Meeting the fishes

Its been a while since we’ve been to Underwater World up at Hillary’s. The last time was about 4 years ago.. and in the middle of Perth’s winter. This time round we head there again, in late Spring. But as the Fates would have it, it really felt more like another dreary winter day. Regardless, we were determined to enjoy our money’s worth and to take in the sights and experience.

Of course the place is no longer called Underwater World these days. Its now aptly named AQWA for the Aquarium of Western Australia (http://www.aqwa.com.au)
AQWA has ingeniously segregated the displays into various parts of the Australian coast.
The colours of the displays were amazing!

Note:The pictures don’t do it justice and I’ve to downgrade the photos due to limitations.
          

Wildlife Advanture, Swan Valley

For a bit of a change this year (instead of heading to the Perth zoo), we re-discovered Caversham Wildlife Park over in the Swan Valley.
Since the kiddies love to be close to the animals, there were plenty of opportunities here.

 
Kangaroo siesta time.

 
mmmm.. nice snack. Koala snacking.

Cute little (tassie) Devil!

Fave Aussie icons

When I was back in Perth for my annual pilgrimage, the Ashes was on and my favourite ad on tele was the one with Lara Bingle on it. You beaut!
 
Lara in her cricket outfit

I reckon Lara joins the ranks of our famous Aussie ambassadors. People like Paul Hogan & Ernie Dingo, groups like Hi-5 and the Wiggles!
Who’s Paul Hogan and Ernie Dingo? The blokes from Crocodile Dundee!

Paul            Ernie

Red Bull Air Race, Perth, W.A

What a brilliant start to my holidays in Perth. It was good to have spent a couple of weeks back in Australia, breathing clean air and have beautiful clear blue skys overhead.

The weather was ideal for the Perth leg of the renowned Redbull Air Race  ( http://redbullairrace.westernaustralia.com/ )
The foreshores of the Swan were packed out with eager audiences. Traffic was a nightmare! And finding a decent spot for viewing the race was just as frustrating. By 11am, every inch of ground within 50 metres of the water was packed out.

So was it worth it? You betcha! Have a lookie at the pics.

Singapore Motor Show 2006

It was wet and dreary weekend for the Motor Show 2006.
Fortunately, the cheery showgirls at the Motor Show brightened up the day!

[Click on the pics below for a better view of each]

Its not been a good month

Health-wise anyway. Ever since my trip to India, my sinuses have flared up so bad that I even my sense of balance is affected.
So, after 3 weeks of one antibiotics and antihistamines to no avail, its off to the ENT specialist. This is what I have been dreading. Even worse than the dentist I think. Knowing that the ENT doctor will need to use an endoscope to check my nasal passages.
Anything that goes that far into your nasal passages is not a good thing. Period.
And why the dread?

8 years ago, it was a Levin tube, used to extract a sampling of stomach fluids. That gagging, invasive feeling of something being pushed down your throat. The feeling is and will always be horrible. The memory of that will always remain buried in my mind somewhere, hoping never to surface.
This time round, it’s rhinoscopy. In retrospect, this time round was a lot less traumatic, and even somewhat interesting (you could see the probe on TV) the experience is something I would not want to repeat if ever possible.
It was clear from the viewing screen, that my left sinus passage was swollen shut. The scope couldn’t go anywhere. The right side was OK visually. But the doc ordered a CT Scan anyway. He needed to see the real extent of the damage.
So, off I go to the CT-Scan room. Its all like deja-vu.
8 years ago, it was an MRI of my chest. Now it’s a CT Scan of sinuses.
The process is painless, but being the waiting area with all the other patients really puts you in a dark somber mood. There are no light-hearted thoughts, only thoughts of my family and kids and what would happen to them if something did happen to me. Not that I intend for anything ‘bad’ to happen to me.. But sometimes its in God’s hands.
So, for now, I will wait and see. I will only know the results of the scan on Monday.
Meantime, I’m going to enjoy my life.

Dentophobia, odontophobia, Dental phobia.. Whatever!

I suppose this is retribution. I avoided the dentist for more years than I can remember.
The last time was probably when I was in my early teens, when visiting the dentist in school was not an option.
Summons to the school dentist was during class hours. And when the dentist appeared in class, with a stack of cards, there will be utter silence.
It was like being called up for caning (note: back then caning was an acceptable form of punishment in schools)
Back then, dentistry was still ”primitive” technologically. I wonder if the mantra of that generation of dentists was “if in doubt, extract it.” And extract they did. Schools were the best training grounds for interning dentists. So there was no lack of guinea pigs.
My dentophobia happened after this @$*! of a dentist tried to extract one of my molars. It took 9 painful injections of local  anesthetic before she managed to get it out. * Ouch*

So I lived with my only set of teeth all those years.. until, the missus “persuaded” me to see the dentist about my bleeding gums.
Overcoming phobia is a very mental thing. For me, it took months of psyching up before I finally walked into a dental clinic (I actually cancelled 2 previous appointments using any lame excuse I could get hold of).
So, one fine Saturday, after researching many many articles and references on the web for the best and most sought after dentist in Bishan (unfortunately they don’t rate dental clinics on the web), I bit the bullet and  mentally resolved to get it done.
I walked round the many clinics in Bishan (there must have been at least 5 in close proximity) and chose the least crowded one (still hoping that I’d be rejected).
As Fate would have it, his current appoinment was a no-show and he was free to see me immediately. Uh-oh.. ouch time.
Those 5 injections and 45 minutes later, strangely, didn’t appear all that bad.  I mean, yes, it was painful, but I have no regrets. I was happy that I got it done!
Certainly the technology was very different. The doctor even looked like he was wearing a space suit and helmut.
At the end of it.. . gee whiz! That’s what clean teeth looks like?
And so, late in the year, I have resolved to visit the dentist at least once in 4 months.
He did promise, no more jabs needed for cleaning…

Have you ever wondered?

Why is it that on some mornings, the journey to office via the Central Expressway is so smooth.. that you could almost be fooled into thinking its a Sunday?

Would be nice if it really was Sunday!

A typical weekend..not

Megan is an early riser. All of 4 years old, she takes it upon herself to wake everyone up at 7:00am… on a Saturday morning.
Noooooo… I need a few more minutes, pleeeeeeease!
And so begins our weekend.
Its my duty (and pleasure) to brew up a coffee for me and the missus.
Something about using the old stove top percolator and packing it with good Vittoria espresso.
Right, now that the aroma has gotten me going, might as well make breakfast.
And that’s how the weekend starts.

Whatever happens after that.. well, I’ll think about after I enjoy my coffee.

It was a 3 coffee day.

Some days just don’t seem to end. And some days are just too short.
Then there are days which I call a “3 coffee day” because it takes 3 strong coffees to see me thru to the end of the working day.
What an interesting thought! When does a working day end for a parent?

To sleep, to sleep.. for want of my warm comfy bed!