little miss may

half-year audit and a baby…

Saturday, 5th July, 2008 | 6:15 pm

I was looking back at the list I created in January, of things I wanted to do this year. It wasn’t quite a New Year’s resolution (or ten), but some things to keep me going for the next 12 months.

To recap, have a look at not so new year resolutions.

Well then.

01. Keep my greens alive, the latest addition being a cute chili plant
Greens are still alive, alas my chili plant is no more. Over-watered as usual. I have to stop doing that. My greens are sulking now that it’s Winter, but hopefully they’ll survive long enough to breathe in the warm air again come Spring.

02. Take the driving test and get my full driver’s licence
Yep, that’s done. Embarrassing story on Test Day itself where I bumped the curb on a left turn and the hubcap flew off, but thankfully the test officer didn’t fail me. “It’s marked as a ‘no’, but don’t EVER do that again!” he said. I’ve steered clear of the curbs since.

05. Cross my fingers, apply for a Resident Return Visa and hope they approve it
Got that one! After a month of getting my paperwork together, they accepted my “compelling and compassionate reasons” for being away those last 4 years and not fulfilling my 2 before renewal. At least I don’t have to worry anymore if I have to fly out of Oz for an emergency. Touch wood.

06. Keep in touch with some old friends, even if it’s just 1 email a year
Facebook has allowed me to find — and be found by — old childhood and school friends whom I’ve lost touch with. Ah, the wonders of the Internet.

07. Buy a new battery for my beloved MacBook
The battery has kept Mackie goin’ and goin’ and goin’… and still goin’.

08. Get me some wheels, maybe
For sure! My new Baby Mazda2 purred in my hands today as I took her for a spin around the ‘burbs. And as with all new cars, I’m still quite nervous whenever I take her out but we’re fast becoming old friends. And lovers. Ooh. That sounded naughty.

09. Remember, less is more (less stress, more salt)
Does blogging less count? Hmmm… yep, it does. Gives me so much more time getting to know the people who are beginning to matter a lot to me. And play the guitar. Someday.

10. To dream the impossible dream…
Still doing that. I’m finding what was impossible, is always very possible. If only you believe.

Now all that’s left is 04. finish reading one more book to make read count = two, and though I’ve changed my mind about 03. sponsoring a child somewhere, I’ll find a way to make up for it. Make more donations, for example.

I’m doing pretty good, hey.

Only 6 more months till 2009…

13 comments

the big shiny apple in sydney

Friday, 20th June, 2008 | 10:42 pm

5 p.m. Thursday evening, 19 June 2008. The Apple Store in Sydney opened its doors.

Woo-hoo!

glow in the dark

No, I didn’t stand in line from the wee hours of the morning till its opening time, but I did pop by the store after work around 6:30 p.m. The big Apple logo shone brightly in the wet winter’s night like a beacon calling all fans to sail into port. You could literally see all the people inside from the outside. How cool is that?

the queue; apple on the umbrella; welcome & door gifts; the glass staircase; macs everywhere; the genius bar

And so I joined the queue that went all the way to the next street. The wait in the rain wasn’t as long as expected, about half an hour - short considering we’d wait for over an hour for seats in a good restaurant. The Apple staff were kind (smart) enough to loan us some umbrellas to keep dry.

All visitors were greeted with claps, whistles and cheers of welcome. Oh, and the first 2,500 customers received a door gift each - a blue apple t-shirt with the words “store’s up” in front and a swirl motif of iPods at the bottom. Yep, I got one! But it was XL so I won’t be fashion-parading it around in public. Good for sleepwear in the summer, though…

There were the usual range of Macs and iPods on display for customers to test-drive on. The Genius Bar was on the third floor. Loved the glass staircase! I felt that the Regent Street store in London had a much better layout, though. More depth. The Sydney store had length, but it didn’t quite appeal to me as much. Oh well, at least it’s the first in the southern hemisphere.

apple in the air

Mmm, yum.

24 comments

sweet bushwalking eye candy

Tuesday, 10th June, 2008 | 12:00 am

It was wet. It was gloomy. It was a public holiday in Australia.

What better thing to do than bushwalking in the rain? A few slippery rocks, splashy streams and persistent drizzle didn’t stop us from seeing Nature at its best.

I don’t know most of the names of the fungi and flowers I took pictures off, I hope I made the right guesses based on searches on Google…

what looks like the sulphur shelf fungus

white fungus on log

bracket fungus: turkey tail - top view 1

bracket fungus: turkey tail - top view 2

bracket fungus: turkey tail - side view

possibly a species of the epacris

very green mossy moss

one would hope it’s the acer palmatum

small conical shelled slugs on rock

cluster of small white flowers

orange sponge-like fungus, iridescent yellow somethings

more of those iridescent yellow somethings

even more of those iridescent yellow somethings

wild mushrooms, unfortunately not “magical”

raindrops in a row

my favourite - drops of water on a leaf

* * *

And four photos from almost the same walk, but one week earlier:

red bugs on number seven

another species of the epacris

happy purple flower

dandelions in love

32 comments

sushi wa osuki des ka? hai!

Sunday, 8th June, 2008 | 12:56 pm

For the last couple of weeks I suddenly went into this craze for all things Japanese. I think it started with going to Kinokuniya to meet a friend, and while waiting I checked out a Japanese cookbook. Then it was furoshiki and the art of wrapping, woodblock prints and chirimen fabric, bento boxes, cute kokeshi dolls, sakura, the Lonely Planet city guide to Kyoto and a Japanese phrasebook…

Yesterday I made a trip to Tokyo Mart up at Northbridge, a grocery store stocked up with everything you’d need to make a good Japanese meal and more. Needless to say I went a little ga-ga and bought a big stash of sushi rice, nori (seaweed), wooden bowls, katsuobushi, this and that, even a hangiri (flat-bottomed wooden tub) to properly dry out and dress my sushi.

They say that the crucial element of making a good sushi meal is the rice, and I totally agree. It takes a good 2 hours from start to finish just washing, straining, waiting, soaking, cooking, mixing and cooling the oh-so-important ingredient. The perfect sushi sticks when pressed together, but easily breaks apart when you bite into it.

By the way, for those who aren’t in the know (as I was, but now I’m enlightened!), the word “sushi” actually refers to the vinegared rice itself, not the dish.

2 cups of sushi is enough to make about 5 medium rolls, or 10 small rolls. Rolling up some maki-sushi (sushi roll) can be a little messy at the start, but with practice you could get the hang of it quite quickly. I opted to have just fresh salmon and avocados with a sprinkle of black sesame and salt. I made some nigiri-sushi (hand-formed sushi, the ones with a slice of topping) as well but the rolls were more fun to eat!

Ah yes, mustn’t forget the miso soup to top it all off. Nyums.

And now some totally unrelated bit of interesting d’oh-ness…

I was having coffee with a couple of friends some weeks ago at this cafe called Map, and when I finished drinking I tilted my cup and saw an airplane at the bottom! Talk about reading tea leaves. I was reading remnants of froth. I sure hope it means lots of travelling to come! To Japan, maybe? Hmmmmm…

19 comments