"Procrastinate now, don’t put it off." - Ellen Degeneres

So I am sitting in the Bio Science Library and I am supposed to be writing a response paper that is due tomorrow and I just cant bring myself to do it. I am super tired and bored. It will get done thought, no worries.

Anyways, these past couple weeks have been pretty laid back. I did do some exploring around Brisbane with Ashley the other day. We went to the Botanical Gardens, explored the Queensland University of Technology campus (where I got a really good iced coffee) and walked around the docks and trails surrounding the city. It was really fun and relaxing. I have pictures but I haven't uploaded them to my computer yet.

Other than that fun filled day, I haven't done much else. School is winding down with less than a month of classes left...then its one week off and the start of finals! I only have three finals. One is on the 12th, ones on the 15th and the last on the 23rd. I leave Australia 3 days later. I can't believe I have a little over a month left here in this amazing country/continent/island. hah. Time went by way to fast and I feel like I am not ready to leave. I have so much more to see and do! I will definitely come back to Australia though...someday.

But, lets see whats to come in the next coming weeks?
Well...TOMORROW IS MY BIRTHDAY!!! (well in Australia at least.) This will be the longest birthday of my life and I am so excited to be 21 :). Next week, SISTER COMES TO AUSTRALIA!!! yaaaaaay HILARY! :) :) :) I am so excited to see her and her friends and to show them around my super cool city! Thennnnnn I got to the AUSTRALIA ZOO! on a field trip! We are supposed to get backstage access which should be a cool experience...maybe I will meet Bindi! Thats it for May though.

I am looking at flights to see if I can find something cheap and travel to one more place before finals start. Maybe Melbourne, Darwin or Ularu? I dunno we will see.


Later mates,
Melissa

PS Congrats to Beth and Matt on their Wedding!

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I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my Squishy. - Finding Nemo

So a couple weeks ago I went to Sydney for ANZAC weekend (which stands for Australia, New Zealand Army Corps)...basically its like out veterans day. My flight was Thursday night and I flew Virgin airlines which was totally cool because they had TV screens for every seat! Although, you had to pay after like 20 minutes of watching...whomp. So Ashley, Kelly and I arrived late at night and headed to our hostel, The Woodduck Inn. Man, was it nice there...complete with cockroaches and all! The room we stayed in was sketchy too and smelled like an old smelly man. Granted the three of us and our friends we met up with that were also staying there decided that these accommodations were not up to par.

Somehow, we started talking about hotels and with my brilliant mind I brought up points...low and behold our friends Kyle and Colleen's parents had tons of points for Marriot and they let us use them. We got 3 rooms for 3 nights in a Marriot about a 20 minute train ride outside of Sydney! AMAAAZZZZIIINNNNG! I am forever thankful :) haha. So the next morning we packed up all our stuff and high tailed it out of that disgusting hostel to heaven. The hotel room was beautiful...I could have cried. There was a clean bathroom. A comfy bed. A TV. I could have stayed there forever....but, it was off back into the city to explore.

Our first full day was spent on a hop on hop off bus tour (the double decker buses). It was a really good way to see all the sites around the city. We decided to stay on the bus for the full 90 minutes to see where we would want to go the next day (our ticket was valid for 24 hours). After the tour, we headed back to the hotel to get ready to go out the night. For dinner our group of 12 ventured across the street from the Marriot to a little strip of restaurants. I got Thai. It was AMAZING! I got fried rice with chicken and while it sounds simple, it was just the best thing that has ever touched my taste buds...well almost. It was like Doc Cheys (a restaurant in atlanta) had had a restaurant baby....it was just fate I would find jasmine rice with chicken (my favorite at doc cheys) reincarnated. heaven.

So that night we took the train into the city and headed to Minus 5, Sydney's Ice Bar. It was soooo cool! This was my first time at an ice bar and I would love to go back! It as a brisk 32 degrees F and it reminded me of Chicago..except without the wind which was nice. Inside the bar it was really cool, there were ice sculptures of Sydney landmarks, carvings in the walls and a big ice throne and car! We headed back to the hotel for an early night in. The next morning we went back into the city and got on the tour bus. Our first stop was t a market in Kings Cross where I got a really good breakfast sandwich that I shared with Ashley! YUM! Then it was to the OPERA HOUSE! My friends and I stayed there for over an hour just taking pictures and staring in awe at the opera house and harbor bridge. After that, we got back on the bus and headed to Darling Harbor (where Nemo was found)...my favorite place in Sydney. It looks just like the Inner Harbor and I loved loved loved it! Everything in Sydney ended up reminding me of home :) We headed back to Darling Harbor that night for a good italian dinner with all of our friends who happened to be in Sydney that weekend. I split Spagetti with meat sauce with my friend Megan...yum. It turns out there were fireworks that night for some reason! I LOVE FIREWORKS! that is all. After dinner we headed to what was supposed to be a karaoke bar, The Scary Canary, however, Karaoke had been canceled that night :( Soooo we went back to the hotel and watched TV hah.

Our third day, a group of us headed back to Darling Harbor (can you tell we liked it there?) and went to the Sydney Aquarium! FUN FUN FUN! I saw dugongs and sharks and rays and fishies and nemos and dories and sea horses and starfish! Lovessss it! We took a break halfway through the exhibits and went to lunch at this really yummy cheap place that had the best cheeseburgers I have had all my time in Australia. I also got a cider woo! After our delicious lunch we headed back into the aquarium to to the last few exhibits and then it was back to the food. We went to Lindt Chocolate. Ohhhh boy. I got a Chocolate Lava Cake and a chocolate milkshake. Can you say chocolate overload? Never again people. Never again. Just no. Too much. But sooooo good! Now weighing 15 pounds more than we did at the start of my trip, we headed back to the hotel for a fun night in...watching TV and eating more Thai friend rice :) :) :)

The next day was ANZAC day so Ashley, Kelly, Julie and I went into the city to watch the parade. This parade had been going on since 8am....we got there at 11am and stayed until about 1pm....and it was STILL GOING! I love parades! It was so cool to see how much pride Australians have for their troops. Every battalion, going back to WWI had their own flag, with veterans marching. There were marching bands and bagpipes too! I loved experiencing yet another thing that was truly Australian.

That night Ashley and I headed back to the airport to catch our flight home from an Amazing trip and probably my favorite trip I have taken my whole time in Australia. I really love Sydney and it has definitely become one of my favorite cities. I hope to go back someday!

In the words of Crush from finding Nemo,
Later dudes.


-Melissa


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Fiji Part 2:

Sorry this is so delayed...I have not been doing very well updating this past month. I have so many papers and projects due this coming week....BUUUUT here is an update about the rest of my Fiji vacation.

So the second day my friends Ashley, Kelly and I decided to skip the rainforest walk, mainly because we have been in a rainforest every other day of our lives here for a field trip for school or fun day trips. Rainforests are great and rare and amazing to see, but I have definitely had my fair share. Anyways so instead of taking that trek we were dropped off at our second hostel, The Uprising Resort and had a relaxing day there laying out in the sun and getting my very first massage. Now I know massages are supposed to be relaxing but I found it more of an awkward experience haha...this might have to do with the fact that I am freakishly ticklish and I just could not stop squirming. It got to the point where I had to ask for the woman to just massage my back instead of going through with the full body massage. Little did I know that asking for a back massage included the entire backside of my body... strange. But I didnt have any knots in my back after that, which was very nice. The rest of the group came back around lunch time and after that we had a coconut carnival where we learned all the functions a coconut is used for in villages. We had free time until dinner and then after dinner there was a huge bon fire on the beach...it was really nice and relaxing. That night I slept in a huge "tree house" with 27 other people. Fun. Although I actually slept pretty well. All about the experience I guess.

The third day of the Feejee experience was spent driving through Suva, the capital of Fiji. We stopped at the presidents house and took pictures with the guard. We drove through all the embassies and saw many other houses of government. After that we stopped in a small town to buy some school supplies we would later give to the children at the school we were visiting. We got back on the bus and made the long drive to a village where we would be having a traditional kava ceremony. It was a really beautiful and peaceful experience. I loved hearing the native language and seeing traditions being practiced that have been in use for hundreds of years. I tasted kava for the first time here...it basically tasted like dirty water and then numbed my tongue for a few minutes. After the ceremony the girls and guys split up...the guys had a discussion and the girls made bracelets out of bandanna leaves. I bought my bracelet I made for 2 Fijian dollars :-)After the villlage we went to visit the school. The school was made up of three classes. There was the preschool, 2nd and 3rd graders and then 4th and 5th graders. The kids were adorable and sang us songs and danced. It was a really special experience. I love visiting kids, it reminded me of Israel when I went to an absorption center. Activities like these always seem to be my favorite parts of the trip. Our final stop of the day was going Volli Volli rafting down a river. You are basically just sitting on large bamboo like sticks that are tied together with a rope. It was really fun floating down the river, however we had to walk back instead of floating back on the rafts because the current was too strong. It was fun though and makes for a good story and memory.

That night we stayed at the nicest hostel EVER! The Volli Volli Beach resort. It was BEAUTIFUL! The views were amazing and the rooms were very nice. I had an "american burger" for dinner that night which was so so good. Our Volli Volli beach resort organizer Sasha (or Sasha Fierce as we like to call him) organized all these games for us to play and contests. All in all it was a really fun night. That morning Ashley, Kelly and I woke up super early to see the sun rise. AMAZING! There were so many colors in the sky, I will never forget that.

Our last day, we had lunch at an Indian restaurant where I had chicken curry. I am usually not a fan of Indian food, but I actually liked it! That was surprising. After that, we headed to the mud pools and hot springs and then it was time for our long drive back to Nadi where we would have a final good-bye dinner complete with a traditional Fijian meal and fire dancing!

All in all Fiji was an amazing trip and I learned so much about the culture, the country and the people. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget.
BULA!


-Melissa

Fiji Day One:

Ok, so I have been bad about updating, but in my defense I have been super busy and it sucks. :( Too much work in this pretty place. Anyways, I have a little break so I will take this time to update you on my travels in Fiji...I will try and make it semi short. :)

My adventure started bright and early taking the train from South Bank to the airport for my 11:45 flight. It was Easter Sunday the day my friends and I flew out and to our surprise the Easter bunny was at the airport! He gave us little chocolate eggs...so that was a good start to a terrific day! We boarded our flight (Air Pacific...which has to be my new favorite airline) and to our surprise we were fed a full meal for a 4 hour flight! It was really good too...my favorite part was the chocolate cake YUM! We were also privileged to watch my new favorite movie....Alvin and the Chipmunks...juuuuust kidding! So the flight was nice and we landed around dinner time. We got pick up from the airport and got dropped off at our hostel for the night, The Nadi (pronounced naandee) Bay Resort. It was really nice there we had a nice dinner and I had my first tropical drink...a mai thai. After that, we got situated in our room, showered, covered ourselves in bug spray and then headed down for movie night at the hostel. The movie that night was Avatar. I LOVED IT! It was so good, I totally got sucked into it and now I understand what all the fuss was about. Good, good movie!

Ok, so the next morning after a light breakfast we got picked up by the FeeJee Experience bus and started our journey. Our first stop was to the Nandi Town Markets, that are usually buzzing, however, it was Easter monday and being a relatively religious country, most shops were closed. We did get to walk around into a few shops though. I bought a sulu or sarong as it is commonly known for all the village visits we would make. It is white with blue flowers on it. We also walked around a grocery store where I bought Fiji brand water (you know the water with the pretty bottle) for $2.20 Fijian Dollars...that is $1USD. AMAZING! I also got some pringles.

So, once we hopped back on the bus we headed off to Natondola beach, which many locals say is the most beautiful beach on Viti Levu (the biggest Fijian island where I was)...it is also included as one of the top 25 beaches in the world! It really was beautiful. The water was sooo blue and you could see sections of reef. I laid out for a while, hung out in the water for a little bit and then our tour guide and driver cooked us up a bbq lunch. I had some chicken, cucumber salad and bean salad. It was really good. There was also a family selling bracelets so I bought one from a 12 year old boy...its leather and has a shark tooth on it.

After that fun filled adventure we drove to a village, where I first experienced the poverty this country lives with. It was really humbling and honestly sad to see the living conditions. The houses looked so broken down, most were just one large room with a mattress in the corner. Roofs were broken and siding was cracked. The church window panels were breaking off the structure. However, as disheveled as the village may have looked, the people were so content and happy with what they had. It really made me think about my life and everyone I know at home. How we have so much, yet we are all still unhappy and are always wanting more. These people have nothing and are some of the nicest, most friendly, joyful people I have ever met.

Enough of being cheeeeeesy hah, so after getting a tour of the village, we entered into a house where we learned about the tradition of Kava ceremonies. Kava is a root that is ground up and mixed with water in order to make a drink that takes the place of alcohol, since alcohol is banned in villages. The Kava has a numbing effect though, and after one cup, your tongue goes numb for a few minutes, its a very interesting experience. Some of the kids that lived in the village followed us around and OH MY GOSH were they cuuuuute! So happy and giggly.

Right after we left the village we took a two hour drive to the sand dunes where we went sand boarding! That was really fun! The dune was so steep, the pictures dont do it justice. It was really scary going head first on a boogie board down a giant sand dune but I was able to slow down by digging my feet in the sand...its all about the technique.


Finally the day was over and we headed to our first hostel, Mango Bay Resort.We hung out a little that night with all the new people we had met on our bus and then went to sleep in our bunks. As you can see, day one was VERY busy but sooo much fun!

Stay tuned for the next entry with day two, three and maybe four? I dunno we will seeeeee.


BULA! (fijian for hello, healthy, bless you, basically everything!),
Melissa

PS DONT FORGET TO LOOK AT MY PICS ON: http://picasaweb.google.com/fishymishi
AND DONT FORGET TO COMMENT!

I am lazy.

Hello readers,

So, technically I am still on Easter break and I just can't bring myself to update my blog yet (or do any work for that matter)...there is just so much to write about Fiji and well...I am lazy. SOOOO don't you worry, I will update about my trip soon but to tide you over until then here are some of my pictures that I took:

http://picasaweb.google.com/fishymishi


Love,
Melissa

A Video!

Here is a video of everything I have seen and done so far in Oz!





To see a larger version of this vid follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sePxaENR2aI&feature=player_embedded

Well, be back in 5 days! FIJI TOMORROW!!!

-Melissa

"I'm an Alasaurous my name is Keith..."

So it's been a while. For the past five days I was on a field trip on Fraser Island...the biggest sand island in the world. It was so much fun! During the day we did field work on the dunes, sclorophyll forests and rainforests. The field work was somewhat fun, but there were so many mozzies (mosquitos) that everyone just felt rushed to get their work done so you wouldn't be eaten alive. So therefore, I have soooo many mozzie bites all over :( they have stopped itching for the most part but still...whomp.

Being a sand Island, the only way to get around is in 4WD cars, which is a real crazy experience. It is so bumpy! Imagine riding in a wooden roller coaster everywhere you went. yeah. hah. but its FUN! We had a couple close calls but all is well haha. We also frequently saw Dingos, the native wild dog...ever heard "the dingo ate my baby?" yup I saw those cuties.

Anyways, in the afternoons, all of our tutors took us on mini adventures to different freshwater lakes throughout the island. We went to Lake Mackenzie , which is completely crystal clear...its like bath water. We went to Eli Creek, which was like a mini lazy river, Lake Wabby and Lake Boomajin. Everything was so beautiful, restine and undisturbed...it was a really great experience.
I also saw a ship wreck one day that has been on the beach for decades (it was a Japanese trade ship I believe). One day we also went to a huge sand dune where we went sand dune jumping. If you are asking yourself what is that? Just watch this:



So now I am back in Brisbane and I have only a couple days to relax until FIJI! I leave Sunday and come back on Thursday! I am so so so so so so soooooo excited! never in my life would I have thought I would be going there of all places! Hopefully it will be an amazing experience and i will get lots of cool gifts :) (our money is worth double there!)

This is a pretty short entry but I am tired so I think it's time for a nap.

Happy Passover to all my jews!

Later,
Melis