Thursday, August 14, 2003

 
One of these days I will go out there and get an audio recording of those darn roosters ... for you to 'enjoy' !

I should come up with a top 10 list of how to get rid of them ...

10. chickensoup
9. Napalm
8. Relocation
7. Free merry-go-round ride in either the microwave or the dryer
6. quick larynx removal
5. freeze 'em
4. Train the cat to go after poultry that size
3. Where is my bee bee gun?
2. Call KFC

Ok .. and use the comment feature down there to submit your suggestion for #1

#posted by Peter 10:09 AM

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We will be gone for a few days :)

#posted by Peter 8:04 AM

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Wednesday, August 13, 2003

 
Big thing here since last weekend is the Fiji Showcase 2003, happening in the new multi purpose hall, which was built for the South Pacific Games (which are gladly over by now). It is like a little fair, where lots of local businesses and organizations have a booth and can show off their stuff.... In many cases that means just another outlet to sell stuff. But it was quite interesting. Outside was a "foodcourt" where Ritsu had some Roti for lunch.


And on the cat front: stray cat "chickenshit" is coming closer and closer and seems to feel more and more at home. We still cannot figure out how Misha thinks about it .. sometimes they seem curious about each other, then again they seem to be fighting any second .. but their favourite posture is "ignoring each other" ... I managed to snap that pic below ... I can get closer to chickenshit these days ... and I can see that he has lots of battle scars (maybe from Misha? Don't dare messing with our super cat!). His fur looks pretty dirty and he is very skinny ... one of these days I will lure him inside, put him in a box and bring him to the SPCA, where they may take care of him, make him healthy and maybe find a place for him to stay. I doubt Misha would tolerate a second cat in the house.


On the weekly internet rant news .. the new ISDN modem they brought me just went kaputt as well ... what kind of crap do they give us?

#posted by Peter 10:13 PM

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Tuesday, August 12, 2003

 
This link about the commercial past of the potential future governor of California makes me laugh! ... Well, from what I understand a lot of US stars did hush hush silly commercials in Japan, hoping they will never be seen back home ... they had no idea that they will spread over a thing called the internet one day ... some TV soap stars even made records, Alissa Mylano comes to mind ... funny ....

Anyways, later I will quote some Newspaper headlines (the FijiTimes still has a 'coming soon' website only) .. maybe I make that a weekly feature ... I was just stunned by a news story about filming equipment (for Anaconda 2) being stolen by the security guards who have been hired to guard it ....

Ok, while I am at it ... "Poverty rises to 30%" "Woman, 98, missing" "Angry Husband burns home" "Consultant loses Computers" (Now THAT is scary!) "Rooftop robbers strike" and "Police on horseback" .. Interestingly no story of some uncle molesting a 10 year old niece, nephew or the neighbor's goat ...
BUT, Intel has a little note that they reserve the centrino trademark here ... ha ha ha .. as if we get a star bucks or mcdonalds with wireless lan anytime soon .... which reminds me that Dunkin Donuts had a similar blurb in the papers a while ago .. and we still have no dunkin donuts here ... hmmm

#posted by Peter 4:48 PM

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Monday, August 11, 2003

 
What is going on? Yesterday first parking ticket, today my very first ever flat tire.



I was on my way to Cakaudrove, the fish place (yes, we have now a substance abuse problem with fresh fish), when i suddenly felt that something was not right and very quickly I realized it must be a flat tire. Gladly there was like parking booth right next to me and I could pull in. I looked at the damage and got the tools ready to put that mini spare thingie on ... only that I had never done that before. So, I hailed a cab and offered the driver some money to fix that for me. I bet it would have taken me an hour, he did it in 10 minutes, and both of us were happy.

I drove straight to the car shop and they fixed me up with 2 new front tires .. and I was glad to hear that it was not as expensive as I feard .. 1 tire was 83F$ (45US) which was ok i think, including putting it on. If we had a Pajero, those tires are closer to 300F$ (165US$) ... yieehaaaw ... I was surprised to learn that with the quality of the roads here I will need to exchange tires every year ... interesting to know ...

Anyways, all is fixed, I am glad it did not happen on a trip to Nadi, of to the airport to catch a plane. I ended up going to the fish shop, got 2 nice pieces of bedford (cannot find any link for that, but some white meat fish, supposed to be very nice) and those are now marinating japanese style, in a mix of sake, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, miso paste and spring onions ... will let you know how it turns out.

#posted by Peter 7:58 PM

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Got my first parking ticket today. After I dropped Ritsu at her office, I went up to that fish store again (I think they start remembering me) and got some super fresh pieces of Pakapaka, I mean, I was watching as they cut the fillets out of the fish.

I then went downtown to sign up with another video place, SPR, and i had trouble finding parking, but finally I did, and believing it will only take a minute, I did not feed the meter.

Well, that SPR place is worse than a loan institute (but they have a better selection of movies). On Saturday I had already tried to 'apply' but they wanted 2 passport pics (huh?) This time I came prepared, only that besides my fijian drivers license, they would have loved to had seen my passport, too. They also asked if I was a fijian citizen, and how long I am going to stay in the country. The application form of course wanted to know my employer, and two references: people other than family who can confirm I exist? Once I filled that all out, they had to bring it to some office for approval! And then getting the card done (That lady looked at my passport pics and seriously asked if that was a drawing!!! Hello???) ..well did I mention a 30$ membership fee?.. the whole thing took way longer than planned ... and when I returned to the car ... I found this love letter from the LTA:



Now I just have to figure out where to pay. Notice that up there "Land Transport Office" is crossed out and something like "B.C.C." is scribbled on top? I have NO idea what that is supposed to mean.

Anyhow, since I was in the lucky position of having both: fresh basil AND pine nuts, I made pesto for the fish and marinaded the pakapaka in garlic, lemon, olive oil and some of the basil. Only getting fresh parmesan here is tricky, so I had to use canned ... but the fish turned out very nice again, on fettucine with some tomatoes and olive slices. For desert we watched a weird romance-horror movie called May, which is indeed very creepy, mainly because of the protagonist who just creeps you out in a way that is hard to describe. It is not the typical hollywood slasher movie, no way. I understand that this never got a broad release in the US. Joe Sixpack would probably not get the movie (no one dies until like 60 minutes into the movie ... ). I would not call it one of the best movies I have ever seen, but it sure is above average!

#posted by Peter 3:21 AM

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