Friday Aug 14th - Melbourne

Prologue

The last few years I’ve felt that same feeling that I felt for most of 2012 - a little lost and confused; ready to take the next step but not sure when or which way to do it. 2012 was when I was applying for accounting jobs and going for interviews every 3 or 4 weeks; the last few years I have been doing the same but instead of interviews it has been dates and I keep getting it wrong. 

Since I got back from Bali in March, work has been busy and I’ve 

Blog

I’m running late to the airport and I’ve definitely cooked it a bit this time. I still haven’t recovered from my sickness and this has affected my judgment/preparation and now I’m on the train sending Stu pics of my suitcase so that he can show the woman at the airport and she can print off the flight tags for my suitcase. When I’m finally within reaching distance of the airport train station I read my messages from Stu and they say that he’s got the tags so I might be ok but the third message says “I’d be running off the train too”  which makes me feel a bit of pressure like I could actually miss the flight.. I walk up the stairs of the station next to a Chinese woman and as soon as I tag off the train I sprint passed her with my two suitcases over my shoulder. I keep sprinting and use the travelators, I get to the lift and wait for it so I can get to the ground level. When I make it down I keep sprinting again and eventually reach the door to the airport, when I go through there I see Stu waiting, he takes my hand luggage and I run to the check-in and go under the ropes and go to the very front. I am panting and sweating hard and the lady is confused but when I show her that I have the flight tags she grabs my bag and checks it in and says I should be ok. It is about 754 now and the flight is scheduled to leave at 820/830.

We go into the departure lounge, I go o the bathroom to clean all the sweat off. We sit down and Stu tells me the flight is delayed anyway so we’ve got a bit of time. The flight doesn’t leave until about 10 past 9 because the pilot called in sick. The flight is fine and I am mainly watching this Canadian summer college girl drama tv show on this woman’s tablet in the row in front of me and also I play a bit of Sudoku.

We arrive probably about 230pm Melbourne time and the airport is pretty busy. Very multicultural at Melbourne airport. We are waiting for the luggage, Stu sees his but I am waiting there for ages but I can’t see mine. By this time everyone else from our flight has left. I go speak to the baggage services, the lady checks for luggage and finds out that it is not in Melbourne and they will contact me when they have more information. Not the first time that I’ve had an incident at this airport and not the first time that it was my fault either. Anyway we catch an Uber to our hotel in the CBD.

Driving through the CBD there are definitely a lot of people from Asia and some from the south Asian countries too. There are a lot of trams and traffic so it is pretty busy but eventually we make it to our hotel and it is pretty flash. I have the complementary cocktail and we upstairs to our room. The room is definitely pretty modern and is flash too, lots of red, purple and some black too. I turn on the tv and the Aus v Bangladesh cricket is on so I’m happy. Anyway Stu & I go out exploring to find a supermarket.

It’s a Friday afternoon so it is starting to get busy, we find a Woolworths so I go in and buy some cereal and bananas and the prices here are more expensive than Perth. We go back to the hotel and go upstairs to the pool to meet Davo and the others. Stu stays up there for a bit but I go back to the room because I don’t really have any board shorts, I only have gym shorts, so just stay in the room and watch some cricket.

Just after 6pm

We head downstairs to the lobby, the lobby is really flash and head outside to go to dinner. I’m still wearing the same outfit: just grey track pants, a light brown hoodie and white shoes which I’ve had since 2009 and have been wearing hard since I injured my back last year. We are heading east through the Melbourne CBD, it is starting to get cold, just as I remember from long time ago, the CBD is so packed as well, way busier than the Perth CBD. We finally get to one of the main streets Elizabeth St and head north-ish to this Thai restaurant that Fraser had booked. We arrive and walk in and it’s called “Cookies” and then I remember that there was a nightclub/bar here from my first two trips called Metros Cookies that we tried to get into but were never successful - very funny. This Thai restaurant is busy and we sit down and one of Davo’s mates, I think Sheldon persuades everyone to get the chef’s special meal deal where everyone pays about $70-$80 and we get entrées, mains and desserts - I know this is risky but go with it anyway.

We are all having a drink etc and then the food starts coming out and there’s heaps of it and I know we are not going to finish all of it unless I go all out - luckily I have barely eaten all day and haven’t eaten heaps during the week. There are so many plates of food (all of it really good too) and I am finishing everything off so it doesn’t go to waste and everyone is looking at me. Im hindsight I should have gone for the take home containers options but because I was still a little sick I wasn’t thinking as well as usual, I must have eaten enough for three normal adults/guys - and pretty much we don’t leave any food left because of this except for some of the ice cream and I’m not a dairy person so this was always going to happy. We have been here for close to two hours, eating and drinking etc and then eventually we leave to go upstairs, Fraser tips the waitress $50 - I also noticed that Melbourne men are a lot different from Perth men and how they dress - different ends of the sprectrum.

We walk upstairs in this building for so long, I’m not sure where we’re going but we finally make it to the rooftop bar on the top of the building and this is really cool, lots of people in their 20’s here but we are still allowed in and I’m surprised that I’m still being let in to these places with the clothes that I am wearing, especially because I didn’t get in to a lot of places when I came back 18-17 years ago and I was more dressed up then. It is really cloudy in Melbourne and the view on top of this bar is so good, it reminds me of Batman as some of the tops of the buildings are being covered by cloud but the lights are still shining through. Az buys about 4 espresso martinis and I have one even though I know it might make it hard to sleep. I’m still so full from the dinner and know if I have take in too much more I might need to go to the bathroom. This place is cool and even has a burger food truck. After a few drinks here we go downstairs and end up about the second storey of this building which is a dimly lit bar with dance music so I suspect there will be many 20 something year old people heading here shortly - there are already a few but luckily it’s not too busy yet and again I am shocked that I was allowed in here wearing a hoodie, track pants and 17 year old white sneaker. Kind of reminds me a little of Geisha Bar in Perth.

We have a couple of drinks here and the bar area we’re in is pretty small and more and more young people are coming in - it’s getting crowded quickly, kind of like a flood of people are coming from downstairs and through the entrance. It must be about 10pm now and we push through the crowd and head out of the entrance and down the stairs, passed all of the young people. We make out to Elizabeth St and it is still so busy - seems so surreal when compared to Perth. We decide to head west towards our hotel and eventually stroll across some underground jazz bar down a lane way. It is smallish but very busy here, we find a booth here and stay here to end our night.

About 90 minutes later.

It is getting close to midnight now, the upper parts of my legs are starting to sweat a bit because we’re sitting on this leather couch in the booth. Everyone has kept on drinking here except for me, partially because I’ve been a little sick and I’m pretty tired, and partially because my stomach is getting pretty bad I’m going tk need to go to the toilet if I drink anymore. Everyone else has been drinking vodka/beer/cocktails etc so they are all reasonably drunk but thankfully it’s time to leave so we all head outside. We’re standing by the road now and the consensus seems to be that we will head home which is a relief to me, but Davo has different plans. Midnight on a Friday night in a different city on a bucks party, the inevitable happens and stripclubs become the topic of discussion. Jaiden & dad are tired so they opt out… I’m leaning towards going back to the hotel but then I realize that there are a lot of stripclubs very close to our hotel so I decide I’ll stay on and likely make a quick exit. I’m trying to push for Bar20 and Google directs Davo across the river and passed the Crown to Kittens. The remaining 6 of us jump in a maxi taxi and head south; Fraser is pretty drunk and says a few humorous things. After we drive over the river it gets pretty quiet. We arrive but Davo gets told that he’s not allowed in because he had neck tattoos so we are left stranded. It could finally be time to make it back to Bar20 which we went to 17 years earlier but we head nearby to The Men’s Gallery. Davo pays for everyone and we head inside. We sit down between the bar and the main stage and we are rearranging chairs so that we have six in a row all facing the stage, it’s like we are in school or something and some people are probably looking at us.

It’s not too busy, there’s a lot of space, there are quite a few women around. It is about 1225 now and I finally feel like I can relax because I know I can go home after this. A lot of women come up and talk and ask if we’re interested in lap dances, if my stomach wasn’t so bad maybe I would have said yes. I probably should have said yes. It’s getting close to 1am now and two of the group have gone for a dance, it’s starting to get busier and Stu and I think it’s probably a good time to leave. Sheldon says he will stay to make sure Dave & Az make it back alright, I ask Stu if we should ask Fraser if he wants to leave too but he doesn’t look to be budging as he’s in a drunk stupor. We head outside and it is raining lightly, there’s still plenty of life and we head down King St and then take a left and we are back at the hotel. Was a good night and our room is pretty flash too but I have trouble sleeping because my earplugs are in my suitcase and it still hasn’t arrived yet. Eventually I fall asleep.

The following morning there’s a knock on the door and my suitcase is here - I can finally change out of my track pants, hoody and old white shoes.

March Long Weekend 2026 - Bali

I’m at the security screening area and am trying to get the airport officer to not throw out my 120 millilitre bottle of Body Shop body wash that I’ve been chipping away at for like the last 5 years. I am out of luck and pretty upset. How did I get here? Well I have to go back about two days.

Saturday 28th Feb

I’m tired but get up early, get ready and head east down Orrong Rd, past our old house in Wattle Grove and up to Lesmurdie for a dentist appointment. 930am arrival. I’m there for awhile, things went well and then I head back down the hill and back to Jolimont. It pretty warm today. The next few hours I watch YouTube, Survivor, read some stuff on my phone and eat food. I have a nap, clean up my place and go to the gym at night. A standard Saturday but I need to go the bed by 1am because I’ve got stuff to do the next day.

Sunday 1st March

It is sunny and I need to get ready, quick to make it to Cannington/Kent St Weir by 12/1230 for Ashton’s 1st birthday. I make the drive and park my car under a tree, a random car parks behind me and it turns out to be KC and Karis. There are a fair few people there, a mixed cross section, lots of hats and some umbrellas too. We are camping out under a patio, we kick the footy for a bit too. We are here until after 3pm and then we all head back to the car park and home. I get home about 4 and my legs are a little sunburnt. I’m tired and have to clean up and pack up before heading down to Coogee. I make it to Coogee a few hours later, I still have my Supercoach team to do and I still haven’t thought about how I am going to change money for our trip to Bali in about 18 hours. I am way behind schedule, even by my standards. I don’t go to bed until after midnight. I am following the Arsenal match on my phone too and do not sleep that well anyway. 

Monday 2nd March

I awake pretty tired after not sleeping well. We are leaving by 11am so I know I need to be having a shower no later than 10am. It is getting close to 10 now and I have just about finished eating breakfast in front of the TV but then mum & dad join me and I feel obliged to watch some YouTube whilst they’re with me and I fall about 15 minutes behind schedule and then have to race hard to get ready in time. Bad move and it’s about 1120 and I’m still packing up whilst dad is in the car with the engine running, safe to say that I have to take a few shortcuts to get ready - cannot be as meticulous as always, damn.

12ish

Pick up Stu & Sam from Mt Lawley and Sam I think is a little stressed that we are late. We continue on to the airport and Dad drops us off whilst he looks for parking; I go inside the airport and then complete one of my outstanding tasks and buy some sunscreen; I’m still unsure how I will sort out my money though. A while later Stu & dad show up and then we all head through the airport and head towards immigration and this is where I realize that I might be in trouble.

I never understood the 100ml container rule but I feel like my bottle is probably going to get confiscated. I put all of my stuff in the tray to go through the X-ray machine and when I get to the other side of the gate the officer moves the tray with my stuff in it to the side. She opens it and removes the body wash container and then tells me that she has to throw it in the bin. I am pretty upset because it was a present and it was only about half full. There’s not much that I can do so I have to accept my fate and move on. The next two hours or so we pass through the duty free and sit down on the seats in the waiting area. I’m still a little bit tired but just sit there and don’t really move much for the next 1-2 hours except go to the bathroom a couple of times. Everyone else seems to disappear and reappear and eventually it is time to board the plane as it’s about 330pm. We get on the plane and I’ve got an aisle seat near the front next to Stu & Sam. The next 3.5 hours I finish off a Sudoku game on my phone which takes like 1 hr 40 mins to complete and also watch a Sydney S movie on Stu’s tablet.

About 1930

It is dark outside and we are about to land and outside you can see all of the lights of Bali which was cool. We arrive and it is pretty humid and we walk into the airport which kind of seems familiar even though the only other time I’d been here was 27 years ago. We get to the front of the airport pretty quickly, it is pretty lively and I go to the bathroom and it is a little different to a Perth bathroom so I realize that I’m in South East Asia now. We go outside the airport to look for the taxi and it is definitely busy and at least 8pm now. Quite warm and humid too. We are waiting for awhile, I am fatigued and we are all wondering where the taxi is. I can’t believe it has been so long since I’ve been here last. Kind of reminds me of Phuket but different.

We find the taxi, he was across the road almost for the whole time, we then walk into a multi story carpark and get in the brightly coloured taxi. We are driving for awhile and it is pretty hectic and lots of people on mopeds and playing on their phones. Definitely feels weird that after so much land north of Perth with almost no people, all of a sudden there's a very lively and highly populated city with a totally different culture. It is lively and reminds me of Phuket. We are driving for awhile and I'm not sure what to expect but am looking forward to being able to relax. We drive for awhile and then take a few turns and we pull into the complex and I have no idea where we are but am getting a bit excited and it is a little cool here too.

We enter the private villa with a private pool, I smash down 2 or so welcome drinks and they are nice. I unpack my stuff and it is after 2100 now so we have dinner at the restaurant. It is raining now and then before we go to bed I go for a walk around the corner with Stu to find some moisturiser for my sunburn, I am feeling a bit uneasy as I don't know Bali very well and not sure what to expect, also there are no footpaths around here so we are walking on the road. The shop is good, I buy some stuff and then we walk back fast to avoid getting too wet.

Mid March - Friday & Saturday

I knew it was risky maintaining my usual Thursday night schedule and going to bed at 1030pm when I had to get early the next morning for yoga.

Around 4am I was a little tense because I knew my alarm could go off at any minute and therefore I woke up and realised that I still had 90 mins until I had to get up - bad move.

530am - checked on the Real Betis to see if Antony had scored. I am pretty cooked and had a quick shower and went to yoga and it was dark driving there which was weird. I wore socks to this yoga session and I sweated so much that my tee shirt was waterlogged and there was even sweat all over the floor on both sides of my mat. I was slipping hard too so had to really focus, was like I had gone for a swim. 720 arrived and I cleaned up and snuck out whilst most of the class was still lying on their backs with their eyes closed. Made it home, rushed and got ready, drive to work and somehow managed to find one of my preferred parking spots even though I was about 25 mins later than I needed to be to get these spots.

840am - 440pm - the day passes and I’ve still got a lot of work to do and I’m worried that I’m going to be late to mini golf even though I organised it. Had to rush out of work about 520 and head home.

650pm Am at the Perth Train Station and am wondering  why the train is taking an extra 14 mins or so to leave which means that I’m going to be late. The train arrives at Perth Stadium about 655pm and I have to run a fair distance to make it in time. Am sweating.

705pm - 810pm - Finally make it and play moni golf with JC, Trav & Milan.

810pm - 1030pm - We go to The Camfield for a bit, I have three drinks, it is about 25% busy so there’s plenty of room.

1030pm - 1110pm - Catch the train home and try to decide if I can still make the gym.

1230am - No gym so go to bed after smashing some water.

Saturday

8am - Wake up and start recovering.

840am - 1pm - Watch a lot of YouTube videos and also Survivor. Work out if I can make dinner in Freo tonight.

6pm - 640pm - Drive around Subi looking for birthday cards. No luck and now I’m late.

645pm - 720pm - Catch the train into Freo and then walk to the restaurants across from Freo Oval for Tim’s Bday.

730pm - 1010pm - Dinner and then get a lift home.

1020pm - Make it home.

1130pm - 1250pm - Go to the gym for abridged Friday gym session.

2025 - The Year That Was

The year is almost over and I haven't written much for 2025, partly because I was injured for maybe half of it, the other because I didn’t do too much apart from work and another because the app I use (and also the internet) were not working very well. Last New Year’s Eve I stayed home, watched some Barbarella on SBS and had trouble sleeping. So I started the year tired which was not great but happens sometimes. Anyway I digress.

January

I was growing a beard for the first time and watching all the Arsenal end of season recap videos from like 1994-95 to 2004-05 - these were good! Highlight - probably apartment sitting for Sam & Stu over the long weekend - it rained that Friday night a little bit too which was nice. Channel 7 showing the SL v Aus test matches was also good.

February 

Things were going fine, I had gotten rid of my beard and was going with a moustache, Valentine’s Day came around and things all changed. I went on a date on the Friday night and did not get home until after midnight, this meant I would have to push back my Friday gym routine to the Saturday. I was tired and had a second date on the Saturday night so I went to the gym around lunch time on the Saturday and 1.5 hours into my workout (towards the end) it was starting to get busy so kept pushing through my front squats even though I felt some jolts in my lower back and left glute.

went on two dates over the Valentines Day weekend which was nice but this is where things started to go downhill fast for me, my Friday night dry desert workout finally struck back at me and I injured one of the disks in my back, due to not warming up and not drinking water. Tough times. Feb needed with me finally going to the physio.

March

Going to the physio a fair bit, the weather cooling down a little and becoming darker too. I couldn’t run anymore so I was just walking around Subi and down Rokeby Rd at like 930pm one or two nights per week and walking about 90 mins on the treadmill on Friday nights. Had my first ever MRI scan too which I got through much easier than I thought.

April 

I got to my break I point at work as I was in too much pain sitting down and far too much pain when I tried to stand up. Still walking around Subi and struggling to sleep a bit. Thinking that maybe I will need to have surgery.

May

Started standing up at work finally and things slowly started to improve. Kept walking at night. Finally went to the chiropractor at the end of May.

June

After I inexplicably fainted at 4am in the morning on a Thursday before work and woke up with my head wedged between the wall and the TV cabinet, things started to turn around.

Friday night 6th of June

Went out for the first time all year, was so cold but was pretty busy in the city. Jas, Trav & myself were at Flight Club for ages, by the time we left it was about 1020pm, the bar area upstairs didn’t seem as busy as before but downstairs and all of the darts area were still busy. Then we went to The Aviary for maybe another hour or so before we left. I was wearing a hoody because it was so cold, it was pretty busy and good atmosphere and Jas and Trav had probably had at least 8 drinks each. Eventually we departed and I caught the train home.

The end of June I apartment sat for Sam & Stu again for almost a week which very nice again. Was so cold though.

July 

Started running on the treadmill again but at slow pace. Going to the gym on Friday nights on the treadmill.

August

Started doing Saturday night missions to other Goodlife gyms. New gyms discovered = 2. Started running again on Tuesday nights.

September

Had a Friday night beer after work in West Perth. Watched some athletics. Did some more Saturday night missions and discovered 2 more Goodlife gyms, both pretty close to me.

October 

Discovered one last Goodlife for 2025 which brought my total gyms frequented during the year to 9 - definitely a record. October is probably my favourite month because it is so cool but not cold, it is still cloudy with a little bit of rain (especially at night), footy is finally over and the urgency to Christmas hasn’t started yet. One night I went to Langley Park at about 8pm for some Indian/work festival and walked through there. It was cloudy, cool and raining a little bit so was nice. Halloween at the very end of October was similar too and also rained a little on the drive home.

November

As seen in the previous blog November always seems to be busy and the warm weather starts and it’s light in the morning from pretty much 5am every day. Pretty busy like yoga on Friday mornings, work Christmas party, cricket and one or two other things. Probably the highlight though was apartment sitting for Sam & Stu for the 3rd time this year but this time it was one of the two penthouse apartments on Beaufort St. This was amazing and definitely made me think about upgrading my unit.

December 

Here I am now with only about 5 hours left for 2025 and I am lying on my bed wondering if I should stay home tonight or if I should go to the gym and then to the South Perth foreshore to watch the fireworks. December was a good month but so busy and pretty hot. I was having sleeping on Sunday nights as I’d only had about 1 leave day since the Christmas break finished in January. I had so many things on my mind that I wanted to do but hadn’t touched them due to working all the time. Anyway I will finish this blog off with my second and final outing to the city for drinks for 2025. Something that I had tried to plan for late July but it kept getting pushed back until the year was almost over.

Friday the 12th of December

I was late to book so didn’t get a darts booking until 1035pm which was about 2 hours later than I had wanted. At least this meant that I could take my time after finishing work and could head home and not have to rush.

I caught the train in and met up with Trav at the Murray St train station entrance just after 8. It was definitely busy and we went to Belgian Beer Cafe whilst we waited for Jas. It was busy and we were there until about 845 before Jas showed up. We were there until about 10 before we left for Flight Club, I randomly saw Brendan & Sam (my old manager) near FC so was talking to them for a bit. Anyway the place was busy but the darts not as much as the bar. We played for at least 30 + minutes and it was good, might do this again next year. We then walked to Yagan Square and made our way through the Stories labyrinth (seriously annoying) and then had a few more drinks there.

It was late now and we were there until about 1220am, right next to the walkway between Wellington St and Northbridge at Yagan Square. It was nice and cool and the wind was pretty strong. There were a lot of young people walking by, some late 30’s women was looking on the ground for cigarette butts (she looked decent for a drug user) and I think she made a lot of the new Australian residents a bit uncomfortable. One young Aussie guy took her away from scaring these people as I think he gestured to her that there was someone nearby that actually had cigarettes.

Anyway, Trav & JC would have been at least 7 drinks deep (quite possibly a few more). Trav mentioned to me that his goal for 2026 was to lose some weight. I didn’t realise that his weight was an issue but when he mentioned that he probably drank about 40 beers over his 6 days off then I started to see the issue. JC mentioned that one of his goals was to join a gym and do his gym work during his lunch breaks, partly due to him running out of room in his gym room at his house. JC was the one person that I know who I thought could do hole workouts for the rest of his life without losing motivation and still being as fit/strong as anyone else that I knew, so JC saying this proved to me that change applies to everyone and every part of life. Two interesting insights that I was not aware of.

At about 1225am it was time to leave, mainly so Trav & Jas wouldn’t wake up too hungover in the morning and also because I didn’t want to miss my train. I walked to the city station and caught the train home and took some selfies as it was so peaceful in Daglish. Made some chips and didn’t go to bed until after 2am. Was a good night and decent closure for the unusual year that was 2025.

November - Friday 21st & 28th

Friday 21/11/25

533am - Wake up and have a 30 second shower, get dressed and then drive to West Perth. Am tired but pretty alert. It is light outside.

6am - Arrive at yoga for my first non-Wednesday night class ever. Have done about 260 Wednesday night classes so this is new for me and don’t really know what to expect.

720am - Yoga finishes and it was a fair bit more tiring than my Wednesday night class. I quickly drive home and the roads are a little busy now.

815am - Am finally ready and leave Jolimont to head to work. Am def a little fatigued from yoga.

440pm - Turn off my computer and go to the big meeting room for some Christmas games with everyone else. We are doing jigsaw puzzles and ours is a soccer one so I am very keen as I know pretty much all of these players but know there is no way that we will finish this puzzle before our dinner.

620pm - Leave work to go to our Christmas dinner in Innaloo, after completing about 5% of our puzzle. We are def behind schedule. Eventually I arrive at the Indian restaurant which is on the other side of the road from the Innaloo Goodlife which means that I didn’t have to worry about checking directions because I’ve been going there a bit lately on Saturday nights.

950pm - Leave the dinner, I am so full and have about 3 containers full of leftovers which I take home. We always order way too much food at these dinners so there are always leftovers.

1005pm - Arrive home in Jolimont, I am so full and tired too. Feel like I am in a stupor and am seriously questioning if I will be able to make the gym.

1130pm - Arrive at the gym, did not think that I was going to make it. There’s pretty much no one here and I do my usual Friday night walk on the treadmill and 40 or so minutes later I change over and do a 20 minute run. Watch the coin drop game (UK version) on one of the TVs in front of me.

130am - After having a shower I leave the gym and drive to Wembley IGA to buy some orange juice.

205am - Finally go to bed, I am pretty cooked.

Saturday 22/11/25

830am(ish) - Wake up by alarm even though I’m still so tired, play on my phone like a zombie for a bit.

920am - Stu messages me to say he’s got a spare ticket to the ASHES and he plans on going for maybe one session or so. This is the reason why I set my alarm and yes I decide to go for a bit as well and yeah this would have been a lot easier if I just msgd Stu during the week to confirm this.

1130am - It is so overcast and not hot which is nice. I arrive at the stadium after training it from Daglish. Definitely a good vibe and I make my way up to the top tier and find Stu. Perth Stadium is def a 10 out of 10 for watching live sport.

540pm - Am shocked but very impressed that Australia who started the day batting managed to bowl out England in two sessions and then score 200 odd in less than 30 overs to win the match. Very good atmosphere. I head down to the train station, wait awhile then very, very slowly catch the very packed train to Daglish and manage to get through the crowd and out of the train.

625pm - Walk home from Daglish Station, arrive home and message David and Ben to let them know that we won’t be going to the cricket tomorrow.

7pm - Am tired, hungry and in no man’s land a bit. Luckily I have some Indian left over so eat that, watch YouTube on my tv and catch up on all the random reaction videos that show up in my feed, play on my phone and then eventually go to bed. Watch the cricket highlights as well as it still felt a little surreal.

Friday 28/11/25

530am - Wake up, have a 30 second shower and race out to yoga in West Perth for another Friday morning session.

6am - Arrive at yoga. Nice and light like usual and people are walking past the studio wearing their Christmas party clothes.

720am - Am lying on my back as yoga finishes, it was another really good workout. The relaxing music is still on and all the lights are off. Everyone is lying down still and I am looking to make a quick exit. As I get up really quietly to spray my mat and sneak off, Eva (our instructor) is also sneaking out and she says that she’s got to go to work in a very soft voice. I sneak out too but it’s funny because the music is still on, the lights are off, people are still lying on their backs with their eyes closed and I’m wondering who the hell is going to lock the studio up 😂😂😂. I get to my car quickly and head home through Subiaco.

730am - Arrive home and start getting ready for work.

835am - Arrive at my desk at work and I am the only in our office for at least the next 30 minutes.

The day passes.

6pm - After working late to get as much done as I can, I head home. Was a very quiet day in our office with only about 3 or 4 people there.

635pm - Get home, get changed and lie on the couch and play on my phone.

725pm - Cut up and toast the remaining sour dough bread that I have, eat it with some cheese and avocado.

805pm - Pack up my two shopping bags with all of my gym clothes and a towel. Drive to West Perth near Pascoes and park my car.

820pm - Cross over to Watertown and am waiting at the Yellow CAT stop with a lot of other people. A car pulls up in front of the stop and I am wondering what this person is doing because it’s not a taxi bay and they’ve pretty much stopped. I look to my left to see which person is going to get into this car, I notice a guy standing close to me and I wonder if he is going to get in. I am staring at this person and eventually I realise (unbeknownst to him) that this is Prayash from work that I talk to every day and he is waiting for the bus but is looking at his phone.

825pm - Catch the CAT with Prayash to the Forrest Place. Prayash and I get off, Prayash says that he is going to have a look at a few more shops and then will go home. I go to MYER and David Jones and the city is so busy, the busiest Friday night I’ve seen for so long, there are food trucks and Forrest Place is packed. When I am at David Jones it is getting close to closing time so I have to be quick. Eventually I have to leave and I walk back to the Yellow CAT stop on Wellington St and have to wait for about 15 mins for the bus to show up. Am a little annoyed because still have a lot to do. Catch the CAT back to West Perth and then drive to Goodlife in Subi.

940pm - Do Duolingo and then go into the gym and start my workout on the treadmill, facing the 8 TVs. Catch up on all the news for the week 😂.

1145pm - Finish my workout and have a shower. It is pretty empty by this stage except for the cleaner. Have to tell her that I’m having a shower so she doesn’t start cleaning.

12am - Drive to Wembley IGA and buy a hot meal and some orange juice.

1215am - Arrive home.

1235am - Eat dinner after being hungry since I woke up at 530am this morning. Classic fasting Friday.

125am - Go to bed.

Saturday 29/11/25

Somewhere between 8am-9am - Woke up, played on my phone, turned on the TV, watched YouTube, checked out the recently uploaded movies on SBS On Demand, are food, watched Survivor.

Somewhere between 1230pm - 2pm - Fell asleep on my bed.

5pm - Get a text message from Sam about Brendan’s gig later tonight. ETA is meant to be 730pm but I know that I’m not going to be on time.

530pm(ish) - Park my car in the multi story car park at Goodlife, warm up, do my medicine ball workout, have a shower and go home.

740pm - Walk to the Daglish Train Station and catch the train to to Bayswater.

810pm - Try to find the entrance to The Basement, eventually find it and go downstairs. Meet up with Sam and watch Brendan’s gig. There are five other Pascoe/ex-Pascoes crew there. I have 5 drinks over the night and we are there until well after the gig has finished, Sam is pretty drunk and eventually I leave at 1145pm to make sure that I catch the train in time.

1150pm - Walk to the Bayswater train station, catch the train to the city and then to Daglish. Arrive home about 1230am and am pretty tired. Looking forward to having a quiet week next week as the lead up to Christmas is pretty tiring. A busy couple of weeks for me (by my standards anyway 😅).

Friday 8th of August - Friday Transit Mission

This post keeps deleting so this is the third time that I’ve written it.

I had fish & chips with mum & dad @ Kailis Bros in Freo. Was a little bit cold and cloudy and there weren’t too many people. Dinner was nice like always and then M&D dropped me off at the train station just before 8pm. The train was pretty empty and I caught it all the way to Subi and then walked to the gym to do some bench press. Did a few sets and then walked up Rokeby Rd and onto Bagot and then made it home. It was pretty busy and I was sweating because I had track pants and a hoody on. Made it home and eventually went to bed around 10 - 1030 and I’m pretty sure that I shaved to save time the following morning.

Friday

I got up a little bit earlier than normal and made it to Daglish Station about 745am, waited about 5 mins and then caught the train. I was watching the live CAT times on my phone hard to see if I could get off at City West or if I had to go all the way to the city. These are normally a little unreliable - the website was showing about 12 min wait but I decided to risk it anyway, got off at City West and then walked about 50m’s to the CAT stop. The stop also showed about 13 mins but then after only 1 or 2 mins the CAT rocked up and I jumped on. Caught it to West Leederville next to the Leederville Station, crossed the Freeway overpass and then walked to the station. Waited a few mins and then caught the train to Glendalough.

As I arrived at Glendalough I knew this was the trickiest part of the journey, the bus that leaves from the station wasn’t arriving for awhile so I had to walk up Scarborough Beach Rd and then take a hard left on Main St. This walk is maybe 700 metres and I arrived at the bus stop about 822am, about 5 minutes before the bus was scheduled to arrive. As I was about 50 metres from the stop I did see a bus leaving the stop, which was peculiar. The bus was meant to arrive by about 828 but it never showed. I waited and waited, angry at the bus system which has deceived me many times. It gets to about 842 and a bus rocks up, I jump on, get off about 2km’s up the road and cross Main St and arrive at work - about 850am - an hour and a bit journey. At this point I thought maybe I should have just listened to dad and caught an Uber.

The day was cruisy, overcast and quiet and it got to 5pm and I started to get a little edgy, to make sure that I didn’t make the same mistake as last year and not check the bus times. I left the office about 535 and walked about 100 metres or so to the bus stop and then waited 5 or so minutes and caught the correct bus. This was a good feeling. Rode the bus onto Scarborough Beach Rd and got off at Glendalough Station just after 6pm. Waited 10 minutes or so and then caught the train south. I wasn’t sure whether to take the risk and get off at Leederville and hope that the Green CAT was close by or if I should play it safe and switch trains at the Perth station. I decided to take the chance, got off at the station, walked over the pedestrian overpass into West Leederville and the CAT was waiting so jumped on and made it to City West Station in good time. It started to rain though and I had to wait a few minutes for the gate to open so I could cross the tracks to the correct side - I just missed my train, was getting wet and was starting to get angry. I was fatigued and had to wait a bit for the next train to come. Jumped on and caught it all the way to Daglish.

I walked the rest of the way home and by the time that I arrived it had taken me over and hour and again I thought that perhaps Uber was the better option. I watched some footy, played on my phone and then went to the gym.

Friday 20/12/24 - Murray St Mall & Aviary

130am - 135am - I get back to my unit and feel pretty cooked.

115am - I get on the train at Perth Station and I have not been enjoying the wait.

Saturday 21/12/24, 1245am - We walk down along Williams St and it is a lot quieter now but lots of dubious characters sitting along Murray St Mall. We go to Macca’s.

830pm - 1230am - The whole night we stand around the plant box talking and drinking, kind of like in June 2018 at Malt Bar in Mt Lawley where Sull, Jas & I (and briefly Rohan) just stood there drinking and watching the best part of three FIFA World Cup matches whilst Sheme etc were trying to get us to interact with everyone else but we did not budge. I have four drinks and then just drink water because I’m pretty tired, Jas keeps drinking as he is relaxed as always and not as uptight as me. Jas mentions that I should commit to three principles for 2025 that will improve my life (similar to Dean Mann’s three non-negotiables from Kala Ressies days), so we decide on the following for me: meet up for a social activity (bowling, Timezone, drinks) once every quarter (golf may or may not be included); play a couple of games of football for socialising and fitness (and purpose); look to buy a bigger place to live. I confirm that I will commit to these and I actually think this is a good idea as my life has become very questionable (just working, going to the gym, sleeping on the couch and watching tv - pretty much every single week without a break)… practical but good advice.

Jas keeps mentioning that some women keep looking at us because they might be interested. There is a brown skinned woman with a red top who Jas thinks is South American who keeps coming back near us. I don’t take any action as I can’t decide who I’m most interested in. Jas keeps spotting her throughout the night and sees many men approach her and her friend etc and he shakes his head is disapproval as he does not rate many of these guys/men.

There is a half African half Asian woman and she is very pretty, I don’t think I’ve seen this combination before.

A young blonde haired lady who Jas had pointed out earlier as one of these people who kept looking at us dances in front of us with her older friend. The older lady grabs my hand and puts it on the blonde woman’s hand for us to dance but I fumble this badly as I’m not switched on or keen to dance. I instantly regret this and Jas shakes his head and quietly says “Dutchy, Dutchy, Dutchy…”.

It is midnight now and I change to Kiel Currie mode for a bit and plan to stay out late and keep drinking, to increase my chances. Jas tricks me and buys me a few more drinks which I don’t drink and yeah I definitely owe Jas a decent amount of money for these drinks over last few years. My energy starts to fade and probably good time to leave as Jas has had a good amount to drink. We head downstairs.

8pm - We go to the bar and I get the usual vodka & soda and Jas gets a pint of Swan Draught. It is pretty busy and lively, there is a birthday or Christmas function near the stairs and the rest of the venue is really busy. We locate a big square pot plant thing for plants and go and stand around there. There are a lot of younger people but also some older people too and as Jas says “There are a few nerds around”… Jas shakes his head in disapproval.

738pm - Jas walks across Williams St as he is on the phone from me so crisis averted. He walked down from Watertown. We line up in the short Aviary line and head upstairs. First time here since March 2023.

731pm - Jas messages to check my ETA, I worry now that he has been in Aviary for half an hour and was waiting for me to msg him but I never did and have been sitting on Murray St Mall watching this Spanish musician for 30 mins now. I call Jas up.

7pm - I’m sitting on the bench next to some older women whilst I wait for Jas, it so busy and lots of Christmas decorations - probably the most lively Friday night of the year and there are people and police everywhere! I watch this Spanish man play the saxophone and sing in Spanish, he is very good.

645pm - I get to about 100 metres of the Daglish train platform and see a train pull up but I refuse to run so I let it go. When I get to the platform there’s pretty much no one there except for security and because of the new Airport line I only have to wait about 5 mins for another train to come… this new airport line has been very good for me. 

Jas messages the group to say he is just leaving now which is surprising because he is always on time and we were aiming to get there by about 7… I don’t mind though because it means I don’t have to rush. I’m on the train on the front carriage and it’s pretty peaceful because there’s no one on it, when we pull up to West Leederville station I see a guy and a woman there, about my age but slightly older. I am looking at the woman, she is decent looking, I notice though that she looks like this person who liked me on Bumble back in June and I recently went to swipe yes back on her but she had since disappeared. She was also no longer showing on my old Facebook account as a friend (we had talked on Bumble before in the past and she had added me as a friend), I had been thinking maybe I should have swiped yes on her. Anyway the train arrives in the city and I get off and start walking towards the underground walkway and the aforementioned man and woman get off the train and they are walking the same way as me and are about 5 - 10 metres in front of me. It is really lively and we walk through the underground labyrinth to the Murray St mall underground train entrance and I am getting closer and closer to them as I am walking faster, eventually we get to the escalators and we are side by side but a few metres separate us but I get onto one of the other escalators and we part ways. Walking behind this person I think that she is more attractive than I thought, so perhaps I should have said yes but I struggle when it comes to making a decision on online dating. Anyway the man she is with is tall and looks a couple of years older than me and looks like a good match for her - another dating prospect bites the dust. I make it outside onto Murray St Mall and sit down on a bench as I wait for an update from Jas.

Friday 20/12/24, 520pm - I leave work slightly earlier than normal for a Friday, to make sure that I’m not late to meet up with Jas, Trav maybe but unlikely. It is pretty hot and I make it home at around 545pm. I spend some time trying to decide what to wear because I haven’t been out much in the last few years but decide to go for a long sleeve shirt as I am fatigued and low on energy. Feel more comfortable in this shirt than a T-shirt for now. After 40 mins or so I head out on foot to the Daglish Train Station, it is still very light as tomorrow is the longest day of the year.

November Sat 23rd @ 210pm - Jas messages to go out later in the night but I am asleep. I wake up after 5pm and take awhile to message back so Aviary drinks do not go ahead.

October Sat 19th @ 8pm - I’m been to the gym, have had a shower and am about to go to the train station to meet up with Jas at Aviary but we decide to postpone at the last minute.