Wednesday 28 September 2005

Rubbish!

Sometimes the little things make me so angry. Like when cars push in from the right turning lane to go straight on Dacy ave; or when the supermarket discontinues my favourite brand of light chocolate icecreams; or that crappy Dancing with the Stars show runs late delaying All Saints.

This morning I very nearly lost it over garbage. I ventured down to the shared bins this morning to find not only had the bins been left on the street all week, but the recycling bins were crammed full of non-recyclable garbage - the lazy buggers couldnt even walk the 5 meters to put their garbage in the right bin! It's not that difficult - there are even pictures on the bins!!! And there are no magic bin fairies to put the bins out either - it would be nice if someone else did it once in a while!!! Grrrrr!!!!!!!

Rather than take the bags and dump them on the offenders doorstep (yes I know its you number 3!), I printed out 5 copies of the Randwick council waste management guidelines - highlighted the relevant bits - like the garbage day and which colour bin for which type of garbage - and posted one for each tenant. Now if that doesn't work I may just have to move.

Feels good to vent.

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Monday 26 September 2005

The view is great up here on the bandwagon!

Cheer cheer the red and the white...

In case you have been living under a rock - the Swannies won the AFL grand final on Saturday! And as a long term fair weather fan of the Swans (hey, I was born in Melbourne so I have it in my blood right?) I jumped onboard the bandwagon and headed down to Frap and Racheals place for an old fashioned Grand Final barbie (thanks guys!). Turned out to be a fantastic game too, very low scoring (58/54) and with a nail biting finish. It was almost as exciting as when SFF made it to the division 4B ultimate frisbee final!

...Honour the name, by day and by night;
Lift that noble banner high,
Shake down the thunder from the sky.
What though the odds be great, or small,
Swans will go in and win over all;
While her loyal sons are marching
Onward to Victory.

Tuesday 13 September 2005

Little Fish

Having kept 4 fish alive for around 4 months (even with us on holidays and with Leela constantly harrassing the others) I decided it was time to get a few more little buddies. After much deliberation I decided on a small school (4) of neon tetras. They are tiny little fish but glow neon blue and orange, a very colourful addition to the tank. They seem happy swimming around in a gang and keeping out of the way of the big fish. Hungry too, they seem to eat just as much as the barbs who are at least 5 times the size.

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Monday 12 September 2005

Monkeys in Malaysia

We did a number of different tours in Malaysia but the highlight was definetly our trip to Sandakan to see the Orang Utans and the Probiscus Monkeys. It also happened to be my birthday - thus creating a new tradition of birthday animal experiences.

We set off (very) early at 5:45 for a quick flight across Malaysia Borneo to Sandakan and then on to the Sepilok Orang Utan Centre. The centre rescues baby orang utans that are orphaned by clearing for plantations, nurses them back to health and releases them into the protected jungle sorounding it. Some Orang Utans will never become truly wild again, but some will eventually be transported back into remote jungle areas to boost numbers in the wild.

We watched the 10 o'clock feeding, where the keepers place bananas and suger cane on a platform for the semi-wild animals. We saw 8 Orang Utans including 2 babies on the day which was apparently a good show up. There was also heaps of cheeky macaques who would sneak up and steal the food when the keepers were not looking, then fight each other for the takings. Brent and I were mesmerised by the antics of the Orang Utans and the Macaques and took heaps of photos and had to be dragged away to get on the bus.


Mother and child, hanging around

Note the Macaques watching for falling bananas



Macaque come down to say ello

After a delicious lunch at an old colonial house overlooking the harbour we set off again, by boat this time, in search of the probiscus (long nosed) monkey. After about a 45 minute trip past endless mangroves and the occasional stilt village we slowed for some monkey spotting. Didn't take long to find some, and where there was one there were usually others as they hang out in harem and bachelor groups. Had to be quick though as once they got wind of us they would leap from their vantage point in the trees to cover in the undergrowth. We also spotted kites and other birds as well as the odd macaque.

There are photos here if you want more of a monkey fix.

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Monday 5 September 2005

Photos

I was intending on writting a bit about our holiday to go with the photos but I am still in holiday mode and couldn't be bothered right now. So in the mean time here they are:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alisons/sets

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