3200 Qantas Frequent Flyer Points in 24 hours

Just a little update - I'm working in Western Australia now; on a gold-mine expansion project 2hrs drive SSE from Perth. It's in the middle of nowhere, and gets quite cold at nights - as cold as -3 degrees!


I fly back to Melbourne every 4th weekend for R&R. This weekend just passed was my July R&R, and so, for those who are wondering why I'm still in Melb... my last few days looked like this:

• Thu 24/07/2008 11:30pm (WST) - scheduled departure from PER airport

• Fri 25/07/2008 12:00am - actual departure
• Fri 25/07/2008 5:00am (EST) - arrival at MEL airport, took chauffeured taxi home
• Fri 25/07/2008 6:00am - arrived home, went to sleep
• Fri 25/07/2008 10:00am - watched "Children of the Silk Road" with Mum (great movie!)

• Sat 26/07/2008 - went to church, celebrated my 25th... woo!

• Sun 27/07/2008 - brunch, lunch - heaps of catch ups, dinner with Steph's family
  

• Mon 28/07/2008 10:00am – chauffeured taxi to airport
• Mon 28/07/2008 12:30pm - departed for Perth
• Mon 28/07/2008 2:30pm (WST) - arrived in Perth.... now get this: 3 voicemails on my phone. They wanted me in the Melb office urgently to do some work for a couple of weeks
  
• Mon 28/07/2008 4:00pm - arrived in Perth office, got the admin assistant to organise a hotel room for the night and flight back the next day (I need rest - no way I was flying immediately!)
• Mon 28/07/2008 5:30pm - hotel and flights confirmed
• Mon 28/07/2008 6:30pm - checked into hotel
• Mon 28/07/2008 8:30pm - dinner with Andrew, Vianny, Like, Daniel
• Mon 28/07/2008 10:30pm - back to hotel, heaps of email, sleep

• Tue 29/07/2008 4:30am - woke up, got ready, went to PER airport
• Tue 29/07/2008 5:15am - got to the check in desk, found that the travel agent booked, but did not issue the ticket!
• Tue 29/07/2008 5:45am - called the travel agent's emergency number, got the ticket issued, checked in
• Tue 29/07/2008 6:10am - scheduled departure from PER airport
• Tue 29/07/2008 7:30am - actual departure
• Tue 29/07/2008 12:30pm (EST) - arrived at MEL airport
• Tue 29/07/2008 1:30pm - arrived at Melb office (hehe - got a hire car), got briefed on what to do, got a workstation organised, started working, etc.

Nice.

Through the Eyes of the Homeless

I was at the Miracle Cafe this afternoon (that's Aflame's primary outreach avenue - sermon and food for the homeless) and spoke to a guy named Terry. He spoke of the only drug he ever used: LSD. But he's off it now.

When I asked how he got off it, he said it was because of his daughter. He used to come home drunk 6 nights a week and there was one morning when his baby daughter (at that time around 7 years old, I suspect) jumped onto his lap and said, "Daddy are you ok?" He replied, "Why are you asking?" Then she said, "Yesterday you were wobbling." So he must've been high the night before. Seeing his daughter’s face, he began crying and stopped taking drugs and alcohol.

The daughter's about 34 and married to a veterinarian now... but I didn't ask how come he was in a state of homelessness tho. But yeah he thanked me for "doing this cafe thing" and said that he looks forward to coming every week. "I'm sure you young guys have plenty more exciting things to do on a Saturday arvo, and it might not seem like much, but you guys are doing a lot more than you think." I ended the conversation by saying, "I look forward to coming each week to meet people like you, Terry." Amazing stuff....there's a story behind every face.....

Soda-Sam

You Are Coke

A true original and classic, you represent the best of everything you can offer. Just the right amount of sweet, just the right amount of energy... you're the life of the party. Your best soda match: Mountain Dew Stay away from:Dr Pepper

What Kind of Soda Are You?

Beatbox + Flute = ???

You've heard Beardyman sing and beatbox simultaneously. This one's a contender:

Review: Shira Nui

Omakase (letting the chef decide the menu) is perhaps, the best way to experience Shira Nui. Every sushi is efficiently but delicately created and friendly advice from sushi masterchef Hiro and his protege ("with soya sauce" or "without soya sauce") showed us the way to how a sushi is truly enjoyed.

Each sushi bursts with flavour, accompanied with subtle undertones of sweet seaweed or even something as simple as a twist of lemon juice. The flavour was so explosive, one would hardly notice the wasabi that glued the meat to the rice. Watching the chefs at work is already reason to visit this exquisite gem in Melbourne's outer suburbs.

Shira Nui
247 Springvale Road
Glen Waverley VIC 3150
(03) 9886 7755

Date visited:
16th May 2007

My Ratings:
Food (10) Service (10) Atmosphere (9) Value (8) = Overall (9.4)

Death in a blink

Because of a 4-week secondment, I now make a 70min journey towards Melbourne's western suburbs. On the way to work just last Friday (8th June), I witnessed the most tragic of accidents. This happened on Research-Warrandyte Road, similar to the road shown below.

At 7:05am, just before sunrise, I was travelling in a group of cars. The second vehicle in front of me was a white ute who for some reason drifted onto the opposite lane. Mind you, the road was windy and had single-lanes for each direction. When the ute drifted over, I noticed an object that flew around the bend on the opposite side. In that split-second moment, I knew a crash was imminent - that was how far the ute drifted across.

BANG!!

Plenty of smoke, and fragments flew everywhere. The ute hit its brakes but its momentum carried it over the edge of the road and disappeared down a short cliff-face. What I saw next shocked me the most.

I noticed the wreckage of half a motorbike on the side of the road.

That was what the object was. Fair enough if it was a car.... but to witness a head-on collision involving a motorbike ... Next I noticed a leather boot on the road-side, a glove on the other side of the road... and then the helmet-visor lying on the centre of the road. One motorist who also stopped to helped out yelled out:

"Where the h--l is the rider??"

It took us what seemed like 10 minutes to locate the body. It was some 8 metres from where the bike lay, below road-level and twisted amongst some shrubs. He didn't make it. His body was lying faced-down and legs were snapped into a contorted position.

The driver of the ute came from where his vehicle went over the edge, apparently unharmed. But his face said it all:

"Oh my goodness, what have I done??"

Emergency personnel shortly arrived and the police took my statement. The ambulance came and left just as quickly, discovering there was nothing they could do. A hearse appeared a few minutes later.

Death in a blink. We never know when it happens to us. But one thing is certain: each day is to be treasured. You only have one chance to live out each day.

Hi, I'm Sammy...

I once had a conversation about OLD NAMES. Most of them end in 'y'. In this day and age there are some names you wouldn't be naming your child (unless, of course, you are naming him/her after an ancestor), but still...

Top Five Old Names:
5. Barry
4. Shirley
3. Percy
2. Patsy
1. Baxter!