You think SADE says:
“Smooth operator….”
but what she REALLY says is:
“Booboparella”
No, seriously…
It IS a small world after all!
Hubs and I went out on Saturday night with some friends and got completely lost on the way there, and when we finally made it to our destination, who should be walking out as we were walking in? One of my cousins who lives in Queensland who I hadn’t seen in months! And to think, if we had been 5 minutes earlier or 5 minutes later, we would have missed each other. He was down here for a few days on business and was heading back on the Sunday.
AND, one of the girls in Hub’s course used to be a waitress at the R.E. (our local in Toowong) when we used to go there all the time! We wouldn’t have recognised her though, as we never actually ate there (we just drank!)
I’m sure there will be more small world stories that come out of our adventures down here!!
Oh, you got lay-yers?…
I’m wearing so many layers at the moment I feel like an onion!
I used to pride myself on being able to get ready quickly, but that has gone out the window since moving to Melbourne, and I’m recalling I had the same issues when I lived in Scotland. It’s not like you only have to choose 2 items anymore – top + bottom – nnnnooooooo. Now you have to look outside and determine what sort of day it is and decide how many layers are going underneath your shirt (do you wear a singlet AND a thermal, or just an undershirt?) then you decide on your top, then you look outside again and realise it’s started to rain, so you add another layer, then you choose between leggings, stockings, or long socks to wear under your skirt/trousers/jeans, then you pick either skirt/trousers/jeans, then you realise the rain has stopped, the sun has come out, but the wind has dropped the temperature by about 5 degrees, so you add ANOTHER layer underneath! THEN you have to decide on a jacket – do you take the waterproof one just in case it starts raining again? Or the one with the hood? Or the super-dooper warm one that you might end up taking off and carrying around for most of the day?
But we’re not done yet! We now have to choose accessories! I start with the shoes – do I need closed-in boots for the cold? Or waterproof shoes for the wet weather? Do I take a scarf? (yes… ALWAYS take a scarf) and do I then top it off with my Barret to protect my poor little ears from the wind? (again, the answer is usually a resounding YES!!) And then we’re ready to go!
No wait, I have to go to the toilet first…. this could take a while…. 🙂
College Life
We have been living on college for 10 days now, and if you had asked me yesterday how it was going, then I would have said “pretty good” but today I would say it’s going really well! We had our first SCR (Senior Common Room) dinner last night and it was really great. We now feel like we’re a part of a community, instead of being the newbies. Our room is starting to feel more like a home since we’ve found places for most of our stuff.
Here’s what the place looked like before we unpacked:
And this was during the unpacking: (eeeeeeeek!)
And these was taken Saturday after lunch. Home sweet Home!
We are quite comfortable in our 2 rooms plus bathroom. The meals are all eaten in “The Dome” and we are yet to have our first formal dinner, which take place Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Apparently it’s quite la-di-da! Hubsband has to wear a suit and tie and I can wear pretty much anything except jeans, as long as it looks classy! And we have our first Black Tie dinner and welcoming Mass next Friday which should be heaps of fun too.
There are quite a few people around our age and a few are in the same course as Hubs. I seem to be the odd one out, not currently adding to a HECS debt (I already have one!!) so I feel a bit out of the loop in some ways, but everyone is making us feel very welcome.
I’ll leave you all with the view we have every morning when we step out of our front door. We will be attending our first Mass tomorrow evening and we’re a little nervous about not knowing all the moves (Catholic services always feel like a carefully choreographed sequence, and I forgot to turn up to rehearsals!) Apparently the messages are very good though. We’ll keep you posted!
The Chapel
Restaureview
I’ve decided that since we’re in one of the most well-known restaurant/cafe cities in Australia, I’m going to start reviewing the places we have been to for dinner and drinks. Tonight we’re going to look at a FANTASTIC Italian restaurant on Lygon street that we went to with some friends who are visiting from Brisbane. The restaurant is called Papa Gino’s and it is in the heart of the Italian Restaurant precinct of Melbourne.
We were treated to excellent service, nice ambiance, and FABULOUS Italian food. I couldn’t decide between the pasta and the pizza, so the waiter kindly suggested that I order an entree size of both! So I did! And what a great decision that was. The food was excellent value for money both in quality and quantity. We were not left wanting (and I’m still totally full an hour and a half later!)
Hubsband and our friend shared a calzone and a bolognaise pizza (I sampled both of those dishes too – yummmmmm!) and our other friend and I had the ravioli/tortellini with chicken and spinach in a tomato cream sauce. Oh…. my…. gawsh…. it was all just so good. We brought along some wine we had bought from the Yarra Valley (I still haven’t posted about that yet!!) and to top it off, we weren’t charged corkage. Now THAT’S my kind of place!
All in all a fantastic night out. I give it 4 stars out of 5.
Pain in the neck
A Whine
For the last 4 years or so, whenever I get stressed, I put my neck out. This was something I could manage as it used to go away once the stress was relieved. But now it’s more of a constant problem, and is exacerbated by stress. I feel like I’ve tried everything; massage, chiropractic, acupuncture, heat, sports massage (deep tissue) and pain killers. But nothing has had a long-term affect on the pain, and it’s getting worse. Does that mean I’m more stressed or that the problem has embedded itself into my life and I’m just going to be sore all the time?
I have had to miss work on quite a few occasions, as when it’s really bad, my range of movement is limited. And not only do I miss out on the income, but the treatments cost a fair bit too. I’ve lost count of the amount I have spent on treating my neck over the last few years and am getting a little sick of it. And now that I’m in Melbourne, I don’t have my regular masseuse or acupuncturist to go to when I need it.
I do have my dear Hubsband who gives me massages, so I am grateful for that. But this is an ongoing problem that I really wish I could get rid of. If anyone has any amazing treatments I can try down in Melbs, I would love to hear about them.
That’s the end of my Whine.
First Days
It’s been such an eventful week that it’s hard to know where to start, so I’ll begin with our “First Days” of uni and work. Hubsband started his 2 week bridging course for Medicine last Monday and had a pretty full week. He has met lots of new friends ranging in age from 23 to over 30. They had a pub session on Friday that started around 2pm and ended with last drinks at 10pm! I joined them at around 6pm after work (someone’s gotta earn the beer money! They seem like a lot of fun and I’m sure he’ll enjoy getting to know them over the next few years.
Here is a picture of Hubsband on his first day:
So now it’s my turn. I registered with a recruitment agency and immediately found a job they were advertising that I thought would be great. So while I was there for my interview, I mentioned the job to my recruiter and she arranged for me to meet the person in charge of filling that position. That was on the Monday. I then had an interview for the job on Thursday at 2pm and the job was offered to me at 5:30pm! It’s permanent part-time as the Memberships Administrator for Chemical Engineers in Australia and I’ll be working 5 days a fortnight (Thurs, Fri and every 2nd Wed).
I had my first day there last Thursday and very soon realised that I was going to be working with the most difficult database known to mankind! The lady whose job I was taking over did 2 days of training with me which was really great but it’s SERIOUSLY complex. She could tell that I was having a little freak-out on Friday morning and said to me that when she first started it took her quite a few weeks to feel comfortable with it and not to worry if it wasn’t making sense just yet. That made me feel a bit better. I just hope I remember everything when I go back on Wednesday!!
Here’s me on my first day of work:
So all in all, we both had successful first weeks in our new positions. I’ll be looking for another part-time job to help pay for the beers (and the wines we just bought at the Yarra Valley this weekend, but that’s another post to come!) so until then we’ll just be drinking cask wine… AS IF!!!!
The REAL Lyrics #2
You think Jimmy Barnes says
“Cheap wine and a three day growth”
but what he REALLY says is
“She’s crying like a three-legged goat”
How red is YOUR face?
Nerdy McNerd
I got in touch with my inner-nerd last week and attended “Game On” with Hubsband; “Melbourne’s must-see exhibition of 2008 – the action-packed celebration of games culture that has thrilled over one million players of all ages around the world. Game On tracks the development of videogames from the first computer game to arcade-era hits and the very latest from today’s billion dollar industry.” Make that one million and two players!
I was a little skeptical at first, thinking it was going to be another nerd convention like SupaNova but I was pleasantly surprised at the number of normal people there! (Ha ha. Sorry honey. Just cos you’re a nerd, doesn’t mean you’re not normal.) But seriously, there were children, girlfriends, wifeys, mothers (mostly carrying around jackets and sitting around waiting for hubsbands and kids to get tired) and everyone in between. And the games! We got to play quite a few different games including:
Pong
Frogger
Mario Cart
Star Wars (the arcade game with the vector images)
Tron arcade game
Puzzle Bubble
Gravity
Donkey Kong (game and watch)
Indy 500
Adventure on the Atari
Populous
Chillingham
… just to name a few! There were quite a few people there but there were also quite a few games to play so there was always something to do. We even ran into Yahtzee, but we almost didn’t recognise him cos he wasn’t wearing his trademark hat.
We also checked out the game consoles that had been made over the last 36 years which was actually quite interesting. We finished off with about half an hour in the theatre watching the “Machinima Showcase” which is a “new kind of filmmaking that uses computer games technology to ‘shoot’ film.” Yeah, I found it boring too but Hubs enjoyed it. It gave me a chance to have a rest, so I was happy.
We were there for 3 hours, then I decided it was time to go home. I was all nerded out for one day!
The REAL Lyrics #1
In ‘She Bop’, you think Cyndi Lauper says
“I won’t worry, and I won’t fret” (ain’t no law against it yeah)
but what she REALLY says is
“I want a rabbit, and I want a ferret” (ain’t no law against it YET)
How silly do YOU feel?