What a game! The emotions displayed during the presentations say it all.

I do not think the championship could have been awarded to any better players, anyone with more sportsmanship, more gentlemenly than those two. It was a game where I found myself supporting both players.

the eve of Chinese New Year. Apparantly, tomorrow is the beginning of a brand new year on the chinese calendar.

So, to everyone and anyone celebrating, Happy Chinese New Year!

For the curious, check out the link on the Visit Victoria website and follow the link for the Chinese New Year Celebrations. They say there will be lion dancers and firecrackers. It promisies to be a noisy affair. It also seems like the Crown Casino is also putting something on to celebrate it too.

Oh, and before I forget, tomorrow is going to be the start of the year of the dog …

So, what are you doing today? Fighting the bush fires? Having a picnic in the park? Watching the cricket or the tennis? Or just having a nice sleep in, until the temperature of the room hits you enough to force you out of bed?

It is a wee bit too hot for me to venture outdoors. But for the brave, check out the Australia day website for Victoria. There are lots going on around the city!

It is half-past five and the temperature reading of my outdoor thermometer is still stubbornly pointing at 40 degrees celcius. Will we be getting any relieve soon?

I am just glad I am not one of the people who have to work outdoor today, such as real estate agents (not much sympathy here but I still feel sorry for these dudes), tennis ball pickers at the Australian Open ( those poor kids … isn’t there a law against child neglect at tennis games or something?) food sellers at the Victoria market etc.

This is the day to go into hybernation in my fridge!

Did anyone watch yesterday’s match between Hewitt and Chela? All that yelling and screaming! And he blames it on the balls and the court …now I know why I stopped watching the men’s game, insufficient sportsmenship!

One of the stories that’s been in the headlines lately is the issue of where you can and cannot take photographs.

No, i’m not talking about private family photographs, but more, of public places, places visible to the public.

There’s no doubt about it in my mind that Melbourne is beautiful, and there’s so many places in Melbourne that you can take photos of.

It will make me think twice sometimes about taking pictures in certain areas, and be a bit more careful about it.

I think a lot of it to do with our current situation with the potential of “threats” to national security and all that. But perhaps there are ways to make everyone happy? Ask those in charge, and then show them the picture afterwards (since most of us use digicams these days, with the LCD preview screen) and ask for approval. If not, just be happy, and delete the image.

The event which triggered this was when one of the Geelong Camera Club members took a photo of gas storage cylinders at the Shell oil refinary. He was told that he was not to take photos of industrial installations.

This is an issue that doesn’t only affect us here in Australia, but worldwide too. There’s an article on this issue in USA Today.

I’ve been reading in the papers about the proposals for a national identity card. Isn’t there a pseudo identity card already in the form of a driver’s licence?

Personally, I see nothing wrong with an identity card. Many countries around the world have something similar. I guess the only difference in Australia is, we do not trust the government, or the entity who will be incharge of the information collected to NOT abuse the privacy of the people whose information they have.

The carnival is here … or that’s what it feels like at the Australian Open.

Today is the first day of competition, and the atmosphere here is …electric? exciting and truly carnival like. There were so many matches going on today it was difficult to decide which one to attend.

I like coming here in the early days of the games because it feels much more casual, there is still that spirit of sports-personship, unlike the atmosphere towards the finals … when the tension in the air is as if the players were in war.

And for those of us who has to work, I like keeping a window open on my desktop with the lastest scores of the games in progress. Check out the Australian Open website!

Has anyone tried the new Zero Coca cola yet? It says zero sugar on the can.

I was tempted enough to give it a try … taste like diet coke, with sweetener. I’ll stick with the original!

Recently, I visited the new Melbourne Central food court, not the one in the basement, next to the train station, but the newly renovated second floor food court just below the new Hoyts cinema.

Did you know they have replaced some of the tables with pseudo study desks like those you find in the libraries? They have installed study lamps as well as power sockets. Not a bad place to go to charge up the mobile phone or the laptop computer. I’m just curious as to why they did this. Trying to entice more students to study in the food court?

I guess it is an ideal location for students, its proximity to two large Universities, a cinema upstairs for those tired of studying, surrounded by food and entertainment … just like home! The only thing missing might be a shower.