Thursday 19 April 2007
new place and homesickness
It’s been awhile between blogs… so I thought I’d better write. Wasn’t going to send a picture of my new place until I’d had some time to fix it up… but it’s not really a high priority so you’re seeing it as it is. Must get onto getting a dining table and chairs. More importantly I want to cover the unsightly couches with some covers. The early 90s tartan doesn’t do it for me (sorry if I offend any Scottish readers). You’ll notice the high security bars everywhere… yikes! They are a real hazard. Just last month a family died when their house went up in flames because they didn’t have their house keys and they couldn’t escape from their windows because of the bars. They died next to exit points. There’s another story to be told about the graphic images that Fiji One (TV channel) showed on the news of charred body parts. I have two doors and hope to make a quick get away should I need to.
My place is small but apparently a good price for the area. My street is a no-through road which is fantastic because it’s pleasant and quiet. My place (see photo) has a black fence. My bathroom is smaller than I’d like (you can see how small it is cause I took a photo looking into the mirror). My kitchen is large… and that’s fantastic because I spend a lot of time in the kitchen! For instance, last night it took me 5 minutes to open a beer bottle lid using a butter knife (it was late and I didn’t want to disturb my trusty neighbours asking for a bottle opener). Today I bought a bottle opener.
My whole cooking device is simply two gas stove tops. They’re excellent! There’s a low setting perfect for my cafeteria (coffee maker) on work mornings and the high setting works a treat for cooking stir fries in the wok. I will soon be investing in a rice cooker though… I am too absent minded not to burn my rice. Tonight being a case in point. I could smell something burning… so I looked outside… thought my neighbours were cooking a lovo (ground oven) or getting rid of their rubbish (burning it, as you do in Fiji)… and after seeing no evidence of a fire outside.., I went back to whatever I was doing… Silly me though!!! It was my rice burning! Grr! I don’t have an oven… so no cakes, roasts etc. However, you don’t feel like a hot roast in this climate. The average monthly maximum temperature in Fiji varies from 27-30C. So, you don’t feel the need to eat or drink warm food.
I took these photos tonight… apart from the street one. So, I don’t have a back yard one because it’s too dark… but I’ll get onto that. I’ll be doing a spot of gardening this weekend so it’ll be a perfect opportunity. The decking photo was taken from my front door…which doesn’t face the street. It’s a good entertaining space but I wish there was a pool next to it. From the decking I’ve taken a photo of my place. My bedroom is kinda small but really, it suits my two needs: clothes storage and sleeping. Notice Lea, I have made a pillow case to match the quilt you made me, using the scraps you sent. That’s a story for another blog. The story involves using a historic UK Singer which belonged to Tim’s (neighbour) grandmother. It was lots of fun to use… bit tricky at first though. It doesn’t have the material feeders that modern day sewing machines have, you can burn yourself on the light, the electrical cord was designed to plug into a light to receive power (rather than a powerpoint), the bobbin goes in a different place and the accelerator is the funkiest thing. It’s not a pedal… it is a metal rod that comes down to knee height, from the machine and you push it to the side for action. It’s super cool. There is no backward, zig-zag or other stitch varieties. It’s a straight stitch at the one length. Tim is one mean sewer. Could do a whole blog on Tim. There’s nothing he can’t turn his hand to. He’s from Cairns originally… he can sew, fix engines, make wooden tables, cook, paint, write children’s story books and even tells me he’ll find me a nice guy! He’s such a super bloke to have as a neighbour!! Nyna, his wife, is a super chick too. On the holidays we enjoyed a few too many gins and shared tales about this and that. It was a pity I burnt the rice tonight, as I wasn’t just cooking for myself, I cooked for them.
The good news about my new place is it’s close to USP (University of the Sth Pacific) which is where I have a gym/pool membership. It’s also close to a few other handy shops and places. Tim and I catch a taxi together to and from work… very handy.
Speaking of work, it’s so good to be back. I was homesick on my holidays and really didn’t have enough to do. I enjoyed my time on the Coral Coast at the Beach House. It was relaxing not having to cook a single meal. Every day was the same: woke up, swam, ate, read, slept, swam, ate, read, slept, drank lots of beer, slept. Can’t drink gin at the Beach House unless I BYO… they have Regal’s Gin… the local brew… totally undrinkable and gives very bad headaches the next day. The highlight of my little holiday there was seeing some brilliantly coloured fish (purple star and a small school of little blue fish). The low light was an incident with a snake. We were frightened of each other and when we saw each other we swam in opposite directions. This snake, if it bites you, will kill you within 20 minutes. So, it’s a good thing it was frightened of me. I got to practice some Hebrew (met a couple from Tel Aviv) and did not fare so well against 2 Norwegians when playing poker. I am a great poker player when drinking… I am better at bluffing, take more risks and am completely unpredictable and never fold. However, when sober I am too conservative and my bluff is rather pathetic.
My place is small but apparently a good price for the area. My street is a no-through road which is fantastic because it’s pleasant and quiet. My place (see photo) has a black fence. My bathroom is smaller than I’d like (you can see how small it is cause I took a photo looking into the mirror). My kitchen is large… and that’s fantastic because I spend a lot of time in the kitchen! For instance, last night it took me 5 minutes to open a beer bottle lid using a butter knife (it was late and I didn’t want to disturb my trusty neighbours asking for a bottle opener). Today I bought a bottle opener.
My whole cooking device is simply two gas stove tops. They’re excellent! There’s a low setting perfect for my cafeteria (coffee maker) on work mornings and the high setting works a treat for cooking stir fries in the wok. I will soon be investing in a rice cooker though… I am too absent minded not to burn my rice. Tonight being a case in point. I could smell something burning… so I looked outside… thought my neighbours were cooking a lovo (ground oven) or getting rid of their rubbish (burning it, as you do in Fiji)… and after seeing no evidence of a fire outside.., I went back to whatever I was doing… Silly me though!!! It was my rice burning! Grr! I don’t have an oven… so no cakes, roasts etc. However, you don’t feel like a hot roast in this climate. The average monthly maximum temperature in Fiji varies from 27-30C. So, you don’t feel the need to eat or drink warm food.
I took these photos tonight… apart from the street one. So, I don’t have a back yard one because it’s too dark… but I’ll get onto that. I’ll be doing a spot of gardening this weekend so it’ll be a perfect opportunity. The decking photo was taken from my front door…which doesn’t face the street. It’s a good entertaining space but I wish there was a pool next to it. From the decking I’ve taken a photo of my place. My bedroom is kinda small but really, it suits my two needs: clothes storage and sleeping. Notice Lea, I have made a pillow case to match the quilt you made me, using the scraps you sent. That’s a story for another blog. The story involves using a historic UK Singer which belonged to Tim’s (neighbour) grandmother. It was lots of fun to use… bit tricky at first though. It doesn’t have the material feeders that modern day sewing machines have, you can burn yourself on the light, the electrical cord was designed to plug into a light to receive power (rather than a powerpoint), the bobbin goes in a different place and the accelerator is the funkiest thing. It’s not a pedal… it is a metal rod that comes down to knee height, from the machine and you push it to the side for action. It’s super cool. There is no backward, zig-zag or other stitch varieties. It’s a straight stitch at the one length. Tim is one mean sewer. Could do a whole blog on Tim. There’s nothing he can’t turn his hand to. He’s from Cairns originally… he can sew, fix engines, make wooden tables, cook, paint, write children’s story books and even tells me he’ll find me a nice guy! He’s such a super bloke to have as a neighbour!! Nyna, his wife, is a super chick too. On the holidays we enjoyed a few too many gins and shared tales about this and that. It was a pity I burnt the rice tonight, as I wasn’t just cooking for myself, I cooked for them.
The good news about my new place is it’s close to USP (University of the Sth Pacific) which is where I have a gym/pool membership. It’s also close to a few other handy shops and places. Tim and I catch a taxi together to and from work… very handy.
Speaking of work, it’s so good to be back. I was homesick on my holidays and really didn’t have enough to do. I enjoyed my time on the Coral Coast at the Beach House. It was relaxing not having to cook a single meal. Every day was the same: woke up, swam, ate, read, slept, swam, ate, read, slept, drank lots of beer, slept. Can’t drink gin at the Beach House unless I BYO… they have Regal’s Gin… the local brew… totally undrinkable and gives very bad headaches the next day. The highlight of my little holiday there was seeing some brilliantly coloured fish (purple star and a small school of little blue fish). The low light was an incident with a snake. We were frightened of each other and when we saw each other we swam in opposite directions. This snake, if it bites you, will kill you within 20 minutes. So, it’s a good thing it was frightened of me. I got to practice some Hebrew (met a couple from Tel Aviv) and did not fare so well against 2 Norwegians when playing poker. I am a great poker player when drinking… I am better at bluffing, take more risks and am completely unpredictable and never fold. However, when sober I am too conservative and my bluff is rather pathetic.
Monday 2 April 2007
Tsuanmi, Police Check Points, Lent and my new neighbour, Frankie
The full moon brings the standard insane neighbourhood dog barking and howling orchestra (they go berserk) but there’s also changes on the Yesterday's tsunmani warnings (a result of a massive earthquake that measured 8.1 on the Richter scale struck the Solomon Islands about 8.40am yesterday) were largely ignored by Fijians. Robb and I didn't ignore it.. we moved to the higher ground of our balcony (3rd floor) and watched the harbour for 30 minutes around the ETA of the wave that was due. As we sipped on our Fiji Golds we contemplated the the fate of the Fijians sitting in the harbour in their small tin boats fishing. The police are up in arms about the complacency of the public in the face of this warning. Robb and I did consider dragging the wind boards and kayaks up to our floor in case a BIG wave came.. but we did okay. We didn't see a ripple.
Today I am moving from the bustle of Marine Drive, which is one of Suva’s four major arteries (it leads to Nadi), to a quiet street a stone’s throw from military commander and interim prime minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama (AKA Bananarama). Should I invite Frankie and his wife to my house warming? Will I run into him on my morning jogs? Will my neighbourhood be safe? Should I pop in for a cuppa with his wife? Perhaps my new neighbourhood will allow me to mix with the upper echelons of
Frankie won’t be off to the
The military have slowly, slowly been removing themselves from the checkpoints around
On the countdown to Easter I am hanging out big time. Last year I gave up chocolate… but did quite well because of a technicality and consumed chocolate ice cream, chocolate cake, chocolate muffins and chocolate cookies (technicality: they’re not actually chocolate). After a quick chat with God, I was informed that I could probably do better this year… so I’ve gone the whole hog… I’ve given up sweets. So at day 36 with 4 more to go… I’ve gone where I never thought I’d go. What a sacrifice it’s been and quite frankly, apart from being crucified on the cross, I don’t think I could’ve done better. Only a couple of accidents early on (simply forgetting it was Lent and eating a couple of sweet biscuits) and one transgression (somebody, despite my requests, gave me Cadbury Roses chocolates! Grr!). I’ve done much better than someone else I know (won’t mention names) who decided to give up sex and has failed dismally. The trick is to be realistic (which is why I didn’t give up gin)!
Easter eggs aren’t lining the walls of supermarkets in Fji… they don’t go the distance here… too hot. However, I did eye some off in the fridge at an upmarket supermarket yesterday. A public holiday yesterday for Muhammad’s birthday (I am on holidays anyway, a total waste of a public holiday!). It was good timing as Fiji lost the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens cup the prior evening and Fijians required a day to recoup (excuse the pun). Australians have their own worries…what was Thorpe thinking!? Trust the French to go tit-for-tat! My Fijian Muslim friend is in my country… probably eating my religion’s food treats (hot cross buns, Easter eggs), whilst I am here experiencing a public holiday for his religious prophet’s birthday. I don’t think the Koran has anything saying you can’t eat Easter eggs but I’ll look into it.
Something for the scientists and astrologers among you (see photo): night-time view of Saturn, taken by NASA's Cassini orbiter last week. The six-sided honeycomb feature which encircles the planet’s entire north pole is what’s causing a commotion...hasn’t been seen since the 1980s and was written off as a light trick. 6 is a good number. My new house number is double that!
Happy Easter and happy holidays!! Stay safe.
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