Oaks Day

Although it wasn't as warm as could be desired, it was still wonderful to be outside on a workday. It's the one work function that everyone looks forward to the entire year, partly because it marks the start of the silly season. From now on it's a round of training, lunches, Christmas functions, balls etc which make corporate life bearable for the rest of the year!

The colour block - all the girls in my team :)

The best feeling in the world

(well in my world anyway) is coming home after finishing an exam and knowing that there will be no more lectures, assignments or exams for the rest of the year! If all I have to do is go to work, it feels like a holiday to me :)

To everyone who remembered my birthday - thank you so much for all your emails & sms’s! It felt so good after I hadn’t left the house for about 4 days. I actually did end up going out that night as Tim planned a surprise, so I was a good birthday after all :)

And to top it all off, summer is coming

Basket-brawl!

This was meant to be a match to promote goodwill in US-Chinese relations :) I can't help but wonder what will happen to the chinese guys for embarassing their country.

First car

Well technically I bought my first car in Russia, but that was always going to be a short-term arrangement so I didn't get too attached. But I am already attached to this one, even though I've had it less than a week. I think I gave Melbourne public transport a pretty good run, but for me to get from where I live to anywhere else (even if only 5-10km away) I have to go via the city first. It just got too annoying after a while, especially on weekend train timetables. Hence, my first car - a 1994 Nissan Pulsar :)

Japan

Two weeks in Japan was cool. You cannot get a bad meal there no matter where you go or how much you spend. And the service standards... a two dollar sushi will get cut up for you, packed with some ice, a napkin, chopsticks, put in a bag and served with a smile. People are so extremely nice and helpful - politeness seems to be ingrained in their culture.

In terms of development they are so far ahead of us it's just sad. The country's infrastructure was built by people who were thinking ahead, not constantly playing catch-up. We rode the bullet trains everywhere, 220km an hour - so fast and comfortable.

Japan doesn't have the most exciting sights in the world, certainly not compared to China, but it's easy and pleasant to travel around in. Would be cool to come back for some skiing maybe.

Ashcombe Maze

It feels more like autumn that winter right now – crisp 15 degree days with clear blues skies. It’s nice to be able to get out of Melbourne while the weather holds, and now that exam is behind me, my weekends are wonderfully free.

New House

Well it's not really that new - we moved in February - I just never got around to putting pictures up. But now that exam is behind me, I supposedly have lots more free time. So, new house: