Nothing Rhymes With Pirate

:: Schmap Canberra Fifth Edition: Photo Inclusion


Hi Michelle,

I am delighted to let you know that your submitted photo
has been selected for inclusion in the newly released fifth
edition of our Schmap Canberra Guide:

National Museum of Australia
http://www.schmap.com/canberra/tours_tour1/p=146757/i=146757_26.jpg

If you use an iPhone or iPod touch, then this same link
will take you directly to your photo in the iPhone version
of our guide. On a desktop computer, you can still see
exactly how your photo is displayed and credited in the
iPhone version of our guide at:

National Museum of Australia
http://www.schmap.com/?m=iphone#uid=canberra&sid=tours_tour1&p=146757&i=146757_26

Canberra Schmap
I'm in the National Museum set of photos.

I'M FAMOUS.

After being disappointed that Rolls 4, 5 and 6 had various complications.. I was super pleased that roll 7 ended up working, especially as I'd found a shop that stocked Fuji Superia 400!

Photos: Lomo Roll 7

Now to find somewhere that sells Agfa CT Precisa.

They seem to have unblocked my access into the site but my Friends page is still restricted.
SO STOP POSTING RUDE STUFF.

Meanwhile..
I got some blog withdrawals so started ANOTHER one

HANDS UP / THUMBS DOWN

Its meant to get me back to using my digi cam after I keep getting disappointed by the lomo. The iXus is on its way out too though.. it just forgets to focus!

Its weird to think that its good to see photos of the rain in Sydney.

I'd swap a week of rain if someone took away this 40+ degree weather. If only for a day or 2.

I posted new pics in my Do Buy.. album.

I have quite a collection going on..
Look and laugh!

Your love lifes D.O.A!!!



/me lookin all casual hanging out at the local Central Perk Cafe.

( The goings on past week.. )

I FINALLY got the Lomo LC-A that I've been eyeing off for aaages. I even got a classic cyrillic style one which I HAD to have after seeing it in Paul's photos.

It got delivered to Sydney just before I arrived so I was able to start snapping away as soon as my brother brought it over.

I was later to find that my first roll with lots of family, friends and my trip to Canberra didnt work out besides 2 shots as the film must've unhooked off the spool early on. DEVVO.

My 2nd roll was shot in one afternoon/evening. Mainly wandering around Circular Quay as I'd read that sunset was the best time to shoot. So I was just playing with all the different functions and then trying it out indoors when I was with Nicass + Tash for dinner at Ivy. The indoor ones were pretty disappointing.. and i generally blame it on the really bad sleepy lighting inside.

My 3rd roll was a bit mixed. My 0.8 focus distance guage doesnt work very well, i think!

My 4th roll had some better shots. The ratio of shots compared to what actually turns out is still not the best.

I'm thinking about going to a lomo workshop next weekend. Might be interesting.

Photos: My First LC-A

WORKING ON IT.

A couple of old weekends rolled into one..

The past 2 weekends have been relatively productive. I guess with work being so busy as well, I’ve been pretty lazy in keeping things up to date.. plus my internet connection (the dodgy leeching-bit) is playing up.. I hope my lappy doesn’t have a virus.

On Friday 7th, I had purchased tickets for the Dubai Tennis Championships. I had the choice of picking up semi-finals or finals day, but chose the semis because it was on Friday (ie. Had the option to kick-on and not have to worry about being at work the next day) and we’d get a couple more games for 50dhs less. The womens championships were separate which concluded the previous week.. so we got to watch Feliciano Lopez (hot!) beat Nikolay Davydenko in a very exciting final 3rd set.. wasn’t really paying attention to the Damm/Vizner vs Nestor/Zimonjic doubles match.. A fast match between Andy Roddick (who ended up winning the finals the day after) and Novak Djokovic. We didn’t bother staying for the last doubles match.. and after waiting over half and hour to grab a taxi, we all got dropped off at our respective houses most possibly suffering heat stroke.

On Thursday 13th, we had a new arrival to the J3 villa – Denis. So in the evening Erik, Emma, Ben and I went out to dinner. After admitting that he wasn’t a fan of Mexican (WHAT!) and didn’t want arab food (WHAT!), we went down to the Jumeira Rotana Hotel.. home to our office local Boston Bar and a german restaurant called Brauhaus. I was ready to get on some schniddy, but after being seated, the waiter told us about their Thursday night deal – the german buffet and all-you-can-drink. The boys went to check the food and gave it a thumbs up as it included steak, roast pork, other pork products and an impressive dessert table. Denis started off with 2 beers straight down.. then seemed to move on to vodka, bourbon.. next thing you know he’s doing shots with Erik and then the martinis come out. Amazing.

Friday 14th marked a couple of special occasions.. it was 3 years since I officially started working as a landscape architect, Wormie’s 3rd birthday and Tim & Carol’s wedding! To celebrate, I’d booked a snowboarding lesson with Emma at Ski Dubai. I was a bit nervous with remembering the carnage went when Tash & I were in Austria (bunged up knees, possible broken arms, soreness etc etc). Its meant to be a 1.5hr lesson, but because there were only 3 of us, it got cut down to 1hr. Our instructor, Emile, went through really basic things.. like gliding with one foot in, riding with one foot in whilst doing squats, riding up the slope on the magic carpet and sliding down on the back edge. Emma is a skiier, so she found it weird being on one board and I was pretty pleased that I remembered things. Theres 2 more lessons to be had where we should then technically be able to ride down the slope. I’m pretty keen to keep going with the lessons and doesnt seem as stressful as learning all these bits in 1hr and then placed straight on the slope to be mowed down by passing riders.

Photos:Mishmash of Weekends

Emma and I went for a walk around MoE then headed out to Karama for souvenirs.
We ended up meeting Erik at Barasti for a couple of drinks in the evening. I haven’t been back there since NYE, but it didn’t seem so bad that night.

On Saturday I ran some errands during the day and then went to meet Ben at the Jebel Ali club to hear about his aussie adventures and eat steak, which was perhaps just as good as the steaks at The Meat Co., but at half the price!

Its been just over a week now since K.Jax left last Saturday.
Admittedly its been a bit quieter without her.. less moaning!
I do miss her company. Especially being far from my girls, it was good to have that local girl-friendliness.

Her last week wizzed by. We had 2 lunches at MoMo's (the local iranian), 1 lunch at the all-you-can-eat 8dhs (its gone up from 7dhs) vegie curry and her farewell BYO picnic at the beach. We had a Girls Night with K.Doyle's friends with dinner at Thai Bistro at Dubai Marine and then moving to Boudoir for ladies' night and free champagne.

On the last Thursday we all went to the Agency at Madinat.. Jimmy-James just arrived in town (after a stint in the Maldives and a month or so in India/Sri Lanka). We'd went to this incredible thai restaurant down the road (which will be written about later).. and later moved upstairs to Shoo Fee Ma Fee for shisha.

Photos: The K.Jax Countdown

On Friday we headed up towards Ghantoot Beach for Kate's last kite surfing foray. It was a shitty day to be sitting on the beach but great winder for all the kiters. So many kiters! K.Jax had a bit of a tough time with the wind and waves and Doyle seemed to disappear sometimes and you'd see her kite all the way down the other end of the beach.

Photos: Kiting @ Ghantoot Beach

We were meant to go local for some arab food and shisha, but K.jax was pretty tired so we watched crappy TV and she went to bed early.

Saturday morning we walked down to Central Perk for breakfast and K.Doyle & Matt met us for some food and brought her a farewell camel. We got back to the villa in time for Ivonne to arrive to pick up Kate. I'd saved my farewell gift for last, which was a handbag-sized London explorer guide, which should come in handy as the Lonely Planet Dubai guide is like a Bible around here! And I bought a card too (which Tash would be proud of). It was pretty sentimental.

We all stood outside in the sunshine.. gave her a hug and waved Ivonne's silver Peugeot down the road.

She wasnt even 10mins out the door when the boys were talking about which rooms they wanted to move to.. with Ben picking Kate's master bedroom (he had first dibbs based on longevity by 1 week) and Fritz took Jiin's old room.

Because it always lumped together anyways..



Happy Sunday meal at Maria Bonita's Taco Shop with K.Jax, Benny and Erik.


For Christmas, I decided that I would entertain some of the orphans at the new villa.
Come Christmas Eve when I finished work, the stove top in our kitchen STILL didnt work. Luckily I was able to use the boys' kitchen out the back. So I made 2 batches of brownies (one test version, where I forgot an ingredient) and the 2nd batch for Kate to take for her Christmas luncheon. I also prepped some other food and was in bed by 1am.

Christmas morning came with text messages and phonecalls from Nicass, Tash and the fams.
I finished prepping all the food, showered, did a tidy up and had the food in the oven after 130 to be ready when everyone rocked up!

Jiin hung around the villa, Erik came up from J2 and Ben came down from Jumeira Islands.

On the menu I had:
Roast chicken with lemon and thyme (x3)
Pork chipolatas wrapped in bacon (Pig in Blankets?)
Roast potato and pumpkin
Broccoli, green beans and baby asparagus
Sage and onion stuffing balls
Mushroom and onion cream sauce
Garlic bread
Brownies

I didnt take all that many photos which is a bit sad. I think I'm losing my touch? I forgot to take photos of the finished product food and only got to snap the leftovers! (before people got in for evening seconds)

We ate. We drank red wine and brazillian rum. We listened to Christmas CDs. We sat. We smoked cigarettes. We lay down. We talked shit. We drank tea. We had cheeky naps. Ben played slo-mo beach volleyball in the atrium. Jiin stood infront of her mirror in her room. Erik told us about Pepparkakor biscuits. I ran around.

Photos: Birthday/Christmas DXB

The second round of Eid (Big Eid) started on Tuesday 18th of December for 3 days. So we ended up having a 5 day weekend which was really right on.

The 17th was Ben's birthday and he had his best mates in town (Scott and Emma) so we went down to the Madinat for dinner. We headed to LeftBank for a pre-drink, only to be reminded that because it was the eve of Eid, the whole town was dry! (ie. not serving alcohol till the following day after sunset). Forlorn that this was maybe the first birthday in 10 years that Ben was sober, we headed to The Meat Company to get our doses of steak and a glass of cola. My 300g medium Australian fillet steak was pretty amazing.

Tuesday was left running errands at Mall of the Emirates and generally spending too much money.

Wednesday, Erik & I followed Kate up to Ghantoot beach, but she didnt have a kite surfing lesson because there was no wind! Disappointing.

Thursday, after a coffee from our local Central Perk, Kate + I navigated down to Bur Dubai in search of the Textile Souk. Which we found, but majority of shops were shut due to Eid. We needed a toilet so ended up at the Dubai Museum, where we paid 3dhs to find that Dubai doesnt really have much of a history (well, nothing dramatic anyways) besides building dhows (boats), pearl diving, bedouin tribes, finding oil and constructing a shitload of buildings. Came back to Jumeira for some Arz Lebanese and then made our way back to MoE so Kate could buy some presents, to find that we were still wandering when shops started to shut at midnight!

Friday was back to Ghantoot, with Jiin this time.. there was even less wind than the other day so I spent the afternoon evening up my tan.

Saturday was a trip to Festival City to grab some cooking things from Ikea and look around at amazement at the Panda Hypermarket. I saw Eug on MSN and we were using webcams. Mum and Dad called me and it all got a bit emotional.. I was a bit restless so walked to Spinneys to do a bit more Christmas food shopping and bumped into William (from Hort) who also lives in the area and was carrying a massive leg of ham. Jealous!

Photos: Eid al-Adha Weekend

Christmas feast is still looking like a bit of a pain in the arse due to the stove STILL not working. The oven should be fine, but its just the veges and my onion mushroom sauce. ARGH!

I received my package last week from The Real Lil Beauty as I'd requested a few "homesick" items. An added bonus suprise was a mug with my name on it! And it comes with a matching red ceramic spoon that threads into the handle.



Couldnt have arrived at a better time as I'd been scouring homeware shops and 6dhs shops (aka $2 shops) for a mug to use at the office. This one even has a Louboutin air about it! Oooh.

I also went to a design event on Wednesday night called Pecha Kulcha, which is a design presentation/forum thing that happens globally.. and this was a first for Dubai. 10 presenters, each with 20 slides that went for 20secs = 6min40secs of fame. It was actually really inspiring and a great vibe to be amongst other designers. The atmosphere was vibrant.. like I could've been in any other metropolitan city with a mix of architects, graphic designers, photographers, typographists, jewellery makers.. and the fashionistas! Oh how I miss them. I was starting to think I may be one of the few in this city who liked wearing skinny jeans, cons and a print tshirt.

I was going to do a write-up on each presenter, but you can read that on the website. I took some dodgy photos that can be seen HERE (along with some commentary)

Monday 5:58pm

My final week of work was breezing through quite nicely. I was wrapping up my Oakdale report, doing all my "lasts", sorting out my files and deleting all bludging evidence off my computer.

They had organised for farewell drinks to be at 4pm on Friday in Paddington.. and with no suprise, it was 410pm and I was still sitting at my desk (Giving me a "final deadline - for old times sake" isnt cool at 2pm). RS was practically half-way out the door when Jess noticed that I was still working.. "Umm, Ross? Did you want us to send this out?". He then realised I was still there and decided to stay on with me while everyone left. I asked for him to give me 10mins, which he did.. hovering over me at all times. I ended up getting kicked out, which was really frustrating for me as he kept making it out that he would be embarressed if I wasnt there and he was. Image infront of everyone else? I dunno.

I made it, which was no big deal.
Quick speeches.. and the giving of the massive card and an Oroton A4 business folio, which will look very swish when I go to meetings. (Better than the dodgy pen/pacer thing that I heard that they had initially bought me!)

Photos: Goodbye SIHQ

I will miss that place. The working relationships, the friendships, the gossip and the insider-jokes. Its like being the seniors in high school. You've got your cliques and niche all sorted out with a level of respect and trust by everyone else. I'll be the little fish in the big pond (a really big pond! With 10 times more people than I'm used to!). Its a really small world in this design/construction industry and no doubt I will see them all again.

------
After drinks, Dayna took me out to the Modular party to see Robyn playing at the Oxford Art Factory. Its a new venue and they've used to space where Central Station Records used to be on Oxford St (under Qbar). I was thinking that they'd just keep the 2 rooms the way they were (where the clothes was in one room and the records in the other), but they had completey decked it out with lights, glass, mirrors an art and it was TOTALLY AMAZING!!! May possibly be the best venue that I have seen in Sydney at the moment. (Big call, I know.) Robyn did a great set in her Muscles' "Ice Cream Is Gonna Save The Day" tshirt.. and the girls of SYLK definately had the best dance moves of the night!



Photos: Robyn / SYLK

So we had a public holiday in Sydney because some political world figures were in town for some meeting where we had no parking on the main road here at work (in Alexandria!?), motorcades, huge steel fences surrounding the city, police and security EVERYWHERE.. so what better way to spend it but in the suburbs eating too much food!

Photos: APEC Picnic / Dinner

The picnic was meant to be at Centennial Park, but with the dubious weather, Dane & Amelia kindly invited us around to their joint. The spread was truly amazing and everyone had outdone themselves!

Dinner was with my fams.. which was going to be the last time we all had dinner together as my sister was leaving for her holiday and then I leave. I wanted to eat steak.. but then had to keep in mind that Mum is pretty much a vegetarian. So Glenda suggested we eat chinese because I probably wouldnt be eating it amongst all that arab/indian food. Massive shoutouts to the peking duck.

My new laptop came in the post the other day! YESS.
And it has an inbuilt camera in it that does silly stuff like those iPhotos.
Plus I am mooching off someone's innernet here. HEE HEE.

* Breakfast spread at Tash's place with her Uncle Boris

* Photos Excursion to The Shire for Tim's South American BBQ Birthday


Tim looking almost disgusted at Caz.

* Sleeping in on Sunday till 10am

* Making a "Baaaycun en igg" sandwich for breakfast

From Tuesday night 7.56pm outside my parent's house.

We had half a day out of the office in Paddington on Friday where we went to the Grand National for a late lunch as kinda like a farewell for Mike. The group then split up to go see some galleries. We stopped at the Blender for a Lomograpix exhibition, Dinosaur Designs (its sculpture!) and the Australian Centre of Photography.


Photos - SI Excursion to Paddo

I also did stops at Incu, THAT and Tsubi (heehe) before meeting everyone at the Royal at 5-ways. We were supposed to see more after that but the rest of us just headed straight to the next pub (Rose, Shamrock & Thistle).

Saturday started hopeful.. I'd left my place at about 10am and headed over to to see Dayna. Walked past the scruffy homeless dude going through a bag in the alleyway and stood on Dayna's stoop and called her to buzz me in. No answer. Maybe in the shower? Wouldnt be unusual that she wasn't ready, which I've discovered is a bit of a pet hate that someone isn't ready at an agreed time. I don't mind if its 'last touches' type thing, as I've been known to do. Anyways, I decided to make my way over to the organic markets up near the fountain and have a snack (profitijes for breakfast - YES.) and have a look at some shops. An hour goes by. Strange. At this point I consider getting the car and driving off, but I give her the benefit of the doubt and call again, to find that she's just sitting in the living room. "Umm, where you going to call me back?" "Uhh.. when did you call?" "Almost an hour ago" "Ok.. let me just go have a shower". You could image what I was like when we met up 40mins later.

But it ended up being a nice sunny afternoon down at the markets. The only crap thing being the throngs of women grabbing and clawing at EVERYTHING. It was so intense. I thought ladies on the north side were way classier than that.


Photos: Kirribilli Markets

On Sunday, I found that my Spathiphyllum Peace Lily is starting to sprout a flower!


I went down to Concord Hospital late in the afternoon to meet mum as my grandma had been admitted. Her doctor was worried that she's got a low platelet count in her blood and wanted to know why she wasnt producing enough. At this point they're not sure why and she refuses to have any major test or any surgery if it leads to that. Just to let nature take its course, not that she's on her death bed or anything.

Saturday
Slept in till about 8 and it was pretty great. I cleaned the places from top to bottom (or maybe more like side-to-side) and it ended up that my shoe parking lot looked a bit like this:



Maybe I should've invested in a shoe rack. Those are my "most often worn" ones and doesnt even include the others that have been stashed in my wardrobe. :o\

I went to West Ryde Woolies and later realised that the checkout chick was the only person I had spoken to the whole day.

I ate half a tin of stuffed vine leaves and half a triangle of brie with Ritz while I watched 'Weekend At Bernie's'.



I baked White/Milk Choc Chip Shortbread cookies and had fallen asleep halfway through 'Office Space' when the dough was chilling in the fridge. I can't remember what I had for dinner and fell asleep during 'Amelie' which was showing on SBS (subtitles get tiring after a while!)

Sunday
I drove into the city to park the car in the parking station off Sussex St. I drove past this car and parked the half level up.



It had all these different coloured bras strewn across/around it. I thought it was just a really strange thing to see.

It was my last shift at Bondi Junction before Katherine got back from Greece. It was actually a really good day with one of the old guys finally being nice to me, I didnt get lost on my lunch break or spend unnecessary money (I ate unnecessary nachos though) and I made way over the daily budget. YAY ME.