ArielP
Ariel Palanca Joined: January 26th 2009
Logged in: March 25th 2009
Logged in: March 25th 2009
Travel Blog Posts
Town Hall
So, after a 14 hour flight from Sydney to LA, an 8 hour lay over in LAX, and a 4 hour flight to Detroit, I found myself back at home at 2 am not quite sure which time zone my head, body, or heart were in. (Can we get any more cheesy than that ?!?) The rest of my Sydney trip was incredible. Most notably, I climbed to the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge, and was able to view the Northern and Southern ends of the Sydney Harbor from standing atop of the highest peak of the bridge. Words really can't describe the experience. The rest of my days were mainly spent touring the city and learning Irish drinking songs. Australia is the first place I have traveled abroad where I felt like I was ... read more
Three Sisters
Early Saturday morning, we started on our journey to the Blue Mountains. We stopped at the store to get some supplies for a picnic lunch (these Irish men are quite gourmet, let me tell you) and then got on the train for the 2 hour journey to Katoomba, one of the main stopping points in the mountains. The topography started changing about 1.5 hours into the train ride, when the flat was replaced by rolling, forested hills and small towns. "Mountains" is probably an overstatement... reminds me a lot of the Porcupine Mountains in the UP of Michigan. The best part of the mountains was the "blue" part. I guess the eucalyptus from the trees has a chemical reaction with the ozone, so the mountains are coated in a blue haze. Quite neat, and really a ... read more
Harbor Bridge
I have arrived! And what a city to arrive to. It really is as breathtaking and spectacular as everyone says. The harbor just knocks your socks off. From the "coat-hanger" Harbor Bridge, to the grandeur of the Sydney Opera House, it is quite the welcome for the weary traveler. I arrived on Friday and was met by Phil and James, two Irishmen that I met in Fiji, now in Sydney living with their other Irish friends all here for a spell to live and work. They took me around the city and we went out in the downtown for the evening. We started at an Irish bar (not surprisingly) called Scruffy McMurphys, which is actually a great place with quality Irish music and cheap Guiness. There are a ton of explants here, including a ton from ... read more
Penguins!
I just had to put up a few pics of my trip to the Zoo. The Melbourne Zoo has more than 320 species on view, and it is an "open range" zoo, so none of the animals are caged. You are able to walk dirt paths and brush right up against the animals. There is an "elephant walk" and and "orangutan sanctuary". My favorites were the orangutans and the penguins. Enjoy!... read more
The Strawberry Field
3 weeks down, less than one to go! I cannot believe how time has flown. I'm really looking forward to seeing Sydney, but I am truly going to miss Melbourne. This is not my last time here, I can say that with certainty. So, week 3 was very nice, and I definitely started to settle into a routine. Work was light (surprise, surprise) but nice. I met a great Orthopaedic Surgery resident, Tanya, and she let me scrub a case with her. The Ortho Residents here train for 5 years after their 2 intern years, and they move to a new hospital every 6 MONTHS! And these hospitals can be anywhere in Victoria, which is a very, very large area. Tanya says they learn to be quite mobile. Otherwise, just spent a lot of time in ... read more
Crown Casine Fireshow
So, my mother told me that everything about my time in Melbourne has sounded "perfect", and though it may sound corny, I'm just going to have to agree. I actually had to stop myself from using the word perfect too much this weekend, because I didn't want to cheapen it. But it quickly became our weekend theme, and thankfully it lived up to just that. Wednesday night started with another trip to the Queen Victoria Market. I finally met up with Christina, who is another Michigan medical student doing a rotation at a different hospital in Heidelberg, which is about a 15 minute train ride from Melbourne. We were joined by the remainder of the UK contingent who were leaving for Adelaide the next day. So we had dinner and drinks at the market and then ... read more
Federation Square
So I touched on the city of Melbourne briefly, but I thought I'd take some time to talk about how cool this place actually is, and all the things there are to do! I live in Fitzroy, which is a great area. There is live music just about every night, and a ton of cool shops and outdoor cafes just to sit and people-watch. Little Italy is just a few blocks away on Lygon street, and it is quite authentic. You hear more Italian being spoken than English. I've been to St. Kilda a lot, the beach area. The beach is really nice and there is an artisan market every Sunday. It's a pretty young area, and you can find a party pretty much wherever and whenever you want. I guess it used to be the ... read more
Base night club
So, yesterday I decided that I had worked quite hard for four whole days, and deserved the day off to see the Great Ocean Road. Sigh, I love international elective rotations... =) And what a trip it was! Louise, Natalie and I left our home at 6:30 am to start our journey (which was perhaps a bit easier said than done, since we stayed out until 2:00am the night before at a hostel/club called Base to celebrate Ross's birthday... free champagne for ladies or any man who DRESSED like a lady... yes, enough said). In any case, we were picked up in front of Flinder's Street Station at 7:00am by our tour guide, Chris, in a 10 seater van with "Wild Wombat Escapes" painted on the side. The van was full with a great group and ... read more
City of Melbourne
First things first, I've had a lot of people inquire about how close I am to the bush fires. They are at least 30kms from Melbourne, though a lot of people living here have family who have been affected. It really is a sad time here. The death toll was 181 on the news last night, and they are still fighting the fires. Rumor is that the fires were arsons. The country outreach has been amazing though. Australia is a great country, but honestly is such a different world. In the South, there are fires, and in the North, there are floods which are being scavenged by crocodiles. Pretty unreal. So, day 3 of the hospital, and things are going great. First of all, everyone is RIDICULOUSLY nice here. So much so that they actually go ... read more
St. Kilda's
Wow, this is a glorious city! I got in on Thursday night and stayed in quite the lively hostel (another story to be told, but for another time). Then on Friday I embarked across the city to find my accomodations at St. Vincent's Hospital, which is in Fitzoy, a suburb on the Northeast corner of the city center. First of all, let me tell you how CONFUSING the streets are here! First, of course, you drive on the left side of the road. If that wasn't bad enough, there are trams which run down the center of the streets in both directions which do not obey the traffic signals. Oh! And, when making a RIGHT turn, the driver gets in the LEFTMOST lane, and then turns on yellow. Needless to say, I just look in every ... read more
