Learn how to swim

Fact 1. I am 24 years old and I do not know how to swim.
Fact 2. I am in Australia.
Fact 3. The best swimmers in the world are from Australia.

Like, hello, earth to Monica! Get your act together and sign up for a swimming class!

Yes, I did sign up for a 10-week adult class. And I found the perfect swim wear. Trust me, shopping for swim wear can easily injure the body-conscious mind... very badly. But thankfully, I found this shop at the top of Carillon city and I bought myself a two-piece. The top wonderfully covers part of the upper thighs.

And... I've gone to my second class this week! I'm learning how to freestyle. I admit that I'm still some way away from being fully confident in the water but I am finding that I'm more comfortable now. My instructor's great. He also works with kids so he's ever so patient and encouraging.

Here's to life and learning!

Volunteer at a music festival

Everytime I go to a music festival, I have always had this longing to work for the event itself.

And... an email was sent out a few weeks ago looking for volunteers (Oxfam) to man a stall for the One Movement for Music festival on Sunday 18th October.

That's how I became an official music festival volunteer!

That's our stall with the green banner on the left. It is different when you're at a music festival but you're not really AT the music festival. I stayed at the tent most of the time but managed to enjoy the music because we were right beside the two main stages.

It was quite a relaxed setting. Met a couple of new faces from Oxfam, sold a couple of fair trade goods, asked whoever approached our tent to sign petitions and I admit, after 8 hours, I was exhausted!

Good times!

Watch Beyonce in concert

How do I say this?

Beyonce is... tha bomb!



We (Ruth, Debs and I) could not believe how close we were to the stage! And she is BEAUTIFUL in real life. Her singing, her dancing, her performance, everything was so unbelievably good! Amazing how one person can draw thousands of people together. It takes a LOT of talent and confidence. And she sure has them both!

Thanks Kel and Gems for buying the tix for my 24th birthday. You guys are the best!! Seriously, best birthday present ever!

Be a vegetarian for a week

I kept trying for weeks to reduce the amount of meats in my meals to prepare myself for "the week" but found that I ate more meats than usual. Check out what I had for breakfast the Saturday before "the week"!

But when I finally set down a date, September 28th, the 104 went quite well...

Boiled tomato with leeks, baked eggplant and toast

Spinach quiche, leftover eggplant and tomato

Spinach salad with eggs, sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, jalapenos and celery

Tomatoes and eggs

Just to name a few. Thanks to Eunice, I can officially say that I have been a vegetarian... for a week. But whilst saying that, I did have a huge barbeque on the Sunday to mark the end of it.

Still... 104 accomplished!

Head down to Brisbane

That's lazy Fitzgerald.