Went tree planting 2 hours up north from Melbourne last weekend. I had always been a bit keen on greening the planet and I thought that mucking around in the dirt and a bit of physical labor during the weekend sounded like fun.The tree planting is to help reconstruct green corridors and habitats for native species like the birds, sugar gliders and squirrel gliders (flying squirrels) and to replenish native australian plant species.  You could either be a planter, a shoveler or a hoer; someone who uses the hoe – my own term – not an individual of dubious morals. It was all organized very well, they had regular tea breaks for us with a campfire, hot drinks, catered dinner and barbeque lunch the next day.

After a full day of digging, popping baby plants in holes, we also got to try bush dancing! Here’s a video of one of the Australian bush dances we did: The Heel Toe . This one left my hands a bit sore when the guys really went full throttle on the slap slap slap. But lots of fun with all the dances, a lot of collisions and a heck of a lot of twirling. There were also a bit of gender benders when we didn’t have enough women, so some of the bearded men became bearded women. Completely collapsed into a deep sleep straight after.

We also go to visit mature replanted areas and see some of the sugar glider boxes. The country is just gorgeous.

Enjoy the pics!

Shi

wow it’s been a while between adventures. Since my wings are clipped (for now) I signed up for something local involving lots of mud, barb wire, 10m high walls, fire and electric shocks – which was the easy part. The tough part was the 20km run. Hello Tough Mudder! http://toughmudder.com.au/ Headed down to Phillip Island Grand Prix, signed the death waiver, got my number written on my forehead – in theory so that your head can be identified in death or dismemberment? Not really.

I was worried before the event about my lack of stamina, also about getting cold so I definitely had to keep moving. I had mapped out the aerial photo of the course and figured out that the distance between each obstacle was at most 1.5km, shortening to 400m at the end, and I had a strategy – keep moving. Turns out I needn’t even have worried about the course length as the girls I was running with had to start walking after 1km of jogging. Yes, they really wanted to walk 20km. 4kmh pace = 5 hours. The suggested time to finish is 3 1/2 hours. Another girl and I jogged between obstacles and waited for them to catch up, but also because we had started later in the day there was a lot of waiting, especially at some obstacles like muddy hills, muddy trenches, where there was a lot of lining up.

The obstacles and running weren’t as tough as I expected them to be, the cold water and wind wasn’t too cold if you’ve been surfing before (heat sapping cold and bone chilling winds), the ice bath halfway turned out to be refreshing, the electric shock wasn’t as bad as getting static zapped everytime I get out of a car (static generates 12 000 volts apparently) and the mud wasn’t too bad if you’ve had to shit off a rock (Rinjani, Indonesia) or surf in sewerage (East Coast Malaysia). There wasn’t really a fear of being seriously hurt as a 4wd can just pick you up if you get injured – unlike if you go trekking in the Malaysian rainforest and realise that being helicoptered out isn’t an option with heavy rainforest canopy. So, queuing up and waiting aside, was it worth it?

Definitely yes. Although I would have like to push myself a bit harder, the silliness of being covered with mud, going through obstacles, helping each other out and just going through the whole experience together, was super memorable. Best bit was at the end downing a cold beer. I think I washed my stuff 4 times before most of the mud came off. I had mud under my nails and in my ears for days. That being said, I want to do TM again next year and this time do a proper flat out run. Let me know if you’re keen – pre-signing up for the Melbourne 2013 event has started!

http://toughmudder.com.au/events/australia-event-preregistration/

Big love,

Shi.

ps: A pic of me in the trenches – it was a 1km walk through muddy water, I was thinking of the Malaysian floods at this point. “What, you mean that I don’t have to worry about being slashed by submerged rusty corrugated iron, stung by stingrays or stepping into a submerged pothole? Wheee”

It’s been a long time since I last wrote, it was a crazy year in 2011 and I’m glad to say that I was putting in the hard yards for a (hopefully) great 2012.

The biggest thing about 2012 is that I’m a university student again! Yes! I am so excited. I am looking forward to flashing my uni card and getting student discounts. That will certainly offset the thousands of dollars in uni fees I will be paying, upfront, at the beginning of every semester. I shouldn’t really complain because I got a government subsidy for my uni degree and I wouldn’t be able to do it without. So thank you Australian government.

Went to Hanging Rock, which is this rocky outcrop with lots of spaces, cracks, gaps to play with In essence, just like a bunch of giant’s boulders sticking out of the ground. You can climb over (ignoring the signs all around telling you not to climb on the rocks) or under – which is a surprise on its own. Underneath there are some amazing mossy chambers, pierced by shafts of daylight, under the rocks. Climbing on the rocks are fun, but some rocks just become sheer drops down … and down and down… There were lots of families out today, a disproportionate number were extended Indian families – I noticed the same thing when I visited the waterfalls outside of Sydney, must be a cultural thing.

But even when it gets hectic, there are a lot of nice and high rocks to climb and sit on the top of, to enjoy the view and the sun. And between the climbing, a lot of silly moments, like when someone decided to test superglue on shoes still attached to their owners – you can see the results in the photo collage.

Big love x

Shi.

Ok, so not everyone wears vintage “everything” in Melbourne, but one thing is for sure, Melbournians are immensely self-assured that in the national Australian stakes of “cultural coolness”, they rank up there. Culture is not the only thing cool about Melbourne, I’ve had the distinct displeasure of experiencing Melbourne’s infamous 4-seasons-in-a-day weather – on any given day it can be sunny in the morning, rain in the afternoon, windy in the evening… But of course anyone who’s lived in London can tell you it could be worse, because at least the sun comes out in Melbourne! If Australian cities were named by colors, then Perth would be a sun-bleached white, Sydney a glimmery sea blue and Melbourne a leafy green. It’s not just the domes and arches of the Victorian architecture, the abundant rolling lawns and old trees, but also, yes, its people – leggings are the order of the day, signature jewellery, hair piled in a loose buns high on women’s heads…can you tell that I’m intrigued by the je ne sais quoi of the Melbournians?

As for transport, Melbourne has a quaint tram system, which I think is great! Trams pass often with a happy ding dong ( not so good when I’m trying to sleep :p ) and through the main points in town, but a lot of locals cycle or skate (because they are cooler that way) I’m living on the edge of the CBD, Lygon Street (which is known as the main Italian cafes/restaurant street) and very close to the Melbourne cemetary – so, it’s work, eat, sleep…and then you’re dead? Or something like that.

So, I’m in Melbourne right now, job hunting and I’m hoping that this stay will be a little more permanent. 2011 will be an interesting year for sure. Big love to all of you who made 2010 bearable. My Australian number +6140XXXXXXX

Also happy chinese new year! I hope that this year of the rabbit finds you plenty of cash-filled red packets!

x

Shi

I have to be honest, my brain is, right now, shrunk to the size of a peanut – prognosis? Too much beach, sun, beach, fun… helllloooooo Perth Western Australia! The beaches here are amazingly beautiful, white sand, cool clear water… The routine is pretty much, rock up to the beach, spread out beach towel (in my case, cover myself with beach towel), jump into water, come out, dry out, do beach stuff, swim again, dry out, head home, head out again at night…

Perth isn’t a London or a Barcelona for the cultural activities or nightlife (depending on what your idea of nightlife is)…

But hey, it’s been pretty darned good. Have had some boys’ toys to play with, like:

Ducati : I thought I was going to die

Jetski: Much better, because I was driving ^^

Kitesurf: No board for me, I got dragged across the sand, haha..

I’ve been spending 50% time with Australians and 50% time with Europeans, I don’t even know how… there are a lot of Europeans here on working holiday visas, all trying to extend their stay with fruit picking or employer sponsored.. The beach bum lifestyle is pretty surreal, hey…

Now, I’m going to rest my brain, have leftover sausages from the Australia Day barbeque last night, drink plenty of fluids… and errrr… probably go to the beach later today to ummm… rest? Did I mention how beautiful the beaches are here?

see ya

Shi

Hello!

It’s been interesting being in perth because I lived here for 4 years and I was last here almost 10 years ago. In short, perth has changed, but not by much. The same shops are still in the same place and there are some new buildings with some very nice (and expensive) things now, Perth is the big city to the Kalgoorlie mines and the off-shore oil rigs and they get paid pretty good there. Anyway, University of Western Australia (UWA) campus is still looking good, king’s park still has the best views of perth and I still can’t be bothered to go down to Fremantle..haha.

We had some hot weather while I was there, 40 C at night! Also for some strange reason West Australian guys are bigger than guys in sydney, the guys look like they eat 2 T-bone steaks in a day, wrestle kangaroos, catch big fish, surf big waves and drive big white trucks. Actually that last sentence describes the guys I know in Perth (hee hee)

But Perth is still the same – hot, dry, quiet and with amazingly beautiful beaches. These past 2-3 weeks have felt HUGE, especially because I’ve sold my stuff, packed my bags and left sydney and australia. I’m now in Malaysia and 2010 is a bit vague, so I am so sorry if I haven’t written a reply to some of the emails I’ve received! I’m still sorting through this culture change thing and all the other things that make up life… but I hope to meet up some time, some place

Also… a new video from Sydney-Perth, the Gold Coast vid is pretty hard to top with the rocker boys, skateboarding, dancers (heehee) and a gorgeous waterfall Errrr…in my defense, for the video.. I did go a little bit nutty halfway through the train trip – living in a train seat for days makes a person go loco!

x

Shi

Trip to the Gold Coast was crazy partly because of the xmas and new year’s celebrations but definitely big thanks to the family who took us in as one of their own!

I’ve been coughing up my lungs since before new year’s eve, hanging out on windy beaches didn’t help So I’m impressed that I even managed to make this vid, my head is still jumbled up…I’m sure I’ll appreciate it once I stop coughing, sweating and shivering :p

What I didn’t get to fit into the video were the numerous times that someone would whip out a guitar (guitars…plural, all kinds, all sizes, electric, acoustic, ukelele..) and just start acoustic jam sessions. Music always playing from some room in the house. No surfing vids because bringing a camera out into the surf is more grief than it’s worth.

Anyway, enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lPVr9AB5kQ

x
Shi

ps: song is “the modern age”, the Strokes

It’s been a fun few days, brought around a visiting friend in Sydney.

Best to view to the video before youtube takes off the music. My fault really…I didn’t have any good ideas for songs so used a very popular one. Would like to do more vids, as I have a few more stops coming up in the next few months. Also it’s a video diary for myself, for when I age disgracefully (not a typo). I have photos and stuff that are scattered all over globe from the past few years but nothing beats the memories in your head..however the vids and pics definitely help me remember them!

Hope you enjoy.

x

Shi

Why, thank you, my english is perfectly fine. How’s yours?

Welcome to another aussie summer!

Can’t really complain though. Tis good to share with others, good karma and all that.

Heading up to the Gold Coast for xmas & new year… bring on the bogans! I mean..errr… the beach. And surf. And even crazier crowds.. haha…

Merry christmas,

Shi