Hey guys, it's already week 2 of my time here in UCSC. Time flies doesn't it? I've done a fair amount of stuff already! A brief list of things I did in the week:

• Went to the OPERS which is basically the equivalent of the first Market Day in O-week, with different clubs or they call it fraternities
  
• I managed to go to the Boardwalk as mentioned in an entry earlier last week.
• Had my first game of tennis in ages
• Went and celebrated Hai Shang's 21st birthday.
• Met some more people, made a heap of new friends!
• Had Pizzas at Woodstocks - it was good but not enough for a big international friends program, I also met my buddy there too.
  
• Started classes :(

I haven't been able to take any good pics of any wildlife yet. It's just so difficult to catch them at the right time with my camera. I've noticed that you can tell between a Freshman or not, depending on their reaction when you tell them you're from Australia. I'll leave you guys with some pics!

OPERS Festival

The group of people that celebrated Hai's Birthday!
(the guy being pointed at)

Me and my buddy Courtney at Woodstock's

My random Nachos I made!

Being in Santa Cruz, once must experience what is known as "The Boardwalk". Basically it's a small theme park along the beach, and it is great fun with a few rides here and there too. I went on a rollercoaster as well as a swinging ship. Also had a game of laser tag, which is basically the US version of our Laser Force. I have tried an American Greasy delicacy known as "funnel cake". It was huge and I doubt I could finish it even if I wanted to. It's basically fried cake. Pics down below!

Side view of the Boardwalk

The Pirate Ship

The Big Hurricane!

Funnel Cake!

Hey guys! Just thought I'd start to do a summary of each week with things that I have done, as I might not have any time when school starts. So yeah, basically, it has been a whole week since I have been in Santa Cruz, and I must say, it is pretty enjoyable. I have settled in pretty much, I know my basic way around the place, and met a number of different people from France to Turkey! In general, the culture here tends to be laid back too. I'll be studying mainly computer science/engineering stuff to get credit for my degree back at UQ.

So what else have I been doing the past week? Pretty much just these:

• Having free dinner with the local residents at ILC - we had a BBQ, Italian food last night, as well as Pizza!
• Going on a free shopping shuttle to pick up stuff in Target (Their Target is sooooo big compared to ours, and they sell everything there including food), Safeway (Basically our Woolies), and Best Buy - where I basically helped a friend preorder a PS3 game there too.
• Having most people move-in except for one person - Spencer and Julieanne moved in the other day
• Meeting up with 3 other fellow Aussies - One from UQ XD and the other two from Latrobe in Melbourne
• Chillin' out with Spencer and going downtown
• Seeing a random deer out on the footpath, and seeing squirrels around - I haven't been able to take pics of them yet >_<
• Living in a forest with heaps of tall trees (I've been told they filmed Return of the Jedi here with the Ewoks scene) and extreme weather - Summer during the day, Winter at night.
  

Kinda feels like Road Trippin'!

A cool friendly mob I met yesterday!

Cheeseburgers on a BBQ!

Hey Guys! Since I moved in, I thought it would be a good idea to show you guys what my apartment is like. It's known as the ILC (International Living Centre) which basically is a group of a few buildings of apartments together, and comprises of 50 - 50 international and local students living together. It's pretty cool, and helps people develop cool friendships, and learning about various different cultures of the world.

Recently, two more people have moved into my apartment with Kyle and me. A girl from Japan, called Yuko, and the other from the US, Julieanne. Yuko is pretty cool, and surprisingly said I had good Japanese haha. Julieanne on the other hand seemed nice, and brought along a lot of fresh fruit to share. Sharing is caring! =D I also met fellow Aussie, Thom who's also from UQ who arrived today. Other than that, I've just been meeting heaps of new people, both local and international students, and everyone seems pretty friendly! =)

I'm starting to get the hang of the orientation of this 2000-acre campus, and how to get around everywhere. There will be more and more people moving in soon, so at least the campus will have some life soon! =D

Here are some random pics of my apartment:

The Living Room

The Kitchen

The Hallway

The Bathroom

PS - I'll post a picture of my room soon! =P

Omg, BoA is joining a lot of other Asian superstars - like Jackie Chan, Rain - onto making the move to debuting in the U.S. She revealed this in a recent interview named with her initials BoA - Best of Asia, Bring on America. I dunno, I personally the old pop style BoA, and she used to be my favourite Japanese artist, when I first saw her perform Double. I guess as people mature more, their music changes as well.

After watching these two previews - I think I would buy her American album if it happens to be here when I'm still in the U.S. It's supposed to be out 7th October, and album coming out later in the year. I personally love her ballads though. :) But yeah, be the judge yourself, and see whether or not it's your style of music:





Videos, news and image source from:

• http://omgasians.wordpress.com/2008/09/10/boa-eat-you-up-preview-best-of-asia-bring-on-america/ and
  
• http://www.boajjang.com/

Woke up early to catch the plane at 10am. I've been on a plane for about 22 hours in total, with a 6 hour stop off in Taipei. Here are some random cool snaps I managed to take while there:

Pretty nice BRAVIA TV set here

A cool pyramid comprised of model planes

When in Taiwan, you must get Taiwanese snacks - these ones here are mini pancakes with cream and red bean paste!

I finally arrived in SFO International Airport, after a 11 - plus hour flight. I managed to find the hotel shuttle and arrived at the hotel in the evening at around 10pm. Here is the lobby there:

When I woke up in the morning I decided to catch the cab, and get the Grey Hound coach. Little that I know, was that the cab that was booked happened to be those extra luxurious ones, that cost a fortune. It costed me more to get to the airport than to get to Santa Cruz itself.

While waiting for my Greyhound bus, I spotted an electric bus? It's basically like a tram without tracks in my opinion:

Here are the pics of the coach I caught, and the ticket itself. It was a 3 hr trip with a few 10 min stops, so it didn't feel like a drag.

I managed to arrive in Santa Cruz in the arvo, and met up with fellow roommate Kyle. He's a pretty nice bloke, and having a car in Santa Cruz makes life a whole lot more convenient, even more than in Brisbane! Santa Cruz is kinda like the Gold Coast, but without the high rise hotels.

The apartment is pretty cool, not as small as I had imagined previously though. It's relatively new as well, and is in the middle of the forest - literally! I'll take pics and show them to you guys later.

I hope this is just the beginning of a fun filled adventure!

Wow, the past month just seemed to have flown. The past week full of farewell gatherings with a few friends of mine has definitely made this week go by even faster. It involved a range of things, from:

Eating steak at a good steak restaurant

Eating Ramen

Eating good pizza

Going out to Karaoke

It has been a really fun week, and I want to thank all those that I managed to meet before I head off. I promise to take heaps of photos, blog about them, and keep all you guys informed! Hope everyone has a safe time back at home, and watch out for my adventure of a lifetime! (Hopefully, lol)

Recently a mate of mine gave me a Nendoroid as a very belated birthday present - this one from the vocaloid series, Miku Hatsune. It's a really popular figurine - it's currently out of stock at the moment, but Good Smile always seems to keep on making them - being restocked at retailers in December. Pictures of my Miku down below.

So what's a Nendoroid? Basically it's your typical SD (Super Deformed) or chibi-fied figurines of various anime/anime-related series. Some of these include characters from Haruhi, Lucky Star, and Fate: Stay Night. They are of good quality, and usually require a stand to stand them up, because their heads are usually heavier than their bodies. They usually are cute, and are great additions to any collection.

So what's the vocaloid series? It is the name of a computer software that interprets what you type, and outputs it as a song or speech, kinda like the old Microsoft Sam days. But instead, you get a kawaii anime character (like Miku) for each different software. e.g. You can get Rin and Ren I think? You can hear what Miku sounds like with my Miku clock on the side as well by clicking on the musical note.

I haven't bothered unboxing my Miku just yet, as I'll be leaving here in a few days time - it just seems better if I open it later when I come back from the States. I might take better pics of it when it gets unboxed. =P

I hope this isn't the start of me getting into figure collecting - it could become a really expensive hobby!

Cute isn't it?
可愛いですか。

Ah yes. I never thought I'd actually go to this event. I thought it was good, except for the annoying tree that blocked half my view there, and the amount of people there was crazy. Security was pretty tight, and I had a relatively cheap kebab. (only 7 bucks!) After watching the fireworks, we went for some karaoke, it was pretty fun too! Bus was annoying - too many people around, meant that I had to wait for three buses until I could get on.

This is probably my first time I've actually been to a fireworks event, rather than just watching it on TV. I'd probably go next year, if I can find others to join me too! A few pics down below.

The huge new ferris wheel at South Bank.

The best fireworks pic I could take from where I was.

The cool bridge fire dump? Or whatever you call it on Victoria Bridge.

Digging in on a kebab

Karaoke afterwards.