Conor has finally arrived and despite popular belief we haven't been in trouble yet. He almost killed a child with a football but that's another story. Just been working hard and saving money. Conor has booked himself a 10 day trip to and back to Alice springs. As much as Id like to be going with him I just can afford it but now that Conor is here the real trip planning has begun. Some serious traveling will be done from the 22nd of November onwards. The basic outline of the plan is Sydney first and then after visiting family there its off to "Spot X" for a four day surfing blitz. When I say "Spot X" I really mean spot x. Its a surfing resort thats hidden away from the usual public. Exclusive to surfers. After that its off to Brisbane. This is where he plan gets a little sketchy. We will have about 7 days in and around Brisbane. I plan on meeting family there and heading a bit further north. There were a few reasons for me to coming to Australia and one of the main reasons was to visit Fraser Island. Thats defiantly on the travel list. After this we will finally rent out a camper van and drive from brisbane back to Melbourne traveling all along the coast. Its gona be awesome.
Today we took the train out of Sydney to a place called Belgrave where the Dandenong National parks are. It was awesome. We were surrounded by fresh air and forest. It was a real Bear Grills day. Trudging our way through the forest, surviving off the land....and the sandwiches we brought with us. I would love to say that there was a great view at the top of the first mountain, thats right we climbed two, but there was so much forest that we couldn't see around. I don't know why its called "One Tree Hill" there is, after some counting, clearly more than one tree. In fact the where a whole bunch of trees. Some might say it was a forest. So why not call it "Forest Hill"? The second mountain I would aptly name "Bitching climb to the water fall Hill" but its called "Sherbrook Hill" We didn't meet anyone the whole way up. It was like a scene from Jurassic Park minus the dinosaurs. Totally worth the hour long train journey.
I will leave you all with these puzzles.
How much bear could Bear Grills grill if Bear Grills could grill bears?
and
How much bears could Bear Grills bear if Bear Grills could bear bears?
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Full of it
Im nicely settled in now. Haven't been up to much except working and some of the places I have been in have been pretty cool. Im working in a company called "Hotel Staff" In a nut shell a person needs extra help in their kitchen/restaurant/ball room/multi-million Jewish house, they call my boss, they ask for "X" amount of people, my boss rings said "X" amount and we go to that place and help out. Its freaking easy and I usually get fed. Smile, take your time and talk nice. Couldn't be simpler. I clean tables, serve wine clean up, all that stuff. The getting fed part is my favorite, that and the getting to see cool places.
My first day i worked at a cocktail party on the 33rd floor of a multi-story building. The view was amazing. I could see the whole way across the city and the sun was setting. Last week I worked in the kitchen of the mazda HQ. Got to see advertisement plans that aren't out yet plus some design plans. This week I was in the BMW HQ and I got to see a prototype of a new BMW that wont be on the production lines until late next year and it had a new fancy V8 engine that still isn't out of its 2nd BETA faze (not to sure about what they call the different stages of engine making so BETA will have to do) Yesterday I worked in a million dollar house for a Jewish family celebrating the Jewish new year. MY GOD it was fancy. Filthy rich fancy. Indoor swimming pool, tennis court, 3 kitchens, silver everything, 200 dollar wine and so on. What struck me most about last night was that even tho these people were SURROUNDED by luxury there was still a huge felling of a close family. It was nice to see that endless amounts of money didn't effect the closeness the family had. It made me miss home.
This new job has me thinking a lot. Im sure a lot of people out there, including myself, get nervous on the first day or two of their new job. You don't know the people, your not too sure what exactly you are supposed to be doing, when will you get fed and so on. You know, first day jitters. Every day in this job is that first day. You need to believe that you can do it and you are always in somewhere new. It made me start thinking about self belief.
People have a hard time believing in themselves. Some people rely on others, some on themselves and some get it from both. Ive seen people crippled, again myself, by relying completely on another person for belief. Ive seen belief come from nothing, everything and anyone. Iv learned something over the last year. I believe in myself. I believe in myself, my family and my friends. I believe that if you want others to believe in you you have to have some of that spark in yourself. The more I believe in me the more others react to my belief, the more I have in myself the more I share with others. A big old loop.
What I want to get at is that if you are feeling down or a bit out of yourself remember who you are. Remember to believe in yourself, remember where you came from and who your friends are, remember your family, remember easy days and long nights, remember your heros and remember your mentors. There is ALWAYS belief in you, you just have to remember it and it will help you do anything.
Redman out.
On a lighter note fell free to count how many times I said believe, believing or belief. ha
My first day i worked at a cocktail party on the 33rd floor of a multi-story building. The view was amazing. I could see the whole way across the city and the sun was setting. Last week I worked in the kitchen of the mazda HQ. Got to see advertisement plans that aren't out yet plus some design plans. This week I was in the BMW HQ and I got to see a prototype of a new BMW that wont be on the production lines until late next year and it had a new fancy V8 engine that still isn't out of its 2nd BETA faze (not to sure about what they call the different stages of engine making so BETA will have to do) Yesterday I worked in a million dollar house for a Jewish family celebrating the Jewish new year. MY GOD it was fancy. Filthy rich fancy. Indoor swimming pool, tennis court, 3 kitchens, silver everything, 200 dollar wine and so on. What struck me most about last night was that even tho these people were SURROUNDED by luxury there was still a huge felling of a close family. It was nice to see that endless amounts of money didn't effect the closeness the family had. It made me miss home.
This new job has me thinking a lot. Im sure a lot of people out there, including myself, get nervous on the first day or two of their new job. You don't know the people, your not too sure what exactly you are supposed to be doing, when will you get fed and so on. You know, first day jitters. Every day in this job is that first day. You need to believe that you can do it and you are always in somewhere new. It made me start thinking about self belief.
People have a hard time believing in themselves. Some people rely on others, some on themselves and some get it from both. Ive seen people crippled, again myself, by relying completely on another person for belief. Ive seen belief come from nothing, everything and anyone. Iv learned something over the last year. I believe in myself. I believe in myself, my family and my friends. I believe that if you want others to believe in you you have to have some of that spark in yourself. The more I believe in me the more others react to my belief, the more I have in myself the more I share with others. A big old loop.
What I want to get at is that if you are feeling down or a bit out of yourself remember who you are. Remember to believe in yourself, remember where you came from and who your friends are, remember your family, remember easy days and long nights, remember your heros and remember your mentors. There is ALWAYS belief in you, you just have to remember it and it will help you do anything.
Redman out.
On a lighter note fell free to count how many times I said believe, believing or belief. ha
Monday, August 30, 2010
Mellers
Melbourne is awesome. I gotta say I love it here. The city has a real nice buzz to it that you dont find in many places. Been busy enough this week so I haven't had a chance to look around much and to be honest Im kinda saving all that for when Conor gets here. Just took a walk around the city a small bit and found all the cool arty lanes that are riddled with graffiti. Kick ass graffiti. Some of the most awesome pieces I have ever seen. Il post up some pics on facetube when I get the chance.
Got myself a job but Im not sure if its one of those "come and work for us for a day or two and we will see how you get on" places. I think Ive been screwed and not the good kind. The job did seem too good to be true. I sat in an office all day making phone calls trying to get people to switch their electricity biller to my one because it was cheaper. It was a pretty good deal but on one occasion I got through to this old man who was recovering in hospital. I didnt want to bother him as he was recovering so I told him not to worry about it. After I hung up the woman working beside me asked me "Why the hell didnt I try to sell it so him? People in hospital are perfect. They always want to talk to someone" It was from that moment on I realized the true horror or telemarketing.
These people will do ANYTHING to get a sale. I was really annoyed. I dont want to sell stuff to people who only buy stuff off the telephone because it gives them someone to talk to for 15 min. It makes me really sad. Lets just say I wasnt exactly disappointed when I didn't get a call back to work on Saturday. Its back to the job boards Im afraid.
Went to see the Tim Burton exposition and I have to say it was FREAKING AWESOME
It had hundreds of his sketches and paintings as well as a few models from well known movies like Nightmare before Christmas, Edward scissor hands, Charlie and the chocolate factory, batman returns and so on. I saw the freaking bat-mobile. It was amazing. Im going to wait for Conor and go back again because the only draw back was that I went on a saturday and it was packed with people.
Im finally going to bust out the guitar. Im pretty much running out of money so Im going to have to busk. It means learning a few songs I dont particularly care for but il swallow my pride if it means making a copper or two singing and a playing a few cords. I welcome any (real) song suggestions. Fell free to facebook me.
Redman out....and about
Got myself a job but Im not sure if its one of those "come and work for us for a day or two and we will see how you get on" places. I think Ive been screwed and not the good kind. The job did seem too good to be true. I sat in an office all day making phone calls trying to get people to switch their electricity biller to my one because it was cheaper. It was a pretty good deal but on one occasion I got through to this old man who was recovering in hospital. I didnt want to bother him as he was recovering so I told him not to worry about it. After I hung up the woman working beside me asked me "Why the hell didnt I try to sell it so him? People in hospital are perfect. They always want to talk to someone" It was from that moment on I realized the true horror or telemarketing.
These people will do ANYTHING to get a sale. I was really annoyed. I dont want to sell stuff to people who only buy stuff off the telephone because it gives them someone to talk to for 15 min. It makes me really sad. Lets just say I wasnt exactly disappointed when I didn't get a call back to work on Saturday. Its back to the job boards Im afraid.
Went to see the Tim Burton exposition and I have to say it was FREAKING AWESOME
It had hundreds of his sketches and paintings as well as a few models from well known movies like Nightmare before Christmas, Edward scissor hands, Charlie and the chocolate factory, batman returns and so on. I saw the freaking bat-mobile. It was amazing. Im going to wait for Conor and go back again because the only draw back was that I went on a saturday and it was packed with people.
Im finally going to bust out the guitar. Im pretty much running out of money so Im going to have to busk. It means learning a few songs I dont particularly care for but il swallow my pride if it means making a copper or two singing and a playing a few cords. I welcome any (real) song suggestions. Fell free to facebook me.
Redman out....and about
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
New Views
Since coming back to Perth things have been quiet. Just been taking it easy. I just spent a great week with Duxxa and her family again.
They have been so good to me. I may have said this before but the world would be a better place if there were more people like Duxxa and her kin in the world.
Im finally in Melbourne. First impressions, awesome. I had a late flight so I had the privilege of seeing he sun rise just as I came into land. Really rich colours. It started off as a pale blue but orange spread up through it and when the sun burst up from the edges there was brilliant red and the whole city was bathed in the light. I had heard that Melbourne is a moving, living city but I think I saw the center at a very rare time. It was empty. A little spooky actually. There were only a few people jogging and the odd punter wobbling home. It was nice to be able to walk down the big streets without having to dodge people and when your carrying a 14 kilo bag, a 3 kilo rucksack and a guitar your hard not to bump into so you could say I was delighted to have the streets to myself.
After 2 hours sleep it was like the city transformed, people everywhere, trams all over the place, shops that looked haunted and empty 2 hours before were riddled with the oh so hopeful bargain hunters. it was like a different city. Only explored a small bit and met a friend for lunch. Il do some more exploring tomorrow but I am shattered. I also have 2 job interviews so I dare to hope that will have a job by the end of the week.
More soon.
Redman out
They have been so good to me. I may have said this before but the world would be a better place if there were more people like Duxxa and her kin in the world.
Im finally in Melbourne. First impressions, awesome. I had a late flight so I had the privilege of seeing he sun rise just as I came into land. Really rich colours. It started off as a pale blue but orange spread up through it and when the sun burst up from the edges there was brilliant red and the whole city was bathed in the light. I had heard that Melbourne is a moving, living city but I think I saw the center at a very rare time. It was empty. A little spooky actually. There were only a few people jogging and the odd punter wobbling home. It was nice to be able to walk down the big streets without having to dodge people and when your carrying a 14 kilo bag, a 3 kilo rucksack and a guitar your hard not to bump into so you could say I was delighted to have the streets to myself.
After 2 hours sleep it was like the city transformed, people everywhere, trams all over the place, shops that looked haunted and empty 2 hours before were riddled with the oh so hopeful bargain hunters. it was like a different city. Only explored a small bit and met a friend for lunch. Il do some more exploring tomorrow but I am shattered. I also have 2 job interviews so I dare to hope that will have a job by the end of the week.
More soon.
Redman out
Friday, August 13, 2010
Mai Chau and Home...ish
Birdsong, crickets, smoke from cooking fires, hazy horizions, a cool mountian breeze and the smell of rich clay.
Despite running over someones chicken with the motorbike I wish I had more time to look around Mai Chau. It's bang in the middle of the mountians three and a half hours south west of Hanoi. The drive up in the bus was mental. It was about 35 degrees outside, the bus had no aircon and I was melting. The humidity percentage was around 75%
Got off the bus and after the useual bombardment of men asking "motorbike?" we made our way to a little village called Pom Coonig. We stayed in a Thai stilt house which is made entirely of wood, most of it was bamboo. It was beautiful. After the mad hustel and noise of Hanoi and the crazy bus drive through the mountians this place was a dream come through. It was so peaceful and quiet. After meeting the people who owned the home we set off on a walk. The views of the rice fields and peoples wooden homes were really calming.
Met a really cool Japanese man called Suzuki Kaita. He was also staying in our place and we got talking straight away. The more I talk to Japanese people the more I want to go to Japan and I can tell you it's very high on my "things to do after Austraila" list. Suzuki works for a travel magazine in japan and was spending 5 days cycleing around north Vietnam. Which is a bit crazy because there are a crap load of mountians.
http://suzukikaita.com/
In the house arcoss from ours there seemed to be some sort of party going on and our curiosity got the better of us. Suzuki and I ventured across to check it out and we were praticaly draged into the house. Drinks were put in our hands and we were asked by everybody (all men) to sit with them and eat. This is where the night started to go crazy. This party only happens once every 4 years so the locals, most of who were Thai men, had broke out the local brew called "ruou" which is made from rice and after looking it up I discovered that "ruou" litlerly means "alcohol" It kind of reminded me of japanese Sake but stickyier and sweet Jesus was it strong. As soon as my shot glass was empty it was filled again from a small green bottle and I must of had around 10 but strangly I wasn't wasted. It was a really happy kind of drunk and everybody was talking and singing. Watched some card games, went for a small drunken walk and after I found my drunken way into my bed I fell sound asleep. It was around 11:30pm.
I was biblicaly hung over.
Mai Chau was the last of our visits to the countryside and it was brilliant. Headed back to Hanoi and jumped on a plane to Sai Gon and the following day, after a bit of of last minute shoping, we got on plane to Kuala Lumbar (where I was robbed, my bag with a few bits and pieces in it was taken from under my nose) and then back to Perth. On the way back I wished I was going home to Ireland, I have so many more stories I can't wait to tell that just wouldn't be done justice in this mad blog.
My 3 weeks around Vietnam have been nothing but fantastic. Even tho I had my board shorts stolen on the boat, I abandoned my camera on an island, I killed a chicken and I had my bag/wallet/clothes stolen in Kuala Lumbar airport I still feel like I had my heart stolen by the land, my belly filled by the food and I've been humbled by the hard working people of Vietnam. The last thing I will say about it is:
You should go.
Redman out
P.S. Big thanks to the welsh boys who decided to put a mate up for a day or 2. Proper mates are hard to come by. And a big thanks to Duxxa and her family for letting me crash with them for a few days.
Despite running over someones chicken with the motorbike I wish I had more time to look around Mai Chau. It's bang in the middle of the mountians three and a half hours south west of Hanoi. The drive up in the bus was mental. It was about 35 degrees outside, the bus had no aircon and I was melting. The humidity percentage was around 75%
Got off the bus and after the useual bombardment of men asking "motorbike?" we made our way to a little village called Pom Coonig. We stayed in a Thai stilt house which is made entirely of wood, most of it was bamboo. It was beautiful. After the mad hustel and noise of Hanoi and the crazy bus drive through the mountians this place was a dream come through. It was so peaceful and quiet. After meeting the people who owned the home we set off on a walk. The views of the rice fields and peoples wooden homes were really calming.
Met a really cool Japanese man called Suzuki Kaita. He was also staying in our place and we got talking straight away. The more I talk to Japanese people the more I want to go to Japan and I can tell you it's very high on my "things to do after Austraila" list. Suzuki works for a travel magazine in japan and was spending 5 days cycleing around north Vietnam. Which is a bit crazy because there are a crap load of mountians.
http://suzukikaita.com/
In the house arcoss from ours there seemed to be some sort of party going on and our curiosity got the better of us. Suzuki and I ventured across to check it out and we were praticaly draged into the house. Drinks were put in our hands and we were asked by everybody (all men) to sit with them and eat. This is where the night started to go crazy. This party only happens once every 4 years so the locals, most of who were Thai men, had broke out the local brew called "ruou" which is made from rice and after looking it up I discovered that "ruou" litlerly means "alcohol" It kind of reminded me of japanese Sake but stickyier and sweet Jesus was it strong. As soon as my shot glass was empty it was filled again from a small green bottle and I must of had around 10 but strangly I wasn't wasted. It was a really happy kind of drunk and everybody was talking and singing. Watched some card games, went for a small drunken walk and after I found my drunken way into my bed I fell sound asleep. It was around 11:30pm.
I was biblicaly hung over.
Mai Chau was the last of our visits to the countryside and it was brilliant. Headed back to Hanoi and jumped on a plane to Sai Gon and the following day, after a bit of of last minute shoping, we got on plane to Kuala Lumbar (where I was robbed, my bag with a few bits and pieces in it was taken from under my nose) and then back to Perth. On the way back I wished I was going home to Ireland, I have so many more stories I can't wait to tell that just wouldn't be done justice in this mad blog.
My 3 weeks around Vietnam have been nothing but fantastic. Even tho I had my board shorts stolen on the boat, I abandoned my camera on an island, I killed a chicken and I had my bag/wallet/clothes stolen in Kuala Lumbar airport I still feel like I had my heart stolen by the land, my belly filled by the food and I've been humbled by the hard working people of Vietnam. The last thing I will say about it is:
You should go.
Redman out
P.S. Big thanks to the welsh boys who decided to put a mate up for a day or 2. Proper mates are hard to come by. And a big thanks to Duxxa and her family for letting me crash with them for a few days.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Trips and travels part 2
After the mad adventure that was Ninh Binh we went back up to Hanoi. We booked a trip to the wonderful Halong bay. Halong bay was formed about 6 million years ago by an earthquake but the legend goes that a dragon lived in the nearby mountians. For reasons I cannot fathom it charged towards the coast, while doing so it's tail gouged out valleys and creavasses in the land and when it finally plunged into the ocean all those valleys and what not filled with water and only the limstone pinnacles were left visable forming the islands we see today. The only 2 words I can think of to decribe it are majestic and mysterious but even thoses don't do it justice. It's not far from China's doorstep and covers around 300 squared km.
We spent 3 days exploring the islands (there are about 2000 of them) we went to cat ba national park where, after a pleasnt motorbike trip around the park, I left my camera. It had about 200 photos of the last 3 weeks and I'm very sorry to have lost it. It's not the camera I want but the photos. After Cat Ba we went to monkey island, that's right monkey island. It had an amazing beach but lurking in the forest just behind the beach are those blasted monkys waiting to steal anything you leave ungaurded. Anything from shoes to children.
Slept on the boat the first night in the middle of the bay. I thought it would be virtualy pitch dark and we would be only surrounded by the sea and the islands but there were other boats everywhere. Halong bay is the biggest tourist attraction in north east Vietnam so everywhere we went there were other people.
Spent that evening fishing for squid with a bamboo rod and drinking beer with a few friends I made. As it never falls below 25 degrees here we all slept on the roof of the boat. Watched a big orange moon rise between 2 islands and fell asleep watching the stars drift along. Bliss
I like to think I have a good sence of direction. I'm no Bear Grills but I can find my way around new places pretty well but my god is it easy to get lost in Hanoi. 3 or 4 streets can look identical and I have to admit I got lost more than once. Thankfuly the locals are incredably helpful and often will give you a lift for free to where you want to go.
Food (as requested by my sister Maria who well knows my love of the delicious)
My god. If you are looking for a place to get a million different flovours Vietnam is the place to go. No dish tates the same even if it's identical. Everything is delicious. You can get an amazing 2 course meal and drinks for about 90000 dong which is about €3.50. If you are willing to spend a little more, say 200000 dong (€7.80), you can get a 3 course goumet meal and sweet Jesus it is good. The best places to eat however are on the side of the street. Dotted evrrwhere are little street side shops/reaturants. Resturant is too big a word for these places as most of them don't have menus or even forks and knives. You can get a massive range of meat and veg and some home made drinks for under 20000 dong which is less than a euro.
It's too hard to decribe all the different things I've tasted. In the Mekong Delta outside Sai gon I had honey fresh from a hive. The bees were so calm I litlerly just had to stick my finger in the hive and scoop out some honey (that's right Dad I diddnt need 6 weeks of training and I diddnt have to wear any protective clothes or use smoke, I was handed a slat with about 600 bees on it and was told to "work away")
In My Tho I tasted curried snake, in Halong bay I tasted fish who's names I couldn't even begin to pronounce and by mistake I tasted a bug or two while on the bike also.
The food here is undoutably the best I have ever had (except for mams and Nannys of course) and for an unbelivable price you can eat like a king.
Lastly I have been here in Vietnam for 3 weeks. I haven't had a single vacination jab nor have I taken a single maleria tablet and I have been fine. Some (like my very protective aunts) would say lucky. If you watch what you eat, only drink water that came from sealed bottle (including ice) and use insect repellant you will be fine.
More soon trust me.
Reman away
We spent 3 days exploring the islands (there are about 2000 of them) we went to cat ba national park where, after a pleasnt motorbike trip around the park, I left my camera. It had about 200 photos of the last 3 weeks and I'm very sorry to have lost it. It's not the camera I want but the photos. After Cat Ba we went to monkey island, that's right monkey island. It had an amazing beach but lurking in the forest just behind the beach are those blasted monkys waiting to steal anything you leave ungaurded. Anything from shoes to children.
Slept on the boat the first night in the middle of the bay. I thought it would be virtualy pitch dark and we would be only surrounded by the sea and the islands but there were other boats everywhere. Halong bay is the biggest tourist attraction in north east Vietnam so everywhere we went there were other people.
Spent that evening fishing for squid with a bamboo rod and drinking beer with a few friends I made. As it never falls below 25 degrees here we all slept on the roof of the boat. Watched a big orange moon rise between 2 islands and fell asleep watching the stars drift along. Bliss
I like to think I have a good sence of direction. I'm no Bear Grills but I can find my way around new places pretty well but my god is it easy to get lost in Hanoi. 3 or 4 streets can look identical and I have to admit I got lost more than once. Thankfuly the locals are incredably helpful and often will give you a lift for free to where you want to go.
Food (as requested by my sister Maria who well knows my love of the delicious)
My god. If you are looking for a place to get a million different flovours Vietnam is the place to go. No dish tates the same even if it's identical. Everything is delicious. You can get an amazing 2 course meal and drinks for about 90000 dong which is about €3.50. If you are willing to spend a little more, say 200000 dong (€7.80), you can get a 3 course goumet meal and sweet Jesus it is good. The best places to eat however are on the side of the street. Dotted evrrwhere are little street side shops/reaturants. Resturant is too big a word for these places as most of them don't have menus or even forks and knives. You can get a massive range of meat and veg and some home made drinks for under 20000 dong which is less than a euro.
It's too hard to decribe all the different things I've tasted. In the Mekong Delta outside Sai gon I had honey fresh from a hive. The bees were so calm I litlerly just had to stick my finger in the hive and scoop out some honey (that's right Dad I diddnt need 6 weeks of training and I diddnt have to wear any protective clothes or use smoke, I was handed a slat with about 600 bees on it and was told to "work away")
In My Tho I tasted curried snake, in Halong bay I tasted fish who's names I couldn't even begin to pronounce and by mistake I tasted a bug or two while on the bike also.
The food here is undoutably the best I have ever had (except for mams and Nannys of course) and for an unbelivable price you can eat like a king.
Lastly I have been here in Vietnam for 3 weeks. I haven't had a single vacination jab nor have I taken a single maleria tablet and I have been fine. Some (like my very protective aunts) would say lucky. If you watch what you eat, only drink water that came from sealed bottle (including ice) and use insect repellant you will be fine.
More soon trust me.
Reman away
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