January Recap.

Already, the first month of a new decade has come and gone.
For what it’s worth: Here's some highlights: 

1st Jan: New Year’s Day

Woke up in the Campbell’s household. Sleep on empty, adrenaline on HIGH after quite a big night with the girls, then at Yannick’s. Had a good driveway sesh with Yan & Larissa, kitty, fruit juice and passionfruit fizzy before lunching back at the Campbell’s with Deanna and Steven. A much needed power nap proceeded this, before heading to Strike for bowling with Melissa and Hayden to play with New Castle cousins, Phil and Kev. 

PS: My space invaders necklace broke ): .

6-7th Jan: Sunset Sounds Music Festival, Riverstage

Attended my first ever festival with my very bubbly energetic high school pal, Danni! Had quite an excellent two evenings (3-10pm). Saw- Day 1:  Little Red. Middle East. Phenomenal Handclap Band. Emiliana Torrini. ART VS SCIENCE. Bertie Blackman. Day 2: John Steel Singers. Hungry Kids of Hungary. Oh Mercy. Lisa Mitchell. Grizzly Bear. SARAH BLASKO. Art Vs Science, Emiliana Torrini and Sarah Blasko were my top 3. -More photos on Facebook, kids.

Cons:

           Water: $4. WITHOUT THE CAP. Yes, they took them away =/

           Sunnyboy: $3. They were what, 50 CENTS back at school.

           Lining up for a portaloo ):

Pros:

          Danni losing her phone…then finding it ;L

          $2 Mega choc chip cookies were about the best thing OUT!

Being similar in stature, we made a tiny, mighty duo and were quite able to squeeze in right up to the front for pretty much every single act :D. Mostly we did the smart thing and arrived slightly earlier, though. Ahhh, the joys of a Festival.

Bumped into Sigrid and Steve from school both days. And saw Kaila on Day Two, being an environmental warrior! Picking up rubbish in an oversized tshirt = FREE ENTRY! Definitely contemplating it for next year heh.

9th Jan: First Night Out.

Ash, Aline, Danni, Larissa, Yee and Miriam’s first night out on the town together after Danni came of age in the very latest part of December. A spontaneous exciting night filled with consumption of new beverages, dancing, sore feet, oh and more dancing. Headed home considerably early in clubbing-time. Nonetheless, stayed up talking till the wee hours of the morning :). Woke up incredibly dead. Churched. Maccas brekky’d then headed to work. OH. Since I knew I had 2 hours to kill, rather than catching a bus to hypo and transferring for a bus back to IKEA, I got off at Springwood and legged it. a broken shoe, blister and 30 minutes later, I MADE IT! Cheeeeaaa boi! Good for future reference I suppose!?

14th Jan: Bon Voyage!

Well, not quite. Suddenly and also very unfortunately, my Grandmother’s younger sister, Agatha who lives in Malaysia was diagnosed with stomach cancer. At her request, my grandparents were to catch a plane to see her and help out where possible on Saturday. So, since my brother was to be leaving for camp the next day, and me on Saturday, we dropped into my grandparents to say our goodbyes for an indefinite few months…I miss them =/ Prayers for her too, please!

15th Jan: BROTHER TO ZERO GRAVITY

After rising at an absurd hour of the morning (I daresay 6am), we dropped my dear brother, Gerard off at some kind of pick up point in Indooroopilly for my brother where a big bus would take him and other kids from around Queensland to Zero Gravity, a super fun camp at Yandina, North of Nambour for spiritual, personal and leadership development for high school aged people. Too bad I was too old. I did go, back in '06 with him and my friend Veronika… ahh good memories ^^”.

-With mum, dad and the girls left, we explored this side of town that we so, so rarely visited. We took leisurely walks around a few lovely gardens we discovered quite close by in Long Pocket.

Went shopping at Indro later.

16-17th Jan: BIG DAY OUT, GOLD COAST!

So Josh, Claire and I trained it down to the coast in the morning of a beautiful Saturday. Soon after reaching Robina Trainstation, we were whisked away to Freshwater Point Resort, our home for the next two nights by a tired looking Andrea ;].

Saturday: Met Kaity and Caroline at the apartment and went to Pacific Fair for lunch, BDO shopping for the girls, and piercing shop hunting for Andy. The former goal was achieved after a good 3 hours or so however it became apparent that in a shopping centre as vast as Pac Fair, no such service existed. After dropping Kaity and Cara back at the apartment, tired but still eager, Andrea, Claire, Josh and myself jumped back into the car, destination: Off Ya Tree, Surfers Paradise.

And Andrea finally got her tongue pierced.

Had roast for dinner over many episodes of some kind of criminal investigation show(?). Mashed food for Andy was..mashed hahah. Invited uni friends Johan and Becky over to catch up after. Hung out on the balcony till 12 :].

Got ready for bed..but didn’t catch any slumber till significantly later…;O

Sunday: BIG. DAY. OUT. !

Amazing, didn’t see as many bands as I had hoped but I did see: Muse, Lily Allen, Dizzee Rascal, Powderfinger, Kisschasy, and the Temper Trap to name but a few...

Insanely packed. Recall going into Temper Trap with a completely dry singlet, and exiting with a drenched one….Not all my own either ;O. Mobile phone reception was terrible. Went on some kind of ride with Andrea, it’s name I do not recall. Spur of the moment, I was fearful for my life but decided I could live with that more than the regret of NOT going on it. WOULD DO IT AGAIN! Wowwww. Hahah. Massive oversized hotdogs for lunch. I believe Smiley still owes me for finishing one whole one hahah. Unfortunately Kaity wasn’t feeling too well by this time, and she and Andy left early =/. Spent the rest of the day with Smiley, checking out bands, weaving in and out of fellow festival goers, careful not to tread on the ocean of litter and such.

Dead and sunburnt by Day’s end, we slept rather blissfully :].

18th Jan: Dinner with the family

After a hectic morning of cram-as-much-as-you-can-as-fast-as-you-can-into-your-bag/esky-then car, we were finally on the road back home by 11. Traffic was horrible. Despite being seated at the backseat of a two door car without aircon and sandwiched between luggage, WE SURVIVED!

Smiley’s house and an unnecessarily long bus ride after due to roadworks on Coronation Drive…I was on my way to dinner…

Since my brother had been at camp since Friday, and me at the coast since Saturday, we ate out at a place called L'Accademie in the Valley. This place is actually run for hospitality students and aspiring (training) chefs which is why it's not too heavy on the wallet :) ($19.50 for 3 courses!) Nicely furnished, chilled atmosphere. Serving sizes are just right and you will not leave hungryyy! Having already been on several occasions, this time certainly did not disappoint! NOMNOMNOM.

19th Jan: Spontaneous Haircut

Miriam: “What are you doing today, Dad?”

Dad: “Getting a haircut.”

Miriam: “Oh…can I come too?”

Dad: “Sure.”

So we went to this new Korean ‘Hair Designer’ shop at the Hyperdome.

$25 dollars, a lot of hair hacking and thinning later. My hair became half the hair it ever was. HAHAH.

I love it, though. Easy to manage. Less shampoo. And great for Summerrrrrr.

20th Jan: Paddington

Sabrina and I went fossicking in the land of second-hand goodness. She; for a leather handbag for her friend. Me: Whatever I could find.

We got a dress each, a bunch of trinkets for less than half the price advertised (sweetest lady at the counter, thank YOU!) and a handbag plus a scarf to match, AND a photo album. Day well spent :D

21st Jan: BBQ!

Bit of a barbeque birthday bash at Southbank was had to celebrate her fourth 21st Birthdayyyy ;D. Fun night with Mei, Sabrina and Yee..Met some of Mei's lovlely classmates from China and had some rather interesting dinner conversation... Weeeeee!

23rd Jan: IT'S A GIRL!
Welcome, Evita Katerina Eichperger :). This beautiful little girl was born close to noon on this day to my dear friend Lauren. Many congratulations.. We went to visit the newborn on

25th Jan:  !!!
..After arriving at the hospital and realised they'd checked out only just over an hour ago, we pannicked, being a Sunday timetable the next wasn't due for AGESSSS. But never fear, we caught a bus to garden city, called John's Taxi Service and were there in next to no timeeee. Had a most interesting time ordering Subway with Yee and Subway boy, Matt. CHEERS FOR THE DISCOUNT, BRO. Hahaha.

Earlier today we also hired out the Halls of Clairvaux MacKillip College for one hour session of badminton with the Heah's, Lee's, Ng's et, al. Good stuff.

28th Jan: PICNICCCC!
Picnic'd in the Botanical Gardens with Ash, Aline, Danni and Larissa. Bought a whole load of goodies from Coles and Bakers Delight, we split the bill and only owed just over $3 each. SHARING IS CARING. It was aceeee. Aside from the rapidly melting Pods D;. Danni attempted tree climbing. We all attempted Vegemite iSnack 2.0, now known as 'Cheeseymite' drastically reduced to 39c, due to it expiring on the 4th of Feb, 2010.
Verdict: Not too bad, actually. Butter is unecessary to accompany this spread, unlike your regular vgemite as it lacks the trademark salty, or as I once read, batery acid-like taste. Heh. Also significantly easier to spread and a lot lighter in colour, easily mistakeable for nutella. 
Goodwill Bridged it. Almost got run over by a train, bus, car, CYCLIST :P. Had to head home to babysit Gabrielle then, but I do believe the girls stayed a little longer and frollicked in the shallow rock pools of Southbank on that hot, hot day.

26th: Australia Day

Had lunch at the Tchang's residence. Spicy fish Laksa burneddd! D;

Malaysian desserts were yoomehhh!

-Went to Southbank later in the afternoon with Danni, Alex, Michael and Mei to celebrate! It was the first time I’d been in this particular venue for the celebration of a nation, so not knowing what to expect, (except for maybe a sea of fellow Aussies), I quite enjoyed the festivities.

We danced in the piazza to a wooden percussion band, attempted basic circus tricks (hula hoop, diablo, twirling sticks) at a free workshop, sat in a shady page of grass, chattering, taking snaps and playing hand games… Hahahah. Got dinner (For Mei & I: Nandos, the rest of the gang opted for Subway), watched the fireworks at 7.30 with feet in Breaka Beach* Whatever it was called… (Heaps better than New Years in my opinion.) Finished the night with a swim in aforementioned beach. This may or may not have included bumping into strangers on more than one occasion. And teaching Mei to float on her back!

30th Jan:
Went out with the girls again minus Larissa and Yee, PLUS Aline. So that was fun. Explored more of Fortitude Valley's nightife and bumped into many an old cmc'er. Sweet talked the driver into rounding down our taxi fare from 36.50 to 35, a whole 1.50 off! Still, this not being Asia and usually non negotiable, we were well pleased. :)


 

Re-reading all that...I must admit this year has been quite agreeable! 

How has the year been to y'all thus far?

Photos to come soon, xoxo