My week in a nutshell

First of all it was pointed out to me (again) the other day that no one could contact me by my blog because my email address was LSSU (no longer accepts mail) so I fixed that. I cant imagine what on earth possessed me to use that email the first go around but any rate that is now remedied so I can be reached through my blog. Anyone with any questions or comments can email me at letitiaphillips@hotmail.com. I will try my best to answer any questions that anyone has about anything Australian. Actually it would be helpful as you can tell from the following entry sometimes I struggle with what to talk about…

Alright now so on for my exciting Thursday. This entry should make the people back home glad that they live in a colder climate but -31 might be a bit cold. As much as I hate sweating all of the time, I hate shoveling snow and not being able to drive safely (or at all) to places I want (or have) to go. So I guess I will take that trade for now. Anywho, this story should make everyone wanting to be warm, happy that they are not.

Thursday morning I woke up around 5AM and checked my emails. I decided to reply back because I couldn’t go back to sleep so I left the bathroom light on while I typed away on my laptop but didn’t bother turning the main light on. I was minding my own business when I thought I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. But I am a paranoid freako when it comes to bugs (well most things I suppose) so I brushed it off. About five minutes later I look over at this box and I see what appears to be a rather large beetle running up it. So like a flash I am off my bed and to the door to flick on the switch. I don’t really want to wake up the boy sleeping in the living room but the bug takes another scurry and I find myself in the living room hissing “Are you awake?!?!?!” No answer. Since I have only exchanged 3 sentences with him I decide we are not close enough for me to poke him…so I go back to my room and stand in the door pondering the fact that my room will no longer be the safe haven it once was and that bug has to get out of there now!

Mr Bug scurries under my bed and that sends me to knock on the door of my flatmates room. Thankfully Clara was still home. She immediately asks what is wrong and I say there is a bug in my room. After some hand gestures she comes with me to my room. Before we get to my room she grabs hold of my arm and says “Im scared too” and I think wow this is going to be helpful. So we both enter Bugville and lightly look for the bug…moving things and then jumping up and down. She decides to go wake the boy on the couch up. So our third member of the search party arrives groggy eyed, not too happy to be awake, and with broom and dustpan. He looks really thoroughly and we cant find the ghost bug anywhere! Clara decided it is a COCKROACH and I say that I have never seen a full sized one like that…boy stares at me in disbelief. After 20 minutes I say he can go back to bed, not promising I wont wake him up again when I find it. I stay to strip all sheets off my bed, pillowcases, comforter, towels, and anything else I can find not nailed down and throw it in the washer. I frantically keep the search on. Clara comes back because she feels my pain. Unfortunately while we are looking she proceeds to tell me that he probably went back into his hole….groan….that cockroaches fly…..groan…and they can come up through the drains (bathroom is in my room with just a door in between)…groan…who knew I was living with a cockroach entomologist?

Finally I find my new pet in a different box (seriously seems like I am being a hoarder but it is just two small boxes I swear). So Clara goes out and of course you know who is out like a light again. So she takes the bull by the horns or in this case the box by the sides and moves it to the hallway where she pushes it toward the patio door. He goes running up the other side of the box and we both jump back screaming and giggling by now. So I say what is the plan when we get it to the porch? She says dump it and run. Not the best plan ever but better than anything I have so that is what we do. Clara to the rescue!!! She points out that they can get MUCH bigger than that size which makes my day.

I come back to my room worried that roach boy has friends by I am crossing my fingers and toes that he was a loner. Clara tells me I need to buy traps like she has because she has only seen one cockroach and that was before she got those. I tell her don’t worry I will buy them before I come home.

I called my mom on the way to work and the conversation went:

Mom: Hello

Me: I am so glad you picked up.

Mom: Why, is something wrong?

Me: Yes!

Mom: Are you okay?

Me: No!

Mom: What happened?

Me: There was a cockroach in my room!!!!

Mom: *Giggle*

So that day I went after work and bought 24 traps and 3 bombs…maybe excessive but I think not. I gave 12 traps to Clara and put all 12 other ones around my room strategically. Then set off a bomb and left for the two hours. Yes, I read the instructions!  Clara laughed to know that I used 12 traps in my room. Rebecca said that was enough for a house and was shocked that I used a bomb too. Plus she said “all this for a bug?”. In all likelihood I am going back to the store to buy another box so that I can put some on the patio and in the windows.

I was naïve coming here (in more ways than one hahaha) because I thought that cockroaches only came where there was food and it was dirty. Turns out that isn’t true. My room is clean. I don’t even eat in here. And the apartment is spotless. The day might have gotten off to a bad start but it ended on a high note when I got my debit card!!!!!!!!! Yes, that is right, after 8 weeks I now have a debit card!

This has made me think of another Letitia funny…which isn’t that hard since I walk around most times like an awkward idiot anyway:D When we went to the Reptile Park they had a Ketchup pump. I was so excited to see a ketchup pump that I got a little carried away…I ended up wearing a large majority of it. Unlike in Canada, there was no one to hold my shirt under the air dryer while I waited impatiently in the stall…thanks Andrea;) I guess that is what they make large crossbody bags for…to cover the ketchup stains.

On Friday, I went to Clovelly Beach which was really nice. I have photos and they might eventually get posted but by the looks of this internet connection not tonight.  The weather wasn’t too hot and there weren’t people everywhere. Interesting thing about Aussie beaches are they usually include a manmade pool by them. On Saturday, I got up late and left the flat even later so I only made it back to TownHall Station where I went to Westfields Sydney. It was really really expensive there with stores of Prada, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Lacoste, etc etc. Then today I went to Parklea Markets which were really nice. I found some good deals and had a lovely time. Yep that was my weekend in a nutshell. Next weekend I will try to do something more than just shopping ahahaha. Hopefully by then I will be sleeping with my light off once again;)

 Enjoy your week!

Boomerang Master

Howdy!

So this weekend...

On Friday, I went to the Chinese New Year Festival in Parramatta. It was interesting, there were a lot of things going on. Lots of traditional Chinese dancing with the costumes and makeup. There was a kung fu demonstration. Some dragon dancers. Some people singing that sounded like me...really bad karaoke. And I left when the k-pop dancers came on...not sure where the China thing fit there. It was really neat to see though. It is so nice that they celebrate the diversity like that here.

Then on Saturday I went to Paddy's Market again. You might want to sit down for this...I didn't buy anything! I did however realize it is faster to walk to the market from Central Station instead of Town Hall. Plus the intercity rail is an option but in this case it was crowded and I didn't have to walk far. It was the first time I had changed at Central. They do call it Central because there are a billion lines leaving from it so that taught me that I need to get there early when I take the regional train! For me a couple of hours probably wont be too much....I am such a lost cause!

Sunday was the big day...Tobruk Sheep Station!!!! I was so excited for this because it is an authentic Aussie outback farm. Of course "outback" here meaning I got to wear my hat!!! It didn't let me down! I loved it! First of all it is about an hour from Sydney so the drive was nice. Pictures and video of the day here.

When we arrived Jess the Jillaroo greeted us along with Teddy on the sign post. She talked to us for awhile and we took some pictures. Then we moved over to the food area (yeah don't remember what that was called besides the Hilton). From there you can see the stars during the day via holes in the roof. While there Jess taught us High Jean- wiping your hands high on your jeans to wash them. Hey, we were in the Outback! I still say the Australians have better live performances- they just have a way with the jokes. Anyway we had damper which is like scone on the outside and bread in the inside. It was really really good but I think the golden syrup didn't hurt either. It is made in a camp oven and consists of 2 liters of water, 2 kilos of flour, 2 pinches of salt and takes 2 hours to make- even men can remember that-she tested that and it was true. We also had Billy Tea which Demi helped count all 272 pieces of that. Jess swung it around in a Billy can to brew it. The tea was really good too. I bought some to take home but I will brew it more traditionally since I don't really want third degree burns down my back.

Jess took this time to demonstrate some awesome whip tricks and the boomerang. It was raining at that point so the boomerang didn't go that well. She actually nailed this car...oops! Pretty impressive though.

Then we went over to watch Diva (5 month old dog, her first show) and Teddy muster the sheep. That was pretty neat. Working dogs really amaze me. I mean they like working just as much as Debbie likes not working...sorry Debbie that was a cheap shot. Anyway they did really well. Then we were allowed to take selfies with the sheep...Then we moved over to the more confined area (why didn't I pay more attention to the names?!??!). Anyway Farmer Joe (Peter from Sweden who has goat sheep) had to come down and show how to check a sheep. It was his car that had earlier been killed by the boomerang so needless to say I am sure he was having a blast. Jess also went over how they take the tails off their sheep because otherwise they get infection from the fly eggs. After Teddy was done taking a bath (in the sheep's water I might add) he showed us his main trick which is backing. Basically he lines up all the sheep and then runs up and down their backs. Really cool.

Then Jess took us into the shearing shed where we learned about the history of shearing and how the tools have evolved. Jess sheared a sheep in front of us and had us feel the wool. Demi helped with that also! After that the dinner bell rang...literally. We had potatoes, steak, and salad. It was good. I opted out of the onion:)

After that it was our turn to try out the boomerangs and whips. Of course I was a natural at both of them...you know there I am throwing out the boomerang and as it is circling back I throw out the whip to snap around it...oh wait that is the good story Stan gave me on the way home...haha. Let's just say Jess didn't ask me if I was part Aboriginal. Anyway I was marginally better at the whip thank goodness. Marginally used real loosely here but no video was taken so no one has any proof of how bad I really was.

 

 

 

Good news is I bought a Boomerang so I can practice! Pretty geeked up about that. I think I will start watching some YouTube videos of how that is done...Then perhaps become the Boomerang champion of the world...or not.

 

To end the day we then took a tractor ride around the property to get a better view of the station and the Blue Mountains. It was really nice. And as a random fyi Jess watches Duck Dynasty. It was a great day! I really enjoyed it.

 

Well have a great week and don't turn into frozen ice blocks back there. I don't think people here even believe me how cold it gets there!

 

After awhile crocodiles!

Birthday Festivities

Do you ever have one of those days when you think to yourself  "What did I ever do to be so lucky to have such awesome people in my life"? I had one today. Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes. They were all very much appreciated.

So yesterday I had a bbq with Stan, Demi, and Wendy! We went to a park called Nurragingy. We had coleslaw, salad, grilled corn on the cob, rolls, grilled steak, and grilled chicken. Then for dessert we had cheesecake and Demi helped me blow out the candles. We then went and walked around the Chinese Friendship Gardens which were really nice. I posted three pictures all of which were taken by Wendy because I like to not bring my camera at good photo moments. It was a beautiful day. It felt so weird to have my birthday in summer. Interesting for sure. It wasn't too hot, it really was just perfect! Good food + Good friends = Great times:)

Today I went to work and found this....

 

 

We had a birthday morning tea to celebrate as well:) Which of course meant cake!! Then for lunch, Wendy and Rebecca took me to a Thai place (Bamboodle) where they of course wouldn't let me pay. It was good! I got the same thing as Wendy which was some sweet noddle dish that had beef in it called Pad See Iw. Generous portions there for sure. Don't worry I kept up the image of Americans eating too much. It was a lovely day for sure.

 

Enjoy your week!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today I went to Manly Beach. It is one of two main beaches in Sydney (the other being Bondi). I specifically went to this one because my pass works at the aquarium and also because there was a big surf competition going on there sponsored by Hurley. Lately, they have been having a lot of trouble with sharks here and yesterday this beach was actually closed down because there was a shark sighting. I had heard that because there is a lot of commercial fishing going on here that the sharks are coming closer and closer for food.

I tool the River Cat (fast ferry) from Parramatta to Circular Quay and then from there caught the ferry to Manly Beach. Like the trains it was clean and not overly crowded (but more so then the trains). It cost me $30 round trip and some stupid head (me) could have paid $15 if I had remembered my Opal card...err there. I think there is a $15 per day cap on Opal. That was expensive mistake one for today.

Anyway, I walked down little Manly Beach to Manly Sea Life Sanctuary. Apparently this aquarium was the original aquarium in Sydney. It is well known for its penguins. I watched the penguins be fed and learned some more about them. First of all, penguins are only found in one hemisphere. Most people (well at least I) would think that it is the Northern Hemisphere but nope it is the Southern one. Weird. Here there is a colony of penguins in Manly in the wild. Not too long a dog who was not on a leash (they are supposed to be) killed two penguins and it was a HUGE deal. The owner was fined and his/her name was not released in case there was a mob after them. The penguins all have funny names: Louie, Huey, Duey, Princess, Versace, Armani, Clarence, Mumbo, Hugo Boss (he is da Boss) etc. These particular penguins have three names (all for the same species): Fairy Penguins, Little Penguins, and Blue Penguins. That concludes the penguin lesson for today.

Pictures found here.

Then I walked down to the main beach where the competition was taking place. There were not many surfers in the water when I went as I got a bit of a late start but the festival was still in full swing. Vance Joy was to play tonight there. So I hung out there for a bit and then walked back through the shops. I wanted to get myself a Billabong Hat but I couldn't find one that I really liked.

Speaking of hats next weekend I am going to Tobruk Sheep Station. I can finally wear my Outback hat:D I can't wait!

Tomorrow, I am going to a  BBQ. Have a good one!

Some Aussie Lingo

I reckon my mate would be happy as Larry if he lived in Tumbi Umbi and was able to take the bus to kindy in Kangy Angy.

 

This was a little Australian gem that I put together today while doing service checks. Yes these are real places and yes those are real words they say:) I hope I become fluent soon...I love it.

 

 

 

 

Animal Mania

This week went by really fast and the weekend went by even faster! On Friday, I went to the library after work and was issued my library card. Okay that was probably more exciting than it should have been but it is a REAL library. That basically means it is the opposite of the Bayliss. I checked out two books: one on Sydney and one on Thailand. Their travel section was overwhelming! I loved it of course! It made me think that if I lived by a real library I wouldn’t need to hoard books.

On Saturday I went to Paddington Market because I have been in need of a backpack since I got here. A girl at work told me to go there and get the same backpack from China for 80% off. She didn’t steer me wrong. The market is literally in the middle of their Chinatown here so there were people everywhere and action around every turn. They had a dragon dance go down the street and right into the mall. It was interesting. There were also about 500 lanterns coming from the market ceiling. I am assuming they are gearing up for their Chinese New Year. Anyway the markets were really awesome! I basically wanted everything that was in there. I ended up with a backpack and a purse and a mental “I will be back”. The prices were REALLY cheap. There was a little wiggle room in the prices but not too much. After I left the market I went back to the station where I ate and went back to that stationary store…I know temptation around every corner here. I had two $10 off coupons that were burning a hole in my pocket so I took care of those. Then I rode the train around for a couple of hours and came home with the cloud (aka my new backpack) on my back.

Today (Sunday), Wendy, Stan, and Demi picked me up to go to the Australian Reptile Park at Gosford.  To my delight it was all kinds of animals not just reptiles. It was way better than the park I have the pass for! You can get a lot closer to the animals and it was less like a zoo. I got some pictures that I posted here. The Galapagos Tortoise was my favorite by far, he didn’t even look real. He was really neat! The koalas were pretty cute too. Python snake and funnel webs not so much. The Tasmanian Devils were crazy! They had a goose that was chasing the emus all around and they kept going behind people to hide from it. I didn’t like the dingos very much. I don’t know which animal is my favorite: the enchindas, wombats, or crocodile. Oh and there were Americans at the park too- American alligators of all things. And no don’t worry still no wombat pictures. The thing is, they are always sleeping and these things look dead when they are sleeping but they are so darn cute! It was a really neat park. I have noticed that their live shows here are different than ours. They pick on people in the crowd and at home I don’t think that would go over well. I almost paid to have my photo taken with a koala but in the end I cheaped out and now I am thinking I would rather have a picture with a wombat if we go back. And yes plan on seeing the Kookaburras often because they are hams.

We ate lunch at the park before leaving. I ordered a French fries with ketchup and a pop which translated into a befuddled expression. My interpreter Wendy then rephrased it as chips with tomato sauce and a soda. Yeah, language barrier is unreal. After that we went to the beach which was my first feel of the Pacific Ocean.The beach was Wendy’s favorite because it is less crowded. It is really nice there. Then we came home. The end….hahaha.

After awhile crocodiles

The Weekend

Happy Groundhog Day! It is a holiday here so I am off work.

Saturday I went with Wendy to Demi’s swimming lesson. That was nice. Then she took me to Windsor which is a historic town outside of Sydney. We walked around and looked at some old buildings and in some shops. Then we went into the museum there which is a really modern. It was really nicely done and free to boot. It had all kinds of articles in it from a flabbit to old dresses to soldier uniforms etc. Then we walked down to see the river which is always flooding there. The whole flooding thing was a big theme in the museum as well. We stopped in at the Outback Bakehouse where I got an awesome meat pie. They eat pies here that are for meals not desserts but they aren’t like our pot pies. Same size though and they are a big deal. It was really good though! Glad that isn’t on my way home.

Then Wendy drove out in the country a bit which looked a lot like home. Once we arrived back in Parramatta we went to her place and watched a movie called Whiplash. Then Wendy, Demi, and I went to feed the ducks in the park. Demi played for a bit before we left for supper. We ended up going to the club by their place again but this time I was in time for the moment of silence. See the club honors veterans. So every morning and every evening they do a one minute moment of silence while you stand and watch images of fallen soldiers (old and recent ones) go across the tv screens. “Lest we forget” is really big here and rightly so they deserve to be remembered.

On Sunday I went to Darling Harbour so I could go to Wildlife Sydney which is basically an educational zoo. I wasn’t all that impressed as I am not big on animals being in zoos but it was alright. They do have a lot of different animals here that just aren’t found anywhere else. I saw the Tasmanian Devils, Wombat, Crocodile, Wallabies, Kangaroos, lots of birds, snakes, lizards, koalas, echidnas, etc. I did not get any pictures of the Tassies (hahaha) or the wombat. And to be honest I have a really hard time telling the different types of kangaroos and wallabies apart so your guess is as good as mine. The koalas were sleeping…big surprise. And I didn’t bother stopping to look at the snakes or lizards…eww. I think the echidnas were the neatest actually but that crocodile was pretty fierce too.  Next time I go (yes I know I don’t like zoos but it is free with my pass) I will listen to the educational talks they have every half hour. Maybe I will even get pictures of the Wombat and Tassies and maybe not. Pictures here. The kookaburra birds were funny and what hams for the camera! 

After that I got lost again…errr. So I walked around the block (literally). I thought it looked familiar. Then I finally found where I was going…OFFICE WORKS!! It was right across the street from the train station and I heard so much about it. That was a big disappointment. I did end up buying some Mummy correction tape though…I really needed it! Then I went into the mall that is in the train station. Oh boy did I have fun with that. It is a good mall. I spent about two hours in the bookstore. I decided while I was in there that if I won the lottery I would open up a bookstore/stationary store in Milson’s Point. That was just a random factoid for you. Their travel section was really awesome well actually the whole store was but I decided that a suitcase of books to bring home didn’t make much sense. So then I went to the lower level where I was directed to an awesome stationary store. There was a planner in there that I would have given my front teeth for okay probably not but wow! Then I got on a different train then usual and rode that through the full loop. It was nice. I think I will do that again!

Two funny things happened today. First, I left the train station from a different door and therefore didn’t know where I was so I asked a vendor where to go. He was really nice and I could tell he probably had his food stand on the corner for the last 3 decades. So he told me to walk straight until I got to Market Street then turn left. Right away I knew he was wrong and it was a right turn. I mean I have been here all of once and he has been there for decades. So I disregarded his directions and went the way I knew it was. Not surprising instead of ending up in a harbor I ended up at a Park that dead ended into a really old church. Letitia: 0 Vendor:1. But the church was really something and I found the Museum of  Australia (that I wouldn’t ever want to go to..yawn). I cant even believe I did that. Today was a bad day directionally because the second funny thing (I am not counting the going around the block because that wasn’t funny) was that I got lost coming out of the Parramatta train station AGAIN! I ended up facing a private school which I hadn’t seen before…not good. So I walked down what I am going to refer to as Barber Alley since there were like 5 barbershops in one block. I didn’t really need a haircut though and by this point I was getting annoyed. I ended up at the town square which was interesting because there was a lot of activity there including a Muslim man doing his prayer on his knees in the middle of the square as everyone walked by. They were pretty close too  but here it is a go with the flow thing. The same way he wouldn’t be stared at for doing it, the same way he wouldn’t get special attention. Finally I knew where I was and made it home.

I just had to kill a spider on my ceiling but it wasn’t a funnelweb so that is a relief! 

And I was totally kidding about Groundhog Day being a holiday. I have to go to work. 

After awhile crocodiles!