A BLAST in Brisbane!

Somehow, I thought that having 5 days in Brisbane would be a wild idea during my study break. However the next thing I knew, I was paying for my ticket at the STA Travels. Then off I flew to Brisbane. It's pretty exciting as it would be my first time in an internal flight. More so, I'm flying in an Australian airline: Virgin Blue.

The annoying part was waking up at 4a.m. to get ready for the trip. I took a taxi to the domestic airport. Then, I checked myself in just by scanning the bar code printed on my electronic ticket. Knowing that it would be a long day , I decided to take my first ever shot of Expresso. It really works! I couldn't sleep during my an hour and a half flight...and I didn't really feel sleepy at all on my first day in Brisbane.

Thanks Tina for picking me up from the airport. Really nice of her to see me at 8a.m. in the morning. After putting my stuffs at her place, she quickly brought me out to have Starbucks. We started catching up with a lot of things since we haven't seen each other for a few months already. We walked to the South Bank where the weekend market was happening and I also got to see what I called the "fake" beach.

The weekend market was really fun as I so happened to do something quite unexpected there. Oh well, it remains there... Got to meet up with Tina's Thai course mates. Really nice people; funny as well. I still can't believe Tina can speak Thai...and she's starting to be real good in it!

I had a nap after that, also to refreshen myself and get energised for clubbing on that night. We soon met up with Nizan and Farid. First, we hung out at Chill's, one very unique place. It had a cool, icy environment. The life music was real good too. Had a few drinks...What was cool? I had a shot of Absinth (also known as Green Fairy). My goodness! It was wicked!!! Imagine what 60% alcohol can do...It was really hot I had to swallow cold water to chill me down.

The next day saw me so "wasted" as well, in the Family. Very funny experience! But at least we were on track to go to Gold Coast on Monday. Tina, Farid and I took a train there and soon later, we reached the Surfers' Paradise. As I stepped onto the beach, the first thing I realised was how loose and smooth the sand was. So comforting that I just felt like lying down there and sleep in. We quickly found a spot and then just sun-bathed as we watched the waves lifting the surfers and washing the people in the water.

Feeling so excited, I went into the water too. It was cold! Imagine going to the beach in the winter...But, it's so much warmer in Queensland compared to Sydney though. The whole beach was really just so nice. It's so clean that when one stands in the water and watches the scenery, the beach really defines purity. I will surely want to come back here if given a chance.

Something funny happened on our way back to the city. I was asked for the fifth time in Australia whether I was a Korean. I sometimes wonder which part of me looks like a Korean. But it's just cool!

Well, I wasn't too tired that night. So, I decided to go to the casino. It's my first time in any casino. An eye-opener really! It's really interesting to see so many things there, especially the machines. Hundreds of them! Many kinds of people were there...it's really amazing how some of them could sit in there hours and hours to try their luck. I really enjoyed watching them play the card games and also the Roulette. So much money was on the table!

On the next day, I went to shop around the city. I guess Brisbane has a very different lifestyle from Sydney. It's more laid back here in Brisbane. Without really realising, I soon found myself very near the Museum of Brisbane. It is free to enter. So I decided to go there to take a look. There was an amazing collection of Buddha. I really didn't expected so much Asian influence was on display inside the museum. I was particularly attracted to the video clips, showing how some people were so passionate in what they do in their life. Some things may mean nothing to some people, but to some others, they mean everything.

The thing I was supposed to do on my last day of my stay in Brisbane was to play tennis. But too bad it rained... So, I went to meet up with Nizan and she showed me around UQ. It's a really nice place to study. It has really such a different concept from UNSW. It somehow looks bigger and the buildings are those made of sandstones. It looks very conducive to study in.

Well, too bad I had to end my trip after 5 days. I wanted to stay longer, but exams were so near. I also need to study...to at least get through the session as a satisfaction of completion. Back I was in Sydney on Wednesday night, hoping to be psyched for the exams.