My first day with really hot weather - Can I handle 38 degrees?

Obviously not. I was dizzy from the heat. However, it could have been worse (I could have fainted?).

But see the chart! The temperature drops 20 degree within 24 hours! I think I will have more problems adjusting to different temperature through the same day - then adjusting to just heat.

I wish for a better body thermostat for christmas!

A nice and windy sunday trip to Torquay

95 km south-west from Melbourne, lies the city of Torquay - a sleepy surfer and beach town. Good place to go for surfing lessons or sky diving.
(I don't think I'll ever sky dive - but I started to think that I might try surfing lessons next time!)

A friend (a Singaporian friend of a Norwegian friend actually) was going there with her husband who had booked surf lessons - and they asked me to come since I have never been there before. It was very nice of them having me tag along - I really like to travel by car and I really like the ocean:D

So while he was surfing - we went for a fish & chip take-away lunch by the beach side and then sat by the beach in a sun tent (which threatened to escape with the heavy wind).


So, this sunday as well goes into the bunch of nice Melbourne sundays:)
I wish the week had at least two of them.

Part III: Best of the Independent Games Festival 2009

The second exhibition at the ACMI I went to was the "Best of the Independent Games Festival 2009" exhibition displaying lots of games from independent game developers to try. I tried all of them. Some of the games were impressingly fun and cute. I have attached pictures and links for the two I liked the best here:

Machinarium (which I tried before) by Amanita Design

Demo for free here.

Blueberry Garden by Erik Svedäng

You can try a demo here for free.

Part II: Screen World Exhibition

Since it was close by, I went to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) to check out their exhibitions.
The first exhibition I went to was the Screen World Exhibition which displayed lots of different aspects of the screen world from the internet, Australian movies, and movie techniques such as time delays and use of colors.

I loved the absolutely beautiful short movie Faulty Fandangle by Anthony Lucas (picture above). And I had great fun at the shadow play display where one could make shadow rabbits or monsters and somehow the big screen showing added some extra features (Like fangs) and noises (bird, monster and other noises).... Super fun - but I had to let other children play as well:/

My artsy and interactive saturday - Part I

After two weeks here, I thought I should see some of Melbourne's well-known sights. So I went to Flinders Train Station

and Federation square where a American street performer was entertaining the crowds.

Christmas party at work

I attended a christmas party with the Adolescent center here. It was fun - included good food, nice people and drinks.

My name was typically drawn up from a hat and I participated in a green quiz raffle where my buzz sound was a environmental shower (I think). I managed to understand some of the questions (sometimes quickly spoken English doesn't compute for me) - and got the third prize (of three) amongst this lovely green hand puppet which I love! I also got organic super nice white chocolate, toilet paper, tea, oregano, and lots of other neat stuff.

And my secret Kris Kringle was a big pink box which said MY THINGS. I like that too!

Hurrah! I found a place to stay!

After several inspections, I finally found a place to stay! The apartment hotel I have been staying at is a bit expensive and I'm moving out the 22nd of December.

I have been to quite a few inspections and have been looking for a place with a flatmate (was a tad too expensive to stay alone). So I have very quickly visited quite a couple of places in Brunswick, North Melbourne, Carlton and North Carlton, the CBD, and the Southbank. I have seen small boxed studio apartments, one bedders, cosy town houses, apartments in the centre of the city with a fabulous view from the 20th floor and one apartment in which the facilities included a large gym and an outdoor swimming pool and tennis court! I have met nice and fun people, people that were a tad strange and a girl wearing a bunny pyjamas when meeting me. Apparently, it seems like there exists a strange correlation between strangeness of people and niceness of apartments. For instance, the really large and quite cheap apartment which included the outdoor swimming pool - came with the bunny pyjamas girl and she didn't have any furniture and stored all her stuff on the floor all around the apartment. That probably works for her - but not for me.

So, in the end I am going to share an apartment with a nice dane at 8. Dorcas Street which also has a hotel (which website includes some of the attractions around the area) in the Southbank area of Melbourne. I have my very own bedroom with an attached nice private bathroom which includes a tub(HURRAAAAAH), and share the rest of the apartment. There is a balcony with table, chairs and a BBQ-grill. Unfortunately no outdoor swimming pool - but I can manage with the tub and small gym facilities. It's reasonably priced, everything's furnitured and with the tram it will take me approx. 25-30 min to work, 5-10 min to the city and 10-15 min to the beach. It's also very close to the Royal Botanic Gardens which has outdoor cinema: Moonlight Cinema from December to March! They are showing lots of nice movies - so I better find some moviefriends soon!

Working and 70's wall paper

Seemingly from all my posts, I haven't mentioned work - but I am really here in Melbourne to actually do some research for my PhD.-thesis.

I will be situated at the Centre of Adolescent Health (CAH), which an iniative of the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) here in Melbourne and also linked with Murdoch Childrens Research Institute (MCRI) and Melbourne University. I'll try to write more about what kind of research I'll do here some other time!

So last week - in between the jet lagging and sightseeing - I met up with my work place here. I have my own office (because the girl I am sharing with apparently never is there) at the third floor at quirky, but kind of cute old town house with flowerish curtains (see picture above this entry) and 70's wall paper (under this text). At some evenings the house is used by adolescent support groups - and downstairs there is a drum set which I intend to use if I get frustrated with my data analysis.

Lazing at St.Kildas a sunday afternoon

Melbourne is a perfect city for sundays!

After the Art and Design Market, I went to St.Kilda for the Esplanade Marked, walked the St.Kilda Pier, but didn't see the penguins which supposedly lives there, read a book by the beach for an hour and stumbled upon Luna Park - an amusement park which dates back to 1912. Quite the perfect sunday:)

Do I really need ugly, but cute rabbit-cat or a an owl doll with a beard?

On a dazing sunday I went to an Art and Design Market at the QV which is quite near where I am currently staying. They had a lot of cute, quirky, cool stuff - and I really wanted to buy everything. However - I couldn't choose and some of the things were a bit expensive also. Do I really need a kind of ugly, but cute rabbit-cat or owl dolls for 100 AUD (520 NOK)?

(More pictures on catrabbit's flickr site)

Strolling around Melbourne in a jet lag

So, seemingly I am sleeping a lot these first couple of days in Melbourne, but tried to see some of the city when I am awake.

Went just for a random walk and ended up at the Carlton Gardens and also had a look at the Royal Exhibition Building and Melbourne Museum, and I am definetly going to the there and catch a 3D-show! Unfortunately the museum was not open when I was there....




(Not sure what the colorful cube is - some part of the museum I think...... )

My lagging jet lag and the Aussie curly sinks

I thought I was super lucky and had managed to escape the dreaded Jet Lag.

When in Singapore I managed to wake-up-rise-and-shine and basically jump out of bed the three first days - then suddenly I just couldn't wake up anymore and was back to a strange daily rythm which didn't match either Singapore or Norwegian time. After coming to Melbourne - it got even worse. I must therefore admit I have spent most of the first couple of days here in sleep! So every night at 2 AM I have been tearing out my hair and counting sheeps, wombats, marks on the wall and everything just to be able to fall asleep! I am hoping it is getting better now - as I have just started working or I will be that awful tired yawning Norwegian PhD-student!

Also I find the sinks here too curly:


Do they look like that in Norway? Isn't it a bit unrational to make the sink that way?