I know Ive been slack but here it is!

Man I really havent done this for a while have I so Ill probably struggle to remember everything that I did! So I left Stockholm on the night train to Copenhagen, talked to this hot girl who I had been staring at for a while and she said that if I ever made it back to Sweden that I should look her up, unfortunately I only started talking to her 10 mins before her stop (actually she started talking to me, Im too much of a sissy) so never got her name and wouldnt know what stop she got off at so pretty difficult to look her up, but ahwell such is the life of a traveller! So I changed trains at Copenhagen which was pretty easy since I know my way around the Copenhagen Sentral like the back of my hand! (not that well). The train from Copenhagen to Berlin was the coolest first class Ive been in so far, got free Croissants and Tea and Coffee and had a headphone jack and stuff so I could listen to music and charged my phone and stuff! Had a wee kip but then got woken up when some guy told me we were on the ferry so I would have to get off the train, I didnt even know we were going on a freakin ferry but apparently so! The ferry was sweet only about 40 mins but had duty free so that was pretty cool. Back on the train I ended up sitting across from a couple of Belarussians who were really cool and gave me so awesome bread to have with my Currywurst! They told me all about life in Belarus and about how they couldnt say anything against their primeminister or they would probably disappear! It was weird to really meet people who seemed just like me but who lived in a country which was still like that! Arrived in Berlin about 2.30pm and spent quite a while trying to find the subway, for some strange reason I expected it to be underground! Apparently thats not the way they do things in Berlin! Found my CS host alright and then took a trip back into town and did a bit of shopping before heading home and watching a movie and hitting the sack, was pretty buggered. Having only one day to look around Berlin I had asked my CS host if she would show me around which she did, was a whirllwind trip to the Victory monument, xmas markets, Berlin wall, Parliament, Brandenburg Gates and all that cool WW2 jazz. Stood with one foot in East Berlin and one in West which was cool since it was only 19 years ago or so that I couldnt have done that without being shot! Berlin was a very nice city once you were in the centre but go out to the burbs and all the houses look like the dental school in Dunedin, just square and bland with the occasional painted window for colour. They looked like apartment buildings a six year old would draw. Anyways Berlin was pretty sweet but had to get moving onto Zurich to meet up with Marlen (for those overseas readers, Marlen is a chick (woman, I guess, since shes pretty old) who I worked with at the Ministry of Health and is from Switzerland so was back for xmas with her new husband to visit her family and have another wee wedding ceremony for them. The train trip from Berlin to Zurich sucked ass, some inconsiderate bastard killed himself on the train tracks that we were meant to travel on so had to be diverted which took an extra 2 hours so missed one of my connections and it was all just shit because i asked the Deutsche Bahn train person if I could use the phone to call Marlen to let her know I would be late but he was a wanker so I told him he was and walked out. It had a happy ending though because I arrived in Zurich and Marlen had received one of the texts I sent (and apparently text back, liar) so was there at the right time. Headed back to her house which was a little way away in a tiny town called Seengen, had a shower and a chat then went to bed. Was nice to be able to speak to a Kiwi and just relax after CSing a lot! The next day was the wedding ceremony which was very small but very nice, had a few drinks with her friends and family afterwards then hit the hay. Next day we took a trip to another wee town and did a bit of Xmas shopping and just chilled, apparently I embarrased Marlens mum by saying Tschüss to her boss which is informal and reserved only for friends! Meh never mind. Christmas eve we spent the day just relaxing and then had dinner and present with her family. It was great because I wasnt expecting any presents but I did get some! Got a day pass for the trains, buses and trams for the 27th which was awesome! Christmas day was weird, woke up to a tiny bit of snow but not enough to play in. Didnt open presents or anything because that had been done the night before so was pretty much just like any other day! Made 15 Franks though (about $22) for going swimming in the lake. Was freezing and couldnt feel my toes for 2 days but it was worth it! The 26th we didnt do a lot because everything was closed but then the 27th we got up nice and early and took the train to Zurich and then Lucerne, Bern and finally Basel spending about an hour or 2 in each place which was really cool got to see a lot in 1 day! Bern was the nicest for me, really old and had a nice cosy feeling (could have been because it was so busy). About the 28th I realised that I wasnt going to be able to find somewhere to CS in Barcelona as I had been planning for New Years so instead I had to find something else to do and somewhere else to stay. Afters lots of stressing and to--ing and fro-ing I decided to go to Aachen to visit Anna and spend NYs either in Aachen or Amsterdam...so on the 29th I left to Aachen, a nice 7 hour train trip uneventful and pretty boring! Arrived in Aachen and I drove from the train station to Annas house, was relly crazy changing with my right hand and driving on the wrong side of the road but I think I did ok, didnt kill anyone! Went to the Netherlands (5 minutes away) and visited the Casino which was all electronic so no dealers or anything which was kinda bum but there was free food and drink so was goooood! The 30th we just did a bit of shopping in Aachen and had to break into Annas car because shes a stupidhead and locked the keys in. Tried to visit the Lindt factory outlet shop but its closed till next year so no cheap chocolate! Went to a club called B9 last night which despite the 40 minute wait to get in was really cool €6 for all you can drink beer from 10pm to 12pm so made the most of that and partied etc then went home.Main points to take away from the last week and a half or 2 weeks would be....Marlens parents rock and are really amazing and welcoming.'Dog' is an awesome game and we need to find it in NZ!Switzerland is really beautiful, probably the most 'beautiful' country I have visited so farCheap beer is shit, but cheap is cheapI should write blogs more often so I dont forget everything...but Im lazy.Hope all is well for everyone. Give me a text if ya want.Peace and Love

Stockholm Syndrome

So the trip from Oslo to Stockholm was pretty uneventful. Lay my sleeping bag down on the ground ripped the cushions off the seats and had a wee kip. Some stupid Indian bitch wouldnt shut up though which pissed me off but eventually at like 2am she decided to sleep to so I got to sleep until about 6.45am. Anna wasnt due to arrive in Stockholm until about 12 so I had a bit of time to look around. When I arrived it was a really nice day, got some McDs for breakfast which was only about $6.50 which was pretty sweet after the prices we had been paying for shit in Oslo! Unfortunately the coffee was horrible but hey. Had a look around outside basically just wasting time, first impressions of the city were fairly good, however once again not impressed with having to pay for the toilets, luckily being a guy I peed on the street in this sweet urinal thing that I didnt have to pay for! Anna arrived and we pretty much went straight on the underground to meet up with our Italian couchsurfing host, he was a pretty cool guy and sorted us out with some free tickets for this overnight cruise to some Finnish Islands (the perks of CSing). Didnt do a lot the first night, just relaxed and watched TV, they always have something good on which is great! The next day we got up at about 1pm and didnt really do a lot again as we were planning on meeting up to head to the cruise at about 4.30pm and with the price of public transport here it wasnt worth heading to town and back. We were pretty amping for the cruise...until we got there and were told we couldnt go on as you have to be over 21! What the fuck is with that? Seriously that is just messed up, I can take a train to Germany and buy as much cheap as booze when Im 16 but I cant go on a fricking cruise! Ahwell Fabio gave me and Anna the key and we headed back to his place, unfortunately he only gave us the key to his house and not to his room...which is where the toilet is, so we had no toilet for the next day or so but we were resourceful! Spent the day just looking around the town, didnt seem all that much to do except shop and eat so thats what we did (except for the shopping...its cheaper than Oslo but still not cheap!). Today we pretty much did the same just looked around checked out some sweet buildings and went on a wee cruise on the harbour since we didnt get to go to Finland (really it was just a ferry across the harbour...but had some nice sights anyway and I pretended it was a cruise) Has been a good time in Stockholm and heading to Berlin tonight just for a couple of nights before I meet up with Marlen on the 21st! Should remember to send her an email...would have been cool to spend a bit of time in Prague and Vienna but instead Marlen has to go and get married..geez! Stockholm is nice but Copenhagen takes the title of being my favourite city in Scandinavia, Stockholm 2nd and Oslo 3rd...out of the 3 that Ive seen anyway. Well time to head to my 15 hour train ride across Europe. Oh joy. Good to be back in Germany though, cheap beer, cheap bread and best of all cheap Gummi Bears! I hate paying for the toilet!

Ossie Ossie Ossie Lo Lo Lo

Well on Wednesday it was time to leave Copenhagen...it was a little bit sad as it was a city that I had grown to love and could really see myself living in. Plus I had met some awesome people and it would have been cool to spend some more time there but such is the life of a traveller!! The train trip to Oslo was good, took about 10 hours with a couple of stops along the way, was good that I had written down what time I was meant to be at each stop as they were just wee stations along the way so werent really announced all that much and would have been very easy to miss especially since I was sleeping a lot of the time. Paid $5 for a Coke even though Josephine was great and packed me a lunch with a couple of sandwiches, carrots, chocolate and even chewing gum for afterwards! Gave myself a bit of a fright when I woke up on the way from Kil to Oslo as I saw a clock out the window that said 9.30 when the train was meant to be at Oslo at 9.07 shitting myself thinking that I had missed it with a change in timezone or something, spent about 10 minutes stressing because there wasnt any signs which showed what station was next or anything. Eventually asked a lady how far away we were from Oslo and turned out I hadnt missed it so it was ok, still had to clean the shit out of my undies though!

Arrived at Oslo central station about an hour before Anna (German who surfed our couch back in July for 2.5 weeks) was due to arrive so had a bit of time to kill! Jumped on the net and just checked up on everything going on in NZ...not exciting! Anna arrived and luckily she had organised somewhere to stay, because as far as I knew we hadnt organised anything yet! The girl who we were staying with picked us up from the airport and we spent a nice night at her house and the next day just watching a DVD before meeting up with the guys that we would be CSing with for the rest of the time. Made it to Mihay and Bedwins house without any major dramas except for the fact that the ticket which would get us to and from their house about less than 2 times was $60 each! Fucking stupid goddam Norway with its shitty expensive transport and toilets you have to pay for! Wasnt cool but as Ive said before its one of the joys of travelling, having to pay ridiculous prices in some cities! Mihay and Bedwin are a very nice couple, a bit crazy and eccentric but very nice and fed us up well (Tried liver for the first time, not as bad as I thought..)! Stayed awake very late so slept until about 11am on Friday before heading into Oslo to see what was about. Bedwin was very good and gave us a map with a few points of interest marked on it. Checked out the Royal Slöt (Palace) which was really amazing and watched a wee guard ceremony/weapon check/something...I have it on video anyway. It was fun adventuring by foot around Oslo as the whole place is covered in snow and ice which is apparently from about 2-3 weeks ago, not like in Dunedin where the snow disappears the day after it falls! Made it to the Oslo city museum which was cool and free. Then wandered back along the harbour front which was really beautiful just like everyone had said. Wandered through an xmas market and did a bit of iceskating outdoors again which was awesome! Im gonna be pro by the time I get back to NZ, I love it so much more outdoors!Headed home because our legs were buggered from walking in snow and ice all day, though my feet stayed suprisingly dry and warm!

Friday night Elöd the Romanian arrived, had a chat to him for a bit and then went to bed. Yesterday (Saturday 13th) we headed into Oslo again with Elöd and checked out the Nobel Peace Centre which has a lot of displays about the award and about humanitarian efforts around the world, was really interesting and again I worry I may have learnt something. This years winner was Mahhti Atahsarri or something like that, I spelt it wrong but tis ok! Afterwards we left Elöd and checked out the sort of Edinburgh castle of Oslo, a big fort on the hill right near the city, was awesome and heaps of cannons and amazing views of the harbour, need to post more photos, will perhaps do so at Marlens! We had heard about a park in Oslo which has heaps of naked statues and is very famous so asked for direction to Vigelandsparken as Bedwin had told us it was quite far away and we would need to get a bus. Turns out it was right beside the city museum which we had visited the day before which wasnt that far away but we decided to take the underground anyway. Unfortunately because Norway is retarded it gets dark about 3.30pm so by the time we got to the park it was dark. The statues were lit up so still very cool but would have been cooler in the daytime, plus it was frickin freezing though that didnt stop me getting into my underwear and posing with the statues! There are so many statues around Europe that Im going to need to make a special folder just for pictures of me with statues!
Took our $10 10 minute train trip back to Bedwin and Mihays where Bedwin had cooked a wicked dinner with sausages and pork and patties and potatoes and sauerkraut (which is pretty good actually) and jam and so much good stuff. It was awesome and just what we needed to warm ourselves up, apparently it was a very traditional Norwegian xmas dinner so I took some photos!

Today we got up late, did bugger all then played some Yahtzee said goodbye to Mihay, Bedwin and Elöt then came to the train station and Anna left on her bus to Oslo Torp airport to go to Dublin for the night and I am waiting for the train to come so I can go to Stockholm! It leaves at 10.40pm and I was gonna book a sleeper but it was about $160 or so just to book it even with my Eurail pass so I just booked a normal seat which I will sleep in which only cost about $7! Couldnt even get one in first class! Well atleast the good thing about leaving is that I get to spend whatever money I have left on crap without worrying about the price too much. Oslo is super expensive but I still managed to only spend $145 over my 4 or 5 days here which is not bad, just sucks that over half of that was spent on transport! I also hate paying for the toilet. Oslo is a really nice city, but really expensive and Copenhagen is better!

Copen (hagen) a little better!

So after the rocky start I got off to in Copenhagen it has turned out ok! When I was writing my last blog entry I was sitting in a net cafe at the central station after just having spent a night in a shitty hostel with shitty little kids! After finishing on the internet I used a payphone to call my CS hosts as it was a hell of a lot cheaper than using my cell phone! I woke Josephine up as she had been out drinking all of the night before, felt sort of bad but bugger her she should have been awake anyways!! She sort of mumbled something about taking bus 5A to some station and then she would meet me there...its bloody difficult to understand where someone is telling you to go when you dont speak their language and can barely understand their English! Asked her if she could send me a quick email giving me directions which she said that she would. Went and paid for more internet but then got a call from one of the Australians which was CSing with her at the same time...he gave me some ok directions to go to Amabro station...well thats the way I understood it anyway. So I forgot about the email which was meant to be being sent and went out to find bus 5A as Ned (OZ bloke) said that he would meet me at that station in 10 mins so didnt have time to wait for the email! Wandered outside and found a bus sign that said 5A and looked for a name that resembled Amabro...decided Eldegade was the closest so took the bus to there which cost me 20dkk which is about $7 spoke to Ned and Josephine and neither of them knew where I was but eventually I figured out that I had taken the bus going the wrong way so needed to head back down the other way..paid another $7 (which I found out later on wasnt necessary because a bus ticket lasts 1 hour which sort of explains why its so goddam expensive!) and finally about an hour after Ned said he would meet me at the station in 10 mins I made it there! Sorry Mumma I think there may be a bit of a phone bill from receiving calls...shouldnt be too much though! Turns out Amabro is actually Amagerbro but they dont pronounce the 'ger' fuckin weirdass Danes! Got back to the flat anyway and Josephine and Maja were out for the day so me and the aussies just chilled and chatted and had the place to ourselves! Went for a wee bit of a wander to the supermarket to get some food and beer (figured I owed Ned after he waited for so goddam long at the busstop while hungover). Came back to the flat and chilled until Josephine got home, had some dinner which the aussies cooked which was frickin amazing! Had a few beers before heading to a university party which was in like the whole University Link! It was Copenhagen Business School too which I think is one of the places I was considering for an exchange! Beer was about $7 for a 500ml cup which wasnt too bad. Had a few (too many) of them, partied a bit, pissed a lot and met a lot of Danish people who are pretty awesome and really friendly! I am Gerd Dörich! Went to a few bars afterwards and all round from what I remember it was an awesome night! Had a good sleep on the mattress in the lounge! Woke up the next day with a hell of a headache though...goddam Danish beer! Was delighted to learn that we would be doing it all again that night, which was ok since it was a Friday! During the day we went and had a look around the city which was great having a guide who actually knew her way around, Josephine has been an awesome host! Saw the royal Slot (pronounced slut -just added that in for shits and giggles) which is the castle, saw the Danish guards and stuff which was pretty wicked. The whole of Copenhagen is really pretty and awesome and I love it! That night just me and Josephine met up with a few of her friends at a cafe and had something to eat and some drinks then me and Josephine headed home so that she could get changed into something a little more rock and roll before we headed out! Met up with her friends at a cool bad with an awesome QOTSA/RHCP band, they were really great, had a few beers and then headed to the next bar and the next and the next until they all blurred into one which I promised myself wouldnt happen! Smoking in bars is really not cool by the way! Headed home and had another awesome sleep! On Saturday Ned left early in the morning so now it was down to one aussie and me. Bowen (other aussie) decided to stay home and pack his bags while Josephine and I went iceskating. It was so amazing iceskating outside in the middle of freakin Copenhagen...really surreal! Had some good food and then headed home again, by the time we got home Bowen had left so we rented Hancock and spent the night at home with hotdogs and a movie! Pretty sweet day! Sunday was spent at home just chilling out which was good as I needed a break, Josephine and Maja went to a Travis concert so I grabbed some hotdogs and donuts and just chilled and enjoyed the peace and quiet. Today we got up and went to the stupidmarket to get some food and stuff then Josephine and I went and took her little nephew who is almost 2 and absolutely fricking cool as shit out for dinner and a walk. Dinner was really good, I had a buffet which was really yum and not too expensive then dropped Marcius back home and and came home....which about brings me to where I am. I guess what I have written doesnt sound all that exciting to some but it has been an awesome 5 days and I love Copenhagen and am really gonna miss the city and Josephine, may even have to come back sometime! Hope everything is sweet in New Zealand. Give me a text!

Edinburger, Amster damn those hookers are fine and barely Copenhagen

(Sorry forgot to post this here after writing it on Facebook, so was written on Thursday my 1st day in Copenhagen...will write another soon...)

Well the rest of the time in Scotland was great! Went in to town again on the Saturday so that Lloyd could come with us. Edinburgh Castle was also free since it was St Andrews day!! So first up we headed to Edinburgh Castle, wasnt so much a castle as a small town within some bigass walls! The views from the castle were amazing and everything outside was really cool, unfortunately once you went inside the buildings they were all very museum like, the walls had been changed and painted and displays put in which werent even directly related to the buildings! So that was a bit disappointing but it was cool to go there anyway, and hey it was free so who cares! After the Castle we went and got some lunch from 'The Filling Station', I was tempted to get the 'American Hot' pizza again but I figured it probably wasn't that good of an idea so instead I got a bbq chicken pizza which was fantastic and huuuuge!After lunch we headed to the Edinburgh Winterland festival thing and went on the ferris wheel. It was pretty sweet, got some really good views out over the city and the cages that we were in could spin around while they were going around the wheel!! Afterwards Sandro and I took a bit of a break while Lloyd had a go on this really cool carousel. It was really oldschool and awesome, went really fast too! By far the coolest merry-go-round I have ever seen! We had a quick look through the Xmas markets then headed home (I think Sandro was getting a bit exhausted from having Lloyd haha, or possibly he wanted to be nice and ready to leave for Amsterdam on Sunday!!)So Sunday rolled around and we headed off to Amsterdam, it was bloody icey and the whole place looked really cool, the trees were all white and stuff like Id imagined. Was a cool drive down to NewCastle (so Ive been to England aswell, though it looked the same as Scotland what I saw). The boat ride on the way there was pretty cool, it was 15 hours and we spent a lot of the time in the casino, I made $80 and Sandro made even more than that on BlackJack! Had a few beers and hung out in one of the bars then headed off to bed. Was the worst sleep I have ever had, I dont know whether beer and boats dont mix or the fact that it was about 40 degrees in the cabin but woke up feeling pretty shithouse in the morning which was a pain in the ass since I was now in Amsterdam!! Woooooh!! Got the free bus in to Amsterdam and had a look around the redlight district which was absolutely fucking amazing! Sex shops, hookers in windows, 'coffee shops' and drug dealers everywhere, was so cool and the hookers were pretty bloody hott..I tell ya what if I had a spare €50 I would have been down with that haha! Settled on a nice wee coffee shop and sat down and had a smoke, was so weird being able to do it in front of everyone and not worry at all, had some good juice too! Went for a bit more of a wander around and looked through sex shops, souvenir shops and sex museums. The sex shops had every different kind of filthy porn you could imagine, shit porn, rape porn, piss porn, incest porn, animal porn...it was pretty sick but hey whatever floats some peoples boats! Unfortunately I didnt think I would be able to get any of the sickest nastiest porn I could find back into NZ for you, sorry Macky. Had some pancakes and omelette for lunch so that completed what I needed to do in Amsterdam, have a smoke and some pancakes! Went for a boat ride after lunch which was pretty cool, everyone says that Amsterdam is really beautiful, I dont really agree with that but it was an awesome city anyway! Only had about 5 hours in Amsterdam but hopefully will get to go back at the end of my trip. The cruise back was good, though I lost most of the money I won on the way there :( Had a pretty good sleep though. Then drove back to Edinburgh and hung with Aunty D, Sandro and the kids for my last night! All in all had a great time in Scotland and really happy that I got to see where my Whanau lived before they move to NZ!Flew to Billund, Denmark at 10.40 yesterday (3 Dec). Arrived and sat in the airport for a bit since I didnt really have any plans on where to go, decided I would head straight for Copenhagen. Went and changed some money which I was chaged 25DKK to do! Asked at information how to get to Copenhagen and I had just missed the bus to Vejle which I would need to take and then get the train. Waited another hour for the next bus then took the train...asked how much a train ticked was to see if it was worth saving the eurail pass but the ticket was gonna be like $100 for a 2.5 hour trip so used a Eurail day! Arrived in Copenhagen at 6.30pm no idea where I was, where I was staying, where internet or hostels were and what I was doing. Paid $10 to use the internet at some flash ass gaming cafe, which pissed me off but never mind, didnt find anywhere with a vacancy so began to trawl the streets looking for hostels. Its difficult when youre not sure whether you should be going down some streets. Eventually found a shit hostel which was $50 for the night including breakfast...it was shit and there was no shower except shared ones and there was a school there so wasnt sharing with some wee kids! But left early locked up my bags and found some internet. Even though Copenhagen hasnt been great so far its still good and Im sure itll be great once I find my CS hosts! Peace and love!

Jason Wallace

Well on Monday I had promised to cook my CS hosts in Frankfurt some real New Zealand food, so what did I make them? Lamm aus Neuseeland (Lamb from New Zealand), smashed potato and peas! They didn't have any mint sauce which was a shame but never mind. Also the only lamb that I could get was frozen in a box! My cooking skills are pretty non-existent so the potato was cold, the peas were hard and the lamb was gooood! They appreciated the thought anyways, I think. Though afterwards we went to the schnitzel house on the corner of their street so obviously New Zealand portions aren't quite manly enough for Germans! Had a good sleep other than having to get up at 6am to get the bus to Frankfurt Hahn Airport, an hour and a half away so shouldn't bloody well be called Frankfurt anyway! Ewa was really nice and got up early to say goodbye! So ended my first experience of being hosted and it was great!
My Ryanair flight from Frankfurt to Edinburgh was really great, yeah ya don't get anything free on it (not even coffee or tea) but whos complaining when the flights are almost free! Uncle Sandro picked me up from the airport and we sped back home to relax. Aunty D and Uncle Sandros house is really nice and just like in Germany always baking hot! Hung out with Christina and Naunty (Sandro's aunty, who is like a nana to Christina and Lloyd so they call her Naunty) while Aunty D and Sandro went to the hospital then had some din dins and a chat and then went to bed. The Wednesday I got woken up by Christina and Lloyd but it was ok cause theyre cool! Went into Dunfermline town and it was absolutely amazing! The streets are sooo old, they haven't really been modernized at all! We had a coffee and muffin at Naunty's house and then headed home to await BINGO! BINGO is so different than in New Zealand, held at a proper huge BINGO hall that is just for BINGO. Won 1 cash game which was £10 and a box of chocolates and 1 line game in actual bingo which was £6 (later on they were winning £50 for a line!) it was really good fun anyway and pretty intense...not just for old ladies after all!
Yesterday was a huge day, got up and went into Edinburgh city. From the moment we left the train station I was in awe! Walked up the steps and come out to see a whole row of Castle like buildings to your left with Edinburgh Castle right at the end of them all, it can't be explained but it is definitely the nicest city I have ever been to (sorry Frankfurt). Went on a tour on a double decker bus which was really cool, there's no modern part to the city (except for the Parliament which is shithouse) the whole city is just breathtaking! During the tour there was really good historical commentary and I think I learnt something..eww.
Just as a wee side note - Went to McD's for lunch and had the best burger ever, chicken fiesta! Got to try it!
Afterwards we went to the Scotland Dungeons which was really really cool and went on a bit of a tour under Edinburgh learning about Cannibalistic incestuous families and graverobbers turned murderers. Was pretty scary there was always random frights and you never knew where the next person was gonna jump out from, was really a lot of fun and got a cool photo which will upload eventually. After the underground we had a couple of beers, Scottish beer is not bad at all. Went to a place called Pizza express for dinner, had an 'American Hot' which was pepperoni and jalapenos. One thing which Im slowly learning is that jalapenos everywhere else are a hell of a lot hotter than subway in NZ. A hell of a lot hotter! After dinner we had another couple of beers which were setting us back about $10 nzd per beer! Then went on a witchery tour which was a walking ghost/witch/historical tour of ancient Edinburgh, it was so cool and really funny too. Got a photo of the place where people were hung and where a guys head was skewered as a warning to everyone else not to mess with the hardass king! We were going to go into the winter wonderland which is a fair/German xmas market/Christmas lightup but the lines to get in were huuuuge!
Overall Edinburgh is a really amazing city and I could see myself living here! But if you were going to come to Edinburgh for any length of time you would need to have a work permit because spending NZD here is fucking expensive! Didn't really spend too much the first couple of days but managed to catch up on my budget yesterday! Could easily spend $300 a day! So lucky that I have somewhere to stay and people feeding me and taking me places, so thanks Aunty D and Sandro! Going to the supermarket today so we can buy some cheap booze and food to take on the ship to Amsterdam but not going to do too much as thinking Ill need money for Amsterdam! Its going to be so awesome. If you have any special present requests like hookers from Holland then let me know now!

American Hotdogs

So on Friday I made it to the old town no problem as mentioned in my earlier blog...unfortunately getting home again wasn't quite as easy! I got my ticket ok and got on to the tram ok and that was about it...couldn't remember which stop I was meant to get off at so took a bit of a guess, bad idea! Hopped off the tram and nothing looked familiar, figured I must have got off the tram a bit early so decided that I would just head in the general direction that I thought was the way home...an hour later and a few wrong turns I had finally arrived somewhere which looked vaguely familiar. Unfortunately it only looked familiar because I had been there with my host whanau the night before so I still wasn't really sure where I was meant to go. Decided to just walk and see what would happen since my phone is expensive to use and had very little battery left. Finally stumbled upon the tram station which I had left that morning which I knew was very close to home, that only made it even more frustrating when I walked around for an hour trying to find home. I remembered on the first night I arrived Marc and I had driven up a street and had to squeeze past a truck to get around a corner, so I knew it was around a corner after coming off the main street!! After searching for bloody ages I finally gave in and called Ewa to find out the address and I was standing just around the corner from it...literally 50 metres away! Turns out that because the street was a one way street that when you came into it from the way I was walking you didnt have to go around any corners...so I had walked right past the house about 3 times...not cool but ahwell I was just glad to be back in the warm!

Friday night we were meant to be going to a gig at Cocoon club which is apparently one of the hottest clubs in Germany...however that didnt end up happening which was fine with me because it saved the €10 cover charge and €8 euro drinks! Instead we stayed at home had a few beers and played some poker for Gummi Bears. Twas a good night!

Sunday I got to sleep in nice and late, until about 11.30 when we got up and went to a mall to get some Currywürst for breakfast. The mall was crazy big and people were walking round all inside smoking and stuff...weird. The currywürst was awesome...dunno if its meant to have the ü but Im using it just because I can! Spent the rest of the day just hanging at home until a couple of Marcs friends arrived who were staying the night also. We had a few drinks then headed out on the town. Did a bit of an Irish Pub circuit and met a few people from New Zealand. 2 were cool and the other 1 was a right wanker! Drinks were quite expensive but I was having a good time anyway. Unfortunately Alex wasnt feeling too well so we called it a night quite early and headed back home. Taxi home cost €14 plus €7 late night fee and it wasnt even that far, luckily there were quite a few of us in the taxi so wasnt too expensive! In New Zealand when youre done in town generally it means youre done for the night. Apparently thats not the way it works over here, headed home and struggled to stay up a while later while unable to understand the German television. Sunday morning got up and went to get Schnitzel for breakfast...stupid Schnitzel place wasnt open, infact barely nowhere is open on Sundays. Pretty much like xmas or easter in NZ but its every Sunday in Deutschland! Got some food from the petrol station anyway and Ewa made some awesome buns with salami and ham and cheese. Good thing I like Salami because its everywhere over here!

Today I got up and came to old town again, had a look around and planned to hit a few museums...unfortunately theyre all closed on Mondays! Bloody hell! Ahwell has been a good day anyway...good food, good company (just me) and a good country to be in! Oh and I got a Sausage and Bun from a guy wearing a Barbecue like on Tony Hawke playstation game! Twas sehr gut!

Wow, what a crazy few days...left Singapore at 11.59 pm on the biggest plane I have ever been on, the damn thing was huge! It was the one thats was the biggest before the A380, 747 I think. Lufthansa is pooz, not that the flight was bad but no entertainment and im pretty sure the air host guy hated me because I cant speak German! Sat beside a nice dutch couple and the guy flew for Lufthansa for 40 years so told me all about flying and stuff. They fly for 10% of the cost for the rest of their lives! So usually they fly first class but it was full! Apparently if all the engines went out it would still take 20 mins to get to the ground from cruising altitude! I always thought youd fall pretty quickly.

Arrived at Frankfurt anyway and the airport was pretty average, difficult to find my way around and no customs again..guess they just really dont care in the rest of the world! Asked a lady where to get an arrivals card and she must of only heard arrivals and sent me all the way back to where I had arrived which was not cool because I was bloody tired! Had a nap in some nice lie flat chairs in the airport before attempting to make my way to the central station. Asked a policeman to get my ticket for me which he did so that was nice. Central station was huge and amaying architecture, took photos but will have to do a big upload at aunty Ds as this takes too long at a net cafe. I thought once I was at the central station that perhaps it was a bad idea to be wearing shorts and jandals but had already locked my bag away and I wasnt paying another $8 just to get shorts. It wasnt that it was really cold (sort of cold but not too bad) but the looks I got from people I thought they were going to stab me just for wearing shorts. There are some really angry/scary/weird people in Germany but most of the younger people are very nice and a couple of hottys asked me if I needed any help, then I slept with them both, except not that last bit. Spent a while looking through all the shops at the station which had reasonably priced food by New Zealand standards. I certainly wasnt shocked and appalled like I had expected. Infact I was pleasantly suprised it was pretty cheap really.

After looking through all the shops twice and still having 7 hours until I met the CS hosts I decided I would see if there was somewhere nearby where I could lie down for a bit or atleast sit without fear of being kicked out. Found Hostel Frankfurt which was awesome and full of OZs and a cool chick from Wellington. Had a couple of drinks with them which were only €1 each for Becks Gold, which is pretty bloody good beer. At 5.30 I went back to the station as the CS hosts said they would call about 6 to meet me there, turned my phone on at 5.30 and waited..and waited...and waited until about 10 to 7 when they called for apparently the second time and then Marc came and met me at the station. Both him and Ewa are awesome and really friendly and welcoming. Even got a hug from Ewa on arrival! Went to the stupidmarket to get some food and I was appalled by the prices! Well not so much the prices but the fact that everyone has always said Europe is expensive, the food was dirt cheap and drinks are cheap and its €3.49 for a 6 pack of 500ml bottles of Becks, which is twice as much as any other beer! Went home and chatted with Marc and Ewa for a bit then hit the hay...never slept so well in my life it was amazing.

Today I got up at about 8.30 or so thinking I would have to leave when Marc and Ewa did but they were really cool and said just stay make yourself at home, eat, drink, shower do whatever. Marc also gave me directions to the old town using the trams. Had a shower then went out to the supermarket and bought an 8 pack of mini baguettes, 300gram Salami, a pack of gummee bears, 2 chocolate bars and a bottle of pepsi...all for only €4.5 euro so less than $10 which is bloody good. Asked some guys to buy my tram ticket to the right place for me and then arrived in the Old Town centre with no problems. It is absolutely amazing, really finally hit me where I was! Had a look through the history of Frankfurt museum which was €2 for students which wasnt too bad but the Museum was average. Had a walk around checking out some souvenir shops and the like then stumbled upon the building which is in the picture hanging above my desk at RML and it was really surreal that I was now standing in front of it! Went to the tourist centre and bought a tourist map for €.50 and then went to a 200 metre high tower which cost €3,10 to go up but it was well and truly worth it, cant wait to get to Scotland so that I can upload some photos for everyone to see, it was absolutely breathtaking! Had a wee bit more of a wander around and a look at the river before heading here to the net cafe to update you all on the happenings. Im having an awesome time and not regretting the hard-living for a year one bit! Thanks for the comments and messages and remember you can still text me for the same cost as if I was in NZ!

IKEA?!!

So one of the Canadians works for IKEA right, so on Monday we decide to go for a wee trip across town to the IKEA store. I know its not particularly Singaporean but who cares, I'd never been to IKEA before and the way the Canadians talked about it, it's the best place in the world so I was pretty excited! Turns out its just a big department store...plus the best restaurant in Singapore, it's so cheap! Apparently they don't run at a profit theyre just there to keep people in the stores longer. I had an American hotdog for $1 it was amazing. Didn't really do much else that day as the Canadians were leaving so just came back to the hostel for a bit and chilled, after they left I was going to go to the night safari but I wouldn't say I got lost, I knew where I was...I just didn't know where the bus to the night safari was so instead just hung around Orchard Road again.

Since the Canadians left it has been pretty quiet here, not the most social bunch of people so yesterday I went on a trip by myself to Singapore Zoo. It was a good hour train trip away (lucky it only cost $2) then had to take a bus. This was my first experience with the Singapore buses and I assumed they would be like everything else in Singapore, perfect...however after arriving at the bus station I specifically asked if I needed to buy a ticket first or pay on the bus. I was told that I would need to pay on the bus. After waiting half a frickin hour for this bus to come while every other bus came twice I climbed up the steps to the bus and handed the driver $10 only to be told that it was $1.50 and you have to have the right change! I was rather pissed off but searched my wallet and came up with $1.35 which the driver was pretty pissed about but let me away with anyways. Would have been nice if one of the two people that I asked had told me that you had to had to have the correct change!

Made it to the zoo though and it was well worth the trouble. As soon as you walk in there are cotton topped tamarin running around just minding their own business, no cages or anything. Saw all the typical animals but one of the highlights was the Polar Bear feeding, it was truly amazing! Have some pretty cool videos of it. Had KFC for lunch, it's not my fault they don't have traditional food at the zoo! Though the combo does come with a coleslaw (which was funky) and a potato and gravy (goooood) instead of chips. After lunch I watched the Splash World tour which had water animals from all round the world like African penguins, californian seals and those weird things that apparently write family guy (manatees?). It was a really good show. The absolute highlight of the day though was the Butterfly walk...but instead of just butterflys there was ring-tailed lemurs which would come up and grab you, and sloths that would walk on past and bats swooping overhead and some weird tiny deer like things...it was really really cool seeing how the animals act up close and interact with each other. Got an awesome video of a lemur licking my finger!! After a long day at the zoo I headed back to the hostel no dramas with the bus or anything this time. Had a couple of beers and watched some tv then went to bed.

Today I am just doing some washing and then might head out for a bit..am worrying about Frankfurt as haven't had any luck finding a couch yet and don't really want to fork out $45 per night!! One girl said she would check with her flatmate and get back to me, so hopefully her flatmate is cooler about couchsurfing than mine were (just kidding). Heres hoping anyways. Not looking forward to my 12 hour flight leaving at midnight tonight and arriving at Frankfurt at 5.45 am. So unless I can get some sleep on the plane looks like Ill be awake for about 40 hours!

Uniquely Singapore

So the jokes we all made about the fact that I had lived on Marmite and toast for ages so that I could afford to come on this trip only to be forced to eat Marmite on toast, look set to come true. The hostel offers free breakfast which consists of toast and cereal, im not complaining I quite enjoyed my breakfast and its cheap!After breakfast headed with the Canadians to see the Merlion statue at Merlion park, it was pretty cool just a huge statue/fountain but the whole area was nice and had some really good views. Wandered around the area a wee bit before heading to the Singapore Flyer which was huge! Its just like the London eye except not in London. Decided that it would be something better done at night so skipped it for now and decided to head to Sentosa Island. The cable car ride to Sentosa is really something else, so high in the air with amazing views all around. Its like the gondolas in NZ except goes for ages and is suspended right across the water rather than up a hill. Sentosa itself is awesome, it's very fake and touristy but it doesn't pretend that its not. It was really really hot and I think I got a little burnt but figured better soak up the sun before I head to Europe where apparently the sun hasn't been invented yet. Had a nice cold Coke before heading back and taking some time out at the hostel.After having a sit down and letting the old legs recover, the Canadians and I headed out for Dinner at Orchard road, the famous shopping district. The whole place was decked out with christmas lights and there were Louis Vuitton and Chanel shops everywhere. Very cool place and really nice restaurant, though I had an American meal! The canadians got this sweet bowl of icecream where you could pick 5 different flavours, looked amazing but I was really full despite having not eaten much the whole day. Afterwards we went to check out a free tour that the Singapore tourism board is running which tours around all the Christmas lights. I know I hate Christmas starting this early but had to do it anyway...except for that when we got there we couldn't prove we were tourists. Apparently being from another country, having a camera, a guide book and a backpack that says NZ isn't quite enough proof. After a quick trip back to the hostel to pick up our passports we were away. It was very worth it, they really go overboard with the xmas decorations!We were all buggered so headed home, grabbed a 'Premium Indian Beer' called Knock Out on the way, was 650mls of 7.2%alc beer. Wasn't that bad though. Played some cards back at the hostel then hit the hay.All round great day.

Singapore Sliiiing

So...I actually managed to get some sleep on the night before I left...a whole 4 hours! Ahwell to be perfectly honest it was more than I thought I would get.

I can see why Singapore Airways is consistently voted the top airline in the world the food just kept coming and the service was brilliant! Had quite a bit of turbulence but the Cap'n was good and kept us up to date with what was going on so I didn't cry too much. Sat beside a lovely retired English couple who had travelled a lot so heard a few stories.

Arrived at Singapore, Changi Airport at 10.30pm New Zealand time, having been awake since 4.30am. First impressions as we were landing weren't really there, couldn't see a lot out the window as I was 2 seats away and from what I could see it didn't look too crazily different to New Zealand. The airport however was a million levels hi gher than Auckland, the whole place was perfectly set out, well organised and efficient at doing what it does, processing passengers. Grabbed so free internet time then headed of course to see how much McDonalds was! A little bit cheaper than New Zealand but nothing like Thailand. I think it was $6.75 for a Big Mac combo so probably almost the same as NZ.

Proceeding through passport control I had to wait behind maybe 2 other people then I was through to customs. I thought I'd be good and go through the "goods to declare" doors just incase Amys stories about Marmite are true!! So went through these official looking doors with big red signs saying "goods to declare" walked a bit further and I was outside! I'm not sure whether I inadvertedly sneaked past customs or what...but looks like the 2 small children and litre of pig semen will make it onto the blackmarket after all!!

Luckily I had written down the directions to my hostel so went to the Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) ticketing booth and just showed the guy and asked how much I would need to buy. He sold me a re-chargeable ticket for $15 which so far has gotten me about 4-5 decent rides and Ive only used half and it only comes with $7 on it!! So the MRT is definitely cheap and efficient to use! I can't even provide any comical stories about arriving at the wrong station in a dodgy part of Singapore as the MRT is so easy to use...and there probably isn't any dodgy parts to Singapore! Though I did learn pretty quickly that its a good idea to hold on while the train takes off when wearing a big backpack...my apologies to the small family of Singaporeans that I took out. I had to walk 15minutes from the station to my hostel though and it is about 30 degrees so by the time I got here I was sweating like nothing else. Lucky the only temperature on their showers is cold haha!

After having a shower I noticed a couple of English guys were talking about heading out so asked if I could join them. So ended up going to Clarke Quay with these 2 pretty cool English guys and a couple of really good looking Canadian girls. A good start with the socialising. Was a bit rushed and forgot to take my camera but Im sure I will go back and will post some pics rather than trying to explain how amazing it is! Had some good cheap local food aswell, should definitely avoid the tourist places in favour of local food.

At about 11.30pm Singapore time having officially been awake for 24 hours I headed back to the backpackers and slept like a baby on drugs! Up quite early this morning but I think I'm pretty adjusted to Singapore time already. Heading out with the Canadians again today as the English fellas left so hopefully will have a good time!

The Final Countdown

Well after 7 months of planning, paying, waiting, dreaming, saving its finally almost here. In just 5 more sleeps I head off on my adventure of a lifetime. Even with 7 months of planning I still feel like im going to forget something or not be prepared...or fall and break my leg.

I guess now is as good of a time as ever to say thanks to everyone who has made this trip possible! Mum and Bernard, thanks for the carepackages etc. Dad and Sheree, again thanks for the carepackages etc. All the rest of the whanau, thanks. Thanks to my flatmates for putting up with the constant talk of travel, remember "travel is my passion". Thanks to everyone!

One more week of working then Im off to Singapore the land thats never a destination only a stopover! Ill be staying at The Hive Backpackers so hopefully I'll be able to get on the net and it won't be too horribly slow and I'll be able to update you with an interesting blog entry.

Peace and keep reading, I promise it will get more interesting! Also remember to check out www.photobucket.com and search for wateveritwas to see some photos!