CharM87

Well, it has been about a month since I wrote this and we have gone into a new year, so I guess I should update everyone on my whereabouts. I am still working at French connection, been doing about 30 to 35 hours a week leading up to Christmas although it has dropped a bit now. The sale started just before christmas, and boxing day on the Saturday was crazy!! I have never seen anywhere as busy as the city centre was and we took well over $30,000 in one day, ridiculous! There were police around to control the crowds going in and out of Myer, the huge department store next door to us, thankfully we didn't need that. It has really dropped now though and yesterday, Saturday 9th, we only took 40% of budget, about ... read more

I have been here exactly 2 weeks now and I am pretty much sorted and settled. I moved into a gorgeous apartment last Wednesday overlooking the Chinese gardens and just 2 minutes walk to Darling Harbour. There are 8 people living there which is a bit cramped, but we are all in and out at different times so it isn't too bad. There are 2 bedrooms, one guys and one girls, and 2 bathrooms thankfully. The lounge is quite big and there is a huge balcony which we use as the lounge as it is getting into summer here now so it is warm enough to stay outside quite late. There is also a rooftop pool, gym, and sauna, and the block itself is really nice, so it has worked out well. On the job front, ... read more

This week has been a very stressful week of lying on the beach on Koh Samet, an island just 40 minutes boat ride from the Thailand coast. We left Singburi on Sunday at about 8am and got here about 5pm, so it was a full days travel but within 20 minutes of been here we were all on the beach and having a swim in the sea which is so warm, absolutley lovely. We have basically just relaxed all week. Get up at about 9am, have breakfast on the beach and then just stay there until abut 4pm, shower and change and then head out for the night for dinner and a few drinks. You can do all sorts during the day, jet ski, quad bike, banana boat or parasail, but it is all quite expensive ... read more

Into the third week already, this month is going so fast! This week has been quite a good week so far. On Sunday we all left the eco-house, Twin House near Singburi, to go to 'Golf resort 27' for one night. This is really for all of the people who are trekking as they leave from there to go into the jungle the next day, but everyone gets to go as a little treat. It was so nice!! A lovely golf course covered with flowers and with lots of lakes and fountains, and then there is a basketball court, massage palour, and swimming pool where we all spent most of our time. We got there about half past one, it took about 3 hours ina very cramped bus with all our luggage. Our rooms were gorgeous, ... read more

This week so far it has all been about Buddhism and temples. We learnt a lot about it last week but we saw a lot more of it in practice this week, spending quite a lot of time with monks and in temples, mediatating and chanting with them. The weekend was a relaxed one, went to the pool and just chilled at the house, but then on Monday some of us got up at 5:30am to go the local temple and feed the monks. It was 'Holy Monk day', a special day where the local people take the food to the monks as opposed to the monks walking around the town to collect the food as they usually do. Monks are not allowed to cook for themselves, they have to live on food which is given ... read more