Verbal ticks

Is there a word or a phrase you use (or overuse) all the time, and are seemingly unable to get rid of? If not, what's the one that drives you crazy when others use it? - The Daily Post

Erm, I start pretty much every sentence with "erm", like I'm not really sure about what I'm about to say.

Erm, and after Australia I tend to say "no worries" a lot. If someone thanks me for helping them out I always to say;"'yeah, no worries".

Erm, when I was younger I said "like" a lot. And now it just like really annoys me when people like say "like" all the time. You know?

Erm, I also think I say "you know" a lot. You know?

Erm, there are probably other words and/or phrases that I use a lot, but, erm, it's all subconscious you know? Erm, like, people don't really think about the words they actually use when they speak, we just talk.

Erm, this was an interesting question, I think maybe I'll notice more about how people actually speak now, which could help in creating different characters when I write.

City planners

If you could clone one element from another city you've visited - a building, a cultural institution, a common street food, etc. - and bring it back to you own hometown, what would it be? - The Daily Prompt

I would import something I've seen in a few cities. And I would want to bring it to all cities and towns. An outdoor skating rink. They have one in Oslo, they have one in New York, they even had one on Bondi Beach in Sydney! I haven't been skating since I went to school, but if I knew there was always one there in winter, maybe even a free one, I think maybe I would get some skates and go more often.

Spikersuppa, Oslo, Norway

Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia

Rockefeller centre, New York, USA

Another thing I think would be really nice to clone is the street art culture in Melbourne, Australia. I wouldn't want it on the old historical buildings of course, but in alleys between newer buildings it can really liven it up, make it seem less scary.

10 places I want to visit - Oceania

I was going to just do a list of 10 places I want to see for the whole world, but there are just too many places! So I decided to do a list of each continent instead (excluding Antarctica).

Of course there are more than 10 places to see on each continent, some places I haven't even thought of, but I had to have some cut-off-point.

I wish I'd had more time and money to explore Oceania while I was on that side of the world.

Oceania

worldmapsonline.com

• Lake Hillier, WA, Australia, a PINK lake?! How did I not know about this while I was in Australia?! I would have totally gone to see it with my own eyes!!
• Papua New Guinea, I'd love to explore one of the least explored areas in the world, it's believed to have many undiscovered species of plants and animals
• Bora Bora
• Tahiti
• Fiji
• Brute Slope Point, New Zealand, to see the very windswept trees
• Hobbiton, New Zealand, probably one of the greatest, most epic trilogies of our lifetime (both books and films), of course it would be amazing to feel part of that, whether you're a Lord of the Rings fan or not
• Moeraki Boulders, New Zealand
• Christchurch, New Zealand, my mum and her husband was there after the earthquake and they've said it's amazing, I would love to see it myself as well!
• Vanuatu

What would your 10 places in Oceania be? 

If you could go anywhere in Oceania right now, where would you go?

Suck it, Nerds!

Been a while since I've done a meme now, but the title of this was just so funny; how could I not do it? As usual I got it from Sunday Stealing. Feel free to join in!

What would you totally eat right now? Chocolate!

Do you always wear a certain piece of jewellery? Although I'm not Catholic I always wear the St Christopher necklace a friend gave me while I was in Australia.

What kind of jeans do you like? I'm extremely picky when it comes to buying a new pair of jeans, but I tend to go for bootcut.

What's something on your want list? A holiday

Is animal print tacky? Depends on how much you're wearing and how.

Give me a good quote that you like? I'm not great at remembering quotes but I do like Tesco's "Every little helps", because it's true.

Do you bite your nails? No.

What kind of smells do you like? Clean clothes that have been hanging outside to dry in the summer.

Do you wear perfume or cologne? Perfume but if I'm not working I don't put perfume on if I washed my hair that morning.

What do you think is overrated? 50 Shades of Grey.

Next movie you want to see? The next hobbit movie.

Would you change your eye colour if you could? Depends if I could change it back again if I didn't like it or if I could change it whenever I would, that could be cool; change your eye colour depending on your makeup and what clothes you're wearing, without spending money on coloured lenses.

What are your goals for the remainder of this year? Try not to kill the customers at work.

When is the last time you were at the hospital? About 5-6 months ago for a scan.

Who introduced you to your current significant other? If you're single, who introduced you to your last ex? Met my last ex at a party, neither of us knew the host but had been brought to the party by friends, who also didn't know each other. 

VIP Visitors

My mum and sister came to visit me for a few days earlier this week, it was very nice to see them especially as my sister is headed to USA this autumn for a year, so even if I go back to Norway on holiday in the next year I won't see her.

The weather has been great while they've been here, sunny and close to 30 degrees, perfect weather for a holiday. They arrived Sunday night so we just had some dinner together before they headed to the B&B across the road for some shuteye. 

On Monday we headed to Sherwood Forest, home of Robin Hood. None of us really knew if there was anything to see there or not but of course we've all heard of Robin Hood, who hasn't with all the films and TV series about him?

We had a nice walk in Sherwood Forest, apparently you can get walking maps in the visitor centre there but we just followed the signs towards the giant oak. When we got to the giant oak mum paid for my sister and I to do some archery with a longbow which was really fun. If you're going to learn archery, what better place to do so than Sherwood Forest? It was quite fun and it turned into a little competition between my sister and I. She won. Not that I'm surprised, she's great at anything she does.

On Tuesday we did some shopping at my sister's request. How my mum managed to produce someone who loves shopping is beyond me! I finally managed to find some nice summer tops though so I was quite happy as well. Then in the evening we went and saw Despicable Me 2 which was awesome!

Wednesday we went to the Peak District. We walked from Baslow to Bakewell via Chatsworth. It's a lovely walk but I think it's better when it's slightly cooler, we walked during the hottest part of the day and all I wanted to do was jump into a river or lake to cool down!

My mum and sister left on Thursday morning. It has been really nice to have them over, definitely a benefit of living in the UK rather than Australia! 

Packed and ready to go!

It was both nice and sad to leave work and all my co-workers today. I have enjoyed most parts of my job and most of the people there, I hope I'm as lucky when I find something new in England.

Would you believe I didn't pack a single thing for my American Adventure until after work today?!

Admittedly I don't really own much, but it will be interesting to see if I'll have any overweight in my suitcase when I pack the last pieces tomorrow morning, or when I head home from the states, seeing as I am planning to take just a few more things to England with me when I move at the end of March.

I'll just have to try not to buy too much while I'm in the States.

Normally before I go somewhere I make a list of what I need to remember to pack, and what I have to remember to bring with me: Passport, tickets, bankcard, pyjamas... I didn't even do that this time! I just hope I remember everything!! I've already put my passport in my hand luggage, so at least I know that's sorted!

Since I usually just wear my work clothes all day most days unless I'm doing something after work, I hadn't realized just how few pieces of clothing I have! Not sure I have enough clothes to last me for two weeks!

I don't think it's quite hit me that I'm going to America... I started to realize it as I was packing today, but I don't think it will properly hit me until I'm actually there. It was the same with Australia. I think it hit me while I was sitting in the taxi from the airport, looking at the palm trees and what was supposed to be winter...

Only one more sleep until I get on that big metal bird and fly "back in time"!

This time tomorrow I will probably be having dinner with a friend I've known for about 10 years but never before met. I'll be in a new country, new continent. I'll spend two weeks seeing things and places I've never seen before, fill my camera with a heap of pictures and fill myself with new memories and experiences.

I love travelling!!

Exercise studies..?

I have been thinking about studying again... I am a lot of the time really, I just find it hard to actually decide on something. I mean, how do you know what you want to do the rest of your life, or not necessarily the rest of you life, but next year, or 5 years from now?

Anyway.

There was a time last time I lived in England that I was exercising almost every day, for a couple of hours each day. I loved it! I was also thinking about maybe studying to be a fitness instructor, but I talked to one of my fitness instructors and I just thought it seemed like a bit of a hassle. Then there was the part about standing in front of a bunch of people and telling them what to do..! It all seemed a bit scary.

When you think about it though anything you have to learn kind of seem like hassle to learn until you're actually doing it. Once you're actually learning it it seems so simple (hopefully)! When I heard about all the things I had to know for the office part of my current job I was really worried, then I started learning it and I couldn't believe how simple it all is!

I have been lazy lately. I went running almost every night for a while when I was in Australia, but since I left the family I've just not done anything at all. I get some exercise at work, but it's more heavy lifting than any proper exercise. I really want to get back into shape. Not to lose weight or anything, that's never been my goal, but just to get fitter and feel better about myself, it is nice to be able to run 30 metres to catch the bus without getting out of breath.

So what I am thinking at the moment is this: Once I move back to Chesterfield I will start exercising again, maybe get some of my friends with me. I'll see how I feel about it after a while, and then I might take a class at the college that I've seen: Level 1 award in Exercise Studies, even if I decide not to take the class I will keep up the exercise just for myself. If I do decide to take the class I will see how I feel about that and if I like it and decide to pursue a career in exercise I will go on to get a YMCA qualification or an NVQ or something.

I don't want to say; THIS IS WHAT I'M DOING, that way I'm just setting myself up for disappointment if I back out. I am just going to take it easy and do it step by step, see how I feel about it after each step. I still need a job to finance it all first.

My friend at work, who is planning to go to Australia this August, is a personal trainer and she loves it, she wants to keep working with it and maybe one day open her own gym, and I think she is part of the reason I started thinking about it again. She also has a blog, check it out - Fanny Ronkainen.

The basically obscure meme

Another meme from Sunday Stealing

1. Do you notice a person's eye colour? I usually do as I'm talking to them as I try to maintain eye-contact, but I often forget the eye colour, unless it's quite special...
2. If you could get a tattoo free, would you do it? What would it be? Yes, I would get a small pink breast cancer bow.
3. What kind of smoothie sounds really good right now? The one I usually make; frozen tropical mix, blueberries, avocado, banana, egg, hazelnuts and orange juice. The last few times I've also put some passion fruit in it.
4. Have you ever fired anyone? No, but I think I might have contributed to someone getting fired or leaving, I don't like it when people don't do their jobs properly and so I will tell the manager about it.
5. Did you like swinging as a child? Do you still get excited when you see a swing set? I did, not sure if I get excited but I do like to get on them if they are proper "strong" ones.
6. If you could have any pet in the world, illegal or not, what would you get? A tiger! They are so beautiful and majestic, but since they are illegal I will settle for a regular house cat.
7. Have you ever watched the Superbowl all the way through? I've never watched it at all.
8. Which continents have you been on? In a few weeks I will have been on all except South America and Antarctica.
9. Why did you name your blog whatever you named your blog? I used the name Lilly on the blog for myself as I didn't want to use my real name, so I named my blog "The Lilly Pad" as in lily pad; my own personal space.
10. Longest plane ride you've ever been on? Flying to Australia, I think the last flight was 14 hours!
11. If you had to move to another country, where would you move? I am moving to another country! The United Kingdom.
12. How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? He would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck could if a woodchuck could chuck wood.
13. How did you spend Valentine's Day? I was at work and then I was at home relaxing and playing with my new camera. Valentine's Day
14. Do you eat enough vegetables? Probably not, which is a bit rubbish of a vegetarian...
15. Do you like horror movies? What about thrillers? I used to love them both when I was a teenager but now I seem to scare a lot easier, I could still watch them though but I need a safe pair of arms around me.
16. If you could change your natural hair colour, would you? To what? I liked my hair in the summer when I was younger, it went a nice golden colour. Now it's usually just mousy brown, so I guess I would change it to be that golden colour again maybe.
17. What subject would you take if your were forced to take a free class? I would love to study but I keep changing my mind about what all the time, at the moment I'm thinking maybe a health and fitness class.
18. Do you use a reusable grocery bag? When I remember to bring one with me yes. I used to always keep one in my bag, but now I keep forgetting to put it back in after I've used it.
19. City or nature person? Nature. Cities can get too busy for my liking.
20. Do heights bother you? Can you look out the window on the top floor of a skyscraper? Heights doesn't really bother me. I don't like it on top of a cliff because there's the chance I can fall over and die but I don't mind looking out of windows of a skyscraper.

Australia Revisited

A girl at work is wanting to travel to Australia in August, and so she's asked me what places I would recommend. I've already sent her the link to this old post, but then I started thinking; I think I wrote that one on my last day in Australia, as I was sitting at the airport waiting for my flight, what about now, almost a year after I got back, which places would I then recommend?

As my laptop hasn't got any Scandinavian letters since I bought it in Australia, it's such a hassle writing anything in Norwegian, so I figured I might as well write in English and at the same time make a post of it, this way I can also share my thoughts with more than just one person.

Feel free to share your own thoughts and favourite places in the comment section!

Things to DO while you're in Australia:
Hold a koala (only allowed in Queensland)
Pet a kangaroo
Try surfing

Places to see:

Yulara. 
Go to Yulara and see Uluru and Kata Tjuta. I'm always surprised when people doesn't know what Uluru/Ayers Rock is, it's one of the most famous places in Australia besides the Reef! It's expensive to get there and stay there but it's absolutely worth it! I'm saying go to Yulara instead of Alice Springs because that way you can actually see both Uluru and Kata Tjuta from where you're staying, and you don't have to travel for hours to get to either of them.

Posts from when I was in Yulara:
Yulara 1
Yulara 2
Yulara 3

Great Barrier Reef
You can travel to so many places along the north of Queensland and see the Reef, I went to Cairns, and although the city was nice enough I wouldn't say it was so special that anyone HAS TO see it. But the Reef, oh the Reef! So beautiful. I could stay there forever just look at the beautiful fish and the reef itself, I kind of wish I had gone on a trip that lasted two or three days so that I could have gone to the outer Reef as I've heard the colours are stronger there, but I was happy with just the one day as well. One of my friends, EG that I met in Yulara, recently went to the Reef and the Green Island, he only went for a day as well and was happy with that.

 Great Barrier Reef

***Not necessarily a must see, depends what you like, but if you do go to the Daintree Rainfores/Cape Tribulation you HAVE to stop at the Daintree Ice Cream Company!! You'll never have that ice cream again!
Daintree and Cape Trib is good just to get to see the Australian Rainforest. You'll see plants and trees you'll not see anywhere else in the world.

Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road
My favourite city along with Hobart! I can't really explain it, it's just so nice and laid back, it was just the feel of it that made it my favourite. The top things to see in Melbourne: Just hop on and off the free tram or shuttle, you'll see loads. Queen Victoria Market, Luna Park in St Kilda, go at night so you see it all lit up and that way you can also see the penguins at St Kilda Pier. Just walk around the city centre and see the street art, it's amazing how beautiful it can be when people are actually allowed to spray paint the walls.
The Great Ocean Road is Amazing as well, and seeing as the Twelve Apostles are eroding it's a good idea to go see them now while there are actually some left!

Posts from Melbourne:
Melbourne 1
Melbourne 2
Melbourne 3 (Great Ocean Road)
Melbourne 4

Port Macquarie
It's a small place, you don't need more than a day there, just make it a stop if you're taking the Greyhound. To me, it's worth the stop just to go to the Koala Sanctuary and see the painted rocks along the esplanade.

Port Macquarie

Hobart
Not many people bother going down to Tasmania and Hobart, but I loved it there! I liked it just as much as Melbourne. Tasmania is the only place you can see the Tasmanian Devil, and I think Hobart is worth the visit just to go to MONA, the most amazing museum and art gallery I've even been to! I also wish I had gone inside Port Arthur while I was there. Hobart also has some of Australia's oldest buildings if you're interested in that. And then of course there is Salamanca market with all it's yummy food and beautiful items.

Hobart 1
Hobart 2
Hobart 3
Hobart 4
Hobart 5

Sydney
Of course you can't give Sydney a miss if you go to Australia! A lot of people go to Bondi Beach just because it's a beach they've actually heard of, but I would suggest doing the beach walk from Cogee to Bondi just to see some of the other beaches there as well. Manly is a nice place to visit, I might have an immature sense of humour and laugh at everything that said Manly, but it's a beautiful place, and very good for surfing. You also have to see the Opera House (I can't imagine anyone going to Sydney and not seeing it), Sydney Harbour Bridge and Darling Harbour. There is fireworks on at Darling Harbour quite often and you should make sure you go at least once, the one on Australia Day (January 26th) was absolutely amazing!
The Blue Mountains outside Sydney is nice, it depends if you like hiking though. The day I went the weather was terrible so the mountains were grey instead of blue and loads of people on the tour was complaining, but I quite liked it, just to get out and do some hiking again, do some exercise and see a place I'll probably never see again.

Sydney 1
Sydney 2
Sydney 3
Sydney 4
Sydney 5 (Blue Mountains)

Did I miss anything important? Please let me know in the comments.

One of my "goals" while I was in Australia was to see every state capital, and I did, I have not written about them all here but if you go to this old post you can find some more info about them and at the bottom of that post there are labels that will take to to all posts about those places.

My friend isn't too bothered about Western Australia, but there is something there I wish I had known about while I was in Australia, I would definitely have gone! Lake Hillier a lake in the south of WA, and it's PINK!! I think I have to go  back! Not something I would have wanted to miss had I known about it! I wonder if they are going to film the last Hunger Games movie there?

(source)

The shortest month of the year will seem like the longest.

Only 1 month left until my American Adventure!! I am so excited!

I bet I will be dead tired when I land in Boston, but I will do the same as I did when I went to Australia and stay awake until night-time. I didn't get jet-lagged then so I hope it works this time as well, at least the flight isn't as long! It will be strange to fly "back in time" though, I've only done that when flying to the UK but that's only 1 hour difference so it's not really noticeable.

I will be starting my adventure in Boston, where I am meeting my friend Anne and maybe my friend Jan. We will spend a few days exploring Boston, Salem and Maine before heading down to New York. I am really looking forward to it all, especially Salem as I have been wanting to visit the town since I learned about it's history with all the witch trials.

New York will be amazing as well, we're spending a day and a half there. I have seen it on TV plenty of times, but when it comes to imagining myself actually being there I draw a blank. There is so much I want to see, and we're even going to a Broadway show! I'm excited to find out what I feel about the city, I'm not one for big busy cities so it will be interesting to see if I find it too busy or not. Maybe I'll love it and want to go back? I am anyway really looking forward to seeing it.

The day before I fly down to Orlando the plan is to go to Washington DC, I love the thought of going to the capitol of the United States, just like I did in Australia. I've not really thought a lot about what I want to see in DC other than the White House and the Washington Monument, but it looks like a pretty city from what I've seen on TV.

Orlando... I'm just so excited! My friend Mat was in Oslo for a couple of days this week and I mentioned that it would be really cool if she was going with me, and now she's actually going to look into coming! It would be amazing if she could come but I think it will be magical on my own as well. I've also got a friend who works at the Hilton down there that I haven't seen in a few years so it would be really cool if I could meet up with her.

I arrive late afternoon/early evening to Orlando but apparently the Downtown Disney Area and Disney BoardWalk is open quite late, so I think I might explore those the day I arrive as the other days I'll be busy walking around the parks.

There'll be plenty of walking on my holiday so I think the main thing to remember to pack is some good shoes!

Has anyone been to any of the places I'm going? What did you think? Any suggestions as to what I should see/do?

Happy New Year!!

How was your 2012? 

Mine was amazing! I travelled around Australia, visited Kuala Lumpur, Rome, Paris, Dublin and the UK. I made several new friendships that I hope will last a whole lifetime! I hope 2013 will be just as magical!

I saw a great idea on Tracy's blog, Pen and Paper, it's called the first lines meme. Want to join me? What you do is:

"Take the first line of every month's first post over the past year and see what it tells you about your blogging year."

January: Before I start telling you all about my holiday and stuff I thought I'd do a wrap-up of the reading challenges of 2011.

February: Continuation of last week's Sunday Stealing.

March: The highest tide.

April: Living with the carnivorous host family again after I turned vegetarian was a lot easier than I expected.

May: I arrived in Perth around 11pm, I had called Planet Inn Backpackers in advance to ask if they had free airport transfer, which they did, but as I arrived late it might not be available.

June: A Norwegian TV program is currently filming in the place that I'm from, Vestnes.

July: Do you know what's great to have when you have one present that's made up of loads of little things?

August: I'm heading to Paris in the morning!!

September: September has started, this being Norway, the snow might come any minute!

October: I've been wanting to try pumpkin soup for a while now, and when I saw some pumpkin at the local fruit and veg store I just had to buy some.

November: I always get in a bad mood when I get back to Norway after being abroad, probably because I don't actually want to live here.

December: Even before I worked for them I had always enjoyed XXL's ads on TV.

It's been fun to look back at my old posts, and I think you get a good representation of what my blog is: Book reviews, travel, reviews of places I've stayed, memes and the randomness that is my life.

Happy holidays!

I am travelling home to Vestnes in the morning, it will be really nice to see everyone again, I've not been up there since June, I'm looking forward to celebrating Christmas with my mum again, and to not celebrate it in the summer, that just felt wrong last year... At least I feel a tiny bit more Christmassy this year with all the snow and cold. 

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday! Spend it with the people you love and don't forget to eat so much tasty food you won't be able to get up from the table!

x

What makes me smile:

A message from a friend. 
- Be it letter, a post on Facebook, an e-mail or sms. A cheerful message from a friend will always make me smile.

The few songs I have on my phone.
- I don't have much music on my phone, and it hasn't been changed in ages, but most of the music there makes me smile. Everyone else think my taste in music is weird, but they usually smile, dance and sing along to the music. It's what I like to call good mood music.
- I hate the question: what bands are you into? Or: what kind of music do you like? I like anything that puts a smile on my face. It might change from time to time, but as long as it makes me smile I like it.

A picture. 
- It can be a picture of anything almost. A picture of a friend will make me think of happy memories or just how much I like my friend. Funny pictures might make me laugh. Pretty pictures make me smile.

Funny quotes.
- The first time I read the following quote was before work one day and it cheered me up for the whole day:

Laughing babies.
- It's one of the best sounds in the world, how can anyone not smile at that. And their smiles as well of course.

Seeing a friend.
- They are friends for a reason...

Seeing a good-looking person.
- Don't necessarily mean a man that I fancy, but anyone that looks good. It can of course be a man that I fancy, or just a man that I think looks good. Or it can be a woman that looks good and I'm just happy for them because they've obviously found some clothes that enhances their beauty.

The sound of the wind through the trees.
 - I just love sitting inside when it's really windy outside and I can hear the wind through the threes and around the corner of the house. It's one of the things I miss now that I live in Oslo; people here hardly know what wind is.

A pretty sunset or sunrise.
- I just love the beautiful colours. My favourite sunrise so far was at Yulara, looking over at Uluru on ANZAC day. (here)

The kindness of strangers.
- Just a smile from one, or a compliment. Seeing someone help someone thy don't know. Seeing someone pick up something someone's lost and give it back...

The seasons.
- The colours at autumn.
- Thick white snow at winter. The thicker the blanket the better.
- The new leaves and flowers in spring.
- The flowers and sunshine in the summer.
- Really heavy rain.

Someone giving me a compliment when I have a bad day.

A good film, or even the laughable rubbishness of a bad one.

Seeing a friend or family member happy.

A good book.

Nice decorations.

The kindness of friends and family.

A nice blog post.

The smell of clean clothes that's hung outside to dry on a warm summer day.

Seeing wild animals in the wild.

Going somewhere new, meeting new people and learning about other cultures.

The English language.

Old buildings and ruins
- York! And most other places in England
- Rome!

Thinking about and seeing the reaction of a friend when I hope I've found a suitable gift for them.

Tasty food.

A kind and good-looking man.

Cats.

A man in uniform or suit.

There are many more things that makes me smile, and sometimes new things can be added every day which makes the list endless!

What are some of the things that make you smile? Leave a comment or make your own post and leave a link below.

Share the happiness!

Chesterfield 02-05.11.12

02.11:

I took the train from Holyhead to Chesterfield, well, trains. The scenery from the trains were amazing. I didn't realize how many ruins there were on top of hilltops, especially while we were still in Wales... I wonder what they were used for? Maybe like the Great Wall of China they used them to alert each other of danger? On the last train, from Stockport to Chesterfield the train was PACKED! Standing room only. I was standing to a nice girl who had also been to Australia though so we passed the time chatting together about what we'd seen and where we'd been. It's really cumbersome to have a giant suitcase when you travel by train by the way, it's just in the way most of the time.

After I dropped my things at the hotel I went to the pub I used to work in, Yates's and said hi to some of my old co-workers.

I met up with my friend Nicky at the Abacus for dinner. It was lovely to see Nicky again, it was like I had never even left, we just picked up right where we had left off. We talked about her plans to move to Turkey; just like I feel more at home in the UK than Norway she feels more at home in Turkey than in the UK. At least she feels at home in a warm sunny country, unlike me who wants to go to a country that's just a couple of degrees warmer than Norway. I hope she gets to move to Turkey asap without having to work herself to death. At least I've got an excuse to go on nice sunny holidays when she moves there, and she'll be able to show me all the non-touristy things!

It was good that seeing Nicky again was great because the food was terrible! Seriously, neither of us finished even though we didn't have much on our plates. We left the Abacus and went back to Yates's where we shared a bowl of chips and cheese while having a few drinks with my old co-workers.

03.11:

It's kind of nice to  be in a place that I used to live: I've seen everything and I can actually relax instead of run around and see as much as possible. Hence the lack of pictures. I had a relaxing morning before Nicky and I went to Meadowhall (aka Meadowhell) today for some shopping and dinner before I met some friends for drinks back in Chesterfield.

04.11:

A nice relaxing day again before heading to Nicky's for some Chinese take-away. Followed by drinks with some of the people that couldn't come out last night. I think my liver will be happy when I leave... But it's nice to feel like I actually have a life again!

05.11:

I had a great dinner with the family I used to au pair for here tonight. It was great seeing the girls again, they've grown so much!  Although the girls have grown, it still feels like I never even left! Their new au pair seems really nice, she's also studying child psychology, so I guess the job is helping her with her studies as well.

November 5th is Bonfire night in the UK so we heard fireworks being sent up everywhere we set off a Chinese lantern. I've never done it before, it looks really beautiful, they even gave me one to take home, maybe I'll sett it off on New Years Eve if it's not too windy.

I had a great time catching up with friends in Chesterfield. I wish I was still living there, I actually manage to have a life there, I have friends to go out with, to talk to. I need to get back to the UK!

Dublin 29.10.12

I had just started going for a walk around Dublin today when suddenly I noticed a BIG group of people running through the streets, apparently the marathon was on. Some people were dressed up and everything, it was fun to watch. The marathon did make it difficult to cross the street sometimes though.

I had a great walk through the city. I saw the GPO, the Dublin needle, which didn't really show up very well on the picture because of the overcast sky, the garden of Remembrance and the Ha'penny bridge (so called because you had to pay half a penny to cross back in the day). I also saw the Tart with the cart, also known as Molly Malone, something that resulted in me having the song in my head for the next 3 days!

Does anybody know why those padlocks are there? Seems like it's kind of like carving your names into a tree...

After I had been to Merrion Square park and seen the statue of Oscar Wilde I caught the end of the marathon, or rather the beginning of the end, the first few people were crossing the finish line. I wasn't really paying attention until I noticed a guy in a wheelchair. Apparently the disabled people get to start a bit earlier than the rest but I still think it was really impressive that he was amongst the top 20, I think he was amongst the top 20 anyway, like I said I wasn't really paying attention, but I hadn't seen that many people get in  before him.

Trinity College has some of the most beautiful old buildings in Dublin, I got a tour by a guy studying history who knew a lot, we were only taken around a small part of the campus but I learnt a lot and the guide was really knowledgeable, it was almost so I didn't want the tour to end because it was all so interesting, it almost seemed like the guide didn't quite want it to end either, he seemed like there was much more he wanted to tell us. I also bought a ticket for the Book of Kells, but I had to run and meet my friend so I saved the ticket for tomorrow.

When I was in Yulara I met an Irish Girl who I met up with again today. It was really nice to see her again, I hope that since we both live in Europe we can meet up every now and again. IG and I went to the Old Jameson Distillery. I've never been a big fan of whiskey, but I tried it with Ginger Ale, Sprite and Cranberry Juice (not all at the same time of course) and with the first two it was actually quite nice. At Jameson they only did guided tours, it was cool to learn about their history, although they showed a ridiculous movie at the start of the tour, it was funny just because of how bad it was.

After Jameson IG and I went to Temple Bar to a traditional Irish pub where they were playing live traditional Irish music. It was the best ambiance I've ever had in a pub, it was really crowded but not claustrophobic, everybody was just chilling and having a good time.

Almost party time!

I feel like I have no life lately... I don't really do anything after work or have anyone to hang out with after work. It's my own fault of course, I should find something to do outside work, I'm just too lazy. After work all I feel like doing is just plonk down on the sofa and watch some telly, same with weekends. I actually feel like a really crappy friend as I have one friend fairly close by and I've not been to visit her yet since I moved to Oslo. I will try to see her next weekend.

I did get two free concert tickets from my dad for Friday, not for someone I'm actually a fan of or anything, but if I had had someone to go with it would have probably been a nice night out regardless of who was singing. Unfortunately one of the people I wanted to invite was away and two others that it would have been nice to go with was working late. So I just told my dad to give the tickets to someone else at his work. He got them at work in the first place, and before you say that I could have gone with my dad; we don't really have that kind of relationship so it would have had to be a concert with someone at least one of us really liked for us to go together.

All of the above is just making me look even more forward to my holiday. Only two more weeks now and I'm going. It will be nice to see friends again, and to actually DO something! That was the nice part of moving around so much for the last few months in Australia, I got to do lots because I just had to since I was in each place for such short amount of time! It will be the same now. I'm going to 4 different places in two weeks so of course there won't be heaps of time in each place.

I am just finished arranging two events for when I'm in Chesterfield. Going out to dinner and drinks with my friends there. I am REALLY looking forward to it. Even just going for a proper night out again will be nice.

I will also visit the family I au paired for there, it will be nice to see the girls I looked after again. I've not seen them for nearly two years! I wonder if they'll remember me.

I've booked a holiday!!

I was just going to take one week off, but one week turned into two as there is so much I want to do! My holiday isn't until the end of next month, but with all the hours I worked last week I should have plenty of spending money!

My holiday starts in Dublin, I've never been before and I want to meet up with a girl I met at Uluru. The things on my list of things I would like to see while I'm in Dublin so far includes the Guinness Store House (I don't like Guinnes but it's Dublin!), Dublin Castle, Kilmainham Gaol and possibly Trinity College. Anyone got any other suggestions? I would love to see more of Ireland as well but hopefully I'll get a chance to do that another time.

After a few days in Dublin I'm taking the ferry to Holyhead and staying there for one night. I was going to jump straight on a coach or train to Chesterfield but since I've never been to Holyhead or any other part of Wales before I decided I wanted to at least have one day there so I could see at least a small part of it. I was tempted to get a coach tour or something to see more of Wales but I decided I wanted to have a bit more time than just one or two days if I was going to do that, hopefully another time. I am looking forward to the one night in Holyhead though, almost as much as Dublin, just because it's somewhere I've never been before.

After one night in Holyhead I'm getting the train to Chesterfield and staying there for a few days, I'm really looking forward to seeing my friends there again, I've not seen any of them for ages! Hopefully I'll be moving back to the UK sometime next year, then I will be able to see them more often.

The last few days of my holiday isn't planned yet. I was going to see a friend in Lutterworth (that I met in Brisbane), but she might be working and I don't want her to feel like she has to spend time with me in the evenings and then be too tired for work in the mornings, but she's on holiday at the moment so I'll see what she says when she gets back. If I don't go to Lutterworth I could of course stay a bit longer in Chesterfield, but I am tempted to go to some random place that I haven't been before just to see somewhere new, as long as I get to Gatwick in time for my flight home it's fine. I was thinking about going south so that I'm actually travelling towards Gatwick.

Looking at the map and trying to decide where I want to go I almost wish I had booked a ticket home from Edinburgh or Glasgow so that I could have travelled north instead of south, there are so many places I'd like to see in northern England and Scotland! This whole looking at maps to find out where I want to go is just not good, I want to go everywhere!!

Since Ireland and the UK is in general cheaper than Norway I was also thinking about finishing my Christmas shopping while on my holiday.

Sunday Meme

Another meme from Sunday Stealing.

1. You have been awarded the time off from work and an all-expense paid week anywhere in the United States. The catch is that it must be somewhere you have not been before. Where do you choose to visit? Since I've not been anywhere in the States yet it's kind of hard to choose, but since I'm doing the East Coast next year and I would love to see California as well, I guess I would go to California, and go to one of Ellen's shows while I was there.
2. What do you value most in other people? Honesty, manners and hard work (when they're co-workers)
3. Be honest. Do you sneak some raw cookie dough when you're baking cookies? Who doesn't?
4. What is the most beautiful place you've ever visited? Possibly Uluru, it was by far the most beautiful sunrise I've seen. I think it might be a shared first place between Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef.
5. Are you more of a thinker or a feeler? A thinker
6. Have you ever participated in a three-legged race? Yes, at school
7. When you are at an event playing the National Anthem, do you place your hand over your heart? Other than the National Day they don't really play the National Anthem very often in Norway, but I don't normally put my hand on my heart unless everybody around me is.
8. What kind of work do you do? I work in a store putting out merchandise in the mornings before opening, and back in the storage tidying, handling deliveries etc.
9. During the course of your lifetime, which job or career has been your favourite or most fulfilling? I am quite enjoying my current job, especially the office part of it.
10. Do you think it's necessary in your life to have a day-to-day "career" that is meaningful and service-oriented or do you function better in "just a job" with a steady paycheck? I don't necessarily want something service-oriented, but I think it would be fun to have a proper "career", but at the same time it would be easier in a way to have "just a job", that way I don't have to think too much about the future etc.
11. Was there ever a time in your life when you wanted to stay home with your children instead of working, eve if it meant less money in the household? I don't have any kids, but I think that if I chose to have any in the future, then I would like to stay at home with them at least until they start school.
12. Have you ever been the boss? Not really, but I've had managerial shifts in jobs, part of me likes it, but at the same time I'm worried about being too "bossy", although I do try to just act the same no matter what position I've got in a job.
13. What is your dream occupation? I'm not entirely sure, but maybe something office-based since I'm enjoying that in my current job.

Paris - Day 1

I took my first Ryanair flight on Thursday. It was fine, it was kind of nice to be able to sit wherever I wanted, so that as long as I managed to get in line fairly early I am pretty much guaranteed a window-seat. The flight I got had about 20 or 30 teenage girls on it that was heading to Disneyland that were all really noisy... Which is annoying it itself, but at 6am it's REALLY annoying! They did get told off by the flight attendants a few times though, which I though was good, especially when they were too noisy during the safety procedures and stood up in their seat while the plane was taxiing during landing.

When I got to Paris I landed at Beauvais, I got in line to get the bus ticket to the city when I realized I didn't have any Euros yet and I had to change terminals to get some (I had emptied my card so there was no point in bringing it with me anyway), luckily the terminals are really small and close together so it was okay.

My friend J met me by the metro stop close to the hostel we were staying at, Mije. It was really nice to see her again, we met on our first day in Sydney, we were staying in the same hostel dorm. Since I got there so early we couldn't check in yet, but we could store our luggage there for free, so we did that and headed out. J had already been in Paris for a few days so she was nice to have to avoid getting lost.

First we headed to the Louvre as I wanted to see the glass pyramids. I would like to go inside one day as well and see the Mona Lisa and all the other beautiful paintings, but I prefer to go to museums and art galleries on my own as I always get a bit stressed when walking with someone because I get worried that they're bored.

We then walked to Galeries Lafayette, which is a famous department store in Paris. We wandered around and then went up to the roof terrace and got a nice view of Paris.

After Galeries Lafayette we walked back to the St. Paul metro stop and met up with a couple of people that's starting Harvard with J in a few weeks. we all had some lunch together.

A few hours later J, one of the Harvard people and I bought a bottle of wine, some bread and cheese and walked to the Eiffel tower. We sat down amongst all the other people that had the same idea as us and watched the Eiffel tower lights being turned on. I thought the twinkles was nice as well, but I'm glad they were only on for a few minutes as I think it could be "tacky" if they're on too long.

J and I decided to walk back to the hostel, Paris by night was really lovely, it's nice to see people out drinking in parks and not getting rowdy and destructive. We stopped by the glass pyramids again so that I could see them lit up as well.

It was nice to finally get to check in at the hostel when we got back and be able to go right to bed, since we got a room for two it was also nice not having to be quiet and do unpack and find everything with the lights off.

Paris here I come!

I'm heading to Paris in the morning!!

I booked the ticket right after my friend's wedding in London. A friend, J, from Canada, that I met on my first day in Australia, is in Paris so we decided to meet up. I'm really looking forward to seeing her again, it's been over a year since last time I saw her, and who knows when we'll see each other next?

I'm really looking forward to seeing Paris as well of course. I have been there once before, over 10 years ago and I can't really remember much. I'm only going for a long weekend, and the plan is to go up the Eiffel tower and go to Versailles. I also just looked at the map to see where we are staying and we are really close to the Notre Dame! I have wanted to see the Notre Dame since I first saw the Hunchback of Notre Dame!

There are some downsides of going. One is that I'm not getting paid until Tuesday, so I'm getting short on money, but I've done some calculations and I should be all right, I usually always need less than I think anyway (touch wood). Another downside is that I have to get up at 02.45 tomorrow morning! That's too early! Even for me! I also booked the ticket with Ryanair and from an airport that's not the easiest to get to in the middle of the night, just because it was cheaper than getting it from Gardermoen. But after all of Ryanair's fees, the taxi to get the airport shuttle etc, it would just have been cheaper and heaps easier to just leave from Gardermoen. Oh well. You live and learn, at least now I know for next time. It will also be interesting to fly with Ryanair for the first time! I've not heard a single good thing about them!

But it's my friend J and PARIS!!! I don't care what I have to go through to get there, I'm going!!