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*Caroline's Blog*
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Sunday, June 7, 2009

Heres the pictures we took in the Royal Exchange Hotel Pub:

Jane & ME Far Left: Melody, Rena and Jia Zhen

Melody & ME


Rasberry lemonade and Lemon Lime Bitter













1:40 AM


These 2 weeks, I am very into Facebook applications - Restaurant City, Farm Town and Barn Bunny. Its so fun and Dear dear got angry with me for focusing on farming than webcamming with him hehe :P

I have had a very interesting, exciting yet terrifying day in Brisbane. Firstly, Jia zhen stayed over at my place secretly for personal reasons and I am happy to have company in my small and single room. Then around 11 am, I met up with Rena (my China Friend), and we head off to Brisbane Direct Factory Outlet (DFO) near the Brisbane Airport. It is really large in land size but there wasn't nice and cheap stuff to buy. The brands lay pdt that is worth for discount and not those popular pdts. So after an intensive WALKING exercise for almost 6 hours, I only bought 1 top from Forever new at a discounted price. I recommend to buy perfume there, cos its really really cheap.

After that, Rena and I rush back home to change and get ready for tonight's 'small farewell trip' for Rena, Jane and Melody(Taiwan). We met at the Regatta (a pub near my area) for met up together with Jia zhen, but Melody did not bring her passport along. Thus unable to make it into regatta, we head off to Towong's the Royal Exchange Hotel's (REH) pub around 8.30pm.

Here's the interesting part:

Encounter 1:
While we are waiting for the traffic lights, a bunch of Aussie boys (18-19+) with beers glass bottles in there hands walked pass the platform near the traffic lights. While we are busy mingling, one leaned across the railings and shouted "ARRRRRRR" at his top of his lungs at us, another boy do the same thing but said "^%$#@@ FUCKING ASIANS". Taken abrupt by their childish and unethical actions, we was like WTH, I stared at them with arms folded. It was my 1st encounter of such face to face discrimination.

Nevertheless, still angry, we head off to the (REH) and drink lemon lime bitter (Contains very minute amount of liquor % served with sprite and lemon). Very nice and refreshing drink. Guess wad, 5 cups of tt only costs AUD3 each, super cheap. Normally in Singapore, tt would at least costs $12 and above. After which, we decided to head off to the Treasury Building (Casino) since it would be the last time before the 3 exchange students fly back to China and Taiwan this June/July. It was my 1st time into a Casino hehe, the age limit here is 18 years old and above, a more relaxed casino entrance rules than Malaysia Genting. Well, not much of a diff from wad I see on TV so we roam there for abt 15 mins w/o Melody (No passport).

Encounter 2:
Out we go and went to The Coffee Club on Queens St for Melody bought a Cheese Cake.One bald staff approached the 5 of us saying: 'If you need to buy our food/drinks to sit here, you are taking too much space with only 1 cake purchased, pple are waiting." I replied him:"Ok, we will go after we eat finish the cake." The bald staff curtly said: "No, you need to go NOW". We head off outside angrily, there is NO ONE coming into the shop and there are still MANY EMPTY SPACES in the shop. There are also similar cases for tables sat by Aussies accompanying their friends. Come on, a piece of std cheese cake can take how long to finish. Its purely discrimination lo. Its the 1ST and LAST time I will step into that COFFEE CLUB on Queens St. Melody is super angry for the mistreat of equality.

Encounter 3:
When we are heading back to the bus stops at the traffic lights, a car drove past us and shouted: "KO-NO-CHI-WA, KIM CHI". The 5 of us is like - Oh we are neither Japanese nor Koreans!!! So many Weird and crazy pple we met today. Then here comes another guy standing besides us when we are waiting for the lights. He started asking qns like: "Wad're you up to today? Have fun Partying? Where you come from? Korea? China?" OMG, The 5 of us kept SUPER QUIET, IGNORING those questions and hoping the light would turn green faster. Once green, we ran to the bus stops and board the rail bus immediately. Phew!!

Every incident tonight shows 2 different side of Brisbane - Day (CBD area) & Night (Crazy clubbing). It really opens up my sights, taking me out of my comfort and protected zone. Life time experience just in 4.5 hours of a grp of 5 girls night out. Along the journey walking on the main streets in City, we saw different Aussie Sides - 2 groups fighting, couples shouting*&%$$ at each others (pulling the collars), Police cuffing a drunk man, ambulance n fire engines arriving not too sure of wad incident.

There's so many 1st time happening in my life just tonight! I strongly feel that Aussie's junior and high sch education system has problems thus reflecting in kids under 18 or at 18 + smokes, drinks and create so many social problems. They are SUPER CRAZY when its comes to Clubbing! only 1 word to describe - OMG. Police cars are situated EVERY NIGHT in the city, so you can imagine how CRAZY those pple can be.

Our conclusion is, one such special encounter tonight, NO nights out after 10pm in Brisbane. Its a mixture of excitement and a terrifying experience. Very very new to my world. Its good I am exposed to such an experience so I understand and saw the real society with my own eyes. A very good Experience indeed.

One thing is, please go out with a mixture of guys and girls esp in foreign countries as girls are usually in a disadvantage. so so so, there will be a very little possibility that I would experience Brisbane like I did tonight in the future. Hehe. :) Keeping myself safe and sound.

No more naive thinking and grow with each experience........................ Yup!

12:40 AM