The week in tidbits...

10/13/06 - Big Day Out
Its 1:17am. I have been trying to get big day out tickets for in fairness, mga almost an hour. The first time I got through and confirmed. I was shocked at the quickness and then it timed out right after the confirmation. So from experience, there is a 99% chance we didn't get those tickets. Everytime this happens to someone on our website and they call to check if its gone through - it never has, except for the one time that it did, and that's once in the entire year I have been there.

The next couple of times I've just timed out after selecting that I need four tickets. Right now I've just finished typing in my particulars for the enth time - the website has stored my credit card number to automatically pop up when I type the number 4 even (must clear cache afterwards...) - and I have no idea if this will go through. If it does, its a miracle.

Wait a minute...
You've ordered too many tickets!!
You've already purchased tickets to this event and as a result have reach your maximum allowed tickets. Start again

So it went through? We'll never know. For now I'll presume yes, seeing as I'm getting this message. Confirmation takes up to 21 days (hahahah) so I guess I'll call Ticketmaster in the evening tomorrow to see if we can check. This is providing that they actually have a record given that the purchases were done on the BDO website...

I'm not desperate enough to get tickets, so if we miss out, then we miss out, there's always next year. When maybe I'll actually know who the bands are. Though having now downloaded Muse, its not so bad.

EDIT 10:33 am
I received the confirmation email. We have 4 tickets to Big Day Out. I am still so freaking sleepy. And I am liking Tool. They sound like old school rock.

For a list of all th bands that we're going to be seeing, go here

10/14/06 16:00 - It's getting hot in here
Whatever made Sydney decide to be 37 degrees today? As far as I know its supposed to be 19-32 but I just checked the weather department and it says that's the temperature.

It is way too early to be this hot. Waaaay to early. To quote my housemate, "it looks like its going to be a long, hot summer." See! Global Warming! That's what you get!

I had to take the IELTS exam again to prove that I can speak english for my residency application. I finished faster than most people and I even asked for extra paper for the writing exam, where we had to write about exercise. We also had to write a letter to a hotel that we'd supposedly left stuff in and ask them to find them and send them back. It was not hard. I think the guy that interviewed me for the speaking portion was a bit surprised as well, I spoke to him with a full on american accent and I guess, well, I didn't even really try. I was just sort of thinking, well they are looking to see if I can speak english, and I hope they can tell that I do!

My winter clothes got packed today. I've brought up my cooler and I have my electric fan is upstairs.

Tomorrow though, I think it goes back to normal weather at 21 degrees. I've decided I like Spring and Autumn the best, though I shouldn't really have to pack up my stuff till about October (so now is really about right) and bring out my winter clothes till May at the earliest. So far its been on time...

Oh, if only I could go to the beach.

10/15/06 12:49 pm - Elvis and other things
Last night we saw Elvis the musical, which featured a projection of Elvis on screen and his original band playing in the background. They were rather good. Elvis kept kissing all these girls that were hurling themselves at him at various concerts. It was well cut and the sound quality was very clear and crisp. Sacha and I both agreed that he had dating (although in english it was translated to charisma and magnetism) even if he wasn't that hot and that there was no one like him in present day. I mean, it didn't change - they showed various concerts and people were still hurling themselves at him in technicolor, as much as they did in black and white. And he sure as hell kissed anybody who was near the stage. Wonder if he'd still be able to do that now. In some shots, he also really, really looked like Lisa Marie (obviously).

Today my plan is this: get up. Buy cheapo Thai take away for lunch (or possibly dinner, we'll see) Take shower. Write paper. Buy Red Bull. Write paper. Have dinner. Write paper. In theory I can do this in 4-6 hours under massive time pressure. I want to be done by at the latest, tomorrow morning so I can prepare my 5 minute powerpoint presentation on the topic.

Also, I just want to buy stuff from Gap for the Red Campaign. Not just because of Bono, but because Africa has always been one of my interests. The Inspi(red) t-shirt is already sold out online, but I still want to get it, so I put my name down for it. (Hello, honey76, sama ka ba?) Ideally I would like to wear it to the U2 concert (hello, flipped_jaffa). There's also a really nice hoodie (not that I need another one) and a sweater. The t-shirts are 25 bucks, I think and that's not bad. I miss gap. I want to shop in America.

10/18/06 10:07 pm - - Estoy cansada

I did full on yoga for the first time in my life today. There was only one other beginner in the class and she left early. I got a bit of help and specialized instruction because of that, which was great. It was quite hard though, we did ashtanga and everyone knew the poses. Our teacher mentioned that it would be best if the people at the gym did beginners and advanced seperately but for now it was mixed. I tried to do a bridge and my lower back hurt. Sigh. I have been able to do that every now and then, randomly but I can't hold it. But its okay, cos I just stuck with the basic stuff.

Then there was this bit where you stuck your feet up in the air, with your bum in the air, toes pointed up and elbows in. Seriously the position itself wasn't painful for the butt or the back, I just had problems with my elbows, they wouldn't stick properly to the mat, so it was hard to get them in. I am eternally greatful to kickboxing for giving me stronger arms and legs to better support myself.

The gym that I did the yoga in was part of a 2 week trial for 35 bucks, unlimited classes. After that you can continue the membership, pay the yearly fee of 199 and then pay 35 bucks a week for the rest of the year. I just can't afford that for now, as much as I would like to join so before the 2 weeks are even over I will call to quit. Maybe if I wasn't a student I could afford the 140 a month plus my kickboxing fees. For now I'm happy with the casual classes at uni, plus I am considering taking up latin dance, so that would mean less time to make full use of the 35 bucks.

I am so excited for uni to finish. That means 2 kickboxing classes a week - three if I'm ganado - one dance class, possibly on a wednesday and maybe i'll even throw in some yoga which I can take as part of the class pass I pay for kickboxing.

We decided to do a mesa redonda - round table - featuring different countries of the world discussing the nuclear situation en Corea del Norte for my Spanish Oral Exam. I have a short speech that I will have to add to once the rest of my groupmates get everything sorted. I'm trying to get out of work on Friday so that I can join their group meeting. Carolina and BBC Mundo helped me write my speech.

Next Wednesday is my Spanish final exam. I will start studying tomorrow.

Okay I'm really tired now. Oh, and I'm liking Eskimo Joe... (this is so not grammatically correct, is it?)

What I'm listening to and What I love

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Me in tidbits

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. The adapter of my computer broke and I have been using Sacha's PC. Today I finally uploaded all my pictures. Eventually I will blog in more detail about what's happened but here's an excerpt so far...


Here's me on a colorful bench on Brunswick Street in Melbourne. I went over for four days and stayed with my friend Cat-Cat. A lot of it was spent walking around the city, exploring and of course, eating my way through one of my favorite cities.


Last weekend I went to the Grand Philippine Fiesta. For the first time in almost two years I ate bibingka, which I stood in line for 2 hours for. It wasn't even that good but I was kind of desperate. Here's me eating bananacue!


Here's me and my friend Ala doing the Coogee to Bondi Walk. Just finished that today. It is 5KM and it usually takes about 2 hours but because we walked leisurely and took pictures everywhere, it took about 5. We also had a lovely (but cold!) dip in Bronte Beach.

Eventually we got to Bondi, where there was, for the first time in my life, no one on the beach except black wetsuit clad surfers riding the waves. There were no tourists, just a handful of people. Maybe it was because it was a cold day, or the surf was strong but there was no one out there except the hard core real surfers, the kind that are really from here, as opposed to the back to back throes of tourists that are usually basking in the sun.

So here's what I've been up to so far. Hope to post something longer when I can...