Day 10

I found a research project! I actually found two, so I chose the one that is more something I might want to deal with. I’ll explain more about it once I actually pick the project I want to help with, but a short explanation would be I might be working with catalysts in tiny amounts with varied parameters. Or possibly membrane reactors. NERD ALERT, it’s pretty cool.

I also tried Tim Tams with delicious hot chocolate. Holy fudge cake, it was amazing. I was going to write a post dedicated solely to how epic an experience it was but I got distracted looking for where I can find them in the US (World Markets apparently, thanks Steven!) and writing Pepperidge Farm telling them to sell them. Apparently they did for a limited time, but they discontinued them in March. Curses!

Basically the warm hot chocolate melts the Tim Tam making it a gooey, delicious experience the likes of which your taste buds has never seen. Er…tasted. Anyway, I will try and bring some back with me but I’m not sure how many will make it to friends. I must go questing to a World Market.

Today I went into the city with Kylie and Erin. It was beautiful. It’s different than the cities in the States which I have experienced such as New York or Chicago. The whole place just seemed a lot cleaner. There was no city smell, no cramped housing, no odor of people crammed together.

We ate lunch in this swanky café in the middle of a shopping center. This wasn’t a mall; it was like an outdoor strip mall I suppose would be the most accurate description, only very nice. There were classy stores and a Croc store and everything in between. The café was a great people watching place and the food was really good. I tried some Bulmers, which is like cider for adults. I’ve discovered that I don’t like the taste of alcohol. In my time here I’ve tried an Australian beer, some wine, and Bulmers and have like none of them. I think for me to want to drink it will have to not taste like I’m drinking. Erin is determined to see me buzzed at some point, as smashed is out of the question. We’ll see. Side note; shout out to my parents who are reading this!

After lunch we walked around the Botanical Gardens. They were really pretty; there are some crazy trees in Australia! There were some that had branches with natural supports that turned into roots. It looked like the tree was melting, it was absolutely stunning. There were at least two weddings going on while we were walking around, just small intimate little get togethers. Beautiful setting for a wedding, but they had to be small.

We also ate at Hungry Jack’s for dinner! Hungry Jacks is like a Burger King, down to the sign. Instead of saying “Burger King” however, it says “Hungry Jack’s”. The food was the same and was very yummy in a fast food way. We took our food out to this ampatheatre which held free shows. Several high school bands were playing there, and we ate and watched one group. They were pretty crazy good. They were a percussion band and used like tribal drums and whistles and chimes. It was pretty awesome.

We only got to watch one of the bands play because we had already bought tickets to see Bruno. It was very good and if you liked Borat, I strongly suggest you go see it. I wasn’t really amped to see it, but I’m glad I went.

After the movie we decided to take the City Cat back to campus. The City Cat is a ferry service that runs on the river; it’s basically like a floating bus. As it was about 9:30, the city was all lit up. It was glorious. The air was chilly, especially with the wind blowing as we floated down the river, but the lights. Oh the lights. They would take your breath away as they flowed by. I couldn’t even bring myself to take pictures, because it would only bastardize how beautiful it was. There was the Ferris wheel lit up blue and white, and the normal lights, and a building that was all a-glow pink for breast cancer.

In short, Brisbane is wonderful and I predict many trips shall be made to it. It’s only a bus (or City Cat) ride away. I think we are going to ride the City Cat in the daytime to see the city go by when we can actually see everything. I’d also like to go again at night, as we could only stay out there for half the ride. Erin and I were both wearing short sleeves and it was pretty cold. We could actually see our breath on the walk home! Oh snap!