My New Job

Recently I started working at First Choice Liquor in Capalaba. Retail is a welcome change after eight years in hospitality! Of course, the basic principles are similar, if not identical, although the way we go about it is slightly different. Customer chatter is much the same, except now it needs to fit into the 30 seconds or so between ‘hi, how are you today,’ and ‘like a box or bag for those?’ Most people are pretty quiet, but some like a bit of a chat.

“My family’s doing a Mexican night tonight, so we need tequila!”

“Don’t worry about a receipt, I won’t be bringing it back – I know this stuff works!”

“I know what this looks like, but I promise this cheap sherry is for cooking – I won’t be drinking it in the car park!”

Apparently it’s a good substitute for sweet rice wine in Asian style meals. But apart from the banter and occasional advice, sometimes customers can catch you off guard.

“How are you today?”
“Not great, actually. Today, I had to switch off my wife’s life support.”

His words hit me like a tonne of bricks, and they echoed in my ears for the rest of the day.

It was confronting. And so out of the blue. But this is how death usually creeps into our lives; a phone call in the night, an unexpected knock on the door. Rarely do we choose a time. Rarer still, is when we must choose that time for another. I can’t imagine what he was going through. Questions raced through my mind. How long had you been together? How did it happen? Did she look at peace when she died?

The eftpos machine beeped, and I only had time for one.

“Are you alright?”

He held his rum close, and avoided my eyes.

“I will be.”

The sorrow. The guilt. The relief. I could hear it all in his voice.

I think his words hit me particularly hard because in six short months Amy and I will be married.

I keep wondering, in a similar hopeless scenario, would I have the fortitude to make such a decision? I pray I never have to find out.

The Dreaming

So I've had a couple of dreams this week which have been really, well, odd. Now I'm no stranger to strange dreams - there's the one where I discovered I had a fear of heights AFTER moving into a treetop community, or the one where I was mortally wounded in a Mexican standoff before an oral presentation at uni ( I collapsed and, presumably, bled out while giving that presentation) - but they seem to be coming in thick and fast this week!

In the first one I was hanging out in the Lower House, down in Canberra - but right in the middle of the action. No public gallery for Dream Simon, thank you very much. Then, out of the blue, Julia Gillard returns and is appointed leader. Of everything. We high-fived.

Last night I decided to give myself a haircut. Or, more accurately, Dream Simon decided to give Dream Simon a haircut. He was rubbish. After a lot of mucking around with the kitchen scissors and a pair of pliers (don't ask), out came the clippers... I did keep the beard though.

Finally, a few nights ago, my tablet was playing up and not letting me connect to the Wi-Fi on campus, so I decided to take it in to IT services to see if they could help. And of course, I was served by none other than Sir Ian McKellen. He wasted no time completely disassembling my tablet, and then muttered something about my 'Wi-Fi chip' not being connected. Sir Ian McKellen then rebuilt my tablet and presented it to me, good as new! Then we ate chips.

When I woke up, I was relieved to find that my tablet was working fine, I still had a full head of hair and the leader of our Nation was still that Honourable chap. Well, er, two out of three isn't bad, right?

Malaysia Day Eight: Fly Home

Have you ever watched a fly clean itself? I mean really watched it? They go nuts! Their front legs whip up a storm rubbing the head, the eyes, each other – and it all happens so fast. Then they start with the back legs, that’s when the real show begins. Rub the legs! Rub the body! Rub the wings! Faster, clean faster! Well, alright, maybe you needed to be there; which is more than I can say for my stowaway friend Mr CleanFly here.

I should probably have let someone know that there’s a fly on board, that we risk contaminating our pristine island nation, but the flight attendants seem preoccupied with selling me duty-free scotch.
“We have 18 year old Chivas Regal Blended Scotch available on board,” they remind us over the PA. “And one litre Glenfiddich Single Malt for only 126 Ringgits. Or AUD $42. We also accept US dollars. And other major currencies…” I’ll bet you do, AirAsia.

It was an early start this morning. Our airport transfer was scheduled at a leisurely 7:30 am from the hotel, which would have allowed us ample time to check-in at the airport and the rest. Unfortunately there was a last minute shuffle which saw our transfer time change to 6:45 am instead – which only left us with enough time for one plate from the breakfast buffet. This day was doomed from the beginning.

I decided to give the fly the benefit of the doubt. He’s been cleaning himself this whole time – in fact he’s so clean that he’s squeaking louder than whatever that important looking piece of equipment under the wing is. Just as long as he’s not sitting on my shoulder as I go through customs.

Hairy Situation

Oh, did I mention I’ve had a haircut? I figured I’d had the ponytail for long enough – time to chop and change! Big thanks to Susie, hairdresser extraordinaire, for the new look. I walked into her salon without a clear view in mind and chose to trust her judgement. A lot of skill, patience and a bit of magic later and, well, the results speak for themselves. Here’s some fun trivia: Did you know that Susie, who is my Godmother Irene’s cousin, gave me my first haircut ever?

I’m really enjoying the short hair. So far I’ve saved a fortune on conditioner and I no longer live in constant fear of a hairband breaking and the embarrassment of being caught out without a spare. On the flip side, I do miss having my luscious locks float majestically on the breeze as I cruise along on my GS500…

In an odd twist, I’ve been getting a lot of compliments about my beard since the big snip. I mean, people – most people – have noticed the new hairdo, but there is a surprisingly high number of people who have instead noticed my “new” beard.

Here’s some more trivia for you: my beard is not new - far from it. In fact next month marks the fifth anniversary of that day I missed a sizeable spot shaving.

In other news, I recently happened upon two more pieces I wrote in Malaysia, Day Seven and Day Eight. I had originally planned to write one post for each day of the trip, but that was pretty ambitious. In the end I was simply too busy having fun on my holiday :)

Malaysia Day Seven: Room Service

We started the day off with a leisurely stroll on the motorway. Here’s a fun fact: motorways are much less fun when you don’t have a tonne of steel for protection – we felt quite exposed along that footpath! We were heading towards Kuala Lumpur’s famed Lake Garden which is walking distance from KL Sentral Station, as long as you’re not bothered by a little risk. With insurance papers clenched firmly in hand, we emerged safely from this human-sized game of Frogger.

After checking out the planetarium, some local wildlife and visiting the unimaginatively named ‘Deer Cage’ we decided we’d soaked up enough of the picturesque surrounds and headed to Chinatown.

Unlike the clean, upper class shopping centres we’d been frequenting until now, I found the dingy, bustling marketplace of Petaling Street to be more my style. I walked in and immediately bought two t-shirts. The others engaged Bargain Hunter Mode™ and quickly followed suit. I was once again able to flex my haggling muscle and use some of the tips and tricks I learned last year in Mauritius.

There were many bargains.

Once we’d bought more than we could sensibly carry we headed back to the hotel and pondered the Dinner Question™. I’m not sure if it was a lack of motivation to leave our 5 star accommodation or perhaps we were drunk off our new found sense of wealth and power (an excellent exchange rate will do that to even the most staunch travellers) but we decided to order a sumptuous feast from Room Service. We laughed heartily as we spent the last of our Ringgits on cheeseburgers and too many onion rings. We enjoyed the moment to its fullest, but there was one thought at the back of everyone’s mind. This was the last night of our Marvellous Malaysian Adventure.