Good Conversations

Even though Phill said to me not to call up the panel beaters cos I've called them since Wednesday to ask if my car is ready (they told me to call them wednesday and day after). He said it'll sound like I'm harassing them. But today, I had to know. I called them at about 1pm.

And the wife picked up and was very nice and said she'll check with her husband. She said it'll be ready in 45 mins time and then said "men don't know that you need abit of a lead time to drive up here" and we giggled about it. So anyway, Phill came and picked me up and we were there at 5.05pm. Saw my beautiful car in its original shape!!! Yipppeee! I was told not to park under trees too cos the sap spoils the paint on my car.

After collecting my car, I told phill I'll park it behind the police station cos we had a dinner appointment anytime from 6.30-7pm. We walked around the newsagents and supermarket and then drove to my church member's house where we were going to have dinner. My church member and her family, Kathy, Pete, Hannah and Harry, are heading to Singapore next Wednesday for a holiday and wanted to find out more about Singapore and where they could get certain stuff.

We arrived at the road her property is on at 6.30pm but decided not to go to their place til 6.45pm.

They had a nice, cosy house which I noticed wasn't that neat and tidy but that made me feel really welcomed. It's just that homes that are too immaculate makes me very uncomfortable and I feel I can't be myself. Clean is another matter altogether and their house was clean.

We settled down to dinner some time later to gnochi (think its spelt this way) and spaghetti sauce. The sauce was yummy but I wasn't used to the taste of gnochi. I thought it was very doughy. =P

The chocolate cake dessert they served afterwards was very yummy! Very delicious and sinful! Looks fit to be in a restaurant. Really divine!

All through dinner, our conversation just flowed easily. We talked about a whole range of things, from each of our holidays - we to Hongkong, Taipei, Vietnam, Cambodia, Kathy and Pete to Italy and Greece.

We also talked about how some people in town never have a desire to travel overseas or out of town and think of people who have such a desire as weird. About people who depend so much on welfare, that their kids have never seen a day of their parents working, never know what hard work means.

About the Australian government, about kids and the support they need from their parents, of a boy in Phill's class whom Phill thinks is the smartest but gets no support from his single mother who cares more about her boyfriend whom she changes from time to time (I wondered where he gets his motivation from since children gets their most motivation from family, from the fact their family believe they can do it, they can do their best).

About so many other different things that it was so good to be on the same wavelength and share the excitement of their impending travels to Singapore as we talked about Singapore's Banana Leaf restaurant and the fish head curry, eating on banana leaves, the elephant rides at the zoo, the different kinds of yummy local food, durians which Pete eats (I always find it a thrill when a non-Southeast Asian likes durians), and us scratching our heads to tell Pete where they could get good laksa.

I always enjoy sharing experiences with people who truly want to experience another country's culture when they travel rather than those who ask where the western food places are or where the good Chinese food are (unless you're in China!). I can understand if we eat some of this for part of the trip but not the entire trip!!!! I once knew someone who would rather eat Chinese food no matter where he is, Paris, London, wherever??!!!

Anyway, we finally left their place at 11pm after several false starts cos the conversation was so good that everytime we tried to take our leave, we'll launch into another topic to talk about. I must say, I enjoyed the evening.

Handicapped without my car

I called the panel beater today and they said my car is still not ready. It was supposed to be ready yesterday. After fixing the new left rear door, they painted the car but was not happy cos it wasn't a good match of red. So he said he's going to try to do it again and match the colours up.
Its been difficult for me without my car. I've been limiting my interviews to those within walking distance. I feel so handicapped, so lethargic and sian.....I look forward to when I get my car back.

When?

Took a day off!

I took time-off today to spend some time with phill before his school holidays end. We went to Shepparton for a spot of shopping and lunch at Moroopna golf club which serves yummy chinese food. Phill had honey chicken and I had beef in black bean sauce.

We then went around the bookshops and he bought a few books on military tanks and aeroplanes but he was initially hesitant about it. Seeing that these books are usually what are considered specialist books, if you spot a good one, its best to buy it cos there have been instances when Phill couldn't find a book that he saw sometime ago. They're not that easy to find or re-order cos of the limited quantity printed or imported.

It was good to spend time with him and the hours just flew by.

Cute Babe!

Phill and I left Nick's place at 9.30am to make our way to Glen Waverly train station to meet Brad. Today was a day we were finally going to see Mariel and Brad and their new baby, Megan, after almost 3 years. Megan was born earlier this year and besides photos that were sent to us, we didn't have an opportunity to see her face-to-face.

When we finally arrived at Mariel and Brad's place (which is a really homely and beautiful home with a nice yard and pool too!!!), i went to Megan, smiled and she stretched out her arms to me. This was something Mariel said she did very rarely. Boy, was I smitten! She won my heart!

And for the rest of the afternoon, the four of us and Megan catched up with what we've been doing and all. As always with good friends and good company, the hours pass so quickly.

In our conversations, Mariel and Brad mentioned that Mariel's brother, Chris, had an apartment in the city center on the 22nd floor. Our eyes grew big! =P They offered to take us there and show us around the apartment. So we hopped into their new car, a Mazda (and a beautiful red like mine), and they took us to the asian grocery store in the city first so that I could buy my wok and then to Chris' apartment. We wouldn't have been able to do that if not for Mariel and Brad who generously asked us where we needed to be and took us there.

Chris' apartment is beautiful with nice views that stretched far and wide. Phill, who doesn't like apartment living, said that if we lived in the city, it'll be the apartment we'll stay in. The place has really good security, the apartment was a good size and just everything felt like one was on holiday.

All too soon, we had to say our goodbyes at Spencer St train station and we left hoping that the next time we see them would not be another 3 years. In the train on our trip back to Benalla, Phill and I couldn't stop talking about Megan, her half-smiles, her big smiles, her love for food, and how cute and adorable she is. I'm sure we'll miss her!

Melbourne Show!!!

We woke up fairly later than what we intended and for breakfast, Nick made us Mee Siam from the Prima Deli sauce packs created by a Singapore company. Boy, the taste was so similar that I think I'll go on a crazy buying spree the next time I go back home. I've read about these packs before but was not interested to buy cos usually these sauce packs taste nothing like the real thing. But this Prima Deli packs were very, very close to the real thing. Yum! Yum!

By the time we left Nick's place and arrived at the Melbourne Show, it was past 1pm. We walked around the entire place and it was packed full of people! Considering it was the 2nd last day of the Show, I thot there might be fewer people but too bad, it wasn't so.

After walking around trying to find some attractive showbags I could buy, nothing came up so we decided to sink our teeth into some yummy jam doughnuts that Nick recommended we try at the show.













That is greedy me with my hot chocolate in one hand and one of the 6 doughnuts we had in the other - yummy! Initially, I told Phill to buy just one to see if its any good and he said "no, we'll order half a dozen" and true enough it was yummy, extremely sensational! And we finished the 6 doughnuts - no probs at all! ;O)

We continued walking and definitely didn't appreciate the attitude of some people around, especially some parents with their strollers. They seem to have the attitude that cos they're parents with babies, they have the right of way, so they'll rush ahead of you, or hit your ankles with the prams or stop in the middle of road to look at the showbags, causing a human traffic jam without thinking about moving to the side of the path. It was highly irritating and it reminded me of how some people in Singapore walk. That's why I hate crowds.

Phill and I then decided to take a ride on the ferris wheel. Whooppeee! It was fun. It went really fast for some time then stop at different levels cos they were letting more people on. At one point, we were the highest car on the wheel and it was a little scary and windy....brrrrr! But it was fun!















Pics of Phill and I taken during our ferris wheel ride. It was fun and I was glad I could share it with him too! (the jacket I'm wearing in the pics is actually Phill's jacket which he gallantly offered to me to wear even though it was quite cold that afternoon. Thank God for a wonderful husband!)

Bird's Eye View - Other pics of the showgrounds taken when I was in the ferris wheel. Otherwise, if I've tried to take pics on the ground, it'll only be just bodies and faces of strangers, very difficult to get a pic with a perspective of the place.














We finally lef the show at 4.30pm and went back to Nick's place. We were just in time to watch the last 2 mins of the grand final match between Sydney Swans and West Coast Eagles. And....Sydney won!!! Darn, we should have taken a pic with Paul Roos yesterday, the 2005 premiership coach!!!! =P

We also spent abit of time with Yoogie and Wa-wa. Interestingly enough, Phill kept calling Yoogie, Ooshi-don (sounds like another japanese dish). And I kept laughing, hitting him and correcting him. But I admit I'm a little scared of Yoogie, the beagle, cos he's big and fairly playful so he likes to jump on people. And cos I'm so short, his jumping up scares me. Wa-wa, the cocker spaniel, on the other hand, is gentle and very manja so I love to pet her and sayang her. She's very cute and very pregnant, due to give birth soon but she doesn't look as lethargic as most pregnant dogs I've seen.

When Nick came back home from an afternoon's work at his uni during their open day, we made our way to Squire's Loft to have a yummy steak dinner. It was one of the most beautiful steak dinners Phill and I ever had. Tantalising, yummy, unbelievably tender yet cooked! Definitely steaks worth salivating over. We enjoyed that meal and the Boost juices Nick treated us to later on. I had an all berry drink and Phill had banana rush or something like that. Yummy!

Shortly after arriving home, Phill and I went to bed, exhaused from a really fulfilling day!

Sports Celebrity spotted

Making our way to Melbourne, Phill and I took a 2.5 hour train ride from Benalla to Melbourne and arrived at 10.30am at Spencer St train station. After leaving our bags at one of the the station's lockers, we set off on the day's journey shopping! We wanted to go to the Melbourne Show today but decided we'll do it tomorrow instead cos Friday is late night shopping and it makes more sense to do our city shopping today.

However, our accidental celebrity spotting for the day begun when we first arrived in Melbourne and crossing the road from Spencer St train station, we saw Paul Roos who is the coach for the Sydney Swans footy team. He had just stepped out of Gloria Jean Coffee and was smsing on his mobile while standing outside Gloria Jean's. While we were walking past, Phill said, "Good Luck, Paul". And he replied "Yeah, thanks". I was really surprised how tall he was and slim too. On tv he looked abit short and plump. And I've always thot he was cute.... =P

The Sydney Swans will play the West Coast Eagles tomorrow in the grand final match. They have not won the premiership since 72 years ago so they are the sentimental favourites to take the trophy.



Coach of the Sydney Swans Footy Team, Paul Roos







After that bit of celebrity spotting, Phill and I had our first Mcdonalds meal in ages, we shared a quarter pounder meal cos we were going to have lunch later. It was yummy!!! After walking a few bookshops, we then decided to have katsu-don for lunch instead of dim sum. The katsu-don was delicious and reminded us of Tamako (Thomson Road) in Singapore. We were glad that the japanese place we went to served such good food cos it was more of a wild guess since we never ate japanese in melbourne before.

Phill bought a few stuff for his tank modelling and at about 6pm, we met my cousin, Nicholas at South Yarra station. Together with his friend, Alvin, they were there with Nick's two dogs - Yoogie (think its spelt this way) and Wa-wa.

When we arrived at his apartment which was not too far from the train station and so very convenient, we sat around, talked and more of Nick's friends joined us later at the apartment. Alvin and Derek were Singaporeans. Seng was Australia-Vietnamese but Teochew like I am. Lynn is Malaysian. We went and had dinner at Ocean Pacific (I think that's the name), a Chinese restaurant at South Yarra, and the food we ate reminded me of Chinese food back home. We had chicken ribs, beef and asparagus, duck, char siew, spare ribs and vegetables. It all came up to $15 per person which was reasonable considering the exorbitant prices of Chinese food here.

The day thus ended pretty well, with quite a few good buys and yummy food! It feels good to be in the city for shopping and food once in a while.

Progress on renting our place

When we told Steve our interest in renting his place, he said he'll let us have it cos the builder who wanted it hadn't sent in an application for the place yet. So this morning, I sent in our application for the house and we're hoping we hear from the real estate agent soon. Just so we could begin preparations for the house. Yeah!!! We might soon have a place to call our own for a while!

Thinking...

Lying in bed last nite, I suddenly remembered how important it is to be literate because of what was said at the St Vincent de Paul meeting I had to cover last week.

The regional president talked about one elderly woman whom he spoke to who asked him why food companies couldn't put pictures like they used to, instead of words, on their cans and boxes because she couldn't read. I realise how much this must affect her not knowing what to buy, without even delving into the issue of choosing one brand over the other, and made me wonder why there wasn't a friend or a family member to help her.

Such a mundane activity like shopping in a supermarket must feel like a minefield to her.

Planting Strawberries...yummy!

I came back from church and found my husband busily preparing the bed to plant strawberries. I still am amazed at his interest in plants and in gardening cos that's a side I never knew existed before our marriage. I like this side of him and happy to help him out but still draw the line at putting my hands in the soil cos I'm afraid of the worms.....eek!

I believe its the thought of tasting our very own sweet strawberries that has made him eager to plant strawberries. And I'm happy and can't wait for them! Talk about a gardener's joy!

Pic below was taken before we put on the chicken wire fence around it to stop the multitude of rabbits we have on the land.













And above, my husband gamely posed for me while he was getting the fence around the plot of land where we'd planted our strawberries.

Houses for rent?

Phill and I looked at a couple of houses today cos we're thinking of moving out of my in laws place one day, which I suppose will be sooner once we find the right place. Its not good for us to impose on them for too long. =P

We saw 5 houses in all, including one house that Steve is trying to rent out. Of all the houses, we liked Steve's house the best and we'll probably look into moving in there if all things work out cos there is someone who was previously interested in Steve's house and he was going to get back to Steve soon.

*fingers crossed*

Sore

Boy, last evening's exercise session seems tough. I still can't balance at all on those big gym balls and need more training. But cos we do more floor work with the abs, back and butt, when it comes time for our circuit training, I feel more tired than when I first started.

I think our instructor has raised the difficulty level. But its fun and not competitive in the sense of "let's try and outdo each other" so I enjoy each lesson. But there's no classes for the next 2 weeks cos its school holidays and the instructor is going to Queensland. Lucky him!

In the meantime, I gotta try and put in more time to exercise..... =P

Yeah, its the weekend and I look forward to catching up on my sleep....zzzzz!

Attending A St Vinnies meeting

I attended a St Vinnies meeting at St Mary's Hall last night. St Vinnies is what Australia calls St Vincent de Paul. I had to cover the meeting cos the regional president wanted to help revive the local group which has not been active for about 18 months.

While sharing his experiences of working with single mothers, older folks and drug addicts among many others, he said something that struck me. He told those who attended that usually when people approach St Vinnies for help, it may seem that their needs are material but he says that as long as they keep talking, you'll find out what their real need is, whether it'll be help that a single mother needed or an old folk that wants some company. He said sometimes all they want is somebody to talk to.

He mentioned one particular lady who gets a bus ride to the grocery store every thursday from her home and was quite a talkative lady. But he said she was so talkative because she only gets to meet other people once a week when she is ferried to the supermarket but for the rest of the week, she is alone at home and don't have anyone else to talk to. This reminded me to be sensitive and patient even if someone seems overly talkative.

Suddenly I remember one particular church member who seems to talk on endlessly and I find it difficult most of the time to end the conversation. Maybe she doesn't have someone to talk to because even though she is a young married lady, she does not work and is alone at home when her husband is working. I will remember to try and spend more time listening to her.

Melbourne Show! Yipppeeee!

The Royal Melbourne Show begins on thursday and Phill and I are going next friday! We're heading to Melbourne and staying over at my cousin, Nick's place. We'll get to see his dogs which would be great. I miss having a dog and hope we'll get one soon.

I've been to the show twice - once was when I was at uni in Churchill and the other time was 2 years ago. The 2nd trip I had to persuade Phill to go cos he was not very keen. But we went and had a ball of a time!!!

We bought a game ticket and won a huge toy animal which drew stares from everyone cos they thot we won it the hard way. Actually, we just bought a card full of numbers and one of our numbers came up on a big board the stall had, so we could choose any toy we wanted. That was the only game in the entire show we played and we won! We were quite happy for the rest of the day.

That day, we also chanced upon a stall that sold alot of wigs, dress-up stuff and an afro wig caught phill's eye. He was hesitant about buying it but after walking away from that stall and then coming back to it again, I told him to buy it. He did and has gotten alot out of it, wearing it for concerts, disco parties at his school, and for a laugh. I believe he's on the hunt for other stuff he could buy to wear at his next school concert. His kids love the afro wig! =O)

DownFall

Phill and I watched the German movie "Downfall" today at 5pm at the Swanpool cinema. Its an old 1950's cinema but well-maintained. We read and heard alot about this movie and being the history, esp war history, buff that he is, phill was very keen to watch it and so was i.

Before the movie, I was apprehensive that the movie would paint a sympathetic picture of Hitler and it would be hard to hate him even after the atrocities he had done to so many Jews (interestingly enough, Hitler does have Jewish blood and not the pure Aryan, which is actually the bloodline the Indian race comes from, race he thot he was).

I love the movie and could watch it again and there were moments when I found myself sympathising with Hitler and the pressure he was under as the Fuhrer but the next moment, I couldn't believe some of the things he did and said. To him, his civilians were secondary to his victory and his plans did not include considering their welfare or their evacuation from Berlin which was increasingly becoming dangerous and un-livable. To him, the best men were dead and all that was left were not good enough.

One of his senior men, Joseph Goebbels, went to the extent of saying the German people had exercised their mandate and placed them in power, thereby justifying their callousness towards their own people. It made me think we should really be careful about who we vote in power. This man, Joseph and his wife, Magda, went on to poison their 6 children because they couldn't forsee them living in a world where there was no national socialism, as Berlin was set to crumble beneath the advancing Soviet forces. Later, they killed themselves too.






The Beautiful Goebbels Children who were poisoned.

At the end of the movie, they gave an update on all the major characters of the movie and some were executed after the Nuremburg trials, some survived the years of Soviet captivity while some died while in captivity.

I cried when I read that one SS doctor, Prof. Dr. Werner Haase, died 10 years after the war while still in Soviet captivity. He wasn't a combatant, just a doctor saving lives but still suffered the punishment for being part of the German army.

What I thot was also poignant was at the end, the actual secretary of Hitler, Frau Junge from whose eyes the movie was told, was interviewed. And she said that initially she thot that she was not to blame for the atrocities done to Jews cos she was not aware of it and did not order it but once she walked past a headstone and saw that a Jewish girl who was around her age had died in the war, she felt that one could find out such things if only we bother to do so. In essence, I believe what she was saying was if everyone of us is responsible for doing what is right when we see injustice being done.

An IMDB review of the movie:
"In April of 1945, Germany stands at the brink of defeat with the Russian Army closing in from the east and the Allied Expeditionary Force attacking from the west. In Berlin, capitol of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler proclaims that Germany will still achieve victory and orders his Generals and advisers to fight to the last man. "Downfall" explores these final days of the Reich, where senior German leaders (such as Himmler and Goring) began defecting from their beloved Fuhrer, in an effort to save their own lives, while still others (Joseph Goebbels) pledge to die with Hitler. Hitler, himself, degenerates into a paranoid shell of a man, full of optimism one moment and suicidal depression the next. When the end finally does comes, and Hitler lies dead by his own hand, what is left of his military must find a way to end the killing that is the Battle of Berlin, and lay down their arms in surrender."

Cute Lab Pups!

We woke up unusually early this morning, no idea why since its a Saturday but I guess its all the early mornings we have in the week that when it comes to the weekend, your body nudges you awake, naturally.

At about 9.30am after having breakfast and helping phill stick some stickers on his kids homework so he could write comments and grade them for their work, we decided to go to the Violet Town market. Its a market most country towns have once a month and there are handicraft stalls, candy, ice-cream, 2nd-hand wares, socks, clothes, eggs, honey, sausage stands, and quite alot of stuff to see, eat and buy.

To me, the best is the Violet Town market, which is about 50 minutes drive away.

And today, it got better when we saw 3 cute chocolate labrador pups. Apparently, chocolate lab pups are not as common as black and beige ones. They also had unusually blue eyes when most labradors have brown eyes. They were on sale, for $450 each, which is very expensive in Australia. Phill said owners of labradors are usually very picky about where their pups go because they want to make sure the dogs go to a good home. And cos this couple was selling their pups, it is most probably more for the money than anything else cos I was telling him maybe we could buy one pup and I could bargain with them....heehee! And I was thinking of paying them $1 just to pat the pups for a while but phill laughed and gave me the "I think you're silly" look.

I wish we could have 1 or maybe 2, or really, 3, just so they weren't all be so lonely but right now, we don't have the cash or the time to take care of them and it won't be fair.

But I sure can't stop thinking of them.

One of the most difficult interviews are...

...with people who have just lost a loved one.

I had to interview the wife of a man who passed away on September 2. He had suffered from motor neurone disease for 18 years and died at the age of 51.

After talking to her and learning more about the deceased, I could not help but feel abit teary myself.

One lesson I took away with me from that interview was to spend time talking with my hubby. She said that because of the disease that inflicted her husband, he spent alot of time sitting and they were able to just sit and chat 3-4 hours each day for the past 18 years. So she was thankful for that and she added that we don't always have to be right.

I am keeping that advice and learning to be more sensitive to phill and to look at him through "new eyes".

Benalla West School Concert

I left work about 45 mins earlier today to drive to Benalla and meet Phill to arrange the repairs for my dear car, have dinner and head to the Benalla Performing Arts Centre to watch his school concert which he is a part of too.

The concert performances were done by different classes and the little prep kids were so cute. In the first item, there was a front row of 4 little gals with their poms-poms and guess who they looked at to know what to do? The littlest gal of them all. She was so cute counting the beat and then moving her pom-poms out and then in.

In another item, kids talked about the virtues of eating vegetables and sang a song that went something like:
"eat your vegetables,
eat your vegetables,
they may be disgusting but
eat your vegetables,
crunch, crunch, crunch".

When it came to phill's item, he was "Alan Afro" a talkshow host interviewing a group, made up of all the kids in his class, about the 1970s food trends in Australia such as the barbi (bbq). He was quite funny and I couldn't be any prouder. *beaming*

A Lamb, Post-mortem

I was thinking perhaps I should try and include more of the interesting stories I have to write in the course of work. One of those happened this morning where I had to go to a farm, about 15 mins drive from where I live for an information session on Ovine Johne's Disease (OJD). Its a wasting disease that inflicts sheep, especially merino sheep.

Anyway, the "exciting" part of the event was a post-mortem on a lamb and the vet officer was telling all the farmers how they could tell their lambs was diseased cos the gut would be opaque and not translucent.








As the vet officer sliced open the lamb, I was surprised the smell wasn't too off-putting. It could be that I got used to it when I entered the sheep barn earlier for the talk on OJD.

After taking the pics I needed for my article, I moved onto another spot where a new vaccination device was being explained. That I found gruesome cos a farmer was explaining how sheep could be vaccinated and every time he jabbed the needle into a sheep, it will shrink its head. That poor thing. I couldn't bear to see too much of that, took my pics, and headed back to the office.

Searching for a place at night is no joke!

I had to cover a public meeting held at Bonnie Doon last night, about 15mins drive away. After my exercise class which I joined several weeks ago, I had a quick dinner of chicken souvlaki (yum!) and I proceeded to drive there.

But since I've never been to the town before or the recreation reserve where the meeting was held, I was quite nervous. I was given directions but not sure how to recognise what a cutting was (apparently a stretch of road carved into a hill). So, I turned into wrong sections of road and had to swerve sharply into one when I thot it was the right turning.

Turned out it was wrong.

Anyway, it was hellish but after asking for directions from 2 people, I finally managed to work out where it was but was 10 mins late. And I started off early leaving Mansfield at 7pm. Arrrgghh!

I hope over time, I would be more familiar with these areas and it'll not be quite so scary for me.

Happy Father's Day!

It is Father's Day today in Australia. In Singapore, its celebrated in June but I dun know why Australia celebrates it in Australia. I know it was Teacher's Day in Singapore too on 1 Sept but Australia has no Teacher's Day. Its only Christmas that Phill receives enough chocolates, biscuits and candy to last his entire 5 week holiday and comments from his colleagues about how much weight he has put on in the new school term - I can never tell.

We bought my dad-in-law a gift and Phill bot the card and wrote really nice things in the card and it was from my mum-in-law, phill and I.

No pavlova though cos it wasn't his birthday.....what a shame! =P

Disgraceful!

Disgraceful how the residents of New Orleans and Mississippi seemed to have been abandoned by their president who in a TV interview seem to be restraining a smile while answering a question about why help was not speedy enough to help his people.

Disgraceful how it seemed George Bush continued holidaying after visiting the people in New Orleans.

Disgraceful how there wasn't enough vehicles in the rescue efforts at New Orleans cos most were in Iraq.

Disgraceful how this was not planned and that it was a reactive effort rather than a standby plan that should have kicked in immediately after the devastation caused by the hurricane.

Another disgraceful racist act was by Associated Press who had the cheek to name the African-American youth who was carrying bread and water "a looter" but called a white couple, "residents" who found the items. Same actions, two different interpretations.

Were those in New Orleans and Mississippi forgotten? It looks like.

***
Afternote: Read this article and apparently the 2 photos are from 2 different wire agencies and my accusation of Associated Press (AP) is wrong cos a reader comment in this article says that AP names everyone, white, black or yellow, looters. The other photo of a white couple is from AFP/Getty Images and not AP as I had said earlier.

A wild goose chase

I had to drive about 15 mins out of my office to go to a resident's house to take a pic of her golden wattle tree. With her instructions, I made my way there but lost my way and tried calling her several times from my mobile phone but couldn't get through to her.

I called my colleagues at work andafter getting myself on the correct road, I stopped by what seemed like the right house but it was so quiet and 2 small dogs were staring at me. I tried calling the resident again to no avail.

Finally, she picked up about 30 mins after my 1st attempt earlier and halfway through putting me on the right road, my mobile was cut off. I had no more value in my prepaid SIM card. Deciding to try and find her house, I drove through pretty rough road, too rough for my nice little car and finally came to a path which had water running through it. It was then I decided to turn back and when I arrived back at the office, I still couldn't reach her.

I give up.

1st day of SPRING!

Its the first day of spring but by all counts, I still feel its winter which means its cold...brrrr! *shiver*