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| Monday, June 25, 2007 |
| Touchdowned! |
It is warm and humid in Singapore. Just perfectly warm and humid. I have been here since 5.15 local time - almost three hours - and, having settled into the hotel & decided the restaurant isn't offering anything I want to eat, I now find myself bored enough to want to be wandering but not brave enough to wander about alone. So far I have met a pair of tailors who want to sell me a custom-made suit, one of whom was quite happy to instigate a ten-minute conversation about Adelaide. So I am sitting in a tiny little shop across the courtyard from the hotel, having paid my two Singapore dollars for half an hour of internet access, and feeling terribly bold for being out of the hotel ON MY OWN - in direct contravention of my mother's instructions, which were to catch a taxi straight to the hotel & go to my room & stay there. Well, alright, I might be exaggerating a little tiny bit on the last part, but it was definately implied. Half my problem - aside from being justifiably cautious about wandering the streets of a foreign country as an unaccompanied woman - is that I just plain don't know where to go! I'm well acquainted with my substandard ability to navigate in an unknown landscape, and I don't particularly fancy finding myself down a dark alley at night without any idea which way to go to get back to the hotel. So, again, I'm sitting next to a shelf of Custard Cream biscuits (also available in Orange Cream and Banana Cream), typing general blather in an effort to take up a little more time before I give in and eat at the Nepalese restaurant a couple of doors down. The hotel opens on to a sort of court, you see, with a few little shops around the edges. The Nepalese restaurant has momos. Mmm, momos. What I really want is satays, but for satays I would need to find a satay stall - and I did mention the strong likelihood of becoming lost, didn't I.
The flight across was smooth and pleasant, and I sat by the window. Next to me were a mother-and-son travelling together: Kosta and Doula. No prizes for guessing where they were headed. They were friendly and nice and chatty without being intrusive, and Kosta happily fetched my bag down from the overhead locker halfway through the flight. I had to fill out the immigration form four times on the way out of Adelaide - two got scrapped because I couldn't spell my own name, and one because I signed with the wrong signature. Idiot. There were no queues at immigration or customs, either on the departure or the arrival end. I caught a shuttle bus from the airport to the hotel, and my ENORMOUS SUITCASE almost didn't fit. I forgot my digital still camera - but I did remember to pack my digital video camera, which also takes still shots, so even though it doesn't have a flash I do still at least get to take some piccies.
Well - that's it for me for now, I think. Momo time, baby. |
posted by Ata @ 9:31 pm  |
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| Friday, June 15, 2007 |
| More on Moving |
Moving, travelling, and thinking about those two things takes up my whole mind lately.
The spare-room bed has been sold, which leaves the room strangely empty - thus allowing us to do the furniture-shifting required to paint a house whilst living in it. The application is in, fingers crossed it comes back quickly.
Everyone we tell about moving gives a different response.
"Wow!" say actoring associates. "There'll be so many opportunities! It'll be great for your career!" (Ata's inner cynic points out that Ata has no career in anything - let alone acting - and that yet another half-trained barely-experienced actor is unlikely to find a warm reception anywhere, while Ata's outer polite person smiles and nods).
"Wow!" say itchy-footed adventure lovers. "Think of the travel you'll be able to do!" (Ata's inner cynic points out that they'll probably do as much travelling as they do in Australia... which, if it weren't for visiting family, would be Not Much, while Ata's own inner ever-hopeful adventure lover is gleeful at the thought)
"Wow!" say Ata's doctors, who seem suspiciously pleased with the thought of referring her elsewhere. "Well, I have a good friend in London... I'll refer you to him." (Ata's inner cynic wonders how much this good friend charges, and whether it will be a two-hour trip to get to his offices)
"Wow!" say professional working friends. "Fantastic! You'll earn great money, AND you get the exchange rate coming home!" (Yeah, says Ata's inner cynic. If we find work, and don't spend everything we earn on travelling - here, Ata's inner cynic casts a dirty look at Ata's inner adventure lover)
"Wow!" say the famiy-oriented. "Won't you miss your families? And friends? You won't know anyone!" (Outer-Ata usually points out that she can write emails to her family from overseas as easily as she can from inside Australia, and that she's moved enough times to know that making new friends isn't the end of the world. Ata's inner cynic has little to say here, aside from reminding Ata that it's taken her... about nine years to feel like she has made connections in Adelaide. Thanks, inner cynic.)
The most out-there response, however, has to go to a woman from Ata's current workplace.
"I heard you're moving to the UK!" she said, enthusiastically. "My friends did that! They hated it! They couldn't get work! The weather was awful! The food was dreadful! They couldn't make friends! They came home in three months!" Ata was completely lost for any kind of polite response. Smile and nod and "oh, really?" was all she could manage.
I am being annoying, I know. I am sorry. This is the six-month-out jitters, you see. This is how Ata gets just after she's heard about a planned move - nervous and tense and suddenly not sure if this is a good idea. Four months from now, that psychological separation phase will be over and she will be riding high on the "can't-wait-to-blow-this-joint" excitement. Really. Just wait and see. |
| posted by Ata @ 6:03 pm |
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| Wednesday, June 13, 2007 |
| Kookaburra Sits On the 'Lectric Wire |
Today, whilst waiting for the traffic to pause long enough for me to scurry across the road, I saw something that made me very happy.
A kookaburra.
Sitting on the powerlines.
I looked very closely, but couldn't make out any tears in it's eyes... and despite watching for some minutes, there was no sign of fire. Nor could I identify any clear indicators of gayness, in either the emotional or orientational sense. In fact, it looked downright disgruntled as it was eventually chased off by a flock of small, harrassing, noisy grey birds that I'm not 100% sure of the name of.
I was still grinning and humming to myself as I approached my desk.
"What's wrong with you?" asked KM, suspiciously. KM and LB sit opposite me at work. My current favourite moment of the day is when I tell KM how many days I have left until I go on holidays. That, and bringing back cupcakes from the bakery at lunchtime to eat in front of her.
"I just saw a kookaburra!"
She looked confused.
"Sitting on the powerlines!"
She looked like she was considering my sanity.
"But it wasn't on fire!"
She looked like she'd come to a decision about my sanity, and told me not to be so cheerful.
It still made my day. The kookaburra was even better than when we overheard LB on the phone arranging for a repair person to come and look at her gorilla, and I suggested that maybe someone had broken the gorilla whilst monkeying around with the elephant. |
| posted by Ata @ 7:34 pm |
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| Sunday, June 10, 2007 |
| Two weeks |
So, I'm on the two-week countdown to for the Korea trip.
Every time I sit down to post something, I suddenly lose any recollection of having done, seen, or thought anything blogworthy. I have been utterly unmotivated. What shall I blame this on? Inhaling too much pain-and-spakfilla dust while sanding the patches on the walls? Pre-travel jitters? Spending too much time thinking about moving overseas next year? Whatever it is, I have not been posting.
Next Saturday, the cats go for their rabies vaccinations so they can travel to the UK without having to do quarantine on arrival. Roswell also needs microchipping. One cannot take them to any old vet for this - we had thought we could just call our regular vet & give her some time to get the vaccine in, but no. They have to go to an AQUIS vet. So we tracked one down, and the cats are booked in for next Saturday, so I will take them back for their month-later blood test in July, and they can be ready to travel by January if need be. It was probably thinking about taking the cats with us that made me think of this story.
When Ata was Young Ata, one of the high-excitement outings she used to take was to the dump. I do realise that this does not SOUND exciting, but it was a very small town, and many interesting things could be found at the dump. Like bicycles with flat tyres, or radios that just needed batteries. And there was no kerbside garbage collection, so every now and then, one HAD to go to the dump.
On this occasion, Young Ata and her brothers were wandering about the edges of the giant pit where people threw their rubbish in - when full, the council would fill it over with dirt and dig a new one - keeping their eyes peeled for unlikely treasure. Ata's father was emptying the tray of the Hilux, quickly as possible to minimise the amount of time spent in the rising smell of garbage, and keeping half an eye on the kids to ensure they didn't wind up actually IN the dump. Young Ata was the one who heard it first, of course - a little mew, plaintive and lost in the heaps of garbage bags. She looked around, and spotted it - a ginger kitten, probably six weeks or so old. Ata's fondness for cats was firmly established by this point - her cat at home had been a street stray that her father brought home for her after it was found illegally entering the kitchen of the house he was visiting. The kitten spotted Ata at much the same time as Ata spotted the kitten. It's eyes lit up and it began scrabbling over the heaps of rubbish, calling excitedly - it was evidently used to living with people.
It was at this point that Young Ata's father called her to come and get in the car. Ata pointed out the kitten. Ata's father - not wanting to add another animal to the menagerie at home, much less a dump-kitten - insisted that she get in the car. Ata began dragging her heels towards the car, hoping that the kitten would reach her before she got there. Surely, if she had the kitten in her hands, her father could not say no. The kitten plunged into rubbish-valleys and clambered up rubbish-hills, checking at every hilltop that the people were still there and crying out in it's little kitten-voice. Overhead, crows wheeled and waited for the people to leave so they could continue scavenging among the unwantedness of human society.
The kitten was not fast enough. Ata got in the car and looked through the window as they pulled away. The kitten perched on a bag and watched them leave, it's little mouth still moving as it called out. Ata felt sad for the dumped kitten for a long time. Why take a kitten to the dump and leave it there, especially when it is a pretty and friendly kitten that would surely find another home? It will only grow up to be a bush predator - or die and be a meal for the crows. The unfairness still stays with her. Her mother expressed relief that she had not joined us on the dump-trip, as she would also have found it well-nigh impossible to leave the kitten behind, even though she did not want another cat at home. Ata looked for the kitten every time they went out to the dump after that, but never saw it again. Perhaps another family found it and took it away with them - Ata prefers to think of it as a fat, lazy pet than an unwated feral hunter preying on the local native lizard population.
Did I mention we have had a quote from a pet transport company to get the cats to the UK next year? Possibly this story goes some way to explaining why Ata is willing to spend a little over $3500 to take her cats with her.
She will, however, not mention the cost to her parents. |
| posted by Ata @ 2:09 pm |
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| Thursday, June 07, 2007 |
| Remusish |
In lieu of an actual post, this:
You scored as Remus Lupin, You're a calm, cool, optimistic person who doesn't dwell on the bad but looks more deeply into the good. You're wise and know much about the world, and though you teach your lessons to others, react humbly when complimented on your intelligence. You've suffered a lot in your life but are extremely accepting of it all and suffer inwardly. You're a great friend to have as you're gentle and caring.
Remus Lupin | | 88% | Luna Lovegood | | 81% | Albus Dumbledore | | 81% | Severus Snape | | 69% | Harry Potter | | 66% | Neville Longbottom | | 59% | Hermione Granger | | 56% | Ron Weasley | | 56% | Sirius Black | | 47% | Oliver Wood | | 44% | Draco Malfoy | | 44% | Bellatrix Lestrange | | 41% | Percy Weasley | | 41% | Lord Voldemort | | 38% |
Harry Potter Character Combatibility Test
created with QuizFarm.com
I can't say I'm familiar enough with Harry Potter to know who I am, but there you have it. He sounds like a nice guy.
And a note: remember the Jug from a few posts ago? It sold. I posted it to the buyer this week. He paid $11.49, including postage (I charged him $10 and discovered at the post office that I'd overestimated. Oh well.), and claims it is a very nice item. There you have it - wonders will never cease. |
| posted by Ata @ 6:19 pm |
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