Melbourne!
So I didn't end up going on Wednesday night, as Mob thought that was somewhat unnecessary, so Kieran and I went on Thursday morning. I 'checked in' on fb when I was at the airport, prompting Mike to say something like "I thought you were going last night?!" which made it seem like he had caught me out. But I couldn't have made the 6:30pm game anyway, as I spent the night looking over the financial analysis.
On Thursday morning I caught a taxi to the airport. The taxi driver was black, and I decided to talk to him to work on my conversational skills. After the initial greeting there was a bit of silence, until we started talking about how Sydney's changed, how he spent some time in China etc. I find that taxi drivers can be a good source of information and always welcome a chat. I felt bad that I couldn't give him a tip as I was using the company cabcharge.
When I got to the airport, I checked in and found my way to the so called 'lounge' that Kieran said he'd be at. Apparently I needed membership to go inside, so I had to call Kieran to come get me. He strikes me as someone who should be running a multi-national corporation rather than being an investigator. He just has this aura about him, and he does wear somewhat nice suits. We sat down as he ate breakfast. I didn't eat anything, even though I hadn't eaten, I wasn't hungry. I guess I was just excited.
After a while we boarded the plane. Whereas I'd be lining up like 15 minutes beforehand, he calmly and cooly proceeded to board at just the right time. We didn't sit together as he had asked for exit row seats to get extra leg room. That was fine with me. I ended up sitting all by myself. All I could seem to think about was Erica - what was she thinking when she flew Melbourne to Sydney?
After landing, I was too excited to contain myself, making a comment about the taxis being yellow lol. I felt like I was in another country, and almost half expected the people not to speak English. Damn I need to get out more. During the ride, Kieran was on the phone to someone from work and bitched about Mob not letting us go the night before. This seemed to be a sticking point for him. He even called her a fucking bitch.
We were about 15 minutes late, as Kieran didn't re-schedule the meeting. I guess this was his way of showing Mob that travelling on the morning of the meeting was somewhat unreasonable. I felt a bit like a know-it-all being in the Melbourne office of my old job, almost like I was supposed to know everything. We met the girl Tien who was a bit older than I thought, but was extremely friendly and accommodating. She even took us down to coffee.
When we went into the coffee shop, I went in last, Tien asked me what I wanted and I said short black. Kieran then muffled to me "do you live in a tent?" and went to close the door. Not sure if he meant I should've closed the door, or if I should've shouted. But that comment really hurt for some reason.
We took our coffees upstairs and went into a conference room. The lay out was somewhat similar to the Sydney office. We almost went straight into it. Kieran thought he lost his phone and went searching for it, asking me to explain the financial analysis to Tien. I did, and figured she probably wouldn't get it, but she did! She was a very smart girl. Turns out Kieran's phone was in his bag, so the meeting continued.
Looking back, it kinda seemed like we were playing good cop bad cop, with Kieran being a bit aggressive and in your face, whereas I'd just chip in with constructive comments at appropriate junctures. Tien took it all pretty well. I'm guessing she was an SLO.
The meeting went for three hours. I couldn't believe it. It seemed so short. I wanted to ask Tien to join us for lunch, only to remember that Kieran said he wanted to have lunch with one of his friends. So after the meeting, we met Kate, who Kieran had worked with briefly. She wasn't what I had in mind - 28, red head, somewhat attractive. She took us to this nice restaurant where we had a banquet for three. Of course the conversation was mostly between them, but they did a good job of involving me in it at times. Kate asked Kieran to go skydiving with her, and asked me as well, but I didn't take it too seriously, thinking she was just being polite.
We actually were there for a while, until the lunch hour emptied the restaurant. Kieran again mentioned the whole Mob not letting us go the night before thing. He also revealed that Roy, as nice a guy he is, is clueless about investigations. Ooooooooo.
Kieran asked Kate for a coffee, she seemed reluctant as she had work, but managed to convince her. Kieran suggested I could go for a walk, and I took the hint. I had actually suggested earlier that if he wanted a private lunch then I could go elsewhere but he said it was ok.
So anyway, I happily trotted off myself to take in the city of Melbourne. I took some photos of the trams, and all I could think of was what it was like for Erica to be here. I thought about getting the crew some presents, like I used to do for the office in my old job, but one thought stopped me: Mob might think we were bludging if I had time to go shopping, and this might get Kieran into trouble. So I didn't get anything.
After a while Kieran called and we met up again, where we caught a taxi back to the airport. He was talking about buying presents for his wife's birthday, and I mentioned buying a handbag for my last girlfriend which she didn't like. We sat around in the lounge for a while, just talking, and I mentioned that I wanted to move out but couldn't as I was just on a 12 month contract and Monika would be back. He said he wasn't so sure about that, as it seemed she had gotten a higher position at the DDP. I also 'leaked' the fact that we would pay off our mortgage soon, my dad was getting too old to work, and my sister wasn't very independent.
We again didn't sit together on the flight back. I snoozed a bit but sitting in between two people was kinda uncomfortable. We landed at about 6:40pm which was later than the itinerary. Kieran had already booked a taxi, whereas I had to wait about 10 minutes in the queue.
I had organised to meet with Malay to go pick up our City2Surf bibs, so was half rushing home. I thought about my life, and how I thought I preferred to be alone most of the time, yet here I was jumping from one thing to the next.
I spoke with the taxi driver, who was a Middle Eastern man, and he started talking religion to me. I got home at 7:20pm, and Malay picked me up with Tayyer and his friend Arif also in the car. They weren't really my type of people, I always find they speak too fast, and make jokes that no one gets but expects you to get, otherwise you're dumb.
Anyway, we went to Fox, only to see a huge line, so we turned around and decided to go for coffee instead, even though I told them I had to be home by 8:30pm for dinner. We went to that unique coffee place on Crown Street that Malay had taken me to before. Tayyar bought double shot expressos for all, so typical, as if trying to show how hard he is. But I shouldn't complain since he shouted.
We sat around talking for a while, joking about the race mainly, before leaving so I could get home.
On Thursday morning I caught a taxi to the airport. The taxi driver was black, and I decided to talk to him to work on my conversational skills. After the initial greeting there was a bit of silence, until we started talking about how Sydney's changed, how he spent some time in China etc. I find that taxi drivers can be a good source of information and always welcome a chat. I felt bad that I couldn't give him a tip as I was using the company cabcharge.
When I got to the airport, I checked in and found my way to the so called 'lounge' that Kieran said he'd be at. Apparently I needed membership to go inside, so I had to call Kieran to come get me. He strikes me as someone who should be running a multi-national corporation rather than being an investigator. He just has this aura about him, and he does wear somewhat nice suits. We sat down as he ate breakfast. I didn't eat anything, even though I hadn't eaten, I wasn't hungry. I guess I was just excited.
After a while we boarded the plane. Whereas I'd be lining up like 15 minutes beforehand, he calmly and cooly proceeded to board at just the right time. We didn't sit together as he had asked for exit row seats to get extra leg room. That was fine with me. I ended up sitting all by myself. All I could seem to think about was Erica - what was she thinking when she flew Melbourne to Sydney?
After landing, I was too excited to contain myself, making a comment about the taxis being yellow lol. I felt like I was in another country, and almost half expected the people not to speak English. Damn I need to get out more. During the ride, Kieran was on the phone to someone from work and bitched about Mob not letting us go the night before. This seemed to be a sticking point for him. He even called her a fucking bitch.
We were about 15 minutes late, as Kieran didn't re-schedule the meeting. I guess this was his way of showing Mob that travelling on the morning of the meeting was somewhat unreasonable. I felt a bit like a know-it-all being in the Melbourne office of my old job, almost like I was supposed to know everything. We met the girl Tien who was a bit older than I thought, but was extremely friendly and accommodating. She even took us down to coffee.
When we went into the coffee shop, I went in last, Tien asked me what I wanted and I said short black. Kieran then muffled to me "do you live in a tent?" and went to close the door. Not sure if he meant I should've closed the door, or if I should've shouted. But that comment really hurt for some reason.
We took our coffees upstairs and went into a conference room. The lay out was somewhat similar to the Sydney office. We almost went straight into it. Kieran thought he lost his phone and went searching for it, asking me to explain the financial analysis to Tien. I did, and figured she probably wouldn't get it, but she did! She was a very smart girl. Turns out Kieran's phone was in his bag, so the meeting continued.
Looking back, it kinda seemed like we were playing good cop bad cop, with Kieran being a bit aggressive and in your face, whereas I'd just chip in with constructive comments at appropriate junctures. Tien took it all pretty well. I'm guessing she was an SLO.
The meeting went for three hours. I couldn't believe it. It seemed so short. I wanted to ask Tien to join us for lunch, only to remember that Kieran said he wanted to have lunch with one of his friends. So after the meeting, we met Kate, who Kieran had worked with briefly. She wasn't what I had in mind - 28, red head, somewhat attractive. She took us to this nice restaurant where we had a banquet for three. Of course the conversation was mostly between them, but they did a good job of involving me in it at times. Kate asked Kieran to go skydiving with her, and asked me as well, but I didn't take it too seriously, thinking she was just being polite.
We actually were there for a while, until the lunch hour emptied the restaurant. Kieran again mentioned the whole Mob not letting us go the night before thing. He also revealed that Roy, as nice a guy he is, is clueless about investigations. Ooooooooo.
Kieran asked Kate for a coffee, she seemed reluctant as she had work, but managed to convince her. Kieran suggested I could go for a walk, and I took the hint. I had actually suggested earlier that if he wanted a private lunch then I could go elsewhere but he said it was ok.
So anyway, I happily trotted off myself to take in the city of Melbourne. I took some photos of the trams, and all I could think of was what it was like for Erica to be here. I thought about getting the crew some presents, like I used to do for the office in my old job, but one thought stopped me: Mob might think we were bludging if I had time to go shopping, and this might get Kieran into trouble. So I didn't get anything.
After a while Kieran called and we met up again, where we caught a taxi back to the airport. He was talking about buying presents for his wife's birthday, and I mentioned buying a handbag for my last girlfriend which she didn't like. We sat around in the lounge for a while, just talking, and I mentioned that I wanted to move out but couldn't as I was just on a 12 month contract and Monika would be back. He said he wasn't so sure about that, as it seemed she had gotten a higher position at the DDP. I also 'leaked' the fact that we would pay off our mortgage soon, my dad was getting too old to work, and my sister wasn't very independent.
We again didn't sit together on the flight back. I snoozed a bit but sitting in between two people was kinda uncomfortable. We landed at about 6:40pm which was later than the itinerary. Kieran had already booked a taxi, whereas I had to wait about 10 minutes in the queue.
I had organised to meet with Malay to go pick up our City2Surf bibs, so was half rushing home. I thought about my life, and how I thought I preferred to be alone most of the time, yet here I was jumping from one thing to the next.
I spoke with the taxi driver, who was a Middle Eastern man, and he started talking religion to me. I got home at 7:20pm, and Malay picked me up with Tayyer and his friend Arif also in the car. They weren't really my type of people, I always find they speak too fast, and make jokes that no one gets but expects you to get, otherwise you're dumb.
Anyway, we went to Fox, only to see a huge line, so we turned around and decided to go for coffee instead, even though I told them I had to be home by 8:30pm for dinner. We went to that unique coffee place on Crown Street that Malay had taken me to before. Tayyar bought double shot expressos for all, so typical, as if trying to show how hard he is. But I shouldn't complain since he shouted.
We sat around talking for a while, joking about the race mainly, before leaving so I could get home.
posted by toey | 21:06
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