Crappy day at the beach


I woke up fairly early this morning to go and buy a body board. I have been to the beach quite a bit lately, and I was jealous of all the people who had them and seemingly glided across the waves. Meanwhile, I would catch a wave and end up eating sand from the sea floor and lose my swimsuit at the same time. So, I thought it was high time to pick a board up.

The water was cold, but I insisted in getting in and going further and further out. The board worked great at first, but then, it worked TOO well. One minute I was talking to this guy about the seaweed and the next, I was all alone about 60 meters from the shore. EEK! So, I tried to do what I learned when caught in a rip- swim parallel to the shore then body surf your way in. Well, using the body board made it really difficult to, uh, SWIM- so I was kicking my legs like mad, but not getting anywhere. The buoyancy of the board actually prevented me from going anywhere. At this point, another body boarder (obviously more experienced than me) saw me and kept me company, encouraging me to stay afloat and be calm. I told him that I was okay, just tired, but he recognized a stuck idiot when he saw one and called the lifeguard. I felt like a right fool, but unless I let go of the $80 board that I JUST BOUGHT, there was no way I could get back to shore without killing myself (I tried to swim with it next to me, but it just hit me in the head a few times). *sigh* The lifeguard surfed over and towed me into the middle of the flags (at 25 meters) but then this huge wave came and dumped over both of us. Luckily, we were both in area where your feet touched the sand and I tiredly walked back to my towel.

So, that's my story for the day. I am also ever so grateful for the Dee Why surf club for helping me out- they rock! I am also grateful that he didn't have to drag me all the way to the shore. That would have been waaaaay embarrassing.

*Update- then I get home and read the news and see THIS. SHARKS?!?! Narrabeen beach is just north of Dee Why Beach. sheesh.

RIP- Isohunt dot com

So sad. We had such goodtimes Isohunt. You provided me with hours and hours of entertainment. I shall miss you.
Feel free to donate to their downloading love.. HERE.

It was inevitable- here comes Real World Sydney!

There used to be a time when I would salivate at the thought of a new season of MTV's the Real World. Now, not so much. It kinda fell off after it's San Francisco season. And when they started making them work together. Not that the other ones weren't amusing...remember Ruthie and that other guy [who ended up getting his own show on MTV for a minute] jumped into the Hawaii pool naked?

Now, MTV's first experiment in reality is coming down under. I can guarantee the debauchery will be 10 fold this season for a few reasons- the first being the legal drinking age here- 18. Plus, there is something goin' down all the time -Sydneysiders love to party. There will be a gay guy/girl who will lose their ever lovin' shiz over Gay Mardi Gras. A surfer who will go crazy over the waves. Their job will probably be some kind of surf shop. Someone will get arrested in Manly on a night out...Oh, MTV, so predicatable. Or should I say RR cast members are so predictable...? But, I will tune in, if only to see the wonderful scenery- and to see if my predictions are correct.

*Update- Can someone explain to me why they are in Denver? This show is getting lamer and lamer. Too bad they wasted Vancouver on their fake RR season. BC would have rocked!

Bollywood, baby!

When I was at Uni, I had a lot of white guy friends who loved to lip-sync to Bhangra music- but this is hilarious! Check out cricketer Brett Lee get down! * Misunderstanding Update- He is really singing on this. I never meant to imply that he's a lip sync-er. :) Just that I have silly white guy friends who DO lip sync.

Happy New Year!

(Sam free*, boo to that), I participated in a Sydney NYE tradition- sitting in the sun all day to get a view of the Harbour Bridge fireworks. It's the Bridge's 75th [Diamond] Anniversary and the theme was "Emerald City". It wasn't as stressful as it could have been nor as luxurious. I mean, some people got there at the break of dawn and brought coolers, tents, chairs and nice blankets! I just went down there alone and chilled out for a few hours before friends Tim and Marie joined me. I made friends with a lovely British family (they were in town for The Ashes), and we took turns watching each others bags and stuff while we went on water/food/potty runs. I got so much mixed advice about my plan to sit there. A lot of people told me to just go there at 11:55 pm and get in then. There was a lot of planning and security this year, so I am pleased with my decision to head down early. However, there was some drama. People coming in late thought it was totally acceptable to wedge their way into areas that looked "empty" (aka people standing up and not sitting on their blankets). I had to yell at a couple of rather rude revelers, but all was well in the end when those bursts of color lit up the sky above and around us. As luck would have it, some girls from Seattle sat in front of us! They heard our accents and next thing you know, we are mentioning names and places to each other. (Shout out to Sidney and Shannon...)

the scene at Circular Quay around 5:00 pm

After the fireworks, the party continued on the Rocks. We found a block party choc full of The Barmy Army chanting, and people just looking to have a good time. It was a fun scene, and everyone was behaving, which made it even better. If you are ever in the area for NYE, I highly suggest heading to the corner of George and Argyle Street. Insta-afterparty.

Ryan and I finally got home around 4 am. You know those horror movies where someone is running away from the killer and they've hurt themselves, but keep running with their bum leg dragging behind them? That was me at 4 am, at the train station. So tired...but it was all worth it. I come home in 23 days!!

Well, Happy 2007 to everyone! More pictures and video of the celebrations to come....

* For those of you who haven't met him- Sam is one of my oldest friends from Chicago. We have spent 7 of the past 10 NYE nights together. So it's weird to party w/o him.