The A-League

It's been a while since I've put an update of decent length on this, so I'll take some time and go over a few things I've missed in the past, and what's been going on recently. 

One Sunday afternoon not too long ago I was coming back to the hostel, alls well and good so far. When I arrived back here I expected the normal Sunday scene, people drinking a bit, chilling a bit and generally lazing about. What I did not expect to see was alot of people completely PISHED upstairs, bouncing about the place and having a bit of a party. The reasoning behind the festivities? Was it someone's birthday, or maybe some jammy rat had won a bit of money? Neither, it was conclusive proof that backpackers need very little reason to have a proper good session. 

It was Chinese new year. Basically, alot of the people I live with were a wee bit bored so jumped on a bus out to Chinatown, and generally went mental with the Asian populace of Brisbane. Good banter. It must have been an interesting new year for the Chinese people, can't be too often they get a group of blootered European backpackers turning up shouting "Year of the Dug!" or "Year of the Mouse!" 

In other news theres a compete belter of a video I need to put up on my Facebook. I was headed out to trusty 7-11 one morning for a wee carton of milk, but as I walked past reception some funny stuff started to happen:

"Hey Andy!"

"Aye? How's it goin, whits hapnin?"

"Apparently your mate is upstairs in the common room, completely off his face. He managed to spew all over himself, and he's been generally going mental. Do you know what's wrong with him?"

I weighed up the options. There were 2 possible candidates that would fall into the category of close mate in this place. Considering their personalities and drinking tendencies I played the law of averages:

"Is it JingleLad?" I said nervously, well aware of the damage he's capable of. 

My worst fears were confirmed with a nod of the head and a plea to go and try talk some sense into him. I checked the time, 11.30am. Brilliant.

So up I went and try I did, but maybe we should leave the rest to the video. Theres only so much words I can use to describe the complete mess displayed on floor 1. I'll try get it uploaded soon, but some of the highlights missing from the video were JingleLad throwing a knife at me to man me up (his words), him head-butting the floor (burst nose), crawling about the place, spewing, and saying some very questionable things to a pair of Irishmen.

BorrusiaSaan and I took a wee trip to the 'outlet mall' just outside Brisbane. The reason I've used hyphens around the outlet mall is because it was just the opposite of such. Nothing at all was any cheaper than in the shops and it was basically a long trip for very little. BorrusiaSaan (after trying things on for ages and generally acting like a complete bird) walked out the proud owner of 2 new tshirts, while I picked up a beastly chicken burger and 2 cheap bottles of wine. I suppose our priorities are somewhat reflected in our purchases, yet I feel I came out on top. You can't eat a tshirt. 

Also in Shawshank/Folsom/Barlinie (various nicknames I have for our hostel, but all appropriate) there are a few special rules. Allegedly you cannot drink anywhere in the hostel and if you do, "The police will be called and you will be removed from the premises". Indeed... 
This story ties in with the fact the place hired a new bouncer, who tried to properly enforce these new rules. If we were having a social bevvy upstairs he would come up and nick our drink. We simply were not having this after staying here for so long, so half-cut we made a wee trip to reception. Rather than a quiet word in our ear about being idiots and clearly breaking the rules, they promised to speak to the new lad and tell him to calm down. Brilliant, disregarding their own rules because the long-termers like a bit of a swall. Next up is our attempt to tackle the ban on 'ladies of the night'.

And that's the script so far in February! It's going well and this is my last full month in the country now before I do a runner. This month promises to be a belter though, a mate from home coming over, a cruise to 3 different countries, trip down to Surfers, and Fraser Island planned so far.