Trivia. Well, we tried to play trivia last night, but the tables were all booked up. So we stood in the back, had a pint, and listened to one round. We knew 16 of the 20 answers. Any Aussies reading this need some ringers for their team?

Still in limbo. Job search continues. Some leads, but I think there is a lot of competition right now.

Last night we rented a movie but we couldn't get the VCR in our short-term apartment to work. Maybe it's just because we're used to western VCRs. Do you have to plug in the tapes upside down or something?

I'm still having to use internet cafes. I bought a wireless card so I can access the internet from the various hotspots around here but I'm having trouble finding the right pre-paid cards to buy to use.

We're going to play trivia tonight, which should be fun.

We've moved to a short-term stay apartment. Hopefully this will be the last time we're required to move our things before finding a job and a house to live in on a more permanent basis.
I have to say that, so far, my impression of Melbourne is very favourable. People are very nice, incredibly so. There are at least three concerts we'd like to see here this month, which is great after maybe three concerts a year in Singapore. Groceries are more reasonably priced and beer and wine are half as much as they were in S'pore. Even in restaurants wine is priced very reasonably. There are lots of dogs here, and they seem to be incredibly mellow. We've passed several dogs sitting behind their fences in their yards and they just look at us and mildly wag their tails rather than bark. I wonder what they put in the puppychow?
My friend Karen asked me recently why Melbourne? There are lots of reasons: The weather is mild. The people are friendly. There is good public transportation, and bike lanes on the roads everywhere. There are good restaurants and cafes, and outdoor dining takes place all year. It's near the ocean and the mountains so one could easily go skiing in the winter and snorkeling in the summer. There is interesting wildlife nearby. There's a great music scene here. Basically, Melbourne still seems like a place we could be very happy. Hopefully we'll find work soon.

Spend spend spend, spend, spend, spend. Being Americans at heart, and with a free license to start accumulating goods, we've been dropping scads of jing-wah since arriving. Marjorie's up in Target right now, while I'm next door in a Japanese-style internet cafe. We found a extended stay apartment off Toorak St. which we're moving into on Monday. My interview on Friday went -- okay, I guess. They'll call me back for a technical interview and a test later on, if all went well, which it may or may not have. I have other leads to follow up on, and now that I have a local phone, I think I'll get more action.

Yesterday we took the train down to Williamstown ("Willie") which was a nice, quiet suburb, on the water. Spotted several new birds, including the superb fairy wren, which is what they prefer to be called, as I understand it.

A quick list of some little differences about this place:

The first floor is the ground floor, and the second floor is the first floor. I keep getting into elevators and hitting "1" by mistake.

"Entrees" in a restaurant are actually what they call appetizers.

A big sign in the park reads "Dogs allowed off leash". That's really amazing to me. Not that they allow dogs off the leash, but that the big sign tells you so. Advertising a freedom, not a restriction.

Similarly, you're allowed to eat and drink on the trams. It's kind of courageous, I think, to allow these simple freedoms that may cost a little as far as maintainance and clean-up but have a positive effect on the quality of life.