Weekend In Sydney - Best Idea Ever!

Hey hey~

Visiting Sydney last weekend was one the best decision I ever made. It was truly fantastic being back and despite the lack of sleep I came back totally re-engerized. I think that is one of the things that I will always associate with Sydney - the people - and even though most of the people I have met while living there are from interstate I will always associate Sydney with creating friendships with so many amazing individuals!

Highlights of my Weekend include:

• Eating cupcakes from the bakery on Pitt Street and seeing all the yummy different varieties everyone bought
• Getting lost in a taxi on the way to SuSu's and finding out there is more than one Renwick Street in Sydney
• Fish markets - but alas still no pudding :-(
• Sitting outside of Gabi's place and drinking Jager Bombs with Simon and Robbie

• Drinking $50 champagne with Lauralicious and Nicky
  
• All the antics the MC got up to at Susu's 21st party
  
• Nicky's insight to the way that different guys walk
• Actual real bunny sightings at Hyde Park
• Combining the left over dumpling money into tub of gelato money!
  

• Having 4 generations of NSW VP and 5 generations of NSW RB together in one spot
• Various attempts to play the Haha game on the grass
• The epic walk all across Hyde Park in attempt not to lose sunshine
• Discovering that there is another Melissa now in NSW!
• Phoning Malphy at 8:30am on Sunday morning only to find out he had slept in (Malph your OMG reaction was priceless)
• Chalk art all across the Darling Harbour bridge
• The creation of the "Meteor Shower" action
  
• Finally getting my Sydney Uni hoodie - 18 months after graduating!

Thanks to everyone who I saw even if it was only briefly - it really made my visit to Sydney special ^__^

*hugz*

MelMel

The Ripple Effect

Hey hey~

I remember back at YLC in 2005 when Peter Ivett talked about the Ripple Effect in the context of your actions always having an impact on those around you, which in turn then has an impact on those surrounding them and so on and so forth.

Ripple takes this concept and applies it to generating money for charity either through using the ripple based search engine or clicking on an issue of your choice which are sponsored by different advertisers - Ripple then passes 100% of the money they raise directly onto one of four charity organisations: Oxfam Australia, Oaktree Foundation, Water Aid and the Grameen Foundation.

The site itself is really user friendly and simply designed which I really appreciate. So far I've installed the Ripple Firefox search bar on both my lappy and work computer and added the iRipple application to my Facebook. Sounds pretty simple enough doesn't it?

*hugz*

MelMel

Curing the Travel Bug

Hey hey~

Contrary to what I initially thought, all signs really do seem to point to Sydney!

It dawned upon me a couple of weeks ago that:

• Between July to September 2006: I had been on 10 flights!
• Between July to September 2007: I have been on 1 flight!
  

No wonder I feel like the pace of my life had somewhat slowed down - it's just not the same when you're not traveling to and from national and international conferences or interstate for SnAs!

Thank goodness for kismet and a bit of peer pressure!!
(Thanks Nakey, Nicky, Pete, Jakey, Bri, Laura, Manny, Su, Jess, Dan, Shish... and whoever else texted me and changed their gmail talk name to try to persuade me =P)

So here's to a fun filled weekend with a visit to fish markets, cupcakes on Pitt Street, my favourite Korean cafe, SuSu's 21st Birthday party, Shish's farewell to Mongolia and Gabi's End of the World party!


*hugz*

MelMel

Ever Imagine How An Email Message Travels Around the World?

100 Posts

Hey hey~

Well, who would have known that something that started out on a whim would actually make 100 posts? Looking back at my archive there sure are some fond memories from the past. Like the time...

• I attended APXLDS in the Philippines
• When Monty ate my thong!
• I made my first Purple Things That Amuse MelMel post
• July Conference came and went and how it felt in in comparison to that moment at January Conference only 6 months later - I still believe that if 6 days can change the hearts and minds of an entire national delegation then the possibilities of what a year can achieve is endless!
  
• the 3 Amigos got up to antics and shenanigans one night (and many nights after that!)
• I was totally humbled by Auschwitz
• Malphy dressing up as Santa as the MC Christmas party
• AIESEC Australia went on a search for 350 High Quality Members
  
• the Muth Factor was created
• one year's worth of karma came to fruition!

Hehehe... I wonder what my next 100 posts will entail?

*hugz*

MelMel