ode to the whiteboard

we have this little whiteboard in the apartment that we write random useless messages on... inga is standing over me and is trying to convince me it isn't useless but in fact advice. you be the judge...

- "boys suck, they make mess and they smell" (insert drawing of a fridge falling on a boy) jer's retort "this is not true"

- "mouldy bread is not our friend, nor are bananas with insect eggs on them. these things are wrong" (we had been in quebec)

- "inga, please stop putting your underwear in my pockets. thanks jay"

- "we are living like kings. maybe just minor princes... in a poor country, in africa, with limited produce" (after discussing how well we had been eating)

singin 'if you go out in the woods today....'

so on tuesday night we went and stayed at inga's boyfriend's mother's house which is just outside the city, out in the foresty area. they have a dog that is the size of a small pony, i'm not kidding, his head comes up to my waist and is twice the size of my head. i was praying that it wouldnt jump on me.

the next day i went for a wonder and found this horse that would stand exactly 3m away from me and just stare at me. i'd move to the left a few steps and he would follow till he was 3m away and keep looking at me. i took a few steps forward, he took a steps back and vice versa. strange horse.

then i walked into the forest, got about 1 min in and realised i dont have a clue what was in there. so i turned around and walked out again. i was having visions of a bear and a moose hiding behind the next tree or something, but what i saw was pretty!

we got a ride back to montreal late that night (last night) with a guy who was really cute but didnt speak english and inga was falling asleep so we sat in silence for the 3 hours back to montreal.

now you're all up to date... i'm gonna make halloween decorations for our party - ha ha we get to have a full on proper halloween party and you dont!!! now that the mature portion of the blog is complete... bye!

backpost 3 - Quebec city

in canada there is this thing called allo stop and basically you sign up for membership and the company puts you in contact with a driver whose going to the same city as you are. from montreal to quebec city it costs $16 per person, nearly a 3rd of the price of the bus.

so on monday morning inga and i got a ride to quebec city, and met up with ingas boyfriend there. i know i keep saying this but quebec is gorgeous. there is this massive castle (le Chateau Frontenac - built in 1893) by the water that is cool to look at by day but at night its lit up and is just amazing. there is a wall that goes around the city that also gets lit up and it has arches in it (i dont know if they were there originally) so that you can get from one side of the wall to the other via the cobblestone streets and we walked through one archway and came to an outside skating rink with fairy lights everywhere. this is how these people live from day to day i cant get over it, if we had anything this cool, or something like tam tam (see previous post) it would only be during peak tourist/holiday season. i'm starting to dislike australia's attitude! laid back and relaxed my arse!! we are SO laid back we dont DO anything!! *cough* and cannons line the coast, groups of them are nearly the whole way round the island. naturally i jumped up on one and inga took photos.

they have what they call uppertown and lowertown quebec, back in the old days all the important people lived in uppertown and all the plebs and poor people lived in lowertown. you can stand on the edge of uppertown looking over lowertown and you're still about 10m above the tallest roof. the stairs to get between the two are pure evil, one is even called break-neck staircase... hmmm... (i dont want to know how that came about). but its worth it. the shops are so cute and they're in cobble stone streets that a car could barely drive through. the restaurants and houses are spectacular. somehow i dont think the plebs actually lived like that back in the day.

we went out that night to an underground pub where there is live music. this cool french singer was there and the entire pub was drunk and singing (it was a monday night). we played quaters (a drinking game) and caught up with the rest of the bar (i think we drank more than the pub night in montreal if thats possible). at one stage inga and her friends were outside and i ran outside to tell her something and had left my coat inside. on the way back in there was these 2 guys blocking the stairs talking and i was just standing there waiting and ended up getting so cold i've just put my arms under this guys jacket, hugged him smiled and said 'hi, your warm and my jackets inside'. he couldnt believe his luck and i ended up grabbing my coat and split up from inga. she wrote the address and phone number of where i was staying on my hand like i was 5 or something and sent me off. the guy and his brother showed me a nice time in quebec city for a few hours and then i returned to inga via cab - reading the address off my hand. we got hungry at like 3 am and went to the allnight service station on the corner where you have to buzz the door, the guy unlocks it and lets you in then locks you in agian. he was fully learing at us, made us noodles and then said we can both live with him in quebec if we like. i've looked at inga and was quickly coming up with a plan to throw the metal chip stand through the glass doors if we had to make an escape but then more people buzzed on the door and we paid for our items and bolted. very strange man.

backpost 2: tam tam

sunday

inga and i dragged ourselves out of bed at about 2pm to go to tam tam which is held at the base of mount royal. i'll go into more detail but basically tam tam is a lot of people gathering and banging on drums.

we caught a bus to the top of the mountain and then climbed down as the view is absolutely amazing from the top. you can see all of the city and the water surrounding it as well. as you climb down you are completely surround by the red/yellow/orange/green trees i keep harping on about but your on a distinct pathway so its a really nice walk and we could hear the drums from tam tam already, it sounded like we were about to stumble across people sacrificing a goat or something. as we got the the base of the mountain we could smell the burning weed... you could almost get high just breathing in that place.

after you break through the trees we saw a group of about 30 people playing a medieval game they usually play in the forest. basically they re-enact a battle from medieval times and they dress up and make swords and axes and everything. we kept walking there was a huge statue in the middle of this park with about 20 people playing - i call them drums cos i dont know the proper name but it looks like a single bongo only the body of it is a lot longer -, people also play tamberines, triangles, whistles and there was even a saxaphone. there were about another 50 people standing around dancing or just watching. the people dancing look like they are part of a sponsored epileptic fit but it was amazing to be there (and you kinda wanna join in). tam tam happens every sunday but it isnt an actual organised event. the locals just turn up whenever on sunday and finish playing when its too cold or they get bored or something. apparently in the summer the park is covered with hundreds of people all there for tam tam.

backpost 1: montreal - the pub thing

due to so much happening in the last few days i've decided to back post.

last saturday
its quite pitiful really, i had been in montreal for over a week before i made it to a pub but once we did it, boy did we drink enough to make up for it. the night started at a place called winston church-hill which was a kinda underground pub/club. loud music and dancing on one side but the rest of the room was full of bars (i'm talking at least 5) and bar type furniture. it was very dark and we (myself, inga and a friend of hers laura) drank A LOT but still didnt find many cute guys to talk to so we kept drinking... A LOT. we were just about to go when inga decides to make a bathroom pit stop so laura and i are dancing to pass time. turns out all the cute men were on the dance floor. laura had a boyfriend but was getting quite a lot of unwanted attention so we spent quite a bit of time pretending we were 'together' as she has trouble getting rid of them. anyway, i see this guy trying to get my attention - tall, black, well dressed but as i said before it was dark and i was drunk so i couldnt be sure if he was as cute as i thought. i decided not to bother and didnt meet his gaze when all of a sudden he was dancing up behind me with his hands on my hips. my initial reaction was to tell him to bugger off but the other part of me went - this is kinda fun - so i didnt do anything. inga walks out of the bathroom, takes one look at me and goes 'ok laura we're stayin for a bit' and moves away to dance. i've grabbed her and asked if the guy was cute, she said ... and i quote 'shit yeah'... so i turned around to introduce myself. he was indeed gorgeous but then... he spoke.

it was NOT a sexy accent. he would say something and then say okay? but it was more like okAAYYYY and it would end up at a really high pitch. i'm not proud of it but i kissed him purely to shut him up. then he decided he wanted me to come live with him. i was like, whats your name again?? and he kept saying 'you come home with me?? yeah? maybe???' with me, yeah and maybe all ending with that high pitch thing. he was cute, i may have considered leaving with him but as soon as he said 'okAAYYYY' again i knew i couldnt do it. i signaled inga and she came over to save me saying (and i'm not joking) 'nat we have to go now, carrots, potatoes, onions, potatoes, carrots' it was incredibly funny and i had to try look both concerned and disappointed that i was leaving without laughing my arse off. once outside the pub i got belted by inga for turning him down on account of his voice. her solution 'just tell him not to talk!'

then we went to hungry jacks to use their bathroom and hit on the 2 security guards there. they couldnt come dancing so we left them and headed towards a pub called thursdays... or tuesdays... some day anyway (which i thought we had been in the whole time mind you) but on the way saw a karaoke place so we ran in. unfortunately they were closing in 30 mins and we couldn't sing a song but we had fun and danced and sang along with the last few people.

by the time we left we realised all pubs were shut and decided we wanted poutine (a Quebec dish thats basically chips with gravy and chunks of cheesy type stuff that doesnt melt... suprisingly good) so at 4am we're walking around montreal looking for poutine and inviting every cute guy we pass to come with us. we almost got a group by snagging one particular guy named steve but his friends chickened out so we left them all behind and continued to dance and yell in the streets on our own.

eventually we made it home in a cab by about 5-5:30am to sleep it off.

old montreal

today i went to old montreal. it really is quite pretty, there are all these little cobble stone ally way type things that double as 'roads' and they have all these little shops and restaurants in them. i say little because you take like, 3 steps and you've passed one. its really cute. the 'roads' are lined with the old fashion black lamp posts, i'd love to see it at night. i found this jewelry stall literally hidden in a tunnel off one of the allys, i felt like a spy or something and was waiting for the woman to address me in russian and demand my watch in return for directions to safety... or something. but my favourite discovery was an entire 'street' that was purely art galleries. it kicked ass over the museum i went to yesterday. i got drawn into one by a painting in the window but as soon as i walked in i saw this painting by a french-canadian artist Francois Samson, and i couldn't take my eyes off it. he uses deep rich colours like reds, browns etc the textures he creates are amazing and it just seemed as though the paint was melting off the canvas. i kept trying to leave but wanted to keep looking at it and the guy in the gallery let me take a photo and gave me a booklet on the artist. apparently he was a construction worker and only recently (in art terms) became an artist.

later i took the train to where an adventure film festival is on but on the way saw this amazing church. i saw people walking into it as i was passing by but at the last second i found myself following them in. the walls were lined with those shelves of candles people pay to light, every inch of the ceiling was painted with angels and clouds, i've never seen so much gold trimming in my life and the alter was just... i dunno it was surreal. there was this massive statue of mary with this beam of light shining on her - it was like a spotlight but not as warm, it was bright like the sun and while it was coming from one direction it bathed her completely. if i was ever going to become a devoted catholic that would have been the moment. i found the film festival thing but it wasn't what i was expecting, i couldn't buy a ticket either as they only sell them for blocks of showings at a time. meaning they have about 7-8 short films in each block and you have to be there from the beginning. i looked at the program and saw that 95% are in french with no subtitles but i still might go back... the scenery in them should be good but eh.

STEP RIGHT UP!

ok its time for interactive blogging... we all know i cant make a decision to save my life and i can't find my trusty lucky coin to toss so everyone reading this must give me their opinion so that i can weigh them up and eventually cast them aside once ive heard what you would all do and decide for myself... thats the plan.

here is my dilemma:
i wanted to go to niagara falls but have done the sums and realised it is going to cost me a minimum of $300. this includes the return train fare, 2 nights at the hostel with breakfast and dinner included. ultimately i know it is a good deal but i am on a budget and starting to freak out that im spending too much money - $300 is still $300 and i still have europe and the stoopid exchange rate to go. i can either, bite the bullet and go anyway. or wait till my next overseas trip as i would like to come back to the states again but we all know that the chances of that plan falling to shyte are very high.

it comes down to how much i want to see it and basically, i love water, i love waterfalls even more and its one of the wonders of the world. but $300 is a lot for one site. what to do what to do.
what would you do?

somewhereeeee over the rainbowwwwww

firsty great news, inga got an extention on her essay. so instead of taking the opportunity to catch up on the work she hasn't done yet, she decided she wanted to take me shopping down Rue Mont Royal which is full of second hand stores and cute cafes. great i say, i can wear my new $7 shirt, my new paddington bear coat and my fabulous new boots... -insert music that indicates trouble ensues-... after the metro (train) trip we're only half way down the street when i realise my feet are really starting to hurt and these boots aren't so fabulous after all. i put up with it till im about ready to feign an epileptic fit just to be able to sit down or even go home when i take the shoes off instead (just for a second) with acute timing, inga turns a corner in the $1 shop to find me standing in the middle of the isle - shoes in hand wearing rainbow socks on my feet and a sheepish grin on my face. just before we leave i put them back on but once we've started walking again i find it increasingly more difficult and that i am NOT HAVING FUN. after weighing up my options:
1. get a bus back to the station and ruin the first full day inga and i have spent together outside of the apartment.
2. take the boots off for good and walk around in rainbow socks all day.
i know that i don't give a S#*% what people think and look expectingly to inga to find she supports the latter option. WOOHOO.. off with the boots!!!

so, all in all we had a good day shopping, bought lots of crap for our upcomming halloween party, and also just general crap. had to throw out the socks once i got home as they had massive holes in them but thats ok i have another pair. but the highlight of my day was avoiding the crazy people in the streets with hair that can only be described as beyond outrageous, the crazy people that are standing in the middle of the street with a hospital drip attached to them but asking for money, the crazy people who wear an item of clothing from every era starting from the 50's all in one outfit, only to look down at my rainbow socks - walking down the street in canada when its getting VERY close to winter and realising that I am infact, somebody's crazy person. however, on the trip home it was hot men on the metro day so that was momentarily forgotten.

me no speak espanol

so ive been trying to use msn messenger thats set up on this computer but its in spanish. its inga's boyfriend jer's computer which is set up in french to begin with, but it was his friend who spoke spanish that set up the msn. im having MAJOR language barrier issues here!!! i sat here for hours with Jer's english to spanish dictionary with no success.

today i went out.. thats right, i left the apartment and went shopping. i managed to spend and exuberant amount of money but it was all on "essential" items. i got...
*all excited*
- a coat, that inga describes as a paddington bear coat. its black, 3/4 length and double breasted.
- boots, my old ones have NO support in them anymore and the heels are starting to break.
- a long sleeved random top, ok maybe not so essential but its the perfect thickness cos with the coat i'll still be warm outside but inside when i take my coat off, i'll still be warm!! not bad for $7.
- a really pretty going out top - its burgundy/red type colour and it has criss-cross things at the waist which gives it a really nice fitted shape and its just so pretty.
- a light blue and white beanie with ears (hehehe) and light blue gloves.

*****WARNING BOYS CLOSE YOUR EYES.. OR DON'T READ THE NEXT FEW LINES EVEN*****

- a new bra thats oh so comfy... yanno they have SO many bra's here in my size that make your boobs go VAVOOM - at home they're like 'if you have have enough already,
you don't get to make them go VAVOOM'... but i didn't get one of those.

***** OK BOYS YOU CAN LOOK NOW************

so, as you can see they were all essential... thats my story and i'm sticking to it!!!!!!

something i noticed on the train today. in australia and even New York (ie, arrogant and rude) people wait for you to get off the train before they get on. not here... you have to barge through people to get off at your stop. strange for a place thats meant to be so polite and friendly.

if you'd like to hear me point out more random and completely useless cultural differences... tune in next week...

me and my poncho

this place is pretty cool. its not that cold yet but at night it can be nippy so i bought a really nice poncho thing... cos i wanted one. i love it, its my new bestfriend. inside though everywhere is SO overheated. even buses and trains, its like they want to walk around in underwear (but they dont - for the men reading this) but its just a pain in the ass cos it means you are constantly removing layers and putting them back on.

i went food shopping yesterday as well and did you know that over here, if there is a popular chocolate bar, then you can also buy not only the ice-cream (normal) but also the breakfast cereal??? (not so normal). i was walking down the breakfast isle and saw reese cereal which was cocoa puff type ball things, half chocolate flavour the other half peanut butter flavour. there was french toast cereal, oreo cereal... you name it. and for the ice-cream... reese icecream, twix icecream, oreo icecream, rolo... its endless. the oreo cookies themselves come in at least 4 different flavours over here too. mint, choc, peanut butter, vanilla but i also think caramel and strawberry were there too. crazy stuff. and they dont pack your groceries for you either they just throw (literally) them down the conveyor belt and you do it yourself.

i made lasagna which turned out to be a bit of a disaster, the first lot of cheese sauce turned to a glue/elastic type substance (inga took a photo) and once it was all put together - freshly made cheese sauce - we were looking at the box to see how long it needed to be cooked for and it said the lasagna sheets were meant to be boiled first. i dont ever recall having to do that at home so we said bugger it and put it in the oven anyway. it came out with about 3 different textures... kinda cooked, chewy, and plain crunchy. inga loved it and keeps eating it... i keep trying to throw it out. shes winning.

boyface - RE: NY comment.. yes absolutely we have to get an apartment together in NY and inga wants to come too (she says we dont have a choice)

sarah - tally = 1 ... and he probably changed his mind after he got some sleep and wasnt so delirious.

in transit

well my last day in New York consisted of me sleeping until 2pm... all the running around finally caught up to me. when i finally dragged my arse out of bed i went to ben & jerrys and had a massive brownie icecream sundee and made myself sick. it was great. i had mint choc chip and oatmeal cookie (it had a cinnamon base) on a brownie then covered with cream and fudge. i only got through half the brownie and cream etc. then i went to ground zero... the twin towers site. its kinda sad, it looks just like something is being constructed only there are 6 massive plaques covered in the names of those who died, and a few memorial type things as well.

i love new york but there are a few things that bug me... there are no rules of the road.
- people walk anywhere, anytime... even if its the traffics right of way but because the people outnumber the cars, they do whatever they want!! and cars just randomly change lanes without indicating and turn when your crossing the street (when its your right of way, they are obviously paying you back).
- the noise, people beep for no apparent reason. the traffic could be free flowing and someone has to beep their horn. there is constantly construction going on. americans themselves are just plain loud. maybe they feel they have to get over the sound of the beeping.
i would love to live there though. just for a while.

caught the 11:45pm bus to montreal and i swear... its a miracle im still alive. the driver was literally falling asleep at the wheel and the bus was swerving A LOT. he was randomly changing lanes and sometimes just driving in between them. and he was also doing about 20 MPH over the speed limit. scary stuff. i feel like writing to greyhound to complain and demand a free return ticket to niagra falls for my trauma.

on the bus i was sitting next to a 36 yr old man who now loves me. we talked the ENTIRE way and at one stage i randomly blurted out i want to go to mexico so now he wants to take me... hmmm... can anyone say sugar daddy? he isnt that bad looking, he is black, he is very sweet, he is an engineer and he put me in a cab from the greyhound station to send me to ingas cos he didnt want me taking the train. he would worry apparently (kinda sweet, i was too tired to keep arguing). he wants to take me to dinner tonight cos he is going back to usa tomorrow, but im thinking its not a good idea... even if i can get a trip to mexico out of it, i only just got here and id be ditching inga on the first night for a guy. oh the dilema.

quickly

sorry, forgot to say 2 things

-my mobile doesn't work in america or canada so if anyone has sent me an sms... sorry i'm not getting them. its not the international roaming, its the phone itself. optus thought it was compatible but apparently they're lying stupid bastards.

-you can comment on my blog anonymously.. this means you DON"T have to sign up but please add your name at the bottom of your comment so i know who it is. thanks.

hehehe... this is fun

i've done so much the last 2 days but i'll try keep this short... try...

i spent monday going from one end of manhattan to the other on the subway. i started off by visiting time square through the day, the place is MASSIVE, you stand in the middle and are just surrounded by buildings king kong would have to look up at and everything is in neon... OMIGOSH even the NYPD station has a neon sign!!! i lost it!! i had NY best pizza - by the slice - for brekkie then went to Yankee Stadium which is in the Bronx (VERY uptown, just out of Manhattan), couldn't get in because the tours were cancelled as Yankees were playing the Red Sox the next day (play-offs i think). took some photos then went all the way downtown to wall street - ate a hotdogs from a vendor and they are suprisingly good, got the staten island ferry across and saw the statue of liberty up close (as close as you can get from a boat). the whole way across on the ferry i'm singin that song out of Working Girl with Melanie Griffiths when she rides the ferry... "ohhhh my heart is aching.. i'm coming to the edge riding over water... " and still am 2 days later. i went to a comedy club in time square which was great. people were selling tickets when i went in earlier that morning. one of the comedians got really shitty at this other comedian cos he was talking to the hostess at the end of comedian 1's set, and he finished on a lame joke and didn't get a massive laugh and after he walked off stage and went out the back he had a fight with comedian 2 and stormed out of the venue. comedian 2 went after him and they're arguing in the foyer but we can still hear some of it and the MC is just trying to talk over the top of them and it was so funny. eventually comedian 2 left refusing to do his set. i got in contact with Joe's (my brother) friend Mariya who lives in NY (wish i'd known before i left Syd) as he had organised for me to stay with her for a couple of days. she lives like, 5 blocks from time square its great.

tuesday - i slept in then walked around the vicinity of Penn Station for about half an hour trying to find the right subway entry to take me to New Jersey. FINALLY find it and get a ticket to Redbank NJ to visit the shop 'Jay & Silent Bobs Secret Stash'. basically its a comic book store that has all of view askiew stuff in it. theres Dogma, Clerks, Mallrats etc memorabilia stuff in it and it was just hilarious. i spent ages in there and took a photo of pretty much every wall. they have the costumes matt and ben wear in dogma, jay and bobs costumes aswell, a moby statue... you can buy stuff like the blue prints that jay and bob come up with the destroy the stage in Mallrats... it was great. i got a few little things, my favourite being a bumper sticker that says 'what's a Nubian?' - banky in chasing amy. i had lunch in this full blown american diner where they actually come up to you and say 'what can i getcha darlin' and everything is served with bacon, i mean everything! pancakes, waffles you name it. and the people are so nice and country bumpkin like (redbank NJ is a small town). the decor was the normal booths you see in movies with the jukebox listings at each table and the full length counter with the little stools and everything. but instead of red it was decked out in pink and green... it was so funny. i loved the place and left a big tip. got the train back, took a few photos of time square at night and then central station. that place is amazing, the ceiling has stuff painted on it (not as elaborate as in europe but still cool), and the big round ball type clock in the middle is smaller than i thought but still really cool. it's all really grand (hence grand central station) and gorgeous. got home and crashed. oh so tired.

not too sure what i'm doing today but i better get movin.

oh, ive figured out a few things about NY... homeless people/crazy people think i'm gorgeous... the subway is a place to hit on chicks - this random guy in a suit sitting across from me took out his earphones, looked at me and said 'you have the prettiest eyes i've ever seen'. the girl next to me raised her eyebrows and smiled at me... it was so funny. i was like thankyou... this is my stop *insert andrews famous running motion here (sorry to the rest its an in joke)*

well gosh darnit

ok so, firstly i have to say to sarah... i'm not a nerd cos i'm on the net everyday so far its just i put 5 bucks in this machine and it reads it as 10 so i had 100 minutes to use... and anyway i just don't sleep much. but i had to say this....

i got back to my room last night after my adventures through mid-town manhattan and after posting previous blog when i went back to my room and realised something was rather odd... i'm the only girl in a room with 11 other boys!!! and at least 8 of them were cute! one walked in wearing nothing but a towel, i've looked up and gone.. ah, hi -insert mouth hitting floor here- then he goes, hi, smiles, removes his towel and he's wearing those little black tight boxer shorts type things... yanno like the bonds adds. *clunk* -insert dropping the map i was holding here-
i think this is the way NY is apologising for screwing me over when i got here.

the people in this hostel aren't very chatty and they all go to bed early... its strange. but i suppose all the decent bars are a lot further downtown and its kinda dodgy around this block at night. the rest of ny is fine at night though, there's so many people and i was worrying about the subway at night but that was jam packed as well... its just when you get further uptown to where i'm staying it gets... less comforting.

i'm off the time square and some parade on 5th ave

now i *heart* NY... and i have the t-shirt to prove it

ok so last you heard i hated NY, that hate turned to loath when i had walked around for 4 more hours with no luck finding a room, its a long weekend apparently. anyway i was about to call no joy and figured i'd get a bus back to montreal after the concert (more later) when this woman overheard me offering the last hotel money just to let me sit in the lobby overnight. after he said no i'm about to leave and she asked me what was going on and i told her and promptly burst into tears (keep in mind i haven't slept for 2 days, i've been walking around all day and i just wanted a shower). she invited me to stay in one of the 2 rooms she had booked with 5 of her friends. they were so nice and i was not looking forward to another 10 hour busride so i said yes. turned out to be the best decision i made, they were SO nice. i had a shower and a nap and went to the eskimo joe gig.

eskimo joe were so great, no one knows who they are over here so it was a nice change not having to fight for the best view and being the only one there who knew all the words to the songs. i got to spend a lot of time with the boys too as they were just hanging around the pub. dan and kav are particularly nice with stu coming in a close 2nd, joel i'm not too fussed about. a lot of people were asking me if they had a cd and where can they get it so things are looking good for the boys. and heres another reason i love new york... they aren't stingy with the vodka! its like drinking 3 parts vodka 1 part orange juice! so i'm feeling a little tipsy and start walking back to the hotel and this place is just amazing at night. once i had the accomodation thing sorted i could look at the city in a different light. there's so many people around you don't feel scared about walking the streets at 2am, its busier than the day. people are so animated and i'm finding most are friendly (minus the cab drivers). finally got a good nights sleep.

today i went shopping with the girls in soho. got a new york yankees jersey which i LOVE and also the previously mentioned i love (heart) new york t-shirt. had lunch in the diner sally had an orgasm in in when harry met sally. said bye to the girls then went to central park(that place is like a whole other world), walked all the way down 5th ave to stand in line for 2 hours to get to the top of the empire state building at night. it was really pretty but i was so cold and tired i took a few photos, had a gaze and stood in line to get out again.

theres so much i can say about new york but this blog would go forever and i've got other things to do. hope you all arent working too hard. *smile*

*singin* NEW YORK... NEEEWWW YORK

well it took 30 hours but i'm here. let me run you through it.. you may want to get comfy...

flight 1 - sydney - hawaii (in transit) (9 hours)
pretty good, the plane was empty so i had a window seat and the seat next to me empty as well so i could move freely and was comfy. food was decent. so i'm fed, comfy and all ready for my inflight movie when F%$ing Harry Potter 3 begins. it HAD to happen. so i occupied myself with magazines and my new nifty MP3 player (which i did get songs on in the end). get off at hawaii and it was so hot and muggy, it was still 28 degrees at midnight. the flight attendents didn't have a clue what was going on and said we had to fill out only one form and not the other and i got given 'the other' in syd so i didn't believe them and filled it out anyway. lucky i did cos when i was about to go through with only one form he tried to send me to the back of the line again till i can fill out 'the other'. i was like, not so fast buddy! oh and aloha! customs made me remove my shoes to go through machine but otherwise they were nice enough. reboard within 10 mins of clearing customs.

flight 2 - hawaii - vancouver (6-7 hours)
flight attendents were mean mean people, i didn't get a blanket and it was really cold so i asked her for one and she was like 'i have none spare' and turned around and went back to her PERSONAL conversation with the other flight attendent. i thought i could see one in their little room too so that pissed me off even more. lucky i had this nice girl sitting next to me that i had been chatting too and she'd lend me her blanket every now and then for a few minutes just to warm up. she only had a singlet top on though so i felt bad taking it from her for long. that flight was a little uncomfortable but still ok. had breakfast on plane and watched the new denzel washington movie that isn't out yet (not man on fire, its got meryl streep in it too). canadian customs are utter bastards!!! he was like, why are you here? what do you do for work? how long are you staying? who are you staying with? how long have you known her? where does she live? whats her name? whats her address? how much cash do you have on you? have you been here before? etc etc... vancouver airport was pleasant. got a starbucks vanilla bean frappe, they are the bomb!! did you know you can hire portable dvd players and rent a movie in the airport?? i cracked up, didn't rent it though. it was REALLY cold in the airport so i put my thermies on in the bathroom and proceeded to fall asleep on the seats at the gate for my next flight, looking out the massive floor to ceiling windows, watching all the planes get loaded up in the rain with a smile on my face. only slept for about 30 mins before boarding.

flight 3 - vancouver - montreal (6 hours)
boarded at 2pm vancouver time and within an hour was getting fed dinner. theres something strange about eating breakfast at 6am, then eating dinner 3 hours later at 7pm. was seated next to a french 40-ish yr old man who was quite nice and interesting. we chatted a lot and he taught me some french phrases to say to inga... first he suggested i learn something nice like "i'm happy to see you"-'je suis heuseuse de te voir'.. then i requested he teach me how to say "you smell", he's like...
[him] you smell nice?
[me] no, just you smell
[him] um (laughs) ok... 'tu sent'
[me] cool... tu sent
[him] surely you want to say... tu sent bonne - 'you smell good'
[me] no, just tu sent
[him] i don't understand
[me] im young and immature... thats the kind of relationship inga and i have. insulting her is a form of affection
[him] oh
[me] you still don't understand do you
[him] not at all
landing in montreal was amazing, the lights from the city make the most structured and beautiful picture. the streets, like america, are very boxed and semitrical so each town is in a square and create a crossword like effect. and they are surrounded by water so each town is joined by a bridge and the patterns just make one massive picture. the french guy was telling me what was what as we were landing too so it was really interesting. once i said bye to him and was waiting for my luggage i asked this lesbian couple (about 50 yrs old) where the greyhound station was and she turned around and asked her brother and he's like, it's about 20 mins that way *points* we're going to pass it if you'd like a lift. i'm like, no i can't do that.. he goes 'you can if you say yes'. (keep in mind i'm extremly tired and know i'm short on time to make the bus) ended up saying yes. you'd never dream of doing that in sydney but canadians are just so genuine and friendly. they don't even lock their doors.

greyhound bus - montreal - new york (8 hours)
get delivered to the door of the station in plenty of time thanks to the nice canadians. walk in and ask a random guy if this is the line for tickets (standing in line) and he's like "no, this is to get on the bus" (may i add this like is the entire length of the station and all going to NY... oh and even if you have a ticket you're not garenteed a seat, its first in first served). i just said thanks and started walking away and he goes 'i'll hold your place in line for you... are you australian? i'm from QLD'.. i just said yes and went to get ticket but he really did hold my place in line and therefore, was my new best friend. we chatted the whole way in line, sat together on the bus, for the first few hours in NY while we tried to decifer the subway system and find a hostel, then i said goodbye to my new friend marcus and kicked myself later that i didn't get his e-mail or anything. he's 30 and gay but we got along so well.

i've been walking around new york all morning and i decided i hate it. the phones are crap and i haven't been able to call home yet, i still haven't found a place to stay, it took me HOURS to find the mercury bar where eskimo joe are playing tonight and americans don't understand the concept of giving directions. nothing is where they say it is. the streets have vomit on them or smell like urine. cab drivers beep at you to see if you want a ride (cos i have luggage) and when you shake your head no they stick up their middle finger and speed off. i'm obviously in the 'bad' end of manhattan (downtown). but i was uptown this morning and that wasn't any better, i might try midtown tomorrow if i don't chuck a hissy fit and get on the bus back to montreal tonight. i might have to if i don't find somewhere to sleep. at the moment i just want a shower and some sleep, i've had a total of about 3 hours sleep spread over all of the flights/bus and i only got 2 hours sleep the night before i left. all i can -sleep- think about -sleep- is -sleep- sleep.

4 more days to go...

it'a hard to believe but in 4 days i'll be leaving the country.

heheheheh *giggles uncontrollably*

i think it's the canada to NY trek that has made me so excited, put in S's words "it is so rock n roll". however, i have a couple of problems before i leave....

1. Italian passport still isn't through - hoping i can fix it all up from italian consulate in canada but it isn't absolutely necessary anyway.

2. i don't think i have clothing that is warm enough and scared i'll die from hypothermia before i can buy a decent coat over there.

3. i forgot about checking with the doctor if i need any injections, especially since thailand had been taken off the vito list by dad and i will be stopping by at some stage.

4. the bank hasn't sent me my new eftpos card and i may turn up in canada with NO access to cash and only my mastercard to survive.

***************WARNING RANT APPROACHING*****************

i truly hate banks!!! they really should have been added to my previous post
"a few of my most hated things" cos... i... i.... i don't like them (there take that!!!)
over a month ago i went in and asked if my mastercard would be ok to use o/s as it is a debit card and linked to my savings. she says.. "oh i'll just order you a new keycard - ok thats done watch for it in the mail".. a week goes by and nothing... ok so i wait for my day off which was about another 4 days away and go into the bank and they say,

[bank] oh did you get a white slip that had the card number on it?
[me] no she just said it was ordered.
[bank] hmm, ok well we'll order you another one. here is the white slip, keep an eye out.

a week later still nothing... i go back to the bank

[me] hi, a new card was ordered for me.. here is the white slip, i haven't received anything yet and i leave the country in a week and a half. can you please find out whats going on.
[bank] well theres nothing here in the system, oh its a woolies ezy banking account.. i don't think you can order that through here.
[me] well it's a commonwealth based account and the people i spoke to last week said it was fine, they rang the woolies ezy info line and they said it was fine. it was put through, i have a white card... all i need now is my eftpos card.
[bank] tania can we order woolies cards?
[tania] yes
[bank] ok well we'll order you another one... here's a new white slip
[me] that isn't good enough, i leave the country in just over a week, i need to be sure the card will be sent out this time.
[bank] its definitely been ordered this time, here is your new white slip (tears up old white slip which doesn't make possession of new slip very reassuring). keep an eye out (that bloody line again).

a few days later and its nagging at me... i ring ezy bank myself

[me] i would just like to confirm that a eftpos card is being sent out to me
[man on phone (MOP)] no there is nothing in the system
***brain snap***
[me] you can't be serious... this is the 3rd time a card has been ordered for me, i go overseas in a week, what is the problem???????
[mon] how did you order the card
[me] commonwealth bank... 3 TIMES!!!
[mon] well you can't order them from the bank its an woolies ezy account
[me] there is nothing ezy about it and i was told 3 times that i COULD order it from the bank, the bank rang your info line TWICE, and i have been issued a magical little white slip of paper that just isn't working for me... TWICE. if it couldn't have been ordered from them, someone on either your end, or theirs should have said something.
[mon] well i can order you another card but it will take 7-10 working days to get there
[me] and what am i meant to do if it doesn't arrive before i leave? can you put a rush on it?
[mon] no it just has to go through the system
[me] can i pick it up from somewhere so i can save on the posting time?
[mon] no it has to be posted to your address
[me] can you help me at all?!?!
[mon] i can order you a new card.
[me] fine

i'd like to propose a protest against commonwealth bank and woolies ezy banking. i should never have given a commonwealth based institution my money in the first place - they stole my last $7 from me when i was 8. bastards.

well its official folks, i'm unemployed.

allow me to take you briefly through the madness which was last night.

4 pm, S (old civic crowd but still part of the gang) brought up a bag of goodies containing funny headband dress up thingys, timtams, chips, chocolates, jelly lollies... more jelly lollies and shiny shiny smiley face stickers. each of us working (2 other girls as well as me) had to wear said funny headband dress up thingys - which makes every 2nd customer ask what on earth is going on, and every customer look at us like we are insane. we ate ourselves stupid and i spent the majority of the night hugging customers and saying goodbye, as opposed to actually working.

10:40 pm, S (bad influence that girl) turns up at the store with party poppers and the ingredients to make cowboy shots (butterscotch shnapps & baileys). fed me 4 shots in 10 minutes and i still had to get the store closed.

11:30 pm sees us making our way to epping pub where i was bought 2 shots and a drink to her one drink. then 1 shot and a drink to her water. meanwhile festy sleazy men hit on us and wouldn't go away, despite all our boyfriend talk and uncomfortable silences so they'd know we didn't want to chat. when one started putting his hands on me we drew the line and threw all notions of being polite out the window. finally the boys turn up, A (old civic crowd we affectionately call boy), and P (a close friend of mine that was originally a customer). to cut it short, they buy me more drinks and i get home at about 2:30 am.

so here i am, slightly tipsy and wondering if the eskimo joe buy has e-mailed me back and i end up on the computer for an hour (he had by the way.... Definitely not a problem to get me into the NY gig), 3:30 am, i remember eskimo joe are making an appearance on RAGE (music program on ch.2, can't be bothered finding the site) at 3:50 so i might as well stay up for that. taped it as it was the music clips to their old songs that they refuse to play anymore and new clips as well. 4:20 am i decide i smell like ciggy smoke and can't go to bed like that so end up having a llllllooooooonnnnnnnggggggggg shower. around 5-ish i crawl into bed.

8:30 am i wake up in a panic, freaking out that i'm meant to be at work.

the beginning of the end

well this is it folks. in 1 hour and 38 mins i will begin my last shift at civic video wish me luck!!!

to all who thought i was insane...

i do realise that i was calling security but HA! to me and the rest of you... Stu (guitarist) wrote back. and i quote "not sure yet. but i think we can swing something". i have utter faith in my boys so, i'm booking a greyhound ticket next tuesday. hopefully i've heard back from Stu by then confirming my entry to gig but even if i haven't, i have a feeling it will all work out if i just close my eyes and jump.

- favourite bands cd $29.95
- combined cost of tickets this year to see favourite band $140
- t-shirt from favourite bands gig $40
- getting off a 22 hour flight to get straight on a 9 hour bus trip without having a ticket for gig... priceless

there are some things money can buy, but for everything else... you have to be stupid/crazy/me

OH! and the tea party are playing IN montreal (canada is home country) on the 4th & 5th nov. i don't leave until the 11th so i'm going to both those gigs too. i just decided how i'm doing any future o/s trip. go when a band i love is touring and follow them from city to city.

by the way: if anyone tried to click on eskimo joe's link in previous post and didn't get anywhere, i realised my mistake and have fixed the link. it works now.