so, what's on dmentedboy blogger ? everything dmented about jxe's travels. here, there and everywhere.
Hey andrew,
so, the submission is over and unwinding time ? i m having a great time unwinding. its such a fantastic feeling. so think everyone should be in my position right now. i hope all is good with you and more good news to follow. i m looking forward to hear them all.
(annecy part deux)
Day 19: uphill battle
so i decided i really like this place and i didnt get to see much yesterday and wanted to be cheap, i checked out of the hotel and went looking for the youth hostel. man, the hostel is right up at the top of the hill and the road leading up there is STEEP ! thank gawd there are wheels on my bag plus i had this huge bottle to add to the weight of the bag and so far i had only consumed 3 teaspoon full from it. urgh.
the hostel looks amazing. so comfortable and new and clean. i had the room all to myself. its almost deserted there. its almost overlooking the very beautiful lake. i brought my swimmers and head down to the lake. the water was so damn inviting. i felt the water and it was super freezing. then i saw a group of elderly people probably in their 70s going into the water. also there were some kids at most 5 going into the water. i was like. if they can do it, so can i. i jumped into the water from the pier. gawd, i lasted for at most 2 minutes and i had to get up. no regrets. i m glad i did it. it was a sunny day. i spent the rest of the day lying by the pier. it was so damn relaxing i finally felt that i for the first time i am actually on a holiday.
at night at the bar, there were only this aussie girl who now works in belfast, another aussie bloke who lives in manly, a french dude and the bar tender was from central america. oh what a night.
ok i am missing kaori. big issue. i so need a haircut now. cant decide if i should get it cut in paris, new york or barcelona. do i wanna look like a french, american or spanish. gawd. the decisions you gotta make while you are on holiday. ... loving each day !!!!
xxx. j.
hey karina ...
so, u miss me yet ? well i m kinda missing having you around, my afternoon grey earl tea sessions (full cream milk and no sugar) and having someone to constantly chat too. i hope all is well and i m very sure u are missing me more hah.
(feels like venice althought i dont know what venice is)
Day 18: sleeping in.
so i had to leave this ghostless town as soon as possible. but i over slept abit and had the quickest breakfast ever and then grabbed my bag and headed to the bus station at 8.35. The bus arrived at 8.45 and i reached the station at 9.00. so i thought great. the train leaves at 9.26. i have 26 minutes to get the ticket, jump on the train and i am on my way. went to to the ticket counter and the queue was loooong. looks like everyone is trying to escape this town too. i was like i had to get on the train coz if i dont the next one is at 12.35. i just had to. so i saw the ticket machine went on it and everythings great until i had to pay with my credit card. apparently they dont accept the australias card coz we dont use the chip system. we use the old fashion magnetic swipe. urgh !
so i jumped back onto the queue which is now longer. when it reached my turn, it as 9.26 exactly. and suddenly the schedule on the screened blinked. train delayed for 5 minutes. i was like YES ! got my tix in 2 minutes and ran to the platform and jumped on the train. the train left as soon as i got on. i was like great. i sat down looked at the screen and it said, destination: genova. urgh ! i was like great. now what. so i kindly asked the person on the next row. this italian guy said, yes this train is heading to annecy but no its not stopping there. there are 2 trains connecting and it will split later and the train to annecy is in front. so u gotta jump off the next stop and move forward. i was like great thank you and started telling him how great italians are and how i should go visit italy. he was so glad that he helped me.
arrived at the station. whoa. this place is awesome. its so beautiful. this french was telling me that there are 5 most beautiful cities in france and annecy is one of them 5. checked into the hotel and went for a look around.
saw a pharmacy along the way. gave in and went into to try to get something for my throat. i asked the lady if she spoke english and she said, "a little".
so i explained and she gave me this huge bottle of cough syrup and said "take 1 teaspoon 3 times a day". i m like you are kidding me right ? "can i just drink the whole bottle ?" she got so worried and said, "no no maximum 4 times a day ! no more !" so i paid and took the huge bottle that i have to lug around now. opened the box and read the instruction. gawd. there were so many precautions on not to take this drug, it almost sounds as if this bottle is poisoned. i m desperate. i'd take anything.
went back to the hotel and slept the day away ...
xxx. j.
dear daniel,
so u are now my myspace friend haha. you have to sign up to facebook so i can have one more friend. hehe. all this traveling is great. will have to catch up with you soon on msn sometime.
Day 17: stranger than fiction
so grenoble. town surrounded by mountains. so fucking what.
anyway, my train ride. took 3 hours. change once. there was this chick who sat within viewing distance. she is quite tan and blond. so u know light hair on dark skin is pretty obvious. she was wallowing a long roll but thats the norm. what was disturbing was i noticed she had more hair on her arms than i have hair on my legs. now thats disturbing. eeeewwww !
then there was this other guy who sat on the opposite side. i was trying so hard not no burst out laughing but kinda feel bad afterwards coz he was a really nice guy. ok i do have a heart. well, he wasnt fat and/or ugly and/or hairy and/or smelly. so i'll be nice and not say what i saw. ok i cant change the subject who the fuck told me to come to grenoble BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY WHY THE FUCK DIDNT ANYONE TELL ME TO TO COME HERE !!!! fucking waste of time. this place is completely dead. its sunday and everything is close. even VIDEO X is closed coz fucking porn needs to go to church. fuck man. even the ghosts have fled this town.
still it was interesting to see these events :-
1. a truck driving through a small tunnel. i was the only one who thought it was an amazing tight squeeze. everyone else just wanted to get through. idiots. why am i constantly surrounded by idiots ? anyway, the driver noticed that i took notice and i was cheering and encouraging him all along. i must say he was very skilled. he pull through and thank me for supporting him.
2. 2 idiots trying to fit a oversized glass table top into the back of their car. i heard a loud crash.3. this other car driving with a cupboard in the trunk and the trunk was left open. the cupboard went flying out onto the streets.
4. saw my first french live performance. they sung in english. so much for french live music. you can check them out at http://www.myspace.com/centenaire
(watch that truck squeeze ...)
my cough has gone all time worse. i leaving at sunrise for annecy.
xxx. j.
dear matt,
so cool that you subscribed to my RSS. i didn't even know you can do that. need to catch up on technology when i get back. i try to write abit every night before i go to bed and post them whenever i get access to the internet. so i dont like spent hours on the net everyday. some of these deserted towns here in france dont even have dial up. haha
Day 16 - uncool vibe i was talking to the guy at the reception. he was super friendly. so i started asking him for some advise and where to go next and got him to book me a night at montpellier. as we went on chatting, i attracted more people into the conversation, suddenly there were a few more french people giving me advise. and then i thought it would be better to go somewhere else instead and so forth. so i got the receptionist to change a few bookings and made a couple of new ones and in the end, somehow i was convienced, montpellier is the place to go. so i got the receptionist to rebook again. for some strange reason he stopped being so friendly. french. they are just weird people. dont understand them.
anyway. got to montpellier and damn. the place is crowded. i have never seen so many people in europe until today. i walked through the mall and people everywhere. packed. it was like walking in wong kok in hong kong where all you see is heads. plus the fucking rugby world cup is on. come on who the fuck watches that. them losers.
(people everywhere ...)
anyway.
turned a corner away from the mall strip, deserted. almost no one in sight. go figure. its amazing how people are just concerntrated in the strip of the mall. the entire population in montpellier lives in the mall.
(people magically disappeared !)
anyway.
even though the architecture and the historical feel to the building is nice, but somehow the city feels very cold and uninviting. also it rained on me again. fucking hell. 16 days in europe and it rained like 9 days.
i just need to escape from this city. anyway. seen the city, decided to avoid south of france .. nice, cannes etc. since is getting cold not worth going to the beach. instead, lets head to the alps. booked the next destination ... grenoble. leaving at sunrise.
xxx. j.
hey mei agian,
so i read your email about lies and living a fake life. well you will love this one.
Day 14 - Get a load of this ;)
wanted to stay for another day at la rochelle but the hostel was fully booked. so i tot great. go to toulouse then. but the chick at the reception said, no u cant, the hostel was recently burnt down. urgh.
so i said fine, "how about tours ?"
she called the place, "sorry fully booked for the day but u can go to blois ?"
i was like i m trying to avoid someone who lives there even though the thought of
making a call, putting up a front to just to get a free night's accommodation ? nah i am not that low.
finally i decided, what the hell, lets go to carcassonne then.
being smart:-
so i thought who the fuck pays for public toilets. i was at the train station. there was these cubicles where u have to slot in 0.30 euros. so i thought. i'll be smart. i will wait for someone to come out and when some old lady did, i held the door open for her and she kindly said "merci" and i went in before the door shut. genius. as i began to pee, the whole cubicle began to clean itself and suddenly i was being splashed all over! fucking hell. so much that. come on who the fuck pays to use the loo !!!
the train ride was interesting. took me 5 hours to get there plus had to change trains twice.
(dark clouds following the train)
being smarter:-
i settled into my seat. there were these 2 chicks sitting on the other side. i noticed they were wearing name tags with blah blah blah jesus christ blah blah blah written on it. after establishing a couple of eye contacts and smiles, they couldnt resist me any longer (hey i cant even resist me) the came to talk to me. i was like great. some one to chat to. they spoke pretty good english.
they were like "hi we are missionaries .. " yeah and all that introduction shit.
so i was being friendly and i just played along. trying to avoid the big Q.
it was all find we talked about france and traveling etc etc. and then came the big Q !
"do you believe in god ?"
i looked at them, "yes. i believe in many gods"
"huh what do u mean ?"
"i believe there are many gods, u know god of thunder, goddess of love, medicine god etc..?
"huh ?"
i looked at them and whispered, "are you a god ?"
they looked at each other and shook their heads. so i said, "look that that guy sitting there looking at us. he could be a god spying on us !"
"i have never heard this before can u explain some more ?"
"well, i believe gods are everywhere, they watch and help us. and they bring balance and harmony to our lives. but sometime they bring us may surprises."
and i went on and on about the ying and yang and then about the goddess of love for instant, she can hit you when you least expect it. i went on to tell them about my lesbian lover who has licked more cunts then they have ever said "amen" and how she sucks me off only to ... in her own words "swallow some holy water to cleanse her soul". and how she is off making some porn film with 50 other chicks in italy and before i could continue to tell them about the dungeon i own in sydney, the train arrived at my terminal.
i got up and say goodbye and left. i didn't even had time to tell them its rude in australia to stare at people with their mouth wide opened.
i got off the train, it rained on me. suddenly my after life dont seem so bright.
(random city shots)
i walked into the old city, i saw the castle walls, i told myself, i had to stay one more night. so i checked in for 2 nights.
xxx. j.
Hey team chatswood (ric, jeff, liz, matt, andrew, basil, mark, murray, karina, mathieu, zahar, catharina, dodie and any new team members
so, you people did it. i knew you people can do it. after all i did almost everything before i left. hahaha. well, i m having a great break for all of you.
Day 13 - Time out
Moon was right. la rochelle is really nice. rich man's town. never seen so many yacht in my life.
(the arrival)
(view to the fortress town)
the fort that surrounds the old town looks stunning. i thought the old town is one of the nicest old town i have seen in this trip. love the big shutter windows everywhere. the tourist crowded around the town center, as usual, and i walked every empty streets, such a good vibe.
anyway decided to take it easy today and try to rest my cough away. it feels as if its getting worse now. see how it goes.
(ok love them shoes. should i get them ?)
(love the shutter windows)
counting to the days....
excitement:
paris : 10
NYC: 15
barcelona: 28
sydney: 650 ???
the past:
left sydney: 22
in europe: 14
cough: 18
the valuable:
lost : 1 item
found: sanity
ok. if anyone do leave any comments, dont forget to leave your name too so i know you are not some crazy ugly stalker.
xxx. j.
