My wish list for a nicer, greener, cleaner, more social Melbourne

1. Pay for plastic bag..bring your own bag

Target does it, Aldi does it, Bunnings does it why can't Coles and Woolworths
2. Proper recycling bins

Countries with the Highest Recycling Rates

	Country	Percentage of Waste Recycled<>
1	Switzerland	52%
2	Austria	49.7%
3	Germany	48%
4	Netherlands	46%
5	Norway	40%
6	Sweden	34%
7	United States	31.5%

3. Refund when returning bottles – don’t have to go to SA to get your measily 10 cents

4. Bike lanes & No helmets on bikes

Cycling in Melbourne was a very popular form of transport at the turn of the 19th Century, however overall bicycle use went into steady decline with introduction of helmet legislation in the 1990s having a significant negative effect on its popularity. In recent years, the popularity of cycling for health,fitness, and as a non-polluting alternative to the automobile is increasing in Melbourne. Use of bicycles for transport as cycling still accounts for around 2% of trips in Melbourne.

5. More cafes with wider footpaths to allow for outside seating. Cafes where you don’t have to eat something to be allowed to sit.

6. Oyster cards... oops! MyQui?
7. Allow cars to drive on tram tram tracks on St Kilda road.

8. Cheaper cultural programs

9. More effort put into inviting music bands from the rest of the world

10. More pubs with jam sessions

11. Deck chairs on the beach

12. Deck chairs in the park

13. Dog pooing area in parks

14. Folding bikes – make them more affordable

15. Allow busking

16. Car free areas – small section of Bourke street is not enough. A section of Chapel street and Brunswick street should be car free as well.

Something cheeky to share

http://cheekytraveller.com/


Don't miss this entertaining account of the cheeky travels of the cheeky traveller

Cars.. what a waste

Ok so I bought a classy Volkswagon last year. The sales guy said ' It's better for the engine if you use Premium Unleaded petrol but where did it say or did he say that using standard common man Unleaded would cause any harm??
I mean I thought.. ooh we are special, we have an expensive European car that needs 'Special' fuel. Stuff that.. I am a common (wo)man and this is the people's car.


10 months of standard unleaded and the engine failed.


Wow!


Servicing guy at VW - Con - condescending Con made me feel like it was ALL my fault and that it would cost anywhere between 2000 to 20000! Man was I worried. I should have just bought a Suzuki Swift.


Then Wonderful Wayne from VW called and said 'oh.. we have decided to do the job under warranty' Magic!


But now.. the question is, should I sell it?

Some thoughts on 2010

2010 was a big year for me. In chronological order, I started a new job at GE Money close to home, nice location location by the river.. a workplace that promotes leaving at 5pm and has a culture that suits my grain. Of course it is a corporate world and things are not all lovey dovey - there is an element of stress.. but things outside of work kept me pre-occupied to say the least.


I realised that it' not all about work. There are far greater and more important things - happy and sad that impact your life. Well at least that's the way I see it now-Work life balance


Next up.. I moved back to the flat and started the tweaking, renovation, enhancement - call it what you will. It went from ok to good. Started off with the 'this is an investment, do the minimum to have the maximum impact' to 'ooohhh this would look so good' - the emotions took over the cheque book.


I'll write more about the rest when I am ready. Not quite ready to go through the events of the second half of 2010.

Why I am back?

I have been off the scene for years. I guess life has been a little busy and hectic and this facebook monster has taken over as an outlet of expression. I do see this blog serving a different purpose. A purpose that is not very clear to me right now. I have a lot of thinking to do before I set out in a particular direction. What should I write about, what is the theme, what is the look, where are the connections, do I want to write a book instead??

Confusion!!

It took me a good 45 minutes to figure out how to get into my blogger account. All this confusion about which email address was my username.. why i couldn't sign in using my hotmail account and where and why my autoquake.com email address came into this!

some photos from my India Trip..

Mate... it's been a whole year since I updated this baby. It took me about 10 minutes to sign in.. forgotten passwords etc etc

So lots' has occurred... I got a rude shock when I got back from my heavenly holiday. Back to work, I mean I love Credit Cards.. but more using them than selling them. Then final year of the MBA.

I am a proud Master of the Business world now :)

I moved to a kick ass apartment in St Kilda. Bay to city panaromic views. Gorgeous sunsets.

What else, have had two trips to India since. Saw my beautiful niece and sister.

Face book will have more photos etc.. but I might keep this up to date a bit more.

so comment away..

Antwerpen..my temporary home town

I reached Antwerp on 13th February 2006 and left on the 3rd of August. During this time I bonded with my sister and Brother in law, welcomed my Mira into the world, became closer to Jeroen's family, made some good (hopefully long term!) friends, learnt how to knit and cook, spent quality time with myself, got to know the city- streets and vibes and travelled to and from it a few times. Coming home to Thaliastraat after my trips around Europe was a delight.

This city came alive as the sun set later.. www.antwerpen.be
Click this link to see the nicest cafe I hung out at.. a few times...
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Belgium/Provincie_Antwerpen/Antwerp-358974/Restaurants-Antwerp-Wattman-R-1.html
You come across this when you walk down a gorgeous street with breathtaking art nouveau houses called Cogels Osylei, from Didi's place towards a nice square called Dageratplaats (lots of restaurants and cafes - all had my patronage).

How could I forget De Nacht Wenkels! I wish I had taken a photo of one. These were very handy at times when you didnt want to pay exorbitant prices for a drink in a bar and just wanted a few cans of Kriek to sip on while sitting along the Scheldt or in a square in the centre. Good times!

1. Manu, Jeroen, me, Eva and Martin at Wattman on a warm Saturday night
2. Didi and I in the Antwerp Botanical Garden
3. Eva, Manu, me and Jeroen enjoying a meal at Overrloed (Overflow!) at Dageratplaats

De Nederlands

So its a small world.. I met Anna - my friend from Berlin in Amsterdam for a few days. Then I caught up with Julija.. my parent's neighbour's daughter.
I have to admit it was meeting these two crazy chics that made my trip to De Nederlands memorable.

I was a bit dissapointed in Amsterdam.. too much sin.. I ca ignore all the sex, drugs etc.. but it is very difficult to ignore the zillions of neon signs and 18 year old Americans on the streets. The quieter parts were much nicer. I also went to Utrecht - a small University town, for a day.
1. Anna and I posing in front of the Kaiser's canal
2. beautiful dom of the St Niklaas church
3. Julija and I, photo taken at arms lenght at an Italian restaurant in the suburb called "Pipe". Wnder why.. canals or bongs?
4. The Dom and the clock tower in Utrecht

Pays de la Loire www.enpaysdelaloire.com

Thanks so much Jeroen (Van Esbroeck) for inviting me to France with your sisters, brother in laws and their lovely children. Arent we lucky to have these nieces and nephews to play with!
(Note: In Belgium they often use the same word for cousins as nieces.. confusion!)

We got into a car with Jeroen's sister Lieve, her husband Dirk and their three lovely children Artuur, Barrund and Eward (forgive the spelling!) and drove from Belgium through the Ardennes, Lille, by passed Paris and reached Besse sur Loire. This is where we stayed at a Moulin (water mill) which had been converted into a huge holiday house.

Jeroen's older sister, Ann and her husband Greg joined us on the road with their kids Tobe and Hilljche (that is certainly incorrect.. please tell me the correct spelling someone).

At the Moulin we played Jeu de ball, drank wine and Ricard (I didnt.. I hate anis), cooked, watched the World Cup Final, sat on the Hollywood swing, played with the children.. and then did some short trips to discover the Loire region. Some castles, some little towns along riversides and of course churches.

1. Jeroen and I in a limestone cave
2. Jeroen enjoying some rotten cheese and Chillean wine (French one was too expensive) in the only fancy restaurant we could find for miles.
3.Me and the adorable kids
4.View of the town from the ruins of a castle

Some Belgian Music

I had the opportunity to be a groupie.. great fun. Eaten en Drinken with the band on a few occasions.. just a great experience overall.
Here are some websites to check out, find out more about these bands and hear some of their songs.
www.dedos.com
www.starline69.com
www.sopha.be
www.kbonus.com

I really regret having missed the Sopha performances, just wasn't meant to be. Linus: You just need to organise an Australian tour!
1. Dedos performing for an ardent fan at Ghent Feste
2. Dedos
3. Trippy photos of Jeroen(keys), Jelle(guitar) and Bruno(drums) aka SpaceJam at Cafe SOS - Excellent stuff.. I probably enjoyed this performance the most.

Catching Up with Friends and Family in London

"I am going to London for the weekend" How cool does that sound.. ok to an Aussie it does! This was a trip planned to catch up with Mila, my cousin who lives in New York and although she is wonderful person and I really love her, she does chant"USA, USA,USA"before she sleeps. And those endless examples of superiority.. Oh well..each to thier own :)
1.Mila and I on the double decker bus.
2. Stuart and I soaking up a bit of culture... went to watch Les Miserables. 3. Ankush and I at Nandos.. I missed that tasty chicken
4. Les Miserables

FIFA World Cup 2006 - Germany

I had to get out of Belgium to feel the atmosphere and enjoy the World Cup.. so I went to Berlin and Cologne.
1. Sunny, Charlotte and I. Sunny and I spent most evenings watching the matches together in different bars on big screens. She is a great girl seen here drinking Mathe (Argentinian Tea.. since she is half Argentinian.. her heart is!)This was before the Brazil Croatia match. I didnt take sides.. hate them both. Since they were in the same Group as Australia.
2. Some Aussie fans in Cologne
3. A fresco at the Cologne Train Station.

Berlin..

A bit of a history lesson and then lots of fun.
1. Checkpoint Charlie, where they stamp your passport(or your arm!) to let you pass from the East to the West. Go West!
2. Getting ready for the Argentina Serbia match. What a sad day for Serbia 6-0 :(