Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

December 4, 2010 - My friend, Grace, and I decided to go see Mary Poppins the Musical at Her Majesty's Theatre (built in 1886) a couple days after graduating from the Australian Institute of Fitness.  I couldn't wait to go!  I loved the Disney movie and absolutely loved the music!  It was an amazing production that Grace and I both enjoyed.  After the show we decided to "hit the town" for some dancing and drinks.  We went to the Windsor Hotel for a cocktail, followed by a visit to The Apartment Bar to see Laetitia, and finished at the Workshop nightclub. 

Australian Institute of Fitness

On December 2, 2010 I graduated as a Master Personal Trainer from the Australian Institute of Fitness.  This was a great feeling.  The Institutes Master Trainer program is the most recognized and sought after accreditation in the fitness industry and has become the most successful training program in its history.  Along with the Master Trainer title, I graduated with Certificate III and IV in Fitness and a Certification in Senior First Aid.  I also worked very hard to achieve my goal of becoming the Institutes "Champion" for my class.  I was awarded this honor for "going the extra mile" and doing well on all assignments and assessments.  I was very happy to get the award :)

After completing our final assessment, involving a Health & Exercise Consultation followed by a 30 minute personal training session, a few of us went to celebrate with drinks mid-afternoon...

MASTER TRAINERS

Day 16 - Friday, 10.08.10

I met up with a girl named Lizzie today to look at an apartment in Prahran.  This area is very close to Windsor and Chapel Street so I would be near amazing fashion, dining, and cafes.  Love it.  Lizzie and I met over Gumtree (our version of Craigslist) and had been texting and talking all week about the apartment we were going to look at today.  When we finally met in person it felt like we had known eachother for some time.  We hit it off instantly.  She is 29 years old and from Manchester, England but has lived in Melbourne the past 5 years.  She is also a fitness freak and works at a franchise gym in Melbourne called Fitness First.  She actually completed the Australian Institute of Fitness program a couple years ago so she's going to help me study for the same exact program.  She's funny, smart, and has an incredible energy and spirit.  We're going to get along great. 

I took one look at the 2 bedroom, newly carpeted and painted apartment and fell in love it, along with the surrounding, residential area and nearby park.  We submitted our applications immediately but won't hear back until early Monday morning.  Fingers crossed.



View of Yarra River from Princes Bridge

Lizzie later dropped me off by Flinders Station, the oldest city station in Australia, built in 1854.  It is also the busiest suburban railway Station in the southern hemisphere.  I walked along the Yarra River to get to Flinders Station.  The river is the city's tourism and recreation heart.  It hums with activity such as river boats, water taxis, and numerous events including Moomba Waterfest, rowing regattas, the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival and major exhibitions.

Walk along Yarra River to Flinder Station

Adjacent to Flinders Station is "Federation Square", one of two Melbourne city squares.  Hosting over 2,000 events each year, Fed Square (as its typically called) is a world class cultural and entertainment destination containing art galleries, Australian Racing Museum, cinemas, exhibitions, restaurants, bars, and shops.  It's one of the most visited tourist attractions in Victora, receiving over 40 million visits to-date.

I walked around Fed Square and had lunch at a nice cafe before going to Tim Burton: The Exhibition within Fed Square at the ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image).  The Exhibition traces Burton's visual imagination from his earliest childhood drawings through his mature work in film.  It brings together over 700 examples of rarely or never-before-seen drawings, paintings, photographs, storyboards, moving-image works, puppets, costumes, and includes an extensive film series spanning his 27-year career.  It was an amazing exhibit to walk-through.  Incredibly interesting and unique.  

 

After the exhibition I went to see the movie Eat, Pray, Love after finishing the book a couple days ago.  I went to see it at the Greater Union Theatre on Russell Street.  The movie was pretty accurate with the book with some obvious Hollywood motion picture changes to make it more dramatic. 

After the movie I went to visit Laeititia at The Apartment where I had one drink then headed back to Flinders Station to take the train back home. 

Day 15 - Thursday, 10.07.10

I started apartment hunting today.  I'd been living at Laetitia's place since I got here, but now I'm looking to get even closer to the city.  I viewed 2 apartments today in the areas of Windsor and Ripponlea.

The Windsor apartment was a great location, but I would have an incredibly small room with 3 other bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and a kitchen.  It was mainly for backpackers staying short-term.  However, the location was awesome because it was directly on Chapel Street, above an Internet Cafe.  This street is renowned for showcasing the best in local and international designers as well presenting excellent dining and entertainment destinations. 



Chapel Street

The Ripponlea apartment was actually a house with 4 bedrooms, a backyard, huge kitchen, and lounge area.  Unfortunately, the location wasn't great and it was too from a train station. 

Hopefully I'll have better luck tomorrow.

Day 12 - Monday, 10.04.10

We went rock climbing again today.  It was myself, Nicolas, Dylan, Gabe, and Nicolas' friend, Rick.  We had a great time and here are the photos to prove it:

 

Day 11 - Sunday, 10.03.10

After 5 hours of sleep from the previous night I headed to Nicolas' place.  When I arrived, Gabe and Nicolas took me straight to Gunnamatta Beach so they could surf while I laid out and soaked in the sun.  It felt absolutely amazing.  Gunnamatta Beach is located within the Mornington Peninsula National Park.  It is one of the most consistent beach breaks in Australia. 

Later we returned to Nicolas' apartment where we spent the evening relaxing and watching movies.  Gabe cooked an amazing meal for us which involved chicken, fettuccine, green beans, mushrooms, coconut milk, soy sauce, and peanut butter.  We watched "Getting to the Greek" and "Team America".  It was a great evening.  

Day 10 - Saturday, 10.02.10



Magpies holding the Premiership Cup after winning AFL Grand Final



Today was the Grand Final rematch between the Magpies (Collingwood) and Saints (St Kilda).  I went to watch the game at Napier Hotel Pub in Fitzroy with Nicolas, Dylan, Nick (Dylan's friend), and Gabe (Nicolas' friend).  We had a great time.  We ate, drank, and played pool while watching the game.  However, after the 2nd quarter we all lost interest in the game because the Magpies were winning by a huge margin.  In the end, Magpies won 108 - 52.

Directly across from Napier Hotel was Fitzroy's Town Hall, built in 1863. 



Fitzroy Town Hall



Napier Hotel Pub

In the evening we continued drinking at The Apartment.  For whatever reason I asked Nicolas and Gabe if they ever tried an Irish Car Bomb  (1/2 Guiness with a shot of Jameson mixed with Baileys).  They both had no idea what I was talking about so now we were on a mission to find a bar that could make one.  We went into at least 4 bars before finding one that actually sold Guiness.  Victory!  They loved the drinks. 

Hanging out at Napier Pub

We stayed out till 2am then tried to grab a cab back to Laetitia's place.  We waited in a cab line for over 2 hours and continued to wait.  To make the delay even worse, the clocks shifted ahead by 1 hour so it was approaching 5am at this time.  We ended up contacting Laetitia at home and she put us in touch with her manager at The Apartment.  He took us home around 6am.  Thank god for friendly Aussies!