Australia Actually: June 2014

June 28, 2014- Melbourne Museum

by Chelseawroteit - 11:55 PM

Saturdays are officially mine and Jesse's favorite day! FREEDOM! Well, i've been experiencing freedom due to the awesomeness of unemployment (will touch more on this later), but Jesse on the other hand.. Even when he travels across the city everyday, comes out when it's dark and leaves work when it's dark. I don't wanna be a party pooper either but I spend most of my weekdays at home (probably 90% of the time) because of two main reasons: 1.) online job hunting 2.) expensive transit passes. The other 10% of the weekdays i've been walking around the suburb manually handing out resumes OR buying groceries. LOL. This is life, guys! Sometimes we're busy and sometimes we find ourselves stuck.

Anyways, there's plenty to do during the weekend! This was part of our anniversary celebration :) I wanted to see Melbourne Museum this time. I'm really loving the museum culture here!! There's just so many interesting things to see. Last time we went to the National Gallery of Victoria and saw the most amazing collection of artworks (sculptures, paintings, relics, etc.). I'm hooked!

(click image to view gallery)

Royal Exhibition Building

"the first non-Aboriginal cultural site in Australia to win World Heritage listing."

Look to your right, and you'll find trams leading back to the city

This was literally right beside our destination

The entrance of the museum reminded me of the TFDL at the UofC!

Ermagerd... a DERNERSERRR!

Honestly though, I didn't know dinasaurs were real until I was 20 something.

One of a hundred beautiful crystal displays

Top: Zara

Skirt: Forever New

Boots: Steve Madden

Purse was given to me by Jesse's mom.

This squid could swallow me whole O__O

With a fake baby dinosaur!

Hello there praying mantis!

Too bad we didn't have time to see the entire museum.
We had dinner reservations at 6:30 p.m!

http://museumvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum

Nicholson Street, Carlton Gardens, Victoria, Australia

Entrance: $10

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Shrine of Remembrance!

by Chelseawroteit - 9:48 AM

Good old trip advisor. Since we didn't hve a local who could point us to all the good places in the city, we've just been utilizing the world wide web! Here we are at the Shrine of Remembrance, smack dab in the middle of Melbourne city. It's amazing just how much you get to see without even leaving downtown.

(click image to view gallery)

Jesse: The Shrine Of Remembrance was truly a sight to behold. A temple out of greek mythology first comes to mind because of the pillars. We approached it from the roadside and it was covered by a small hill, so the reveal was gradual and exciting!

J: The inside and outside of this building reminds me of the Pantheon in Rome when I visited it back in 2012. This is definitely smaller and more squarish in comparison but pretty cool nonetheless!

UK Flag

A nice old man offered to take our picture!

Just me posing in front of an epic temple, nbd.

The view on top of the stairs

My view everyday :) hahaha

http://www.shrine.org.au/Home

Birdwood Ave, Melbourne VIC 3004

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June 26, 2014- It's Been a Year!

by Chelseawroteit - 3:01 AM

In the beginning, I was planning on doing this trip on my own. I'm notorious for having a yolo attitude... to a fault. Then I met this guy. The guy who balances me out, who weighs his options and makes rational decisions. The libra. This would've been a completely different trip without him.

- - - - -

On the day of our anniversary, I wanted to hang out with him earlier so I came over to the university where he worked at. I ended up waiting about 40 minutes in the cold. LOL. Finally fed up of lurking outside the engineering building, I walked over to the cafeteria next door. I sat down and started munching on my chocolate biscuits when a guy approached me and asked whether I was from Burma. I told him that I didn't know what the Burmese looked like.

Jesse finally came, very apologetic and holding a bag full of MACARONS!!!!!! I told him that it was better than a bouquet of flowers and I loved it, except.. when we got home (two train rides and two hours later), he actually surprised me with a huge bouquet of sunflowers!

What a heart melter. I knew it was a work day and that he'd have work early the next day, so I didn't expect anything like this.

(click image to view gallery)

I'm not trying to show off or anything...

But I thought the little note (and peony candle) that came with it was a nice touch!

Haha yes it's cheesy and I love it!

Happy Anniversary!

You're adorable.

Sorry for telling the public that you're adorable.

We couldn't find a big enough vase so the sunflower had to go in a red pail.

#Ghettolife

Finally, time to wind down. We ate the macarons and watched Doctor Who! I can't believe he finally got me to watch his nerdy show. lol. I'm still in Season one. Boyfriend was pretty happy to find that i've taken an interest in his Dr. Who obsession. I'm just curious what all the fuss is about :P

Goodnight friends!

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Melbourne in Motion #2

by Chelseawroteit - 7:21 AM

Halfway around the world, where the seasons are flipped, we get to experience the beauty of fall yet again!

Frolicking in the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne CBD

Seriously, who can resist a really good pile of leaves??

Chelsea groovin' out to nature! :D

"ERMAHGERD LEAHRVESSS!!!"

-Jesse

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June 14, 2014- Moving... AGAIN!

by Chelseawroteit - 6:29 AM

A few days ago we moved to a different house. We're planning on staying here for a couple of months. The last 3 weeks were spent living at Hoppers Crossing with Tita Jacque. The reason for it was because the room (where we are now) was not available until the middle of June. We needed to stay somewhere in between. Dang, moving is exhausting!

Now we're living in Werribee (do not confuse with wallaby...heehee) with Grace, her husband, and another male tenant. I must say, it's quite the leap because we grew accustomed to all the female energy at Tita Jacque's house already. Plus now, I have to deal with raised toilet seats. Nooooooooo!!! Not the toilet seat, please...T_T

On the bright side, the people living here seem to be really helpful and considerate. No feminine energies though. No mommy figure :( We really miss tita Jacque's place. Her parting gift for us was a tub of rice and some food from the Filipino store. How "Asian Love" is that?!?! Very!!! I am so thankful to have met her, the family, and her lovely tenant, Gem!

(click image to view gallery)

With tita Jacque and Zane at Werribee park

Jesse and tita + Zane

Look to the camera, Zane!

Werribee Park Mansion

Right in front :)

Pretty glass garden house

Even prettier inside

We were so fascinated by the different kinds of trees at the park.

Visited the Victoria state rose garden too!

Of course, the day can't end without a picture with this guy :)

Xoxo,

Chelsea

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Start of June.

by Chelseawroteit - 10:14 AM

(click image to view gallery)

One of the most asked questions that we got from friends and family before leaving was... what are you gonna do in Australia?

Anyone who's ever looked for a job would tell you it's tough stuff. People were almost always surprised to find that we actually didn't know what type of job we had waiting for us in Oz. If only it were that easy. Even the people living in this city (Melbourne) think it's difficult to find a good job. I nearly choked on my own spit when my dad gently broke the news that Melbourne was the 2nd hardest place to get employed in Australia.

[ Side note: It was so awesome skyping with my family this week!! hehe I got to see all three of them, yipeeee! Very supportive and they take everything I do in stride-- listen to my crazy antics and laugh at the crazy situations I find myself in ]

The truth is, you take what you're given-- if you want a job fast (and you're in a country where you have zero work experience) or you don't have the time/money to recertify your skills. They are very particular about training and qualifications here in Oz. They do have a thing called "Recognition of Prior Learning", where they assess your level of skill and take into consideration your work/school experience from overseas. In my case, a lot of my recent experience has been in healthcare. To get certified (here) for the job that I was doing in Canada will cost about $2500 and a few months to finish... not something that i'm willing to pay or wait for.

Remember, time is ticking! Money is also running.

So you're probably wondering if we're employed?

Yes.

Nothing fancy, and nowhere near stable, but the point is: We're no longer depending on our savings account for every expense that we make. It makes a big difference. We can now start saving so we can buy our own Kangaroo! LOL

- - - - -

Anyways,

You can definitely survive on a budget here in Oz. They have markets that open and close on certain times and days. This week we went to the Queen Victoria Market and the Laverton Market. I'd say that Queen V is the bomb when it comes to buying fruits and veggies. Dirt cheap, I tell ya! We basically bought two kilos of potatoes and oranges (random, I know) for just $2.

Laverton Market! Literally just pick a spot and start selling. You don't even
need an actual stall. hahaha check out this guy's display

Phone casessss

Chocolate-covered waffles drizzled in even more awesomeness!!

I tried the chocolate-peanut & chocolate-coconut ones :]

Mmmm freshly popped corns

...and then there's me right before bedtime. This is what I usually look like when I type up my blogs! #KEEPINITREAL. Maybe in my next life, i'll have thicker eyebrows.

Goodnight guys!

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Australia Actually

June 28, 2014- Melbourne Museum

Shrine of Remembrance!

June 26, 2014- It's Been a Year!

Melbourne in Motion #2

"ERMAHGERD LEAHRVESSS!!!"

June 14, 2014- Moving... AGAIN!

Start of June.

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