To work or to travel - that is the question. To work and travel is the answer.

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Surfers Paradise vol 2

Wednesday

It’s 10 am and I force myself to wake up. It seems like the Vodka Red Bull we had with Matt and Oisin last night still has a perceptible effect on me, ‘cause I’m feeling a bit dizzy. ‘No K, get up, you can’t offer yourself a day off in bed! Remember you are still homeless?’ Our Gold Coast dream is waiting to be fulfilled and we are heading down to Surfers to take a look at a few more apartments.

We paid $7.90 (how many minutes of hard work is that?) to become premium members on the Easy Roommate website, so we could see the contacts of other members offering shared accommodation. Browsed about 25 pages and found 3-4 places that seem to meet our needs. Walking distance to the beach, nice roomies, and swimming pool. Can’t bother to have less :) About 3 hours later, after a long shower and quick breakfast (isn’t it supposed to be the other way round: quick shower and long breakfast?), we are down on GC and ready for the surprises that are waiting for us behind these 3 doors. I’m still having nightmares about the last experience with Mr M. the funky geek, and I’m hoping I won’t have any additional ones from today.

Quick chat with Härmo and Anni that have come down from Brisbane to enjoy a day off in the Paradise, even quicker lunch with sushi (the healthiest fast food!), we walk into a bunch of other Estonians. Surprise, surprise! Again this ‘world is becoming small’ feeling. Funny feeling when you think you have come all the way down to Australia and it’s becoming an everyday thing to meet somebody from back home. So we hear that there’s about 6 Estonians living in the same house in Surfers Paradise. Great news, at least we know where to spend Christmas :) Tiit, one of the local Estonians, shows us an accommodation office around the corner, in case we need to see more places, and keeps talking about his life in Surfers. ‘I wake up, I go surfing, I work, I go surfing, I hang around, and I go surfing.’ More or less. We try some of the ads on the office window and send a few more texts. Two French guys are looking for female roommates for a house on Esplanade, the first street back from the beach. Jin-Jin, or Jim (the handwriting is hard to understand), is offering a great value price, just $75 a week in the heart of Surfers. That’s for a sofa bed in the corner of his living room as we later find out. No, thanks! The French guys seem fun (they speak Frenglish ‘This is the rrroom. Arrre you interrrested?’), but for some reasons we aren’t fascinated by their charm, nor the place itself. We walk down to the top end of Surfers to see another place, but that turns out to be a little shack between the skyscrapers. The dream about a great skyline view from our bedroom falls apart, as the house will probably do, too, in the near future if it doesn’t get a complete ‘face lift’. We see one more house where the only thing I like is the glass table in the living room that is actually a big aquarium with heaps of little fish. Never mind, we have one more place to see in Paradise Waters, between Surfers and Main Beach, and that’s a nice one. Kes otsib, see leiab. ‘Who searches, finds’ we say. The two guys seem nice and friendly with a laid-back attitude and a good sense of humor. We leave and they promise to let us know by tomorrow when they’ve seen another person interested in the room.

Thursday

Tomorrow.. Today.. The next day. Whatever. They say yes, but we are back in Surfers. We have received a few more offers for a rent. Why do things always come in loads? I mean, why do you always get something to mess up your mind when you’ve almost made your decision? When there’s nothing, there’s nothing, and when there’s something, there’s more than one. It must be one of the Murphy laws.

Anyway, the result is this. We are staying in Chevron Towers for a week and move down to Monte Carlo Ave on Broadbeach the week after. Chevron Towers is a 3-tower complex in the very center of Surfers. Perfect location, amazing ocean view from our bedroom on the 20th floor, and a huge pool and Jacuzzi with a little sand beach (real!!) and palm trees on the 6th floor of the Skyline North Tower (where we stay). Under the sky.. and the stars, in Paradise :)

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

A night in the Valley

Backpackers Matt (Canada), Kairi, Ann, and Oisin (Ireland)

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Channel 1: LIVE! from the Gabba

DONE!! And alive! Enjoying my day off after the 5-day roster at the Gabba. Knackered but feeling good, a long sleep and a swim in the pool come in handy. Great days, heaps of fun, new mates, more than ten extra pineapples (read: A$50 notes) on my bank account. And Aussies beated Pommies (the English)! Hooray! ;)

But let's start from the beginning..

Day 1 started early. We got up at 10 past 3 in the morning (or should I say night) when my cruel alarm clock reminded me of the yellow cab we had ordered the night before to pick us up at 4. My shift didn't start before 7 am but Ann's was due to 5:30 (with a 4:30 check-in), so we decided to make the effort together on this very first working day at the Gabba. We had different shifts and different work.. hard times, our first 'break-up' in the past 3 weeks. 'Ännn, bii breiv, ju'll meik it gööl!!' :) When she left, I felt lost. Don't laugh, I'm serious. I had arrived 2 hours too early, there was nobody from my shift, it was still dark outside, and the Gabba looked like a huge strange monster to me. I guess my fears were written on my face, 'cause at a certain point I heard somebody saying 'You'll be alright, girl!'. It was one of the Pinnacle staff trying to encourage their empoyees about to jump into the unknown, 'cause that was exactly what I felt I was doing. I was supposed to be at a public retail bar the first day and work in the corporate area the next 4 days, but somebody had chucked a sickie and they asked me to replace her in the Eastern Suites. See, that was faith, being in the right place at the right time. 'Yey, no drunken cricket hooligans, let's hope the suites are better!'

Bow tie on, red vest on, name badge on, ready to go girl! And then suddenly they said 'As there's just one steward in every suite, you need to read through the corporate staff manual and be aware of..' And a list of million things followed. What?? Alone?? Oh no!! 'No worries, it's just a table of 12, you'll be alright.' 12 people, 3 courses, different drinks, the whole day. Great, K! Keep smiling! Up we go, it's 7 am and we are waiting for the briefing. I meet Joel, a talkative young Aussie. He tells me it's easy, he has done that several times before, of course it's easy. 'Greet the guests, tell them what's happening during the day, what they have on the menu, what can be ordered extra, etc, etc. No worries.' 'How should I know what's happening?' I mumble to myself. The briefing is brief as usual, everything else comes with experience. The experience that I didn't have. I go to my suite (SE51), and I see 10s of other suites on my way. I look at the paper that says who the host is, what's on their menu, what's in the standard beverage package. I find the manual and do what's asked: check the fridge and get acquainted with the drinks, turn on the TV, turn on the AC, check the coffee station, check the table setting. Hmm, BBQ setting, not too difficult: big plates, side plates, some cutlery, wine glasses. More glasses on the shelf, ice bucket, napkins - I know them! Guests start to arrive around 9:30. National Foods is the host. It's one of Australia's largest food companies, with core activities in milk, fresh dairy foods, juice and specialty cheese. Their managed brands also include Yoplait yogurts - French Cheesecake flavour is my absolute favourite here! Yummie :P The first day passes by quickly and I learn something new on each step I make towards the end of the day. Yes, I forgot to put tongs on the BBQ platter, and yes, some of the beer tops flew 3 m away when I tried to open them fast, but that's alright, most of them are twist off anyway, including red and white wine bottles offered at lunch ;) Guests were satisfied, food tasted good, and the loads of alchohol consumed probably made my little mistakes unnoticeable. By the way, Heineken was the most beloved beer! No XXXX Bitter or Gold, just heaps of Heineken. C'mon Aussie! How's that possible? :) The first day of the 5-day cricket marathon finished around 5:30 pm and the home team had done a great job. And it looks like I did pretty well as well, 'cause Pinnacle called to confirm my shift in the Eastern Suites for the rest of the event. And aww.. Ash was such a sweetheart. He sent me a text and offered to pick me up. Thanks, Ash, you saved my little exhausted feet! So when the table was reset (yey, I did it all by myself!), I could finally call it a day and head home..

Day 2. Ann started early again, whereas I could sleep a bit longer and start my day at 7:30. So I decided to save the money for a cab and take a bus down to Woolloongabba. We were all given a 5-day bus pass to use for going to the Gabba, so I could take advantage of the early morning bus ride through the Brisbane's CBD. Arrived there on time, checked in and met some familiar faces from the first day. That's a good feeling when you know where you're going, what you are doing, and who you're working with, so the 2nd day started a whole lot better. I came to know David and his sister Sarah, Emma and Amanda from the suite next door. Really cool people and a great team. Thanks, David, for the lunch 'date' :) Things in Suite SE51 were heating up as well. Got some rather young gentlemen and an important host person Mr A. B. to look after them. Their menu was pretty much the same as the day before, and things were nice and smooth till some of them discovered they could actually order some spirits on top of the beer loads. 'Gosh, how do you mix those drinks! Rum and Coke - that's fine. But what's Cougar Bourbon?' 'No worries, Sir, I'll just go get them for you!' Off to the dispense where Josh aka Bambang masters the alcohol tons. I learn that Bourbon is a sweet whiskey to be drunk with Coke as well. So I get these too bottles (700 ml!), Cokes and ice, and prepare to become a professional bar maid. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.. 25 glasses, I'm doing good.. Till one of the gentlemen, a funky tattood kiwi (read: New-Zealander) starts to get a bit too rowdy. 'Uhh, no more, please!' I think and hope he would stop bugging me, but he wouldn't. One sip and his glass is empty again. Great, it looks like I gotta bring some of the RSA techniques into effect. I ask him politely to slow down and take it easy, have a break. 'You know, the night is still young.' I lay some water on the table which becomes a great joke, with the other guys making fun of the kiwi for getting served a water bottle. I can't think of anything to slow down this continous drinking, but I must not allow things to get out of control during the big sports event, so I just try some chatting with each of them. And that actually works! It keeps them away from drinking and you from preparing the drinks. So I go 'You are from New Zealand, aren't you?' 'Oh yes!' 'I've heard it's beautiful. I'm actually going there myself as part of my trip.' 'Oh, will you?' 'Yeah, what do you think I should definitely see when I go there?' And that was it! A 15-minute monologue about NZ followed. Well done, K! Alright, I need a break, I call Jason to come and cover me. The table is still up, the glasses are still in one piece and the guys are still on feet, when I get back. Thanks, Jason! The 2nd day is becoming to an end. And the funky kiwi as well as the other dudes have become mates and not enemies. All's well that ends well! The leave and give me five.. and the kiwi takes and kisses my hand!! The story of the day in Eastern Suites. No comments..

Day 3. No big news. It's Saturday and some of the guys from the first day are back again. Suite SE51 feels like home. Some more spirits fill out my bar. Gin Tonic is the #1 of the day. Good practise, K! The host Mr D. goes around with his glass and keeps saying 'Could I have one more of those girlie drinks, please?' He means Gin Tonic. Life at the back stage is cool as well, the Eastern Suite people work as a great team.. especially when it comes to staff lunch breaks. I get to know Marc, an English born South African that works as a personal trainer, and Felipe from Columbia that loves the music I love (reggeton!!). Oh, I still know nothing about cricket :) But I'll leave that for the guys out there, Ricky Ponting & Co. Matt, a Canadian guy, gives me good advice on how to keep the guests out on the balcony and out of your way in the suite: 'Turn the air con as low as possible, so they rather stay out in the heat.' Haha, well done, Matt! I choose to save the Aussie and keep a moderate ˚C in the suite :) We are all done by 7pm, except for Ann who is 'slaving' in the huge function room with tens of tables. I wait for her to catch a bus home and do some shopping for food, but to our surprise the lovely Woolworths closed at 6:30pm. It's not Estonia, guys, where Prisma works from 8am to 11pm, 7 days a week! But we found rye bread from Night Owl on Brunswick St that's open 24/7. Almost like Estonian bread. Yummie! Although it caused an avalanche of questions like 'What's Kairi having for lunch?' when I had my sanger the next day at work. 'Do you have digestive problems?' I'm surprised. 'Why should I?' 'You are eating rye bread. People eat it when they have problems with digestion.' 'No way, mate, it's just healthy!' C'mon Aussie, no more white bread! :)

Day 4. Lazy Sunday. A time for families. So I have the host, his son, daughter and her boyfriend, plus other couples in Suite SE51. Easy, just get enough Coke and Ice-Cream for the kids and they live happily ever after. 'No worries' day. As for the cricket is going well and Poms have no chance whatsoever. It's all quiet on the Eastern Front. Bambang is still mastering the dispense, which is just next door to me. Convenient, no long walks with the bottles, and my fridge is always stocked. Chris and Dmitri are taking turns in giving Bambang a hand. Dmitri is the one with a significant career: Day 1 - runner, Day 2 - suite steward, Day 3 - dispenser.. We finish before expected and, as Ann's still 'running' the Legend's Room, Marc decides to keep me company on the way back home. Hmm..

Day 5. Finito! Aussie win! We finish at lunch. Exhausted.. and full. Had enough of the food and the Gabba! A lazy afternoon at South Bank with Marc chatting about life and stuff needs no further comments :) Sweet! As long as it's not cricket..

Here's K, here's Brisbane, Australia. Hoo roo!! (Goobye)

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Get ready for CRICKET!

Two days off before the 5-day working roster. Sit back, relax, enjoy the sun and the pool (H)

We are working 23-27 Nov at the 1st Ashes Test, a 5-day cricket match where Australia is playing vs England at the Gabba. Gabba is the home ground for the Brisbane Lions AFL team and the Queensland Bulls national cricket team, located at Woolloongabba, 2 kms from Brisbane's CBD. All 300 Pinnacle staff has been allocated different shifts to cover at the Gabba. Uniform requirements: white and black, bow tie. Go, penguin girls! :)

Other news..

It's John's birthday today. A good friend from Melbourne. Happy Birthday, John!!

Ben is leaving for a 3-month ski holiday in the States. SKI you later, Ben!! Will miss ya, B.J!

Jarno & Tiit finished their 3-week career as professional tractor drivers in whoop-whoop (read: in the middle of nowhere) and are now back mobile. The 2 cowboys are finally moving down to a bigger city. Guys, drive safe and enjoy Melbourne!!

Monday, November 20, 2006

Paradise, Surfers Paradise (#)

Monday morning. Wakey wakey at 9 am, to catch a train to Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast (H) Did some research over the weekend for accommodation and made a couple of appointments for Monday arvo (afternoon in Aussie lingo) to go and have a look at 3-4 appartments. It's a 1-hour train ride from Brisbane to Nerang and about half an hour bus drive from the train station to the center of Paradise, Surfers Paradise. The return trip costs you about $15 travelling off peak, which means anytime from 9 am to 3:30 pm and from 7 pm onwards. Perfect! We arrived there around 1:30 in the afternoon and took a straight stroll to the beach, with a quick stop at Hungry Jack's on Cavill Avenue (one of the main streets of Surfers) to get that yummie chocolate ice-cream that just makes your day :P And the beach!!!! 10s of kms of hot white sand, deep blue ocean waves that foam and roll over to the beach. Surfers.. on their boogie boards. Full show! Ayee :)

Relaxing 2 hours. Hot sun, cool ocean breeze, good music. Chilllllll!!! But what's that noise in the Paradise? Schoolies!! The traditional high school hangbang. Thousands of school kids celebrating the start of their summer holiday. The one and only destination: Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Queensland. Imagine that!! Boom boom boom let me hear you say way-ooh!! :) Oh no, off we go.. to see these 3 places for rent. Walk straight ahead along Via Roma St to the Isle of Capri. If the heavily developed coastal strip with high skyline buildings and the beach sits on a narrow barrier sandbar, then most of the private houses and villas are built on the artificial islands further inland. Much of the land between the coastal strip and the hinterland was once wetlands drained by the Nerang River, but the swamps have been converted into manmade waterways (over 9 times that of Venice) and artificial islands covered in upmarket homes. Some of the streets actually stretch out in the water, so most of the houses have their own little boat and bridge.

Anyways, the first place we went to see was about 30-minute walk from the beach on the back of the Isle of Capri. Beautiful resort complex with pool, spa, sauna, BBQ. Reminded me of a similar complex in Calabria, Italy where we had this massive Erasmus Event in May 2004. Flashback! :) The flatmates would be 2 young Aussie blokes, one of them working as a personal trainer and carpenter - great combination ;) Not bad looking, probably fun to live with, just that the place is a bit too far off the beach. And that was our condition #1 - must be walking distance from the ocean. It's pobably once in a lifetime that I live on the Gold Coast, so I'd rather take the full package. Back to the beach front! C ya guys! Old Burleigh Rd, one street back from the beach, two bedrooms on offer. Sounds good, there we go. Oh no, he comes and openes the door. Hello, Mr M. Bye, Mr M. Not the ideal type of flatmate. And unfurnished rooms. Where's the bed? No thanks. Turn around the corner, just a few steps away is Wharf Rd. Cool top floor unit, cool Mr A., but we got an impression he wanted a single female rather than the two of us. What kind of a man is that? :D

Back home, homeless.. Subway sanger and lamington (square of sponge cake covered in chocolate icing and coconut) for dinner on the way.. Back to Nerang, back to Brisbane. Tomorrow is a new day ;)

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Jingle bells, jingle bells..

And so this is Christmas.. What? Where? When? At Woolworths!! I was caught surprised at my afternoon shopping when they suddenly tuned their loud speakers in to play Jingle Bells. Forget about the apples, bread, yoghurt, and all that stuff you went to get from the supermarket, it's time for some Christmas shopping. It's November, it's 30 degrees (+30!!), you are standing there with your beach bag and bikini, it's summer.. and believe me it feels really weird. How can it be Christmas in summer? How can they put up a fake Christmas tree on the square out there? How can Santa bring me Christmas presents in a one-horse open sleigh if there is no snow?! What a messed up world! But people adjust, they fit in new environments, they change habits, they replace, adapt and come up with new versions. Here's a rhyme from the Aussie version of Christmas songs, 'Six White Boomers' (where boomers are large kangaroos). Let me giggle :D
Six white boomers, snow white boomers,
Racing Santa Claus through the blazing sun.
Six white boomers, snow white boomers,
On his Australian run.

Sunday. South Bank Beach. It looks like it's becoming a habit. A good habit :P Late mornings, breakfast at lunch (2 in 1). Don't get used to it, K! (a)

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Catering @ Inside Film Awards

The big event I was telling you about the other day turned out to be the Inside Film Awards. The IF Awards are the people's choice awards for Australian film that acknowledge excellence in key areas of filmmaking. The evening was a red carpet event which they say has become one of the most highly anticipated celebrations on the film industry calendar, attracting international celebrities and significant media coverage. Something like little Australian Oscars. Without LA, without Brad Pitt.. but Broadbeach, Gold Coast, Australia :)

Great start, girls, and it's done now! :) It probably wasn't worth all that worrying we went through the day before.. but we pretty much jumped in to the unknown and did something we had almost no previous experience on. You could say 'come on, girls, it's just carrying a few plates of food and a couple of glasses of drinks, things you should well know' but when you realise your hands shake and the champagne glasses just don't wanna stay straight on the tray, you wish you were back in the office sitting at your desk, your PC, your chair.. the old and familiar environment where the only drink you have to carry a few times a day is your own coffee cup. Nah, maybe not! Let's stick to the new and exciting stuff, the whole new start far away in Australia :) Anyways, back to Friday. The day started at 3 pm @ Pinnacle where we met Vera, Simone, Lucas and Alex that were heading to convention center with us. The first 3 are WHMs from Germany and Alex comes from France. Yey, some more Europeans, feels almost like home. Lucas and Simone have bought a 'nice' old van to travel the country and that van was our transportation to the glamorous gala night. Would have been fun to park that right in front of the convention center in the middle of all these Ferraris and Lamborghinis the patrons must have driven that night. Anyway, the van didn't break down, although for a few times on the HWY I thought it would, and we got there in time, checked in at 5 pm and waited for the briefing.

The briefing is practically a short overview of the event where the staff is allocated different tasks to be carried out during the night - who takes the bar, who takes the buffet, etc, etc. If it's your first time to do catering, you probably won't understand a word, but no worries, you'll be alright, that's ok - you know all the great Aussie vocabulary to encourage your 'Don't worry, be happy' attitude. So we got the drinks.. not just one but the full-loaded tray of champagne, beer, sangria, water to walk around with on one, or two, or three hands if you had any because it's really heavy. I seriously thought I'd spill them all over but the little secret is: don't look at them, just walk around and pretend you have an empty tray in hand, 'cause the more you keep looking at them, the more they shake. And I did manage to break a few glasses if that's what you were going to ask :) Not in front of the guests but back at the bar collecting some empty ones. No worries, killud toovad õnne, that's what we say back home when you break a glass - fragments bring luck! Done with the drinks, we moved on to the food. Sushi, chicken, spring rolls, scallops with bacon. What a crazy combination to roll seafood in bacon, and believe me the Aussie go absolutely mad about these little greasy things. They would just run over you and stick their little white gloves into the bowl. There you go, madam! And they eat, and they drink, and they eat again. Enough for the $200 they paid for the ticket that night. Funny! Celebrities.. I wonder why I didn't recognize any. I told ya, no Brad Pitt! And no Alf and Sally either, from Home & Away! :) The rest of them still gotta make their way to da Movie World :D

1 am.. We left early, jumped out of the sexy blue shirt and black vest, jumped in the old van, and fell asleep on the back seat while Lucas was driving us back home in Brisbane. It was about 3:30 am when we finally hit the sack tonight.. to get up at 8 for the RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) test @ Pinnacle (compulsory in F&B - Food & Beverage). The guy that held the 4-hour training was one great character. He would crack a joke on each of us coming from different countries with different language, expectations, laws and experience in F&B service. And all these Aussie expressions: schooner - a large beer glass, grog - a general term for alcoholic drinks, sanger - sandwich, brekky - breakfast, etc, etc. C'mon guys! :) Paid $60 for the fun and the multiple choice test.. and became all so experienced on the Liquor Act from 1992. What did I learn? Hmm.. nothing? (a) We'll see! ;)

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Time to make some Money (H)

Hey guys!

Just realised I haven't dropped a line in the past 3 days and I know some of you are anxiously waiting for the latest news from Down Under. So here's a little bit about the last happenings in Brisbane. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday - the one word that describes them all is Pinnacle. Pinnacle Hospitality and Travel People is Australia's leading specialist hospitality and recruitment partner. And I'm now officially one of the wanted Pinnacle people :) Catering assistant, barista, bar attendant, whatever's needed. You know I've got all the experience! (a) So yeah, just chose the easier way to make some extra $. The door to door visits to the hotels on Monday have had no results so far, except for the Hilton that politely said no in writing. Yeah, the one I actually have some experience on, which is a bit annoying.. Anyways, no worries, life goes on! :) On Tuesday we handed in some more applications in the CBD area at the Myer complex with the big department store and cinema, but thought we might as well try one of the agencies in case we don't find anything by ourselves. That's how we ended up at the Pinnacle office on 491 Adelaide Street. We also met Keit, one of the many Estonian WHM's in Brisbane. She's been here since mid September and loves the place. But who wouldn't! We had lunch on the Queen Street Mall (again!) and tried to gather as much useful information as possible from her 2-month experience in here, with all the pros and cons of the agencies, etc. So back to Pinnacle. On Tuesday we left our resume, on Wednesday we were asked to stop by for a skills test and a short interview. Which we almost missed as the Weather Man had decided to pour some heavy ice and water all of a sudden on the hot city streets, but we made it - no matter what :) The test - gimme a break, they would ask you simple questions like why is it necessary to wash the fruits and vegetables, or how much change would you give if a client orders a coffee for $2.20 and a muffin for $1.10 and gives you $5. $1.70!!! That's when they don't say you can keep the change :D Tricky one! Was a little worried for the interview at first but it turned out to be a piece of cake, just as the test. Keep smiling, and you'll almost always work out something. Anyways, today we went there for the 3rd time this week and completed a little training. Hmm, I don't know how but tomorrow is my first workday and I'm gonna have to juggle with the plates and bottles at some big event in Gold Coast convention & exhibition center. So I practised hard with some Ash & Arpi's plates and kitchen wear tonight :D Gold Coast, where we're going tomorrow, is about 45-minute drive from Brissy, right on the ocean front, with some well known beaches such as Surfers Paradise, Broadbeach, Mermaid Beach, Miami Beach, etc. As the high season is about to start and Gold Coast is packed with tourists from the other parts of Australia as well as overseas, they've got heaps of jobs available and are in a desperate need or casual staff. Which is perfect as we've actually decided to move down there soon to rent a place right on the beach (H) But you gotta wait to hear more about those big plans of us :P

Okie dokie, over and out now.. Tomorrow is a big day! :)

Monday, November 13, 2006

Fun on Sunday. Work on Monday

It's getting hot in Australia. Locals say it's late spring but it really feels like mid summer to me, which is great because I love the heat so much more than the bad ski weather back home. Yesterday was just fantastic! We got up rather late again (Sunday's fun!) and decided to check out the artificial beach on the Brisbane River called South Bank. It is on the other side of the CBD from Fortitude Valley but still only about half and hour walk away from home. As I only got my camera on Saturday, we decided to go for the obligatory photo shoot as well. Well done, girls! We got home with 80 pictures :) We passed Queen Street Mall, the now so homely main street of Brisbane's CBD, to get some sushi we had discovered the other day for the lunch on beach. We also found our next favorite in Australia - fresh orange juice bottled in different size: 300 ml, 500 ml and 1 litre. Half a litre for as little as $2.50 :P Queen Street Mall ends with the Victoria Bridge that takes you over the river to the South Bank Parklands. Right before the bridge is a little square with the Conrad Treasury Building, where I saw them putting up a big Christmas tree today :) Right after the bridge is the beach. What they call a beach is actually a set of swimming pools surrounded by heaps of sand and palm trees. It's amazing! You can actually see the skyscrapers right on the other side of the river, but when you lay down on the white sand it really feels as if you were away for a dream vacation, and the only sounds that you hear are the people splashing in the water. What a chill out! (H) But be aware! Mr Sun is stronger than usual on this Continent and gets your nose red as soon as you forget to spread your 30 SPF on it. So we got up soon and continued our Sunday walk in the City Botanic Gardens, which is practically a big public park where some of the rare trees and bushes have been planted extra to give it the name Botanic Gardens. Palm trees here, palm trees there, palm trees almost everywhere :)

So far, so good. Today we actually did some hard stuff, too. So it's not all fun, fun, fun :) We met Härmo and Anni (the 2 Estonian friends of us) the other night and had a little discussion about the job opportunities they've come across. So we thought we'd better give it a try and start as early as possible to find some decent income, or our Australian Dream will end as short as that. First Monday, first employment applications. We started with the hotels in CBD: Hilton Brisbane, Conrad International, Holiday Inn, Marriott, etc, etc. The Brisbane's TOP 10 (H) 8 hours of walking with a continous 'keep smiling' - let's see if we have any luck.. so you could hear stories about Reception Kairi and Catering Ann pretty soon :) Anyways, the job search ended with the Marriott right on Queen Street corner and the only other stop we made on our way back home was at Woolworths to get some food. 'LOW PRICES you can count on, everyday' it says.. Hey guys, stop joking! The banana was already $10 per kg a few days ago, and today it was $11.98. I counted on $10! Alright, no worries, you have attached an explanation next to the price tag that says: "The cyclone in North Queensland will result in severe shortage of bananas. We are working closely with our growers as they work towards their recovery." Poor bananas, not only is there a shortage of them but they are actually short, too. Anyways, forget about the prices and you might actually feel as if you were at Rimi or Prisma or any other Estonian supermarket, because it's no big surprise you meet 3 other fellow countrymen on their evening shopping at Woolworths. 'Hello, Estonia! How's it going?' :)

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Discovering Brisbane

Friday morning started early: at 6 am. That was when the two sleepyheads, me and Ann, finally decided we had had enough of sleep (more 14 hours!) and were ready for action :) New place, new life, new phone number, new bank account.. So off we go to the Brisbane's CBD (H) Fortitude Valley, where Ash and Arpi live, is one of the suburbs right off the center of the city that is just a 15-minute walk away by Ann Street. Yeah, that's right, Ann's got her own street here. Ann Street, Kairi Town - there's a little something for everybody in Australia. Ann Street takes you down to the Adelaide Street corner, right where we had to go to get the visa in the passport at DIMIA (Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs). The office was on the 14th floor of one of the Brisbane's mini skyscrapers and the whole process didn't take us more than about half an hour. Legally immigrated, we headed on to the bank - lucky Commonwealth will now be saving our 'millions' $$$ Our first expense was the phone number and prepaid recharge. The Red Sim (Vodafone) is on a -10% sale at Woolworths. And they have this pretty good offer where you pay $49 and get a $230 phone credit to be spent in 30 days, which also includes 20 minutes of international calls wherever in the world. Go Vodafone! :) My new phone number is +61420454305. Our shopping continued on Queen Street Mall, which is a pedestrian area in the heart of the city with plenty of shops and restaurants. That's where we found the take-away sushi that is only $1.80 per each, and you get enough of two sushi rolls that are so big. We even brought some home for dinner :P Yummie! Yeah, and the fashion is pretty nice as well over here, or maybe it was just great to see all these bright colored summer clothes and bikini for a change. Forget about the boots and hats, rollnecks and winter coats back home! It's a summer time!!

Saturday morning we slept in and got up at noon. I love weekends! It was a really beautiful day, and Ash & Arpi took us on a little drive around the city. It was great because we got to see the different suburbs and residental areas of Brisbane, so we know where to look for rent. The funny thing here is the river that curves a lot and makes it really confusing to understand on which side of the river you currently are. I guess I'm gonna take this River Cat (city water transport) in one of these days to have a little boat trip along the tricky river. The other thing I like about Brisbane are the parks where people go for bbq's. If you ever have a chance to live in Milan where almost all you can see are buildings (nice and historical - true, but still just stone), you realise how essential are the green areas in big cities. Brisbane's full of them. New Farm Park, City Botanic Gardens, South Bank, Roma Street Parkland, etc. In the corner of the New Farm Park there's the old Powerhouse which is now been used as an art center for different exhibitions. They currently have one by Henri van Noordenburg, a photo exhibition of different towns. And the very first picture right when you get in is of Tallinn!! Coincidence? Our city tour finished on top of the Mount Coot-tha where you get the best view over the entire city with the Moreton Bay on the background on one side and the Great Dividing Range on the other side. It's amazing how big this city actually is. The CBD is just a tiny little center area where the skyscrapers tower high. The rest of the city stretches out on both sides of the curvy river and goes as far as the eye can see. The thing that makes Brisbane a nice place to live in is that there are almost no huge apartment blocks, but most of the people live in smaller houses that form the many suburbs of the city. It's not one big flat city, but a city of different suburbs, some of them located on little hills in the river-bed. Lovable! :) And there's enough space for more than 1.5 million people - which is more than the whole population of Estonia.

Oh! And I also made a great purchase from the Indooroopilly shopping center. My lovely little Canon Digital Ixus i7 Zoom. The price at Harvey Norman was initially $449, but Ash said they would come down on price if you say you've seen it cheaper somewhere else. So we tried that and I got my camera for $360! Unbelievable country!! :) Gives you an idea how high the actual mark-up price is. Anyways, a camera is a must travelling in this country, and I'm addicted to my Canon with a 2 GB memory card :D

Friday, November 10, 2006

G'Day Brisbane, Australia!

It's 6 am on Friday, the 10th of November. A new day is about to begin in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Australia. And I'm wide awake. I guess the jetlag still enjoys messing up my nights and days, but I'm starting to get the point now :) We arrived to Brisbane yesterday morning around 7 am.. after a 3-day trip via Riga, Istanbul, Dubai and Singapore airports.

I left home on Monday night after a busy day finishing things at work, packing my suitcase and saying the last good-byes. My dad drove us to the airport in Riga, 300 km away from Tallinn. I still can't explain how grateful I am to have the best dad in the world. I'm really glad he was the last one that I got to say good-bye to before leaving, and he definitely will be the first one I'm going to see once I get back from this trip around the world. Anyways, the first night at Riga was pretty shocking. It was cold at the airport and me and Heili found it really hard to fall asleep. It looks like Ann was the only one of us that actually dreamed of something that night as she enjoyed her sleep on the 'comfy' airport bench. After looking around in the departure hall, we found those two massage chairs with Heili, except that they weren't working as you gotta insert money in it and we had no Latvian coins with us. Anyways, those leather chairs were way more comfy and warm than the metal benches, so at least that made amends for the sleepless night at the airport :)

At 6:35 on Tuesday morning we left Riga and the first flight took us to Istanbul, Turkey. I don't remember much about these 3 hours on the plane, so I guess I finally did get some sleep after all. We had the whole day in Istanbul before the next flight would leave for Dubai, so we decided to get the €10 visa and exchange some Turkish liras to have a look around in the center of the half European, half Asian city. There's this metro that takes you from the Ataturk airport to Aksaray where you can get a tram to Sultanahmet on the historical peninsula. That part of the city is on the European side (known as Rumelia) of the Bosphorus strait and is famous for its many mosques. It's the old part of the city which is beautiful and clean with many parks, shops and cafés. However, if you aren't used to it you might get a bit tired after a little while of all these colourful street markets, fake Nike and Adi shoes, staring Turkish men and their incomprehensible comments. Don't know if it's for the Arabic culture where men have more power than women, but most of the shops we came across on the streets were for men, too. So after a walk from one mosque to another, a lunch at one of the street restaurants and some shop inspection, we headed back to the airport to wait for the next flight to Dubai. On the way back I must have fallen asleep on the train because I had Ann to continuously wake me up, otherwise I might have been kidnapped by one of the many Turkish men sitting around us. As our city tour ended up short and we still had plenty of time at the airport, we decided to go for a little coffee at the Starbucks. That, as the rest of the Turkey's biggest city, was an experience on its own. The first thing we noticed were the male waiters and barmen (all men again! what's wrong with the city?), which actually wasn't that bad as it made it very easy to get a free latte for a simple smile (thank you Mr Vulcan :)) What an enjoyable half an hour with a ginger latte and blueberry muffin. The next three hours passed by just waiting for the plane. We got our huge and heavy bags back from the baggage store room (which we later realised had been an unnecessary hassle as we could have checked the baggage in from Riga to Brisbane directly!) and headed on.

The check-in dude was nice again and gave us the whole seat row on the plane, so we could actually sit back, relax and enjoy the Emirates 5-star service in the air. The personal entertainment station was really cool: hundreds of good movies that are currently on in the cinemas, a wide choice of music from classics to the UK chart hits, including the best albums of all times, and the inflight camera that shows you a picture in real time both forward and downward of the airplane. So I got to see The Devil Wears Prada and listen to the best music from Johnny Cash (thanks, Kalle, for the CD that was continously playing in my car) to Justin Timberlake (yey! Sexyback) :D And the flight attendants! One of them thought he would show us what a real man can do: bring the stars down for a girl. He switched off the cabin lights and made these little artificial stars appear on the ceiling. Full service, you know! :) It was also the first time I actually enjoyed the meals on board. The 6-course dinner included some sea food, fresh salad, 2 main dishes to choose from, delicious chocolate and cheese cakes, cheese and biscuits, and loads of wine and other spirits to make your flight go smoother. Yummie, we had loads of white wine, and I guess that's why the 4 hours from Istanbul to Dubai really seemed to fly.

Dubai airport is massive, imagine palm trees actually growing inside the airport building. And the duty free shops are open all night long, so we ended up buying two nice Guess wallets and some Lancome cosmetics (a) Girls, girls, girls :D Unfortunately we missed our beauty sleep that night and stayed up till the next flight took off for Singapore at about 9 am in the morning. The next two flights were long and tiresome, and the entertainment station wasn't that much fun either as it seemed to be an older release with just a few movies to choose from, but the meals and some Bailey's on ice made it up again :)

With a short 30-minute stop in Singapore, we arrived to Brisbane about 15 hours after the take off from Dubai. The last few hours of the flight were exciting, we could see the Lost Continent down under: vast deserts with no life whatsoever. Massive.. and empty! You could actually immigrate the whole Europe or half of the Chinese population on that area out there, except that nobody would probably ever wanna live there. However, the coastal areas are fantastic and we could see that as soon as the plane approached Brisbane. It's not all flat, but has got some little cute hillsides and the curvy Brisbane river that runs through the city and flows into the ocean between the Sunshine and Gold Coasts. The airport's not too big and the airport staff seemed to be nice and friendly, even though it was early morning hours the whole terminal was already packed with people.

The passport control and baggage claim was no big hassle, and after a short while we were already out where Ashish had come to pick us up (thanks Ash). Oh, I gotta tell you about a funny incident from the carpark: I thought I'd sit infront so I could talk to Ash while he's driving back home, the problem is that I forgot about the left-hand traffic (that I'm just not used to) and almost got in the car on the driver's seat, before Ash could actually say 'Hey, on the other side!' :D Gosh, how embarrassing but we all got to laugh a lot. The first impression of the city was good, but the first day passed by in the bedroom sleeping off the tremendous jetlag. What a dream come true! Shower, bed, pillow and blanket :) Goodnight, Brisbane!

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Viimane musimops ja kalli-kalli

Aitähhh, Heili, Kalle, Riin, Mooni, Doris, Kärt, Martti, Anton ja Tõnu, ilusa ärasaatmispeo eest reedel! Hea on teada, et kodus on nii armsad ja kallid sõbrad nagu teie. Ja Panoraam ja 2 Quick Start rokkis ka täiega! :)