Election frustration, etc...

I should have done this a few days ago but since the debate happened last night, now seems as good a time as any.

Ummmmmmmmmmmmm, OK, firstly, I am amazed that people are stupid enough to start thinking that might be even a remotely good idea to re-elect Labour.  Seriously, we have to change and it's not to do with the recession (yes there was a degree of irresponsibility) nor to do with the fact that we've had nonsense like the MPs expense scandal.  It's not even particularly to do with those illegal wars the Labour's ex Dear Leader dragged us in to.  It's about the fact that they can't get it together to govern.  Honestly, when you push all those other things aside we're looking at a collection of 320 or so people that simply can't co-operate or focus on what they need to do without spending too much time trying to get the soundbite or without trying to bring down an admittedly rubbish Prime Minister.

I saw the Conservative manifesto and I liked it. My major issue about government is that it's massive what with all the quangos, etc.  Clarkson is right - government does not need to be so big so I'm a big fan of that and actually I'm disappointed that Cameron doesn't make more of it.  Whatever about the fact that I'm blue, the point is that the country can save so much money by not wasting it on bureaucrap and YES!  Why doesn't every single political party think this is a reasonable suggestion?!

Talking of disappointment, I thought last night's television debate was rubbish.  If we're going to be taking a leaf out of the Americans'  book, then the debates should be in the same vein.  Instead, it was really boring.  So, so dull.  Cameron and Brown trying to take cheap shots so that's how Clegg did so well, because he was focused on getting his point across.  And also whoever presented the ITV debate was rubbish, I feel bound to say.  But I guess that might be because ITV is rubbish.

Um, so basically I think the whole election thing is brilliant and actually a hung parliament would be much fun.  Also I am going to be honest and say that Cameron has not been particularly impressive as yet.  He needs to get much better.  True story.

Awesome food and comedy fun

Soooooooooooooo, yesterday I was off work and we eventually managed to drag our arses out of the hostel and I went with PokerPlayer, Horserider, Devon and PokerPlayer's room mate.  So we'll call him TheRoomate.  Anyways, PokerPlayer wanted to buy an iPod so we went up into the CBD and bummed around in Myer and David Jones (think Debenhams and House of Fraser respectively) and looked for the iPod and then we went for dinner and went to a Malaysian BYO (BYO is really common over here, thankfully, and for the record I had a Chardonnay from Adelaide Hills and I was not especially impressed and I think I've decided it's because it might be too warm up there) and we had quite a lot of great food and funny conversation and it was basically my idea of a perfect dinner out. 

Then we were on our way back to the hostel and walked past a little poster advertising a comedy gig which was like a gala of different acts all MC'd by a guy called Josh Thomas who Horserider really likes so I suggested we go and a consensus was that might be a good idea.  So we went and spent probably the best $15 any of us have ever spent.  Every single one of the ten acts, bar one, were pant wettingly hilarious and I laughed like I haven't laughed in ages and just generally it was an absolutely brilliant, brilliant night.

Oh, before that I made a whole bunch of scrummy pancakes for everybody and they were really absolutely perfectly delicious.  It was a very happy time in my life.

Tonight I cooked a three course feast of smoked salmon, asparagus and avocado salad followed by lemon chicken and with homemade chocolate mousse and poached fruit for dinner.  YUM, YUM, YUM!!!

Other than that, I feel better but my throat is definitely all up and I don't really like my job that much for quite a lot of reasons but that might be because I need to settle in.

It's OK, I'm not really mental

Turns out all my anger and rage was ExtremePMS.  We're all good, kids.

Boo to proper illness but other stuff too.

Literally today, I have started to feel ill but it's gotten so bad just over the course of the day.  Started with a slightly sore throat and some sneezing this morning and now I'm in bed having taken two paracetemol and I've got a runny nose, my throat is all up, my glands are swollen, I'm stiff through my body and I've got achey ears.  As a general rule, I feel like crap and really, really sorry for myself and I have to be up at 6.30 tomorrow morning for work.  I am not off until Friday and I have quite a busy week planned so this is not good at all and I really, really need like two days of R and R BUT I am hopefully going to the doctor this week anyway and I hear they're quite good at giving out drugs over here, so I might be in with the luck.

I'm annoyed that I'm ill because now that's all I want to write about but there is a lot that has happened so I am going to try and focus my energies for a short time.  Luckily I'm listening to the Spice Girls and Lily Allen so that is helping.

So work, yes work is fine BUT not busy enough for me as a general rule and this is something I need to adjust to because obviously the Winery was busy basically all the time but it's fine.  What I absolutely love is the fact that the chefs are all actual proper bona fide chefs rather than cooks and they know a scary amount about food and they make the most amazing dishes and they are creative and all that jazz - basically everything that you want from good chefs.  Also they make dishes for us to taste - which is awesome - as well as feed us very well and I'm scared that I'm going to be very fat by the time I leave because we also have a 24 hour pastry kitchen downstairs with all sorts of delicious goodness.  Basically food wise, I win.  Awesome.  Pretty much everyone I work with is really cool with the notable exception of one guy, we'll call him Oxford, and he is an absolute douchebag because he's officious and pompous and he's greasy and reminds me of somebody from a film but I can't remember who and for example the other day I set the restaurant up for dinner and he didn't say anything but followed me around moving absolutely everything by one inch and then wondered why I was irritated.  He's just one of those people that was quite clearly bullied at school and has no life nor any friends and so his entire life revolves around being at work and he thinks he's something a bit special when actually he's probably special needs and has few to no people skills.  Also, I know that I'm contrary but this is the opinion of everyone with whom I work.  Oxford and I had a little run in the other day and they've all come and said to me since that I should ignore him.  Which makes me feel better.

I've been in a huge grump since I got here but in a really weird way.  I'm not in a bad mood or anything, but I've turned into a properly evil bitch.  I'm sick of there being no peace and quiet and there are loads of idiots in my hostel.  This came to a head a few days ago when there were some idiots playing football in their room but with the door open and they were listening to their iPod on an iPod dock really loudly.  And then some other guys came up and joined them and they proceeded to talk and laugh and generally make noise for ages.  So I went over and I said, 'Look guys it's 2am, turn the music down and stop playing football and just generally be quieter.'  And they completely ignored me!  So I got back up off the sofa again, walked to their room, turned the music down myself and moved the bag out of the way of the door so that the door would swing shut at the same time as saying, 'I've told you once it's 2 in the bloody morning, be quiet.'  And they opened the door again, turned the music back up and carried on talking really loudly.  So then I lost it.  I stormed up to the room, kicked the bag out of the way of the door, 'I've told you twice now, don't you understand it's 2 o'clock in the morning, I've got to be up for work tomorrow, other people are trying to sleep and you need to be quiet.'  Then one of them started claiming that I'd not said anything before and was trying to push me out of the way so I pushed him back, went right up to his face and really loudly starting telling him to shut up, that I wasn't putting up with it anymore, that I'd already told them they were risking me going absolutely mental, that I'd been nice, I'd been calm and I'd been tolerant and that they were to Shut.  Up.

I know, I know, it's really bad and I know I'm completely irrational but it really does wind me up so much that I lose my temper and I've never allowed myself to get so, so annoyed by that sort of thing before.  I don't even mind living in hostels per se, but my head rationalises the irritation.  I don't know if part of it is simply being really long in the tooth and genuinely not caring what these people think of me and knowing I don't need or want to be friends with them, particularly.  Even the other day I went to the cinema and they have allocated seating and the cinema was pretty full and some guy was sitting in my seat, so I showed him my ticket and said, 'Look dude, you're in my seat,' and he just looked at me with this really annoying grin on his face, so I double checked, he was definitely in my seat and so I said, 'You're definitely in my seat,' and he just looked at me with this weird grin/smirk.  I know I could have sat somewhere else but I didn't want to be in a position where I'd have taken somebody else's seat.  So in the end I said to him, 'There's no point just looking at me with that stupid grin on your face, get out of my seat.'  I'll be fine - I think it might be a hormone thing or it might just be that I'm tired.

Good things, though... I am still really enjoying Melbourne and I've met some really nice people.  Last Thursday a couple of girls I've been hanging around with, Alice and Harriet, and I went to Victoria Park Markets and got some fish and some vegetables and I used a recipe from BBC Food and we made a delicious meal and I bought some nice wine and then we went to the bar, where I went off on one dancing around like a lunatic and had a blast and a really good laugh.  I've also been to the cinema a couple of times to Crown Casino, which is a huge complex of casino (obviously), a cinema, some bars and some restaurants and is generally quite a bonkers place.  Then yesterday Alice and I went to get some sushi and then for a coffee and watched some comedy on Federation Square.  So yeah, I'm definitely more 'living' in Melbourne than I was in Sydney.

It's sooooooooooooooooo cold, though!  I can't believe it!  I've not got a coat so I need to buy one now, which is annoying because it's probably going to be about $100-150 for a decent warm one that will last me the whole winter to be worn every day and I don't have many jumpers so I need to buy some so it's going to be quite expensive just to wrap myself up for the winter, but I'm sure I'll cope.

OK, I think that's everything.  I'm about to do some election reading and will probably post about it in a minute.  I'm beyond excited about it - it's going to be AWESOME!!!

I am in an awesome mood, and not just because I have a job

OK, so I spent FOUR HOURS today on a trial shift but I basically rocked it and the manager said, 'You're exactly the type of person we're looking for - job's yours if you want it.'  Very happy about that, obviously.  So yeah, that's really good and I start on Sunday, so that's even cooler.

I was on the tram back to the hostel and was looking out of the window and the walk to work is alongside the Domain and the Shrine of Remembrance and various nice statues and fountains in the park next to where I walk, then along South Bank with the view across the city from the south side.  So yeah, that was really nice (it's also sunny and clear today, which probably helps).  Basically, I really, really love Melbourne.  I'm not about to say, 'Oh, I want to live here now,' but equally for the next few months I think I'll be really happy, especially now that I have a job that I genuinely think I'll enjoy.

Other than that, I don't know, I'm just really, really happy at the moment.  I think it helps that I've heard from Katy, Carly, Anna and Deb in the last few days (as well as, of course, la famille) and know what's going on with them and I've met some lovely people and yeah, I just feel really happy at the moment and excited about the next few months.

I'm also going to make a confession here - I've started very provisional plans for coming back to Britain.  I'm not saying anything else for now but I've started the ball rolling in the last couple of days.  No, it's not happening in the next few weeks or anything but I decided that I need to know when I'm coming back so that I can focus on enjoying the time I'm out here as well as give me a bit of direction.  Honestly, I kind of hope this hasn't contributed to my general feelings of positivity and optimism but I fear it has.

The unabridged bizarreness that was my last night in Sydney

Soooooooooooooooooooooooooo, I rocked up to the Winery at about 10pm, and then hung around and then one of the managers bought me a glass of wine (2006 Joseph Cattin Pinot Blanc - thank you Amy) and we had a few beverages and then we went to Kinselas which is a slightly skanky pub around the corner from work which the Winery crew has a tendency to frequent, particularly on a Monday or (as this was) Tuesday evening.

When we rock up, I bump into this guy at the bar that I knew(ish).  Quick back story: about two weeks prior I had been working in a relatively quiet section of the restaurant when four guys rocked up and the Maitre D' told me to look after them because they were, apparently, the Silverchair boys.  I don't really know who Silverchair are.  So I got chatting to them and the only guy who was actually from Silverchair was a guy called Daniel Johns, who is apparently their lead singer but was actually there with a producer and two guys from a another band, who are currently recording their album.  During the course of the three hours they were dining at the restaurant, with me being sufficiently charming (read: facetious) and having a good laugh with them, we built up quite a good rapport, which is just as well since after work that night I went to Low 302 (awesome cocktail bar also on Crown Street and a favourite haunt of the Winery crew on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday nights) and, lo and behold, there they all were.

The conversation and banter continued and I pretty much thought no more of it until one of them, Sam, rocked up to the Winery again for lunch the following week and was in my section.  So it was all good and by this point we sort of had spoken enough and met enough times to know each other by sight.  Well, would you believe, Sam was at Kinselas on Tuesday night.  This was all well and good and I was at the bar and literally turned to my left and there he was also at the bar and I said hi and I bought my drink and he bought his and we were chatting so I happily sat down with him for what I thought would be a five minute chat.  Five minutes turned to ten minutes and then I mentioned that actually the whole of the Winery crew were there sort of as a goodbye to me and I wanted to join them.  So he followed me.  It was a bit odd, especially since I was with someone who was apparently famous but who actually isn't famous at all.  Oh, I should mention here that when we were at the bar he was properly giving it the name drop crap with things like talking about having played at Reading and Leeds festivals last year or 2008 or something and how the lead singer was hanging around with Lily Allen the whole time and name dropping left, right and centre.

So after about thirty minutes of his hanging around and my getting increasingly frustrated, I buggered off outside, hoping that he would go back and join the group that he'd arrived at the bar with.  Which he did.  Then I came back in to join the Winery guys and he appeared again.  By this point, it's getting odd and I'm wondering how to get rid of him but because of my overwhelming politeness and inability to say no and my slight fear of telling him where to get off, he continued to hang around and I continued not to say anything about his hanging around like a bad smell (which is funny and a relevant point later on).

About another 20 minutes later, I went back outside and he came out and asked me what I wanted to drink.  I didn't really know what to say, said I was fine for now.  When I went back inside he was sitting at a table directly opposite the door with a couple of friends, pointed to a drink that he'd apparently bought for me, and beckoned me over.  I didn't really know what to do, manners got the better of me, I went over and grabbed my drink, he introduced me to his friend, we talked for a short while.  Luckily (or so I thought at the time) Amy at this point left so I ran outside to join her and we chatted for a good ten minutes, interrupted twice by this Sam guy who by now is, admittedly, creeping me out ever so slightly.  I had a conversation with Amy (before the first interruption) about how I didn't really know how to get away from him and she said she had the impression that I was just fine.  After the first time he randomly came out to sort of fetch me back inside she, I think, slightly understood my position.  The second time induce raised eyebrows from her and, I would go so far to say, a marginal look of fear.  She totally got me.

Time progressed, lots of people left, not including, unfortunately, this Sam bloke, who persisted in staying.  I kept pointing out that I should be with the Winery guys saying goodbye because I had less than 24 hours left in Sydney and I wanted to say goodbye to my colleagues and he was quite drunk and should probably go home.  It was at this point he started saying that I should go home with him.  To this, I was really quite surprised.  I had not given him ANY suggestion that I was even slightly interested, given him every indication that I wanted him to bugger off without saying the actual words.  Actually as I type this it occurs to me that I was really quite stupid given the circumstances, ie that he was coked off his face and anybody who has ever gotten high knows that coke gives one a feeling of invincibility and also does away with any even slight ability to understand when somebody is politely hinting something.

Anyway, he kept persisting with making me go home with him, with my increasing assertions that this was not, in any way, going to happen.  Then he really started to piss me off with throwing all this batshit, 'I'll get my assistant to come and pack for you;' 'I've got millions of Qantas frequent flyer points and I'll pay for you to fly business class to Melbourne;'  'Come with me to New Zealand, we're going there this week to promote our album, I'll fly you out;'  'I'll get you access all areas passes to T in the Park next year;'  blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.  I had run out of ways of telling him no way, no how and to do one so I just walked off and joined my friends.  After about five minutes, he came over, hugged me goodbye and left.  THANK GOD.  By the way, when he hugged me goodbye (eugh!) he wreaked of body odour beyond anything I've ever before come across.  It was disgusting, I can't even begin to describe it.  Then at like 7am he started calling me, trying to get me to go to his place, me saying no, him hanging up then calling me back and repeating the question.  This happened three times before I got him to stop.  Then, at about midday he left me a voicemail saying something along the lines of, 'Hi Elizabeth [long pause] ... it's your friend Sam... [long pause].... hope you're ok.... [long pause].... hope you have a good trip to Melbourne.... [long pause]... See you around... [long pause]...' and hanging up.

All in all, very, very strange.  And wrong.  But mainly creepy.

Goodbye Sydney, new things and all that jazz

I really have decided that if I try and spend too long typing I'm going to get travel sick because I'm currently on a coach 50 minutes into a 12 hour journey and I'm really, really tired because I have only had two hours sleep after a big night out with work last night.  It was good, though, for sure.

So yes, I'm at this moment heading toward the M5 (yeah, seriously it's called that) and on my way to merry Melbourne.  I'm not going to lie, I'm a little bit nervous about being by myself ... again ... and having to look for work and being somewhere I don't know but I'm not actually going to be there for that long so I'll hopefully get something quickly, save up some more of those beautiful purple, blue, red and yellow $$$ and blow it all on wine tours in South Australia!

I'll write more properly and thoroughly about my Sydney fun times and things like that and also my impressions of Melbourne in the next 48 - 72 hours.  I know, I'm sure none of you can wait for my humorous (!) ramblings.

Oh, sorry, one more thing - all of you, with maybe one or two exceptions, are beyond rubbish with the emailing.  I know I haven't been perfect but as I'm now fully intending to detox I've absolutely no intention of spending all my time at work, drunk, asleep or pissing around at cafés, etc and will, in fact, set aside time every single day to reply to emails.  Especially with the job hunt, I'll live for emails from prospective employers.  True story.