The Macklemore Adventure.

So, remember way back when, when I mentioned that I was arriving early just to spend an evening seeing my favorite musical combination in a long while?

Well. I did it.

I made it here and I saw them.

It wasn't easy.

I didn't have a ticket or much of a game plan, but my some miracle I wrangled a ticket just before show time.

They performed Sunday the 17th.

From the second I landed in Perth on the 14th, I immediately commenced operation get Taylor a ticket.

I searched all web browsers with limited internet connectivity. Discovered new websites. And low-balled some people trying to play hard ball with ticket prices.

This plan of action pretty much got me no where.

As of Sunday at 6pm, I was headed to the concert venue from my newly acquired living arrangements on campus without a ticket.

Hahahahhah. New city, night time travel back downtown via public transportation, but enough money in my pocket to surely get something from someone. This wasn't a recipe for disaster or anything.

After arriving at the beautiful venue, I worked on making a few scouting friends to see if they had any tickets.  When they didn't, they helped me find more people who might. So thanks new besties!

Here are some quick photos of the venue area the day before the concert when I was scoping it out for possible points of entry:

**This is the box office. The evening before the concert, I almost talked this lady into overselling the venue for one extra ticket. I was soooo close too. Close, but no shebang. 

This was a message I sent my dad just a half hour before scheduled start time when I thought all was hopeless:

"Sitting outside of macklemore venue now. I've tried everything in my playbook to get a ticket, but no shebang. I'll try to not get arrested."

I really thought I was going to have to figure out a way to jump a wall. The message I didn't send him was going to be asking if credit cards could bail one out of jail internationally. What can I say. A girl was desperate. So sue me.

So, anyways. At the very last minute, I saw a huddle of guys trying to scrap up a few more dollars. I walked over there, asked what the going bid was, and offered right off $30 higher, cash, on the spot.

I felt bad for the poor kids when their mouths just dropped. 

Needless to say, the gent quickly ended the sale and I landed myself a Macklemore ticket.

I almost fainted with how excited I was. I mean... I can't even begin to describe the overwhelming joy that I experienced once I had my wristband on and was walking into the venue.

The third night in Perth was one of the most amazing nights of my entire life. And I don't regret any of the cost or minimal stress that went into finding a ticket. It was worth every damn penny.

So enjoy a few blurry pictures of my fantastic view:

Landing in Paradise

HELLO ALL.

I AM ALIVE.

SORRY IF ANY OF YOU WERE WORRYING.

My B on dropping off the earth there for a hot sec.

Okay, so I've been in Perth, Western Australia (WA) since Thursday, February 14th. And it's been absolutely glorious since then.

The first few days, I stayed in a hotel downtown. Compared to the marvelous accommodations I had in Singapore, this was a dinky little hole in the wall. Still wonderful though.

But unlike Singapore, I didn't sleep until 5pm my first day and miss out on sight-seeing and excitement. Also unlike Singapore, there wasn't any god awful rain. Win-Win. Go Perth.

So here are some pictures of walking around the first few days...

Apparently if you come down unda you need to have a beef pie. No ifs, ands, or buts.

Okay... so I haven't had one yet, but I hear I have to. I just love this sign though. Fab, yes?

And this... vanilla maple nut swirl drumsticks?! Is that a thing?

More views of the city... gorgeous.

And then this ad... how exciting is this?!

So, my first few days in paradise, I spent exploring alone. And it was fabulous. I met wonderful people, got a  handle for the super easy to navigate public transit system, and quickly fell in love with a city.

I'm sorry for such a brief probably less than impressive post in such a long time, but I'm trying!!!

More to update soon!

xoxo

 

Singapore, I'm breaking up with you.

It's not me, it's you.

Okay, well maybe it's partly me, but it's mostly you.
Fine, it could be 50-50 you and me.
Ohmygosh, calm down, fine. It's all me.

It's been fun, Singapore. But, I've got to move on.
I'm over your bipolar temperament.
You're all over the place, Singapore, and I just can't handle it.

To be fair, I tend to judge cities pretty harshly when my first experience is rain. So don't feel alone, it's why I also don't like NYC.
I had some good experiences, some weird ones, and some less than ideal ones.
And all of that happened in the span of three days.
That's just too much flippy-floppy for me.

So, what I'm saying is, don't be too upset that I've moved on.

Let me break it down for you day by day.

Day One:

• Arrive in Singapore at 2:00am local time.
• Check in to the most glorious hotel you've ever seen. Views as follow:

 

• Enjoy a luxurious bubble bath circa 3:00am.
• Decide I've been up for long enough/way too long, go to sleep.
• Re-wake up at 5:00pm.
• Decide to venture outside for food.

 

Run into the Singapore Flyer and all of it's glory

• Figure out everything is closed for Chinese New Year.
• Note: Everything will be closed for the Lunar New Year for most of your trip. You'll learn to deal with this. You'll enjoy the beauty around you through the celebrations. 

Trucks like these were driving around the city filled with dragon dancers

Oranges filled the city in the festive spirit with added touches of red

• Find a Thai place still serving food. Eat there.
• Walk around for awhile.
• Decide you should go back and look up things to do/places to go/people to see.
• Get back to hotel and decide it's actually dessert time.
• Meet the guy in charge of the restaurants, have him lead you around showcasing desserts. Let him talk you into a $8 2x2" piece of cake and a $15 mocktail.
• In all seriousness though, this guy's name is Rafael. And he's amazing. If you ever stay at the Pan Pacific in Singapore, make a point of meeting Rafael. He'll take you on a food tour of the entire facility, which, trust me, is needed. He'll recommend things based on your state of mind, and he's spot on. Even better? He'll remember you the next time he sees you and we'll greet you just as warmly.
• Hang out in the bar.
• Decide it's nighttime, technically, so you should go back to bed.
• Watch TV/movies until the wee hours of the morning.
• Have your bff talk you into just staying up.

Day Two:

• Start your day at 530am after not sleeping.
• Go to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.
• Okay, if you stay at the Pan Pacific, or even if you visit Singapore and don't stay at the Pan, I would highly recommend spending a morning at their brunch. First, it's expensive. It's ridiculously expensive, but it's also worth most of the pennies. You get a tour around all of Asia in one morning from the comfort of a classy establishment downstairs. But they have more than just Asian food, they have food from everywhere in the world. Prefer morning crepes? Or pastries? Or eggs any style? Or the lame-o that spends $50 for only a cup of oatmeal? They have it. All of it. It really did just get my morning started off on the right foot, and hey, it worked as a meal for the whole day.
• Decide to visit the zoo.
• Figure out how to get to the zoo from a combination of google maps, free Singapore maps, and concierge staff.
• You decide on the bus route in order to see more of the city.
• After waiting for over an hour with 3 some buses passing you by, you finally get one to stop long enough to figure out why nobody will pick you up and make X's with their arms while passing you. In the quick conversation, he tells you that this is a drop up only stop. He's not sure where they pick up to go the other way. From the sounds of it, they just don't? How is that even possible you wonder.
• Decide to take the subway/train instead.
• Get to bus terminal. Transfer to zoo bus.

 

• Get in line to wait for ticket. Buy ticket. Commence complete downpour by mother nature. lovely.
• But that's okay. You were prepared for this situation. You brought your rain coat with you. Aren't you a thinker.
• Wander around the zoo for a few hours, see the shows they offer, take advantage of everything, and get completely soaked anyways.

• Take the bus back to the train transfer station. Wander around the area for a while. Find yourself in street markets with ducks hanging and all sorts of other odds and ends.

• Again don't figure out how to take the bus home, so get on the subway. It's not that bad of a deal since it goes above ground for much of the journey.
• Think you're being clever and you've figured out a short cut on getting home. Take said short cut.
• Note: short cut will actually end up being a long cut. You're still completely soaked and now you're lost. Instead of doing the smart thing and going back from where you came to start over, you continue to wander around. The downtown has a scenic sky line with land marks you remember. So, you walk around looking up at the sky until you think you know where you are.

• Note to the note: You still have no idea where you are. You're still lost. But, you've found a shopping mall with different things and stores and restaurants. So, you wander around that until you find some decently priced food.

• Note amendment: Turns out you sort of knew where you were and via the sky line and some visual cues, you find your way back to the hotel with a dinner still warm.
• Because you stayed up the whole night, and you've spent most of the day lost in transit, you're absolutely exhausted.
• Crash early without shame. You deserve it.

Day Three: 

• Wake up ridiculously early due to an early bed time.
• Check in with the world since you don't have much anything else to do at 5:30am local time.
• Finally rouse and enjoy a later brunch at the Pan Pacific again. It's delicious. It happens. No regrets.
• Per the recommendation of Rafael, you decide to spend the day checking out Little India and Arab Street.
• Again, you turn to the magic that is your resources and figure out a train route to get there. 
• This time you experience sweet, sweet success in the subway route. Victory.
• Walk around Little India for a long while. Here is where you will regret using up every last inch of space in your luggage. Beautiful everything graces your eyes at incredibly reasonable prices.

A tiny tribute to CNY in the middle of Little India.

• Based on your map knowledge, you conclude that it would make most sense to walk to Arab St. So, you do.
• Arab Street is THE store for aspiring designers. Beautiful fabrics, beads, and jewels of all sorts. If only you were the aforementioned.
• You don't feel like you're so far from your start point, so look into the skyline for details on getting back and start making the trek. 
• Note: You were wrong. Again. The way back is much farther than it looks. But hey, you're a trooper and technically speaking you have two working feet attached to two working legs, so carry on.

• At this point it's late afternoon and again raining. You feel like you've pretty much done all you can with the time you were given, so you go back to the various shopping malls just to browse the foreign stocked items and marvel at the prices.
• Get back to the hotel room after some surprisingly decent mall sushi and get ready to go out.
• Decide that you're now a writer and you must write all the time.
• Go the the hotel bar and enjoy over-priced everything while writing.
• Decide that you're not actually a writer and you're actually exhausted.
• Call it a day.

Day Four: 

• It's pouring rain. It pretty much seems like a tsunami outside. This doesn't bare well for any last minute adventures before your flight out of this country.
• Head to the airport after check out. Don't feel guilty about wasting a day. It's disgusting out and you've done quite a bit. Way to go.
• Catch plane out of the country. Promptly fall asleep and wake up in Australia. Well done, you've made it.

So here's the deal, Singapore.

A lot of things were spectacularly new. And that was fabulous.

The fact that English is the language of choice is pretty sweet deal.

But, even though English is the norm, nobody actually speaks English. Sure, people do when interacting with staff anywhere, but in the day to day everyone is speaking his or her native language. Which is fine and all, but you've never felt so isolated. 

Somehow, I managed to not run into another American my entire stay. Not one, not once, not anywhere.

I think had it not been raining, had I not been alone, and had I had more room in my luggage, I may not be so keen on breaking up with you. But for now it's just the way it has to be.

Sorry love, better luck with the next girl.

XOXO