Graduation (and Angel Corella)

Well, that's it. I am 100% officially done with school. Graduation went well--not too incredibly long (though it was a very hot day and Michela got burned due to my shabby SPF 15 sunblock). Michela and Kristine came out for the occasion and we went to my favourite restaurant, Spalti, for dinner. Kristine gave me a copy of the Australian Opera in La Boheme (yay!), and Michela brought me a bracelet from Turkey.

So, in the meantime, I've been setting up the new house and adjusting to life as an adult. I started at Google a month ago (has it really been that long!?!), having joined the search quality group in their endeavours to make Google's search engine even better. I am still dancing with Decadance, and we are going strong for the summer, learning a whole new set of dances for the upcoming Black and White Ball.

In other news, Michela (lucky-dawg) ran into Angel Corella(!!) (my absolute favourite ballet dancer) in Lincoln Center a few weeks ago. She actually spoke to him, and said "thank you for dancing", to which he replied "thank you for watching" (isn't that awesome?). I am holding a "best of Angel Corella ballet clips" night in honour of the occasion.

Australia

And the adventure continues …

After a brief stop off for Big Dance at Stanford, my travels continue on the other side of the world. After a week at Long Jetty visiting family, we took off to Sydney where mum went to a ballet teaching course. Nana and I toured Sydney and the coastal beaches, including the coastal walkways at Coogee Beach, where we were staying. The Note was found (well, the backup notes were found), and I enjoyed a hazelnut gelato at 600 George street (thanks Ben). I stopped by the Google office in Sydney, located in a high tower at Darling harbour—what a view! And free Australian snacks too!
Just to keep things interesting, I decided to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge at nighttime. Half an hour of suiting up and instructions, and we were off on our 3.5 hour journey, starting the walk underneath the bridge until we reached the arch. Our guide was sure to point out all of the little signs marked “repair”, and especially the one marked “repair??” as we made our way to the ladders. The ladders, incidentally, went up through the two lanes of traffic crossing the bridge, and down between the two railway tracks. There were just two trains that came roaring past as I climbed down, a few feet away. The view was well worth it, though. The city is all lit up at night and reflects beautifully on the water. On the way back down, our guide told us the stories of all the people who died falling off the bridge …

A days rest back at The Entrance, and it was up to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. I went snorkeling and diving, and made friends with a few fish called Wally, Sarah and Mathilda. The second day we went up to Kuranda, a village located in the middle of a tropical rainforest. We took the skyrail up and the scenic railway back. We went to a Night Zoo at Palm Cove to see the noctural animals, and I got to hold a Koala named Chibby and feed the Kangaroos.

I'm now at Port Stephens ready for some whale watching and swimming with the dolphins ...

Boston

Not quite as exotic as Europe, but a fun little trip nonetheless. I went to Cambridge, MA to see some old friends. I stayed with Cristina, my freshman roommate from Caltech. She was producing “Chicago” at MIT—I was quite impressed with the performance. I also got to see Vicente (From ‘tech) and Andres and Brian (from Stanford). I got a short tour of the chemistry department at Harvard—wow! Very classy. Definitely some money went into those labs. Thanks Andres and Brian!

Andres took me into the Harvard Museum to see the mineral rocks and glass flowers—pretty impressive, they look completely real. I went to the Star Wars exhibit at the Museum of Science with Cris, and got my picture taken with Darth Vader. Then we went on a Duck Tour of Boston in one of those done up WWII vehicles that go on land and water. A final run around Boston before I left lead me around the Freedom Trail. Yes, there is indeed a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse located in the old City Hall building. All in all, a rather successful two-day trip.

Budapest & The Train Story

So we were in a big hurry getting on the train to Budapest due to a late return from Olomouc. We only had time to buy my ticket, and were informed that it would cost Michela extra to buy her ticket on the train, and that she would not receive the youth discount for being under 26.
Well, we get on the train, and the conductor informs us that, in transit, it is impossible to buy an international ticket. Michela would need to buy a ticket to the end of the Czech Republic, then another for the Slovak Republic, and yet another when we crossed the Hungarian border. So she buys her ticket to the end of the Czech Republic. We get to the Slovak Republic and the Slovak conductor tells Michela her ticket will cost some amount of Slovak currency. Well, we, of course, don't have any Slovak currency on us. The conductor lets out a huge sigh, and asks us what we have. We have Euros. The very irritated conductor converts the amount to Euro. We don't have exact change, so Michela overpays with the bills she has. The conductor looks at the bills, takes HALF the amount of the fare, puts it in his pocket, does not print out a ticket, and tells Michela she's good 'til we reach Hungry.

We get to Hungary. The Hungarian conductor gets on the train. We don't have Hungarian Florints on us. And what do you think he does? That's right, he takes half the fare in Euro and pockets it. Michela ends up paying less than I did for my discounted ticket!
Moral of the story? Well, I'll leave it to the reader to figure that one out.

Budapest was my favourite city to visit on this trip to Europe. The country and people have survived through Nazi and communist occupations. The still visible bullet holes in the walls of the buildings tell the story. We visited the House of Terror, a building (now a museum) that both the Nazis and communists used for torture, the Heroes Square, a Turkish spa bath, the Labyrinths of the Buda Castle, the medievil Lancelot restaurant, and took a river cruise at night down the Danube.

I dragged Michela into the Labyrinth of Courage at the Buda Castle--a room that was pitch black where you could only find your way by hanging onto a rope. Michela's hand was pitch black when we were done (from clutching the rope ...).

Prague & Karlovy Vary

Interesting place they have here at club Andel (Angel). An apartment built for 12 people, mostly international students working abroad for a time. I met Raphael for the first time, an Australian American who speaks fluent German. What are the chances? He will be returning to Sydney University in a few months to finish his Bachelours in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. Incidentally, it looks like Michela will be attending Sydney Law school starting in July to get her Masters in Criminology. Oh yeah, in case you are wondering about the picture, Raph does Indian dancing …

Anyway, back to Prague. Very nice city with beautiful buildings and architecture. Check out Fred and Ginger, so called because the buildings look like they are dancing.


The Old town is full of markets, souvenir shops and artists selling their paintings. I have a couple of the Charles Bridge. In the centre is the astronomical clock. Apparently they blinded the artist who designed the clock so that he couldn’t reproduce his work anywhere else. Lovely …

We took a day trip to see the famous spa town of Karlovy Vary. They have a walkway where it is illegal to run, skate, or be stressed in anyway. You must relax and walk leisurely. Along the side of the walkway are various springs containing the “healing” mineral water. There are special cups with a spout in the handle for drinking the mineral water *cough* tastes like crap *cough*. In fact, the water tastes so good, that they have to stuff their mouths with special “spa wafers” just to get rid of the taste. Either that, or they mix it up with alcohol to make a specialty drink called Becherovka. I have evidence of Michela tasting it for the next time she claims that she “doesn’t drink alcohol”.