Relax... Whynot! (Surfing and Eat Street)

Since mid-semester projects are right around the corner, lab reports are due, and essays need to be written, it's easy to forget how to relax. These past two weekends I thought to myself "whynot," and took a little bit of time out of my hectic school schedule to focus on myself, and getting together with friends. Also this street is in my neighborhood. I love walking pass it cause it asks the real questions about life haha!

To start off my relaxation period, I organized an impromptu surfing trip on Sunday, August 27th! I woke up early in the morning, caught the train going to Gold Coast, ate a delicious quinoa salad by the beach and waited for my surfing lesson to start! At 1:30pm my lesson started; the instructor taught the group how to look for a good wave, how to get up on the surf board, and how to paddle quickly before a wave comes. To get up, you have to be quick with your feet placement, your body has to be parallel with the board, and you have to balance as best as you can. It sounds easy, but actually executing the moves is another story. After practicing on land for a few minutes, we went in the water to put our newly learned skills to the test! The first wave I caught, I got up, my heart was racing, and I was thinking "Wow! I'm actually doing this!" and after two seconds, I wiped out. But I was not discouraged! I got up a few more times after that, which was so cool (too bad no one took pictures of me standing up. I know, I know 'pics or it didn't happen,' but trust my word on this one :D ). After a while, I was getting really tired; it's just like sledding: walking up the big hill the first couple times is fun, but after a while, you get exhausted. The lesson ended around 4pm and I walked around the beach for a little bit, took some pictures of a cute little light house, and caught the next train going back to Brisbane. I'd highly recommend a surf lesson, whether you're in Australia, Florida, California or wherever there's a beach with good waves. I am so glad I did this by myself; it was very refreshing! When I got back to my apartment and took a shower, man I was sore!! I had a couple bruises and my muscles were twitching in pain (it hurt to walk!), but it was all worth it to catch a wave and feel free in the open water.

            

(Very tired, covered in salt from the ocean, but smiling after an amazing day!)


The next weekend, me and a couple of my friends went to Eat Street Markets. The best way to describe it is "a permanent outdoor food festival" where food vendors and restaurants have booths to sell their favorite dishes while live music plays in the background. We went around 7pm, a perfect time to go in the evening. There were so many food options --it was difficult to choose what I wanted to get! The options ranged from different desserts, to tacos/Mexican food, Japanese ramen, Korean, Chinese dumplings, burgers, sushi, indian food, I mean like anything you can imagine, they sold it in this market. In the end, I got a "Black Elvis Ice Cream" from the ice cream shop, Double Good. Boy, the ice cream was triple good! My favorite aspect of the market was the ambiance: it's right next to the river, graffiti everywhere, hipster/retro signs, the lighting, a big movie screen (They showed Monsters University, very fitting for the Uni life), and live music. Here are some pictures I took because the whole place was picturesque and very instagramable ;)

 

 

                     

We stayed until 9, which was plenty of time to explore the different food vendors and grab a bite to eat. Also within these past two weeks, me and my friends got together for two different barbecues! I really enjoy catching up with friends, while meeting new friends. I hope the next barbecue that takes place, I can make a pizza (my uncle Bill's famous deep dish recipe) and share it with my friends, since they've never had deep dish pizza before! I'll keep you updated on that :)

Eva, Barbara, Stine, Patricia, Isabella, and I enjoying ourselves at Eat Street Markets!