I’m not a fan of Amazon. Never have been. Never will. Add to that, Uber and other platforms that invariably, force us in some way or another, to have no choice in using them or be physically, and virtually, isolated. A few months ago, for a lark to see how it works (and the question […]
Recurring Dream: Locating My Room in a Corridor
I’ve been having this recurring dream for a while and I wonder why. I’m always either at one of three places. The Australian Defence Force Academy (which is a place I used to work at); Monash University Biochemistry Labs or a hotel that I’m staying at and I need to check out to catch a […]
McClelland Sculpture Park
Last week I visited the McClelland Sculpture Park in Langwarrin Melbourne. It’s a great place to spend a morning or afternoon wandering the grounds and looking at the various modern art sculptures that interact with the elements. Looking at art – any art – opens the mind into a curious and inquisitive state. I was […]
New Book Review: Body Friend by Katherine Brabon
I’m a member of my local library’s book club and over the last few months or so, I haven’t enjoyed the books that were chosen for us. However, I guess that’s why we have book clubs. We don’t always need to love the book we read. Instead, if it inspires thought provoking conversation or changes […]
A Nothing Day
Today was a weird blah day. I guess we all have days like this. It’s Tuesday. This means it’s my day of French class which I eagerly look forward to but for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to leave the house. I was feeling under the weather. My stomach was sore (it didn’t help […]
La Surprise de l’Amour
Yesterday afternoon I headed into Carlton for an afternoon at a French theatre. I had arrived early and drove down Rathdowne Street, somewhere I hadn’t been in years. I parked the car in Canning Street which had a great view of the Melbourne skyline. The theatre was in the corner of this street and as […]
A Little Bit of Japan 🇯🇵
I count myself lucky to be living in a multicultural city that is well known for its foodie and cultural scenes. Today I decided to drive ten minutes down the road to the suburb of Clayton. Clayton Road is full of Asian restaurants and cafes. Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, it’s all here. I’ve never tasted […]
Uneasy
I used to say, “I’ll never understand how the world got itself to the point of World War II happening.” Now I know. I’m not going to lie. Every night when I see the horror happening in Palestine and how, despite countries condemning Israel through words alone, I’m at a loss trying to understand my […]
Embarrassing Job
Now that I don’t work, I come across people who are still working and hear some horror stories of what is happening in their place of work. A few have mentioned to me that they’re simply “going through the motions”. There has also been a couple who (once they found out what I used to […]
Clingy Cat
Meet Pud. He’s our cat and he’s about 10 years old (I don’t know what that is in cat years but I think he’d be middled aged.) I love him so much. He’s my little buddy who keeps me company and who follows me around. My constant companion. Unfortunately he’s been sick these last couple […]
There’s No Such Thing As Job Loyalty Anymore
I’ve lost track of how many times my friends and family have been talking about how “things have changed in the workplace since COVID”. All of them comment how work is now uncontrollable in the sense they cannot get on top of things due to constant change, technology issues or just keeping up with day […]
Pharoah Exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria
Last Friday a friend and I headed to the National Gallery of Victoria to see the Pharoah Exhibition which is on until October this year. After having an initial heart attack at the entry price of the ticket $34, we headed in and were in awe of what we saw. The exhibit was in two […]
Indoor Skydiving
This morning we headed off to Essendon Fields, an area near the airport that has airfield and various hangars that are now a bustling retail precinct. I had bought a voucher for Andrew to experience indoor skydiving but as he had a frozen shoulder for most of the year, he couldn’t use it. Now that […]
Visit to Cape Patterson
We headed off for home this morning from Inverloch and just about the time we were to leave, we saw the kangaroos outside our room! They’re cute to watch but I wouldn’t suggest going near them in case they kick and scratch you which could be lethal. A short four minute trip by car, we […]
Trip to Inverloch
Dinner was delicious and it was a chance to just chat, enjoy the meal and make plans for when Andrew will stop work and retire in exactly 82 weeks. (He’s counting down the days 🤣). Our plan then is to do more of these short trips around Victoria, also travel around Australia and the world […]
New Book Haul
I bought some new books that were on a sale at Dymocks which is a book seller here in Australia. As a member of their Book Club, there’s various events and discounts for their members at certain times of the year so it was time to stock up on some Shirley Jackson and John Williams […]
Visit to Bastille Day French 🇫🇷 Festivities at the Queen Victoria Market
What a glorious sunny Melbourne winter’s day! Today I decided to head into town to see the French 🇫🇷 Bastille Day winter markets at the Queen Victoria Market. I hadn’t been there in many years so I was keen to see how the place had evolved. It’s usually quite busy on market days with the […]
Visiting Monash University’s Ukrainian Exhibition
Today I went back to Monash University. I visited there recently for a bit of a walk around but this time around, I met up with my good friend of over 37 years, MK who used to study Geology while I studied Chemistry. Since then, she went into Education (while I had joined the Navy […]
Baking the Japanese Cotton Cheesecake
It’s fair to say that I’ve gone a bit “Crazy for Japan”. Train travel, capsule hotels, souffle pancakes you name it. It’s a place I’d like to visit but for now, I just have to contend with making my own learning experiences. Today was raining all day and I didn’t leave the house. Andrew was […]
Travelling Around Japan By Train
I love YouTube. When you can’t travel for real, there’s always a YouTuber who has travelled the journey you want to go on so you can travel in the comfort of your own home – an in your PJs. I stumbled upon the channel called Kuga Travel where he travels on trains. He doesn’t speak […]