So here I am; home in Melbourne and finally about to get back into the swing of things. There will be return to my spiritual home of East Brunswick at the end of the month, while in the mean time I rediscover the trials and tribulations of living with my family in Box Hill. Classes at university resume in a week and I am currently staring disapprovingly at a timetable which seems to be suggesting I attend eight back to back hours of lectures on a Thursday. Humm. Interesting. Next to the timetable is a rather large pile of books, on top of which sits an antagonizing copy of Machiavelli's "Prince". It's going to be a loooong semester. After months of enjoyable interaction between me and the communicative, friendly, helpful and efficient staff at the epitome of clarity, logic and rationality that is Centrelink, I have discovered within myself intensely pure feelings of (hatred) which I never knew I was capable. The moral of the story is I will most likely have to start looking for a job at some point in the very near future. It seems there will also have to be a reduction in the disparates present in my drinking:sleeping ratio, spending:earning ratio, and general shenanigans:responsibilities ratio. I may also need to begin paying off my credit card so there are fun times ahead folks!
Given that I am currently in no financial situation to facilitate travel between my house and, well, anywhere outside, it seems there will be a lot less movement from me this year. I thought it apt to round off the travel section of "The Adventures of an Annika" with a "Europe (plus Tokyo) Favorites List", although with EVERY destination a favorite in some way: natural beauty, fine company, new friends, unique experiences, fabulous food; even a top twenty is a challenge. Here goes...
In order of visit:
Toulouse (France)
The Pyrenees (France)
Barcelona (Spain)
Granada (Spain)
Paris (France)
Cote d'Azur (France)
Siena (Italy)
Venice (Italy)
Interlaken (Switzerland)
Gimmelwald (Switzerland)
Prague (Czech Republic)
Vienna (Austria)
Berlin (Germany)
Leuven (Belgium)
Maastricht (Holland)
London (England)
Yorkshire (England)
Edinburgh (Scotland)
Schladming (Austria)
Tokyo (Japan)
With this, the final installment in the documentation of my travels, I now dedicate my blog to self indulgent and fickle remarks about film, television, music and literature. Beware and maybe enjoy.
25th of February - "Margot at the Wedding"
Another day. Another Noah Baumbach film. Another fucked up family. I worry. What happened to that boy as a child? I enjoy his films but I can't decide if they are insightful or pretentious. To add to my predicament, I often confuse Baumbach and Wes Anderson, what with their "quirky films about quirky families". Perhaps Baumbach is merely the (pretentious) poor man's (insightful) Anderson? Having said that, Wes Anderson is so brilliant that being his "poor man" should not necessarily be seen as an insult. Baumbach is certainly skilled at creating an air of squeamish discomfort in the audience. Jack Black was intelligent comic relief here. I couldn't help but feel that "Margot at the Wedding" was not much more than "The Squid and the Whale", with a different family and a different location, but I guess if you enjoyed the latter...
Monday, February 25
Sunday, February 24
Happy Birthday Milly
Yes, I know we've seen this picture before, but it's too good only to use once. Happy birthday, Milly from your fan club in Melbourne, of which I am the president. It may have been a mistake for Marianne to announce that you're turning on free grog as you have many cousins within striking distance of Newcastle. Hope you have a great day.
Saturday, February 23
Where have the years gone?
I'm feeling a little bit reflective as Stuart heads off to go looking for a car for Daniel to buy. I realise we have flown through the last 26 years of our life. Milly turns 21 tomorrow so Stuart and I now have 4 "adult" children. Daniel needs a car to go between courts in his new job but is too busy to be able to find the time to look for one. Stuart now has that honour and you never know, he may just keep up the Roff tradition of white camry's. (I seriously doubt it though). We talked to Harry last night and he needs to have flights and hotels booked for his trip home. He and Alaine still have another six weeks in India and by all accounts, both are travelling well and it is Amber and Greg who have had the dreaded Dehli Belly.
Mill has asked that we have her 21st here on 15th March. She is allegedly paying for all the alcohol so if any rellies are in the area it is Millie's shout. I do have concerns though as the backyard is currently mud. The pool has been removed and replaced and all the concrete in the whole backyard has been dug up including the driveway. It is currently mud so having a few people over for a 21st could be very interesting. Not quite sure where to put the dance floor.
Stuart and I have found it very difficult to settle after our month in Vietnam. It was great to decide from one day to the next what we would do and not have to stress about where we would find accommodation or how we would get there. We are planning our next trip to Mexico where my brother is Senior Trade Commissioner to Austrade and lives in the house from "Gone with the Wind". Even Milly has managed to save the airfares which is really saying something.
Neither Stuart nor I feel that old but when we are heading off to a friend's 60th birthday tonight I'm not so sure we haven't hit the middle age era. It was a bit embarrassing in Vietnam when the younger people would give up their bus seats for us.
Hope all is well and Stuart and I are looking forward to the Roff Xmas.
Marianne
Mill has asked that we have her 21st here on 15th March. She is allegedly paying for all the alcohol so if any rellies are in the area it is Millie's shout. I do have concerns though as the backyard is currently mud. The pool has been removed and replaced and all the concrete in the whole backyard has been dug up including the driveway. It is currently mud so having a few people over for a 21st could be very interesting. Not quite sure where to put the dance floor.
Stuart and I have found it very difficult to settle after our month in Vietnam. It was great to decide from one day to the next what we would do and not have to stress about where we would find accommodation or how we would get there. We are planning our next trip to Mexico where my brother is Senior Trade Commissioner to Austrade and lives in the house from "Gone with the Wind". Even Milly has managed to save the airfares which is really saying something.
Neither Stuart nor I feel that old but when we are heading off to a friend's 60th birthday tonight I'm not so sure we haven't hit the middle age era. It was a bit embarrassing in Vietnam when the younger people would give up their bus seats for us.
Hope all is well and Stuart and I are looking forward to the Roff Xmas.
Marianne
Friday, February 22
In the garden of Eden...
We've been doing it a bit tough in Melbourne for the past couple of years in terms of water. the previous owners of our new house were great gardeners and we've tried to, at least, keep their dream alive. Julia has added to it with a vegetable garden but we already have a lemon tree, a macadamia tree, a pear tree and a plum tree. Oh, we also have a giant bay-leaf tree. In the interests of providing some water to the new vegie garden (tomatoes, capsicum, lettuce, snow peas, beans and carrots), we took up an offer from our next door neighbours to install a former chemical container as a water tank. The 1000 litres drip-feeds the vegetables through one of those hoses with holes in it. I did the engineering and it doesn't leak much, but it's amazing how much water you can get off your roof even with a light shower.
It's not all about food, of course. The previous owners obviously loved roses and we have many varieties around the yard. The best looking ones don't have much of a scent but the ones below are overwhelming and there are hundreds of them.
In my humble opinion, the best things from this season's garden have been the cherry tomatoes. They're super-sweet and grow faster than we can pick them. The capsicums are also outstanding. I didn't get to eat many of the snow peas or beans as you pass them on the way to the pool and Dom and his mates are always hungry. It's a good cause, I suppose...
That's the macadamia tree you can see across the pool. In our first year here, it produced 1200 nuts but we got nothing in the second year - it closed down due to lack of water. The lemon tree did the same thing - it produced lots of lemons but didn't get them to picking stage. We're hoping to use the new tank to encourage them both to produce again in 2009.
Down the back of the garden lives a water-nymph. She's very beautiful but we hardly ever get to see her. I think she also takes the beer out of my 'fridge in the garage but that might actually be Nick when he's here on holidays.
Regarding family gossip, Amanda is alive and well, spending as much time as she can up in Nagambie. Cathie Murray is due for a visit soon and their plan is to spend a few days up there. Adam seems to be okay but he sent an email recently asking me, if his PhD supervisor rang, to confirm he had a broken leg and was resting in Melbourne. He's getting to the stage where it will be easier to finish his thesis than think up new excuses. Annika has been blessing our house with company since she got back from Europe but will be starting third year at Melbourne Uni next week and will be moving into a nice flat with her mate, Jen. Nick also starts uni this week at Newcastle with the ambition of joining his many cousins as a PE teacher. Dom has started year 10, is playing cricket and soccer, and got his old job back doing kids parties at the local fitness centre. His current plan is to save for a trip to France to visit a mate at the end of the year. It's a far cry from the Roff brothers filling the interior of an old Falcon to work on the cotton fields of Weawah. Julia is now responsible only for the adult program at her workplace rather than the youth program as well. There's always a nice feeling when you leave a job and they discover they need two people to replace you. I've just had a ride down the Great Ocean Road on an MV Augusta, the worlds fastest and most expensive production motorcycle. I can't complain. Jules, Dom, one of his friends and I are going to the Port Fairy Folk Festival in early March so that's something else to look forward to. Watch this space for pictures...
It's not all about food, of course. The previous owners obviously loved roses and we have many varieties around the yard. The best looking ones don't have much of a scent but the ones below are overwhelming and there are hundreds of them.
In my humble opinion, the best things from this season's garden have been the cherry tomatoes. They're super-sweet and grow faster than we can pick them. The capsicums are also outstanding. I didn't get to eat many of the snow peas or beans as you pass them on the way to the pool and Dom and his mates are always hungry. It's a good cause, I suppose...
That's the macadamia tree you can see across the pool. In our first year here, it produced 1200 nuts but we got nothing in the second year - it closed down due to lack of water. The lemon tree did the same thing - it produced lots of lemons but didn't get them to picking stage. We're hoping to use the new tank to encourage them both to produce again in 2009.
Down the back of the garden lives a water-nymph. She's very beautiful but we hardly ever get to see her. I think she also takes the beer out of my 'fridge in the garage but that might actually be Nick when he's here on holidays.
Regarding family gossip, Amanda is alive and well, spending as much time as she can up in Nagambie. Cathie Murray is due for a visit soon and their plan is to spend a few days up there. Adam seems to be okay but he sent an email recently asking me, if his PhD supervisor rang, to confirm he had a broken leg and was resting in Melbourne. He's getting to the stage where it will be easier to finish his thesis than think up new excuses. Annika has been blessing our house with company since she got back from Europe but will be starting third year at Melbourne Uni next week and will be moving into a nice flat with her mate, Jen. Nick also starts uni this week at Newcastle with the ambition of joining his many cousins as a PE teacher. Dom has started year 10, is playing cricket and soccer, and got his old job back doing kids parties at the local fitness centre. His current plan is to save for a trip to France to visit a mate at the end of the year. It's a far cry from the Roff brothers filling the interior of an old Falcon to work on the cotton fields of Weawah. Julia is now responsible only for the adult program at her workplace rather than the youth program as well. There's always a nice feeling when you leave a job and they discover they need two people to replace you. I've just had a ride down the Great Ocean Road on an MV Augusta, the worlds fastest and most expensive production motorcycle. I can't complain. Jules, Dom, one of his friends and I are going to the Port Fairy Folk Festival in early March so that's something else to look forward to. Watch this space for pictures...
Saturday, February 16
Wednesday, February 13
Lainey's Greetings from Thailand
We are having a blast in Thailand so far. Currently we are staying at a small town called Jomtien about 15mins from Pattaya central.
Pattaya is rock spider central; it is the sex capital of Asia and full of dirty old men with their trophy Asian wives or paid for girlfriends! We are just far away enough for it not to be too in our faces.
It is also full of old eastern European couples (and single men) desperate for some sun, there are Russian bars, and most menus are in English or Russian! We had a lovely old couple with us on the taxi yesterday from Siberia. When we told them we were from Sydney they nearly fell of there seats laughing asking us why were here and not in Sydney! We had to ask ourselves the same question as the beaches are pretty filthy by Australian standards. I do not recommend Pattya, its florida meets padpong road, retirement village meets asian brothel. Nice.
Before Jomtien we were in Chaing Mai for 4 days, 2 of which were a hill trek. I recommend good walking shoes for this one. All i had were a pair of useless jiffy shoes so I trekked in thongs. My guide thought i was a jackass. we trekked for the first day to a remote village then spent the next day on elephants (i now morally object to elephant riding but will get in to that another time) and a used a bamboo raft to float out of the jungle. Our raft was unusually large to accommodate our unusually large trekkers. Greg and Paris weigh close to 110kg each. Our raft buckled under the pressure not once but four times. We had to stop for emergency bamboo and reed repairs and so we were 2 hours late for pick-up.
The journey north to Cheng mai from bangkok was a 17 hour train ride.we had convinced a shop keeper to sell us her styrephone storage box, which we then converted into our beer esky. party time!
Bangkok is loads of fun! However, what goes on tour stays on tour so details of our activities in bangkok have been restricted to nice things such as tiger temples, floating markets and rooftop bars
The tiger temple is a sanctuary run by Buddhist monks that in take orphaned tigers and looks after them. The money you pay to pat the tigers goes towards the upkeep of the sanctuary. It was an awesome experience, one of the tigers was over 200kgs.
The rooftop bar at the Banyan tree hotel was just amazing too. We arrived at the door of a 5 star hotel in a tuk tuk, shorts and jandals. classy. When we arrived at the 59th floor rooftop bar we were told there was a strict dress code. “But not to worry” the receptionist said "we have pants and shoes for you to borrow!" NICE. We went in and it had restaurant and bar that had a completely open roof and 360deg views of Bangkok – amazing. http://www.banyantree.com/en/bangkok/gallery.html
TODD YOU MUST CHECK THIS OUT- Sydney bar prices but worth it for a couple of bevies. we didn't make the bed bar. word on the street is that it is really expie.
Tomorrow we are flying to Chennai for our Indian adventure.
Looking forward to the second leg of the journey,
Xx Lainey
p.s the photos are greg's, not mine.
Pattaya is rock spider central; it is the sex capital of Asia and full of dirty old men with their trophy Asian wives or paid for girlfriends! We are just far away enough for it not to be too in our faces.
It is also full of old eastern European couples (and single men) desperate for some sun, there are Russian bars, and most menus are in English or Russian! We had a lovely old couple with us on the taxi yesterday from Siberia. When we told them we were from Sydney they nearly fell of there seats laughing asking us why were here and not in Sydney! We had to ask ourselves the same question as the beaches are pretty filthy by Australian standards. I do not recommend Pattya, its florida meets padpong road, retirement village meets asian brothel. Nice.
Before Jomtien we were in Chaing Mai for 4 days, 2 of which were a hill trek. I recommend good walking shoes for this one. All i had were a pair of useless jiffy shoes so I trekked in thongs. My guide thought i was a jackass. we trekked for the first day to a remote village then spent the next day on elephants (i now morally object to elephant riding but will get in to that another time) and a used a bamboo raft to float out of the jungle. Our raft was unusually large to accommodate our unusually large trekkers. Greg and Paris weigh close to 110kg each. Our raft buckled under the pressure not once but four times. We had to stop for emergency bamboo and reed repairs and so we were 2 hours late for pick-up.
The journey north to Cheng mai from bangkok was a 17 hour train ride.we had convinced a shop keeper to sell us her styrephone storage box, which we then converted into our beer esky. party time!
Bangkok is loads of fun! However, what goes on tour stays on tour so details of our activities in bangkok have been restricted to nice things such as tiger temples, floating markets and rooftop bars
The tiger temple is a sanctuary run by Buddhist monks that in take orphaned tigers and looks after them. The money you pay to pat the tigers goes towards the upkeep of the sanctuary. It was an awesome experience, one of the tigers was over 200kgs.
The rooftop bar at the Banyan tree hotel was just amazing too. We arrived at the door of a 5 star hotel in a tuk tuk, shorts and jandals. classy. When we arrived at the 59th floor rooftop bar we were told there was a strict dress code. “But not to worry” the receptionist said "we have pants and shoes for you to borrow!" NICE. We went in and it had restaurant and bar that had a completely open roof and 360deg views of Bangkok – amazing. http://www.banyantree.com/en/bangkok/gallery.html
TODD YOU MUST CHECK THIS OUT- Sydney bar prices but worth it for a couple of bevies. we didn't make the bed bar. word on the street is that it is really expie.
Tomorrow we are flying to Chennai for our Indian adventure.
Looking forward to the second leg of the journey,
Xx Lainey
p.s the photos are greg's, not mine.
Tuesday, February 12
Fw: Sawasdee Ka!!
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----- Original Message -----
From: Amber Forrest-Bisley
Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 9:25 PM
Subject: Sawasdee Ka!!
Sawasdee Ka! Greetings from
Hope all is well back home and the rainy weather is filling the dams.
Cousin Alaine's first stop was Boots on Kho San as she had most of her beauty products seised at
A few days of day markets (where Lainie and I discovered the freshest Margaritas in the world), night markets, street stalls and shopping malls in
A stunning night spent at the Banyan Tree Hotel http://www.banyantree.com/en/bangkok/gallery.html, with the most amazing roof top view of Bangkok provided a bit of 5 star R&R far above the traffic and noise. Of course no-one mentioned a dress code and the boys rocked up with thongs and shorts!! It must be quite a common mistake as they were quickly provided with the daggiest shoes and undersized suit pants and jackets. Lara and I were wearing dresses with Havianas and were made to change into white loafers… noice – Kath and Kim would be proud. Luckily I took a taxi in with Paris and Lara, but Greg took Harry and Alaine in a tuk tuk for fun – you can only imagine how they felt (and looked) turning up alongside the stream of BMWs pulling into the hotel... All was forgotten when we reached the rooftop and we were relaxed looking out across the whole city, way above the smog and humidity. I would have loved to have booked a dinner in there, I think it must be
Of course the boys (and some of the girls) wanted to kick on at the legendary/infamous Pat Pong road, where Harry was tortured with more markets, and everyone settled in for dinner and people watching.
We took a day trip out to the
But nothing really beats those cats… one tiger was 200kgs!! That's Greg and Paris together… a horrifying thought. They're so docile and wheeled out for visitors for a few hours just after feeding, so they're basically asleep. They really do put Fluffy to shame! But it's funny – because they kind of act the same rolling around on their backs, and your natural instinct is to give them a little scratch under the chin - which we advised you are not allowed to do.
Last Sunday night we all boarded a sleeper train headed for Chang Mai, far to the north of the country; armed with backpacks, a Styrofoam box – our 'esky' (which Paris managed to bargain off a street seller) packed full of liquid treats from 7/11, and plenty of playing cards courtesy of Thai Airways. The train trip took 17 hours – but the food was good, the beds comfy and the train rocks you to sleep… my Euka game has returned thanks to hundreds of rounds played in the dinning car against that shark Alaine – note to all: she will call trumps with only 2 of one suit! And Greg nearly finished Shantaram!!! But not quite.
Chang Mai is as I remember it… the weather less humid and it's so much more relaxed. There's of course more markets (poor Harry), and great food markets with loads of seafood. Problem it it's so far from the coast I was a bit hesitant. And the Chang comes in these fun cooling dispensing machines – which of course the boys loved. We stayed at Eagle House II, still great and run by an Irish woman we met 12 years ago at Eagle House I – she came on a three month holiday 16 years ago and never left.
Our trek into the hills was great fun, and run by a guide insisting we call him "Tree", short for Montree. Lots of up hill walking was rewarded with phenomenal views in national park, and then downhill, which was a bit rough on
Next day we went walking again and riding on Asian elephants - which look smaller, weaving down river. We left the Elephants, and Tree and his friends made us a bamboo raft. As there were NINE of us, and the river was shallower than normal, the trip took us about another 2 hours more – and the bamboo raft had to be fixed several times as we got stuck on rocks in the rapids, and our luggage had a dip. We nicknamed the raft the titanic and it certainly lived up to its reputation. By the end even good natured Tree had the shits, as legs went though the bamboo logs (namely mine and Alaine's) and the bamboo twine unravelled resulting in the whole raft sinking deeper into the water. I think we started with the water on our ankles and ended with it up to our knees.
That night (for a well earned letting-down-of-hair evening) we hit
After fun and games in Chang Mai, we hopped back on our train, this time the esky was full of water (Rasta street took it out of us)… 14 hours and we were back in Bangkok at 6am, and shuttled onto a minibus for the two hours to Jomtien, Pattaya. Where I sit now.
What a horrible place! We knew it was touristy and we knew it was going to be a bit dodgy, but hell it's only 2 hours from
Pattaya we now know is far and away the sex capital of
Thankfully we found a place out of the rotten core and are staying in a nice hotel with a pool (thank god!). Everyone is disappointed as we've all been to beautiful Thai islands and know this is a bad place.
In an odd twist Pattaya is also chocked with Russians and the place is geared up to their tourism including Russian bars & restaurants and plenty of language and signs written in Russian. In some way the Ruski presence just seems to add to the dodge factor as all he guys have serious tattoos, look rough and tough and both the women and men seem to smell of grog before lunch.
Although I shouldn't say that about the Ruskis in general as we met a lovely elderly couple yesterday from
Anyway, I guess I could have lived without seeing Pattaya, but at the same time we haven't wasted too much time, so no harm done.
Greg and I are off early tomorrow morning and will be in
Alaine and Harry are heading back to
There's some low res pix attached – with more I'm uploading into facebook if you want to check them out. xoxoxox
