Policemen walking my dog on a train

Today I'm pleased to report that attempt #3 of visiting Newcastle (the nearest industrial town, a 3 hour train ride north of Sydney) was a success! Photos to follow :)

The train was busy, so I lurked in the end compartment of one of the carriages, absentmindedly trying to learn to yoyo (see prior post).

My mind was dagger-sharp, focused on honing my soon-to-be l33t yoyoing sk1llz. Up and down, down and up it went, slowly bending to my will. As Sydney faded into memory and the long stretch of rural stations beckoned, man and machine became one.

Looking up from my dedicated training, I stare straight at two tough-looking State Transit Police (a 30-something man and woman) who had wandered into the compartment whilst my attention was focussed on the work at hand. Somewhat shocked, I blubbered something and we got chatting. After a few minutes, we spun onto the heady topic of yoyos. The policeman said that I was doing it all wrong, and sensing his yoyo-envy, I offered the object of my previous attentions to him. Sheepishly at first*, yet joyfully he performed a demonstration.

The highlight? After I swore never to teach it, he demonstrated the unspoken dark arts of police yoyo training known as 'tayoyo diabolique' (Yoyos were originally Filipino weapons). I pity the Perp that tries to get away from cops trained in such a barbaric skill using something that - up until I handed it over - had seemed so innocuous.

They both left the train at the next station and I continued my journey pleasantly bemused at what had happened.

NB: One paragraph may be big fat lies. I leave it to the reader's discretion to decide which.

* He persuaded his slightly disbelieving partner to stand guard on the door to the main compartment to stop anyone seeing him do it!

Christmas Party and the such

Well, it's been a while posting on here. I'd like to say that I've been too busy doing stuff, but the honest answer is that not much of note has happened these past weeks... apart from:

The office Christmas party took place in the Star City Casino's penthouse function room. With views across the city, we drank more beer than I care to remember and ate miniature meat pies and huge hunks of chicken and pork - the Australian's know how to eat at official functions; no yukky fancy nibbles here :D

Carla, our almost-team-assistant organised the Children's party. Afterwards she had some goodie bags left over, of which I received:

1x camouflage* "Lost" beach windbreaker
1x Yoyo

I've never yoyo'd before, so I asked my boss to teach me in return for teaching him rude signs in BSL :P

* Why would you ever make something on a beach camouflaged green?

Book Reviews #2

Another in the occasional series. This time, two in one!

Captain Corelli's Mandolin

I'd heard a snatched few minutes of Captain Corelli's Mandolin on Radio 4 back home and and enjoyed the dry humour although didn't know at the time what I was listening to.

Discovering the book here (76^th place in the Australian Best Read 2007), I only bought it to make up a Buy Three for Two offer. As such, it sat on a pile for some time before being read.

CCM is a story of love and a story of war. I've never laughed and cried so much at a book before; it has rekindled my joy of reading. The writing is sharp and witty, pulling you into a story so complex yet complete that you feel part of it. My only complaint is that I had some very late nights reading it, to ensure that I read beyond the bloody war-based sections and onto the more light-hearted sections focusing on the main characters so I didn't dream of a wartime so horrifically described! If only all books were so impassioned. When I reached the end, there was a lump in my throat and both sadness & happiness combined.

Apparently there was a film made about it. I've not seen it, but I can't imagine that it compares favourably with the book.

In summary, it was absolutely wonderful - I can't recommend it enough!

The Eyre Affair

I can't really give this book the credit it deserves; having read Captain Corelli's Mandolin just before, very little compares.

However the Eyre Affair is an easy read, one where your brain can be switched to standby for the most part. Some clever alternate universe stuff, but with minimal character buildup and a very er, spritely wound-down ending.

Good news!

The bruises have gone! :P

Political Cuckoo

Yesterday was election day here in Australia. The incumbent Liberal party were knocked out of power by the ALP (Australian Labor Party).

The seat of North Sydney (where I currently reside) remained Liberal; The sitting member, Joe Hockey looking rather nervous on Channel 7 as his role as political pundit forced him to be both happy that he had kept his seat, and sombre as his party failed to reach the 76 seats required to stay in power whilst his leader (John Howard) lost his seat to Labor.

I've tried to remain non-partisan in this election; I've spoken to anyone I can find over the course of the last few weeks who has a view on the parties, and I've tried to learn about the important political issues: Coal vs Nuclear, Industrial Relations (IR) laws, "Working Choices" etc.

Last night, I grew tired of watching the election coverage* and went for a walk. I came across a Chanel 9 OB truck and went closer to investigate. The local Labor candidate was having a party in a restaurant.

Now, I hadn't had my dinner, and I was in the mood for some mischief.

Using what little Australian political knowledge I had gleaned, combined with my social engineering skills, I blagged my way in and, like all good parasites, ate their food and drank their beer. Whilst politely smiling to blend in, I was shocked by just how militant they were - incredibly pro-unions and very much socialist. There's no such thing as a free lunch, and whilst my belly was full, I had to endure them ranting to each other.

When Howard gave his farewell speech (which was gracious and polite to both his party and the newly elected government), the activists booed and hissed; I was glad to escape!

Still, it was an amusing evening. Nothing beats a good bit of gatecrashing, especially when there's free food and drink :D

If The ALP holds the same views all the way to the top of their party, I feel sorry for the Australians. It's likely to be a turbulent few years :/

*Election coverage was, well, interesting. The owner of the apartment was watching a certain channel that shall remain nameless. Said channel's corporate brand is red, and rather than doing the sensible thing of going for a neutral colour, their red status update DOGs were misleading and confusing, as to the casual observer, the whole election revolved around Labor.
I would rant about the awful sound quality, but then that wouldn't give me time to complain about the use of the somewhat dizzy breakfast show presenters to lead the show :/ - Can you imagine Ant & Dec leading Newsnight?!

Blue Mountains attempt #2

Yesterday, I made attempt #2 to scale the Blue Mountains to the west of Sydney. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the lizards were lazing on rocks. Arriving at Lawson railway station, I follow the signs to the local nature reserve.

Climbing through the undergrowth, through tracks that were so overgrown as to be unregognisable in places, I feel a sense of calm come over me as all my cares drift away into the forest.

Presently, I discovered a tall, beautiful waterfall. In two parts, the water fell from fifty metres up onto a plateau then dropped a final ten metres. The track led down to it, so I approached, camera in hand.

Mr Brutch, my militant A-level geography teacher taught me many things* about waterfalls; how they retreat over the years, how the constant patter of water on the rocks below leads to changes in shape and the sorts of creatures that revel in the pools.

One thing he didn't teach me was that the constant patter of water on the rocks below leads to very slippery rocks. The tranquil calm of the forest momentarily held its breath as a bellow of 'ArrrrgFUDDDDGE!' rang out and echoed off the valley walls.

Down I went onto the thin layer of sludge that covered the rocks next to the waterfall. Alas there I was not to end, as my friction co-efficient remained low and I slid down the rocks and into the crystal clear waters of the waterfall's pool. A Timotei moment it was not. Think more along the lines of Indian Jones falling down a jungle chute.

Thankfully I managed to scramble out of the pool with only my pride damaged. I made my way back to the train station. Once on the 2.5hr train journey back, I sat there as quietly as I could reading my book. Even so, I suspect that I deafened the entire carriage with the malodorous cacophony of the primordial ooze what covered my back and behind.

This morning, it turns out that it wasn't only my pride that was damaged; I have a pleasantly purple and black posterior too :/

Don't go chasing waterfalls!


* well, not strictly true as I only received a 'D' for A-level geography

360° Blogging - Your chance to influence me! (Well, this blog)

Well, I've rattled on for 50 or so entries. As 50 is a nice round number, it seems appropriate to celebrate by turning the tables.

• Is there anything you think I've missed?
• Do you have unanswered questions?

If so, post a comment and I'll do my best to answer every one that I am legally allowed to do. The only rule is please don't anon-o-post :)

Greg

Sunday: Marches, Sign Language, Cinema

Today I decided to explore the eastern side of central Sydney. Up until today, I've mostly spent my time on the George Street side of town.

I made my way to Elisabeth Street to discover that the side-roads were all blocked off. It turned out that today was an Environmental March day. As I didn't have much planned until the cinema in the evening, I waited for the march to arrive near a set of bus stops.

Signing Kerfuffles
After a few minutes, some people wandered past having been ushered around the corner to where the buses were re-routed. A deaf chap, presuming I wanted a bus pointed to the corner.
When I signed back the reply "Thanks, but I'm waiting for the crowd*" he was somewhat taken aback.

Asking if I was deaf, I signed "No, I'm British", which made him laugh, although it turns out that the sign I know for "British" actually means in a universal context "The country that I live in and we are in", thus he thought I was Australian until I replaced "British" with "English".

He then started ranting about how an environmental march would do no good, as it was "Vengence from above" (this took some sign-based explaining, as my signing skills are as rusty as errr, something very rusty left out in the rain). After that, he went into what appeared to be a rambling political rant (again, my signing wasn't up to following everything he said, but I got the key-words)

Now, don't get me wrong; I'm all for sensible political debate. However. He was clearly quite mad. At this point, I signed a thank-you goodbye and made my quick escape! I can now confirm that Auslan is very similar to BSL.

The March
Once I'd escaped the ranting, I waited for the march to arrive, so that I could take some photos. First a motorcade of police came past. They gave me rather dirty looks. It was only then that I remembered I'd thrown on my greenish Peace/War logo t-shirt at random this morning. Then the marchers wandered past, who also gave me dirty looks. This they stopped when I hid my nice red Starbucks cup in my bag. After that, they were happy for me to snap away. It's at times like this I could have done with my Canon350D, using its professional shape to bluff my way into asking the marchers probing questions.

Cinema
After a while, I grew bored of watching the marchers file past, so made my way to the cinema. Originally intending to watch Underdog, I chose instead Day Watch, which turned out to be:
a) Russian with endearing subtitles,
b) filled with vampires, blood and gore; and
c) very good.

If you get a chance to see it, do! It's a pleasant change from the clean Hollywood "Vampire/Good/Evil" genre; the Russians really know how to make something dark yet with comic undetones - Even the bodyswap halfway through was at the same time funnier than LiLo & Jamie Lee Curtis in Freaky Friday, and as black as the darkest night. Lots I didn't fully follow, as I haven't seen the first film (Night Watch), yet it kept me enthralled throughout.


* I didn't know the sign for "march", but "crowd" seemed to do the trick.

Taronga Zoo & Balmoral

Saturday, I visited Taronga zoo (photos to follow on Flickr). Looking at the map, it seemed a reasonable walk. Combine that with the overcast weather that we've had for the past week, and it seemed perfectly fine to walk it. Waking up at 11am, Mad dogs and Englishmen made their way out in the midday sun to Taronga. 8km of toastyness later I arrived.

Did I mention that I've never been a big fan of zoos? I always feel rather sorry for the animals kept in cages. The website suggested that Taronga was more of a safari-park (think ex-LegoLand Windsor Safari Park). Alas it wasn't to be. I've not seen a sadder bunch of animals in a long time :/
The only upside was the falconry display, where the birds seemed fit and focused.

Walking back, I stopped at Balmoral Beach, which was lovely and quiet with its own fairly tranquil rocky island. I'll be going back there again :)

The best bar in the world

I can confirm that I have found the best bar in the world. The rest of you can stop looking, as none can beat it. :P

Wandering into the local bar for a quiet drink, I sit there reading. Half an hour later, A Blues Brothers tribute band kick off* and the party begins.

Then, as if things couldn't be better already, during their interval, they play Kylie and the Aussies go wild!

I shall be returning :D

* A very good likeness, except there's three of them, and John Belushi is a woman, but their music was amazing!

Celebrating the Melbourne Cup

Today was the Melbourne Cup Horse Race. You think the Grand National is popular? Oh my goodness!

Today, the entire female population of Sydney went to work dressed for the races, with hats, fascinaters* and everything else that goes with such things.

Work had a 3 hour lunch outside on the dockside with champagne (I arrived early and got the task of preparing the such), food and beer. TVs were put against open windows so we could watch the race.

Half way through, the heavens opened!...










Whilst outside, I noticed that a pair of birds had set up nest on one of the horizontal poles of the sail covering, and that you could see the chicks being fed! Awwwww

* Behold! Greg the Fashionista! As some of you know, my long commute into work at the BBC meant that I could read The Metro from cover to cover. As such, my fashion knowledge is second to, er none.

Subliminal Noodles

Today I realised why I decided to bank with the National Australian Bank. It was all to do with a bold white sanserif, lowercase typestyle with a red star above... :)

Australian Politics

Political Graffiti

Until I arrived, I'd never paid much attention to Aussie politics, partly because there's enough of it back in the UK to keep me entertained, but mostly because UK news reports Aussie politics with minimal context, merely relaying the facts.

From what I've seen so far, the political scene shares as many similarities as it does differences with the UK. The most striking is the effect that compulsary voting has on politics; the political parties really target everyone, as everyone has to vote. There's no slant towards those who are more likely to vote, as in the UK, as everyone in Australia votes.

From speaking to people here, Howard (current Prime Minister [Lib]) is not popular with the younger generation, who feel he only offers empty promises. There's kerfuffles to do with winding down unions (legislation has been brought in to allow individuals to sign away their legal rights to certain things at work in return for more money... hmmm) The Labor* candidate, Rudd, apparently has more of a younger following and seems to be tending centre/centre right, similar to the current UK Labour government**.

It has been suggested to me that every time there's an election here, there's a terrorist threat or incident - the Bali bombings happened before an election and some other incidents have occured at election times too, pushing Howard back into office on each occasion. How true this is, I don't know :)

Things are starting to ramp up for the general election in a few weeks. I've been given leaflets from all parties, and coffee shops are having "bean polls".

* The word 'labour' is spelt correctly here (ie: with a ewe), but the political party of the same name chooses to remove said beastie.

** Yes, yes, contentious :P

Blue

Some trees are blue in Sydney.

Becoming Domestic in Australia

Yesterday, I cooked my first casserole!

Result was good, but I mis-calculated the timings and had to wait until midnight, looking hungrily at the oven :/

Cherry Picking your Boss

Lunchtime

Yesterday I spent a pleasant lunchtime sitting by the wharf watching from afar a self-propelled cherry-picker being repeatedly driven into a metal pole - as well as the expressions on the faces of the people trying to eat lunch on the balcony supported said pole! The two workmen seemed somewhat confuzzled as to how they'd got themselves stuck, especially as they couldn't get off of the cherry-picker to find out until they'd rounded the corner they were trapped in :P

Contact Kerfuffles

The other day, my boss gave me his business card so I could get his phone number and email. I took the details down, left it on my desk and promptly forgot about it. Boss walks by, sees it and decides to tease me ; "Greg, don't you want my business card?".

I pick up my book, open it up and say "Thank you, but I've already got one", waving the dog-eared LittleWok Japanese restaurant business card that lived within to hold the page. Boss looked hurt and took his card back! :P

Rate My Spider

Can you match this spider that I found yesterday against the chart? http://www.termitecontrol.com.au/spider-identification-chart.html

Update (31st Oct 07): It has been brought to my attention that the spider presented above only has seven legs. I have carefully reviewed the photo and can confirm this to be the case. Either it is missing one, or is merely hiding it. Do not let this arachnid subtraction dissuade you from the fact that it is a real, official Australian Spider.

Cooking

Tonight's menu was spaghetti bolognese with rice*, followed by goats' yogurt and honey. Tomorrow for breakfast there will be cereal and crumpets with honey.
*Made oh-so-much of it! error in quantites :/

The Industry

Australian TV amazes me. Adverts cut into programmes, and programmes have adverts within them. If you know much about EU advertising rules, the following four examples may make you glad you live in the EU:

1. Breaching the Programme/Advert divide: The other morning, a news presenter said "...and check out this poor guy:" and then showed what started off to be what looked like a comedy sketch. It ended with the chap discovering a cruise line company and smiling away. Afterwards, the news presenter said jokingly 'ahhh and it was only an advert', then carried on reading the news!
2. Untimely Promotion: Channel-skipping onto a cartoon called 'Polly Pocket' (a vaguely famous brand of doll): Whether this programme would make it onto EU airwaves is questionable enough, but to have adverts inbetween it for Polly Pocket merchandise is surely rather dubious. Certainly in the EU, adverts must not include the work of actors who are in the programmes that wrap around them.
3. Subliminal messages: Watching the 'Aria' pop music awards this evening, the short stings between each potential pop act winner had strong flashes of KFC (the sponsor), which lingered in my mind for some time.
4. Advertorials: Watching a breakfast show, the presenter turns to her co-host and says 'Now lets go to Sheryl, who will tell us how to make our lives easier in the garden'. Were you expecting a few minutes of handy gardening hints? I was. I wasn't expecting a five minute QVC style piece to camera about how great a certain lawnmower was. Afterwards, the breakfast show continued as normal.

Thankfully, I have been introduced to 'The Chaser', which is a bit like that Dom Jolly show, but considerably more political and quite quite funny.

Lapus Toppus

Now that I've moved into a flatshare, I can now think about settling in properly. As such, I invested in a Toshiba laptop and am now internettled properly. The internet is so slow in Australia; and even more so if the information you want isn't in a domestic cache... In the UK, few people care which mirror you use to download software; here, you have to choose wisely. Australia is obviously preferable, but Japan seems a good second best. Surprisingly, the US is rather slow... which is a pain, as Google don't seem to have a domestic cache here... which makes maps.google.com and even google.com.au painfully slow.

Anyway, I could waffle on about the questionable state of Aussie internet all day... the good news is that I received free cinema tickets, so I'm gonna go see something at some point this week :) All suggestions welcome :D

Drunken Flies

Beer
Friday was one of the chaps from work's leaving do. We went to a nearby pub and began drinking... Oh my goodness can Aussies drink. I think it's because of the little glasses of beer they have, combined with the weather. That and I'd only had two sandwiches all day beforehand! Thankfully one of the friendly techies and his missus drove me home, as it was on their way. I definitely owe them a drink!

Flies
Let me take the opportunity to put the record straight. Yes, there are a few more flies in Sydney than in the UK, but their numbers aren't so bad. The trouble with them is that unlike British flies, these little buggers are persistent. If you swat them, they just duck and skew, then come right back. Even when it's windy, they seem to just hang around your face.

The solution seems to be: If they're just sitting on your clothes, let them be, as they'll just fly up and annoy you; only swat if they're directly annoying you. :)

From the heavens, the rain fell

I've now moved out of WakeUp! and into my flatshare in Wollstonecraft, a mile or so inland of the north shore of Sydney. I've been shown the shops and after two nights, am slowly settling in.

The weather is as damp as a duck without its raincoat, but my commute is mostly undercover (a 40minute trip in from Wollstonecraft to Pyrmont). Yesterday my boss, project manager and I (in fact that's the whole team) went for a coffee in a cafe along the road. My boss decreed that I was weird ;/ I gave him a hurt look :P

I read with worry about the job losses and sale of TVC back at the Beeb. Concerning times :/

Now I just need to think about what to cook for dinner! :)

House found!

I think I've found somewhere to stay! (yes, yes, I've said this before :D) It's in Wollstonecraft, just over the Harbour Bridge (15 mins by train to Town Hall station where the Pyrmont express bus leaves). There are two women there, the room is a nice size and the apartment is clean. I've met the owner, who seems pleasantly friendly, albeit very focused on her numerous jobs :)

Tomorrow I shall hopefully meet the other flatmate and sort out the official arrangements.

[phonetic]I've stull gut un awfud cowd.[/phonetic] The sniffles just won't shift. Paracetemol will hopefully come to the rescue, as Aussie Vicks sniffy sticks are considerably stronger than their UK counterparts, leaving my nose on fire! Not gunna stick that up meh nose again!

More Photos, More Houses

G'day!

Photos are being uploaded to flickr even as I type.

(Edit: Here's the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/floongle/sets/72157602543875554/ )

Photos include Parramatta and some examples of what I see along the way when I saunter into work. Andrew, I'm sorry, I've not had a chance to take a photo of me performing wheelies/grinds on my scooter :P

Today has been a lazy day of the highest proportions. This'arvo - er, I mean this afternoon - I'm off to see a flatshare in North Sydney. This morning I've tried to find an open Post Office and bank (all closed) then had my hair cut and bought paracetemol to shift this bleh cold.

The internet must be going uphill today, as the photos are still taking a while to get to flickr... in the meantime, here's the shortest video in the world...

Greg's Book Review #1

An occasional series detailing the findings of Greg in the advancement of paper-based distractions.

Neverwhere (by Neil Gaiman) ˜˜˜˜˜
From the cover and blurb on the back, this is a potential winner. Chosen from Dymock's bookshop because the author co-wrote 'Good Omens' with Terry Pratchett, and said book was a pulp-rendered-masterpiece of stupendous proportions, I had high hopes for Neverwhere.

Set in a "London Below London", poorly described stereotypical Victoriana characters go on an unexplained quest after a young girl's family (known for being able to open portals and doors to anywhere) have been killed. The girl - unoriginally named 'Door' - meets a weedy character from the real London who has accidentally 'fallen through the cracks in society' and continues her quest.

Frankly, some of the collective literature I've had the pleasure to co-write with my friends has more excitement and depth. Clearly Gaiman had a word-count to reach and little time to do it. You could see in his writing the way he progressively added to the story rather than planning it out - a simple progression, where the reader only found out what was coming next just before it did. Even the torture scenes lacked Gaiman's usual dark horror (read his Fragile Things to see him do horror properly). They were almost laugh-out-loudly badly written - how could you be scared of something so dire?

In summary: Bleh.

Regular! / Change of plans

Regularness leads to happiness
I'm now a regular at the WakeUp! breakfast cafe :D Sauntered down there at 9ish this morning to see a long queue. Patiently waiting for my breakfast, I stood wondering what to do today. Before I knew it, the pair behind the counter had seen me, got my (usual) breakfast of fruit salad, banana bread and cwoffee (black as my heart) ready for me! I felt special. :) :P

Δ of Plans
After serious thoughts, ponderings and considerations, I'm gonna keep looking for a proper flatshare. the SWtE places were fine, but having a bit of personal space is officially 4tW :)

Today's a quiet day with laundry and general mooching. I hope England win the Rugby, as it will mean less teasing by the Aussies, but I don't think we stand a chance! :(

Interim accomodation success!

Huzzar! I think I've found somewhere to stay in the short term :) Bex recommended sleepingwiththeenemy.com. (thank you, Bex! :D) They called me today and I saw the houses they had on offer. Not the greatest, but reasonably clean, and hopefully quiet... and definitely cheaper than WakeUp! :)

I hope to move in on Friday/Saturday, after which I'll upload some photos. There's free internettles there, but I don't know if my Nintendo DS will be able to connect to it for web browsing etc... Maybe it's time to buy a laptop. Any recommendations?

Greg's cultural faux pas #1

Well, it was bound to happen. I'm pleased it took over three weeks before it did. It turns out that the British pronunciation of 'Router' (as in broadband modem), where the 'ou' is pronounced as if saying 'oooo!' is dangerously close to the Australian slang 'root', which means, well, I'm sure you can guess. :P Thankfully at work they are forgiving and patient with my odd British ways, so I got away with it... this time :)

I have kept quiet when they refer to engineers as "Ginger Beers", but I chuckle every time!

Flatshares

*** Wanted ***
* Home required for slightly bewildered software developer.
* Will MHEG for food.
* Can converse with other people, animals and objects on demand!
* Answers to many names, but will respond favourably to "Greg".
* Requires frequent watering with tea.
* House-trained (for the most part), but can tidy up after himself if needs be.
* Will not eat your cheese (may consume berry-based beers).

Can you help house a poor Interactive TV software developer? Fresh from the fields of the BBC, he requires careful nurturing, the occasional cuddle but mostly tea. And maybe internet access.

Now I know how Tim from Spaced (Channel 4, 1999) felt. But I don't even have the big alien bear costume :/

Late night laundry

It was 11pm. I was in the WakeUp laundry room, er, doing my laundry. In walked a girl wanting to do the same. Got chatting, as you can only do at 11pm; she told me she was from Stoke on Trent and worked for the Conservative party. Then followed a somewhat full and frank 1hr discussion on the state of politics in the UK, Private Eye and what MPs get up to when not in the commons. Interesting enough, but at midnight when our drying had finished, I was wide awake thinking politics and unable to sleep :/ Confuzzlement!

Goths, Parramatta and Rugby

I discovered a rather large Goth Shoppe yesterday. I commend all Goths in Australasia for a) coping with the heat; and b) keeping such pale completions. I've been slapping on high-factor sun cream and cower indoors... and I'm still turning a pleasant honey colour*.

Thank goodness we won the Rugby again; the Aussies were rather hoping we had lost (photographic proof to follow later).

Took the ferry to Parramatta (as far downstream from Sydney as the ferries/seacats go). I only went along for the ride, so didn't stay there long (about an hour) before heading back. I saw the Olympic village in the distance and generally took in the sights of the 50min trip each way :) It seemed a rather sleepy town, but I did notice a Wagamammas, so it must be a good place to be :)

Yesterday I was filled with grumble at a (possible SA) chap who tried to get my attention in a restaurant by shouting "Oi! Pom! Pom!" Thankfully I was deep in a newspaper, so didn't realise he was talking to me until he gave up... Had I realised, I'd have been less than friendly... I don't mind being called such things - the chaps at work and occasionally at the hostel use the term, and I quite like it - it was the arrogance in the way he jeered it at me that filled me with grrr. :/

No word from the flatshare chap. I shall start looking for another property (as I probably should have been doing anyway).

* Unfortunately my hair is tending to blond, thus resulting in a somewhat contrasting look :P

Lazy Moths

Today has been a lazy day, which is both good and bad. Good in that there was nothing that needed doing, bad that I probably could have been doing something interesting.

It's times like these when I cast my mind back; back to a week ago, when I first found the Broadway shopping centre. My first view was in the food court, where a group of people were busy signing away. Presuming that they were locals rather than British tourists, Auslan does seem to have close ties with BSL. Obviously not wanting to be rude and listen in to their conversation (plus the fact that my signing is pants), I could only catch the occasional snippets, but the general "shape" of the signing seemed familiar. Maybe I'll try to say hello next week :)

In other news, the moths seem to be departing. Did I mention the moths? Sydney has had a plague of them for the past two weeks. Hundreds of the buggers, most of which are dazed, fattened and confused, keen to fall asleep on your nice warm skin, or maybe on the side of your Ute. But now the numbers are dwindling.

The potential landlord of the flatshare has postponed meeting the other tenant until tomorrow (Sunday). I suspect he's having second thoughts after I asked for an addition to the contract to allow me to give one month's notice after two months there, rather than having to adhere to the full term. So I've extended my stay at WakeUp... again :/

The chatty ex-dorm'er took the train to a farm somewhere today, allowing him to stay an extra year on his Working Holiday Visa (The Aussy government have trouble finding farm labour, so they give incentives such as an extra year's stay for working X-many-weeks on a farm.) Australia's nice, but with all the creepy-crawlies and things that will eat/kill/sting/bite/snuffle you in wilds, it's a big price to pay!

Now, it is time to go to the bar and have something to eat. Another lazy day tomorrow; hopefully will find something useful to do.

Photos Uploaded!

The first batch of photos can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/floongle/sets/72157602377366230/

:)

Beaches, Banks and Bananas

Yesterday (Thursday) I had my first proper lay-in since I've been here. 10:30am was a welcome surprise :) I did some banking (NAB sent my ATM card to the wrong address :/) and then mooched around.

Then went on the ferry to Shelly Cove, near Manly beach, where I had a late-afternoon sunbathe and a swim in the sea; I even did a bit of tentative* snorkeling. I was hoping to see some fish; I saw one fish. It was grey. It had the look of a North Sea Cod about it :/ Maybe I chose the wrong time of day :) Sitting on the beach in the late-afternoon reading my book, I only realised how late it was when I wondered why I couldn't read my book in the darkness!

The day before, I visited a share-accommodation apartment which seemed quite nice. I hope to meet the other sharer on Saturday. Based on that, I shall make my decision :)

In other news, I've been watching the level of stuffed toys in the grab-machine at the arcade that I pass by some days. As soon as they refill it, the stuffed penguin shall be mine! :D

In other other news, my half-day on Wednesday went well; lots of Java to read and understand. TiVo uses a suite of widgets called "Bananas". Trying to explain that I wanted to use bananas to my boss led to some confusion; Like the USA, but thankfully slightly less so, we are divided by a common language! :D Discovered that I am an "Australian Resident for Tax Porpoises" which is grand :)

* To get to Shelly Cove, you have to walk past Manly beach. As I wandered past, the lifeguard PA system was telling people to get out of the sea as Blue Jellyfish were coming into shore. The lifeguards at Shelly Cove (1/2 a mile along the coastline) weren't saying the same thing, but I was still somewhat paranoid!

Crazy birds, Taxing Times and Half Days

I have finally worked out how to describe the noise that the odd black birds (not blackbirds in the British sense, but larger and more crow-like) make. It's an odd sound, but one that was strangely familiar: They sound like a cat mumbling and grumbling at a bird or squirrel through a window*, but much much louder :)

Second day of work seemed to go ok. I feasted on Goats cheese and meat sandwiches, made by my own hand. I hope to live to tell the tale :) Spoke to the Australian Tax Office, who were kind enough to give me my Tax File Number ("TFN" for those in the know) over the phone.

Thankfully my dev PC hasn't arrived, and I can't develop code on the company's desktop, so I'm only working a half-day tomorrow :) W00t!

Lots of luv,


Greg

*If you've never heard a cat do this, I'm afraid I can't help describe it :)

The first full day

Evenorning all :)

Yesterday I requested a move to a single room in the hostel... not having any time for quiet contemplation was stressing me out somewhat :P Clearly being an only child shows through :D Tonight shall be the first night of calm and quiet for a week. I feel rather rubbish that I only managed a week of shared dormness :/

Today was my first full day at work. The morning was mostly meetings, but the afternoon was spent coding! (Yay!) The first meeting was about what I was expected to be doing... turns out that it's most of the techy work: coding, architecture, specs etc. Should be good; was getting a bit stressed about it on Sunday, but after completing the first day, I feel somewhat better. It'll be tough, but challenging and I'm warming up to everyone there :/ :) I even have my own pass with a cheesy-smiling me staring back at me!

I went to the big shopping centre of Glebe to buy goat's cheese, sandwich fillings etc. I gave in and had to buy the mini scooter thing. (Photo to follow, once I've uploaded the others :D )

Yawn! Time for bed :)

The Other Way / Watson Bay / No Escape / Later

I walked The Other Way down George Street today and discovered a pleasantly large shopping centre where I spent the hottest hours of the afternoon enjoying the air conditioning :)

Came rather close to buying a teeny push-scooter (one of the non-powered metalic skateboardesque-things-with-handlebars); the 45minute walk to work in the toasty heat is tough going, and a push-scooter would let me sail down the hills! :)

Visited Watson Bay and Gap Bluff, which is an ex-military cliff top outlook onto the Pacific which has been designated an Australian National Park. Very windy today up there. Traveled there by Sydney Ferries' SuperCat which was officially Woosh! Took the bus back just in time before it started to rain :D

The dorm is now down to three people. The French girl will be leaving tomorrow, so unless someone turns up, it'll be down to two. The other chap is friendly enough, but doesn't stop talking. Hence I'm hiding in this web cafe. Once I've posted this, I'll be pretending to use the computer whilst actually reading my book. When I say to the chap in the dorm "I'm now going to read my book" he just keeps on talking! That, combined with the explicit stories of Thailand he tells everyone he meets (including all girls he meets!) results in much embarrassment... and I didn't think I could get embarrassed easily :/ - there are just some things you don't tell strangers! :0

I asked the reception girl if I could "Upgrade" to a single dorm... she said it was possible, so this may become an option. It's a shame, because he's friendly enough; he just doesn't stop!

Sent some emails to sort out a flat share. Nothing back yet!

Tomorrow shall be spent mooching, lazing and schnuffling around Sydney. I still need to book some things to do later in the week, but as I don't know which days I'm working, it's tricky.
I'm still worried that they want me to work five days a week and late into the night :/

The Induction

Today was my warmup day at work (10am-4pm). They seem a decent bunch of people and I suspect once I get to know them will be a good laugh. The office is very smart and apparently I can kayak to work if I chose :P ... oh my goodness are they focused on the business! Changing from the public sector to the private one is going to be tough, but better sooner than later... I think! :/ I believe that I can do the work - it'll be challenging, but that's something I've needed for a long time; my only concern is that I will be asked to work full-time rather than the few days a week that was agreed.

I'm continuing to look for a flatshare, but am dare-I-say-it growing fond of the group in the dorm... even the snoring is less noticeable. Thankfully I've been so knackered that I fall (and stay) asleep quickly; which is handy when you find out from the other three that they were kept up all night by a couple in the dorm next door having rampant hows'yerfather! :P

My goodness I need a drink tonight. Yesterday was a Frequent Noodle, as I decided to spoil myself before starting work today. The day before was chicken satay in the WakeUp bar - I came back late from using t'internet and had agreed to go for a drink with the guys from the dorm. When I arrived in the bar, the only one I could see was busy chatting up a girl, so to avoid acting the gooseberry, I left them to it, had dinner and wandered back to read meh book. Tonight's menu will probably be something from the WakeUp bar again :)

Day of calm

Aftermorning all! (Warning: Dull Post Alert!)

Today (so far) has been a day of madness, preparing for tomorrow's big first day. Had to buy a long sleeved shirt. Chose a blue one... hopefully they won't be too offended by it.

Finally found a shop that sells imported copies of Private Eye, and bought a little FM/AM radio (the whirring of the windup one I took annoys the other people in the dorm :/)

Had a chat with one of the other people in the dorm, but everyone else in the hostel seems to be German, Spanish or Italian, so communication is difficult. Yesterday's foot (Satay Beef) from the hostel bar was 4tw! vereh filling. I suspect today will be a FrequentNoodle night! :)

This afternoon will hopefully be spent at the Botanic gardens, reading meh book :)

My ears!

Oh my goodness! The Snoring! ALL NIGHT! ARRRRRGGGG! (That and I had to be up early for an informal chat with prospective employers today! Apart from that, WakeUp and the people in my room seem a nice bunch. Still, I think I need to find a flatshare with my own room and bathroom... pronto!

The meet up seemed to go well... I don't think I offended them too much! :P The fun is due to start on Friday :) Picnic Stations! :0

It's 32degrees C here; apparently hot for this time of year. Dressed smartly, I am filled with toastiness!

Hello Hostel, Goodbye Hotel

Today I have checked out of the Hotel and into the Hostel... Seems nice. Details to follow once I've settled in. :)

Oh, and I am now an official Frequent Noodler (http://www.frequentnoodler.com.au/index.php) No Giggling at the back, Mr Rashpal! :P

Apol4Length! :P (More later :D)

Saturday

After all the walking yesterday, I decide to take it easy. I go for a swim at the hotel pool on the roof at 6:30am, but only manage a few laps of the teeny pool before I start feeling cold. Was the only one up there, so scurried back in for a cup of tea, then downstairs for a fruity breakfast. Sunday shall be a Full English Breakfast!

Wandered outside and discovered that all banks, post offices etc are closed and that this Monday will be a bank holiday (Labor[sic] day). Also discovered that someone had built a street market outside the hotel! (which explains the noise this morning... I had thought it was some noisy ineffectual dustbin men.)

Stagger to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and investigate the "Archaeological" area underneath. Picked up a leaflet on climbing the bridge and then walked across the bridge to the north side.

Upon my return, I have a Subway (yum!) and hide from a clown.

It's a lovely city, and am having a good time, but as I had predicted, it's oh so lonely. Sydney seems to be a city of couples.

Still confuzzled by the time, so I return to the hotel for another siesta. Hooray! I discover BBC World Service on the radio and fall asleep. Here's my summary of jetlag so far:

• Wednesday: In the air/at airports etc. Not a clue what the time is/was.
• Thursday: There was a Thursday this week?
• Friday: Vaguely conscious. Can string sentences together, but need constant reminders of what I'm talking about (no change there then ;/ )
• Saturday: Meh!

Woke up at 8pm and had a lamb skewer thing at a local pub (with a Carlton beer to wash it down). Snoozy teim! :D

Friday

Still confuzzled, but awake enough to walk to the Botanical Gardens.

Expecting to see spiders & snakes at every turn, yet the only animals that I eventually see are the snoozy-yet-noisy bats who have come to roost in the trees after spending all night eating the flys that are drawn to the lit brilliant-white Opera House. The Botanical Gardens' leaflet says "Please walk on the grass and hug the trees". Sage advice.

Wandered to the edge of the Botanical gardens by the harbour and up past Mrs Macquarie's Chair. Continuing on, I saw five or six Australian Navy gunships/frigates (or whatever they call big grey ships with guns on).

Progressing further, I see signs that I'm getting near Kings Cross. Taking the advice from those who have been here before, I walked the other way & ended up somewhat lost in the Surrey Hills district. I discover and and confused by a Woolworths,

• a) because the sell groceries
• b) because I couldn't find the way in.

After five minutes of searching, I give up and continue my wanderings.

Further still, I arrived at the Central train/coach station and found both the Wakeup Hostel (looks good from the outside) and a great big market.

Stopped near the station for lunch (Chicken Sandwich) and overheard four railway staff moaning about their employers, the service, the passengers and other employees... 7000miles and nothing changes! :P

Walked back up Pitt St and accidentally discovered Wagamamas (in the Victoria Shopping Centre or similar). A mental note was made.

Arrived back at the hotel just in time to start my siesta. (still so confuzzled by the time change). Woke at 7pm and decided to test Wagamamas. Result: Good!

The Arival

The flights were grand. Here's a summary of events:

• Flying into Dubai, I saw a ship firing sand at a new palm island they are building. the ship was huge, yet compared to the size of the island, it was minuscule... It must have taken ages to get this far.
  
• On arrival at Dubai, we were bussed to the terminal. It was oh-so-hot... thankfully the bus was airconditioned!
• Flying to Bangkok, the lovely South African air hostesses did their best to flirt with me in the galley. Woo! :)
• Was told off by the Thai airport guard for taking one of the complimentary bag things from the plane but not declaring it as liquid. Eeep!
  

Arrived at Sydney airport at around 7/8am. Going through customs was fine, and I even located the queue for the working holiday visa stickers (Thanks Ian/Bex! :D). Quarantine was somewhat more panic stricken. Signs were everywhere saying that no could bring *any* food into the country. I realised I had... teabags* in my case. I told the airport official at the Xray machine my fears and she just laughed... thank goodness! (her colleague whispered loudly to her to ask if 'the paddywaggon was out back for me'... but at least I didn't have to pay the AU$60,000 fine :D

I was driven to the hotel in The Rocks and managed to get my room straight away. The room is good, but was generally confused by:

• the lights
• the safe
• the aircon

Fell out of the hotel and shopped for more biscuits, water and a simcard in one of the Pitt Street Malls. At roughly 12noon, the jetlag hit me right between the thingamys as I was standing in a bookshop. The only solution was food. And fast! Out the window went my plan to eat healthily as I took an emergency diversion to Hungry Jack's (Australia's version of Burgahking) and sat there filling myself with patty-based jetlag begone!

Wandered back to the hotel and had a snooze. Slept through the alarm and fell into the hotel restaurant (couldn't manage any further tonight!) where I promptly ordered a VB (Victoria Beer) and something predominantly lamby.

After dinner, I walked past Circular Quay to the Opera house - so big! There weren't that many people there, but the area reminded me of London's South Bank (if the South Bank was warmer and generally better looked after!)

I don't feel as if I've traveled very far and can't quite comprehend the differences - this is probably the jetlag... however I do appreciate the friendly atmosphere :)


* and maybe biscuits too!

Getting there; just getting started

As I sit here in the Emirates' business lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3, I ponder with fond memories the joy of going through security, passport checks and other such fun. Sipping my complimentary Innocent Smoothie (I may go back for the all-you-can-drink liqour & nibbles table later), I feel no sadness that my flight is delayed by thirty minutes... it will give me a bit more time to soak in the relaxed nature of this somewhat schnazzy lounge, as well as allowing me to eat a few more complimentary shish-kebabs.

Yes. I am gloating. But I'm allowed to for now, as in about an hour's time I shall be stuck in a series of aluminium tubes for many many hours. My mild fear of flying, combined with the article I read in Private Eye about the dangers of poorly maintained aircraft engines (leading to toxic fumes in the cabin) fill me with trepidation :/

To be honest, all the above is bravardo (ok, I do like the free food!), as the enormity of this trip is terrifying! Away for a while, on the other side of the world :/ - Under my cool, calm, collected (not-to-forget suave) exterior, I'm at panic stations! I think I need a cup of tea :)

Update: Thanks to everyone on Webmessenger tonight who stopped me from panicking quite as much as I otherwise would have done! :)

All the best,


Greg

The Party

Canon - Canon DIGITAL IXUS 65 - 2007-09-22 19-42-16.jpg
Originally uploaded by Pablo Mulvi

Here are but a few of the party-goers from Saturday! :) Check out Greg, Paul and Rashpal's photo pages.

Windows Movie Maker 4tw!

Hi,

Here's a video to say goodbye. Unfortunately, Java decided that she wanted to play in the garden half way through the video-shoot (I was aiming for a rather trendy multi-camera effect with only one camera*)... but there are definitely no continuity errors! :)

* Misleading the public? I've learnt well! :P

Meow / "It does mean changing the bulb"

Just over a day to go before I fly out. Java saw us pulling the case from the loft - and was not happy at the sight. We think that she'd realised something was going on about two weeks ago when she started changing her night routine to sleep on parent's bed instead of my own. It's so sad that I can't explain to the poor little girl why I'm off. :( I'm sure she'll be fine... she'll be too busy keeping parents out of trouble :)

Dad and I replaced the old florescent lighting in the kitchen with new holders and bulbs. They look rather good (given that they are just florescent fittings and not of the trendy ilk). Other than that, we remained at panic stations for most of Sunday. Today will probably be the same :0

The Famous List (Report #1)

Now that I have left the Beeb, seeing famous people becomes exciting! Today I passed by Germaine Greer whilst crossing South Africa Road in West London (admitedly right in front of the BBC White City Building :P).

I also saw someone who was practically Robert Llewellyn (of Red Dwarf/Scrapheap Challenge fame)... but wasn't. This chap has confused me in the past by walking around looking like said R.L. so I have learnt not to fall for his web of deceit!

And now it's time to sleep.

Goodbye Woodlands / Yesterday's Eeep

Fairwell
Met up with Gemma & Andrew today for lunch and was lucky enough to gain entry into Woodlands for a final Curry Thursday. T'was a grand lunch :)
Hair has been chopped (Hairdresser: "Blimey! Your hair's so coarse & thick!" :/ ) and some curfuffles have been remedied. Bumped into Andrew N-S in the coffeeshoppe and said goodbye to him too.

Arg!
Sod's law was upheld yesterday. A girl I rather liked (who just began working in Starbucks (Ux)) started to flirt with me with less than a week before I fly off! Arrrg*! :(


*obviously, as happens every time when it comes to such things, me being me, I was far too dumb/shy to make the first move when we first started politely chatting a few weeks back :/

Boxes, boxes and bills

Slowly boxing things up for the loft, mild panic continues as I keep reminding myself just what I've got myself into.

Went to Ian & Bex's house for tea, DVDs, cards and other such games and asked lots of awkward questions about Australia. Hope I know just what I need to do! :0 Tried out the Beeb's new ERadio service on DCable (VirginMedia): Very good, but I discovered a teeny palette issue that is only noticable when the brightness is turned up to 11. Emailed Farah, who probably now hates me! :P

Bills etc being transferred, adjusted etc. Took car to Honda for its first service - the cheeky blighters at Honda charged me ten squids for the "Free Courtesy Car" grrr. Other than that, all ok. Was given a black manual Jazz as the courtesy car which caused much confuzzlement, as my Jazz is an auto. No stalling thank goodness! :D

Dave popped by to return the fold-up bed that was borrowed. Pushed my "Essential Linux Administration" book onto him (I reckon he's gonna need it in his new job! :) ) then inflicted a game of cards ("sh*thead") on him.

My phone is now PAYG. Orange have really gone downhill... their computers weren't working when I called their offshore callcentre. They've even changed their automated voice girl from a rather schexy posh woman to someone ("Ruth") who sounds dizzy and ineffectual. See my rant on The Register's comments section: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/09/18/orange_voice/comments/

Promise to try to be a bit more coherent from now on in this blog. This prolly won't be made of complete and correct sentences until I've settled down a bit whilst out there.

Lots of love,


Greg

Days away

Afternoon all,

Post First this is yes. Mild panic as I attempt to get everything in order. Mild panic as I think I've lost my chequebook. Mild panic as I attempt to reassure the girl on the phone that I will still be a UK Citizen whilst away and that no, she shouldn't shut down my account. Then there was tea, so it all calmed down somewhat :) Now it is pub time.