flaxer

dave flaxer adn his friend sam came to visit me for a a couple nights. they came on sunday and we went to coggee beach. me and dave went to the corner and sat up on rocks, looking down on everyone. it was really pretty and so great to be with him. dave and sam were amazed by the place i am staying. We went to the hot tub and sauna and jsut relaxed. That night we went food shopping and legit made chilli together and it tasted great. The next day they went on like a five hour hike and i was not having that so i went to luna park with cody which i told u about. then at night of course they wanted to go in the hot tub and sauna again haha. The next day i had class and they did things around sydney. then at night lindsey cooked us all food cause i had told them how amazing she is as a cook. after we went to george street and went to three wise monkeys and scruffy murphys. it was a little quiet because it was a tuesday night but still a good time. those are the normal collegey bars in sydney. the next day was rough but i had a presentation in business class and we did great ( me cody and april) we got a igh distinction! the company was great, i enjoyed his stay :)

Luna Park

My work gave me two free tickets to Luna park which is kind of a carnival place that never closes on the other side of the sydney harbour bridge. cody and i went adn we didnt know it was a school holiday, which meant that all the younger kids went. we went on the ferris wheel, got some cotton candy, walked around and such. its free to go but it costs to do the rides but not for us because i had the free passes. We had a good day but it made us feel very old. That night we had the send off dinner from out program. It was a lebanese place and we sat on low cushions. there was great hummus and falafel, etc. and the baklava for desert was deliciousss. we all got joke awards. mine was most "go with the flow" cause im so easy to be around. and then we got a collage of our trip.

Ice bar

During Easter break me and about 15 other people decided to go to minus five bar which is an ice bar in sydney that is 5 degrees celcius. it was a lot of fun, we had a reservation and all went down to circular quay together. we all had a pregame in the penthouse before and then went to the bar. an amazingggg night! and lots of good pictures! they gave us big coats to wear that kept us warm. we were only allowed in there for a half hour because it is so cold. everything was made out of ice, the bar, the walls, the seats...everything. And usually the glasses are ice but they didnt have them so we got in for 20 dollars instead of 30. After we headed to the rocks which is a nice area not too far away. we went to argile which some people couldnt get into because they werent "properly dressed" so somehow lauren and i were left alone in argile. we hung around and met some people and then went home. the next day i did absolutley nothing because i ddnt feel well if u know wat i mean. lol.but it was a great time

Passover then easter

So the day of passover i got really sick and ended up going to the doctor. She thought it was bronchitis and gave me meds. btw their medical system is grrrreat in australia. despite my sickness i went to a passover sedar that night. It was in bondi junction which is about an hour traveling away from where i am staying. It ended up that it was a chabbad and the family had ten children. They were each very interesting and there were two girls around my age that i spent the majority of the night with. we compared traditions in judaism and for countries. The food was also great! there was brisket and potatoes and guacamole. But we prayed for like 4 hours! I left a little early and I left at 1 am. A man at the sedar noticed that I had looked worried and looking at my watch so he figured I was worried about getting home which I was. all of the busses and trains had stopped running. So him and I walked back to his place which isnt far from where i am stayin and then from there he drove me to my apartment.
The next night I wasnt feeling well and knew i couldnt sit through another long service so I cancelled and stayed in. Apparently bondi Junction is where all the jewish people live. I eventually found out that there was a little tiny kosher section in the back of coles ( a local grocery store) right by me. But it was hard to find things around my area that were kosher.
Australians are not very religious people but they do take every excuse for a day or two off. My boss said that if a holiday falls on the weekend, they take either that friday or monday off as a public holiday. They also have four weeks of vacation time, and 10 sick days. And thats just average. I later talked to someone that said the minimum wage is 15 dollars but everyone usually gets 20. and he was older but he said he usually get 45 an hour....wldnt it b nice. Anywaysssss. so on easter they have that friday and monday as a public holiday for everyone. meaning that NOTHING is open. and i mean it wen i say NOTHING. on thursday night all bars close at midnight and dont open till saturday. there was really NOTHING to do. so of course we had to go to the beach and hang out. crazy australians lol. but ill tell u more bout easter weekend later..

another date with linds

Linds and I decided to do some shopping awhile back so we went to paddys for a good portion of the day. We got some good souvenirs and then were hungry so we decided to give china town another shot....BAD IDEA. We thought that it was only that specific place that was bad but it was that bad againnnn. the rice had ham in it...EW. the beef was really chewy, the wanton soup tasted seafoody. it was all just not good. but we thought we wld give it another try cause it was only like 15 dollars for a four course meal.but turned out to not b worth it. still a great date tho :)

IMAX date

April and I had a date day! We went to the biggest IMAX theater in the world which is on darling harbour. We got there by first going to cicular Quay and then taking a ferry to darling harbour. We saw Alice in Wonderland in 3d. It was a great movie and the effects combined with the hugeness of the screen was INCREDIBLE and so real. Then we went to a thai restaurant which i really liked. it was just a lovellyyyy day :)

Brisbane with Sista Marisa

Many things happened in between thailand and brisbane but o welllll. So i went to brisbane to visit marisa, one of my roommates in amherst. I got in at ten thirty at night and on the flight I had a man that just kept talkin and talkin and talkin to me, reminded me of someone but i just couldnt put my finger on it...haha. anyways wen i landed i took a bus to the train and then when i got off the train there marisa was!! We watched a little Dexter which is a tv show we are OBSESSED with. Her roommates are really cool, i got along with them well, and one of the roommate's friend alex who is a backpacker was also staying there.

The next morning all of us got up, hap a delicious breakfast burrito courtesy of marisa, and then headed to the lone pine koala sanctuary. it was a lot of fun! we gotta to see a gajillion koalas and other animals. it was exciting cause they had baby koalas and i actually saw them move cause usually they are asleep,i mean they do sleep for 20 hours a day or something like that. We also got to learn all about them cause we stayed for a presentation on koalas. We went into a feeding section where there were emus (which i am terrified of, i mean NO bird should be that big), and kangaroos! it was fun and we got to get sooo close to the kangaroos and they were just EVERYWHEREEEE. Then we went to hold koalas. You can hold one for free but u have to pay to take a picture with one... its DEFINATELY worth it. I was the last to hold one from the group and wen i got handed the koala, it just looked at my face and seemed to be like, OH NOOOOOOOO. haha. i thought that the koala was just gonna slap me across the face with its claws but luckily that didnt happen. instead they brought out a new koala for me. I turned around to laugh with everyone and then found out that the koala had POOED on me! ewwwwww! but then i held a cute koala who was nice. We stayed for hours at the zoo, it was a great time. Then we all went back for nap time.

That night we went to a club or bar scene called fridays. it was fancy and we had a good time and met a bunch of people. we stayed out and later walked down the streets of brisbane. brisbane is a nice place, it seems like a much smaller version of sydney. and i liked the train system, it was simple like the one at home. We then took a cab home and when you hail a cab they start the meter at 6 dollars! ridiculousness!

The next day we went to the man made beach! it looks exactly like a beach, with sand and everything! but it is enclosed and has a little clorene in it, just like a pool. We stayed for awhile adn then went to the market right next to the beach. it was a nice little area, we got some churros there which were delicioussss. then we headed into town and got really good sushi! then it was dexter and nap time!

We went out again to a really nice place and of course had lots of fun! after we had pizza from a New york pizza place of courseee haha. but it definitely filled my pizza craving.... i mean for a little while.

The next day we hung out and then i headed back to the airport. i was waiting and waiting and zoned out and then realized my flight was supposed to have already taken off. but no one ever came over the speaker and said so. turns out my flight was delayed which sucked but wat can u do. it was a great weekend tho!

lazyyyy

so im sorry ive been so lazy and busy lately. Ive had projects, papers, and of course ive been living it up over here. so ill try and update u on what has happened and hopefully ill go in a good order.

Alright well to wrap thailand up, the last day we stayed there was Sunday and we went out and stayed on the beach as much as possible and then got ready and flew into, where do u think?.... BANGKOK of courseeee. From there we parted ways, and even though I told mom it would only be another month until I saw her, she still cried :) gotta love mom. Then I flew to china first class. I took first class cause it was the only way to get me home on time for my classes. Even though that was a short ride, it was still really nice. i took cathay pacific and it was nice and they were really accommodating.Then i had a nine hour flight back to sydney. the first class to sydney was UNREAL! the seats reclined so that u were completely flat as if u were in a bed, they gave us little kits with special creams and lotions and lipgloss and toothpaste etc., the blankets were basically down comforters. i cld live there forever. the TV screens pulled out and were flat screens, there were games and tv shows, and there werent just a couple movies but rather a tonnnnn of new releases. all these things made it difficult to sleep, on top of all this they served us champagne and food every like two hours which of course i ddnt want to miss haha. there was a nice rose drink that they had which was good. so yea, i got in to sydney and then relaxed for the rest of the day and then that night we had a mid semester dinner with everyone. and where did we go? where do u think haha Thai food hahah. just cldnt get enough.

Overall i LOVEDDDDD thailand and would love to go back. It was a great place and not disgusting like I thought it would be. It was a lovely vacation with mom and dad :) the shopping, the food, the sights, they were all amazing and I would definately encourage everyone to go there. Thanks mom and dad, ur the best! c u soon!!!!