Tennis and GALA DARLING!!!

What an interesting past couple of days it has been! We've been staying at the Leo Pacific in Melbourne, which is just a couple of blocks from a tram stop which takes us directly to Melbourne Park, the location of the Australian Open.. So, every day we have been going straight to the Park and watching PROFESSIONAL TENNIS! ALL DAY LONG! Normally, I would watch it all day long on TV, but now I am finally seeing it in person!

Now, I know many of you are not even remotely interested in tennis, but you should at least know who Venus and Serena Williams are (if you don't, you can just click that little red 'x' in the corner, because that's what a lot of this post will be about).

On our second day, Dad didn't really feel up for tennis so I went by myself. I looked up the match schedules for the day with the FREE INTERNET at our hotel, and saw that Venus and Serena were playing doubles later in the day. Now, I knew this was going to be a tough match to get seats for because they were playing some local Australian girls in the first round (Aussie players are, obviously, very popular here). So I showed up at 11AM when the doors opened and grabbed my seat on Show Court 3 in the front row. They have this ridiculous policy that only allows you to keep a seat for three change-of-ends, but there was no human or natural force that was going to move me from that spot. Nothing.

I was going to see the Williams Sisters up close, no matter what the cost.

So I sat through a couple of boring matches, which included Nadia Petrova and Janko Tipsarevic. I had forgotten to bring sunscreen, so I started to get sunburned. Really sunburned, in fact. But I didn't care. I was not going to give up my seat to other hungry fans. Seeing the Williams Sisters in person was worth a little skin cancer, I reasoned. (And now I have a healthy-looking tan!)

So the time came, and they walked out together, and one of the most glorious moments of my life ensued. Two Williamses, on one court. 15 feet away. Does life get any better?

Sister Success

Yes, it does!

On a different day, tournament directors put Serena (who is the defending champion) on Vodafone Arena, the smaller of the two large arenas at Melbourne Park. This was unusual, as they usually put the defending champion on Rod Laver Arena (the big one). GUESS WHAT! We had tickets to this very match, and we got to see Serena play singles. Right up close. She kicked some serious booty. Serena is in amazing shape... professional tennis is so much better in person. You appreciate the players' skills a lot more.

Mmm. So good.

"Take this, bitch."

So yeah, mostly Dad and I have been watching nonstop tennis for the last few days... except for today, when a truly interesting story unfolded.

Before we went to Melbourne, my friend Louise told me about an Australian internet pop star, Gala Darling (Here is her website). After a few emails, Louise set us up to meet her... I honestly had no idea what to expect. Gala and I corresponded a bit online and decided to meet outside The Body Shop at the Bourke Street Mall. This was very close to the Leo Pacific, so it worked out nicely.

Gala has bright blue hair, so she was easy to spot. We introduced ourselves and set out for a chocolate restaurant. I have never been to a chocolate restaurant, so it was a very new experience. It took a little time to get inside because it's sort of like a secret club... you go upstairs to a seating area that is very swank. We ordered some decadent chocolate treats and chatted with Gala a bit, who is very funny, cheerful, and nice. I think she may have been weirded out by our Alaska-ness and complete lack of fashion (she is a fashion diva).

Me and Gala

After chocolate, Gala had to make a stop at a cake decorating store (yes, there is an entire store dedicated to the decoration of cakes). I think she bought some peacock-colored dye, but I'm not sure because I was having such a good time looking at all the cake decorating tools and books (man, are there some odd ones).

Dad helps Gala pick out a good cupcake dye.

Then we went to a photobooth store, where I had perhaps the most bizzarre experience of my life. We hopped in Gala's favorite booth, put in some coins, and began! Bouncy music started playing, and photos started clicking away! Here I was, with my 54-year-old dad and a blue-haired 24-year-old Australian internet fashion pop star in an Asian photobooth! Different backdrops started coming down, the camera was flashing, and it was all very surprising, strange, and weirdly fun. After the camera stopped, we went to a little control panel and decorated our photos with glitter, hearts, DIVA symbols, and Japanese phrases which I do not understand.

Now I have some awesome photobooth stickers. I'm going to put one on my laptop.

After getting Gala's autograph for Louise, we thanked Gala and parted ways. Man, what a cool day.

"Okay, you can stop now."

Until Next Time,
River

P.S. Here are two pictures for Maddy.