My Garden Project

At our house we have a little front garden. There is no grass which I'm quite happy about as I wouldn't want to have to get a lawnmower for such a small area. It's nice to have a little project, and the garden is small enough that it doesn't take too long to maintain. 

However, when we moved in to the house the front garden looked absolutely hideous! One plant had completely taken over the whole garden and people walking past had thrown loads of rubbish into the garden. The house is on a busy road and I'm not really surprised people treated the garden like a tip when it looked like rubbish anyway. 

I really wanted to get rid of the plant that was taking over but since we're just renting I don't know if we're allowed to, apparently you also have to burn it if you want it gone forever! I don't think people would be too happy if I started a small fire right next to a busy road, for all I know the smoke from the plant would be really thick as well, I'd rather not get arrested just for burning a plant. I cut the plant down as much as I could, I know it will grow back (it's only a week and a half since I did it and it's already grown 20cm!) and this way it will be easier to keep it under control when it does. 

About halfway...

I filled a whole shopping bag with the rubbish people had thrown into the garden! I'm hoping that now that the garden doesn't look like a tip anymore people won't thrown things in it. 

I've planted some bulbs and seeds so hopefully in a couple of weeks the garden will look nice and flowery. That's if the days of hail we had didn't kill it all off!

Around the world in one day

Saturday March 9th I went to Epcot. As I always wake up early I was there before they opened and the lines were quite short, I also got to move to an even shorter line once I found out that because my hotel room key was my ticket I could go to a different entrance.

Epcot is divided into two parts, Future World and World Showcase, World Showcase opens about two hours after Future World so there is plenty of time to check out all the rides in Future World before having a wander around the Showcase. There was also a flower festival at Epcot while I was there so there was lots of characters made out of topiary everywhere. It's impressive to see what some people are able to make.

There were quite a few rides in Future World and they were all good, some of my favourites were: Spaceship Earth, the Chevrolet Test Track - which was also a little scary as it went quite fast and had some sudden stops, Journey into imagination with Figment, Mission Space - I really liked that you could choose two different intensities on this ride, and Captain EO - a really old 3D movie and it was really silly but also a little fun. I also wish I had gone on "Soaring" but the lines were so long and I didn't even think of getting a Fast Pass.

For those of you that doesn't know what the Epcot World Showcase is - it's a Showcase of different countries around the world. Each country has their own little area and you can buy food and merchandise from that country and the buildings are made in the countries own style and the people that work there are from the respective countries and their uniform is a kind of national costume of their country. A few of the countries has rides or movies but not all of them.

Once the World Showcase opened I went in a clockwise direction. When walking that way Mexico is the first country. They have a little boat tour showing the sights of Mexico which also stars the three Caballeros.

The next stop is Norway. I have to say they did a good job with the buildings -  making them look Norwegian. Norway also had a ride, Maelstrom, I didn't like the commentator on the ride, just because the Norwegian accent was so thick, but some Norwegians does talk that way when speaking English and I guess it's fun for people that are not Norwegian, wouldn't feel very Norwegian with a thick American or British accent.

After Norway there is China, Germany and Italy before America had their own little area. Then came Japan, Morocco, France, United Kingdom and Canada. It was really fun to walk around and see everyone's area, with the buildings and everything.

Most countries looked the way I know them to look or the way I imagined them to look, except for Canada, which has a big focus on native Canadians and lumber. I also saw the 360 circle vision film in Canada. It was interesting but since you had to stand the whole time it was very tiring, and I don't really get why it was 360, I couldn't be bothered to turn around after a couple of minutes and it would have been just as good  if it was just a big widescreen or something.

I read on a website that Epcot was bigger than Magic Kingdom and that you need more than a day to get around it, maybe you do with kids, but I actually left long before it was closing. I did want to see the fireworks in the evening but I had gotten sunburnt and needed to relax so I went back to the hotel. I did feel like I had seen everything I really wanted to see though.

Happy Valentines Day!!

A few months ago I asked a Hindu friend if he celebrates Christmas, his answer was that he;

"...enjoy every religious festival no matter what the religion, any excuse for a party with friends and family." 

Isn't that just a great way of looking at things? 

I thought that way today, Valentines. I might be single and I didn't party or anything, but I wore a red top and some hearts in my hair instead of my regular plain bobby pins. Any excuse to do something fun. Something different. 

I also played with my new DSLR today. One bad thing about having a DSLR is that it shows up a lot better if you don't have a steady hand on slow shutter speed.

auto vs. manual

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!

Paris - Day 2. Versailles!!

Friday J and I got up early and met up with a guy, D, staying at the hostel that J had met a few days ago and we all went to Versailles for the day!

View from the hostel room in the morning.

First look at Versailles

Since it's in the middle of the busiest tourist season Versailles was crazy busy, we got there when it opened so the line wasn't too long when we got there, but after a little while inside the Château it just got busier and busier until we were basically just herded along like sheep. So just like the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel I kind of felt like I didn't get to see and appreciate everything. J's guide book had said that Friday was one of the best days to come since it wouldn't be as busy then, just so that all of you know if you're planning to go there, but outside the main tourist season would probably be best. I would love to go back when it's quieter.

Even though it was busy, the Château was absolutely beautiful. There was some strange modern art things in there, but I loved seeing all the old rooms, pictures and furniture.

The hall of mirrors was beautiful, although it would have been more amazing if there were less people there. I can imagine it would look magical in there at night, and I would like to learn some more ballroom dancing so that maybe I can go to a ball there one time, not very likely but a girl has to dream. I don't even know if they do balls there, but it would be truly incredible if they do!

After being a sheep in the Château it was nice to get out into the gardens. The gardens is REALLY beautiful, and incredibly big, we probably only saw about half of it, but we saw the parts that we mostly wanted to see.

We hired a boat and went on the "lake" for half an hour as well. D started with the rowing, but I just couldn't deal with how rubbish he was so I took over after a few minutes, I used to row a lot on the fjords at home when I was younger.

We also went into Marie Antoinette's little house. It was really cute. In a way I think I liked that more than the Château. But that might be because it wasn't as busy. But I did like that it was just the size of a normal house and not as lavishly decorated, it was fairly "normal" (royalty normal).

If you ever visit France you should definitely pay Versailles a visit, there is so much to see, and just a perfect day out if the weather is nice. I even got a little sunburnt!

I have noticed that tourist attractions in Paris (maybe all of France) isn't too badly priced. In many countries you have to pay out of your ears and nose to get into attractions, but it was only €18 for the passport to Versailles, which pretty much included everything there, and if you're an EU citizen under the age of 26 you get in for free (Curse Norway and the EEA!). It's nice to finally be in a place where it's actually affordable to go to the tourist attractions even for people with little money.

I'm back!

Back in Norway after more than 10 months away.

I arrived on the evening of May 17th, Norway's National Day. As I was flying from Rome I saw the sky under me accumulating more and more clouds as we got closer to Norway. They didn't have very nice weather for the celebrations around Norway that day, and it wasn't really the best welcome home from the weather Gods I could have had: rain and temperatures so low I could see my breath. At least it was the kind of weather I associate with Norway...

It's strange to be back. It kind of feels like I've never even left. I'm back where my mum lives at the moment, Vestnes. I went for a walk today, hunting down some postcards. I went to the bookshop a few days ago but they didn't have the right place name on them, so I had to walk for an hour to get to the ferry dock where they luckily had the right ones.I can't believe they didn't have the right postcards at the bookshop though, one of two places they sell postcards and they only had postcards with the names of even smaller places on them! I'm in Vestnes, I want to buy postcards that says Vestnes on them!

When I had just left the house to walk to the ferry dock I saw a little squirrel scampering up a tree. It paused when it saw me, and for a little while it was really close to me, but at soon as I moved to get my camera out of my bag it ran further up the tree. It was a nice start to my walk, I haven't seen many squirrels here before.

Can you spot the squirrel?

Except for May 17th the weather has been really nice since I got  back, it was even quite warm today (keep in mind warm for Norway is low 20's), it's like summer had come early. This is when I like Vestnes the most, when the sun is shining and I can see all the lovely mountains surrounding us. Everything looks prettier in the sunlight.

I do like Vestnes, but mostly as a place to go on holiday to, to get away from all the hustle and bustle of bigger places. To relax. Catch up with family. I don't like living here so much. You know in other countries, especially the U.S., Canada and the U.K., when you go to the smaller places people smile at you on the streets and talk to you... Not in small place Norway, not Vestnes anyway. People look really grumpy, I hadn't really noticed before. And because it's such a small place (approx 5000 citizens) everybody knows everybody and there is so much gossiping, double standards and narrow-mindedness. I don't like the people here.

Although I never liked Oslo when I lived there I hope I will like it more now. I am moving to my dad in Oslo in a few weeks, I'm not sure when. My dad isn't really a planner. It's hard to plan when he has a job where he comes in one day and get a message he's going to America for 3 weeks. I've not even been to his new apartment there, or met his new girlfriend, he got both while I was in Australia. It will be interesting.

The thing that annoys me most about this is that I can't apply for jobs in Oslo until I know for sure when I'll actually be available for interviews etc. down there. I hope I won't have to wait too long to get a job, I need to start saving up for America next year.

Melbourne - Day 3 and 4

(Day 1 and 2. )

Day 3

A boring start to the day: I decided to sit down and charge my phone all the way up. At least it gave me some time to answer my e-mails and post some of my Melbourne pictures to Facebook.

After my phone was fully charged for the first time since Canberra I wandered around town for a few hours. I started with taking the free tourist shuttle to Queen Victoria Market, which was starting to close up when I got there. I bought a couple of plums and then I just started randomly walking down a road. I did ask a police officer that I walked past if I was heading towards the city centre, just to make sure I wouldn’t end up too far away, and I was. Once I knew that and I noticed a street I recognised I knew how to get back to my hostel, but I didn’t want to go there yet so I turned left and right down some random streets. My sense of direction is quite good, so I didn’t get LOST.

Anyway. I came across some alleys with some street art; some was being made as I was watching. It’s amazing how good some people are, and it’s really nice that they’ve got somewhere to do it. It should be like this in all cities, because when it’s done properly it can look really nice!

 My friend Mai had been on a wine tasting tour all day, and when she got back we bought a cake and some wine to celebrate her birthday. We sat in her hostel at first, where we met a couple of guys who, when we had finished our wine, we went out to Melbourne Central with for a couple more drinks. This is one thing I really like about hostels; you meet so many new people and so many nice people. Everybody is a potential friend.

Wine in mugs... We're just SO classy!

Day 4 – Luna, Kevin and Antonio!

Today is the day I’m meeting Luna and her daddies Antonio and Kevin. They are the first people (and dog) who I only know from the blog world that I’m actually meeting face-to-face. I “met” Kevin over a year ago through his blog “52 Characters in Search for a Script”, which he’s sadly not writing on anymore. When I got twitter we followed each other on there and then when he and his partner Antonio started a blog for their dog Luna, “Luna,A Dog’s Life…”, I started reading that. When I decided to come to Melbourne I asked if they would like to meet up, and they did!

As I was meeting them a little bit outside Melbourne I had to get a train ticket. I am so used to using my go-card in Brisbane it’s a bit strange having to get an actual ticket. As I was sitting on the train I realized that Kevin, who was picking me up, doesn’t know what I look like! I figured that I would see him when I got off, but just in case it was busy and I didn’t spot him I sent him a tweet telling him what I was wearing.  I needn’t have worried, I knew him as soon as I saw him.

Kevin took me back to their house, it was really strange to meet someone I’ve only known online, but he’s a nice guy. When we got to his and Antonio’s house I got to meet Antonio and the famous Luna as well. Both very nice! Luna was very friendly and jumping up on me and giving me kisses, I’m glad she isn’t a Doberman or something big and heavy like that! Haha! 

Antonio and Kevin left Luna at home in the back garden and we drove into the city and went to the aquarium. Antonio even paid for my ticket! Thank you again for that! They had penguins at the aquarium, I think they just want to make more money after the Happy Feet movies, but then again they probably got some new things after the Finding Nemo movie as well.  But it was cool to see them anyway, except for the penguins in St Kilda, I have never seen penguins before, not that I can remember anyway.

 There were loads of pretty, funny, weird and some ugly fishes at the aquarium.

Spider crab! Yuck!

 After the aquarium we crossed the river to Crown Casino. Antonio was dying for a coffee! The Crown casino is one of those places you can tell is really expensive as soon as you step inside. They had a decoration for the Chinese New Year that was really nice. The picture doesn't do it justice!

 We had some (non-alcoholic)drinks, again I didn’t have to pay my own way! THANK YOU!  And then Kevin and Antonio walked me to my hostel before they went to one of their friend’s birthday party.

 I really enjoyed my day with Kevin, Antonio and Luna. It was strange in the beginning because we don’t really know each other, but after we got over the initial “awkwardness” or what I should call it, I had a really nice time.

In the evening I met up with Mai and the guys from last night again. We had some of Mai’s left over birthday cake and just sat at her hostel and chatted for a few hours.

To be continued...