(This was supposed to be published last week but I couldn't get it up. So read it in a "Sunday night" state of mind.)
No, it's not Mao's Revolution--it's the Big Leap towards Sydney! Last week, Jeremy was offered a job with Thompson Reuter's as a legal editor for their Laws of Australia encyclopedia! Yay!! The 13th is his first day so we're outta here early tomorrow morning and hoping to find a new home before next week.
So, this week was my last day at Bella Donna! Yay for that too!! It seems that the job is consistently sliding downhill as out owner really has no motivation at all to make her business succeed. We're nearly out of cups, spoons, napkins, milk (essential to make gelati) and even some of the core ingedients. The one thing that does seem to be in abundance is some extra weight which unfortunately, I have found myself wearing. Humph. So, with the move to Sydney, Jeremy and I are embarking on a 6 month ice cream fast! No, I'm not psycho and yes, I can do it. I did it for 4 months once before so I feel confident that I can do it again. :)
Last night we said our goodbye to several of his friends by having one last dinner at a Korea restaurant. It was so great to be eating galbi again. I forgot how wonderful Korean food can be. I can't say distance has made my heart grow fonder of kimchi but my love for bean paste is ever abundant. We got to speak a bit of Korean with the staff and teach all of his friends about Korean table manners and how to toast someone in Korean. It was really fun. I will certainly miss these guys. They have been so accepting of me and have certainly made my time in Brisbane fun. I hope we'll find new friends soon in our new home in Sydney!!
Ralph and Linda
Sean and Ian
So, I'll say goodbye with just a few shots of the Brisbane city skyline.
The previous two photos were taken with Jeremy's camera. I love my camera and think it takes beautiful photos but his definitely does better night shots. The following two are from my camera...
Last week Jeremy and I headed off to New South Whales to visit the most bustling city in Australia: Sydney.
We had a great time visiting different neighborhoods and in the process found the Muslim quarter, the Vietnamese quarter and the Korean quarter. What fun! Now we know where to go find our favorite foods!
We were there for three days staying with a friend of his but didn't really manage to do too many touristy things until the last day when we headed out to Sydney harbour (I need to start practising my British English) which explains the relatively small collection of photos here. That and we only took his camera so we wouldn't be over our carry-on weight limit with all my camera junk!
It was windy and freezing (literally!) but we had a great time and Jeremy loved showing me the city. Here we are snapping photos at the Sydney Harbour Bridge. You can do a climb over the bridge for AMAZING views but I believe it's in excess of $150... I hope I'll get to do it someday!
Then we kept on walking right over to the Opera House. It's classic white mounds are supposed to resemble the sails of all the boats in the harbour.
This is an interesting photo that I took while looking at some lamps. I felt it was an interesting perspective and a new way to see the building.
Interestingly, one end of Opera is actually all restaurant in a glass enclosed tip.
What I presume is probably the best seat in the house? Right in the tip!
The whole thing is covered in thousands of tiles! Far away they look pretty neat but up close they're pretty plain and yellow... Not as neat.
We walked all around for a bit trying to find a way in (apparently there was a free art exhibit?) but couldn't find one. So we headed off with grand plans to walk around the harbour and over to the next one--Darling Harbour--for dinner. Along the way I got some great photos of the sun casting shadows from the bridge onto the Opera House.
The Opera House from far away with shadows. (You know, it's actually two buildings? Yes, the one on the right which pretty much comprises those first two fins is the restaurant.)
And then again just as the sun disappeared and the whole sky was pink.
We had a good time but didn't realize how far away Darling Harbour actually is--it's not a short walk. We were at it for about three hours when we finally threw in the towel and opted for a warm pizza instead. By the time we ate, we were starved and pretty cold, and it was getting close to our departure time, so we headed off and said farewell to Sydney. But then again, maybe we'll be back sooner than you think...
The elusive Tasmanian Devil. We were all looking pretty hard to find one at the Australia Zoo but it seemed that they were either out of their enclosures or sleeping. However, Lone Pine has two and they were out, about, and having fun.
The Tasmanian Devil is not quite like the one from Looney Tunes. He's got similar markings but doesn't exactly spin in circles.
This video will tell you all about their diets and their behaviors. I can't remember if the movie makes this clear, but the Tasmanian Devil eats EVERYTHING when it comes to it's prey--that's bones, fur, meat and all!
Tasmanian Devils are decreasing in numbers throughout Tasmania (the only place in the world where they live) largely because of hunting before becoming a protected species in 1941 and since then because of a cancerous tumor that attaches itself to their face. Because Devils have very little genetic variety in their young, scientists are trying really hard to weed out the infected ones and monitor the spread of the disease. Several colonies of healthy Devils are being cultivated in order to reintroduce them should extinction be inevitable for those in the wild.
Tasmanian Devils are also marsupials (a surprise to me) and their pouch, like the wombat, is backwards as well. Not exactly sure why... When scared, the Devil emits a powerful odor which is supposed to be like a skunk's. The Tasmanian Devil also has the most powerful jaw of all... Well, Wikipedia says mammals but since he's not one... I'll just say of land animals. :)
I'm pretty sure I'll never see one of these in the wild but none the less, I'm fascinated. What a cool looking animals! It's like a mouse and a cat in one!
Also at Lone Pine were wombats!! Wombats are awesome.
Wombats are burrowers and when Australia was first settled, they were mistaken for badgers! They are HUGE! Wombats weigh between 44 and 77 pounds and surprisingly for their size and lumbering nature, they are also fast! Wombats can run up to 40 kph or about 25 mph for up to 90 seconds!! It's the cheetah of the underground world!!
This video will tell you all about wombats and their underground mazes (plus give you a look at how they protect themselves and what a baby looks like).
Wombats are also marsupials. Unbeknownst to the average on-looker, wombats have a pouch like their cousins but strangely it's backwards! This is so that while digging they don't kick dirt into it.
Wombats are vegetarians and eat lots of roots and vegetation, however, a few animals eat them too. Dingos and Tasmanian Devils are their main predators.
Adventures are afoot!! Monday was my day off and Jeremy and I finally headed out to visit Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. They have more than just koalas there (but of course these little guys are the main attractions) which made it an interesting little day trip for us. You know I'm a sucker for cute animals. Surprisingly, even though this place is only a couple miles from Jeremy's home, this was his first time there too!
We found ourselves arriving just in time to catch the koala presentation at the park which was really quite interesting. Of course, these guys made us all laugh right from the start. First, this little guy popped his head over the projector screen to see what all us visitors were looking at!
Then, this other guy in the park, started making these strange noises which you can hear in this YouTube video. These are the mating and territorial sounds of koalas. Can you imagine walking through the forest in the dark and hearing that come out of the trees? What would you think it was??
At the park, we learned all kinds of cool Koala facts. First, there are two kinds of koalas: Southern and Northern. The Southern Koala is larger, darker, and in my opinion, furrier.
(This guy is a Southern Koala.)
Koalas only live in Australia and only on the east coast. However, their population is quickly decreasing--mostly due to land clearing. Koalas are finicky eaters. They only eat Eucalyptus leaves and of the more than 400 different species of Eucalyptus in Australia, the Koala only eats leaves from about 40 of them. And from among those leaves, they still choose to eat only the best!
Koalas eat about 500 grams of leaves a day which is the primary source of their water. Because koalas are kinda slow and easy prey for predators, they have adapted to life in trees and gleaning water from leaves so they won't have to look for water on the ground where a dingo might snatch them up! But because all their water comes from these leaves and because they need to eat so many of them to gain such a small amount of energy, koalas need to sleep between 16 and 18 hours a day.
Another interesting fact about their food is that Eucalyptus leaves are toxic; few animals can eat them. Here is another interesting facet of their adaptation--they feed on a plentiful plant that no one else eats and their stomachs contain a special bacteria that breaks down the toxins so their food can be digested!
Lots of koalas get run over each year as urban sprawl tends to move right into their neighborhood. They also find themselves subject to a new kind of dog--the domestic one.
Unfortunately, one other major factor to their recent decline in number is Chlamydia--a virus that can eat the flesh right off a koala's face, often leaving them blind. However, this can be treated and remedied with antibiotics.
Something else you might find interesting, each koala has special and unique markings on his/her butt. This is how many of the keepers at Lone Pine distinguish between all of their 190 little friends. When up in a tree, koala butts serve as camouflage because it looks like spots of light breaking through the forest canopy.
The koala pictured above is a male which is easy to spot because the has a dark, yellow-y looking patch on his chest. This is actually his "stink spot" which he can rub all over trees to mark his territory and attract all the ladies!
One cool thing about koalas is that they are marsupials (don't call it a "Koala Bear"--it pisses off the Aussies!). That means their young are born significantly underdeveloped and then crawl up the momma's fur and into her pouch where the can continue to develop. Once they're big enough, the koala can then ride on the momma's back.
At the end of our trip, Jeremy and I went in to hold a koala. OMG. Talk about fun!! I am so in love. Seriously. Who needs children? I just want to adopt koalas! I think that's illegal though... ;)
Future family photo??
This guy even gave me a kiss!! All on his own! They love me. They're my best friends.
Afterwards, we went into the gift shop to pick up our pictures and I swear, if I wasn't 24, I'd probably have purchase one of those little koala backpacks for kids under 10. Seriously. I also thought pretty hard about buying a stuffed animal. Seeing and holding one of these adorable little animals just turned me into one big kid.
I love koalas. I hope this made you love them too.
My life is simple: I get up, I read blogs, I read the news, eat some toast, putz, take a nap, eat lunch, get ready for work, and go to work.
And work... Let me tell you about my job.
I work at a gelato shop in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley (I'm sure that means nothing to you) where if the whole place were summed up in one word, it would be "broken." That's because pretty much everything there is broken. Broken cooler. Broken cash register. Broken blender. Broken system. Our owner is pretty much non-existent. She doesn't come by. She rarely pays on time (I'm told "pay day" used to be Wednesdays, now it's Friday and occasionally Saturday... Perhaps one day it will be Wednesday again...). I've even heard rumors about her awful business practices from people around Brisbane. Apparently she is no good at paperwork but I didn't need anyone to tell me that. I still haven't signed any tax documents.... Or seen a pay stub. One of our managers told me that she hadn't paid our delivery man for the gelato mix'ins in a while and just left it to him to pay it out of his own paycheck.
I'm constantly surprised by the lack of interest she takes in her business. I'm told that they are planning to close in the near future. Or at least they have been planning to do so for a while. Hopefully I will have a new job by that time or maybe be on my way to Sydney. But there are some things to be grateful for: I work by myself, at my own pace, at night. I get to read at work and listen to my own music (iPod with speakers) and I can eat gelato while at work (which is yummy though difficult to digest in large quantities). I also get paid well--$19.50 an hour. I'd never get so much serving ice cream at home! And it keeps me busy. As they say, idle hands are the devil's playmate... I was getting a little bored without a job.
Speaking of jobs, Jeremy has an interview next week in Sydney for a junior editor position with a legal encyclopedia group. It's a great opportunity and we're really hoping it'll work out. We figure he's got a good chance and there is only 6 other people being considered for the job. Pray that he gets it! The sooner we move to Sydney the better. Our own space, good jobs and grad school! He's decided to do a master's in law while I purse my master's in media. Should be fun.
My brother's wedding was last weekend to a beautiful girl named Nikki whom JJ has been dating for about 2 years. I'm so happy for them and really wish I could have been there because from what I understand, it was quite the event.
It seems that everyone is calling it the "Red Neck Wedding" (and with pride, might I add). My brother and all his grooms men wore camouflage vests and cowboy hats. My uncle got drunk, fell down and scraped his face.
The reception's main course was a pig that my brother and his wife-to-be shot the night before the wedding. Apparently none of the boys knew how to or wanted to gut the thing so the bride did it for them--in a white t-shirt. At the party, my dad cooked the thing on a spit (which my mom says he was rather proud of) and the entire party devoured the thing within a few hours ("picked it clean" is what my mom said. "All fifty of us.").
Apparently there wasn't much dancing but my mom said that there was a mother-son dance and that they danced to a country song called "Momma told me to be a Simple Man" (or something like that). I kinda snorted when she said that. My brother is certainly simple much like my dad.
And the whole thing just screamed Red Neck from the beginning: Nikki got pregnant and though they had planned on marrying for a while, the actual event hadn't been previously scheduled. So, it was a shot gun wedding. I am told that they announced the sex and the name of the baby at the wedding; he will be Mason Jeremiah Thoma (after my brother).
And then they rode off into the sunset on my dad's Harley. Okay, I'm not sure if there was any sunset or riding involved but who could pass a photo-op like this? I guess no Red Neck wedding could escape the underlying biker-ness in my family. :)
(By the way, all of these photos are compliments of my Aunt Debra who was so nice to send me some the day of the event since I couldn't make it.)
I share all this embarrassing family stuff with you for two reasons: first, because I know very few of them will read it (internet is still a new idea among many in my family) and second, because that's just who they are. They embarrass me, harass me, give me grief and heartache, but they also smile with me, celebrate with me, love me, and encourage me. I love them for all the quirks, faults and virtues. We are a wild bunch but at least we're an entertaining one!
Congratulations JJ and Nikki! I wish you all the best and I can't wait to see you and your baby. :)
