Weathermen LIE. Lots.

---

Wow it's been a long time since I've written!! A whole week! Here is what has been happening:

Sunday: It was freezing (ok, not as cold as Toronto...) and so I had a sleep-in and got a haircut! Very exciting all around. Ooh, and grocery shopping, and second hand book shopping. I love second hand books - they have that worn feeling that makes you think that someone else has loved them once. haha.. but yes, they are cheap and so if they are an awful read then you don't feel as badly as if you had bought them at Dymocks or Angus & Robertson.

Monday: played receptionist at that same company that I did data entry for - quite boring. Thumb twiddliing 101.

Tuesday: Went to the park, did some more Christmas shopping, paid my phone bill (half of last month's - progress!!) and had another french lesson! This time Raphaelle lent me a french marie claire which is much more interesting than the french novel I've been trying to read. It was such a nice night so I went to see 5x2 up at the Dendy Circular Quay cinema. I love this cinema - it's like Toronto's Bloor St Cinema where movies are cheaper than usual and they're the thinking type documentary style films. 5x2 is about a french couple and it has 5 pivotal points in their lives together, starting at the end - their divorce and working back to when they first met. Quite sad all that they let themselves go through, and the websites said that sometimes you have to go back to the start to realize the true happiness of it all. Anyways, not bad at all. It was pouring rain when I was walking home which meant a Singing in the Rain episode - minus the umbrella. There was definitely some stomping and dancing in puddles... yes mummy, I dried off and had some hot tea when I got home.

Wednesday: Went to the Australian Museum to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibit. Absolutely PHENOMENAL. It was so bloody brilliant that I almost started crying which only happens when I truly think something is beautiful. It's a yearly competition run by the BBC. am trying to find the website on the web - am thinking of buying the book!!! after all I do love animals. well, just not in my home. but in general I think they're quite pretty. Next time you are in a bookstore - check it out. It's collection 15. Then yet another movie - see during the year when I'm working and studying I never have time to see movies! So I'm going a little crazy over here with my movie watching. I saw Enron - the Smartest Guys in the Room. Of course it's about Enron and the politics behind it all - the pride, where it all went wrong. Fascinating!
Oh yeah and here's the link to some photographer's websites:
Bence Mate: http://www.matebence.hu/home_en.htm
Andy Rouse: http://www.andyrouse.co.uk/
and here is the full list of photographs: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/gallery/image.jsp?image=3505

Thursday: This is where my blog topic comes into play. I went to the beach. The weathermen said it was going to be 15-20 degrees and thunderstorms. So of course, knowing that they lie and had been lying to me for around 5-6 weeks now, I decided to go to the beach just to defy them. I laught in the face of the weather report!!! I like to live on the edge like that. Sure enough - it was 25-30 degrees and GORGEOUS. I cannot emphasize that enough - it was GORGEOUS up in Manly as well as Sydney CBD. It was so good though because it had rained for about three days before and so all the flies were still hiding out! yay! So I could lie there in peace. I swear, everyone here looks like they're on ecstasy the way they walk and bat away flies. It's like a nervous tick.

Then kenji and I went out last night - just bar hopping. thursdays aren't that big here! but anyways. We ended up hitting about 6 places which is quite good considering we started at midnight.. but the night definitely ended when we tried to pick up these girls for kenj at 4am but then their boss (they were bartenders) came over and mentioned that they were 18. so we hightailed it and I came home. woke up at 3pm today and went into Glebe... there's this place called envy, which has the best toast, baked beans, scrambled eggs and bacon... then i got a green tea. yum! and they have these long daybeds to sit on, and it reminds me of Tequila Bookworm in Toronto but... BETTER! there's more light and they have jazz music playing! absolutely crazy. i sat there and read interior design and travel magazines for a good two hours and they didn't kick me out. now this is my new favorite place.

Highlights this week:
- kiwi fruit! It's so much sweeter here since we're so close to New Zealand.
- Still addicted to Anzac biscuits. I feel like I need to start a support group.
- Parents arriving in a week! We're planning a trip to the Blue Mountains and Hunter Valley.
- Registered for my George Brown classes. I am a student again - I have the schedule to prove it!!! I am actually really really excited to go back to school. I feel like this will be a really good course. Orientation is January 5!

Since I have had huge amounts of time to think about my life and what I plan on doing, I've started thinking about New Years Resolutions. I have come up with the following:
1) Be tidy and uncluttered - minimalism is the key!
2) Study hard and perhaps actually find myself in a real career?
3) Begin pilates or yoga (I'm signing up for classes in Toronto!)
4) Be patient.

And since I am the ultimate listmaker and this is a travel blog, here are my top wishlist trips:
1) Peru, Chile, Argentina, Galapagos Islands down to... Antarctica!!!
2) Spain - Madrid, Bilbao, Barcelona, Ibiza, Seville, Grenada, San Sebastian
3) Czech Republic and Germany
4) Tuscany, down to Sicily and then onto Greece, Turkey, Morocco and Egypt
5) Ooh! Transylvania!

My sis wrote me and since we have in the past however many years completely exhausted Christmas gifts (plus the fact that we are not Christian) she suggested that we donate to charity instead of buying things for each other that we won't use. She said heifer.org is a great one. They give livestock and real food to people who need it. So cool! I think I'll do this for my birthday and all from now on. This goes back to resolution number 1.

In other news, what would this be if I didn't at least mention Van Nguyen's execution? I must admit, I haven't seen much protesting or vigilence here in Sydney this week, but then again I try not to go where the crowds go. It's sad, I mean it's on the news all over the place... the question being should someone have to die for any crime or should capital punishment be enforced? The Singaporean government holds that if he had succeeded in the drug smuggling, that he would have ruined thousands of lives and thousands of families with the amount that he was carrying on him. But is that enough to have to die for? I don't know.

And in other other news, my mother is going to a costume party tonight. The theme: pirates and wenches. She's going as a pirate. My mummy is a pirate!

Bon nuit tout le monde.
Ciao ciao.

---