Uly's Blog

Hi I'm Uly.

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

I had wonderful holiday with my host family in Brisbane!

I went to... SABWAY - I know, I know, there are Subway shops in Japan too, but I have never been to Subway even in Japan, so anyway it was my first Subway. yummy! WOOLRORTHS -
is one of my favourite supermarkets. Everything in the supermarket is huge, so it is just so funny for me. I bought green bags not to use plastic shopping bags to save environment everytime I went there. Jennifer's house - Beautiful! I visited Jennifer's new house for the first time. The house is like an expensive brand's boutique. Jennifer has a great sense of art, so she did some of the house's design. They have a beautiful swimming pool, and water come and fall from the wall to the pool. Gold Coast - My host parents and Shauna and I stayed at unit at Gold Coast for four days. The place has many swimming pools, tennis courts, paths with lots of tropical plants & flowers, theater, etc. I enjoyed dog paddle races with Shauna in the swimming pool, and talking with a lovely girl who I met in the swimming pool. The girl was very friendly and lovely. I also enjoyed hot bath near the pools there. Greg's unit - Greg and Louise stayed at unit very close to the beach. There was long wide beach just in front of their place. Greg & Louise's unit was on level 14, and I saw beautiful scenery from the veranda. All the wall were clear doors, so we enjoyed nice breeze. I felt as if I was sitting on a sofa in the sky. The other day we visited there again for BBQ. Many of family members got together, and we all spent relaxed, peaceful time. I played with Gracy all day there. Louise gave me very delicious coffee, and we took photo of everyone together. Sushi Train - We went to sushi train near our unit. I took some dishes of sushi, and they were very delicious, but I enjoyed eating sweets a lot. I ate mousse, cakes, greentea rolls, etc. I really ate a lot! Pacific Fair - is a big shopping center near our unit. There are a lot of shops of clothes & shoes & hats & bathers & etc, and lots of food shops. I bought 2 pairs of thongs just by $8. Shauna and I went to MYER, and I bought PLAYBOY's bathers for Shauna. After that we went to SUPRE, and I bought 2 funny tops and 1 skirt. Those 3 clothes are very my favourite. I hope that I have chance to wear them in next summer. Casino - In Australia, I look 14 years old! so workers looked at me, and made strange faces when I registered. They asked me to show a certification. Sigh, 14 years old... Beach - In the morning of the last day at our unit, we went to the beach near our place. There was nice breez, but it was a bit too rough, so we couldn't swim in the sea, but walking along the beach was so nice and relaxing. I found a lot of pretty shells, birds, jellyfish, and other strange things. The beach was beauuutiful. Later Greg came to our unit, and Greg and my host father and I were talking while Shauna and host mother were swimming. Home - we came back to our house from the unit, and finally I could see Conor and Stephen. I enjoyed ice cream and snacks with kids, and did homework with Emma. I had dinner with the boys and Barbara. Coles - is another my favourite supermarket. I could buy lots of Aussie souvenirs in the shop there. The shop person was very friendly, and she discounted a lot. I was surprised, as I did not expect it at all, and I was happy. Tennis court - My host parents and their neighbors share swimming pool and tennis court. I went to the tennis court and played tennis with Shauna. I was exhausted, but Shauna was not tired at all! I like playing tennis there, so I go there everytime I go back. School - Michael sends Shauna to her school by a car everyday, so I went with them, and I walked around the school for a while. Classrooms are not open til the class is started, so students were all waiting here and there. Home - we had a full house one day, and everyone got together except Jennifer's because Greg and Louise would go back to Ireland the next day. It was very very dificult to follow when everyone spoke here and there at the same time, but it was a good listening practice, anyhoo. We took a photo of everyone -together. Stafford - is a theatre. Everytime I go back to Brisbane, I go to see movies which people in Japan cannot see yet. This time I saw "Spanglish" with Shauna. It was good, but I wish I knew more Spanish words, so that I could enjoy it even more. I wanted to see some more movies like "Hitch" and "Be Cool" and other comedy movies, but this time, I just enjoyed "Spanglish". I want to see it again when it comes to Japan. Koala Park - Well, there is just one koala bear there, but there are a lot of information to learn about koala and other animals. When we visited Jennifer's, Jennifer took us to the park. It was a very interesting place. Surprisingly, the koala woke up, and moved a bit, so I could take good photos of it. UQ - means 'University of Queensland'. My host sister, Barbara works at a travel agency in the uni, so I went with Barbara, and visited its orientation. The uni is huge, so I walked around places of UQ all day til Barbara finished her job. There is a river along UQ, and I took a boat. The boat is called "City Cat". Pretty name, isn't it? The boat trip was nice and relaxing. I will take it again next time. Hospital - Michael had to go to hospital for check up, so I went with him. The hospital there was amazing. It is like a expensive hotel. Each room is for private room, and each room has its own bath room, shower room, tv, telephone, etc. Michael could even oder dinner from the menu from his room! There are nice cafe and shops in the hospital. what a hospital! Macro - is another my favourite shop. Things there are quite cheap. They sell lots of chocolate eggs for Easter in this season. Nicky's house - is very huge and wide too. I wonder why people have such huge houses there... I said the house is huge, and Nicky said 'no it's tiny'! They also have nice and quite deep swimming pool. They also have many funny buoys. Nicky took photos of everyone. I wore yukata for the photos! Nicky made the photos by using computer, and gave me the photos & disc of those pictures. Those are special for me. We had dinner there, and I really liked Barbara's spinich quiche. We watched 'Spiderman'on TV together. Church - going to church is one of the interesting things I do when I go back. I enjoy greeting to others, hearing people's singing, chatting with my host parents' friends there. One of my host parents' friends remembers me even we just met and talked for a while last year. I was very happy about that. Michael read some part of the book in front of people. I would be so nervous if it were me, I thought, but he did a good job. Museum - I went to museum with Shauna. We saw lots of interesting, yucky, scary things like info of animals in danger, models of old cars, statues of women for old life in Australia, dinosaurs, spiders, ants, butterflies, frogs, birds, other bugs, etc. The museum is free to enter, but we paid to enter a special section "How to Make a Monster". It was very interesting. We could see lots of monsters, statues and other devices which are used in the movies. We also watched a video that people are making those monsters. we could touch the materials of the monster's body. It was yucky and scary for me! We took lots of photos there. Nicky picked up us, and I enjoyed playing games with Conor & Stephen. We played Play station, Air hockey, jigsaw pazzle, football, etc. They went swimming, and we saw a possum coming on the fense! South Bank - Maureen took Roisin and me to South Bank. We went there on the train. it was my first time to take tran in Australia, and it was nice. We had cakes at cafe near Glifith Uni. There are swimming pools at the South Bank. I saw lots of little kids' swimming with their parents. They were all so cute. Roisin enjoyed swimming and making cakes of sand with leaves and stones. It is a lovely place, looks like beach. Australian Acting Academy - Shauna takes lessons at AAA on Mondays, so I send her there by a car. In Australia I drove a car quite often. I love driving, so it was fun. City Hall - People can see a music show at the city hall, and it is free. Performances are always different every week. When we went there, there were four singers and one pianist. They were very good singers, and the show was funny. I couldn't understand the jokes very much, but I still enjoyed their funnt performances and costums. It was around noon, so I saw lots of old people there. Maybe, I was the youngest person in the hall then... Sizzler - once you pay, you can eat as much as you want at Sizzler, and there is no time limit. I enjoyed lots of different kind of salad. K-mart - is also my fave shop. I bought jigsaw pazzle and toys for kids. After that we ate Maureen's quiche for dinner and apple tart for dessert. They were really yummy. My host parents have dinner around 17:30! very early! Balcony - My host parents have big balcony in the big garden. At the balcony, Maureen & Emma & I made Birthday cards for Roisin, as her birthday is March 8th. We had seat at the balcony, and decorate our cards. There was nice breez outside, and it was not too hot on that day, so it was very comfy and happy. My sister made karuta for my host parents' grandkids, and it arrived on that day, so I played the karuta with Emma. She enjoyed knowing Japanese words. Swimming pool - Maureen & Roisin & I went swimming in our neibor. I had race with Roisin, and played being shark, Nemo, dolphin, polar bear, etc. In the evening, I cooked rice & noodles with vegetables. Maureen & Michael tried using chopsticks. BBQ - Catherine's boss, Mr. David Smith and his wife Mrs. Ann Smith invited us for BBQ at their house, so we went over. David & Ann are very nice and friendly people. They have beutiful deck, and we had dinner there. The deck is really beautiful and tropical. I loved it, and I could look down their beautiful swimming pool and spa. We enjoyed swimming and spa even 1-year-old Tara. After that we had fruits, and left 'the tropical heaven'. Party - on my last day, everyone got together at Nicky's. We had big lunch like sausages, quiche, eggs, lots of salad, etc. I really ate a lot. Everyone went into the swimming pool, and enjoyed swimming and playing there. After that we had coffee, cakes, fruits. We played a game 'celebrity's who am I?'. Mine was Brian McFaden, but I couldn't get the answer. People left quite early as the ext day was Monday. I took photo with everyone, and said good-bye. In the evening, I watched a video of Jennifer's baby with Maureen & Michael & Shauna. I first-watched baby's video, so I was so amazed and touched and happy.

This blog is quite longer than I expected, so I will introduce people I met on next blog. Maybe I should have introduced people first... anyhoo, please ask me anything about my holiday there on comment.