I am in Amsterdam at the moment, tonight is my last night. We had a massive day yesterday for koninginnedag and we are all feeling a bit weak today. Lots of photos were taken and will be uploaded when I return to Australia.
I will post in more detail when I get a chance.
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pasted from an email:
arrived in Paris, met Adam and Bits and had a lunch of “salade au foie”, foie meaning liver (i guess). Within 12 hours I experienced all the classic signs of food poisoning and was confined to my room for the next day. I will never eat liver again, just the thought makes me feel ill. Not a good start, but the next day Mel and Jem arrived, and Jem’s friend Jared. We went and saw the Eiffel tower, the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, all that tourist stuff. Paris was OK, and I have a few good memories, but it wasn’t as beautiful as I expected. Also, I felt sick :P. It turns out that I remember more French than I thought and was able to communicate basically.
We rented a car and drove to the city of Lille where we stayed the night in a typically french hotel above a cafe. Lille is a nice city. The next day we drove to Belgium and stayed in the city of Brugge (Bruges) which is a cool medieval city. We found a great hotel and I shared a room with Mel, Jem and Jared which was comfortable and directly overlooked a canal. We enjoyed the Belgian chocolates and beers and browsed some of the local shops before heading out (today) to go to [we didn't know? north?]
We drove to Antwerpe (in Belgium) but it didn’t look so good so we continued through the country and eventually crossed the border into Holland. It was getting late so we went to Dordrecht to find a hotel - the entire city was fully booked, so we went to Rotterdam. Rotterdam was full, they checked the surrounding cities - everything full. I called ahead to Den Haag - full. We decided to go on to Amsterdam and stopped at every hotel along the way (they were full). AT the Hilton Amsterdam Airport they called around for me (as the only Dutch speaker, I did all of this) and found 2 rooms at the Novotel that would hold us - for AUD$500 each. I gulped and made the reservations - it was 10:30pm at this point and 12C outside. None of us were happy at this massive budget buster but then I had an idea - thanks to my trusty black book I still had the number for the hostel where I stayed in November, and they had 6 beds! we are spolit between 3 dorms but it is only 23 euros each and tomorrow we move into our apartment.
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SERVICE FROM TO DEPART ARRIVE
-------------- ------------------- --------------------- -------- -------
THAI AIRWAYS INTL - TG 996
THU 20APR SYDNEY NS BANGKOK TH 1630 2255
KINGSFORDSMITH BANGKOK INTL
NON STOP TERMINAL 1 TERMINAL 1 DURATION 9:25
THAI AIRWAYS INTL - TG 930
FRI 21APR BANGKOK TH PARIS FR 0005 0705
BANGKOK INTL CHARLES DE GAULLE
NON STOP TERMINAL 1 TERMINAL 1 DURATION 12:00
THAI AIRWAYS INTL - TG 931
FRI 05MAY PARIS FR BANGKOK TH 1350 0605
CHARLES DE GAULLE BANGKOK INTL 06MAY
NON STOP TERMINAL 1 TERMINAL 1 DURATION 11:15
THAI AIRWAYS INTL - TG 993
SAT 06MAY BANGKOK TH SYDNEY NS 0810 2010
BANGKOK INTL KINGSFORDSMITH
NON STOP TERMINAL 1 TERMINAL 1 DURATION 9:00
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I will surely be posting a lot in the next few weeks, so I had better get you, dear reader, up to speed. A lot has changed, and everything is just coming together as if by design.
live
My first priority, on returning to Australia, was to find somewhere to live. I have always preferred the Lower North Shore, and as many of my friends live in Cremorne/Neutral Bay I started looking around there. I was rejected from one house in Cammerray (10 others applied) and widened my search to pricier Cremorne. I found a place that was sounded good, a bit above my imaginary price limit, but I thought I’d give it a go. I came to view the house and was greeted by Melvin Wong, one of my mates from uni. A sign.
Without a tour of the house, we went out and sat on the back verandah for over an hour, looking at the panoramic harbour views and catching up. We still got along well. I checked out the rest of the house and although the room was small, I applied on the spot.
I wouldn’t be telling this story if I wasn’t accepted, and I was. I moved into the house in early March and it has been great, up there with Heatherbrae and Pinkjoint.
My flatmates are Melvin and Sonia, and Melvin’s cat Jasper. They are all awesome, although Jasper has a tendency to jump in my window at night and wake me up seeking food. We get along famously. Neither had ever heard the word “slore” before and Sonia has taken quite a shine to it.
There is no lounge in the lounge room, only the beanbag chaise that Mel and Jem gave me. In order to win the right to sit on the beanbag rather than the ground, the challenger must win two consecutive games of Burnout 3:Takedown on XBox in Road Rage mode. Sonia gets very sore from sitting on the wooden floor for so long. She practises when I am out and has won us quite a lot of cars.
Mel is very interested in food, yet is not fat. We often discuss recipes and restaurants that we would like to visit. He is a very good cook, and I have tried to start a tradition that each of us cooks for the others once a week. This has not been 100% successful (Sonia!) but has definitely produced some very tasty meals, at least on Melvin’s nights.
work
My job-hunting efforts were half-arsed at best, and the reason was that what I really wanted to do was take RocketFuel full-time. I got turned down for jobs at Microsoft and Google when I was contacted by Alastair from Dot AU who needed a hand. We have agreed that I will contract to him for 30 hours per week, which means I have a steady cashflow and still have time to spend on other clients. This arrangement has been in effect for about two weeks now and I have already worked on many very varied projects. Variety is the spice of life and with Dot AU there is a lot of spice.
I probably can’t mention anymore but suffice it so say I am very pleased.
drive
Now that I had somewhere to park, and it was safe to spend my remaining cash, I went out and bought a car. I had been looking for a month or more and was getting depressed at the poor quality available. I resigned to getting a piece of shit now and getting a good car in six months or so when I was in a better position. So that the POS wasn’t too bad, I asked Rob, a mechanic mate of my brothers, to check out a few cars with me. The first car, a Magna in Bondi, was pure rust and every part of the engine that could leak, was. If the guy had given me the car and $500 he would have been ripping me off.
I next looked at a Celica, from a dealer. It seemed OK but didn’t really excite me. It was sold before I could have it checked out. Then I found it. A Magna, 96 model, with only 130,000km and the timing belt replaced at 105,000. According the the book Dogs and Lemons, which my Mum insisted I buy, this car was “good” – the highest possible rating in my price range. The good rating was only if the car had an airbag and had the timing belt replaced.
I went over for a test drive and thought the car was very good, and had Rob over to inspect within the hour. His brief was to find things wrong with the car and loudly point them out, something he shone at when we went to Bondi. Well this time he did not – because nothing was wrong with the car. I had a price in mind, so held up a few hundred less in cash. The guy declined so I started to walk away when the guy offered to sell me the car for the price i wanted. And he did.
I am now the proud owner of an Arctic Blue 1996 Mitsubishi Magna TE Executive 2.4l. It is the best car I have ever owned and I am happy every time I drive it. So now I don’t have to get a new car in six months, this car will last a lot longer than that.
I should mention, though, that about 2km after buying the car I went to adjust the rearview mirror and it fell off. It is now held on by blu-tack.
love
I have not really been looking, but thanks to Mr Maslow this is changing. That is not the real topic of the section.
In the last two days I have learned from Kirsten that not only has she been living with her new boyfriend for some time, but that she met him before she dumped me. Why would she tell me this? I was happier thinking that our breakup was due to a defect in her, but this new evidence suggests that it could have been I who was unsuitable.
I saw on Henk! today that he has posted photos of a recent dinner, held at a restaurant 50m from my old house on Keizersgracht (although the restaurant is on Nieuw Spiegelstraat). Anyway, there is a photo of Kirsten and Arnold and I recognised him. I met him at Kirsten’s farewell party and spoke to him for some time. He seemed like a good bloke.
PS – I can’t believe that the link to Chris’ website from the old Heatherbrae site still works. It has been 9 YEARS!
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In response to reader feedback, I would like to make clear that the previous two posts are not at all related to Kirsten.
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While I’m at it…
Dreaming of that face again.
It’s bright and blue and shimmering.
Grinning wide
And comforting me with it’s three warm and wild eyes.On my back and tumbling
Down that hole and back again
Rising up
And wiping the webs and the dew from my withered eye.In… out… in… out… in… out…
A child’s rhyme stuck in my head.
It said that life is but a dream.
I’ve spent so many years in question
To find I’ve known this all along.’so good to see you.
I’ve missed you so much.
So glad it’s over.
I’ve missed you so much
Came out to watch you play.
Why are you running? ’Shroud-ing all the ground around me
Is this holy crow above me.
Black as holes within a memory
And blue as our new second sun.
I stick my hand into his shadow
To pull the pieces from the sand.
Which I attempt to reassemble
To see just who I might have been.
I do not recognise the vessel,
But the eyes seem so familiar.
Like phosphorescent desert buttons
Singing one familiar song…’so good to see you.
I’ve missed you so much.
So glad it’s over.
I’ve missed you so much.
Came out to watch you play.
Why are you running away? ’Prying open my third eye.
So good to see you once again.
I thought that you were hiding.
And you thought that I had run away.
Chasing the tail of dogma.
I opened my eye and there we were.So good to see you once again
I thought that you were hiding from me.
And you thought that I had run away.
Chasing a trail of smoke and reason.Prying open my third eye
This song goes for fourteen minutes, yet I hear it several times a week. Thanks to Stephen for introducing me to Tool.
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I was listening to my mp3 player in bed and actually heard the lyrics to the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “I Could Have Lied” for the first time. There are parallels in my own life, but really I am posting this because copying lyrics is a cheap way of getting content up when I have been slack.
There must be something
In the way I feel
That she don’t want me to feel
The stare she bares cut me
I don’t care
You see so what if I bleedI could never change
Just what I feel
My face will never show
What is not realA mountain never seems to have
The need to speak
A look that shares so many seek
The sweetest feeling
I got from you
The things I said to you were trueI could never change
Just what I feel
My face will never show
What is not realI could have lied I’m such a fool
My eyes could never never never
Keep their cool
Showed her and I told her how
She struck me but I’m fucked up nowBut now she’s gone yes she’s gone away
A soulful song
That would not stay
You see she hides ’cause she is scared
But I don’t care
I won’t be sparedI could have lied I’m such a fool
My eyes could never never never
Keep their cool
Showed her and I told her how
She struck me but I’m fucked up nowI could have lied I’m such a fool
My eyes could never never never
Keep their cool
Showed her and I told her how
She struck me but I’m fucked up now
I have to agree, lying would have been the better course of action. Worst. Mistake. Ever.
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