Day 7 - Northbridge (ft. Yoga in the Park)

Street Art (Among my favourites so far)

It was a slow start, but I rolled out of bed and had an assorted lunch of PBnJ, a Banana, a Coconut, and instant coffee. I’m in the land of good coffee, so I’ve been told, and I’ve taken a big step down to drinking instant all the time. Damn you, poverty! But hey, the hostel provides it, and it does the trick. It’s also strange that I’ve taken to eating coconuts since I got here (2 for $5), especially since I didn’t think they grew here. After googling, I am wrong; they grow commonly on the north coast. Thank you, Google.

Street art that has developed over this week

I lazed about with Andy, and spoke to a British girl who had shown up, waiting for a room. They compared notes of south east Asia while I continued to dig the flesh out of my coconut (which sounds a little like I’m eating my head). I extended my room a couple nights, and made my way to the gym, feeling like I was lacking energy (which didn't make sense, given the breakfast size).

When I was first shown around the gym, I thought “who showers at the gym?” because I always showered at home in Canada. Now, I am looking forward to those lockable rooms with a nice, consistent temperature of water. The weights are all in kg, so I’m getting better at converting it to pounds, as I have no idea how many kilos I can do. I probably look mildly disabled staring at the weights as if they’re a puzzle to be solved. Maybe they think I’m trying to move it with my mind.

Big Ton (The Speedo King)

I noticed a nearby sushi place that sold “any 2 rolls for $5” so I grabbed some of them to eat on the way back and stopped by the Job Shop, which is only open from 11am-2pm in person.  I dropped off my things, posted day 4, and went to explore the area with Australian Simonette (her dad’s name is Simon, her mom is Annette). We talked about the random art, and compared accents and cultures while she taught me how to speak with the Australian accent more authentically. I’m getting better, and I hope to have it down before I leave.

We got Japanese food from a place called “Old Shanghai” which is like a strip mall for asian food. There was a nearby park where we ate and watched people do yoga. We watched the yoga and the seagulls watched us. Seagulls kind of make sense to me as to how they’ve gotten aro

They sell bottles of Ginger beer and Bourbon
(Dry means with ginger beer, apparently)

und the world. They probably stowed away on ships and/or flew across small waterways. But what’s with the pigeons?! They appear to be everywhere in the world, and the best explanation I can come up with is carrier pigeons. Flying rats, everywhere. Anyway, I bought some really cheap wine on the way back to the hostel.

Yuzu sat making parts of jewelry with thread, while Christine, Andy, and I drank some wine before deciding to walk to the local Little Caesars and get some food. Yuzu continued working. We brought the pizza back and ate while teaching Yuzu random words and phrases. We’ve got a pretty good system down where I speak slowly, and sort of mimic the choppiness of her words back, and she seems to really want to be taught the language. She’s definitely gotten a lot better, and has even mastered more difficult words like “absolutely,” “certainly,” and “marvellous.” I have fared much less well with Japanese, even with the few phrases she gave us (even something as simple as 'thank you' feels really long).

Andy and Yuzu showing off their new tongues

Yuzu trying to give me a piggyback

Andy taught us to play Kings corner, which, of course, Yuzu won a number of times. She has incredible luck with the cards, and we jokingly said we should go to the casino with her. She told us that she went to the casino in Australia for the first time and won $80, which confirms her lucky streak. Even in 'Golf', she kept either zeroing out, and sometimes getting negatives. Yuzu was offering us each a bite of her snickers bar, which we all declined. We weren't sure if it was only a gesture, which got prompted Andy to talk about his British dilemma: He feels obliged to offer chips, but doesn't actually want to give them.

"Crisps?" he says as he leans forward, bag in hand, all the while thinking 'please don't take any, please don't take any.' This continues on until he's covered everyone in the group. Even now, as I edit this on day 12, I keep laughing at the image of it.

We played a few rounds of kings corner, and called it a night. I now have two Italian roommates, one named Luca and the other I don’t quite recall the name of (I think it's Matthew, but it could be Mattello). Pretty sure they’re brothers.

Yoga in the Park

Bonus Pic: Nichole hates to be in the frame

Yuzu, Nichole, and Andy (Showing Hipster Hitler)