Year of the Dog

Gong Xi Fa Cai everyone, welcome to the Year of the Dog. I'm hoping that this means that my dog Chi'na is somewhat lucky as apart from being canine, she's also a shar pei, which is a Chinese breed. Hence the variation of her name (which we didn't give her, by the way).

Spent Australia Day atop a ferry, though had to wake up at 5am for this privilege (which looks wrong for some reason, though I'm sure I've spelt it correctly). It was the last hurrah for the Sydney Festival, sailing around the harbour for the NAB Ferrython. Led by Anna, a small team of us - Kristal, Gla, Jen, Jo and I - decorated the exterior of the small cruise ship with festival banners and the interior with Sydney Festival posters and then settled down to watch the race, had a nice lunch from the buffet provided (and too many brownies, in my case) before disembarking at Circular Quay at 2pm.

Gla dropped me to my car at Beecroft, during which time Amy called to say hello and catch up. It sounds like her little Amelia is growing up so I think I'll try and make a trip up there one of these days - she's moved back in with her mum at the cabin property (Woodlands Country Stay), which would be a nice break. Unfortunately she says she didn't receive my Christmas package because she moved so she's going to have 'words' with the post office about their redirection service.

I had the option of going to Glo's Australia Day BBQ but was way too buggered from my early start to drive so ended up wasting the rest of the day watching the cricket on TV and having a nap. I even missed Triple J's hottest 100 but someone told me it was just as well b'cos Wolfmother had three songs in the top 10 or something. I don't know, I've never heard a Wolfmother song b'cos I just don't listen to the radio any more, save FBi 94.5 on the way to and from the train station, which is a whole 16 min round trip once or twice a week.

Had a pretty good weekend, though. After a 'domestic Saturday' morning, cleaning the house I went out with Sireesha, Kristen and Anne to the Chinese New Year gigs on at Belmore Park and Chinatown. Most of our time consisted of battling kids in the children's activity marquee so we could get our face painted (only Sireesha managed before the table was given over to balloon dog making), paint a good luck sign, decorate a paper fan, stencil dragons and stick crepe blossoms on cherry blossom pictures. Then we headed over to Dixon Street for the markets, got sidetracked by the bakery (I love Chinese bakeries and anything with custard in it), regretted eating bakery goods when we discovered many and varied culinary delights further up the row and browsed some of the stalls.

I had to go home for Chinese New Year dinner at my aunt's place, which was well-attended by the usual people, including my German cousin Sonja who finally decided to grace us with her presence after 4 years of refusing our invitations. She hasn't changed much. I expected her to be more mature but she's still a bit snide and insecure? arrogant? dismissive?

Yesterday I met Stuart in Chinatown to go back to the food stalls that I'd missed but we ended up waiting ages for takoyaki (which is Japanese, actually - I consider the Chinese and Japanese are even now after the 'Memoirs of a Geisha' casting bunfight) when Stuart had previously pointed out the permanent establishment (Sussex Seafood & Grill), which had no lines. But then I had a custard pancake and all was well.

The purpose of our excursion was to go to the aquarium, which was pretty cool but expensive ($27 for adults, though I provided a buy-one-get-one-free voucher). The aquarium was pretty packed, though - dozens of families at every tank and exhibit, which made things uncomfortable because I don't like crowds and the whole place is enclosed. At least at the zoo there's more space and you can always find a spot to get away from prams that ram your ankles and tiny kids outside your vertical periphery who like to run into you. The underwater viewing tanks are the best bits. The Oceanarium, where they keep the sharks, was pretty impressive, though I was a bit miffed that I didn't get to see any of the big turtles. I liked the Barrier Reef tank the best, just for the aesthetics.

Afterwards Stuart and I hung around the Central / Chinatown area making fun of the contents of Morning Glory stores and ducking into Paddy's Markets just before it closed before going to Belmore Park to lay around and vege before I had to go home. We have a healthy emotional and physical relationship, but I'm a bit concerned about the fact that I have very little intellectual engagement with him. I'm not sure whether it's a matter of the age gap between us or our differing education or just a reluctance on his part to interact intellectually but I don't think we can go beyond a certain point without this element. I was going to bring it up with him directly but I ended up practically lecturing him on the fact that he can't save money despite the fact that he's been working 4 days a week for a few weeks, including a few Sundays/public holidays.

I'm seeing him tomorrow for our usual Tuesday rendezvous (after the 2nd rebooked waxing appointment) and maybe even Wednesday if we can find the energy to go to the zoo. Tomorrow night is also the end of festival volunteer drinks, which should be fun. I'll have to remember to bring my camera.

Bit concerned about my dad at the moment. He's been moping around as usual, currently addicted to Sudoku and the quick crossword, and it hasn't been made any easier by my hogging the PC for work (more about that later). Today he actually went out to the golf course to see his friends (he can't play golf - his only true hobby - because of his injuries), which I thought was at least a nice excursion for him.

As for work, I've currently lent my soul to marketing by agreeing to enter data onto SEO (search engine optimisation) sites. It's straightforward and very repetitive work so I can't go for more than 30-60 mins at a time without going insane but it's bringing me a bit of pocket money so that's a positive. Still seeking the perfect job... only one decent job from this week's trawl of the papers/websites but I've also decided to go for a publishing position I'm hugely overqualified for but that I really want. And am waiting for the call re: Marrickville Council. Will keep you posted.

I think that's it this week - bit of a mixed bag, but welcome to that thing between birth and death. You know, life.

P.S: How gorgeous is Roger Federer?