manly beach

so im here in manly - staying in a quaint little hostel not far from the beach but i think i got the boys room! i say that because there are only boys in my room. oh well, its pretty decently cheap and manly is a pretty nice little place, very quaint and small town-ish. i put money down for 1 week stay here although i prolly wont stay that long. still thinking im gonna head up to surfers paradise on monday. i met a girl from germany at sydney central YHA who is heading that way and i do believe we may become travel buddies or flatmates! for a little while at least.

i walked down pittwater road and saw a job opening at a little cafe and thought about going over there to apply. too many options! i really wish someone would just say to me 'alia, do it this way!' and then i would.

i saw an ad for a hostel in newcastle looking for 2 or 3 people to work 2hrs a day, 6days a week for accommodation, free food 4 nights a week and one night a week is $6 all you could eat pizza....so thats an option too - i may call them later

what do u guys think? im gonna take a poll... should I:

• try to find a job in a hostel that i can stay for free but dont get paid
• try to find a job that pays but i have to find a flat and flatmates
• be a bum and not work and just travel

let me know what you think i appreciate your input fo shizzle.

hope you all got to see me on TPIR i heard it was pretty awesome

love much

alia

do-dee-do

so today took the rsa course - 6hrs in a small room with 2 gay brazillian men, a jap/aus, a brit and a girl from tasmania (who prided in the fact that tasmanians were stupid, and inbred...hmm). to say the least it was interesting. the little 19-year old tasmanian flirted with the 40-somethign year old instructor who constantly talked about how 'pissed' he gets and poked fun at the tazzy and the brit. needless to say i was getting irritated by the 3rd hour. and i had to help the tasmanian with the test at the end because she didnt know how to read. verry interesting.

so i have to decide tonight what im going to do. im going to give that hostel a call in hervey bay to see if they still need people. i think i will also call a hostel on manley beach to see if they can accommodate me for a few nights and if they can then i will head over there until monday. and whether or not the hostel needs me i will leave sydney on monday. head up the coast to surfers and find a job there- maybe at the australia zoo...serving ice cream or something. I DONT CARE - just want to get this all over with. blargh.

the place i took the rsa course also offers a bar service course which could also be helpful but, another $80 plus i have to wear black trousers and a white collared shirt and close toed shoes - so id have to go shopping. too many options!

i hope you're all watching the price is right (have i mentioned it enough?lol)

i havent uploaded pictures yet because there isnt really much of anything interesting that i have taken photos of..sorry guys. i'll try and get on that in the next few days. i think ive taken less then 10 in the week ive been gone.

jenni says to send me a text send it to: 01161406297539 so please do! i dont know the charges etc but i think im worth it dont you ;)

jenn if you could show mom how to send/recieve texts i think that would be extremely beneficial fanks!

so im gonna go call the yha dudes, maybe get some inquires on manly beach hostels and quiver in the rainy rain some more.

much love everyone

alia

ps ooh too bad about ryan smith (or is it smyth?) its definatly at the top of my 'most biggest piss offs' list of 2007....definatly *cough*

later days!

today...

today i went to the iep office - just signed up for the RSA course - its a required course if you want to serve alcohol in new south wales. not sure if thats what i want to do but, at least it makes it an option. heard word of a job opening up in hervey bay at a beautiful YHA - you get free food and accommodation for a variety of work. i think i will call them a bit later on.

otherwise today i exchanged my book ( i was reading 'in cold blood' and have now started 'ninteen eighty four' ) and lied down for a nap for a couple of hours. its still a bit cloudy - not very hot or sunshine-y but better then it has been the past few days. supposed to be nice n hot tomorrow - except i have a 6hr course to take :( boourns.

then thursday im out of here - havnt heard back from jamie since the first e-mail he sent so...*shrugs* i guess im on my own? hes supposed to show up tomorrow but i dont know what hostel he's staying at or anything else really. but ive decided for sure that i will be out of this hostel on thursday. and either head up the coast or to bondi or manly beach.

much love everyone

alia

ps dont forget to tape the price is right mom!!

love

alia

rain rain go AWAY!!!

so im sick of the gosh-darn rain....haha i guess it could be snowing (suckers!) but i just want to hit the beach!

so many decisions to make here. do i want to stay here and work near manly or bondi? or should i head up the coast and work up there? it'd be easier to get a job here in sydney just because of the IEP agency, but if i could get a head start up the coast that would be a good idea too. baahhh!!!i have 2 more nights here in the sydney central YHA and then gotta make a choice. gonna head back down to the iep office today to update my resume a bit and talk to the employment girl about working up the coast.

again, im short for time - and chris, just so you know i got a mobile NOT just to talk to people from home, but they said it was practically a requirement when trying to get a job or a place to stay so i think i'll keep the phone. no throwing it in the ocean....if there even is an ocean here, if there is i havent seen it yet!

things are starting to come together!!

today sofar was a busy day

went to the IEP orientation - got some good information on working etc. and yes, i did get a mobile the number is 046297539 there might be a (02) in front of it for the area code. i have no idea what the long distance would be or what it might cost to send or recieve a text so test it out for me! lol.

i also went to the bank, got my bank card and stuff. so not just gotta get a J-O-B but i think im gonan leave the city first. wait for jamie to get here and see what his plan is and if he dosent have the same ideas as i then off i go...alone! again.

gotta make this a really short post so talk later y'all

shae, please pass on my email to kavita i would loev to catch up with her later on.

love much
alia

blarghlargh

another day in sydney - today i actually made it out of the hostel...TWICE! i walked down george street to find 333 george street where i will have the IEP orientation...either tomorrow or wednesday. found a post office along the way AND i found martin place as well, where the bank i need to go is so its all good. tomorrow will be a busy day which makes me happy! and after crashing in the tv room for a few hours decided to take another walk, down pitt street - im in an internet cafe right now, sort of half looking for some sort of grocery store. thinking about cooking my dinner tonight.

ive sort've decided that im not going to stick around sydney long. this is such a huge city. im kind of overwhelmed by it and there are just SO many options. i think i will go to my orientation tomorrow, go to the bank, etc. etc - book a city tour of sydney for tuesday, maybe hit the beach one of those days and then header up the coast - to a smaller beach city where i can work for a while and learn to surf. i was thinking noosa - its north of brisbane near the whitsundays i do believe.

ive also been in contact with a guy named jamie who is from nova scotia i believe...anyways he's flying in on wednesday and he mentioned traveling up the coast to work too so...maybe a friend? a good old canuck to be a travel buddy? cant wait. i hope it works out. and he'd better be good looking or what am i gonna do!? hah just kidding

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!! this wednesday, feb 28 i, alia beth schimanke, will be making my television debut on da,da,da THE PRICE IS RIGHT!! watch as my fellow companions and i shout 'oh wow!!' and 'OOOOOhhh, ahhhhH!' at various bedroom sets and trips to puerto vallarta mexico. 11am mountain standard time on CBS

love lots!

alia

ps - i have the option of getting a 'mobile phone' out here. what do u guys think? prepaid minutes and the phone itself is only $80 - would you call me!?send texts? is it worth it? let me know!

day...five?six? ehh i dunno

g'day mates!

so i didnt end up leaving the hostel yesterday - not really sure why. just sorta felt like staying in i guess. hung out mostly in the tv room, watching tv. thats okay - im gonna be here for 2+ months ive got LOTS of time to check stuff out right?

i booked 3 more nights here in the hostel so you can sleep easy mom, ive got a roof over my head until thursday - then we'll see where the wind takes me. i tried to reserve a spot for my orientation with IEP on monday but they are closed on weekends so i guess i'll have to call bright and early monday morning to see if i can get in for the same day - if not then i'll have to wait until wednesday. i hate watiting.

also, tomorrow the YHA travel agency opens for the week in the lobby of the hostel so i do believe i may book myself on a tour or two - prolly one for the city and one for the blue mountains. might as well get the touristy stuff overwith now.

last night i watched a super-cool-awesome lightening storm from the rooftop of the hostel it was freakin cool! chatted it up a bit with a few older men (one from vancouver, one from...england maybe?) it was nice to hear my own voice for once.

and one thing i didnt know about australia that i prolly should have is that THE FRUIT BATS HERE FLY AROUND LIKE BIRDS!!! no word of a lie - at least while its raining they do - when i saw the first one i had no clue what it was and then i had to ask someone 'is that really a bat?' they're HUGE and look liek gargoyles. totally crazy - chris you're gonna love it!!

well today i really do believe i will go for a walk, find a post office, locate the bank, the IEP office - do some pre-planning of my day tomorrow. and get organized. i have way too much stuff!!

love always,

alia

p.s craig if you'll notice, there is nothing wrong with my grammar - i just dont bother with capital letters. ;) love ya!

made it to sydney

hi guys!

here i am in sydney - made it just fine as usual. after a bit of a run around at the airport (shuttle transfer stuff...blah!) i made it to the hostel! its pretty nice. im enjoying the english speaking people although i have yet to meet anyone - but i havent even been here an hour

gonna try and find a post office today - have to ship some stuff home INCLUDING my straightener! damn thing isnt working...so maybe i'll find a place to also buy a cheap straightener. monday i have an orientation with IEP to talk about work and stuff, so its another waiting game.

so here it goes, what i have learned about asians while being in asia - im not going to make this discriminatory so im going to say - while in asia, the people i encountered were:

• a bit smelly (like moth balls and/or b.o)
• kind of pushy
• budders

i think thats about it - not saying that asians were like that. just the people who lived in asia that i encountered. i think that covers my tracks a bit. haha

so now i guess i'll go check out the place a bit, take a walk - its not extremely hot here like it was in singapore so im just gonna stroll....see where my feet take me

later days!

alia

day 3 - wasnt counting on rain

this has gotta be a quick one b/c im about to board my plane to sydney

was gonna hang out by the pool all day, turned out overcast - so i headed to 'singapore's resort island' called semosa? something like that, i dont remember. anyways it was kinda neat - saw a pink dolphin show, went to underwater world, fed some rays and sea turtles - then headed to the airport and hung out here, in changi for about 6 hrs. wasnt bad, they really know how to cater to long layover passengers. i chilled at the movie theatre and kicked it around the koi pond.

gotta head out now! talk to you in australia!

love always,

alia

ps i will spend more time to speak about asians next blog ;)

day two

so yesterday i was sick of feeling like a bum and decided to head out

i went for a swim in the lane pool in the morning - very nice and refreshing. then i tanned for a few hours. ive got the beginning of something great let me tell you!

at around 2 i headed back to my room to get ready. my plan was to leave the hostel by 3 - be at the singapore zoo for 4 or so (using public transit) and then go to the 'night safari' which was a zoo that was specifially for night creatures. the last shuttle bus that would take me back to my hostel from the MRT (like the LRT) station was at 1015 so i figured i could be there until 9pm.

so it took 2 hours to get from the hostel to the singapore zoo. and because the zoo closed at 6 i didnt want to buy a $20 admittance card. AND the night safari didnt open until 7 so it was either stick around for 2 hours or...go home. i decided to take my chances with time (because i had a 2 hour trip back to the hostel) and check out the safari. so i ate some pizza, some ben and jerry's, bought a $5 jughead comic and waited...

AND WAS IT WORTH IT! the night safari is the best zoo i have ever been to. besides everything being DARK (and because the animals are nocturnal you cannot use flash photography, so i dont have any great pix) it was super awesome. i have never been to a zoo that has more active animals. i saw rhinos, hippos, lions, hyenas, a leopard, walked through a BAT cage (i totally thought of you chris while i was walking through, those things are huge! you would've loved it haha!), saw giraffes, zebras, anteaters, and a tonne more animals. the best part was that they wernt all sleeping like at all the other zoos ive been to.

and, i made it home in time to get some mcdonalds and catch my last shuttle to the hostel. i also discovered that mcdonalds here DELIVERS! i wouldve enjoyed that luxery more then a few times in highschool.

so tomorrow at 12:20AM my flight to sydney leaves. then this trip REALLY starts. the plan was to check out of the hostel and lie by the pool for more then a few hours and then make my way to the airport. but today its overcast :( so my plans are shot. maybe i will head to the airport early (more then 12 hours too much?) and check it out. Singapore is supposed to be one of the best airports in the world.

i love the love you are all adding to my page. makes me smile! i will get back to everyone one by one eventually!

lots of kisses

alia

day one

its a totally different feeling to be travelling by yourself. with no one to consult on what you should do, nothing planned to do at this point i found myself yesterday n0t knowing what to do with myself. at first i lied in my hostel room watching tv, thank god the main of the offical 4 languages here is english, and then i thought to myself ' im in singapore, its 30 degrees outside and im lying in my suite, even if i have nothign to do i should at least be enjoying the weather' - so i slipped on my bikini and made my way to the pool - i think there is a beach nearby but i dont know where it is, pool is good enough. on my way out to the pool i burned the soles of my feet on the concrete - so i headed back to my suite to put on my puma's cuz i had yet to buy some sandals. and i spent the day sunning myself on a deck chair.

once the sun went down i found myself, again with nothing to do. so i went exploring.

the hostel im staying at is a part of a resort - away from the main city - there is an amusement park near by but not something im really interested in visiting. not many restaurants in this area so i found a grocery store and bought some ichiban noodles for dinner and some milk, juice and cereal for breakfast. some indian guy approached me in the grocery store - he asked if i was alone and i told him 'yes'. he asked me my plans for the evening and i said 'eating my noodle dinner and going to bed'. he left and then came back and asked me if he could join me 'no sorry!', i said. i think he was offended.

i went home, ate my dinner and watched tv until i fell asleep. my bed and pillows are extremely firm but i didnt have trouble dozing off. woke up at about 5 this morning to what i think were cats fighting and my noisy neighbours. i fell back asleep and woke up again to jungle birds chirping noisly - that was at 7. i couldnt fall back asleep so i ate some of my cereal and read. it is now 830, i think im goingto go back to my room, read a bit more and start to plan my day a bit. i think i'll go into the city, or onto the island of sentosa to see the dolphin lagoon and the merlion statue - and perhapse a night safari tonight.

tomorrow - heading to australia. im really looking forward to seeing canadians again.

love, alia

made it!

after a gruelling 25.75 hrs of travelling im finally here in singapore, and i can thankfully say that besides everyone there, i dont miss canada at all - it is a bomby 30 degrees outside and i am very happy that i am standing here sweating.

i met some nice young boys in the calgary airport who happened to be going the same way i was so we travelled together until we had to split at the singapore airport, made the trip a bit better to have someone to talk to, thats for sure.

hoping you are all staying warm back in e-town. looknig forward to more love in the form of comments from you all

alia

adios

here i am, down to the last 3 and a quarter hours before leaving canada and i can honestly say that i am terrified. i was sure that i am stronger then this. im hoping that right now is the hardest part and once everything i have is out of sight, then it will be out of mind. its not helping that i have a head cold and i feel like im floating around in a cloud right now. i just feel extremely unprepared for this, i wish i could've done something mentally to prepare myself for this date but i dont think there was. its just one of those things that you gotta dive into head first and hope for the best. well, here's hoping - and if the best doesnt work out then i'll see you all next week!

thankyou to all my friends who came out for breakfast on sunday it was kind of an emotional ordeal i know but i had a blast regardless. we'll have to do it again when i get home

sorry in advance paul, im pretty sure you've caught my cold but i had a really great weekend with you - cant wait to do it all again in august.

shae, dave and craig - im not at the airport yet but i thank you in advance for your support and being there for me today. im going to miss you all so much and feel free to come visit me anytime!

to everyone else - send love!

to mom - send money!

o9 days

just over a week left and i'm starting to get teary-eyed. spent last night with paul, went to filthy's and hung out with his friends from school. im usually not so gung-ho on spending time with people i dont know but they're really nice. easy to get along with. no awkward moments. i told paul i would miss him and he said 'pssh! go, have fun, run wild' he's one of the few people who hasnt told me they dont want me to leave. i think its cuz he knows i need this, and its a once in a lifetime opportunity and im sure if he had it he'd take it too. but i just dont know how many opportunities im going to have with him. i'll be sure to warn him that i will be back - and not to forget about me.

as these last few days in canada are coming to a close i've gotten alot done - alot more done in these past few days then in the past month probably. all thats left is shopping (backpack, shoes, clothes, toiletries etc), money transfers into my aus bank account and shots. like my last visa bill this next one is gonna be a bugger too.

thanks to everyone who posted a 'goodbye' on my last blog. to kelley, ryan, and taylor - you will be missed as well, expect many emails. to dave - im not DYING! you couldnt lose me if you tried, love. but i'll miss you too.

upcoming going-away events are as follows:

• friday, feb 16th - union hall (possibly!? not quite sure of the venue yet) come whenever ya like
• sunday, feb 18th - breakfast at smitties on manning - around 1030-1100 - let me or shae know if you are interested in coming b/c we should prolly reserve tables.
• monday, feb 19th - my actual departure date - i know it is family day and many of you have the day off so if you feel like accompanying me to the airport to watch my cry my eyes out as the security guards drag me toward the gate away from you all, then feel free to join!

initial post/13 days

so here we are - im down to the last 13 days in canada before i head out on an adventure on my own.

start saying your goodbyes now