My take on...

The Election Campaign Week 1

So Julia "Ginger Ninja" Gillard assassinated Krudd and blindsided the Greens (who would have a considerable youth vote) by calling an election allowing less than 72 hours for everyone to get on the roll. As an added bonus she managed to blindside the Coalition who for some absurd reason didn't seem prepared for the announcement even though the media called it well in advance.

The Greens and the ALP made a preference deal which we knew was going to happen five and a bit years ago when Steve "Fundies First" Fielding made his debut in the senate.

We haven't seen any good policies from the majors who seem more than happy to focus on vote grabbing and soundbites like "asylum seekers", "little Australia", etc.

Not what I was hoping for from Julia but I still have hopes for her to swing back to the left if she wins. Tony "Mad Monk" Abbott is actually not looking as crazily conservative for now, but if he wins I fear Australia will take a big leap to the right anyway.

Everyone fears the effect of the Greens' Nick Clegg potential so Bob Brown will have to continue sitting on the sidelines.

All in all a disappointing week.

My take on...

Masterchef

This year's Masterchef has certainly shown itself to be a game show far more than a cooking show, and it pains me to say that it's started losing me. When you have contestants that are heads and shoulders above the rest in technique, innovation, and flair, and somehow they don't make it into the final week, then yes, you have a problem with the format. Whilst Season 1 had the shock elimination of Justine at top four and Poh losing to Julie in the final sprint to the finish, they were at least final week contestants. This season we see Jimmy and Aaron making it over Marion and Jonathan. It just demonstrates that the show isn't about looking for the best cook, it's more like Russian roulette.

My rather harsh take on the top 7 -
1) Aaron "satay-sauce" miracle boy who got into the final week off his "always cook the second-worst dish" strategy finally failed to make it. Celebrations ensue.
2) I've actually grown to like "there's no holding back now" Alvin a bit more, because he really is one of those people who are consistently positive, if bitchy at times, and fun to watch.
3) "I'm a bartender" Courtney struggled to push beyond salads. She has some of the best basic skills out of everyone but the few weeks where she was eliminated and couldn't continue to develop really hurt her chances.
4) One-hit-wonder Jimmy "curry king" really showed how creative you need to be to get through the competition - not at all.
5) I had originally thought Claire "let me make soup out of my tears" lawyer-girl to be very calm and collected but once it started raining it was pouring.
6) "I'm a schoolboy" Callum has this rather cute smile which is actually a facade for a man with a hell of a lot of ambition, he gets edited like a rather simple kid but I wonder if he would probably be one of the best third-year apprentices in Australia had he gone that route instead of a Bachelor degree.
7) My favourite once Marion and Jono were eliminated, Adam "not your typical Asian" is pretty creative and he seems to learn things fairly quickly. Probably won't have as much post-show potential as Callum, but I'd still buy his cookbook.

Prediction for the finals? Adam will come up with more innovative but with put the judges off with his Asian flavours, and Callum will get top marks for the desserts, but the final pressure test will be a main and Adam will just get there.

Day 10 in Europe (London)

So after the disaster yesterday of arriving in London on three hours of sleep (plus a couple during the train ride) and finding myself in the middle of London at a backpackers without clean sheets, my flatmate's sister and brother-in-law were very kind to put me up for my stay, so let me start off by saying thanks Stef and Shaun if you're reading this!

My day today was a bit slow, but I think after a couple of crazy nights and a full day of travelling I really wanted it to be like this anyway. Did a bit of laundry and it was midday before I went shopping in town. I keep thinking things are so much cheaper here (because I've now grown used to the Euro -> Aussie Dollar conversion) when they really aren't. Luckily my iPhone has a currency converter app which probably saved me from spending unnecessary cash.

If there is one thing London has over Paris is that the food available is so much more multicultural. In Paris I struggled to find good Chinese or Indian food, and here it is widely available. At night we had dinner at a wonderful Cantonese restaurant. Wouldn't call it spectacular but there were some highlights such as soft-shell crab fried with curry leaves and chilli, and drunken chicken with abalone and jellyfish.

On the down side London seems to have massive issues with public transport and general congestion. Unlike Paris which has its CBD located away from the centre of the city, London has everything squished together and the infrastructure simply isn't there to comfortably support its population. To put it in perspective, this is the first time ever that I had to queue to get inside a subway station, and then queue again to get on the escalator down, and even then only barely manage to get on the train (and I've now been on subways in Hong Kong, New York, Kyoto, Osaka, and Paris).

At the end of the day, for someone who likes his space every now and then, this really won't be my favourite city but at least I can make the best of it!

Day 9 in Europe (Tilburg to London)

Just a note to say, I've got posts written for the last few days but I've been too busy / missing wifi access to post them. Once I get some solid internet access again I'll get them up. In the meantime, I've just landed in London and it's a shambles, the accommodation is awful (maybe not by awful by backpacker standards, but not having clean sheets means it's certainly leaning towards "bad") and internet access is sorely lacking (no wifi at Maccas, seriously).

Will update next time I have internet.

Day 8 in Europe (Tilburg)

Wow what an amazing day!

I'll be honest, it started off pretty slow, I don't sleep terribly well with alcohol and so I woke up feeling tired already (and later in the day had to take a nap), but after a nice simple breakfast we headed off towards a small lake not too far away. It's probably somewhat ironic that this was my first trip to anything remotely resembling a beach in ages, and it was in the Netherlands rather than in any of Sydney's awesome beaches :P

Anyway, after a couple of hours under the sun we made our way home to prep for the rest of the day and I decided that my lack of sleep had caught up to me. So while the night was getting started (this was at 14h30 by the way) I had a couple of hours nap. By the time I got out it was 17h30...

As an aside, I knew that most of the places I'd be visiting in Europe would be crowded, but somehow Paris really wasn't that bad except on 14 July. It was Tilburg that really showed me how crowded it could be! Roze Maandag (Pink Monday) is the gay party (in reality it was a mixed crowd) held during Tilburg's ten-day funfair, and apparently people travel for the day to partake in it. Many people. The normally quiet town almost doubles in population and at the peak hours between 18h00 to 22h00 it becomes so packed that it's difficult to move, let alone dance!

What an awesome atmosphere though, and it really is a day for everyone to celebrate, as I saw young children and elderly mixed in with all of us party-aged people. You have all the carnival rides and games in the middle of the road, and cafes and bars lined along the sides, confetti and soap bubbles and balloons in the air, music blasting from the various stages and bars, and all this goes on for a good kilometre or three.

Anyway, we got tired off the rather repetitive pop music and decided to take a break for a couple of hours just before midnight, at which point we headed back out for more dancing fun, and this time with real dancing music! It was 4h30 by the time we got back home.

All in all a pretty awesome day, even if I was overwhelmed by the crowd and the heat for a while. I loved the people, the crowds, the atmosphere. And to Jules and Maikel if you ever read this, thanks again for showing me around! :)

Day 7 in Europe (Paris to Tilburg)

If I had to use three adjectives to describe the last six days, they'd be "sweaty", "eye-opening" and "nice". Yes, nice, because there just really isn't a better way to describe my experience, it was definitely positive but I didn't throw myself into the night-life and all that.

I spent the morning experiencing the same, went out for breakfast and bam! there was a Sunday market, very much like any other market even in Australia but the produce and products were very French, it was really nice! Afterwards I took a final walk through the Marais and then down the rue de Rivoli until I got to the Louvre, where there was an emergency airlift in progress with what almost looked exactly like a Westpac chopper. Nothing exactly exciting, but it was nice to see the normally crowded square being cleared of people and turned into a helipad.

Next stop is Tilburg! I'm off to visit a mate of mine from Macquarie a few years back, and apparently there is a ten-day fair going on in this little town.

The trip was uneventful but I did note that the Belgian buildings that I saw as we passed by on the train seemed a little less traditional than either those of central Paris or of the Dutch towns. There just seemed to be more grey concrete blocks than I would have expected. Hmmmm, something for me to look into when I get bored...

Anyway I arrived in town and met up with my mate and his friend. Tilburg on a Sunday night was pretty packed, could only get a table at a cafe after a good 20 mins wait. We went out afterwards to a couple of bars that managed to fit in some Dutch music (think happy folksy drinking songs) in between Lady Gaga and other pop classics. Got introduced to a really cute guy but I was perhaps a little too drunk by then and went home. On hindsight, that was a total misplay! ;)

Day 6 in Europe (Paris)

Slept in today, which was nice. I'd been waking up early every day to see sights and whatnot. Wanted a nice breakfast in bed but the boulangerie outside the hotel wasn't open on weekends. At least Secret Story was showing on TV! I love that show now hehe.

Headed to Saint-Lazare as I was told it was a nice shopping area. Didn't expecting much and the visit was marred by the fact that I needed to puss badly and somehow couldn't find a toilet even in the department stores. 

Anyway the point of this is to remark on how sometimes bad luck can turn into good, as, I subsequently managed to stumble onto both the Église de la Madeleine and the toilets just outside of it. (No joke, they are a piece of Art Nouveau art in themselves!)

Finally decided to visit la Défense, sits outside of the Ile de Paris but isn't quite suburbia. This powerhouse of economic development is where Paris' skyscrapers have been relegated so as not to damage the legendary skyline of the city centre.