Day 125 - January 25

Nothing much today. Kinda sucks when your only 2 friends in the entire state are working haha.

Day 124 - January 24

Checked out the Aquarium (this actually happened on January 22, this is what happens when you don't keep up with blogs, you get days mixed up haha).


Jenn and Paul picked me up and we headed to the Aquarium of Western Australia (AQWA). It was located in the suburb of Hillarys, by the boat harbour. It looked like the expensive part of town, like a Beverly Hills feel to it. Nice houses, beautiful people, with upscale type of restaurants and shops.

An aerial shot of Hillarys boat harbour.
This is where all the nice shops and restaurants are located,
along with the aquarium.

If I were to live by Perth, Hillarys is where I would be.

There's even a beach and water slides!

The Aquarium had an underwater conveyor belt that slowly went around. This is the 10th largest aquarium in the world (the largest is the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta).

Jenn and Paul

Underwater Asian

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Green Leafy Sea Dragon

Yummy Octopus

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Jellyfish - Its movements look like pulses.

One with the Jellyfish

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Sea Horses

Rescued Sea Turtles

Port Jackson Shark in the petting pool

4 Rays

I got to pet the Port Jackson Shark. It felt like medium-rough sandpaper. It was weird.

After the Aquarium, we headed to a restaurant called Annalakshmi. This is the second place I've been to where you eat as you like and pay what you feel. This place a bit different to Lentil in Melbourne. Though they both have the same 'pay what you feel concept', Lentil served random vegetarian food, whereas Annalakshmi served vegetarian Indian/Malaysian/Sri Lankan cuisine. This is their concept: "Food is essential for one's existence. However one is limited by the amount one can consume. Annalakshmi welcomes guests from all walks of life where one pays what his/her heart feels. This facilitates the generosity of some to do a noble deed of providing for the less fortunates through the services of Annalakshmi. Annalakshmi,the "mother" of sustenance sits on the banks of the Swan and provides an ambient atmosphere where vegetarian dining is a cultural experience".

They didn't list what the food was but it was tasty.

Ok, now we can move onto what I actually did on January 24. I went to the museum, located beside the Perth State Library.

Giant clawed King Crab. Should be served with 10 lbs of butter.

Genish

Throne of Weapons

The Throne of Weapons is made of weapons used in the Mozambique Civil War from 1977-1992, which claimed almost 1 million lives and left 5 million people displaced. It represents both the tragedy of that war and the huamn triumph of those who achieved a lasting peace.

I passed by a great marketing piece from the church.


Accept? or Delete?

Day 123 - January 23

When I was at the mall yesterday, I also checked out some stores that I wanted to apply at. I went to the Morley library and signed up for a library card so that I could use their computers to print out my resumes. I applied at retail stores and cafe shops. I applied at my favorite store Roger David, but their company isn't looking to hire working holiday visa holders. Booo.

Downtown Perth

I live about a 20 minute bus ride north of Perths downtown., which isn't too bad. Plus I only have to take 1 bus to get there. Always a bonus when you don't have to worry about interchanging buses. Of course, it's better to have a car and not worry about a bus at all!

Trying to eat a bit more healthy by making a chicken salad.

Day 122 - January 22

Mostly applied online at home. As I've mentioned before, as a traveller, you can't expect to get a decent job too fast. It all takes time. I'm glad that I found a place to live so fast as I did. Hopefully a job offer comes soon.

Went to the mall to pick up more groceries. Passed by a Calendar Club and they had a strange calendar.

Really?! Beautiful Cows? That's really weird. Apparently they are the 'Most Handsome' as well. And you would think that they would have this in Calgary, but even we know that's ridonkulous.

Day 121 - January 21

Jenn, Paul and I drove out to see the Pinnacles, about a 2.5 hour drive out of Perth.

Rocks that look like fingers sticking out of the ground in the middle of nowhere.

There were many stories behind the origins of pinnacles. We didn't care. As you can clearly see below, we just liked that everything was in the shape of a penis.

Err... I'm hugging this rock...

Hope Jenn's mom doesn't see this.

Once you've seen the first couple of Pinnacle rocks, you've seen them all. It looks like an endless field of rocks. How the Pinnalces formed is still a mystery. Simple scientific theories include: dead vegetation, old tree stumps. Spiritual/Cultural theories include: tombstones, fingers, fossilised ghosts. Funny theories include: Earth's many giant penis'. (Guess which theory I made up?!)

After the Pinnacles, we drove along Indian Ocean Drive to a small town called Cervantes and swam in the Indian Ocean. The water was very warm. It was the warmest waters I've ever been in. There was no need to go in slowly to get used to the water. Just went straight in and it was awesome!

It was time for lunch. We drove to a lookout point along the highway and cooked kangaroo burgers on a gas stove. The burger was delicious. The lookout was nothing though. Not sure who thought it was a look out.

The Irish chef at work.

Tasty 'roo burgers.

I think it used to say 'lookout of crappiness'

Along the highway we say mountains of white stuff that looked like it was dumped there.

Is it snow? or salt mounds?

or God's heroin stash? We'll never know until we snort it.

Watch out for Kangaroos, Emu's, Enchidna's and CRAZY ASIANS!!!

On our way back to the city we all decided to watch The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Great movie!

Day 120 - January 20

I was thinking of going out today, but it was sooooo hot, I changed my mind. It was 37 degrees out, with no clouds in sight. It's been pretty hot the past couple of days. When I took the bus yesterday, it was so hot that even the bus driver left the door open while driving to get more wind inside the bus! I'm pretty sure all living things are melting outside.

Day 119 - January 19

My housemate Cait was pretty cool and talkative. That was another reason why I chose to live at this place. Nick was cool too, but less talkative. Cait says he'll warm up as time goes by.

My awesome housemates!

I applied at a lot of agencies in the downtown area of Perth. Seeing all the people in suits made me miss the corporate world. I liked having my own desk, working my own hours, meeting other business people and making deals, even just driving my own car.

Sometimes I wonder what I'm doing here, halfway across the world. I miss my family and friends back home. It's not all fun and games when doing a working holiday visa. Granted I've had the time of my life here, but it comes with a lot of challenges like finding the perfect place to live and finding a job. But then I look past it because it's not like I'm not going to see my friends and family again. 

I've noticed that the first couple of weeks, when you land in a new place, are not the most fun. It's tough finding a perfect place to live. Then it's even harder to find a job. During those times I think about home the most. Through my experience, once you've got those two things covered, then it's smooth sailing afterwards. You just gotta hang in there, do the best you can and something eventually goes your way. Giving up would be the worst decision.