Wake up Call

We received a phone call at 6:30 one morning while we were in Bangkok - a wake up call that was 'accidentally' sent through to the wrong room.

This was the same hotel where you'd often get 5am, 6am and 7am wakeup calls as a bunch of feral kids ran up and down the hallway (can you tell I just wasn't a fan of the place?).

This morning I was given an interesting wake up call as The Hun was up and jogging straight out of the room just after 6am.

I was understandably puzzled, but not for long - I soon heard the contents of his stomach rapidly finding a new home*.

So - what's been your most interesting wake up call?

*We think he's ok - no rash, no muscle aches, no fever - so perhaps a bug that middle bro had earlier in the week and managed to pass on even though he's feeling fine and they only sat next to each other for 90 minutes at dinner last night.

Potty mouth

*** now with bonus paragraph! ***

Because I'm supposed to be writing a 20 page report on my works study assistance policy and preparing a speech on whitegoods and industrial relations, now is as good a time as any to post about my biggest cultural shock on our holiday. Toilets.

Please note, this may not be anything new to some of you, but keep in mind this was my first O/S trip (excluding the work visit to Hobart).

Basically, Thailand has four types of toilets:

Normal toilets - Stock standard, run of the mill loos with paper provided. However, we did notice that hotels in Thailand provided less toilet paper - no refill in the cupboard, and not necessarilly a full roll to start off with. Not so awesome in a country renowned for giving whities the squirts.

Hosey toilets - These can come with our without paper, the premise (we believe) that you hose yourself off instead of using paper. This caused me much confusion at the airport in Phuket when I couldn't see the flush toggle for the toilet lid and tried to hose the toilet to 'flush', which instead left the toilet too full of water to flush properly and a befuddled enny sneaking out towards to the baggage carousel.

Scoopy toilets - This is when the hose is considered a luxury and you are instead suprised with a tub of water and a smaller tub. The premise is that you then scoop water out of the big bucket and somehow 'sort yourself out'. I don't know how there aren't more people walking around with embarassing looking wet trouser strains.

Squatty toilets - I actually paid 2 baht to use one of these (as the guide indicated it was one of the cleaner ones we'd see during the day) until I realised that it was a squatty - having had no prior experience I wasn't about to give it a run for my money, knowing I would have to wear the same pair of pants all day. The Hun actually experienced one step below this when we went elephant riding as the loo there was in fact just a hole - the only time I ever thought I would hold an upset stomach for a three hour car trip, but I did it. DID I EVER!

Japan was a big happy change from Thailand in this regard.

The first toilet I encountered in Japan was in the airport and featured two types of spray (gentlemen spray and the slightly more thorough lady spray WITH temperature and power control), heatedtoilet seat (with different heat options), odor control (with different strengths) and a flushing noise (with volume control) to ease you into it. I've said it before and I'll say it again - heated seats are the shizzle (Adam - my dad said you can already buy Japanese loos here? I'm so there when I'm a homeowner!).

There were also squat toilets in Japan - though I'd say roughly 50/50 squat to western ratio, enough such that I could hold out until I found a western one (they were usually marked with a sign on the door). Again, it's not like I could practice at home to get my technique right, nor did I really want to sans pants in the Tokyo National Museum.

Another welcome change in Japanese bathrooms was the fact that there were lids on the ladybins. I'm not kidding. VERY GLAD FOR THAT.

I forgot - some of the toilets in Japan also have a faucet thing on top of the cistern - such that when you flush the toilet a stream of water comes out of the little tap and into the sink balancing on the top that then (presumably) goes into that tank bit to refill the toilet. I can't say I was all that comfortable washing my hands in toilet water...

Myeh - I guess it's not much of a post. But I guess I never realised how much we take our 'clean' toilets for granted (I can only imagine how D'Jen would cope walking into water soaked cubicle after water soaked cubicle courtesy of the host and bucket strategies).

You asked for it!

More precisely, you specifically asked to not have it.

But because I'm a crappy photographer (I blame my tools - we're buying ourselves a new camera for our birthdays (hooray for being 8 days apart for birthdays)) you can see my before and afters as if through a primitive camera phone! The 'before's make my foot look pretty gross, but keep in mind it'd been infected and was scaling off everywhere...

I had a peek today while redoing the bandage (again) and the holes have filled up quite a bit. I rinsed it in salt water but forgot to have another look... that's really the end of my story.

Enjoy!

Warts and all

***** CD OFFER STILL STANDS ***** WOULD LIKE ALL ORDERS IN BEFORE I BURN THEM ***** PLEASE LET ME KNOW BY FRIDAY IF YOU WOULD LIKE ANY ***** I'M ALSO GOING TO BURN CD'S FOR DESCI AND BOB SO PLEASE HURRY - I DON'T WANT TO UPSET THE LOVELY GOTHS ***** STOP *****

Three trips to the doctor in two days, anyone?

I'd had a wart on my foot for years... and in recent years two more had appeared. I became particularly self-consious of my foot at martial arts camp, when I realised that while sitting cross legged, my senior would be able to see the cluster up at the top of the ball of my foot. Also that on the rare occurance I took the class through warm-up, they'd notice them too.

When I was younger and visited the doctor with a plantar wart, we were advised to lucoplast banana peel to it - suprisingly, this worked rather well (though it died it didn't fall out until my cousin accidentally scratched it out whilst crawling behind me). Middle bro succesfully used nail polish and duct tape to suffocate his, but I figured that as my curse was more than a few years old, it was too happy to be shifted in such a remedial manner.

I visited the doctor twice late last year to get the warts frozen off. Both times I limped away thinking they were succesfully removed - both times I was dissapointed. A trip to the chemist resulted in a cream to be applied directly to the wart - ignoring a few minor directions (only use it for two weeks *cough*3.5 weeks*cough* and one wart at a time *cough*three*cough* *cough*and cutting at it with scissors*cough*) I was 'suprised' at getting an infection that left me unable to bend or straighten by big toe or put any pressure on my foot.

"Take these antibiotics, leave it for two weeks then come back and get them frozen again." stated yet another doctor.
"But I've had them frozen twice already!"
"Well, some of them take five or six or seven goes to die..."
"But I read that they can just be burnt out?" (The Hun's mum looked it up in her medical book)
"Well - we don't recomend that as it's far too intrusive... and there's only one doctor here who will do it... and he's very busy at the moment..."
"Hrm, ok... thanks."

Five minutes later I was back at my desk requesting a 'have a look' appt with the busy doctor for two weeks time, and another 'burn em out' appt for as close after that as I could (Thursday 15th and Monday 19th respectively).

Well - it's Tuesday, so you know what that means!

Monday morning I nervously shuffled off to my appointment. May I say that having a local anaesthetic poked through the calloused ball of my foot to quite some depth three times is THE MOST PAINFUL AND UNCOMFORTABLE THING I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED (Tattoo? Check. Stitches in forheard? Check. Stitches in open wound from can opener? Check. etc). "Well, I said it would be uncomfortable, but I didn't tell you quite how uncomfortable it would be..."

And then? A plate thing was put under my calf to stop the electric current - yup - electric. He then used electricity and wire to burn them out. No pain, but I will say that the smell was somewhat unique.

Ten minutes later and I was back at work - shaky and sweaty. I handed the certificate over to my boss and said that although they'd said I'd be fine straight after, I might go home and put my foot up - he readily agreed and sent me on my pasty way. On my way out the door, I stopped in to tell my old boss that I was leaving and was greeted with points and gasps that my foot was bleeding... out of the bandages, all over my foot and ruining my shoe. At this stage it was still numb and I was more concerned with how shaky I was and how hot and clammy I felt and hadn't noticed. So back to the doctor with a squeak to the receptionist ("um, excuse me, I'm meant to keep this bandage on for a week but it's covered with blood and has ruined my shoe...") and I was back on the same bed for a rewrap.

I hate doing the whole coedine talk - I told the nurse I'd go straight home after popping into the chemist (my fear of pain is harsher than actual pain) and she managed to 'find some' there for me so that I could get home and put my foot up immediately. I always get super anxious about looking like a junkie when it comes to drugs - I know I'm the least likely candidate for drug addiction, but I cringe to think of the way I reached for the drugs before she'd finished explaining the risk.

Anyways, I spend the evening with my foot wrapped up double-smart, wondering what on earth I was going to wear on that foot what was so thickly bandaged I couldn't possibly fit it into anything. And work this morning was fine - I managed to find one of those massagey thongs that had velro over the top to strap on, though it doesn't mean it stayed on (as I can't/won't curl my toes). After a trip to the shops at lunch I settled down to relax a bit as I felt a little warm and was worried I could feel a pulse in the ball of my foot - a quick nip under the desk confirmed that something was once again leaking through the bandage.

A trip back to the doctor and ANOTHER afternoon off, I have my foot wrapped up in a heavy duty strapping bandage. Still no crutches or advice other than to 'keep doing what I'm doing" and only one coedine left - I'm a little worried about when the pain will kick in.

And I can tell you that you will be suitably disgusted with an 'after' pic - I sneaked a look today while it was being rewrapped... for all you omni's out there - imagine cutting into a side of pork - white, white skin at the top and the deepest darkest ruby red at the bottom of two cubes that have just been sectioned out.

Roast pork anyone?

BDO Wrapup

Am back!

BDO was fantastic - my first and mebbe not my last? I will admit I was a little put off by the sheer number of lolly pop heads in shorty shorts, but there was also a fair share of the opposite, so it kinda evened out. That said, almost ALL the guys that were there were drunken d!ckheads, with the exception of a few old men who must've been going for years and just won't give it up.

We got in there at about 10ish and went straight through to get the grog wristband 'just in case'. A quick glance at my ID got me straight through (The Hun's ID didn't even get looked at!) and the lines were the quickest thing I'd ever seen.

We worked out where we were on the map and made our way to catch three songs of Richard In Your Mind. They were alright and cute - a bit geeky with all four were wearing glasses and shouting out "Who likes physics?!... huh huh, huh...."! They also had song about gravity and a memorable line "If the skeleton wants to dance, then I'm a dancer too" or something of the sort... pretty good for a new act, nontheless.

We then headed over to sit on the grass for Devoted Few who were also pretty good - we were sitting on a rain poncho (the whole day was overcast and the grass was wet) so couldn't really see through the crowd but the lady on the keyboard had a funky red fringe. The Hun has picked them to become more popular in the upcoming years, so keep an ear out.

We good some food and listened to a little of Dan Kelly and the Alpha Males but only heard a few songs - I didn't recognise any of it and was anxious to get a good seat for the next act... and a frozen red fire engine! They both won out and we headed in to see...

Angus and Julia Stone and they were my pick of the day! The place was totally packed out - we secured a seat and then managed to spot Middle Bro, Eldest Bro and Eldest Bro's friend on the stairs - just as Middle Bro was messging me to see where we were. We managed to save two seats but they dissapeared... only to find Middle Bro at the end of the show TANKED. Yup - I thought the lines and the prices and the grotty toilets would be a deterrant but there were a LOT of drinkers out there! Anyways, the music was fantastic and lovely folky, Angus is soooooo cute and Julia was telling us how she had her wisdom teeth taken out a few days ago and she was spitting out stitches through her trumpet. It was also during this show that I heard some young things pointing to an afro in the crowd and saying 'See! That's her! From Sneaky Sound system!'.... The Hun pointed out that they were talking about:

...her...

but actually seeing

...her...!

I think that's about when we went to look for where those turkish flat pide things with spinach in the middle were being sold but we couldn't track them down so stopped for a 'gourmet roll' - and the losers put mayo on my veggie wrap! I ate around it and then sourced some (more) hot chips and headed towards the Boiler Room - on the way there The Hun stopped for the bathroom and these two guys beckoned out 'Hey you! Come here! Can you put in my contact for me? Our hands are too shaky...' to which they got 'Ew! No! I hate eyes!' and a turned back. Until The Hun came out and I told him what happened and he coerced me to go back and offer to help... I tell you what, there is NOTHING as DISGUSTING as poking two fingers into some randoms eyes to get a dancefloor contact to sit - especially when you gotta do it a few times after it flicks back under his eyelid... ew! But, I got it in for him and went to do the other guys, but he just couldn't open his eyelids wide enough to fit the contact and he kept blinking when I got close which made me jump... and I DREAD to think of all the germs they were putting in their eyes!

Anyways, we made it into the boiler room to see Lily Allen - hooray! She was my third fav act of the day - mainly detracted by the pushy little b!tches who shove their way past without even offering a 'sorry' or 'excuse me'! I couldn't believe it!! There was one REALLY rude lil twat who was literally shoving her way through people - a guy pushed her back and she turned around and delivered one of those angsty emo middle fingers that only stuckup tweenies can deliver - hilarious! Anways, she was really good - the place was packed out - she took a pic to put on her MySpace as she said it was her biggest crowd yet, but it's not up yet! She also paid out Chris, the drummer from Jet who she said threw a lit cigarette at her face which she paid back with a glass to his face, and then dedicated 'Not Big' to him. We also stood behind Fuzzy the whole time! She's very small and thin and had a few girls wave to her and guy come up to ask her what time she was playing today - she must get that a lot! Getting out of The Boiler Room was CHAOS - it was like a cattler herd for like a few hundred metres - absolutely insane.

We managed to hear a few songs at the end of My Chemical Romance who weren't as good as I hoped - but then we didn't hear them all. With much prompting The Hun conned me into the D but we walked straight out as soon as we were in - it was too packed!

So we moved across to listen to Eskimo Joe who were pretty good too - I'm not that big a fan of the latest stuff, but The Chifley House had the album before in pretty much permanent playback the whole time I lived there, so it was good to be able to sing along to a few of the songs. There was also a bunch of wankers with a rug thing who were prompting people to lay on it while 12 others would fling them up into the air like a trampoline - it was always courting disaster. Some twiggy little thing decided to hold on to the edge of the cloth and got flung up and around - I was sure she landed on her head but she looked dazed and a lil shook up. The wankers kept moving forward and asking more pople to come hold the edges - as if! Luckily they stopped after not too long, but not before the mat went left as the guy went right - some poor guy stood up and was bleeding from his tooth. Wankers - they really needed their mothers there to tell them it was OBVIOUSLY not a good idea.

We moved back accross to see John Butler Trio but by this time I was getting just a liiiiiiittle tired - I was a bit pouty, my feet were sore and I was anxious about the crowds coming up. I also didn't know as many songs of theirs as I thought I did - I shoulda made MORE of an effort to get to know the songs!

We headed out for a trip to the bathroom where I got to hear my first lady spew of the day (disgusting!) and managed to find the vegetarian stand (yummy samosas and not as yummy spring rolls) and went to listen to Dappled Cities Fly who were WAY TOO LOUD - we couldn't sit in there! So we sat outside and were a bit dissapointed - their MySpace made them sound like they'd be really good and croozy, but they just weren't.

We then headed off to find The Streets but found the spinachy pide things - I HAD to have one after talking them up to The Hun but couldn't even eat half! I was such a piglet this weekend - back on the CalorieKing wagon this tomorrow! We headed in but he was hard to understand, though we did catch the song that I like - 'When you wasn't famous' which I love.

We headed back down to the main stage for Muse - they were absolutely fantastic!!! My second favourite of the whole day, awesome stage presence, great use of the stage and screen and I just can't help but love a group who rocks out so hard AND uses the piano!!! Very highly recommended - you missed out!

And then - one of The Hun's favourite bands - Tool. I though I knew a fair amount of their stuff, but there was only four of five that I could actually 'sing' along too. But they were also fantastic - my fourth fav of the day. It's fantastic that they're still playing and releasing, and hugging at the end of each set - they were really great and I'm glad I got the opportunity to see them.

When it was time to move along, The Hun managed to pick the rest of the boys we were with - The D was so insane that Eldest Bro's friend lost his shoes and he just had to get out of there. Youngest Bro also told us that his shoe fell off and he leant to down to fix it and got knocked down - he put his hand up and luckilly someone helped him up - that's INSANELY DANGEROUS! Not to mention the number of stories about the number of guys peeing in bottles... So we all headed off to see Crystal Method where we got split up again - I'd just bought my two glowsticks and started to get into it when we all got the message that everyone else was going home. The trains were packed and I got accosted by some guy on drugs asking if I was writing something about karate - I though he might have been talking about my tattoo but it wasn't on show... so I just backed away slooooooooowly.

That was pretty much that! Now if only Basement Jaxx would play in 2008...