Walking in the City

This year's summer isn't so bad as it was last year. The weather hasn't reached 40 degrees and most of the time it falls down to 15 degrees at night. It does actually feel like spring season to me rather than summer. Some days were a scorcher that I literally bathed in sunscreen but lately it's been getting chill. I've managed to get sunburn and the skin around my arms is now slightly tan. But it isn't enough and I need more sunlight. And so one sunny Saturday morning I went on a walk in the City. Enjoying the sun and the view, I walked towards South Melbourne. I passed by the Yarra Bridge, walking along the pathway and passing by the City trail for bikers, and also the Shrine of Remembrance. It wasn't a scorcher as the wind was a bit chill, making it even more perfect day for a walk.

Like the tourists around, I also took some pictures while walking. That actually made me feel like one, you know. But anyway, it was such a nice day so I wouldn't mind enjoying it to the last bit. Here are some of the pictures I took.

As my life is now back to the way it was before Quin came, it is now all about oft-repeated routine. By doing the walk that day I realised that I should do more of such thing. Walking, relaxing, or even just sitting on the grass in a park and read a book while summer is still on. Besides, I need to even out the tan lines and I haven't been able to go sunbathing in the beach.

That sounds like a good idea and I shall do it often.

Until next post.  

The Last Day

Tonight Quin flies back to Portland. After three weeks of having someone next to me, I came home suddenly feeling all lonely. Lonelier than ever. All back to normal again; back to the way it used to before. Alone and quiet. I instantly miss her already and she has not even boarded the plane yet.

Looking back through the days, we both learned so many things about each other that we didn't know before. We are so much different virtually and real; both are quieter in real. It's funny because we always seem to have something to say to each other on virtual world. But in real world we spent most of the time in silence, yet I grew accustomed both to her presence and the silence between us. Despite, in fact, there are so many things I wanted to tell her. But we did have fun, non the less.

Hadn't she come here I would have done the things I did. I would have never known the joy of enjoying life. Over the past three weeks we did so many things that I couldn't keep track. Hence, this post has to jump to the last day instead of recording day-to-day. There were some nights we went clubbing and bar hopping. Two nights consecutively! We danced, partied and had drinks until 3 or 4 in the morning. It took me three Red Bulls each day to keep me alive. I haven't felt recovered fully even until this second.

Then there was a day we traveled to Ballarat. It was about an hour drive from Melbourne CBD. I remember it was the 17, because it was Nana's birthday as well. Unfortunately Tab couldn't join us as she had to work. But she did join us for Nana's dinner birthday party later in the evening. Lucky for us Roger, Nana's friend, was willing to drive us to Ballarat and even took us around. He took us to the Wildlife Park where I could finally see koalas and kangaroos up close and fed them, and many other animals.

After Wildlife Park, we continued our trip to Sovereign Hill. It was about 15 minutes drive from the zoo. In Sovereign Hill we immersed ourselves in the excitement of Ballarat's goldrush days. It re-creates Ballarat's first ten years after the discovery of gold in 1800's. It's an actual replica of Ballarat in that year; the buildings, the road, even the people are wearing old fashion from the 1800's. The place tells us the history of how the gold was found. It also shows us how the gold being processed. They took us down under the gold mine, I learned how to make candles, I saw how big the machine needed to be to produce one little coin. I definitely came out of that place feeling well educated.

Would like to post all the photos but it's going to take a long hiatus for the page to load.

In the evening we went to Jack's for a dinner and Jack was generous enough to give us a bottle of Riesling for free. Me and Tab had prepared a birthday cake for Nana secretly. I felt the true happiness that night that all of the people that mean a lot for me were together that night, laughing and having a good day. I was so happy I couldn't ask for more.

The next day I took her to Belgrave to experience Puffing Billy. We rode the train to Lakeside. What is fun was that we can sit on the edge of the train with our legs hanging outside. It was a scenic ride with high trees surrounding us. I really enjoyed it to the last bit.

With the vacation ends tonight I will miss our days together. It can be another long years until we meet again and maybe it will be my turn to visit her in Portland as most of the time she convinced me that it's a nice place. Without me realise, I have already promised myself that once I'm settled here I will start saving up for a trip to her place. And maybe the next time we meet we will be older and much wiser that we will probably laugh at all of our stupidity in our youths. Getting on each other throats and arguing, for example. Until then, we will have to wait. Impatiently. Patiently.

Until next post.

Day 4-5: Victoria Market, St Kilda Beach & Eureka Tower

By day 4, Quin (well, I eventually came up with a name for her and it's from the sound she pronounces her Vietnamese name), still hadn't got over her jetlag and been having restless nights. After the rave from the previous night we slept in. Actually, she did. I woke up early in the morning as usual. By the time she woke up it was already mid afternoon so we got nothing much to do.

On that day I took her to Queen Victoria Market. We got there late and they were almost close. So we just walked around the market blatantly, with no particular needs to buy anything. She ended up buying some mangoes and told me that the price was really cheap. A dollar for each.

In day 5, I took her to St Kilda Beach despite the thunderstorm that was coming as we got there. Joining us were two of my workmates. So we all went to the beach and just sat around on the sand. No one dared to dash into the water as the wind was growing in speed. Not to mention that that day there was an awful lot of group of jellyfish decided to swim to the shore. The sky was dark blue and the clouds were heavy, as if threatening to pour the rain in any second. Lightnings stroke in every bit of second. The view was amazingly beautiful actually. If it weren't for the heavy rain, we would have stayed there a bit longer. I wore the bikini for nothing.

Feeling the need to fill our stomachs, we decided to have a late lunch in a little Thai restaurant at the corner of the street, that according to my workmate served a very delicious Thai curry. And she was right. The Red Curry I had was really good.

After finishing up our food, we went for a walk at Luna Park. Well, for an amusement park it was quite empty that day. Then we were off to Eureka Tower and enjoyed the view of Melbourne from the 88th floor. The ticket price was $19 for adults and $15 for concession, including students. The picture of my face on my student card might not be the best picture of me but boy, how I love it for any discount I can get with the card.

Later in the evening we drove to Lygon Street for a snack. Quin has a thing for Italian food and so Lygon Street is one of her favorite places. Still full from lunch I got myself some gelato for $6.50 and it was really good. I'm still craving for more.

Later in the evening,  as I was lying in my bed I recalled the feeling that I felt during the day. To be honest, it was the first time I hang out with my workmates and I've been working with them for over a year now. This is a different workplace from where I work with Nana and Tab. Yes, I have two jobs, remember? All this time I've been keeping them at arm's length, not wanting them to get too close to me. I've always been strictly keeping my personal life out of the talk at work. Sometimes they would ask me some personal questions but I've learned my way to answer as little as possible. It is for the fear that they would try to dig out more about me, yet I have so many things that I'd rather keep to myself. Like my sexual preference, for example.

But that day I felt happy. I was happy. And that I've been worrying too much about them getting too personal about me and I shouldn't distance myself too far away from them. Realising that I enjoyed so much hanging out with them made me write a mental note to spare some time to go out with them. I realised now that it doesn't mean I have to spit out every single aspect of my personal life and reveal myself by hanging out with them. I'm glad I've come to realise that the fear was only in my head. And I'd be more than happy to take the chance to go out with them again sometime.

Until next post. 

Day 3: Above & Beyond

It's only day 3 and I have to admit that it's getting hard to keep up with the posts. Most of the time I get home exhausted and straightly pass out. I'm getting old, ain't I?

Anyways, soon after we made up and sorted things out after the quarrel, we were ready to rave. In day 3 we went to see Above & Beyond playing in Sidney Myer Music Bowl. In my opinion, they are the best DJ in trance music. Ever. Before we went to the venue I took her for a walk around Arts Centre Melbourne and Shrine of Remembrance. By 5 p.m. we walked back to the venue. The gate opened at 6 so we waited at the park outside, chilling out and sunbathing. Gladly the wether was sunny and nice with a little cool breeze. I happily stayed in the sunlight to keep me warm. My skin is getting tanned by now and I've got tan lines across my shoulders and neck and legs. Before it was so pale that I nearly looked like a ghost; the result of months of cold and icy weather. 

When the gate opened, we went in after passing the security check. An opening DJ had started playing as people were coming in. We found a spot at front in general reserves area. After 3 opening DJ's it was finally Above & Beyond's turn. People were cheering as they walked in the stage, exciting for them to play and rock the venue. Soon as they played, the crowds went hysterical for their opening song was We're All We Need, a song from their soon-to-be-released album. The show was spectacular with awesome colorful lighting and lazers show. People sang along to the songs they played and danced excitedly. For two and a half hours A&B played and all along I danced and jumped and pumped, as though I was hypnotised. For a moment I forgot about anything and was completely in a trance as I was dancing. It was the crowds and the atmosphere, not that I was high or something. I was just simply happy at that moment. It was, indeed, the best way to enjoy the first sunset in 2015. That is the reason why I should rave more.

We both loved the show. By the time we got home I was extremely exhausted but happy. It was the very first rave we went together. Sweet, hey? It is, indeed.

There are some pictures from the day. It's not the picture of the best moments of the show, not to mention the best pictures I've ever taken. I chose to enjoy the show and sipped in every single moment and keep it for myself to always remember. I'd prefer to jump on every drop-beat instead of standing still and trying to get a good shot or record it.

Until next post.

Day 2: New Year

In day 2, we spent most of the day in the city. I took Q around places; my university, workplace, the State Library, Federation Square, Yarra River, and Docklands. I had her eat Schintz, an Australian franchise food. She was enjoying the day, sipping in Melbourne atmosphere. According to her, all the people in Melbourne seem so relax, like no one seems to rush. (All the people but me, maybe?) Portland's atmosphere is relaxing, but Melbourne is even more relaxing. People seem to enjoy their days, so she said. I never paid attention to it before but then agreed to her after I eventually did. At the same time, I let her experience the culture and answered her questions.

At night, as the New Year was coming closer, I took her to Crown and we mingled around the casino, clubs and bars. But then there was a little accident: we got separated among the crowd. The phone calls couldn't get through and I have no idea where she was. It took me 3 hours to finally found her. So basically we watched the fireworks separately, but still in the same area. I was in Yarra Bridge and she was in Federation Square, just a few hundreds yard away, apparently, but between thousands of people.

After I found her, we both were upset and tired. We went home in silence and go to bed after shower. In the morning we argued a bit, speaking out what we think went wrong that night. The atmosphere was tense as we were getting ready to go out. But we were able to sort things out and so we kissed and we made up. Well, not kiss, kiss. It's just an expression. You get it, yeah?

Anyways, it was our first real quarrel. It seems funny now that I'm thinking about it. Glad that we put it behind us sooner than later.
All is good now.

Here is some photos that I took on the day.

Ah, Happy New Year to you all! Hope you guys had a blast New Year!

Until next post.