Archive for the ‘Aviva abroad’ Category

Operation Sesame Ball

July 1, 2008

Progress Log:

06:34, Location: Opsomania HQ (house)

Alarm failed to got off, must mark for repair or battery change. Not sure which. But I am now precisely 34 minutes behind time and therefore must make certain sacrifices, i.e. not brushing teeth, not eating breakfast. 

06:45, Location: Opsomania HQ Control Room (bathroom)

Damnit, cannot not brush teeth, as non-minty breath shall severely compromise my tactical abilities. Thankfully I prepared my disguise yesterday in a blaze of foresight. I believe it embodies the seriousness of the mission at hand, while also taking into consideration the weather. I have observed lately that sunglasses add an extra dimension of inconspicuousness, and thusly have donned a pair unearthed from a sunglasses case deep within HQ’s Storage.

 

07:41, In Transit

A grevious miscalculation on my part was forgetting that I am unlicensed to drive motorised vehicles. Plan B consisted of taking a bicycle from HQ’s docking bay, but the poor state of its tyres made another mode of transportation more practicable, perhaps necessary. Thus I find myself aboard the 112 Tram bound for St Kilda, though little do any of these zombie commuters realise this is not my true destination. Sometimes my craftiness astonishes even me.

(more…)

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Random Recycle episodes 1-3

June 26, 2008

Here’s a big treat, kiddies: the first three episodes of Random Recycle, uploaded and subtitled for your viewing pleasure! Experience the unerring brilliance of my recycling skills in three different cities, and marvel at the fantastic video quality, flawless camera work and complete lack of autocue! 

N.B. That’s a fugue by Bach in the background…I figured I should go with music where no one would come after be with a machete for copyright violation. And, as will be obvious, I had some issues with the subtitle conversion — originally they were different colours, and all those </i>s flanking words meant they were once italicised. But c’est la vie.

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Soaptopia

June 1, 2008

(Continued from Guangzhou, Shanghai)

I spent the last leg of my (Australian) summer holidays in Taiwan, which, scarily enough, is almost six months ago. Now Taiwan isn’t exactly the first place most people think to go when they’re planning their East Asian travel adventure, but Mum and I were on a mission: we were determined to reach The Source of our favourite Taiwanese soap operas. Having seen over 20 last year, this tiny island half the size of Tasmania became something akin to Mecca for us. So after finishing my studies on the mainland and our brief visit to Shanghai, we flew to Hong Kong airport (of which I retain a mortal fear after receiving two temperature checks by overzealous staff and almost missing my flight) and onwards to Chiang Kai Shek Airport, Taipei. Being somewhat excited and delusional, we had booked nothing except our accommodation, so we spent the next two weeks pretty much suiting ourselves and getting lost regularly.

You know you’re in a great place when its most famous boyband is there to welcome you at the airport

Taiwan receives virtually no Western tourism apart from people there on business, so there was something more authentic about the whole experience as we made our way through tiny streets full of food stalls, fell in love with the extraordinarily fantastic metro system, and bought exorbitant amounts of Taiwanese pop culture merchandise (we had to buy another suitcase to cart it all home). (more…)

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Cheese croquettes, at last

May 12, 2008

(Continued from Guangzhou).

Shanghai is hands down my favourite city in China, and I was lucky enough to see in 2008 there (actually, I slept through the whole shebang, but I was there). Leaving my scholarship at SCUT and Guangzhou’s lovely weather only to arrive in temperatures of a few degrees C, and suddenly a tourist, was hard. I waited in a forty minute queue for a licensed taxi and wound up with a fierce betel-nut-munching woman who would wind down her window every minute or so and spit the debris of her snack onto the freeway. She got me to the hotel and charged me only a marginally inflated price though, so who’s complaining?

Dear old Mum was waiting for me at our hotel having recently completed her own tour of China, and knowing my needs well, led me to the first available source of cheese. This was at one of the several Ajisen noodle chains along Nanjing Rd (shopping Mecca of the Mainland). Like most eateries in China, this joint typified the idea of 热闹 — that places should be hot, noisy and crowded. The faux Japanese decor was equally distracting.

Am I the only one who thinks these sumos aren’t just wrestling?

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Guangzhou: toilets and all

April 28, 2008

I spent most of December 2007 in Guangzhou, a city on Mainland China close to Hong Kong. Officially I was there studying Mandarin through a scholarship from the Chinese Consulate in Melbourne (who knew sappy essay competitions could get you so far?), and unofficially I was there spending my savings on cheap DVDs, stationery and sesame balls (麻求). Really, though, I learnt many important phrases there like, “虽然他午饭的味道不错，但我觉得我的午饭比他更辣” (”Although his lunch’s flavour isn’t too bad, I think mine is spicier”), and “见到了那个蝗虫真让我大吃一惊!” (”Seeing that locust made me flabbergasted!”). I also watched enough Zhang Yimou films to last me several lifetimes, and thanks to Farewell my Concubine, I will now have to bludgeon anyone who mentions Beijing Opera in my presence to death with my iPod.

Moving on though, I thought I’d post some photos of my time at South China University of Technology (华南理工大学), affectionately known as SCUT, for all to see:

This was the shower/toilet combo I shared with my roommate, accessed via the balcony. Originally the water was coming out red (rust? Terracotta residue?), but the water came out hot almost instantly, which is more than I can say for my shower at home. The toilet’s seat shattered part way through our first week (we didn’t have to pay for it, thankfully. They’re probably so used to it they have a Lavatory Fund, or something), and we soon learnt that flushing toilet paper was only a recipe for blockage. One of my most vivid memories of the whole trip, in fact, was chanting “厕所” (toilet) at the Dorm Supervisor and miming a plunger. (more…)

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