The Frisco Kid Gone Wild

Australia Entry 9 of Journal 03/22/13

jewraider — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 18:46:00 GMT

Dear Journal (and to all my readers)

I had one of the funniest experiences with bugs the other day. I went inside a car and i felt something tickling my backside, and it felt like hair or something. So i reach down and grab and i pick up a cockroach that had somehow managed to get stuck between my boxers and skin hahha!

Yesterday and today were full of a lot of cleaning! On passover you are not allowed to have leaven bread in the house, therefore, we have to clean the house to get all the crumbs. It's a very annoying procedure but it has it's fun perks. While cleaning we have great music playing beer and cider drinking and playing (only natural after drinking so much ) haha!

On the subject of drinking i found this amazing cider called Rekorderlig, which has a couple flavors (meaning other then apple). It's imported from sweden and taste amazing, being that i don't like apple cider or apple juice rekoredelig was my savior (pear and premium wild berries).

Australia Entry 8 of Journal 03/20/13

jewraider — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 23:54:00 GMT

Dear Journal (and to all my readers)

Today was a very interesting day! i went to take a tour inside of a beautiful mansion, and acres of land around called Rippon-Lea Gardens. There was an amazing amount of detail from the sculptors to the actual architecture of this place. I rarely take museum tours of history because there are usually political agendas attached to them, and i try stay away from politics. This was one of the first times i got to see art, architecture and learn so much about Australia without any mention of politics.

The garden was stunning, and they even had an orchard where i nicked 2 apples. I guess karma has its way because the apples were extremely bitter, but at least i tried them ha! They had a magnificent old fashion green house that felt like i was walking through the place Alice in wonderland took place.It was full of trees, plants and plenty of small pathways that were narrow but just enough to make you feel claustrophobic.

We walked around the lake that was on the estate until we came to a small tower, climbed up and then we got hungry and ate biltong (South African Style Beef Jerky) and munched almost a pounds worth (a lot). It was really nice view of the lake and the rest of the acres of land.

We later went home and got ready for basketball, which we played with about 13 other people. It was getting kinda crowded so we split the teams into 5 each and played in rotations. I found out that i'm not the biggest shooter in basket ball but i have good eye for were the ball is going to be and therefore a good defender. We played for about two hours and we lost once and won like 3 times, so it was good day.

We then went out to eat, and what was supposed to be like 5 of us turned out to be 12 of us. They knew the lady behind the counter at the falafel joint so we got good service. I kinda hate falafel because i ate so much of it in israel, so i got myself a thing called a malawach, which is like fried puff pastry dough with eggplant and other stuff in the center (very tasty)!

Australia Entry 7 of Journal 03/19/13

jewraider — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 20:52:00 GMT

Dear Journal ( and to all my readers)

Sunday was more chilling with my sisters family, and shopping for a bbq grill. My last entry i told you about the spider bite, well funny enough my sister forced me to go to a pharmacist and ask if it is infected and am i gonna need antibiotics for it. I went and he said i did but in order to get them your gonna need a proscription. So my brother in law calls his friend who is a doctor and he says hes on his way out of town, but is a few blocks from us so we can meet him on the side of the road and then go from there. We get there and he takes one look and says you have to immediately get antibiotics, and writes a prescription. When i asked him if he want my oversea insurance he says "you're oversea insurance doesn't cover road side assistance like this haha" so i kinda got it for free.

Now i'm on antibiotics for 6 days and some cream for it, thank G-D for family and friends ha.

Monday kinda blew by in a haze, i decided to take a day to just do nothing and sleep in, but today i chilled out in mid downtown Melbourne. A friend of mine called me and said she wants to take me out to see the city, so of course i said yes, and we arranged to go on the non-touristy tour. She took me to all the little corner parks that only locals know about.

By the way side-note in order to ride the bus or tram here you have to have a myki card, meaning they don't take cash. I think it's kinda anti-tourist because it is extremely hard to find a place to get a card. Anyway we continued in the city to the Victoria market, which is very similar to a shuk, bazaar or flea market(but an everyday flea market). It was very cheap there and i saw tons of things i wanted, but i didn't buy since it closed at 2 pm i didn't want walk around for hours with stuff around the city. The only thing i did buy was a beanie for myself and my friend, and it was cuz it was $2.00 and i couldn't refuse something that cheap.

We walked along the Yarra River and when we crossed over one of the bridges they had a column for every country that mirgated and to australia and how many people were born from those people till 2001 and there were over 50,000 american in that list which is pretty cool. We also got to see a mouse eating leaves or something like that in the park. it was the first time i got to see a field mouse, so that was pretty cool.

Australia Entry 6 of Journal 03/15/13

jewraider — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 10:30:00 GMT

Dear Journal (and to all my readers)

My first encounter with a big spider happened the other day, and it a huntsman spider. The huntsman is a really big spider that is kinda bluish grey, but is pretty harmless. I did wake up the next morning with a massive bite that i think was a mosquito, but possibly a spider. It was huge and was on a really bad spot on the neck, like the caring and wonderful person i am to myself i decided to start scratching it to the point that it became a scab and now i feel like i'm walking around with a stiff neck. I'm gonna attach the picture i took of it to this Entry.

Over the weekend i went up to my sister and brother in law, who are a Rabbi and Rebbetzin (rabbi's wife). They have two kids a boy and a girl, who are absolutely awesome and cute. i spent most of this weekend with them, helping with the kids and cleaning the house (before Passover people clean there house top to bottom making sure there's no leaven bread around the house).

The cleaning kinda sucked but we made it fun by singing old songs and telling jokes. I got to watch the kids for a little and told them all the true stories that i could make up at the time. I have to say it's been a while since i took care of kids and boy do they take a lot of energy. We played wheres waldo and on the last page is the one that has a thousand waldos and you have to find the one with a shoe missing, and i was very proud of my nephew cuz my niece said she was done searching ut my nephew said no "we never give up" !

A good lesson to learn (never give up) lol

Australia Entry 5 of Journal 03/13/13

jewraider — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 16:45:00 GMT

Dear Journal (and to all my readers)

The last couple days have been filled with a lot of work, and a lot of fun! Staring with the work part, i got to do a lot of cooking for the catering company have been working at, and it's been a great learning experience.

The work day consisted of 11 hrs and not just cooking but being a bar tender. I have never bar tended before but after the last two days i think i have a pretty good idea why bartenders deserve big tips. It is a really stressful job, it was fun for a couple days but if i had to do that day in and day out i would shoot myself. People constantly unhappy about something, and then the happy ones think that by having a long conversation with you, there making you happy. Well let me tell you, there intentions are good but when i have to talk to one person and serve 20 others the talking part can get very distracting.

On Sunday after work i got to meet up with a couple friends that i met in San Francisco (i think i told you about that already but ya). We went out to eat the first night and the second night we went to a little Jewish frat party. I got to meet a bunch of nice people who i think i'm gonna chill with next week and i also got hit on hardcore by one girl who was pretty good looking (yay).

On Tuesday i went to a friends wedding which was pretty awesome. I was standing constantly with a vodka solo (Vodka with lemon soda) in my hands at all times, i got to meet tons of nice people there, and i danced a lot. I got to meet an old friend there with her 2nd cousin who invited me up to Sydney to visit and show me around! I also also going to stay by my old friend when i got gold coast, and of course she will show me around!!!!

Last night i went and played basketball for the 2nd time in five years, which would explain why after 3 hours of playing i could barely move. It was so worth it, and again i got to meet some really good people. I could see a huge separation between the people here, its like there is the chilled out and the cocky but there's no in between, i guess it makes an easy choice of who you want as friends haha! There was the one girl that i met that was really cocky but once i broke through the BS i got to see the really nice and sweet side of her, so maybe there's still hope!

Today i decided to just stay home and chill out (lick my wounds from the game ad being out of shape). SO im gonna stay put and watch some movies on my lap top and maybe chill with the next door nabors.

PS.

The diet i wrote about in my other entry has officially not started yet (i keep on getting free food so its hard to keep to the cheap diet).

Australia Entry 4 of Journal 03/10/13

jewraider — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 23:21:00 GMT

Dear Journal, (and to all my readers)

I had an awesome time this weekend, starting with Shabbat (Saturday). I went to synogogue to pray and met a french guy who invited me for a meal after the service, and he was an amazing guy. He was full of stories one o which was how he met his wife.

He said that when he met his wife for the first time it was when he was drunk. He was dancing in the street on a jewish holiday and said that the next girl he sees hes going to marry, and he points to the woman who became his wife. Of course the next day he awoke and wrote it off as a drunken laugh, but oddly enough when he went to his friends place he saw her in the apartment building. She was living in the same apartment building!!! Long story short they talked and one thing led to another, till they got happily married.

Sunday, I worked from 8:30 am to 8 pm at a catering company, and let me tell you working as a bartender i got to know Australians love there beer. I mean they all have different tastes and they talk about it like its some exotic wine or something. It was ruff work but i got some good cash out of it. well i got to see some really good food being made, and help make some of the food (whoop whoop). I got to see my a bunch of friends that i met in back home in SF, and oh thank G-d we decided on some trips all around Melbourne so hopefully i will have a lot more to say!

Australia Entry 3 of Journal 03/08/13

jewraider — Fri, 8 Mar 2013 18:07:00 GMT

Dear Journal, (and to all my readers)

Still under the influence of gastro, so i'm taking hydra-lite dehydration drink. Hopefully this bug will run its coarse soon, and rid me of all this pain. On the bright side i was in the backyard and got to see a possum.

In America if you leave the garbage out you are almost guaranteed to have raccoon's stumbling through, but here they have ugly possums. I was working for a friend and when i went to put the garbage out i suddenly felt something on my leg and i look behind me to see a "possum" managed to run through my legs. Well the good part of this whole fiasco is i managed to snap a picture.

If your looking for a way to save money on food, i think i figured it out. It's not the most healthy, but as long as your active you should not put on pounds. This is my self challenge to see if i wont get bored of the same food. All you need is oil, rice, noodles, bread, eggs, tomato oranges or apples and if you want you can get ketchup, mayo and spices. eggs are around $4.00, so if you use about 2 eggs a day, that should be enough for 6 days.

Rice - $12.00 (will last you about 12 days a bag)

Noodles - $3.00 (will last you about 2 or 3 days a bag)

Bread - -$3.00 (depending on how you use it will last about a week)

oranges/apples $5.00 (last you about a week)

Ketchup (tomato sauce) - $4.00 (will last depending on how much you like about a month)

Mayo - $10.00 (i would do without but some people can't)

Tomato - 4.00 (last you about a week)

spices are about $2.00 a spice (i bought salt, pepper, Italian herbs and garlic.)

oil - $8.00 (will last you a month)

Choice of meat or fish buy in bulk - $30.00 (last you a week)

It will run you about $8 a day or less depending on how much you eat.

You can eat eggs and tomato on bread for breakfast

Noodles, with ketchup for lunch, meat with rice for dinner and oranges/apples for snack

PS.

I'm going to test this theory fully over the next 7 days

Photos: Melbourne, Australia

jewraider — Fri, 8 Mar 2013 00:07:00 GMT

fun

Australia Entry 2 of Journal 03/07/13

jewraider — Thu, 7 Mar 2013 23:59:00 GMT

Dear Journal, (and to all my readers)

The city i'm from is a small city called San Francisco, and i do say small because it really is only 7 x 7 miles (11.2 x 11.2 km). San Francisco has many names, but the one i like the most is "The City of Fog". The city is shaped like a peninsula and has two sides facing the bay while one facing the pacific, and that is why we have so much fog.

Always have wondered why a person would make a long vacation. A vacation that lasts a month or more, and today i finally realized one of its benefits. "Gastro" is an infection of the small intestine that is very catchy and causes you to empty your system in the bathroom, which in effect causes dehydration.

Today i was blessed with "Gastro", and let me tell you this country is hot and not ideal weather to be dehydrated in. The thing is i was not blessed with an air conditioning unit, just an ordinary fan. I wouldn't mind the heat as much if the nights weren't 80 °F (36 °C), but trying to always look at the good side, therefore , i can say it's at least dry heat so i'm not running in the shower every two minutes.

PS.

I scored a job from a friend for a little, so once i feel better it will give me some extra petty cash.

Australia Entry 1 of Journal 03/06/13

jewraider — Wed, 6 Mar 2013 19:22:00 GMT

Day 1

Dear Journal, (and to all my readers)

I am a young traditional Jewish 23 yr old, exploring the Australian way of life.

First stop Melbourne, a city of suburbs.

Saint Kilda Beach: The night was settling in and i could see that i would be able to see the sunset. My sister decided it would be awesome to set me up with a girl only two days after i arrived. You can imagine how tired i was for being Jet Lag and all but reluctantly i went on the date at this beach, which happened to be the one cold night this summer.

I was a little worried she was actually getting cold but she claimed that it was her policy not to take a guys jacket on a first date. So me being half asleep decided to let it go and she seemed like a really nice person. We talked about life and our experiences but our goals were very far apart and i wasn't attracted to her much, so hey at least i tried. (Now shell leave me alone about dating for a couple days)

The beach itself was one of the shortest beaches with regards to its width, but length wise it was as far as the eye could see. It had pretty nice sand and had a lot of people playing ball.

PS. i was so over tired i forgot to turn around and see the sunset (there is always another day though). :-)