A New Story Is About To Begin 20 Jan 2013 11:58 PM (12 years ago)

Well - it's been a bit quiet of late... and that's partly due to the joy of having a new baby (who recently turned a huge 10 months old) - and partly because life's priorities have changed. More recently it's been because I have been away. Yes - returning for our 9th trip to Japan in 10 years. And this was one to remember - though I will post about the trip in my companion blog (www.JapaneseTies.blogspot.com) eventually....

The big news I guess is that whilst away I found myself in the rather unusual situation of getting a job on my holiday. To be fair, it was a job I had applied for prior to my holiday - but was actually interviewed on my travels, and found out the result whilst in Japan. And, as it turned out, I was successful. And where, pray tell, is my new job? Why of course - in Japan. And not just anywhere - but in Tokyo - one of the world's busiest and most amazing of cities in the world. So in about 3 - 4 months, a very different chapter in our family story will begin, and we will find ourselves living in Japan. I'm not sure how much time I will have to blog - but I hope to share at least some of the journey.

In the mean time, I hope you all had a great Christmas and a very Happy New Year... and that 2013 will bring many happy surprises to you all!

Ethnic School Parade - Multi-Culturalism On Display 20 Nov 2012 3:49 AM (12 years ago)

It's been hard to find time to put together a proper series of blog-posts - most of our time is being spent either looking after our daughter and son, or preparing for our upcoming trip to Japan. But here's a (slightly late) post about one of the local events that we enjoyed. Back on the 20th of October, there was an Ethnic School Parade here in Adelaide... an annual parade which sees about 40-50 different ethnic schools come together and march from Hindmarsh Square to the Festival Centre Plaza.

The Japanese School (that our son attends) of course was going to be there... and he was decked out in his jimbei and happi coat. Not to mention he was sporting my hat. So much for being sun-smart Daddy! There was an assortment of Japanese dress, and of course yukata and kimono were popular... and as always, the mothers were really the driving force behind the participation.... Mummy Power.

But there was enough world-wide representation to feel like you'd walked into a mini-United Nations convention.

And the parade started... about 30 minutes late due to the late arrival of the Police escort. Still, the bagpipes lead the way.

The original plan was that I was going to take photos of the whole parade as it went passed... however when L-kun walked he took one looked at me, and beckoned me over.

He wanted to walk with Daddy... and who was I to say no (just to take some photos)....

And indeed, family is at the heart of the parade. Though I have to admit that the Japanese contingent did sort of feel a little more like they were going for a Sunday stroll than marching in a parade (and the group behind us starting pressing up fairly hard... and I think they were planning an overtaking manoeuvre at one point.

I did manage to stop for a few moments and grab a couple more snaps of the other groups...

But as we came up to the Festival Centre, the school Principal waved the group on, rather than turning left with all the rest of the groups. Confusion reigned. Was this the London Olympic Opening Ceremony debacle all over again? No... apparently the Principal had booked a bus to take the kids down to the city, but the delay in the start meant that they had to skip the rest of the festivities.

I have to say - it was not a good look... and whilst the remainder of the days events were largely "official", I still felt that it wasn't quite right. Also, the parents just didn't know what was going on. As I had driven in separately, I stayed on... just to see what the others had missed out on.

Not much. But hopefully next year the organisers can be a little more flexible with the transport options. But all up, that was the first parade that we had all marched in together. And was something different to do. And I totally applaud the City of Adelaide for hosting these parades. It really is important for the sense of community that really does drive many of these multi-cultural schools. And I think it's important for the community at large to be more aware of the great work that gets performed at these schools.

October Photo Walk in Adelaide Botanic Gardens Pt 3 17 Nov 2012 4:24 AM (12 years ago)

Actually, it's been a bit of a long pause between posts (I'll explain in a post or two), but I may as well finish of the posts from recent Photowalk in Adelaide.... and once again, I don't think I need add too many words (which is perhaps unfortunate if you wanted to know about the plants that I photographed...).

Hope you enjoy!

October Photo Walk in Adelaide Botanic Gardens Pt 2 27 Oct 2012 3:22 AM (13 years ago)

Well, this is the 2nd of three posts on the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk. As I mentioned on the earlier post, I was not really feeling very motivated in the morning, and getting into the gardens late didn't help either. Now, I'm no photographer... I've had no training, and owe more of my style to using a point&shoot than a DSLR... but I enjoy taking photos. At least normally. However I can say that today there was definitely a lack of fire in the belly, and no matter how I tried to pump myself up, I felt a distinct lack of creative energy. And when the juice has dried up, it can be very disappointing to know that your photos are going to be lacking. Still, even in a funk, you can enjoy some photos... which is pretty well the set that I'm putting up here. For 2 hours of walking, I got perhaps about 40-50 shots that I was halfway satisfied with, but only about 5-10 shots that made me feel happy.

I wonder if you can tell which of the photos I particularly liked from the set (with one post still to go)... often times it's not the photos that get the most +1s or comments.

October Photo Walk in Adelaide Botanic Gardens Pt 1 26 Oct 2012 5:22 AM (13 years ago)

Today I thought I'd upload a quick blogpost on a recent Photowalk that was conducted in Adelaide. Actually, it strictly wasn't a Google+ event, but was heavily promoted in G+ anyhow. The event was the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk... which of course raises the question of, who the hell is Scott Kelby. Well, to be honest, I didn't know myself (shhhh - don't tell any of the other real photographers that). Anyhow - it was organised for the 13th of October, at the Botanic Gardens here in Adelaide. Shame it sort of over-lapped with the last photowalk I was on, but that's just the way it goes I suppose....

Actually, the day almost didn't happen for me... I woke up in the morning, not really sure that I wanted to get out of bed, had a pretty bad headache, and was just lacking any motivation at all. I guess, seeing some early signs of movement on G+ was enough to get me up and at least dressed. Although I did get enough energy to go, I arrived late (and missed the group photo-op)... and found the guys and gals had already well and truly dispersed throughout the Botanic Gardens. Left to myself, I grabbed my trusty Canon Kiss X3 and started taking some shots. And in part 1, I've thrown up a few shots from the morning, but I won't put any comments with them, but I think they're mostly self-explanatory. Even if, they're not in any particular order....

Greenhills Park - Adventuring We Come 5 Oct 2012 7:14 AM (13 years ago)

It's been School Holidays here in Australia last week and this week, and whilst the weather's been a bit hit and miss, and I've been at work, I did manage to take Thursday off so that we could hit the road and enjoy a family moment whilst the weather was good (28 degreesC and sunny). Our idea?... to head down to Victor Harbor to visit Greenhills Adventure Park.

Now Victor Harbor is about 95+km from Adelaide, and it can take 1.5 hours (approx) to drive down there in good traffic. It's actually one of the big holiday attraction sites in South Australia, and is the focus of many holiday pilgrimages. Greenhills Adventure Park is just on the outskirts of the town, and for the three of us (not including our daughter) there was a $100 entry fee. That, as the sign says, entitles you to do most of the rides and activities... for the whole day. Today, as we had business in town (and because we're notorious slow-starters) we arrive around 11am.

View Larger Map

The main attractions in the park are the slides... our son of course loved them. The wave ride was his first turn,.. just grab a piece of carpet and launch yourself down.

Don't forget to stop though...

After a few quick rides, L-kun hit the jack-pot... the water slides (of which there are two). They may not be the biggest or the scariest in the State, but they looked fun (especially for a 5 year old).

And as our son loooooooves water, this was definitely his most favourite attraction.

Over and over and over again...

Of course - on this slide, stopping has only one logical conclusion. Splash!

And no sooner had the droplets hit the ground and he was racing up the (many) stairs to begin the process again.

And again....

And even though he was shivering quite a bit (it was warm, but I'm sure the water was cold) he insisted that he continue on. No time for a towel mum! Got to go again!

And whilst that was happening, we were enjoying another sort of family moment, with our daughter. Now proudly sitting up! All by herself... cutie!

And was really having a good time looking around (what's not clear in this shot was just how many people were at the Park... lots of them).

L-kun and I then tried out the canoes down along the Hindmarsh River. Hindmarsh River may sound large... it is, most definitely not. Indeed the water level was particularly low - so much so that they had warning signs up at the top where you got your life-jackets. And whilst the water was low, I had not quite expected the sand bars across the river (at points there was perhaps only 10 cm of water... which meant for parts you had to physically pull yourself across the sand bar (or like we did, use your paddles as mountaineering poles).

We had been gone for about 20mins (in which time Daddy started to learn out to actually use a canoe, through trial and error... mostly error) when I decided to turn back. That didn't meet to my sons pleasure however - as he insisted that EVERYONE was going to the end, and that we had to as well. The end, however was the sea. 3 hours away. I explained that to my son... but 3 hours has a different meaning to a 5 year old.

On eventually returning (tired), the assistant asked us (in all seriousness), had we seen any snakes? - apparently the day before several river snakes had tried to get into people's canoes. Nice to know that AFTER we got back. Seriously I was a little shocked... I mean, they have signs up everywhere that you use the rides at your own risk - but I can't see that this absolves them of their duty of care to the customers. A bit of information, peoples, goes a long way!

There are other rides/activities, but L-kun loves slides...

Even when they don't quite go to plan....

But if at first you don't succeed....

And as the sun started sinking, L-kun and Mum grabbed their life jackets and headed out on a paddle boat (Daddy had learned his lesson).

And they were off... for some quality time together. Mum the muscle, and L-kun the driver. They made for an impressive team.

And even with only 15 mins before closing, L-kun insisted on another run at the water slide. It must have been cold, but he really REALLY enjoyed it. And just to show that he wasn't too worried about the cold (he laughs in the face of danger... and colds) he grabbed an ice-cream for himself too!

In the end - it was a fantastic though exhausting day... even for Daddy who didn't do that much, it was exhausting. I think we can definitely recommend Greenhills, and especially as the weather starts to warm up. It's just a shame that we didn't have a chance to see much of Victor Harbor as well. Perhaps next time....

Spring Has Sprung - Sakura-Style 2 Oct 2012 6:52 AM (13 years ago)

It's been a long time since last I posted... and for good (and bad) reasons. Firstly, I've been pretty busy this time around with our daughter, C-chan, who has just clocked up her 7th month! Secondly, work has been a bit hectic of late (as it should be). But finally, I've just been spending what online time I've had on G+ rather than blogging.

That, I hope (and keep telling myself) will change. And so, let's start the ball rolling with something that happened just now. Cherry Blossom season. Well, actually, the cherry trees have been blossoming around Adelaide for a while now, but our cherry tree has only just hit peak now. So I thought I'd just liven up blog with a few of my shots of our own Sakura down South....

Hanami - the Japanese tradition of going out to watch the cherry blossoms (amongst others)... but is really just a good excuse to get totally drunk with your friends and workmates... is a tradition in our house. Normally it means us setting up a picnic rug and table under the blossoms and eating a homemade picnic hamper, and me of course knocking back a couple of beers (suitably Japanese in origin).

This year was looking a little grim weather-wise, and indeed it's been blowing a gale, and when not blowing a gale, it's been raining, then sun-shining, then back to the gale part. Thankfully, today (a public holiday here, for Labour Day) the weather turned a treat. Beautiful sunshine, not too hot, not too cold. Just right (though it did get a little chilly later in the day). So we quickly revised our plans and grabbed the picnic gear. Hanami time was here again!

Now I was going to also throw down a few of my favourite pics from the season... in no particular order. But these were shot over two days, and the weather really did change around a lot (hence why you will notice a very dark grey sky in some of the shots).

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

First Day at School - Aussie Style 11 Aug 2012 5:51 AM (13 years ago)

Well, the last post I did was of L-kun's first day at Japanese School here in Adelaide. Continuing the them, here's L-kun's first day at Primary School... yes, it has been a busy few weeks. Actually, we're already in week 5 of the 3rd term.

For those unfamiliar with the system here in Australia (or at least South Australia), children join Primary School - into the Reception Year - from the term following their 5th birthday. So that means that they enter and leave kindergarten all throughout the year... a stressful time for children's friends. It also means for children like L-kun entering half way through that they get to do 6 terms (rather than the normal 4) of Reception. Not particularly happy with that gem of a policy.

L-kun was looking forward to school, but we never really understood if that was just because he hadn't appreciated how life would change (going from ~2 days a week at kindergarten to a full 5 days a week). So whilst he was very excited to be driving to his new school, Mum and Dad were a little apprehensive.

And when I say "excited to go to school", I really mean it. He even had his own strut going on. He just about moon-walked from the car to the front gate.

Pausing only in his dancing to get off a couple of composed cool-as-a-cucumber photos. Poser!

First day at a new place can be daunting... although he had the advantage of a 1 day orientation day prior to the new term starting. I'm still amazed at how quickly he adjusted to the new regime though - and the new surroundings. Hmmm - then again, was that a slightly worried expression creeping through? Perhaps L-kun wasn't quite as sure as the made out to be....

No... it was most probably just him being annoyed at Daddy sticking the camera into his face... When his best friend (from Kindy) showed up, he was all smiles. It's a comforting thing to go to a 'local' school that has a connection to a specific kindergarten... with good friends around to ease you into your new school. And it seemed that in the 2 weeks over the holidays at the end of term 2, L-kun had matured significantly... or was it just his new school uniform?

Now - T-chan and I had turned up for his first day (of course), and perhaps we were expecting something. But this isn't Japan, and there was no fan-fare, no speeches, not even an acknowledgement that this was their first day. The bell went, and the children instinctively lined up to be lead into class by their new teacher. On one hand, I'm sure it is reassuring for the children to quickly normalise the school experience, and not to make them feel it's a MOMENTOUS OCCASION ... but then again, as parents watching your son take such a big step, it was sad that it was all over in a blink of an eye.

L-kun disappeared, to re-emerge 7 or so hours later having turned into a new boy. A primary school boy, having taken yet another step on his way to becoming a man... though unfortunately he'd have to go through being a teenager first (but that's a story for another set of posts, many years into the future).

So L-kun is definitely getting his School-mode on... and it's been interesting to contrast the schooling experience between his normal 5 day a week school, and his 1/2 a day a week Japanese school. Yet, for L-kun, at the moment, these are two completely separate parts of his life. And that might be the subject of a whole new post in itself. When I get a chance to sit down and write it.

PS - and by the way, South Australia is about to change their policy to have a single intake... so after a year or so, their won't be children doing 6 terms in reception.

Japanese Schooling - Adelaide-Style 25 Jul 2012 6:30 AM (13 years ago)

Now it will come as no surprise to anyone that has read my blog (or even the blurb about the blog) that my wife is Japanese, and we've spent much time going over to Japan... and that we've now got two children. Well, our son (L-kun) turned 5 recently, a momentous occasion, filled with many exciting things... not least changes to schooling. Indeed, one of the things that happened this year was that he started his formal Japanese schooling here in Adelaide.

Now in Japan, school terms begin in April, and that's exactly when the Adelaide Japanese School begins too (so L-kun's been there a whole term already). I'll write a little more about the Japanese schooling system here in a later post, as there's a lot to discuss... right now, I'll recap on L-kun's first day at Japanese School...

The first thing to say is that Japanese definitely have a thing for ceremony - and for enjoying the occasion. For example, the child's first day at school is always a hugely momentous time, with much expectation and many tears of joy (and perhaps of sadness at their children growing up). The first day is also when they hold the Entrance Ceremony, or nyūgakushiki (入学式). It generally is attended by the parents - and grandparents even - with children dressing up (it's not uncommon for suits/dresses to be worn, or even kimono). In a way it's like a mini coming-of-age ceremony for kindy and first-graders... their having entered a new phase of life. A new beginning.

So nyūgakushiki is a time of some seriousness, as well as a time to celebrate a good time with children. Of course, Japanese also like speeches, and the children (and the parents) couldn't escape it now either. Though as you might guess, things were not quite as formal as they would be in a school in Japan.

Part of the ceremony in Japan is typically associated with the introduction of the children into the school, normally a big moment when the children are welcomed into the hall with the parents. Things weren't quite as dramatic here... but as L-kun was joining the kindergarten grade (which is for 4 and 5 year olds), all the new-starters were going to be called to the front for a special introduction. We had rehearsed this a bit beforehand... when they say your name, give a good strong hai!

We arrived at the school and found that the parents were seated separately from the children, who must have all been wondering what was going on. After the formal introduction, the children were called one-by-one to the front stage. We waited, as L-kun's name was read out and he replied with a nice loud hai, and stood up to walk to the front of the auditorium, a slightly nervous smile upon his face... Daddy was too busy trying to take photos AND video to notice what mummy was doing, but I'm sure she was getting emotional. It was a long ceremony, and I have to admit that L-kun's attention waxed and waned throughout, but he was in a good mood... after all, it's not always that easy to tell how your child will react to a new experience (especially school). And the good thing is that he's got friends there already...

Now the first day saw the families invited into the join in with the student's first lesson. Nothing too stressful, although to be honest, my wife and I were more focussed on our then 2 month old baby, C-chan. L-kun found his seat with his friends and listened (or at least sat quietly). Remember, this is really the first "formal" school environment outside kindergarten that L-kun had experienced... so he did really well for the first day.

It was a strange feeling standing there... though the one thing you realise very quickly is that this IS a Japanese school. The school is based very strongly on the normal Japanese curriculum... though obviously there's concessions made for the fact that it's only one half day a week. Now whilst my wife speaks to our son in Japanese at home, he's still more comfortable in English, so we were kinda curious how things would go... but the first day is very much about learning the ropes.

And the favourite part of the day? Well, of course there's always playing with friends in the playground. That's a universal highlight of any school experience at that age.

All up, L-kun's first day went amazingly well... and whilst the day lacked some of the pomp and ceremony that would have accompanied the occasion in Japan, my wife was very happy that L-kun could experience something of the special time in a Japanese school-life. A shared experience.

We have yet to decide how much Japanese schooling L-kun will have here in Adelaide... and much of that will be up to L-kun, and how he enjoys the experience.

So far, so good.

G+ Anniversary Adelaide Photowalk #4 9 Jul 2012 6:40 AM (13 years ago)

The final leg of our photowalk last week... a trip to the National Wine Centre of Australia... note, that's their name. Personally I think it's a bit strange... which country's national wine centre did they think we'd have in Adelaide? Anyhow, that's a small point. Actually the history of the Wine Centre has been something of an interesting story... but first off, I guess I should tell you a bit about the place.

The building sits just outside the CBD, and was the brainchild of the then Liberal government in South Australia. Wine, after all, is one of South Australia's chief produces. Like many good ideas in Adelaide however, things have a tendency to go awry.

The centre opened in 2001, but amidst complaints from the opposition, the media, and competition from a private "centre" the Centre closed down, and was re-opened as a campus of the Adelaide University in 2003.

Despite all the controversy however, the building is quite distinctive in it's own right, fashioned as it is on the wine barrel design... making for an unconventional look in an otherwise conventional Adelaide.

The centre itself is open to the public to stroll through, and during the Photowalk that's exactly what we were all doing. So I think I'll just post a few more photos from around the buildings...

Inside is quite a pleasant environment... mixing quintessential corrugated iron with glass, timber and ochre stucco. There's plenty of information (including a whiff sampler where you can smell the different ingredients to the different wines).

The internal sails/windows really add to the ambience. It may not be Sydney Opera House, but there's a nice elegance to it.

And of course, there's the wine.... and there's lots of it. You can buy it, taste it, and be educated about it. And, as the Wine Centre is now part of the University of Adelaide, it means that drinking wine can be about getting smarter (not just drunk).

And the Wine Centre has not been without it's excitement too, with the former Premier of the State, Honorable(?) Mike Rann being attacked unceremoniously by a disgruntled ex-husband (it's a long story) with a rolled up magazine. Grassy knoll it was not, but it actually left quite a bit of damage (something to remember when you yell abuse at the newspaper-delivery kid next). The incident (and the story behind it) didn't bring down the government, but it was one of the events that left long-time Premier leaving office with a less than glorious note. I wonder if he's been back since leaving politics... I do note that he did get a position with the competing Flinders University. Coincidence?

So leaving the National Wine Centre (of Australia)... I headed across the road to Rymill Park for the final meet up.

Time for just a couple more shots of the park...

And just because I can, I'll throw in two completely unrelated photos from the park...

Overall... photowalks, I've found are not necessarily the most social events (and especially as I'm such a shy lad)... but they are fantastic events for getting out and about, enjoying the great outdoors and especially, most especially, giving you a great reason to grab your camera and start looking through the viewfinder for different perspectives of the world around you.

So thank you Google, thank you Paul Clarke for organising this walk, and also a big thank you to everyone on G+ for helpful comments since getting back on-line. And also, finally a HUGE thank you to you (the reader) for allowing me this self-indulgence. Well, at least you have if you've read right down to the bottom of this post. Well done, by the way... I always wonder how many people actually read my blog posts.

G+ Anniversary Adelaide Photowalk #3 6 Jul 2012 11:44 PM (13 years ago)

Well, I'm sort of cheating on this post, the 3rd in the series of the G+ Anniversary Photowalk in Adelaide (from the 30th June)... in that I actually went to the Botanic Gardens twice, once on the way to the National Wine Centre, and the second time on the way back from the BBQ (on the way to a birthday party)... So I've sort of thrown them altogether... so apologies if you think something strange has happened...

Now given that's it's very late, and I'd like to get to bed, I've decided that I won't write much today (yeah, I hear you say... or at least you would if you were reading this)... Actually I've written about the Botanic Gardens before (here in October and then again here in Nov 2010). It's acutally interesting to look back and compare photos from back then...

In the afternoon, I was blessed with some rather wonderful clouds ... the thunderstorms that had been forecast for earlier in the day never materialised, but they did produce some fantastic skyscapes for photography.

And the Adelaide Centennial Conservatory did the rest... it's a natural photogenic structure... so when in Rome, buy a pizza.

I have to say that I've not been too careful on my processing, and I might come back to these photos to bring out a little more oomph to them. But for the moment, I'm pretty happy with minimum effort (I believe I mentioned before about how lazy I am...).

The glass water sculpture to the south of the Conservatory is also quite an interesting subject matter too....so many different things going on, it's hard to know what to focus on when taking photos here.

And now with just a hint of colour...

But it wasn't all glass and steel... the Botanic Gardens has lots to see. Unfortunately both times I was there, I didn't really get an opportunity to spend much time. So these photos are a little rushed.

One of the problems with a Photowalk is that if you're with someone (I was walking with +David Fielding in the morning, first time through) it's always difficult to talk, walk AND look for taking photos. Especially if people like taking different sorts of photos. Still, we made our way through the gardens at the time of morning when there was still some beautiful light..

And just enough time to take time to smell the mushrooms.

And on the other scale of plants, there's quite a good cactii garden here too....

And sculpture is very much a part of the Botanic Gardens too.

Ok... I couldn't resist at least one more gratuitous architectural photo.

Did I say one photo? I meant one lot of photos. Actually the Water-lily House is one of the really interesting structures here...

And it's great for exploring glass, reflections, and lines.

It is also normally very good for taking some lovely photos of water lilies as well, but unfortunately the cold, moist air when mixed with the heat from the glass house was instantly covering every glass surface (read: my camera lens) with a sea of condensation. Score one for the power of water.

And speaking of water, and reflections, it's good to find interesting versions of these things... in the strangest of places...

Like the hollowed remnants of an old fallen tree...

Where even death, brings the promise of new life...

But where life itself can take on the strangled frenzy of death and corruption. Actually this photo reminds me of the mangrove swamps down at St Kilda....

And then there's the glorious trees along Plane Tree Drive that runs along the northern boundary of the gardens... the point of all of this... if ever you're in the city on a fine day (or even a not so fine day), check out the Botanic Gardens. There's something interesting here all the time, even in the middle of winter.

G+ Anniversary Adelaide Photowalk #2 6 Jul 2012 12:56 AM (13 years ago)

Well, I did mention in the previous post that I had taken a lot of photos... and true to my word, here's the 2nd instalment of my great photographic adventure. Right at the outset, I should remind everyone that I'm most certainly not a photographer. Not a real one at any rate. I like to dabble, and I don't take my photography seriously enough to even be a hobby. Though it's a good pretense of one.

Now I haven't really got that many photos to show what Adelaide is really like, so perhaps as a photowalk session I sort of failed. Adelaide's often been described as a Big Country Town... with a population of over a million people, it's a very BIG town at that. Unlike Melbourne however, we don't really have the characteristic alleyways - so Adelaide never really comes across as having a secret-face. Rather, our secrets are all about the people that live here....

Adelaide established an Arts culture since the 60's at least, and was known (perhaps still is, but with a slight twist of irony) as belonging to the Festival State.

Now everywhere in Australia has it's festivals, so we've largely lost the self-image of a bastion of the richer cultural heart of Australia. I suspect Melbourne and Sydney might have suggested we never had it in the first place...

North Terrace is the homeland of the Arts, with the Library, the Museum and of course the Art Gallery all lined up along a beautiful Boulevard...

Alongside that the two university campuses of the University of Adelaide and University of South Australia (Flinders University has a small satellite campus nearby as well)

And of course seats of learning are almost always sat on by Men of Learning.... how 'old fashioned'... but it goes with Adelaide's intrinsically conservative mind-set. It's also far from the modern day reality with girls consistently out-performing boys in school. But then still finding that they earn less. Life, apparently, wasn't meant to be easy - or fair.

And one of the bulwarks of the old establishment in Adelaide is the Freemason's Lodge on North Terrace... which was first erected in 1884, and then rebuilt (in it's current form) in 1924. The truly remarkable aspect to the whole thing however was that the organisation of the Freemasons in South Australia was first established in 1834... the State was proclaimed in 1836! The State and the city of Adelaide is intimately linked with the Freemasonry movement... one of the city's many sort-of-secrets.

One might say that Adelaide was built on the foundations of Freemasonry.... then again, as an aside, 10 out of the first 20 Prime Minister's of Australia were Freemasons.... The Adelaide streets bear witness to the role of Freemasonry in Adelaide with Wakefield, Morphett, Gilbert, Gouger, O'Connell, King William, Flinders, Tynte all based on powerful Masons at the start of the South Australian colony.

So whilst the city was founded on the designs and plans of Col. William Light, it's way of life can perhaps be symbolised by this mysterious society of well-to-do gentlemen.

Enough of the Freemasons... there is photographing to do... and not everything has to have deep historical significance.

And yet... the history, is often reflected in even the most ordinary of things from today...

Autumn's last leaves float gentle on the turbulent waters.

Anyone for a jump in a puddle?... If only my son were there....

Frome Road - from a different point of view (and I wasn't even drunk, officer)...

Adelaide has it's fair share of sculpture, if you look for it...

And who can go past the quaintly beautiful (if somewhat artificial) Torrens River cum Lake.... and isn't that weather looking up for us all. G+ Power!

Stay tuned for my next instalment soon....

G+ Anniversary Adelaide PhotoWalk Pt 1 4 Jul 2012 6:55 AM (13 years ago)

Well, today I wanted to talk a little bit about another part of my life... one that you most probably could have guessed (no... nothing too dramatic... it's just plain boring old me after all). What I was going to talk about was my alter-ego (+Ben Adelaide) on Google Plus (or just G+ if you don't mind). Now G+ is Google's very own flavour of social media... primed to be it's centre-piece of an identity lead marketing bonanza - but which also happens to be home to many photographers across a broad spectrum of skill levels and interests.

And on the 30th of June 2012... G+ became 1 year old!

(An aside - as are the way of things, with a new shiny toy, Google have let the ball slip with Blogger, and I can't now edit the HTML in my code... for some bizarre reason... hence the white background on some of this post which I can't remove!!!!!)

So how does one celebrate a birthday on G+... by organising a photowalk of course. And that's exactly what happened...across more than 100 cities across the world G+ers (pluskins, plussers, or just G-Friends) came together, with their cameras, to take some photos, meet some people and have a good time. +Paul Clarke organised the local Adelaide walk... with a brave 14-15 people turning up... Thanks to Troy Pudney for this group photo.

I say brave as the forecast for the 9am start was for a few showers, possible small hail and thunderstorms later in the morning. By the time I left home at 8:40am, it was still raining... but I was not to be deterred (as I'd already missed the first photowalk earlier in the year when C-chan was born). The photowalk started in Hindmarsh Square and aimed to meander through Rundle Mall, and down to the Botanic Gardens before making it's way to Rymill Park for a BBQ (Paul is a true optimist, or just able to forecast better than the Met Bureau).

View Google+ One Year Anniversary Photowalk, Adelaide in a larger map

Now I'm not really much of a photographer... but anyone that reads my blog (all 0.75 of you) would realise that I do love to take the camera out for a stroll every now and again. I like photography, but not religiously though (hey, I'm still using my basic Canon Kiss X3, with 95% of my processing done on Google's Picasa... so I'm no camera-junky). But photography for me is about getting out, and enjoying looking at the world. And sometimes you get to take some photos that turn out at least so-so, or sometimes better.

So the following set of photos I'll let speak for themselves... mostly. If anyone has any questions about them, just leave a comment... but because this was a long walk, and let's just say I have a happy shutter-finger, there'll be quite a few posts from this walk. So strap yourself in...

I have to say this sculpture has been in the Rundle Mall for a very long time... and it always sort of freaked me out as a child... especially as it used to be positioned outside the Bible Society shop (or something like that). I always wondered why they would have put a statue to a horned demon in the middle of some wanton display in that location (or any location for that matter).... the truth was so much less interesting....

One of the staples of the Mall photography... the fountain. Thankfully devoid of it's urinal-like froth today!

Reminders of the fickle weather were never far away.

Construction sites... Adelaide-style.

Adelaide's retro past is never far away.

I couldn't help put a selfie in here somewhere... though you would think I was being impaled on a very large spike such is my pained expression. I never said I found photography easy!

A familiar sight approaches... The Malls Balls.

From ground zero.

Despite it being around 9:30am on a Saturday, the Mall had an almost deserted - inhabited by ghosts feel to it. The weather had kept away more than the G+ers.

Finally... some colour!

The theme for me, that evolved very quickly, was reflection and water. This one kinda had it all, and then some.

One of the now infamous "features" of the Mall is the Pigs sculpture - actually it's called 'A Day Out' by Marguerite Derricourt, and are usually the place to get yourself photographed riding on, under, around a number of bronze statues as they scavenge through the bins. An interesting sculpture, but +Louise Bagger showed me how a little bit of post-processing can really bring out a different personality.

And finally a few photos that really shouldn't need any explanation... Adelaide's cityscape in close-up and greys!

And that's the end of the first phase of the photowalk... down Rundle Mall. Actually, it should perhaps have taken 15 mins, but such was everyone's excitement (or perhaps nervousness about straying too far away from cover) we all spent way too much time in the Mall... but before you knew it, everyone was sort of off doing their own thing. Hmmm... sometimes there's a limit to how social, social media is in real life.... but then again, today was all about the photographs!

Okuizome.... 100 Days of Happiness 26 Jun 2012 6:54 AM (13 years ago)

Well, this may be a little late (as our daughter C-chan celebrated her 100th day a couple of weeks ago now), but I thought we'd share this day here... Now okuizome is hard to translate direct, but is often translated as something like first eating in Japanese. The celebration in Japan is to wish for the child to grow up always without hunger... and is often also done with hagatame, or teeth strengthening ceremony. It's clear that some Japanese traditions stem from a time (not that long ago) when times were quite a good deal harsher, and you could count your luck by how many of your teeth you retained. Okuizome is all about the first (pretend) feast for the young baby... though if the truth be told it is as much our feast (if not more so).

The centre-piece of the celebration is the fish tai, which (as far as we can tell) is equivalent to bream. Now in Adelaide, bream is normally black bream, so that's what we bought (please check out the Fish Factory on Grand Junction Road for a good place to buy fresh fish in Adelaide). The fish is scaled and gutted, and skewered lengthwise as well as being heavily salted prior to being oven-baked.

Although I have to admit that bream isn't my favourite fish.... it has a reasonably strong flavour made even more stronger with the salting.

The cooked fish is served with a number of other dishes...

There's osekihan, a celebratory red-rice dish made with azuki beans... this is a traditional meal given for good luck in Japan. Pumpkin is also a popular dish for wishing fortune as well - the association with good luck with money due to the gold colour I guess.

And T-chan also made some delicious osuimono fish broth, along with a dainty little salad.

And then there umeboshi (not necessary for the dish, but salted plums are always a delicious addition) and a very special ingredient... a stone (collected by L-kun from Anstey Hill Recreation Park... so it could also have been a dinosaur bone...wink wink). The stone is there, as mentioned, as a token for wishing strong teeth to the child. In retrospect, not sure that this is the most hygienic of traditions - especially as it's wishing good health and all.

We also had some Taiyaki, a cooked pancake in the shape of, once again, a bream. The pancake is filled normally with an anko paste (also made from the azuki beans). Actually, these were given to us by a family friend who had found a Korean version of it... as it's hard to find the real Japanese dish here in Adelaide (though why it's easier to find the Korean ones is a bit of a mystery to me). The anko paste is a sweet, but it still retains it's beaniness... and is a very common flavouring in Japanese sweets.

So that's okuizome in a nut-shell.... apart from one thing. Now obviously it ISN'T C-chan's first meal. No, we're not that bad! The point is that she should pretend to eat the meal. This isn't as easy as you might think... no, taking candy from a baby is easy in comparison to pretending to give a baby food. Even if they haven't eaten real food yet. The job of faux-feeding is up to Daddy who obliges with the required seriousness. He of course knows where the food will really end up... in our bellies. As for C-chan, she was a real trooper (for the most part), and suffered our tom-foolery quite well. I think she would have been quite happy to have really eaten the food... this could be a good sign!

Anyway, she's well past 100 days now... and rapidly approach 4 months old. She's sleeping well most of the time (we had our first all-through-the-night sleep last weekend), but she sometimes reverts to waking up 1-2 times during the night. She continues growing at a prodigious rate, to the point that T-chan is starting to suffer sore back and shoulder from the weight. That's a very happy pain however, and every hour at night less sleep is still a hugely welcome blessing. Happy okuizome C-chan... the first of many happy family feasts to come.

Anstey Hill... Adeventures Of A Dinsosaur Hunter 11 Jun 2012 6:13 AM (13 years ago)

Today was a beautiful Winter's Day in Adelaide... though it only reached 15 degrees (or thereabouts). It was fine, and not even a breeze. Well, as we'd all been cooped up inside for too long, we decided to go out for the afternoon. And to my surprise, L-kun wanted to go bush-walking. I decided we'd have a look at Anstey Hill Recreation Park, one that we'd not been to before. So off we went... looking for adventure.

The park itself can be found at the end of Lower North East Road and Grand Junction Roads, in the foothills of the North East suburbs, about 18km from the city centre.

View Larger Map

There are a number of lookouts, and the view towards the city is good... though from this vantage point you might actually suspect that Adelaide was a city of trees, with the city centre perched far into the distance.

Now, whilst you can grab information from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (see link above), there's not much of a map that goes with it. The Park is about 380 hectares, and much of it used to be either quarry or (of all things) a nursery, as well as semi-rural land. It's been turned into a Recreation Park to ensure that it doesn't get developed and eventually returns to something like it's natural state. Not having been to the park before, I though the "Geological Hike" sounded interesting for L-kun... even though it was rated as a moderate bush walk... this can be reached from Gate 9 on the SW corner of the park.

Scanned imaged from Department of Environment and Natural Resources

The Park itself is quite nice, though quite different from the other parks in/around Adelaide. It has a feel of a slowly evolving rural landscape... and is a good mix of open land, and bushland, with a range of hills and valleys.

And even though the Winter's been wet, and the drought an increasingly distant memory, every where there are signs of it.

But also of the new life returning to the landscape.

For reasons I'll explain shortly, it was difficult to take photos today, and the wild-flowers hadn't really appeared in all their glory yet.

But it was still a very pleasant environment, and not at all like the thick scrub we would often walk through.

The great thing about the Geological Hike is the fact that there's a mix of views of the city, the old "gun emplacement" and the quarries to walk through. The rocks in the quarry are old - as they say - as the Hills. About 450million years ago the sands were turned into a mountain... and the park also spans the Eden-Burnside fault line which marks the transition from Adelaide Plains to Mt Lofty Ranges.

And the quarries are fun to walk around, observing through the cut in the mountainside, the history of Adelaide through a geologists eyes.

Actually, one of the unexpected things that happened during the day was that L-kun decided that he'd go Dinosaur Bone hunting/ I think he'd taken to heart a dinosaur show he'd seen on tv a while back, and all of a sudden everything he saw on the ground was a dinosaur bone. And I mean everything!

As for myself, I got into the act.... but you can also see that this wasn't the only thing that I was concerned about. I was the official baby carrier for our bushwalk adventure, and this was the first time we'd tried out the baby carrier with C-chan. So I wasn't really able to enjoy the freedom to photograph as I would like, but I like to think that it was a shared compromise, and a shared moment of peaceful togetherness. Especially as C-chan fell asleep through most of it.

We had a great time - and L-kun brought back a bag (yes, I mean a big bag) of "dinosaur bones". I don't have the heart to tell him that they were just rocks, but I figure, what do I know... somewhere in that bag was the remains of our deep deep past. Whether it was bones of long-gone animals or the bones of our world. Either way, I loved that he was so excited about it, and it certainly made for a more interesting walk.

Farewell and Thanks Otousan and Okaasan 8 Jun 2012 6:02 AM (13 years ago)

Hisashiburi everyone - it has been a very long time since I've posted anything, and today's a bit of a special day to do so. T-chan's parents have just left Adelaide, and are right at this very moment flying somewhere along the east coast of Australia, heading north back to Japan. It's been an amazing 8 weeks that they've been here, and it's been a huge help for T-chan and I. And I'm sure we'll only truly realise that tomorrow when that help's not there.

Last night was a quiet night of celebration. A family bbq was a fitting way to end their trip, and especially good given how wonderfully warm this Adelaide Autumn has been. Shame I was almost completely out-of-it through work (don't get me started on how hard I've been working this week).

Now as a quick Japanese lesson, mothers are referred by their children (among other things) in Japan as Okaasan, and fathers Otousan. That's what T-chan (and I) call her parents. Grandmothers are called Obaachan, and grandfathers Ojiichan. Hopefully that helps with the rest of the post.

T-chan's parents came down to help out when L-kun was born (nearly 5 years ago) and this time they took even more time to come to Australia... something that was not easy for them to do (leaving their beloved cat home alone with only a daily visit from relatives. In the middle of what has been a quite cold "spring" in Sapporo.

Otousan and Okaasan with L-kun in mid-2007.

And now, 8 weeks later, they're making their way back - back to a life NOT filled with nappies, crying or washing clothes and cloths with incredible regularity. And for all that, it was an afternoon filled with sadness...and I know from long experience just how deep these emotions can run in the Japanese heart. In the hearts of fathers and mothers the world over.

They will also be returning to a life without the constant amazement of watching a new-born grow and develop... missing the moments that make parenting (and grand-parenting) so worthwhile. The smiles, the gurgling giggles, the holding of fingers in miniature hands, even the sudden eruption of hilarious loud noises from something so small and innocent (see previous comments about nappies). There has indeed been much happiness and joy to share (as well as tiredness and sleeplessness).

Farewells are always difficult for T-chan and her family. Even though she's been living in Australia just short of 10 years, she has always (and will always) have a very close and special bond with her family, and her home town of Sapporo. It's been a source of strength and resilience for her, but also a source of strain to be separated from her family. Thus these moments are always especially charged with emotion. I'm sure the same goes for her parents. International marriages are in many ways the same as any other marriage... and filled with joys and sadness. However, it's moments like today that you realise the differences.

And that's not to forget that not everything is revolving around our daughter, C-chan... our son, L-kun has also had a big day. He has always had a particularly strong attachment to Obaachan (grandmother), and she's been a constant source of fun and excitement for him these past 8 weeks too. On the way home, he said to me quietly, "Daddy, I already miss Obaachan and Ojiichan..." That was it. He was quiet after that.

So as we saw off T-chan's parents, we knew that today marked another big chapter in our lives, as we once again looked forward to waking the next day - in a much less busy house - with a lot less comfort and yes, support. We know that it will be a big change for us... and we know just how much they helped us over this last two months. We also know how much this trip has taken out of them... and that their travelling days are drawing to an end. I suspect they're quite relieved our plan is to stop at two... but you never can tell...

Otousan, Okaasan,.... arigatou! Till we meet again in Sapporo, soon. We promise that C-chan will still have plenty of nappies to help with when we come.

Now... when I get time, I might try to fill in the gaps since the last post... as there's much to tell, and much to explore in terms of both parenting and our time around Adelaide.... plus countless bits and pieces that have been left hanging through lack of spare time on the computer. That's the plan however...

Temakizushi... Easy Japanese Deliciousness 8 Jun 2012 5:49 AM (13 years ago)

Now... I have to admit that I'm struggling to get time to blog, so this is a little disjoint. However, as I'm the only one really reading the blog, I guess it doesn't matter too much. So let's get back to our post-Children's Day celebration. Our daughter, C-chan's first... but of course, she wasn't enjoying the food (except several hours later through the breast milk, if that counts).

In some parts there's also a tradition of eating mochi, or rice cake however, we don't have that tradition in our family. Whilst we didn't really have time this year (with our daughter C-chan still taking up most of our spare time), T-chan did put together a simple though delicious temakizushi (or hand-rolled sushi)... ably assisted by L-kun. Nothing exotic... but it's always a fun family meal.

Ingredients are simple... freshly cooked rice (I'll talk about recipes later...) cut nori or seaweed...

A selection of cold fillings... we went with Atlantic Salmon, cucumber and crab-sticks.

With a simple tuna filling...

A beef filling...

And an ebi (prawn) filling...

Not to mention some natto... fermented soy beans. Sounds nice doesn't it (can anything fermented be bad)?....really?

My wife tends however to also describe them as rotten beans.... and they are a Japanese institution (especially in Hokkaido). Me - well, I prefer my food NOT to be rotten. Even if it's described in warm glowing terms. IT'S STILL ROTTEN! And I have to say, not only are they oozy and gooey... but they also have a very strong flavour as well! A lot of people compare them to a Japanese version of the Australian savoury spread Vegemite (which people either love or hate). I'm not sure which side of that analogy should be more offended however...

Now this photo's not meant to show how extravagantly elegant the temakizushi is... it's not that sort of dish. Rather, it's just the sort of thing you whack together, dip in some soy sauce, and throw down the hatch.... and have a lot of fun doing it...

And don't forget, whilst appearance is always an element in Japanese food, when you're family's home alone you can always be as messy as you want.

What it lacks in terms of sophistication, it more than makes up for in terms of deliciousness and ease. What's more, you eat the serving plate. What more could you ask for?... An empty rice dish....

And a satisfied grin....

And the great thing is that you can generally come up with ingredients for temakizushi from just about anything... including rotten beans!

Wherever you are, whatever family traditions you hold - it's always a joy having a nice family dinner together. And it's always nice to have a day to reflect on how lucky we all are with our children, which we often take so readily for granted.

And this was C-chan's first Children's Day... next year, she might be enjoying some good temakizushi with us!

Kodomo no Hi... Children's Day on 5th of May 7 May 2012 7:26 AM (13 years ago)

The 5th of May is known in Japan as Kodomo no Hi, or simply put, Children's Day. It's actually one of the set of public holidays that makes up the Golden Week. Actually, you would think a day called Children's Day would be a pretty simple affair. Nothing is simple in Japan. The holiday is associated with a festival tango no sekku, which is a seasonal festival that celebrates the changing of seasons (from Spring to Summer)... it is also associated with the Boy's Festival (now that makes at least some sense).

One of the characteristics of the Boy's Festival is the flying of koinobori, or carp (koi) streamers (bori). Actually... you could also call them, wind-socks, but that doesn't quite have the same ring to it. These used to be arranged by the number of boys in the family. Instead, in Japan you will often see these hung out on long poles or wires from the house (especially from balconies)... The carp are meant to represent the vitality of young boys, swimming up stream, ever threatening to turn in to a dragon....

The top "streamer" is the dragon, which signifies the ideal of the man the boy would turn into. It's then followed by a black, red, then blue carp streamer, which are meant to represent the father, the mother and the son respectively. More children = more colours of carp.

Atop the pole is typically found a very odd contraption, yaguruma, which consists of a number of spinning wheels made of arrows, and a strange "propellor" which both spin wildly around in the wind. I have no idea what symbolic meaning this has, other than to be quite flashy.

Now, I thought I'd just put together a few of the photos I've taken today... a bit of self-indulgence.

And this is quite a cheeky shot... from inside the koi! Now that's just not right!....

Another tradition is that of the kabuto... which is a particular type of samurai helmet that is in an ornamental form. This is normally part of a set that is set up each year for Children's (aka Boy's) Day.

The helmet design actually pre-dates the samurai, but is now very much a part of the samurai image. Boys were an important part of samurai households, continuing on the family name and customs. It was for this reason that the tradition evolved of displaying these martial images as a way of warding of bad luck.

The kabuto helmet consisted of the main "bowl" or hachi (in this case emblazoned with a rather vicious looking dragon and horns)...

And an intricately woven neck guard, or shikoro.

To the right stands the sword, or katana, a samurai's symbol of power.

To the left, the bow and arrows, or yumiya.

The dragon is a sign of strength in Japan... and when you're main aim is to intimidate your opponents, you may as well go all out with the bling.

Now I have to admit these are gifts from doting grandparents in Japan... and I don't want to think about how much they cost... or even how expensive they were to send out to Australia (they are NOT light... no thanks to the rather solid - though beautifully hand painted - display case).

But they certainly do allow us to continue L-kun's connection with Japan... to keep hold of a very important part of his life. Something which is not always easy to do.

The Untold Story - Our Single Umbilical Artery Baby 18 Mar 2012 4:39 AM (13 years ago)

Now, I've already introduced our daughter, C-chan, who is more lovely by the day (and has already passed three weeks of age). That's not to say we (like all parents) don't have our moments at 3am in the morning, when she decides not to got sleep. It's a feeling only parents can know (and dread). However, it's a feeling we wouldn't change for the world. And not least of all, as the pregnancy was far from straight-forward...

We found out in week 23 (just over halfway through) that our baby had what is known as a Single Umbilical Artery (SUA) - the normal umbilical cord has 2 arteries and 1 vein, but an SUA baby only has a single artery. That means the baby has only half the blood vessels from the placenta providing nutrients. This is not that rare, with approximately 0.5 - 1% of births exhibiting it - and is indeed more common in multiple births. Whilst not rare, the outcomes can be quite life-determining for the young baby. Despite this the SUA complication is not something that you hear that much (if at all). There's no clear cause for SUA - and appears just to happen sometimes. Perhaps it's only the advent of high resolution doppler ultrasound that it's been routinely identified during antenatal tests. Thankfully our ultrasound had also shown no other problem indicators.

The difficulty with SUA babies, is that the odds of birth defects suddenly jumps up to between 25-30% of all live births. That's getting pretty damn close to 1 in 3... and at those odds, Russian Roulette is actually better odds. Of course, for 70-75% of SUA babies, there's no apparent problems, and life goes on as normal. The biggest risk is that the baby will be exhibit intrauterine growth restriction resulting in a very small baby - and with issues similar to premature babies.

We had to wait another whole 9 weeks (week 32) for the next ultrasound to see how our baby was doing. Amazingly, it turned out that our baby was right on the median growth (no mean achievement, especially given that T-chan is only a wee little lass herself). Once again, there were no adverse indicators and everything looked like it was going excellently. We did have a bit of a scare however when T-chan tested positive for pregnancy-induced diabetes... which a subsequent test proved false. We were starting to feel a little more confident that everything was going to be ok. After all, things couldn't be too bad if the baby was growing well...

Then along came the Week 39 scan, just a week before C-chan was born. By this stage T-chan's parents had arrived from Japan, and had come to meet the obstetrician - it was a big thing, and there was much talking and crying going on in his office. Then we had the scan, right there in the office, with T-chan's mum crying for joy in the background. Everything looked and sounded good - and then the obstetrician did the growth estimate measurement. It was quite a shock when we were suddenly told that the baby had only grown approximately 700g in the intervening seven weeks (with an estimated weight of 2,500g). We had been expecting closer to 3,500g! Suddenly, things didn't quite seem real - and we were now looking at a near "premature" sized baby (in the lowest 10th percentile of weights for gestation age). Needless to say we were just a little stressed that week, suddenly wondering if we were spiralling toward the 30% zone of bad outcomes. It was a quiet ride home that afternoon, and whilst T-chan's parents didn't know the full extent of the issues, they knew that this was not in the plan...

Fast forward one week later (almost) and C-chan was finally born after about 5.5-6 hours of labour... and I have to admit completely without our obstetrician who was stuck in theatre for an operation. To our complete and utter relief C-chan looked a happily healthy (and loud) baby girl when she finally arrived. A few minutes later (after some important time lying on mum's chest), they did the measurements. It turned out... amazingly.... C-chan was a very, very healthy 3,530 grams. The last scan had been a complete error! In fact, C-chan was even 10 grams heavier than her older brother L-kun had been at birth. Indeed, subsequent paediatrician check-ups and a fairly difficult ultrasound later (to check kidneys, as SUA babies have 5-15% chance of having problems with kidneys) seemed to show no problems at all.

I have to admit, to this day, I wish we had not had to have gone through that last week believing that she was going to be born small. Still - for us, it seems that everything had turned out well (fingers crossed), and that C-chan will enjoy a totally normal healthy life. For many families having an SUA baby however, the story is quite different - and far from happy.

My advice is that if you find out that you're baby is SUA, don't panic. Be positive. I know that's not easy to do when you first find out. There's little that can be done except wait... indeed that's perhaps the worst part of it. You can of course ask for a re-scan if in doubt, and there are a couple of invasive tests that should be avoided if you can help it - which may tell you if there's a chromosonal cause to the SUA. There's much however to be said for living with hope, not dread, in your heart as your baby grows in the womb. My other advice is that if you learn you have an SUA baby, be very careful how much time you spend on the internet... as there are countless horrible accounts to keep you sleepless at night. Really scary stories - which I'm not going to repeat here (you don't need the negatives to be reinforced). The positive stories like this one don't have any where near the impact as the negative ones. If in doubt, speak to your obstetrician. Early. Though don't necessarily take their first answer as the end of it.

And remember - don't concentrate on the odds. This is not about being lucky or unlucky. It's not your fault that you're in this situation, and there's little that you can actively do except to be strong. You'll need it for both yourself, your partner and your children.

Life, precious as it is, is also precarious. Cherish it.

Introducing A Very Special Little Someone - The New Chapter Begins 7 Mar 2012 4:40 AM (13 years ago)

Well, as those that are familiar with this blog, you already know that I've been posting a whole heap less these days, and for good reason. T-chan and I have been expecting the arrival of our second child. And I am very happy to announce that she arrived (only 3 days ahead of schedule), and both baby and mother are very fine. I'll go into all the weights and measures (for people seem to want to know these things) in the next post.

And as parents, we are amazed just how similar she was to her bigger brother, L-kun... they could almost have been twins (separated only by a mere 5 years)... and a few bits different of course.

For those that are also familiar with my blog, you'd realise that it wouldn't be right unless we had a code-name for our little bundle of joy... so let me introduce you to C-chan. By the way, if you've ever wondered about the -chan part it, it's a Japanese honorific, or 'diminutive suffix'. It's used quite simply when expressing your love/care for that person (and in Japanese society that means close relationships, or more commonly for children). Our sons blog name is L-kun, which is typically used for boys (or younger men). Whilst -chan itself is unisex, it's more associated with girls.

Now, T-chan's parents arrived last week, and we've been on tenterhooks ever since then, expecting the birth any and every day. Of course, I've been going to work, but I didn't really believe I'd be getting any phone calls during the day. Just didn't seem that was the way it was going to happen. Then, of course, things rarely work the way you think they will. Therefore on queue whilst I was at work, I received a phone-call from my wife to say that she had pains, every 3-4 minutes. 3-4 minutes!... our obstetrician had said we should head to the hospital at 10 mins. By the time I had driven home from work which is about 25-30 mins away (almost running out of petrol on the way... and I mean ALMOST), picked up my wife and detoured to the obstetrician's office. Yes... she was in labour, and yes, we should get to the hospital ASAP. Only another 3 hours later, and our baby girl, C-chan, was born. Not bad - L-kun had taken 15+ hours with 2 hours of pushing, whilst C-chan was born in a speedy 5.5 - 6 hours with 30 mins pushing. No time for messing around!

The other great thing was that this time around, T-chan's body was not as distressed either... indeed the next day she was happily walking around the hospital, complaining how boring it was. And after a grumbly first night, C-chan was an excellent newborn (feeding and sleeping very easily). She discharged after the third night, happy to get home and to establish that rhythm of life. Of course - what happens in hospital doesn't always translate to homelife... and we've now had two nights of very little sleep. I suppose it couldn't all be roses and lollipops... but every moment of sleep deprivation is a happy, if tiring (and sometimes stressful) reminder of how lucky we have been.

Now I have to admit that my wife, T-chan, has been not so secretly hoping for a girl - and it came as a huge relief when we found out that there was a more than 50% chance that our baby was going to be a girl at the 19 week ultra-sound. Of course, sonographers are a cagey lot, and don't tend to go out on a limb too readily (lots of rooms, and wardrobes, may need to be re-decorated if they get it wrong). But we were confident that we were having a girl... BINGO! We were right!

And T-chan was overjoyed and much relieved! I see my future... and it is looking pink

Welcome to the world, C-chan!

T-kun The Urban Warrior 17 Feb 2012 4:08 AM (13 years ago)

Our hairy (first) son's name is T-kun... we've talked about him before - and indeed he's been a constant companion throughout our marriage. He's now just under 8 years old, and he's definitely a funny old fella. How to describe him? Well, Energetic... Heroic... Clever are all words that might be used... by someone that didn't know him well, that is. He is a gentle soul however. Satisfied with the gentle ebb and flow of the world and it's many mysteries. He may well be a philosopher, but if he is, it's of a particularly somnambulant variety. Then again, he often assumes a somewhat thoughtful gaze as he dozes off to sleep.

And his thoughtful gaze is almost invariably done laying on his back, which he does for hours on end. I'm not entirely sure if it's not because he can't get up, or because he's just one lazy cat. I wouldn't say that he's fat, just gravitationally challenged. Of course, it could be that he's just exhausted from all the running around he does...

As deep down in his chest, there lies the heart of a tiger. Beating strong with the desire to hunt on the plains, the soft beat of drums echoing through the heat haze....

Unfortunately, there's only one small problem with this vision. In our backyard, he's often the one being hunted....

Now T-kun is not entirely an indoor cat, but he is a backyard cat (given that he can't jump to save himself, he rarely goes out the front). He's also been, how shall I say, enhanced in a surgical way.... er... downstairs. As a result, he's never shown any interest for actually catching anything he hunts, and therefore, being a quite rational realist has never really seen much point in hunting at all. Suits us... the thought of him bringing in his sporting trophies is not something that makes us shine with pride.

Now there's a particular type of bird in Australia known as a Willie Wagtail, actually a distant relative of the crow... and what it lacks in size it makes up in complete kamikaze abandon. They are, to put it bluntly, VERY crazy birds. Especially come spring when they get all territorial... but even then, they seem to actually enjoy the teasing part more so than the warning part. It's times like these that I kinda wish that T-kun would revert just a little to his primeval instincts... if only just enough to muster just a little bit of pride.

Then again... he can't be spending his time worrying about such things as pride; not when there's thinking to be done. After all, there's only so many hours in the day.

He may not be the urban warrior of his dreams, but we love him all the more for it.

L-kun's Setsubun Adventure 2012 4 Feb 2012 3:45 AM (13 years ago)

Note: For the observant amongst you... you might realise that L-kun's actually fighting off a tengu (rather than oni)... one of the many elements of poetic licence available when you export a tradition overseas, and when you don't have an oni mask.

Hope you enjoyed your setsubun, 3rd February, wherever you are, and however many oni you had to fight off!

Tour Down Under 2012... Adelaide in Hot Pants 2 Feb 2012 4:52 AM (13 years ago)

I've actually been struggling a little of late to dedicate time to the blogs... not least of all due to preparing our house (and lives) for the arrival of our new baby. However, life isn't all about babies. Still, it's hard to get time to not only do blogging, but also do things to blog about. One thing about Adelaide is that whilst it's a relatively small city, come the warmer months of Jan - March in particular, there's lots of things to see and do. One of those things is the Santos Tour Down Under. For those that aren't into cycling, I should perhaps explain a little.

The Tour Down Under is the first (Australian) leg of the UCI World Cycling Tour... It started in 1999 - not long after Adelaide lost the Grand Prix, and since that time has grown from strength to strength, and has become the biggest cycling event in the Southern Hemisphere. That sounds impressive, but the reality is that the world tour remains dominated by the European countries.

It's run over 7 days (the first day being a warm-up act on the first Sunday). Each day there's a different leg that features beautiful Adelaide countryside, and also some harsh Adelaide weather. The race features:

Day 0 - 51 km (East End)
Day 1 - 149km (Clare)
Day 2 - 148 km (Adelaide Hills)
Day 3 - 134.5 km (Victor Harbour)
Day 4 - 134 km (Barossa Valley)
Day 6 - 151km (McLaren Vale)
Day 7 - 90 km (North Adelaide)

A Total of 857.5km over 7 days, or approximately 120 km per day. In the scheme of the Tour de France (which covers about 3,500km) it's only a baby event... but what it lacks in distance, or alps, it makes up in temperatures... with some riders experiencing 50+ degrees on the roads.

But I don't get a chance to watch much cycling these days, but I was able to pop into the city to see the last stage on Day 7 (on Sunday, the 22nd January).

It was a hot day (around 35+ degrees celsius), and the riders were initially taking it easy. In this sort of criterium racing there's little to be gained by trying to race too hard, except for points in the sprints (or if you're brave, in a breakaway). The race itself runs down King William Road, before bearing left down War Memorial Drive then up through Montifiore Road and then through North Adelaide until it returned back on to War Memorial Drive and on to the start/finish straight on King William again.

I won't discuss too much about the race, but I will say that it's a fun event with lots of people and lots of colour. Perhaps it was the heat, but this year it felt like the crowds were down a bit (and I still find it hard to believe that many of the shops in Adelaide's city centre didn't open on such a busy event day.... still, that's Adelaide for you). The good news was that this meant there were still quite a lot of good vantage points to find, though they weren't always the best for photography.

I won't write too much, but please check out the Tour's official website (linked above) to find out more...

It was good however for me to practice a different type of photography... the sports action variety. Not something that I normally do, and not something that's particularly easy to do. Very hard on cameras to focus when there's so much in frame, going so fast, and all over the shop distance wise. Still, I managed to take a couple of ok shots.

Even though riding in the peleton (the large group of cyclists that form naturally in such races) is not as difficult as it might appear averaging around 45km/hr... it's still hard work negotiating corners en-masse.

I have to say, it was hard work out there on the bikes... and a lot of the riders were working quite hard.

And some looked like they were in real pain...

Others were doing all they could to keep it going...

And others were just gritting teeth and getting on with it.

The thing about cycling races is that it's rarely ever a solo effort. Whilst the attention almost always goes to the sprinter, or the climber, or their lead rider, it's always a team effort to get that rider where they need to be. Domestiques, or servants are there to do just that... to provide support, slip-streaming, intelligence, morale, covering breakaways, and even to use themselves like two-wheeled battering rams to clear a path to the desired place in the peloton if needed.

In a race like the Tour Down Under, their role is less critical (than say the Tour de France), however, it remains very much a team focus. Something that can often be the difference between success and failure. But at the end of the day, it's the big guns that win tours.

And the winners, after about 2 hours of riding... well the stage was won by André Greipel (from Germany... a sprint superstar) ... but the overall general classification win, over the 6 stages, was won by Simon Gerrans of Australia in Team GreenEDGE. This is the first Australia World Tour team, and it was amazing that they should win their first tour event, at home! Well done team, and well done Simon!

Overall, it was a hot day outside, but not too bad (you could always find a shady spot), and I had a blast. You don't need to be into cycling to get sucked up by the atmosphere either. If you were in/around Adelaide at the time, I hope you enjoyed some of the racing... otherwise, there's always next year.

Kindy Come And Try Cricket at Adelaide Oval 15 Jan 2012 2:13 AM (13 years ago)

Today was a first... L-kun's first visit to the Adelaide Oval. No... it wasn't a strange mix-up with the Test Match schedule... we were here for the SACAs (South Australian Cricket Association) Kindy Come and Try Day. This was the first one ever, and a pretty good success at that... not least as it was completely free, and well organised (other than a few teething problems that were quickly overcome). Actually, we only found out a few days ago, as one of L-kuns best friends was going with his father, so we thought, why not. It was going to be a fun day, and his friend slept over as well. Despite some bad weather in Adelaide of late, today was perfect. 28 degrees C, sunny skies... and no wind. There would have been about 100-150 children, plus that and more in terms of parents there. A pretty impressive turn out.

Now I have to admit one thing. I'm no longer a super Cricket fan. I don't mind, but I no longer go out of my way to watch cricket. Too many other things to do, and cricket just isn't the same these days from when I was younger. And part of that ambivalence I'm sure comes from my transition to a non-traditional Aussie family, as T-chan would rather drown her head in the toilet bowl than watch cricket (should write this, this close to Australia Day?). Well, that has perhaps worn off on L-kun to some extent. For him, cricket is something you do in the backyard with Daddy... often after some coercion. But today he'd have to get his A game on... he's playing Adelaide Oval. Quite a step up.

L-kun practices his psyching-out-stare. Thatta boy!

The first thing I realised once we got there (start time of 10:30am... for 2 hours)... was that this wasn't quite the fun "cricket" experience. They were trying to get some serious technique going. First lesson ... throwing. But oddly, they were teaching grip (as if you were bowling, fingers down the seam) as part of the throwing lessons. When I learnt cricket, we were never taught to throw like you bowled... am I out of touch that much? Still, the first lesson was throwing the ball. Listen carefully guys... this is going to be important. And us too parents, as we'd be doing the real coaching here.

Stand side on, point with your left hand, throw arm bent with your right (assuming right-handed of course) and then knock the you-know-what out of that cone. L-kun started off slow... trying to work out why he had to throw a particular way. After all, he'd just thrown the ball before hand, which seemed to have got him far enough previously.

Next step - bowling. Actually this was somewhat of a revelation for me. I knew L-kun was pretty good at throwing, but hadn't tried teaching him "bowling", i.e. throwing with a straight arm which is rolled in a circular fashion (for those non-Cricket people out there... yes... I hear your pain). For a 4.5 yo that hasn't done it before he got into it very quickly. Ok... he had some funky style issues (like wind-milling his bowling arm initially in the opposite direction), and I'm not entire sure how much straight-arm there really was... but he actually was consistently knocking middle stump over. No joke. I was impressed. Then again, it was a long way from bowling... and believe me, there are some 4 yo that can bowl quite well already!

I think if Cricket largely involved bowling, L-kun would be all over it.

Alas, it doesn't... and Cricket involves also learning how to belt the red off a small inoffensive leather ball... generally to avoid said ball from hitting middle stump. And this is, I have to admit it, one of L-kuns Achilles Heels... and the thing he actually tries to avoid in backyard cricket. I suspect that baseball might be his calling (and that works well with the whole baseball league in Japan as a fall-back career option)....

Despite him being bat-challenged, he persevered... and I was actually pretty impressed with him. Pssst, don't tell anyone, but I was wondering how L-kun would go. Especially when it's for quite a long time (2 hours can be a VERY long time), and it's doing something he's not that familiar with. He performed admirably... and it was only in the last section that dealt with ball control and catching (did Achilles have dodgy wrists as well as heels?). By this stage, he was starting to lose energy and enthusiasm. I don't blame him... there's only so many times you can pass the ball around your stomach...

So after the last session, it was BBQ time. Well, a sausage sizzle to be precise. And L-kun discovered... oh no... green cordial. For the first time. And he loved it. But what he really liked was spending time with his friend. Perhaps recounting their memorable moments out on the field. "Did you see my 10 wicket haul for the innings?"

And one of the favourite places in Adelaide Oval is "the Hill"... the place you'd go in years gone past to get drunk and have fun (and occasionally watch cricket). Of course, it's much more civilised these days. But still, L-kun and his friend were getting into the spirit... they may not have been rolling drunk, but they were definitely rolling...

Adeliade Oval remains a glorious venue... though this is about to be converted into a "STADIUM"... coz apparently Adelaide will be a much more attractive and dynamic city then... yet I for one can't really imagine the oval up-sized without losing a lot of it's great charm. Especially when they'll now be playing (Aussie Rules) Football here in the winter months. The end of an era... an era perhaps best symbolised by the fact that they still use the original scoreboard, built in 1911. These sorts of traditions are very "cricket"... and whilst it might be quaint, I guess I like it that way.

The original 1911 scoreboard

But one of the other traditions of cricket - modern tradition that is - is the sledge. Using put-downs to gain a psychological advantage over your opponent. L-kun was getting into the spirit with some energetic... "You Mr Potato Pants!"... hold on... who's Mr Potato Pants now? Children at some point, very early on, learn the value of name-calling. They quickly learn the consequence of name calling with parents - but then even more quickly learn that the law's on their side anyhow. If not today... then one day... one day... Mr Potato Pants will triumph. Today however, you win.

Going the "sledge"...

Anyhow... the day, above anything else was about friendship and children learning to try new things. It was also about Daddy learning that his weekends are about to change forever. Weekend sports is only a short stroll to the pavilion away.

Overall, it was a great experience (for Dad as well as L-kun) to be able to play on the Adelaide Oval. The lessons were good, and definitely not just playing around. I think it would have been better to reduce the emphasis slightly on the skill-based component (especially for just a first trial session). Also they tried a half-hearted attempt at introducing a scoring system that range from 100 pts for this, to a million pts to do that. Not a particularly clever idea... at least not the implementation of it. But L-kun enjoyed it anyhow. Still, this was their first attempt to run such a program, and I'm sure they learnt a lot as well from it. I'd definitely recommend bringing your child down when they run it next... hopefully before another 12 months.

Goodbye 2011 - Welcome Our New Life in 2012 10 Jan 2012 2:01 PM (13 years ago)

New Years Eve is a big day in our family. Not just because it heralds the end of a very busy (and dramatic) year, and welcomes a new and exciting one... but also because literally it's a busy day for us. A VERY BUSY DAY. Our family - I really mean T-chan - subscribes to the Japanese tradition of oosouji (大掃除), which kinda equates to the big clean. The once a year, everything-must-go kinda clean where you start at the bottom and work your way to the top! The reasons? Well, it's meant to welcome the New Year with a clean environment... I imagine to get rid of the bad spirits from the house. It is a good idea... but believe me, when everyone else is worrying about where they're going to be partying, we're getting sweaty in the cleaning sense. By the time the evening comes, we're just about ready to relax...and sleep. Especially when T-chan is so heavily pregnant... normally she's a super-human-cleaning-machine come New Year... this year was a little more difficult when you're carrying around a bowling ball in your belly! Hubby to the rescue.

Still, we didn't quite get as much done as we would normally do... still, I think we gave it a good crack.

New Years of course means one thing - fireworks. And whilst Adelaide's fireworks would never even begin to rival Sydney (or any other large city I suspect), they are always fun and become very much an experience for the whole family. There are a number of focal points for the evening, and down by the River Torrens in Elder Park is the main one. Around 8:15pm we had finished dinner, and managed somehow to get ready and in the car. About 15 mins later we had found a park (down past St Peter's Cathedral and the Women's and Children's Hospital). Yet what was surprising was that there was still plenty of room to get some great spots... and just a little bit of time to go for a walk too.

There's always a family friendly fireworks at 9pm, followed of course by the main event at midnight. Surrounding the fireworks are a number of shows... centred on the rotunda. This year had a very multicultural feel... including a tribute to Bollywood. Don't ask me... but it was great.

But of course the real show is the fire works... and even though the skies were not yet fully dark, it was still an exciting (early) finale to the evening.... and of course here's the obligatory fireworks photos....

But that wasn't all... we stayed around for the only real touch of Japan from the whole evening... Matsuri Taiko were performing a 20 minute set that was quite fun to watch.... but like most things acoustic, were better to see live.

Actually, like Christmas this was a strange one this year. It's not that we didn't get into the spirit of things, but rather that there were many other things competing in our thoughts. So much will change in the next couple of months. 2012 will almost certainly be a year to remember!

So as they say in Japan, akimashite omedetou gozaimasu, kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu! Happy New Year, and it'll be great to work with you all next year (all 0.75 of you)!

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