I'm back and perhaps with a little vengence...

...and a touch of boredom. I've come back to my trusty blog because I've deleted facebook, yet I still love talking about myself. Don't we all? But it was more the fact that I just didn't like people seeing my conversations with other people which would usually be conducted privately. Nor the fact that there are photos of me on the net (non-dirty, of course), which, before facebook and myspace, no one would ever see. And the statuses. Oh, the statuses. And groups that people join. I was just finding myself liking people less and less by the groups they joined. Perhaps I'm being slightly judgmental and a little too analytical, but you can tell a lot about a person just by the groups they join. Pro-Matty johns groups, I'm looking at you... but let's not open that can of worms.

So here I am, in all irony, divulging personal information via a blog. Not really. This is going to be an incredibly superficial broadcasting of things I want (whether in my price-range or totally out of it), cool pieces I have bought, things I like and dislike, restaurants I've visited, right down to skin care products I've purchased - because I know you're all just so interested in what I put on my face in the morning. But I do have pretty fantastic looking skin, so perhaps you should all pay attention.

Besides, I did a crap-load of shopping overseas and am currently, and I want to show it off, damnit! I didn't slave at three jobs and rack up a huge debt for nothing! And well, if all the Vougettes on the Vogue Forum can shamelessly promote all of their unnecessary, impulsive brand-dropping purchases, well then so can I! Take that communism!

So to begin, a pair of Prada sunglasses I adore and want.

Tscheuss!

Nicole

Long time no blog...

Wow, it's been a while and oh the places I have seen!

Krakow, Prague, Bratislava, Budapest, Salzburg, Vienna, back to Berlin (where I spent the whole time coughing up my lungs), London again (where I also spent the whole time coughing up my lungs... and shopping!) and am now on my way home. Was meant to be going to Hong Kong - and I will be there for 1 day instead of 5 days as originally planned. Kristi and I are going home early because Opa is very very ill. But I won't go into that here.

So in London I spent SO much money and have also worked out that I have bought 7 pairs of boots from Europe and so many clothes. Eek. And in my one day in Hong Kong I plan on shopping up even more of a storm. I am over my budget as well. Shite. And I still need to get my hair and eyebrows done when I get home and a manicure as my nails are horrendous! Plus go to all my fave restaurants as I have missed them so, hit up the beach and get myself a tan and a massage from the long flights from Berlin to HK and HK to Sydney. And a new swimsuit.

I'm never going to pay off this cc.

I also want to go to Hong Kong and LA in August to see Ali and have the HK holiday I never got. And maybe swing by London as well..... I love that place. I was devastated to leave London today. We missed our flight as well, a sign perhaps that I shouldn't leave! I want to stay. :-(

But once uni is done I can come back in 2013 and all will be well. Just gotta figure out if uni is it for me. I'm quite happy working in some shit job and then taking off to another part of the world. I have, quite possibly, the worst attention span.

Okay... work hard, get rid of debt and then save and travel some more. Yay!


ANYWAY

I convinced Kristi to see Wicked just for an excuse to see it again. This time with premium seats. You don't want to know how much money I have spent on this show and Dayna, my old housemate in London loves to rip me for it. Look, we all have our 'things'. People get so hung up on sports and sporting players to the point of tears. I don't follow sport, I like musicals. It's the same thing! I'm a girl!

Well, we did this on both Friday and Saturday night. After getting the news about Opa on Saturday I pretty said, "Fuck this, I'm seeing Wicked again!" It makes me smile. And the seats were AMAZING! So close you could see everything properly. Not the shit cheap seats I had the other times. These were gold! And I had kids in front of me so I could see everything without some big fat bald guy's head blocking my view.

Then.... like a loser, I bought a Wicked water flask, made Kristi wait with me outside the stage door (along with lots of other Wicked losers, mind you) and get Alexia's autograph (again) but this time time I got a picture! Yay! She was so nice! I was so nervous when she came out, it's like I lost all co-ordination in my hands. What am I 14? Get a grip! But she is awesome! Huge fan now.

Me and Alexia Khadime who plays Elphaba - best character in the musical world! Shocking photo of me, bad angle. 

Another nice memory was the night before NYE, having snowball fights with Kristi and friends Nikki, Alex and Brendon in Berlin - and then randoms decided to join in and they weren't messing around! They were pegging those snowballs, ouch! Quite drunk so wasn't feeling the cold too much. Only began to feel it after a big kebab and then walking the streets trying to find non-existent taxis and it was snowing heavily. Never felt so cold in my life! I thought we were going to die. But super fun. We also made a snowman. He's pretty shit looking.

Alex's snow angel

Very cool.

I'm going to miss Europe so much. It hurts me to leave. I could cry. I think major depression is going to occur once I get home. Maybe my credit card bill will sober me up and swing me into gear, and then I can start saving again and head off!

Well, see you all soon! I know you missed me.

Dancing through life, skimming the surface.

Well…we're alive!! And the sleeper train was actually really, very cool. We spent a part of it watching Eurotrip. How apt. If you haven’t seen it you definitely should. Wrong and politically incorrect on so many levels, but unbelievably hilarious.

“Now put your clothes back on, White Boy!”

So I'm feeling very rich at the moment here in Eastern Europe. We had to buy a 26 crown train ticket to get from the main station to our hostel and I was like, "26!! What?! What a rip!" Checked online the conversion rate... yeah that cost us a total of AUD$1.50. I almost wet myself and then Kristi told me to not be so cruel and laugh at their currency and I'm not, honestly. I love their currency! In fact, I want to marry it!

So I have quite a few things that have happened...

Visited family friends in Heidelberg which was very lovely and hung out with Helmut and Honney's granddaughters who are very sweet. The 14 year old, Kira wants to be a journalist and so I was getting grilled for questions. Her English isn't great but I think we got along really well. She's a feisty one that girl! She'll go far, I think. Her sister, Janna is also very nice and Carolin, their cousin who is 18, took Kristi and I out with her friends who made every effort to make sure we were having a good time. The little town of Eberbach is very very cute. We visited the Christmas Markets in Heidelberg Altstadt and had some Glühwein and schokoerdbeeren and kartoffelsuppe. We also walked around the woods there and went up this cable-car, err thing... it's 11:46pm and I've had a long day so my post is lacking in descriptive words... I really need to sleep. We're getting up early to leave for Bratislava by train.

Hannelore, Carolin's mum, me and Carolin. We're having wine because they think Kristi and I are winos. No idea how they got that impression...

Kristi and I up the top of some mountain in Heidelberg

Trudging down a mountain... until we got lost and turned back. 

 

 Heidelberg

 

Heidelberg Christmas Markets. No one does Christmas like the Germans!

Okay, I'll leave proper posts about München Chrissie markets and the Alps, Auschwitz, Krakow and Prague for another day. I should have started this earlier. But it's too late now and I need to go wake up my roomies so I can have a shower. I'm such a selfless roommate. But after having the noisiest and most inconsiderate roommates in Krakow (a trio of Finns), I've learnt that respect for your dormmates is merely an option, not a requirement. No more laying out my pyjamas on my bed before I leave for the night so when I return I can just quietly slip into and go to bed. Nope, I plan on zipping open my suitcase at least 5 times really loudly, rustle a few plastic bags, bang open my locker, fiddle with the keys, drop things, turn the lights on, speak to others (or myself) at normal day-time decibel, take my time getting ready for bed… I mean, this is the courtesy that has been shown to me and I feel I should pay the same respects back. It’s only fair, right? Or is that being vindictive and I should hold my ground and tell them that their behaviour is not acceptable and I won’t tolerate it? I think the latter is the correct answer but it doesn’t give the same sort of satisfaction that the former offers.

And moving on to my last whinge – I promise the next post will be a lot nicer, Prague is beautiful and it’s snowing – well… Kristi and I had booked and paid for our flights to London for the 1st of Jan. We have also booked our hostel, planned our shopping trips, pub outings, food outings (possibly swing-by one of Gordan Ramsay’s Michelin restaurants), plus we have just purchased premium seats at Wicked for the 1st at £85 a pop. So all these plans sound fabulous and we’re really looking forward to them… until we wake up yesterday morning to find out… oh, British Airways cabin crew have decided to ruin Christmas for everyone!! They’re fucking striking at the time we’re supposed to be flying! They have the opportunity to ruin 1 million, I’ll say that again… 1 million people’s Christmas’ and New Years, and more importantly, mine!

Now, one would hope, for their sakes, that they all get their shit together because if they ruin this last hurrah for me there will be tears and they won’t be mine. And I’m quite sure I’m not the only one who is feeling this way about the situation. An ex-colleague of mine, who is currently residing in London, is also currently preparing herself with personal training sessions for the ski holiday she has booked for herself and her boyfriend in France. And how will Adele and boyfriend be getting to said holiday? By British Airways of course. However, now these holiday and gym plans have been thrown into disarray, as we all wait eagerly to see if BA will in fact be the grinch that stole Christmas, and if they do, I’m pretty sure they’re also going to be the airline that ruined a million lives… and their own when the company has to make hundreds of employees redundant for their reckless and unsympathetic actions. If I wasn’t so keen to see London again I almost wish this would happen.

“Oh, I didn’t get to see grandma at her last Christmas… Well guess what, now you’re out of a job and have to live off food scraps and welfare. How do you like ‘dem apples?”

Those motha-effers.

...

Catching a sleeper train from Krakow to Prague on the 15th Euro time. Apparently it is really dodgy... just a tad nervous... If there are no more posts... maybe I should call the Embassy?

Shit.

Just small things

Grand Champion Girl 2009 was held last Sunday and was a HUGE success!!

Meredith came 6th in the Talls (you guys have no idea what I'm talking about) and then went on to compete for Grand Champion Girl. Courtney won the Talls and then also went on to compete for Grand Champion Girl and WON IT!! This is the second time she has won GC, the other time was back in 2007. So very exciting! Loretta and Angela also competed and from what I hear they were absolutely beautiful (and slightly robbed - hey, I'll say it, even if I wasn't there!). Elise came 5th in Intermediate Seniors (the age group I'll be going back to in 2010 - can't wait!), and my teacher won Advanced Ladies (and is Courtney's mum) and Leanne won Extended Ladies (and is Courntey's aunt and Debbie's sister - such a talented family). I could not be happier or prouder of all the girls who competed. Wish I could have been there to sob along with everyone else, I just know it would have been a very emotional day.

Meredith, Courtney, Loretta and Ange

Well done girls, congrats on a fantastic year and have fun tonight and at Senior's night out!! See you soon! Mwah!

This may be my last post....

... because I have moved into a room with a creepy guy who may do 1 of a few possibilities:

1. Steal my stuff.
2. Molest me during the night.
3. Kill me.
4. A mixture of all three.
5. Nothing.

Sigh. Hopefully he leaves soon, I'm here for another 4 nights.

Who can say if I've been changed for the better?

But because I knew you I have been changed for good...

Random travel photos post.

 Dresden

Me, Tante Dorle, Onkel Gerhardt und Tante Ruth in Dresden at Dorle's house. Opa's siblings.

My 13-year-old cousin, Janet, refused to get in the photo. Brat.

Hahaha. Dorle is a crack up!

My cousin, Dagmar, out in Münster for lunch. My Oma's niece.