The greyhound and the Icebear.

I'm leaving Brisbane tomorrow, sad but true, need to move my ass up north. Lika a emmigrating whatever-bird. Since the Greyhound busride takes 30hrs from Brissie straight to Carins, I would like to treat myself a few stops.

First stop is Bundaberg, where I'll spend a few hours at the destillery where they produce the only Aussie made spirit, Bundaberg rum. I'll get asskicking drunk at the rum-tasting and try to forget the remaining 16 something hours to Townsville...

Wish me luck.

And you know that I always appreciate phonecalls from my admirers.

0402769617, in case you've forgotten..

Brisbane, Brisbane.

I arrived yesterday but the internet at my hostel (Bunk) was impossible. Took me 9 min to log out from my other gmail and then log in to blogger. When I finally got in, I ran out of internet time.

This city is BEAUTIFUL. Nice people, shopping is great (They've got a overpriced shopping mall called David Jones, just like a much smaller Lane Crawford.), the Queen street pedestrian area is nice etc.

And my hostel is the best. Friendly staff, simple but stylish interior, great bar and resturant next to the heated pool and SPA area. Please take a look at the reception desk if you've got the chance to check in here though..

Yesterday, I basically just took a long walk through the city. Today, I crossed the river and visited the art gallery and the museum of modern art (they're hosting a Picasso exhibition till the end of August). All those museums are admisson free so if you've got a couple of hours to spend, spend them here.

"Backpackers big night out"

Yesterday, I participated in something called "The backpackers big night out" which is some kind of pub/club crawl for a big group of backpackers from different hostels.

• 4 venues
• 5 FREE drinks
• FREE group photo
• FREE pizza slices
• FREE ride with the party bus
• Drink specials and discounts
• ONLY 30 AUD (Worth 180 AUD!!!)

And also a FREE silly hat + glowstick (So everyone knows that you are one of them, we also had a separate 'backpacker que' just for us backpackers, how lovely isn't that?)

People were already warming up around 8pm, ready for the bus to pick us up at 9. Before leaving the hostel, one organizer stod by the door, handling out green stickers for those who are single, slutty and scared of not getting laid by the end of the night.

The guy behind him handled out free condoms for everyone. We don't want any STD's, right?

The partybus itself was a true nightmare, people were singing, taking pictures of eachother and over-excited in general. One of the organizers gave us all useful information for THE night. And she finished her speach with:

"And giiiiirls, remember that you
won't get pregnant if you swallow! WOOOHOOO!!"

Gosh, that's what I would call the perfect party attitude, ya knoe what I'm sayyin?

Gosh, the whole night was horrible, I don't know how I ended up in that tackiest hell of blonde hair dyes, cheap make up and outfits, sucky summer hits from last season, oversized muscles and cheap booze...

I went to all the clubs as listed even though I hated it and ditched the rat pack. I finally found my place in life when I met Keith, his sister and their friends at the pool table. We played all night and I walked home alone while enjoying the scene of party animals on their very best puke-tour extravaganza through the city.

I feel quite ashamed, telling you guys how I chose to spend my Saturday night in Surfers. But the truth always need to get through, no matter what it takes.

Australian phenomenon - Crow edition.

The Australian crows sound so different, so..Australian.

True or false?

I'm totally out of here!

Leaving Byron bay for Surfers paradise tomorrow 12.00

It has been raining here everyday except for the first day of arrival. When it rains in Byron, there's absolutely nothing to do. I'm tired of meaningless movies in a dark TV room, I didn't come all my way here to watch comedies with other backpackers.
I'll do my catch up including Nimbin, surf lessons and snorkelling next time when I'm back.

By the way, I went to Cheeky Monkey yesterday and a girl at our table won a free surf lesson (she did 3 hoola hoops at the same time) but couldn't go since she left this morning. She came to Australia because of World Yout Day (means she's Christian), she only wanted to trade with 3 glasses of coke for her and her friends. Fair trade. Unfortunately, I don't think I can use that ticket either!
Cheeky Monkey also hosted a miss wet t-shirt party later, I guess you might have figured out what kind of quality that club is...

Update: I booked the ticket 5 minutes ago and now the sun suddenly and people are already promising a extremely sunny day tomorrow(!!!) NO FUCKING KIDDING!

Second day in Byron.

It's raining, I'm wet and freezing. Didn't really expect this, if the weather doesn't get better, I'll probably leave sooner, on Monday maybe? Definitely coming back later when it gets warmer.

My cool roomates, two Canadian girls, took me out yesterday; fun night, even though I don't remember much. Met Roger, a really nice Swedish guy, I hope we can travel together since he's doing the same route up tp Cairns.

Don't know what to do now when the weather is this bad. Woolworths, movie or maybe shop some swimwear, there are plenty of surfshops here on Jonson streeet.

I'll keep you updated.

In Byron bay.

After 13 tough hours on a Greyhound bus, I finally reached God's promised land; Byron bay.
I arrived around 7 am, earliest check in to Cape Byron YHA is 10.30 so I took a walk from Main beach to the end of Belongil beach. There are so many beaches here and I want to explore them all (:

I decided to go by Greyhound in the last minute since it's 200AUD cheaper than STA; and I don't need a experienced guide who tells me all the highlights of the city, I want to find them myself. I paid around 320AUD for a Greyhound pass from Sydney to Cairns with as many stops as I want, great deal and therefore highly recommended.

Sydney in 3 days.

Day 1:
Arrived in the morning, didn't sleep on flight so we went straight to hostel (took 1 hour to find a hostel) and slept for 6 hours. Woke up around 6pm, looked around in the Cross, I still felt quite sick since HK so I had a salad. The Australian prices came as a shock. Kings cross didn't match my expectations, which is a good thing, it's in fact really nice, reminds me a lot of south Stockholm loaded with art deco cafés, restaurants, small boutiques etc. .. and lots of strip clubs and sex shops blended into that.
After dinner, we decided to check out the waterside so we took the subway to Circular quay where you have the amazing view over Sydney opera house and The Sydney harbour bridge. A-mazing.

Day 2:
Ran some errands in central Sydney and then head to George street to find out more about their iPhone deal since mine is broken. The price came as a shock. iPhone is twice as expensive as the Swedish one and I still had to join and pay a monthly fee for the same amount.
Josephine does't know how to travel and what places to see yet so we stole some brochures from several travel agencies in order to give her a little help. Checked out Darling harbour after Pitt street, I just knew it was there. Enjoyed a oily calamari plus chips meal while watching the sunset and feeding the seagulls, Josephine hates me for that, especially when 10 seagulls are surrounding us, making noise.

Day 3:
Manly ferry from Circular quay, that route took 35 min, 35min of constant fantastic view. Josephine saw a dolphine, I didn't. Manly was great, reminds me a little bit of the Belgian coast town Oostende, only thousand times better. Took Manly Jetcat back, 15 min instead, just more expensive.

Have anyone missed that Sydney is hosting World youth day and therefore having the biggest amount of visitors (over-excited, screaming Christian teens) at the time? Neither did we, what a big mistake. All the hostels are full-booked, crowded everywhere etc. Thank god that WYD is over after Sunday.

Death of an iPhone.

This is what I call a black Monday.

I went to a salon in Causeway bay first thing today to get new lash extensions. I can't be bothered to explain why I almost started crying because of frustration. They did exactly everything wrong and they charged me twice as much as I usually paid in Shanghai. It looks like I'm wearing fake lashes for halloween-party. So take my advise and dont go to The best beauty salon in Causeway bay.

The other unfortunate thing happened when I went back to the phone shop to pick up my dearest iPhone. They told me that they couldn't fix it and the only way to fix it is to change the hardware. They wanted 1000HKD and more than one week. Oh God. Why oh why? Why me?
...or I can sell my broken phone to them as a chassi/phone shell for 1000.
I don't have any choice but giving tthem 1k tomorrow. My heart is bleading. I tell you.

Now it's raining heavily outside, bolt and thunder and the whole package.

Busy busy days.

I put up a schedule for tomorrow, too busy to be true.
Flight tickets need to be picked up, friends to meet, stuff to buy, gift for dad to buy.

Had a really good shopping day today. Bought 2 pairs of shoes. AGAIN! This is the only time I appreciate my big feet. During sales in HK. My cousin is going to Stockholm this weekend so I can let him bring stuff home to my parents. Perfect.

Tried to go out tonight, managed to get there around 12, bought 2 Smirnoffs at club 7eleven and realized that the area was empty. Had my drinks and went back home. Thank you people who refused to go out 2 days in a row. Assholes.

Shitty night. Literally.

I stayed up till late yesterday and started hearing weird noises from the bathroom. Found out that the toilet is causing problems again, water (and stuff) was flushing out on the floor so we had to bring up the nightwatch man and a plumber at 3.10, the problem wasn't solved though so they had to come back in the morning. Now, the terrace is covered in water and feces, water is leaking in through the walls and the floor in office room is completely covered. And of course, the smell comes as a bonus. God.

And you know what the best part of this story is?

We're having 20 interviews starting in...51 minutes.

I think that Starbucks is the only solution and hotel tonight is a must!

Barbecue on terrace.

Woke up quite early to pick up money somewhere in Kowloon. Paid for ticket to Sydney so my seat is finally confirmed, nothing can go wrong now, I hope.

Decided to invite some people to barbeque on terrace at the office-flat, need to take advantage of the free space and Kowloon-view when you have the opportunity. We bought everything in the eleventh hour, and we found out that the office lacked all kinds of things you might need to survive. We managed to put some clams, vegetables, baked potatoes, hamburgers (homemade), hotdogs, steaks, chicken wings, grilled Cadbury chocolate-stuffed bananas with ice cream etc etc..
The charcoal we bought sucked and it took 1 hour and 7 people to get it work. But the result was A-mazing.

Tried to encourage people for a pub crawl in Lankwai, no hands in the air so I'm staying in. AGAIN...

In HongKong.

Arrived safely in time 13.00 at Kowloon station, grabbed a cab which took us directly to the flat in North Point. Everything seems to be the same, just like how I left it 4 months ago.
I rested for a while and then went straight to Mongkok to meet up with my childhood friend Brian, whom I've known for nearly 18 years (I'm 20).
Went to Sincerity travel on Argyle street to sort out the problem with the agency since they can never manage to deliver our tickets. We're expected to leave on Tuesday so I guess that made it priority one. The travel agency solved the problem and I'll have my ticket by tomorrow.
Hong Kong is great in many ways and I think that lots of people might agree that the food is one of the hightlights. HK-food is the greatest when it comes to Chinese cuisine.

We had lots of streetfood and several rounds of fresh mango juices; later on, I suggested dinner at Java road markets top floor (you know, that kind of market where they sell everything from fresh fish to rainboots). This "restaurant" is famous and there are always lots of people lining up for hours outside. The restaurant itself isn't that spectacular; in fact quite shabby. The staff are not wearing uniforms according to dresscodes, the plates are made of plastic and the environment quite stressful and noisy; but the food..Heaven.

Wanted to check out the HK nightlife scene at Lan kwai fang but nobody had the energy so I decided to stay in for tonight.

Over and out.

Leaving Shanghai, at last.

I'm finally leaving Shanghai on Thursday. Sad but true. Me and my roommate will be staying for a couple of days and then head straight to Sydne on the 15th, as planned.

Tried to find cheap air tickets to HK but since the travel business is offering peak season tickets for 1400sek one way, I tried other solutions.
Yesterday, in the unbearable warmth of the Shanghai heat of 30°C and a humidity somewhere around 80%, we forced ourselves to the old Shanghai Railway station and got myself a ticket. The only dates they offered were 10th and 14th and it takes 20 hrs to get to HK by train so we had no choice.
There are different prices for different beds, lower beds are the most expensive but also most comfy; believe me, the stairs up to the upper bed Ain't that fun! We got the upper beds anyway since we bought the last tickets and couldn't afford to be picky. They charged us 402rmb for those who are curious. The middle and uper beds are slightly more expensive.

Feels kind of weird to leave Shanghai, seems like I've been done with this city long time ago but there're still things that are holding me back, guess I'll look back and miss those certain parts..

No I'm busy with packing and saying goodbye to friends, most of them are leaving during summer anyway but it doesn't make it easier saying goodbye.

We'll rock our last night at the posh Shanghai club Lounge 18 (Located on well known Bund 18) and then look forward to 20hrs of pleasure on train..

I'll keep you posted.