So this is Christmas.......although not entirely

With Christmas fast approaching that also means Christmas prices looming and therefore a lot of people said their  farewells this week. Monday was easily the main night with Phil and Julia leaving and Phil with the help of others put on a rather lavish feast. It was rather impressive to say the least having an absolutely huge piece of ham, sausage rolls, platters of cheese, dips, booze, goon and everything in between, it definitely gave new definition to the term "spread". It was a rather memorable night as the whole hostel came together to get involved and it was a nice way for the new arrivals to meet people too. They must've thought they'd hit the jackpot hostel wise with all the free stuff and were slightly spoiled with all this going on but it was a nice send off  and the majority of us then headed over to the Sugarmill for the last free drinks. After that it was much the same as usual, much craziness into the middle of the night, a few having too much, a few tears by some but all in all a good night.

The run up to Christmas here has been quite odd to say the least, it's just not a big thing over here at all so you kind of forget about it. Obviously back home everything is slightly over the top once Halloween hits but here there's no lights, no songs in bars or shops, few decorations and just no overriding "feeling" of it being Christmas at all; it really is like i've missed it this year.Back home we always go out on Christmas eve so it was nice to keep that tradition up here, the day was excruciantly spent for me following Melanie, Pemilla and Chelsea round Paddy's Market as they went "shopping" and for the first time in over ten years i had that feeling in my legs i used to get following my Mam round C & A or Marks & Spencers, where i just wanted to lay on the floor on the spot.

On the return to the hostel we discovered that Rich had put on a ham and lots of drinks for everyone which was cool, once again bringing everyone together. We made the most of it with the Christmas songs (and Butcher Boy) to try and catch the mood plus catching Paul McCartney live put the ever so few of us who like "Rock & Roll" in good spirits. Everyone headed out while  Lee, John, Steve, me and "Dutch Girl" headed round The Empire, O'Malleys and finally World Bar. On O'Malleys we encountered easily the jolliest man in history, originally we just thought they had the radio on but turned around to see a black fella sitting on his chair singing perfectly in the most casual manner of all time with a constant beam to his smile. He was eating food, on the laptop, holding conversations all while singing and not missing a single note. Just a happy happy man. He really added to the night and girl told  us she'd come ten years ago and he was singing then so he really must be a draw, i can see why too. We all then headed to World bar and i can't tell you enough how refreshing it is to not hear Black Eyed Peas or Pitbull all night and some actually good songs like The Kinks, Interpol and some actual proper Christmas tunes. As per usual though the heat and sweat got too much so at different intervals we all headed home for a bit of a sing song more drinks and plenty of carnage.

Christmas Day was a bit of a quiet affair for me really, i'd planned to go to Bondi but when it actually came to it going to the beach wasn't appealing at all, the rain hardly compelled me to go either. So i just spent the day round the hostel and it was a little bit odd really and a bit sad that it was just like any other day. Obviously though i'd never exchange the last three months for one day back in England though. New Year seems to be a much bigger thing over here with the harbour and everything else so we'll see what that brings, it should be a good one i think. .....still not got a job.

Farewells, Avatars and Howling Bells

With the run up to Christmas being in full flow the Hostel is now full of people coming and going all the time, the core group of "long termer's" dwindles down everyday as nobody wants to pay Christmas prices or they're just moving onto another travel destination. Last weekend was rather good but a bit sad as well, Dave and Kelly were moving on the Tuesday and coupling that with Decky, Owen, Paul and Andrew leaving a few days prior it meant that the hostel was losing much of it's atmosphere. We all made the most of the weekend though and Saturday night through to Sunday was some of the funniest and best times i've had since leaving. Everyone made an appearance in Francois, Nina, Marie, Owen, Decky, Kelly, Pemilla, Melanie, Guy, Stefan, Joe, Phil, Julia as well as the hostel randoms and it was actually quite nice for all of us to go and sit in the bar for a few drinks instead of being on the goon all the time (for the unaware, goon is a 4 litre case of wine for 10 dollars. It's rank but a half a lager is about 5, what would you choose?). Monday had a bot of a solemn feeling as it almost felt like the end of a chapter and it would be awhile before i hear my new nickname of "ENGLISH!" (everyone here is french, german or oirish)again . Being traveling your constantly saying goodbyes but there's always new people coming in and already the hostel has got some new sound people in and Francois, Jerome, Nina, Penilla, Iwan, Guy and Mel are all still  here so it retains its old charm.

On Wednesday i went off to to see Avatar in 3d at the iMax here. I rarely go to the flicks but it's the biggest screen in the world and Avatar is meant to be made for these places so i thought i'd may as well do it properly. My previous iMax experiences were limited solely to Kennedy Space Centre and my 3D to shows like T2:3D, Spiderman, Honey I shrunk the audience and that fucked up Captain EO with Michael Jackson that for some odd reason Coppala directed all at either Disney or Universal so i didn't know really what to expect from a "proper film". It took awhile for my eyes to adjust to everything (as well as combating the problem of "do i put the 35 specs over my glasses?", i wasn't the only one) but after they did the film was quite the spectacle. I wasn't completely blown away as the media were calling it a "game changer" but the level of depth in the world he created was pretty unbelievable. I couldn't help but think you'd have to be a genius just to envisage the type of stuff going on, the 3D effect suited the film too and i'd definitely recommend it. I can see how Cameron spent so long making too as it is so visually stunning and intricate, plus on the trailer i felt the characters looked fresh off a video game and that would make it stupid but Weta really raised the bar in the effects and i  believed there were actual 8 foot humanoids running around. Im not entirely sure how the story would translate to just a normal 2d viewing and if it would stand up on it's own, you really need to see it in 3D. It was nice to see a few nods to Aliens too with a role for Sigourney Weaver, the big robotic gun suits and Giovani Ribisi basically playing the Paul Reiser role of "company man"; can't believe there was no Bill Paxton though. There are a few cringe worthy moments, especially the scene that's almost like the rave sequence in the matrix reloaded as well as a nonsensical "here we come to save the day!!!!!!!!!!" bit and the social commentary is a bit hippiesh (humans are bad, kill the earth alas Wall-E, love the trees) but all in all it was perfectly acceptable entertainment. Special mention has to go to Stephen Lang as the Colonel though who doesn't just steel every scene but chews his way through it. There was a couple of odd moments in the cinema too, the first being when the Col makes a remark about killing all the "Aboriginals" on Pandora and the whole Aussie cinema started pissing themselves and then again at the end when everybody bloody applauded. I felt like screaming it's not fucking Cannes to everyone and it went on far too long, awful.
On the menu for Friday night was Howling Bells at The Gaelic club just outside Central Station, it was like a flashback to the early days of Sydney finding the place as i managed to somehow go up the wrong side street for about two hours in the wrong direction. I really enjoyed the first album but not gave the second one much of a chance so played it during the week and i was pretty surprised how good it was, i dare say it was better than the first which only increased my anticipation for the gig. There was a bit of bother getting in the place as EVERYBODY gets I.D'd here to a level that's ridiculous, the bouncers (and police) are constantly walking around the bars and clubs to the point you can't relax and they throw people out for any infraction stating you're "intoxicated". That's if you get in of course which is no mean feat in itself, if you don't have a female escort in some places you're not getting in. Case in point being at the gig too where the lead singer related that the bouncers wouldn't let her in to her own bands gig as she didn't have I.D. on her, that's the level of patheticness you face here. The venue again was perfect and probably just a little bit bigger than the Cluny or a little bit smaller than stage 2 at Northumbria back home so it was a nice and intimate place. The gig was great , Juanita Stein is an incredible front woman, her voice was probably better than on record and completely faultless, her guitar playing was surprisingly great, she looked fantastic and was completely charming too. Definite wife material haha. I'd compare her to PJ Harvey a bit which is a pretty high complement, only problem i guess is she overshadows the rest of the group to the point they almost become a backing band. The audience was a bit subdued but i noticed that at Animal Collective too so it could be reflective of the place rather than the bands, or maybe they just prefer shite like Jet who were playing on the other side of the city. Highlights of which there were many was Low Happening and Cities Burning Down.

Animal Collective

Just returned from the Animal collective gig and it was rather resplendent all round despite not exactly feeling 100% up for it. The day had been a wipe out due to the usual Thursday night/ Friday morning events but for the first time since leaving home i actually felt proper rough all day, i did manage to pull it together around seven and then head out to find where the gig was it. The venue was named the Enmore Theater and situated; coming off the train i was immediately met by scores of police and sniffer dogs so i guess they stake the station out every time there's a gig on to deter touts and drugs, not the worst of ideas bearing in mind how stupid the police usually are. After passing through the "blockade" I could tell that this area was much more my scene and a lot different to the rest of Sydney i've seen with the exception of my initial foray into Paddington. There was just as many bars, cafes and people there but the place seemed a lot more laid back and there was a definite change in atmosphere. I'd say it's like drinking around Central rather than the bigg market or Quayside, the clientèle were much more "my people" too. The theatre had a capacity of about 1600 and was a great venue for this type of gig, just the right size, well laid out so it wasn't too wide or narrow and the sound was spot on too. I was sitting on the balcony and quite happy to do so as i'd probably not have been able to stand for any length of time.
Usually I try to avoid support acts as a rule since they tend to just bum you out while waiting for the main act, I can't really think of anyone ever who's made me want to pick up their album or see them again live; saying that The Mooney Suzuki played their part to perfection when they supported Kings at Northumbria Uni. It really was a sad day for the north east when the academy opened. Anyway a New Zealand girl going as Bachelorette was supporting and she actually turned out to be quite charming. Her setup was fairly typical of others these days utilizing keyboards, drum machines, loops, laptops, image projections et al and doing it all just be herself. I wouldn't say she was extraordinary but she played her part well and i definitely appreciated what she played, i'd definitely look her up again if she was playing a festival i was at.
It's taken me awhile to get into Animal Collective as there was a lot of hype surrounding them and i prefer to find stuff in my own time, however since i've left for traveling i've been playing them a lot and was quite curious to see them as i couldn't imagine them having the usual guitar, bass and mic set up. I have no idea what they actually were using to play the songs, as it seemed to be all electronic with the ocassional guitar and one drum but it was quite amazing how well they created the tunes with such little to use. The show was brilliant and they took advantage of having a small stage by using great lighting and a simple set up which really added to the music visually too. My only slight criticism is the same one i always have in that i think they played a bit too long, most people disagree with me wanting "value for money" but i just think if you trim a few "ok" songs it really makes the difference to the set. If you're going to see a big act like Springsteen or U2 then obviously you'd want an at least 2 hour greatest hits set but i think too many band stretch it out. Other than that great gig though, I couldn't really say any highlights as i'm useless with song titles since i just leave the album rolling. I'm going to try and hunt out the set list though as there was a few brilliant tracks i'd never heard before. One thing i must say at that Animal Collective are truly unique, most bands are derivative of others but they really do stand on their own i think. Off to Howling Bells Next! *Setlist Here

A bit of bother

My predictions were all too correct unfortunately, Saturday i was up bright and early, leaving me the only person in the common room/kitchen munching on my cheerios while watching comedy central i'd imagine. A new arrival in the form of a Scotsman came in carrying all his gear and without any introduction asked if i could do him a favour and go get him my adapter so he could borrow it. Bit odd i thought but fair enough, no major harm in him using it for a bit, i'd not be leaving the room without it back in my hand though. We had a bit craic on and he'd just literally got in from the U.K as he'd had a few problems in getting into Australia due to him holding a Canadian, British and New Zealand passport as well as a criminal record. For kidnapping. Quite the character this guy was. He knew zero about laptops so i set his up for him, installing various programs and configuring his iPod so he could plug into any pc and choose the tunes without it getting wiped. I'd say i've done this for about fifty people now and it baffles me how people don't know about it, all you do is plug it in then when it pops up asking if you'd like to sync with this p.c noting your current songs will be wiped, click cancel. Then when iTunes is loaded select your iPod from the left hand bar and make sure the check box "manually mange songs...." is ticked and jobs done. You can know pick and choose of any p.c., hopefully the world knows this now, i highly doubt it obviously. Anyway he told me about the kidnapping, basically someone owed him money and he saw him at a petrol station so kidnapped him, tied him up in a garage and left him there for two nights as you do. He also took great pleasure in showing me a crack den he stayed in while hostelling in London, he actually seemed ok apart from all these glaring warn signs and was incredibly grateful for me sorting his stuff out. He went off to spend the day at Bondi while i headed out myself for to Hyde park.
On my return to the common are he was laying passed out in between about 6 peoples legs and clearly sun burnt, ah a day at the beach and jetlag i thought. Wrong, he was off his face. He woke up, sat about an inch from my face asking what the craic was and when i replied "oh not much i'm skint" you'd think i'd slated his mother his face contorted that much. Apparently this was the worst fucking answer he'd ever heard and wanted to know why i was being a cunt and let him buy me a few beers. Well i though, you did tell me just this morning you kidnapped someone who you let money too and found him covered in his own excrement so i think i'll pass, i don't borrow money off people anyway. It can only lead to bother and hate someone having something over me. He quickly changed again saying "fair enough mate, i don't like doing it either" then waddled off, schizo much?
I stayed in on the evening and it was insane, just shouting all night and you can never tell with the Irish if they're fighting or if that's just how they normally talk to each other, i did hear someone clearly scream "i'll fucking bury you, ya cunt" so yes, i didn't leave the room. Turns out that a chap who used to stay at the hostel got thrown down the stays by someone and my old mate the scottish guy went schizo on the wrong people getting battered and left in a pool of blood. Ah i was beginning to thik i can't stay here till January but thankfully they all got thrown out the peace was slightly restored.
Except it wasn't. The football had been on on the Saturday night too and you'd think a war had been going on rather than a football match, i'd imagine it would be only comparable to watching a game at Galatasarays stadium in the mid 90's. Due to this someone made the decision to lock the t.v room door on the Sunday and that just caused more bother, doors were kicked in to no avail and more arguments were had, with threats of headbutts and clothes being burned. Life in the room seemed quite serene in comparison. However it was impossible to get any sleep in this environment so i decided i may as well just join in the party anyhow and thankfully Monday brought cheese and goon night which is exactly as it sounds. Free goon, free cheese and then over to the sugarmill for free beers and it was a really good night with the hostel all going out together and it gave me the chance to meet some people stopping there outside my own little "group".  Our room got rather settled with Melanie moving in, Mohammed, Guy, me and the nice french couple moving in too. It seems everyone is rather envious of our dorm but i think that's more to do with theres being in a mess than ours being so good. The hostel is like a massive family now too with the long termer's Myself, Jan, Melanie, Mohammad, Guy, Jerome, Francois, Marie, Pinalla, Dave, Kelly and many many more. The Irish are moving out today though which will bring a massive change.
There's not much of anything else to report really, all we've being down is drinking on the evenings and myself looking for a job during the day. I guess i'm not traveling anymore as i'm just staying in the same place so i'll only update this if anything eventful happens or a visit a particular place. I've got a lot of gigs lined up and can hopefully borrow someones camera from the hostel to put some photos up soon too. One more "argy bargy" story that involved myself is worth noting as i met the biggest tit in the world on a level with Ben Elton, Danny Dyer and Joss Stone. What happened was we had a rather nice Sunday, a few drinks in O'Malleys, a nice steak and mash from down the road and then back to the hostel for some goon and a few tunes on the iPod with The Smiths providing the soundtrack. Everything was great, met more people and everyone just having fun, that was until an Aussie and Kiwi stormed into the hostel. The Aussie sat in the middle of everyone commenting how "ghetto" the place was and proceeded to ask everyone there nationalities followed by "i love this place...we've got a German cunt here, Irish here, danish.......and finished with i like to drink and fight". He instantly made everyone uncomfortable and you could see trouble was brewing so a lot of people went outside to get out of the way including myself. When we came back he was still going and talking in a L.a slang while spitting rhymes he had blasting on his iPod, he didn't find it too funny when i asked if he was originally from Compton and less when i stated i wasn't "his mothers brothers" or "brothers mothers", i don't really understand "gangsta". His mate was sound though and very embarrassed stating he does this all the time and he has to watch him constantly, they me on the "inside" too. The Aussie got overtly "friendly" with one of the girls leading to her kicking him which  was about all i can handle so when everyone was making eye contact as if to say "what a prick" and when he sat on the table putting all the weight on my arm, so i decided to lift it up my arm and it "accidentally" threw him off the table. His t shirt came off and he challenged me and then Paul after we all said nobody wanted him here, we stepped "outside" and i basically just said "look, everyone wants to have a good time so why aren't you in a bar or club if you're looking to drink and meet girls or what not"  and after much debate he finally left and we all went back inside. I did get a bit pissed off the next day when someone told Rich I'd caused trouble and we were noisy; i always find the hypocrisy laughable when people complain just cause they want a "night off" then they're back on it the next day making more noise than anyone else. Plus everyone stated they didn't want him here and asked him to leave and that all i did whereas everyone else just sat back. Terribly vexing. One of the girls said she didn't need people to fight her battles which annoyed me too. It was a different story when some pillhead threatened to nut one of them the week before and nobody even whispered leading to whingeing all week. The guy was the biggest prick in history though. Ah these are freak occurrences though and happen everywhere i guess, Bedlam is a really nice sociable place really. Just the weekends get a bit cRaZy but i've met some really good friends here. I still need a job...............

Bedlam is Bedlam

No bother finding Bedlam for a change but that's probably more to do with the fact I'm quite familiar with Sydney now but in moving hostels i was changing from the central  downtown area up the famous coca-cola sign and infamous Kings Cross. The difference really couldn't be much greater in many ways, Base is a very professionally run, well staffed, corporate, well maintained and rule heavy unfun place whereas Bedlam is well....Bedlam. They're no rules really except don't overtly take the piss, it's incredibly sociable, parties are an occurrence every night, it has sky (foxtel) so all the sport is on and it's just mass insanity really. Kings cross is a reflection of that too, casinos, dive bars, yuppie bars, hotels, hostels, clubs, red light district, restaurants cafes and everything else all just splattered together in one area. It really is quite something. O h and i mustn't forget the crack heads running about with tourettes it seems, they're a lovely bunch too. One of them challenged me in a "karate stance" after i told him to stop walking with me while i witnessed another one sprint down a main road just after catching site of a convertible Ferrari and then attempt to jump in the passenger seat. The only response the driver had was to rev his engine as if that could somehow put him off, a mega fail that one was.
Checking in was as smooth as ever, finding that  Rich had only put me down for one evening rather than till January which we'd agreed prior, he wasn't around till the next day but i just imagined that he put me in a different room for one night as i'd originally planned to come on the Monday. My initial dorm had two French girls in it but one was actually from Melbourne i soon found out, they seemed rather nice and chatty which was a nice change from the week prior. There was another bed taken but whomever it was, wasn't around at the time. However on my return later in the day i found an Asian man just casually sitting in the dark, slightly unsettling, I popped in and out over the next few hours and every time he was just sitting doing nothing in pitch black. I don't think i've ever had such trepidation when simply asking someone if it was ok to turn the light on.
It wasn't much longer till i discovered what they actually meant by the term "party hostel", i guess the rock was one but the whole of phi phi was just a party island anyhow. On my first night anywhere i like to " get involved" but i was a bit wrecked and skint so i decided that hiding in my room just for one night was probably the best option and the only real way to avoid spending lots as one drink in these places always leads to many drinks. Well  i manage to avoid spending but that was about it, from 8 - 5 the place was absolutely banging, people screaming, falling over, glasses smashing, all outside my door and sound tracked to Nirvana (I never realized how much i loathed their studio albums until this point). The Korean kept storming out at various intervals to complain but i'd quite simply rather suffer for eternity with it then be the guy to say "can you keep it down a bit please, there are people trying to sleep here", it's pretty much everything i hate and would also make me a complete hypocrite. Inside the room things weren't much quieter either, the Korean while he wasn't storming about or sitting in the dark was also the loudest snorer in human history; now I'm aware I grind my teeth but I've done that for so long there's no noise left to make  but this guy was truly something else. It literally drove me "bat-shit crazy", i found myself sitting up with a pillow wrapped round my head and gave serious consideration to jumping down and punching him in the face. Obviously my methods were not sound. The girls came in and thankfully opened the windows which had a mechanism just too baffling for myself and the air conditioning was broke too, however this prompted Korean guy to jump up, slam everyone shut and then go back to bed shouting "too noisy". He soon reversed his position when i got up and opened them again while accepting my position of authority. The girls then explained to me he'd been there for for over two weeks and all he ever did was sleep or sit in the dark no matter what time of day it was; i'd been here 12 hours and picked that up already. The party still went on and i have to admit i had a bit of a feelong of i've moved into the wrong place, i couldn't here one English voice and a lot of people seemed like dicks to be honest.
I got up the next day to the aftermath of the party while the girls vacated for Melbourne, the outside of my door was pretty much like you'd find Leeds festival when you emerge from your tent on the Monday. Carnage. Met up with Rich and everything was cool thankfully, just as i'd imagined i'd be moving into another dorm and was praying it wasn't 1A with the nut jobs, there was much relief when the words 1d came out. Payment was another worry, a bank transfer would cost me too much in charges, the bank wouldn't allow me to withdraw large amounts of cash and the debit card refused to work at Base, not a problem here though as everything went through first time to both mine and Rich's shock so that was a sign of things turning around here at least! Paying up for a two month stay did however leave me rather incredibly skint but at least i was safe in the knowledge of having a home till mid January no matter what my work situation turned out to be and I wouldn't be spending cash i didn't really have.
Having paid up that meant my next priority was getting a phone sorted, pointless applying for any jobs if they can't get in touch with you. One of the perks with my visa was that i got a free sim card which i could pick up from a hostel named Legend has it.....on George street. George street is easy enough to find but actually one massive road that's probably at least a couple of miles long, i walked from one end to the other and back again and just could not find the hostel anywhere. It's such a relief how nice Sydney is and that i enjoy walking about or i'd be miserable with the amount of hours I've seemed to have wasted wandering in the wrong places. I went back to Bedlam to double check i had the correct name only to find it was actually called "Legend has it...Westend" once i went back i found it instantly and low and behold it just had Westend written in massive lettering, constant name changes are incredibly common in Australia it seems. On popping the Vodafone sim into a Vodafone handset i was informed that it wasn't suitable with this phone....super more cash to spend and a visit to a phone shop which i despise. It's a very well known fact the biggest cunts in the world work in phone shops. After again much wandering i found the Vodafone shop where he informed it would be 40 dollars to get unlocked elsewhere or i could get a handset for 49 with 10 free credit so i thought i'd may as well just go for that then although Vodafone are on my list of people who i have a personal vendetta against so it was rather begrudgingly. I soon remembered why this was as when it came to pay all the usual add ons appeared....."you need to pay 40 to unlock the free ten blah blah blah".....this is why i hate these places, they must think everyone is a complete moron. Anyway i told him since the handset had just instantly shot up to 90 then he could stick up his arse and i'd just get it unlocked elsewhere. Onward to the Sydney repair shop it was then, they seemed like a rather professional bunch so i was more than happy to pay the 40 and get it back in an hour, that's what they told me anyhow. I came back after an hour an was told it would be another fifteen minutes so i sat down and watched bad boys 2 for a bit (it was on a constant loop on a wide-screen TV in the shop, cleasrly a lot of waiting occurs here i thought), after getting through about half an hour of that they came to tell me they need to keep it overnight. Ok then, so i came back the next morning and sat down for a "fifteen minute wait" and watched more of Bad boys 2 only to be told again to come back in the afternoon. And i did and i waited again for "fifteen minutes" and i again watched Bad boys 2 but thankfully this time i actually got a working phone back. I reckon i've probably seen bad boys 2 about 2 and a half times now and never in the right sequence. I was happy to find they threw a free telstra sim card though meaning that my vow for the fuckers at vodafone to never get any more of my dollar was still in tact.
During these ever so tedious escapades i did manage to meet my new dorm mates for the next few month and everyone seemed cool, there was an Iranian, Taiwanese,  Turks and a guy from England who was at the pub while the girls who previously were in the room had left in Rich's words as "they just couldn't take it anymore". It turned out the turks were from Istanbul and massive Fenerbahce fans, i took massive delight in asking there thoughts on when Graeme Souness planted the Galatasaray flag in the middle of the pitch after the cup final. The mood turned to anger instantly, speaking now in turkish to each other clearly agitated before finally turning to me shouting " we hate this thing very much and we hate him as well, he shall never come back there!". You really do have to admire the tuks ferocity when it comes to there football, it was exactly the reaction i'd hoped to provoke mind.
The rest of the hostels seemed incredibly multi cultural to put it mildly, Serbs, French, Swedes, Italians, Dutch and a mass of Irish; i've actually been suprised with just how little English i've met outside the islands in Thailand. It did turn out the English guy in my room was actually called "Guy" and he was from Boro which was cool a girl from Whitley Bay and another from Durham were stopping here too. One suprisng thing i've encountered is how big the north south divide actually is, it's not apparent when they're one or two of each but if theres a group of people from London and you're the only northerner then it can be difficult as they just become repulsive and start all the old "The North" bullshit as if you're a second lass citizen. Its an understatement to say northerners are incredibly more laid back, obviously there's exceptions to every rule as i've met some really good people from down there but it is apparent.. Bedlam was going full steam ahead with the partying, getting more and more like the bigg market with every day, from my room arguments were heard every night so i decided to keep out of it till Thursday when Loaded and Teenage kicks were on which are basically my surrogates for Jukebok back home. One of the things i got stolen in bangkok was my usb drive that had my c.v. on, this meant i had to write a new one from scratch and it aint the easiest thing to do with a blank piece of paper. I finally managed to get up to standard though and registered with agencies and applied for a few jobs. This was pretty muchh the end of all the "stuff i needed to get sorted" so i could get back to having fun again.
Thursday nicely coincided with Guys birthday too so the whole hostel got together and had a mass party with actual cake and decorations which was like luxury here. I also had my first experience with the infamous goon and also just why Matt referred to VB as vomit bomnbs due to the fact it was absolutely disgusting. I couldn't handle listening to any more Irish folk songs or dirty dancingesque music so i took upon myself to do the djing and i think i did a pretty stellar job myself, it's no bad craic actually having taste. I'm not one for staying in so i trotted off to loaded and teenage kicks where i managed to have another of those random nights meeting some people from Yorkshire and having to walk back from my starting point of Edgecliff at 5am. Bad times, especially when the hostel was locked on my retun and i had zero clue how to get the door open. Jerome came storming out at half past luckily so i could get back and straight into bed. On waking up i realised that i left my iPod on the speakers since everyone was staying in, mild panic set in once again but i managed to find a Japanese guy had took it for me and then he passed on to Rich. Luck again, some tit did pinch my top though while i was sleeping....unless i walked home semi naked....hmm surely i'd have realized though and i'd have at least gotten a dirty look. Who steals sweaty clothes though?
Due to phone bills, bank charges and Sydney being really expensive i spent the next couple of days in book reading mod while applying for jobs. It was good to see that not everyone was crackers on the hostel and as soon as i get a job it will be a complete 180 and I'll be laughing. In the meantime I've been having some rather intense philosophical discussions with the Iranian on everything from sport, conspiracy theories (all his), history, religion, culture, energy and anything else, it is hard to get away sometimes like. The parties are still going and on Friday night i got a feeling it was all about to blow up big style......well that prediction turned out to be all too true.