December 31, 2011

On walking, the new year, and a guy who makes great coffee...

The heat of the bitumen scorches Jim's feet as he walks down the highway, his gait slow and hinting towards the feeling of pointlessness that had engulfed him. The overcast grey sky and the muted green, grey and brown of the native shrubs that shrouded the edges of the highway suited his mood, if only that sunlit patch of cloud would disappear. It was too hopeful...
Photo courtesy of Timothy Lock Photography,
A man who not only takes rad photos, but also makes some fantastic coffee at the Fremantle Markets
You should go and try one sometime, and ask him what he got up to in Scotland while you're at it
I've been writing little tidbits about Jim and Sam lately, but I only ever seem to be able to write a few sentences at a time before it becomes forced (the little bit above this is yesterday's effort). Does anyone have any suggestions for curing writer's block? My personal opinion is that some time lying on the ocean floor staring at the sun would help, but until this dratted sling comes off that's not an option. Oh well, only one more week! :D

On a more cheery note, buon anno! I hope you all have a fantastic night and make the most of the year ahead. I'm not big on New Year's resolutions, but this year I have thought of one - make it through the year without having surgery :P Wish me luck!

They're so rad :D

December 16, 2011

Headed for the Antarctic

I passed all my units, in fact, more than passed them all. I still can't really believe it, especially given I was genuinely failing Italian at the end of the semester - 48% had become my arch nemesis, but I mustered up all my Dislocato Girl skills and owned it, and this song is a pretty accurate summary of how it made me feel. Oh yeah :D



Over the past few weeks I've had a ridiculous amount of spare time on my hand, and as people seem to do in this day in age, it's led to a lot of clicking random links on websites I've stumbled upon and seeing where it takes me, and this has got to be one of my favourites.

When I was a little kid, I did a project on Ernest Shackleton and his expedition on the Discovery to Antarctica in 1914, and I fell a little in love with the place (which is strange considering how tough that expedition was). After I'd done the project, we got to go to the IMAX theatre and watch a movie about it, which I thought was the greatest thing ever, and not wanting the joy to die, my 7-year old self proceeded to read a rather large book about it. Safe to say, I've wanted to go to the Antarctic ever since, and these photos, credited to Frank Hurley and taken between 1911 and 1914, make me want to go all the more. Enjoy!






Photos courtesy of the National Library of Australia

December 14, 2011

Placebo of Adulthood

The last 18 months of my life have been so unbelievably dramatic, and it all seems to stem from this idea that we've finished school, we've turned 18, and magically, we're mature adults. I don't get it. At all. And it's really making me nostalgic for the days of being a kid. When there wasn't some kind of invisible barrier between the sexes (that society has since magically placed there), and when life just seemed a lot simpler. But it more makes me wonder when and why this placebo of 'adulthood' settled on us all, and how on earth we let it happen without a fight.

December 02, 2011

Happiness and The Smiths - One week down.

I'm writing this blog because of something I read in Smith Journal, so I was going to post a song by the Smiths, but ended up with a scene from 500 Days of Summer, one of my all-time favourite movies, featuring Hall & Oates and the mighty attractive Joseph Gordon-Levitt. But I figure that works (somehow) because 500 Days of Summer is what got me into The Smiths in the first place... :P


One week post-surgery and things are going well...except I decided to stop taking pain meds because they were giving me headaches of epic proportions and so now my brain is returning, and I am getting antsy. I'm so bored!

And then I read this thing in Smith Journal, which is a pretty rad magazine that you should totally get a hold of, and it helped a little. The next 5-7 weeks of hell-in-a-sling means no more dislocating shoulders, which will be well-worth it and I'm sure will help with this dudes* notion of happiness which I really like, so I just have to focus on that.

"HAPPINESS
This is an uncomfortable word, too full of associations of cheerfulness and mindlessness. I prefer fulfillment. The goal is to have a fulfilled life, which may have enduring periods of great difficulty, but in the name of something worthwhile**. Also, it feels vital to conceive of happiness as something one might, at best, sample in 10-minute bursts. To imagine a decade of happiness seems insane - happiness is a rich food that we can't stomach for very long. We're creatures of anxiety and apprehension. That's how we survived."

And besides, there's a stress ball attached to my sling and who doesn't like stress balls?


*Alain de Botton, who is apparently an author and philosopher.
**My friends and family are making this far less difficult though - thanks everyone :)

November 23, 2011

A domani


I have been a terribly terrible blogger of late because of all that has been going on, exams, for instance, and unfortunately, this is a little note to let you all know that it's only going to get worse.

Tomorrow, the dreaded day will have arrived and I'll be having my 4th joint reconstruction. It's the left shoulders turn to face up to the living hell that will ensue, but at least after that I think there aren't many more things they can operate on :P Either way, I shall be in a sling for the next 8 weeks and given my hatred of one-handed typing I doubt I'll be spending much time writing up blogs.

In the meantime, I hope everyone is enjoying freedom from exams (or almost freedom) and I shall see you on the other side :)

Over and out.
Rhi :)

You should all do some fun stuff like this...
...and spend a lot of time at this place to make up for my inabilities :P

*Just in case anyone with knowledge of Italian reads this, I know 'a domani' is Italian for 'see you tomorrow', and that it's not really that correct, but I don't particularly care.

November 16, 2011

Sprinkling of Stars


Cruising along on my little-big brother's longboard, him pulling me along, felt a bit like flying tonight.

I kinda wished we could just keep rolling around the streets forever.

It's nice out at night. The streetlights. The calm. The gentle breeze and the sprinklings of stars...

November 12, 2011

Clouds.

Washington is cool, and stuff. Seriously, she's cool though, right?



I was scrolling through photos on my phone today, and you know what, clouds are really super cool. I've always been a fan of looking upwards, because you never know what cool things you might see, but clouds, seriously? They're the most amazing things out! To a very arts-minded person, the idea that a mass of water can float in the sky, at least until it gets too heavy*, is kind of mind-boggling. Anyways, if ever you're feeling down about how much the world fails, I'd recommend two things:

If it's summer, go outside and enjoy the feeling of the sun on your back.

If it's winter, go outside (or look out the window), and marvel at the clouds, especially at sunrise or sunset. Hopefully, they'll blow your mind.

Or if you're lucky, you can do both at the same time. Ah the joys of spring :D

Sunrise.

Sunset.

Transperth Clouds.

Bec taking sneaky photos of me looking up... :P
*If that's not what happens, I don't wanna hear about it. I like my ideas about clouds and how they are like floating marshmallows :D

**You know what's really entertaining? I took the sunrise photo walking to the bus stop, I took the sunset photo walking home from the bus, and I took the other photo waiting to be picked up from the traino...

November 04, 2011

Untitled

If only I were a better fan, I would've known about this song and been able to post it on "I'll dance 'til I die"! They go together perfectly! In any case, you can listen to it now, because it's still a rather lovely song, even if the combination of Death Cab and happy music does weird me out a little...


I finished classes for the semester yesterday, finally. It's been a really tough semester so this is an epic milestone for me :D Also, terribly sorry about the lack of blogging lately. I've been mighty distracted. I actually spent a weekend there looking like I'd been hit by a car - leg in an epic brace, arm in a sling and drugged to a ridiculous degree - so I wasn't really all that inspired. Anyhow, I'm back now, sadly still lacking in sufficient inspiration, but I'm sure we'll get there :)

Hope you're all fantastically well and enjoying the warmer weather!

Photo courtesy of Christian Fletcher

October 14, 2011

I'll dance 'til I die.

Seeing as this short post was inspired by Fremantle and the local music scene, this blog's clip comes from one of the raddest local bands out, The Seals (who you can also find here). I've only actually seen them live once, but they were pretty fantastic, and their EP never fails to make me want to dance. I hope you like it!!



Coming up to my 18th birthday I had a lot of 30 and 40-somethings telling me to enjoy myself while I still could. "You're young and free! Enjoy yourself before you have a full-time job and a mortgage and you can't go out anymore!"

Well, I went out to Clancy's Fish Pub for Dad's 53rd tonight (happy birthday Padre!!) and after dinner we went to watch the band that was on, Tom Fisher & the Layabouts. By the final song the ages of the people dancing ranged from 14 to 60, and they were all having an utterly radtastic time.

So you know what all you 30 and 40-somethings who were so determined to hand on your life wisdom? Clearly, you're doing something wrong and I'm going to keep on enjoying myself 'til the day I die.

Photo courtesy of VolunteerSG and google images :P

October 08, 2011

Don't think, you'll ruin it.

So, I've spent the last two and a bit days working pretty solidly on my politics essay, (with a brief interlude to the Fremantle markets for coffee, of course), and I keep finding myself listening to this guy's playlist on repeat. I don't mean to, but I hit play on the first song, and then get really involved in my essay and realise two hours later that I all of a sudden know the lyrics to songs whose existence I only discovered 48 hours ago haha :D

Anyhow, I thought I'd share the joy.


Despite the assignments, life has been good lately. If you read the last post, you'll know I'm getting a bit overexcited about summer, but moreover, I've started to do things without thinking so much. It's kinda fun.

I went to a friend's gig on a whim last week, which ended in some rather entertaining drunken shenanigans. I asked a barista/photographer, who I regularly go and annoy on Sunday afternoons, if he'd show me how to put film in my Mum's 30-year old Pentax K1000 properly (cheers Tim!), and have since started snapping some random photos. I don't even know if I used the right film, but I figure I'll get the hang of it. And, I got the butcher down the road to teach me how to break down a chicken, because it seemed like a useful thing to do.

Cello, we have a bass!
Dublin Jazz Aunts


Pure radness.

Cool kids and great food.
I wish I could do an urbanspoon review of Scott and Sasha's cooking. Coming home to homemade meatballs al pomodoro was pretty fantastic :D

Hope life is treating you all equally well!


"Let me out of this cage, before I swell up with rage
And let me sing to old age, before I'm done
Let me shout to the skies, that I'm too young to die
And that fate will never stop me from trying."

Roo Panes - Open Road

October 06, 2011

Backlog: Dreaming of an Endless Summer

The weather is so beautiful today. Summer is here - or at least, Spring is :P And this song shall be its anthem :) I love these dudes - I love that you can hear their Aussie accents and that they seem so down to earth and that their black labrador features in so many of their youtube videos...


Speaking of Summer, I'm going to post part of a post from my old MySpace again. Every time spring rolls around I get a little overexcited because it means the dry season is nearby. It is without a doubt my favourite time of the year, which is pretty evident in how much I romanticise it. Although, now that I think of it I wrote this in September 2008, and what I wrote still embodies how I spend my summer days :D 

Dreaming of an Endless Summer

Summer Paradise

...I'm going to the beach. Every day that I can I'll go to the beach and swim and snorkel and surf to my hearts content. I'll roll around in the waves after toppling off my board, and laugh at myself when I manage to pop my head out of the water. I'll paddle out the back, enjoying the rise and fall of the bigger waves that I'll be a little bit too scared to surf. Then I'll paddle up to the front and laugh at myself sliding off my 6'7" hunk of fibreglass, before unexpectedly staying up for the first time in a while. It'll be enough to put me in a euphoric state for the rest of the day, and maybe even a day or two after that.

I'll go to the river with my family, some snorkels, hot chips, a few fishing rods and a kayak. Me and Scott will swim just a metre away from a dolphin and not even realise it, swans will try to steal our chips and we'll just laugh. We'll run along the top of blackwall reach and climb down the cliffs to discover tiny caves, and I'll jump off the top of the ominous walls of rock into cool, murky water. I'll go for a long kayak, a snorkel in my lap so that I can push my head into the water and enjoy the sweet, cool liquid and the darting schools of whitebait desperately swimming away from me. Then Scott will jump on the front and we'll paddle through the yachts.


Laughing.
Yelling.
Screaming.
Singing at the top of our lungs.

Mum and Dad will get angry because we stayed on the water 'til after dark, but who cares. We had a good time and they'll get over it. Then we'll fish and catch blowies until we're too tired to put the bait on our hooks, before going home and arguing over who gets the shower first. 

Christmas will be the same as usual. The ever so lovely family lunch of a roast lamb, a roast chicken, too many roasted vegies, a Christmas pudding that I pretend to like, and a pavlova covered with fresh fruit. We'll sit around the tree after church and appreciate everything we get because we know that it was as much as Mum and Dad could possibly afford. We'll muck around outside and maybe even go for a swim at the beach as the sun slowly melts into the calm, blue expanse that is the ocean...

Eep! I'm getting so excited :D

Blue skies make me so happy :D

October 01, 2011

Hot Tods

I realised that I lied in my last post. The Beatles isn't quite as far as I get when it comes to listening to older music - I'm also a little in love with Crowded House. Although, just out of curiosity, does music from the late '90s/early noughties count as old yet? Because that would vastly expand my old music repertoire :P

Also, just a little music trivia for you - did you know that Neil Finn actually said this song was his homage to The Beatles, as well as an attempt at sounding like them?


I've had quite the amazing week. Not quite enough work (although I've still managed to watch about 20 lectures), far too much drinking, catching up with old friends and lots of other fun shenanigans.

Chilling by the Docks

Our version of 'study'

Cool kids.
On the downside though, almost all of my family members have been sick this week. I thought I'd managed to evade the dreaded cold, but alas my throat is suddenly really quite sore... So, I thought I'd share my favourite cold cure with you all (even though winter is technically over).

Hot Tods
What you will need:
  - Juice of 1-2 lemons
  - 2 shots of brandy
  - Tbsp of honey
  - Hot water

Mix them all in a large mug, and voila! Not only will it help you sleep and stop your throat from hurting, it also tastes amazing (and may give you a bit of a buzz) :P

Side note: Somebody told me the other day, they read my blog but don't follow it because they think they'd come across as stalkerish. It's not stalkerish! I post them on facebook for the whole world to see, so follow away!! (Please?) :P

September 22, 2011

Drip, drip, drip...

Sometimes I think I should listen to old music, because there's some pretty cool stuff out there, but the Beatles is usually as far as I get...


You know what I realised after my last post? I think I am yet to write something purely on coffee, thus I have decided to tell you all about a coffee I had the other day.

For those who know me, 'a coffee I had the other day' is pretty ambiguous, because I am a bit of an addict, but this was different! It was filter coffee and it was kind of amazing. I think when describing it to Nageena I said, "You know when a guy is wearing a really subtle cologne, and it makes you just want to have sex with them? It tasted like that!"

...Except, it had floral undertones, so not all that manly. Either way, it was incredible and you should all head down to Lowdown (where I got the coffee) to try one :)

I asked Mark, one of the baristas, what filter coffee is and he said "a glorified drip system". Basically, filter paper, grind, water drips through and voila! Or at least, I'm pretty sure that's the gist of it. Of course, for good filter coffee there'd be a whole load of finnicky things that need to be taken care of, but I don't think anyone's going to read this and rush out to make one for themselves, so I won't bother with the research.

The way it's made means you don't need to be a coffee-geek to taste the subtle flavours that scare people on menus in cafes, and it's really easy to drink.

So, on that note - hop to it! At Lowdown, I'm fairly sure it'll only cost $3/$3.50 for a cup, (plus $3.50 for a piece of utterly radtastic Hungarian Cherry Cake), not to mention you have an always willing coffee-drinking companion in yours truly :)

Over and out.
Lowdown Espresso Bar on Urbanspoon


September 18, 2011

Thinking of Jim and Sam

So lately, a few people who've read some of my scribblings have told me perhaps I should try to publish something. Seeing as I'm not too good with writing shorter things that would appeal to any magazines that I know of, I have decided to embark on the slightly crazy mission of telling the stories of the two dudes who realised that maybe the pressures of life weren't actually as important as people made them out to be in one of my older entries, Prologue (you should read it and let me know what you think!) :P

My wall - the subject of my fury when I can't find any inspiration...

It's going okay so far, although trying to get two intertwining stories to work is proving to be interesting. More importantly to this though, it means that my random bursts of inspiration are largely being turned into stories about Jim and Sam, and although I'd love to post them on here to get some feedback, I want to wait until I've fully developed their characters and storylines to show them to other people. So, I might not be posting as many tidbits of 'creative' rambling.

I'll still definitely be posting on here though, and I'd love you to keep on reading! Just thought I'd post this seeing as a couple of people have asked about it :)

And on that note, I shall leave you with a song! I've had this album pretty much on repeat lately - if you like moody, mellow music you should definitely check it out :D



Baby blue, I really wanna kiss you, but I'm not sure if that's wise...

September 11, 2011

Dislocato Girl

No. 1: Shark bite - Right knee :P
So, on Tuesday I woke up with a swollen face and a dislocated jaw, and my joints wouldn't stop hurting. I went to uni, tried to ignore it, and then realised around 3pm that I couldn't actually feel my left hand. Apparently, my 'good' shoulder had subluxed or dislocated, and thus we welcome back Disclocato Girl.
No. 2: Screws in, screws out (please!)
It means I'll be in a sling for a little while, and usually my emotions would be completely out of whack, but this time, I seem to be doing ok. The people that I've been around have been absolutely amazing.

No. 3: Gun shot wound.
So a big thank you to everyone who has been there for me in the past week. The last few times I've found out I'm going to need more surgery, I've been an utter mess, but this time I've managed to get through relatively unscathed. Without getting soppy, you've all helped me see past the shitty side of this. I know what's coming, which doesn't help in the slightest, but I also know I'll get through it. I'll watch the whole of Grey's Anatomy again, sneak off to the beach when no one's watching and float around in the water, eat a damn lot of ice cream, and more importantly, I know that this time there'll be people I can call at 2am in the morning when the horrible post-surgery insomnia begins.

Soon-to-be No. 4
Chilling with my sling and showing off some of my scars :P



August 29, 2011

1.13am

Writing a blog at 1.13am is quite possibly stupider than writing a blog while drunk, but here I am!

Actually, you know what? I might just leave you with a song instead, because I'm too tired to string a sentence together!


"So why does it always seem
That every time I turn around
Somebody falls in love with me?
This has never been my sole intention"

City and Colour

August 21, 2011

Backlog: 18 May 2008

So in a moment of ridiculous procrastination, I checked my myspace (it still exists whaaa??)! Anyways, I found this old blog of mine and decided it's not too shabby. Thanks to Tanya for the photo!

Those starlit nights.

TanyaVolt Photography
I miss them.

I miss their arrogance and confidence and their jokes and mood swings and letting me sit in the corner. Only noticing me when I needed some cheering up. I miss their laughing and enthusiasm and optimism and liveliness and the fact that they let me sit in the corner...almost entirely undetected.

Then they left and yet somehow the good life was still there. They were coming back. I was so sure.

But one week of starlit nights, two weeks of romance and everything was gone. The lights shone down on me and I was exposed. My flaws were there for the whole world to see and they, the arrogant, confident, moody, enthusiastic, optimistic and lively who let me sit in the corner almost entirely undetected were gone.

Suddenly my life was filled with a void. A huge, gaping chasm opened up in front of me and I fell right in. The good life was over and I had to walk the path that so many had walked before me. The path that was so small that there was no room for movement...no room to make a mistake. Now I'm living that life.

And only now am I regretting those starlit nights...

August 20, 2011

Untitled

So I sometimes think I'll start writing, and then the words just don't work for me. But I will start posting again properly soon, I hope. In the meantime...



A video that I can't stop watching...

 

And some seriously rad coffee art!

I keep thinking perhaps I should revert back to the summer of 2009. Making coffee by day. Sitting on the beach with friends til after dark, the taste of chips on our fingers, sand between our toes, salt caked in our hair. What a life, hey?

July 31, 2011

The Ocean Floor

A song that's meant a lot to me these past few days.

I've had a rough couple of weeks lately, which in the summer would usually culminate in me spending far too much time duck diving time and time again, trying to see if I can sit on the ocean floor forever. The murky blue light that filters through the water and the gentle ebbing of the ocean as it fills my ears gives me peace. 

Lying on the ocean floor. Sand ingrained in my skin. Staring at the waving sun, clouds, blue fragmented sky, I find a stillness that I can't get anywhere else.

Last weekend, I took a trip to the ocean. It was calm. Gentle. I almost walked in fully dressed to try and find some of that peace, but decided against it.

This weekend, everything had gotten that bit harder and I fully intended on going for a quick swim. Just one dive down, that was all I needed to be able to wade through all of the hard times that were coming. But I didn't need to.

One look at the roaring ocean. Almost getting blown away by the wind. The tide sweeping up higher than I ever expected it to and turning my shoes into sandpits. The taste of salt on my lips. It was enough to make me realise that life is bigger than me. Things will happen that I won't understand, but life is still beautiful. The hard times are what make the good times so good, and all we can do is try our best.

July 30, 2011

RIP

Yesterday, I woke up hungover and feeling utterly horrible. My friend Chloe, whose house I stayed at, and I, were just chatting, laughing, wishing we could get back to sleep. And then Chloe got a phone call. Our friend Guppy had passed away on Wednesday night.

It was sudden, and completely unexpected and I thought that it was some kind of weird joke. It's only just starting to hit me that he's gone. I didn't know Guppy as well as a lot of our friends, but I knew him well enough to know he was a pretty rad guy.

To Guppy's family, our hearts go out to you.

To Guppy, we all know we will see you again someday, but until then - rest in peace.

To everyone else, life can change so suddenly, so do your best to enjoy every minute of it.


July 05, 2011

Prologue

"Thing is, I know I'll get there. I know that life keeps going and going until it stops, and that once it's stopped, you've got there, but at the same time, whether or not you've got there doesn't matter, cause by then, you're either somewhere else, or nowhere at all."

The man paused. Looked up. His brow was furrowed and weather beaten, and grey hairs were beginning to spout from his chin alongside the thick black stubble. His thoughts lent him an absurd kind of solace.

"Geez you're a strange one mate! How morbid d'you wanna be?"
"Iuno", he shrugged. It wasn't morbid, he thought, it was hope. It was freedom.

A rush of wind takes them both by surprise, and the other man picks up his glass, grinning at his friend. "Ah, don't worry. You'll keep." He breathed the bitter brew into his mouth and stared at the shining metal table. The kind with circles burnished into it, that always got cut off by another rounded illusion. The circles always fascinated him as a kid. He didn't get how they jumped out at him. How they seemed so separate from each other.

He levered the cup back into its place, using his grimy, calloused hand.

"Hey, remember when we were kids, Sam?"
"What about when we were kids?"

He thought hard. Everything? The freshness of the world. Their innocence and carelessness. Scaling the chicken wire fences around the school oval to tumble down the dunes and splash in the churning white waves, instead of sitting cleanly in class.

Sam helped him out, "what about the time you beat me up?"
They both chuckled. "Yeah, weren't very fond of each other for a while after that, huh?"
"Nup. Mind you, that board was a beauty."
"Yeah, and you crushed it tryin' ta surf down a bloody concrete hill!" The corners of their eyes crinkled with laughter again.
"God we were crazy bastards." Jim croaked on his final word, and looked up at his friend and felt sorry.

Maybe Sam was right. All that shit and yet here they were. The seconds on the clock had ticked away, and they'd ticked on with it.

July 04, 2011

The Singapore Chronicles - June 30, July 1 & 2

Written on July 1
I reallyreallyreally don't want to go home :( I miss everyone there so much, but I just absolutely love it here! Singapore is such a beautiful place, it really is. The weather is beautiful, the food is amazing (although some mashed potato would be really nice), and the people that I've met are utterly rad! It seems like I have so much left to explore, and yet tomorrow, I'm going home!

But I digress! There will be plenty of time for me to reflect on everything that I have done this week later, and the depressing-ness of leaving before I've even really started learning about the culture and places in Singapore!  Instead, I shall tell you quickly about what I did in the last two days - if that is even possible - because it is rather late (2am) and I would quite like some sleep :P

Yesterday (Thursday), I had a not so busy morning, which was lovely. Bec and I chillaxed in the apartment, before going out to do some more shopping, eating sea food fried rice (so amazing!) and theeennn...the fun really began :D

Watermelon Juice in China Town :D

After a little while spent around China Town, we went to Orchard Road where we got bored in a 4-storey clothing shop, and then began to take epic amounts of photos :P All along Orchard Road there were drawings of different attractions, which Bec and I got a bit too excited about, before finding a table at the place we were meeting our friend Michelle at for dinner, and taking pictures of us pulling funny faces while we waited :P

Chilling with some random plastic people

Then we went to go on the Singapore Flyer, which is kinda like the London Eye. We were on a mass high and talking in weird accents so we had a lot of fun doing that :P The view was also absolutely stunning, especially because it was dark out, and Singapore at night is seriously rad.


Then, to continue our journey, we caught the MRT (train) to Clarke Quay, which is where clubs and bars and things are, met up with Bec's boyfriend, Xuan Kai, and went on the GMAX!!! :D Which is kinda like an upside-down bungee. Before we went on it, we were all freaking out! Xuan Kai and I were waiting in the line, and we watched these two other guys get strapped in, and the ropes pull up before it flings you up into the air, and all of a sudden they were gone. I still can't believe how fast it was!!! We still did it though and it was so much fun!

The Gmax (Picture from http://www.gmax.com.sg)

After that, we went down to an Italian cafe/bar sort thing, Bec kept buying me shots so I got a little drunk, ate some ice cream, and went home. It was a pretty radtacular day.

Written on July 2
On Friday my favourite part of the day was also the evening. Bec and I did some shopping during the day, saw a movie with Jen and Martha (some of Bec's friends who we had dinner with on Wednesday), went and at dimsum with Bec's Mum and Xuan Kai (which was rather hilarious), and theeenn...my favourite part of the day/night! :D

We met up again with Jen and Martha, and also Syaheera, ate some ice-cream at Ben & Jerry's, and then went and sat out on this deck type thing outside the shopping mall and played Uno. The weather was perfect, there were these Thai guys sitting behind us playing guitars, drinking beer (which we could smell) and singing quite loudly - which all added to the atmosphere - and Uno was masses of fun. It was kinda a really nice moment in time. I think it was a pretty great way to finish up my trip.


Anyways, I'm already missing Singapore. Bec, the people, the weather, the food, the apartment...so many things. I keep thinking perhaps I could go and live there for six months. It was such an amazing week, and I'm all eager now to travel and fully immerse myself in the culture of a place! But that'll come eventually I guess (or something similar). For now, I shall be content with my puppy sleeping in my room with me again and being at home with my wonderful family who all came to see me in at the airport :)

La famiglia at Rohan's 21st (July 3)

June 29, 2011

The Singapore Chronicles - June 28 & 29

 So I started writing a blog for you all last night, but I felt really sleepy so I went to sleep instead :P Also, Bec slept early cause she was quite sick and so I couldn't get the photos. I have some now though!!!! :D

China Town! I like the lanterns :D

Yesterday morning, I slept in which was lovely, sat on the couch and tried to make facebook work (it wouldn't upload my photos!), and then we went to China Town and Little India!! We both got henna tattoos, I went a little insane buying trinkets, and I ate some more tasty food (shock horror) :P


Henna!

Today, I had another sleep-in. Yay!!! :P Bec had her driving test, and passed with flying colours which is rather awesome :D Then we went shopping and I possibly went a little overboard. Shopping here is so amazing though! We went to a place called Bugis, which has a cool market type thing (but for clothes/shoes) and quite a few cheap vintage-ey shops. I was glad I had Bec with me though - she made sure I didn't spend far too much money :P

Such radacular stationary...

There's also a proper shopping mall there, where I bought ridiculous amounts of notebooks. They're so beautiful though! And books like that cost far more back home.

Afterwards, we went to meet some of Bec's friends and her boyfriend, who attempted to teach me how to say his name (which is Chinese) properly. I can do most accents, but ask me to pronounce something in Chinese and it fails so hard :P Speaking of accents, having never travelled before, it's so weird to think that other people hear me and I sound like an ocker Aussie. I find it rather entertaining :P I tried to say thanks in Chinese to a cab driver today, but it didn't really work. Anyways, that was rather entertaining. Her friends were also really sweet - they bought me a flower each and some really nice chocolate! It was a really nice night :)


I love gerberas! One of my favourite flowers :D

For dinner I had this Indian thing called prata, or something, which is so nomtious (and rather unhealthy). It's dough that you dip in a curry soup sort thing, and eat. I had lime juice as well while we waited, which is seriously tasty! I think I'm going to have to try to find some of it when I get back home.

Waiting for friends and dinner...

I'm sad tonight though, because I really love Singapore and yesterday it felt like I had such a long time left to explore, but today all of a sudden it seems like the time is going so fast! Only two and a half days left :( I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at home again though!

It's ok though, I can always come back again :D

Lots of love headed your way!

...what a weird phrase. I kinda like it haha :P

June 27, 2011

The Singapore Chronicles - June 26 & 27

So much to say! I really dunno where to start.

Yesterday, Bec and I went out with her parents on her Dad's boat. It was a really nice day, even though when we went swimming I discovered Bec wasn't lying about the water being a tad disgusting :P Singapore's a giant port city, so there's a bit of sludge on the ocean floor from all the oil. It doesn't stop the seafood being amazing though! :P

With Bec on the boat :)

We went to this island (I think) off the coast, and ate out the back of a restaurant type thing that's apparently like Singapore in the 70's. It was pretty rad :D So much food though! We had baby squid, a whole fish (which was super scary looking, but damned tasty), fried rice, tofu, and pepper crab, which was my favourite! So messy, cause you have to crack the shell open and pull the meat out yourself, but it was so worth it!

Afterwards, I unintentionally locked myself in a bathroom (long story, but I spent quite a long time in there...it was rather hilarious), we went to Bec's Grandma's house, and moved into Bec's apartment (which is technically Bec's Mum's, but you know) :P It's kinda awesome here! For one, the view is absolutely incredible, it's close to amazing food - for dinner I had some scrumptious chicken noodles and a caramel ice coffee thingo (why do we not have Starbucks and Coffee Bean in Perth?), and it's really nice to just chill out here!

View - Not such a great photo, but ah well :P

Today, was Universal Studios. So freaking awesome!


I tried kaya toast, which is...sugary? Haha I don't really know what it is but it's pretty tasty.

One of the rad food courts in SG - where I got my kaya toast!

Bec and I took far too many photos...or not enough, hard to tell :P And went on some pretty cool rides. I also got drenched on the jurassic park ride :P Probably my favourite ride was the Mummy one though, purely because Bec and I thought it was going to be ridiculous and a waste of our life, and then suddenly the car moved backwards, it went pitch black and we went flying! Was absolutely fantastic :D There's an awesome video as well of the Madagascar characters dancing. I was dancing along with them and Bec was telling herself "Just people in costumes. Just people in costumes." Was really quite entertaining :P


Anyways, there's so much more I could write about but I feel weird writing out my day-to-day doings in narrative style like this.

Lots of love! Rhi :)

Oh oh! Actually, before I go, I must tell you about this weird thing in Singapore! ...well, actually it's perfectly logical but it weirds me out :P Because so much of Singapore's population lives in apartments, to dry their washing, they have these poles that they stick out their windows! If I was any good at photography, I'm sure I would be able to take a seriously rad photo, but for now, this is the best I can do.


Night all! :)