i'm doing my laundry while updating. hope nobody steals it..i really like my shirts. and my spiderman socks. the last 2 days have been nuts! let's recap:

monday

as told before, i got lost (correction- it was miss maudes swedish hotel i was trying to find in the morning).afterwards came back here & did the blog. then i took off for take 2 of downtown. i'm in love with this city. it's totally pedestrian friendly. free buses, bikes have lanes all to themselves (or designated areas on sidewalks) and massive amounts of parks. stroll down any street and you'll find one. much nicer than good old edmonton. started off with perth royal mint. got off at the right stop but failed to see it. walked around an entire city block before finding it. it was quite the impressive building- haven't a clue on how i managed to miss it. paid my $15 and went right in. and was a bit disapointed. don't get me wrong, i love coins but it was too small of a display. started by watching a gold bar get made. dude took the liquid gold out of the oven (glowing orange) and poured it in the mold. $300000 later a bar was formed. it was actually a pretty good demo. than looked around some of the displays a bit. maybe 4 rooms to look around..not very impressed. also no photos allowed. after that decided to walk towards the river. along the swan were a series of small parks. it being lunch everyone was sitting on the grass/benches eating. wish we had that kind of scenery for lunch back home. walked over to the pier next. right in front is the swan bell tower. probably getting the name wrong on that but oh well. six levels of glass, bells and stairs add up to an impressive structure. throw in a spectacular 360 view of perth/the harbour, a bell ringing demo and a crazy old bell ringer and you have $10 well spent. after that hit the pier and booked a tour to rottnest island for the next day. then off to check out the "shopping district". now, i kind of wish i had some of the pals with me but once i saw the shopping areas i'm glad i'm here alone..we're talking hundreds of shops all filled with fantastic crap. if i was with the girls i'd be here for days. and the clothes! even target had quality stuff. i almost can't wait for the last week(my designated shopping time)..i'm probably going to blow every penny i have. oh, the price of stuff here is crazy! normal stuff is ok but just try to buy something electronic. i was looking at the itouch 32gb--$699! you'd think this stuff would be cheaper here as were closer to the source. guess how much garden snap peas are? $13.65/kilo!!! wait, is it that the price at home? i had to ask 3 people for the closest grocery store before they understood what i was talking about. "ohh you mean food for cooking!". hahaha. apparently it was woolworths for grocerys. no bakery, charging $7 for a bar of dove soap and of course the prices on peas had be a bit oh'd. picked up some stuff and headed back to the hostel. got back around 4pm and boy was i wiped! ate a quick meal (discovered i had purchased bacon/cheese balls rather than just plain cheese blah! not that i had much choice. flavored chips? forget about it! no ketchup,dill sour cream, cheese ect) and fell asleep. woke up around 3 am, fidgited for an hour and fell back asleep.

i've got to go check my laundry- if i don't come back and tell you about tuesday i'll try to get to it tommorow morn before i meet my tour.