Whiskey sour? What?

Went out for Thai food last night. It was very good but not spicy. So, is America the only place where curry = spicy? I found this in Madagascar, too. I had curry at every opportunity, but it was never like home. People scoff at the idea of Thai restaurants being authentic in MN, but I first had Thai at a little place called Na’s Thai Café, which is run by an immigrant family, so I can be reasonably sure it was authentic… I really really miss that place! I've also been to a place in St. Paul called The King and I, which is phenomenal. Maybe I just need to start asking for the curry to be spicy. That might solve it.

Met a few friends at Birdie O’Reilly’s, your typical wanna-be Irish pub. They don’t change half way around the globe, I’m afraid. Not my preferred type of place, but the company was great. There were sports games on huge screens, but upstairs was a DJ so we did a little dancing. If my ass is in a club, there’s guaranteed to be someone trying latch onto it. I gave him one dance and then ditched. I tried to order a whiskey sour at the bar and they didn’t know what it was. They asked me what was in it and I was like, “uh… whiskey and sour mix?” They had no idea. So I had to get a gin & tonic. (WOE.) None of my friends knew what a whiskey sour was either. o_O

My friend Jess brought up the fact that Australia is apparently having an obesity epidemic. I read something about it just before coming here. Something like 26% of their population is obese (compared to 24% in the US). She was like, “So do you all think we’re just fat bastards, or what?” I laughed and replied, “I thought everyone thought the Americans were fat bastards!” Anyway, from what I’ve seen, people here are very active. I always see tons of joggers and bikers. Everyone is fit and they eat horrible food all the time! After the bar, my friends wanted to go to a place just to get chips (read: fries)!! You want to eat chips at 1am? Seriously? How do these girls stay so thin?

This morning (Sunday) I had to be checked out by 10am, so I couldn’t sleep in. I stored my bags and then hit the streets for a long meander with my camera. Not a nice day here, very windy, but it was a fun walk. I got some nice pictures of the Botanical Gardens, the city, cute neighborhoods, and the Yarra River. (I’m uploading them to Flickr right now, but it’s taking forever and I only have a half hour of internet left. I think there are some cookie problems.) Anyway, the nice houses all have snooty sounding names, like Camden, Moore Abbey, etc. It’s like that in St. Paul, too. A friend of mine used to live in the only house on his block without a fancy name, so we decided to name it. Unfortunately, the first thing that slipped off his tongue was The Satan’s Asshole, and you just can’t top that. (Andrea, it was The Retard. XD Why do I still miss him sometimes?)

I was waiting at a crosswalk on Toorak Rd. and struck up a conversation with a guy (it was a looong wait), and he warned me that they will actually ticket for jaywalking around here, especially in the city proper. $55. :O Whaaat? I guess it’s not that bad, but that’s $55 I don’t need to spend on a jaywalking ticket, thank you very much. I am a consummate jaywalker, so I hope I don’t get myself into trouble. This time, I was just trying to get across a street to a bakery. Surely a cop could understand that, right?? Another dismaying thing is that it’s not cheap here. I paid $9 for a 4-pack AA batteries and $4 for a Vitamin Water this morning. Granted, I was at the 7-11 at the corner of Park St. and Domain Rd., but that is exorbitant in my opinion.

In a little while, I’ll call my new host and arrange a time to move in, probably about dinnertime. I’m going to miss having internet! I think I’ll try to find a café with wireless and hang out there on the weekends. I’ve heard Brunswick is a fun area, so that shouldn’t be difficult. In the meantime, I might hang out here at the hostel and watch those two final episodes of Battlestar (Cyclotrons!!1), or walk around some more. Not sure yet… I feel like I should see more of this area while I’m still here, but I already had a big walk this morning!