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Friday - Saturday

10/8-8/9

I received news of my site winning the site of the month. After work, there was a party for some of the staff of GSO. Afterwards, I had a night in, watching a DVD, Birdy. I worked overtime the next day. Donal and Oran failed to turn up so I was really bored. Instead of really working, I surfed the internet - whoops! I only worked for about two hours instead of six hours, I think!

The next day was time of cleaning up. It was a lovely sunny day out but I wanted to clean up the room to get it over and done with. After tidying up, I vacuumed, but after trying to clear the cobwebs from the ceiling, there was an explosion! I could smell smoke and thought I blew the fuse. It wasn't the case - what actually happened was that the wire got caught into the roller wheels! Now I have to pay for the damage! I wrote postcards afterwards: some of you may have received it already. I went to see Swordfish, starring John Travolta and Hugh Jackman: it was very good. There was no overtime during the week at work. Monday was Robin's last day.

On Friday, there was a competition being run. An hourly quiz was being run via email – our boss emailed us questions every hour. The questions were hard. After work, we all went out to Whisky Bar, as it was the last day for Sharyn, Aodh and Oran. After 10, some of us headed home, while just five of us went to The Station Hotel in Prahran. It was alright. It was pouring rain after I left.

As there was no overtime, it was a lazy day on Saturday. Katrina's sister's family came over and the kids were playing with me.

Sunday was another lazy day, when I was doing chores. After them, I watched a DVD: Meet the Parents. I was playing with the kids before they went home. I cooked for everyone and found it was really nice - my cooking is getting better that Nathan wanted more of my cooking! Sharyn and Dave called over and sold me a scooter: a free heater was thrown in as well and I got it for a bargain.

The next day was back to work - I had no work until 30 minutes before going home. Luckily, I did not do any and that I had four days off, as there was eleven pages! I was about to put the site on live when the work arrived. I managed to fix the site up before leaving! Late evening, I went to Spencer St station to pick up my sister, Nikolah. After waiting a couple of minutes, the bus arrived and Nikolah and I hugged. We went to the house, looking over photos and catching up on the news. Nathan was initially too shy of her, but he started playing with her. I could not believe how quickly he took to her, as it was a long time before he took to me.

As I had time off work, I had a nice lie in. We took a tour of Melbourne city as in Lonely Planet guide: went inside St Paul's Cathedral to look around, photo shoots at City Square. We had a brief look inside the Town Hall before browsing around Bourke St Mall for more photo shoots. A visit to the State Library was next where an exhibition of old posters was on. We then passed RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) with its unusual architecture and went inside Melbourne City Baths. After this, we visited Old Melbourne Gaol. The Gaol was interesting and over an hour or two later, we were getting hungry. Chinatown was next on the tour and it was a good time to eat and we found a bargain meal that we could not finish it off. Parliament House was next on the list and I showed her my place of work. Donal came to me from behind as he just finished work. We went to Hotel Sofitel to view the city from the toilets. Southgate was next and we browsed around before returning to the house. Afterwards, we went to St Kilda and I met her friend, JP. Dave and Susan came over later - I did not think I would meet my brother's friend that night! The next early morning, we all got a taxi to Prince of Wales Hotel. It was a horrible place that the Prince himself would not like it if he ever saw it! It was weird and quiet (I discovered weeks later that is a gay pub). It was closing less than an hour after we got there and we walked to another place - a nightclub this time. On the way, there was a man busking and JP played with his guitar. Outside the nightclub, there were police trying to arrest some man who tried hard to resist arrest. He was later released as we saw him in the nightclub later. It was about 5am when we left and I went to sleep straightaway in JP's place. Hours later, I woke up and found myself with a throbbing headache - what a waste, as it was a beautiful day outside! I had to do a few errands and after Nikolah returned, we went out for a meal.

On Thursday, a trip to Queen Victoria Markets started the day. We found ourselves late when the stalls were being cleared. In the evening, I did some cooking and did a few things. Nikolah was meant to return to Sydney this day but changed her mind and extended her stay by one day. We spent the whole day at Melbourne Museum. It was interesting but I found The Australia Gallery the best part of the museum. As we had free admission to ICE, we checked it out. It was a computer game that we had to kill off the insects to save the woman - it was silly but funny when we tried to kill the insects that were very hard to kill! We went back home and later went to Ivy Bar to meet JP, Susan and Dave. After the Ivy Bar, we headed to a different pub. Afterwards, we went to Chapel St. Admission to Bridie O'Reillys was refused as some of us did not have ID so we walked along to - guess what - Hungry Jacks! Apparently, two girls were starving that we had to go there. Everyone went to The Revolver next while I headed back home, as I was partied out from last Tuesday!

The first thing I did the next day was to get a haircut. John rang me and we met up later, discussing on what to do for the day. I suggested going to Brighton Beach that is famous for its coloured beach huts. We found the beach and the huts and walked along. It was windy and there were people flying kites, some of them left the ground! There was a kid trying to float or surf or something while holding a kite: there was something that looked like a snowboard but made for water. I think the conditions were unsuitable, as he could not do it. We came to the rocks and I saw Elwood Beach, which is barely a beach. A drive to Sandringham beach was next where we looked at the boat yard before going to Black Rock beach. Mordialloc Beach was next and there was a small island of birds not far from the beach. After the long drive, we went to St Kilda and ate out and I showed John the tram and people monument in Ackland Centre. At night, Andrew called over to see Grant. He asked me to go to the pub with him. The timing was bad as I was talking to someone on internet. After finishing the conversation on the internet, Grant gave us a lift to Chapel St. I saw familiar faces there and met more deaf people there.

I had a lie in the next morning due to the night before and went to see Shrek with subtitles. I had seen it before but not with subtitles.

Monday was back to work - my time off was finished. I now want to leave work sooner! I have been deciding when to leave.

On Tuesday, I was moved to 10th floor - it's not great as you are under supervision. I could not decide on when to leave work!

Wednesday was Donal's last day and we emailed each other back and forth at work- he was rubbing it in and making me feel cheesed off that I am still at work.  I could not stand working on the 10th and everyone I knew had gone that I gave notice to leave the next Monday. I kept changing my mind as to when to leave – I thought I would leave on Friday, changed my mind to Wednesday but when I gave notice, I just said Monday!

The next day, I was glad to be working back on the 9th floor! I was surprised to be asked for overtime after there was none for a long time. I did not do any overtime. An UK episode of Home and Away was shown - I did not know. No, this is not the reason why I turned down overtime!

On Friday evening, John and I talked on the phone about the next day. Afterwards, I went to Commercial Road, which is near Prahran. I went to the Exchange Hotel for a while and could not believe it when two men tried to chat me up!

About 6:30am the next day, I was woken up by Grant as he thought I ordered a taxi. I learnt the story: someone with an Irish accent did a runner into this address. If we did not pay the fare of $27, the police would arrest us. We had to sort this out: I had to get out and face the driver who then realised it wasn't me.  We found the footprint in the lane and found the person sleeping on the steps! Grant woke him but he wouldn't get off the property. Grant tried calling the taxi companies but could not find the company who was owed the fare. The man then got up and left. I went back to bed and got a few more hours of sleep. John came over and it was a rainy day. Despite this, we decided to go for a drive to Mount Dandenong through the Mountain Highway. There was an observatory and I could see the city buildings despite it being covered by cloud. The scenery before the city was very clear. The rain stopped. We headed to Kalorama Park and then William Ricketts Sanctuary, which was very interesting. The late William carved many figures of Aborigines into the rocks. It was dinner in Bazils in Olinda before the drive back, a different route this time. At night, I went to Esplanade Hotel in St Kilda with JP and his friends, some of them whom I met the last week. We were going to go back to the house but changed our minds and went to the nightclub called Palace. It was bedtime at about 3:30am.

I left as soon as I got up. Sunday was a lovely day: it was hot. I went to Albert Park with the scooter, using it for the first time! I scooted around the lake. I watched a DVD later: Miss Congeniality. Grant and Katrina returned not long after the DVD finished and wanted to see it that it was on again! I was exhausted from the scooter – my legs were really tired!

Monday is back to work and now my last day. I was given work and told to work on the 10^th floor. I wasn’t happy but my luck changed! There was a problem with the keyboard shortcuts that I had to use a different computer, so now it was back to the 9^th floor! Karyn made a cake for me as she did for most of the others who left. It was delicious. Before l left work, Karyn and Fiona gave me a chocolate koala with a chocolate heart – I did not expect this. It was nice of them to give it to me. In the evening, I had no plans and Grant asked me to baby-sit Nathan, which I did. Nathan always wants to play tennis with me so we played it along with other activities.

The next morning, the first thing I had to do was to book the ticket to start travelling. I got it booked so it now means I can leave this Sunday. I also changed the return part of the flight ticket, but am not happy with the new dates due to unavailability of seats and the validity of the ticket being for twelve months only. I now know I want to stay in Australia longer! In the evening, I baby-sat Nathan again!

The next morning, I went to Fitzroy and walked through Brunswick Street. The start of the street wasn’t really nice, reminding me of Ballymun (in Dublin, Ireland). I was told that this part of the street, where there is a block of flats, is where the Aboriginals live. I did not see any Aboriginals there. I kept walking and the street got better: there were more colours, as the shops were colourful. It was a nice day. I did not have to baby-sit Nathan again as Katrina’s mother was here for a night.

On Thursday, I spent a lot of time sorting out my stuff before I can go to the packing phase. I could not believe how much rubbish I had gathered since last June! I baby-sat Nathan again. I went to book the trip for Ayers Rock the next day, as it wasn’t included in the ticket I got earlier. I had a problem to sort out: a parcel that I posted to a friend on Monday had not arrived that I had to go to the post office to investigate. I was asked to return to the post office later and during the second visit, I discovered that the postcode was incorrect! Unfortunately, my friend gave me the incorrect address and is travelling and so am I that I had to leave the problem to her. I went to the deaf club that night and saw only a few familiar faces. There was a person here from New Zealand on holidays and also another one from Japan on a study holiday, whatever the correct phrase is. Today, I am packing and sorting out my stuff. I am also doing chores such as cleaning the bathroom and the bedroom. At least I don’t have to clean the entire house as others are doing before they leave. John called over and we went to Crown Entertainment Complex. It consists of Crown Casino, which I thought that was all, but it is actually similar to a shopping centre. The entrance to the complex consists of works involving water and coloured lights. As we walked halfway in the casino, a guy talked to us. I told him we were just looking and not putting money in the machines. He said that he was offering us $4 worth of credit free for gaming machines and $5 worth of free food. Seeing as there was no catch (apart from putting in $1 to use the $4 credit), we signed up. He asked us for IDs and as I had none with me, I only got a food voucher. We were hungry at that time and decided to get food free. I could not believe the offer of fish and chips for only $2. After eating, we walked to Melbourne Exhibition Centre and Polly Woodside Maritime Museum. We did not go into the museum but went inside the centre: there was nothing on, so we left.