The snow man

I only noticed this snow man this morning! I loved it but it was already falling apart...

My tram couldn't drive all the way to the station so I walked the last bit. I found out why when I got to the station; an earlier tram (actually the one I should've had) had de-railed!

I got to see my soon-to-be new work place. Our office is rapidly becoming too small so my division is moving out because we are so specialllll. ;-)

I'll be sitting on the closest corner there on the left. And my big plant will be in the middle at the front :-)

The f@#$%^& tram

Nearly every single morning, my tram drives past me 50 metres before I reach the tram stop. I refuse to run for it. Time doesn't seem to matter. Whether I'm 3 minutes early or late, this shit happens all the time. Unreal.

Nice soft light on the ferry this morning.

(Click to enlarge)
In the evening I went to Mic's for dinner and to play squash after.

Noortje is proving to be a fast learner. She's a bright little girl.

Squash didn't go very well. After 5 minutes of playing I ran in to the wall really hard and bruised 2 ribs. Game over.

CS

I went shopping in the morning. The sky was nice and blue with little clouds. Exactly how I like it to be.

In the evening I took the tram in to town.

I was meeting a new friend.

Except that I was 30 minutes early so I enjoyed the view over the water :-)

Skye

I thankfully slept in this morning so I feel a lot better today. I studied the whole morning and early afternoon. To do something nice still we drove up to the lookout point known as "Skye". This photo showed where my father walked OFF the path, ignoring all our warnings about snakes. When we were here with him four years ago the grass was a lot higher.

You have a pretty good view from here. You see all kinds of little people walking around too ;-)

When you look to the South you see this quarry.

Looking West towards the sea you look over the city. You can actually see a lot but you know, my shit camera...

Then we drove to Glenelg and then home again.

St. Kilda

The girls while waiting for the tram that would take us to St. Kilda. Melbourne's famous beach.

And what a tram it was! People from Amsterdam will recognise it. It's a Siemens "Combino". Most seats are comfortable but because the wheels are stuck to the chassis (as opposed to using a bogie(draaistel)) it can get a little rough when going around the corner.

The front carriage from the inside. Exactly the same but mirrorred.

Acland street in St. Kilda. Known for it's....

Cake shops!

It's a famous beach but the beach is actually really small.

People were kite surfing.

After St. Kilda we went to another part of Melbourne. In Brunswick street we found a place to have lunch. It was a bit of a guess but the salmon was really nice. It came with spinach and green beans.

That's it from the outside.

Old building in a side street.

After a rest in our hotel we went for a walk around the hood. We didn't know we were this close to China town.

As a bonus we found a Wagamama. Can't just walk past. Just can't. Have to go in. It was a very cute one though. Very small with only one long table and a few smaller ones. The chicken katsu curry was fantastic though.

Happy happy day

I had to go to the dentist today. On my way there, the old tram passed the new one. I think they should have ordered more of the old ones...

The dentists reception desk. The visit went well. I had the following done by my dentist Rocco Arena:
- Periodic Oral Examination ($46)
- Removal of Calculus ($95)
- Topical Appl. of Fluoride - 1 treatment ($25)
- Intraoral Periapical/Bitewing Xray/Film ($46)
- Intraoral Periapical/Bitewing Xray/Film ($46)

That's $258 of dental work. And because I went to a private dentist, my public healthcare isn't paying a damn thing.

Everything looked great thankfully and the visit was nice and relaxed. I hadn't had fluoride since I was 12 years old. They also made me put on sunglasses against the bright light. And when the X-ray's were taken they made me wear a lead skirt. I've never felt so sexy....

After work I walked to P.J O'Brien's for a pint or two while waiting for Nicole. She was on an improvised second job interview that went well. Read her blog for more information! :-)

Guinness for strength. And also for mental relaxation.

In the evening we had a fun Skype chat with the G. I asked him to do something funny, he doesn't usually display this kind of behaviour ;-)

The protest

During my lunch I went to a dental office. It's opposite parliament house where teachers were protesting.

It's the same as anywhere else. They want a better work-life balance and an increased pay which translates to: we want to do less for more. Fair enough.

On my way to the bus stop after work I saw the old tram. It's quite beautiful.

2007 wrap-up: Walk around Zeeburg

My favourite, newly developped, part of Amsterdam. I love the buildings. I love how they incorporated the old warehouses in them (not shown though). I love the diversity in materials. Eventhough most buildings are very big and made of stone or concrete it never looks boring. Once they have some decent trees growing this will be one of the most sought after parts of Amsterdam, I'm sure. Also it had an endpoint of tramline 25. The other end was around the corner of our old house in Amsterdam.