A Byootaful Life » Holidays

Our Next Big Adventure

Katie — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 08:08:53 +0000

Things have been pretty quiet around here lately and it’s because I’ve been crazy busy with planning that thing I couldn’t tell you about. I couldn’t tell you because I didn’t want to end up in that awkward situation when your boss finds out you’re quitting your job via your blog, before you have a chance to give notice. Unfortunately, it happened anyway. Not via the blog, because obviously I haven’t written about it, but somehow my boss found out that I was planning on resigning and summoned me to the office to question me. I said yes, I’m leaving, and gave notice the next day. Originally, I was planning on giving three week’s notice (which is what is required) but now they are getting six week’s, because we’re not leaving until early September.

So… I’ve resigned from my job and we’re leaving in September… what is going on??

I can now share with you all, our next big adventure… Phill and I are moving to Canada!

We’re going on a two-year working holiday visa, something we’ve never done before. We’ve done a fair bit of traveling but we’ve never lived and worked overseas, so we’re really excited. We are going over with a bunch of our friends (some of whom have done this before). For our friends, it was their last chance before they hit the cut-off age; for us, it was a chance to get away, try something new and experience living and working in a completely different country, and going with friends was just an added bonus.

Are you wondering about Puddy? I feel terrible leaving her behind and I am going to miss her so much, but she is going to live with our friend’s sister while we are away, so she will be well cared for. Originally, Puddy was going to stay with our friend but she owns a dog and the first meeting didn’t go too well. Well, it went okay, but all it took was for Puddy to make a sudden move and they’d be at each other. I didn’t like seeing Puddy skulking around our friend’s house, obviously nervous and stressed. The stress on Puddy, and the dog, and our friend and her husband would just be too hard, so her staying with our friend’s sister is a happy solution for everyone. Puddy was starting to get confident in our friend’s house, so I think removing the stress of another animal in the house will mean she’ll settle in nicely. When we come back, we’ll take her back – I just couldn’t imagine giving her away permanently!

I’m planning on keeping this blog going while we’re away but it will turn into a travel blog, because obviously there will be no cat to obsess over (sad face). I’m saving up to buy an awesome camera when we leave because I know how beautiful Canada is and I want to be able to take photos that does it justice. It will also be good to have a way of connecting with my family and friends while we’re away. I hope you’ll stay with me and this blog while we’re away – I promise regular posts! It’s just been so hard getting on here and not being able to talk about our plans, but now it’s all out in the open, so I can!

So… exciting? Heck yes!

Scary? YUP!

But exciting. So very exciting!

Butterflies and Doughnuts in Melbourne

Katie — Thu, 27 May 2010 23:39:58 +0000

Yeah, now I’m really getting into the old photos! Remember that weekend Phill and I went to see Jamie Oliver? Well, we also went to the Melbourne Zoo, since everyone told us we absolutely had to go. First off, we stopped at the markets for some fresh jam doughnuts, since we’d heard so much about them. We were told to look out for the van but as you can see, we had no problem finding it, since the queue was halfway down the street!

We could smell the doughnuts as we waited, eagerly anticipating eating them. The line moved quickly since everyone was paying with cash and we were just as quick, grabbing a bag of piping hot doughnuts.

Mmmmmmmmmm so delicious and sugary! That’s Phill’s arm in the background – not sure why it’s there. I remember it took me a few shots to get a non-blurry picture and it was soooo hard not to eat the doughnut! We munched on our doughnuts as we wandered around the market. It was so big and everything was so cheap and fresh (well, until you got to the organic section which, while fresh, was quite expensive). If I lived in Melbourne, I’d travel to the market weekly to buy my fruit, vegetables and meat.

We caught the tram (yay!) to the zoo after a quick lunch at Nando’s, which was across the road from the market. We saw heaps of animals at the zoo, including the cutest little meerkats, but my favourite was the butterfly house. It was amazing – all the beautiful colours in their wings as they fluttered by. A couple landed in my hair and I had to be careful not to take them outside with me when I left. Sadly, I saw quite a lot with damaged wings, although most of them happily fluttered around – reminded me of the key bird in Harry Potter.

This one sat patiently on the railing as I took a few photos – I love how the sun is coming through its wings. When you get close to butterflies you see that their bodies aren’t that cute – in fact, they’re a little ugly – but their wings are beautiful (even the brown ones!).

This little one had pretty badly damaged wings, but I loved the orange against the back and white. I wonder if it hurt it when the wings were ripped. It almost looks like someone took a large bite out of the left one – I wonder how it happened?

This one slowly wandered down the side of the railing as I took photos, cheeky thing.

These two weren’t on top of each other, they both had a leaf to themselves, but I loved the contrast between the bright, clear colours of the top one compared to the duller ones of the bottom one. I didn’t realise there were so many different types of butterflies! I walked through the butterfly house very slowly, paranoid I would stand on one.

See the blur of bright blue? It was amazingly blue – brilliant and gorgeous, and I tried desperately to get a photo, but it refused to land. There were a few of them, all flitting around at the top of the house. I stayed in there for a while, following them with my camera – I didn’t even notice Phill had gone outside and was waiting for me! I never got that photo, the best I got was mid-flight.

It was a really great day at the zoo, seeing the different animals. I didn’t realise it was so big! Hopefully one day we’ll go back to Melbourne and visit the zoo again, since we were only there for half a day and didn’t get to see all the animals.

Jamie Oliver Live, Melbourne

Katie — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 00:09:39 +0000

Last week, Phill and I ventured to Melbourne to see Jamie Oliver’s live show at Hisense Arena. Originally, we were booked to see the Thursday night show, but a week before the show, we were contacted by TickeTek who imformed us that it had been postponed to the Saturday night (we found out later this was due to Jamie attending a funeral). Luckily our flights were booked for Sunday, so we would still be in Melbourne on Saturday night.

We were seated on the floor level on very uncomfortable plastic chairs. I wasn’t very impressed with the chairs – mine was in fact crooked and for the ticket price, I was surprised they hadn’t made more of an effort. We were in the last few rows, but we could see the stage quite well. There were two huge screens on either side of the stage which showed close-ups of Jamie and the food he was cooking, which made it easier to see.

Jamie started off with a bang, cooking a scallop dish while playing the drums. Yes, while. At the same time.

Yes, that’s a stove next to him. At one point he turned the scallops using his drum sticks. When he was finished, he invited an audience member to come up on the stage and try it. As the show started at 6pm, Phill and I hadn’t had dinner before coming, so my mouth was watering with anticipation, but since we were near the back and my feet were blistered from my new shoes (WHY do I buy new shoes to wear out to a special occassion when I know they just make me HURT??) there was no way I’d be able to limp up to the stage, whether I was picked or not.

I didn’t realise Jamie Oliver had so many groupies! I mean, I like him and all, but there were women jumping up and down in front of the stage, screaming like banshees every time he so much as glanced in their direction. After each dish, when Jamie selected his audience members to try his food (mostly from the VIP section in the first few rows), women would rush out from all areas, darting up the stairs to the stage, whether they were invited or not. Jamie light-heartedly commented on the fact that he had called up five people and ended up with twice that on the stage. I briefly wondered what he would do if every person in the audience suddenly swarmed the stage.

It was an entertaining show and it went for about two and a half hours, which was much better than the original estimated duration of one hour fourty-five minutes. Jamie Oliver is a born entertainer, taking everything in his stride, from the 21-year old girl dressed as Minnie Mouse who came up on stage and embarrassed herself to the point of being boo’d by the audience (I actually started to feel sorry for her) and the Italian teacher who corrected his pronounciation of Italian pasta, to the people who rejected the freebies they were being offered and instead requested different things. If I was up there, I’d gladly take anything, but I guess I’m just not that picky.

The highlight of the night for me would have to be the closing dish – lamb curry. Jamie cooked the dish while singing a song which happened to be the recipe. The band “WonderBrass”, who were on the side of the stage throughout the entire show (and very very entertaining), played along. The chorus stuck in my mind:

Lamb curry! You give it to me hot!
Aint no worries when you cook it from the heart!
Lamb curry! You give it to me hot!
Aint no worries when you cook it from the heart!

We went home singing this out loud, giggling as we tried to imitate his accent.

All in all, it was a great night. Jamie is a real entertainer and took everything in his stride, making some delicious dishes and bringing out his fantastic personality. The tickets were a Christmas present from Phill and the whole trip to Melbourne was thoroughly enjoyable.

Tiger Airways Review

Katie — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:24:30 +0000

Last week, from Thursday to Sunday, Phill and I were in sunny Melbourne to see Jamie Oliver’s live show. There will be more about that later – right now, I’d like to use this opportunity to do a quick review of Tiger Airways, since there’s plenty of negative stuff out there, but not a lot of positive (or neutral, I guess). So if you’re planning to fly Tiger Airways, maybe this will help you.

The check-in process at both airports was pretty painless – Melbourne was much busier because there were two or three different flights all queueing up in the same line to check-in. This slowed down the process a bit and Tiger staff decided to open an express lane for the earliest flight, which meant everyone rushed to the express lane, leaving people who had been at the front now at the back – I didn’t think that was very fair. Phill and I were about third from the front in the original queue, so we decided to stay put instead of moving to the express line. I think a better idea would be to have the flights line up in different queues, so at least they are all together and not waiting behind people checking in for much later flights.

The staff were all very friendly and polite. I know it’s a budget airline and the level of customer service was not that of international flights – the staff were human, which means if you became angry at them for whatever reason, I think they would not hesitate to give it right back, rather than remain polite and calm. If you check in early (remember Tiger check-in closes strictly 45 minutes before the flight’s scheduled departure) and ensure your bags are not way over, you’ll be fine.

The planes themselves are really nice because they’re quite new. On the way to Melbourne we were offered emergency exit row seats for free, which of course includes more leg room, but on the way back we were in the normal seats. The room was fine for me – Phill wasn’t as comfortable, but it wasn’t bad enough to complain – it’s nothing different from JetStar or EasyJet. There’s a trolley service, but we bought food at the airport and brought it on, since the selection wasn’t fabulous anyway – mostly nibblies like chips and noodles.

The Airways crew were filming at Melbourne airport when we were leaving and I think we might have made it onto television. They were filming us as we boarded the plane and the camera man actually came onboard to film one of the passengers (I assume she had had an altercation with staff), which meant he was blocking the aisle and preventing people from being able to get to their seats. I was surprised at this because Tiger Airways is all about on-time departures, yet they send camera men onboard which disrupts the boarding and seating process.

So all in all, our Tiger Airways experience was positive. I found them the same as JetStar. Of course, you hear of horror stories where flights are cancelled, but both of our flights went without a hitch – we actually landed 15 minutes early both times! A downside is that there is no easy way to contact customer support. I’ve read about people being on hold for over an hour or being transferred from department to department with no resolution.

I think, to sum up, Tiger Airways is a budget airline which can be very cost-effective, but with all budget airlines, you have to be prepared for anything. Cancellations without warning and delays are apparently quite common with Tiger Airways (and remember they have a no-refund policy), although our two flights with them were fine, arriving early at our destination, with friendly staff and nice planes. The tickets were cheap and our luggage free (we were flying with only 7kgs of hand luggage each), so we paid a lot less for our journey than we would have done with another airline.

Have you flown with Tiger Airways? What was your experience like?

(And no, I am not receiving compensation in any form from Tiger Airways for this review.)

Astronomical Clock, Prague

Katie — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 07:50:23 +0000

Phill: What’s the point of a clock if it doesn’t tell the time?
Me: I’m sure it does … we just can’t figure it out.

The Astronomical Clock in Prague, located in the Old Town Square, is one of those sights that you look at and just don’t get. It’s colourful and interesting and quirky – but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to read the thing!

According to Wiki (yes I am a Wiki addict), the clock is composed of three main components: the astronomical dial, representing the position of the Sun and Moon in the sky and displaying various astronomical details; “The Walk of the Apostles”, a clockwork hourly show of figures of the Apostles and other moving sculptures; and a calendar dial with medallions representing the months. Phew – that’s a lot of things all going on at the same time!

There was a large crowd gathered at the clock, but they weren’t all there for the same reason – we quickly discovered the clock was a popular meeting place for pub crawl groups. We saw four or five groups waiting to go to their next pub, and we were offered flyer after flyer inviting us along. It wasn’t just a meeting place for pub crawls either – Phill was offered drugs by a man who “accidentally” bumped into him and muttered, “Wanna joint?” Phill, of course, declined and we both watched as the man moved on to some teens standing near us. Another bump, another mutter, and the three of them walked off together.

I remember looking at Phill and saying excitedly, “OMG, our first drug dealer!!”

Yes, it’s small things that amuse me.

Anyway, back to the clock. It was pretty impressive and we spent a while there trying to figure it out (but with no luck). The clock itself is mounted on the Old Town City Hall and it’s possible to climb to the top to get a birds-eye view of the Old Town Square, so we did that. There was a religious concert(?) being held in the square. I’m not sure which religion it was, but it was quite popular. You can see the yellow shrine in the photo and the stage is to the left, where there was singing and music.

It was very crowded at the top of the hall and very windy too. The walkways around the top are very narrow, so we had to keep squeezing to one side to let people pass. After ten minutes or so, we decided to go back down and look at the clock one last time.

We still couldn’t figure out what time it was, but it was definitely interesting!

Dancing House, Prague

Katie — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 04:19:08 +0000

There was one very famous building in Prague that Phill and I wanted to see – the Dancing House, nicknamed “Fred and Ginger” after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, because the building, when viewed from a particular angle, resembles a pair of dancers.

Isn’t it beautiful in a strange way? The buildings in Prague were so interesting – at times it felt like we were standing in completely different centuries just blocks away from each other. Fred and Ginger are situated on the end of the building, as you can see in this next photo, so to see the “dancing building”, you need to go to the end and view it from this angle. I remember seeing the building and thinking that I couldn’t see the dancers at all, then we came to the end and turned around – and I saw it immediately.

The top floor is the fancy Celeste Restaurant, which has stunning views of Prague. Unfortunately we didn’t make it up there to eat, as much as that would have been an experience! We crossed the road and headed out onto the bridge, snapping photos like crazy tourists. I love being a crazy tourist sometimes, taking millions of photos of buildings and food and plants and animals. Nobody is going to roll their eyes and say you’re taking too many photos – you’re supposed to!

I love this photo because it shows the contrast in the style of the buildings – in just one photo, you’ve got such a range of design and colour! It was seriously amazing. At this point I was a little addicted to the Dancing House and Phill had to tear me away from taking more photos. I just wanted to make sure I had the shots I wanted, since I wouldn’t get another opportunity to photograph it in a while.

The Dancing House is on the banks of the Vltava River, which is the longest river in the Czech Republic.

Some of our best lunches were simple store-bought food, eaten while perched on the wall running along the river, watching the boats go by. We actually walked along the river one day for hours – it was very beautiful but very long too and by the end of it, we were absolutely exhausted!

I know it’s been a while since we returned from our EuroTrip, but Terri’s comment reminded me that I’ve been very slack in posting about it, so I’ve finally got my act together and started writing up some posts. I’ve only done one so far and already it’s bringing back fantastic memories of our trip! I’m excited about sharing our experiences overseas and I hope you enjoy reading about it.

The Beauty of Nature

Katie — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 06:26:12 +0000

I love flowers – I think they are absolutely beautiful and whenever I see them on other blogs I get insanely jealous because the most I’ve ever managed to grow in my garden is weeds and a cactus, which is why I was surprised when I found this beauty peeking out from the overgrown grass:

When we were in Bali, we saw beautiful flowers everywhere – mostly frangipanis. Apparently there is a disease in Bali so their frangipanis don’t bloom, but in Lombok they didn’t have the disease, so all their flowers were gorgeous. I tried to take some close-ups to take home with us because I thought it might be nice to get them blown up and framed, to go on the wall. There’s something extra special about photographs if you took them yourself.

I love how the water is speckled on the petals and it pools in the bottom photo. We got some really heavy downpours while in Lombok – it started suddenly and absolutely poured down, then would stop without warning. Very cool, but also too unpredictable! A couple times we’d put off leaving the house only to be relieved when it started raining minutes later, which would have meant we would have been caught in the rain with no umbrella!

This is my favourite “ugly” flower. I think it’s not typically pretty because of all the short, stubby petals happening there, but they curl out softly, forming little points. The bees were active in these flowers – only taking a break when the rain started.

Orchids are beautiful flowers and also a little strange-looking to me. I loved these white ones, with their hints of purple and yellow – so pretty. It makes me wish I had a green thumb, so my garden could always have beautiful flowers, but in this Australian heat, I think you’ve got to really know what you’re doing or your plants don’t survive.

Yes, there will be Puddy posts coming up – she’s been a bit neglected on here for a while!

Back on Aussie Soil

Katie — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:47:19 +0000

Phill and I returned home yesterday morning (Australia Day, how appropriate) at 4am. We were originally due to land at 11pm Monday night, but our plane was delayed two hours due to late arrival, which meant we landed at about 1:15am. Getting through customs in Australia was a huge process, taking about an hour (don’t get me started on their system which involves everyone declaring things to line up in one huge queue to get their bags searched by customs officers) and then we had about another hour and a half driving home. We were so tired we simply stumbed into bed … and I awoke at 7:30am with Puddy wrapped around my leg.

So where were we?

Bali!

I’d never been to Bali before but Phill has been many times growing up, so he loved seeing things that brought back memories. We did lots of shopping and bartering and of course, visited some of the local pubs to watch the cricket with a nice cold Bintang. We rode elephants (they are surprisingly uncomfortable!) and went on a Bali Hai cruise (I couldn’t stop humming the song the whole time) and did a lot of relaxing and swimming.

We are still pretty tired and today begins the process of a million loads of laundry, mowing the overgrown lawn, catching up on bills and credit card payments, cleaning the house and, of course, entertaining Puddy who is now outside and hasn’t seemed to have missed us at all! She followed us around last night because we’d come home in the early hours of the morning, then left again for an Australia Day BBQ at the beach with our friends, so perhaps she was worried we would disappear again if she let us out of her sight!

Anyway, I have a lot of housework to do before heading into work, but I thought I’d jump on and say hi.

Where in the World is Kate?

Katie — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:49:18 +0000

I’ll give you some hints:

1. It involved a plane trip, but didn’t take as long as our trip to England.
2. I’ve seen monkeys and puffer fish, and tomorrow I’m going to see (and have a ride on) elephants.
3. I’ve been trying my hand at bartering… but I’m not very good!
4. Everything is so cheap, not like when we went to Japan in January 2009, so I am trying to buy lots of things!
5. The salesmen are very eager and sometimes get annoying, but it’s definitely an experience!

Any guesses?

Puddy is being housesat at our home by my brother, since I think she would prefer to be in familiar surroundings. I’m missing her heaps, especially missing her curling up with us at night, but it won’t be too long before we are back again.

So that is why it’s pretty quiet around here! I thought I would just pop on while I had Internet access and say G’day..

New Year’s Resolutions

Katie — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 03:37:20 +0000

I don’t generally make New Year’s Resolutions. I never made them growing up so I guess I just didn’t get into the habit, but this year I found myself thinking about possible resolutions – things I wanted to do or change about myself that would benefit from having a definite start-date. I came up with a handful of things but quickly realised they all had a common theme that could be narrowed down to one resolution: to take care of myself.

I don’t take a lot of time for myself – I don’t buy new clothes, instead choosing to wear the same clothes until they become too worn out or too small and only then buying a couple replacement items as cheaply as possible. I don’t look after my hair or my fingernails the way I should because I can’t justify spending the money on myself. I don’t eat as well as I should and I certainly don’t exercise as well as I should. I don’t take some time out to read a book, or have a bubble bath, or listen to music – I’m constantly doing things; things that don’t allow me to relax, take a deep breath and tune out.

So this year, I am focusing on me. I am going to grow my fingernails and keep them long. I normally get little fingernails then for some reason, chew them off, then eventually – months later – grow them again – and I’m sick of it! I’m 24 years old. I should be able to grow my fingernails and keep them long – it’s hardly rocket science. I’m sick of not being able to wear nail polish and having to hide my fingernails when pointing out things or holding a drink.

I am going to buy new clothes as I need them. I’m going to exercise every day by going for a jog or walk and I am going to concentrate on eating smaller potions of healthier food. I’m going to take care of my hair and have it regularly trimmed. I am going to brush it every morning and not just throw it back in a messy bun like I normally do.

Once a week I am going to have “me-time” where I read a book or listen to music or take a bath, using the time to relax and de-stress. No television, no laptop, no iPhone. Just me, myself and I.

I’m not scared of my resolution to take care of myself – in fact, I’m excited about it. I feel a bit like I’m being selfish – but then I remember that most women do these things already on a daily basis! Positivity, love, care and optimism – things that aren’t very familiar to me – will flow. That’s the plan anyway. In addition to looking after myself physically, I will be looking after myself financially. I’ll be saving more seriously this year and ensuring my credit card is kept paid off.

What about your resolutions? Did you set any this year?