So, a week in Australia, and what have I learnt?

Koala shaped chocolates, with exception to Caramello Koalas, are really hard to find.

However Koala shaped everything else is everywhere.

The old crows that work at Myer at Miranda are still as rude as I remembered them to be.

And on that note, people still stare at me in Miranda. Yes, I’m short and have black hair and I don’t look like you, Ms-born-in-the-Shire-die-in-the-Shire-middle-aged-”but-still-young-at-heart”-shivelled-up-crow, so stop staring.

Happily, I don’t get stared at anywhere else. That’s progress for ya.

But most people now think I’m Japanese. Or at least a foreigner. Including Flight Attendants. Who are Australian. Even with my accent, which I have back, in full force maaaate.

Speaking of progress, a funny thing happened when we walked through the city on our first day — neither of us felt like we’d left Japan. Because walking down George St all we saw were Asians — everywhere! Where did they all come from? Did I just not notice before? It felt like we were walking through Roppongi on a Saturday afternoon than walking through Sydney.

Did that sound really racist?

Speaking of Asians, I can now no longer pick where in Asia someone comes from. The cross-breeding of fashion and trends from different Asian countries have done away with that — although you can still pick a Chinese family from the amount of noise we make in public places. Especially restaurants and places where we can take photos of each other.

And on fashion, I have somehow become more metrosexual. It pains me. And provides my sister with an unnatural amount of amusement.

And I missed Chinese food far more than I realised. Though I don’t miss the way it accumulates around the waste line.

Another surprising thing about Sydney — the trains were working ok. They mostly came on time, they were relatively clean and fast. Unfortunately they were really expensive, but you can’t have everything.

Food in Sydney is also expensive. As are drinks. And film, electronics, games, books, hotels, ferries, and just about everything else. I think it might actually be cheaper to live in Japan.

Sydney Airport staff are great — efficient, friendly, and helpful. Why can’t the rest of the damn country be like that?

I miss my dog. And my friends. And my ex-coworkers; though I don’t miss the work so much. But most of all my dog, who’s pushing 13 and has gone deaf and kind of blind. God I love that little guy, I hope he hangs on long enough for me to see him next time I come back to Australia.

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iHave Entitlement Issues

1. From CNET:

“Some commended Jobs and the company for what they considered a humble and fair response to the iPhone price flap. Others, however such as CNET News.com reader Jake Kushner, president of JK Media, said Apple’s response didn’t go far enough to satisfy those who bought a 4GB iPhone for $499, only to see the 8GB model become $100 cheaper. They should get a free upgrade to an 8GB model or a $200 rebate, he said.”

“I feel wronged and misled by Apple. Such a quick price reduction indicates that Apple premeditated this reduction before the initial release,” Kushner wrote, addressing Jobs. “I read your public response on Apple.com to this issue, but I still feel that the solution you are offering is not adequate.”

2. Pfffft. The only thing inadequate is your ability to control yourself… twice. Once for being a cheap bastard and buying a 4gb iPhone, and once for telling the world about it. Fake Steve has a tshirt for you, have you heard of him?

So what’s this about not flaunting your language skills?

1. From today’s Herald:

2. “Asked if he was impressed by Mr Rudd’s language skills, Mr Downer, a French speaker, said he was not one to flaunt his talent with foreign tongues.”

3. Oh, nice comeback. But then…:

4. “I did the French language course and Mr Rudd did the Chinese language course. I did mine in two months and he did his in two years, that could say something about him and me or something about the two languages. I think the former but that sounds a tad partisan.”

5. Well, it might be “a bit partisan”, but it didn’t stop you from saying it now, did it?

The only question now is…

1. …the 8gb iPod touch, or the 16gb?

2. I’ve been betting quietly that one of these would come out, and even without WIFI I would’ve bought one. Why? That kickarse interface. I’m an interface geek, a holdover from my design days, and that multi-touch interface is just mind-bogglingly awesome. I don’t really want an iPhone, ’cause while it might be thin, it’s not a small phone, and if I’m out on the piss the last thing I want is to break that screen by being drunkenly over-enthusiastic. Or by dropping it. And how can you have a smartphone where you can’t even cut-and-paste text? Here’s hoping for iPhone 2.0.

3. But this… all the best features of the iPhone, and I can still leave it home when I don’t need it. And, lets face it, it’s really an 8mm thick computer. You just know that this thing will get the crap hacked out of it, and by Christmas there’ll be a bunch of 3rd party apps available — who knows, even Apple might get in on the act, since the only excuse they gave for the lack of 3rd party app support in the iPhone was because of “stability issues”.

4. Now if you can plug in a foldable keyboard and run third party apps, I’ll never need a laptop, ever again.

5. (Anyone who whinges about the lack of storage should look at an Archos 605, equally drool-worthy, 160gb storage, and matches the iPod touch in pretty much every regard except OSX and thinness. So quit it with the damn whinging.)

The Original Macintosh

1. …had a manual that looked like this:

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2. How delightfully quaint! I wish my university life had been like that, bicycles, old stone buildings, bad sweaters and blonde hair. When MenTM could be MenTM even with a basket on his ManlyTM bicycle. How times have changed! That picture was from Peter Merholz who got himself a copy of the original manual and posted a few photos along with some commentary. Check it out here.