Life in Sydney - Part 5

Hello everybody down there !!!
I am about 10 km high, on a flight to Singapore… I almost got a hard on when they announced that there is wireless internet on the plane. They forgot to announce that it costs money and requires a credit card. But there is no way I am sliding my ass in front of the old Indian women sitting next to me, again, so I decided to take this time to write another email. The 60 movies + nintedo + 30 tv channels infront of me are in no way more interesting then writing to you people.

So yes, today I left Sydney behind. At least for the next month and a half… I tried to summarize my stay there to a friend yesterday, but really had a hard time understanding how I felt about the 3 months I spent in Sydney. I can think of a lot of beautiful moments and great people I met, but to be honest, I feel as I was not experiencing them all on a pure and happy level and that is why I could not enjoy them completely. This is mainly because I have been too occupied trying to prove to myself that my decision to fly to Australia was the right one and that achieving my goals is right around the corner. The problem was, that I had no REAL success with sales and meetings, until a couple of days before I left. I had a very good meeting with the importer of the Swedish Nudie Jeans about Karhu Originals and am expecting an order from them, for both of their shops (Sydney & Melbourne). We will also collaborate at the Mercedes Fashion week in April and I hope this is the beginning of a lot of opening doors. I don’t really like to write about business here, because it is what I do most of the time really… So lets forget about that and get back to my feelings for a minute.

Because I am missing all the security and support I have with all of you at home, I have had to keep on reminding myself to take everything as it comes and try to be happy all the time. To stop being distracted by negative thoughts and stress about the future. I know now, more then ever, that how I feel is up to me and the things that I do with my life. Who else is supposed to decide on which foot I get out of bed in the morning ? Finding excuses to what is wrong with my feelings and life, through other peoples actions and decisions, is not the way for anyone to live. So hey! I feel much stronger now and ready for what the world has to offer me… When I think of it now, I haven’t felt like this for years! Maybe it’s just the high altitude I am at right now, that is getting me so emotional. All the unconditional support and love that my family is sending me here is something that I don’t take for grantedge and I really feel as I am so lucky to have the life that I have and the people that love me so much.

I have a gig tonight at an EXTREMELY gay club called Taboo in Singapore. Not only does it seem to be the gayest place on earth, it is their Mardi Gras party. I wanted to go as spiderman (with the padded suit, naturally) and hope that the promoter has noticed it on my rider. I will stay in Singapore for a couple of nights, focusing on eating lots of great food and shopping for a new digital camera. Our beloved Canon Ixus had a heart attack in a club in Sydney. It’s last shots can now be found on www.flickr.com/photos/odedpeled. The camera will be missed greatly. Well, missed until I change it for a younger, slimmer and better Canon Ixus.

On Monday I will fly to Bali! I can’t tell you how exciting it is to return there after almost two years… I feel as I am going to a magical place, but with the HUGE plus of knowing where to go, what to do, how much to bribe the police etc. I will do a lot of Yoga, massages, driving on my scooter and looking for good products to ship to Finland. More about this in the next update.


Love you and miss you all!
Oded

Life in Sydney - Part 4

Oh my, oh my ! It has been over a month since I have last written… And now there is just so many stories for me to write about, that I don’t really know how to even start.

Time has been flying. I would say that the first couple of months went very slowly and everything I came across seemed big and intimidating. Now, after I have gotten used to a lot of what is going on around me and inside my head, time is has started to fly past me.

I had a friend of mine over for a week. I met Rick in Finland, as he had fallen for a psycho Finnish girl and ended up staying for six months in Finland. He now lives in Barcelona and continues his work as a DJ booking agent and world traveller. Some of you know him…Rick was the first person in Australia that I REALLY knew from my past, so it was really nice to hang out with him and not feel uncomfortable at any point. Besides us knowing each other, I find us to be very similar in our ideas, views and sence of humor, so we really did have a great time together. We visited the amazing Taronga Zoo, going to various bars (including a rotating bar high in the sky), passing out in my room, walking around the city, turning Rick from white to pink and laughing lots. Oh wow, this is getting extremely gay. But bare with me, this leads us somewhere...

On some of the nights I keep my bedroom window open… And get woken up by these scary noises coming from the trees. Sounds like the HUGE bats that are all around the city. I’m telling you people, these are no ordinary bats. I think Dracula himself would have a heart attack if he saw these things. And they are not alone out there… They ‘talk’ to each other. Probably planning on taking over the world or something. On one of the ‘passing out’ nights I remember waking up in the middle of the night and hearing Rick say “ I think there are monkeys in the room “. This was when I am half a sleep, half seeing nightmares of bats, half stoned, and only a bit awake. I really didn’t know how to react, but it felt like I was freaking out for a while. Was he serious or was this another idiotic joke that I should have gotten in the middle of the night ?? Anyway. I don’t think I got any REAL sleep after that wake up call. Looking back, it was an extremely funny line to be woken up to. I am sure this was influenced by the Chimps and Gorillaz that we had seen in the zoo.

Well, Rick left me after a week and I continued my life. Nothing had changed, except me losing a couple of million brain cells. I’m down to around 15. Next up was a great party on a boat, with a DJ that we have booked to play for us in Finland and Sweden in the past. The legendary Omid 16B. It was a beautiful, sunny day, the music was nice, women were gorgeous and even if it wasn’t, we couldn’t ask for our money back, because we got in for free. Life was good. I saw an amazingly HOT woman on board. She looked like something that would come out of a secret love affair between Jane Fonda and Kylie Minogue. I HAD to speak to her and get to know her, so I did. Ofcourse it ended up with her thinking that I really a lovely boy. So lovely that she just HAD to introduce me to her boyfriend...

- Dinky (name changed), this is Oded. I am taking his phone number so we could all hang out, together. He is such a funny boy… Ha Ha Ha
- Nice to meet you Dinky. I would really like to have babies with you girlfriend and I hate you.

And that’s how it has worked here until now. I am gaining an image of the funny/crazy/sweet boy from Finland. I have gotten some nice friends, but it hasn’t got me laid. I know what you are thinking… I need to work it a bit more and take it to the next level. And I would, if I had more time on my hands. I am leaving Sydney on the 23rd of February. Flying to play a gig in Singapore and from there going to Bali for a couple of weeks of work, massages, yoga and having my own scooter ! Wohoo !!!

After Bali I am heading to Melbourne for about a month or so and hopefully have lots of success with the clothing brands there. I am still thinking positive about this venture and hope that something good will come out of it, but unfortunately it hasn’t really taken off as I expected. Mainly because the brands themselves are not doing a good job in backing me up and I have yet to even receive the collection samples… They are supposed to arrive this week, which leaves me about a week and a half of time to get all the buyers and press to come and see them. I will set up my own showroom in a really nice bar/club, which will surely help.

This trip is more then a learning experience for me. How to contact people, how to get the most out of any situation without being too pushy… How to shine and spread the positive energy I have in me. How to find out what I really want to do at any given time. It has been a real struggle a lot of the times, but I feel as I am getting the grip of it slowly and I feel happier, with every day that goes by. I have less then 3 months left, until I head back to star in my new role as Super-Uncle and enjoy the Finnish summer !

I miss you all greatly and can’t wait to see you. If you want to come to Bali, then it is only around 10-12 hour flight from Europe. Very close, compared to Australia. And cheap too J

Visit www.flickr.com/people/odedpeled for some pics from the boat and from the Zoo. More to come soon !

Oded