phillip island

i'd like to start this blog post by bragging about my new little niece indra, who was born on the 19th october. from what i hear and see on the pictures, she's such a lovely little baby and i can't wait to meet her. i am now the proud aunt of five absolutely adorable children!

over to the adventures down under.. after a week in melbourne, it was time for us to leave the city and go for a little road trip. we decided to go to phillip island to watch the penguin parade, which is one of the world's largest colonies for this particular penguin species. the penguins who live there are the smallest species, imaginatively enough called 'little penguins'.

arnold and amie are getting the van ready for the trip

amie was driving, while arnold and i had a few beers

the nature around the island is beautiful and here we are in front of the seal rocks at sunset

unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take photos of the penguins, but this is what they looked like when they emerged from the sea and waddled across the beach

we stayed in a hostel (that arnold referred to as a prison, but that was actually quite nice)

outside the hostel, there was a big wave and we tried out the surf
(guessing it might be pretty easy to see which two have actually surfed in real life and who hasn't..)

we took the ferry over from sorrento to queenscliff

and enjoyed an ice-cream in the sun

from queenscliff, we went to torquay - the gateway to the great ocean road. bought a pair of flip flops and a pair of pink, fluffy slippers (a real bargain, had been $24.95 and i got them for $9! don't think i'll need them in singapore, but they will probably come in handy once i'm back in cold europe again.. in a couple of months or so..).

on the way back, we also stopped in geelong to say hello to arnold's cousin and before we knew it (i fell asleep on the way back) we were back in melbourne again after an amazingly nice weekend!

the beach

it's quite cold in amie's and arnold's apartment and after a night of cuddling up with the hot water bottle, i woke up to the most amazing day. the weather yesterday was absolutely lovely, sun shining from a clear blue sky, 29 degrees and a mild breeze - perfect!

i decided to go to st kilda beach. there are trams in melbourne and i feel like home (as in gothenburg). it's so convenient to just jump on a tram to go to the beach, or wherever you want to go. the water was pretty cold though, hmm.. i guess you could say refreshing (kind of in the same way you say someone who's stingy is economical).

after spending the day on the beach, i met up with a x 2 and we bought some take out and had dinner on the beach, watching the sunset.so far, i've been quite rubbish with the camera, only arnold takes photos that both amie and i steal - amie for facebook and me for the blog. i promise to get my camera out soon and paparazzi away.

australia so far..

after a hectic week, it was finally time for my australia trip and a two week holiday!! i left late on friday night and landed in melbourne at 10.45am on the saturday. perfect time.

had a really good flight, managed to get a window exit seat - not just an exit row, but no one in front of me so could stretch my legs as much as i wanted and didn't even have to climb over people to get to the toilet. there was only one downside, the other exit seats are often dedicated to families with young children, which means i was surrounded by screaming children. still kind of worth it though.

amie and arnold met me at the airport and we went back to their apartment. after some rest, the lovelies had a surprise for me and arnold's aunt, who was here visiting as well - a tour around melbourne with a colonial tram, perfect activity for the first day in a new city! not only was it a sightseeing tour, it was also a restaurant and we had some really nice food.

afterwards, we went to the casino, where amie and i managed to double our bets on the roulette table. great start of the holiday! unfortunately, our bets weren't that high, but it's still kind of a nice feeling. i normally only stop when i don't have any money left, so quite proud of myself.
yesterday, amie and had a wander around the neighbourhood and then we cooked some food - an amazing spagetti bolognese with salad! the type of food you don't really get (an i am too lazy to cook) in singapore. today, i had a great, chilled out day not doing anything really. slept, met amie and arnold for lunch, went to starbucks for a chai latte, reading my book in the sun. later, i moved to a square to continue reading my book in the sun. aaaaaaah, relaxing holiday!

the weather here is lovely spring weather. a little bit chilly, but it's nice to want to sit in the sun rather than trying to avoid it, which is not really my style - i love the sun. apparently the temperature will reach 28 degrees on wednesday so guess who will be heading to the beach..

mmmmmmmmmm...

had completely forgotten that i bought some chewing gums while in indonesia last weekend and what a lovely surprise when i found the illegal little treat in my bag today. just one of those moments.

part III - singapore grand prix

it all started on a wednesday. well, the grand prix didn't, but my involvment in the grand prix did. on the wednesday three weeks ago, we were sitting at le baroque in chijmes having a beer. tiger beer, to be more precise.
all of a sudden, this woman comes up to us saying that for every two tiger beers, we would get a chance to win a day pass to the grand prix. she had a little bag with ping pong balls - 15 white ones, one green, one blue and one red. if you got one of the coloured ones, that was a win.

sophie, a british girl - with whom i've totally bonded over uk and swedish drinking cultures - was the first one out. she managed to get a blue one, which meant a day pass for the saturday. then it was my turn and.. wait for it.. yes, i got a red one - a pass for the sunday. we tried to swap sophie's blue one for a red one, but there were no more red ones left so we swapped mine for a blue one instead. the woman couldn't believe we both managed to win and told us one guy had tried seven times without succeeding (which might also have meant he had 14 beers..).

and that's not all. then clara and lucía won too! clara on the first try and lucía on the second. the woman's eyes nearly fell out.

the week of the grand prix came and one day i got a text from sophie. she had gotten two tickets for the friday from work. not just any tickets, tickets to the sky suites were you got free food and drinks all night. she said that when she heard there were free drinks, she instantly thought about me. and of course i was up for it!

the friday was amazing! we were just by the pit stop so could see everything. i don't think i've ever had that much champagne in my life. it did get a bit noisy though since we were so close.

when the event closed at midnight, we went to one of the roof top bars, altitude on the 62nd floor - amazing view - with some guys who were in the same sky suite as us. the evening ended with bunch of people going for a swim in the pool at one of the guys' condos. got home at 6.30 in the morning. what a night!
the next day, it was time for all the big entertainment. we went to see rick astley, shakira and shaggy. my absolute favourite was shaggy. he really involved the audience and it was so much fun to see him. we danced and danced and danced and sang along. fantastic boombastic!