my first 3 months in Australia

Hey hey!

I arrived here in Perth on the 24th of October 2014, so today it is time for me to pause for a moment and look back on the last 3 months. So much has changed and yet so much has stayed the same. I left my old life and home behind to experience something completely new.

I had never left Europe before, I had never been to Australia - it was so scary and exciting to fly into the unknown.

So let's see what has happened, what has met my expectations and what was completely different from how I imagined it.

// palm trees in the city // cbd skyscrapers // view from mundaring weir // a germany brick // babe and I at Toastface Grillah //

The city

My expectations: I am not exacly well-travelled so I could only try and get impressions of Perth from Google and Jarryd. He didn't really do a good job in making me excited about moving here because he had been living here for most of his life and said it's quite boring. However I was so thrilled about moving to the other end of the world that I pictured it to be big, pulsating and exciting.

What I think now: I have explored quite a bit of the city and its different suburbs now. For a European like me it appears HUGE because the Australians here do not live on top of each other in jam-packed apartment blocks. The city spreads out wide and outside of the centre you hardly ever see buildings with more than two stories.

Furthermore it's not boring at all here, very much the oppposite. There are awesome eateries and cafes everywhere and the city if sull of art, music and events. Very popular here at the moment are food trucks and food markets as well as upcycling and handmade products that are preferably sold on little markets and street festivals.

The weather

My expectations: HOT! I expected it to be unbearably hot every day with a burning sun that would cause me skin cancer and daily sunburns. I hate heat and was really nervous about if I'd be able to cope with the Australian summer. Sweating is just not my cup of tea at all...

What I think now: I totally overestimated it! It is a rather dry heat here and luckily a constant breeze from the nearby ocean makes it absolutely bearable. There are those odd days when it's 42°C but in general I'm happy that my expectations were wrong.

As an inveterate German I however have to admit I miss rainy, cloudy and grey days a bit. No one understands, I know. That's just me...

// perth skyline // there's a beautiful sky with fluffy clouds every day // one of the many graffittis around town // iced latte from the daily at swanbourne beach //

The insects

My expectations: Horrible! I have a big fat insect phobia and that's no exaggeration. I heard so many horror stories before I came here, especially about spiders! I was so worried about not being able to handle the many big and dangerous insects here.

What I think now: The same unfortunately. I have become a bit more relaxed about the quantitiy of encounters because I do not come across yucky crawlers as often as I expected. However if yxou come across an insect here it's always either huge or venomous or both. In my first week here I already met a Redback spider, one of the small but dangerous ones. Two weeks ago I had my first Praying Mantis sighting and then at work we had the biggest freakin cockroach I've ever seen in our office. It's really not a piece of cake at all for me, I'm trying to keep my cool but the phobia just really freaks me out. I have decided to tackle it with hypnotherapy soon.

The money

My expectations: I was told everything is more expensive than in Germany. Especially Perth has the reputation of being the most expensive city in Australia due to the many well-paid mining workers living here. Then again I was also told that the wages are obviously higher here than in Germany. So I hoped these two aspects would simply balance each other out.

What I think now: Well, I'm not 100% sure because I have not lived on my new job's wages yet. I've been working in my new job for one month now and next week I'll get my first payment. However I have already calculated my cost of living and think it will be okay. I won't be rich but it'll be enough to do all the nice things I've planned to do (weekend trips, dinners at nice restaurant, a new laptop, a new tattoo etc.).

// fun at kings park // breakfast at sprolo // la paleta makes the best popsicles // swanbourne beach //

I could actually list a million other things here but this shall be enough for now. Maybe I'll do another recap after 6 months then and talk about the other aspects I didn't mention today.

Congratulations if you made it through and read it all, I know my ramblings can be a bit long sometimes. So thanks for reading!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Australia Day

Hello loves!

Thank you very much for your sweet comments on my last post.

I have recovered a bit and was able to relax. I think a lot of the pain in my foot is caused by mental stress so it was good to mentally calm down a bit. Putting my mind at ease has soothed the pain in my foot quite a bit.

It's healing veeery slowly though, so annoying!

Anyways, now I'm back to blogging and for a smooth re-entry after a one week hiatus I only have a short post with snapshots for you.

// cardigan: h+m // dress: h+m // belt: thrifted //

Yesterday was Australia Day, so happy belated Australia Day to all Australian readers!

My first national holiday over here! I dressed in the colours of the Australian flag, Red, White and Blue, because that was the easier version. Australia's national colours are actually Green and Gold but my closet does not offer this combo (because over half of my clothes are stored away in my dad's basement in Germany).

We had Jarryd's family over for a late lunch, then played video games, had drinks and later dessert. Chicken, beef, salad, puff pastry snacks, trifle, we had it all. That's the reason I couldn't eat much today! Still total food coma from yesterday!

It was actually not very Australian of us to stay inside the airconditioned house all day but I am happy we did because it was bullshit hot outside.

I'll be back with picture-heavier posts soon and wish you a happy Tuesday!

Tomorrow is already hump day and the next weekend is almost in sight so hang in there people!

Toodels!

Perth street art

Hi loves!

How are you today?
I have been a busy bee writing applications for the last two hours because I'm still on the hunt for a cool job. Now that I've done my duty it's time for the fun part which is blogging.
I'm really having a blast here in Perth because there is so much to explore: cute cafés, cool shops and lots and lots of awesome street art!
In this post I'll give you an overview of some of the street art pieces in Perth's CBD (Central Business District). As every district and suburb has its own abundance of graffitis and other cool stuff, I'm planning to write more street art posts in the future. It would simply be too much to cram it all into one post.



dress: h+m
cardigan: h+m
belt: l.a. golden
shoes: vans



Most of the artwork you see in the pictures can be found in the very city centre, right in the middle of the shopping district, however hidden in a backstreet, the Grand Theatre Lane. Unfortunately I couldn't find out anything about the artists, but it didn't surprise me as this is often the case with sprayers.






Anyways, walking down this street makes you forget the hustle and bustle of the shopping streets for five minutes. There are owls staring at you, a little family in red, beautiful parrots, green goblins and many other fantastic creatures. It's not just juvenile spray paint scribbles, it's a free outdoor exhibition of contemporary art (which is right up my alley, oh yes)!








Another bonus about this place? Between the graffitis you can have Perth's best grilled toasts at Toastface Grillah (the name though, awesome right?!). It's a kind of ruin cafe with vintagey furniture and industrial style concrete walls. Behind the counter you can find easy going surfer boys and cool Asian girls with manga hair.
The toasts all have funny names. Mine was Notorious B.A.G. (Bacon Apple Gouda that is) and I had a pretty decent latte to go with it, it was really yummy!

Now I'm hungry, awesome...
How did you like this post? Would you like to see more Perth street art soon?

Have a fab Wednesday!

my last days in Düsseldorf - a little update

Hello loves!

Only three days left until I'll go to Australia!
Here is a little update on what's been going on lately. I thought it would be nice to simply use my Instagram pics because I've been on Instagram nonstop anyway.

Follow Bad Taste Toast on Instagram if you like! :)

So, what have I been doing? Well, first of all I moved out, painted and cleaned my apartment and returned the keys to the landlord. I've sold a lot of my furniture lately and eventually managed to fit all of my belongings into a 5 sqm trailer (that's what will be stored in my dad's basement).

I've also been enjoying the beautiful autumn we have here this year. I'm staying at a friend's place at the moment and he lives right by the Rhine so I can see the pretty riverside everyday - love it so much!

Oh and then there's the food, right? I've been trying to work off my food bucket list for Düsseldorf. Visited old and new favourite eateries (Kaffeepiraten, Ugly Deluxe, What's Beef) and tried out new things (Yomaro, Stier Royal). As I quit my job at the frozen yoghurt shop I am now finally allowed to try our competitor's products - mmhh yumm it was so good!

What have you been up to lately?
Hope everyone's having a lovely start of the new week!

life lately - summer edition

Hello people!

I put together another life lately post so you can see what I've been doing and why I haven't blogged regularly.

I'm not a summer girl but I'm still trying to enjoy myself here in Düsseldorf because there are only three months left before I'll leave for Perth.

I bought this shirt last year when I was in Prague and it turned out to be the perfect fan shirt for the World Cup!

I was invited to Hans im Glück in Cologne, we had delicious burgers and yummy cocktails. A great night with great friends!

These are just some of the many toppings we offer at Tenten Yoghurt. Yum!

My favourite place to buy them: Kaffeepiraten!

Our monthly ladies night was a bbq party on Julia's roof-deck. It's always a blast to meet my girls!

It was a long night but great fun and I'm looking forward to seeing the result!

What have you guys been up to lately? How do you spend your summer?

Have a lovely day everyone!

blog recommendation: everything healthy

Hi guys!

I stumbled upon this tumblr blog called "everything healthy" the other day and really liked it.

I've been trying to work out regularly in the last weeks (mostly by using the Youtube channel BeFiT) and I signed up for Weight Watchers Online again to get rid of the kilos I've gained over the last months because of a broken foot and bachelor thesis stress.

I'm just not happy with my weight anymore but that's only because I know that my feel good weight is what I had been maintaining for 1,5 years before the broken foot kept me from working out and before the bachelor stress made me stuff my face with pizza way too often.

It's totally okay to not work out and to not pay attention to calories, yes it's totally okay to enjoy life and good food without giving a damn about gaining weight.

I however have come to a point where I think it's time to do something again because I know otherwise I will feel bad in my own skin. It's not purely because of body fat, it's also for skin, digestion and health reasons. Furthermore it's healthy for my brain to remember that you shouldn't just pig out on anything delicious (self-control is an important virtue).

Oh and in addition to all of this I'm also trying hard to cut down my daily cigarette consumption. When I started this project some months ago I easily smoked 15-20 cigarettes daily because I just didn't pay any attention to all these nasty little habits I had developed over the past years. Now I'm already down to 9 cigarettes per day which is a big success. I know many people quit smoking over night, but I think in my case baby steps are the right method.

So as I said I stumbled upon this tumblr blog called "everything healthy" the other day and really liked it. You can find lots of inspiring little pictures about food, fitness, training, motivation and health there.

Check it out if you like!

Happy Monday! :)

birthday weekend

Hello people!

It was my birthday on Friday (28, old gal...) and my mum's birthday on Sunday so we had double birthday fun in the last days. It was basically all about good food and good times - exactly how I like it! On Friday my Dad invited me for dinner at a brewery (mmhhh Schnitzel), on Saturday I enjoyed homemade lime and mint ice tea at a Moroccan café and a long walk through the city with friends and yesterday we celebrated my mum's birthday at my favourite tapas bar.

Oh boy was I full and happy!

Furthermore my boyfriend is the best boyfriend in the world! He gave me a Star Wars cook book for my birthday! SO friggin cool! I'm a nerd, I love Star Wars and baking so this really was the perfect gift! He also gave me a book about zombies and Gingerdead Men cookie cutters - hell yes, told you he's the best! He was so cute, he ordered everything from Australia and had it shipped to my place so I got parcels from Germany, UK and I'm still waiting for one from Asia too.

This outfit was perfect for the mild springy weather yesterday, especially because of my new denim jacket which is not really new as lucky me was able to thrift it for 5 bucks. I love a good 2nd hand bargain and a denim jacket is a wardrobe staple so I really had to buy it. The shirt is a favourite that I don't wear enough and every time I do I always think "Hey I should wear it more often." and then I end up not doing so because I have to be in the right mood for horizontal stripes (unflattering!). To complete the look I threw in a little print mix by adding the chevron bag. I actually bought it to wear it to my Mum's wedding this week but couldn't resist wearing it out before because it's soooo cute!

Mmhh yummy tapas! Dates, chorizo, chicken and veggie skewers, olives, garlic dip - Spanish snack are the perfect spring/summer food. I got so hooked up on tapas again that I plan to google recipes and try to make some treats myself.

If you guys have recommendations in this regard please post them in the comments.

Have a lovely day!

  

easter sunday

Hello loves!

How was your Easter weekend?

I hope you all spent some quality time with dear friends or your family, stuffed your faces with good food and chocolate bunnies, were able to relax and did lots of other nice things.

I visited my mum and stepdad on Sunday and stayed over night. They invited my stepbro and me for dinner and took us to a lovely restaurant. It's the same place that they will celebrate their wedding at next month, so we were all curious about the venue and cuisine.

I wore this pretty navyblue button down dress and added my favourite belt in the world and some cute and simple flats because I'm not a high heels girl. The dress is an Ebay bargain that I bought second hand about a year ago for something around 8€. I don't even know why, but it was not before last month that I started to actually wear it. Before, I would only try it on at home, find it too short or too tight or just not right for my mood and put it back into the closet. Fortunately I've left these failed first advances behind and came to the conclusion that it's the perfect simple dress for everyday. It's still a bit tight around the chest, but oh well, that's what happens when you've got a nice rack, right?

The restaurant we went to is called Auerhahn and it was really nice there. I liked the rustic and romantic country style interior, which makes the place look like a restored farm barn. The waitress was a bit clumsy, but the food and wine were very good. I had bacon-wrapped dates as a starter and pork filet in sherry sauce with garden vegetables and wild garlic spaetzle as main course, mmmhhh yummy!

You can see some pictures of the interior and food at the bottom of the post.

As Monday was a holiday we all slept in and had an extensive late breakfast. After I moved out years ago I started to learn to love these rare occasions when we are all able to sit down at the same table and have breakfast together. There is always an abundance of rolls, bread, cold cuts etc. and music and lots of things to talk about.

Okay, enough ramblings about family and food. Last but not least here are some pics of Sunday night:

Have a nice day!