Category: Games

It Didn’t Rain

January 4, 2011

The clouds were ominous most of the day, but it didn’t rain and play was not cancelled. This means we got a full days (8 hours) cricket today at day 2 of the 5th test between Australia and England. We means Adam, Pat and myself.

I’ll spare you the details of the game itself, suffice to say Australia has done better!

In addition to the cricket we saw David Hasselhoff, the Barmy Army (hardcore British fans) , some cosplayers (who, as Adam said, probably never heard the word) doing Richie Benaud, Borat and Angus Young and also a bored (?) fan playing Angry Birds on his iPad:

The attendance was a tad over 40,000, which I think may be the highest in the three years I have gone. We sat in the newest stand, and the view was tremendous. As said, it didn’t even rain (amazing, considering the forecast) and the light remained good until very close to the end of play.

Dinner was Chinese at Fox Studios, and I laughed hard at Pat’s stories of eating 26 pieces of chicken at all-you-can-eat KFC or 25 slices of pizza at all-you-can-eat Pizza Hut. Even in my wildest days such things would have been impossible.

I’m tired now and must force myself to bed since I need to rise early for the train to Newcastle. I shall see you there!

Within The Four Seas All Men Are Brothers

January 3, 2011

Today I went shopping in the city. I bought a few items, including something cute for KLS, something practical (also cute) for SFL and something silly (and a bit cute) for myself. I also put money into UFO catchers and watched as nothing (cute) was won, had Oporto for lunch, and failed the find the latest issue of Bastard!!!! at Kinokuniya.

I haven’t eaten Donuts or a Kebab yet. Still a few things to scratch from my list 🙂

I did not buy anything at Peter Nathan Toy Soldier, a very unusual store in the QVB that just sells hand painted toy soldiers. Here’s a shot of a selection of their Egyptian range, but they also had soldiers from many countries and many wars throughout the centuries. Very unusual, very expensive and very mysterious how they stay in business!

Today was a public holiday (the deferred Jan 1) but the city was mobbed with people. I had fun just wandering around, but my feet are starting to complain and since the rains were moving in I was back at Adams by about 2.

Tomorrow we’re off to the cricket. The fifth test started today but was washed out. We’re going to the second day tomorrow, but the forecast is bad and rain looks likely. I guess we shall see what happens tomorrow.

That’s all I have for today 🙂

Going The Distance

January 1, 2011

This path is part of the walk from Adam’s to the local shops:

A gaggle of rosella’s lives in and around the trees here, and they always cry at me when I walk past as if I am intruding. Here are a few of them on the roof of one of the apartment complexes (there are at least 7 in this photo… can you see them all?):

This morning they were less worried about me, and more worried about this guy:

See how his mouth is open? He was eating something, or rather trying. It was hard to tell exactly what it was, but it was obvious it was giving him trouble. Then he just sort of spat it on the ground and flew away. I went up and was surprised by what I saw. Here’s what the kookaburra failed to swallow:

Today, dear friends, was a day for the races. So off we headed to Royal Randwick to bet some money on the fillies.

There were 8 races in total today, and each of us bet on every one. Being a scrooge, I bet only $0.50 each way on one horse per race, with Adam betting ten times that. I ended up with two horses placing, and Adam had 2 wins and 2 places. My net loss was therefore $6.10 on $8 total bet, and Adam had a net win of $3.50 on $80 total bet.

Obviously his betting skills far exceeded mine 🙂

And what does a man do with a healthy $3.50 profit? Adam bought this:

This is a $4.50 ice-cream so legendary it actually comes in a box! A mixture of normal and white chocolate, delicately shaped like a moebius strip of deliciousness, Adam’s five word review is “Small treat in good package.”

As for me, well I would realize a bit later that I have actually eaten the same dinner every one of the five nights since I arrived. That meal is pictured here:

Given the caloric input I am experiencing, It’s a good thing I can still get this on my pedometer:

Robot Claw