"I set fires to feel joy"

... "Well, that's adorable"

---

Well, it looks like I'll be posting a month's worth of adventures (and pictures!) after New Zealand (i.e. all of July). Leaving in a few hours and I'm not sure I'm going to get much sleep.

The last few weeks since our lease ended in Coogee, Chelsea and I have been house-sitting for a friend who lives in Ultimo (which is very conveniently located, I might add). I've gone on a few walks, hit up the Australia Museum, finally rocked up to Taronga Zoo, tried my hand in slack-lining (or maybe my foot?), and went for a 10km walk in the bush (Royal National Park, NSW). So, add on 2 weeks in New Zealand.... I'll have quite a bit to catch you, my ravid readers, up on. That is, if I still have readers (I can't blame you due to lack of reading material).

And since its Saturday night, and we're located near the harbour, you can see and hear fireworks going off! Though its a bit late for those.... (its midnight).

Well, I promise I will upload heaps of photos upon my return to the US! I must got finish packing and try to get a nap in. See you in 2 weeks California!

Barefoot at the Symphony.

Wow. So many exciting things just happened in a very short span of time.

First, I am officially done with my undergrad work!!!!!!! Took my last exam yesterday. I'm so excited I almost don't know what to do with myself! A few weeks ago I declared candidacy for graduating/completing my degree Summer 2013. The last thing now is just to wait for my EAP (UNSW) marks/grades to go through and keep all my fingers crossed everything counts as it should and then BOOM! Graduate me baby! :) Only took me twice as long as most of my peers but that's ok! Now I get to look for a degree-related job... ^_^'

So, last night, a friend and I went to see Idina Menzel with the Sydney Symphony at the Opera House.  Oh. My. God. The show was amazing. She was amazing. The concert hall was amazing. Just.... wow. The acoustics... the symphony... her voice... her personality. Everything. As Davis (the musically and theatrically inclined friend I went with) said, "Idina is a goddess." She was also hilarious. And barefoot. I will never forget the image of her jumping and prancing around on stage because she could, because she wasn't wearing 4-5" heels. She could have been 15 years old (she's 42). I spent at least the first 20 minutes or so in at state of jaw-dropped stupid giddy smiling. She came to a point in her set where she sang a song from Rent, which was supposed to be a duet. She climbed down into the audience to find some people to sing with her! She started with an adorable little girl in the front row with a sparkly pink tutu. The girl was a little bit terrified but Idina was so sweet. Then she picked 4 other people to sing with her. There was quite a bit of talent in that room! So yeah, I had a great time and I've decided I would LOVE to see her when she goes back on Broadway (rumoured to be soon!). Now, excuse me, I need to go listen to Rent and Wicked.

Davis: "She's in that building somewhere!!!"

<3 <3 <3

Inside the Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House

Ha, you didn't really think I'd leave you just like that??? I still have news!!

Lastly, and for some of you, most importantly: I come home in one month!!!!!!! Two more weeks of galavanting around Sydney, then 2 weeks in New Zealand..... and then I come home with reverse culture shock and jet lag! :)

We are moving out of our flat this weekend, so we have to get cleaning and packing! And now my little vegemites, that is all the news I have for you today.

Question of the day:

What is your favourite play or musical that you have seen or would like to see?

(Bonus points if you make one up!! ;))

Winter is coming....

One day maybe I'll be a real blogger. And write stuff people might actually enjoy reading. But for now, you lucky keen beans get to read this work of art.

So here's a look at the last few weeks:

My last undergrad lecture. Ever.

Vertebrate Zoology with the amazing Mike Archer!

(He's the guy who wants to bring back the Thylacine by cloning!)

The kid you see in the front there, apparently is notorious for asking too many questions in a lecture, so Mike started limiting him to 2 questions.

This is a view walking from my house down to the grocery store.

It never looks quite as nice when I take a picture of it...

The flatmates and I all went to see The Great Gatsby. 

Chelsea and I like to split a snack combo (this isn't the largest or the smallest size popcorn...). She gets the soda, and I get the candy. I'm usually keen on the lollie cup, but that night they were out and I had to settle for a Mars bar :( But the popcorn is good. Not too much butter or salt!

I came home from the beginning of what was going to be a very stressful week at uni to find that my sweetheart had arranged for these to be delivered!

Thanks Richard!!!

He's pretty amazing :)

The biggest rugby game of the season, the "State of Origin" game.

Queensland vs NSW -- we won!

I learned some interesting rules and things about Rugby that night. And that the Aussies call American Football "grid iron".

Check out how long my hair is getting! It's about 27 inches or so right now. It's a little ridiculous. It keeps finding new things to get tangled in. Can't wait to chop it and donate it in August!!!

Along University Mall Walk, UNSW, lower campus.

It was such a relief to hand in my last undergrad essay ever!!!

They have you fill out these cover sheets to attach to your work, and then drop off your assessments in that school's designated drop boxes. For example, in the Morven Brown Building, for me, the Philosophy box is on the 2nd floor, and Criminology is on the first.

Shenanigans. Chelsea, you can't undo the marks by burning them....

Only in Australia can you find KANGA BANGAS!

That is, Kangaroo Sausages. 

Bangers and mash, anyone?

It's exam time!!! Had my first exam today.

Criminology. Not intimidating at alllll..................... psyche.

They have some crazy strict rules on what you're allowed to bring in to the examination room.

For example.... You can ONLY bring in a water bottle IF it is in a clear, non-coloured plastic bottle, with no labels. It pained me to have to buy a plastic bottle because my clear, coloured reusable bottle with no labels wasn't good enough.

You also (when applicable) must have a university approved calculator. This doesn't apply to me, as I'm not taking maths or any science requiring maths. Basically, you take your calculator to that school, and they check it out and if they approve it they put a sticker on it that declares it suitable for the exam. This must be done ahead of time.

Additionally (if you can't read what this sign says), you're given a clear plastic bag to put only very specific valuables in, such as your mobile phone (OFF, of course -- though some idiots had theirs on in my exam), wallet, etc. Literally anything else has to be left OUTSIDE the exam room. This means, your purse or backpack, extra jackets or scarves, any notes or books, etc. You have to have your pens and pencils in hand with your student ID to be admitted into the exam. They check your ID and randomly assign you a seat that has all your test materials (sans the test questions), and you have to fill out and sign every document, answer sheet and essay booklet. Sheesh. Your ID, pens/pencils, water bottle and all exam materials must stay on top of your desk during the whole exam, with the clear plastic bag under your seat. After all that, they hand out the exam questions and give you 10 minutes JUST TO READ the questions. After that, the exam begins. You cannot leave in the first 30 minutes of the exam, or the last 10 minutes. My criminology exam was set for 3 hours. I've never. Sat the entire. Exam period. Add that to my list of firsts for the day.

Only two more of these insane exams and I'm done!!! Good thing these last exams are for courses of which I am enthusiastic about the subject matter.

In other news, I've been sick for about 2 weeks now. Last weekend I discovered that this being sick thing had given me conjunctivitis. Yay! Just what I need! An eye infection. In both eyes. So I went to student health on Monday, and they prescribed me some antibiotic drops to get from the uni chemist. They make my eyes feel so tired! Like I've been crying all day, but I haven't been... Made it really hard to focus on studying and taking the exam because I kept furiously blinking to make them feel less dry and tired, or at times blurry. Fun. Times. Best week ever!

Question of the day:

Have you seen any good movies lately?

(in the theaters, or at home, old or new)

Because I love potatoes...

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

A la mejor Papá en todo el mundo!!

Papas Fritas,

Thanks for always putting up with my shenanigans.

lots of love,

T

To my dear friend

Happy 26th Birthday Jenn!!!

The last 12 years would not have been the same without you!

I hope you have a wonderful birthday, and many more!!

Love,

Tanda

"Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass...

...it's about learning to dance in the rain"

Hello hello I haven't forgotten you all! Just been busy with the last few weeks of uni, and nothing very exciting has been happening anyway. One more week of lectures/tutorials and then we get a whole week to study before the two week official exam period. Wahoo! Then just a few weeks of final galavanting around Sydney, two weeks in New Zealand with my love and then I'm home!!

This last week of uni is going to be nuts. I have a ton of assessments due, its supposed to be cold wet and rainy (and its not even winter yet!)

I call this portion, "the food album": I've been trying to eat more healthy foods (ie incorporate more fruits and vegetables in my diet) so I've been cooking a bit! Here's a sample of what I've made:

 My first ever Kinder Surprise Egg!

I got a little spinner! Weee!

They are apparently banned in the US due to small choking parts.......

My second egg surprised me with a furry little panda!

Other randoms:

Rocked that Italian test! Woo!

The marks here are confusing, and they translate very differently back at the UC.

85+ HD (High Distinction; A+)

75-84 D (Distinction; A, A-)

65-74 CR (Credit; B+, B)

50-64 P (Pass, B-, C+, C)

45-49 PC (Pass Conceded; C-)

0-44 F (Fail; D, F)

It was a little confusing at first, seeing a D on an assessment (with the words "nice job!" next to it), or thinking that I was getting C's when I got 70-74 on something... What a relief!

There is this festival of lights called VIVID Sydney that happens for about 2 weeks, where they have light shows on the buildings and put cool displays of arts and lights down at Circular Quay - The Rocks.

Chelsea, Bibi and I went to the opening night... it was so cool seeing everything lit up in bright colors and designs! The opera house, the harbour bridge, waterfront buildings, cruise ships, etc were lit up for the festivities. Along the Quay, there were arty things like a baby grand piano that (if it hadn't been rained on) would light up when you played the keys; there was a drum set connected to a structure that progressively lit up as you hit the drums; there were see-saws that changed lights when you went up and down.... just lots of cool fun things and pretty lights. Even a "pirate" ship! Sadly it started pouring on us......

This is what today looks like from my back yard.... you can't really tell but its raining pretty hard... windy too. Yay!

Question of the day:

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and how long do you think you'd like to stay there?

A giraffe among men

In regards to my last post...

I have no idea why Andreas has a skull and cross-bones. It just appeared one day. Things are getting ridiculous over here.

If you want to know what it's like living with a swedish cleaning nazi....

[cue to 1m29s] 

And here, at long last... a picture of me in a lab coat....

...Standing next to a giant giraffe skull.

Because someone asked to see it.

That is... me.

In a lab coat.

So there you go.

Per esempio...

This is what I mean by marking anarchy. My mark and cross out happened simultaneously because they marked me as a joke when I wasn't around and then felt bad and crossed it out before I saw it.  The others... Well you can see its gotten a little out of hand.....

Mamma mia...

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!

To my Mother and Grandmother

Thank you for always loving me and supporting me!

I love you both very much

The little things...

Sorry mates, I've fallen into the funk that is senioritis and procrastinating. It's been ages since my last post but there hasn't been a whole lot of excitement since Tasmania.

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks. These are some of the little things that make me happy.

My kitteh.

Just look at this face!!

My boys!! <3

(Thanks mum!)

Being silly in the city

Lisa, putting her sombrero and 'stache to good use at the Cinco de Mayo: May the Fourth Be With You fiesta

I decided to go the Star Wars route

Stupid, cheap dollar-store light saber didn't even work :(

Well I certainly feel good about myself!

In the Red Center West Building (where I have Criminology tutorial)

What are those little brown bulby things in the trees??

Fruit bats! Aka, Flying foxes, aka Pteropus spp.

"IT'S SO FLUFFY I'M GONNA DIE!!"

Australian Afternoon Tea. Yummmmm :)

Prepping for a Tim Tam Slam!

I finally bought syrup, so I could make french toast!

If you look very carefully you can see the moon just above the center peak on the house.

(Walking home from Uni)

Beet root on a burger? Mmmkay...

LIFT is basically lemonade soda (Lemonade here is the equivalent of Sprite)

Potato wedges with sweet chili sauce and sour cream -- soooo good!!

Wandering around the weekend markets in Newtown

Same book, different covers  (also, you'll notice its different from the US version as well!)

The boys are "cleaning nazis" so they invented a cleaning system. We don't clean our dishes within 10 minutes of eating, we get a mark. You'll notice, I don't have a mark.

Please note, even though this was taken a few weeks ago, and the marks have increased, I still don't have one :-P

There also seems to be "marking-system anarchy" where lots of marks have been scratched out in protest. This is where the bulk of our house arguments lie.

From Sharelly: the coolest snail-mail ever! Decoding letters since 2006 :)

What little things make you happy?

Fill in the blanks!

...because I need more things to help me procrastinate :-P
Thanks to Sharell for posting this!


You can never have too many caramel tim tams.

I am happy as a clam when I am wandering the craft store with my hboo.

My new favorite treat is tim tam slam.

I would not care if mozzies and bedbugs vanished from Earth.

The first thing I see to my right is my empty coffee cup.

I can't wait to have my own house.

Tomorrow I am waking up at whenever o'clock -- It's ANZAC Day! No school :).

Today I laughed at Facebook... My uncle posted some funny stuff.

I wish people would learn that what's mine is mine, and I don't use their stuff without asking!!!!

I need to stop procrastinating.....

Copy this and let me know your answers! Feel free to leave them in the comments section :)

Doo or doo not, there is no try

Greetings blogosphere! I have returned from under down under, aka Tasmania! I don't know what happened to the end of March (re: the photo-a-day challenge). Things get hectic and I didn't like the prompts too much. I'll see if I can sift through those pictures later.

But, I know you're all wondering, How was Tasmania??
Well, to answer your burning question -- it was fantastic. It was just the dose of real nature I was seeking in Australia. I went on some awesome hikes/bush walks, saw/explored a bunch of National Parks, and even saw some real wildlife -- in the wild! I did end up visiting a few wildlife sanctuaries, but knowing me, that's to be expected.

Traveling around Tasmania is difficult, if you don't have a car. I chose not to rent one, mostly because it cost about twice as much as my plane ticket to get from Sydney to Hobart! Since I was traveling alone, it was NOT worth the price. The public transport is also not that great. They don't use trains for transport, other than freighting, so that's out. The bus system around town is probably pretty good, but I just walked where I needed to go in Hobart and Launceston. Now, intercity transport was interesting. They have buses that run, but very infrequently. When I needed to get from Hobart up north to Launceston, they had 2 companies that had a total of 3 trips each day, between them. 10:30am, 2:45pm and 5:30pm. So what I did for my general transport, was book a few day tours. They pick you up from your accommodation and take you all over (according to the tours you book), no extra for gas, entry to wildlife parks or national parks, free tastings (wine, cheese, chocolate, etc) and more. I did 4; two out of Hobart and 2 out of Launceston.

I arrived on Saturday, and explored Hobart a little. I discovered a neat outdoor market the locals run weekly, and then hopped on a ferry to MONA, a [creepy] underground museum.

My first tour was on Sunday (Easter!). The major perks of the tour included Mount Field National Park, Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary and Mount Wellington.

Monday, my tour took us to Port Arthur (the historic convict sites), and the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park.

Tuesday, I wandered around Hobart some more until catching my bus to Launceston.

Wednesday, I explored Launceston which took me to a fabulous place called Cataract Gorge where I went on a neat bush walk and saw some wildlife, and amazing views.

Thursday, my next tour featured Wineglass Bay, Freycinet National Park and Bicheno, where we went to another wildlife park called Nature World.

Friday, was my last tour, which included the fabulous Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Park.

Saturday, was my last full day, and I traveled back to Hobart and checked out the market again.

Below are select pictures from the highlights of my trip (I took over 600 pics -- you're welcome!!). Again, they may be out of order, so bear with me.

View from the Ferry to MONA, in the distance you can see Mount Wellington

View from ferry

(prior to taking ferry...) exploring Hobart

MONA -- creepy underground Museum of Old and New Art. Some of it was really cool, some of it was going to give me nightmares. I was also getting claustrophobic...

The neat thing is they give you iPods to take around for information on the pieces because they are changing exhibitions so frequently. They were setting up some new ones while I wandered through as well.

One of the few pieces I liked from MONA

Mount Wellington

Mt Field NP:

Pademelon!! Smaller than a wallaby, if you can imagine that!

Russell Falls

Horseshoe Falls

I think this is Dobson Lake

It was SO cold.

Pandani. Ancient trees.

What's this??? SNOW???

Walking around the lake

Yum yum yummy Tasmanian boysenberry frozen yogurt :)

On top of Mt Wellington, 1270m above sea level

Also, very very cold.

Feeding the 'roos and wallabies at Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary

Tassie Devils in action :)

grumpy old farts...

And this is how the facial tumor spreads between individuals...

Good ol' Tassie devil -- yawning before a meal

Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park

Walk around the Tasman Peninsula coast

Tasman Arch (I think)

Port Arthur, historical convict site

Ah, there's the wee little devil!

Something like an exercise yard for the prisoners

Port Arthur

Church, not entirely in ruins...

Port Arthur

Australia's Oldest Bridge - built by convicts

Richmond, TAS

Flat white (AUS) = latte (US)

A latte in Aus, is not the same as a latte as Americans know it.

Japanese Gardens - subset of the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens

I took way too many pictures, but didn't think anyone would be nearly as excited by those pics as I am... let me know if I'm wrong and I can share more!

This sunflower may or may not be happy to see you...

RTBG

Tassie War Memorial

"The Great War 1914-1919

Lest We Forget

The Korean War, The Malaysian Emergency, The Indonesian Confrontation, The Vietnam War

 Peacekeeping Operations "

After completing the full walk around Cataract Gorge, view of the first basin behind me

Cataract Gorge

Bush walking with wallabies!

(There are 2 -- can you spot them? One is hard to see)

Cataract Gorge

Nature World, Near Bicheno:

She is IN the enclosure with them!!!!!

(these are females, not in estrous, so they are not likely to bit your face off)

O hai, you has foods?

Caption:

"He just bit my finger."

These guys were voracious. It was a little intimidating when they all close in on you and then start pulling on your sweatshirt and nibbling your fingers.

They knows we has the foods. They knows, precious...

Tassie Devils <3

I'll let you in on a little secret -- we got to pet them!!! <3 <3

Surprise! A joey!

Here they come!

CUTEST LITTLE WOMBAT EVERRRRRRR

It was SO hard not to reach down and pick him up... OMGGGG I was dying.

 Wineglass Bay/Freycinet NP

We hiked all the way down to the beach and back in less than 2 hours.. whew!

Honeymoon Bay - was originally intended to be used as a secluded beach for couples to consummate their marriages... now its not so secluded, but the idea is still appreciated around the coast.

(Honeymoon Bay)

Another old bridge built by convicts (3rd oldest???)

Ross, TAS

a little war memorial

Ross, TAS

Ha!

Ross, TAS

Sheffield, Town of Murals

on the side of a building

Good ol' thylacine (tassie tiger)

They have a yearly contest with around 10 featured local artists

This one was my favorite

They even allowed us to vote!

This was another contender 2013

last year's winner (2012)

They have a board to keep track of visitors. Can you see my pin?

Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair NP

"We're almost to the steep part"

In fact, it was so steep, they had chains built into the rocks to help us climb...

A wombat. In the wild. Score!

An echidna!!!! In the wild. Hiding. Poor thing.

I feel like I need to talk more about what I did, but I'm not sure I can write it all out in a fashion that won't put you to sleep. Feel free to comment with questions if you want to know more.

There is something! On the Port Arthur/Tassie Devil day tour we drove through a place called Doo Town. Each house has a special name, such as: Love Me Doo, Doodlee Doo, Dr Doolittle, Doo Me, Under the Doona*, Wattle-I Doo?, etc.  Some were very clever, some silly and some were... questionable. There was one house that did not follow the rules, and named theirs something like High Field. They were essentially shunned. No one likes them.

*A doona is a duvet. Not sure why the Tassie's call them doonas, but they doo ;)

So, here's the oh-so-fabulous question of the day you were all waiting for!

If you lived in Doo Town, what would you call your home? Please adhere to the rules and regulations of Doo Town house naming -- ie, must have DOO in the name, or you will be exiled.

I might name mine: Whacka-Doo :-P