The House of Awesome

The search for my own place was physically and mentally draining. Imagine going to see places where the bathroom/kitchen/whole house is dirty and the bedroom is the size of a closet, it gets quite depressing and not to mention the amount of rent they expect for that too!!

But quite unexpectedly, I was introduced to a girl who was looking for a fifth roommate for a house they were about to move into...And that's when I knew this had to be it.

Welcome to the House of Awesome

One block from the skytrain, which only takes 10 mins to Downtown

When you enter the house

A lovely fireplace..for toasted marshmallows! Bring on Winter!

My dream kitchen..smells of lovely baked goods every day..

The hot seat

The living room..just wait till we make this look good.

My walk in wardrobe, bigger than most of the bedrooms I've seen.

Our backyard, bring on summer!

Views of Grouse mountain from our backyard

Yep, I get to call this place home. And it gets better. What makes this house a home are the people living in it. Let me introduce you to my wonderful, awesome roomies. Its like a slumber party every night =P

There is Sarah who is an avid baker, knitter and knows how to fix anything! What would we do without her? Well I definitely won't be blogging since she set up the internet and router. And here she works her baking magic:

Yum! Lunch for the girls.

 Not only does she bake bread for our sandwiches but she makes other delicious goodies. Her baking will be the end of me - I'll have to get back into exercise =( And that's where Zana comes in...

Zana just got back from San Fran where she ran half a marathon! I'm hoping some of her fitness will rub off onto me by just living in the same house. I'm sure it works like that =) She is super cool and fun to hang with. And she's a massage therapist. If that isn't enough to fix a sore back we've got a physio in the house too!

That's Miss Shirley...

Shirley and her infectious laugh, that's how I know she's home. Seriously, our house is so big that half the time you don't know who is home. We end up calling/emailing each other to see where we are. Shirlz also loves baking!! And she makes awesomeeeee shortbread. I demolished the rest after she left it on the kitchen bench >.<

Last, but definitely not least, there is Eleanor. She was the first one I met and a real sweetheart. She is always happy. Like always.

Clockwise: Shirlz, Zana, Ele, Sarah & Me!

This is why its great living with four other girls in the same house

• We're all pretty much very similar in size...so if I ever need something to wear... =)
• Abundance of baking utensils and tupperware
• One word: Skim milk..ok, that was two words. But seriously, no one else likes skim milk but these girls do!
• No fights over the bathrooms - we have 2.5 bathrooms. That works out to be half a bathroom for each of us. Its working out fine.

And most importantly...

• We don't have to worry about the toilet seat!!

And that's why its called the house of awesome.

Vancouver 2010 - A new season

I decided to go to Vancouver via Amtrak, since I've been told about all the beautiful scenic views you can see on the way. So what do I end up doing? Sleep sleep and more sleep! I did manage to wake up for about 5 minutes to take this photo though.

Once I arrived in Vancouver, I didn't really know what to do with myself. I got there around noon and my host wasn't going to be home until 9:30pm so I thought I might as well be productive. I spent the next three hours setting up my bank account and getting a Social Insurance Number so I can legally work. Then I managed to score a lift with a friend from Seattle who happened to be in Vancouver for work that day! That was awesome coz I was not looking forward to dragging my luggage around at night, not after what happened last time...

I didn't get much of a chance to chat to Aaron, my first host in Vancouver, since I only crashed for two nights. Basically when I arrived in Vancouver, I was set for two nights and kinda didn't have anywhere to stay after that. As much as I like going off the fly with things, I should have probably thought this out a bit better.

But, alas, things worked out in the end as usual. Nick, my second host, kindly agreed to have me stay the weekend. I figured I just needed a couple of more days to search for a place. But that I did not do -_- I took a break instead (I need a break from being on holiday? Go figure) and spent the weekend sight seeing and enjoying the beauty of Vancouver =)

Views from Stanley Park

Worse than Jacob's ladder. I was tricked into climbing this!

Everywhere you look, its just mountains and trees, mountains and trees, mountains and trees. Even more awesome was that Nick lived two minutes from the beach and five minutes from downtown. Here's another reference for you Perthians, (yes, I have decided it will be Perthians from now on) think City Beach in terms of proximity to the beach, Subi's closeness to the city and little boutique stores, and a dash of Mt Lawley for that old school, heritage feeling. That's Kitsilano in a nutshell. You can't blame me for not wanting to leave, that and the fact I didn't actually have anywhere to go to anyway, so Nick was super nice and said I can stay until I find my own place. SWEEETTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Views from Kits, who'd wanna move away from here?

Nick not only let me crash his place indefinitely, but he helped me look for my own - driving me around, calling up potential roomies and just being awesome. 

I got well fed too!

My start in Vancouver has been a bit rocky, no thanks to my lack of planning, but it all worked out for the better. It might seem like I'm having heaps of fun but there has been challenging times and the funny thing is, its the small things that would get to me. Not the fact that I don't have a place to stay or that my Australian bank put a zero dollar limit on international transfers (OMG do not get me started on that!) but it would be when I was dragging my luggage in the rain without an umbrella with my broken shoe or running out of change for the laundry and asking random strangers on the street for coins in my PJs. Thats when I'd get annoyed and wished I had my creature comforts back home. But I just suck it up and toughen up, don't really have any other choice and usually the moment just passes. All I need to do is look out the window and it makes it all worthwhile.

Sleepless in Seattle

Actually, thats a lie, I got plenty of sleep in my wonderful sofa bed. I stayed with Chris who lives in an awesome, swanky condo in Belltown . For you Perthians/Perthites/Perthies (do we even have an official name?), its comparative to East Perth - filled with new high rise apartments, just a few blocks away from Downtown. Did I mention it was right across the street from Olympic Structure Park?



Free public chairs! If we did this in Perth, they'd go missing



Wavesssss



 



What a strange sculpture..

 

I didn't end up taking a lot of photos given that I didn't really appreciate the artistic value of some of these 'structures'. But really, a washing machine in the middle of the park? Can someone please explain to me how that is suppose to be artistic? However, the beauty of Olympic Park isn't found in the man made structures but rather, the natural surroundings of the place. Its so just green and nice.

 



So sunny it hurts

Small quiet beach

 

 

Where the city meets the sea

 

Yep, just a gorgeous place. Imagine living across the street from this! I had it pretty good. And due to my immaculate timing, I arrived on the weekend when the Salmon Festival in Issaquah was held. Basically the festival celebrates the annual return of the salmon from lakes, streams etc as they swim upstream.

 

I rode on a yellow school bus!!!! Just like on the Simpsons! It made my day ^^

 

You can see the mountains in the background

Lots and lots of salmon...too bad we weren't allowed to fish here.

 



Guess what the salmon festival had me craving for dinner...

 

One thing I noticed about Seattle is that everyone is environmentally friendly and extremely aware of their surroundings. Everybody walks or cycles to places - yep, I'm still very weary when it comes to cyclists so I'm very slow at crossing the streets. Doesn't exactly help that the cars are coming from the opposite direction of what I'm use to but the funny thing is, the pedestrian always has the right of way.  That shouldn't give you the license  to go running across the highway though!

 

Seattlites are very health conscious too. I had my first vegan meal here and it was soooooooooooooooooooo good...*drools just thinking about it*



OK, maybe it doesn't look so appetizing here but it was GOOD



That was also the first time I had Kale too..and now I'm hooked on it! By the way, Kale is a vegetable..not a drug. Something equally as good were tacos. It was authentic Mexican food straight from a Mexican van.

 

See! It says authentic Mexican on it!

Don't shoot me for not knowing this, but I only found out when I was in Seattle that it was actually the home to the first Starbucks. I had no idea! I never use to drink coffee but now I have to have at least one a day. And not just the instant stuff, it has to be good. I've turned into a coffee snob =( No thanks to some certain influences around me. You know who you are!

 

In the evenings, Chris took me out to experience the nightlife of Seattle. We bar/club hopped with some of his mates and some other couchsurfing friends until the wee hours of the morning. Wasn't too late though considering that most of the bars/clubs close at 2am.    



I actually ended up staying in Seattle for two extra days before booking my train ticket to Vancouver. It was a morning train so I had to get up at 6am to pack and leave. Chris offered to take me to the train station so he also had to get up extra early too. It was sad leaving Seattle, actually I feel a little sad every time I leave a city. But then I think about what lies ahead and more exciting fun things I get to experience. Anyway, I know I'll be heading back to Seattle in the next few weeks for some much needed retail therapyyyyyyyyyyyyyy (you try living with just 2 pairs of jeans for 5 weeks!) with the girls..so its not going to be a final goodbye just yet!

Hollywood Baby!!

I had my first couch surfing experience in LA. It was heaps of fun hanging out with Josh and his roomies - Billy and Eric. His friend Lydia from Boston was also in town and crashed his place for a couple of nights. I remember one night we tried copying each other's accents and I thought I was doing a pretty good job until Josh asked when I was going to put on the American one when I already was! But hey, it was better than the BRITISH one they had. Seriously, why does everyone put on a British accent when they try to copy me??
Speaking of accents, I was pleasantly surprised about how receptive Americans and Canadians were towards the Aussie accent. I never really thought I had an accent - it was everybody else that had one. But apparently I do on this side of the world.

Being my first time in the States, I discovered many new things including words I should and shouldn't use:

Americans                                                  Australians
Raisins                                                         Sultanas
Peppers                                                       Capsicum
Shopping Cart                                              Trolley
Sweaters                                                      Jumpers
Pop                                                              Soft drinks
Flip flops                                                      Thongs
Restrooms                                                    Toilets

Is there anything else you can think of? It's still a learning process for me. Learn from my mistake, don't go around saying thongs. You will get awkward silences.

What surprised me about LA was how open and friendly Americans are. I totally did not expect that at all. Not that I thought they'd to be mean and rude, but it was so easy to strike up a conversation with just about anyone. From the guy lining up behind me in Starbucks to the usher at the movie theatre. And it wasn't just a shallow 'hey, hows it going', some of these conversations would go on for half an hour. Most of the time, I'd end up with a number and a  'call me if you ever need anything' - and no, it wasn't just coz the guys were trying to chat me up. I really believe that Americans are genuinely friendly!

Ohhhhh...another first for me was experiencing a 45 degree day!!! I don't ever remember it getting that hot in Perth. LA welcomed me with the hottest temperature ever recorded...so hot, it broke the city thermometer in downtown. I had to walk six blocks to get to Hollywood that day. Actually eight blocks. I walked one block in the wrong direction and had to backtrack.

Longest.walk.ever.

I sat down in Starbucks for an hour just to get airconditioning but someone took my seat after I went to use the bathroom so I forced to head out into the heat again.

Anyway, I thought I'd be smart and purchase a Hollywood CityPass which is meant to save money and allows admission to:

• Red Line Behind-the-Scenes tours: A 75 minute guided walking tour around Hollywood. The last thing I want to do when its 45 degrees is walk so I didn't even use this.
• Star Line Tours of Hollywood: A 2 hour narrated movie stars' home tour. This was the real reason why I purchased the pass, so I can sit in an airconditioned vehicle for two hours. Best plan ever, aside from the fact I fell asleep through the whole tour and only woke up coz the tour guide was making fun of me. Jetlag sucks.
• Madame Tussauds Museum: Here I fell asleep on the couch for another 2 hours while escaping the heat.
• Kodak Theatre Guided Tour: A 30 minute tour of where they hold the Oscars. I think I got the most out of this one, possibly because I didn't fall asleep. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take photos.

OMG, It's really JT!! What, you don't believe me?

Does this look familiar..Its from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air

I can pretty much sum up my first day in LA as catching up on sleep and escaping the heat. I wasn't much more productive on the second day, waking up at 2pm. So I decided to hit up Santa Monica beach.

Sorta looks like Perth beaches

Home to the stars.

Later that night, Josh took me to In-and-Out, a Californian franchise. It was pretty good. Next time I'm LA, I know where I'll be going.

Then he showed me around UCLA. It's a beautiful campus. Can't really tell from my photo taking skills though but the views were awesome.

Pigging out on a big tub frozen yoghurt, everything is super sized in America. And they wonder why Americans are obese. 

A home cooked meal of cold soba noodles. Yep, first time I had cold soba noodles too!



All in all, LA is a great city, busy and bustling but you really need a car to get around. Catching the bus to downtown took almost an hour. Public transport is OK and pretty cheap, it only costs $1 per ride - twice as much for me since I'd normally miss my stop or get off at the wrong one then had to pay again to get on the correct one (jetlag remember!). Staying with Josh and his roomies also made the trip more enjoyable, it was nice to come home and chat with them. They were really easy to get along with and really accomodating, Josh even sent me to the airport. But yeah, I'd totally go back again if I had the opportunity to. Oh wait, I do! When I fly back to Australia..I mean, if I fly back..