Update Fundate - Part 3

Saturday. January 18, 2009.

Oh. What a rough morning this was for me.
Happened to wake up with the sun. 6am style. And thank goodness for that. Why?

I had plans to go Kayaking at 8:30am. Who thought that was a good idea? Apparently. Me. Go ahead, slap me around a few times. I know, I know. But, hey, so what!? I need to get my ass out of bed anyway, which has proven to be difficult when you aren't obligated to be anywhere.

So. Let me tell you a little bit about this journey. I had to take two buses, no big deal, right? I hopped on one to the City. Walked my happy butt over to Wynyard Station -- close to Town Hall, sort of. And then take the 175 bus to the Spit Bridge. Done and done.

Nope. Hardly from the truth. Welllllll, you could say I was...running just a little late. Just a tad. Turns out the 175 only comes at one time on Saturday and I missed it. And guess who forgot her phone at home? Yup. Me. *facepalm*

I go inside asking where's the nearest payphone, of course the guy behind the counter doesn't speak English so I say to myself...Self, you are at a train station, see if there's a train to Spit Bridge! Sometimes, I amaze myself.

So I walk down into the train station and go to a woman behind the ticket counter. I say, "Hi! I need to go to Spit Bridge please."

She kind of looks at me funny and says, "There aren't any trains to Spit Bridge, you got to use a bus."

I said, "Well there aren't anymore buses...and the map said I could take a train."

"HONEY, where are you trying to go?"

"Spit Bridge."

"There aren't any trains that go there, use a bus."

"You've been a great help, thanks."

I walked away, shaking my head. It was bad enough I was:
A. Still drunk
B. Lost.
C. Running Late.

Did she really need to call me honey?

ANYWAY. I decide to just hop a bus and see what happens. I get on the 178 and ask the bus driver if he goes to Spit Junction. He says, "OF COURSE."

I'm riding down the road and he tells me this is my stop. Of course I say, well I really need to go to Spit Rd and Parriwi Rd. He tells me he'll let me know when to get off.

So. I finally get to Parriwi Rd and get really excited that I'm actually going to be right on time. Plus, I'm crossing my fingers that others will be late and the instructional period will go a little bit longer.

Nope. Wrong. I'm not even close to the damn kayaking place. I ended walking all the way down Parriwi Rd (the view was spectacular, so I couldn't complain) only to find out what?

What you ask?

THE KAYAKING EXTRAVAGANZA HAD BEEN CANCELLED. due to high winds.

She told me I could hire a kayak out, but the instructor had a hard time even coming back to test the winds. And I would want to risk my life by myself because....

This was a good thing because I didn't waste my money and I was really late as it is.

This was a bad thing BECAUSE I GOT UP AT 6AM TO GET THERE.

I digress.

The girl behind the desk told me that I could do the Manly Beach walk and I figured I'm here, why the hell not.

Should've been me on the Harbour :-(

The Spit Bridge from...the Spit Bridge

Me ON the Spit Bridge.

Love the way this pic turned out.

Some crazy people rowing. I want to be the girl steering.

Boats in the Harbour.

Manly Beach Walk.

Hiding.

Hey, Welcome to Manly!

The Spit Bridge from on top of the hill.

Overlooking the Harbour.

Through the trees.

Here's Me...Again.

But as I was walking around and taking pictures, I started to get bored. Walking and scenery is only so much fun.

Then, I notice on the bus stop that it goes to Dee Why. Keith, one of the Spin instructors at Bailey's Powerhouse Gym in Jax told me about Dee Why and how amazing it is. So I say, "LET'S GO!"

I hop the bus and go all the way to the end of the bus stop. Only to walk around a highway, stop at a gas station to ask where the beach is -- the guy looks at me very confused and points to the bathroom -- and decide it's just not worth the effort anymore, so I decide to go home.

Who went home later to find out the beach was literally 200 metres from where I was. Awesome. Another time, for sure.

Anyway. When I get off the bus I find some magnificent.

I found a piano.Just chillin in the city. One of the things I love about Sydney is that it's always got something going on. ALWAYS. They constantly have things around that remind you about recycling or music or art or anything, really. It's awesome.

So. Let's recap. Here I am, just hopped off the bus and see a freakin' piano just chillin on the side of the sidewalk. Immediately, I go over and tickle the ivories for a minute. I start to walk away and decide to take a picture. As I do, I see a few guys playing on it, just laughing and they walk away. Everyone that walks by ends up touching it.
It was fascinating. So after everyone's had their turn, I go over and play heart and soul then chopsticks. It was fantastic. Just fun to be playing the piano again. It's been so long and I reeeeeally miss it. A lot. When I finished up my songs and as I walked away, I teared up a little bit. I was just overjoyed with the fact that I got to play the piano. I was so, unbelievably happy. It was quite an experience.

Then, I get a call from Sam telling me they're going to go into the City, get some food in Chinatown, go Karaoke and then see Nikki's bf, Greg, DJ at Scubar. I raised my head and said, "Yes Please."

We got to Chinatown -- a place I hadn't been to yet -- and had some really good Chinese actually.

Dom's, who's from Italy, is showing off his freshly shaven chest (and back).

Tearing into some duck :-(

Why is the head still on? Why? Only thing I can say, at least you know it's not cat.

After our feast, we found a place called The Phoenix. It's right in the heart of Chinatown and Darling Harbour. You get two mics and your own room. It was SO much fun. I hadn't laughed so hard in my life. I was loving it. Although, karaoke always reminds me of what a bad singer I am. We can't all be good at everything. Gosh.

Dom singing along and Sam looking...scary.

Here's Tom singing! His looks remind me of Josh Waller back home. At first I was kind of attracted to him because he's just so funny, but then I was like -- whoa! It's Josh Waller! My husband! I just couldn't do it. Here's a reminder of what Josh looks like.

Mr. Josh Waller. This is a typical picture of us.

I made Nikki take this pic. Dax, who's in South Korea, says all the shy girls take pictures with their faces covered. We were in Chinatown -- I know that's not Korea, but Asian at least -- so I figured...why not.

Iain and Dom singing out their hearts!



Beat it! And Whoa. Ouch. But, listen to that cackle. I really thought something was funny.

Whoa. Did I really need to be THAT into this song? Sad.

The group, singing, American Pie.

After THREE HOURS of Karaoking (and I enjoyed every minute?!), we walked over to Scubar and saw Greg finish up his set. It was a really fun night. I like those people. More my speed than the Irish guys I live with.

Sam & I at Scubar.

Sunday. January 18, 2009.

I was supposed to work at 6pm, but they ended up calling me telling me not to come in -- they weren't busy at all. Melanie had been wanting to go out to dinner for the past week, so I thought I'd jump at the opportunity to get out with the roommate.

She picked a Brazilian BBQ place called Churrasco.

Looking...rough.

The grill. The Amazing Grill.

It. was. Phenomenal. Within 10 minutes, we had tried every meat. And we ate to our heart's content. Very exciting stuff. I think it's the best meal I've had here in Australia.

Melanie looking, oh so happy.

Of course, every guy in the place was in love with Melanie and wanted her so bad. I wish I was exaggerating, but she just gets guys like it's going out of style. Good for her.

Okay. Updates are done.

BTW. I have two appointments for photo rejuvenation on Wednesday. I couldn't decide which place was better, so I made two appointments. I hope this works!