4-Day November Adventure: Volunteering at AI3DE

Early on in November, I realised that I had somehow managed to fit all the exciting things I wanted to do in the break into just four days, back to back. I didn't do this on purpose at all; when I found out, I was a bit nervous about whether I'd be able to pull it off. It's almost the end of November now, and I can safely say that those four days were some of the most exciting days I've had in a while. 

Days one and two saw me volunteering at the Adelaide International 3 Day Event, which is an international Olympic-level horse competition. The day after I finished volunteering, I went on a day tour of Kangaroo Island. Finally on the last day of my November Adventure, I went sea-kayaking ... I even got to see dolphins!

I woke up at 6.30 am so I could be at the Victoria Park Racecourse at 8 am for my volunteer briefing on Thursday the 22nd. It wasn't easy dragging myself out of the building so early, though the early sunrise helped a bit. I got a bit confused getting into the location, so I arrived about fifteen minutes late, but it turned out alright. I was given a polo t-shirt and cap, which I get to keep! I was pretty pleased, as both had really nice designs and were comfy to boot. 

The picture above is of a horse called Master Puzzle, during the 2 Star dressage event. What a beautiful animal! I loved watching it move across the arena. I only got to see about three horses during the dressage, as I was busy working for the rest of the event time. I'll be honest and say that I know barely anything about horses. I volunteered just to give myself something to do during the break.

I was lucky though. The lady I was paired up with for the first day of work was absolutely passionate about horses, and she herself used to take part in competitions. Her name was Michelle, and she told me so many things about horses, and all the ones that she used to own. It was almost mesmerizing listening to her speak, and learning about her life. She taught me about how the competition works, horse stories and how to tell the differences between horse colours. I really feel like I learnt so much from her, and I'm thankful I got the chance to have her as my partner for that first day. What an amazing woman.

Other than the dressage (pronounced like dress-ahhhge, real fancy like), there was also gonna be a cross country event and a show jumping event. As volunteer, I had free access to the show jumping event, but I went sea kayaking that day so oh well. The picture above is of one of the jumps for the cross country event. It's so cute!

I didn't get paired with Michelle on my second day, so I didn't get to learn any more about horses. I got moved around a lot; checked wristbands at the Grandstand, took ticket stubs from people entering the event, manned the information booth. I met quite a few more volunteers, all interesting people, though not all of them as horse-crazy as the other woman. I quite like the lady I manned the information booth with, Polly. She was this slender, aged woman with a long neck and big glasses. She knew nothing about horses, but I thought she was incredibly cute - just the way she talked and interacted with me and the people who came asking about the event.

Other than the interesting people, the work itself was really dull. A lot of menial tasks, but I guess that's pretty much expected. Also, the weather was freakishly warm! It was really dry, and I felt like I was constantly surrounded by dust. Even with the exhaustion and stickiness by the end of the second day, I somehow decided to walk all the way home. This was about three kilometres' worth of walking, which isn't bad actually ... but I had spent the whole day standing around and dehydrating. At least I enjoyed the scenery on the way back!

The picture above has nothing to do with volunteering, haha! This was my dinner on the first day, went out to Cafe Piatto with the Adelaide Family minus Nigel. This dish was the garlic prawns, and it was absolutely delicious. It was also kind of expensive, but I felt like spoiling myself a bit. This has got to be one of the priciest meals I've ever bought for myself ever. Anyway, it was a serving of rice with loads of prawns in a creamy garlic sauce, accompanied with juicy vegetables. So. Good. Ugh.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the AI3DE. It was a different experience for me, and I really learnt a lot from it, and I loved getting to know all the people I met, and seeing all the beautiful horses. Two days well spent.

A Laser Tag Raya

Raya in a foreign land is definitely nothing like back home. The morning of Aidiladha was cold, even though the days leading up to it were ridiculously warm. I followed Fyra and Artha to Bonython Park for eid prayers - Fyra and I dressed in baju kurung to get into the festive spirit, haha. 

The park hadn't changed since the time we went there for Aidilfitri prayers months ago. Thankfully, it was a couple of degrees warmer than it was in August. We didn't expect it to be that cold in October though, and the wind was blowing a chill into our direction. I think it's really sweet that they have a bouncy castle on the site for the kids while the adults prayed. By the end of the event, there was even an ice-cream truck waiting at the side. When we left, there was already a line forming for it.

The rest of the day was uneventful. I talked to people back home, then just hung around till dusk came, when a bunch of us from UniLodge went to this place out in Norwood for some bowling and laser tag! The event was run by Community Spirit, so us members got a discount for the whole package. Bowling, laser tag, food and free arcade games for only $20! The place is called Kingpin Bowling and M9 Laser Skirmish. I reviewed the whole experience on WeekendNotes (click to read!). :3

I had a really great time, and I'm really looking forward to going again before we leave for Malaysia. I got a really bad score for the laser skirmish! I'd like to try it again and get higher scores this time. When we wanted to head back, Tim hailed a cab and asked the guy to "Take these kids back to (insert address)." On the way back, the driver asked Nick to confirm the address, and Nick just said that he could drop us off on Hindley Street, as it's near our place.

The driver seemed kind of flustered by this, and said that we are his responsibility for this ride home, and he would send us straight back to the address Tim gave him, no stops on Hindley. We thought it was a little strange, because we technically live just off Hindley anyway. Then he asked if we were all eighteen. When we said we were definitely above twenty-one, he was shocked! Apparently, when Tim said 'kids', he took it to literally mean that we were a bunch of teenagers. We look young, he said. Hehe.

That explained why he was so adamant about not dropping us off on Hindley, it being the nightclub strip and all. So nice of the guy.

This is a bush we see all the time on the way to campus. Bits of it look like hands doing a finger gesture. Ahem.

I try to make as many different types of food as I can while I'm here, simply because so many of the things I make get really boring over time. So when I went to the market, I found this paste for kari laksa, and I was only too happy to give it a try. It was pretty simple, just cook the meat and the paste with santan and you're set. The end result was pretty alright, a bit too much santan though. It made me really happy - haven't had this kind of thing in a long time. Sigh.

I'm sad about leaving Adelaide soon, but if there's one thing I'm looking forward to about Malaysia, it's the food.