Wed, 26 Sep 2007
We went down to the Cabramatta Moon Festival (a trek of 70 minutes away by train!) on Sunday with Steph and Eva, Ed and Will.
Unfortunately, it wasn't as good as the last time we went a few years ago - not as many outdoor food stalls and the vibe seemed a bit off. Steph was particularly disappointed at the absence of a fondly remembered little street stall that sold soup noodles from a massive vat of deliciously spicy soup stock, served by elderly Vietnamese women who seemed to speak not a word of English.
Tue, 25 Sep 2007
Abandoned toddler Qian Xun Xue has been reunited with her grandmother in Auckland, 10 days after being dumped by her father in Melbourne.
In a photograph released by New Zealand's Child, Youth and Family (CYF) service, Qian Xun, three, is shown being lovingly embraced today by maternal grandmother Liu Xiao Ping, who had flown in from China.
Qian Xun looked healthy and content, while Ms Ping was clearly delighted to see her granddaughter.
CYF regional director Marion Heeney said Qian Xun, nicknamed Pumpkin, had settled in well in Auckland, but had eagerly waited for her grandmother.
"While Qian Xun has times where she has been quite distressed, she is generally a very sunny, happy little girl.
Thank goodness, grandma's here! Poor little kid.
Con artists impersonating police officers have been targeting Japanese tourists in order to snare their credit card and passport details, police say.
On at least eight occasions over the past two weeks, three men have approached the tourists and demanded to check their passports and credit cards, police said.
The men then placed the credit cards into a skimming device - which decodes information from the magnetic computer strip on the back of a credit card - and asked the tourists to input their PINs.
The tourists then discovered money had been withdrawn from their accounts.
Reading about this makes me so mad! I couldn't believe how honest law-abiding people were during our year in Japan. And then when Japanese tourists come here, they have these idiots ripping them off, giving all Australians a bad name!
Sat, 22 Sep 2007
Myer's in Hobart, the largest retail building in the city, unbelievably went up in flames! Thankfully no one was hurt.
A massive fire is burning through a Myer department store in Hobart, threatening surrounding buildings in the CBD.
Shoppers fled the fire as the large department store was engulfed in flames.
A Tasmanian Police spokeswoman said shoppers and staff were evacuated from the busy department store on the corner of Liverpool and Murray streets.
"Fire crews are attempting to stop the fire from spreading to nearby buildings," the spokeswoman said.
"There are no injuries from the fire. All customers and staff were safely evacuated."
A police officer at the scene later said that all levels of the Myer building had collapsed, adding it had been "completely destroyed".
Such a shame that one of Hobart's oldest buildings is lost. According to rumours, the fire started at the MAC cosmetics counter on the ground floor. Hence the new Facebook group: I love MAC, but I'd rather have f***ing Myer back.
Thu, 20 Sep 2007
Kathleen scored some tickets from a co-worker to the musical version of The War of the Worlds, the classic H.G. Wells sci-fi story, on Tuesday.
She didn't know anything about it, other than the tickets were for a corporate box at Acer Arena, for that night, and was I interested? Even if it had Nollsy in it? If so, we had to say yes right there and then, to get the tickets .
So, we went (hey - it was a corporate box, free beer, free food and good, comfortable seats in a great position), and I came out 2 hours later thoroughly impressed. Apparently, the show had only recently been made into an arena event, but the composer Jeff Wayne had written the music as an album over twenty years ago. The music (in the shape of a live band and orchestra), the giant screen and cutscenes, the 'narrator' animated through special effects, even the live singers (including Nollsy) were nothing short of impressive.
Kathleen's take? "So... it's the musical version of a science fiction book written in the late 1800s, featuring Shannon Noll... I'm sorry, those four concepts are just so bizarre!" Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but you'd get a big thumbs up from me!
Tue, 18 Sep 2007
Denzil and Lu had a fairly traditional Chinese wedding.
The day kicked off with traditional Chinese door games (no, not these type of Chinese door games) at Lu's place. Kathleen and CC had prepared some tasks for Denzil to complete before he was allowed into Lu's house and as part of the door games, the poor guy had to officially swear to a lifetime of chores and servitude. He didn't seem to mind, though.
You can see in the photos the red ribbon that prevents Denzil from entry until he has paid off the bridesmaids, CC and Kathleen, with some lei see. A nice little earner!
The bridal party then went out to be chauffered around the city, for photos at Hyde Park, perfect on such a warm, sunny day.
The wedding ceremony itself was at the Chinese Gardens in Darling Harbour. Scheduled for 3pm, the groomsmen arrived at 3.45pm... and the bride 10 minutes later! But the guests didn't mind, since it was such a beautiful setting, and the bridal party and Lu and Denzil looked fantastic when they finally did arrive.
The reception at Marigold restaurant in Chinatown was 13 courses, including shark's fin soup. There was a massive effort by Eva and J-Mak to get the table decorations prepared in time. Luckily, they (and a few helpers) did such a good job, that most of the guests had no idea that the room was still being prepared as the first guests arrived.
Kathleen gave one of the speeches at the reception. Personally, I thought it was the best, but then, I am biased!
Denzil and Lu head off to Malaysia on their honeymoon, the lucky things.
Tue, 11 Sep 2007
It was Denzil's bucks night on Saturday night.
We made the poor bugger carry around a pink handbag all night, handcuffed to his wrist. Unfortunately, he was able to open the handcuffs in about a minute - love that plastic Chinese security! He's a good sport about it, though, and kept the handbag. Either that, or he liked it so much that he didn't want to let it go...
A few beers at the Rose in Erskineville, where the pink handbag went uncommented upon by the drinkers there, followed by a trip to the city to meet up with the hens night at a karaoke joint in Haymarket.
Whilst we were making Denzil carry a purse in the pub, the girls were having tapas in town with Lu and a pink, plastic, phallic drink flask...
After a brief karaoke stint (about 10 minutes after us boys turned up, the time ran out on the booking), we headed off for some more drinks with everyone at one of the bars in World Square, followed by a late, late supper at Superbowl in Chinatown at 2am.
A big, fun night.
Dinner at CCs
CC had been back in the country from the UK for Lu's wedding all of four days and by Sunday night she'd already invited us over for a roast dinner with her, her sisters and some of her sisters' friends - 12 people in all! What a machine!
Dinner was great too - roast pork. Remind me to try making that for Sunday tea soon.
Sun, 09 Sep 2007
Wed, 05 Sep 2007
Bush and his entourage arrived in Sydney last night for APEC.
On Channel 7's Sunrise TV show this morning, they showed scenes of the motorcade (the SMH published a graphic earlier in the week of the volume of cars and SUVs - it was horrifically large) roaring through the blocked off and empty streets of Sydney. Channel 7 added their own little editorial: the entire scene was played in fast forward. And set to Benny Hill music.
Somewhat fitting.
Mon, 03 Sep 2007
SYDNEY have produced one of their best performances of the season to crush Hawthorn by 72 points at the SCG and charge into the finals.
In an telling sign the Swans are far from a spent force this season, they led the Hawks by a massive 71 points after a scintillating first half and ultimately cruised to a 22.9 (141) to 10.9 (69) triumph that leaves them in seventh place on the AFL ladder.
Yesterday's game between Hawthorn and Sydney was unbelievably awful for a Hawks supporter. Especially since the last time they were up here was April 2005, it's a long time to wait to watch your team play so poorly.
On the plus side, the tickets that Steph and I were able to get from Lu were fantastic - we sat right in the Members area, underneath the beautiful, historic Members Stand. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we were in the shade, right on the flank, a couple of rows from the fence.
The Long Bar was just 10 metres behind our seats. No more than 3 people were in the queue in front of me for a drink virtually at all times, which is apparently a condition of membership.
With Hawthorn down by almost 70 points midway through the second quarter, we almost decided to head home at half time. I watched despondently (poor Steph just wanted to see a competitive game) as the little kids came onto the ground to play the modified Under 9 rules. The kids, some with jumpers down to their knees and sleeves that stretched two feet past their hands, some more interested in doing cartwheels than in playing, put up a better struggle than the miserable brown and golds did the entire half.
Inspired by the persistence of the kids, we didn't head off, but instead wandered inside to the Long Bar, where we spent the second half watching the game through the plate windows. We were now closer to the bar, plus we able to lean against the barrels set against the walls, doubling as tables for our drinks.
So, in the end, Steph and I had a better time at the game than watching it.
We decided that:
- The Members is the best part of the SCG to watch the game from. It's close to the entrance and exit, it doesn't feel so crowded, and you don't take half an hour to get a pie or a beer.
- We need to take out membership. It's only $1100 per year, and there's only a ten year waiting list.
- I really want a large barrel at home. Where can I get a traditional wooden barrel from?
- Hawthorn will likely last one round in the finals, no more than two. Fell to pieces this week, and lost the other week to Port and previously to North Melbourne, who are both finals contenders.
Sat, 01 Sep 2007
After doing a frantic ring-around of friends I was resigning myself to watching the footy on Sunday at a pub somewhere. Luckily, our friend Lu works at a company that frequently gets corporate hospitality, and was able to get tickets for Sunday's final round Hawthorn v Sydney fixture.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY
Only problem is that the tickets are for the Members Stand at the SCG, and I need to wear a collared shirt, not my Hawks jumper.
The former prime minister has a message for Sydneysiders who are unhappy at the logistical inconvenience that comes with hosting an APEC summit:
"Grow up. Count yourselves lucky. Here you have leaders representing 60 per cent of the world GDP, a massive power grouping, coming to your city to discuss world affairs, and we think it's a bother? Really?
"Look who's here - the President of the US, the President of China, the Prime Minister of Japan, the President of Indonesia, the President of Russia.
"They are going to sit, personally and convivially, to discuss important measures. They honour us with their presence."
And although Mr Keating may have been the architect of APEC in its present form, he expects to play no role in next week's events: "If Mr Howard had a box of disappearing powder, the first person he'd give some to would be me."
...
Paul Keating's appraisal? "There's some virtue in this incremental, workmanlike way of Mr Howard's. But where are the big structural shifts?
"APEC should be addressing the big strategic stuff that it was designed for. How do I know? Because I designed it. I designed it to deal with the big, unresolved tensions between Japan and China and Korea, and to give us an ability to deal with Indonesia.
"Relations between these massive states have gotten worse. An Australian statesman has to be aware of this and put China and Japan back off their game and say to them, 'what are you doing about this, and to the Americans, what are you doing about this?"
Unlike the Rodent, you could never claim that Paul Keating was short of vision.
I was in Malaysia in October 2005 when they were hosting APEC, and there didn't seem to be a quarter of the whingeing that has happened in Sydney over the last six months to do with APEC, about everything from traffic penalties to child care.
