SUPERAWESOMESPRINGBREAK

long time no see!

if you're looking forward to reading an update about my amazing spring break trip it might not be that great since i don't have my pics - but let's start shall we? (i might amend this post later)

Saturday
got up early - kinda scrambled around since we wanted to catch the bus to the airport BUT we made it just on time! right when we got to the bus stop like a minute later the 400 bus came!

but then we had to find the right terminal - we wandered around in the Qantas terminal till we asked someone where the Virgin Blue terminal was

and then it turned out that our check-in baggage was too heavy so we repacked everything (someone told us they weren't strict on check-in but were really strict on carry-on => liars)
security was sooo lax....didn't even have to take out liquids or anything (we later found out that you can take any amount of liquids as long as they aren't opaque or something like that

NEXT - got to Ayers Rock, got our cars and drove to the Ayers Rock Resort and checked in!

area around our cabin

all the sand is red! so awesome

bought groceries for our bbq later that night and then drove into the national park to see the sunset (btw i don't have my pictures - these are all from my iphone lol if you're actually my friend and not a creeper who happened upon this blog then you can see my pictures on my fb page.....later)

so you basically watch Uluru (that's the rock's name - it used to be named Ayers Rock...now it's Uluru) change colors as the sun sets
it's amazing - like seriously, seeing this rock in person is amazing - i think of it as kind of seeing a glacier, it's just a huge block of ice and Uluru is just a rock but it's still breathtaking to see - you realy don't know how massive this thing is until you see it in person

then afterward, we had bbq! took a while to cook everything though =( and some of the chicken was a little undercooked so i got a stomach ache at night >< but no biggie...cause i've eaten undercooked chicken before and experienced it before lol

Sunday
woke up early to see the sunrise!! i don't think i have pictures of it on my cell phone - sorry peeps
we went to the cultural center to read up on the history and look at artworks and such
then we went back to our cabin and took a nap haha then ate lunch and first did the Mutitjulu walk? to a gorge and then from there we did the base walk where you walk around the entirety of Uluru (all 10.6 km)
it took us about 3 1/2 to 4 hours - about 20 min of it was waiting for two of our friends while they climbed Uluru

this is the section where you can climb it

the Aboriginals actually ask that you do not climb the rock because to do so is risking your life and they want you to think about the people you would hurt if you did end up dying at Uluru - and they don't want Uluru to become known as a place of sadness since to them, it's a place that supports and gives life

ok so after we finished that we watched the sunset again, but this time from the same viewing point where we watched the sunrise

annnd then we cooked dinner (curry!) and slept pretty early-ish
we actually planned on having our campfire this night, but learned that we needed to collect wood from like this area beside the highway so we postponed it

Monday
woke up, did the free guided tour (the Mala walk) and learned a whole bunch about the history and culture of the Aboriginals who came from there - each group of people are named after animals that are native to the land where they come from (like i guess for us Texans, we could be called the armadillo people...since armadillos are kinda native to only Texas)
the Mala Walk took us to the Kantju Gorge i believe and after that we went to eat lunch at the sunrise viewing area =) nice scenery for lunch

after that we went to go gather wood lol yay for girl scout skills - i actually knew what we needed

then we went to kata tjuta aka the olgas, which are another set of rocks in the national park and walked to the gorge there

we also laid on the benches for a while since we had a lot of time to kill and we were tired - after that we went to wait for the sun to set after this we went to buy a bit more groceries and then we ate dinner (pasta with left over meat from our bbq)

then it was campfire time! i was so scared that i wouldn't be able to build a fire and that it wouldn't work but it did! mostly because all the wood was so dry i think
except the bigger pieces of wood were still kind of too long and too thin so it ended up being really tall at first and became a bonfire at the end
but everything was still good! we stuck our sweet potatoes in the fire and then made s'mores! yay for teaching people what s'mores are - except they were like aussie-style s'mores cause the marshmallows here are in lame gumdrop shapes and come in pink and white (they're considered more of a candy instead of something you can use for baking and stuff) and they didn't have graham crackers!! so we bought these lame sweet biscuits that worked out pretty well

all in all, me fire = success! yay for girl scouts!

and our day wasn't done yet! we laid outside and watched the stars for a while...then some people went back to sleep and four of us ended up staying outside for a couple more hours haha and it was worth it cause we got to see pretty huge shooting starts that streaked across the sky!

Tuesday
woke up, ate lunch, went to walk/shop around the resort and i bought a couple of postcards

then it was off to the airport! and spent the entire day on the plane kinda

we arrived in Melbourne a little late since apparently we didn't have a place to land or something like that so we stayed up in the air for a little while

then we went to our hostel called home @ the mansion! it's pretty cool and nice - and two of our friends from ih made us dinner!
kangaroo sandwiches! they were really good =)

and i'll end it here cause this post is long enough o_o

AUSTRALIA!

and so here begins my australia posts!

first things first i shall sum up my flight:
i think this was one of the worst flights i've had mostly because i drank white wine in first class and i don't think me and alcohol mix very well together cause i got a headache...
that lasted until 4 hours into my flight to australia - i tried to sleep it off and it sorta worked

on the way to vancouver though i sat next to a lady with a baby and a cat - she had a lot of stuff and i watched star wars ep iv and some criminal minds

stopped at vancouver and sat there for around 2 hours - i was surprised by the amount of fobby asians there in the airport haha
on the flight: by 6-7 am in the morning houston time i felt better and watched 3 movies: unstoppable, lincoln lawyer, and battle: LA
all of which were surprisingly good

then i got to sydney, waited for like 30 min at baggage claim only to find out that they didn't have my luggage - AGAIN
like wtf is up with me traveling alone and airlines losing my luggage? but at least i wasn't the only one - the other guy who arrived in sydney from houston was also missing his luggage

Random comments on my first glimpse into Sydney (many of which might turn out highly inaccurate as i explore more of Sydney):

• australia has crazy quarantine rules (the flight attendants have to spray this non-toxic spray when you land) and everyone checks your docs like ten million times to make sure you have that electronic visa
  
• there are a lot of asians
• no seriously, there are a lot of asians! like 50% white and 50% asians - of course that could just the be the area that i went into but still - lots of asians!
• white people actually eat in the asian places - and these asian restaurants are pretty legit asian food, so it's nice seeing non-asian people there enjoying the food unlike in america where chinese food is "kung pow chicken" and "mooshu pork" or whatever
  
• it seems like a mixture of HK and america to me (like you have to drive, but the malls have supermarkets in them and resemble more of hk malls than american ones, and there are tunnels like in hk - but i guess lots of places have tunnels but not houston- but then there also neighborhoods instead of just building after building after building filled with apartments...i totally rambled but whatever)
• the sun doesn't move (really! when i was in the car and we were driving into the neighborhood it was 10 am and the sun was to the right of me and then on our way back from lunch around 2 pm the sun was in the exact same position - it boggled me)
• speaking of the sun, it sets really early - by 6 it's dark out o_o i don't even think it sets that fast during our winter in texas
  
• there are white people wearing european style fashion and then asians wearing fobby style fashion so yea, it's like a huge mixture)
• the place i went to (ok i totally forgot the name - chestwick/chestwood?? i think it's chatswood...i'm tired so i forget) has lots of bakeries
• the weather is nice - well it was nice today - it might be cold tomorrow
• all the roads are opposite from america - and i think people stand on the left for escalators...i was standing on the right and was wondering if i was doing something wrong lol
• the tap water here tastes like the tap water in hk
  

of course like i said before, many of these things could be waaaaay inaccurate but just first impressions for me - i hope no aussie is actually reading this cause i'd feel like an idiot
..maybe i'll name this "first impressions based on only venturing into a small part of sydney for a couple of hours from an american noob's pov"
i'm actually really excited to be living here for the next 5 months and i had the urge to smile and keep smiling but i didn't want to look like an idiot so i kinda made a =| face

someone doesn't want victoria to go to copenhagen

...either that or they just don't like me

you know, flying continental has never really given me any problems - until today

the day started out good - woke up, packed remaining things, got in car, bought kolaches for breakfast, arrived at airport, got on plane to newark

then due to bad weather the captain flew around in a couple circles around baltimore - i heard a guy and a girl saying they were going to copenhagen on the flight too

and then got off plan at around 5:40 pm (that means we were actually already at the gate around 5:20 pm)

hopped off plane - saw the two danish people sitting on a cart so i go up to the driver and ask him where gate 112 is and rude danish dude goes, "he doesn't have time!" so i ask him, "what gate are you going to?" (cause i already know he's going to gate 112 too)

"112"
"oh me too"
so i got on and he asks if i'm going to denmark and i said yes (well where else am i going? i'm going to the same gate as you) i tell him that i don't think they would leave (well from my previous experience they waited) and danish dude tells me they already had one flight canceled so yea i got worried

while we're making our super slow way to the gate danish dude whistles at people so they would move and danish girl goes "please move!"

and then they decide to hop off the cart since it was too slow - so i followed them

when they reach the gate they turn around and seeing that they couldn't go i ask a lady about the gate and she said it's closed
yup - and the danish pair confirmed it - the plane is indeed gone

and danish girl starts crying and yelling "i have a competition on saturday!! i'm going to f*cking sue this place!!!" and everyone is staring

...ok not going to talk to them anymore

walked to service desk

they can't do anything

only option is for me to stay the night -sigh-

i go to baggage claim cause i want my luggage and lady tells me it takes up to 4 hours

so i wait

in about 15-30 min my duffel bag comes out...and that's it

so i wait up to an hour and then go to the lady again and she just says to wait one more hour

so i wait one more hour (when i sit down and put my duffel bag next to a lady an old dude walks up and just stares at my bag - apparently he was sitting there before so i move my bag - i mean he could have at least said please move it right?) and i go back to the service desk and new people are there - then this nice guy asks if i'm missing a bag and i'm like why yes, yes i am

he goes to look for it, can't find it, so he calls the people down there (he must know them well since he's all like "heeeyyy whaassuupp!! how you doinnn? blah blah blah") - i'm guessing he's italian cause he sounds like those italian mobsters

and then he apologizes and tells me that they probably overlooked the fact that i had two bags since they were swamped and if i wanted the other bag then i would have to wait a long time

so i said no and he gave me a toiletries bag and told me how to get to the ramada plaza hotel

i get to the ramada hotel and they tell me that it's full and i have to go to the sheraton

so i take the bus to the sheraton (it's like right across from the ramada)

front desk person asks "so how are you?"

my response: "uhhh..."

"very tired?"

"yea"

and so i get my hotel room

my flight leaves at the same time tomorrow (5:35 pm) so i have like a whole day to kill - lamebeans

and now i'm at the hotel super tired even though it's only 11 ish here and only 10 ish in houston

blah