Last month in Sydney

My last month in Sydney was quite eventful. I'm the type of person who doesn't realize they're going, before it actually happens. So naturally, the day before my 6 AM flight to Tokyo, I was at work. My friends did try telling me, and luckily convinced me to do a lot and see everything I was hoping to see before my departure. Another reason for the hectic weeks was my birthday, that was exact 4 weeks before my flight. As you might know, to me birthday is the biggest day of the year.

So let's start with that.
This year I had the whole day planned with a friend. We were supposed to go to the taronga zoo, sculptures by the sea, dinner and then movies.

After the sculptures walk, we ended up going to Flamingo lounge at Kings cross with my agency. It was a beautiful lounge and a perfect location for a fancy party and a little birthday bash. For the first time since February I had a bit to drink. It was a great night with a candy buffet, cookie buffet and great cocktails. I missed my last train and it sure was an adventure to get back home. Where my friends from Melbourne were already, asleep.

The next morning I had races to go to. First you need to know, that races are a big thing in Australia. People dress to impress and then get crazy drunk while betting on horses. I had to experience this.
Originally I was supposed to go with four friends, but ended up going with one. Regardless, we had so much fun. And no, we did not get crazy drunk, actually I didn't drink at all. I even got to pat one of the horses! Never seen horses so fit in my life. I've never gambled and with my luck I would end up owning people money instead of winning, so we just watched.

The week after I finally went back to work, from my forever sick leave. And worked as much as I could.

And before you know it, it was Halloween. The best holiday there is.
I'm a big fan of horror movies and zombies specifically. I could watch 'em all week.
And lucky for me, our agency boss invited me to a Halloween party in the city. Everything I could ask for. Costumes, food, drinks and photo booths.

So naturally, I wen't all in.

The following week I finally got back to my training and decided to do the feared 4 hr hike to the 8- figure pools. It's located at the royal national park, like many other great hikes. The hike was amazingly beautiful and way easier than I thought. I saw a bunch of lizards, blue bottles and more. I actually saw a lizard that was at least a meter tall. Unfortunately, despite the website saying it's a perfect weather to go, It was high tide and we couldn't get to the actual rock pools. Oh well, still worth doing. Only thing I didn't get out of it were the Instagram worthy pictures. I highly recommend this walk.

And last but not least, the reunion party for the modeling competitors. It was hosted at the Flamingo lounge. It was a fashion show for latest Australian designers and a party. This time I did not model the latest designs. I guess it was like a farewell party for me, cause almost all my good friends were there.

Bye Australia, for now!

Once upon a time in a Modeling competition

Like some of you already know, I recently took part in a modeling competition. I didn't really talk about it much on Facebook so I wanted to write about it a little bit. The competition was called ''search for the next international model''. It was a pageant type of competition, which I didn't know when I signed up for it. I've never done pageants, never really cared to. Don't have any experience about them either. However, the competition really interested me and had no choice but to to try it out.

We had multiple meetings and catwalk training before the finale. It was a great way to get to know the other girls. I soon found out that almost everyone there had the same reason for participating, exposure.  When I applied, I thought it's going to be so much fun. Good exposure while having a good time. What's better than that? Honestly the competition felt like a challenge for various reasons. I guess for me, it was just really bad timing. I admit I thought about dropping out few times. The finale was only 10 days after my surgery. I felt bloated and soft, since I haven't been able to workout for weeks. We also had rehearsals and gatherings only 3 and 8 days after the procedure. Especially at the one that was 3 days after, I felt like dying.  My painkillers made me super dizzy and my stomach would hurt every time I moved. Walking up the stairs felt like a workout. Another thing I found challenging was the fact that I am a traveler. I came to Australia with 30 kg of stuff. There's not much room for formal dresses or any other amazing outfit combos and all the beauticians and hairdressers I know are in Finland. I provided everything by myself. After all I'm grateful and happy that I got a change to take part in this competition. I met some amazing new people and got a great new experience added to my list.

Here's some photos along the way.

When you find a job that you love doing, it doesn't matter if it's challenging, you do enjoy every bit of it. I'd do it all over again.