Magnitude 6.4

It seems there's no respite in this part of the world from the surprises that Mother Nature can throw at you. The photo above is the cathedral of Christchurch, New Zealand, one of the places is visited during an amazing trip in 2005.

The picture below shows the cathedral as of yesterday, following a devastating earthquake. This is the devastating effect on one building, my heart goes out to everyone that has lost one in this latest natural disaster.

Picture from abc.net.au

Urbanscapes

Walking in North Sydney

   

It's 8 pm on a Monday night, that means that I'm in the middle of tonight's show of My Kitchen Rules, my only current must-see on TV.My sources in Sydney (which is one hour ahead of Queensland) tell me that this episode is worth watching!

So instead of blabbering on I will let the pictures do the talking. Have a great week everyone!

Klockan är åtta på måndag kväll. Det betyder att jag har bänkat mej framför TVn för kolla in dagens avsnitt av My Kitchen Rules.


Så medan jag ser på TV så får ni se på några av mina senaste foton.

Surfers Paradise Ferris wheel

Opera House gazing...

Sydney by night

A humble thank you

Thank you to everyone who has remembered me today, I really appreciate it. Something was wrong with the phone connections though, many had problems getting through and when they did the phone call got cut off!

My gift to all of you will be a quote, some years ago a friends sent me a card with this quote (in a different language than English), I have this card pinned up in my cubicle at work and I look at it every day...

"Good friends are like stars, you don't always see them but you know they are always there"

-Eleanor Roosevelt


Tusen tack allihopa för gratulationerna. Visserligen var det lokala telefonsystemet emot oss, många hade svårt att komma fram och sen bröts samtalet!


I retur får ni ett citat, för några år sedan fick jag ett kort med följande citat, det kortet har jag nu på jobbet där jag kan se det varje dag...


"Goda vänner är som stjärnor, man ser dem inte alltid, men du vet att de alltid finns där"


- Eleanor Roosevelt

Match made in Australia

Match made in skin colour heaven?

 
Me and my husband come from very different backgrounds, in more aspects than one. To people we might not seem like a good match. I know this because people have told me this. I also know this because people stare at us. I am talking about complete strangers in the street taking such a good,long look at you that only taking a photo will make the image last longer.

Who cares, my husband is the best thing that has ever happened to me!

I urge everyone not to judge others based on what you think you know about them. There is always more than meets the eye.

Jag och min man kommer från väldigt olika bakgrund, på alla sätt och vis. Folk tycker att vi inte passar ihop. Nej, det är inte bara in fantasi - somliga har sagt det rent ut. Främlingar på gatan tycker också att det är fullt lovligt att strirra oförskämt länge på oss, jag borde stirra tillbaka men min mamma uppfostrade mej bättre än så!


Vem bryr sej egentligen, min man är det finaste jag vet!


Så låt bli att döma folk, eller dra förhastade slutsatser på basen av vad du vet eller tror dej veta. Det ligger alltid mera under ytan.

Whose kitchen rules

I don't watch a lot of TV and I definitely do not watch a lot of reality TV. I find reality TV confusing, I mean is what you see even real or is it scripted. I also find reality shows to be a huge inconvenience because new episodes air every day. Every day! I have days when I don't even turn the TV on!

Nevertheless I will make one exception when it comes to my dislike for reality shows, that's reality food shows. I am passionate about food and I think it makes for great entertainment. It's just great to see ordinary people and the way they develop as cooks. Recently a new season of My Kitchen Rules started on Australian TV. In this competition the contestant compete as teams of two and they represent they different states of Australia. For some reason a couple of states have been left out, I wonder why because this country only has 8 states and territories.

These teams represent people from all walks of life, you have butchers, Italian cousins, newly weds etc. Each team will invite all the other contestants to their house along with two judges (two professional chefs, one with the strangest French accent). They serve a three course meal and are get marks from the judges as well as the fellow contestants. In general the teams are really supportive and encouraging of one another, which is nice to see, because after all they are all competing against one another.

One team stands out from this trend, the newly weds from Tasmania. The wife has been complaining and whinging about pretty much every single dish she has eaten. I know reality TV lends itself very well to overdramatise certain aspects of the show and I think it is working well in this case. There are a number of groups on Facebook that have been set up just because people dislike this woman! These people will be glued to the TV tonight as the episode showing the Tasmanians contributions goes to air today. I'll be one of those people and the show starts in a few minutes!

Jaså Yasi

Runtomkring landet, men i synnerhet i Queensland håller folk på att moppa upp efter översvämningarna. Sen kommer följande naturfenomen, cyklonen Yasi.

Först av allt måst jag påpeka att jag bor långt ifrån det drabbade området. Vi kommer antagligen att ha en hel del regn och blåst, men det är vanligt denhär tiden på året.

Håll i Queensland, dethär klarar du nog!

Not so green living

I know air conditioning is probably one of the worst energy wasters in the home. And normally I will do anything to avoid turning it on. I find the cool air a bit too cold an I tend to get a soar throat whenever it's on for a longer period of time. My husband on the other hand, will keep it on day or night.

But when it is 25 degrees at 11pm at night and the humidity sits at 88%, there is only one thing you can do to stop your apartment from feeling like a sauna. So you have to turn the air conditioning on. It is not always easy being green and sometimes it is impossible.

25 grader varmt och luftfuktigethen ligger på 88%, klockan e elva på kvällen. Ni kan tänka er vad temperaturen varit under dagen. Pust!

Såna dagar är man glad att man har luftkonditionering hemma, det är helt enkelt en nödvändighet när man bor i subtropiska Queensland. Dessutom så byggs husen här utan nån som helst tanke på vägg- eller golvisolering, så värmen fortsätter att stråla från väggarna ännu långt efter att solen har gått ner.


Nu när jag har åstadkommit en ganska angenäm temperatur så tror jag nog att det e dags med en kopp kvällste. De blir nog inte min mest miljövänliga tekopp nånsin, det är svårt att leva grönt alla gånger!