Just Another Smith...

I always knew that my first Christmas away from home and my family and Mum's incredible cooking would be weird. I didn't consider my festive job, Christmas songs playing in the searing heat and attendance at a Surf Camp. Safe to say it didn't feel like Christmas at all. Whilst working I'd enjoyed asking the locals what they'd be doing for Christmas. I wanted to get an idea of a true Aussie Christmas.. turns out it's exactly what I expected. Barbeques, drinking, chilling with friends and family, and going to the beach. I was surprised to find a lot of people would spend the 25th with their friends, rather than their family. To me, Christmas is all about family and getting everyone together! As you know, I had Surf Camp booked with the Base Family. I had planned to work until the 22nd, but unfortunately didn't sleep all night so had my last Reindeer Day early. It had felt very odd wishing people a "Merry Christmas" next to a person handing out free

If you'd have told me before I left England that I would end up selling reindeer antlers for charity... to be honest I would have probably believed you! It seems like such a "me" thing to be doing. Although it's a world away from Sainsbury's, there are actually lots of similarities.. smiling at people no matter what, experiencing language barriers and spending hours on end with no natural light. I jest, I love it. I know I'm also really lucky to have found a job for the festive season that pays well and has flexible hours. Let alone one in a new field, that I'm apparently quite good at. Rather than bore you with the ins and outs of the job, I thought I'd list pros and cons that I found over the Christmas and New Year campaigns. Pros • Hourly Pay : I was so happy when I realised this wasn't a commission based job. It's nice to know that there is a minimum I will get paid after each shift. On the occasions I received bonuses, it was even bet

Wow . Where to even begin..?! My first day was pretty uneventful. I got off the plane and decided I'd make my own way to the hostel. Jumped on the airport line to Wynyard. Using the limited WiFi I could steal from here and there and street maps on the way, I finally found the hostel. Did get severely lost, walk the wrong way up the street for a good 20mins and have an impressive sweat patch from the backpack... but I made it. Couldn't check in until 2pm, so I dumped the bag and headed out to see what I could find. Darling Harbour is only 5mins walk from the hostel. I spent my morning wandering around and taking in the sights, sounds and smells of Sydney. Well, of the Harbour. I walked as far as I could in each direction and enjoyed a vanilla milkshake by the Maritime Museum. I then popped into the Chinese Garden of Friendship. It was beautiful and so peaceful. I may have had a mini nap sitting near one of the pagoda. I woke myself up with a hot chocolate in the cafe and left

After a later night than planned (I blame Boom) the alarm went off at 5am. We were already packed and ready so were downstairs for half past. Everyone was so on the ball that we had time to sing a rowdy Happy Birthday to Jen and were piling into taxis not long after. Back to the fancy bus station and back outside McDonald's. Our bus was at 6.30 and McDonald's didn't open until just after 6, safe to say there was tension. Amy somehow ended up with an extra Milo so I enjoyed that! Back on our fancy coach I filled out the immigration form necessary. At least I filled out what I could until the lights were turned off, everyone wanted to go back to sleep. Being a morning person, I caught up with my blog and then actually read my book for the first time. Did have a little nap, but was in a much better mood than others. It only took a few hours for us to get to the border, wasn't looking forward to the hassle. We arrived at the border of Malaysia and got stamped out (again m

It was "first foot out the door at 8.44" this morning. Due to our early night and organisation, we were downstairs and ready for 8. We had time to eat breakfast, and I even popped to 7Eleven for a hot chocolate before we saw anyone else. Some cut it a bit fine, Natoya only woke up when Boom rang. We had to leave to get on our shuttle bus so Boom left her instructions and we ran. With a pile of our bags in the middle of the bus, we all found a seat. 30mins later we made it to the bus station and Boom went to get our tickets. We were left at McDonald's and some of the guys decided to help their hangovers. We then all got piled on to another bus to get to the actual bus station. This one was impressive, more like an airport! We had a bit more time here so I treated myself to Dunkin' Donuts. I then got an iced water from Subway, god I missed crunching. Natoya arrived just after 10, she got a taxi in the end. Our tickets were almost like boarding passes, and sure enough

An early breakfast this morning, I had a hot chocolate and scones. Me and Amy were first ready, no rushing around for us! We were all a bit nervous as this morning was public transport to Kuala Lumpur. We needn't have worried, these buses were much better than anything we'd travelled on so far. It was like a really nice National Express, with reclining seats! The journey was not too bad, we arrived around midday and made our way to our hotel. Just a quick walk around the corner in the rain, but it felt a lifetime. Especially up the hill! This city was so much more cosmopolitan than anywhere we'd been yet, lots of traffic too. We had a quick refresh and were ready for our tour of the city. By the time we were ready to leave it was absolutely chucking it down. I mean like a full on storm! The roads were flooding and I'm amazed the drivers could see where they were going. Our first stop was the National Mosque. Everyone on our bus was given a little umbrella to walk from

We had ourselves another long journey to look forward to from George Town to Cameron Highlands. I had planned on waking up early to hunt out the art, but instead I may have slept in. Oops. Me and Amy packed our stuff and checked-out, then headed to the cafe next door for brunch. Our belongings were all crammed into the tiny boots of the mini buses. I was on the back row with Sarah and Natoya, a few bags dangerously close to our heads. We were all soon in the land of the nod so weren't too fussed. It wasn't the most comfortable ride, didn't help that we were climbing higher and higher and the roads were winding. Boom had promised us cooler temperatures, and sure enough when we got there it was raining. Just like home. We were dropped right outside our hotel, so we didn't get too wet clambering up the stairs to the lobby. The Birds Nest Hotel was on a steady incline, and so it was higher rooms had better views. However there wasn't a lift. We didn't know what

After a rough night with a rather dodgy stomach I really wasn't looking forward to  our 10hr journey into Malaysia today. Plus Thailand had been beyond incredible and it was sad to say goodbye. Boom was fantastic and took me to the pharmacy and so I was well drugged up and adviced to sleep, this I could do. About 5hrs in and we had made it to the border. It was quite odd, we had to officially leave Thailand and then walk across No Man's Land to enter Malaysia. Another stamp in my passport. It's annoying that they always want to stamp the same page though. On our new mini buses we noticed a change immediately, there were roads and so much traffic. It took us another 7hrs from the border to finally reach Penang. We did stop at a fancy Tesco department store hybrid on the outskirts on the way, which was pretty funky. Our hotel was the Grand Inn, and by the time we had arrived it was dark and rainy. By this point I was ready to sleep on a proper bed to hopefully wake up refre

Last night we treated ourselves to a Ladyboy show at the Blue Dragon. I absolutely loved it! It was a cabaret, with each lady having their own song and dance. The first few songs welcomed us and set the scene and then an older lady came on.. and sang "I Will Survive". My favourite act by far!! Alex even got a kiss from her, lucky fella. After we'd taken photos with the cast it was on to Chang bar. Time to boogie and down a sprite or two. I know how to party! Shapes were thrown and fists were pumped. I went home with Alex and Laura  just after midnight. ~ After our late night last night, where everyone else got just a little "drink, drank,  drunk" and stayed out way way past my bedtime.. It was time for a lie in. We made it downstairs just in time for breakfast, just bacon and fruit for me this morning. Once I'd packed up most of my stuff, I decided I was going to have a wander and a little shop. The main stretch was quite busy by the time I headed

We arrived at our hotel later on the Monday and unloaded into the lobby for a group meeting. I was sharing with Amy and we had Room 302, no lift in this hotel so we had to carry our bags up three flights of stairs. It was only once I'd got into the shower that I realised I was maybe a little bit sunburnt from the morning. Ouch. I pretty much used up half an after sun to help with the pain. Need to reapply that suncream far more often than I'd even imagined! We all then had an Orientation Walk with Boom. We had aimed to get to the beach for sunset, but it was earlier than expected. Still caught the last bit and took lots of photos. Next, she showed us a few different places to eat along the seafront and where best to shop. Then it was up to "Green Curry" for a dinner together. I wasn't too hungry, mainly tired, so ordered a fruit salad. It was very nice! Off to bed ready for our tour of Phi Phi island tomorrow. ~ Slept really well once I'd found a co

The 11hr train journey was nowhere near as bad as expected. I slept the majority of the time, and managed the squat toilet with no issues. Such a pro. We were meant to be arriving at 4.24am.. one of the officials kept popping up and saying "2 minutes". By about 4.30 we finally stopped and were off the train and onto two mini buses. We had all signed up to the extra activity Boom recommended, a visit to Khoa Sak National Park. This was about a 3hr journey, so we all napped on the way. We arrived about 7ish and gasped at the view, it was so amazing, it was quite cloudy and so atmospheric. Bikinis on and bags sorted, we all climbed into the boat ready to see "Hidden Thailand". Dan kept joking that it was like Jurassic Park, as we pretty much had the lake to ourselves and it was so misty. Then Boom told us about the Gibbons hiding in the trees, they mate for life and then die of broken hearts. How adorable. We had the chance to jump off the boat and paddle in the lake

I have decided to group my blogs per place, so we'll start with my first port of call.. Bangkok . My flight from Heathrow to Suvarnabhumi wasn't too bad. I was sat in 27C next to a lovely young couple going on holiday. Apparently they were incredibly lovely as not long into the journey they were bumped up to First Class!! This meant a whole row to myself.. until one of the Cabin Crew moved another couple (with a broken seat) to join me. Ah well. It was good while it lasted. The plane touched down slightly later than expected, but we had been delayed departing, so the Captain made good time. Once I was through security and had fetched my bag it was about 10am local time. Now came the fun part of meeting my transfer "in front of Entrance 3". This was a longer walk than expected, I had arrived in front of Entrance 9. I found my name in the end and handed the lady my voucher. I was to wait for another two people. Derek appeared about 10mins later and we chatted in our