Monday, December 27, 2004
well today was amusing. a nice late start, even for me. time enough to read the news and my comics online, even over dialup. plus saying happy bday to my niece who jumped online for a bit while i was looking for sydney-hobart race info.
we eventually drove into town, bounced in and out of a few shops looking for late xmas pressies. i worked out what i want for D, but couldn't find it. still struggling for the others. found a ford calendar for my mad mate who's moved to the uk, which he should enjoy.
one street we went up is supposedly the buskers street. they all go there to busk. there was one old guy busking with a drum. now i've heard people play the bongos good enough to play on their own, and a full drum kit, good enough to go solo. but this guy, with just one drum, was kinda like my nephew bashing on a saucepan with two wooden spoons. then we find these toilets where you go down under the footpath. i wanted to go, but after the description from someone at tssh (trying to find link to post) i wasn't game because that's where all the crazy people hang out. or maybe i shouldn't believe everything i read on the net. whatever.
it's windy and a bit cool, which is a little cooler than i'm used to for xmas and summer, but that's ok, i've heard melbourne can be cold. we go into a bookshop, browse, buy a tacky book called "too much tuscan sun". it's stories by a travel operator/guide in chianti. looks like fun anyway. out we come and it's raining. damn. in another shop, up a dozen escalators to the toy section, can't find what i want, can't take the stupid elevators (there's 6!) because you have to have an employee drive them for you. down escalators and wander around some more. oh yeah, now it's sunny :-)
brekkie (it's about 1:30pm) at some cafe on the footpath. some interesting wierd people here heh. it's just like sydney but the streets are better. and there's trams and hook turns. brother-in-law describes the hook turn to me as someone attempts it. looks simple enough and nobody is killed or hurt. in fact the drivers are all remarkably well behaved. which is better than my first day's impression. which was that all these damn mexicans are lunatics. i can understand thinking they're all mad because you see a few nutcases creep over the border and drive like loonies, but we get so many terrorists anyway and they all drive like loonies cause they dunno where they're goin. but on my first day down here, they were all just the same. they're loonies at home too!
then we wander around, checkin a few shops and stuff. find not much and cruise back. when going over the west gate bridge you can see for ages. it's pretty flat. storms over here, and over there, and over there as well. cool.
we eventually drove into town, bounced in and out of a few shops looking for late xmas pressies. i worked out what i want for D, but couldn't find it. still struggling for the others. found a ford calendar for my mad mate who's moved to the uk, which he should enjoy.
one street we went up is supposedly the buskers street. they all go there to busk. there was one old guy busking with a drum. now i've heard people play the bongos good enough to play on their own, and a full drum kit, good enough to go solo. but this guy, with just one drum, was kinda like my nephew bashing on a saucepan with two wooden spoons. then we find these toilets where you go down under the footpath. i wanted to go, but after the description from someone at tssh (trying to find link to post) i wasn't game because that's where all the crazy people hang out. or maybe i shouldn't believe everything i read on the net. whatever.
it's windy and a bit cool, which is a little cooler than i'm used to for xmas and summer, but that's ok, i've heard melbourne can be cold. we go into a bookshop, browse, buy a tacky book called "too much tuscan sun". it's stories by a travel operator/guide in chianti. looks like fun anyway. out we come and it's raining. damn. in another shop, up a dozen escalators to the toy section, can't find what i want, can't take the stupid elevators (there's 6!) because you have to have an employee drive them for you. down escalators and wander around some more. oh yeah, now it's sunny :-)
brekkie (it's about 1:30pm) at some cafe on the footpath. some interesting wierd people here heh. it's just like sydney but the streets are better. and there's trams and hook turns. brother-in-law describes the hook turn to me as someone attempts it. looks simple enough and nobody is killed or hurt. in fact the drivers are all remarkably well behaved. which is better than my first day's impression. which was that all these damn mexicans are lunatics. i can understand thinking they're all mad because you see a few nutcases creep over the border and drive like loonies, but we get so many terrorists anyway and they all drive like loonies cause they dunno where they're goin. but on my first day down here, they were all just the same. they're loonies at home too!
then we wander around, checkin a few shops and stuff. find not much and cruise back. when going over the west gate bridge you can see for ages. it's pretty flat. storms over here, and over there, and over there as well. cool.
