My Man Howard

So I managed to land myself a job! I'll be working as a waitress in this tiny cafe in the Strand Arcade. And no Heather, it's not the kind of arcade where you play DDR LOL. It's in the CBD so hopefully that means lots of tourists which equals tips. Yeah, tipping is not necessary at bars and restaurants here which is great for you when you want to go out for a drink, but not so good when you're actually working in one of these establishments. Supposedly waitresses and bartenders get paid enough. We shall see.

As for the apartment search, well that's a whole other story altogether. My friend Kate and I met the landlord Howard at the first house we saw and he seemed perfectly nice and unassuming. The place, however, was a dump. Oh Howie, if only it could've worked out better for us...we could've had a nice future together. The next few places weren't nearly as bad, but just nothing I could see myself living in. Most places we called were share rooms, something neither of us were interested in. But things are looking up. A friend of ours, Anna, just moved into a house in Surry Hills and there are 2 rooms available. One is a single, the other a double. I could maybe see myself sharing a room with another person, although I'd prefer not to. One of my old hostelmates, Nathalie, said she would consider sharing with me. It would only be $120 a week, so that sweetens it a little. We're seeing the place today. Cross your fingers for me.

In other news, the weather just turned beautiful...finally! We went to Manly beach yesterday and it was gorgeous. However, at the end of the day, I started to resemble a crustacean despite reapplying sunscreen 3 times! Maybe it was that 4 hours in the sun that did it. Anyway, I'm much better today, the burn didn't turn out too bad and I'll be staying out of the sun for a while although it is tempting. I even went swimming despite the presence of blue bottles (known to most as Portugeuse man o' wars). And those aren't even close to the most pain-inflicting creatures that lurk in the ocean. The water was really rough but fun! And very salty.

Today is a laundry day for sure considering most of my clothes have been worn and then stuffed into a backpack...ah the life of a backpacker...