Our little Christmas Tree is up! I managed to find us a bargain 5ft Christmas tree for $19 so we had a random evening of buying decorations and making our flat look festive. We went for a red and gold theme so all decorations in the flat fit in with that! The Christmas tree itself looked a little sparse so we had to get some tinsel to bulk it out a bit, despite my hatred for the stuff. We also threaded some baubles onto ribbon and have hung them above the sprinklers in our kitchen - probably a massive fire hazard but all for a good cause (that is, making the flat look festive). We even bought little candy canes for the tree, although I found out yesterday that the pig (Dave) came in drunk on Friday night and ate one of them, so now we only have 11 and hence can't count down the 12 days of Christmas. Typical. I downloaded a CD of carols sung by the Kings College, Cambridge Choir too to get us even more in the festive mood! It's just the sun and heat we have to sort out now..and the lack of mulled wine and mince pies.
8 December 2009
Our little Christmas Tree
Our little Christmas Tree is up! I managed to find us a bargain 5ft Christmas tree for $19 so we had a random evening of buying decorations and making our flat look festive. We went for a red and gold theme so all decorations in the flat fit in with that! The Christmas tree itself looked a little sparse so we had to get some tinsel to bulk it out a bit, despite my hatred for the stuff. We also threaded some baubles onto ribbon and have hung them above the sprinklers in our kitchen - probably a massive fire hazard but all for a good cause (that is, making the flat look festive). We even bought little candy canes for the tree, although I found out yesterday that the pig (Dave) came in drunk on Friday night and ate one of them, so now we only have 11 and hence can't count down the 12 days of Christmas. Typical. I downloaded a CD of carols sung by the Kings College, Cambridge Choir too to get us even more in the festive mood! It's just the sun and heat we have to sort out now..and the lack of mulled wine and mince pies.
Dave's embarrassing incident
Last Thursday we decided to do some late night shopping. We were wandering around David Jones Foodhall (posh department store, a bit like Selfridges) looking at all the yummy food and came across a little stall sampling some Christmas puddings. There was no-one there but there were some (closed) tupperwares filled with little bitesize samples of the puddings. Dave was hungry; he decided to go for it. Unfortunately just as he had uncovered the tupperwares, the sales lady returned and looked at Dave incredulously wondering what on earth he was doing. Luckily for him she was quite good natured and actually let us have some more samples. It was so embarrassing though - I can't take him anywhere!!
30 November 2009
A lovely chilled out weekend
After an extravagant weekend in Melbourne, we decided this one would be a more chilled out affair. We had a nice lie in on Saturday morning and then made our way to Leichhardt, which is the Italian precinct of Sydney. We had a wander arond the Italian Forum, which is an Italian-style piazza in the middle of Leichhardt with lots of Italian shops and restaurants.
It was completely dead so we decided to walk over to another suburb, Haberfield, which is meant to be quite Italian too. There was a bit more happening here; we found a nice delicatessen and bought lots of Italian meats, cheeses and vegetables (which we devoured for dinner in the evening - delicious) and then we went to a pizzeria called Napoli in Bocca for a spot of lunch. Nice pizza, but not as good as the pizza you get in Teramo near where Daddy is from in Italy.
After lunch I treated myself to an Italian fig biscuit (they're amazing - whenever we used to go to Italy, we used to get them from the local pasticceria). It was delicious, but I was slightly put off by Dave staring at me and wimpering whilst I was eating it - he is still on his diet.
Sunday was another chilled out day - we spent most of it by the pool sunbathing and reading - the little pool and lounge area at our flat really makes it feel like you're on holiday, it's lovely when the weather is good!
26 November 2009
Frost*
I thought it might be nice to write a post about where I've been working for the past few months whilst I've been in Sydney (unlike Dave I haven't sold my soul to American Express). The company is called Frost* and it is an independent design studio of around 30 people. They work across various media for a diverse range of clients including Qantas, American Express (!) and Nike, to name a few that you would know. There is also a fashion department here which designs graphic style tshirts. 
My role here is as a receptionist, so nothing very glamorous. My main duties are answering the phone, maintaining tidy and well-organised studio spaces as well as general administrative duties. It's not the busiest or most stimulating job in the world but it enables me to earn enough money to pay the bills and to explore Australia, which is, afterall, the reason that I came here! Only another 3 weeks here though so after that the job hunt will begin again...
25 November 2009
The perks of being a receptionist...
Being a receptionist, I have to book a great deal of couriers on behalf of people in the studio every day. The perk of this? The manager of the courier company just came in to give me a Christmas card and a little present - a box of Lindt Lindor chocolates (my favourites!). I was going to share them around the office but it's only a small box with 9 chocolates in and seeing as there are over 30 people in the studio, I think I'll keep them to myself....and as Dave is on a diet at the moment, I really can have them all to myself. Yum yum!
23 November 2009
A very wet weekend in Melbourne - part II
Our second day in Melbourne was another miserable one - it rained on and off almost all day, which didn't make it much fun walking around discovering the city! Again we found a little cafe down a random alleyway for breakfast in the morning before getting the free tram to the Queen Victoria Market which is meant to be Melbourne's "premier open-air market". One word of advice, if you're ever in Melbourne, don't bother going there. The only good thing we found was a packet of licorice allsorts, and even they were a bit chewy and jaw breaking.
Cold and wet, we walked to the Old Melbourne Gaol where some of Australia's most infamous criminals including Ned Kelly and
Squizzy Taylor (yep, I don't know who he is either) have been imprisoned. The tour started with The Watch House Experience where you are actually arrested and locked up in one of the cells by a Charge Sergeant. The photo on the right is us in jail. The rest of it is self-guided, and due to Dave being the slow reader that he is, we must have been there for almost 2 hours! You can imagine how bored I was (although grateful for being warm and inside) after 40 minutes...
After the Gaol experience we headed up to the "Italian" part of Melbourne to sample some good traditional Italian cuisine. Inevitably, I was disappointed; no-one can cook as well as my dad - in fact, my mum can cook better Italian food than what was on offer - and I have made a vow (probably shortlived) to myself that I won't go to anymore Italian restaurants whilst I'm in Australia. By the time lunch was over, our flight back to Sydney was looming so we headed back to the hostel to collect our bags and to the station to get the bus to the airport.
Boarding the plane, we discovered it had been a sweltering weekend in Sydney - up to 38 degrees - and on arriving home, we were hit by the remnants of the heat. Just our luck! Melbourne is lovely - I would have liked a little longer to explore it properly so we're planning on going back - but I think I prefer Sydney!
Cold and wet, we walked to the Old Melbourne Gaol where some of Australia's most infamous criminals including Ned Kelly and
Squizzy Taylor (yep, I don't know who he is either) have been imprisoned. The tour started with The Watch House Experience where you are actually arrested and locked up in one of the cells by a Charge Sergeant. The photo on the right is us in jail. The rest of it is self-guided, and due to Dave being the slow reader that he is, we must have been there for almost 2 hours! You can imagine how bored I was (although grateful for being warm and inside) after 40 minutes...After the Gaol experience we headed up to the "Italian" part of Melbourne to sample some good traditional Italian cuisine. Inevitably, I was disappointed; no-one can cook as well as my dad - in fact, my mum can cook better Italian food than what was on offer - and I have made a vow (probably shortlived) to myself that I won't go to anymore Italian restaurants whilst I'm in Australia. By the time lunch was over, our flight back to Sydney was looming so we headed back to the hostel to collect our bags and to the station to get the bus to the airport.
Boarding the plane, we discovered it had been a sweltering weekend in Sydney - up to 38 degrees - and on arriving home, we were hit by the remnants of the heat. Just our luck! Melbourne is lovely - I would have liked a little longer to explore it properly so we're planning on going back - but I think I prefer Sydney!
A very wet weekend in Melbourne - part I
The time had finally come for us to jet off to Melbourne after a long week of work. Our flight with Tiger Airways was delayed by around half an hour so we didn't end up landing until about midnight and then it took a $60 cab ride to where we were staying - The Greenhouse. Being my first time in a hostel, I was actually pleasantly surprised; apart from the fact that our room had no windows and it was quite noisy at times, it was a fairly nice place to stay! Really central, very cheap and, most importantly, clean. Breakfast was included in the cost but we went downstairs on Saturday morning to find just cornflakes and bread; we decided to eat out.
Venturing outside, we found a little lane full of buzzing cafes, which is apparently what Melbourne is famous for - we settled down to a coffee, newspaper and bowl of muesli. Relaxing and delicious. After this, we meandered around the streets of the city, familiarising ourselves with the place. Dave wanted to go down to the Yarra River so we took a walk there and decided to get a ferry up the river to a place called Williamstown. Although a little cold, this was a great way to see the city. Unfortunately, Williamstown wasn't as exciting so we decided to get the train straight back!
Back to Melbourne CBD we went to the Docklands for a spot of lunch and a wander round Harbour Town, which is an outlet centre. Typically though, when you've decided you want to go shopping, you can never find anything nice! By this time the weather had began to turn and our walk back to the hostel was a wet one.
Dinner was at Ca de Vin in the Melbourne GPO, which was a lovely little restaurant, hidden in an ambient alleyway - rather romantic! After this, we ventured to a bar we'd been recommended by a girl working in Ted Baker called Cookie, with four floors and a rooftop cinema and bar. We decided to brave the rooftop bar - great views but it was freezing cold and absolutely pouring down. We had a quick drink, took some photos (mostly obscured by the rain) and headed to the Crown Casino - the biggest casino in the southern hemisphere. Dave had a flutter, I had an Irish coffee to warm myself up, and we eventually made it back in one piece, but a bit wet and miserable, to our hostel.
Venturing outside, we found a little lane full of buzzing cafes, which is apparently what Melbourne is famous for - we settled down to a coffee, newspaper and bowl of muesli. Relaxing and delicious. After this, we meandered around the streets of the city, familiarising ourselves with the place. Dave wanted to go down to the Yarra River so we took a walk there and decided to get a ferry up the river to a place called Williamstown. Although a little cold, this was a great way to see the city. Unfortunately, Williamstown wasn't as exciting so we decided to get the train straight back!
Back to Melbourne CBD we went to the Docklands for a spot of lunch and a wander round Harbour Town, which is an outlet centre. Typically though, when you've decided you want to go shopping, you can never find anything nice! By this time the weather had began to turn and our walk back to the hostel was a wet one.
Dinner was at Ca de Vin in the Melbourne GPO, which was a lovely little restaurant, hidden in an ambient alleyway - rather romantic! After this, we ventured to a bar we'd been recommended by a girl working in Ted Baker called Cookie, with four floors and a rooftop cinema and bar. We decided to brave the rooftop bar - great views but it was freezing cold and absolutely pouring down. We had a quick drink, took some photos (mostly obscured by the rain) and headed to the Crown Casino - the biggest casino in the southern hemisphere. Dave had a flutter, I had an Irish coffee to warm myself up, and we eventually made it back in one piece, but a bit wet and miserable, to our hostel.
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