Gotye Roadrage On

I found this pic on facebook, and it is KILLING ME.

Even driving to uni, I kept picturing Gotye's face on every random driver.

Ive got the silent laughs on- you know, the one where you screw your face up, clutch your stomach and rock back and forward, laughing so hard you dont even make a noise?

Love it when something tickles your funny bone so badly!

What makes you feel like you are going to stop breathing, you laughed so hard?

I'm kreativ, this is evidence.

Thankyou to the ever wonderful Ms Jelena, who has awarded me with the Kreativ Blogger award.
Why should you visit Ms Jelena's blog? She is very funny, posts much more regularly than I do, and knows her way around a manicure. Occasionally she also posts photos of hot shirtless men, which I dont complain about. (I'm sure her page views just went WAY up with that information, lol)


In order to receive this award I must share 7 little facts about myself. Didn't you know nothing in life is free? :)


1. When I was 9, my Mum took me to the local park with her friends and their kids. This park is pure magic- there are lakes and geese, ducks and pelicans. (I still get really into it when I go there now, 15 years later) Mum gave me about 3 slices of bread and told me to wait near the lake whilst she hurried the other kids along. (In hindsight Mum- good one, I could have drowned. Can you call DOCS retrospectively?)
I didnt know quite what the bread was for, but being the fat kid I was, I was hungry. Besides- isnt that what bread was for, eating?
Mum came back with the other kids having promised them they would all get a turn to feed the ducklings. She stopped short and everyone stares at me, with narrow eyes, and I can tell my Mum is embarassed. Her friend (who incidentally is a major bitch) gets super hysterical and tells me that there will be no feeding of the ducks now because I have ruined it, and now all the little duckies will have to go to bed without any dinner and might get sick!
Because I was 9, I believed her and the whole night lay awake thinking about the poor ducks that were going to die all because I have an unnatural obsession with white bread!

2. I am a recent Kindle owner and CANNOT.STOP.BUYING.BOOKS.
This might be ok if I was limiting them to the ebook variety, but I havent let up my habit of buying books and turning up at garage sales early in the morn with a deranged look on my face in the pursuit of musty literature.

3. Uni makes me feel really old (at ripe old age of 24). I went to uni determined to not be 'that' mature aged student who knows all the answers and wants to share them, but seriously, as a MA student when a tutor is in front of the class and the 18yos are leaving her hanging, they will ALWAYS call on me. And my favourite is when you are assigned a group for a project and the 18yo's look at me expectantly, like I have got it all figured out and they can coast by and receive a HD by just being in my group. GAHH. Rant over.

4. I have the travel bug well and truly. Any tips on how to get my boyfriend to come with me this time, and preferably think it was his own idea?

5. I just joined a gym, for the 7,582,231 time in my life. They say 7 million, five hundred and eighty-two thousand, two hundred and thirty one times a charm, don't they? I'll celebrate when I actually attend.

6. The first ever concert I went to was to see Good Charlotte at Festival Hall when I was 16. I begged my older sister to take me, or else my olds wouldnt let me go. I wore my best baby punk outfit (you bet your ass there were safety pins and a studded belt) and to this day I wouldn't object to a Madden brothers sandwhch. I later moved on to more hardcore punk tastes, but kept my secret attraction to the twins. Benji's my personal flavour, but I wouldnt kick either of them out of the bed.

7. I lost a friend last year- (she's still alive, that sounded weird- like she had passed on or I left her on top of my car and drove off, losing her) because she got fake engaged- YES. She was eloping to Vegas, so I threw her a Vegas themed hens party, organised gifts from myself and others, took the day off work to pamper her, and turns out she was never getting married and or engaged at all.

I havent tagged anyone- this is an open tagfest. Want this award? Take it! Go on, you know you want to.
Except for you George, you've had enough. (And now the duckies will go hungry!!!)


Evidently i'm delirious, and not fit for blogging. 

Winner Winner... Nailpolish for dinner?!

Just before I left the country, I got the marvellous news that I had won a prize!

The lovely Aly from LaLa Land had a giveaway to celebrate achieving 50 followers, and a very generous one at that.

I love reading Aly's blog- she is a teacher ( what I am studying to be) has had all kinds of wonderful travels, is head over heels in love, and has fierce eyebrows. (What can I say, I appreciate eyebrows.)

The best part was that I had completely forgotten about winning in the frantic activity that was my last minute travel organisation ( I prefer for things to be done at the last nanosecond, or that's what I tell myself) and came home to a little package and a thoughtful handwritten note!

I'm looking forward to sitting down with a cup of tea, admiring my goodies, and trying China Glaze for the first time.

Thank-you Aly!

Things I learnt whilst travelling alone in Japan



Source

 I'm back!

Have had a whirlwind adventure, a whale of a time, a terrific trip, and all of the other holiday cliches you can think of. Except a romance. Although, I think the amount of time and enjoyment I spent with Green Tea KitKats, and maybe that qualifies as a romance.

Just a quick post today- I need to catch up on all of your blogs! Was wonderful to have some time offline, but definitely missed reading them.

So without further ado (what does that saying mean anyway? Can you have a little ado? I know you can have much ado about nothing, but can you ever just have sufficient ado?)

I present to you my illustrious list of lessons learnt during my holiday- (In no particular order, and I reserve the right to add more as my foggy brain remembers them)

1. If you are on a train in Tokyo on your first day, and the trip seems to be going alot longer than the 1 stop you thought it was going to, and you are then on that train for another 3 hours and eventually see farm animals, you have probably not gotten off at the right stop. You are most definitely not in Tokyo anymore

2. Ice-Cream from a vending machine is delicious

3. Squeezing through a hole the size of Buddhas nostril is best left for children

4. DO NOT I repeat DO NOT approach a man who you have just seen blowing his nose into his palms

5. You will never feel quite so body conscious as you do when you are standing in your undies with 5 tiny Japanese women bustling around you, tyring to dress you in a kimono, one flattening down your ample bosom and the others stuffing your fat into the back like they are packing up a sleeping bag

6. Disneyland is the most overwhelming place ever experienced

7. Japanese people are the most polite people on Earth

8. You will get quite a shock if you bump the wrong button on the toilet control panel

9. Japanese desserts are so intricate, beautifully well presented, and delicious

10. Most of the food you will admire outside shops is made of plastic

11. Dont get the currency conversion wrong, and post boxes back to Australia full of shopping. It will cost you $130 per box, but because you failed to do the conversion properly you will think it is a cost effective $13 and post even more

12. Sometimes, a cab driver will abandon you in his cab with the keys in the ignition. He'll come back.

13. One should duck their head before getting into a cab

14. Travelling alone is frightening, and nerve wracking, but once you get past that you will start to enjoy your own company

15. Although around day 17 you may buy a stuffed lobster from the aquarium and start talking to it, longing to communicate with someone

16. Go on a tour. I didnt. I should have (atleast a day tour or something)

17. There is an alcoholic beverage called 'Japanese Spirit' that is overpoweringly strong. Even a tiny bit in a glass makes the rest of the glass undrinkable.

18. Japanese people genuinely want to help you, and go out of their way

19. Desserts in Japan are often sneaky- what you think is a donut is really a fist sized ball of bean paste

20. 7/11 is great in Japan, you can buy good quality, cheap and filling meals for under $10AUD.

21. You can also buy something at 7/11 called 'Sexy Spray' with a tagline of 'To use when you are on the prowl'. It doesnt smell even remotely sexy.

22. Wasabi Kit Kats are not suprisingly, not that great. Green Tea and Cherry Blossom are spectacular though

23. You will fall in love with the culture, the people, the fashion and want to return desperately

And here just a tiny little sample of the *ahem over 2,000* photos I took....

This is just the beginning of the billion posts you will soon be sick of reading about Japan!

And now, im off to catch up on all of your posts!

x

Leaving on a Jet Plane

... however I do know I will be back again.

Well, im all ready to begin my solo overseas adventure. It's not Good Friday- It's GREAT FRIDAY!

Will I get ridiculously lost in Tokyo?
Will I be mistaken for an errant monkey at the Kyoto Monkey Park?
Will I survive a (solo) visit to a love hotel in Roppongi?
Will I meet a friend over there, or behave like a Nancy-No-Friends the whole time?

We shall wait and see!

But in the meantime, take a reflective moment with this-

I shall see (?) you all in two short weeks, however have scheduled some posts for while I'm away. (You didnt think you would get off that easy, did you?!)

x

Japlanning Part II

In only 5 days today I will be flying out of Tullamarine airport, with eyes as wide as saucers, a tiny bit of fear in the pit of my stomach, and boundless excitment. (There will probably also be a little plastic cup of vodka in my hand. I embrace airline alcoholism)

6 DAYS! That is...not alot of time. My wordsmithery, what can I say, I have talent.

The day I fly out will also be-

- Good Friday. Now renamed THE BEST FRIDAY.
- Billasaurus Rex's 28th Birthday

I have been spending alot of time with my handy organisational friend Excel

This being organised business has some upsides. (Im getting quite smug for someone who has a pile of unread mail still on her kitchen table)

... and also a lot of time with Trip Advisor....

...and with xe...althought is not as fun to work out the money side of things. It's just so hard to estimate what I will need, and balance that with what I can afford!

Now, I am no crazy cat lady like this woman, (I just love CATS! *tear*), but I have discovered Cat & Kitten Cafes.

From what I understand, many rentals in Japan dont allow pets. To get around this, you are able to go to a Cat & Kitten cafe to surf the internet, have a latte...and pat a kitten!

Source

One thing I am REALLY looking forward to (probably more than I should be) is the Maiko makeover in Kyoto.

I have booked in to visit a tiny studio in the cobbled streets of Gion, where many moons ago traditional Geisha and Maiko tottered around on those insanely high wooden thongs (nowadays if you see this its probably a tourist!)

At Yume Koubou I will be transformed into full Maiko dress- the hair piece, kimono, full makeup...the lot!

After my metamophasis into a delicate creature (Yeah right!) I will be having a photo shoot in my new garb. How exciting!

I'm not photogenic AT ALL, and I'm also one of those uncos in a photo who has their eyes crossed, or something in my teeth...at the very least the photos that come out of this shoot will be entertaining.

SO RONERY.

Im starting to get a bit anxious about travelling alone. Not so much the safety side of things- but more missing my family, friends and of course Billasaurus Rex.

I come from a very large family, which means that there is always someone to talk to. My sisters are my best friends, and then of course I've got my old school friendfs, work friends, etc.

It' has hit me all of a sudden that I wont be texting my family and friends all day, emailing them at work, visiting them for dinner, going out for drinks, and calling them at all hours like I do at home.

I'm a communicator by nature, so it will be interesting to see how I react to a complete change.

And now, so I dont dwell on those thoughts, some more WTF Japan photos, all provided by Japan Is Weird, my new favourite site.

 

This is not what I am expecting to see at Ueno Zoo

Whaaa? Tanks people, tanks!

God Jesus. Confirmations, blessings, healings and miracles, all at your fingertips (if you have AA batteries that is)

Toad-ally Hot.

Would you like to take a little lap-nap?

Hey You! Yes you! Are you most concerned by my stubble or my eyeshadow that appears to be a sticker?

The most realistic chicken fillet ever. I'm surprised we dont have these yet.

And with that...yeah there are no words that can follow those images.

x

Remember Babs?

You know, you met her in this post?

Well, she's back.

In my efforts to think about the ultimate place to hide Babs last time, I promptly forgot about the whole ordeal. (Which is quite typical for me, I must say.)

Going to Japan and thinking about buying my sister Chelle a doozy of a souvenir triggered a creepy little memory.

Stay tuned for odd Babs- where will she pop up next?