Sunday, March 30, 2008
Random Fair Pics
We actually bypassed the over-priced rides but wanted a picture of the Dodge'ems (cause I love the name). And I finally got to visit the famous showbags pavilion. Louise had told me many tales in Taiwan about the showbags: themed bags of toys, chocolates, food or magazines at discount prices. I thought it was a pretty great idea, but it was overwhelming how many hundreds of bags there were to choose from!
I found the concept of dolls on stick to be completely nonsensical, but Louise thought it was perfectly normal. But why? Why would a child want to play with a doll or soft toy that was on a foot long stick?
We loved walking through the food pavilions and looking at the displays. And tasting all the samples, of course!
And there was also a arts & crafts competition. Louise went straight to the paintings for inspiration, and I dreamed about all the craft projects I would love to do. Like this adorable doll!
Food at the Fair
I had been eating lots of veggies in anticipation for the Show, and I did eat a lot of fried and sweet snacks. Our first stop was "Cheese on a Stick." It sounded like a bit much, but they mixed the cheese with cornmeal and deep fried it. No wonder Louise couldn't stop raving about it.
I had another Aussie favourite for lunch: wedges with sour cream and sweet chili sauce. Louise ate a nice, healthy bowl of veggies for nutritional balance.
Anybody hungry?Animals at the Fair
Friday was such a great day that I'm going to split it into a couple of different blog posts. It's hard to come up with stories and pictures when I just spend the day answering customer service calls and going to the gym. Anyway, Friday was the Sydney Royal Easter Show (similar to the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto, and about the same size as the CNE). Louise and I met bright and early with a schedule of things to see. Although we didn't get to half of what we wanted to do, it was a perfect, unrushed day. Obviously the fair is focused around animals, so we did the obligatory walk through the cows and visit to the baby petting zoo. I'm intrigued by alpacas: mostly because I had never heard of the animal before I arrived in Australia. Was that an oversight in my education, did everyone else know they existed?
Louise dragged me through the dog show too. Not my favourite place, but I was very entertained by the judge for the dog show. He took his job very seriously.
We chose what day to visit the Fair based on the cat show. It was the "Pick a Breed" and "Pat a Cat" day. We walked from table to table where different breeders had cats in cages behind them and one on a table that you could stroke while learning about the breed (and if it would be suitable if you were looking for a pet). We spent about an hour an a half going through about 30 tables and having a good visit with each cat. Louise's favourite was the Scottish Fold Cat:
And mine was the long-haired Burmilla.
Someday I'll have a home so I can have a cat! More Fair pictures to come.
Y2K
Weird day at work. I arrived for my 9am shift to find the clocks reading 8am on my phone and computer. A co-worker said "Oh, it must be the end of daylight savings" and I trusted him because he was Australian. It turns out that software programs, computers and mobile phones have all automatically switched off daylight savings... one week early. Chaos followed all day at work; the documents we need to send out to the store instantaneously would only send after one hour. Then applications started to get stuck, and it seemed like every other call I needed to appease an angry salesperson. To top it all off, I think about fifteen people called in sick today, so more calls for the rest of us! I made it through, whew.Saturday, March 22, 2008
Easter goodies
I spent Friday at Louise's house crocheting, watching chick flicks and eating delicious food: what a great way to spend a holiday! I love that we have exactly the same taste in films (along with the same head measurements and foot size, incidentally). We watched The Easter Parade, Strictly Ballroom and The Importance of Being Earnest. 
She also surprised me with an Easter basket she put together for me. I had been planning to find myself a white chocolate bunny as per Easter tradition, and she knows me well enough that she already had one inside (a fancy gold Lindt one!) Louise is planning on doing the Camino de Santiago by walking across Spain in May, so we spent time discussing her upcoming trip, finding flights online and planning for packing. I love travel planning, and I get so excited by finding great deals for the perfect flight. We were both pretty excited about a flight from Spain to London for .01 Euro (with taxes 10 Euro which equals $16 CAD). We spent the afternoon shopping for all things lightweight, compact and durable, and a great pair of Merrill hiking boots were a symbolic first step in her plans.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
The Daily News
Every week I buy the Sydney Morning Herald for reading during the slow Sunday morning at work. It's a big newspaper: heavy and too thick to fold in half. Yet, far from expanding my worldview or giving perspective on important events, I think this newspaper actually makes me dumber. Since I had a lot of free time, I decided to count the evidence. The first forty-six pages contained personal interest type stories and local interest. For example, a half page on rumours about Naomi Watts engagement and pictures of her buying $35 dresses at the Bondi markets. Also, a half page on the popularity of the "Australian jawline" for chin implants in LA, an expose on the rising costs of gold wedding rings and an article on the dangers of fast-food commercials on TV. Next came five pages of world news (including two full page advertisements). Here were the stories contained: page one: article on Tibet and an English kidnapping. Page two and three: school bands in northern England. Page four: full of mini-stories, headline about Minnie Driver's pregnancy announcement on Leno. Page five: half page on world stocks. Fourteen pages of more in depth stories followed (about how people are taking pictures of news events as they happen on cellphones and on the dangers of counselling in bringing up repressed memories). Then there were thirty pages of sports. Yep, thirty. Good to know Aussies have their priorities straight (Just kidding). Out of curiosity, does anyone else want to add up your local newspaper?Friday, March 14, 2008
Yi, Er, San
Walking to work the other day, I heard a man speaking Mandarin Chinese on his cellphone. I caught the numbers 1, 2 and 3 (ee, urh and sahn). It made me smile and I recited the numbers in Chinese to myself. But I all I have is 1 to 8: yi-, er\, san-, si\, wu\/, liu\, qi-, ba- (the symbols indicate tone). I can't for the life of me recall what "nine" and "ten" are. It took me a couple of minutes to figure out why. When I was living in Taiwan, I regularly went to classes at the gym. The only reason I remember the numbers is because of the instructors counting (and there were always only eight counts in the repetitions!) Up, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight; Down, tchee, leo, wuu, suh, sahn, urh, ee.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Easter Treats
Louise and I were shopping in the city on Saturday, and she showed me the food court of a nice department store. They had every imaginable food and aisles of overpriced Easter chocolates!
I was thinking of buying an egg for a snack during the movie, and Louise looked at me with horror. Buy an egg and eat it before Easter? It made perfect sense to me, it's part of the Easter season, and why else would they sell them a month early? But I guess with Lent in the Catholic tradition, Easter chocolates are made for Easter day!
Wildlife
Carole said I should put up a picture of the local birds. These guys live in the trees outside my apartment, and they are more colourful than you can imagine. Entertaining too. They are called Rainbow Lorikeets. 
Also, I was pretty excited when Louise and Stacey pointed out a kookaburra at the outdoor cinema the other night. We went to see Juno with our vouchers from the rain-out of The Sound of Music. It was a great night, although it gets pretty cold here after sunset! Anyway, the kookaburra was just sitting at the front near the screen, and it was bigger than I expected (maybe 6-8 inches tall). Louise wanted me to try and make it laugh, but I think she really just wanted me to make a fool out of myself in front of hundreds of movie-goers! Anyway, did everyone else grow up with the song?
Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Merry, merry king of the bush is he
Laugh, Kookaburra! Laugh, Kookaburra!
Gay your life must be, ha, ha, ha, Gay your life must be
Also, I was pretty excited when Louise and Stacey pointed out a kookaburra at the outdoor cinema the other night. We went to see Juno with our vouchers from the rain-out of The Sound of Music. It was a great night, although it gets pretty cold here after sunset! Anyway, the kookaburra was just sitting at the front near the screen, and it was bigger than I expected (maybe 6-8 inches tall). Louise wanted me to try and make it laugh, but I think she really just wanted me to make a fool out of myself in front of hundreds of movie-goers! Anyway, did everyone else grow up with the song?Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Merry, merry king of the bush is he
Laugh, Kookaburra! Laugh, Kookaburra!
Gay your life must be, ha, ha, ha, Gay your life must be
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Jeans
I've decided that I've found my life's talent. Some people are artistic geniuses or musical prodigies, others have incredible athletic talent or the ability to do complex mathematical problems in their head. I have the ability to find a bargain. I attribute half of my skill to years of practice in thrift stores and clearance sections, but the rest has been handed down to me through my mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great-grandmother (a whole lineage of spend-thrifts!) I still think of my greatest find as the Marina Rinaldi purple satin skirt that I wore to a formal in university. Originally sold for $500 by an Italian designer, discovered by me in Filene's basement on sale for $3.50. Anyway, my old jeans have been loved to the point of being threadbare (I bought them junior year of university) and I needed a pair to tide me over my last two months in Australia. I would be tossing them in the charity bin, so I didn't want to spend a fortune. I headed to Target and eventually found myself in the clearance section. I found the perfect pair, the perfect fit for the low price of... $1.86. As with the satin skirt, it's just one of those flukes where several sales were piled on top of each other. I decided to celebrate my find my splurging on a second pair of jeans, at $8.66. The girl at the checkout register was pretty shocked, and I was pretty proud of myself!
Friday, March 7, 2008
Reading Material
This is my latest mountain of a read (over 1,000 pages). So far, so good. Engaging read, and something that makes me look forward to curling up in bed each night! It's set in medieval times and centers around the building of a cathedral. I won't tell you whose recommendation made me buy the book at Borders, but I'll give you a clue: Mom and the aunts would approve! Anyway, full review to come when I finish (if I finish!)
Monday, March 3, 2008
Mardi Gras
Stacey and I took in the Mardi Gras parade last weekend. I was tempted to stay home and cross-stich in my PJs, but I figured this was my only chance. We got there about two hours early and had a pretty good view. I decided to head home early to beat the crowds. I turned around and was faced with a wall of people. I had to push through hundreds of densely packed revelers, and ended up in a mild panic. It reminded me why I generally avoid crowds! Anyway, here are some pictures of the parade:
