Family; Forever There For You

A Family Is A Place 

A Family Is People 

A Family is A Circle 

The World; Anything Can Happen 

A family is a place 

to cry and laugh 

and vent frustrations, 

to ask for help

and tease and yell,

to be touched and hugged and smiled at 

A family is people 

who care when you are sad 

who love you no matter what, 

who share your triumphs, 

who don't expect you to be perfect, 

just growing with honesty in your own decision 

A family is a circle 

where we learn to make good decisions, 

where we learn to think before we do, 

where we learn integrity and table manners

and respect for other people, 

where we are special 

where we listen and are listened to, 

where we learn the rules of life

to prepare ourselves for the world 

The world is a place where 

anything can happen.

If we grow up in a loving family 

we are ready for the world. 

Aftermath Of a Big Night Out

 My head is pounding!

Last night I gave in and decided to go out into town to my local pub. They were celebrating their 100th Anniversary so you can imagine how big it would have been. I didn't end up getting there until 9pm and by that time a majority of the crowd were off their face. I shouldn't say majority I'm pretty sure everyone was. 10pm came around and minors had to leave the premises. Poor kids probably had no idea what was going on watching drunk people get rowdy. My god. It was packed. I never seen that pub so full before. There was a famous country singer performing. Honestly, I have no idea who he was. I really enjoyed myself. Well I can feel it today. Head is pounding. Sometimes you got to have one of those nights. Go out and have a couple drinks, dance and have fun. I always struggle the morning after because I honestly don't go out drinking. Like ever. 

What are your weekend plans?

European Highlights - FLORENCE!

I know. I know. I've been slacking off in getting these posts up about my european travels. Oh god, lets see if I remember what happened on this day... 

It was time to say bye to the South of France and cross into the Italian territory. First off, I just want to say, ordering food at a service station is a pain in the butt side. The convenience is just not there in this country. I know the Italians like to have their own way but when you come from a very convenient country where simplicity is there and then you enter Italy...its a lot different. We got to experience this inconvenience at our first service stop just past the border. If you would like food from the deli, first you have to go pay for it and then go back and get the food. It got quite annoying. Especially with a huge queue. 

Anyway

On the journey down to Florence, we made a stop at Pisa and took the tourist photo of all time... 

Hold up...that doesn't look right, does it? 

Ahh..thats better. Look at me all macho holding up a cement building. 

I really did not want to do the typical tourist photo..cause well..its boring you have to admit. Everyone does it. So original. Alas we did not have enough time. 

Legend says the Leaning Tower of Pisa originally built as a bell tower, started to diffuse downward after building the third floor of the tower. The clay mixture was not strong enough to hold the tower so the development of the building was halted for a 100 years. 100 years pass and the building was added another floor to the top of it. Soon the building was developed and the tower kept leaning over and over. 

You might be questioning, how is the building still upright after all those years? Wont the building eventually collapse? 
I was asking the exact same questions to my tour manager and he says that the tower got installed a leaden counterweight to the side of the building weighing 800 tonnes. Impressive huh? 



Finally we made it to our accommodation, Camping Internazionale. Quick change and back on the bus we go. I almost missed the bus. Oops. I felt so bad! Made a quick stop overlooking the beautiful city of Florence and had a good look at the duplicate statue of David. The real one is in a museum. 

By this time we were all starving and I was pumped for our dinner. A 7 course Tuscan dinner meal. Thats right! 7! I was prepared and wore a dress. I did not want any constriction going on in my stomach region. 

 Ready for our meal 

 Wine of the night

The restaurant was very colourful and had a lot of nudity paintings

First Course

Second Course

 Third Course

 Fourth Course

 Fifth Course plus a salad

 Sixth Course

 Seventh Course

And to top it off, shots all round! Had two :) 

Tonight was just a chilled night. Next morning we got dropped off in the city and went and watched a leather demonstration. I was trying so hard not to fall asleep. Not my cup of tea. And of course I had to find the nearest gelato store. I had caramel flavoured ice cream. One of my friends had coffee flavoured and it tasted so good. I should have got that one instead. 

We had a local tour guide showing us around the city and explaining about the history of some monuments. 

Did you know? 
The statues you see on the left are carved from one piece of marble. That's really impressive considering there are so many fine point details

And here is a gypsy trying to get money off another gypsy

Another destination done and on to the next stop: Rome 
Feeling pumped! 

Wealth Consists Not In Having Great Possessions, But In Having Few Wants.

I was just sitting down thinking about life -- as you do -- and realisation hit me. I feel like every day will be a struggle to get through without worrying about the god awful word -- money. Pay day arrives and I cannot contain my excitement when I see the big dollars rolling in from working my ass off at work. Cha - Ching! I start thinking of all the wonderful purchases I can splurge on or watch my savings account rise up and up. Dreaming of my dream car or some big investment...

That moment lasts a whole of what? 10 seconds? Alas, have bills to pay and when moments pop up that involve a lot of money, its just like.. agh fists clenching. Like an almost $1000 car service. Being legit. Sometimes I just feel like pulling my hair out. I know theres a few people around the same age as me who are well off. I don't hate them. Its more of a jealousy emotion and I question how. How do they have a lot of savings? I try and fail miserably. It doesn't necessarily help that I don't have a full time employment. Theres advantages and disadvantages of being a full timer. Advantage: you know how much you are bringing in weekly while casual varies. Disadvantage: some don't get paid for overtime work. 

Anyway, I probably sound like an annoying fly on the wall right now. But when you start to think and more questions pop up in your head, you can't help but wonder. On another note, its my cousins wedding in two weeks and I'm emcee - ahh - and I'm still yet to get my notes and some sort of speech sorted. Im definitely not a fan of public speaking. 

Weekend Is Here!

Weekend is finally here! 

YAY!

First week back to work was uneventful. I have no idea if I'm still jet lagged -- I don't feel like I am -- or not but I have been struggling and falling asleep mid afternoon. I guess its the struggle of waking up every morning at 3am for work. Need to get back into the routine. Sometimes I really wish that I live closer to work. Its such a pain having to drive 50 mins to work and back. Petrol is so expensive! 

This day last week I arrived back into Australia..

On Wednesday was one year since I started working at the job I'm at now. Earlier in the year I felt like I was still a newbie. What else have I been up to this week? I've started looking into upgrading my car. There's nothing terrible wrong with the car I have now but its starting to lose its value - fast! I've had my car for almost 4 years and I think its an '03 model so it's 11 years old. Im thinking for my next car to be brand new. Dream big. 

Plans for the weekend? 

Tonight, I was going to finally go see "the fault in our stars" at the cinemas. HOWEVER, the movie is only showing at one cinema complex which is quite a bit of a drive away just to watch a movie. So I think I'm going to give it a miss and just wait for the DVD to come out. Or watch it online. Tomorrow I'm going to head down to the Gold Coast and stay a night there and get up to nonsense. Now its just the waiting game for tomorrow to come quicker. Im so bored out of my mind right now. Maybe if I go to sleep it will come quicker. Hmm..

Back to Reality

The holiday fever is over, and unfortunately back to reality. 
I had the most amazing experience and enjoyed myself greatly, but I knew and felt that it was time to come home. Don't get me wrong. I'm already thinking of planning another holiday. This time to Sydney or Melbourne. I find it sad that I haven't seen the other cities of my own country but have seen the east of Europe. 

First day back to work was today and uneventful. I was worried that I was going to go back to work and there would be new procedures to learn but luckily there was only a few new items which is very simple to use. Nothing has changed much while I have been away. 

My flight arrived early home on Friday at 5.20am and mum literally got there 2 minutes before I walked out the doors. Luckily I waited for a new friend being their first time in Australia, I was happy to wait. As soon as I walked out those doors of the airport, the brisk air of the morning sent me shivering. It was so cold! What is this?! I am so not used to this climate. But then again winter you can layer up and sit with a cup of coffee - I don't like tea. It makes me pee a lot. Of course I could not stop yammering about the trip as soon as we got in the car. I was aiming to stay awake all day and go to sleep at night but I was tired and napped for 2 hours. I don't know what happened but I woke with my voice gone. Joy. Over the weekend my friend surprised me and rocked up to my house completely out of the blue. Of course my parents were holding a big secret and knew she was coming but I was so confused. 

I saw a majority of my friends over the weekend but yet have more people to see and give gifts to and of course recount my whole experience. Can never get sick of telling my stories. What I find hard is trying to keep it short and sweet and to the point instead of sitting down for half an hour and recount every single moment. I always end up forgetting a detail. Thats where this blog comes into. To recount my life and whatever thought, idea or experience I come across. 

I'm Coming Home

Bye Portugal! Till next time!
Going to miss my grandparents so much!

I had a whole of 2 hours of sleep last night. It was the exact same when I left Australia for Europe 4 weeks ago. I don't know why I can't sleep. So many questions running through my mind double checking that I have everything packed. I woke in a panic thinking that I lost my bank card, which I didn't.

 12am - still awake 

1.30am - omg go to sleep already 
2am - I think I fell asleep around that time 

Right now I am in London Heathrow Airport. The short 2.15 hr flight from Lisbon to here was short. It went so quick. Now I'm dreading for the - is it 12 or 13 hours? - flight to Singapore. Right now its almost 4.30pm and my flight leaves at 8pm. Its okay I guess. At least I'm not rushing which is a good thing. 

OH! 
I bought the book "the fault in our stars" 
Omg, my excitement when I saw the book displayed in a store over here. I had to get it! I'm really hoping the plane has the movie. They didn't have it when I came over here. I'm trying to distract myself right now, because I want to start reading the book so bad but it will be better to read it on the plane, right? Ah the temptation! 

This morning I set my alarm for 5.30am and somehow the time just slipped away. I had to double check the time. Wait? 7am? That's not right. How did the time go by so quick. It was only 6am before. And I still had to pack. Ahh the packing. Now that was fun! Firstly I packed the rest of what was left to pack and thinking that I did an awesome job, when I went to shut it, the suitcase wouldn't even zip. Crap! Now what? So out came all the stuff I just put in and in the end I had to leave some things behind because it simply would not fit. I really could not add anymore to it. I had to sit on the suitcase to shut it. Sit on it! Thats a first for me. Luckily that if I did not buy this new handbag everything would not fit. Handbag is full and heavy to the brim. 

I knew my suitcase was going to be overweight. I just had no idea by how much. I was prepared to pay for the excess weight, but when I went to "bag drop" the suitcase ended up weighing 25kgs and I was let off the hook of having to pay. Boo yeah! The weight limit is 23kgs with British Airways. This wifi sucks. You only get 45 mins free and I've already used my phone. Dam it! 

European Highlights - NICE!

South of France 

If only I could explore you. I've had the flu before I even left Australia, and then it cleared up, but then it got bad. The Contiki cough is real I tell you. I was not well to go out and explore the south of France. But I heard from the others that its beautiful. I decided instead of going out and risking it I would relax and stay in to be ready for the night. 

After a late night of drinking and barely any sleep at all, we had to be on the bus by 8am. And of course, Evan had to play the ritual "its a beautiful life" song. Swear he had that song louder then it usually is. He knew we were all hungover. Dam you Evan! This song will forever bring back so many great memories of Contiki. 

Cant help but smile :) 

On the road again. We made a stop at Avignon, where the lavender fields are. As we were walking down the street, we passed by so many of those touristy stores selling heaps of lavender. Of course I had to buy some. I was starving by the time we got there and I was so eager to eat some food. A couple of us stopped at a restaurant and had some pretty decent food. I selected an entree size, and it looked like a main size. 

Before we arrived at the next campsite in Nice, we made a stop at a perfumery. There we were taken through the process of how the perfume is made. My god there is a huge number of steps before you even get a sample of perfume. 

At the campsite, we stayed in cabins. Dinner time, wheres the food? So I'm a waitress and I thought being on holidays I won't have to do any waitressing jobs but alas I was given the role of a "dishie" on this very night and so had to clear dishes. Piece of cake. That very night we got to experience frogs legs. I really wasn't keen on trying it but when in France, why the hell not. For me it tasted like rubbery chicken. It didn't even look like a frog, but I'm not going to be jumping at having another one. It was one of those, I can now say that I have tried frogs legs. I enjoyed the snails way more. 

Evan told us there was like a theme park or fair of some sort down the road and we all were pretty keen and to stop at the beach beforehand. Didn't even make it to the beach and just stopped at the theme park. It was pretty awesome and ended up going on a huge swing called the Adrenaline. 20 euros. 

That ride was insane! The guys went on it first and then three of us girls went on it next and it was such a thrill. You get lifted to the top and then the drop - omg no words - honestly you plummet head first towards the ground and then swing out. Such a thrill. I could feel the ground getting closer and closer and I was thinking to myself are we going to swing out soon? I had my eyes shut. I couldn't bear to watch myself fall head first. I would definitely go on it again for the adrenaline though.

*a video of me on the ride will be up soon here*

Next morning, I woke with a horrid cold. It finally took a toll on me the long days and no sleep. I felt completely run down. I walked with everyone to the train station to go into Nice, but I really was not up to it and ended up walking back to the campsite and there I spent the day catching up on some sleep and resting. At night we all got dressed up and went into the famously rich little area of Monaco to go to the Monte Carlo casino. Absolutely Amazing! Needed your passport to get inside and watched people bet away their lives pretty much. I took out 60 euros and had a go on the pokies - slot machines - and ended up just losing 20 euros. I didn't want to lose it all. Back at home I only limit myself to 60 bucks for the pokies. 

Till next time South of France. 



Next stop Florence!

MALES - Potential Rant

Okay. Where do I even start?

Like honestly. Males. Men. You can and can't live without them. I constantly have a growing frustration trying to figure them out. Or maybe us females just need to live up to the male population never making up their mind on what they want. Or which female they want. I just don't get it. They say females moods go up and down constantly but we all understand each other. We understand why one is feeling a certain way.  But with males, no one can understand. Not even themselves. Females talk which is a good and a bad thing.

 Bad thing: statements can get thrown out of proportion. 

Good thing: we let out all our frustrations and rant about it 

I have so many examples of males being complete assholes to females. Happening to friends and to me personally. What I will never understand is how males can go from being in a relationship all nice to the girl and such and then when it ends, his a complete douche even months after it happened. Yes, I have ex partners but I'm never rude to them or tell them to potentially fuck off. Argh so many guys have told me to fuck off. Then they wonder why females are so sensitive. Cause douchebags like you make us feel like shit and we are too afraid to get close to anyone anymore without being worried about getting hurt again. Like seriously! Im already starting to get more frustrated just writing this down. 

Breathe. Just take a deep breath. 

The point is. I will never understand why males have to be dicks by ignoring, blocking or being down right rude to females. 

Does anyone know? 

Packing Problems

Where's it all going to fit?!

Right now, I am in the process of packing up my suitcase for when I leave Europe on Wednesday. I was folding all my clothes and didn't realise how much I really have. Most of them were bought here while some are from back home. I already know my suitcase is going to be overweight for the flight and prepared to pay for the excess. How does one girl have so much stuff in one suitcase? Did I really buy that many souvenirs? Oh crap, I think I forgot to buy a souvenir for someone. Ah, the joyous fun of travelling. Lets go again! My suitcase weighed 21kgs from London to Lisbon and no doubt that I put on more kilos with all the shopping I've done at Primark. That store. I need it in my life. The australian currency goes a long way in Europe. In Primark, I managed to grab tops for 3 euros. That's $4.35. What?! I think I saw a bag for 13 euros, thats $18. Double what?! 

Out of curiosity, I went online and looked at the stores back home to see what they have in stock at the moment. And after being in Europe for a month and with the awesome prices, I couldn't believe the prices of clothing and makeup items are.  Not like I haven't been living in Australia for the past 21 years or anything. If I could I would have done so much more shopping if there wasn't a weight limit. I'm finding it a struggle to fit what I have now into my suitcase.  ARGH! 

European Highlights - CHATEAU

What's up Chateau, home of Contiki! 

It was time to say bye to the beautiful city of Paris and continue the journey down France. Long bus ride later (I really don't remember how long it was to be honest) and we made it to our next destination of the Contiki Chateau. Evan was telling us that this is his home. The view from the hotel was absolutely breath taking. So green and beautiful!

It felt so good to be able to stay in a hotel where we didn't have to be cautious of the sound we make cause of other people staying in the same building. But the Chateau is just for Contiki, and there was another group there when we joined. After being on a bus all day, all I wanted to do was jump in the pool. But first we had a wine demonstration/tasting. There we learnt everything about how the place was discovered to how the wine is made. Half an hour to go till dinner time. Crap! I rushed upstairs, changed and literally jumped straight into the pool. The water was freezing!! Be prepared if your planning to go in. 

The showers at the Chateau are uni sex communal. Very interesting and first time experiencing one.  At dinner a couple of the girls and I ducked out before dessert to use the showers and run back to the room -  in just a towel -  before anyone else saw us doing a runner in the nude. Pretty much. Omg did I run or what! 
Tonight, was the first of many of the parties to be held in the basement. It was a "P" party, so we had to dress up as something starting with the letter P. Some of the people on my tour wore very interesting outfits..

Nonetheless, it was such an awesome night. I left Aus not liking beer and throughout this whole tour all I was drinking was beer. I have grown such a liking for them now. Heaps of dancing and heaps of drinking. What more could you want from a night like that? 

Just looking through all the photos is making me miss everyone so much. The past two weeks have gone by way too fast and I miss it. I definitely had the time of my life and I love everyone that I was on tour with and the friendships I have gained with people from all around the world. I can now say I have friends in England, South Africa, Mexico, America, NZ and of course Aus. 


Next stop Nice!