When the Cheshire emerges...

10.34pm: So there were a few surprises... but it's sinking in, there is a Eurovision final coming!

And so begins my media blackout, I will try to write tomorrow but there will be no live blog - I'll be too busy enjoying myself at a Eurovision party. Good night!

10.33pm: And of course Conchita was the last announcement. But they're our finalists! So from my picks Israel and Macedonia miss out.

10.32pm: Belarus are in - CHEESECAKE! And the kids from Finland. Yes, they're high schoolers. My bad.

10.31pm: Greece had some bromance there... Malta DOES seem like so long ago but they're in.

10.30pm: Oh wow, Slovenia. Oh no, and Poland too... But Romania and Norway are good.

10.28pm: About time... Switzerland the first to go through.

10.20pm: What just happened there with Macedonia? Should I be confused?

And the host is wearing pants. Since when does a female host not wear a gown?

10.18pm: And we've just seen an octogenarian take centre stage and tear it apart. Great work.

10.16pm: Bring back the hot Norwegian guys...

10.14pm: Oh, I was going to do this video thing, but I ran out of time. Go the girl from Ireland. Aw.

Meanwhile, I just wish Nikolaj could somehow be kept on the screen. He's a little amazing.

10.10pm: My pick of who might go through: Malta, Israel, Norway, Austria, Finland, Belarus, Macedonia, Switzerland, Greece, Romania.

10.02pm: Jessica Mauboy. Strutting her stuff to 180 million. Sounded a bit nervous at first, and it's a hard song to belt out. But she did great. Go girl. Darwin represent.

9.59pm: Bahaha, we knocked the UK out of that graphic of Europe. And we have Swans players and koalas. Excellent.

9.56pm: Alright, Romania are bringing it. THERE'S A CIRCULAR KEYBOARD. But really, Paula Seling and OVI are giving us a great end. Good song!

9.53pm: Slovenia's Round and Round is OK, but again not huge. Tinkara Kovac's shoulder pads are, mean dress.

9.50pm: WOW. Greece brought that - and I'm not biased, we needed something big. Totally sold with Freaky Fortune and RiskyKidd.

9.49pm: YEEEEESSSSS! Rise Up!



9.46pm: Who came up with revealing these records? And how is the most amount of licks even managed to be known? Fuck me, I love Eurovision.

And now I finally get to see Greece. Represent!

9.44pm: Down Under on the flute from Slovenia's entrant. Love.

9.39pm: Need to make violins a key point of note for future contests. As relevant as silver, white and key changes...

9.38pm: Folk again from Switzerland with Sebalter's Hunter Of Stars. But more good-looking males never hurts.

I'm waiting for that standout Eurotrash number though. And Greece's song is finally next.

9.35pm: To The Sky would probably be one to grow on you. But it's not a song that really prompts some boob-shaking, sorry Tijana. FYROM is hit and miss but this is one of their better songs...

9.30pm: OK, so the song's not really about cheesecake. But the beat is good.

9.29pm: Belarus! (Some) hot men in suits dancing. Singing about Cheesecake. Teo, I'm sold.




9.26pm: Ireland always manage to put something about their culture, even when it's a DJing turkey... Celtic motifs are cool, but the song is average. Can-Linn and Kasey Smith don't make my Heartbeat.

9.23pm: OMG. There's a song called Cheesecake. Loving the culinary theme this year.

9.17pm: The only rock band for this year comes from Finland... Something Better by Softengine wasn't too bad a song. But I was slightly distracted.

9.15pm: And finally a good-looking young male. In a shiny suit jacket no less. Swoon.

9.13pm: Glitter. Futuristic ballerinas. Light rapping... and a wink to the camera. Lithuania had it all, Vilija commanding Attention. Could have going a bit harder on the vocal though I reckon.

9.10pm: Well that got our ATTENTION!!!

9.09pm: "If this is your first time watching Eurovision, welcome." Couldn't have said it better Sam Pang.

9.08pm: Conchita Wurst. This year's Romania for sheer spectacle? Well, Rise Like A Phoenix has lyrics that are rather fitting for her. She looks great, the song's pretty good and the crowd love it.

9.02pm: It's time. Waiting for the revolution that is Conchita Wurst...



8.58pm: So that was Donatan & Cleo's My Słowianie - We Are Slavic... well, Poland singing about a different culture was one part of it.

8.55pm: Aaaaand we get folk outfits. Fabulous. Ooh, but trying to sex things up a bit. And looking tacky as hell for it. Excellent.

8.53pm: Three Minutes To Earth? Georgia, what is this? The Shin and Mariko are not floating anyone's boat. Or skydiving anyone back to safety...

8.52pm: There is a man playing drums with a parachute. Must have a big balance problem. Oh no, he managed a big jump.

8.50pm: Carl Espen's Silent Storm from Norway - really nice ballad, was wondering if there's a really big key change coming... but it was gradual. Like it.

8.46pm: Song two is Israel's Mei Finegold with Same Heart. Her voice is very... deep. Though I'm not sure if it suits the song, which is actually OK.




8.41pm: Firelight's Coming Home from Malta opens. This is a very Mumford and Sons song, but with traditional instruments. And a female element. It's a good opener.

8.38pm: Oh man, Greece is 13th... bit of a wait. Meanwhile, Pilou and Lisa looked a bit touchy feely. No, she's just hands-on...

8.35pm: A dance act to start us off paying homage to the former shipyard the hall once was and famous Danish compositions. But we're ready now.

8.33pm: I'm doing a live blog again (in Central Standard Time) so if you have something to say during the night say it. I will be voicing my own opinions of course, so there's room for more

The Jessica Mauboy doco was lovely. Looking forward to seeing the performance in full. But first let's hear the rest of this year's contenders!

Courtesy NBC News

Eurovision.

The most wonderful time of the year is here.

Last year I wrote the My decade of Eurovision series about my various quips and admirations of the song contest.

In 2013, my spirits rise once again in anticipation of the most exciting musical event of the year.

I have struggled to decide on whether to listen to some songs ahead of the semi-finals. But after last year's emphatic effort in raising the bar I'm worried that wouldn't do me any good. And I like it better when I'm finding out about the songs as they're performed.

One thing I'm still baffled about a year on though:

It's been three days and I STILL can't understand how @eurovision voters gave Tooji last place. I just want to give Norway a big hug...
— Katina V (@Katiinkaa) May 30, 2012

I still listen to it all the time. I don't understand Europe's thoughts sometimes...

That aside, look out for my thoughts during the semis and grand final. And always feel free to pipe in and join the conversation!

***
They used to say to scientists, "Do you believe in God?" and the scientist would respond, "No, I'm a scientist." Today, in the 21st century, if you ask a scientist, "Do you believe in God?" the scientist will say, "Of course. I'm a scientist!".

A year ago today, I was in Dusseldorf, Germany, for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest.

How frickin' excited was I to be there? I was FRICKIN' EXCITED.

But I had reason to be. Getting a ticket to the final was confirmation that going to Europe was what I was meant to do.

Before going, I'd had some doubts about whether I was running away from issues back home, namely finding a job since finishing my studies.

For me it was a weeknight about 10pm when tickets went on sale. My first Internet ticket-buying rush and I was nervous (I'm old-skool and line up for tickets when big names come to town).  An hour later, I'm still hitting the same button thinking something's up. Checking on Twitter, I discovered the site had crashed. Thank God. Made a few friends there while we waited actually.

I remember thinking to myself 'If I get this ticket I'm meant to go overseas, no backing out', and when I got through it was exhilarating. Then it locked me out.

It was another half hour or so before I re-entered, went through it in German before realising I could switch to English. But I managed to pick a good ticket, mid-range, paid, all good.

Dusseldorf was the city without a bench. I walked for almost half an hour before I spotted one by the lighthouse and got a look at my golden ticket (Dubbo makes me laugh often because it is the complete opposite). I managed to get accommodation only through a travel agent after Hostelworld had been wiped out by the next day. But while that place just felt dodgy all around, Dusseldorf itself was nice. Visited a great little film museum before noticing the centre pick up with more people as the day drew on.


It was packed.

I'd found a Greek flag in a mad rush, almost got lost as I tried a shortcut to the station, but I got there. And met Aussies, including fellow Greek Nick from Adelaide. We had no mutual friends, which in Adelaide Greek circles could be seen as peculiar.

The show was AMAZING. I had an awesome seat that allowed me to dance away in the aisles. Absolute faves were England's Blue with I Can and Germany's Lena with her attempt at defending the title Taken By A Stranger - both songs rank highly on my favourites list. Winners for Azerbaijan Ell and Nikki with Running Scared were good though too, I wasn't entirely disappointed with that result.

I was lucky because 2011 was a good year. The hosts were well--presented, the songs were actually of a fairly high calibre overall, and the Germans know how to throw a party. Hottest guy award went to Sweden's Eric Saade, worst song was from Italy's Raphael Gualazzi (how it came third we there still don't know, had to be the intrigue factor because Italy were back and in the Big Five), and brightest stage design went to Serbia's Nina with her 60s get-up. Very impressed with the night, especially as the only one for some time not to be in the last week of May.

I would spend the next day in Cologne with my new Adelaide friend avoiding pelting rain through visiting a Lindt museum and hiding out in a cafe. A relaxing Sunday.

Dusseldorf came to life with Eurovision. Their pride to host it was everywhere; Eurovision was all around. Take a look at what I found myself a part of.

In the film museum

Aussie! Greek! From Adelaide!



I DID make friends on Twitter amidst confusion, including Mark

Early rain in Cologne made it so gloomy...

But getting The Candy Man Can from Willy Wonka in my head made it better

*This is also the fifth post in the series My decade of Eurovision. That started here.

 -------
*I have two photos entered in the current Qatar Reflections competition. Please show your support for me by voting for either photo! Short backstory and links here.

Today has been a poignant date for me in the 2012 calendar, marking a huge milestone in my life.

A year ago today was a very special time for me - leaving Australia for Singapore and then Europe for the first time by myself.

It was an emotional morning after a 4:30am rise. I was worried I'd packed too much (as always), worried I'd forgotten something, and then after all that had major self-doubts about the 15 weeks I was about to embark on. I'd been unsure of the direction I wanted to take in life after failing to find a 'career' job post-university and felt guilty for wanting to experience Europe a second time... all sorts of things were going through my head.

I cried for most of the way from Adelaide to Melbourne. Then stepping on the connection to Singapore breathed new life into me and I was excited. I remember the amazing feeling I had walking through Changi Airport on arrival so vividly still, and then in the shuttle into Singapore City...

My first photo off the plane, from the shuttle.

First song I heard on the radio: Wonderwall by Oasis. A foreshadow of the epic events that were about to take place.

***

I heard Wonderwall today as I hopped in the car for a five-minute trip. Fancy that... I remembered how HAPPY I was in that moment a whole year ago, hearing that song and looking out the window to this and more greenery. Rushing towards me was a feeling of every possibility opening up to you and wanting to grab everything with open arms, the good and the bad. I'd had that experience in 2010 with my friends but now I was going it alone. And the thought of becoming a true solo traveller thrilled me.

I'm going to be posting a bunch of A year ago today... posts over the next few months to make up for my lack of picture blogging during the trip itself. And also to act as a bit of catharsis because I can't believe that much time has already passed. The last 12 months have been truly life-changing, during that trip and the events following.

***

In those 12 months I was lucky enough to have my 2012 adventure across the ditch. I loved the two weeks I spent in New Zealand and it clearly wasn't enough. I've just written a series on my time there; I hope those who saw my entries enjoyed reading about my experiences as much as I've loved reliving them!

The series in full, if you want to go back all over again too:

New Zealand makes you: test your limits
New Zealand makes you: buy vintage and not buy shoes
New Zealand makes you: spend all your money and then some
New Zealand makes you: thankful for the Australian summer
New Zealand makes you: discover their sweet as confectionery
New Zealand makes you: too busy to record your thoughts
New Zealand makes you: realise they're not Australian
New Zealand makes you: laugh at misfortune
New Zealand makes you: dress up as an elf
New Zealand makes you: try McDonalds

The time you spend on overseas trips should be amazing. It's a time where you forget about everything you know and just roll with what you want to see and do.
(Okay, you can't forget your bankcard details and how to say 'hello, how are you' in any given language...)

Writing for a living now, I expected that a three-week holiday wouldn't present any problems in keeping up to date with my thoughts. The two weeks in New Zealand particularly were meant to be very relaxed.

But as I discovered once again, I'm notorious for not being able to keep up to speed.

Edinburgh, 2011

In New Zealand and on my European trips, I loved sitting in a cafe and just wiling away a couple of hours over decent sweets and processing my recent experiences. Sitting in JK Rowling's seat at The Elephant House writing as she did for Harry Potter was pretty awe-inspiring to say the least.

But all in all, my European travels were bad. For trip one (2010) I wrote about 30,000 words after coming home, which I think took the better part of two weeks, or months maybe. Trip two last year is even worse. Yes, IS.

I'm still trying to recount events.

From as early as April when I left. IT'S APRIL AGAIN NOW. Let's just say I've had a huge weight on my shoulders for some time.

Queenstown, 2012

Back on New Zealand, I had too good a time to be writing to myself every night. It was more chilled overall but I still wandered around places more than expected. So instead of writing a blog for my lovely readers last night (whoever you may be, make yourselves known one day and say hi :D ), I focused on finishing the latest thing that I'd started. And at 11:58pm I was DONE.

A massive wave of relief came over me, as well as a blistered finger and cramped arm. Yes, I hand-wrote it all. And that was only for a three-week trip.

I've been working on and off on collecting Europe 2011 thoughts for some time, but with this achievement (and a welcome change in working hours) I think I'm on a roll. The sense of achievement I'll feel when this is done will be UN.BE.LEIVE.A.BLE, because I AM going to do it.

DO you have a bad record with diary entries on holidays? I feel like I'm the worst in the world so I'd love to hear what anyone thinks!

Being Australian, I always imagined going to NZ would be cheap. I'd come back from Europe twice with a good amount of money to spare, so for a fortnight across the ditch I thought I'd be rolling in it. It was the first time I'd ever gotten MORE for the Australian dollar on a large scale. Staying with friends for about half the time was also going to save me a couple of hundred or so right?

Weird money

I did take a skydive into account, that it would cost about $500 or so with photos. The money just felt lighter... seriously, it IS lighter now since they changed it a few years back. The 10c piece so often confused with ours can't be anymore because it's changed colour!

But it didn't hit me until three days in that I would really be pushing it with the money I'd brought over. I struggled to stay away from vintage clothes in Auckland on day four - I regretted putting down a $5 top only to have a girl carry it around the store some two minutes later. Bad afternoon that was.

By the time I got to Wellington and my friend Laura said that it shouldn't really be a problem because I WAS still getting more bang for my buck. She was totally right. I ended up splurging on about NZ$100 on clothes that day and didn't feel bad for it (read my full purchase wrap when you can). And later on plenty of coffee and cake. I was getting 25 per cent off everything after all right?

More where that came from... how else can you best observe a city?

In Queenstown, the skydive did cost me about what I thought. And then I did the canyon swing (read my first entry of the NZ makes you series on that). I had to transfer more money with four days to go - and then I didn't realise that could take three days. To say I was worried for about 24 hours was an understatement.

But all came through and I survived. And I DID come home with money! Just part of the backup I didn't intend on using. Oops :D

***

Check in the same time tomorrow for how I dealt with the NZ summer!

The Dubbo Showground markets were recently moved to a riverside oval to become the new (and seemingly improved) Riverside Markets. While I never went pre-move, my eventual discovery of what these markets are was a long time coming. Like a lot of other things in life.

Came away with more than expected. And this was after having to walk a good 500 metres extra or so to get into the Centro, then to the ATM to get money, and then walking all the way back hoping the stuff would still be there. Thankfully, this isn't Sydney so I was fine.

I'm clearly still daydreaming about European adventures. I first stumbled across a first edition of an Australian book called Roaming Round Europe by Frank Clune, the telling of his adventures around Western Europe in 1952. Spent what was my last $10.

On returning from the ATM I found a French grammar book, which appears to be the most confusing thing I've ever read. But thinking of my imminent French lesson I thought it would be handy. $1. PS: said lesson never eventuated... le sigh.

Then a book stand had Azur Like It by Wendy Holden, about a journalist who gets sent to cover the Cannes Film Festival. That's so me! But then she discovers a dark side. Not so me. I was intrigued. $3.

Teeny silver thing on the French grammar book is a Pandora-style charm of a paw for my travel charm bracelet, signifying Australia through Dubbo/the central west... via Taronga Western Plains Zoo. $1.

And then there were the shoes. Found at the most amazing little vintage stall that made me want to do a Barcelona and pinch it all.


The shoes were sitting on the left of those pink shoes on the ground before I grabbed them with the intention of scrubbing them into a fantastic work-purpose pair for my wardrobe. $10.

I took the photo with Annie's details clearly in sight because she's great and deserves business. My new shoes were previously her own and she has a great selection of accessories, shoes and even clothes. The first I've seen of affordable great vintage in Dubbo. Tre bien.

Going to the gym has predominantly been about keeping fit for me; I really only ever considered it in the soccer off-season of 2009-10 for the first time.

Finding Curves ended up being more than just going to a gym - for one thing it's not about treadmills or weights. The circuit ended up being a routine but remained a challenge, and an eventual job out of it didn't hurt either.

Holidays overseas shifted my focus slightly to regaining my former numbers. In 2010 I didn't gain much at all so it wasn't an issue. But in 2011 I found it a bit harder. Like, gaining a whole size harder.

With my move looming and no real employment I returned to Curves and did my best to shed the holiday kilos in what I call my 'unknown' month. Luckily for me I seem to do that okay. And a month or so after joining the Curves here in Dubbo I'd actually gone back to just under my pre-holiday weight.

And then I saw this.

I've never had anything like this before. I'd lost 20 centimetres on the road to recovery! I couldn't believe I actually had something significant up there, it was really encouraging. And it's still up with all of the others.

***

Before I went to Newcastle in early January the last time I wore my bikini I was a size bigger. It was in Athens, my last day before flying out of Europe where a really sleazy middle-aged Greek man tried to make me run away with him after coming up to me in the water. So I was experiencing a whole mix of emotions there.

I noticed when I had it on most recently (laying in the amazing Newcastle sand) that it was a little bit loose, top and bottom. Felt a bit smug there. But annoyed I'd stretched it out at the same time. And realised I felt no different to what I usually do.

Moral of this story: you work toward what you feel is right for you.

I could have stayed at that size. I had a lot of people telling me I looked healthier as that little bit bigger. But not fitting into my clothes did NOT want to make me be home. I couldn't even pick out three-quarters of my outfits as daily choices, which was for a short time a terrible loss. Curves has brainwashed me into thinking healthier thoughts about exercise and looking after myself - so don't touch me, I'm a star okay?

Time for a Europop lesson.

Some non-Europeans might remember Greek singer Sakis Rouvas as the dude who swung into the Athens 2004 Olympics Closing Ceremony (literally) before falling mid-routine. Others remember him more fondly as performing one of Eurovision's best songs in recent years with 2004's Shake It (quite frankly, as the favourite that came third he was robbed). He of course also represented Greece again in 2009.

He is also quite possibly one of the world's most prettiest men. #justsayin'

I bought his latest album six months ago when I was in Athens as a tool to help me improve my Greek should I start taking proper lessons. While that's currently a work in progress, I finally listened to the album all in one hit last week.

If anyone survives the Greek economical crisis it will probably be him. Damn, his songs are catchy.

Sakis Rouvas performing Shake It for Greece at Eurovision 2004

I haven't been this excited to listen to a full album repeatedly in some time. He doesn't sing any English tracks on Parafora (Madly), but on hearing more than his Eurovision fare I totally see why this guy is Greece's king of pop. It's damn good stuff.

Even if I don't understand a whole lot of it.

It makes me wish I could understand more, which is the point. That's good. Yet the words swirl around my head for much of the day as I'm trying to work, eat and watch TV. I've taken it further to listen through all the other Greek songs on my iTunes as I cook each night, and vow to understand it all fluently one day. Especially for the sake of Mr Rouvas and what he is trying to sing to me.

If you didn't know that about me, shame on you! Well, you do now.

So I love shoes. These I purchased in Europe over the course of my 15-week trip. I can't believe I never did a fashion wrap-up this time around... having said that, these were the more notable buys as opposed to 2010 when London vintage clothing reigned supreme.

Back row (from left): New Look khaki boots from the UK, 15 pounds. Platform wedges from Harrods London, 59 pounds. exe cork nautical wedges from Greece, 39.80 Euros.

Middle: Grey wintery heels from Singapore, 40SGD. Silver flats from Greece, 15 Euros.

Front: Platinum hand-beaded thongs from Greece, around 70 Euros. Fluoro jelly thongs from Greece, 13 Euros. exe dressy thongs from Greece, 29.80 Euros. Closed flats with beige bow from Spain, 5 Euros.

***

Mum realised I wasn't going to have a wall calendar like I had the past seven or eight years, so thoughtfully bought me a tear-off calendar for my fridge - of SHOES!

It started off well with a quote: "You should do shoes."




But since then it's gone kind of downhill. Here's a few examples that speak for themselves.



I've now decided to share with you my "favourite" shoe of the week every Friday as a result of my intrigue to see which tacky shoe will win my heart. Keep an eye out starting tomorrow!

Backstory: in 2010 my bff Penny came up with the idea of eating McDonald's in every country across Europe (because she had a fleeting thought the food o/s wouldn't be up to standard) - but we got there and she changed her mind. No-one else in our group was game so I carried it through. For most of these samplings I was on a Topdeck tour.

I first felt like Morgan Spurlock in Super Size Me because I was eating it so regularly - at least every second day while on the tour - and hoped it wouldn't affect my health too much. Actually... that was a slight lie. I wasn't too concerned.

I should add, I went on this odyssey only to discover the specialties - the 'limited time only' specials, or something unique to the country. No Big Macs for me. So now to the photos.

After being in Athens for five days I manage to come around full circle and try something which I thought was completely crazy at their airport. The picture above shows a burger. This particular burger contained a prawn pattie. Yes, a prawn pattie. It didn't have an overpowering fishy taste but with the regular fillings and sauces eating it still had a strange feel. Was neither here or there. 5/10.

***

I ended up having Maccas brekky back in Melbourne Airport on the final stopover with one of their wraps (new for the time, seems the local menu shook things up too). Lament the missed op of trying a pork, a breakfast and a UK option. And I should probably go a Big Mac too on my next run. But the quest in 2010 was a lot of fun. I can only imagine the possibilities of what I'd do next.

2011




Walking down Orchard Road for the first time, even at night the humidity was getting to me. There's a LOT of McDonalds stops along the shopping mecca, and I was rather intrigued by one of their dessert cafes just off the main strip. I've still never seen anything like it! First treat of the trip (and definitely not the last) was a Supreme Milo McFlurry. An explosion of chocolate goodness, Milo and ice-cream have always gone together. Perfect mix, and the last time I would see Milo for a fair while. 9/10.



In one of the busiest shopping malls I've ever seen (the Carrefour was mental... think Boxing Day times a million and you're not even close), I grabbed a chicken McArabia on the basis that it looked similar to the beef McTurco. There was more thickness with the bread but similar in idea. The chicken was a grilled fillet, tender and a little bit juicy. Best thing about this was the meal still stands as the cheapest overall. No more than $AUD4 for (what I think was) a large meal. Chips still exactly the same in taste. 9/10.