June 23-24

Wednesday...
Had an Exam.. met the peeps for lunch in Darling.. wondered the city.. came back to watch a few movies (American Dias and A Walk to Remember).. slept over.

Thursday...
Woke up at 3am and headed back to the city for the Germany vs. Ghana FIFA World Cup game..

Snagged breakfast on Pancakes on the Rocks.. and shopped a bit. Chocolate Pancakes (deadly).

Toy Story 3 with the peeps and Cold Rock (Cold Stone of Australia).

Got a bizarre blend of a milkshake (coffee,cake batter, chocolate oreo, and mini m&ms).

(5 days until my arrival to the US of A)

June 22

Tuesday.. got up early headed into Randwick for some studying for my exam tomorow.

New experience: Zellini's, seaweed chips and crackers (weird fishy after taste), and watermelon juice.

What a wonderful day.. I got a surprise study package from my MOM! Magazines,coloring books, mascara,lipbalm, newspaper articles, PRETZEL M&MS, GRANOLA BARS IN EVERY FLAVOR, headbands... ohh it was the best surprise after an unproductive day of studying at the library.

June 21

Monday..

Today I studied on George St, Sydney. Tried something new for breakfast: a Chocolate Cinnamon Babka.

Then had my last volunteer day at the hospital.

Met friends for a dinner in Maroubra for a place called Maranello's Woodfired Pizza Restaurant and Bar.

Back to the room to study and wake up early to spend the dayy studyingggg for Wednesday!.


8 days until I am home.

I HAVE over 4000 pictures to show everyone..but limit them on my blog--so stay tuned:)

June 18-20

Today (Friday) my roommate's sister came. I had a low-keyed day.

New experiences:
**Le Pain
**Kelly's
**They have these machines that youre suppose to put your umbrella in before going into stores to wrap your umbrella so it doesnt track water in

http://www.visionchart.com.au/Strongway.html

**Movie theaters here..when you buy a ticket they give you a seat number..and you sit where youre assigned--so no choosing..

Aside from that...spent my afternoon at Bondi Junction.

Before meeting my friend Alex (who is from Australia)for Max Brenner's and then Sex and the City 2.


Saturday...Today my friend and I took a boat to Manly for breakfast at In Situ and shopped the markets for the day. We headed back into Circular Quay and went to the Museum of Contemporary Art.

http://www.mca.com.au/

Off to study for the remainder of the day.

Then to Circular Quay for a late night Max Brenners trip with some friends.

Sunday.. spent the day studying for my Wednesday exam (2nd to last) broke it up for a study break at Brenners.

Tonight I met friends at El Bulli for some spanish tapas, which was a new experience for me (+ one).

http://www.elbulli.com.au/index.html

June 17

Thursday...

Today I got up and headed downtown to the Australian Museum in Sydney

http://australianmuseum.net.au/

Spent over 2 hours there wondering around. They had a large skeleton exhibit, a big mineral exhibit, saw some living fossils, lots of dinosaur stuff, butterflies, a special "footy" exhibit and another limited time "alive" exhibit.

Learned a lot of new facts and chatted with the employee who enlightened me on a lot. These shells in the picture are stinging shells. This octopus only lights up with blue circles when it feels its in danger.

They had some neat hands on activities: a touch table, a creat your creature with trash, and also a create your own dinosaur station.

Also fun stuff I read about:

**Sydney's very own "Spiderman"

http://www.smh.com.au/national/obituaries/spiderman-unravelled-funnel-web-venom-20100510-uokt.html

**Toads the size of dogs found in Darwin, Australia

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/who-ya-gonna-call-toadbusters-20100606-xn8g.html

**The tiniest wallaby and a Pinocchio Frog found in Papua's Eden

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/tiniest-wallaby-pinocchio-frog-discovered-in-papuas-eden-20100518-vcb5.html

**Learned about the Gastric Brooding Frog, they can turn the acid in their stomach off and can carry their babies there

http://www.frogsaustralia.net.au/frogs/display.cfm?frog_id=84



In other news: I am also waiting for this "French Spiderman" to finally climb the Sydney Skyscraper....

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/spiderman-foiled-in-sydney-climb-attempt/story-fn3dxity-1225873939097

At night headed down with the peeps for the FIFA fest in Darling Harbour: huge ordeal from June 11th - July 12th (Sydney is 1 in 5 chosen to host it). Tonights game was at 930pm Argentina & South Korea..usually the games are at 430am or midnight.

http://www.sydneyfifafanfest.com.au/

Tried Baia Italian for dinner in Cockle Warf (Darling Harbour).

Went to HomeBar for some after game festivities.

http://www.homesydney.com/

I love the ice cream cone pictures we took: some guy tried to take our picture 10 times..each time it was either blurry, had one of us in it, had half a body, had only heads,...etc. and then after walking away one of our friends realized the ice cream cone wasnt just a station..but we had been taking pictures with a trash can. No wonder the strange looks. Love it.

June 16

Today I hit 4 new places: Globe Fine Foods & Coffee, Cafe Center,some random train station one, and Palace Bistro). I am on a roll.

I went into the city by myself for the Sydney Craft & Quilt Fair. This was not your average exhibition..you had to buy a ticket.

http://www.craftfair.com.au/

I was impressed. I was there over 3 hours and got tons of ideas. They had a surplus of craft materials to buy. They had actual workshops (beading, quilts, sewing,stamping,scrapbooking, painting) where you could make things. They had walls of award winning quilts on display each with a summary of the reasoning behind it. THey had a fashion exhibit too. Some crafts were for sale, but the majority was a tease. They would have all these finished products, but you could mostly only buy the kits/patterns.

Some fun stalls: www.hotpossum.com, www.quiltlove.com.au,www.mellyandme.typepad.com, www.audreyandamuade.blogspot.com
They had great french fries too I got to try the "sweet chili sauce" that everyone insists is a better condiment for french fries here. So I gave it a go---very different--nice change from ketchup--almost like BBQ sauce.

It was a fun place to people watch and chat with the older ladies. A few gave me their imput and suggestions to me it was cute. It reminded me of Grammy (SEE PAINTED GARDENING SET)

The pictures I uploaded are a few out of several. THose are just some of my favorites:

Display Quilts (not kits):
**The fish/feet one is silly because thats the new pedicure technique in Singapore
**I love the texture and effort that went into the quilt is sending with the woman in front of the mirror
**The beach scene with the dog reminds me of Cape Cod

There were also areas where you could vote on your favorite items..one place you could vote on your favorite painted piece. (SEE PAINTED BOX TOP)

Another place you voted on your favorite fixed up furniture. They showed a picture of the old piece of furniture (bench, chair, etc)...and the story behind where it came from..and then the actual chair redone.. (SEE FROG CHAIR)..

Even tried a new ice cream bar tonight: Nestle Maxibon HoneyComb... this has been Kristen and I's new mission for the past week. Never get the same thing..or from the same place.

June 15

Tuesday..its officially 2 weeks until my arrival @ Logan International Airport.

Most friends have finals this week so i am left to venture out on my own. However, I met a friend for breakfast this morning and then did some shopping around Randwick and Coogee.

Tried four new places: Tango Cafe, JT Cafe & Sandwiches,Gusto Express Bar, and Thai Me Up. My task is to hit as many as I can in the next few weeks that I have left. That means a surplus of cookies, lots of milkshakes, and lots of bizarre sandwiches that I have come to find out its better not knowing what they include. But I am having fun with it! Loving how each cafe brings a different vibe..and different crowd.

Some have cutie,some are all for the mothers and their strollers, while others have regulars that are there everyday.