I thought it would be a great time to come on here and document what we have done so far. I'm going to add some tips and tricks along the way for my benefit (for the next time I travel) and for anyone else who's going through the same process :)

Before you do anything, please research where you are going. My parents have stopped me from travelling to certain places before as they believe it isn't a safe area after doing their own research. It's not just research about whether or not it is safe! Just do some general research about where you are going - it will give you a good idea of where you want to go to within in the country and how long to stay at each place.

We were lucky because we waited a bit before we got our tickets purely because it was too expensive. However, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We had researched carefully where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do. In turn, that made it easier when we bought our tickets. We knew exactly how long we were going for and how long we were stay in each city.

Your itinerary doesn't have to be too detailed, it should just give you an idea of what you will be doing.

Time to Book your Flights!

This may take a while depending on your budget. The tickets we had looked at for Japan were relatively expensive at the start. We kept waiting and waiting. One night I randomly went in again to check the prices and it went down! 

People usually recommend to purchase your tickets 6 months in advance because that is when there is likely to be sales. In my situation, we had missed a good deal a couple months back because we weren't originally planning to go to Japan. Luckily, there was still a decent sale even though it was 3 months away.

When it comes to purchasing your tickets, I would HIGHLY recommend considering the extra add-ons that could be important such as extra luggage or having an on-flight meal. Talk to other people who have travelled before you/know you well and ask whether or they'll think you'll need extra luggage on the way back - most people tend to purchase a lot overseas! As for the on-flight meal, it would depend on whether or not it is a day flight or a night flight - take note of the time! Most people would say its just common sense. Yes it is but it is something that you can easily forget. It's better to purchase all of these add-ons when you initially purchase your tickets because after that the prices get higher and higher.

We made the mistake of not adding on extra luggage when we booked our flights. Now it is at least another $37 just to add another 5kg to your check-in luggage. Don't make this mistake!

Some people may choose to purchase travel insurance from the airline that they are flying with. While it is convenient, you're better off doing some research about their policy and people's reviews. Since everything was so new to me, I had to ask my family to explain to me how travel insurance works in terms of how to read the policy. So here are my tips:

1. Read the Product Disclosure Statement
   It is the fine print that will get you!!! Please do not skip out on this and at least have a skim read. There was one policy that I read who in essence said this about their health cover: 'We cover everything besides anything that involves your head and back". My immediate reaction was like 'Those are some of the most important parts of the body!'. This is why you really need to read the Product Disclosure Statement
2. Understand what 'excess' means
   When I did my initial research on travel insurance, I did not get the idea of this "excess". Why is it more expensive when the "excess" is $0. In essence it is how much you pay out of pocket before they start covering you. For example, if you had a medical bill of $300 and your policy had an "excess" of $100. This would mean that you would pay for the first $100 and then the remaining $200 will be covered by the insurance company.
3. Consider the country you are going to
   As I am going to Japan, it is relatively safe and I do not have to worry too much about being stolen from or anything like that - I just need to be aware of what is around me. However, if say you're going to be skiing on your holiday, you would also need to look into getting snow sports insurance or something similar. Make sure you do your research and find out what policy suits best for you.

Money Exchange - Travel Card/Cash

You can't travel without having money to spend over there! Again, you will have to research what currency exchange is like in the country you are travelling to. For Japan, people recommended to exchange before coming because the rates are better overseas. In addition, there are a large number of places that tend to accept cash (except for department stores). This helped us decide how much cash we were going to bring over and how much we would put on our travel card.

Also note that there are different travel cards. There will be ones with a "locked-in" exchange rate or ones that work like a debit card. What's the difference? The "locked-in" exchange rate is almost like an online version of a cash exchange. You purchase say Yen today and then when you spend money (say in a month's time), it will take the exchange rate you purchased Yen for today. On the other hand, a debit card version takes the current market exchange rate on the date that you make a purchase. Depending on your needs, you may prefer one over the other. I definitely would recommended researching a couple places and finding out what fees are involved (e.g. withdrawal fee, card fee etc...)

Other General Tips

1. Research to see if there are any useful items you'll need over there
   In our case, we found that hiring a pocket wifi was more useful than getting a SIM
2. Vaccinations
   Check with your GP if you need any vaccinations before you go
3. Make sure your passport is valid!Some countries will require you to have a valid passport beyond your travel dates
4. Have a good understanding of how you are going to get around to places
   Are there cheaper tickets if you're a student? Are there exclusive passes for foreigners?
5. Make a checklist! 
   You're bound to forget something along the way right? Joint it down somewhere to make sure you don't forget. My bestie and I started using Google Docs but then we realised that we can't easily access it on our phones so we decided to use Evernote. If not, a journal/diary will do the job!

Love,

Victoria

Hello There! 

Love,

Victoria

Let's do a bit of a memory flashback

When I was in Year 8, my family went to America at the end of the year for a holiday. At that time I didn't really know much about the brands in America nor did I have an idea of fashion. All I knew was that clothes in America were cheaper than Australia. Since I didn't know much about fashion and brands in general, I didn't buy much while I was over there. The few things I did buy were from H&M.

Fast forward a few years later, I started to watch YouTube videos. That's when I started to know more about brands like Forever21, H&M, Sephora etc... All of these stores suits my style a lot and can be relatively cheap. That was when I started to regret not buying a lot while I was over there!

When I heard about H&M opening in Melbourne I was super excited. Not only will I be getting fashionable clothes but it was close too! The store opened up at the GPO which practically in the centre of the Melbourne city (how convenient!)

I had only been in the GPO once a few months earlier while they were doing renovations. At the time I assumed that a whole bunch of new stores were opening in the place but I was wrong! H&M took up the whole of GPO.

I was thoroughly impressed with the interior of the H&M store - it reminded me a lot of the one I went into while I was in New York. There were two levels for women's and the third level was a mix of kid's, men's and homeware.

http://bounceinc.com.au/

A few weekends ago my brother organised a Bounce session with some friend. It was an open invitation and I invited some of my close friends along. Basically Bounce Inc is a trampoline arena! Time to bring the inner child out!

The place was split into four different sections. The first was just a whole bunch of regular trampolines with some on the side of the wall. This was good for bouncing on your back when you wanted to. The second area had trampolines that were more like the gymnastic ones - a lot more elastic. It was called the high performance area because you could jump and then do tricks on the wooden wall. The third area was dodge ball! It was basically a trampoline version of dodge ball - not easy but really fun to play. Lastly, we had the area where you could jump into a pit-like-area. It reminds me of those running strips that gymnasiums would have - you running and then jump into the cushion area. Just replace the running strip with a trampoline and the cushions with this massive inflated balloon area. 

Bounce Inc was good fun. I definitely enjoyed jumping around like a little kid again. For some reason it reminded me of dancing. It might have been because of the elegance that both activities have. 

2 5th Ave 
Palm Beach, QLD 4221

http://www.pablopablo.com.au/

On the last night that we were in Gold Coast, we decided to go to a more local restaurant - somewhere closer to the place we were staying. Thanks to Urbanspoon, we found a nice Spanish place in Palm Beach (the area where we were staying). I had never had any Spanish food before this so I was excited to try it.

This place was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Definitely a good way to end the trip. All dishes were made to share - Tapas style. This place had a similar vibe to Little Creatures in Melbourne: a cozy and dimmed light atmosphere. Everything about the place was perfect: the food, the waitress and the atmosphere. Everything just matched. I cannot express how much I love this place. If I were to ever go back to the Gold Coast again then I would definitely come back.

The food was cooked to perfection! A little more on the pricer side for a student but you are paying for what you're getting for. At places like these I don't mind spend that bit extra because you're getting good quality food. 

Now that I've properly settled into University, I thought that it would be nice to make a post of what I have discovered about University Life. This is all based on my experience and I am not suggesting that it is going to be the same for everyone who goes into University. Just some observations that I want put out there. 

Let's start with the making friends process. Moving into University I wanted to meet new people and make new friends but it turns out to be harder that what I expected. I felt as if I was learning how to make friends all over again (remember going into Year 7? It's like that). Except it was hard because most people had at least one person they knew in their course so they just stuck with them. This makes it extremely difficult to become friends with them since they just want to stick with people that they know. I'm guilty of doing this too at times but that doesn't mean that I'm not open to making new friends. On top of that, there are so many people in my course that it's difficult to see the same people every lecture unless you keep in contact. Imagine 200 people in a lecture - how can you find that one person that you became friends with earlier in the week. That reminds me, I find it so awkward to ask for someone's Facebook or phone number! Maybe it's because I'm an introverted person.

On the plus side, I have made a few new friends that I have managed to keep in contact with. It can be hard at times to co-ordinate times to catch up with them because they may have a class when you're free or they may not be at Uni at all! I have also managed to keep in contact with some high school friends but once again, everyone has different timetables and it can be hard to organise a time to just catch up with one out of a hundred friends you want to see again. One thing I have learnt from this is that if someone really want to meet up with you then they will put in the effort to see you again. Sometimes it's just nice to see a familiar face and catch up on life in general. I've definitely become more open since I started Uni. Usually I am a closed up person when you first meet me but I have opened up a bit more than usual.

One thing that I didn't realise would be a massive change from High School to University is the work load! To be honest I didn't find the High School work load that bad and so I thought that in University, it'll just be a bit extra. I WAS WRONG. After the first week I looked at the homework that I had to do for each subject and it was overwhelming! There was so much reading to do - a Chapter a week. I'm the type of person who can't just read and leave it, I need to process it somehow. So I sit down for a good 2-3 hours doing notes for each subject. I really shouldn't have underestimated the workload in University. Can I just go back to High School and do that work?

So far I am liking Uni - the freedom and the people. I've truly settled into Uni now so I am actually enjoying it instead of worrying about what I'm going to study when I get home. Hopefully my experience at Uni will continue to be positive!

Love,

Victoria

Mid-January I got my first round University Offer - It was exactly what I wanted. I was so happy with the outcome because throughout Year 12 I didn't believe I was doing well enough to into the course. My scores weren't as good as I wanted to be so I tried super hard getting help from my friends, teachers and tutors. I guess I can stay that if I work hard enough I can reach my goal! Well provided it's within my ability...

A week after I received my offer I had to go into Uni to get more information and find out how I can accept my offer. It felt surreal because I had never thought that I would be there. Maybe it's the fact that University has been something on the back of my mind - something you hear about but it feels like you won't reach it until a few years. That was how I felt about VCE; it's something in the distant future. Upon walking to the first lecture I saw a friend from my Year 12 Vietnamese School Class. It was nice seeing her again and quickly catching up. It's definitely comforting knowing people who are going to the same University as you. In some ways I'm like 'YAY I'm not alone in this'.

Throughout the day I went to lectures that related to my course or my breaths (also known as electives). One of the more interesting ones were related to Drugs and Society. Throughout the whole time I was thinking 'I'm definitely choosing it'. Unfortunately it was offered second year not first year. I'll just have to remember to choose it next year! 

I also happen to make some friends on the day. The first person was in my course lecture. He was sitting next to a friend from high school. It turns out that he flew down from Queensland to attend the Academic Advice Day. The second person I properly talked to was from Tasmania. Two interstate people in one day. It's funny how you start conversations with other people; a quick simple question can lead you to a conversation. Hopefully I'll see both of them around campus again sometime. One of my aims for University is to make friends with as many people as I can - expand my circle of friends. 

All in all I am SUPER excited for University. I recently registered for my classes which allowed me to choose my timetable. I'm happy that I get to have a four day weekend! Now I just have to play the waiting game, waiting for orientation week to come around so I can join clubs and societies. Maybe this time I'll have more luck making friends. 

Love,

Victoria

This year my best friend and I decided to do a joint birthday. We had a marvellous plan that looked good...until a month before. Everything we planned came crashing down. So we decided to have a beach party with a number of our close friends but once again everything didn't go according to plan. Long story short, we ended up having our joint birthday at my house in the downstairs area. 

It was hectic organising everything for the party! We were going to order a cake but found that it was too expensive so I decided that it would be fun to make our own cupcakes. We bought all of the materials to make both the stand and the cupcakes. The night that I came back from the Grampians I had to ice the cupcakes. It didn't turn out so bad - I haven't mastered the icing technique but it definitely turned out better than I expected. I have to work on perfect cupcakes sometimes, maybe one day I can make cupcakes for parties (a big dream I know but it doesn't hurt to dream right?)

The Cupakes!

There were three types of cupcakes that were made. The first were vanilla cupcakes with M&M's in the middle and chocolate icing. The second ones were chocolate cupcakes with a cookie dough centre and chocolate icing. The last set were our left overs (don't tell anyone!). They were all vanilla cupcakes with whatever icing we had left and M&M's sprinkled on top. 

On the day I went to the market to get some last minute supplies then headed to my best friend's house to give her a lift to mine. We started on the decorations but at the last minute one of my closest friends who claimed that they couldn't come showed up to my front door. It was a nice surprise but I immediately was worried that there wouldn't be enough chairs. Eventually it worked out: three big tables with chairs around them to fit 20ish people. 

It was lovely seeing everyone again from school. It saddens me that I may not see some of them again because we aren't close or it may not work with our university schedules. Either way I had a fantastic afternoon. A lot more people showed up than expected and it was nice to catch up with people who were missing in action. Soon enough my bed was filled with presents and people were chatting away downstairs. 

By the end of the afternoon I talked to everyone and tried to take a picture with everyone. All in all the party was a success. We winged it but it worked! My favourite moment was when someone shouted 'THERE ARE M&M's IN THE MIDDLE'. Everyone loved it so much that some were asking to have another one. By the end of it there were no cupcakes left. 

After everyone left, my three closest friends stayed behind. My best friend and I opened our presents together. I loved every single gift that I got. Usually people don't know what to get me and end up getting random objects that I don't ever use but this year everything I got was useful in one way or another. All gifts will be put to good use!

All of the present my best friend and I got!

Love,

Victoria

It's been a while since I've posted here! I would make a list of reasons but the only reason why I haven't been posting is because I either forget or can't be bother. Going through my blog feed I'd thought it would be nice to write about my holidays so far. I will probably do it over a few posts and write about an event each time.

Just before my birthday I went to a place called the Grampians. Every year my brother goes down there but I never understood why...now I do! We arrived there Friday night and basically just settled in - this meant labelling our food so that it wouldn't be thrown out in the youth hostel. It was a nice place - it had everything you need: room made for four people, public toilets, public dining area and public lounge area. It's not as polish as a hotel but you don't really need all of that special stuff. After all you just need a place to sleep right? 

The following day we started our activities! In the morning, we headed into town and check in at an outdoor activity specialist place (don't know the special name for it). While we were signing forms, a girl named Nina entered wanting to do canoeing and more. It turned out the place needed a minimum of two people to do an activity. She was about to give up but the instructor said that she could join our group if we allowed it. We were more than happy have her a long. So she canoed with us! It was amazing canoeing down the river. No matter what direction you look there is something to see: trees, mountains and wildlife.


Canoeing

Originally we were going to do rock climbing in the afternoon but there was a clash in times so we decided to book it for the next day. Instead we decided to eat lunch back at the hostel and then go hiking. Nina also joined us as well. She was travelling by herself around Australia so it was nice for her to have some company. Our first hike was a bit of a fail...the walk wasn't very long and everyone else had been there before so we drove a little longer to find another trail. This time the hike was good! Tiring on the way up since it was basically a steep hill with some flat ground every now and then. It was nice being in touch with nature again. I also managed to create some conversation with Nina and I found out that she's from Germany and is the same age as me. She's doing an equivalent to a gap year around Australia...all by herself!? 

The place we reached at the end of the hike was beautiful! It's called Fish Falls (and no there were no fish). We were at the very bottom of the waterfall then we decided to climb up some rocks to get closer to the falls itself. After admiring the view and taking photos we climbed a number of steps which took us to the top of the falls. We were basically the only people there so we took the time to enjoy the view and just relax. The hike back was much easier we were going down hill. Towards the end of the track we bumped into a few kangaroos which was nice. That night we had tacos and I tasted amazing. I don't know if it was because I was tried or the fact that hadn't had it in a while.

Our last day there we went rock climbing in the morning. Again we had to hike to the top where the rocks were. Let's just say it was really steep! We got to our first stop and we had to self belay down the rocks. I don't remember the exact term but we basically had to ascend down.  At our first stop we abseiling down the wall! To be honest it was very scary at the start. We had control of the ropes which meant that we could control how fast or slow we go down. This scared me at the start because I had to lean back to get some momentum. When you're looking down 20m or so it can be scary but once you get going it's not as bad. It became quiet enjoyable.
The view from where we were abseiling down

Rock Climbing! (that's me!)

Afterwards we went to another station for some proper rock climbing. There were two walls: one easy, one hard. We took turns belaying and feeding the ropes through. I had a go at both walls. I got half way up the easy before I felt uncomfortable going up further due to the holdings of the rocks. The second one was way out of my range; I only got a quarter of the way up. Either way it was an amazing experience. I will definitely do it again when I get the chance. It is such a difference atmosphere compared to indoor rock climbing. Not to mention the view was incredible!

That's all I have for this trip. Hopefully I will remember to post some more over the next few days!

Love,

Victoria

On the same day I met up with my friend in the city I also went to see OneRepublic. Of course I had dinner before hand at a very nice and cozy Italian restaurant that also sells hot coffee (I’ve only heard about it). I didn't get to take photos, but I will next time and post about it. I had their Tiramisu and it was the best that I've had up to date. The coffee was so smooth...aka it did not leave a bitter after taste. You can taste the coffee as you eat it but after you swallow, you can taste the cream and a bit of the coffee, but it’s not bitter at all!

Anyways, we finished dinner early and decided to go to the venue. We were 50 minutes early, but there was already a line! At the start I thought people were doing something dodgy because the line continued into a dark alleyway, but then we realised that people were lining up to get a good view (since it was a standing concert). We were lucky because the line was not super long.

When it reached 7:30pm the doors opened and we were finally let into the venue. Once we got in, we randomly decided to go upstairs which lead to the second level. We decided that it had the best view so we stayed there as the centre was free. There was smoke around the Palace (I assumed that they had a smoke machine there). On each level (Ground, Level 1, Level 2) there were bars for people to buy drinks. I didn't notice many people buy drinks from the bar though.

After waiting a good hour, the opening act came out. Her name was Emma Birdsall. She sang around 5-6 songs - promoting her new single while doing some covers. She had an amazing voice! My favourite was the song “Paper Thin” and her cover of Bruno Mar's “Treasure”.  After the opening act ended, we waited for around 40-50 minutes until OneRepublic came out. At this stage, I regretted wearing a long sleeve shirt since it started to get warm. On top of that, my feet were hurting from walking all day.

Eventually, they came out and it was an extravagant opening! I loved how they had the white screen and changed the lighting to make their shadows appear and disappear, getting bigger and smaller. It was a great way to hype up the audience. Ryan Tedder started off singing “Stop and Stare,” an all time favourite. I was happy that they played all of their popular songs like “Apologize” (remixed with another song), “Counting Stars”, “Something I Need”, “If I Lose Myself” and “Secrets”. They also played some of their lesser known tracks like “Preacher”, “Burning Bridges” and “Life In Colour” (which was used in the finale). Ryan also did some covers like Rihanna's “We Found Love”, where he got the crowd to sing the chorus while he sang another song on top of it, and Kanye West's “Gold Digger”, where the crowd starting singing it after he sang the line "She take my money". *Edit: I found a video of the We Found Love Cover of that tonight. Credits to khdiesel for the video. Click Here*

They chose a good blend of songs to perform. The transition from one song to another was smooth. Every now and then Ryan would talk to the audience and introduce the next song. He is quite a funny guy and seems down to earth - definitely a crowd pleaser. At one stage in the concert, his guitar strap broke and he handled it so well! While the backstage crew was fixing it, he made up a song about Melbourne on the spot, singing about coffee and how he felt about the city. He is not just an amazing artist but also a great performer. He made the concert interesting and you could tell that he had a passion for music with the way he would tap along. On top of that, they would wheel in the piano for some songs and he would play while singing. I do admire his skills and it really inspires me to learn more songs in the piano. One of the other band members played the cello for some of the songs.  It was truly amazing to see how talented these men were.

Ryan sounded perfect, maybe even better than the recorded tracks. He hit every note perfectly and his voice was just beautiful! Towards the end of one of the songs, there was a moment of silence where he backed up from the mic and sang a high note.  The mic picked it up perfectly. The drums and guitar live just complimented Ryan's voice so well. They are definitely a band that you need to see live. After being to Maroon 5 last year and being amazed by hearing Adam's raw voice, I would have to say that OneRepublic probably had a better live performance! It was a completely flawless performance and they handled stage mishaps very well.

By the end of the concert, I forgot that my feet were hurting - that was how good the concert was. The next time they come to Melbourne, I am buying a ticket for sure!

Love,
Victoria