Rapid Ending

Time flies when you are having fun right? I really don't know where all the time has gone. It doesn't feel like I got here just yesterday because I feel like I know Melbourne and all the streets like the back of my hand. But it is hard to realize that last week is the last week of the PRIME program. We have been here eight weeks and are a little unsure how its going to feel about leaving Monash and Melbourne. Ok.. so I'll stop being mushy and tell you what we have been up to.

So last week my mom and sister were still here which was great. On Tuesday night Lisa and I met up with the PRIME group with some German friends we made at the Claremont Hotel. They knew of this really cool pub down by the Yarra River. We sat outside and it wasn't too cold because they had little outdoor heaters and so we got to look at the city at night. We talked a lot about California and Matteus [on of the guys from Germany] really likes Jack Johnson so we started to sing Banana Pancakes. We met up with John and Andres in a different pub in Federation Square and they brought their Italian friend from school. Lisa and I both agreed that he looked like our cousin Tres. Maybe he is our long distant relative and we didn't even know!

Then on Thursday night Lisa, my mom, and I went to Koko Black to get some drinks and their last taste of chocolate before they left Australia. Everything tasted great and the place was really cute. It had big couches and chairs that reminded me of the coffee house on Friends.. but a little nicer. Then we made our way to the Italian District up on Lygon St. So we had dessert before dinner; our excuse was that they were on vacation. We stopped in the first restaurant that we saw. There were so many that it was hard to tell which one was going to be the best so we had to take our chances. Inside there were not many people, but the owner asked us "How many?" After replying three, he interrupted and said "Four?" and counted the three of us and then included himself to have dinner. It was apparent that he had a good sense of humor and we knew that we chose the right place.

He sat us right next to the chef and said that this was the special table because we get three surprises. Not knowing if he was joking or not, we looked at the menu filled with delicious Italian food. Then quickly asked if we needed an extra plate and threw it our way without giving us time to reply. I caught the plate but I realized it wasn't a plate but a plastic top! I guess that was surprise #1. Then he gave us markers and challenged us to a game of tick-tac-toe and said if I won then the meal was free. He was too good for me, but I challenged to a rematch. He said if I lost this one then I had to do the dishes... I lost! Don't worry.. I managed to escape the restaurant without cleaning a single plate. Then he did things like throw a plasitic spider at us to continue the surprises. It was fun and exactly what Lisa and my mom needed before they left. Not to mention, the pizza and salad that we got was very tasty! Lisa and my mom left on Friday morning. The visit was great and it was fun to show them around. Love them so much!

Since we had our big presentation on Tuesday, we kinda had a relaxing weekend. I came into the office both Saturday and Sunday, but we managed to do some fun things in between getting everything perfect for the presentation. On Saturday night we met up with John and Andres in the city and watched a salsa band. It was fun just to watch them dance to the music and it seemed like they were at home, even though Columbia is half way around the world. After the band finished their set, they went to go talk to the band and it ended up that one of the members is actually from Cali; their home town. They even exchanged numbers with him!

Then we met up with our German friends back at the hotel and made our way over to St. Kilda for the night. We had to wait 15 minutes for the tram and so we entertained ourselves by taking pictures and singing songs... a car filled with Aussies at the stop light even joined in with us. It was fun. Then when in St. Kilda we did a lot of walking around to find a place to go and checked out a few pubs. There were tons of Australian kids at some of the big clubs but it looked a little out of our league. Realizing that we needed to catch the last tram back home, the 5 of us left and walked to the tram station. Saleh, Liz, Steph, and I got on the tram, but somehow Heather missed the message. We left her in St. Kilda! Then we were going to get off at the next stop to meet up with her, but the doors closed too quickly so only Liz and Saleh got off! Now, Steph and I were the only ones on the tram and we quickly found out it was the wrong one. Long story short, we did a lot of walking and we all made it home safe and sound.

The next morning we went into the city to check out some parts that we missed. I showed them the arcades and where most of the chocolate shops were that we visited on the chocolate tour. The little cafes were open and it was cute to see everyone out for Sunday brekkie [breakfast]. Then Steph showed us this alley that is just COVERED with graffiti. We were taking pictures and then a garbage man came up to us and said "Why the hell are you taking pictures of graffiti? Its so ugly!" Then we explain how we aren't around from here and how we heard about the special graffiti alley. Then he laughed and said "Don't they have graffiti in America?" We just carried on and put our cameras away so we didn't look so much like tourists.



Then Steph and I met up with Liz in St. Kilda for the crafts show that they have on Sundays. It is time to gather all the souvineers that we can get and so we were having trouble deciding what to get. I think that we might go back next weekend too! The sun peeked out from the clouds and it turned out to be a nice day. I think that St. Kilda might be my favorite part of Melbourne.



We then spent the next two days working hard on our projects.. getting every last bit ready for our presentation at Clayton. There were moments where we were very nervous, but the we would try to calm ourselves down by saying that there were not going to be too many people there. Then David sent us an email saying that Larry Smarr just so happened to be in Melbourne and would attend our seminar. Larry is the Institute Director of Calit2 which is a main funder of the PRIME program. Lets just say that the nerves came back! After practicing our presentation and compiling all of our presentations together, we were ready to go. Everyone did a great job and David said that he was very proud. Everyone from our lab gave us a pat on the back and we congratulated them for not falling asleep through the long talk about mostly biology. After eating some cheese and crackers and talking with some people who attended our seminar, we packed up and headed home.



Giving the presentation made us realize how limited our time is here! The next big thing on our list is to plan out what we are doing in New Zealand. I know that is going to fly by too!

Family Visit

The highlight, by far, of this week was going to Ballarat. JUST KIDDING! I was so happy to leave work and see my mom and sister. They arrived Wednesday afternoon safe and sound and I met them at their hotel on Flinder's Street. Just as I was a month and a half ago, they were jet lagged and ultra tired. We caught up and then after buying them a train like I was back in America. They didn't serve water in a jug and the atmosphere was more like America. I know it wasn't a good introduction into Australian dining, but oh well. During dinner they were trying to keep their heavy eyelids open, but I could tell that they were ticket I showed them my "hotel". They were shocked to see how small my room was; but by now I am used to it. Around dinner time we made our way over to Hard Rock Cafe because it seems at every vacation spot that we go to we eat there. It was weird for me to eat there because I felt ready to fall asleep. After dinner they crashed at the hotel room.

On Thursday I went to work while they slept in and explored the city. Us Primers did not join the usual cryptic crossword group and went to the Clayton campus for a little lunch. We had been there once before for Thomas' presentation, but we wanted to see the campus. It reminded us a lot of UCSD; but a lot less hilly. There, they were having an international event and there were some organizations with booths selling food and other things. Heather spotted one that was selling KANGAROO sausage! Because everyone asks us if we have tried it we had to. It tasted a lot like breakfast sausage to me.. but I didn't have much. They are too cute to think about eating!
Then we just went from building to building. They have a Whole Foods place that reminded me of a much more hippie grove or old student center back at UCSD. Then we saw a flier for the science club and so we thought we should mingle with our fellow scientists. :] The funny part of it was that the BBQ was on "Boob" lawn. On the lawn there was a little null that looked like a boob. Pretty funny. The rest of the time we mostly explored the biology and engineering departments there. We checked out their sports field and stuff; it was bigger than RIMAC. That night we went back to the casino and watched Rock star Karaoke. It was really cool. It was just like karaoke but instead of having the background music be off a track, there was a live band playing it. The people that sang were good and there was a lot of classic rock music-meaning I sang along! None of us went up there but who knows what next week will bring!

On Friday I took my mom and Lisa to Queen Victoria Market to shop around. They were amazed to see how big it was and we bought a bunch of winter clothes. They will be handy for me, but when they return back to 80 degree weather, I don't think they will be using them that much! But after we went down Elizabeth St. to an arcade where Haigh's Chocolate Shop is. The arcades are nice and lined with cafes and shops which remind me of Europe. We met Susie, our guide, for the chocolate tour. Yep that's right, chocolate tour. Susie, who is from Melbourne, has been running these tours for 13 years and takes a group of about 10 to chocolate shops around the city while giving a brief history lesson. While talking she gave us a range of chocolate to try and even gave us a little bag to fill up. I felt like it was Halloween, but with good chocolate. She showed us a tea shop that was started by a woman in Melbourne and now its growing internationally. Then next door we went into another shop that had unique chocolates with designs on top of them. Susie would talk to the owners like they were best friends; but I guess after 13 they probably are! Next, we went to another arcade and watched a chef named Kim make chocolates at Koko Black. She talked to us about the process of making different chocolates and gave us a truffle to try. Did you know it takes 3 days to make those things? yep yep. Although most of us had enough chocolate to eat, the tour was not over. It ended at a cafe where we each got to pick a cake to try while we drank a late. I was heaven. When I was little I didn't like chocolate that much, but now its a different story!


The next morning we woke up early to take the V-line train to Ballarat. We met up with other Primers and after an hour on the train we made it to Sovereign Hill. Sovereign Hill is supposed to give you the idea of how the area was during the 1860's when the area had a gold rush. In the town people dressed as though they were in the 1800's and there town with its unpaved streets looked like it too. We took the mining tour and learned about how dangerous life was for the miners. I decided that I will NEVER be a miner. Too scary. But there were other activities like bowling, carriage rides, gold panning, and watching the red coats march through the town. The only problem about Sovereign Hill was that it was FREEZING! I think Lisa and Mom were in shock coming from summer to chilly winds. With their big jackets and scarves they made it out alive. :]

On Sunday it was Open Day at Monash University. This is kinda like admit day at UCSD, but the students are not accepted to the school but are just thinking about applying. We helped to volunteer by telling people why we are here and what we are doing at Monash Uni. We got to wear cool shirts that say Monash and showed the students what at VTC looks like. They had it set up that we were talking to people at the Clayton campus. It was funny; when people came in the room and saw that they were on the screen they got a little camera shy. After I took mom and Lisa down to St. Kilda to show them the beach but it was SUPER windy and cold. We took shelter in a restaurant and made it a short night.

Yesterday while I was at work they went on the day tour the the Primer's and I took to Phillip's Island. They enjoyed petting and feeding the kangaroos and seeing Tasmanian Devils. The weather held out for them and even got to go down to the beach. On Wednesday they will go on the Great Ocean Road tour too. Unfortunately they leave on Friday! Where does the time go? Tonight I am taking them to Stalactites and we are going back to Koko Black for hot chocolate. YUM!

Liz's Birthday

Unlike the past couple weekends, this weekend was a mellow one. I do not have to filter through 6oo pictures and talk endlessly about all the things that we saw on our day tours. Instead, we took it easy this weekend. The big part of the week was on Wednesday; or shall I say Liz's 22nd Birthday!

To celebrate we decided to go out to sushi. [yum!] We went to the city and walked down Little Bourke St. which is actually considered China town. Yes, yes, I know sushi is Japanese food but there were a few Japanese restaurants mixed in with all the Chinese ones. We found one at the end of the street and it was really nice. We ordered a couple rolls of sushi... some spicy tuna, California rolls, and salmon rolls. You know, the standards. Since it was a nice place the sushi was fresh and I could have continued to eat it forever. After eating all of our really good food, the waiter brought out ice cream for Liz's birthday. The candles were awesome because they looked like fireworks! She tried to blow them out but it was no use. They had to burn down to the end. She got mango ice cream and shared the goodness.

Then we ventured back to the hotel and made her the real birthday dessert: Our famous five minute cake! We have learned that the middle does not cook well in the microwave so since this was a special occasion, we make sure the whole cake was cooked by putting a cup in the middle.. kinda like a bunt cake. We even bought candles and made lemon icing! Oh and how can I forget we wrote her name with Milo.. so creative! After singing happy birthday we indulged! It was really good.

Then we went for a walk down towards Chapel St. and found a empty night club [it WAS a Wednesday night] and danced the night away. We had the place to ourselves and it was nice to just goof around. Then once we got tired we returned home and slept so we could get up and go to work in the morning.

On Friday we went to the Royal Casino which is along the river. It had very nice restaurants that we knew were above our price range, some stores, a cinema, pubs, and of course a bunch of slot machines. We ate at the food court and then roamed around. We found a live band that was playing a bunch of classic rock songs and oldies. It was fun to dance to them because we knew the words. Saleh left the girls alone to dance while he tried to win some money. Unfortunately, he lost $10. Better luck next time!

On Saturday we went away from the city towards the Clayton campus to a big mall. It was actually Saleh's idea to go there.. I know... the only guy of the group wanted to go shopping?!? I swear that we had nothing to do with it! The mall was huge; bigger than UTC but probably like Valley fair in San Jose. I didn't recognize a lot of the stores. There was no American Eagle or Hollister which was nice. They did have a Target though. :]

At night we went over to our friend Anil's apartment for dinner. He lived at the Claremont Hotel for a while and since he moved into an apartment he wanted to make us dinner at his new place. He made a great Indian dinner. There was chicken, an eggplant dish, spinach dish, flat bread, rice, and fruit salad. We all got seconds and were full! Even then he was not satisfied. He wanted all the food to be gone! Then he had an Indian sweet pastry in this sauce for dessert. But that's not all; it seemed every 5 to 10 minutes he would pull out cookies and chocolate. We brought one of our cakes but there was already plenty of sweets. I tried to help him clean up all the dishes but he wouldn't let me. We all had a nice time and had to leave before he tried to feed us more food!
On Sunday I had a lazy day. I slept in, went to the gym, showered and then slept most of the day. I woke up and red "Life of Pi" downstairs while everyone just talked and hung out. It was nice. Sometimes you just need a lazy day. This week will be a little more exciting because my mom and sister will be arriving to Melbourne on Wednesday! I am so happy that I'll be able to see them and spend some time with them. Now that I know the city I can show them all the cool places!

Great Ocean Road

This past week was another fun one. During the week we stayed late at the office and I planned to stay longer to skype with Celine. When Saleh, Heather and Stephany were about to head home, someone gave them two HUGE free pizzas! SCORE! They came back up and we had our free dinner up in the office! Also, on Friday, we met up with one of our friends Xaiomin who goes to Monash. She recently moved to an apartment close to campus so we went to check it out. We went out for Pizza (I guess we just can get enough) and we decided to try the Aussie pizza. In other restaurants and stores we have seen "Aussie" things like sandwiches or pizzas. We found out to make it "Aussie" you add egg; the reason why... no clue. But it was good! Then after our meal we called it a night and headed home to wake up early for another day tour that started at 7:00 am. (I wanted to sleep in!)

When the bus arrived we hoped the doors would open and our old tour guide Peter would be in the driver's seat; but Eddie was there instead. At first we thought that he did not come close to the caliber of Peter, but as the trip continued, we grew to love him. :] This tour had a lot more driving compared to the one to Phillip's Island. Our first stop was Bell's beach. It is the start of the Great Ocean Road and is a big surf area. Just like in California, the cold did not stop the surfers to come and catch a wave. With their wet-suits on the locals jumped in the COLD water and surfed the small waves. We enjoyed the view and played on the beach. There were tide pools but I did little exploring; I have had bad experiences with tide pools! Instead I collected some cool seashells like I always do. Then we hurried on the bus after Eddie informed us that "This is NOT a two day trip!" He was on a mission to be in front of the long line of tour buses that stop at the same stops.

The next stop was the arch of the Great Ocean Road. After a Australian politician visited California and traveled up and down the Pacific Hiway, they decided to make something similar in Melbourne. To help employ service men after WWI, they started the road and was completed in parts which was finished in 1930 something.. I forget. But anyways, they made this arch to mark the start of the road. Its been rebuilt a couple times because of fires in that area.

Because we did not have a chance to stop for "tea and bikkies" at Bells beach, we stopped at a place not too far down the road. We looked out on a beach that had about 5 people walking up and down, bundled up in jackets and scarves. Eddie said that in the summer the beach is PACKED with umbrellas, tents, towels and beach bums. It reminded me how Capitola could get on a hot summer day but since it was about 10 degrees Celsius there was no one around. After everyone warmed up from their tea and coffee, we headed up the road to see koalas in their natural habitat!



Eddie just pulled over on the side of the road and we went searching for koalas in the eucalyptus trees. Since it was raining earlier, they were lower in the trees and we even saw one with its little baby! It was so much better than the wild animal park. We got closer to them at the park but I liked it better when we got to see how the are in nature. After taking a ton of snap shots of the "mum" and her joey, we carried on up the Great Ocean Road.


Not too long after it was another look out stop called Cape Patton. We could see the rest of the surf coast from here. It was beautiful! I love the ocean. We took more pictures and then drove for a while until we reached Apollo bay for lunch. Since Eddie still wanted to be the leader of the pack, we only had about a 30 minute break, but if that meant being at all the stops without a million tourists, it was fine with me. Apollo Bay was quaint and had one main road with a deli and a few restaurants. We ventured down to the water again, and it was really calm. I didn't even touch the water because I knew how cold it was going to be!

When the bus was full we headed over to the rain forest. It was filled with ferns and two types of protected trees. I guess earlier in the 19th century they started to log the area and the environmentalists were afraid that the species were going to go extinct. So they saved a little part of the land for that species of trees. Around the area it was very clear because of all the trees that they chopped down. So now it is used for farming and that meant a lot of sheep and cows. :]

We then drove for about an hour; which was really fast because Eddie was passing cars and even bigger tour buses! Since he has been doing this tour for about seven years there was faith in him; but if my Nana was in the bus she would have been holding on for dear life! ha ha.. So then we got to an area called Mutton Island. We were on the part of the Great Ocean Road called Shipwreck Coast. I think over the last 40 years there as been about 180 shipwrecks! Eddie told us a story about a ship trying to go to the port of Melbourne and since it was so foggy they couldn't see 2 feet in front of them. They heard crashing waves and tried to turn around but it was too late. They hit this island, and there were only two survivors. They named the island after the ship. The view from this part of the coast was spectacular! The water was so clear and the beach had the sand that you see on Hawaiian beaches. We absorbed the view and explored the caves with their stalactites. (like the restaurant we like!) But luckily we returned to the bus on time because Eddie got tired of counting and left without 2 guys on the tour! Realizing this, he dropped us off down the road at another scenic lookout and went back to pick the guys up! After that, everyone made sure to be at the bus right on time!



Then we went to the 12 Apostles... or should I say 6 Apostles. Over the years the rock formations have fallen. I guess last year around this time one fell over. The view was yet again beautiful, and the sun was just setting so it was a postcard picture opportunity. We then headed to our last stop which was a beach not too far away from the Apostles. The waves were pretty big and the color of the water was turquoise. I could have stayed there all day. This is what I thought of Australia before I came and I finally got a taste of it! I am realizing that I could not live in the city for a long time. I need views like this and open space! After a long day of jumping in and out of the tour bus and making sure Eddie didn't leave us behind, we headed back for Melbourne and our nice warm bed.



Our adventurous weekend did not end there. The next morning we woke up "early" to go to St. Kilda and rent..... excuse me "hire" bikes for the day. David likes to cycle and he was kind enough to invite us on a ride with him and his friends. The weather was perfect and we rode along the coast line. We stopped once Thomas got a flat tire and one of David's spokes broke! While they were getting fixed we had a coffee and chatted. Instead of slowing David and his friends down, we took the bike path on the way back and also took our time! There were stops with great views and since the last time we were in St. Kilda we could only see rain clouds, we wanted to enjoy the beautiful day. After our long ride we took our sore bums down the street and got a bite to eat. Exhausted, we walked around a little but then took the train back home to rest.

Right now we have no plans for next weekend, but I am sure that by next week my blog will be filled with pictures and stories. Until next time!