i want to take with me to Germany or i need to do before i leave. i have managed to find most of the items on my list inside the house so i haven't had to go and buy anything yet. But the next items on my list are

- organize mobile phone for overseas
- get a new health care card from centrelink
- get new memory card for camera
- new toothbrush
- toothpaste
- soap
- container for soap
- shampoo / conditioner
- sunscreen
- panadol
- towel
- bandaids
- bag for my camera
- small address book
- small diary
- books to read in plane
- get euros
- photo copy travel documents
- get all my friends in Germany's phone numbers / addresses
- confirm plans with friends in Germany
- confirm flights (job for Tuesday)

- i am sure there will be more things i haven't thought of yet. What have i forgotten?

1st annual rotex scavenger hunt

Well its done. All this preparation for the Melbourne scavenger hunt and we had 5 students and 6 rotex turn up yesterday! That is out of a possible 30 something.

i should know better by now. Everything we try and organize an event we always get crappy turnout.

but saying that, we still did have fun. We split the group into 4 teams. The 3 girl students, the 2 boy students, 3 rotex people, and the 3 of us who oversaw the whole thing.

i had been a bit worried about the weather. Yesterday was so so cold. But it didn't rain until after we had finished.

so this was how it worked. We all met up at fed square at 10am. They split up into teams, i gave them their questions sheets and maps and then we released them into the cbd. At 11.00 we met back at the city square where the teams had to sing "ipsy wipsy spider" (with hand actions) to get bonus points. Then again at 12.00 at parliament house steps to sing "Advance Australia Fair" to get some more bonus points. At 1.00 we met back to tally up the scores and have lunch.

there were like 100 questions they had to answer and lots of things to collect. They had to collect autographs from 10 random people, find something from their country etc. Questions were like how many clocks at the front of flinders St station, how many steps at parliament house. The idea was to get the students to visit as many different parts of Melbourne as possible.
i knew it would be impossible to do all of them. One team decided that they should try and at least guess all of them (however, they were the team with the lowest score in the end, and the only team to comprise all aussies)

while everyone was off doing the questions, us 3 organizers did a bit of shopping and eating. And we bought the runner up prizes.

the main prize was an inflatable kangaroo for each of the winning team members. It was the girls team that won. i was very proud.
the runners up all got one of those yellow road signs that have a suction cup to stick on a window. They said "don't follow me, I'm lost too"

its a shame that more people didn't come, but i think we can run it again later in the year. Most of the people who took part this time will have gone home to their countries by the time we do it again so we don't have to worry about them cheating and telling everyone the answers. i think i will add more "singing" challenges for next time. i was fun to watch them make a fool of themselves :)

Deal or no deal - $200,000

So tonight was the first time the $200,000 has gone off.

I have kind of gotten sucked into this game. Being on at 5.30pm when there is not much other choice of viewing pleasure seems to be one of the reasons, and probably because my mum has gotten sucked it too. i am forced into watching it. Every night mum goes "you should audition for that show Carly".

it seems like a good idea, but i could make a fool of myself. End up with only 50 cents i reckon.

so with my mathematical mind (i did do spec at high school for those who don't believe me) i have been trying to figure out the "bank offer" formula

after a brief search on google i found an article which explains it but it has left me even more confused.

any suggestions?

What the?!

i am going to quote Emily from msn again, but this time i have permission so she cant complain.

Even though she is in Germany, she is keeping up with TV shows in Australia.

Apparently last night on Rove on the What The?! segment, was a picture of her boss in Australia.


I wonder how much money he will be able to raise in his Greatest Shave for a cure campain with that full head of hair.

I do find it funny that even though he is a public figure, the ex-mayor of Melton, they have blanked out his name in the article. How hard would it be for anyone to find out who he is with that basic info.

on related news, my grandma did a similar thing last year. At 77, she shaved off all her hair for Rotary Polio Program. she looked like a tibetan monk!

Super size me

I am sure you have all heard of the move "Super Size Me" by Morgan Spurlock

Well McDonald's have retaliated with their own TV ads to try and stop the bad advertising his movie has been giving them. They talk about how he overdid it and stopped exercising etc. But seriously i believe Morgan has got it right. People do eat that stuff for breakfast lunch and dinner.

my old next door neighbors used to have it for breakfast everyday on the way to school. Because it apparently saved them time. But seriously, how long does it take to grab an apple or put some toast in the toaster.

Well, I saw the ad for the first time tonight. It didn't make me want to go out and eat maccas. Even with all their new "healthy menu options".

actually i havent eaten at Maccas for at least the last 4 years. Ever since i have been at uni i have been on a self imposed boycott of the place.

i don't understand why anyone would want to eat there, even with all the "good" advertising they have. There are so many other options in the same price range and speed. Give me a couple of sushi rolls anyday!

but if you want to hear the "real" story, check out the McDonald's website. You'll see it right on the front page.

What a waste of an arvo - Japanese exams!!!

So I just finished my first exam of the semester about 10 minutes ago. It was supposed to be a 3 hour exam, but here I am already in the uni computer lab only 45 mins after it started.

now I am not trying to brag, but really! This is supposed to be an honors subject!
if we didn't have to have a compulsory 15 mins reading time at the start, and the rule that we cant leave in the first 30 mins, I would have been out even earlier.

the exam guy, (what do you call the guy who watches over an exam? My English is failing me here) gave me a funny look when I put my hand up as soon as the 30 mins were over for him to come over and collect my booklet though.

I have been very disappointed in the value for money this course is giving me. If I had been paying hecs for it I probably could complain a bit more. It would be more worth my while to take the tens of thousands it costs to obtain a degree and live in Japan for the 4 years it takes to finish this course. But I cant really complain seeing I don't pay for it.

well I should really go home and study for the two subjects that I am not going to be able to do in my sleep - international business law (Friday) and marketing law (next Wednesday). How can they give us 3 hours to do an exam that takes 30 mins, and only 2 hours for law, which I have the feeling I wont be able to write up the whole answer in time.

ah well. What can you do. Only 12 months till I graduate and then I can do battle with the real world

Sick mobile phone

So someone has created a virus for mobile phones.

apparently it spreads between Bluetooth enabled phones.

lucky i have a really lame old phone. No Bluetooth here. i got it about 3 years ago when i was in Singapore. i thought about getting a new one, but then i thought i don't want to be stuck in some 2 year contract or pay heaps up front for one on prepaid.

anyway, my old phone is cute. It has a screensaver with a panda that waves at you
what more do you need

what is the point of a mobile phone with a camera and all that anyway when you have digital camera. The only good thing mobile phones need these days is email. When i was in Japan last year you could get email on your phone and send them for only 5 cents.

Steve Irwin. What an idiot. but........

So Steve, all aussie male, is in deep water again. But this time not with child welfare people, but the animal welfare people.

apparently Steve "slides down hillsides with penguins; almost rubs noses with the notoriously dangerous leopard seal; and spends time in the inspirational company of two friendly humpback whales" in his new documentary about the Antarctic.

the uproar is that he had interaction with Antarctic wildlife is forbidden and attracts fines up of to $1 million and two years' jail.

now i am not a fan of Mr Irwin at all, i personally think he is a bloody idiot, but in this case, i don't believe he has done anything wrong. i saw the footage on TV last night. He didn't touch the animals at all. And as he said, there are a lot of people out there who have done a lot worse.

for example, last year in Japan i saw a documentary about a town on the coast of Japan who every year traps hundreds of dolphins and whales in its bay and kills them for "research", but of course the left overs must be eaten. And here Japan is asking for more leniency in the international whaling laws according to the paper yesterday

now that's got to be worse than a friendly whale frolicking on its own accord

He does speak

Just tuned into rove live, and they had that Merlin guy from big brother on, and at least this time he was not mute.

apparently he is actually German, and he lived in Australia illegally for like 8 years when he was a kid. That's probably where his strong stance on refugees came from.

attack of the killer kiwis

today i was attaked by a human sized kiwi fruit at melbourne central.

they were waiting for us in ambush as we came up the escalators from the station.
waiting patiently with their free kiwi fruit samples and funny looking kiwi fruit knives.

thanks guys! now i have something to eat for brekkie

Lipton flavored tea

Don't bother trying those new flavored teas.

the other day when i was in the city working on the scavenger hunt, we were accosted by a horde of Lipton tea promotional people. They were on every street corner it seemed, with their bright yellow cargo pants and funny hats.

everything we walked past them, and this was often as we had to pretty much walk up every street in the cbd to collect our questions for the hunt, they handed us sample packs containing 2 different flavors of tea.

i didn't try the choc orange one cause matt got there first, but i did try the caramel one. It did smell really good when i first put the hot water into the mug. But when it had finally cooled down enough for me to drink it (neko jita - cats tongue) it tasted absolutely horrible. Afterwards i asked matt how the choc orange one was and he pretty much said the same thing. Gross. Most of it ended up down the sink

Troy - not all its cracked up to be

i went and saw the movie "Troy" last night. We went to croydon cinemas cause my brother and all his friends were going to the ones at Eastland to see the Harry potter movie marathon and i really didn't feel like running into them. Also, the tickets at croydon cinemas are only $7.50 on Sunday nights! They have to find a way to compete with the big village and hoyts cinemas only 5km away somehow. But i am not complaining - a cinema is a cinema, but then croydon doesn't have the seats with the lift up arms, so its not so good for dates.

anyway, we went to see Troy. i had been kind of looking forward to it with all the hype about the movie. Brad Pitt with his nice body and Eric Bana (i cant think of you as anything but Pweta still today). But there was a long list of actors from Australia in it.

well, it started out okay, but by halfway i was looking at my watch wondering how long we had actually been there. It just seemed to go on and on, fight scene after fight scene. There is only a certain amount of fighting one girl can stand. Even if you do get to see brad Pitt naked on various occasions.

by the end i still couldn't figure out which army i should have been rooting for. Who were the good guys and who were the bad guys? And that Trojan horse was scary looking!

Big brother politics

So i was wasting time yesterday until i went out the movies and i had seen the ads for big brother and the alleged coming out of Miriam, so i thought I had to see this for myself. i succumed to advertising. i had promised that i would never watch big brother this season, but i was sucked in. i reckon they would have gotten good ratings for the show last night for that very reason. Everyone is a little intrigued. But she is only staying in the house till Monday. i wonder if they would have kept her in longer if the truth hadn't come out....

i cant believe this show though. How on earth did that guy (i don't know their names so that proves i never watch it) figure out that Miriam was a bloke from the first minute of her/him being in the house? What if he had been wrong? That would have been pretty embarrassing. But i do admire the other guy for having the courage to ask her, even though he didn't believe it.

and what about the political stand taken by the evictee? "free da refugees", at first i though he might have been talking about the other people in the house, but then when he refused to talk they sent him off stage! But good for him. That is definitely a way to get your message across. He definitely caused a stir.

every Tuesday they have been having the evictees on Rove Live. i wonder if they will let him on, he might decide to not talk again!

Who cares about what happened to the shoes, really!!

At the moment i am working through the exam questions for a subject called "international business law". The exam is on Friday this week. We have the question already so it is more like writing an essay under exam conditions than a real exam. But there will be one question on there that we don't know yet.

anyway, this sighted question is all about shoes
some Australian company bought some shoes from an Italian company and they have had nothing but trouble.

the first lot were not made very well, stitching and colour etc
the second lot arrived really late because of a storm at sea
the third lot were water damaged and half of the shoe boxes were actually empty.
then to top it all off, someone is claiming that their trade mark has been infringed.

who really cares?
after going over this question over and over again, i have decided that the Australia buyer is an idiot for not checking the shoes when they arrived (they left it so late that they cant do anything about it now). The Italian seller is just plain dodgy (for leaving half the boxes empty and selling bad shoes), and the ship they used to send the shoes to Australia was just as bad (for letting the shoes get all wet and taking a long time to get there). As for the trade mark, they are in a bit of trouble there too.

i am so over this subject. Its turning me off buying shoes!

itinery

So far this is what it looks like

Friday 25th June leave Melbourne around midday, via Sydney, Singapore, Vienna
Saturday 26th June arrive Berlin 20 something hours after i left Melbourne
Sunday 27th June Berlin - party (everyone is invited!)
Monday 28th June Berlin - catch up with Ulf
Tuesday 29th June Berlin - catch up with peter?
Wednesday 30th June Berlin
Thursday 1st July Berlin - catch up with Anya?
Friday 2nd July Copenhagen with Josh & Emily
Saturday 3rd July Copenhagen
Sunday 4th July Copenhagen then back to Berlin
Monday 5th July Berlin - catch up with Boris
Tuesday 6th July Hanover?
Wednesday 7th July Dusseldorf - catch up with Yara
Thursday 8th July Dusseldorf
Friday 9th July Amsterdam!
Saturday 10th July Amsterdam!
Sunday 11th July somewhere
Monday 12th July Bamberg?
Tuesday 13th July Munich - stay at Oli's
Wednesday 14th July Munich
Thursday 15th July Regensburg - stay at Stefan & Sabine's
Friday 16th July Regensburg
Saturday 17th July Salzburg?
Sunday 18th July Prague
Monday 19th July Prague
Tuesday 20th July Prague
Wednesday 21st July Leipzig?
Thursday 22nd July Berlin
Friday 23rd July on the plane home, via Vienna, Singapore
Saturday 24th July arrive Melbourne
Sunday 25th July sleep
Monday 26th July back to uni

help me fill the gaps!

Naylor's Canberra

Naylor's Canberra is an online novel based in canberra. it is quite an intersting read so far.

This guy has been going at it since February last year, and is up to around 200 pages. i think he writes around 1000 words a week.

i have a lot to catch up on. i have only got through the first 10 pages so far.

What would you do?

Now i hate to rehash old bitterness, but what would you do in this circumstance?

tonight i am going over to a friend from high school's house for drinks and what i thought was a movie night for all the girls.

now i find out that this friend has invited no other than Mr "break up with people by sms after going out with them for a month" to come along too.
well fair enough, he is her friend and i never really told her what happened between him and me.

but what should i do?
a. Should i go along and pretend nothing happened, act civil?
b. Should i go along and kick up a fuss?
c. Should i stay home and be bored?

i am definitely not going to stay home because that would be a waste of a good Saturday night, but i am not sure how i should act.

i wonder if he realizes i will be there.....

Koko black

Melbourne has many secrets. We were told this the other day when they had a special on TV all about touristy things in Melbourne

One of these secrets is Koko Black. Many people have found my website accidentally looking for this so i though i would spread my knowledge on the matter.

Koko Black is a chocolate shop in the Royal Arcade. I had only ever seen it on TV until Thursday when i was working on the Rotex Scavenger hunt questions.

But it is not just a chocolate shop. It is a very yummy looking chocolate shop. i say yummy looking because i cant afford to actually eat any of the said chocolates because they weigh in at around $80+ a kilo

You can watch the chefs making the chocolate through the window that faces into the arcade. Its like watching that chocolate river in the willy wonka movie.

Also, to add to the exclusivity of the place, all the chocolates are displayed like jewelry would be, in glass display cases that roll in and out.

If you are looking for something a little naughty but still in your price range, a couple of shops down in SUGA, where they make hard candy in the shape of words etc in various yummy flavors. You can get a free sample there if you ask. i don't think they would be giving away chocolate samples at Koko.

According to mX....

Oh, source of useless information
you have continued to give us what we ask for

i thought i should share this information with my fellow uni student friends

according to mX on Thursday 10th June........

A German sociologist says regular sex can help university students get better grades. Werner Habermehl of the University of Hamburg said his team tested students before and after sex.
They found regular sex significantly increased mental capability, while celibate students found it harder to make the grade.
As well as lowering the time it needed to finish a course, students with a healthy sex life also received better marks.

Not long now

Yesterday i collected my tickets from the travel agent.
its getting more real now. Only 14 sleeps to go!

so all i have to do now is to finish my exams and pack!

i went shopping yesterday to Knox to have a look at the myer stocktake sale. Got a few more summer clothes to take with me. Its a far cry from today's weather. i could hardly see 10 meters in front of me when i was driving to the station. It is soo cold and foggy. And it was still foggy when i got to work.

bring on the European summer!!!

Things you discover when you should be studying

Well seeing i am in the middle of exam revision, i have been watching a bit too much TV.
days of our lives, passions, the story lines come straight back to you every exam period. It has been over a year since i watched either of them, but they are still stuck in the same story line. Charity is still possessed.

but on a more local note, did you ever wonder what happened to that channel 9 show "murder call"? Well after my extensive survey of what on i have discovered that its still on TV, at 10.30 on Wednesday nights

a must see!

My site doesn't have anything to do with "TV shows in Japan sex"

Recently this seems to be the most common way of people finding my blog through search engines. Yet i am still to figure out where the connection is.

"Koko ga hen" might be a TV show in Japan, but i don't think that i talk about sex enough on this site to qualify as the 6th highest ranking site on google on the topic.

i am sure that a lot of people have been very disappointed when they arrived here.

I am awestruck. You give me a reason to live.

i was looking back through my web stats and i found someone else who is interested in trying to find out what this actually means.

why is it written up at Melbourne Central?

can anyone help me?

Play school and controversy

All this talk of lesbian mothers on play school triggered my memory of a past controversy on play school

do you remember the song about airplanes, "up in the air i fly, zoom zoom a zoma zom zom"
when i was younger, john (cant remember his last name) was flying around the studio singing away merrily and doing the appropriate hand actions.

then all of a sudden, someone side stage must have gotten a message to him that his fly was down. But he kept on zooming and at an opportune time in the song in reached down and pulled the fly up, with a smile.

now that cant be good for all the little kiddies watching.

Would you like an animal with your room?

i am working on the final touches of my Europe holiday.
it was mentioned to me the other day that i enjoy the process of planning my holiday more than i will enjoy the actual holiday. i always knew i should be a travel agent. i got mum's holiday to Sydney to see the lion king a lot cheaper than the travel agent she was going to go through had quoted.

anyway, back to the point of this blog,

i have booked my accommodation in Amsterdam in a place called "The Bulldog". I had been seriously thinking about staying in a place called "The Flying Pig" but it was booked out on the day i wanted to go.

So what's with all the animal named hostels? i hope that doesn't mean there will be animals in there! I have to pay almost $45 for the plesure of sharing a room with 16 complete strangers too.

but the hostel looks okay, it better be for the money i am forking out. Amsterdam must be one of the most expensive place i will go to on my holiday. Prague is only going to cost me like $15 a night for similar conditions. (I guess all the other places i will go will be free because i will be staying with friends and relies)

Male intrigue

As i said earlier i went to karaoke with my work mates on Friday last week.

apparently as soon as i left to catch the last train home, the guys went straight on over to the men's gallery which was next door. At least they waited for me to leave....

i guess that's what you get when you are the only girl in the office.

gotta stop procrastinating

Okay, exams are now only 1 week away and i think it about time i started doing some revision.

but the weather was so nice out there today, and with the transit of Venus occurring i thought i had to get outside.

i was woken to the sound of an sms at 9am, "ride?" and i decided that i had to do at last a few hours of study before i could give up and get on my bike.
so i got up, i guess the sms was a bit of an alarm clock, and jumped head first into the study. i made it to 1pm. You don't know how boring international business law can be.

now it is 4.42 and i am back from my ride. Made it to jells park and back. i need a new destination. jells is getting a bit repetitive.

i really think i should start studying again.
dam that good weather.

Emily, on the subject of German TV

and after 10pm, TV is full of porn here. There's a show called "sexy sports clips", where women strip off and rub themselves against random pieces of sports equipment
or play mini golf in high heels naked

Otherwise known as.....

In Germany
Bridget Jones' diary is known as "Bridget Jones, chocolate for breakfast"
Murder, she wrote is known as "murder is her hobby"

In Sweden
the Swedish chef is called the "Norwegian chef"

karaoke!!!!

Last night me and my work mates decided it was about time we all went to karaoke. We had been sitting at lunch and i don't know how it came up, but it was decided.

no-one really had any idea where we should go, so when we set out at around 5.30 we headed towards Chinatown. The only place we could find was the Hollywood Karaoke bar, but that place cost like $28 per person! That was not on.

so in the meantime, as it was still pretty early, we headed off to the "Charleston" for a bit of pool.

finally someone suggested we try the "Colonial" on the corner of King and Lonsdale streets. It was a bit of a hike from Chinatown, but it was our only lead.

and it paid off. The Colonial is a pub and there was a guy setting up karaoke on the stage there. Strangely enough he looked a bit like JPL from American Idol

anyway, we were the only ones there for about and hour, and the 6 of us went through all the songs we knew. For some reason the karaoke guy had a blow-up guitar and was playing along with the guys as they sang their metal songs. He was pretty drunk by then.

we had the place for ourselves until around 10pm when it started to fill up. We didn't get much more of a chance to sing after that but it was lots of fun. There was this one girl who said she was in the final 100 of Australian Idol but she really sucked. Maybe i should have auditioned!

for my last song we were going to sing "I'm a believer" from Shrek, but someone else got there first. So the karaoke guy bumped us up in the queue and we sand "Barbie Girl". The best reaction from the crowd was when my friend sang "Are you gonna be my girl". After that i had to protect him from some strange fans :)

i finally got home around 12.30, originally i was only going to stay out till 8pm!

Good old aussie innovation

Today as i was driving home i saw a very innovative Australia.

he obviously wanted to transport a large ladder with his car but didn't have a roof rack. So what could he do? If he just tied the ladder onto the roof he would scratch it and/or it might fall off

so what i was was a blow up air bed being used as a layer between the car roof and the ladder.

very innovative

i could never work in a call centre

How many times can you say this in a day before you go crazy

"Hi my name is ............
I am calling from ............
I was wondering if you could help me

I would like to send some information to your IT manager regarding our company, and i was wondering if you could give me his/her name?

How do you spell that?"

I love talking, but not when you have to say the same thing over 100 times.

Big brother vs. Miriam

Now i don't think that the show "there's something about Miriam" is very nice to the poor contestants competing for her (his) affections, but i guess that's what you get for going on a reality show like that.

but what about them now making Miriam the "intruder" on big brother. When i first heard that she was in Australia to do some interviews i knew they would try a stunt like this.

apparently, the people in the big brother house don't know about the show because it came on TV after they went into the house and were cut off from the outside world

i have never actually watched either show, but i think this could be very funny.

koko ga hen (the orginal)

is anyone is looking for the archives of my blog from last year in Japan, they can now be found at koko ga hen (the original)

another award to australia

Congratulations to the new Miss Universe, Jennifer from Bondi Beach

sick of old layout

as you can see, i have gotten over my old layout.
and i know this is a bit of a cop out, but i have decided to use a template provided by blogger in the mean time until i decide what i want to do with it.

this could all be because of exams looming and i am doing anything i can to not think about them.....

connex apologizes for any inconvenience

this is getting to be a very common occurrence. Around the 4.30pm mark, i get an sms from connex telling me that my train has been cancelled, giving me the option of staying later at work (according to the ads that is where i would rather be?)

the funny thing today was though, according to the sms the 5.02pm lilydale train had been cancelled. But when i arrived at Melbourne central station at 5.05, the train that had just arrived WAS the 5.02pm train!

how nice of them to confuse matters more.

Its a privilege

apparently i signed up to me a member of Connex's privilege club.
i don't remember doing this, but it might be connected with the sms update thing.
today i received my member card in the mail.

anyway, i guess this is a way that connex is trying to buy us off for giving us such crap service over the last few months

however, after having a look on the website to see what i actually get for being privileged, i discovered that i don't get anything!

check it out for yourself and see if you think it is worthwhile
Connex Melbourne Website

now that's a waste of paper, envelopes and plastic is i ever saw one!

to the guy that nearly ran me over today

actually, this should go out to all people who drive on the roads and don't look out for bike riders.

but especially to the old guy in the white car on the corner of main St and Mt dandenong rds, Croydon. You are lucky you didn't run me over. But laughing it off does not make it any better. Its not funny that i could have been a paraplegic for the rest of my life if you hadn't decided almost too late to stop.

this is the reason i fell off my bike last time, because the driver of the car that was about to cut me off did not take into consideration what his actions looked like from a bike riders perspective. Edging out across the road looks like you are going to go right in front of me. i am glad i took the easy option and hit the ground before I had a chance to hit the side of your car!

so, to the guy in the white car, i hope you saw me glazing at you, even though i did have my sunglasses on. Consider the other people on the road, we have a right to be there too.

in other bike news, i got my new riding shoes and pedals today. i have yet to get the hang of clipping my feet in and out of the pedals as i come up to the lights. Its not as easy as it looks. At one point i had managed to unclip, but then put my foot back down on the pedal and it accidentally clipped back in, but i didn't realize till i put the brakes on and then was suck to the bike. i landed on my side with the bike on top of me. Luckily no-one was watching. i think i will need a bit more practice.....