It's been awhile since I have updated because internet minutes in Melbourne is worth as much as gold. Aha, I found free internet in libraries...better yet, the big one in the city where there are tons of terminals so that's where I am at the moment.

update in short form because I have to meet my gay German friend-

• Reiki was nice but I ruined the high vibration with massive partying for 2 nights with German people from Shepparton. They were nice peeps and they left Melbourne on Saturday morning.

• First night of partying with them was on my birthday.

• I went out for Indian food with a Japanese girl called Miki whom I have met the day before. She seems very nice and into health/organic/yoga/country side type. Too bad she had to leave in only a couple of days.

• My first batch of roommates gave me chocolate eggs for my birthday and I had barely even seen them.

• Didn't expect to be with anyone so more than what I have wanted.

• My milk and salad dressing got stolen at the hostel.
  

• Some new Irish roommates came. One of them was having sex for 2 nights in a row in the room...I think with 2 different guys. I wasn't thrilled to be woken up at around 6am to her moaning (shivers).

• Meg (Jap) decided to come to Melbourne overnight. I felt very stressed and drained around her. I didn't want to listen to her petty dramas from Shepparton anymore. She didn't book a room as well. I left her with the other Shepparton people at some lame bar and I went to bed myself. I couldn't party anymore. She slept in the morning on the couch at my hostel. I wasted my weekend for sightseeing because she was around.

• I have moved to a suburb called Prahan/Chapel Street. It's kinda trendy up market with lots of restaurants, pubs, shops and second hand stores. The hostel is small and an old victorian building. I paid a bit more for a balcony. Yes, I'm a posh backpacker.
  

• I got a job at a telemarketing company. I hadn't even called anyone and it fell through, but it was a big relief off my shoulder. At least they paid me for training.

• I had an interview at a club/bar for cloakroom or bussing. We'll see how that goes.

• I went to another suburb called Fritzroy. It's arty and bohemian with alot of live music at night, kinda like Commercial Drive. I found a hippy hostel which I might move into next week.

• I stumbled across a yoga mediation place that doesn't charge people an arm and a leg in Fritzroy. I waited for the $5 donation class in the evening, and turns out people live and help out there. Everything was given out of generosity and cultivation. We did yoga and chi kung, followed by a free vegetarian meal,then did half hour of chanting with instruments, and finished with a chai. I'm going to their retreat ($10 donation!) this Saturday out in the country. Why not?
  

• I have to go meet my gay friend (Dan) who just left Shepparton today to go skydiving for his birthday. I can't wait to hear all the gossips he has to tell me. I think I'll try to find a proper club this time instead of those backpacker shnit.
  

Melbourne + reiki

My last day at the hostel was great. I went tomato picking with 2 new friends at the pimp's farm. This time at least I can laugh about him with other people. It was a really hot day and we decided to finish by 1 o'clock. Haha, I have only picked 6 bins. Many tomatoes were wrecked so raising 50 cents for 1 bin meant nothing. So I was supposed to get $18 but he gave me $20, like last time when he rounded it to $40 from $37.50. After that, I suggested to go to the local pool to cool off. We tried to catch the bus and ended up having to call a taxi, realizing that there were no buses at all on the weekends! Walking into the outdoor pool on a hot day was an amazing feeling, so we swam and lounged a bit on the side. Then, we did the whirl pool and sauna. Good stuff. When we came out, it was such a tranquil relaxing feeling! Apparently, we could walk through the river/park/forest which is on the way back. The quality of the river was like a swamp but was still very pictureque with the reflection of trees which carried an unique serenity. The trees in the forest/park were somewhat far apart or scarce and extended the same quality as the river. Suddenly, 3 kangaroos jumped passed us!! Not exactly too common in that town apparently. We got back onto the road and tried to hitchhike. We were about to give up after a few minutes because it seemed so awkward. Then, a truck pulled over and we got a free ride, yay!

Of course I had to party the last night, so I went out to the city with people from the hostel. Brad Pitt came but his buddy backed out, boo! Brad Pitt ended up having to sleep one hour before going to work drunk. Gotta give props to that.

After I left the Shepparton hostel, I had this strange reminiscing feeling again. It's like doing a series of yoga poses and coming into stillness to reflect on what had all happened. I felt like I was seeing the bigger picture again and I didn't want to go home for awhile now.

I like Melbourne. The energy is much better than Sydney, an artsy relaxed vibe in the city centre comparing to anxious-gotta-get-to-point-A-ASAP-speedwalking people. Besides, the place seems smaller or managable and public transportation seems pretty good. There are also many Asians here and cheap authentic Indian food. The downside is that internet is frigging expensive!

The hostel I'm staying in is by Flinders Station. It's a huge ass hostel which is not good for a single traveller like me because I can't meet people. I bumped into some Germans from Shepparton so we might go out on the weekend after I'm done with my reiki course. I've been busy with it anyways so I don't feel so lonely as of now.

Yes reiki! My teacher is quite a character, a little scrawny and theatrical. He would suddenly talk in an Indian or Scottish accent sometimes. I'm not sure if that's really appropriate but whatever. There are 60 students in class so he had to do most of the attunements as a group. For the kind of class size, I have to say he does a good job. I wasn't sure what to expect to feel since I have gone through matrix already, but now I remember reiki's power and love in its simplicity. I feel like I'm going through a cleanse with a big thirst for water. The practice sessions make me and many others want to fall asleep. One interesting thing today was that we went into small groups to do group healing on one person. The woman we were working on asked if I did spiritual work. She said she was clairvoyant and she saw very clearly a young Japanese woman with traditional Japanese hair style guiding me. Her name is Skimo or something. Interestingly enough, I'm talking to Alan online and apparently he has a knight as a guide.

I think I want to stay in Melbourne for awhile to make some money.

Moving on soon...

One day I went into the city and stumbled across a place called "The Shoe Gallery." It was a warehouse setting with tons of shoes for cheap. I was in there for 2 hours and ended up buying 2 pairs of shoes for $68 AU. That's alot of space taken up in a backpack/luggage. I had to because they were good quality...I mean a pair of Gola runners for $29...couldn't pass up on them. I even gave up on a pair of $10 heels already. I don't know why but I haven't shopped alot for clothes here as I have been picky since I'm trying to limit my bag space. Ok, I know clothing is lighter and smaller than shoes. Being in that warehouse brought out the shoe consumer in me.

Other than that, the town is small and nice. I find the bus ride interesting. It comes every one hour and it plays music. There is even a garbage bin, strange.

I am going to do another day of tomato picking because Joe the pimp was a nice farmer. This time it will be with 5 other people and I will try using a insect repellent spray. I'm leaving soon this Sunday. It's nice to start to get to know the people here eventhough I don't think I belong to any "cliques." It's also time for me to get out of this prison/ Beverly Hills 90210.

Seeing those 2 German guys being such good friends make me miss my friends alot one night. Especially when everyone started speaking in German at the table, it got a bit uncomfortable for me at some point.

I'll update when I'm in Melbourne. Reiki here I come.

Seasonal work...*groan*...

Note: Some people have been asking me who is Rodrigo. He is the Brazillian guy who I have always been mentioning.

I started work at a packing shed the next day after arriving in Shepperton. On the first day, I remembered the hand held Nintendo Mario Bros. game I used to play where they had to transport the boxes on conveyor belts without dropping them, a documentary called...um... "something Landscape" which is based on the sceneries of China's pollution and factory work settings, and carnival games at Playland or something. I was thinking philosophically the whole day, and actually quite enjoyed the monotonous work. I'm on the slow side but people always help each other out and there were not judgements like many other jobs. By the 4th day, I was burnt out. It wasn't full time so I had a couple of days off at the prison like backpacker hostel (there's nothing outside especially if you don't have a car). I actually went out partying on Saturday night in this hick town. The second place we went to was so ghetto and trashy, eg. some girl who slid on the floor right to my feet. I had fun anyways because I have little crushes on these 2 really cute German roommates. One of them looks like Brad Pitt and came off a bit cool at first. The other guy looks like some Japanese manga character with a pretty face. He is kind of cute when he says stupid things in front of me. I think being and working here makes me and Meg think too much because there is nothing to do or see. She had this crush on this other guy and I think we found out that he turned out to be gay last night. Maybe I need to get out of here soon.

Yesterday I tried tomato picking alone. The farmer who picked me up was kind of pimp, listening to rap and decked out in gangsta style decor in the car. He was really nice though since he got me free food, coffee, fruits and 2 pops. He even paid me more than he was supposed to because I was so damn slow. My back was hurting after but some yoga therapy helped alot. My arse is mega soar today though (What do you call a gay dinosaur? Megasoaurus- Gip's joke).

Today I tried pear picking. The farmer was so agro and mad at this other picker that he almost wanted to beat him up, it was insane. I got hit by a pear on my nose and was bleeding quite a bit for a few minutes. Imagine me bending over watching blood dripped chuckling, while the other 2 guys stood there watching me. Anyhow, for both fruit picking jobs, I was quite slow and didn't make much money.

I have finally made the decision to leave Manly on Sunday. I said my farewell to Rodrigo, and the way we talked was a bit different than usual. He wasn't too pleased with the fact that his friends are leaving all the time. When I walked home, I had a lump in my throat. I guess that's when I know I have developed a little bit of feelings for someone.

I went to buy a bag to carry my stuff, and realized it wasn't the best choice before I left the house because I had trouble strapping it onto the cart. I missed the first ferry, but I still had a second chance. I was freaking out at Meg, thought I was going to have to go the next day, and sweating like a pig (my legs were wet!) in the hot humid room. Anyhow, somehow I made it onto the ferry, then city train, and almost missed my booked train. I made it though. I left my hat there, will I ever learn?

After train of 7 hours, and another 2 hour bus ride. I have arrived in Shepparton at 6:30am. My god, this place is like Langley or Chilliwack or any BC suburbs. Is that what they meant by the real Australia? The hostel is a revamped old hospital with railings along the wall. No more free internet too.