31/03/2011

Today, my first shipment of my stuff I ordered from Urban Outfitters arrived. I ordered it 2 weeks ago, when i'd had a rough day and had nothing to look forward to. I got some sale items, some practical, some fun.  It was so exciting opening it.  I prepared myself, had a shower, ate something, poured myself a glass of wine, put on some Hendrix and took my time appreciating each thing.  It was like my own personal Christmas- as I ordered when i'd had a bad day, I didn't entirely remember everything I ordered, so it was a lovely surprise appreciating each item. Everything is great!

In other news, my Shiraz tastes fantastic.

In other news, i'm close to making more friends. Unfortunately, my new friend Jenni moved to Melbourne, so my friend count went back down to 3. Sigh  However, today at work someone invited me for drinks and said I should come over for dinner sometime.  We discussed the transition from colleagues to friends... I'm waaay past aquaintance now.  It's been a bit hard making friends as everyone has their own friendship circle already and is married or in a serious relationship, so it's been a bit tricky. I've been making strategic planbs to get around this, so hopefully my seeds will be sown soon. Haha! :)

30/03/2011

After a rubbish day yesterday (2 customers that deserved a kick in the face, especially the one that yelled at me for no reason), last night I ordered Pizza, drank cider and had an early night. Rock n' Roll.
Today was a fantastic day.  I got to work about 6am, made myself a coffee, grabbed a croissant, jumped in the van, cranked the music and spent the next few hours doing deliveries with an awesome colleague named Ben.  Here's what I learned about Ben;  a) his band played in the Vans Warped Tour, he met MXPX, NFG etc, b) he was born in Austria and his dad went skiing with the real-life Maria Von Trapp PLUS he's been to where they Von Trapps lived....AWESOME... c) he has seen Johnny Cash live and d) he LIVED in Ronald McDonald House.  Not with kids there as patients, either.

He introduced me to some awesome new music; Glasvegas being my favourite- a band from Glasgow that, if you tried hard to find some comparisons as their music is different from most, would be a sort of mix between Interpol and Mumford and Sons, with a Scottish twang? Sort of? Check out; http://www.myspace.com/glasvegas/music  if you're interested.

After driving round in the sun, eventually cranking Johnny Cash, having free coffees and juices from the various cafes we visited doing deliveries, we headed down to deliver at Coogee Beach.  The weather was amazing, I couldn't believe I was being paid for this as part of my induction! Best job ever!!

Back at the factory, I did a bit of bagging coffee (Ben gave me a 10/10) and packing deliveries (Juan gave me an 8.5 as I didn't pay attention to detail like the labels being straight), had some lunch and finished at 2.  It was SO GOOD to have a break from customers and just chill in the sunshine.  Good to get to know some of my colleagues in the roastery as well.  It's such a cool environment and I really like my colleagues. I didn't do tasting today after all, but it's booked in for next week. I <3 my job. Though I did find an ad for a Britney Spears impersonator, so it's good to know there are always other options avaliable, if i want them.

28/03/2011

I had Sunday and Monday off this week; a weird feeling when i've been working and so busy!  I went into Newtown yesterday for lunch, looking around, checking out cafes, it has a K Rd vibe, less prostitutes, as far as I can tell, but that sort of vibe. Amazing Thai food and cool shops.  Didn't feel like I was cool enough to fit in.  I went to Cottage church afterwards, which was good, I was super super tired though so zoned out a lot.  The people there are really great.  This weekend i'm going to an event they have planned called "Jazz in the graveyard"...which is pretty self-explanatory.

Today I went out to buy coffee, lunch, then came back, watched Juno, napped and did nothing.  I think i've needed it, for sure.  It's funny, I miss work though.  I like it there, the coffee, the food, the people, the environment, it's a good place.  For example (keep in mind i've worked there maybe 5 weeks) this evening I borrowed their car to pick up a tv and furniture for the flat.  No questions asked. I'll return it tomorrow when I get to work. Just like that. It's amazing. Plus I didn't crash and was calm on Sydney roads, which is also amazing.

Funny story, a girl who sat next to me at church yesterday, gasped when she saw me write down my name...
"I thought your name was Cetherine!  I've been calling you Cetherine because I thought that was your name, that's why I remembered because I thought it was unusual! But It's Catherine!! It's just your stupid NZ accent!"

27/03/2011

Last night I went to 505 in Surrey Hills.  It was incredible, a Jazz bar that has live music 6 nights a week. It had such a feeling of 'The Great Gatsby' Era, or something from "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac...I could picture bootleggers in there, sipping whisky, puffs of cigarette smoke in the air, Nina on the mic, crooning the night away. It was beautiful. The walls are painted in murals, the lights dimmed, nothing on stage but a long black curtain, a grand piano and a solitary lamp.

The first artist was called Ngairre, who hailed from PNG.  I was listening to her last night, trying to find a simile for her voice....caramel butter. She sang jazz while another musician (I forget his name) played keys. He was an incredible artist, really meant his music, to be cliche, he was one with the music.

My friend (she added me on fb so i'm officially in now...) also sang a song, I really enjoyed it. Her name's Charmian, look up 'Hello Vera" on myspace, she has such a different voice, gentle but strong and not like everything else you hear. Simple, beautiful.

Afterwards the lead singer of Thirsty Merc came on...to play jazz? I was confused but told by Em and Charmian that he was an incredible pianist.  They were right.  Not quite the same as Ngairre, as he was playing and laughing and being a bit of a stoner. But very good. The quote that won was "yeah so I was at a mate's birthday last night, we were a bit stoned, and we wrote this song....*plays for a minute*...yeah, that's all I have so far."  Then he bought up Ngairre where they free styled the blues, where Ngairre  was clearly awkward, didn't want to join in, but instead sang about voting (the NSW elections were yesterday) and how she hated singing the blues. Good fun, all of them very talented musicians.

A very good night and a place I plan to visit more regularly.

26/03/2011

Today, after work, I bought 3 cases of wine.  It was AWESOME.

There's a wine exporter near my work and they're relocating, so a MASSIVE sale.  I got a lot of "Rolling" Shiraz, a NSW wine that is supposed to be just lovely. I've tried their Sav, which was beautiful.  It's won loads of awards and usually goes for about $20 a bottle, got them for $10 each.  Plus they age very well.

Got some Cloudy Bay to share with Lou, Nomes and Kyla when they're all here, some delicious French Pinot Blanc to share with Erin when she comes....very excited that I have some wine to share! Of course my Shiraz with my friends who are lovers of red, which, if I can help it, is all of them.  My boss also recommended some sparkling Shiraz called 'Black Chook', which apparently is a MUST in Australia and is very good. I happily obliged.  Ah, good food, wine and coffee. Sydney win.

25/03/2011

This evening I had an emo evening with my friend Em.  We had loads of tapas, red wine, chocolate, brownies, listened to Leonard Cohen, were sad about the state of the world and what religion has made it, then we watched a Bill Murray movie that left us hanging a little bit. I asked Em if she wanted to make up the ending for me so i'd have closure, but no luck. Em likes thinking. Me, not so much.

We had plans to discuss poetry and watch The Notebook as it's super emotional, but when I tried to put My Chemical Romance on, Em backed out. She's not a real emo, like me. I even parted my hair into a fringe.

Work is getting better, it's hard work, I did about 55 hours this week, money will be amazing but it's tough. Not an easy job, working long hours or not.  Very different from Altura, much busier, we did 13 kgs in the first 2 hours today...I served the majority of them, it was so intense! We've hired a new person, possibly two AND I get Sunday Monday off! Pretty excited about that. I'm going to go to church, do washing AND explore Sydney, finally. Very happy about that.  I have an exciting week ahead. going to a Jazz bar on Saturday and on Wed i'm spending the day in the Roastery, including cupping (!!!) which i'm very exited about. I love learning. Wow. I'm cool.

24/03/2011

Today, a customer (the Irish guy previously mentioned) told me that I made him laugh so hard that he called up his brother in Ireland and told him what I said. I felt pretty good.

23/03/2011

Today I had fried rice for lunch. It had loads of veggies and was delicious.

Today hasn't been much of a remarkable day.

22/03/2011

http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=1378237514624&comments

Now THIS is remarkable. Nothing more to add.

21/03/2011

I worked 6 days last week and again this week. Pay day today was remarkable. I triple-checked it to make sure I wasn't reading it wrong.

Yesterday, as I only had one day off, i decided to RELAX.  I stayed at Em's place on Friday as we had wine, curry and watched Mrs Doubtfire the night before, I went to a local church, had a Thai massage, then had lunch in a French cafe. After this, I had a nap, skyped, then had an early night. Yus.

The Thai massage was interesting, I've never had one before. The lady, Gap, spoke English well but had such a strong accent I often found it hard to understand her. I asked her the difference between Thai massage and a usual massage. She said something about Thai oil, so I gave it a go. She climbed on top of me, kneeling hard into the back on my thighs, digging her toes into my calves, and pushing down with her arms. I hurt a lot. Today, not so much.  She really got the knots out, but wow. Weird and sore. Then Gap brewed me Thai tea and we spoke about our families. It was nice.

The French cafe made me laugh, it was really very French, the staff and most of the patrons were French, the tables and chairs were similar to those that I visited in Paris with Erin, so I soaked it up, on 'holiday'.  Then an Aussie family joined us, spoke loudly about how crepes were just like pancakes and enquiring where there 'real food' was. Eventually, after moaning and complaining, they left to go to a 'real cafe' to buy toasted sandwiches. Sydney families WIN.

Work is going well, we have some lovely staff and customers. I found a colleague that has AMAZING music taste so hopefully I can convince her to come to a few gigs with me.  I'm yet to educate the rest about the wonder of Sufjan, Bon Iver, Ray Lamontague and Brooke. I'm trying hard with my NZ music though, I take over the music in the cafe most days and play what I feel like. It's so nice to be able to play whatever. Also to educate the less fortunate Australians that have had to grow up with "Land down Under" and "Waltzing Matilda".

In other news, Ruby-Belles brakes don't work when wet, which is a problem and it's been raining the last few days.  She's in the shop and they're having a look at her now. With this rain though, a car would be so nice. I miss Lahfawnduh the Honda.

18/03/2011

Last night I cancelled my St. Paddy's Day plans, went home from work, got into my pajamas and had an early night.  I am so rock n' roll.

In related news, the Irish guy that comes into the cafe taught me a new Irish phrase as I had over-used "top of t'mornin' t'ya", "to be sure, to be sure, to be sure" and "fiddle-dee-dee-potatehs".  Wait for it.

"Foock oof". 

St. Paddy's Day win.

17/03/2011

Today at work I was told that there was a lady on the phone for me. No-one here knows my number and anyone calling from work would come up on caller ID.  Logically, it meant that someone from NZ was urgently calling with bad news.  For about 8 miserable seconds, I convinced myself that something was wrong, that someone was dead.   It was someone from work, the guy just didn't say so.

All this natural disaster stuff is messing with my head.

16/03/2011

Last night I went along to 'Jurassic Lounge' (http://www.jurassiclounge.com/). I went along with Jenni, who is a friend of a friend that moved to Sydney from Wellington about a week after I did. We got a glass of wine and walked around the museum, while live music played, an illusionist did tricks, an artist painted body art, a lecturer explained about shark finning, amused dancers moved to a silent disco and Sydney short films played on white walls. The museum was full of life-size casts of dinosaur skeletons and I couldn't stop thinking about Jurassic park, where the T-Rex chases the car. The Stegosaurus is still my favourite.

14/03/2011

Last night I went to Cottage Church. It's in Newtown, which is the cool part of Sydney, sort of a K Rd meets Wellington, with a billion Thai restaurants.

I showed up, they welcomed me immediately, made me a barista coffee, gave me food, then we talked/the sermon was on philosophy and politics.  It was full of different ages and people, loads of artists, social workers, historians nurses, med students, it was awesome. Afterwards we went to Thai food and a lady gave me a ride home.  It was awesome that it was all different ages, hanging out. It was a small group of about 25, they are part of an Anglican church that meet in the mornings for a 'traditional', service, this is run by a group from the church who wanted something a little different.  A really nice group of real people that care about life and want to seek God. I was impressed and stoked.  They invited me along to their community group, where they go out into the community and help with stuff. They have a community garden, they often hang out in pubs etc. It seems awesome.

Still want to try some other churches though, to see what's out there. It was just so refreshing to meet people who give a crap about life and God. They were remarkable.

13/03/2011

Today I’m thinking of heading to Bondi as there’s a big international surf comp on (even Kelly Slater is there, gasp).  We all know the story of how I tried to surf, got caught in a rip and was saved by a 15 year old lifeguard.  So I probably won’t enter this year.

I’m churching this evening, think I’ll try this one http://cottagechurch.org/about/.  It looks really sweet and isn’t too far away.  Next week I’m trying one where you sit with people and a glass of wine discussing God and issues. It sounds awesome. Plus both of these churches are REALLY committed to their communities in a big way, which I really respect. So keen to get involved.

My head’s a little full with work and everything going on, so doing my best to relax today as best as I can, we’ll see how that pans out.

11/03/2011

Last night Kyla and I went to the "Taste" festival in Centennial Park. Work gave me a couple of free tickets, we figured it would be crap, so we'd swing by, get all the free stuff we could, then go back to mine for a glass of wine. IT WAS AWESOME. We did a whisky appreciation course, tried loads of different wines, spirits and liquers...cheeses, salmon, chicken, salamis, oils, dips, everything you could want. FREE.

I found a French liquor shop and bought some violette liquer (incredible) and creme la caramel (amazing). It was fantastic and so much fun. Kyla was all for getting as much free stuff as we could so we were a good team. We only paid $10 each for dinner and everything else was included. NICE! My favourite part was when we talked to someone about Tequila, how it needs to be madf in Mexico and have a NOM number.  Kyla asked if this stood for 'nom nom nom'.

10/03/2011

Last night I had a dumpling date wih Ellie and it was amazing. Dumplings, veggies, brownies and a lovely NZ Merlot. Just sat and talked, was very soul refreshing.

Today at work I grew comfortable enough with my work colleagues to ask for hugs. I got 2. It was awesome. I miss cuddles from my friends, family and dog.

I'm sorry for spelling mistakes. Break is over. No time to edit.

9/03/2011

Today, i'm sports bar Cath. It's awful and I can't help it. I told someone at work about it adn asked him to keep it accounatble, but he just laughed at me. This morning I WINKED at a customer and then slapped another customer on the back when he made a joke. I CAN'T CONTROL IT SOMEBODY HELP ME.

In other news, yesterday I bought a bicycle. Ruby-Belle, she's lovely. 
Except my basket is way cooler, it was a cane basket insert that doubles as a shopping basket. Oh yes. I'm awesome.  My mum emailed me, requesting that I ride on the footpath and 'she's sure no-one will mind".  This morning, I rode on the footpath and almost got run over by a car backing out of it's driveway. Thanks mum.

I bought the bike in a little bike shop near my house. I culd have got it a little cheaper somewhere else but like supporting the little guy and it'll be good knowing I can go there when I break it.  I went in there, ready to bargain and this little old man served me.  He was so frail, hunched over, slow and his hands constantly shook. I felt sorry for him so barely bargained. Which says a lot I think, it's a good marketing strategy; get someone people will feel sorry for to sell things and they will out of pity.  Which is why my cafes are always so busy. Bada boom. Also, get cripples to sell tiny whisks and graters, everyone will buy them. I would.

7/03/2011

This morning, while walking to work, I had such a moment of 'man, life is beautiful'. It started with waking up in a morning that was far too early, where I didn't want to go to work, didn't want to walk to work, didn't even want to even be awake at that time. In an effort to exercise, (due to way too many free brownies and sugary drinks) I put on my headphones and walked to work.  During my walk I noticed;

A) Frangipanis everywhere. Yes, i've talked about this, but today I found that if you take them between your thumb and middle finger and twist, you can spin them like parachutes!

B) This crazy orange and brown moth, never seen one like it, came and flew up to me. It was honestly like something out of a Paramore video, it flew up to me as I was walking, stayed in front of me for a while, before zig-zagging away in front of me. Even while I was walking, it was like slow motion.

C) Brooke Fraser can make a tired morning seem extraordinarily happy and awake.

D) Despite the rubbish, tagging, early and the large German Shephard that barks at me every morning, I was able to really wake up and enjoy the sun setting behind me and appreciate a lovely Sydney morning.

Life really is...beautiful. Just like plastic bags, blowing in the wind.  Family Guy made fun of that the other day... it shows the mock American Beauty scene, then pans to God, who yells; "Are you freaking stupid!?!? Have you even seen the respiratory system"!?!? When I watched it, I thought it was funny. Now, not so much. End.

5/03/2011

So. The exciting new Indian place is the probably culprit for my recent food-poisoning. After I was so excited about it, too. I went home from work after about an hour of feeling awful, slept for about 5 hours, then watched kick-ass, which was such a fantastic movie. I was impressed with Nicolas Cage actually. I might dress up as him for Halloween. Nicolas Cage the actor, not Nicolas Cage as Big Daddy.

This evening i'm chilling at home, was invited to Mardi Gras but feeling shattered from work today and still recovering from yesterday. Have the place to myself, Thai food in the fridge and some movies on my computer. Looks to be a great night.

3/03/2011

Last night, I went to the local Indian place. They have a REAL roti oven and it was fantastic. I made friends with the guy, told him I was disappointed that they didn't make my favourite curry. He told me to come back tomorrow and they'd have it for me then.  I plan to get Em and Ellie, (the girls i met in India) along there where we can eat tomato and aubergine curry...while avoiding pumpking curry, (the single most disgusting thing I tried in India) which was more like off watermelon gross.  All I need to do now is make sure he doesn't propose, and i'm set.

2/03/2011

Yesterday, Em and I finished setting up my room. It looks amazing and I already feel so much better, knowing that i have a place to chill. Still need a duvet (or doona as they call them here...??) and to decorate a little, but for the most part, i'm sorted. Plus, my desk looks out my window, just like Carrie in SATC.
So i'm pretty much a famous author. So that's good.

I'm looking at buying a bike and found a lovely one where you could choose a couple colours. Em informed me that I should buy the red one as I want to be taken seriously on Sydney roads...as "if i look like a cupcake, people will run me over".  Wow, it was so funny in real life. Written down, not so much.

Off to work, I have barista training today. It's so much fun and really hardcore. Love it! Love my job!
Sydney = life!