Singapore

Look at this guy looking literally over edge of a skyscraper

Had a day in Singapore after surfing in the maldives. The new casino had just opened and its hotel had an infinity pool up on the umpteenth floor of its skyscraper hotel looking over the city.

Insane

Hours of Serenity

A duck

Hours of serenity. The lagoon over the road captures sunsets which make for impossibly easy photos.

A far cry from the death ray stares my Medussa has been dispensing the last few days for some unpardonnable sin which this unwitting sinner committed. From the sheer number of lines snaking across her forehead a negotiated peace is out of the question.

January swell

We had a swell this January that was brown board shorts material. After a surf in which I was absolutely packing the dark ones I decided to take the camera out and join the audience. This couple were standing at one end of a pool south from our place. The waves were actually crashing fifty metres away at the other end of the pool.
With waves the size of mountains exploding on the rocks before her, Lani shows all the focus of a five year old and fixes her attention on a swing in a park

Just as I finished uni for the year some friends came over from Japan. I think I enjoyed all those cliched touristy places more than they did.

The war office and child at the Opera House

Father's Day

Sunset from the jetty over to the Basin

September 1st with winter already drawing to an end, the girls took me over to a little spot called "the Basin" for a Fathers day picnic which Lani proceeded to monopolise.
The experience of living in the vast urban sprawl that is Tokyo has given me a real appreciation of being able to escape...stuff. So whilst perhaps not being the "in" place to be, it was pretty bloody nice in my books.

Hours of serenity

Mum ponders the meaning of life the universe and everything whilst Lani makes preparations to nail dad with a chunk of dead jelly fish.

City Rail

I haven't written of late as there's been nothing to grumble about but things've changed.

Took a train the other day and it was an hour late so I wrote an asked for a $4.4o refund for my ticket. The City Rail Business Operations Manager writes back to me saying that even though he was sincerely mine he couldn't give us a refund as it was law that they could cancel trains or do whatever jolly well pleased them.

Incredulous! What business I ask you can do this?? Sell you product then swap it for something else. They may as well say...well you can buy a ticket but don't expect things to run on time cause quite frankly we'd be jolly well surprised ourselves if they did.

Why is it only the government can enact laws that give themselves an excuse not to pull their finger out?

Pasha bulker

Shots of a tanker grounded a fortnight ago just north of Sydney after a monstrous storm.

Ma sent me some shots taken from the tanker while it was still out in the storm in the process of being grounded. Look at that swell....it's jolly huge.

That top shot gives it all a sense of scale. The tanker absolutely towers over the beach after it had been grounded but then look at the volumes of water washing over the deck below.
Cook must have been off his jolly rocker setting off to find the world in his little tin pot junk.

National Parks

Australia being in the middle of its worst drought in recorded history and the images splashed all over the news this weekend were of death and destruction dealt out by floods caused by the huge storms to hit Sydney over the weekend.

The caged tiger is released

Having been inside for far too jolly long we took Lani down to a national park in Sydney. It said it was 15,000 hectares. If my brain serves me right that means it's just shy of 150 square kms of bush and rivers...i can't work out how all that could be in Sydney...maths! The space here still staggers me. I guess it's like women...you're not supposed to understand them, just appreciate them...

Study

She who wears the pants in this house insisted we pop up to the beach last weekend as she needed to put her head down and get some serious study behind her. But between the distractingly perfect surf, the dopey wildlife, and an overactive four year old... she didn't get a great deal done. I'm really appreciating being able to escape the crowds though. I still can't believe you can get down to a beach here on a weekend and the only dopey pelicans I have to think about are real ones...no twits on bikes weaving through crowds or old ladies who sole talents in life lie in cooking and their ability to get in the way.

Asked what my wife and I are both seriously good at, what we are both brilliantly talented at and I would probably say day dreaming...so here she is practising her gift...about to be rudely interrupted by a bit of cold winter swell.

Emerald Beach

Better late than never. About two months ago we went up to a little town called Emerald Beach about 600km north of Sydney for a few weeks of sun, surf and mouth wateringly crap food.

Look at all that space

With not a soul in sight and absolutely no regard for the shame that she was about to heap on the family, Lani took it upon herself to act like a complete idiot. We had wildlife coming out our ears.

Kangaroos infront of our tent, dolphins out in the surf most days, it was nice to get back into some nature even if it was a bit dirty.
Went to a local aquarium which operated at a completely different level of efficiency to the ones we went to in Japan...some of them were amazing...but they let you feed and play with the wildlife in this place so Lani got right into it.

Home

Lani and grannie at Dee Why

We've been thoroughly enjoying being back. Here we've been down to beach infront of our place for grease ball fish 'n chips dinner and Lani who is absolutely soaking up the space in this country can't keep herself out of the water.

Tokyo Disney Sea (again)

From a freeway inthe centre of Tokyo

One of the things...perhaps the only thing... I swore we would do before leaving Tokyo was to visit (again) Disney Sea on a week day when there weren't so jolly many people to disgruntle me. The effort that some people must have put into making this place look real is just remarkable.

Looking over the Mediterranean harbour

There's Europe land without those hoighty toighty Europeans, America land without all those whacky gun totin' 'mericans...

The American waterfront after the rain

For the price of an entry ticket we stuffed ourselves on the haute cuisine that is Disney burgers and saw the world. Sarcasm aside it's quite an experience.

Lani and Nobuko enjoying the cultural experience.

Goodbye post

A goodbye post is not complete without a list. So 'ere we go ....Goodbye:

1. pushy Japanese grandmas...I'm your game no longer.
2. point cards...my wallet has been purged.
3. crazy old men on bikes ... would you bloody well look where you're going.
4. service with a smile...even if your're just pretending to care.
5. sweet peach behinds.
6. peaceful people.
7. noise.
8. conbeenience...my work, my wife's work, two big shopping malls, four train stations, my daughter's day care are all within 10 minutes walk from our place.
We'll be back in Australia Jan. 24. Helloooooo beach and surfing.

mochi and the mafia

Mochi: an altogether too doughy, grossly gluggy mass of rice eaten as new year's treat in Japan.

Apparently six people the wrong side of sixty choked to death on mochi this new year's period in Japan. It makes headlines every year.

The media make it known with great monotony that dastard Chinese criminals are behind most crimes...wonder how they'll put the spin on this one.

Saddam

Saddam Hussein has been killed because killing is wrong.

Who's going to kill the guy who killed Saddam. It's all so morally screwed I reckon my four year old could see through it.

Blocked toilets

I caught my daughter preparing to fill the toilet with paper last week and exploded at her.

Similarly tonight I find her in the company of an overflowing toilet with a look of complete bewilderment in her eyes. She could see the storm brewing and she came out with "Lani no playing....Lani biiig poo did it".

So here we are...It's one am and I'm trying to make myself understood to a plumber with shit all over his hands...in Japanese.

Fish 'n chip shops

Met up with a friend of my wife and her Canadian husband last weekend. Took the kids down to a kids amusement park. A whole floor of a department store was packed with kids bouncy castles, slides, go carts, and the likes. Lani had an absolute ball...pun not intended. It's hard to find places in Tokyo where a kid can just let her down and be a kid.

Anyway this couple who were back here in Japan for just a few weeks said it took them about six months to readjust to Canada. I tell you what I feel that way whenever we are back in Australia. Reminds me of a British mate who back in England in holiday and hankering for some good ol' English food went down to a fish and chip shop. Not really liking fish all that much he fortunately found a cheese burger on the menu and promptly ordered it.

Upon hearing the order the guy says to him "wot...ya com ta fish 'n ship shop, 'n ya order a cheeseburger???" incredulously. And my mate goes..."well it is on the menu".

Can't wait to get back for some greasy fish and chips even if the waiters don't kowtow enough to this most respectable customer.

Tokyo Disney Sea

A group of friends organised an outing up to Disney Sea for Nobuko's birthday on the weekend. I had never been there before so it was quite a surprise. Through the entrance you can see the volcano which was built up 50-100 metres above the rest of the park and had flames pouring out the top at night complete with booming eruption sounds all over the park.With the Japanese eye for detail it was so damn well done. There were some streets there where you could really lose yourself and start to believe you were in Europe somewhere or in Arabia depending on which "land" you were going through.

Toko, Ricca, and Kumi...getting far more excited than my three-year-old daughter.

Drink driving

Reading the news here the other day I happened upon an article about a temple or shrine somewhere in the country that had taken it upon itself to educate the public about the dangers of drunk driving. Which is all fine except that according this article it had only just recently dawned upon the all knowing priests in charge that after re-education, visitors to the shrine should perhaps not be given free sake in a little paper cup to be knocked back before going home.

Wonder what mind bogglingly stupid things the tourists are struck with in Australia?

A completely unrelated temple...actually I think it was a castle we visited years ago in Nagano.

Parks

For want of something to write about, here are a couple of shots of moi, Lani, and the old bird....who happens to resent being called "the old girl"....taken up in a park in Tokyo.
The parks here are rubree. Huge, well planned, with rubree rines of trees. A complete contrast to the colourless mess of mismatched buildings that make up Tokyo.