Seattle, San Francisco, LA, Rage Against the Machine and Las Vegas (5/8/07 - 17/8/07)

First photo is on a tour of the Seattle habour. The second is Nick taking a photo of the infamous Seattle Tower at a neighbourhood lookout.

Of course, Alcatraz. But why the hell is the street so famous? Lombard Street in San Fran is just a bit windy - it doesn't even take the title for the most crooked in the world.

We saw a giants game where Barry Bonds played the game after he broke the record for the most amount of home runs.
Love VEGAS!

Vancouver, Canada (14/6/07 - 2/11/07)

Well, reality certainly set in when I tried to get back into the work force in Canada. Over the last 4 months, it's been a constant struggle to find decent work and accommodation. London was a struggle too but this is a different level. At least the SIN (Social Insurance Number) and bank account are a lot easier than London.

Firstly, since the visa is only for 1 year and most Aussies aim to work in Whistler or other ski fields, employers tend to favour their own. I was hoping to work behind a bar again but since the tips are so lucrative (sometimes over $1000/night) in downtown bars/clubs, there wasn't much chance. I'd even received leads from friends of friends that never eventuated. One time in particular, I went for an interview where there they already had 2 too many bartenders at the time. I'm not accustomed to the tipping culture and it's really starting to annoy me, especially since it's the main barrier for me getting a bartending job. Canadians want to have their cake and eat it too. So as most Australians do, I'm not giving them much icing on their cake when I go out. I've worked 3 service positions and haven't seen a single penny, yet if you don't tip in a bar... don't expect to get served. Get a grip Canada.

The only jobs left soon became terrible paying labour work. My first job was helping detail cars. The cars were some of the best you'd see like BMW, Porshe, Ferrari but the pay was $10/hour... blaten exploitation as far as I'm concerned. I worked there for a month while looking for other jobs. In the mean-time, my parents visited for 5 days and it was great to see them again.

Quitting our jobs, Nick and I went on a 12-day road trip around the States. We drove almost 6,000 km through Seattle, Sacramento, San Francisco, LA, Las Vegas and Reno. The highlight was seeing Rage Against the Machine at Rock the Bells, in the desert just outside LA. Wanting to save money, the lowlight would be sleeping in the car for half the nights.

Right now, I'm helping paint road markings. The job is probably one of the better roles I've seen. My main job is to drive a pickup truck while another guys picks up witches hats left by the centre line paint truck. So in essence, my job is literally watching paint dry. The other problem is that the hours are extremely erratic (and long) as it's better with less traffic on the road which means hours between dusk till dawn. Also, we can't work in the rain, so I'm had some weeks with absolutely no work at all, which makes it a real struggle to even keep my head above water. I'm glad to only be doing this for 3-4 months while I wait for the winter.

After almost 8 months away from home, I'm still in hostels and it's killing me. We've got interviews in Whistler on the 9th November where my fate in Canada will be decided. If they don't offer any decent positions and accommodations, I'll do another road trip around the east coast of Canada/States before heading back to the sunny shores of Oz.

One thing I thought I would really enjoy is following North America's sports. However, after being to a few games of the Canadian Football League (CFL), I can't stand their version of footy or the NFL. Give me AFL any day. Seen a few games of baseball which has been OK but haven't adopted a team. Have never liked basketball too. The only other major sport left is ice hockey. Nick and I bought tickets for the first game of the season from Craigslist but when we got the gate, found they had already been refunded and the tickets were useless - CAN$170 down the drain. We gave the sob story to a few ticketmaster reps but only had some success when I approached the police for our rights. The manager was called who turned out to be really nice and found us the last two seats on the stadium and gave us 2 free beers. We were extremely lucky to see a game.
I've only met a few other people that I'd call friends - fellow travellers from Ireland and England. I'm fairly tired of the entertainment and bars in Vancouver too, so haven't really been putting myself in a position to meet more people. Besides, I'm fed up with tipping for sometimes bad service (Canadians will tip between 15-25% but they're lucky to get a quarter out of me), tax not being included on prices and not being able to save. Can't wait to pay the price it says on the damn item. Nick and I are just playing a lot of 8-ball and watching movies.

Surprisingly, Vancouver was voted most livable city in the world for 2007... for the 5th time this decade. The city is nice to see from a lookout, has clean water (apparently 2/3 of the worlds fresh water), clean air but has a lot of other problems elsewhere. Like I've said, the pay is daylight robbery with a minimum wage of $8/hour. How can you have any standard of living on those wages??? The homeless on every single corner in downtown Vancouver would have to agree. There's not a single day that goes by where I don't get asked for money. Then there's the constant rain. Even during their 2 best months of July and August it rained for a total period of about 2 weeks, including 5 days in a row. But we've been told the reason why they won was due to their great public transport system. I've used it twice since arriving and think it's well behind London. And for me, I can't get a break with a place to stay so I've given up... and given up on Vancouver.

In a lot of ways, Canada hasn't been what I expected but at least I tried. If anyone is interested in working Canada, I would suggest only to bother with the ski resorts. Summer is tough to find decent work (most Aussies to labour construction) and the weather doesn't hold out long anyways. Canada is probably the most similar country to Australia in the world, especially with it's influence from the UK and USA. It's certainly a nice place but my experience has been a bit tough to break into for the short-term. I'll leave Canada richer for the adventure but not wishing to live here again.

Bring on San Fransisco or some sunny days with good mates at home.

Return rating: 2 (done it all in the first week)

Tokyo, Japan (11/6/07 - 13/6/07)

I struggled to find my way around Tokyo but finally managed to book a hostel and navigate my way on the 2 different subways. The people in Japan are very friendly but don't speak as much English as Singapore.

When I left the hostel, another guy wanted to join me so we went straight for Shibuya and Shinjuka where there's a massive crossing and loads of people. Next was Ginza for the upmarket shopping but it was a little early and no shops open. The other guy needed to meet someone else, so I continued on to the Tokyo Tower. With the help of a list from Rachael, I managed to see the most important parts of Tokyo such as Harajuku with 'dodgy characters and shops'. One business had the right idea where you could hire a small space to sleep, play video games watch TV etc. Some people would hire out the small spaces when they miss the last bus home and sleep overnight as taxi's aren't an option for normal people.

Later in the day, I tried to go inside the Imperial Palace but that wasn't going to be allowed. On the way back to the hostel, I passed the Asakusu Kannon Temple.

At night, I tried the Roppongi Bars but it wasn't happening by myself and I was worried about being shafted again.

On the last day, I went to the shopping district of Akihabara. I didn't need to buy anything but again managed to find something worth purchasing - a set of Bose headphones for my iPod. They weren't cheap at an equivalent price of AUD$150 but the quality is uncomparible. Personally, I found the electronics weren't that far ahead of Australia and the price wasn't much cheaper either... especially if you take travel costs into account.

My 3 month trip-of-a-lifetime had come to an end. I toasted to myself with an Asahi as thoughts of relief, pride and a feeling that I'd love to do it again some time - under different circumstances. Next time, I'd probably make the trip less exhausting and only about a month long. But most importantly, I'd love to share the experience with a friend.

Return rating: 5 (missed Sumo wrestling)

And that's the end of Asian leg too. Since Asia is fairly close to home, I'm sure I'll be back. China and Thailand seems like the most likely but will have to see the beautiful Fiji beaches before anything else.

Osaka, Japan (9/6/07 - 10/6/07)

I arrived in Japan after a touch down in Hong Kong in the late hours without accomm. There was only hotel information, so I chose one of the cheapest in downtown. Cabs would be the equivalent of AUD$500, so a shuttle it was going to be for me. Again, Japan is very clean and friendly but they take certain things too far. Why would it cost so much for a simple taxi???

I did a walking tour of the city and ended up at the Osaka Tower where you could get a great view of the city.
One of the guys at work in Adelaide that had lived in Japan for 2 years had convinced me to try Osaka instead of Tokyo. He said Osaka was more like Melbourne and Tokyo more like Sydney. However, after 1 day I was running out of activities in Osaka. So, I booked a return to Tokyo on the bullet train. I'd always wanted to experience the 300 km/hr speeds on the bullet train but didn't really want to go both ways in only a few days. Anyways, it was better than sitting on my arse in Osaka. The train was impressive and gave me the opportunity to see more of Japan. It seemed there were communities almost all the way and only a little bit a green country in between. I guess the population is fairly big for a little country.

Return rating: 7 (missed Kyoto in between Osaka and Tokyo)

Singapore (6/6/07 - 8/6/07)

My Mum has been to Singapore many times for work. It also felt a little weird that I was entering a place so close to home but were I was still completely lost. As most people will tell you, Singapore is very clean and most people speak at least some English or as they funnily enough claim to speak, Singlish. I set myself up in the hostel and tried to oreintate myself. I managed to get my phone LCD screen fixed (when I walked into a fire hydrant in Miami).

I did my own walking tour of the island and found their national symbol, the Merlion. According to mythology, a previous king was sailing close to Singapore when he discovered the country. The weather turned bad and a sea creature wouldn't let them pass, so he offered the sea his crown. The seas returned to normal and the king founded the new country. Or something like that.

The main shopping street, Orchard Road, was rather interesting but there was nothing I needed. However, I stumbled across a place that 100% guaranteed to remove warts. I gave it a go. The treatment took almost an hour and there was a bit of pain (one of the other girls gave me a scalp massage to relief the headache) and my finger was black at the end. It would prove to be worthwhile though as the warts has successfully been killed. They only have offices in Singapore or Korea, so thoughts began running through my head of opening up franchises in Australia. I've been to the doctors around a dozen time to have warts frozen and it's only worked once. This worked the first time and the confidence in their product was evident. Would the business work in Australia?

The next day, I visited Sentosa Island. The beaches were fairly nice but different to Thailand. I visited a much bigger Merlion and got a great view of Singapore city from inside the mouth.

Even though I'd missed supposedly the best zoo in the world in San Diego, I'd also heard that Singapore zoo at night is one of the best. I'd never been to a zoo at night, so I decided it would be worth it. The Safari and animal show at the end was OK but as far as I'm concerned, if you've seen one zoo you've seen them all.

My last day in Singapore, I didn't have much time and didn't really want to do anything else. To me, Singapore is a clean and friendly place but not heaps to do.

Return rating: 3 (can only see myself going back for a business trip).

Phuket, Thailand (4/6/07 - 5/6/07)

Phuket was another island I'd wanted to visit for many years and again, I was expecting just a little more than it provided. The weather was a little muggy but the beaches weren't quite how I pictured them - nice but not prestine. We were all feeling exhausted from the constant travel and drinking, so I made the first day one of recovery... got the washing done, had an afternoon nap and watched the movie, Click with Adam Sandler. Exactly what I needed in the best hotel of our tour.

In the evening, the group went out for our last dinner. I was ready to say goodbye to everyone but not so much to Thailand. After dinner, half the group went to a show called FantaSea. The show itself was OK with heaps of elephants but the highlight for me was holding (and briefly feeding) a cub. Cameras weren't allowed but I wasn't missing the photo opportunity. I paid a fortune for them to take my photo with the baby tiger. It's one of my favourite photos (my folks have since taken it home).
After the show, we met up with the rest of the gang for some last drinks. Patricia had taken everyone's details and was going to photocopy the list for us to take. However, I got home in the early hours of the morning and missed my alarm to see off Patricia and give her a tip. I tried to get the details from the reception where she was supposed to leave them but the man couldn't understand me. I kinda felt bad for not tipping Patricia as she did a good job but screwed up on the last hurdle. I would have been happy to transfer a small tip but didn't have anyones contact. I figured I would wait until someone emails me and I'd get in touch with Patricia but to this day, nobody has dropped me a line. Says something about my group. Oh well, one out of two aint so bad cause my Peru tour group was brilliant.

In the afternoon, I went to Phuket beach with Bec and another couple that hadn't left yet. Bec was even getting on their nerves too. We organised a taxi to take us around the entire island and be our driver for the day. Splitting it 4-ways, the cost was fine. We visited a butterfly and spider musuem, many more beaches and a lookout. I had my last Pad Thai in Thailand (again a little bit disappointing compared to what I've had in Oz) and called it an early night as I was due to catch yet another flight early in the morning. Bed knocked on my door and apologised for 'being a bitch the last couple of days'. I was surprised but was only concerned about getting my flight in the morning.

Return rating: 6 (nice but many more places to see before I return).

Krabi, Thailand (2/6/07 - 3/6/07)

Krabi was over the other side of Thailand and it took most of the day to arrive. First we caught a taxi to the ferry, ferried to the mainland, caught 2 buses across the country and finally a long-tail boat. By this stage, I was totally sick of Bec and went by myself to the beach for another 'shower'. I ran into some of the group and we caught up on the last few days before heading back for some dinner. Everyone was feeling a little hungover, so it was a quiet night.

In the morning, we caught another long-tail boat past James Bond Island to our own little island for some beach camping at Koh Lawa. The ride was long, especially since I was at the back of the boat being splashed in the face for 2 hours. Not a happy camper when we finally beached. Things weren't made any better when we set ourselves up with paper thin matresses and my wet pillow in a tent. However, we played soccer on our own beach until dusk ended the game. There was a magnificant sunset which I felt required a special pose.
Return rating: 2

Koh Samui, Thailand (29/5/07 - 1/6/07)

Koh Samui had been a destination I'd wanted to visit for a few years. We stepped off the ferry feeling worse for wear but excited by a relaxing few days ahead. Before off-loading our gear at the Bungalow, we went for lunch at an elephant park. There was a baby elephant and 3 adults. All of them had steel shackles on one foot. The baby was particularly frustrated by the chain as it reached out for food from us. It could get to just within touching distance of the trunk.

After lunch, we found a waterfall were we could 'shower'. A great way to start the day.

The Shambala Bungalow's were fairly simple but all that was needed. The weather was almost too warm and humid but made the beach on our doorstep even more enticing. In the afternoon, we visited a few temples and more buddha's, one of which included a dead monk that had been preserved for many years. Apparently, the guy used to meditate for days on end and it is believed that is why his body has not deteriated too much.

On the way to another site, we passed an accident where the body of a motorcyclist was left in the middle of the road - blood and guts in full view. Without a doubt it would have to be the most graphic scene I've ever witnessed. We all agreed that would never be handled so poorly in Australia. Maybe they're used to high death rates on the road.

Next of the list was 'grandpa and grandma rocks'. So called for obvious reasons.

Squezzing a lot into the day, we went to a Muay Thai meet. There were 10 fights for the evening, ranging from kids that would have to be 12 years old to grown men. I was amazed at the raw violence but also discipline and respect amoungst the fighters. At the conclusion of one fight, a Japanese fighter that lost was crying. We're not sure if it was due to lost pride or pain. (As pycho as it was, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in Canada is even more hardcore - only seen it on TV though).
The 30th was our relaxation day on Chawang Beach. This is where you'd typically see photos of Koh Samui. It was a nice beach but I was expecting just a little more. My standards must be getting fairly high.

I can never sit on my arse for too long so later in the day, I needed some adrenaline. I hired a 1600cc jetski. I'd been on a few jetski's before but this one is definitely the most powerful. I got the machine to 65 km/hr. It was impossible to make any turns at that speed, so I would have to let go of the accelorator to go into a turn. And in doing so, I almost went AOT from the craft slowing so much in the water. But if you don't fall off at least once, you're not going fast enough - and I did fall off once. Brilliant fun!

At night, we went for yet another swim at our 'own beach'. Another Australia bloke, Mike, was trying backflips on the sand. He could do them well and I'd always wanted to do them at a moments call. So with a bit of coaching, I tried a few and kinda landed one. My body was turning sideways a little as I was sh!tting myself midair. I know how to do it in theory, it's just a question of mind over matter for me. One day I hope to be able to do them on the street or anywhere else.

On the 31st, we were due to leave Koh Samui. However, a full moon party was being held on the 1st of June on Koh Phangnan - a 30 minute speed boat ride away. I wasn't quite finished with Koh Samui and heard so much about the full moons parties that I decided to stay and leave the group for a few days. Another girl, Bec, decided to stay aswell. The group had to get up early to catch the ferry back to the mainland and bus to a national park. After a sleep-in, Bec and I headed for a ride on an elephant. Later we returned to Chawang Beach for some dinner on the beach. By this time, Bec was starting to be a bit annoying and I was worried about my decision to party with her the next night.

I was extremely excited by the idea of catching a speedboat to a naturally beautiful place with heaps of fellow partiers. Just before leaving Australia, I watched 'The Beach' with Leonardo. I don't normally like Leonardo but the concept of the movie was fantastic. He finds a map for a secluded island with a community of people living seperate from the rest of the world. The island is said to be off Koh Phangnan, within swimming distance if you believe the movie. I looked around in the dark to see if I could find the island as the 3 times 225 horsepower engines propelled us along the water.

When we stepped off the boat, I could feel the excitment in the atmosphere as I grabbed my first 'bucket of booze'. Lots of stalls sold a little sand bucket with a hip flask of spirits, mixer and ice. I went for a red bull and vodka. What a great idea!

We got into the spirit of things by getting tattoos painted on our arms. I was becoming even more patriotic than normal and got the Australian flag on one arm and some crazy design on the other. Walking down the other end of the beach, we came across fire dancers.

It was a decent setup - clean beach, nice temperature, booze, thousands of people ready to party but I wasn't fully getting into the mood like I normally do. I thought to myself that it was mainly because of the company I was with at the time. If only a few good mates could be here to cut loose with me.

We caught the 2nd-to-last boat back to Koh Samui in the early hours and managed one hour sleep at the Bungalow before we had to begin our journey to meet the tour group again.


Return rating: 7

Bangkok, Thailand (26/5/07 - 29/5/07)

I was glad to be arriving into some better weather but nervous about not knowing the language again. However, I'd booked a tour of Thailand with a Thai and English speaking guide. The tour wasn't scheduled to meet until tomorrow, so I just settled into the comfortable hotel, had a swim in the pool and sauna. At night, I ventured onto the streets for some Pad Thai. Although just like pizza in Italy, I believe these dishes taste better in Australia. Maybe it's what I'm used to or maybe we have higher standards. Before hitting the sack, I got a well deserved massage.

The next day was all about meeting the tour group. I was a little disappointed as most of the group had been travelling together in the Northern parts of Thailand for a few weeks. I was out of the loop in a lot of the conversations. Some of the group were a little annoying too, especially a girl from Montreal who thought she was the best thing since sliced bread but ironically was ugly as hell. We had dinner with some of the group while the others went to a seperate dinner to say goodbye to their previous tour leader.

The 1st day of the tour included a trip on a long tail boat, followed by a songtaew (bike taxi) to the Grand Palace. The river stunk and was extremely polluted but the experience in a new form of transport shadowed the negatives. The Grand Palace was what you would expect to see in Thailand and fairly impressive (especially if you were religious). We got to see the famous reclining Buddha. Buddha's everywhere.

Upon returning to the hotel, we prepared for the overnight train journey to Surat Thani - where we would catch the ferry to Koh Samui. The train was comfortable but since it had a mini disco where I could play tunes from my iPod and drink with the group, I didn't spent much time in the cot (the person standing with their back facing is a lady-boy).

Return rating: 5

London, UK (23/5/07 - 25/5/07)

Since Garth had a major project at work to be completed by Friday, I decided to stay with Joel. Coincidently, it was the Champions League final and a London team had made it. Arsenal would ensure that most pubs would be packed for the 7pm kick-off. The Poms sure love their soccer.

With my bags in the corner of the busy pub, we watched the game. I ran into an old friend from my junior tennis days, Andrew Sabitino. Arsenal lost the game and we called it an early night as London was in a bad mood.

The next day, I went back to the Big Ben for another look around. In the evening Joel and I went out for another few drinks.
On the Friday, I organised my bags and prepared to say goodbye to London again. I wouldn't know the next time I'd be back but I was sure I would one day return. I lugged my bags to Edwards and caught up with Dave. He let me put my bags behind the bar while I went off to meet Nick, my manager at the bar when I worked for Edwards. Garth met us for a drink and left for a night out with Gareth. I went back to Edwards feeling somewhat emotional as this sector of the trip had come to an end.

And that's it for Europe - for the second time. I'm fairly content with the travels I've done through Europe and can hold out on another visit until I might appreciate the finer aspects to it's culture... rather than just getting blotto in every country.