Day 85-91: Sydney (Week 8)
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2004
1
19
57
Trip End
Jan 05, 2006
Sydney,
Australia
Monday, December 13, 2004
Had a good lye in this morning and finally went back to the gym lunchtime after 2 weeks of either being injured or ill so it was nice to get back. It was Gabby's class so she let me shadow again. Done a short workout on the legs too and ran home, well ran most of it....legs we knackered! When I got home I practised Combat 22 for a bit as it's being released in Fitness First this week so Gabby will be doing it on Thursday so best if I know most of it. Also found out that the Group Fitness Co-ordinator for Fitness First in Sydney is the David bloke who also teaches Combat. He was the one I introduced myself too a few weeks ago but wasn't particularly friendly or welcoming so should be interesting trying to approach him to see if there's any work going!!
The bargain trainers that I bought on Saturday killed my feet when I wore them out Saturday night so cleaned them up and took them back to get a size up, they didn't even notice that I'd worn them which was marvellous! Also bought myself a bigger beach towel and a very handy roll up beach mat thing which should help keep the sand out.....I mean beaches are lovely but they'd be so much better without sand....and talking of beaches, the sunburn is better now however I've started peeling like a leper, luckily it's shoulders and back so my face still looks beautiful which is good.
This evening I went out with Aaron for a night photo shoot. We walked down to Circular Quay and took a few shots of the bridge and Opera House at dusk and as it was getting dark. It was the first time I'd used my camera on the B+W setting so was interested to see what sort of results I was gonna get, plus I had the tripod so I could get some nice night shots. Unfortunately my battery ran out after about 30 pics :O( Must remember to make sure it's fully charged before I go out on a shoot! I think it's also coz the camera has to work harder when it's dark. Spent a good couple of hours out and about, it was really good to go on a shoot with someone else for a change and compare ideas. Got some food a little cafe/restaurant thing on Pitt St on the way back...it's amazing how few places are open in the evening in the city...although it is a Monday I guess.
Tuesday:
Breakfast at the Fat Ducks this morning which was nice....cereal and some raisin toast, mmmmmm :O) Went to the net cafe over lunch coz I was really keen to see how the pics had come out - happy with a few of them and I'm sure they'll end up online at some point. But I think I'll be able to get some better shots with a bit more practice. Also applied for some more jobs online, one of them looked really promising - a Notes Contractor - and I got a call straight back after I'd applied....only to tell me tho that the client had decided not to do anything until after xmas. The other one I applied for was a Helpdesk role.
Wandered into the city to register at the library so I could get the 'Art of Happiness' book, didn't cost anything to join either so saved myself a bit of cash. Spent an hour or so there catching up with the UK papers. On the way home I stopped off at the payphone centre and made a couple of calls to fitness clubs and chased the Helpdesk job. Still couldn't get through to the manager at the No.1 Health Club, she's very elusive! And I called the guy at the agency responsible for the Helpdesk job and he said he hadn't recieved my email and asked me to send it again, so I had to stop off at another net cafe and do that, called him just after I sent it and he said it still hadn't arrived, in the end I had to send it to his hotmail address. He called me back within a few minutes to let me know he'd finally got it and that he'd be putting me forward and that the interview would be Friday if I got one. Just popped into Starbucks for a cup of tea and read the paper.
Spent the evening in, have been out Sat, Sun and Mon which makes a change so just vegged in front of the telly with Niki. Watched Will & Grace, the 'new' episodes over here are really old, think the UK is a good couple of series ahead, and then watched The Thomas Crown Affair.
Wednesday:
Had a lazy arse morning just watching telly in the dressing gown. Got a call late morning from the casting agency!!! Shock, horror! They've got me a job tomorrow....but no need to get too excited, it's just an hours work for $75...before tax and their commission. Oh well, it's a start and she did say that she'd try and get me something more substantial next time. I'm going to be a background extra for a commercial being filmed in the City Recital Hall - she said I need to wear a suit, tho I don't have a suit jacket but she said shirt and tie would be fine...hope I'm not the only one who turn's up with a jacket!
In the afternoon I just pottered around reading the book I got from the Library yesterday in the coffee shop. Late afternoon I jogged to the gym for a Combat class, first class with 22 that I would have done. Didn't shadow, was just a punter. It was David teaching, the guy who's the Group Fitness Co-ordinator for the Sydney Fitness Firsts....the one who wasn't very responsive when I first approached him. Anyway, thought I'd say hello again at the end of the class, reminded him who I was and asked if I could arrange to have a chat with him sometime to see if there's any cover work available. He said he's in most afternoons so I'll catch him tomorrow when I shadow with Gabby at lunchtime.
Had some dinner and stopped off at the net cafe to update some bits and pieces and sent my CV off for another helpdesk job. Afterwards wandered to Paddy McGuires which is a supposedly Irish theme bar near the cafe. I noticed a few days ago that they've got a comedy night on Wednesdays so thought I'd go take a look. It was all a bit tragic really when I got there, some poor guy on the stage, about 20 people in the bar paying any attention and not much laughter. There were a few more comics as the evening wore on, only a couple were any good but you gotta have balls to get on a stage and die on your arse so good on em! By the end of the evening the bar had filled up and got a little noisier, however they didn't think about turning up the mic so you could barely hear the comics anyway....so I left.
Stopped off at the Shift for a quick one on the way home. Bumped into Chris from the choir there, we had a couple of drinks and a chat, he works at the university and mentioned that they always seem to be hiring helpdesk staff so gave him my email and he said he'd send me the contact details for the uni recruitment people.
Thursday:
Lazy arse morning...practised combat for the lunchtime class, wandered into the city late morning, picked up the sheet music for my Lion King audition which had arrived at the music store, then went to the gym. Combat class shadowing Gabby as usual, she said I could teach a couple of tracks next time if I wanted to so that would be cool. The Group Fitness bloke, David, wasn't in so couldn't speak to him. By the time I left the gym it was about 3. A message had been left on my mobile whilst in the gym from an agency bloke about the job I sent the CV off for last night. Called him back and he seemed quite keen to send my CV off and asked if I could pop into the office to see him later that afternoon.
Made a few other calls, chased the agency about the job I applied for earlier in the week. He said he was waiting for the client to get back to him as the interviews are supposed to be on Friday so they were leaving it a bit late. Also phoned a few health clubs which run combat in the city....no joy whatsoever, in fact one club said they only take people with over 2 years experience for crying out loud...what's that all about!! Looks like the Combat thing will be a complete no goer...$500 odd bucks well spent then :OS
Nipped home to get changed for the casting job at 5, whilst I was there got a call back for the the helpdesk job in the city. They want to interview me tomorrow at 1.30pm...yay! Got the bus back into the city and stopped off at the agency to show my face and find out a little bit more about the job. It's helpdesk...in bloody Parramatta again!! I said that it was fine but still not sure about that commute, the job doesn't start till Jan 24th which is kinda good coz the other helpdesk one which i'm interviewing for tomorrow starts on Monday and is 6 weeks so I'd still be able to do the January one, anyway, he's gonna put my CV forward and I'll wait to hear from him.
The casting job was at the City Recital Hall, arrived just before 5 and they'd already started. Turns out it was a photoshoot for a print ad for APL - a shipping company. There was about 20 of us, men and women all smartly dressed as if we were out on a night at the recital. I was the only bloke not to have a suit jacket...ooops! So I kinda stood out in my pink shirt and tie...lol, anyways, they basically moved us around the hall taking shots of us pretending to clap as if there was someone on the stage...the idea is they'll piece all the photos together and it will look like there was a full audience in the hall....basically they'll be lots of pics of the back of my head. We were done in about 45 mins so not too bad...as long as they pay the full hour!
The interview tomorrow is at the Attorney General's Office, so thought that maybe I should wear a more conservative shirt and tie for it rather than pink. Stopped off at MYER on the way home and they had 25% off business shirts...excellent, got a nice little light blue with dark blue pin number. Was SGLC rehearsals tonight but couldn't be bothered to rush back for it so took a leisurely stroll and spent the rest of the night in.
Friday:
Up bright and early as I wanted to get to the net cafe to do some research for the interview in the afternoon, whilst I was there got a call from the agency to say the client had moved the interview back to 3.30....buggers! I could have stayed in bed a bit longer! So just pottered around the house over lunchtime getting ready for the interview, ironing the shirt, making myself look gorgeous which obviously didn't take long. Was drizzling when I left for the interview - see it ain't all sunshine! Was a little early so just made sure I'd found the right building and went for a hot chocolate. Interview started on time...was interviewed by two guys, went pretty well, think I answered all their questions well and gave the sorta info they wanted to hear. The job could last anything from 1-3 months and it's 100% phone support for over 4000 users across NSW, the Attorney General's Office covers legal stuff so all the courts come under it's duristiction so they'll be calls from all sorts of people. I think I was the last person they interviewed.
About 10 minutes after leaving the interview I got a call from the agency. Turns out they called them practically after I left the room, and they want me...so I got a job! Yay! I start on Monday at 9am, it's just over $25 an hour after super which isn't too bad, and will certainly mean that I wouldn't have to spend my UK funds for a little while, depending on how long the contract runs for, gonna be a minimum of 1 month so should take home about $2500 which is very handy.
Nipped into Fitness First on the way home to see David. He basically said that he's not looking for any permanent instructors as he's happy with who he's got, but he would add me to the list for cover. He wants me to team teach or shadow with Gabby sometime so he can see what I'm like - didn't mention that I'd been shadowing Gabby a few times already, just in case she'd get into trouble - he also wants me to bring in all my qualifications to keep on file. Of course I forgot to mention that I'm not going to be able to shadow Gabby now I'm working as she only does day classes...well I'm sure we'll work something out.
Was pissing down by this time and I had a heavy bag of shopping so got the bus home. Waited for about 15 mins for the bus, then it got stuck in traffic and took about 10 minutes to go half a mile, I'd have been home quicker walking tho not so dry. It was hideous on the bus, it was an old one without air con and coz it was raining people had shut the windows so it was stifling, hot, and icky...can't wait to do that every night! lol
Did consider going out in the evening but frankly couldn't be bothered coz of the rain, plus got an earlyish start tomorrow for the Lion King audition...so just watched '40 Days and 40 Nights'....pile of rubbish!
Saturday:
Alarm went off at 8am, far too early, almost considered not bothering but hauled myself out of bed. Now I can't remember if I've even mentioned anything about this audition, basically a couple of weeks ago I spotted an ad in the paper for Lion King auditions for singers and dancers for the 'possible' re-casting in 2005. There are singing auditions on Sat and Sun but just thought I'd get it out of the way. They're obviously open auditions as no pre-registration was mentioned. They were held in a big arts/studio complex in Waterloo which was a short walk and 15 min bus ride to get to....registration was at 10am but thought I'd get there early as I was expecting queues around the block for this sort of thing.
Got there about 9.45 and there was hardly anyone around, certainly no queues and a few people milling around humming and warming up. Registered and got an audition time of around 11am so not long to wait at all. Just went outside to warm up and practice...kinda embarrasing singing out loud in a car park but luckily no one was around! Went back about 10.45 and turns out they were running early which is unusual...so I practically went straight in. I sang the first verse and chorus for 'Come What May' from Moulin Rouge, that went pretty well, didn't feel like I hit any bum notes. Then they asked me to tell a joke! Wasn't expecting that....so they asked me to describe what I'd done to get to the audition in a 'humourous' way, and then add in movement in the style of Mr Bean....oh...my...god! That was very strange but actually think I done quite well, was pretty pleased with how it went overall. They said that if they wanted me for a callback I'd know by about 6pm today.
Just jumped on the bus back into the city stopping off at the net cafe. Went to the Junction in the afternoon to get some stuff for work...didn't have the shirt I wanted in my size so that means a trip to the city store tomorrow. Did get a couple of nice t-shirts for going out in tho ad did a bit of grocery shopping too. Didn't get home until about 7 and hadn't had a call from the audition by then so looks like I'm not gonna be a musical superstar...oh well, think I'll cope.
Had some dinner and chilled for a bit before going out about 10. Went to the usual places, started in Stonewall, then one in Columbian, then Shift for a boogie. Bumped into Camilo there, a guy I met for a drink a couple of weeks ago, he was with friends so hung out with them for a bit and then we all went to Manacle. Stayed there for a little while, then over to the Oxford, back to Manacle for a bit and after a bit of pizza was home for about 3.30am...had a pretty good night.
Sunday:
Nice long lay in this morning. Woke around 8.30 tho, upstairs sounded as if they had their music on but it was very faint, guess they've learnt the lesson from last week....but still, 8.30 in the morning to have music on. Put my earplugs in just so I could be guaranteed some more sleep and in the end went through to lunchtime. After brekkie wandered into the city to get the shirt and a few other bits and pieces, it absolutely pissed down in the afternoon with some fantastic loud thunder...all passed quite quickly tho. Came home and turned up the trousers for work and ironed the shirt all ready for the morning coz the last thing I wanna do is have to get up too early, luckily tomorrow is a 9am start, not looking forward to the days I have to start at 7.15!!!
Nipped to the net cafe early evening then went to the cinema...watched a film called SAW - dunno if it's on in the UK yet, it's a phsycological thriller in a similar vein to Seven. It's in all the papers here coz it's been made in Hollywood by a couple of aussie guys who just took a gamble to go over and pitch their idea, made it on a shoe string and it's been quite big here. If it is over there it's worth seeing - film review over....
And that's it....next week will be all the exciting news about the job, will I end up working with a bunch of dullards? Will this be the start of an office romance? Will I hate being on the phone all day?? All these questions and more will be answered next week....
