Hallo! What a crazy month it's been.
For the first week I swanned off to Adelaide for our yearly work conference. Adelaide is absolutely gorgeous. It's very similar to Christchurch, only I'd have to admit, it's probably better. Lovely churches, and old buildings, lots of greenery and some pretty nifty wildlife (lovely birdsong!). The shopping was pretty amazing. Unfortunately I didn't have a lot of cash to play with, so I'll just have to go back some other time (damn! lol). I didn't get to see the outer areas of Adelaide, like Glenelg or the awesome wineries that area has to offer (like Barossa Valley!) but I'll be sure to head back in that direction some day to sample all the fine cuisine, wines and ridiculous amounts of shopping Adelaide has.
The hotel we stayed at was pretty average. It's actually a top rated hotel (Majestic Roof Gardens on Frome, for those that are curious) and by most standards it was a very clean, and decent hotel. It just was...meh. The service was probably the biggest worry. We got in late on the Tuesday, around 10pm, and they had forgotten to book one of the two rooms we'd requested. This could have been a huge problem since there were a large amount of people flying in and staying there for the conference we were attending. Luckily they did have a room available - a superior spa suite.
And talk about superior! I had the fortune of obtaining this room (much to the grumbles of my manager lol) and hell it was huge. It was really a small apartment, with a large living area, kitchen, large bedroom, and a bathroom the size of our spare bedroom at home. It was ridiculous.
It was obviously not a room for just one person either. I could tell this by the mirrors on the wardrobe door, that was so conveniently placed in front of the bed lol.
And whilst it's nice to have a large, luxurious room, it just made me depressed. Here I was, already pining and sad, and what do they do? They go and give me a room that is obviously used mostly for honeymooners. Gah. I know, I'm pathetic lol.
Besides that reasoning, I don't even like spa baths! :P~~~
Other than the mild confusion at check-in, there was the very poor, yet expensive "buffet" breakfast they had on offer. If I had been paying for it, I would have been mighty pissed. Then at check-out we found that they hadn't charged the credit card we had supplied when booking - as most places actually do, or if they don't, they specify upon booking, which they hadn't. This meant that the nights still had to be paid for, in full.
Okay, so this really sucked. I don't have a credit card. When we arrived they insisted on a $250 bond for each room. This could be either put on a credit card, or supplied in cash. WHAT! I was a little scared at that point, but luckily for me my manager stepped up to the plate and paid it. I didn't even have $250 cash on me, even with my expenses, so no way could I fork that over.
And then at check-out we find out that the rooms hadn't been paid for, which was something ridiculous like $1000AUD in total for the 4 nights we were there. That's each room. That had to be paid.
Needless to say if I had been there by myself, I would have been totally screwed. TOTALLY. Thanks a lot Majestic, you bunch of dumb wankers. My manager was mighty, mighty pissed, but it got resolved and he'll have all funds returned to him within a couple of days, so all is well.
But I won't stay there again, and I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It's pretty average for an expensive hotel, and whilst it's in the city centre, I'm sure there are nicer, cheaper places to stay.
So Adelaide was nice, but it was so so nice to get home. Until I got sick of course, and spent most of last week feeling sorry for myself, sleeping, and then getting some dirty asshole red, burning, and itchy MF rash on my face and neck. It's half gone now, and is a bit more manageable than it was last week. It's still pretty itchy in places (like my chin area) and leaves my face mega brown/red. It's kind of like that stage where you're just about ready to tan, only a brighter red. And it's hot, like boiling hot. Which peels my skin, leaving it all flaky and gross. Which means I have to moisturise it like every 10 minutes because the stupid heat has eaten up all that good moisture. Gah!
I'm seriously hating on my skin at the moment. It's making me feel pretty self-conscious, and like a leper. Let's just say, it's not hot.
But I'll deal. It's going away, and will slowly just be a horrible, horrible memory, a fleeting skin issue that will NEVER EVER show it's DIRTY STINKING BASTARD SELF again. NEVER EVER!!!
Other than all that good news, life has been pretty decent. Work has been hectic, with most of it being because I haven't been at work for 2 weeks. And then we have our busiest month in August, which will probably mean no Facebook, or Blogger and taking home a laptop so I can sit up until all hours at home, churning through work that needs to get done by September 1st.
My cure for all of this drama and busyness? A large hip flask of whiskey. Sweet! Bring on the alcoholism!