So, what have I been up to in the past 2 weeks of not blogging? Many things, but the most exciting being my friend from Shanghai that I met during exchange in the USA. I'll cover this in a separate entry. Other than that, it's just been hanging out with friends in the city: from watching movies to going to arcades.

We watched Yesman. I thought it was one of Jim Carrey's better comedy films, as it wasn't over the top. It was good for a laugh, and had some wonderful hilarious moments too. Unfortunately we had to sit in the 3rd row seat, and our necks were pretty sore by the end of the film. Still, it wasn't bad for a $6.50 film!

Afterwards we got our HK souvenirs from Billy - solar powered torch keyring. It was pretty cool, could be helpful in blackout situations! We tried to go to Replay, only to see that it's been converted to Timezone. I couldnt use my remaining tokens unfortunately, but it's ok. I can use my cousins gold card now! :)

Other than the above, I've just been spending some time with the PS3 - managed to finish Prince of Persia finally. It's a great game, and it's worth the money, despite the adventure being a tad short. Heaps of fun, well recommended for anyone looking for an engrossing story, and wonderful artwork in terms of the cel-shading graphics. =)

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

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!

It's only 3 weeks left before I depart for San Francisco, and off to UCSC. All the plans are under way, with housing over there confirmed too. In my floor I have 5 other people staying with me - two other exchange students, and 3 local ones. The journey to get to this stage took ages! From not knowing which uni I'll get into, to the tedious long online apps to fill in, to visa issues, to health insurance stuff - it's been a long trek. It should hopefully be well worth it, after all this time and effort getting there. I've been told that Santa Cruz is a kinda hippy town, with a forest and a beach at the same uni.

I can't wait till I arrive there, and hopefully will be an enjoyable experience then! Will keep you readers posted on how everything goes. =)

P.S. the above is the logo of UCSC (University of California, Santa Cruz), and is of the mascot, a banana slug - wiki it for more info.