The Scenic Route

2011-04-21T14:13:00.002+10:00

we suck

2011-02-04T10:18:00.000+11:00

so...it's possible you've noticed that we haven't been posting much to this blog--or our relocated blog on tumblr.

in the meantime, you should check out our friends' blog, Jeff & Kristnia who have recently moved to Melbourne. hopefully they last longer than we do :P

We're Moving Shop

2010-08-19T13:26:00.000+10:00

Hey guys, I just wanted to let you all know that we're moving on to a new Blogging platform. I have never used it before but we have decided to switch because of its expanded posting options. With this new blog, Kara is going to be posting a picture a day and I will continue to be semi-responsible blogger. Cheers and hope you join us at:

http://thescenicroute.posterous.com/

I have a lucky forehead.

2010-08-02T18:42:00.000+10:00

On my way back to the office today, a 'Yogi' stopped me and said, "you are a very lucky man." If you have ever heard me try to explain pedestrian etiquette and practice in Melbourne, you would understand just how caught off guard i was. He continued,

"the shape of your forehead is very lucky. i saw this as you were walking, but i noticed that you are in two places; you body is here and your mind is somewhere else. you think a lot. but it's ok--september will be a very lucky month for you. you are a very lucky man."

I thanked him but let him know i had to rush off to a meeting. he smiled and shook my hand, then turned around and continued down the street. what a funny day. it was too good of a story not to share. looking forward to september!

My Second Biennale in Two Years!

2010-07-26T10:28:00.000+10:00

Last time I attended the Bienalle, I was in Venice, 2006. Although the Venice Biennale is...in Venice, and the one I went to last time was specifically for architecture, the Sydney Biennale was still very amazing. Basically, think MoMA meets Alcatraz meets a wintertime high of 70 degrees. The whole exhibition is set on Cockatoo island which has many old factories and warehouse sheds but used to also house a prison. The funny bit about it is that they haven't bothered to take out any of the factory fitout so the modern art is juxtoposed with 50s heavy machinery, cranes, boilers, industrial shops, etc. You've got 5 days to see it, so start planning your vacations now! I took some pretty cool video while I was there too, and will try to upload it if i get the chance.

Modern Sculpture + Retro Machinery

A life sized Hubble telescope made entirely of plywood

Look Familiar?

CBD Bees

2010-07-13T15:51:00.001+10:00

I told you guys before that Melbourne has amazing public sculpture! These gold bees sit at the base of the Eureka tower across the river from our apartment.

Richard Stringer, December 2007

Sculpture made from anodized aluminum sheet and cast aluminum for all the antennae and small bees legs.

As A Matter of Defacto

2010-07-04T07:38:00.001+10:00

we're getting married.

well, not really--but we will be having a defacto wedding soon to celebrate not only our new defacto relationship status with the Australian government but also our shiny new Temporary Business Entry (Class UC) Business (Long Stay) (Subclass 457) visas. what this all means is that my visa through work is automatically extended to kara and that we can legally work and live in this country for the next four years provided that I am continuously employed with an approved sponsor.

don't worry guys, we don't have any plans for staying forever. at least not yet. we're lucky to have the flexibility now to choose where and when we want to be. especially having just recently visited seattle i think our friends and family will reel us back in eventually or perhaps its the lingering parental grad school guilt trip that brings me/her/us back. phew.

so that's the news guys. for those of you who still have not yet visited, you get a year and a half extension to visit. we miss you all a lot!

by the way, please please let me know if anyone finds a tuxedo tshirt in melbourne

Welcome to a city of immaculately dressed people

2010-05-04T13:44:00.000+10:00

Our friend Ben is here visiting us this week and when meeting me for lunch during his first full day here, he told me he was surprised by how well-dressed everyone was here. This is true. In dress pants and a button up shirt, I am consistently the most underdressed on the sidewalk and in the elevator and honestly about 80% of men are in suits, with perhaps 60% those wearing ties. For those of you not from Seattle--maybe this is an incredibly boring post--and for those of you in Seattle, you probably went to work in khakis, polo, and a goretex jacket. The photo above is of our friend Drew, who was stopped by the fashion blogger of "Business Chic" Ironically I'm not a big fan of blogs, but this one is pretty neato.

My Review of Osprey Waypoint 80 Travel Pack - Men's - '09 Closeout

2010-04-21T14:15:00.004+10:00

Originally submitted at REI

The Osprey Waypoint 80 travel pack serves up ample volume and a detachable daypack. Going around the world just got a whole lot easier .

in love with this pack

By davidka from Seattle, WA + Melbourne, AU on 4/20/2010

Gift: No
Pros: Good Capacity, Easy To Carry, Easy To Access Items, High Quality
Cons: Internal organization
Best Uses: Long Vacations, Weekend Trips
Describe Yourself: Modern, Career, Practical
Travel Frequency: 11-19 Annual Trips
Primary use: Personal

i absolutely love this bag! for me, it's the perfect backpacking pack whether for travelling or hiking/camping. the compression system works far better than any the straps i've used on any other bags, and although the suspension conveniently folds away into a zippered pouch it's comfortable and supportive enough to lug the bag around all day. would purchase again!

(legalese)

David’s list of Melbournian-Australian Pros and Cons:

2010-04-13T22:31:00.004+10:00

Pros:

- I like Japanese food, and it’s great to be in a country where Japanese food does not come at a super premium and instead costs you the same as a kebab from the dodgy shop next door.

- Barbeque sauce. It’s probably impossible to beat Mrs. Gibson’s barbeque sauce, however in the realm of store bought sauces, Australian barrangah sauce is a little tangier and slightly less sweet than it’s less tasty American cousin.

- This city was made for motorcycles. I used to think that San Francisco was the motorcycle parking paradise of the world, but the system here puts it to shame. You can literally park your motorcycle wherever you want just as long as it doesn’t obstruct pedestrian traffic. This means that on business days in the zone where mailboxes, light posts, benches, and trash cans are—motorcycles also are.

- bars here are super cool. This one only applies to Melbourne; Sydney probably has stupid bars (please excuse the rivalry). You find the best ones in dead end allies after three turns or behind quiet unmarked doors that take you either upstairs to a rooftop bar, down to a posh basement lounge, or an open courtyard bar that is PACKED with people.

- Melbourne is a melting pot on par with New York City, which means several things both good and bad. You can get expat Indian, Chinese, and Greek food that matches England, L.A., and…Melbourne, but you also get the complete disregard for standing in lines or deodorant.

- Public sculpture in Melbourne is fantastic! Often times public art is a public obligation to put something up. Here however, there are so many great pieces I’ve thought about putting together a scavenger hunt. Just try googling the cow in a tree in Docklands, the gold bees in South Bank, or the suffrage sculpture near the Parliament Building. Love it.

- Everyone has health insurance.

- Americans put trash and dumpsters in alleys. Melbournians put cute little cafes, restaurants and shops in them.

Cons:

- the internet setup in Australia is actually from the dark ages. One purchases internet plans based on the number of gigs they intend to use and once you spend your quota, you’re left in the dark. This is without mentioning the evils of Telstra and the government plans for internet censorship.

- a kebab from the dodgy shop next door costs the same as Japanese food.

- driving in the Melbourne CBD (Central Business District) you have to wait in the far left lane—next to the parallel crosswalk to take a right turn. This is because the tram tracks running through the city take up the space where you might otherwise have a right turn lane.

- you’d expect building and construction methods of a developed country to meet certain standards, but Australia will completely dispel those beliefs. At one end, Americans throw away or demolish anything that is below standard, and at the other Europeans will fix or repair in the same situation. In Australia things are patched with just enough effort that it will hold up for a few more moments. This doesn’t even approach the standards of the Duct-Tape-Method, but is closer to the Push-It-Back-In-Place-And-Hope-It-Sticks-There-Method. When our ceilings collapsed a few weeks ago during the storm, I looked up to see the sunlight coming through the roof sheeting in the following week. Even Tim’s apartment which is about a year old had water dripping in through light fixtures pooling in the ceiling cavity and seeping in under the walls into the carpet.

- bouncers here are often Maori dudes big enough to wrestle an ox to the ground. The also learn their behaviors from American television and will go out of their way to make your life inconvenient in miserable (whether or not you are standing in their line, and regardless of gender). If the bar is not too full, you are either not dressed well enough, not dressed right (there is a distinction to be made), too intoxicated, not on the guest list, or not on the V.I.P. list. These guys hate everything about you…unless you are a scantily clad 19-year-old girl widely accepted by American Television. Fortunately this generally only applies to the CBD.

- a six pack of cheap domestic beer costs $17 at the store. ‘nuff said.

Introducing an Australian to Melbourne

2010-04-13T07:32:00.002+10:00

Our good friend Richenda and muse of our Australian adventure moved to Melbourne this last weekend. Richenda was working for WorldVision back in the Seattle and has since moved to the Melbourne headquarters to do something bigger and better.

On a regretfully hungover Saturday morning, Richenda, Kara, and I sat at a café on Chapel street for some breakfast and coffee when everything made me want to believe I was sitting in Wallingford but I knew we were in Melbourne. That weekend we visited the South Melbourne market, enjoyed some wine and appetizers (appropriately named ‘entrees’ here) and felt glad to have imported a little bit of home and family to this new city.

Welcome back to Oz Shena!

Our first Autumn Easter

2010-04-13T07:30:00.000+10:00

Easter weekend we went back out to apollo bay. This is the same place that we stayed at the coolest eco-hostel ever, the same place that kara and jen worked at while on the great ocean road, and the same place our friend jen went back to work for a couple months after leaving Melbourne.

This time around, we had nine people and we rented a vacation house down by the beach. The visit, of course, started with a visit to Costco, where we purchased copious amounts of food and alcohol. Unpacking the supplies at the cabin, our British friends were quick to poke fun at our “American sized” tub of salsa. There wasn’t much more to add when the bottle was consumed within the first two days.

One of the redeeming qualities of Australia is their approach to vacation days. Easter is a national four day weekend and offices typically close between Christmas and New Years. Get this, the standard minimum annual leave starts at four weeks. Because of the generous public holidays, however, I have found myself so far only having to take one day off (American Thanksgiving) leaving myself three weeks to make the 20hour one way trek back home in June.

Being in the Southern hemisphere really messes with your mind. Although not quite on the scale of a 95 degree Christmas, it felt a bit funny to celebrate Easter as days were getting shorter. Daylight savings occurred the same week where we gained an hour instead of losing an hour only to find the skies dark at 6. Heading out to the coast added to the affect as the first couple days were quite chilly. We had to fire up the wood stove and spent many hours playing monopoly and working on a 1000 piece puzzle of a Scandinavian harbor scene. Luckily our schizophrenic weather patterns down here provided us with plenty of warm sunshine on our last day when we were finally able to head down with our beers to the beach.

From Apollo bay we made a quick run out to the 9? of 12 remaining Apostles only to enjoy it in marginally less windy, rainy and cold weather than our last visit. We did however get much closer to the Koalas living in the Eucalyptus trees along the road this time:

just before the 4 horsemen with 13 horns bearing 6 lanterns...

2010-03-15T22:20:00.000+11:00

Last weekend we had a massive hail storm of apocalyptic proportions. In the hour it lasted we got hail the size of golf balls and 3 centimetres of rain. Kara and I were sitting at one of our newest cafe favorite (St. Ali) when we heard "ping....ping-ping" as we heard some hail start to come down. I jokingly gave Kara a hard time for thinking it was going to be sunny and leaving the umbrella behind and made a sarcastic remark about golfball-sized hailstones which I later regretted. Sitting in the covered outdoor seating the downpour suddenly turned extremely intense and we watched a small alley turn into a raging river. the scene was literally a flashflood comparable to the one on the universal studios tram lot tour.

pretty soon we realized the windows to our apartment were open, and headed out into the rain as soon as it started to let up a bit. heading back, we were wading knee deep through rivers that used to be streets. all along the road were cars that had been abandoned with water up to the headlights. it seriously looked like a disaster had just struck, and people were wading through ice water with their shoes in hand.

Arriving back at our apartment, we found all of our neighbors standing outside. Our next door neighbor found me and told me, "the ceilings have all come down, there's water everywhere!" We were told that the lights had come down from the ceiling with exposed cabling and the fire brigade and emergency numbers were not responding. We kept thinking about our laptops that were sitting around, our bed that is just two inches off the floor, and extension cords lying on the ground. knowing that my passport and computer were upstairs, it was worth climbing 7 flights of stairs to the top floor to at least have a look and see how feasible it was to get in the apartment. it was definitely a very scary site when i got up to the top...there was literally water running down the walls, all the light fixtures were hanging at eye level, and the emergency evacuation warning was repeating itself from loud speakers. here is the view from the hall a few hours after we first got there:

When i opened the door to our unit i was expecting the same destruction to continue inside but was extremely relieved to find it looking like it would on any other day. i frantically turned off all the computers, packed them in my back, picked up a few valuables and rushed down stairs. our apartment turned up on the news that evening, and if you look very carefully you can see kara sitting in the lobby with myself sitting behind her in a white tshirt. all the people standing outside are neighbors on our floor.

since then, we've moved back into our apartment, and everything is generally back to normal...except for our hallways that still smell of week old wet carpet and with a ceiling we can see sunlight through, all this lit by two shop lights set up at either end of the hall. lame but not too bad :)

photo of our street from tim's apartment:

the news story in "the age"

dancing has never looked scarier

2010-02-11T17:31:00.000+11:00

So we were at a bbq with our kiwi friend when some how the conversation got on to sports and the haka. We were told that we have to go to the "All Blacks" game when it comes to Melbourne...you'll see why:

Romena once told me that if I came to Oz and got a tan, I could look Maori. Thanks for that; I feel about fifty times more badass.

Officially Employed!!

2010-01-29T16:46:00.000+11:00

Yaaaaay!

I am pleased to announce that I am starting a 6 month contract next week! It's a social media position for a University here in Australia.

I am really excited about this opportunity! Not only is it exciting to be doing 100% social media, but I will be working with college students and groups that are light years ahead of everyone else in this field!

Anyway. I'm excited. I'll have more stories to share once it starts. But for now I must go shopping for business clothes. Because unlike Seattle, people here can't get away with wearing sweat pants to work.

fyi:fly

2010-01-27T11:31:00.003+11:00

(qantas)

Working in Oz

2010-01-21T10:37:00.003+11:00

a friend of mine in LA keeps an architecture/designer blog, recently told me that about two jobs are listed in the whole of the United States every day. That friend is moving to Melbourne. I was fortunate enough to get a job after looking for a couple weeks and started within a week of arriving in this city. Admittedly jobs aren't following out of pockets and littered along the road, but after being in the job market for a year back in Seattle the grass is greener in the other hemisphere.

i am now probably melbourne's newest building surveyor and probably its only unchartered surveyor. i wouldn't be surprised if i'm also the only one from the United States as it seems to be a profession based in the UK affiliated with the Royal Institute or Chartered Surveyors (probably with the addition of an extra vowel such as a "u" somewhere to make it more British).

back in the states, I feel that architects often straddle the roles of designers and project managers. most of us probably went to school for the glamorous "designer" roles we thought architecture would be. getting into the workforce, however, you find that three years of learning architectural history and theory, sketching, watercolors, cardboard models, and mountains of trace paper do very little to prepare you for life as an indentured autocad servant, or anything remotely construction or project management related.

i digress.

i've since made a leap over that threshold into the building/construction side of things working for a property consulting company. this largely involves inspecting commercial and industrial properties and composing reports that are appended to new leases or used to facilitate end of lease settlements. i'm not going to lie--it sounded rather dry when i first heard it, but i'm actually liking it quite a bit. i'm usually out on site a couple of days out of the week, and have even had the opportunity to travel to Perth recently. there's just something so nice about seeing the buildings in person and getting out of the office and away from the computer monitor to do it. getting out to site wasn't ever really a big consideration to me, but i think i'm going to be looking for it wherever possible. my work in the office only scratches the surface of the services the company provides. we do all kinds of reports, some of which include environmental/sustainability reports, and technical due diligence reports.

being in a new place, professionally, has gotten me to rethink my academic and career goals. i spend a lot of time working with property management and investment professionals, and have more chances to dabble in construction management. while my placement here is only a temporary contract position because of my visa, i'm very excited to see where this path takes me!

just throwing it out there:

seek.com.au

mycareer.com.au

Iced Coffee

2010-01-19T15:05:00.005+11:00

So. One of the things I was warned about when I arrived was Iced Coffee in Australia. As all of you Yanks know, iced coffee is a delicious way to get your caffeine without sweating.

Exhibit A:

Of course this became more relevant in the Seattle summers working in an non-air conditioned warehouse in South Seattle..but I digress.

Seeing as Australia is hot most of the year, I was sure they would be Kings of chilled Coffee. But. But if you order an iced coffee here you get a smidge of coffee, ice cream, and milk. It's more like a root beer float.

Exhibit B:

At first I was offended. And saddened. It didn't give me a caffeine fix...it was dessert that all Australia cafes served.

But now, it's 3pm on a Tuesday afternoon. I just made some french press. And instead of milk, I added ice cream. Totally guilt free. Because I am immersing myself in Australian culture...that's what this year is about, right?

The Highest Low Ever

2010-01-12T22:59:00.001+11:00

i am too poor and too proud to have an iphone, however if i did it would probably have looked like this yesterday:

that apparently is a screenshot taken from our friend Drew's iphone (i'll admit that however he did that--it's pretty damn cool). although the night time forecast looks a little more promising, do not be fooled! last night Melbourne broke its record for the hottest night ever. we were there at the front lines in our top floor apartment with no cross breeze. perhaps we were lucky not to have a cross breeze because when it's that hot it feels more or less like a convection oven.

the news this morning showed that the overnight low at 5:57am was 32.3 degrees centigrade or for you folks back home: 90 degrees fahrenheit. that was the COOLEST it got last night. this is not to mention all the heat radiating off of everything in the apartment. putting my contacts in this morning was dipping my finger into an exceptionally warm puddle of saline solution, and reaching for the cereal gave me a box of surprisingly warm nutri-grain. salvation in refrigerated milk.

i ate top ramen tonight to save up for an air conditioner. poo.

I want to ride my bicycle--I want to ride my biiiike!

2010-01-02T11:42:00.000+11:00

For Christmas this year, we got some bicycles! This has been an awesome development for us since we haven't really had any mode of transportation for the past couple of months. Unfortunately the bikes we got were used bikes off of gumtree (uk/aus craigslist) and are probably as old as we are. Above, we are changing the inner tube of kara's bike that went flat within the first week of riding. Adding to the list are the derailleurs which for one of us cannot stay in one gear and the other cannot reach all the gears. My pedals also make a strange clicking noise with each rotation, and there are whole bunch of noises coming from the rear sprocket which I am pretty sure is harming my bike further with each turn. It's been fun, however, to exercise the marginally mechanical side of me while relatively easy on the wallet--thank god I didn't get a motorcycle that was as old we are.

Aside from thrilling trips to the grocery store, we're starting to see more of the city. Yesterday we did a 20km loop around West and North Melbourne. If we can stay on task with our posting, you'll be seeing more of those posts soon!

Welcome to 2010!!

2010-01-01T11:35:00.000+11:00

Our New Year's Resolution is to post soon.

New Year's Eve Torches at Crown

2010-01-01T11:10:00.001+11:00

Flushing a Toilet Down Under

2009-12-13T09:05:00.000+11:00

Many people have asked me the question whether or not the toilets here really flush counter-clockwise. To be honest; no they do not. Most of the toilets here are made by Caroma and are flushed with more of a Yellowstone geothermal bubbling effect.

I was fortunate enough, however, to recently have my bathroom sink clog. Kara prescribed a healthy dose of hot water to clear the drains. Pretty soon i had our largest pot (size small), electric kettle, and a mixing bowl full of hot top water going. After dumping all three into the "washbasin," the bowels of our plumbing glurked, and some bubbles rose to the surface. I realize I'm making this sound far too epic, but it was literally like Lord of the Rings when they are under ground and all of the ?orcs? wake up and start beating their drums. it has to do with the way the drains are set up here. ANYWAYS the water started to flow, and as if straight out of a science center demonstration, the water created a vortex spinning--you guessed it--counter clockwise :)

Ode to my Keepcup

2009-12-01T21:34:00.000+11:00

I was wandering down Little Bourke Street a few weeks back after having visited one of the coolest cafes in Melbourne--Brother Baba Budan—and stumbled upon a neat little design shop. In the window were about 10 or so keepcups. I poked inside, had a look around to find the usual: interesting wallets, pens, clocks, etc. and all at a ridiculous price. Keepcup, however, was much more compatible with my price range: $15. It’s really just a plastic cup though, the novelty ceramic one at Urban Outfitters was about the same price, and so is a standard Thermos. It’s cute, looks more like a computer icon than a cup, but in the end I couldn’t justify getting this cup more than any of the other neat-looking-but-overpriced things in the store.

Fastforward to last week. I’m sitting at the galleria—a food court in the mezzanine of a nearby office building—and sitting ontop of the trashcan are two keepcups. I casually walked up to the trashcan…looked around, and even waited for a couple of minutes before declaring it officially someone’s discarded garbage and my new found treasure. Apparently the galleria was giving away free keepcups with a 10 dollar purchase. These cups had never even been used and still had the booklets inside.

But I digress. These cups are awesome. It wasn’t until I put the lid on it this morning that l realized how awesome this cup is. I mean, some serious thought went into designing this cup. I’ve been using a mug at the office until recently, and admittedly have discovered that repeated refills of coffee and tea leave an undesirable brown stain on the mug. Not so with the keepcup; it’s glossy finished plastic surface is immune to staining and washes very easily. The cap has a removable swivel cover for your standard Australian sippycup lid, which also happens to have a radial groove cut into it which allows air in when you drink. I don’t think I can explain how cool this is, but because the air travels up through the cup, between the cover and the lid along a radial grove, it takes some pretty tough shaking to get any hint of spillage. Additionally, the inside rim of the lid gets tighter in two stages. You can easily rest the lid evenly on the cup without pushing much, but once you have done this you can push down on any one point of the rubber lid safely because the lid has already been properly seated. The cup inside has line markings, by the ounce; and with its compact sizes reduces my dependence on caffeine and American-sized portions.

I understand that I haven’t written in a long time, and for all this waiting all you get is me raving about a plastic cup. It’s a cool cup; come visit me I’ll show you the cup; and while you will ultimately decide it’s kinda neat but not worth an entire blog post. I promise, however, there are neater things in this city than keepcups.

Great Ocean Road!

2009-11-27T11:46:00.002+11:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all you Americans!! To celebreate turkey and breaking bread with the indians, david and I are going for a road trip! (That makes sense, no?)

Next week, I am working the great victorian bike ride. It's 5,000 bicyclists riding on the equivalent to highway 101 in california. It's a beautiful road, and I'm sure it will be crazy with all of those riders. I am going along in a camper van, feeding the bikers coffee and churros along the way! I'm excited..it will be a fun way to see the scenery! I'll take lots of pics, I promise.

Here's a link to the Great Ocean Road...if you are curious. Tongiht we are staying at Apollo Bay at the nicest Hostel in Australia...oooooh. I'll take pics of that too.

Laters!

Little Places

2009-11-12T10:44:00.003+11:00

The best thing about Melbourne is all of the nooks and crannies. All of the best cafes and restaurants aren't out in the open..they are in some random alley or on the 4th floor of some rickety looking buildings.

So here is the start to my long list of delicious places here in Melbourne!
Camy Shanghai Dumpling House
David's favorite. Of Course.
Right in the middle of downtown, you hook down this lane, and here you are, at this tasty dumpling hut. Dumplings are CHEAP and come steamed, fried, filled with meat, or veggies. So we are both happy going there.
Best part? You can get dumplings 'take away' and take them next door to this bar that is set up in a parking lot...

Section 8
No really. It's in a parking lot. Shipping Pallets are stacked together for seats, and there are great, rando decorations all over the place. It's great because the crowd is always a total mix (laborers, school girls having coffee, us..) and always busy on weekends.

My other fave is the Rooftop Bar. Yep. That's the name.
First, I would recommend NOT taking the elevator (it seems like you will die in here..so scary) but. there is a cute bookstore on the way up..so it's a good place to browse (and catch your breath) if needed!
Once you get up to the top, they have the sitting section decked out in astro turf and beach chairs. They have great beers...and hipsters!! :)

More to come! But those have been my favorites in the city...so glad we are living in the CBD (Central Business District)

SALE!

2009-11-04T14:02:00.001+11:00

As we recover from yesterday's Melbourne Cup (pics to come soon!) I wanted to point out that there is a SALE on Qantas. Maybe you guys want to check out some low low deals to Melbourne, hmmm?

Qantas Deals

Funky Curry Apartment

2009-10-29T11:24:00.005+11:00

Alright. I can't believe it, but David and I spent our first night in the apartment! It's been a really interesting experience getting a home here in Aus..they basically leave everything to you to figure out.

Fridges and washers are not included in your apartments. It's byo. This caused for a comical fridge move.. David wheeling a second hand refrigerator across the bridge and to our apartment. That's a whole other post though. It was too funny.

But what wasn't funny? Our sick apartment. We got the keys last Thursday, and we were promised the place was professionally cleaned. Professionally cleaned must mean throw a party and then RUN from your apartment. Needless to say, I cried when I saw the place.

Then, positivity kicked in (and David's good words) and we got to work scrubbing the curry smell out of the walls, mopping food off the floor, un-blackening the grout, and getting the mystery smudge marks off everything. A week later, my arms and legs are sore, I have gone through 3 sponges, a bottle of wall cleaner, a grout brush and a mop, but the apartment is live-able!! YAY!

It finally feels like home. A minimalist home..but that's what this trip is all about, right?

So here are some pictures of the new digs!! Get excited all you future visitors!! (Pls note: we have an extra bedroom - the rumpus room - but it's really messy so there's no pic of it. But I promise we have rooms for guests!!)

The bathroom. I should have shown a picture of my fine handy work on the grout.

The rando 'hallway' from our bed to the balcony

Our sweet bedroom!

Living Room/Dining Room/Parlor/Game Room

Kitchen (complete with my splurge of a Bodum french press). Sorry the picture is dark!

Our first dinner last night! Ironically, David really wanted to cook Indian food...

Hit the ground runnin'

2009-10-26T23:20:00.001+11:00

It's kind of nice to be doing the city thing again after a month off up in Surfer's. We recently got the keys to our new apartment at 708/547 Flinders Lane (The complete address is followed by "Melbourne, VIC 3000" for those of you wishing to send cookies, formal business attire, and large sums of cash), and over the last weekend we spent at least 5 or 6 hours wandering through the labyrinth that is IKEA. I am proud to announce that we were able to purchase a new table, chairs, essential kitchenware, a shelf/dresser, pillows, a big assortment of cups, and a Swedish table runner for under $560.

To our great relief, IKEA delivers.

In addition to our massive furniture delivery today was my first day at work. I work in a very small office that mostly does building inspections but also some project management and provides an enormous variety of building and property reports. To make things short, I will be attending my first field trip on Wednesday, we have a beer fridge, and it is written into the company manual that after work on Fridays the office goes out to the local pub for drinks. Oh Australia. Best of all, I couldn't help but post my 10-15 minute walk to work every morning.

View Larger Map

The Torches at Crown Casino

2009-10-24T18:59:00.002+11:00

From the Melbourne Ministry of Tourism

2009-10-24T09:30:00.001+11:00

just throwin it out there. (courtesy of qantas)

Sorry to let down those of you who know how much we paid for our round trip airfare to Brisbane last year, but it seems like we flew both ways for the price of one way. I've been trying to check back every once in a while, and it seems like $1200 has been as good as it gets. It seems too that Bing's fare predictor isn't such a pro at working internationally, but Kayak has one that gives you a price chart based on departure date over a one month period. For anyone curious, here are some things that are going to be happening in Melbourne:

January 18-31: Melbourne Open Tennis Championships

January 23-25: Australia Day

March 25-28: Formula One Australian Grand Prix

These are just the few that I have heard of recently. Depending on your preference maybe you will plan for or around them. There are also TONS of music and wine+food festivals here as well as sporting events and races!

click here for an events calendar from the city of melbourne

We miss you guys and hope we will see some more familiar faces soon!

A Taste of Melbourne

2009-10-23T09:44:00.004+11:00

We got the keys to our new apartment yesterday!

We are quite excited to get our own place..and you should be too because now you can start planning your visit Down Unda!

To woo you to our fine new city, I thought I would share this week's Daily Candy article about Melbourne. Read on..enjoy..and COME VISIT!!

Daily Candy Goes to Melbourne

A Belated Welcome to Melbourne

2009-10-17T18:30:00.002+11:00

Melbourne Victory vs Gold Coast United

2009-10-10T12:57:00.001+11:00

Last month on the 26th, Manny took us to our first Australian soccer experience! The Melbourne - GC United game foretold our future as the Melbourne Victory was triumphant. It was awesome getting to visit a game and paying 6AUD for a beer rather than 10USD. While not quite onpar with the Sounders, I'd say the crowd is definitely got it together!

Manny cheering through a sandstorm aftershock

So Missed

2009-10-09T13:07:00.000+11:00

So you may remember a couple weeks ago we got a shout out on RadioMETRO from our favorite DJ RemmyG. We were sitting in the parking lot of a Coles (supermarket) jumping up and down as we heard it over the radio. Disappointed that we didn't catch it on video, we made sure to make up for it with a grand tour of the radio station...

Holiday - 1, Work - 0

2009-10-09T09:47:00.000+11:00

So we have been out of internet for at least the past week. I'll be working to upload random bits to get the blog updated!!

Goodbye Gold Coast!!

2009-10-02T10:48:00.004+10:00

Tomorrow bright and early, we start our drive to Melbourne! We rented a car for 3 days...that's 3 days to drive 21 hours.

On the dockett:

The world's largest Avo (avacado)...australians are huge on giant statues of things)

We'll be driving down the coast, hitting some smaller towns north of Sydney (staying in Newcastle..the town where they sent the convicts that even Sydney couldn't handle way back in the day)

Driving through Sydney

Seeing/Staying in the nation's capital, Canberra

Wine Tasting on the way to Melbourne (hopefully)

We'll post as we can along the way! I just found out our rental car is manual (hi, manual and on the other side of the road, with a steering wheel AND clutch on the opposite side) But next stop, Melbourne!!

Evo!

2009-10-02T10:28:00.004+10:00

Ahh what a day yesterday. We had the pleasure of hanging out with the one and only Evan Wheatley. As we are wrapping up our days on the Gold Coast, Evo showed us all around the town by water!

We saw tons of fancy fancy houses, had the best fish and chips (wooot for Pete's!) and even a Kangaroo that was hanging out on the beach!

Osu!

2009-10-02T09:52:00.001+10:00

This week I had the chance to train with the Nerang Kyokushin Dojo. It was so great to go across the world and still be able to train with Kyokushin. It's kind of like being able to come to Australia and have a McDonalds...except the name hasn't been modified into "Maccar's."

photo-op with Sempai Josh and Shihan Tony Bowden

...It was sand in the air

2009-09-26T11:35:00.000+10:00

maybe some of you have already heard about this over the news, but we had a sandstorm on wednesday! this is the view from the balcony of the house and that palm tree you see coming half way into the shot is usually out of view. along with our first sandstorm was our first genuine Australian meat pie! Kara actually ate her entire half of the pie too!

apparently Goldstein's is the place to get your meat pie, and apparently you want a giant heaping mound of mashed peas. i'll have to admit it was pretty delicious. not pictured, is the mixed mangoes and yogurt we got from the fruit stand across the way. yum! with all the new foods here and all of the foods we miss i think we are brainstorming a giant list of food business ventures that we can either bring to or from Australia :P

take coffee sippy cups for example. just about every cafe you go to, they will have sippy cup lids. i really meant to post this sarcastically but i wouldn't be half surprised if i was taking a sunday walk along phinney ridge and saw sippy cup lids for all the yuppie toddlers up by the zoo. bleh. i will close this post with another senseless photo of the amazing endless beaches on the GC. ;)

there's something in the air at the moment...

2009-09-21T12:09:00.000+10:00

sitting at the pool yesterday after a hard night of partying, i came across this awesome article in FRANKIE -- one of Romena's magazines. just feels great to see other people going through similar situations as us. reminds me of my friends that will be trekking through Nepal in October, going back to fight forest fires, or moving to Australia like me :P anyways check it out, hope the photo comes through legibly.

So Famous

2009-09-19T18:27:00.002+10:00

Today, on 105.7 metro radio...David and I got a shout out from the best Radio DJ on the coast, ROMENA G!

'and I just wanted to give a shout out to my friends David and Kara who have just arrived from the states and are enjoying the BEAUTIFUL Australian sunshine..as they should be'

We were screaming in the car...Romena is the best DJ ever. Now we are just getting tired from all the autographs and photos people want to take of us...

Now out to the infamous Surfer's Paradise night scene..we heard there are some crazy fights and crazy outfits to be seen. I can't wait.

The Best Doughnut in the World

2009-09-17T21:34:00.010+10:00

Today was a big day. We went to Byron Bay...and I met the best doughnut in the world.

Byron Bay is the ex-hippie/hippie town. So, there are some traces of 'back in the day' (LOTS of veggie restaurants, aura readings and people dancing with the waves on the beach) but most of it has been replaced with tourists shops (3 cheers for the Byron Bay Hat Company)

David became a true hippie/hipster by sporting his patented Beach Bummaire Look. Please note the popped collar Polo and the white 'man skirt' that can be whipped off as soon as you hit the beach. I'm telling you, people. Watch for this fashion at Australia fashion week.

David striking a pose in an urban setting:

Keeping with our retirement duties, Dave-o (David's Aussie nickname) and I grabbed a 'flat white' (espresso with milk NOT foamy milk) and headed to do a crossword puzzle at the beach. And Byron is GORGEOUS. We read that surfing is big here because beaches are on all sides of you...so no matter the weather, there is decent surf.

(that's the famous Byron Bay Lighthouse..beyond that is the 'Most Eastern Point of Mainland Australia'

Here's another view, from the same spot on the beach!

And then. The best part of the day. My encounter with the best doughnut in the world. He was at the Byron Bay Organic Doughnut Company. You order your Doughnut, they will inject (yes! INJECT) your organic filling of choice, and then you devour it. I barely let David have any bites...

Here is me with my blackberry filled delight:

Another tiring day on the Aussie Circuit! :) We were hoping to make it up to the truly hippie town of Nimbin..but there was just too much fun to be had at Byron Bay. I guess we'll have to wait until next year's Mardi Grass...

backwards driving

2009-09-17T19:45:00.000+10:00

a quick video review of driving in our backwards Holden Commodore

a fine day for skin cancer

2009-09-17T19:31:00.000+10:00

today we decided to make a day trip out to Byron Bay. after finding a great parking spot near the beach and town, we stepped out to find that we had parked right in front of the skin cancer clinic. mama gibson and mama ka, this post goes out to you. we have purchased our hats and yes you are right, it is wayyyyy cooler and we are way happier with our new lids.

...and now for a proper introduction

2009-09-15T21:16:00.000+10:00

[the uncut unedited unplanned version]

The Great American Send-Off

2009-09-15T20:48:00.005+10:00

We had the best day in L.A. the day before we left (best layover ever, thank you very much Mr. Ramirez)

Jandro took us all over the city...to some lesser known L.A. Highlights: Caribbean food at Cha Cha Cha, The Observatory made famous by James Dean, Michael Jackson's Star ..still complete with flowers from fans; Olvetta Street, My Father's Office and their delicious beer (and amazing burgers I hear) and lots. and lots. of L.A. traffic.

Thank you Jandro for a wonderful send-off from the USA!!

a picture is worth a thousand words so here are 8,232

2009-09-14T14:20:00.002+10:00

so today is our first weekday on the G-C. it's been a hard knock life so far, as we just spent the last weekend mainly sitting on the beach. the beaches here are perfect and it is hard to believe that people actually live here. Richenda's mom has been kind enough to offer us her room while she is in Europe for the next several weeks as well as her car. i've definitely been having a blast driving on the left side of the road and we've started each weekday so far with a drive into surfer's paradise at about 7am to jog along the beach. the room we are staying in has its own balcony overlooking the river with a nice cool breeze coming in through out the day. i just wanted to post some photos you guys have probably been itching to see...

first photo on Australian soil (airport gate in Brisbane)

our first meal at 9am with Manny: hot dogs with tomato sauce, mustard, and cheese at Donut King

the view from the bedroom balcony

yes we have already visited a motorcycle store--my girlfriend and an mv augusta :D

having an ice cold bottle of Toohey's at the beach

our wonderful hosts Manny and Romena (Mikey not pictured)

having the freshest fish and chips by the beach

at burleigh getting ready for a short hike by the beach followed by a swim--YEEAAAA!!!!!

Project Runway...AUSTRALIA

2009-09-14T14:16:00.003+10:00

While DKa was trying to tape the American Football on cable last night..we came across my favorite show, Project Runway, Australia!!!

I had the biggest poolparty..and we watched the final 20 minutes.

Too bad they are down to their last episode...and that they don't have anyone as charming as Tim Gunn.

Plus, the Mikey, Romena and Manny tried s'mores last night (I smuggled in from U.S.A) and they loved it. Word.

Project Runway and S'mores...Australia is just heaven, isn't it?

You can reach us on our mobile

2009-09-12T13:09:00.000+10:00

+61 04 03647349
Apparently it's free for us to receive calls and texts so get out those wallets and talk our ears off.

Arriving in the G-C

2009-09-11T21:23:00.000+10:00

after spending our final american days in los angeles, 14 hours on a plane, and an entire day exploring the town, our first post will be communicated in list form:

first...
-drive on the wrong side of the road
-meat pie served up hot from a gas station (incl. kara)
-never-ending beach at surfer's paradise
-australian grocery store experience (rice crispies = rice bubbles)
-australian cellphone

and now it is 4:30am PDT and we are proud that we have stayed up until 9:30pm local time.

promise to write more soon!...