Reading Material...OYO Tour Memoir Part I
So yah, me off to LA for a few days. Figured I'd give you all some reading material and all. Here is the first part of my Australia/New Zealand Tour 2004 with OYO (about time i got this up here anyway, lol). So - these are the happenings in Melbourne. Happy Reading...
Monday, June 21
And off we go. It took me all of Sunday evening and Monday morning to pack up all my stuff. I didn’t know how to pack my cello, so I just padded every place that has air. My dad thinks I did it all wrong, and packed it all too tight, but wutever. I don’t think it matters too much. I took my first picture with my Disposable Camera thingy - of my cello, all packed up and everything. I kissed my cello farewell, closed everything, and set off. Christine’s mom came over to take my cello in its hard case and its travel case (that thing doesn’t fit in my trunk). I finished packing everything I needed at the very last second, zipped everything up, and left.
It was an easy drive to the airport; I just turned on my CD player and let it run, while I dozed off. A few days before, I’d sorted and burned onto CD all the songs I had downloaded off of Kazaa. I made 8 good CDs, and brought all of them on tour.
I think we were supposed to arrive at 3pm, but we ended up getting there at around 3:15, which put me at the very back of the group check-in line. Gosh, the line was so freaking slow. It took DAYS to get to the front, and then they went through all my luggage. Undoubtedly, they had to open up my cello to check it out. That pissed me off, because of all the care that I had put into placing everything in my cello neatly into the case, only to see it all thrown around by some careless airport official, then repacked all weird and stuff. Nuh uhh - not cool. So I watched them carefully. Luckily I got a guy who was more careful than the rest; maybe it was because I voiced my concert beforehand, and he cared enough to give a shit to my bitching. So he did an okay job taking my cello case apart, and ended up putting it together quite nicely. He didn’t throw it on the luggage belt either, not like his co-worker who chucked Andrew’s cello as if it were a football. *shudders* And that was the last I would see of my cello for 20 hours.
Plane ride - interesting, I would say. After a long goodbye to the parents, after all the security checkpoints, I kicked out. It was time to head off into the wild blue yonder down under. The flight to LA, where we were to transfer, was a short one. Less than an hour, but I met these two Australian men. We talked about my tour, and their trip through USA and Canada. They were returning home from vacation; I was just leaving.
We arrived in LA on schedule, and I figured it would be a good time to call the folks, play some hacky-sack, and eat a little before boarding the long flight to Melbourne. We saw some other group of kids with this badge - “People to People” - walking around in bright red polo shirts. They were supposed to be Ambassadors or something. Quite cute, even though most of them weren’t more than 12 years old. And they looked like they were too cool for school - we tried saying hi to a few of them, and they just ignored us. Haha.
And so it went on - we boarded the plane for an uber-long ass flight to Melbourne. I think it was some 14 hours long, insane. I don’t want to write too much about it. It was long, uncomfortable, and boring. I sat next to Allie, Andrew, and Bryan, but like - I was stuck in the middle column in one of those middle seats. Ick, cramped up like a mofo. It really, really sucked. I think I watched two movies, don’t remember what though. Who cares, at least that part is over.
Wednesday, June 23
We arrived in Melbourne, Australia. We lost a day after crossing the International Dateline - some complicated stuff they’re pulling on us. Wow, no lo comprendo. Anyway, we went through all the boring immigration stuff, and then got down to baggage. I got my cello back; I was truly overjoyed that nothing had caved in. Everything looked alright to me, but I took another picture of it, just in case…for iono what. Barbara told us to, so I did. Whatever, yo.
Time to board the busses. This wouldn’t be the last time, omg…so much bus riding this tour, I can’t even begin to tell you. So first off, we drive all around the city. I think it was a bit of a cloudy day, but that doesn’t matter. Meanwhile, I’m falling asleep in my seat. Melbourne’s really not that interesting. San Francisco’s more exciting, and obviously nothing beats Hong Kong. Hell, okay, some of the stuff was cool to look at. But anyway, we head off first to the Rialto Towers, where we disembark and go to the top of this building. There, I took a few pictures, bought a postcard for Vidya, and chilled for a while.
Lunch time. Back on the buses for another journey through the city. We passed by our hotel, and went to this place right next to the Yellow River, as they called it. Believe me, it was so yellow, it was like - brown. Nasty. Don’t even tell me what it reminds you of, cuz it’s time for lunch. There was this food court at some mall, I don’t remember. But it was a nice place. Lots of schoolboys and schoolgirls in uniform were just hanging out there. A few of us, including myself, headed to the Fish’n’Chips place. Very greasy, I mean, REALLY greasy. But quite good. I haven’t had such good Fish’n’Chips in so long. It reminded Jimmy of England (just thought I’d throw that in there).
Anyway, while I was finishing up my food, Jimmy makes this amazing discovery of the bathrooms. Before, we were curious about whether or not flushing the toilet made the water swirl the opposite direction because of the difference in gravity and hemisphere. Anyway, it turned out that the toilet flushing was just a mass of water coming straight down from every which way. Water doesn’t swirl Down Under. Don’t even ask me. Another thing weird is that there is “half flush” and “full flush.” What is the difference: I still don’t know. Anyway, Jimmy’s discovery: So in USA, we piss in troughs (like we used to have to at NHS) or in individual stalls. Well, Australia’s equivalent of a trough is a waterfall. I kid you not. A flat sheet of metal with indentations where your freaking piss is supposed to go. There is a dent where your line of pee is supposed to go down, or else it all sprays right back at your pants. Gentlemen, this is your “refined” way of taking a leak.
Well, back to this lunch hour. Jimmy, Brian, Andrew, and I decided not to stick around at the Food Court / Shopping Mall. We wander off across the river, across a few streets, just to check things out. It was good times. We wandered into some movie theater, into the Apple store, and into some quad where school-people were congregating. Just us, walking along. Anyway, we got back before it was time to board the buses again to go to the hotel. Ben bought a hacky-sack, so we just chilled in front of the food court entrance, playing “God.” I remember the one time I picked it up, I started looking for people to hit, and Ben was right in my way of Tim. Tim was ducked low, and so then Ben moved away, and I threw it at Tim, and hit him. Awesomeness.
Well, bus ride back to hotel. While we’re waiting for our keys and stuff, Emily and I start reading this article about some really good soccer player who ran into some trouble because she wore this turban thingy on her head for her religion. That’s hecka messed up. It’s not like that thing gives her an advantage or whatever. Just let her play; soccer’s such a pure sport, don’t let it start getting in conflict with religion. C’mon!
Anyway, hotel room. I’m rooming with Mike Kizzar, Joseph Jung, and Daniel Kwan. Honestly, I wasn’t too happy about these rooming assignments back when we found out. But happily, I was to have a complete change in opinion. Later that night, Charlie Stephen came over, and decided to room with us as well. And yea - they’re the coolest people I got to know during this tour.
Not much really went on after that. Bryan and I opened up our cellos, tuned, and practiced some music for Mendocino’s Music Festival. It was embarrassing for me. He knew how to do everything, and I was still stuck sight-reading everything poorly and all. Ick - I need to practice when I get home. I only have a week at home before leaving for Mendo. Welps, then we had dinner at the Café in the hotel. And this dinner, like most of the other dinners on this tour - wasn’t so great. The drinks were good, but they ran out too quickly and kept having to go into the kitchen to get more. But it’s okay - the less you eat, the less weight you gain.
Post-dinner was interesting. I went up to Jessica, Courtney, and Ale’s room for some poker. Playing Texas Hold’em for the first time is a unique experience, especially when I kept winning, but didn’t know what the heck I was doing. Once I figured it out though, I lost just about everything. There goes the beginner’s luck. Still a fun time.
And stupid curfew - that’s my only complaint about this tour. YPSO tour to New York had no curfew that was enforced. Here, people enforced curfew. Ugh, such bullshit. But that just means I have to go to sleep.
Thursday, June 24
This was the morning of our first concert. I got everything packed, and went to the Methodist Ladies College. O yea, in Australia, College is our form of high school, or less. In the audience of our concert were schoolgirls that were about my age, and some really young ones. We only played our light program. Emily got kinda pissed, cuz Bridget kept messing up the bowings. And then Bryan followed Bridget, which is something that should NEVER happen (lol). And I didn’t know WHAT to do, so I followed Bryan like I always do. And Tim and Emily follow me, so we were just about doing everything in the wrong direction. In the end, we sounded decent, but hell - I hate looking bad. It’s so unprofessional when a section has opposite bows from each other. It sucks, and it feels embarrassing.
After the concert, we did a bit of changing. I totally forgot it was a Ladies’ College, so I just kinda took off my dress pants in the middle of the hallway. And Jimmy and Andrew, who had done the same five minutes before, started yelling like chickens cuz some really young girl had stepped in. My bad, but damn, guys - it’s not like I was revealing anything. Shiznit.
Lunch. Sucked. Holy crap it was horrible. We were dropped off at downtown Melbourne. So Jimmy, Brian, Bryan, Andrew, Courtney, Ale, Jessica, and I went into this one place called “Fasta Pasta.” And by the name, you’d expect that it’d be quite “fasta” than the other places. We ordered 3 pizzas, and it took a fat 30 minutes to get our food. So we sat and chilled the whole time. And that’s kind of when I found that I didn’t really belong in that group. I don’t get much attention. Jessica and Ale are all over Andrew and Bryan. Courtney and Brian were flying sparks kinda. And I just didn’t fit in as well.
So after lunch, I found Tim and Thomas, and we went together. Logan found this shop with some shirts that he liked, but he couldn’t pay for them. Haha, this guy…So I used my VISA for him, and he’d pay me back in American cash. Those were some expensive shirts. They looked kinda metrosexual, but it was alright for Thomas. Two shirts, total came out to be like $120 AUS, which translates into $90 US. Wutever. And so the last great highlight of the day was the Condom Shop on the corner. So much funny shit in there. Andrew got me to try this one thing, and I got electric shocked. Insanity. And you only had to be 15 to get in. Seriously though, what if you actually cared to get something at the shop, and like - your best friend, or your biggest crush walked in just to play around. Wouldn’t it be a bit…embarrassing? Something to think about, eh?
Dinner, for the second night in a row, was shitty. Okay? So we go to this Vietnamese restaurant, which is supposed to be really nice (downstairs was beautiful). It’s in “Asia-town” of Melbourne. And what do they serve us? Lemon Chicken, spring rolls, sweet and sour pork, and rice. Omfg. You have got to be kidding me. They serve OYO face Chinese food. I mean - 75% of OYO is ASIAN, and you can’t do better than lemon chicken and sweet’n’sour pork? Good Gosh - that’s so sad. I had good mind to spit in their kitchen, the food was so horrible.
Oh yea, so I forgot to mention that Heghine, my awesome chaperone, had this idea to have a party with the whole orchestra. That was such a good idea. The only problem was - where? Shit I forget what it’s called, but there was this Casino directly across the Yellow River from where we were staying. So after doing my Internet Café thingy like I do just about every night, I went out with T-Lo and Tim to meet up with people. Except, every single dance thing required you to be 18 . So we headed to the arcade, and played some Air Hockey, DDR, and stuff like that. We were going to do laser tag or bowl, but people were being lazy, and we just kinda let that shit go down. That night, I had my Aussie equivalent of Jamba Juice. It was called “Boost” Juice Bar, and the shakes they had there ROCKED ICE. Lol. It was so good; yummy yummy yummy.
After that it was back to the hotel and back in bed.
Friday, June 25
I woke up early to run. I ran around the Casino place we hung out at the night before. It was kinda short, just 2.25 miles I think. I did it before showering and before breakfast. Just woke up a bit earlier, like twenty minutes, and went out. Nothing too special.
Hmmm, today was just a bunch of sight-seeing. We took a long ride out to Healesville Sanctuary to see the animals of Australia. Me, Tim, and Logan took our own route together, and saw everything. We took a bunch of pictures too. The Kangaroos are so cute! So are a bunch of all the other animals. Then at the gift shop, I bought boomerangs as gifts for people back home. That was basically the Healesville visit. It was fun, even though the weather was kind of rainy and such. Still good though.
Then it was another bus ride, to I don’t know where, but it was for the Puffing Billy Train Ride. SWEET. Who would name a train….Puffing Billy? Sounds like something Arie or Dan would like. Haha, anyway. While waiting to board PUFFING BILLY, Brian Walsh took out his mini-soccer ball, and we kicked it around in the small area we had. Then outta the blue, Bridget calls me over, to tell me that Emily runs for soccer training every morning. Wow that was random - so I was like, “Uh, cool.” And Emily’s like - right there yea? So Bridget’s all, “you guys should go.” And my “mom” asks for me - “Can he go with you guys?” And Emily, she’s nice - doesn’t like to refuse anyone, so she says, “If you want…” I’m like, “uh huh, we’ll see, maybe.” Lol - speaking of random. And then like while boarding my favorite train, Bridget comes by me, and slaps my ass. What was SHE smoking? Phew…
The Ride was awesome. Great view of everything. This ride was in the mountain range that was inland a ways from Melbourne. All the big cities are on the coast, so yea - mountains are cool. Great view, and it was fun just sitting on the sill and hanging out of the train, trying to catch the steam that the engine was putting out. Good shiznit. And after the ride, when we’d left from the gift shop, we played more soccer in a more open area. Josh, Sam, Jimmy, Brian, me, and some others. Josh is a really good defender. He just comes up to me and tries to take the ball, and sometimes he manages to. I was pulling moves all over the place; it was fun, especially when I slipped on the wet ground, and fell flat on my face. Yuckiness.
Dinner at the Hard Rock Café. Guess what was on the big screen? European Cup 2004, England vs. Portugal. We just sat there and watched the whole dinner. My dinner was not at all great. The steak I had asked for was too thin, and overcooked. Boo. Anyway, Jimmy, Brian, and I sat there rooting for England alongside most others in OYO and Australia, while Ale decides to root for Portugal. I think it was a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation, and then a 2-2 tie at the end of overtime. And we were just in the middle of the penalty shootout, when we had to go. So then Ale, smarty she is - asks the waitress what the final outcome of the game was (the match had taken place early that morning, we were just watching a replay). And then she screams to Bwalsh that Portugal won 5-4 on PKs. And Walsh is dejected. I really don’t have emotions for any team, I just liked England more than Fag-o (Figo) and Fake Ronaldo of Portugal. O well - but Brian was sure pissed. Haha.
Back at the hotel, it was time for the real festivities to begin. So it’s then I find out that Mike Kizzar, who hung around the group with Jessica, Ale, and Courtney, wasn’t wanted anymore. So I call the girls’ room, and ask them if they’re doing anything, and they ask me if Mike is there. And I say yes, and they tell me that they’re turning in early. Well, I didn’t know about Mike’s situation, so I thought they were rejecting me. Ayyy, so I make my way over to the room with Eboni, Bridget, Kate, Emily, Andrew, Josh, Dan, Charlie, Ericka, Sydney, Raymond, and I know there’s more, I just can’t quite recall their location. And yea for a while we played some cards, and then the ladies felt like watching “Little Women” on TV. OOOMG. Lol. Are you joking me? I left, but then came back.
Yea, that was kinda the first night I got to know some other people from OYO. Before, I had just stuck with like the Tall Blondes, and the White chics, et cetera. Finally I found some more people. Now I had more options and stuff - awesomeness. So then Me, Jimmy, and Timmy went out to the Internet café to check out stuff once more. And on the way home we bought ice cream for everyone. But the Whites had left their room, so we took the food over to Bridget’s room. But then Tim was being a biatch, so they kicked him out, and we took the ice cream, and all the guys in Bridget’s room came over to Jimmy and Timmy’s room. We ate. Yummy Yummy. O yea - and we told the girls (Yongeun, Ashley, and Sarah) next door to Jim and Tim that we had ice cream, and they just scurried over here. Meanwhile, they forgot their key as the door closed behind them. And after the ice-cream was all finished, they couldn’t get back into their room. Ayy, so then came the painful process of going downstairs with Sarah Lee to get another room key to get into the room, and then returning the key to downstairs. All that craziness.
And then it was such an early night, Sarah and I just kinda hung around the hotel and talked about all kinds of things. I’d write all about what we talked about, but like, I don’t know if she would want me to be writing about our convos. So yea - wutever.
And we slept, kinda later than normal though, O well.
Saturday, June 26
Was gonna meet Emily, Monica, and Yennie down to run at 7:15am, but ehh, slept in until 7:30. I came downstairs just as I saw Monica and Yennie, all sweaty, going back in or something. And yes, I ran too. Ran a bit further this time. I like running in the cold air, it’s pleasant, and it feels like it’s harder to get tired. Or rather, the feeling of getting tired is just less painful. But anyway, ran around that area, had quite some fun.
Then it was off to the market. Queen Victoria Market - a better name would be, Cheap Fleaboy Market. The parking lot there - used to be a cemetery. And they didn’t quite remove all the coffins when the whole cemetery moved. So your car could be on top of a….eww, don’t even wanna think about it.
So T-Lo, Tim, and I left the huge group again, and just walked around. Bought some stuff, like another boomerang, and a fake Manchester United Jersey. Man, it was so dang fake that even the club logo thingy is all wrong. Didn’t even notice till I left. O well, didn’t cost much though, and it looks real from a distance. So I’ll take it. Tim bought some Uggz (fake, no doubt), and T-Lo bought a belt. We tried to do some bargaining, but it didn’t work. We were too young I guess. Anyway, we didn’t get far enough in the market. We only got like 2 hours, and there were sooo many stands. We got through like - a third of it all, and had to get lunch before leaving for the concert. So, it was time for Macca’s (McDonald’s, for all you Cali people). I’m kind of glad - the fast food they have Down Under isn’t nearly as greasy, and everything is one size smaller, so it’s really not that bad. It just gets really bad when you eat it - EVERY DAY. But anyway…
So we head off the Haileybury College, which is like an hour out of town. It’s basically a high school, where you can board in it and stuff. We had rehearsal. O, I left my rockstops at hotel, as well as a lot of other cellists. So Ted comes up with this ingenious way of doing the duct-tape to make our ends not slip as much. It was glorious. Anyway, we sucked at the beginning of rehearsal, like we always do. And it got a bit better, but hell - we were all feeling the nerves.
The nerves just kept rising when Melbourne Youth Orchestra took the stage. They were playing Shostakovich’s First Symphony, I think…First stands got to sight-read with them for rehearsal, and it sounded pretty good. I got bored of the rehearsal though, and so me, Brian Walsh, Jimmy, Andrew, Josh, and some others went out to play w/ Walsh’s small soccer ball. Fun stuff. We organized a pickup game in the quad. Only problem was, whenever I scored, I’d lean back to shoot, so I kept hitting the window sills and shit. This dude came out and yelled at us like WHOA. So uhhh, we left. Lol.
Went to the grass tennis court to play. And it was cool too, they had the goals marked out already. So that was me, busting out my moves. I’ll admit, so much of it was just showing off, but another part was actually me trying to get a feel for the soccer ball, which I would need for a long time. So yea, I’d run around and through crowds of people, doing my thing. I got through once or twice, got killed a few times, and got eliminated by Jimmy on a few 1v1 occasions. Hell, all in good fun. Anyway, Tim and Andrew started getting bored, and started playing Aussie Football or Rugby, iono what, with the ball. So I just left. Sweaty as frick….had to lose the undershirt. Not good, cuz I don’t feel good just wearing a dress shirt during a concert. Ay.
Dinner was actually kind of nonexistent. Just a bunch of sandwiches laying out there on the table, and people would come up to take some or whatever. Not too exciting. Just chilled with some people. And then Tim, Jim, Andrew, and Bryan went to do their hair into faux hawks. I went in to join them. Iono what possessed me. My hair was so long. Brian’s was long, but it managed to stay. I did it, but it kept falling forward, and all over the place. Sheeit, so then I finish with my nasty ass head, and Bnies is in our dressing room, telling us about the concert. He knew we were kind of intimidated by this bunch. I mean, MYO’s average age was 18. They were pretty crazy. But yea, Nies told us not to worry, and just to play. And we got our energy going. The vibes were right. Amanda sees my hair, and all she can do as a response is point and stare. Emily sees it, and shakes her head, telling me to take it out. Five minutes later, she says the same thing. I’d been like, having self doubts myself. I don’t like having nasty hair. So I’m back in the bathroom, blowdrying, and just shaking all that shit out of my hair. And when it was all dry, and fluffy again. Yea, that was sexy. Just a random hairdo, like a bird’s nest kinda. I liked it more - very natural. Haha. Actually, it looked half retarded, but it was still awesome.
So back out at the concert; MYO had the first half. Umm, at this point I kinda found Ale to be a tad annoying. All she could talk about was the Shostakovich she got to rehearse earlier. She was singing parts and shit, as if she was cooler than the whole lot of us. And yea - it really got annoying. Mind you, I still think she’s cool. But I thot I’d mention that I found her to be a bit troubling that night. And so, Me, T-Lo, and Tim sit next to each other. I think Logan was the first to fall asleep. I was nodding off, and Tim was out like a light. Funniness, I must admit. The only part I cared to hear was the fourth movement, when it all turned into Major key. That was awesome; Bnies had told us to watch for that: it was Shostie saying a nice little “F*ck You” to all the communists or something. And yes, that was glorious. It was beautiful.
Now, our part of the concert. We were quite a bit energized by the great ending of MYO’s playing of the Symphony. So, the pumpage went on stage. And yea - the first few notes of the Rimsky Korsakov were a bit tentative, but it just got better and better. It was the best concert I’ve played…ever. I hit like, everything. And I hit it all with a passion. I was drained after that concert, but it was so so so so great. Loved it.
And we knew we played a great concert (I think…I know I thot we did). So it was all good, at least we felt like we held our own against a group that was older than us. Welps, that was our first concert. Going back to hotel was just a sleep-filled journey. And then we had to pack to get ready to leave for Sydney the next day. Only got a few hours of sleep.
More to come when I get home (like Sydney...etc...)
Monday, June 21
And off we go. It took me all of Sunday evening and Monday morning to pack up all my stuff. I didn’t know how to pack my cello, so I just padded every place that has air. My dad thinks I did it all wrong, and packed it all too tight, but wutever. I don’t think it matters too much. I took my first picture with my Disposable Camera thingy - of my cello, all packed up and everything. I kissed my cello farewell, closed everything, and set off. Christine’s mom came over to take my cello in its hard case and its travel case (that thing doesn’t fit in my trunk). I finished packing everything I needed at the very last second, zipped everything up, and left.
It was an easy drive to the airport; I just turned on my CD player and let it run, while I dozed off. A few days before, I’d sorted and burned onto CD all the songs I had downloaded off of Kazaa. I made 8 good CDs, and brought all of them on tour.
I think we were supposed to arrive at 3pm, but we ended up getting there at around 3:15, which put me at the very back of the group check-in line. Gosh, the line was so freaking slow. It took DAYS to get to the front, and then they went through all my luggage. Undoubtedly, they had to open up my cello to check it out. That pissed me off, because of all the care that I had put into placing everything in my cello neatly into the case, only to see it all thrown around by some careless airport official, then repacked all weird and stuff. Nuh uhh - not cool. So I watched them carefully. Luckily I got a guy who was more careful than the rest; maybe it was because I voiced my concert beforehand, and he cared enough to give a shit to my bitching. So he did an okay job taking my cello case apart, and ended up putting it together quite nicely. He didn’t throw it on the luggage belt either, not like his co-worker who chucked Andrew’s cello as if it were a football. *shudders* And that was the last I would see of my cello for 20 hours.
Plane ride - interesting, I would say. After a long goodbye to the parents, after all the security checkpoints, I kicked out. It was time to head off into the wild blue yonder down under. The flight to LA, where we were to transfer, was a short one. Less than an hour, but I met these two Australian men. We talked about my tour, and their trip through USA and Canada. They were returning home from vacation; I was just leaving.
We arrived in LA on schedule, and I figured it would be a good time to call the folks, play some hacky-sack, and eat a little before boarding the long flight to Melbourne. We saw some other group of kids with this badge - “People to People” - walking around in bright red polo shirts. They were supposed to be Ambassadors or something. Quite cute, even though most of them weren’t more than 12 years old. And they looked like they were too cool for school - we tried saying hi to a few of them, and they just ignored us. Haha.
And so it went on - we boarded the plane for an uber-long ass flight to Melbourne. I think it was some 14 hours long, insane. I don’t want to write too much about it. It was long, uncomfortable, and boring. I sat next to Allie, Andrew, and Bryan, but like - I was stuck in the middle column in one of those middle seats. Ick, cramped up like a mofo. It really, really sucked. I think I watched two movies, don’t remember what though. Who cares, at least that part is over.
Wednesday, June 23
We arrived in Melbourne, Australia. We lost a day after crossing the International Dateline - some complicated stuff they’re pulling on us. Wow, no lo comprendo. Anyway, we went through all the boring immigration stuff, and then got down to baggage. I got my cello back; I was truly overjoyed that nothing had caved in. Everything looked alright to me, but I took another picture of it, just in case…for iono what. Barbara told us to, so I did. Whatever, yo.
Time to board the busses. This wouldn’t be the last time, omg…so much bus riding this tour, I can’t even begin to tell you. So first off, we drive all around the city. I think it was a bit of a cloudy day, but that doesn’t matter. Meanwhile, I’m falling asleep in my seat. Melbourne’s really not that interesting. San Francisco’s more exciting, and obviously nothing beats Hong Kong. Hell, okay, some of the stuff was cool to look at. But anyway, we head off first to the Rialto Towers, where we disembark and go to the top of this building. There, I took a few pictures, bought a postcard for Vidya, and chilled for a while.
Lunch time. Back on the buses for another journey through the city. We passed by our hotel, and went to this place right next to the Yellow River, as they called it. Believe me, it was so yellow, it was like - brown. Nasty. Don’t even tell me what it reminds you of, cuz it’s time for lunch. There was this food court at some mall, I don’t remember. But it was a nice place. Lots of schoolboys and schoolgirls in uniform were just hanging out there. A few of us, including myself, headed to the Fish’n’Chips place. Very greasy, I mean, REALLY greasy. But quite good. I haven’t had such good Fish’n’Chips in so long. It reminded Jimmy of England (just thought I’d throw that in there).
Anyway, while I was finishing up my food, Jimmy makes this amazing discovery of the bathrooms. Before, we were curious about whether or not flushing the toilet made the water swirl the opposite direction because of the difference in gravity and hemisphere. Anyway, it turned out that the toilet flushing was just a mass of water coming straight down from every which way. Water doesn’t swirl Down Under. Don’t even ask me. Another thing weird is that there is “half flush” and “full flush.” What is the difference: I still don’t know. Anyway, Jimmy’s discovery: So in USA, we piss in troughs (like we used to have to at NHS) or in individual stalls. Well, Australia’s equivalent of a trough is a waterfall. I kid you not. A flat sheet of metal with indentations where your freaking piss is supposed to go. There is a dent where your line of pee is supposed to go down, or else it all sprays right back at your pants. Gentlemen, this is your “refined” way of taking a leak.
Well, back to this lunch hour. Jimmy, Brian, Andrew, and I decided not to stick around at the Food Court / Shopping Mall. We wander off across the river, across a few streets, just to check things out. It was good times. We wandered into some movie theater, into the Apple store, and into some quad where school-people were congregating. Just us, walking along. Anyway, we got back before it was time to board the buses again to go to the hotel. Ben bought a hacky-sack, so we just chilled in front of the food court entrance, playing “God.” I remember the one time I picked it up, I started looking for people to hit, and Ben was right in my way of Tim. Tim was ducked low, and so then Ben moved away, and I threw it at Tim, and hit him. Awesomeness.
Well, bus ride back to hotel. While we’re waiting for our keys and stuff, Emily and I start reading this article about some really good soccer player who ran into some trouble because she wore this turban thingy on her head for her religion. That’s hecka messed up. It’s not like that thing gives her an advantage or whatever. Just let her play; soccer’s such a pure sport, don’t let it start getting in conflict with religion. C’mon!
Anyway, hotel room. I’m rooming with Mike Kizzar, Joseph Jung, and Daniel Kwan. Honestly, I wasn’t too happy about these rooming assignments back when we found out. But happily, I was to have a complete change in opinion. Later that night, Charlie Stephen came over, and decided to room with us as well. And yea - they’re the coolest people I got to know during this tour.
Not much really went on after that. Bryan and I opened up our cellos, tuned, and practiced some music for Mendocino’s Music Festival. It was embarrassing for me. He knew how to do everything, and I was still stuck sight-reading everything poorly and all. Ick - I need to practice when I get home. I only have a week at home before leaving for Mendo. Welps, then we had dinner at the Café in the hotel. And this dinner, like most of the other dinners on this tour - wasn’t so great. The drinks were good, but they ran out too quickly and kept having to go into the kitchen to get more. But it’s okay - the less you eat, the less weight you gain.
Post-dinner was interesting. I went up to Jessica, Courtney, and Ale’s room for some poker. Playing Texas Hold’em for the first time is a unique experience, especially when I kept winning, but didn’t know what the heck I was doing. Once I figured it out though, I lost just about everything. There goes the beginner’s luck. Still a fun time.
And stupid curfew - that’s my only complaint about this tour. YPSO tour to New York had no curfew that was enforced. Here, people enforced curfew. Ugh, such bullshit. But that just means I have to go to sleep.
Thursday, June 24
This was the morning of our first concert. I got everything packed, and went to the Methodist Ladies College. O yea, in Australia, College is our form of high school, or less. In the audience of our concert were schoolgirls that were about my age, and some really young ones. We only played our light program. Emily got kinda pissed, cuz Bridget kept messing up the bowings. And then Bryan followed Bridget, which is something that should NEVER happen (lol). And I didn’t know WHAT to do, so I followed Bryan like I always do. And Tim and Emily follow me, so we were just about doing everything in the wrong direction. In the end, we sounded decent, but hell - I hate looking bad. It’s so unprofessional when a section has opposite bows from each other. It sucks, and it feels embarrassing.
After the concert, we did a bit of changing. I totally forgot it was a Ladies’ College, so I just kinda took off my dress pants in the middle of the hallway. And Jimmy and Andrew, who had done the same five minutes before, started yelling like chickens cuz some really young girl had stepped in. My bad, but damn, guys - it’s not like I was revealing anything. Shiznit.
Lunch. Sucked. Holy crap it was horrible. We were dropped off at downtown Melbourne. So Jimmy, Brian, Bryan, Andrew, Courtney, Ale, Jessica, and I went into this one place called “Fasta Pasta.” And by the name, you’d expect that it’d be quite “fasta” than the other places. We ordered 3 pizzas, and it took a fat 30 minutes to get our food. So we sat and chilled the whole time. And that’s kind of when I found that I didn’t really belong in that group. I don’t get much attention. Jessica and Ale are all over Andrew and Bryan. Courtney and Brian were flying sparks kinda. And I just didn’t fit in as well.
So after lunch, I found Tim and Thomas, and we went together. Logan found this shop with some shirts that he liked, but he couldn’t pay for them. Haha, this guy…So I used my VISA for him, and he’d pay me back in American cash. Those were some expensive shirts. They looked kinda metrosexual, but it was alright for Thomas. Two shirts, total came out to be like $120 AUS, which translates into $90 US. Wutever. And so the last great highlight of the day was the Condom Shop on the corner. So much funny shit in there. Andrew got me to try this one thing, and I got electric shocked. Insanity. And you only had to be 15 to get in. Seriously though, what if you actually cared to get something at the shop, and like - your best friend, or your biggest crush walked in just to play around. Wouldn’t it be a bit…embarrassing? Something to think about, eh?
Dinner, for the second night in a row, was shitty. Okay? So we go to this Vietnamese restaurant, which is supposed to be really nice (downstairs was beautiful). It’s in “Asia-town” of Melbourne. And what do they serve us? Lemon Chicken, spring rolls, sweet and sour pork, and rice. Omfg. You have got to be kidding me. They serve OYO face Chinese food. I mean - 75% of OYO is ASIAN, and you can’t do better than lemon chicken and sweet’n’sour pork? Good Gosh - that’s so sad. I had good mind to spit in their kitchen, the food was so horrible.
Oh yea, so I forgot to mention that Heghine, my awesome chaperone, had this idea to have a party with the whole orchestra. That was such a good idea. The only problem was - where? Shit I forget what it’s called, but there was this Casino directly across the Yellow River from where we were staying. So after doing my Internet Café thingy like I do just about every night, I went out with T-Lo and Tim to meet up with people. Except, every single dance thing required you to be 18 . So we headed to the arcade, and played some Air Hockey, DDR, and stuff like that. We were going to do laser tag or bowl, but people were being lazy, and we just kinda let that shit go down. That night, I had my Aussie equivalent of Jamba Juice. It was called “Boost” Juice Bar, and the shakes they had there ROCKED ICE. Lol. It was so good; yummy yummy yummy.
After that it was back to the hotel and back in bed.
Friday, June 25
I woke up early to run. I ran around the Casino place we hung out at the night before. It was kinda short, just 2.25 miles I think. I did it before showering and before breakfast. Just woke up a bit earlier, like twenty minutes, and went out. Nothing too special.
Hmmm, today was just a bunch of sight-seeing. We took a long ride out to Healesville Sanctuary to see the animals of Australia. Me, Tim, and Logan took our own route together, and saw everything. We took a bunch of pictures too. The Kangaroos are so cute! So are a bunch of all the other animals. Then at the gift shop, I bought boomerangs as gifts for people back home. That was basically the Healesville visit. It was fun, even though the weather was kind of rainy and such. Still good though.
Then it was another bus ride, to I don’t know where, but it was for the Puffing Billy Train Ride. SWEET. Who would name a train….Puffing Billy? Sounds like something Arie or Dan would like. Haha, anyway. While waiting to board PUFFING BILLY, Brian Walsh took out his mini-soccer ball, and we kicked it around in the small area we had. Then outta the blue, Bridget calls me over, to tell me that Emily runs for soccer training every morning. Wow that was random - so I was like, “Uh, cool.” And Emily’s like - right there yea? So Bridget’s all, “you guys should go.” And my “mom” asks for me - “Can he go with you guys?” And Emily, she’s nice - doesn’t like to refuse anyone, so she says, “If you want…” I’m like, “uh huh, we’ll see, maybe.” Lol - speaking of random. And then like while boarding my favorite train, Bridget comes by me, and slaps my ass. What was SHE smoking? Phew…
The Ride was awesome. Great view of everything. This ride was in the mountain range that was inland a ways from Melbourne. All the big cities are on the coast, so yea - mountains are cool. Great view, and it was fun just sitting on the sill and hanging out of the train, trying to catch the steam that the engine was putting out. Good shiznit. And after the ride, when we’d left from the gift shop, we played more soccer in a more open area. Josh, Sam, Jimmy, Brian, me, and some others. Josh is a really good defender. He just comes up to me and tries to take the ball, and sometimes he manages to. I was pulling moves all over the place; it was fun, especially when I slipped on the wet ground, and fell flat on my face. Yuckiness.
Dinner at the Hard Rock Café. Guess what was on the big screen? European Cup 2004, England vs. Portugal. We just sat there and watched the whole dinner. My dinner was not at all great. The steak I had asked for was too thin, and overcooked. Boo. Anyway, Jimmy, Brian, and I sat there rooting for England alongside most others in OYO and Australia, while Ale decides to root for Portugal. I think it was a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation, and then a 2-2 tie at the end of overtime. And we were just in the middle of the penalty shootout, when we had to go. So then Ale, smarty she is - asks the waitress what the final outcome of the game was (the match had taken place early that morning, we were just watching a replay). And then she screams to Bwalsh that Portugal won 5-4 on PKs. And Walsh is dejected. I really don’t have emotions for any team, I just liked England more than Fag-o (Figo) and Fake Ronaldo of Portugal. O well - but Brian was sure pissed. Haha.
Back at the hotel, it was time for the real festivities to begin. So it’s then I find out that Mike Kizzar, who hung around the group with Jessica, Ale, and Courtney, wasn’t wanted anymore. So I call the girls’ room, and ask them if they’re doing anything, and they ask me if Mike is there. And I say yes, and they tell me that they’re turning in early. Well, I didn’t know about Mike’s situation, so I thought they were rejecting me. Ayyy, so I make my way over to the room with Eboni, Bridget, Kate, Emily, Andrew, Josh, Dan, Charlie, Ericka, Sydney, Raymond, and I know there’s more, I just can’t quite recall their location. And yea for a while we played some cards, and then the ladies felt like watching “Little Women” on TV. OOOMG. Lol. Are you joking me? I left, but then came back.
Yea, that was kinda the first night I got to know some other people from OYO. Before, I had just stuck with like the Tall Blondes, and the White chics, et cetera. Finally I found some more people. Now I had more options and stuff - awesomeness. So then Me, Jimmy, and Timmy went out to the Internet café to check out stuff once more. And on the way home we bought ice cream for everyone. But the Whites had left their room, so we took the food over to Bridget’s room. But then Tim was being a biatch, so they kicked him out, and we took the ice cream, and all the guys in Bridget’s room came over to Jimmy and Timmy’s room. We ate. Yummy Yummy. O yea - and we told the girls (Yongeun, Ashley, and Sarah) next door to Jim and Tim that we had ice cream, and they just scurried over here. Meanwhile, they forgot their key as the door closed behind them. And after the ice-cream was all finished, they couldn’t get back into their room. Ayy, so then came the painful process of going downstairs with Sarah Lee to get another room key to get into the room, and then returning the key to downstairs. All that craziness.
And then it was such an early night, Sarah and I just kinda hung around the hotel and talked about all kinds of things. I’d write all about what we talked about, but like, I don’t know if she would want me to be writing about our convos. So yea - wutever.
And we slept, kinda later than normal though, O well.
Saturday, June 26
Was gonna meet Emily, Monica, and Yennie down to run at 7:15am, but ehh, slept in until 7:30. I came downstairs just as I saw Monica and Yennie, all sweaty, going back in or something. And yes, I ran too. Ran a bit further this time. I like running in the cold air, it’s pleasant, and it feels like it’s harder to get tired. Or rather, the feeling of getting tired is just less painful. But anyway, ran around that area, had quite some fun.
Then it was off to the market. Queen Victoria Market - a better name would be, Cheap Fleaboy Market. The parking lot there - used to be a cemetery. And they didn’t quite remove all the coffins when the whole cemetery moved. So your car could be on top of a….eww, don’t even wanna think about it.
So T-Lo, Tim, and I left the huge group again, and just walked around. Bought some stuff, like another boomerang, and a fake Manchester United Jersey. Man, it was so dang fake that even the club logo thingy is all wrong. Didn’t even notice till I left. O well, didn’t cost much though, and it looks real from a distance. So I’ll take it. Tim bought some Uggz (fake, no doubt), and T-Lo bought a belt. We tried to do some bargaining, but it didn’t work. We were too young I guess. Anyway, we didn’t get far enough in the market. We only got like 2 hours, and there were sooo many stands. We got through like - a third of it all, and had to get lunch before leaving for the concert. So, it was time for Macca’s (McDonald’s, for all you Cali people). I’m kind of glad - the fast food they have Down Under isn’t nearly as greasy, and everything is one size smaller, so it’s really not that bad. It just gets really bad when you eat it - EVERY DAY. But anyway…
So we head off the Haileybury College, which is like an hour out of town. It’s basically a high school, where you can board in it and stuff. We had rehearsal. O, I left my rockstops at hotel, as well as a lot of other cellists. So Ted comes up with this ingenious way of doing the duct-tape to make our ends not slip as much. It was glorious. Anyway, we sucked at the beginning of rehearsal, like we always do. And it got a bit better, but hell - we were all feeling the nerves.
The nerves just kept rising when Melbourne Youth Orchestra took the stage. They were playing Shostakovich’s First Symphony, I think…First stands got to sight-read with them for rehearsal, and it sounded pretty good. I got bored of the rehearsal though, and so me, Brian Walsh, Jimmy, Andrew, Josh, and some others went out to play w/ Walsh’s small soccer ball. Fun stuff. We organized a pickup game in the quad. Only problem was, whenever I scored, I’d lean back to shoot, so I kept hitting the window sills and shit. This dude came out and yelled at us like WHOA. So uhhh, we left. Lol.
Went to the grass tennis court to play. And it was cool too, they had the goals marked out already. So that was me, busting out my moves. I’ll admit, so much of it was just showing off, but another part was actually me trying to get a feel for the soccer ball, which I would need for a long time. So yea, I’d run around and through crowds of people, doing my thing. I got through once or twice, got killed a few times, and got eliminated by Jimmy on a few 1v1 occasions. Hell, all in good fun. Anyway, Tim and Andrew started getting bored, and started playing Aussie Football or Rugby, iono what, with the ball. So I just left. Sweaty as frick….had to lose the undershirt. Not good, cuz I don’t feel good just wearing a dress shirt during a concert. Ay.
Dinner was actually kind of nonexistent. Just a bunch of sandwiches laying out there on the table, and people would come up to take some or whatever. Not too exciting. Just chilled with some people. And then Tim, Jim, Andrew, and Bryan went to do their hair into faux hawks. I went in to join them. Iono what possessed me. My hair was so long. Brian’s was long, but it managed to stay. I did it, but it kept falling forward, and all over the place. Sheeit, so then I finish with my nasty ass head, and Bnies is in our dressing room, telling us about the concert. He knew we were kind of intimidated by this bunch. I mean, MYO’s average age was 18. They were pretty crazy. But yea, Nies told us not to worry, and just to play. And we got our energy going. The vibes were right. Amanda sees my hair, and all she can do as a response is point and stare. Emily sees it, and shakes her head, telling me to take it out. Five minutes later, she says the same thing. I’d been like, having self doubts myself. I don’t like having nasty hair. So I’m back in the bathroom, blowdrying, and just shaking all that shit out of my hair. And when it was all dry, and fluffy again. Yea, that was sexy. Just a random hairdo, like a bird’s nest kinda. I liked it more - very natural. Haha. Actually, it looked half retarded, but it was still awesome.
So back out at the concert; MYO had the first half. Umm, at this point I kinda found Ale to be a tad annoying. All she could talk about was the Shostakovich she got to rehearse earlier. She was singing parts and shit, as if she was cooler than the whole lot of us. And yea - it really got annoying. Mind you, I still think she’s cool. But I thot I’d mention that I found her to be a bit troubling that night. And so, Me, T-Lo, and Tim sit next to each other. I think Logan was the first to fall asleep. I was nodding off, and Tim was out like a light. Funniness, I must admit. The only part I cared to hear was the fourth movement, when it all turned into Major key. That was awesome; Bnies had told us to watch for that: it was Shostie saying a nice little “F*ck You” to all the communists or something. And yes, that was glorious. It was beautiful.
Now, our part of the concert. We were quite a bit energized by the great ending of MYO’s playing of the Symphony. So, the pumpage went on stage. And yea - the first few notes of the Rimsky Korsakov were a bit tentative, but it just got better and better. It was the best concert I’ve played…ever. I hit like, everything. And I hit it all with a passion. I was drained after that concert, but it was so so so so great. Loved it.
And we knew we played a great concert (I think…I know I thot we did). So it was all good, at least we felt like we held our own against a group that was older than us. Welps, that was our first concert. Going back to hotel was just a sleep-filled journey. And then we had to pack to get ready to leave for Sydney the next day. Only got a few hours of sleep.
More to come when I get home (like Sydney...etc...)