Conquering Auckland

I got about an hours worth of sleep and woke up to have a shower and finish packing up the last of my stuff. Anosa was still asleep on the couch when I was getting ready, I woke him up those at 5.30am to say goodbye. The car was downstairs waiting for me and the driver made some small talk with me before I jumped in the back. I spent the whole journey to the airport reading magazines that were sitting neatly on the seat next to me, god knows why they weren't in the pockets behind the front seats.

Flying business class is great, everything is just so relaxed, even at six in the morning. The driver took my bags and put them on a trolley for me. I went straight to the business class check in counter, they put the nifty 'priority' tags on my luggage and even took my umbrella and marked it as fragile. Fast check through immigration and customs and 10 minutes from my arrival out of the airport, I was sitting in the business class lounge, ready for a quick nap. There was a buffet breakfast and alcohol just spread out on the counter top, it was great. They're just inviting people to get drunk. I got to have a quick play with my new camera too!

The flight was great. I watched John Tucker Must Die which I had already seen at the movies but I was just in that kind of mood. It was so good to be able to stretch out and sleep on the flight, the seat had an inbuilt massager and it was really good. I took off my shoes during the flight, but I must admit, when I was wearing them, seeing them stretched out in front of me looking all brand new and bright white and red made me feel all gooey inside. And the food made me feel good. The sun was beaming through the windows. I felt good.

I waited 30 minutes for the car when I arrived in Auckland. I ended up walking back to the Emirates desk on the other side of the airport demanding to know where the car was. They made some quick calls and threw me into a taxi. When I got home, the taxi driver had the audacity to ask me for the $60 fare. I explained that I wasn't going to pay it. We had a 10 minute argument and people were staring at me. He ended up ringing his manager who ended up saying I didn't have to pay, and they could put it on the account that Emirates were to open.

I got home and the first thing my mum said to me was "can you put up the Christmas tree?" It's the day before Christmas Eve, why couldn't people get their shit together? I ended up putting some of it up and then I fell asleep on the couch. I slept for about 6 hours. When I woke up, there were animals all around me and everyone was at home.

So, here I am. In Auckland. For 10 days, the longest I've been back in Auckland since I moved.

New shoes

I finished work early today. They said first, that we could go home an hour before we usually do. Then they changed their mind and said we could go home two hours before we would usually finish. I got a lift into the city from Ilijana and hit the shops. I did Christmas shopping for my mummy and daddy at David Jones, then did my own shopping. I bought some RistefskyMacheda shorts and then went duty free shopping and picked up a new Sony CyberShot T50 (a nice red camera with a touch screen!!). The guy who served me looked exacty like Jay. I just had to mention that.

Tonight I went to the laundromat. On my way back, it just started pissing down. It was a flash storm and it was so strange for it to be raining in Melbourne, it hadn't rained all month!! Well I got absolutely soaked from head to toe. WHen I got back to my apartment, I ended up putting the clothes I was wearing into a bag. I got changed and then headed back to throw them in the dryer, this time armed with the umbrella Brad had sent me.

Anosa met me back at the apartment - he had borrowed my rice cooker and the wok to use at Tanya's, where him and Rhys spent the night. It was about 10pm when he came around. Anyway, I decided that I wanted to buy some shoes. So I said to him, "I want to buy some shoes". He told me that he wanted to buy some as well. So we had a look at what would be open, and Highpoint was over right through the night (24 hour malls, woo! Yay for Christmas). We headed off to Highpoint, going the longest way imaginable (it was the only way he knew apparently).

I said as we got out of the car, that I wasn't leaving without a pair of shoes, and maybe a pair of jeans. He said the same. We looked around everywhere and I ended up buying a pair of Adidas Gazelle TKY (the ones that say I heart Tokyo) and no jeans. Anosa bought some Etnies. So that was good. And then we drove back to the apartment - this time I directed him. I actually didn't know the way back but just pretended I did - I made him follow the tram lines (smart move). So we got back home in record time. Anosa is great because we have the same taste in music! We spent the whole trip back singing to music, he attempted hitting the high notes while I laughed. I love people who love RnB.

We had some of the leftover food in the fridge from the other night when he was cooking for us. I spent the night vacuuming and I only just started (and finished) packing for my trip back to Auckland in a couple of hours! It's 4am and I'm off to bed! I need to get up in an hour. Anosa is staying over, and I asked him if he wanted to look after my place while I'm gone and he said yes, so that's good! Also, the bathroom ceiling has started leaking so that's not very good. I have a bucket there, I hope it will do.

Welcome Rhys and Anosa

Yesterday Rhys and his boyfriend Anosa drove down to Melbourne from Sydney. They had arrived right on 5pm and picked me up from work. I wasn't expecting them until later in the evening. Rhys text me and said that they could pick me up and I didn't send anything back. Right on 5pm I get a call from him saying he's at Gate 2. I said, Gate 2 where? He said at your work! So I went out and there they were. He said he called Directory Assist and they told him how to get to my work, stalker!

They are staying with me for a couple of days. I offered them my bedroom but they were happy enough to sleep on the sofabed, so good for them. It means I can have my shower in the morning without fear of anyone watching me! We went out for dinner last night to a Thai/Malaysian/Chinese place in St Kilda. It was really weird, the building itself, it looked more suited to being an Italian restaurant or something. It was made up of bricks and I swear I saw a stone oven in the wall, something that they put pizzas into. It was a great restaurant though and the food was good. Then we went to see Tania, one of Rhys' old flatmates who lives in Port Melbourne. I met her over Queens Birthday weekend when Rhys was here last.

Rhys drove me to work this morning and picked me up! How nice. Anosa, being a chef, cooked dinner for us tonight. When I got home, four months of recycling that had been sitting on my kitchen floor near the door had gone! Rhys had taken it downstairs to the carpark for me. And the place was just so immaculate, they had been cleaning for me. Isn't it great to have guests who do that? I definitely didn't expect it of them (and in a way it made me feel like my place was messy!! But who cares). Ali came over and had dinner with us, there was so much food. It was so good, we were comparing it to the dinner we had last night and it was so much better!!

Anosa's friend Hersey picked us up and we went to Highpoint, which was the first time I've ever been there. Everyone at work always talks about it, especially last Christmas they were all talking about how they were going there that evening etc. I had always been going to Chadstone, but I guess that is a bit far out from all of them. We didn't go shopping though - we went for ice cream and then drove all the way back. It was good though.

Weird. There were five people in my apartment tonight (including me). All gay. Five gay men in an apartment. I didn't even know I knew four gay people. There you go. That's the most people I've had in my apartment actually, straight or gay!

Employee of the Year

Last night was our company Christmas Party. Long story. We were asked whether or not we were going and if we were going to bring our partners. It was just assumed that I was going to go. But I decided not to. My manager kept saying to me, why aren't you coming, are you sure you can't come? I lied and said my mum was over (kind of true, except for she is over next weekend). After some persistant nagging, my manager said look, you have to be there. It's my job to make sure certain people are there ... in case something happens, so ... I said OK, I get it, I'll go.

So I went, and it was actually a good night, I should have known. And it turns out I was nominated for, and won, the Employee of the Year for our Melbourne office. So that was good, I actually went there not knowing what it was that was going to happen. Everyone else getting awards that night made a speech but I didn't. I must say though, that I did get the most cheers, our table was pretty loud!! It was strange because I have been working there all year, but I was only temping at the start - I didn't actually become their employee until May. So, technically, this Employee of the Year has only been working for eight months of the year for them!

So, spent the night eating and dancing and drinking. Our table was great, had all the cool people. Found the bar pretty early on in the night and it was good. Spent tons of time there when we weren't on the dance floor. Afterwards, a group of us went for a walk in the city. It was Emma and Rowan's first time on a tram (can you believe that?! She was born in Melbourne too!) We ended up at Odium at Crown. It was pretty shit and we ended up parting ways at about 3am. Came home and crashed. Felt so good to be drunk and in my bed. It's just one of those great feelings.

Hanging out after work

We had a get together after work today. It was like an informal Christmas Party, but we didn't exchange presents or anything like that. That's next week. Emma drove me to Port Melbourne so I could pay my rent at the post office, and then we picked up Rowan because he was coming as well. We were at the car park in the city deciding how long we would be there for. It was 5pm, and we said, well, we won't be here for more than two hours.

We got there and started off drinking. Drinking and smoking (well, they did, I just sat and watched). But everyone was just hanging out and having a good time. People came and went, the bar tab got used, it ended up not being as dreadful as everyone thought it would be! We were there until about 11pm. Rowan insisted that they drive me home because it was raining and because I made the best RSVP to their wedding. They did say that if there was a prize for best RSVP, that it would have gone to me.

So, there you go. We thought we were going to be the first to leave, but we ended up being the last to leave. That always happens - I dread work functions, and it turns out to be not so bad. Six hours we spent there, six hours of our own time that we spent together with our workmates. Who would have thought, you spend all day with them and you can still find stuff to talk about outside work! Crazy. But it was a great night.

More visitors

Mum and my brother flew in from Auckland yesterday morning. It was my mum's birthday in October and as her present, we bought her tickets to the Kylie Homecoming Tour at Rod Laver and flew her over for the weekend. My brother flew over for the weekend too. Alistair and I picked them up from the airport and brought them back to the apartment - the first time my mum had been to my new home! It is good that she is finally here because she knows that I pay shitloads for rent and I wanted her to see why - it's hard to explain in photos and just listing what is so great about this place, you really have to see it for yourself.

We went to The Red Emperor at Southgate yesterday for yum cha. It is the best place in Melbourne to go, very expensive but worth every cent. My brother had been raving about it to everyone back home since we went last time.

You know those times when you feel trapped and you can't go anywhere or do anything? It's awkward. Like, when you're in the car and someone drops a bombshell. Well, that's what happened yesterday, kinda. My brother went to the bathroom at lunch and it was just me and my mum at the table. I could tell she wanted to ask me something, and then she just went and said it, carefully constructed might I add. She said, how long have you been living by yourself? I said, since August. She said oh ok, why aren't you living with Alistair anymore? I said, we split up. She said, oh.

That wasn't as awkward as some of the other times. Not like when we were sitting at the dinner table one night in Auckland and my mum made me announce to the family that Alistair was to stay with us for a week (or basically make me ask my dad for permission actually).

It's really my fault anyway - I didn't tell anyone that Alistair and I split. A lot of people just assumed, because we weren't living together. It was one of those, don't ask, don't tell situations. It was one of those sensitive issues that people probably wanted to ask, but didn't know how to put it, and I guess my mum was waiting for me to make the first move and say something.

It was 38 degrees yesterday. I mean, that's hot, but what made it worse was all the smoke in the air from the bush fires. You could tell my mum and brother weren't used to it - I don't think it even goes over 25 in Auckland. We just went shopping and did the usual stuff. We went to Koko Black and I got an ice chocolate, it was soo good. I didn't buy much, but I was at David Jones and saw the cutest ever Ralph Lauren two piece. It would have looked great on Guillaume. I didn't buy it though, my mum wouldn't let me spend that much money on a child that doesn't exist. We went to Crown and watched the Christmas Show in the atrium and then went to the casino.

Today we went to Issus for breakfast, just like I did last Sunday with Brad. We did more shopping, it was even hotter today, it peaked at 42 degrees. We went to Melbourne Central for Bubble Tea, and when we came out, it was really cool outside, it's amazing how weather can just change. It dropped about 15 degrees.

We met up with Ali for dinner at Gigi. It's funny how this weekend has mirrored last weekend. It's good when you have people to show around, even though it's not the first time my mum and brother have been here. Then we went to the Kylie concert. We walked there through Birrarung Marr, it was a nice walk. The concert was great, they started off with Better the Devil You Know which is my favourite Kylie song. It was good.

They fly out tomorrow morning back to Auckland, I'll be at work then. I will see them in two weeks when I fly home for Christmas. It's been good this month, like my weekends have been busy and I haven't been as bored as I usually am. Thank god for visitors.

End of the weekend

This morning Brad and I went to the Southbank Markets and had a look around - it was quite busy but we saw some amazing sculptures and photography so it was well worth going. We went down Degraves Street and back to Center Place. We ended up back at Issus, which was nice because now we have a place that is "ours", just like how Gigi's is somewhere Alistair and I go. I love walking through Center place and admiring the works of art on the roller doors. I can just imagine how perfect it would have been if it were raining outside, and we were sitting indoors having our breakfast. Everything is typical of an alley, it would be great to have a warehouse apartment there.

We went back to the department stores and continued with the Christmas shopping and when we were at Myer we looked at TV's and furniture, house hold applicances and all that jazz. We were basically shopping for our house together. We went to Koko Black and waited 20 minutes to get a seat. It was worth it though, he loved it. I had a hot chocolate and Brad had an ice chocolate.

We went for a walk through the side streets and started walking up Little Collins Street, because I wanted to go to Assin and look for some Dior Homme jewellery. As we were walking up, Brad took off his bracelet and put it on my wrist. I had been eyeing it up for the past couple of days because it is just so amazing and funky. I told him that he couldn't give it to me, because his friend had given it to him. He said that his friend actually bought it for him, ie, he had given his friend the money to go out and buy it. Then he said that I could just "borrow" it for a while, if that made me feel better. I love it.

Assin didn't have the jewellery in stock so we kept walking. We saw an Audi TT parked right outside, in black! That was my dream car and we both wanted one. I wanted black, he wanted grey. We compromised and said that I could choose the colour of the car and he could choose the interior. It must have been a sign. We walked to the Designer Markets below Federation Square and had a look around there, I hadn't been there before, we just happened to stumble across it. We walked along Birrarung Marr, past Melbourne Park and then went for a stroll through Kings Domain.

We got to see the Governor's House and spent about half an hour sitting on the grass bank near the Shrine of Remembrance just talking. The weather was so great, it was forecast to rain this weekend but it has been just perfect, not overly hot but just right. Clear skies all weekend.

We finished the weekend off by watching the QAF box set I have. It was good to have someone to spend the weekend with, someone to just hang out with. It was good to be able to go out this weekend and walk the streets, sit down and eat with someone. Even when you're not doing anything, it's good to do it with someone else. I have just had so much fun this weekend. I have done so much, it doesn't feel like two and a half days at all!

First date, ever

This morning we went to the National Gallery of VIctoria. It wasn't something that we had planned, but we went past it on the tram and I said lets jump off here and have a look. We looked at a couple of exhibitions, it was great. It's good to have someone to do stuff with. We spent just over an hour at the NGV before walking back into the city to do some shopping.

We went with the Christmas theme and checked out Christmas Trees and decorations and toys and things like that. We spent hours at Myer and David Jones, speaking in French to one another. «Anton, regarde-ça» he would say. We had fun. We went through Royal Arcade and walked into nearly every store. It was 3pm when we finally sat down for lunch at Issus, a café down Center Place, the most amazing alleyway in all of Melbourne - it has some of the best character and graffiti I've seen! It was cosy there and quite busy for that time of the day.

We went walking up Collins Street, through the French district. We went into Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton, Hermès and spent about 20 minutes in Rhodes & Beckett looking at shirts and ties. We walked right up to State Parliament and sat on the steps for half an hour. We saw four different wedding parties that day! On our walk back to the city, we stopped in a book shop for about an hour, before running off to Target because Brad needed to use the bathroom!

When we finally got home, we watched V for Vendetta. It was a great movie, so interesting, Guy Fawkes is so interesting. I fell asleep half way through the movie on Brad's lap, but I woke up soon after to catch the end. It was 8.30pm when that had finished and we got ready to go out for dinner. Getting ready for me, in the morning before going to work, means having a shower and getting dressed - I've got it down to 20 minutes from when I wake up to when I'm out the door. Getting ready for Brad though, takes about an hour. So I put on some Nesian Mystik and got ready, picking out what we would wear and making sure we both looked good.

It was just before 11pm when we got to Southbank. We walked there from the city, passing the Aquarium and walking over the Yarra. We couldn't figure out where we wanted to eat and ended up at Number 8. We went inside and had some drinks while we waited for our table. We were seated outside and it was just the perfect night, the sky was clear, the company was great. They were playing the most fitting music. They played one of my favourite songs, You Don't Know Me by Ray Charles and Diana Krall, and songs like Here We Go Again by Norah Jones. We just had such a great night. The fire display went off at 11pm and midnight while we were there. It was just the most romantic evening. It was a real date, like the first actual date of my life. Sitting with someone, getting to know them, endless flirting, perfect setting. You had to be there to understand.

We went walking through Versace and saw these amazing suits that we vowed to buy one day. We were home by 1.30am and danced to Ray Charles and Norah Jones in the darkness of the apartment for half an hour. It was the perfect end to a perfect night.

December 1st

I met Brad today after work at Southern Cross. We went shopping in the city to David Jones and Myer. We did a lot of 'mens' shopping, looking at ties and shirts and things like that. We went to Melbourne Central and I took him to Bayswiss, which he always raves about. The Melbourne one, he said, was much bigger than the ones in Sydney, which was strange because I didn't think it was very large at all. We tested out the four post bed, sat on a couple of ottomans and looked at some candles.

We went to Gigi for dinner, a Japanese restaurant on Swanston Street that Ali and I went to a lot. Then we walked to Southbank and went to Louis Vuitton and Politix. We were just walking around, I was waiting until 10pm so I could show him the fire display along the Yarra.

We came home and left the lights off. We sat on the sofa and talked. And made out.