WEDNESDAY.

Wednesday was pretty chill as basically what happened was me and Rora woke up early, had a quick breakfast at Starbucks, and went to the double feature of Toy Story/Toy Story 2 in 3D. I highly recommend people see these movies if they haven't already. I think they're a fun time. And they still hold up really well. I think Toy Story might be my favourite pixar movie, possibly. I never knew before that Joss Whedon helped write it! Explains so much.

Also on Wednesday, I met Rora and Scott's friend Sean, and he came with me and Scott to diner at PF Chang's, which is like- this American-Chinese chain restaurant. It's like Earls but with Chinese food and cheap prices. I liked it. I had Sesame Chicken. Which came with broccoli. and that is aaaaaaall I need.

THURSDAY.

We went to this Indian place for lunch which reportedly is usually totally empty on weekdays, but that day it was PACKED. With FRENCHMEN. Seriously, people from France. Although their tour guide was from Quebec. But it was weird to be surrounded by people speaking French while in the middle of Boston. I need to go to France or something. For serious. It was kind of neat. Anyway. The Indian food was good even if we had to compete with countless French people for the stuff at the buffet!

Then Rora had 8 hours of classes in a row (eeeeeeeeeewwwwww) so me and Scott busied ourselves by shopping. He needed gloves, I needed a coat, so off we went to Newbury street and the Prudential Centre! I found a coat! He found gloves! I also bought a copy of Geist! For the Gamecube! It was 7 dollars and I can possess a bowl of dog food, DON'T JUDGE MEEEE. That is all! We got a Buffalo Chicken Pizza for dinner and Rora came home and me and Scott were playing more Super Smash Bros. when she got there. That game is awesome! I need to play it more!

FRIDAY!

For Friday we went to the Intermission Tavern for lunch. They served me a giant burger that tasted a lot like the burgers my mom made when she still made burgers with beef instead of bison. After that we hung out, and Sean came over again, and then Scott and Rora's friend Kelly showed up to make us dinner. She made us kinda-sorta tacos! And then she was SUPPOSED to go with us to Dragtoberfest, which is this Drag King/Queen competition at Rora's school, but she made us go alone because she went to a Celtics game instead. But we had fun even without her, although the Peter Pan/Captain Hook routine may have scarred my childhood memories. Then we came back, and Kelly returned from her game, and Scott made us amaaaaaaaazing Molten Chocolate Cakes. And we watched Coupling, which is an awesome British Comedy written by Steven Moffat. We were up late watching stuff, and playing Farmville... but by the time we went to sleep it was...

SATURDAY!

Woke up, picked up burritos at Bolocco, and now we're watching Star Trek: First Contact before I go to the airport with Scott. Sad day to be leaving! Must get back to the movie, though, so...

Bye for now!

So, I've neglected you. I totally skipped NYC in this blog. And I apologize for that. To you guys, and also to myself, because oh my God, I have a lot to cover. Uhm. Where was I. Right! Bus. The bus ride was fine. I got off like two blocks from my hotel so it was mega-convenient. I walked to my hotel and they have a pretty strict security system which means that you have to swipe a room key to get in- but- obviously- I didn't have one. So they said: "Ring the doorbell" on a sign on the door. And I did. And I did. And I did. And I did again. ...And it was like- 8:30pm and I didn't know at the time that they were open 24 hours so I was freaking out a little. So I called inside, and this is what happened.

Me: "Hi, I'm trying to get inside but it won't let me in."
Guy: "Just ring the doorbell. The white button."
Me: "The doorbell- right..." (The button for the doorbell is clearly grey. The only white button is for the intercom.) "Do you mean the intercom?"
Guy: "Just ring the doorbell when you get here."
Me: "But the doorbell button isn't white. And nobody comes when I ring it."
Guy: "Just ring the- wait. You're outside right now? Oh! *Buzzes me in*"

That was the only hiccup to the night- other than that, the guy gave me a deluxe room at the price of a 'superior' room, which you'd think would be superior but in fact is like- 50 dollars cheaper. That was awesome because I was supposed to switch rooms on the second day and that avoided me that hassle. So I settled in, went out and got myself dinner (a Fajita burger from this diner place on 23rd @ 10th) spent a little bit of time online, and then went to sleep.

I should explain something that is going to come up a LOT over the paragraphs summarizing the next few days. There's a musical named Wicked that, every day 2 hours and 30 minutes before the show, collects names for a lottery for a select number of front-row seats for that day's show, for $26.25. An AMAZING deal considering that any other ticket you'd get for that day's show would cost you 100 bucks more. I went through several of these lotteries. They will be mentioned in this entry.

Right. So. What was I talking about. Oh yes. Friday. We're up to Friday now.

Friday I started the day off by going to Macy's and trying on shoes. Long story short, I ended up buying three pair- a blue pair of moccasins, some green mary janes, and some black like- straight-up casual shoes. They're a bit tight so they'll need some stretching before I can wear them regularly. But I do love them. They're pretty. And they fit relatively well. I dropped those off at my hotel and headed for the theatre district. I really really wanted tickets to Wicked, you see. Went through the lottery. No luck. Sigh! It was dinner time by then, so I took the subway back to my hotel's area and walked to this Spanish Tapas place I'd read about called 'Tia Pol' for dinner. It was SOOOO GOOOD. I had Patatas Bravas and Squid in Ink with Rice and these little bits of toasted bread with fava bean paste and grated cheese which tasted like Parmesan on. Which to some of you may sound gross but it was AMAAAAZING. I wish I could justify going back to NYC restaurants but there are too many good ones to try...

Anyway. That was more or less the end of that day. So on to... SATURDAY.

Saturday started with an attempt at the wicked lottery for a matinee. But I failed. Sigh. I got myself lunch at a great South African place a block down from the theatre, which was wonderful. Ostrich eggs benedict and passion fruit juice. DELICIOUS. After that I was going to walk back to my hotel to fill the time between that and the evening show lottery. The theatre was on 50th street, my hotel on 30th, and Times Square was right between the two, so it was an interesting walk. When I hit times square, I bumped into a guy selling tour bus tickets, and I figured that the only way I was going to feel comfortable acting touristy was if I went all the way. So... onto the bus with me! Unfortunately, as I was buying the tickets, the rain hit. And BOY DID IT RAIN. About 45 minutes into the bus tour the operator insisted that we move to the bottom floor of the bus... which meant no more photos. :( It was an okay tour. Unfortunately, when we got a new tour guide about 5 stops from the end of my tour, she was so much more engaging and enthusiastic than the other guy that I ended up feeling kind of ripped off. Haha. Oh! And when I got moved to the bottom of the bus, I ended up sitting behind these two kids, who were in a bad mood, but weren't like- making a scene, they just looked obviously upset, and their mom, who was sitting across from them, kept saying stuff like:

"Oh stop pouting, girls!"
"I can't control the weather!"
"It's not MY fault we're late!"
"I might have promised but sometimes promises can't be kept, grow up!"
"If you don't pout I'll buy you something!"

Because she had promised her kids she'd bring them to American Girl Place for tea, but then she had spent too long shopping and the traffic was bad so they were probably going to be late, and the kids were upset, right? And she was just being so bitchy about it when it was SO OBVIOUS that she was like- feeling really bad about disappointing them, but she wouldn't fucking shut up about it, and she was trying to make THEM feel bad about the fact that they were feeling bad because it was 'so childish' and I was just like: "HOLY SHIT LADY SHUT THE FUCK UP." But I didn't say it. 'Cause that would have been too rude. But I thought it. Loudly. They got there in time after all, but by then the woman had promised her kids two 60 dollar playsets for their American Girl dolls so they were willing to miss tea to get them. Hahaha.

So that tour took two hours. I had been huddling on the top of the bus with my umbrella and touristy poncho, but the rain had kind of eased off just as I got off. But I abandoned the ponch on the bus, hopped off the bus, went to put up my umbrella... Oh shit. Turned around. The bus was leaving. OH SHIT. ...

Have you ever run, six blocks, through the crowds of NYC? ...Because I have.

Didn't make it, though. Found another operator guy.

Me: *Breathless* "Me- that bus- my stuff- can you send a message to that bus!?"
Guy: "Huh?"
Me: "I left that stuff on that bus that just left!"
Guy: "Oh. Damn."
Me: "...How can I get it back!?"
Guy: "Go wait at the last stop for it to come back. That was bus number 894."

Well. Well. Lucky for me, the last stop was literally RIGHT beside the Gershwin theatre, where Wicked was playing, and the bus was set to arrive right before they pulled the name for the lottery.

I GOT THE UMBRELLA BACK, GUYS.

Let it be known that I hate losing stuff just that much.

My luck didn't last for the lottery, though. Another fail. Bah! Time to go for Soba! I read about this traditional soba place in the theatre district. It was not bad, but too expensive. But I totally embarrassed myself there! I've never eaten cold soba! I didn't know how it worked! I didn't know you were supposed to pour the sauce into a cup and then dump the stuff that was on the tray covering the cup into the cup... the couple that was actually from Japan and was sitting next to me laughed at me. Haha. But it was really good once the lady showed me how to do it. Then it was back home, more online time, and to bed.

SUNDAY.

Tried the lottery. Again. Fail. So here was my choice. Fork out the 125 bucks for a ticket to Wicked, or not go at all, because it doesn't play on Monday. So of course I paid. Haha. It was amazing! I highly recommend it to all, and plan on stealing the soundtrack ASAP. That took me from the morning straight to 6pm, so I went to dinner at this spanish place. It was... uhm... odd. I had these green beans fried in garlic, and those were nice, but... For the record. Chickpea and Squid stew? Sounds weird, but like it might work, right? ...Swing and a miss, Txikito. Swing and a miss. And the dessert was weird! It was really refreshing, but it was this really kinda... watery-type panacotta dessert with honey and walnuts. As I said to the waitress: "...I'm not really sure what to make of that, but I liked it". That was really all I did on Sunday. Oh God. Two more days left in this blog, really?

MONDAY.

I AM A SAD CELEBRITY CHEF FAN, OKAY?

...I went to Maze at the London NYC, which is Gordon Ramsay's casual-dining offshoot of his super-fancy London NYC restaurant. ...IT WAS AMAZING. And it was 35 dollars for 3 courses, which is fucking reasonable IMHO for something so fancy. I had:

Appetizer: Seared yellowfin tuna steamed sea beans, wasabi mayo and soy vinaigrette

Entree: Roasted breast of Amish chicken, bulgar wheat with braised leg, shitake, tarragon jus

Dessert: Crème fraîche panna cotta, market berries, Rooftop honey and strawberry sorbet

AND IT WAS ALL SO GOOD. There are pictures. I'll post them at some point. You can check them out on my facebook account.

After that, I walked over to FAO Schwarz, which is this big toy store near the restaurant that Rora suggested I go to. It was so cool! I really seriously considered buying one of those make-your-own-Whatnot Muppets... But I have no room for it. But I think I may need to come back and buy one someday. Seriously. 'Cause that is SO FUCKING AWESOME.

Then I broke out Bahamut, my fancy Pentax camera, and went on a bit of a photo walk in Central Park. I only got a few shots 'cause I was just kinda screwing around, but I had fun doing that.

...Then I decided to walk to the restaurant I wanted to have dinner at.

...

I was carrying a 30 pound backpack.

...

I was at 60th street.

...

WHAT POSSESSED ME TO WALK TO 22ND!?

I don't know, but that was a mistake. Oh God was it a mistake. By the time I got to the restaurant I almost cried. And only their bar was open. ...But that was okay. I had a vanilla limeade (DELICIOUS) and I waited for the kitchen to open. I ate my dinner. I went and picked up my bags. I went to Penn station and waited for my train. They kept saying that trains to Boston would suffer delays and/or cancellation. I was FREAKED OUT. But it was all okay, even though I had like- literally- 3 minutes to get on my train because they announced the track it was boarding on so late. But I got on. And I got here! To Boston! Where I am now! And I have been here for all but 10 minutes of...

TUESDAY!

Here I am, at Scott and Rora's. We stayed up a bit late talking last night, so I slept in. When I woke up Scott was at his class, but by the time I was bathed and dressed and ready to go, he was back, and we went down to this "Inspired Burritos" place. It was really nice. Super filling. Then Rora went off to class, and me and Scott went back to the apartment, discussing Star Trek the whole way. And then we played Super Smash Bros. It was pretty frickin' awesome. I am better at that game than I thought. It makes me pretty pleased with myself. Then he did some work, and Rora came home, and I got them both hooked on Farmville before we went to Harvard to get some burgers at this burger place they really like.

...Which I discovered when we arrived had also been on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Just like the Blue Moon Cafe. XD Wow. Coincidences! It was a really good burger. All the burgers at this place are named after famous people/politicians. I got the American Idol. It sounded the tastiest even though the name disappointed me. I wish I could have ordered the Ted Kennedy or something. They also had Frappes here, which are basically really thick milkshakes. Those were deliiiiiiiiiicious.

Then we came back and me and Scott played our facebook games like addicts and Rora did some work and Scott did some work and now Rora's gone to bed and I should too because it's 1am and we're waking up at 9:30 to go to Toy Story 3D.

GOODNIGHT.

Doing a quick blog just because I can (Seriously).

Me and Chick managed to make it to the restaurant this afternoon before I had to catch the bus! It was AMAZING. For the record, y'all. If you have to go to Baltimore, or you live in Baltimore, or you're passing through Baltimore in the morning- GO TO THE BLUE MOON CAFE. Yes, I only went because it was on the Food Network but WOW was it worth it. They had this French Toast. This French toast coated in captain crunch cereal. Which was more or less made of delicious. Even if you don't like Captain Crunch especially I think it's worth it, because really, the cereal just creates this beautiful crunchy exterior, and then there's the nice puffy bread they put in the middle and- and there's whipped cream and strawberries and blueberries and bananas. D8 It is so appallingly delicious. Sweet, yes. Maybe a little too much for one person. But wow, soooooo good. Soooooo good. I am totally going back some day.

Chick dropped me off at the bus, which was half an hour late. Mildly annoying, but whatever, man. Whatever. Because it's a double decker. And... yeah. I'm kind of on it right now. We're passing Havre de Grace, whereever that is. Exit 89 on this highway. I'm waiting for a sign that says how far it is to NYC... We're on the number 95 highway. Fuck. A truck covered the sign. We're crossing a bridge! The Millard E. something Bridge! It's really pretty! The water seems low! There's a mine of some sort on the shore! We've crossed it now. Looking for the sign again...w're on mile 924 of the highway. 925. 926...27... Toll boooooths! We're passing Perryville! Man, where is that sign? I'm going to keep writing this useless entry 'til I see one. 938. 154 miles to New York! There we go.

Wifi on busses is cool.

Last I wrote I was just about to leave Roanoke. And now I am just about to leave Baltimore (or more specifically Towson) and head off to NYC! Eee! I am actually a little excited for that. I want to go see Wicked. And- I don't know. Eat things. And possibly go to the Statue of Liberty or something. I don't know. TOURISTY.

ANYWAY. Monday! I woke up! I packed! CW came back from math class and handed in her papers to Global Gayz and we ate lunch and awaited a cab outside of Moody. The cab arrived right on time and so I had to say goodbye to Allison and CW (sadface) and hello to 8 hours on a Greyhound bus! Which went okay, actually. I will summarize my transit.

Cab: Cabbie was nice and friendly and not too talkative. And drove through an intersection without looking because I told him that I don't really listen to music and he went "WHAT!?" and stared at me. Me who was in the back seat. Oh bad of bad ideas. But he got me there on time. Maybe took a little bit of a detour.

Greyhound 1- Roanoke to Charlottesville: Got my bags tagged, got on the bus, settled in, and off we went. Not much leg room on this one. I sat alone until Lynchburg, when somebody sat next to me, but he was quiet and actually fell asleep for most of the trip. I got off in Charlottesville. There was a guy playing Pac Man at the station who was rapidly building to the all-time high score on the machine. He was at such a high level that he was beating it in a matter of like- 30 seconds, and the big dots didn't even make the ghosts edible at all. It was mesmerizing to watch. But he went away, so then I was stuck sitting across from this awful blonde woman who didn't even know where she was going (I am not even kidding. Somebody should have handed this woman a map) other than she intended to go north, and she was talking to the woman next to me, who was a very loud Latina who shouted about previous people she'd travelled with who she didn't like.

Greyhound 2- Charlottesville to Washington DC: This bus mysteriously dripped things from the ceiling for the first 10 to 20 minutes of the trip every time the driver took a sharp turn. I found that more than a little disturbing and was glad I hadn't put my bags in the upper bin. Fortunately I moved to the outside seat, where there was no dripping, and by the time we got to Springfield (I think?) VA it had stopped dripping long ago so I felt safe to sit there again when more people got onto the bus. When we got to Washington it was... a little sketch, yeah. The people were kind of unclear. There was a bus going to Baltimore in the terminal, but it was leaving at 8:10 and I was on the 8:15 so I was all 'Oh well that's not mine' and so I waited for the next one but the one at 8:10 never left so at 8:40 I went and asked the bus driver: "Is this the 9:15 to Baltimore Downtown?" and he said yes, and I got on, and it left immediately. Which... confused me.

Greyhound 3- Washington DC to Baltimore: Slept through it! Haha. So I was half an hour early into Baltimore, which worked out okay. Gal and her mom and her half-sister Taylor picked me up and drove me up to Gal and Chick's place in Towson. It was late, so we settled right in.

I set up the interweb to surf some before going to sleep (everybody else went to bed) and was on for 20 minutes when POOF. Out goes the power. For like- 30 minutes? Maybe 40? I think I watched a couple of episodes of Full Metal Alchemist in the meantime (YES LAPTOP BATTERIES ME AND MY FEAR OF THE DARK <3 YOU) so it must have been about that. It came back on, luckily, though, so I had time to explain to people online what had happened before going to sleep. TADAA MONDAY.

TUESDAY.

On tuesday I didn't have much planned. Gal had invited me to sit in on her French Lit class, which is what we did. It was kinda sorta fucked up. I mean- the class seemed fine, but they were watching this movie- Hiroshima Mon Amour - which was like most French films from the 1950's in that it was completely fucking insane. There was this woman in Hiroshima so she could act in a movie but she fell in love with this guy and they were both married but they were madly in love and then there was like- 10 minutes of her telling him this story about how her parents used to lock her in the basement to hide her away out of shame because she slept with a German during WWII and he died and she screamed about it... or something? And so then she kept talking about that off-and-on for the next 50 minutes of scenes where the Japanese guy showed up, whereever she was (he was following her, I guess? WTF?) and saying: "It's too hard to stay away from you. Stay in Hiroshima." and she'd be all "I can't, it's impossible. It's more impossible each time you ask." And I shit you not that exact same scene happened like 8 times over in different locations. I was so confused. Me and Gal walked out of the class going "What the fuck? What the fuck just happened?"

After that she had a phone interview and then we went and ate ribs! And they were delicious! Reportedly the best in Baltimore. They were tender and juicy and came with very nice fries. I approve. And from there we went to this huge, awesome used book store which even carries used Manga. I wish we had one so awesome in Vancouver. I bought some manga there because it was uber-cheap. Then we came home- I read her copy of the Ultimate Sandman Vol. 1- finally making my way through those- and was online and all was good. Went to sleep!

WEDNESDAY!

Woke up, got ready, and went out with Gal dropping me off on her way to work- I took the Light Rail into downtown Baltimore. I intended to go to the Blue Moon Cafe, which I saw on the food network and looked awesome- but when I called them they said they had closed early due to a 'Kitchen Mishap', whatever the hell that means. So I ate at this Irish place. I kind of sort of knew that that would be a mistake, because it was an Irish place- no offense Ireland, but you are not famous in a good way for your cooks... but anyway. It was okay? I had Maryland crab cakes, which was actually pretty nice- but there was a lot of crab. I kinda ODed and by the end I felt a little sick 'cause even the fries tasted like shrimp.

I felt fine by the time I got to the aquarium, though. The aquarium was cool. Large, with much to look at. It took me probably an hour and a half, rushing. I bought a souvenir photo 'cause it's the only way I get photos of myself without MySpacing when I travel alone. Haha.

I took the Light Rail back. The star of the ride was the 3-or-4 year old African American girl who had a pacifier she was chewing (a little old for one, but whatever, man) and she was kinda standing between her mom's seat and mine and staring out the window (standing on her tippy toes to do so) and so I kind of had to squish up next to her to sit down, so I said 'hi' to her. And her mother said she should say 'hi' back. So she did! And then there was like a 15 minute converstation between me, her, and her older brother. She kept throwing made-up words at me because she had that little-kid lisp so I would struggle to understand her, and she thought it was HILARIOUS so she at one point just said "Webrebregore!" And made me repeat it back to her until I got it right, and then gave me a round of applause. And then she told me there was a big shark in her house, and her brother said Jaws was a really good movie, and she started yelling how Happy Feet was the best movie and it was just- glorious. I love children. Best part of the conversation however was probably:

Little girl: "Look!" (and at this point she patted the bun on the back of her head- she had little braids with bows and then a big bun at the back- I think she styled herself this morning)
Me: "Wow, your hair is so nice! I don't think my hair would do that in a million years."
Little girl: "HEE."
Me: "I'm very jealous."
Little girl: "I'M shellous!"
Me: "What are you jealous of? You're the one with the nice hair!"
Little girl: (long pause as understanding slowly dawns on her) "...YOU'RE shellous!" (giggling)

Chick picked me up because unfortunately Gal was feeling very sick today. I'll leave it up to her to update y'all on that when she feels well enough to be online again- don't feel comfortable sharing somebody else's illness in a public forum. But it did mean that me and Chick were left more-or-less to our own devices for the time. We had a cheese pizza for dinner, and tomorrow we're going to try and get to that restaurant for lunch again. Hopefully there will be no more kitchen mishaps! ...Kitchen Mishaps sounds like a new Food Channel show, man.

Anyway. Will update after I get to NYC, assuming the wireless is good there!

Hey y'all. It's my last night at Hollins! CW and Allison have spent the day studying (as they thought I would be gone, but I am staying an extra day) for their classes this week, so it's been very relaxed. Not much to say, except that I got a free dinner because the paying method at Moody is totally broken.

Yesterday, we ate lunch, went to the library to rent a movie- THEY HAD SHOWGIRLS OMFG- and took a shuttle to Downtown Roanoke. Which is actually quite beautiful- lots of old brick buildings. Seemed way more classic and comfortable than Vancouver, in a certain way. We dropped into some shops- bought chocolate, looked at knick-knacks- went into a bookstore where the woman who owned it was very knowledgeable, and I'm sure if I had known exactly what I was looking for, she would be great, but... she wouldn't let me look at any of the books, lest they look 'used'. I was looking at children's books, for God's sake! They're all so different! I need to see how they phrase the sentences- how the art looks- what the general tone of the book is. Looking at the back cover isn't enough. But this woman believes that making it so your customers can't look at the inside of the books you stock builds 'demand'. SOMEBODY BUY THIS WOMAN A FUCKING SHRINKWRAP MACHINE. If you don't want people looking at the inside of a book, DON'T GIVE THEM THE OPTION. Don't be a vaguely passive-agressive bitch. Wow. Yeah, if I lived here, I would make an effort to try and keep business away from this woman. Wow.

It was POURING rain, so after a quick trip to the bus station to swap my ticket for Sunday to a ticket for Monday, we hurried back to the shuttle and back to Hollins. We settled in, watched Showgirls, shared a pizza, and then went to a movie that was showing in the auditorium here for free. Adventureland! Which is good- although maybe a bit less funny than I remembered.

So here I am- packing up my stuff bit by bit. Feeling a bit sad to leave, even though I'm excited to move on and see more people! 8 hours by bus tomorrow. Ewww.

Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=154368&id=510691004&l=6be4eba386

YESTERDAY!

Started the day, between waking up and Allison's afternoon class- by going to Double Dragon, which is a cheap Chinese place. You all know my opinion on cheap East-Coast chinese... this was okay. Edible! Uninspired. Oddly enough the worst thing I ate there was a brownie. God that brownie was disgusting. That was our lunch! Then we wandered the nearby stores. There was the Goodwill store, which was- y'know- like Value Village at home. Disturbing trench coats, old VHS tapes, and waffle irons from the 1980's. Also, there was a crazy, random store called the A-2-Z Shopping Parade or something? It was... weird. There was a whole bunch of crazy crap. Random books, old and new- crazy toys... generally random crap.

Then we came back- Allison went to her class- me and CW stayed in the dorm and watched Popular! Yes, more Popular! And when she got back, we had dinner at Moody, and then it was time for INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM, which had us sneaking into Tinker and looking to see if there was mold or other problems with the building. About 5 dozen very helpful and kind people from 'Otaku Hall'- with awesome video games and nerdy tastes- and an hour and a half later- we confirmed that yes, in fact, there were some big problems with Tinker. The building may or may not be sinking slowly into the ground.

Then we bought smoothies, to celebrate, and came back to the room. And complained about it being hot. And watched TV. And then slept.

TODAY. TODAY WAS EVENTFUL.

TODAY, we woke up, figured out it was raining, so we decided to go to a movie instead of the outdoor thing we had planned- and we went to Taco Bell! YAY TACO BELL. It was just as artery-clogging as I remember. I had a Chicken Ranchero Gordita combo box thing. It was cheap. It also was hilarious, because all the staff were eating McDonalds for lunch. But there was lots of time between the meal and the movie- so we went to Target and screwed around. And ended up finding something AMAZING. Which will come up later.

We saw FAME! Which was fun! Better than I expected, although I had decent expectations for it. I had a lot of fun. I am a fan of the kinda slutty actor guy who hit on the idiot girl. And then we went to the mall! And tried on the most ugly clothes we could find at this place called 'Body Central'- which is actually an okay place, although- wow, CW found the most amazing pair of leggings.

Also in the mall is this store reserved exclusively for selling puppies. There were many, many cute puppies. "Chiweenies", which are Chihuaha-meets-weinerdog cross, are amazing. And as always, I love yorkies. I posted some pics of the puppies, but I had lots so they aren't all there. We also went into HOT TOPIC, which I have never been in before. And then we went to Barnes & Noble and I bought Yotsuba& Volume 6, and we were reading a '48 liberal lies you were taught in school' book, and got lectured on the truth of one of the lies by some guy with a really thick accent across the table. I pleaded innocence because of my Canadianism.

Then we got ingredients so I could make dinner, and drove home...

...sort of.

We were about to turn onto the campus grounds, when- POOF! Allison's car stalled! ...Allison's car wouldn't start! And we were in the middle of the turning lane! OH SHIT!

Thank God, a very nice cop came along, and argued with the guy who was getting really pissed off behind us- despite the fact our hazards were on- sent him away, and pulled up behind us so he could direct traffic and wait for backup to block the intersection so they could push us onto campus. Allison almost ran over a cop because she forgot to brake when they stopped pushing. They set a flare for us, and we waited for AAA. CW and Allison called their parents. CW briefly made her dad worry she was in jail!

The tow truck showed up after the flare had burned out- maybe 35 minutes later. And they got the car all hooked up, and we cleared it out, and she handed over the keys... and it started. She just about died from embarrassment, but I swear, the car wouldn't start! I don't know what happened- maybe an electrical short, or the battery died, or- who knows. But she was feeling very upset, and I just want to say for the record that it wasn't her fault. Also- it was very, very funny.

So we came back, and I cooked, and it turned out just fine and edible. And then we came upstairs, to enact our plans for the evening. Chicken Pasta casserole... Fireproof (...wow.) followed by Dragonball: Evolution (still amazing)... and...

TWILIGHT: THE MOVIE: THE BOARD GAME. Which we bought for cheap at Target. CW knows way too much about Twilight. Also, apparently I have the best sense of direction and Allison looks the most like Bella. And Allison was clumsiest, although that's not really fair because she was drunk tonight. She had strange conversations with our online friends. Haha- sorry about that, guys.

Also, she may have spammed CW's twitter and facebook a little, so- yeah. XD FYI.

Tomorrow we're going downtown using the Hollins Shuttle, so we can explore, and I can trade my Sunday bus tickets for Monday bus tickets. So I'll probably blog again while we're waiting for delivery pizza or somethin'! Night!

Photos here from tuesday: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=154368&id=510691004&l=6be4eba386

Yesterday, CW took me on a tour after grabbing lunch at 'The Rat @ Hollins' which I still maintain is an awful, awful name for a place to get food. I saw lots of Hollins, and I am bad at describing tours, so- there are photos! Hollins has a pretty campus. With horses. And old southerny buildings. Even nicer than expected. We also watched Popular, which is possibly the best show ever. I forgot how much I loved it.

For dinner, we (including CW's roommate Allison, who is actually around an awful lot so I feel I should mention her. She is very cool and awesome.) went to this place called 'El Rodeo', which is all- like- mexican-y! They had items on the menu that would provide you with a taco, a burrito, an enchilada, a taquito, a flauta, a tamale, and about 4 other things that I've never heard of before. For 12 dollars. God mexican food, I love how alarmingly cheap you can be. My food was good. And I bought ring pops there, which were DELICIOUS. Unsurprisingly. Then I went to sleep and slept.

This morning, I woke up with Allison, and CW got out of her class early, so we all went to lunch together at their cafeteria (Moody) together. They feed them for free, and me for 6.25. CW and Allison don't especially think that's fair, but- y'know- it seemed good enough to me. Of course, that's until I learned about the e-coli in the drinking water scandal. But that'll come up later.

After lunch we went to their 'Controversial issues in American Politics' class. Which seems to basically involve debating. So of course I loved it. I wish I could go back next week. THEIR CLASS SIZES ARE SMALL HOLY SHIT. Her teacher was cool. Mr. Ra. He's Korean and seems to be way overqualified for his job. Reminds me of Dr.V. He even goes off on to random ranting tangents! Oh! And also we found out somebody here has swine flu. I'm washing my hands lots! Thankfully I am not feeling sick any more so much. After taking anti-histamines. Hmmmm. Allergies perhaps!

After that, we came back, and watched more Popular! And then we went to 'Famous Anthony's'- again, wow, best name ever- and I had a double cheeseburger meal. And then we rushed back so they could attend a school newspaper meeting (I might help them find mold/the cause of mold in a building! yay my parents for preparing me for investigative reporting!) and on the way we saw a 'Where's the birth certificate' bumper sticker. Allison and CW went MAD with rage. It was amusing, but also- wow, crazy person, you shouldn't have the right to drive. The newspaper meeting was nice. The lady running it reminded me of Aurora for she was hyper-enthusiastic and hyper-organized.

After that we went on a mad search (through CVS, Target, and SUPER SHOES) for cheap flip-flops for me so I can wear them in the showers-that-must-not-be-named here at Hollins. Super Shoes is a little sketchy. But it's super. And it has shoes. And was the only place with flip-flops.

We got them, we came back, and CW and Allison needed to study, so they tried to do that. But then CW fell asleep and then Allison went kinda nuts and then we woke CW up together and we ate ginger snaps and now they have gone to check that Allison didn't leave her car lights on. Which she has to check RIGHT NOW because she's gone nuts. And it's kind of a pain in the ass because the parking lot is so far away from the dorms and 90% of the campus (it is past the tennis courts by the barn) that it is known as 'Siberia'. And I need to brush my teeth again. But that's all there is to say!

Goodnight!

Hey y'all. Quick post today 'cause there ain't be much to say, other than: I'm in Roanoke! It smells nice! There are crickets! Also CW's passed out. Who is surprised? I could say that even when she hadn't been up for like 24 hours and people still wouldn't be surprised.

Aaanyway. Woke up, got ready, went to airport, and started going through their new system for US customs. Basically they switched up the order of things. It now goes Bag Drop --- Security --- Customs --- Gate instead of Customs --- Bag Drop --- Security --- Gate. It just kind of makes everything a bit more inefficient. I don't really know. BUT. The fact it was inefficient meant that I got to see Twitch from So You Think You Can Dance in line ahead of me! I spazzed out a little. I think he noticed me looking. In retrospect I wish I'd snapped a picture but that would have been a little creepy.

I got on the plane- got a middle seat with lots of leg room. ...And the guys on either side were a little odd. One guy was, when he sat down, working three blackberries at once. The other guy was making notes on how to be a Boy Scout Leader (and in particular how to work in extra Christianity into the process). They took up a lot of room, but I huddled between them and played Scribblenauts.

We landed in Chicago, waited like 30 minutes on the tarmac, and everybody was connecting (unhappily many of them missed their planes), because HOLY SHIT THAT AIRPORT IS HUGE. Wow. Seriously. So many people. So many gates. So many planes. So many restaurants! And yet I ate at McDonalds. OH! The dude at McDonalds, he said: "What would you like to drink?" and I said: "Oh, coke please." and he replied: "We don't have coke, only soft drinks." And I went "Oh oka- what?" because... what the hell does that mean? And he said: "Lemonade, or Sweetened Tea?" ... I don't even know what the definition of 'soft drinks' is there.

So- got on the flight to Roanoke after that- it was delayed a bit- according to CW they said on the website it was delayed for "Customer Service" reasons. WTF? Anyway. Got on the flight. With the most DEPRESSING stewardess ever. She didn't want to be there, she didn't want us to be there, and I kind of got the feeling that if there was actually an emergency, rather than help us, she would just throw herself out the nearest exit in despair. The poor woman.

And here I am! At Hollins! In their nice big dorm room. I am going to have to explore my way into the bathroom to brush my teeth and such soon. And perhaps I will encourage CW to do the same. She seems very sleepy.

Being on planes all day has given me a sore throat on top of my messed up lungs from cleaning my room all last week. Waugh! Fluids and vitamin C! I refuse to get sick!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=136596&id=510691004&l=25a98fe43d

Now- sleep!

Hey y'aaaall. Como estas? That is a bit of the Spanish. ...I assume. I haven't actually picked any up despite my nearness to Mexican-land.

Anyway. It is late so I make this brief. Probably not. I always lie about that. But I will try.

Yesterday I slept in. Then there was preview night. I spent like 300 dollars. I came home with sore, sore arms from carrying like 25 books. That's really all there is to say about yesterday.

So- today I got up, got dressed and bathed and all that stuff, and took off immediately for Con. About 10-ish. Got to con- waited 40 minutes in line for a slice of pumpkin loaf and a smoothie at Starbucks. Delicious wow. Ran to Brian Lee O'Malley panel. Made it in no sweat. It was a cute panel. Brian has no faith in his own abilities and it's kind of adorable. Also they showed how many places in Scott Pilgrim actually exist. Like whoa!

Next was a panel that was actually surprisingly good. It was a panel about women in films and TV and what good roles/role-models there were to be had in that nonsense. Eliza Dushku (Vapidgasm), Sigourney Weaver (Who is turning 60!? What the fuck!?), Zoe Saldana (From Star Trek, yo. Maaan is she- uhm... nah, I won't say it.), and Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet!!! From Lost!! OMFG~! SHE'S SO ADORABLE I LOOOVE HER.) talked about it. It was pretty great! They are smart and interesting ladies for the most part.

Then was the Capcom panel, where I was not only seated front-and-center (hee) but they kept throwing the stuff off the stage right at me~! I got an awesome Resident Evil t-shirt (freshly stripped off of a fairly good-looking translator. XD Hawt) and also a BLUE BADGER BANDANA EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE (Blue Badger is from Phoenix Wright for those of you in the not-know). I was gonna run down to the "Best of Manga" panel after that but they were all 'More free stuff at the Capcom booth!' and I was soooo there. But there was no free stuff left for today. :( Will go back. But there WAS- THERE WAS- ESHIRO-SAN! The Producer of Gyakuten Saiban (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney) in the flesh- and not just at the panel- and he shook my hand and signed the bandana and I shall cherish it foreverrrrr. <3 Also, tons of awesome Phoenix Wright cosplayers. Eee.

So then I was on the showroom floor, and I was all 'Can I even bother with going upstairs for the Writing for gaming panel? ... nooo.' And I wandered around- fortunately! Because Brian Lee O'Malley was signing stuff! Yay! And then I went over to webcomic alley and bought more stuff but you guys don't care about how much money I spent, right...?

So seeing as I didn't make my panels, I figured- I'll get in line early for Dr.Horrible! Which I figured, maybe, was gonna happen in Ballroom 20. I thought I had read that. Well- I hadn't. It was in room 6A. Almost the smallest room in all of Comic Con. ...THIS WAS A BAD IDEA. The line was, when I got into it, at about 300% of the maximum room capacity. And I got there an hour and some early.

Needless to say, I didn't get in, and Comic Con's organizers are a little embarrassed this evening.

However, while waiting in line, fortunately I was given the opportunity to notice/listen to the concert of video game music going on down by the docks behind the Convention centre! Wow! I went down there to listen to it closer, but when they went to intermission I decided to come back here. After getting Subway. Because I was -starving-. It was the BEST SANDWICH EVER. Smorf.

Goodnight now, y'all! (Why does the Guild have to have its panel so earlyyy-hyyy-hyyy!?)

So LJ died tonight when I tried to blog. Will have to do so tomorrow.

Tomorrow I have lots of panels and then the Dr. Horrible sing along so don't expect me to blog until midnighty-ish. Seriously, so many panels. Wow. ...When am I going to eat, seriously.

Today's highlight: RUFIO COSPLAYER OMFG EEEE

...If I could count the amount of people I heard going "RU-FI-OHHHHHHHH!" At her from down the aisles, I really- well- actually, there were 4. But still! Way to go Comic Con!

Here I am again! San Diego. Way warmer than I remember, holy shit. Feels like Cairns, with the yicky humidity... wish I'd brought a bathing suit. Things I forgot: Bathing Suit and Jacket. Better not forget those for the Alberta trip.

Anyway. I woke up at 5:15 AM this morning. That is a particularly disgusting time to wake up. I showered and then searched the house anxiously for my notebook. It was found. Yay! (Paranoia regarding losing things up 300% after the loss of the best hat ever...) So I packed that and off I went to the airport. Painless, painless. They didn't even take my fingerprints, which sucks in a certain way because A) They already have them so I wouldn't feel anxious about it and B) Then I would have associated it with Phoenix Wright, which I am playing over, and it is presently involving much fingerprints. Anyway. Had some sort of English muffin breakfast thing, and a painful flight (and I don't just say that because I was watching 17 Again... hey-ohhhh! - seriously, wow, what a fucked up movie) because of cramps and non-working pain pills. Lots of comic con people on the plane. Mostly first-timers. I got to feel like a veteran and give them advice!

When I got off the plane, I was gonna take a taxi, but then I called the hotel to make sure they didn't have a shuttle- and they do! So I got a free ride here. Yay! The driver was really cool. XD He asked me if I'd seen the new Harry Potter yet because he hadn't got a chance to and did they do a good job and I asked if he minded spoilers and then when he said no I told him they added stuff... so I had a nice chat with a guy filled with righteous fury for the next 10 minutes. Hahaha! He asked me a whole bunch of stuff. Was a nice guy. He told me that if he's ever driving when I'm headed for the con he'll give me a lift but that's not so easily done 'cause he's part-time and I'm unpredictable.

Anyway. As somebody suffering from an annoying bodily function, I decided to go to 'Body Worlds' which is like- the land of plasticized corpses. Yes. If that sounds like something you won't hate me forever for bringing up, do look it up. It's neat. Dead babies are sad but the circulatory system is f-ing bad-ass so it makes up for it. If it comes to a museum near you, I say go!

The rest of the museum was like- fossil stuff, and then... uhm- also some water-stuff, which was actually ironically mostly about deserts... Also, there was photography exhibit stuff, which was AWESOME. But I wasn't allowed to take pictures of that.

Not uploading photos today. There aren't many yet because photography was limited all over the place, so it'll wait until Preview Night. Which I believe closes at 9pm tomorrow, so I'll probably be blogging around this same time (It's 10pm as I write this) if taxis are merciful.

See y'all tomorrow, as I expect I'll have the energy.

COMIC-CONNNNN!

Okay, so- yes. Been a while. Not much to report! The last day I wrote, I walked around Sydney's Botanical Gardens, and walked up to the opera house, and took a ferry to Manly and back just because I could. Then I slept. Then I flew on a plane for 14 hours which is more exciting than the whole day before it, actually!

Because Qantas is ridiculously luxurious! They gave me like- toothbrushes, and an eye mask, and socks, and a bag of snacks, and 2 meals, and ice cream, and they had video on demand on this plane (the plane also had 2 floors! WHA!?) so I watched Dark Knight- again. Also Kath and Kim, because people kept talking about it (on account of the American rip off of it that just started airing and is apparently a piece of crap) and I found it highly entertaining. Also Mythbusters- I watched the Pirate special. Really good episode- loved the bit with the eyepatch. And it made me totally nerd out when we were landing in San Francisco, because I was all 'OMFG WAREHOUSES!!! Which is Adam and Jaime's!?'

The past two days I'm sorry to say I really haven't done much. The first day here, I was too jet lagged and needed sleep. The second day, I woke up sick, and needed sleep. Today, I woke up even more sick but I was determined to at least make it to Fisherman's Wharf; so I did! I wandered around and saw Pier 39 and its ridiculous amount of Sea Lions. I'm hoping that tomorrow I'll get down there at an hour that'll allow me to go to Alkatraz or Saucalito- but that involves sleep. Which I need. And will go get now. But I wanted to blog one last time.

Home on Thursday. I can't believe it!

Here I am in Sydney. It is 24 degrees and lovely. Let me catch you up.

I got up in Christchurch. Packed. Left the room, checked out, left my bags. Had some breakfast at this little diner-style-place which made very tasty smoothies and served their bacon eggs and pancakes in a stack, rather than side by side. ODD. Went wandering around a toystore and wished that I had children to buy toys for. My future kids are going to be so spoiled; but I am going to play with their toys too, man.

Then I went to the airport. By bus, which they make very easy in Christchurch! Good for them. But when I got to the airport- oh, that was fun. I was two and a half hours early. I went to check in my bags. The lady said 'please weigh your carry on' and I was all '...Oh -shit-.' 'Cause I knew it was too heavy. So, of course, she instructed me to repack it so stuff wasn't so heavy... I wandered off, did that, looked up- and the line, which had previously not existed, stretched through the barricade of ropes and across the whole terminal.

Shit.

Two hours later- because the lineup was full of old people, none of whom seemed to have packed properly, and foreign people, who both didn't speak English and didn't pack properly, I got back to the front of the line.

Where the lady informed me that I could have just walked straight over to her because I had been first.

...
RAGE.

I got on the plane just fine, though, and the flight was even early getting in. Which made it on time, because it had been delayed. Got off the plane, caught a taxi- was later informed that taxi drivers are completely useless in this city, which I could only agree with because he insisted to me that the street this house is on doesn't exist.

But I did get here; was greeted by Declan, who is one half of the innkeeper team here. He made me tea. Tasty tea. And then he showed me the neighborhood, so I would know where the train station was and where the busses stopped; and he pointed out a lot of good restaurants. Then we walked back here and I mostly sat and watched television with Peter (who arrived later) and Declan. They were watching a really good British Victorian-era-set comedy which I should get the name of, 'cause it rocked. It was about a lady who runs the local post office for a town and all the wacky misadventures the townspeople get into. Then I met Steven and Helen, who are also staying here. They are from Sussex. Well- Helen is originally from South Africa. They are very well travelled, all the people here. Envious am I!

The next day I had a tasty tasty breakfast of fresh fruit and a big ham/cheese/mushroom omelette. Tasty. Then I took the train to Circular Quay, saw the Opera house and harbor bridge and walked around the rocks, and took the ferry to Darling Harbour and went to the Aquarium and Wildlife world. I went to the wildlife world just at the right time because it was getting to be evening so all the Koalas were awake! I got awesome photos of them. Yess. Not posted yet 'cause I'm going to go out and uploading photos takes way too much time. I missed the ferry coming back and had to wait an hour for the next one but this family showed up with 3 little boys who had -so- much energy and were running around the wharf playing 'Star Wars' which mostly involved pretending their hands were guns and going 'Bang bang bang'. The youngest one, Charlie, kept running over to me and going 'THERE'S A BOAT!', pointing at it, and then running off. Also, instead of saying 'bang', he was shouting 'gun! Gun gun gun!' Which gave me a mad fit of the giggles. I said to his mother 'well, he's got the -idea-, but he's not much for sound effects'. Children are funny. I like them a lot. Oh, also, that -whole- day, from the time I left to the time I got back, I was playing my MP3 player. It worked for 9 hours straight. AWESOME. I spent the whole day on my own soundtrack. I had cheap Italian for dinner! It was yum.

Today so far I have had delicious potato pancakes and a grapefruit. And I should go out now, so I have more to tell you. As I actually fly back to the Northern Hemisphere tomorrow! Sadness!

My cellphone isn't working. I dunno why.

I figured I'd better write tonight because as of tomorrow I am offline for three days! At least unless I track down a cafe of the internet. Plus, I always blog instead of packing! Why break tradition?

The day after I last wrote I spent in a coma. I'm not gonna lie. I didn't wake up until like 3pm. Then I went out. I ate Pollo Pesto Pizza at an Italian restaurant where all the waiters were kinda slow and distant- like they were all really really high. Actually, I'm not gonna count out that possibility. Anyway. The pizza was decent. Then I sat around and watched movies. Uhhhm- I think that that night was super-Kiwi night. I watched 'The World's Fastest Indian'- which was hardcore awesome, and 'Goodbye, Pork Pie'... which... uh... may have been too Kiwi-tastic for me.

The next day was more eventful. I walked downtown and wandered around the botanical gardens. Lots and lots and lots of flowers. Yep. Preeetty much what I expected. Not much to say about the Botanical Gardens, really. Flowers! WALKING. Oh so much walking. There was a kid who ran up a hill I was sitting on, and said, and said to me 'That was a very big hill! I think I might have a rest.' And sat down next to me. His mother rushed him off- it made me kind of sad because I was quite beset with the giggles. I also went to the museum. I walked through it. More scary mannequins scared me. That night I ate deliiiiiiiicious Japanese food from this place up the road. Kinda expensive, but I was delightfully full. Read the Ragwitch in part, though I had intended to save that for Internet-less Sydney... XD Ah well. Maybe I'll buy -another- book. Or draw. My sketchbook is the only thing I packed that I didn't use!!! I used everything in my suitcase, OMFG! I watched- uhm... shooot... Music and Lyrics, that night. Hugh Grant doesn't have sexual chemistry with -anybody-, despite his faltering charm.

Yesterday, I went on the super-stereotypical day in Christchurch. A round on the old tram (interrupted by a car accident- see Facebook photos. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=76458&l=cdd9e&id=510691004 Auckland, because I think I forgot to link, too: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=76265&l=ac8c1&id=510691004 ) and a trip up the Gondola! ...Again, not really much to say. The Gondola went high up! Uhm- there was a weird Tunnel-of-love style historical ride through the basement of the Gondola place that was weird. Like- really weird. With really, really Kiwi-accent-tastic narration by a little girl. That night I ate a Salmon Burger with chips. And I watched the Graduate, and Notting Hill. (Somebody on this staff has good taste in movies, and somebody really, really likes Hugh Grant.)

Today I went on the TranzAlpine, which is a train that goes from the East Coast of the South Island (Christchurch) to the West Coast of the South Island (Greymouth). You're on the train for 4 and a half hours, and then get off for one. And- uh- Greymouth doesn't seem to need much more. That is a tiny, tiny little town. Maybe nice if you were on a roadtrip, but I'm not. I ate a weird burger and then got back on the train, more than satisfied. Lots of gorgeous scenery. I like to ride on the outdoor viewing deck. The wind rushes past your face. Whoosh! my hair was a serious mess after that. I saw so many sheep.

Now I sit here, not packing, contemplating an early wakeup in the morning and an afternoon flight. To Sydney, I say! To Sydney!

See you in three days, unless I hit up an internet cafe! Mwah!

1 WEEK LEFT IN THE TRIP WHAT!?

I'm in Christchurch now! Yahaha!

The saxophone thingy was pretty cool. I realized how grossly unfamiliar I am with the etiquette of going to the symphony. Oh, that's right. It was an Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra thing, by the way. Not just a Philip Glass piece, but like- a Mozart piece, and other stuff. Philip Glass was the best, although dear God his pieces were never meant to be played on a wind instrument. The poor woman who was playing them looked like she was about to explode! (For the record, Philip Glass plays things that have about like- 50 notes in 30 seconds without a pause. O_o)

The next day I went to the Waitomo Glowworm caves- it's a loooooong drive, man. We stopped at a lot of small cafes which had great fresh baked breads and things. Mmm. The caves were really outstanding. They don't let people take pictures inside which absolutely killed me because I don't know how to describe it. Huuuge ceilings, and stalactites, and stalagmites, and the glow worms were so cool they looked like 20 thousand stars all clustered together. Too cool! Then we went to this place called the 'Big Apple Cafe' which actually had a big apple on the highway pointing the way to it. I don't know how many people who read this ever watched the show 'What's with Andy', but- well- I was singing the themesong in my head basically the whole time thanks to a particular episode of that show.

All too early the next morning (this morning) I had to get up and take a taxi to the airport to fly to Christchurch. 9am flights sound like they're at a reasonable hour, but they're not, considering all the getting ready time. Yech. But it wasn't so bad. I was quite early so I beat a dungeon in Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. My goal is to have it beaten before I come home. Nothing like 13 hours on a plane to make you put up with a really tiresome repetitive dungeon. Ah well! Anyway! Beat a dungeon. Sat on a plane. Watched a David Attenborough film. And the man next to me talked to me even though he wasn't an American. Very odd!

Then I got to the airport here in Christchurch, and I was directed to catch a city bus to my hotel, so I did, and I got to the counter and the lady said 'you must be buggered!' when she gathered how early I had woken up so she made check in nice and simple and I napped. Yaaaay, naps! Oh God how I needed it. When I woke up I walked down to the part of this road where the shops and restaurants are. All the shops were closing, because apparently on Saturday things here close at like 4 o'clock or so. WHAT. Uhm- anyway. All the shops were closed but none of the restaurants were open yet, except for a McDonalds, so I grabbed a chicken snack wrap and wandered the neighborhood until 5. There was an Indian restaurant recommended by the hotel peoples so I went in there. Which was like- the best decision ever. I have honestly never had better Indian in my entire life.

Note, people. When you go to Christchurch, go to the Two Fat Indians restaurant. Soooooo good. All of their curries are made on a base of pureed vegetables, so it's really really nutritious as well as unique- at least as far as what I've had goes. I had a lentil cauliflower chickpea lamb curry and a mango lassi and they were both absolutely delicious. I even got a 10 dollar voucher for the next time I dine in there- which means I am almost certainly going to eat there again before I leave. It didn't seem very busy, though, which kills me. I don't know that this is the best location in the world, or something. It seems like a really nice shopping district, a lot like the Drive, but there just aren't people around! Maybe it's just a weekend thing, though. I'll go back on Monday or Tuesday and see if it's busier.

They let you borrow movies from the reception here, which is awesome. I watched Pretty Woman and Chocolat tonight. Tomorrow I'll probably watch more; I'm gonna use the day to sleep and relax and see more of this part of the city before I do another tour.

Well, that's pretty much all there is to say for now. Mwah! Have fun at home, y'all.

It's cold here!

I have seen a lot of my hotel room my last few days, but I have made sure to get out and do something on every day. The day after my tour- as I had planned, I went to the Maritime Museum which is a VERY well put together museum- with tremendous amounts of artifacts, photos, immaculately constructed rooms. I didn't have much interest in the subject matter, but just admiring the work that went into the museum gave me lots of entertainment. They even had a room that rocked back and forth like a ship at sea! There was one point at which I walked into a 1950's era tanker reconstruction, though, and I walked into the bedroom, and was face to face with a mannequin of a little girl dressed up in a blue dress staring right at me that I started feeling really creeped out! She looked exactly like a little sister and the construction looked a lot like Rapture!! (Bioshock, for you people who don't play videogames) And the museum was creaking because the room that rocked wasn't far away and I was all alone there the whole time and I double-timed out of that area and straight into a place that I at first thought was a food court and then I realized it was a recreated ice cream parlor and AAAAH! Probably not a place to go alone- between all the mannequins, recreated sunken ships and stuff, and the motion-activated radios/televisions.... freaky!!!

I went to the Sky Tower after that. It's very tall. I walked around and around it and I even walked on the glass floors- it's weird to be scared of walking on the glass floors, but somehow it seems flimsier, even though there are signs saying 'this is just as strong as what you're standing on' it's just like 'Eee! It's thin and scary and I would fall for years before hitting the ground!!!' The people who willingly jump off of that thing are mad.

Yesterday I slept in. Then I went out and bought myself another book, because I've now finished both Once upon a time in the North and Shade's Children which left me without books to read. So I bought 'The Ragwitch', also by Garth Nix. Eeexcellent. Later that evening I went to the Phantom of the Opera, live on stage! There are a couple of songs in that musical that are really fantastic, but Jesus Christ Superstar is still easily my favourite of Andrew Lloyd Webber's stuff. I wore my fancy shoes to the performance and got horrendous blisters from the walk to and from the place... yick.

Today I haven't left my hotel yet- and yes, I'm fully aware it's 7pm already. I was kind of feverish yesterday so I've been trying to take it easy. I had Laksa for lunch, so it was nice and soupy and stuff. I think my sinuses are stuffed or something, I've been getting headaches from time to time. Bleargh stupid little health bugs. Damn flying on planes, it always leaves you feeling cruddy.

I may not have let my hotel yet, but tonight I am going to see Philip Glass music played on a saxophone! Envy me, WW1! Yahaha!

I booked a tour for tomorrow but I haven't gotten confirmation for it yet... hmm... perhaps I won't get to see more of the Northern Island while I'm here. We'll see.

Yesterday nothing interesting happened. I slept in really late, and then I read all day. Shade's Children. By Garth Nix. Read it. Read ANYTHING that man has written. He is my idol. I want to run into him in Sydney, by golly.

Today was a bit more interesting. Because it was supposed to start at 6:30, with me getting up and preparing for going out to meet my tour. Instead it started at 8:45. When I got a call saying 'Uhm- excuse me. You didn't show up for your tour.' Cue the "OH SHIT!" And then getting ready in 10 minutes and taxing down to catch my tour bus as it swung around again. Missed Harbor Bridge tour. Curses!

Ah well. Anyway, I got on! And I went to Mount Eden, which is one of like 40 dormant volcanoes that Auckland is built on/around/beside, and has a really gorgeous view. Somebody had set up rocks in the crater to say 'MARRY ME', and then a name, but half the rocks had fallen away- awwww! What a sweet proposal! We stopped for tea straight after that (Kiwis/Ozzies and their f-ing tea. No wonder the hobbits came here, you both eat about as many times a day as each other) and I talked to a group of Texans on the tour. Nervously, because their conversation beforehand included using the word 'Comrade' for the sake of parody of Barack Obama's campaign. And I was all '...REDNEEECKKKS.' They were very nice to me, though.

Then we drove to- uhhhm- Kelly Tarltons. Which is like this- Antarctic Adventure thing. They have penguins! Proper penguins, not lame Australian penguins. They're HUGE! And fluffy! Also they have sea turtles, and a great big underwater conveyer belt that lets you look at sharks and stuff. And an ample gift shop. It takes about an hour to see.

Then! There was lunch break! And after that when I got back I was the only one on the afternoon tour. A 50 seat bus carrying one passenger. THIS IS WHY WE HAVE GLOBAL WARMING.

So, we went to the Zoo. I got walked around the zoo by a volunteer lady, who was still relatively new to the job. And- uhm- half the time I seemed to know more than her. She basically just seemed to know where everything was. And pointed me at it. And then walked on. And seemed confused and frustrated when I wanted to take pictures. Oh well. Auckland Zoo, I found out by quizzing her, is publically funded, and runs mostly breeding programs for endangered species. Fascinating!

Anyway! An hour and a half there, and then off we went to the harbor. Where I got on a yacht. With lots of old people from another tour. My God they were old. And American. From LA and (I'm guessing) Alabama and New York and- yeah. Old. White. Half of them owned yachts of their own. But they were very sweet! I'm starting to discover, on this trip, that if, when you're overseas, somebody sits next to you, turns around, and says 'Hi!' they're from the states. Aussies don't do that. Which is a shame. Americans sure don't let you feel lonely, I'll give them that. We sailed around the harbor. I got to steer a bit. The New Yorker (Actually he might be from somewhere else but for some reason when he introduced himself and when he took my photo his attitude was just... very... New Yorky. Of course maybe I'm confusing that with Jewy.) kept telling me to smile more. I was amused.

Then the tour dropped me off at Sky Tower- I had a ticket to go up if I wanted, but I was tired and feeling a bit sick so I decided to walk back to my hotel instead. Sky tower shall wait for tomorrow. I have admission to that and their maritime museum, which is supposedly most excellent, so I'll have to take advantage of both of those. ...Maybe spend a bit less money? Augh. This city is expensive!

I want to find a bookstore, too. I require more reading material!

I went horseback riding on Thursday. It was a pretty straightforward beginners ride- they took me aside to do some trotting 'cause I was more advanced than the rest of the group. The horse I was on- Arnie- he had the bounciest trot ever. Like ow. The girl who was guiding me was named Carolyn; she was from California (somewhere near San Francisco) and had been working on the farm for only a week, but she'd been away from home for a month, and said she was really homesick; I thin she was drawn to me on account of our shared accent. Poor thing. I hope she feels better about it, she's staying in such an amazing place after all.

At one point, we got off to look at a termite mound, and all the other guys on the tour were Japanese, and the Japanese guide poked a hole in the mound and made the termites come out, and was all 'Does anybody want to eat this?' But in like- Japanese (which I understood, woo!) and they all flailed and went 'ewww! Hahaha!' And then the tour guide ate one and they freaked out more and then he offered it to me and I was all 'Sure! Sign me up!' And I ate one. And the Japanese people applauded. And then ate their own! They were saying it tastes like Parsley, but I think that it tastes more like those candy seeds. When we got back from the ride I just spent the rest of the day hiding in my room, though. I was soooooo tired. And spending money by the bucketful. I had a really nice Crocodile Fettucini from the hotel restaurant- which was actually sooooooo good!

The next day was the reef- I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, except to say- I didn't get burned even though I was in the water for 3 hours! Go me! I did get wicked muscle strain, though. Especially on the last trip out, because the waves were choppy and one caught me the wrong way and filled my snorkel- so I had to swim in with my head up and using my arms quite a lot. So they were so achey on the way back to the hotel I couldn't even move them. I ordered from the restaurant again. -Still-, very good. The salad especially!

Today I woke up at 3:30, got in a taxi at 4:30, Got on a plane at 6:30, got on another plane at 10:00, and then got to my hotel at about 6pm. And then I've just been sitting in my room ever since. And because of waking up at 3:30 I am running on very little sleep. So I shall do that now. Goodnight. Tomorrow I am gonna be really lazy 'cause I'm so exhausted.

It's really cold here compared to Cairns.

And my clothes smell.

But I can take a -bath-!!!

Omifuckinggawd BEST TOUR EVER. Pics in my Cairns Album as linked in the last entry!

My tour started at 1:30 today. I met my tour guide, Warren, and he gave me a rundown of what we'd be doing. Apparently this has for years been an exclusively Japanese tour, but this company approached him and asked him to offer the tour bilingually. It was an English tour even though the other two people on the tour, Yuri and Yusuke were from Japan. They were fluent in English.

We started the day by stopping up at a lookout point where you could see the whole of Cairns- then drove to an orchard for some samplings of fresh fruit. I bought a pineapple. I'm not sure how I'm going to get into it, but I bought one 'cause the sample was sooo delicious. Then we took off for this gorge where we got to hand-feed wild wallabies! There were so many of them! And you could pet them! And one of them sat in my lap! And whenever too many would eat from one hand they would claw and bite and hiss at each other. When they would do that I would stop feeding them and wander away to find some less bitchy ones. I saw babies peeking out of their mom's pouches- awww!

When we were done with the feeding, we drove through the outback and looked for animals- we saw some more wild wallabies hanging out in a mango orchard, and a whole bunch of cranes, and- well- every time our tour guide stopped, I'd know there was an animal nearby, right? And so he pulled up- and I was looking around- and I couldn't see anything except trees with weird fruits on them. And- well- then...

"...Are those -bats-!?"

YES. YES THEY WERE BATS. THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF FRUIT BATS. Me being the most spazzy of spazzy fans of bats- I was totally giddy! Apparently the biggest flock of bats in the world is estimated at 150 million. HOLY SHIT.

From the bats, we went to see this guy named Mark- who does bird shows! When we met him, he had a magpie named Jackie hopping around beside him doing tricks. She was sooo cute. She could catch stuff in the air! 8D He also had a falcon who screeched a lot, and a HUGE dark eagle, and two owls. I held a barn owl! On my hand! Aaah! So cool! Also he had a... uhm- Quoll, I think. One of the last-remaining meat-eating mammals on Australian soil.

When we left Mark- we went to go spot wild platypus. And we did! Two of them! How exciting! They would only be on the surface for 10 seconds or so at a time, but still; it's really rare to see them, so I feel privileged.

We went to eat dinner after that. We sat out in a rainforest and tasted Kangaroo and Crocodile meat before having a dinner of steak, sausage and 3 different types of salad. We had set out some food and were waiting for possums- but we were only attracting rainforest rats and bandicoots. So we went for a walk in the rainforest by flashlight instead; he showed us clingy plants- suffocating fig trees- and told us about this tree with leaves that cause a horrible burning pain for 6 months after you touch them. ARGH THIS COUNTRY IS EVIL SOMETIMES. When we got back from the walk, there were possums! A momma with a very fat baby who was nearly falling out of the pouch and a younger male.

That was our last sighting for the night, 'cause it was 8 already and it's an hour and a half drive- we took the long drive home- Yuri and Yusuke fell asleep, teehee- and now here I am. Writing about it.

Which I'm gonna stop doing now because like a genius I decided to book a really late night tour right before a really early morning tour. On the plus side- horseback riding tomorrow! Woo!