We Didn't Start The Fire!

This past weekend was more of a relaxing and calm weekend because I have been trying to save my gold coins (the Australian dollar is a gold coin, in case you were confused - I am not a leprechaun) for the upcoming weekend. "Why? What's next weekend?" - you may ask... Well, Saturday I decided to splurge and purchase a ticket to Brisbane to see old friends and make the most of my [rare] long weekend. Monday, October 7th, is LaboUr day in New South Wales, and just like the American Labor Day, it is a public holiday and businesses are closed - therefore, I do not have to work. 

[Fun fact: not every state in Australia has the same Labour Day. While some states (NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Australia Capital Territory) share the first Monday in October as their official Labour Day, other states celebrate their day-off-from-work in March (Victoria and Western Australia).  Looks like I'm forgetting two states/territories - Tasmania and Northern Territory - yeah, they don't celebrate Labour Day. Sorry, hard working labourers.]

Anyways, as I am getting too ahead of myself and am writing about next weekend, let's stop and talk about this past Sunday. Myself and a few other sheilas (Aussie slang alert) decided to travel away from the typical touristy beach crowds at Bondi and Manly and escape to a more secluded beach, Palm Beach. Palm Beach is known for its exotic tangerine coloured sand, as well as being the set location for the Australian soap opera, Home & Away.  I was hoping to run into a Mario Lopez-type "D-list" celebrity while we were there, but unfortunately, that did not happen. Instead, I found a "Wu Tang Clan 4 Ever" marking on one of the beach cliffs, leaving me to believe that Method Man, RZA, Ghostface Killah and all the other homies of the Clan had visited Palm Beach before me. #BLESSED. 

Back to our Sunday: As it is still a little too chilly to sun bathe all day, we decided to strap on our walking gear and made it our mission to walk to the peak of the beach where there is a lighthouse, along with a breathtaking view. Except we didn't make it very far at all. Nope, we did not make it to the lighthouse - not because we were lazy and decided to try local Australian beers instead - but because there was a bush fire blocking the walking path up to the lighthouse! According to a local man, the bush fire had started Saturday morning and had been burning throughout the night and into Sunday. There were firetrucks, fireboats, and fire-helicopters all on the scene trying to calm and extinguish the fire.  Because the fire was blocking our hopes and dreams of getting to the lighthouse, instead, we decided to try local Australian beers and hang out on the pier... (note: we did not choose to be lazy, the bush fire MADE us!)

While we were sipping our Aussie brews and soaking in the Aussie sun rays, we made the unanimous decision to come back to Palm Beach another weekend - a weekend where we research first to see if there is a natural disaster preventing our proposed plans. 

Literally, Finding Nemo

Giant clams. Starfish. Wrasse. Sea anemone. Coral - so much coral. Clown fish. Cardinal fish. Trout. Sea turtles. Sea slugs. Grouper. Basslets. Gobies. Triggerfish. Parrotfish. One fish. Two fish. Red fish. Blue fish... 

Disclaimer: Be careful with your flippers because you don't want to accidentally kick off a part of living nature that has been growing for hundreds of thousands of years!

Here's to an amazing underwater adventure exploring the Great Barrier Reef!

This is for the Foodies...

Alright guys, let's talk food. I bet you are wondering what an intern living in Australia must eat, and I will answer that question very simply: not much.

Carbs are my best friend because they are the cheapest, and I'm starting to wonder how much tuna my body can digest before I fall into a mercury-induced coma.  I have relapsed into eating Fusion noodles at least once every other day, and on the off days I have eggs - twice.  There is a nice little market in Kings Cross on Saturday mornings where I have gotten fresh, ripe bananas and apples - but that is basically as natural as my diet comes. I am going to blame this on "getting into a routine" and "not wanting to waste food because I am only cooking for one", but I promise I will get better at my grocery shopping, and I will update you all once that happens. [Don't hold your breath in the meantime]. 

Last week, my amazing friend Verena (whom I met when I studied abroad in Brisbane early last year), came down to Sydney from BrisVegas on a work trip SLASH hangout-with-Cary trip. It was great to reunite after almost 1.5 years! One of the best things about her visit - other than seeing her beautiful Canadian face - was that we went out on the town and ate REAL food. My tuna/noodle/egg diet was put on hold for two delicious nights, in which we ate like Queens (comparatively speaking, that is).  The first night we went over to her friend's house and were treated to a food platter full of assorted meats, cheeses, dips and more, which was also accompanied with a glorious chicken salad.  All in all, it was great food and great company! 

The next night, I met Verena after work and we went to an "authentic" Mexican restaurant - well, as authentic as you can get on this side of the world - for margaritas and, of course, guacamole and chips.  It's a hard life I live over here without Chipotle or Qdoba, so when I see guac on the menu, it's basically like Christmas morning. After margs and guac, we wandered the streets of Surrey Hills (not too far from Bashful, in a neighborhood next to Paddington) until we found Bodega, a super nice Argentinian tapas restaurant which is known to be always packed with happy restaurant-goers.  Spoiler alert: it was the best food I have had, and probably will have, in a very very long time... 

"So yum!"

Alright, Pavlov, ring the bell and cue the salivation...now: steamed milk bun, BBQ tongue, crab, salsa golf - first dish. Char-grilled calamari, broccoli, almonds, aioli, bottarga - second dish. Dutch carrots, fried cauliflower, smoked labna, tahini - third dish.  Lamb neck, BBQ radicchio, rosemary, anchovy, eggplant & pine nut puree - fourth...  I have NO idea what half of those ingredients are, but each dish was a different - yet equally exciting - burst of flavor which captivated my taste buds.  Like I said before: it was the best food I have had, and probably will have, in a very VERY long time... 

Verena left Sydney to go back to Brisbane, just as quickly as my tuna/noodle/egg diet came back into my life.  Which, really, I am content with because the more often I eat cheap, the more I can save up to go to treat myself to a good meal once again! 

Cheers! 

Life Learnings: Part 1

I don't intend to sound like your 80 year old grandfather sharing life mantras with you, but some old adages are undeniably true.  In this case - you've heard it once, you've heard it a million times - you honestly do learn something new every day. It could be a random fun fact shared by an overly friendly stranger at the train station, or learning something about yourself that maybe you would have never discovered if you hadn't missed your bus because you were too busy taking instagrams of the array of produce at the farmers' market...

Anyway, I compiled a few learnings I have encountered within the past week or so to share, and give some insight into my new world living in a new place:

• Pork is “in fashion”. Food is fashionable, and apparently the current IT meat to munch on is a pork, more specifically, "grungy pork" (quoted by my coworker).  I was treated to half of a pork belly roast sandwich, as well as pork skewers at a trendy restaurant with my coworkers during a Bashful social.  Other "hot" items at the moment include bacon wraps, pork barbecue (not pulled, vinegar-based BBQ that I hold dear to my heart - and stomach) and HOT DOGS.  Who would have thought that eating a Ball Park Frank would be trendy?

• Be sure to follow the stated rules about the shared kitchen, or else your refrigerated groceries will be thrown out.  I didn’t realise the shelves in the refrigerator were assigned by room number (okay, maybe I did take a mental note of the rule, but I felt that the top shelf was more convenient for a tall broad like myself…). Well, those items were removed and replaced with new groceries – which were not my own. I have officially lived and learned. 

• Going along the last learned lesson, don't make instant noodles after 10 P.M. Apparently I have a loud voice. No, not apparently, it's a fact - I talk loud. I've accepted it. Well, my house manager has not accepted this fact and can be pretty cranky when I come home to make noodles after a night out on the town. 

• Take a camera when going out on the town.  There may be the rare occasion that you and your girl friends are invited to a Bachelor Party on the pent house floor of a super awesome apartment with a super awesome view of the whole city – Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House included. According to the annoying Rule of [going out] Thumb, if there is no photo evidence, then apparently it didn’t happen.

• Invest in an umbrella, and don't give in to buying a cheap one for $10 off the street. The wind will turn it inside out and/or break it and you will have to walk the rest of the trek home in the pouring rain. Yes, that happened. 

• It is not uncommon to see drag queens on the walk to work.  I live in Elizabeth Bay, an awesome neighbourhood that is not too far from Kings Cross, the infamous "red light district" of Sydney, in which I walk through on my daily route to work. Don't compare Kings Cross too literally to the Red Light District in Amsterdam, but it can be seen as a pretty cheesy place. In other words, it constantly smells of stale cigarettes and public bathrooms (yes, to answer your question, there are public portable toilets that reside on the side streets of Kings Cross...). But I don't mind passing the divalicious man-ladies, because they usually give me complimentary ego-boosts on my way to work. LOVE IT, WORK IT! 

The notorious Coca-Cola sign in Kings X

I have only been living in Sydney for two weeks - TWO WEEKS. Again, maybe it is because Australia feels so familiar, or I have jumped into a great routine, but Sydney is really starting to feel like home. I love the trial-and-error method of figuring out the [not so fantastic] bus system, and gradually learning which beach doesn't have as many shoobies (if you don't know that word, you better learn up on your Rockett Power lingo...). Overall, I can attest: Life is good. 

Why I Love Tourists

In unrelated news, here is an epic selfie-in-action shot that I caught on camera at the Sydney Opera House. It wasn't that difficult capturing this moment because it lasted quite a while - she must have taken an entire album of selfies of her and the Opera House.  S'cute. 

#KMSshag

Friday marked an official end to my first week at Bashful.  It was a great first week and I honestly could not ask for a better internship! In addition to attending many briefings, brainstorms and client meetings, I'm also working a lot on their social media campaigns for clients, JAG jeans in particular.  I have never been the Pinterest type of gal, but I'm pretty hooked now.  I look at fashion trends all day, so who knows, once I come back to states I may surprise all of ya'll and be a total fashionista.  I'll step off the plane wearing leather pants, stiletto pumps and of course a fedora to top off the entire look.  What a sight that would be... 

My #KMSshag Patty

 Once you have gotten that image out of your head, allow me continue to enlighten you about how awesome Bashful is. A campaign that has recently just ended, and has earned Bashful a lot of *snaps* is the KMS California hair styling shag doll campaign.  KMS is a hair product here in Aussieland (also found in US) and in the past few years it has lost its cool factor, according to salons and other professional hair stylists.  In order to revamp the brand, Bashful thought of an amazingly cool social media campaign, which has truly given KMS California its groove back.  Hundreds of salons across Australia were sent boxes of mini dolls with long colourful hair - from bright green, to hot pink, to electric purple.  Picture Cousin It and a troll doll mating, and out pops the shag doll. Anyways, the salon artists - yes, artists because these people truly make art out of hair - were given the challenge to create an amazing hair style and then invited to instagram a picture of their finished product.  Over one thousand entries were submitted - just imagine how long the judging of the hair took! (Spoiler alert: over 5 hours)! 

While this amazing campaign sparked a lot of competition between stylists and salons, it also prompted an in-house competition at Bashful.  Every employee (including me!) was given a shag doll and was to unveil their masterpiece Friday during the Bashful quarterly social.  If you know me at all, you know that I am girl-challenged when it comes to beautifying hair - I honestly didn't learn to braid a normal braid until I was sixteen! I know, I'm pathetic. Ask any of my friends or family and they will vouch for me and claim that I have asked them to braid my hair at least once (twice, thrice... hundreds for some...) in my young adult years.  ANYWAYS, I mastered my dolls side bangs while *guilty* I got help from a friend (per usual) to braid a magnificent fishtail braid resulting in a fabulous shag doll whom I named Patty Shag. 

I'll allow the creativity to speak for itself...

Although I thought my shag doll was winning potential because she was hella fly, I was quickly hit with a reality stick when I came into work on Friday and saw the masterpieces my coworkers created.  From David Bowie, to Andy Warhol, to a doll in a freaking fishtank... THESE DOLLS BLEW MY MIND. I love being around such creative people, it's ridiculous! I will admit that they were very impressed with my doll and commended me (and Patty), especially since I only had a few days to give her a makeover while they actually have been brainstorming/working on theirs for weeks! So, please allow me to brush my shoulders off - or in other words, I impressed myself, and also there is a lot of glitter on me from decorating Patty... 

All in all, I would say I had a pretty awesome and creative first week in an Aussie ad agency! #SUCCESS 

Vote for Jimmy!

If you were paying close attention to international affairs, you may know that this past weekend was a pretty important weekend for Australian politics. Not that I know diddily-squat about Australian politics, I try to pretend I understand what is going on in the country I will be calling home.  Basically, all I know is that the current Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, part of the Labour party, got the boot and is being replaced by Tony Abbott. WORD. 

Now, I did not make this blog with the intention of talking politics, but because of all the political nonsense that has been happening, there has been many politician campaign posters around town - which [unfortunately] is part of advertising. Again, I have no idea the difference between the Labour Party, the Conservative Coalition, the Green Party, the Pirate Party... but I do know I would vote for Jimmy Brings. 

Obviously this campaign poster is a hoax and is actually an advertisement for an alcohol delivery service. Yes, you read that correctly - literally Jimmy BRINGS alcohol to you. Here's a link to their homepage if you still don't believe me: http://www.jimmybrings.com.au/who-is-jimmy/

Only in Australia... 

A Bashful Taste

So, I have been in Australia for almost a week now, but it feels like I have been here for so much longer. It could be the familiarity of the country hitting me as I stepped off the plane, or the excessive amount of traveling I have been doing this past week.  But now I am unpacked and settled in my apartment, so I can finally relax and start calling Sydney my home. 

Outside of Bashful 

Today was my first day at Bashful, and I can honestly say that I am in for an amazing experience.  Bashful is a small agency in the heart of Paddington, an eastern suburb of Sydney that is only a 35-minute walk from my apartment.  It’s a super cool area, and there are a lot of cute boutiques and cafes that tease me as I walk to work.  Maybe one day I will stop for a $5 latte, but until then, the faint smell of fresh coffee beans as I walk by will suffice. 

Instead of writing paragraph by paragraph describing what my first day was like at Bashful, here is a few cultural differences that I experienced only on my first day at an Australian ad agency:

• No one says, “Bless you” when someone sneezes. I have been in five different airports within the past six days and have sat too close for comfort next to five different strangers.  I have lived in a hostel room that probably has had more one night stands than Tucker Max, and my lack of fruit and veggies would have my fifth grade nutrition teacher’s eyes rolling.  Basically, my immune system hates me and I am slowly developing a culture shock-induced cold.  Today, I sneezed so loudly I heard it echo. But no one blessed me.  But that’s okay – maybe by the time I leave here a piece of southern hospitality and the courtesy “bless you” will rub off on some Aussies.
  
• I  don’t understand any of the abbreviations and acronyms.  I’m usually totes ridic good at translating abbreves – but not in the Aussie ad agency! WIPs, SMPs, TVCs, WTFs... (just kidding, WTF is not one, it’s just what I say to myself as I am trying to figure out the meaning of some acronyms and abbreviations).
  
• The more explicit the song, the more appropriate for the workplace.  I have heard of some agencies playing soft music for all to hear, but I never thought Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe would be blasting while I work on the competitor’s audit.
  
• The creative team works independently. There are three Senior Creatives, no Junior Creatives, and they all have their own specific clients that they solely work on.  This doesn’t mean there isn’t any collaboration between creatives, but it's not really welcomed either.
  
• Lastly, the client is always right. Wait, nope, that’s the same in America. 

I will be working most days from 9 am to 6 pm, as there is a lot to be done in very specific deadlines.  I guess stressful deadlines are universal between all countries and ad agencies, so I think I will be able to manage.  I am so excited to be immersed in the Australian ad culture, from witnessing campaign pitches to clients, attending photo shoots and TVC productions, and assisting the Account Director writing campaign briefs.  My Aussie Ad Life has only just begun…!!