Wednesday, June 29, 2011
crumpets!
Crumpets are like 10 times better than the English muffins we have. They are less crumble'y and more Eggo'y and just way better.
Sydney!
Sydney is cool, I guess. Seems like all there is to do here though is eat, drink and shop. Meh.
I'm staying right by the Westfield, so you know I feel right at home, lol.
we don't ride state side!
There are way more tourists in Sydney than in Melbourne and I guess people need reminding.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
mega bitch
Ok, this post is probably going to out me as the mega bitch that I am, but whatever. I don't mind an Aussie accent on men, in fact, it's quite cute. But when girls screech in a loud Aussie accent it seriously makes me want to punch them in the face. It's so grating and horrible.
Oh, and... and... girls crimp their hair here as well. (Remember the 80's when we used crimp our hair and listen to True Blue?!) Yikes.
Oh, and... and... girls crimp their hair here as well. (Remember the 80's when we used crimp our hair and listen to True Blue?!) Yikes.
Storm of Swords
On to the 3rd book, Storm of Swords. And it's so good!
I'm tempted to spend all my time in Sydney just doing yoga, sitting in the hot tub and reading this book. That wouldn't be so bad, would it?
I'm tempted to spend all my time in Sydney just doing yoga, sitting in the hot tub and reading this book. That wouldn't be so bad, would it?
Aussie Beer
In Melbourne we drank Coopers and it was gooooood!
Not sure what we'll be drinking in Sydney or up in Cairns, but it seems like as much as Aussie's love their beer there isn't the same type of micro beer culture that we have at home. At least not that I've seen so far. Please OZ, prove me wrong!
Not sure what we'll be drinking in Sydney or up in Cairns, but it seems like as much as Aussie's love their beer there isn't the same type of micro beer culture that we have at home. At least not that I've seen so far. Please OZ, prove me wrong!
$$$
I just can't get over how expensive everything is here in Australia.
This second hand Alf tee was $65, on sale.
And when a $60 tee shirt is considered "cheap as" ... ugh.
I never thought of the SF as a cheap place to live until now. Traveling always makes me so thankful that I get to call the bay area home!
This second hand Alf tee was $65, on sale.
And when a $60 tee shirt is considered "cheap as" ... ugh.
I never thought of the SF as a cheap place to live until now. Traveling always makes me so thankful that I get to call the bay area home!
Yoga in Sydney
Woke up at 6am this morning to do yoga.
Not like I have anything else going on, lol.
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Not like I have anything else going on, lol.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Roobaix, part duex!
The Melburn Roobaix 2011 was super rad and I feel so lucky to have been able to participate while I'm here visiting in Melbourne. A 1000 people registered this year, which is more than double the size of last year's ride. I think this is maybe the 5th year that Andy has organized the Roobaix and it's just grown every year. One of the things that struck me as being so cool about this event was that there were people of all ages and cycling ability. There were quite a few older more hard core cyclists as well as the usual young hipster crowd that I'm used to seeing at these kinds of events in SF.
I had to ride like 15-20K just to get to the start of the race. And I stopped for coffee around Federation Square on the edge of the CBD before heading east along the Yara river to the start at the Hawthorne Velodrome. At Federation Square I saw a bunch of people with bikes but I wasn't sure if they were heading to Hawthorne as well, or if it was just a coincidence. But then I saw some guys in FYXO jersey's and I knew they were going to the same place I was so I made friends so I'd have someone to ride with, since I didn't really know where I was going.
(There were so many catlike helmets! Me and my catlike whisper were not at all special at this event, lol.)
We waited around at Federation Square for a bit and then took off towards Hawthorne. It was a beautiful sunny day. A bit chilly and breezy but it felt good when you were charging it up hills and you wouldn't have wanted it to be any hotter or you'd be a giant sweaty mess. It was the perfect day for an alley cat :P
I met these Kiwis, Rachel and Sam and we ended up riding together. They live in Auckland but Sam had couriered with Andy in London and they knew a few other people there as well, who were also super nice.
(That's Rachel and Andy at the start.)
Sam did a lot of the navigating during the ride, which made the whole thing so much easier and so much more fun. It would have been really hard for me to figure out where to go all on my own, and your tendency is to just follow other people on bikes, but half the time they don't know where they are going either and so you waste time and get frustrated and we had very little of that. We made a good team.
There was no prize for 1st place. All the prizes were either for costumes, or I think there was one for best crash (a guy snapped a fork going up one of the cobblestone lanes) and then the rest of the prizes were raffled off. Although I did get a prize for having traveled the farthest. It was nice that everyone wasn't racing for 1st place because with 1000 people that would have been brutal. Instead it was more of a fun leisurely ride, although tough to be sure. There were 12 sectors of cobblestone lanes that you had to find and ride and then there was a question to be answered for each sector. The questions were like, "what number was on the flag pole?" Or "How many storys is #29 Parkhill Drive?"
We made it though all the sectors, which took us all over the suburbs of Melbourne. They said the race was around 40K's and it definitely wasn't the hardest ride I've ever done (Oakland Scrape was way harder, I think) but it was still pretty tough. Riding over cobblestones is not exactly fun. And even though Melbourne is pretty flat we definitely did a little climbing. But we got fabulous views of the city and rode through some beautiful parks and I feel like I got to see so much of Melbourne that I would have never seen otherwise.
At the end you had to drop your manifest in the gold box for the raffle.
And then there was a big BBQ and beers and music and prizes. The top prize was a trip to France to watch the real Roobaix and of course, a golden cobblestone.
They also gave away a Masi bike and another frame and some other stuff. All in all it was a super rad day and I made some new friends and had a really great time! Sam took a bunch of pics during the ride and he is supposed to email them to me, so if he does I'll try to post some up.
The rest of my trip should be a lot more chill. I plan on doing some yoga and soaking up some sun and finishing these books. Looking forward to it, heaps. <3!
I had to ride like 15-20K just to get to the start of the race. And I stopped for coffee around Federation Square on the edge of the CBD before heading east along the Yara river to the start at the Hawthorne Velodrome. At Federation Square I saw a bunch of people with bikes but I wasn't sure if they were heading to Hawthorne as well, or if it was just a coincidence. But then I saw some guys in FYXO jersey's and I knew they were going to the same place I was so I made friends so I'd have someone to ride with, since I didn't really know where I was going.
(There were so many catlike helmets! Me and my catlike whisper were not at all special at this event, lol.)
We waited around at Federation Square for a bit and then took off towards Hawthorne. It was a beautiful sunny day. A bit chilly and breezy but it felt good when you were charging it up hills and you wouldn't have wanted it to be any hotter or you'd be a giant sweaty mess. It was the perfect day for an alley cat :P
I met these Kiwis, Rachel and Sam and we ended up riding together. They live in Auckland but Sam had couriered with Andy in London and they knew a few other people there as well, who were also super nice.
(That's Rachel and Andy at the start.)
Sam did a lot of the navigating during the ride, which made the whole thing so much easier and so much more fun. It would have been really hard for me to figure out where to go all on my own, and your tendency is to just follow other people on bikes, but half the time they don't know where they are going either and so you waste time and get frustrated and we had very little of that. We made a good team.
There was no prize for 1st place. All the prizes were either for costumes, or I think there was one for best crash (a guy snapped a fork going up one of the cobblestone lanes) and then the rest of the prizes were raffled off. Although I did get a prize for having traveled the farthest. It was nice that everyone wasn't racing for 1st place because with 1000 people that would have been brutal. Instead it was more of a fun leisurely ride, although tough to be sure. There were 12 sectors of cobblestone lanes that you had to find and ride and then there was a question to be answered for each sector. The questions were like, "what number was on the flag pole?" Or "How many storys is #29 Parkhill Drive?"
We made it though all the sectors, which took us all over the suburbs of Melbourne. They said the race was around 40K's and it definitely wasn't the hardest ride I've ever done (Oakland Scrape was way harder, I think) but it was still pretty tough. Riding over cobblestones is not exactly fun. And even though Melbourne is pretty flat we definitely did a little climbing. But we got fabulous views of the city and rode through some beautiful parks and I feel like I got to see so much of Melbourne that I would have never seen otherwise.
At the end you had to drop your manifest in the gold box for the raffle.
And then there was a big BBQ and beers and music and prizes. The top prize was a trip to France to watch the real Roobaix and of course, a golden cobblestone.
They also gave away a Masi bike and another frame and some other stuff. All in all it was a super rad day and I made some new friends and had a really great time! Sam took a bunch of pics during the ride and he is supposed to email them to me, so if he does I'll try to post some up.
The rest of my trip should be a lot more chill. I plan on doing some yoga and soaking up some sun and finishing these books. Looking forward to it, heaps. <3!
Roobaix!
so awesome! so tired! so a proper post will have to wait. but everything worked out perfectly. we had great weather and no crashes or flat tires or any kind of drama. although if I never ride a bike down another cobblestone lane it will be just fine with me. (that shit is rough!) buuuut if I had the chance to do it all over again next weekend I totally would. heh. anyway, more later. sleep now :D
Friday, June 24, 2011
Guess how much a banana costs in Australia...?
$3 f'ing dollars! For one banana.. Crazy! Everything here is so damn expensive. But then again, my friend makes like $23 an hour filing at a temp job.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Krispy Kreme... Really?
Looks like the free wifi spots in Melbourne are mainly at McDonalds and Krispy Kreme. Super Lame. This city has such a cafe culture so I don't get why there aren't more free hotspots. Meh.
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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Air New Zealand
Their safety video features Richard Simmons and the flight attendant's outfits are hideous. What a joke! I didn't get upgraded but I got good seats and the flights were ok. But overall I'm less than impressed.
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Monday, June 20, 2011
13 hour flight, Uready?!
Feels like it's already been the longest day and my 13 hour flight hasn't even taken off. And then there's another 5 hour one after that. /le sigh
Time to eat some chocolate. (thanks karen!)
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Time to eat some chocolate. (thanks karen!)
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Finally!
Flight was delayed about an hour, but we are finally on our way, yay!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, June 19, 2011
...starting to pack...
step one:
dig up travel essentials: suit case, bags, bike helmet, first aid kit, cards, locks, neck pillow, eye mask, ear plugs, silk sleep sheet, umbrella, rain jacket
step two:
gather reading materials and new mixes
(Send me links to new music, ploz!)
step three:
start filling the giant zip lock bags with clothes
(Like having drawers in your suit case, things stay separated and organized)
dig up travel essentials: suit case, bags, bike helmet, first aid kit, cards, locks, neck pillow, eye mask, ear plugs, silk sleep sheet, umbrella, rain jacket
step two:
gather reading materials and new mixes
(Send me links to new music, ploz!)
step three:
start filling the giant zip lock bags with clothes
(Like having drawers in your suit case, things stay separated and organized)
Saturday, June 18, 2011
I'm going back to Cali, err... Australia
WhooHoo! I leave for Australia in 2 days. I haven't packed a thing or even thought about what to bring other than this:
(I'm totally wrapped up in the Game of Thrones series and I'm on book 2 of 4 and hoping to finish them on this trip so I can read book 5 when it comes out in July. #dorklife)
STA hooked me up proper with this trip and the last 2 weeks is sort of a work thing. Best believe I'll be hard at work... sailing around the Great Barrier Reef, 4x4ing on Frazer Island and you know, doing the Cairns to Brisbane thing. I extended my trip a bit so that I could hit up Sydney and make it down to Melbourne and visit my m8 Brandon.
Stoked! "Bring Dayquil" he says. OK np, mai dewd.
OH! And have I ever told you how much I love the internet??! It's true. I do. I write for http://www.candycranks.com/ (not as often as I should, but...) and thanks to them I got put in touch with http://ponybikes.wordpress.com/ and they are going to lend me a bike to ride in Melbourne (fingers crossed things go as planned). Although, truth be told I also have a plan b bike lined up thanks to http://www.fixed.org.au/ (Before John Prolly jacked my thread. Ha! But not mad atcha.) The internet really does make the whole world feel like a small town.
#<3Uinternetz
Then someone told me about the Melburn Roobaix, which is happening while I'm in town. And then it was on. Rumor has it that 800+ people from all over Australia (and the world, if you count me) are participating in this bike race/ride. Rain hail or shine it's going dOWn on some of the most narrow, cobbley cobblestone streets in Melbourne. Registration was already closed but I emailed Andy of FYXO fame (I heard he used to live in SF) and he sorted me out. Soooo I'm going to get to ride in this sketchy ass race on a borrowed bike in the middle of winter in a town I don't know...
and I couldn't be more excited. yee!
And then last but not least, my Surefire fam put me in touch with some down under dubstep heads so we are gonna drown pints and light up the dance floor... as you do. And oh hey, peep my boy, EPROM throwing it down at All City Bass in Melbourne a few months ago:
(This is near the top when you google All City Base, lol)
Massive thanks out to everyone who helped with the networking and planning of this trip so far. (Melissa, Brandon, Meg, Sasha, Andy, Devin, Matt, Tey, James and Danny <3 x 100!) I'm going to try to update this blog while on the road, although I kind of have a lot on my plate, so we'll see how that goes. But it's like... pics or STFU, right?! :P dun worry dunny, you'll get some. so put me in your reader!
Gonna leave my heart right here for safe keeping.
Back in mid-July.
peace.
(I'm totally wrapped up in the Game of Thrones series and I'm on book 2 of 4 and hoping to finish them on this trip so I can read book 5 when it comes out in July. #dorklife)STA hooked me up proper with this trip and the last 2 weeks is sort of a work thing. Best believe I'll be hard at work... sailing around the Great Barrier Reef, 4x4ing on Frazer Island and you know, doing the Cairns to Brisbane thing. I extended my trip a bit so that I could hit up Sydney and make it down to Melbourne and visit my m8 Brandon.
Stoked! "Bring Dayquil" he says. OK np, mai dewd.
OH! And have I ever told you how much I love the internet??! It's true. I do. I write for http://www.candycranks.com/ (not as often as I should, but...) and thanks to them I got put in touch with http://ponybikes.wordpress.com/ and they are going to lend me a bike to ride in Melbourne (fingers crossed things go as planned). Although, truth be told I also have a plan b bike lined up thanks to http://www.fixed.org.au/ (Before John Prolly jacked my thread. Ha! But not mad atcha.) The internet really does make the whole world feel like a small town.
#<3Uinternetz
Then someone told me about the Melburn Roobaix, which is happening while I'm in town. And then it was on. Rumor has it that 800+ people from all over Australia (and the world, if you count me) are participating in this bike race/ride. Rain hail or shine it's going dOWn on some of the most narrow, cobbley cobblestone streets in Melbourne. Registration was already closed but I emailed Andy of FYXO fame (I heard he used to live in SF) and he sorted me out. Soooo I'm going to get to ride in this sketchy ass race on a borrowed bike in the middle of winter in a town I don't know...
and I couldn't be more excited. yee!
And then last but not least, my Surefire fam put me in touch with some down under dubstep heads so we are gonna drown pints and light up the dance floor... as you do. And oh hey, peep my boy, EPROM throwing it down at All City Bass in Melbourne a few months ago:
(This is near the top when you google All City Base, lol)
Massive thanks out to everyone who helped with the networking and planning of this trip so far. (Melissa, Brandon, Meg, Sasha, Andy, Devin, Matt, Tey, James and Danny <3 x 100!) I'm going to try to update this blog while on the road, although I kind of have a lot on my plate, so we'll see how that goes. But it's like... pics or STFU, right?! :P dun worry dunny, you'll get some. so put me in your reader!
Gonna leave my heart right here for safe keeping.
Back in mid-July.
peace.
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