Friday 30 April 2004

Week 62, Day 399

Woah! This feels foreign. Three weeks since I last wrote and yes, you guessed it, tonnes has happened. It is annoying that I don't have constant access to the net because when I do get on I have to back track so much, it strains my brain. Let's see how well I do now...

WEEK BEFORE I LEFT FOR OZ

This had to be one of my toughest weeks yet. Working 10 days straight with no day off took its toll on me. It was just the way my days off landed, but it is draining, esp because it was the Easter weekend and we were quite busy on the Monday (understatement of the year!). I did manage to find time to go to the music quiz at the Cockpit with Alex and his friend Steve, and Steve's girlfriend Becky. We scored a reasonable 29.5/40 but failed to win any prizes for it. Bummer.

Friday night, Alex and I went to see a band at the Cockpit - The Duke Spirit. Fronted by the rockiest rock chick I've seen in a while, they weren't bad. Seriously though, she completed them perfectly. Looking around the girls all wished they were her and the boys stared drooling. Nice to see a female lead in a proper rock band. Alex and I ended up staying for Session (Indie night) after the gig. We were sitting at a table and the guy on the other side kept knocking the table and managed to spill Alex's beer all down my front. We moved to the other room, but while we were standing, someone stole our drinks. We took that as a sign to leave!

Saturday was difficult to get through at work. I was so tired but luckily Andy was working with me so I got stuck in the cooking area helping out as we were one short. That night, met up with Alex for dinner at a chinese restaurant and then went to Mojo's where Steve and his mate, another Alex, met up with us. A few more drinks in (and some great songs later, including the Bluetones), it was time to go. I got 3 hours sleep before waking up to get to Leeds train station for my 4:40am train.

IN OZ - THE TRIP

Remind me never to be so damned tired before a 30hour flight. I thought I would just sleep all the way but I forgot about the whole transit part at Heathrow. As there was a delay with the flight (there always is) I ended up waiting about 5 hours inbetween my flight and fell asleep in the waiting lounge. The flight from London to Sydney wasn't too bad. I watched "Under the Tuscan Sun" and "Something's Gotta Give" which were enough to keep me entertained, and slept the majority of the time - except for when the Norwegians next to me kept waking me up to get to the bathroom or walk around.

IN OZ - WEEK 1, SYDNEY

Definitely didn't have enough time to fit everything in so I have a few apologies to make to those I never got to see. Basically, every day spent in Sydney was spent meeting up with someone, only to rush off somewhere else. I did suffer from jet lag big time, so the first morning I woke up at 4:030am. Finally giving up by 5:30am, I got up and sorted out all my boxes of stuff into "sending to Leeds", "keeping at my parents'" and "rubbish". Did meet up with Jules that night for gelato, and so began my daily eating ritual.

Wednesday night I met up with Bron at the launch of an Aussie music website on Nine MSN. It was a pleasant surprise to see Eskimo Joe playing a few tracks there. Also ran into a guy called Alex who used to work with Jules at IMAX what seems a lifetime ago. The reason I recognised him after all these years is that after discovering he was a Radiohead fan, I asked him to help me out on my college project at the time, which was recording a song. He sang on Fake Plastic Trees. So it was rather bizarre seeing him and discovering he had been working with my old boss Santi at NW. Got to hang out with Bron, Santi and Ben - just like the old days hey?!

Went to my favourite hairdressers, FMK, with my sister and Jules, and realised that next time I have to find a hairdresser in the UK which scares me. It's hard to find a decent hairdresser, and just after I find one, it's time to find another. Hmmm. Anyhoo, got a bit of a chop (not much) and felt better for it. Was meant to go out that evening to Loaded, but never made it.

Friday I had Yum Cha with Dave. Ah, Yum Cha!! One of the many culinary delights I miss out on living in Leeds. We walked around through Darling Harbour before heading to Kings Cross so I could briefly say hello to Rach, and Tom who had also come out to Sydney for a visit. Headed home, and stopped at Gelato Messina on Victoria st and porked out on one of the best flavours I've ever had - Cocount & Lychee!

RADIOHEAD - Friday night met up with Bron and friends for the Radiohead gig at the Sydney Entertainment Center. I knew it was gonna be a big night, but little did I know it was going to be THE night for me. Arriving not long before they got on stage - and after hearing Bron's details of her interview with Jonny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Bron and I searched for those we knew were there. I managed to wave to Nikki but didn't see Jason, Joel or Damian out there.

Needless to say, the gig was brilliant. It was better than the Manchester gig - I don't know if that's because they seemed a lot happier to be there (it had been 6 years since their last tour) or because I was back home and with my fellow RH fanatics watching one of the best gigs of my life.

Highlights of the evening included Thom's dancing through most tracks, Thom's camera antics during "You & Whose Army", being on Ed's side this time and having a better view to check him out, laughing at Colin's dorky bopping, realising just how good a drummer Phil is, wondering how many mistakes Jonny would make that night, hearing "Planet Telex" and "Exit Music" and giggling with Bron over the jokes we were making about how they still look like a student rock band. But what really made my night happened in the first encore. I knew they'd play "Idioteque" - Bron and I eagerly awaited it as we are both fond of the song and always requested it at indie clubs. So I wasn't surprised when that came on. Ten minutes prior when Bron had expressed her hope that they would play it, I commented that the only song I wanted to hear they'd never play. Then, when "Idioteque" was over, Jonny was playing one note on the keyboard and I was like, "No! No, it can't be". It seemed to go on forever until Thom began with the guitar and I knew this was my moment, so naturally I screamed, "Oh my god! I've waited so long for this!" and the girl in front of me turns around and says, also almost in tears, "Me too!". What a Radiohead moment! The song in question was "How to disappear completely", one of the most perfect songs ever. I was in heaven. It did feel like they played it for me, and even though I know they didn't, I'm still vouching they did ;) Yes, I cried and it was worth every tear.

The songlist for the evening was as follows:
There, There
2+2=5
Myxamatosis
Morning Bell
Kid A
My Iron Lung
Backdrifts
The Pyramid Song
I Might Be Wrong
Go To Sleep
Where I End and You Begin
You & Whose Army
Climbing Up The Walls
National Anthem
Exit Music (For A Film)
Paranoid Android
Sit Down, Stand Up

(encore 1)
Planet Telex
Sail To The Moon
Idioteque
How To Disappear Completely

(encore 2) Karma Police
Everything In Its Right Place

IN OZ - END OF WEEK 1

After the gig I managed to run into Joel who I hadn't seen for over 2 years. Also said hello to Damian who had to dash off again. And then I headed off to Kings Cross to meet up with Santi and the others who were having drinks for his birthday. Hotel William was the destination and of course everyone was rather happy by the time we got there. Was great catching up with Mark and Scotty again. Was sad to hear that Mark has to leave Australia after 3 and a half years. No sponsorship to be found so they're kicking him out :( But I'll get to see him in Ol' Blighty soon enough instead.

Bron, Mark, Chris (Bron's friend) and I headed up to Moulin Rouge, only to find that we had to wait in line to get in. It was really bizarre in that line, watching the weirdos pass and some crazy things happened. Very surreal, but amusing. After what seemed ages, I decided I was going to go home so walked to Taylor Square to get my bus.

Saturday I met up with Damian for some good old-fashioned CD shopping. Managed to swap some old cds at Red Eye Records and buy some stuff I actually wanted, including the Mansun vinyl of "Skin Up Pin Up" that Damian had previously told me he found there. How weird! Just when I thought I had collected everything I could on that band. We then headed to Glebe where there was a record fair. Unfortunately, we only grabbed the last hour of it but there were still some worthy purchases so not all was lost.

That night, Nikki, Pearl and I went for Thai in Randwick. I had a lovely time rememiscing and laughing at what a dag I really am. Johanna, if you're reading this, email me will you!? Pearl and I want to know what you're up to these days!

Sunday is always family day, and this was no exception. Everyone came over - even my brother Vic! We were joined by my cousins Melinda and Natalie who I haven't seen in quite a while so it was also brilliant catching up with them. Especially discussing the fact that Melinda wants to go to the UK so hopefully I've convinced her to come over with me next time I visit Oz. Ate way too much that day, as always happens on such Sundays, but it's always worth it. Seeing the fam again is always fun. Actually, the funniest was that we took a picture of us five kids since we're hardly ever all together in the one room. There's a picture of us on the wall, taken when Nicole was still a baby, so we recreated the photo - will have to put that one up on the net!

Monday was a public holiday and Bron had suggested we organise a picnic since the weather had been so nice. So that is what we did. Some of Bron's mates came along, as did her boyfriend Chris and his friends. Jules, Nicole, Nikki, Dave & Tom came on my behalf. I was stoked to see Carolyn and Leo there too - both of whom I hadn't seen in a while either. And once more, ate WAY too much. Do I detect a pattern here?

IN OZ - MELBOURNE, WEEK 2

Monday night I flew down to Melbourne. Cushla and Mel picked me up from the station, and it felt as if I had never left. As I didn't get to see the two of them on my last visit, I was very excited about being down there. It's also comforting to know that things never change with friends and that so much time can go by, but we still have a brilliant time when we meet up.

Tuesday I met up with Damian and we did the CD shop crawl around Melbourne, even heading over to Prahran. As funds were limited on my account, I only bought one CD that day. The highlight though was walking down Lonsdale St when I spotted Radiohead's Phil Selway carrying two David Jones bags and heading straight for us. I pointed him out to Damian but by then Phil walked straight past us. When I asked if we should talk to him, we decided against it and kept on walking. Aren't we just the tamest Radiohead fans you've ever known? We met Cushla and Mel at Transport bar at Federation Square before heading off to the last Radiohead gig. However, it was the gig that never happened. We get there and everything is so quiet and desserted. That's when I knew that the rumours that it was cancelled were true. And yes, at 1pm that day, they had announced that Thom was too ill to sing so the band had to cancel. I could have been devastated, and in part I was (still am) but I was lucky enough to see them once already in Oz and felt for those who didn't get to see them at all. As I got a refund on my tickets, it also meant I actually had money to spend in Melbourne which was nice. I consoled myself and bought RH badges, and then met up with Mel and Cushla for a pork fest of chips and ice-cream.

Wednesday saw Mel chuck a sickie and Cushla had already taken the day off so we headed down to St Kilda for another day of food and shopping. It was a really lovely day in Melbourne and I think this was one of the best days of my holiday in Oz. I don't get to do the girly thing much in Leeds because, well, I don't have many girly friends there do I? So I think I more than made up for it with the time spent in Melbourne. We started at La Porchetta (how appropriate), visited the stores on Acland St (I bought an Astroboy bag, among other items), bought a cake from one of the gorgeous cake stores there, and then feasted on gelato (this time White Chocolate, Plum and Pink Grapefruit flavours) before walking up to the Prince Hotel and sitting outside for a drink. We were going to head to Brunswick st in Fitzroy but got lazy and went to check out the cute bar guy at their local, the Spready (Spread Eagle), got some fish & chips and then headed home for a night of Australian comedy TV. What a perfect day!

Yesterday things came to a close. Said my goodbyes to the girls, bought a few cds and dvds before catching my plane back to Sydney. Packed my bag. Went for dinner with mum, dad, Nicole and Jules. Nikki joined us at the end, and she, Jules and I went to Bondi Beach to meet up with Rob. We had Pompeii's gelato (pistacchio, blood orange and Raffaello!) and did a bit of catching up. I went to see Bron afterwards to say my goodbyes, but of course we got caught chatting for hours and didn't get home until after 1am :)

So it's Friday morning now. I leave this afternoon. Still have to do stupid things like close bank accounts. It all feels surreal being back here. In a way it's like I never left. In another it feels like a year is going to be too long not to visit my hometown. At least I've had a great time. And really, I have. Being away from everyone you do learn to appreciate what you have, and the friendships in Oz are really hard to let go of because they're hard to come by anywhere else. I will miss Sydney.

Top 10 this week:

1. Radiohead - need I say more.
2. Family & Friends - Because they're always there when you need them.
3. Gelato - How I miss the stuff. I think there were only two days that I didn't eat it during my stay. Sad I know, but it rocks!
4. Sushi - Another culinary delight I miss so much and ate a lot of while in Oz. Good Sushi is hard to come by but Sydney has so many good places these days.
5. Shopping - I can always justify spending money when on holidays. Just not looking forward to credit card bills when I get back.
6. Seeing Old Friends - Thanks to the following people for making my trip memorable, yet again: Jules, Nikki, Bron, Mel, Cushla, Damian, Dave, Rach, Pearl, Melinda, Carolyn, Scotty, Mark, Santi and Joel.
7. Apologies - I'm sorry to those I didn't get to catch up with. I want you to know you were all in my thoughts: The Mallets, The Bortons, Jason, Cassie, Belinda, Consi, Sarah and Stephen. I hope I get to catch up with you the next time!
8. Summer - I can't wait for the sun, no matter how short its life is in the UK. The weather has been supurb during my whole trip so I feel very lucky that the weather held up for the time I was there.
9. Aussie Music - One of my aims was to bring back lots of Aussie music to show the Poms that there's more to us than AC/DC, Kylie Minogue and Silverchair. I think I've done well and am carrying quite a few on me.
10. The Beach - Boy will I miss it. I didn't spent much time there while in Sydney, but just knowing it's down the road is a big comfort for me. Hey, I'm a true beach girl at heart.
x
Vanessa