Truly an unforgettable holiday season...

Heyyyyy!

You are not going to believe what happened to me during the xmas long weekend down here--effing crazy.

Xmas itself was chill; i watched jodha akhbar in the morning and that was enough present for me -- have u seen hrithik roshan's hotness? yummy body and "i wanna run my fingers through his hair" hair! mmmmmm! lol :P my cousin got me xmas prezzies, wasn't expecting that. I got me an entire box of chocolates! EEEE! lol and jewellry, cute lotion set and some perfume :) i went for an xmas run too, and boy did it feel awesome to go running in the sunshine in december; missed experiencing runners high! then we had people over for dinner which was interesting--they brought me a cute prezzie of earrings and we ate TONS of food! all in all it was an awesome xmas-->especially since the other option would've been to spend it drinking goon (cheapo wine made of caviar stuff...iunno google it lol) w/my roomy and her mates...not my idea of how xmas should be spent. nye on the other hand! lol

yesterday the weather was frantic--woke up and it was raining, then midday it cleared up and the weather was gorgeous! we all went for a drive to the gong (wollongong) for the beautiful beaches; dude they were absolutely gorgeous! but we didn't get there w/o seeing some major australia culture! on the motorway (a highway) there was a gigantic lizard crossing the road so all the cars came to a screeching halt! we all tried to avoid it when driving past except for one psycho--dude in beat up red junker thing who was a few cars behind us. he kept honking and honking and then made his own lane and went past us all crushing the lizard's tail at the same time :( ASSHOLE! it gets better. my cousin sped up to catch up to him, god knows why, and i guess the dude thought "it was on" so he started reaching for something and next thing i know he's waving a hammer from his window. i've never been so scared in my life--well, i lie there's the skyjump lol. not scared that he'd hurt us but scared like "omfg aussies are fucking nuts! can't walk around w/o a weapon! imma buy me a can of bear spray or something lol". damn scary. never in my life did i think i would see someone wave a hammer at me on the road!

afterwards, the ride was pretty chill--got to wollongong city center and i guess you could call it a seawall-ish area. it's beautiful there--deep blue waters, lots of rock formations, snorkelling-->loved it! and i saw a pelican! lol and then we drove to a suburb area closer to the beach and sat around for a bit in the lovely sand (i can play with that sand forever!) and had a snack then we went into the water--love the water. everyone here says its cold, and for the hot weather we have here it is cold, but compared to the frigid cold weather in canada, aussie sea water is great! and man the waves are really powerful! if you're not careful, the waves could make you tumble down. i met one of my cousin's surfer coworkers and his house is sweeeeet! i'd love a house like that near the beach; its a cute little one story house with a big open patio, huge backyard--it's super cute and homey, an awesome place to chill out at, when you're not chilling at the beach :) and then the unthinkable happens--the southerlies moved in and rain was about to start, craaazzzyyyy! we booked it home cuz it was getting late and the drive home was less eventful but very cool--lots of fog and clouds, then wind and rain. i wasn't too enthusiastic about it raining during my vacay but not gonna lie, being in the rain felt nice; it reminded me of home.

after dinner, i was forced to watch twilight in the in-house cinema (i kid you not, it's like being in a theatre, sound system and t.v. screen are insane). i can't remember why i was so against watching the twilight movies--oh yeah, cuz i didn't like pattinson, stewart or the idea that a girl was totally dependent on a guy (that's what i heard about the books) but now...i like twilight. i know i know, i can't believe i just said that lol! i'm gonna read the books too to see if i truly like the series or not. but omg, the movies...i'm team edward all the way! pattinson is a hot vampire--normal boy no, vampire yes lol. i would totally let edward save me from werewolves or drunk men ANY DAY! the dialogue in the movies was kind of cheesy--no really cheesy lol and i burst out laughing during the first one, then i got roped in during the second one. i <3 how it ends w/edward asking bella to marry him :) *sigh* i'm an independent woman who doesn't want to rely on men to rescue her but it would be pretty nice to be rescued by a mysterious yummy man :P ...so yes, i'm a convert now--was on team jacob, now on team edward *hides face in shame* :P

--oh yea we ate this chocolate snack thing called pods, it's like a candy bar with a cookie shell! I KNOW! combines my two fave things :P i will bring some back, we'll all have a "suzanne is back" party :P

awesome holiday season indeed!

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and a reminder--leave a comment! if no one leaves a comment, then i figure no one's reading these and therefore no need to waste my time typing and uploading pics!

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the hammer man

Happy One Month Anni for meeee!

Hey all, happy xmas eve!

It doesn't feel like xmas over here at all; its very strange celebrating the holiday season in the summertime. I'm not as shocked as i was when i first got here and saw all the xmas trees and light displays up but at the same time i don't feel like its xmas for me-->which is all good cuz i'm not expecting any prezzies :P Although i am taking advantage of this holiday season to indulge in all the goodies, and man are there tons of goodies to be had! there's these gigantic cadbury bars 2 for $6!! gigantic! and tim tams. and mango ice cream. and lamb. and wine. yummy yummy wine!

Because it is my one month backpacker anniversay, I think it's time I tell you about the harsh realities of backpacking--can't leave you thinking everything is hunky doree over here! ...it is 99.9% of the time!

Since I arrived at Wake Up! Sydney hostel I have been hearing horror stories about people who had their food stolen--and I hate to tell you but I have fallen victim to food theft :( SOME BASTARD STOLE MY MILO CEREAL! there are alot of mean things i can say about this person but whatever, if they're that pathetic where they have to waste all their money on crap booze and not buy any food then fine, they'll die in a couple of years from organ failure, no need for me to say anything derogatory, just stating the facts is all.
i was pretty pissed that they stole my precious milo cereal--i was starved at lunch time, thankfully my friend lindsay offered me her cheerios so i didn't go hungry :) needless to say i took all my packaged food like tuna, granola bars etc to my room and left my mouldy bread for a drunk dickhead to munch on.

Eating and taking care of yourself takes a backseat when backpacking. I try to prioritize all my tasks and take care of my health but after a while, you just don't wanna put up with the crowds in the kitchen and cook a proper dinner. I've eaten 2 too many instant noodles and now have had a tummy ache for a couple of days--I think I need to plan out how to cook or eat or something; however, along with having thieves in the hostel, there is also a weird schedule to use the kitchen, my fave time to cook = the time the kitchen closes! I didn't have such a hard time eating and making food in new zealand, but then again the vibe in new zealand hostels are incredibly different compared to that of sydney. It's also difficult to workout when your backpacking. I try to plan out my day the night before, but cuz sydney's weather hasn't been optimal (i.e.: sunshine all day long) it's better to wake up and see what you wanna do...and going for a run is never high on that list of priorities. needless to say i've put on a couple of pounds SHHHH!!! that will change because I'm hate feeling sluggish and flabby--instead of an alcohol-induced hangover, i have a junk food-induced hangover YUCKKKK!

Another crap reality about backpacking life is packing. Packing is a pain in the butt--especially when you have a tight schedule and need to move from town to town every day. There's only so much space in that bag and it takes alot of muscle work to roll, maneuver and fit everything in there. And alot of memory lol. I have a pretty good system for packing my bag to make sure I don't fall backwards when I'm walking around from bus stop to hostel then hostel to bus stop and I think I'm very prepared packing wise compared to other girls I've seen--but having said that, I went shopping this week and I have heaps of new clothes and don't know where it'll go...I may have to buy another bag :S

Money is always gonna be an issue for backpackers, but I'm lucky I saved a hell of a lot more than some other backpackers and I'm glad I'm not worrying everyday about money and whether or not I'll be able to buy that lunch or cake, etc. A few of my roomies are always worrying about their finances and a part of me feels sorry for them but at the same time, you can't help but wonder about the person--they chose to go on the trip so you'd think they'd have all the financial stuff taken care of and not expect other people to take care of them.

One more thing to be careful of is other backpackers mooching off of you. A certain roomie of mine is not shy at all to ask for favours and money. She drives me nuts cuz I feel like her damn mother. She's 18 and she's pretty immature for her age and especially immature for a backpacker. She gets all her moolah from her parentals and spends it on goon, cheap box wine, and has none left for phone calls, laundry or food. And she'll always hang out with me with the hope that I'll buy her something-->needless to say, i didn't put up with that and ditched her for the weekend.

And lastly, realizing that you may not be able to sleep properly while staying in a hostel. So far, I've been relatively fine, everyone that goes partying every night doesn't really disturb my sleep that much BUT two nights ago I got super pissed at this girl. I don't know what the hell she was thinking but she woke me up from a deep sleep--and believe me i don't look like the type that wants to be woken up, i had my sexy earplugs on and everything! she woke me up, not just talking to me but actually fucking shook me and woke me up. i thought there was a damn fire or something and i said what happened and she said she lost her cellphone and i had to help her find it. at 1 am. i'm like wtf? do i look like your mom? why do i have to help you? she's all i went to the washroom and now it's not here. i asked if she was accusing me of taking it. then i asked if she looked at her bed, she said yes then i said go fucking look in the washroom and no shit it was in the washroom. such a dumbass flake that one. and then she txts me at 2am to tell me she forgot her key and that i should keep the room door open for her. yeeeaaaaahhhhh i'm gonna risk having all my stuff stolen and being raped by some drunk retard just for you. NOT! so that just about sums up most of the harsh realities of backpacking...

I'm learning alot about people on this trip; no doubt this is a great learning experience and if any of this happened to me back home, then I would've reacted very differently. It's unbelievable that I've attended to all this with a level head and haven't stressed at all. A wise woman once told me you can't control what other people do, you can only control your reaction to it. Luv ya hun *hug* I tried to live by that before, now I totally get it!

I don't want you all to be utterly depressed by today's post--it is my one month anniversary, so there's lots to celebrate and be happy about too which is why I will end today's post by revisiting some of my fave moments from the past month:

-flying by myself for the very first time and conquering the LA airport I've heard so much crap about, it wasn't that bad really
-spending time with my lovely barki maya (aunt) who taught me alot about life, she's the ultimate live love laugh example <3
-meeting family i've never met before--i'm still amazed at the great people who have welcomed me into their homes in new zealand and australia, they've added a different shade of adventure into my trip
-SKYJUMP!!!!!! jumping from the highest building in NZ and perhaps the southern hemisphere...192m baby!
-Milo cereal :P
-staying in a hostel by myself for the first time AND getting a free upgrade to a room w/a t.v. cuz i didn't know the difference between flea and mosquito bites (neither did the old crone hostel owner HAH!)
-finding bargains on wifi and food
-realizing the difference between being homesick and being afraid of failure-->in the beginning i thought i was homesick and really wanted the comfort of being at home and i couldn't figure out why i wanted that then i realized i wanted to be home cuz i'd be "safe" there and not have to put myself out there and figure stuff out for my own, pretty discouraging at first when you run into bumps in the first part of your trip BUT i got over it and i'm alllllll good now :) it's all good.
-following my heart and not letting apprehensions fog my decision making (skyjump, seeing north island properly instead of seeing both islands uberly rushed just to say i saw both)
-meeting the locals and such at sidebar and having an awesome night...altho the cheapo wine hangover is not welcomed and will never happen again.

AND last but not least

-my SKYDIVEEEEEEE! best decision i've made so far :D

happy holidays folks and i hope you all take lots of pictures so i can see em when i get back! & save me a candy cane :)

What's going on? I gots no idea mate!

Hey all :)

How's the cold weather treating you? Lol

Sydney has been great--I've been here for 8 days now & it's kind of clicked in that I'm in Australia and that I'll be celebrating NYE here!!! I can't wait--especially since I found a group of people to watch the fireworks with :) It kind of sucks that i'll be out of the hostel next week before nye -->can't believe i just said that when a nice house is waiting for me! lol--> the hostel has been awesome, its huge and pretty well taken care of, but the lift is a bugger! takes all day to get to my floor and then takes all day to get to the kitchen's floor--you will faint from starvation waiting for the damn thing, no joke!

I've been doing alot lately--went all around the city and saw the opera house, the harbour, darling harbour, the bridge where all the fireworks will be, the botanical gardens, the imax theatre with the world's largest screen (can't wait to see megamind in there lol, that's the only good movie they're showing) and of course Coogee beach my first "soft sandy" beach! i seriously couldn't stop playing with the sand :P it was pretty damn awesome ...but i forgot my camera so i couldn't take any pictures :( i was very upset, very very upset that i forgot my camera for my first beach trip--but then i realized, i'll be back so many times it'll be fine! coogee beach was beautiful, and it was awesome being able to just lie there and bask in the sunshine. but it was uber hot. so we got some gelato--mango passionfruit sorbet and some creme caramel gelato, SO YUMMMM!

its weird being in sydney and comparing the pace of my trip to that of new zealand's. i didn't stay too long in auckland's cbd, or any cbd in new zealand for that matter--i hated them all! but sydney's cbd isn't that bad--i kind of wanna stay longer but at the same i can't wait to get out of here! Sydney's cbd has its advantages and disadvantages; I like that i can walk to all the stores and shopping centers (shopping here is fab!) and all the transit systems and restaurants are nearby :D One thing I can't stand is the fact that everything here is "rush, rush, rush" ->the one thing i wanted to escape! Everyone over here seems to have somewhere to go, something to do and no one really takes it easy...kinda sad. having a backpacker's hostel right in the middle of the cbd is quite the juxtaposition...

and to be totally honest, i'm not sure if i'm making the most of my trip hanging out in the cbd. i can't figure out what i'm supposed to be doing here...i came for the fireworks, and that'll be awesome but there's gotta be another reason behind my stay in sydney...

......

i'm glad i've been able to meet lots of great people with whom i've shared tons of stories with but at the same time i'm not loving the backpacker subculture. this may sound self-centered but i'm on this trip for me, to explore the world and learn a few things and just add some zest to my life--and if i meet great people along the way fantastic, if i don't no biggie. ever since i got to sydney it seems like all people do here is get drunk off goon (disgusting ass cheaper than cheap wine that comes in a box) every night. EVERY NIGHT! I can understand drinking a couple times a week but EVERY NIGHT?! It makes me wonder if these people hate their lives... don't get me wrong, i appreciate a good glass of wine or a pint of beer or two but i honestly can't figure out how these people can drink loads every night and be hammered 90% of the time. don't worry folks, i'm safe and smart, i won't do anything stupid around here. i guess drinking is a way for people to socialize around here, but i don't really need to intoxicate myself in order to get to know someone.

i guess what i'm trying to say in this mess of a blog entry is sydney is great for tourists and the backpackers who love being hammered but if you're looking for adventure and excitement then sydney is not an ideal place. sydney is great if you want a taste of city life after spending a month in new zealand but after a while (8 days...lol) you get bored of it. when i first thought about coming to sydney, i was uber excited about hitting the beach every day and lounging around doing nothing...i cannot believe i'm about to say this, but i'm tired of this. i need to go on a hike or camp or something! ahhhh!!! time to plan my trip to the real outback :D

Sunny Sydney!!!!

Hey All!

So it's been a few days since I've reached Sydney and I have to say I've gotten the hang of Aussie life...or at least what I think is Aussie life. To early to tell right now but my point is i'm comfortable and happy :)

I've met great people--both family and friends--and I have gotten into a "travel routine". This leg of my trip will include sight seeing and activities and such--but there won't be an emphasis on it, like there was in New Zealand. My main plan for Australia is to live and enjoy anything and everything--namely the food! lol same ol suzanne, right? i do miss the all you can eat chocolate fondue--anne i'm looking at you!--and the trees organic cheesecake--and even dairy queen :P but we've got some great food over here. nothing has blown my mind YET...well the chocolates have. crazy assortment over here, my fave is a toss up between the milo chocolate bar and the kit kat cookies and creme chunky bar. speaking of milo--i love the milo cereal. i'm gonna try to bring home boxes and boxes of it! lol. currently eating chiffon cake, it's like sponge cake but its uber silky on the tongue--no that's what she said jokes please :P lol.

everything down here tastes a hell of alot better than canadian food. i hate to say it but its true. my cousin says its cuz the food is made with love...the sunshine kind of love :) and i think its true. its gotta be the sun and the fact that everything is super fresh over here.

speaking of the sunshine, today was the first day i got sun ALL DAY!! but it's uber windy so i've kept on my lulu hoodie...or jumper as they call it here. oh ya, and the toilet is in a separate room from the tub & shower & sink! totally weird. and i don't know how to explain the toilet flushing karen...it goes straight down and doesn't really go opposite ours. but the driving is opposite ours. whenever i fall asleep on the long drives and wake up i freak out. the first time i did i screamed: you're gonna kill us all! ...lol sad canadian girl huh?

one thing i still can't wrap my head around is the fact that no one wears lululemon over here. i stick out like a sore thumb. and being brown doesn't help. i'm the only brown girl in my hostel. YEAH! SERIOUSLY! lol, it's all good, everyone knows me. reception calls me samujh. its lovely :D the hostel is really great, one of the best ones i've been to...mind u the number of hostels i've been to can be counted on one hand i think.

oh ya, and the way people talk over here and the different words everyone uses is very weird. they call flip flops "thongs" and when i went on a free tour today the guide pointed out the outlet mall area (SHOPPINGGG!! lol i'm looking at u tiffany!) and told us that we should buy thongs there. the look on my face must've said alot cuz he's like "you know, jandals?" they call sandals jandals. don't ask me why, i have no idea! oh and apparently sydney is the default city to host the olympics if any city can't do it--he even went so far as to say sydney had the best olympics. i had my vancouver 2010 bag with me and my expression said it all lol. VANCOUVER 2010 was awesome!!!

so i think i'm kind of missing everyone but not the homesick kind, more like the "i wish i could see you and talk to you" kind. everywhere i look, there's people that remind me of you guys, totally weird. can't go anywhere without being reminded of vancouver...odd no? i think the universe is trying to tell me something but for the life of me i can't figure it out...i'm trying though, real hard!

lots of love and now that the sun is out, i think its time to try out the beaches!! EEEEEE!

Mamma Mia!

I love this! I'm having a blast in Sydney right now and I'm constantly pinching myself to see if I'm dreaming :P

When I first got to Sydney, I was so intimidated. I was afraid of the fact that I would be alone in a new country that I heard alot of scary things about (racism, crime, crap transit system :P) but then I realized I'm far from alone and that I have to take it easyyyy!

I came to Sydney with one goal: experience the amazing nye festivities in Sydney. Lol, pretty small wish, but that's all I really truly wanted to do here. I think I'm over the "sight seeing" bit of travelling and now I just wanna do whatever tickles my fancy. Currently I'm dying to go eat at the Guylian Cafe/Restaurant. And they have a Lindt one too! lol there's no way in hell Im gonna lose weight backpacking lol--especially when you're a princess backpacker! There are some touristy things I want to do, such as going on the Crime tour (yes, quite typical of the Criminology graduate) and go to surf school, dive the Great Barrier Reef but for the most part I want to experience Australia like a local. And finally I've been able to do that!

My cousin whom I've never met before picked me up from my hostel and brought me over to his place where I've been spoilt rotten! Lol, and i'm loving every minute! My cousin is awesome--he's a happy go lucky dude, sometimes I don't get his jokes but for the most part he's cool. And his wife is such a sweetheart, I love her. Their daughter, Kayleen) is a cutie, she was uber shy in the beginning but now she talks ALOT! She's pretty curious about life in Canada, as are alot of people I met, and she's sooo cute!

Yesterday I was treated to a screening of Mamma Mia in my cousin's "cinema" which is pretty damn cool. It's spiffy. Very spiffy indeed. Home cooked meals rock, mango macadamia nut ice cream rocks, nutella sandwiches rock! lol as you can imagine, i'm being well taken care of...

& tonite is no exception! Bhaia (my cousin) took his daughter and me to the Sara Lee factory outlet--suffice it to say I was in sweet tooth heaven! Lol, I think i scared my cousin's daughter with my excitement for all the chocolate and baked goods. I'm such a geek & I don't care! lol. after sara lee we went to the buthcer, then my cousin's wife took me and Kayleen to the mall where i bought replacement jeans! yay! finally lol. still upset about my mavi jeans, those made my butt look damn good! after the clothes and grocery shopping we headed home and we all got ready for tonite's bbq! My first aussie bbq and damn was it a good one! 80s music! Shiraz wine was YUMMERSSSSS! and the Aussie lamb OMGGGGGGGGGG! lol everything was soooo good --but the best part had to be my surprise birthday celebration :) I'll never forget this night--cookies 'n' creme cake with the cutest smiley face candles and a room full of people singing me happy birthday :) yes I had a random singing of happy birthday at my going away party which i will never forget too but this was extra special because of the circumstances. My cousin is such a sweetheart and even though I've only really known him for 1 day, he's treating me like I've known him my entire life! This is the kind of family I was in search of & my faith in god-given family has been restored :) I know mom and dad are probably happy to hear this! And my cousin even gave a speech which was sweet too. -->totally unexpected but loving every minute!

Anyhoos its 2AM and its time for bed, will post more when I get another people watching cafe day :)

expectations are useless, experiences are priceless

Alright, now for my philosophical post...

The purpose of my three weeks in New Zealand was to prepare myself for Oz...but I didn't think that my awesome experiences in NZ would alter the purpose of my Oz trip. I'm still here to have tons of fun and party during nye BUT I think I may actually be trying to find myself. Don't laugh ok! Lol

But I don't mean "finding myself" as in figuring out who I am. I already know that--i'm a feisty, bubbly, smart cookie who knows what she wants in life but doesn't always know how to get it. The type of "finding myself" I'm gonna be doing on this trip is meeting all the family I have and learning about my roots and where I truly come from. I remember whenever someone would ask me where I was from, I would always answer back--Canada or that I'm Canadian. Then the person would ask the question I hate the most: What are you? lol. the reason I had such a problem answering that was because I didn't really have a connection to my heritage. Yes I had my family and my parents telling me stories, but I guess I needed to see things and meet lots of people to figure it out for myself. I hate being told what to do or what to think--I always gotta figure it out for myself!

& I know what you all must be thinking: Suzanne said she wasn't going to visit family cuz that may ruin the trip. And you know what i'm thinking: WTF was i on?! lol meeting family and seeing how everyone interacts with each other has enriched my life so much and I hope I can continue doing that on my trip in Australia and Fiji. ...my heart is telling me to go to Fiji asap. Which is totally odd cuz I wanted to spend the majority of my time in Oz...

So my advice and I guess my message at this leg of the trip is: plan things out, but don't put too much emphasis on your expectations that this will happen and that will happen and you're gonna do this and this and it'll be great or you won't do that cuz it'll suck -->i started like that and i've made it my mantra to follow my heart and everything will fall into place!

i may not be doing the typical backpacker thing where you just wander hostel to hostel and meet random people who you may or may not meet again but then again, i'm not typical and i've never done anything typical in my life ;)

follow your heart peeps, if it says sit indoors and just people watch then do it, if it says do your own thing then do it and if it says tell everyone you love them then do it.

Love you all :)

Sydney Update

Hey all!

So i've been in Sydney less than 24 hours but man do I have stories! When leaving NZ I had to go through screening and those guys are just as bored as we are in YVR lol, the customer service dude made me wish the walk through guy a happy birthday--it was not his birthday :P i did tho, cuz it would've been rude not to. Then I forgot I had water in my bottle, so instead of letting me throw it away, i had to drink ALL of it :S yes, i did not have fun at all! but it was interesting.

Got on the Emirates flight to Sydney and man was I impressed! Wish I was flying with them back home! Their washrooms are exceptional, they used real silverware for their meals AND their meals were really tasty. And here's the best part: they hand out toys for the kids, and in true Suzanne fashion, I joked with the male flight attendant and said: don't i get one? he looked at me and then handed me a cow hand puppet. it's soooo cute! lol and then to make it more funny, he gave me a set of crayons and a colouring book. lol <3 it! that airline rocks! and i watched my favourite movie...well one of my fave bollywood ones: SHOLAY! ultimate classic!

got to sydney and it was already dark, i was so muddled in my mind cuz of the time change and i was kinda freaking out cuz i felt disoriented. got my bag and snapped myself together cuz i had to go through customs, thankfully the guy was very nice to me. and then the trouble started. all i wanted was to get to my hostel and sleep and i thought i chose what was the fastest transport: a shuttle bus that would drop me to my hostel. NOPE! it took half an hour to get to the airport, then another 15-20 mins to get to my hostel. and the shuttle was this weird van thing, so shady! but it's ok, thank god i got to the hostel! and man, what a hostel. they have a bar/club in the downstairs part and it's so loud, but it was a great welcome. got checked in, and the reception loved my last name (lol, here i was missing all my work ppl calling me samujh, now i got two obsessed aussies calling me samujh!) and then i got to my room--no clean sheets on the bed so i had to wait an extra 15 mins before i hit the hay. at least in the meantime i met a really nice girl--who left this morning suckily! don't know the other girls cuz we didn't really get a chance to talk, not good to talk to ppl first thing in the morning when everyone is groggy.

and today i went to the "mall" which is uber ritzy and then found the supermarket, bought all my groceries and took em back to the hostel into the PACKED fridge, god help my yogurt and soy milk and tofu! and then i went back out to do the one thing i was very excited about but didn't really look forward to: buying a cell phone and mobile internet plan. cell phone was pretty easy, then i found out there might be cheaper options, personally after all this--it all works out in the end. AND the mobile internet was the most irritating thing i've ever set up in my life. i'm no good with technology, and it shames me! lol. it took me 45 mins of re-entering the same info, losing connection to get it done. GAH! at least i have internet tho and i don't have to run around and find internet cafes or wifi, etc!

and it rained. REALLY BADLY! and i had no umbrella. so i had to run around and find that! finally found one and the sun came out...am i complaining? HELL NO! i'm going to go walk around and hopefully see something beautiful. there's one thing i've noticed about sydney: everything is rush rush rush and i hate that. new zealand was so chill and relaxed--that was awesome! but i've been told that i will find the same vibe along the east coast, i'll check it out after new years!

...so ya, uber long post, lots to tell! and i will blog once more right now...it's a tad more philosophical