Bangkok + back home

I came back this morning and wondered what Im going to do these last 2 precious weeks of my teenage life. I start work in 2 weeks and won't have so much time again. For some reason I feel a bit insecure about starting work. It's like I know its time for me to take the next step and start working but I'm scared of change and am scared work will change me. If I work 9-530 each day, what will become of me? To me, life has been structured by education. Primary school, high school and then uni. I've never been afraid moving between each stage. (Ok I was a little nervous about high school). Perhaps I'm scared I won't like my job that I've studied for all these years, perhaps i still feel little inside and everyone will be older, or perhaps I don't want to be like everybody else who work everyday. But I think the main reason is the uncertainty about what I'll turn out to be like. The last 3 years of my life were filled with freedom and fun. If I enter the corporate world, how will i change as a person? It doesn't help that some of my working friends seem stressed and tired about work. Anyways, people tell me they think I'm making much more of a big deal about this transition than it will turn out to be and they doubt it'll change me much at all.

I didn't take many pictures in Bangkok, its basically very polluted and busy and dirty. My first meal was a plate of pad thai noodles for 20 baht (60 cents) so stuff is pretty cheap there. Taxis are also very cheap. We got ripped off by one taking us around a long way but in the end, it was only about A$2 more so it didn't really matter. If you ever go to Bangkok, get a massage there. I got a one hour full body massage for A$10! The shopping is good and Thai people are very friendly and helpful. I stayed at Thailand's tallest hotel which was a bit annoying because my ears got blocked everytime I went in the lift. I only stayed there for 2.5 days so didn't really get to explore much of it.

Some things about my trip:
* I was in a shop in the US and the shop assistant told me to try the foot massage machine. I asked him whether I could take off my thongs. However, they call thongs "flip flops" there and thongs mean something else. He was quite surprised when I asked.
* I flew on 9 different planes in the space of 25 days. It was also the first time I've thrown up on a plane
* I felt so sick of eating out that didn't want to eat again. The feeling lasted for 5 hours and then I ate again today
im feeling jet lagged and sick so will sleep now... may add more points later.

Vienna, Austria

Definitely the coldest place on my trip- it even got down to -5 degrees! I am staying with my friend Susanne and her house is so cosy and her Mum cooks really good Austrian food.

The first day I got there, Katharina (another girl who lives in Vienna) took us out to a Heuringe which serves typical Austrian food. It was good to come back to Europe! Austrian people speak German with a different accent so I could understand things but I find it a lot easier to just ask, "Sprechen Sie Englisch?" since everyone speaks english.

Katharina and Susanne have been the most wonderful hosts and have shown us around Vienna. It gets so so so cold sometimes. I was so happy yesterday because it was the first time I was in a place that was snowing. Susanne and her Mum laughed at me because i took an umbrella out and its "uncool" to do that. Snow is so fluffy and I was giggling and screaming like a little kid when it was snowing on me!

I have tried a lot of Austrian food thanks to our hosts. I had the famous Sacher cakes, Krapfer, schnitzel, strudel, and lots of other food. I'll be leaving for Bangkok tomorrow. Its apparently 36 degrees there .... a bit of a change!


Cars parked on the street are covered with snow. Owners have to spend 5 minutes using brooms to get snow off before driving!


This is the view of the street from where Im staying. Poor owners of the cars!


Katharina and Susanne at the Heuringe


This picture is on an Austrian club website. We got our pic taken when we were at a club called 'Q'. What I've noticed is that the world has become so globalised that Australian music is up to date with American music and the club in Austria also played up to date songs!


Me walking in the snow when it was snowing


I love European chocolates. What I find very charming about Austria is that there is snow everywhere and then there are lots of little simple side shops (instead of the multinational franchises we have all over Australia and America)

Miami

I am now in Vienna but have been a bit slack with my entries so will write about Miami first. I am pretty heartbroken because ive lost my photos of Hawaii and some of america =( !!!

Miami has a great atmosphere. People know it for its clubs, parties, South beach and the beautiful people there. After feeling sick as a dog in Orlando and then catching a dodgy coach that didn't reserve seats (so running the risk of not getting to miami), we got there. The people were pretty chilled and laid back and everything looked really funky. That's because we were staying at the Art Deco District on South Beach which used to be the slums but then transformed into a funky town!

Walking around South Beach (its not only a beach but a town) was like walking through a postcard. The water is the most amazing colour and the sand is white. When walking on the streets to look at their little unique design shops, I would pass by models. Some were fashion extremists. They carried little dogs that they had made up (i even saw one with a Von Dutch little dog top) like Paris Hilton. At the mall, I even saw a dog fashion shop with clothes and pretty bags to hold them in. Anyways, its just like the movies and songs. Oceans Drive is full of amazing cafes and cool clubs and if you dress really well they let you in.

I was too sick to go clubbing but I did go into a club to see what it was like and it was heaps cool! They combined house and hip hop music which I found was a weird combination. I will write about Vienna tomorrow but Im going to sleep now.

This is a ferrari I saw on the road. It even had a bodyguard for it!! Miami is full of expensive cars. I've never seen so many ferraris in my life!



South Beach






(This picture I didn't take... but I got it off the Net cuz its a cool pic of South Beach's art deco district)

Orlando, USA

Orlando is known for Disneyworld where each kingdom is about a suburb big. I've gone through 4 days of rides and looking around. Its funny how the clothes sizes i get are different around the world. In China, I might be a large, in Hong Kong a medium but in America, XS is too big for me. Everyone is fatter here than the people in Australia. Its really difficult finding healthy food because having burgers everyday is getting too much for me!!

I didn't finish describing Las Vegas last time. Basically its a city in the middle of the desert. Its next to the Grand Canyon. It was really freezing when I went there though because it was winter. However, American girls are quite... um slutty. They are generally very confident and like getting around (the girls in Las Vegas anyways). It was 4 degrees and they would be wearing singlet tops and minis. The "trend" for girls is to get plastic surgery on their boobs and then wear really reavealing tops at the casinos.

Although there are casinos in every hotel, I don't really like gambling. I once put in $10, pressed the button once and saw that I had won $10 so I cashed out and got $20. That's all the gambling I did. Danny was at the New York New York hotel and saw Nelly gambling. Las Vegas is also a place for celebrities to be able to get married quickly. There are wedding chapels in the majority of hotels and celebrities come in the middle of the night to quickly get married and avoid publicity.

The buffets are great though. I've never seen such big buffets before! Multiply the size of Star City buffet by 5! And it was only US$6.99 for a buffet lunch which about $A10. I was in heaven.

Unfortunately i cant put any photos on this computer so I'll describe some of the hotels.
* The Venetian Resort - this is one of my favourites. It had all of Venice's main sites such as the Bridge of Sighs, Rialto Bridge, St Marks Square in mini versions and you could ride gondolas INSIDE the hotel! Except it looked like the outside because the ceiling was painting like a sky. There were shops and mini cafes just like the real Venice
* MGM Grand - they have about 3 clubs inside which look awesome from the outside. I love clubs that have cool doors. They also had lion habitats and sometimes you see people go in and play with the lions.

Anyways I have to go now cuz lost track of time!! Have to get ready for Miami tomorrrow!

Las Vegas

Las Vegas has HUGE hotels and I'm staying at a hotel on the Strip called the Excalibur which is based on a medieval theme. It's like a castle and has dragons and stuff. It has 4000 rooms. This is the hotel:


This is the view from my hotel window:


The first day I had only a few hours sleep but we booked tickets to watch UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) so we went there. While I was getting coffee to wake me up, Danny saw Avril Lavigne walk past. When we were watching the game, there were celebrities watching it too. Cindy Crawford, Vin Diesel, Dean Cain and heaps of other celebrities were there. Cindy Crawford is still really beautiful! Afterwards, we went towards the back to look at the beach at the hotel (yes there is a beach at the Mandalay Bay Hotel!) and there was no one there. We then saw the black guy from "Saving Private Ryan" walking past us with bodyguards and also the wrestler Ortiz. Las Vegas is full of celebrities!

Anyways, I'll write a bit later because I'm gonna go look at a few more hotels now. There are hotels with volcanoes (The Mirage), The Venetian hotel has gondolas running through it, New York New York has 11 of its famous buildings in mini size ... heaps more!! Ill leave some pictures:

I thought these toffee apples were cool cuz they had m&ms, peanuts, and all different flavours ... they are huge!


This is the famous water show at the Bellagio. it's amazing! (also featured on Oceans 11):


A picture of a bit of The Strip:


This is the Paris hotel which has all its famous landmarks in mini size!

Honolulu, Hawaii

Aloha from Hawaii! Below are some pics I took in Hawaii. im at an internet cafe in honolulu with internet geeks watching the 'Lord of the rings' which suits me fine because i love that movie.

I am staying at a hotel on Waikiki beach which is great because you step out and there's the beach. The beach isnt as good as the ones in Australia (there are hardly any waves) but the atmosphere is great with friendly people, flowers and music everywhere.

I had my first American meal here and could only finish half of it. The food here is delicious (but very unhealthy). I went to a place called 'The Cheescake Factory' and the menu is huge and so are its servings. I had Maccas for lunch today and I swear the patty is more fattening than the Australian one!

The best thing i've done so far here was going to a Luau which is a Hawaiian feast that takes place on the beach. We got leid (they put leis over our heads) on the beach with the sunset as the backdrop and then watched Hawaiians prepare our feast by conducting an Imu Ceremony (by preparing the pig from a roasting pit). We ate an all you can eat buffet while we watched Hawaiians dance and listened to their music while drinking Mai Tai cocktails. The bus ride back was funny because all these American old people were drunk and were singing songs about doing wee wees etc

I was walking on the beach alone last night and it was beautiful just to see all these pretty lights on the beach, clear water crashing against the shore while hearing different music (Ukeleles, soul, classical) while walking past each hotel.

I'm leaving for Las Vegas tonight. Each hotel has about 4o00 rooms but they are all booked out because of the Superbowl. Its gonna be packed but I guess it'll be a real party atmosphere!! Some Americans have given me some tips =)

Here are some pics below:

I'm drinking a drink called the Fuzzy Hawaiian which is mango juice blended with peach schnapps and white rum served inside a pineapple!


Hawaiians preparing the pig in a roasting pit during the Luau


Danny and I watching the sunset


Lights on trees on KalaKaua Ave


Palm trees and sunset during the Luau dinner


Sunset on the beach


Funny sign on a nearby fruit shop ("You may press coconuts but no other fruits NO please no No NO NO NO")



Me on Waikiki beach