Holidays Part. 1

My holidays have finished, and it went by very quickly. It was three weeks short, because most of my friends have an extra two weeks. After the longest exam period ever, I really wanted some more time to relax and not think about uni. That's one of the things that I miss about my Melbourne friends, whenever I'm with them, I never have to worry about anything especially uni and grades. We have the best frivolous fun, and I love how we complain about our (non-existent) social life. Nonetheless, I've learnt that I'm not going to spend more than 8 weeks at time in the GC, I need a weekend back even if it's for a day or two.

I didn't take many photos over the holidays, so sorry if I'm rambling on too much as always. 

Tram Taking/ Picnic: 

I was home for a few days before I headed off to Sydney, and I wasn't waiting another week to see my friends. I caught up with Susan to have this "Tram Picnic" which eventually turned into just catching a random tram and finding a place to eat. We caught the 86 Bundoora Tram (I think), and enjoyed the sites along the way because we generally don't head up the northern suburbs. We went past LaTrobe Uni and ended up at the last stop at RMIT, where we decided to eat. Susan has bought some DIY burgers and salad, I contributed the cheese and snacks. I bought the Kettle sweet potato chips, which were really nice, but a little expensive. There was a sporting grass field where we sat on the sloping edge, the weather was awesome, nice and sunny. RMIT was surprisingly nice, there were interesting looking buildings, but we were a little scared to enter. There was a nice barbeque area with a pond (although it was dirty). We found the library, and pretended we were students. Upstairs in the library was the quiet area and there were rooms which were labelled "Absolutely quiet area", I thought that was funny and actually would come in handy. After the exploring, we went back into the city and got some gelati at the Spring Street Grocer. The assistant who served me got a bit excited and gave me so much in the tiny cup! There were many interesting flavours, but I think I settled on Goat's Curd with Berries, Yoghurt with Berries, and Chilli Salted Caramel. It was so good!!! Susan laughed at my facial expression when I tried the gelati. I really recommend that place, the gelati tastes amazing although it is a little more pricey than what you find on Lygon Street.

Laverton Market: 

Mum and I went here on a Saturday morning because she said that the market has grown a lot in the past couple of years and wanted to show me around. I haven't been to this market in ages, and last time I went there wasn't much of what I was interested in i.e. clothes and random knick knacks. There used to a lot of those dodgy copied movies and games, and hardware stuff. However it was very crowded when we got there! I love markets, but it's awkward looking through the stuff, because the moment I show interest, the attendant would immediately address me, and you guys know how I don't like social situations. I also find it uncomfortable to ask for prices, especially if you end up not buying the item. There was a stall, that had decent clothes where I ended buying a couple of items. I will have to do a mass post about the clothes I've acquired in the past month! But my mum was bargaining very low, which made me feel very bad. The guy was really nice, so I didn't mind paying a bit more, and I also always feel sorry for people. We eventually agreed on a price higher than my mum quoted which I didn't mind paying for, and he threw in a skirt for me. So I got about 5 decent items of clothes for $6, and I spent the next hour feeling guilty. But I guess that brought back memories when I was helping Susan with her fundraising stall, and we had to sell the good quality clothes for cheap because everyone keep bargaining with us (understandably it was a market). The best thing about markets is the food! I had a jam donut which wasn't as good as I expected and should have gotten the churros instead. Then I tried some of the gozleme, which was a little expensive, they didn't advertise their prices, but I wasn't expecting to pay $8 for one. I know a place in the city that sells them for $6 and they're yummy. However, the gozleme was delicious. And then I had some coffee which was surprisingly good, I had a soy cap. I'm obviously not a coffee expert, but I couldn't get over how nice it was. 

The Great Gatsby: 

I'm not going to try and attempt to write a movie review, but I'll say the movie was enjoyable. I've only read about a quarter of the novel, so I had no idea how the plot of the movie, I knew about Daisy and Gatsby but I didn't expect that their story made the bulk of the plot. I love the set decorations, everything was very extravagant and there were giant macarons! I still think Leo was way too old for Carey Mulligan, especially because she can have a young-ish face. 

I went with Thanh at Kino cinemas because it was cheap. That was the first time I went, and I didn't even realize they offered the movie in 3D. The cinema was a tad small but nice enough. 

Afterwards we went back to the Spring St Grocer for gelati. I chose the Mandarin sorbet which was nice but I wish I had something sweet to cut through the sourness. 

Sydney: 

My cousin's wedding is coming up very soon, and I went to Sydney for a week to help her out with the planning decorations. I didn't go out much during the stay, just heading out to buy supplies, but it was fun to help out with making the decorations. I also tagged along with them to visit a videographer, I was distracted the whole time by the slideshow of his work, it was amazing! However, they were way over budget so my cousin couldn't choose them. 

I went to see Man of Steel with my cousin and her group of friends, which freaked me out because another social situation, but luckily they didn't take much notice. The movie was alright, I spent half the movie deciding whether Amy and Henry had chemistry, and the other half admiring Henry's face. It was the very last scene that I decided they had some chemistry. 

My cousin took me to this craft warehouse, and it was a dream! They do wholesale trading with retail and had so many cool craft, decorations thingys etc. It was better than Spotlight! I loved it and wished I had more time to explore the whole place. I also finally found some red and white baker's twine for decent pricing. I've been searching for some for a very long time, I got so excited when I found them! 

There is a 24 hour Krispy Kremes in Sydney, and I forgot how much the donuts taste so good. If I didn't have to worry about my health, I would have eaten so many. It was my last night there, and we were with my other cousins too. We stopped at Krispy Kremes, and then decided to eat McDonalds afterwards, obviously not my healthiest moment, but I love fried food. 

The last day I went with my cousin to Bondi Junction, this was my first time. I wished we had enough time to visit Bondi beach though, because all my band guys hang out there (and yes not because it a famous tourist destination). It was really big, but I think was sort of separated into two buildings. 

It was sad to leave my cousin, because this was the last time I would see her before she gets married. Things will probably be a little different when she gets married, and she would be moving into her fiance's house. So I will probably have to wait to until get their own house before I visit Sydney, because I'm so awkward around my other family members. 

Love & Drugs

Oh boogers, it's been a very long time since my last post, and frankly nothing interesting has happened. I have a boring life and uni just takes up a lot of my time, and really all I think about it food. So this post is a lot of boring ramblings, so please feel free to skip this, but it feels horrible how little I've posted in the past couple of months. Hopefully this will be okay until the next post.
There has been many op shopping trips and lots of things bought but I haven't had the time to photograph them. It's a little difficult taking photos without my tripod and trying to find good lighting in my room. I would love to go outside because the lighting is amazing but alas no tripod, also I don't want my housemates to question what I'm doing. I will try to show you guys next semester, when things are calm and I don't have 8 exams to do in the next week and a half.
So alluding to previous thoughts about food, there's this health food store near uni which my friends and I visit practically everyday, and buying small portions at a time. This store is amazing because it sells reasonably priced food like nuts, flour, snacks, lollies etc which are all self-served. One of the things that I've discovered, or my friend told me about, is dried mango. Now I've had the Asian sweeten mangos, but this is a whole new level of mango, 100% mango, no added sugar, preservative, sulfates and all that bad stuff. So when I had my first bite, it was amazing, an intensely mango flavour. It was literally one of the best things I've eaten! However the downside was the price $55/kg wasn't exactly cheap, so I only buy little bits at a time, and then complain how expensive it is. It has gotten to the stage where I am considering getting a food dehydrator, so hint hint birthday present anyone? Okay I've rambled on about mangos long enough and should change topics.
My semester 2 timetable came out and it's not the best, I have a prac/lab practically everyday which means I can't skip any days, yeah I need more time to procrastinate. But we are working on our partners next semester, which I am slightly anxious and worried about, because my partner is a guy who I don't really know. I hope he isn't too put off by my mouth, which reminds to have a dentist appointment before next semester. Also, I like to mention that I actually chose to have a guy partner, well sort of, we both haven't found anyone for clinic and our mutual friend, got us connected. So that sort of fulfills one of my new years resolutions to make more guy friends, although I have done things that have negated this act which I will not talk about.
There has been quite a few exciting touring announcements, which feels amazing because I feel like I'm in a concert drought lately. All Time Low are coming back end of August and I will see them in the Brisbane show, and I can technically go to the Sydney show too because I will be in Sydney during that time, but I think my cousin's wedding is the next day and I have to wake up super early. Actually I would totally go and run on no sleep for wedding but I feel that's going a bit too far, and I need to prioritize my family first. Even though I have seen them twice this year already, a third time wouldn't hurt. This time I am going to go super early and have barrier standing spots because I died in their last mosh pit. And for the next amazing announcement, Anberlin, The Maine and William Beckett are touring in early September, I freaked when I found out. This news was just too big for fangirling on my lonesome, so I had to call Monisha, and share our excitement. It was awesome to hear her voice again and have someone who understands how big this is and how much it means to us. I've already planned what's going to happen for that week, I'm definitely going to the Brisbane and Gold Coast shows, and more than likely fly back to Melbourne for the Melbourne one. I figured it was my birthday and that was the perfect excuse! I am super excited for that week, and that's all I think about, I cannot wait to see these people again, they mean so much. The Maine recently released a new album which I am waiting until I get my physical copy for about another month or so. I dunno, I would love to hear their album asap, but I actually don't feel too stressed or anxious about having to wait that long, but it is hard to avoid "spoilers" on tumblr.
My housemates and I had brinner the other day, it was delicious! I've been craving a good proper breakfast for a while and it was awesome that it was during dinner time. There was onions, spinach, tomatoes, bacon, poached eggs, sausages, toast, blueberry pancakes and freshly squeezed orange juice, basically one of the best things ever. And to finish off the dinner, we had serving platter Max Brenner. We chopped up some bananas, strawberries, rockmelons, pretzels, and ice cream, and I made some chocolate ganache as the dipping sauce.

Well those have been the hot topics in my life lately, yeah fascinating isn't it?

Act Like A Freak

There wasn't much happening after Soundwave, just lots of uni and macarons being produced. After the excitement of having a successful batch, something happened which made my subsequent batches not turning out right, or how I wanted them to, it was making me very frustrated. [Warning: The rest of paragraph is me complaining about my "bad" macarons batches, so skip ahead if you don't feel like reading them] I resorted to the internet and youtube videos, but couldn't find the source for my problems, and there were a lot of conflicting information out there , that I really was confused. After making one last "bad" batch, I was fed up, I was overthinking the process. I was racking my brain to figure out why I had that one batch of perfect macarons, finally I deduced that it was my mindset when making them. I was very carefree and thoughtless when  making the good batch, so that's what I tried to emulate when making this next batch. So I beat the eggs, and folded in the dry ingredients, not taking too much care or thinking about if I was doing the right thing and popped them in the oven. After about 5 minutes of watching them rise and grow feet in the oven, I was amazed and very relieved that they had finally turned out right! The feet was spreading outwards, but stayed vertical. Although I still have problems with the texture, the shells are hollow, they looked so much better! There was a constant supply of macarons in the fridge, and when there wasn't, that was an excuse to make another batch. It was procrastibaking basically. I haven't tried any adventurous flavors because my taste palate isn't very refined but someday maybe. The flavours I have made are salted caramel, chocolate ganache, pistachio, raspberry, passionfruit, coffee and nutella. I don't think I can eat another macaron for a long time, well the ones that I've made anyways, I'd accept a Lauderee, Zumbarons or La Belle Miette any day!

My hip hop class ended for the semester, and there was an informal performance for the parents. It was really nervous just because I'm not a very good dancer, and don't have swag whatsoever. Overall I really enjoyed the class, and I'm glad that I know dance moves to a few songs. I managed to make only small mistakes in the performance which I'm hoping that no one saw. My friends and I would have liked to return for the second semester, with uni becoming a lot busier, and assessments coming up, it wasn't very plausible.

Finally, the mid semester break came along, and it was a very welcomed break, I had been in the GC for 9 weeks, which is the longest amount of time that I had been there since I've started. However, those weeks have gone by incredibly fast so I didn't mind too much. I had the intention of studying during the break, but things just kept popping up and I would rather go out than study. There wasn't that urgency to study yet, usually that kicks in a week before the assessment. Anywho, the holidays were super fun and packed with quality friends and family time (and also another 4 batches of macarons being made!). Arriving in Melbourne on thursday night, and it was very cold (compared to GC), a mild 12 degrees.

On Good Friday, my friends and I had a picnic at Botanical Gardens. It was lovely to catch up with everyone whom I haven't seen for so long, especially Monisha! Ayanthi made us awesome boxes filled with easter eggs. We tried to have a easter hunt and it was so hard to find the mini Cadbury eggs in the grass. Initially it was Ayanthi sitting down and randomly throwing the eggs around us, while we had to close our eyes,which progressed to Ayanthi and Susan properly hiding the eggs around our picnic area. It took us a lot longer than expected to find all the eggs! There was this funny incident that occurred but I'm afraid I won't expand on that, if you ask me in real life, I'll try to explain it but it's more of a you had to be there thing. It was so nice and comforting, laying on the grass and just talking, very carefree and relaxing. We headed back into the city for dinner, everyone had pho cravings! The first restaurant we went to, the waitress was a little rude and Ayanthi did not like how we were being treated, so we decided to leave (after Mon and Susan used their bathroom). There are not many pho choices in the city, so we headed to the one on Swanston Street, it was very busy when we walked in. Thinking they were going to tell us to wait, I was doubtful, but then they led us to their upstairs room and it was completely empty! We had the whole floor to ourselves, that was pretty awesome. The waiter we had was cool too, he kept joking and mocking us but in a funny way, so we weren't offended. Also Susan decides to run around the floor just because we could. It was a very very good day, and a perfect to start the holidays!

There wasn't much happening until Monday, where there was a gathering at Tom's house. It was good to see him and Van again! Also I went to Coles in the morning and bought some 50% Easter Eggs, unfortunately there no more Lindt bunnies. I bought some chocolate for Tom's parents, although I admit I was slightly tempted to keep them for myself. I ended up getting a bag of the Cadbury little eggs, which my brother and I ate very quickly, they are so addictive and don't seem like much because they're so small! We played Cluedo, and it was Van and I's first time. We weren't very good even though we played together as a team, we were not being very subtle because we kept whispering our ideas/thoughts to each other, which was obviously heard by everyone else. I'm only just starting to get into board games, I never played them as a child, maybe because I always thought they were too complicated, which in hindsight as a 21 year old, they are. Lunch was delicious as always, and quite formal with the table setting. Afterwards we played this card game which involved a lot memory, I'm not going to even try to describe it because that would just further demonstrate my poor language skills. But I don't have a very good memory, so it didn't work out so well for me but it was fun game to play anyways. I never knew there are so many games in the world, but I love being slowly introduced to them.

On Tuesday, I went op shopping because its something I have to do when I'm back in Melbourne! I spend so long in one shop sometimes, and then feel pressured to buy something, which I generally do. It's more awkward in smaller shops when the assistants can see you and know how long you've been in there. I visited a couple more op shops and then quickly headed to Footscray to buy some random things at the variety store. Mum and I went to Highpoint for grocery shopping and I bought some figs because I was curious, they use them all the time on the cooking shows. However I never got around to making anything with the fig, but ate them fresh, they're pretty yummy!

On Wednesday, I headed over to Mon's place for a sleepover. I was very excited because I hadn't seen Scooby in so long! We made some lunch, and then Sneha came over. We waited for Sharline to come over and started making macarons. I was hoping that it would work even though I was in a different kitchen. I had pre-packed all the ingredients the night before, so they look like drug bags, that made me laugh. Like what would happened if there was a random police check? Anywho, I made the macarons and everything, and they turned out awesome, I left it in the oven a little longer because I felt like the insides were still undercooked, but I ended up over-baking them. Over-baking macarons is preferable actually, if you fill them and leave them in the fridge over night, they will absorb the moisture and become the right texture. But it was too hard for everyone to not eat them straight away =P There were salted caramel and pistachio flavoured, my staple flavours for macarons. The colour in the shells was way too pale for my liking but I didn't want to add too much moisture to the batch. Well my friends seem to enjoy them, so that makes me happy. Susan came over, just as Sneha left shortly after just finishing the macarons. When we were finished eating the macarons, Susan suggested we start making dinner. We decided on a mushroom veggie pie, because there was a load of mushrooms in the fridge.

On Friday, I went to a spontaneous outing for V's very belated bday, it was just a get together for the holidays because I think the pharm people were away on placement. I had only decided to go the night before, well that's when I found out about the thing anyways, but I went because it's always good to see your friends. There were people whom I haven't seen in ages, so it was nice to catch up with them, although I was the odd one out of the group, because it was a group meet-up in which I wasn't really part of the friendship group. But me and awkward get along so well, it just doesn't bother me anymore. Also most of us had chicken parmigiana, it was massive, okay-tasting, none of us could finish it!

On Saturday evening, it was Thanh's birthday, which was a lovely and intimate gathering. The house was so nice, and we decided that we all should chip in together to buy a house in a rich suburb, and then time share the place. It was awesome to see everyone, and there was Bon and Monique whom I havent seen in a long time as well. We ate some delicious food, it was gourmet, according to my standards! Then we took some photos, obviously they were random posed photos, whatever weird idea that crosses our minds. Afterwards, we played scrabble which took a long time, I think it was my first time playing scrabble, it got very fustrating when you have such a good word but then have to wait until it's your turn, by then the word spaces have already been taken. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time for Cluedo, but there's always next time! Thanh opened her presents, and she seemed to like them, very helpful with a specific wish list. Also we ate Golden Gaytimes for "cake" which was sooo good, it was my first one in a while. Anywho, the night ended and people had to leave, it was sad because that was last outing with my friends before I head back.

Okay I'm sorry that was a super long post, with not many photos, but hopefully it makes up for the lack of posting. I will try to do an op shop haul post soon, because I have bought so many things! Uni has been very busy since after the break with my mid-sem exams and studying/cramming. It has eased down but it's going to start up again EOS exams are very soon, and I realized how screwed I am because I have to learn 15 weeks worth of stuff for multiple subjects.
Also I finally got a new laptop! Nothing fancy, and I still miss my old one, I wish I didn't abuse it so much, any who this one is good, and it doesn't spontaneously freeze at sudden movements.

Paint You Wings

Over the weekend, I decided to bake some macarons and try my luck again. I had bought some almond meal ages ago with making the macarons in mind, so I finally gotten around to using it. I did a Safeway run beforehand to buy some ingredients I was missing. There was also a variety shop which I mistakenly decided to go in. I spent about an hour deciding on the candles I wanted to buy, at one stage I wanted to just leave because I couldn't decide, but I had already spent so much time in the shop and I didn't want to just buy a $2 sieve. I finally found some candles and I must admit, I'm in love with the smells, although I wish they had a little sweeter scent to them.

Anywho, I finally got home, and got straight into making the macarons, I should have halved the first recipe I tested, because the batch was so big. Again, I over mixed the batter but I was still hopeful that it would turn out. Unfortunately it didn't work out, and just looked like cookies. I was very determined, so I got straight into a second batch, being very careful not to over mix. The batter was slightly under-mixed this time. As I was piping them out, I was praying that this would work. After resting them for a while, I placed them in the oven and was just holding for my breath for the first couple of minutes. After about 5 minutes, they rose and and FEET! I was so ecstatic and very proud of myself. They turned out perfect in my opinion, although they can be a bit hollow, but I don't really care! As long as they looked good and taste good, that's all that matters. When I was making the salted caramel buttercream, it was split and I had no idea how to fix, so I decided to use a whisk and beat furiously, suddenly it turned into a nice smooth creamy and fluffy consistency. It looked amazing, and now I know how to fix my split buttercream. After I assembled the macarons, I just felt very happy, they just looked amazing and I'm very relieved that I finally have a good batch. I was always jealous of those with beginner's luck, but now I finally a good batch to my repertoire. I had my first one, and it tasted so good, although I wanted a stronger salted caramel flavor so that's something I can improve on next time. I went a bit crazy with the camera, but the lighting wasn't the best so excuse the not very good photos, but aren't they so very pretty?

Again I apologize for the discrepancies in the photo editing, my laptop is dying and kept freezing when I was using Lightroom.

Tamborine Mountain

(Whaaat?! Two posts in day =D)

The following day after Soundwave, my friends and I went to Tamborine Mountain, which is this national park sort-of-thing, with hiking trails, walks, water falls and general outdoor-sy things. The drive was about 40 minutes and we went in my friend's little Yaris. It was funny driving up the the steep roads up the mountain, we could barely go back past 40km/h! There were four wheel drives behind who must of been very annoyed, but there wasn't much we could do anyways.
We finally got our first waterfall, unfortunately the road leading up to the car park was flooded, so we had to walk in. The road was actually not flooded too badly, we just took off our shoes and walked through the water, it was very cooling. The waterfall was amazing, it had been raining a lot recently so the water was gushing, I wish I had a better camera to capture the moment, so you guys just have to deal with photos from my camera.

Afterwards we went to eat lunch, in a place that was filled with mosquitos, I counted over 20 bites when I got home. It wasn't very pretty and so itchy, I'm a little annoyed because there are still marks from the bites and I'm hoping they will fade away completely. Anywho, the lunch was nice, just simple sandwich and some fruit.
We went to a lookout which was breath-taking! Although I have seen quite a few look outs in my life, and I have to say it wasn't the best one I've seen, but decent. There was also another waterfall in that area too, so we decided to venture out there. The second water fall was better than the first, because it was bigger but it wasn't as defined, if you know what I mean. I wish it was a hot day and we had our swimmers and could go swimming, it would be like a scene in a movie!

Overall it was a fun day, and if anyone is going to be in the Gold Coast, I highly recommend going to Tambourine Mountain, it was such an amazing day.

The City Comes Alive

Warning: Long Post filled with heaps of photos!

A couple of weeks, it was one of my favourite times of the year, Soundwave Week! Despite the line up not having a lot of bands I was interested in, I love the feeling of knowing that all these bands were in Australia, it didn't matter who they're were. Mainly I was really excited for All Time Low, and I decided to go their side wave because at least I would get a chance to see them. On the Friday before the Brisbane soundwave, I went into the city to try my luck at band stalking because the last time I met All Time Low, they were so sweet and nice! Unfortunately I wasn't so lucky in finding them, I did see other band people but I didn't recognise them. There was so much aimless walking alone, and there is not so much to Brisbane city, just basically a strip mall and a couple of side streets. I had a missed call from a random number, and they had left a voice mail, and normally I don't check voice mails, but since I had nothing better to do, I did. It was from a guy who said there was a surprise for me. Back up to a few days before, I was orientation trying to get freebies, and signing up randomly to  contests. One of them was a Soundwave ticket, I got really excited and ask all my friend ps to sign up as well but just use my number for ease. I didn't expect to win, because I rarely win anything. However, I didn't want to get too excited about the call or get my hopes up, so i called back the number, and "I" WON THE SW TICKET!!!! The I is in quotations because it technically wasn't me, it was one of my friends. The conversation with the guy was a little suss, he asked me what my name was and it didn't match the one that won, he also said that there were multiple names for the same number! Anywho, the festival was the following day I doubt he would have found another person to collect the ticket on short notice. I was super excited, and felt so underprepared, I didn't have my camera with me which was disappointing.

Fast forward to Saturday, the day of soundwave, I planned on arriving later because All time Low didn't startr playing until 4ish. It felt very weird not turning up early or at least on time! I got there around 1ish and just walked around the venue, which was so much bigger than Melbourne, and a lot more people. The layout was confusing and I had to refer to my map so many times! First off I had so food to eat, a  chicken bun because it was one of the more cheaper foods. It was quite lonely being by myself but I kinda just took in the atmosphere and people watched.
Then I went to the signing tent, the ATL signing was unfortunately sold out, but I still wanted to see them. It was a little unfair that they seated them the furthest from the window and they were also late. I nearly died when they walked out, they looked so perfect and how did they get even more good looking?? Whenever they would acknowledge the outside crowd, I would go a little crazy inside, I tend not to fan girl in public. I took some little videos, but couldn't get any decent photos.

They weren't playing for another hour, so I went to see Sleeping with Sirens, I haven't listened to any of their music, but at least I knew who they were. Their set was amazing, I got really into it despite not knowing the songs! Since then I'm in love with their music, and kicking myself for listening sooner. All time low was playing afterwards, so stuck around the stage, I eventually got to the third row and had pretty decent views. I was surprised because I never thought I would get that close. all Time Low were running late so their set was cut short :( However they were amazing live, I love their  jokes, and the way they interact with each other, and how Jack's always doing something weird, like pulling faces. He's just gorgeous, well they all are! Rian looks amazing with his hair and Zach looked very happy playing. They just did an awesome job overall and I was so glad I got to see them play.

There was a lot of down time, which I spent walking around and eating, I bought Nandos chips which went up 50c and it was a small portion. It did feel a little lonely at times, and I was jut feeling really tired that day.
Next up was Paramore whom I was pretty excited to see although I haven't heard many of their songs.  The crowd was massive, there was just so many people! I just had to look at the big screen because Hayley was very very tiny from where I was standing. I actually really liked their set, Hayley had an amazing stage presence, and I fell in love with the way she spoke with the crowd. By the end, I developed a girl crush on Hayley, and I could why so many people like her, she just has this lovable quality. There were a couple of songs I recognized, including their latest 'Now' which they started off with. Towards the end of their last song, she brought a lucky fan on stage, and asked her to help out with the singing! It was amazing, I felt so happy for the girl, she must of been dying inside, but she kept her composure quite well, I would probably start panicking in that situation.

After Paramore's set, I was waiting for Blink 182 which didn't start until a while later. I decided to buy some Nandos chips to keep up a tradition, it was a little disappointing that they increased the price by 50c and the portion was tiny. While waiting, I heard one of Linkin Park's song and decided to watch their set until Blink 182. When I went to the main stage, i was just blown away, I couldn't believe how many people were there, it was just like a stadium that was filled with people, the stands and the standing area. I tried to take a photo but it was too dark, I just could not comprehend how much people there were, Melbourne had such a comparatively smaller crowd. Anywho once I stopped looking at all the people, I watched Linkin Park, again I didn't many of their songs but their set was entertaining, I kinda wish I appreciated them more than I should. Straight after Linkin, I walked over to Blink and so did everyone else, the place was so packed, we were just shuffling everywhere, taking tiny steps. By the time I got to Blink's stage, again A LOT of people. I was just watching from the big screen, but it was a little hard to get into their set because they added a weird filter on the screen which made it harder to see. I wish I could of have gotten a glimpse of the stage but I was just too far back. I saw the inspiration that All Time Low took from Blink, they had similar dirty jokes onstage, and I thought that was really cute, so that's not the right word but I've been using that word for everything nowadays. I realized I barely knew any of their songs, but I was just thinking how happy they are making their fans because it's been such a long time since they have come to Australia. It was really cool at the end, because they release paper confetti, and it looked amazing against the backdrop stage lights and just flowing to the back of the crowd. I wish I had taken a decent photo, because it looked incredible!
The last band of the night was Pierce the Veil, again I haven't listened to any of their songs but they are grouped among the bands that I listen to. Their music was a little too hardcore for me, but Vic had a nice singing voice albeit slightly feminine. I loved it when he talked, they were so glad to be in Australia, for the first time I think. There a little boy in the crowd, he looked about 10 (but he must of been older because of the age requirements), and wore a PTV singlet and was really into the set, I found it so cute and gorgeous, I don't mind if my children become fan-girls/boys. Again in their last song, they released the paper confetti and I was felt all fuzzy inside.

At the end of the day, it was a depressing feeling, like how I feel every time I leave a concert. By the time I got to the station, I had just missed the train, so I had to wait another hour for the train. I was just way too tired to care. The train itself was super slow and took and extra 30 mins to get back to the Gold Coast, I finally got home at around 1.

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On the following Wednesday, it was the All Time Low sidewave, I was very excited for this although I did contemplate not going because I was driving into Brisbane. I got to the venue at around 3.30, I was happy there was parking right outside the venue and I didn't pay for it (even though it was metered). Zach walked by at one stage, and he looked happy and acknowledged the crowd, asking how we were doing, he looked very perfect. I think he was going for a run. I think that moment redeemed how I felt when I met him last time at the airport. Masketta Fall also came to greet us in line, I would have liked to talk to them because  I like our Melbourne connection, but I was by myself. They played some acoustic songs, and were pretty good. I was singing along to one of their songs, and at the end, the singer acknowledged it. I can't believe how hard and dedicated they are to bringing their music to more people, and their music is actually good as well. I wanted to listen to more songs but the line was moving and it was time to go in. When I got into the venue, there were already a lot of people, I don't know why I bothered to go into the mosh pit, in hindsight I should have stood back. The first two bands were pretty good. Chunk No Captain Chunk are from Paris, so I loved it when the singer talked in his adorable accent. The crowd was already slightly crazy and my view wasn't the best. By the time All Time Low was on stage, my view was just gone, and the crowd just went crazy. I was just dying inside the mosh and couldn't fully enjoy their set.I wanted to get out, but I was just a tad far from the barrier, and I couldn't move backwards, so I was stuck. All Time Low's set was similiar to their Soundwave one, but I think they played a few extra songs. They played therapy which was one of my favorites,  I just wish I had a better view or any view of the stage. By the end, as I got out of the mosh pit, my shirt was drenched not in my sweat by the way, and my hair was very gross, greasy, kinda had this dread lock look, it wasn't a very pretty sight. The security was being very mean and told everyone to leave the venue, I really wanted to stay back to hopefully see All Time Low, but I think they didn't come out after the show anyways which is a little sad. Obviously, I don't expect bands to come out after their show, but it's always just brings your concert experience to the next level by meeting the people who inspire you. It made me wish I had taken the chance to have a photo with them back in Leeds. I drove back home, a lot earlier than expected and I just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep.