There has to be something said for having summer in February. A warm Christmas was a bit too strange though I did love my dip in the ocean that day. A warm New Years is amazing not having to worry about lugging around layers with you wherever you go. And as for the last five weeks being overall sunny and warm it has been a treat! This time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere is just the worst! It just seems that winter is never going to end when it snows for the seventh time. When I was living in Amsterdam I even had a party to celebrate this bleakness that I fondly called ‘February Sux’. It was a resounding success. But down here I am going to picnics, barbecues and rooftop bars in the blazing sunshine. And boy does the sun blaze down here. By my standards I have a lick of colour. I even have a few awkward tan lines from various cuts of my dress collection necklines.

This morning I was called in for 5 hours temporary work at the French engineering company that I have worked for before. It is always a pleasant experience working here. And now that I have been in a handful of times people recognize me and say hello which is kind. Also a little side story to today related to my journey into the CBD. I went to go catch the train but as always I was there about ten minutes early. I sat down next to a man who had a beautiful bike with him. Vintage look with creams and dark chocolate colour scheme. It was so beautiful I was moved to compliment him! This struck up a conversation where I learned he too had lived in the Netherlands (never Amsterdam) and of course I had to share my boat living experience. We continued to chat as we hopped on the train about different beers we liked. He mentioned he owned a few cocktail bars in the city including one I had heard good things about. He unfortunately did not have a business card on him but wrote down their names the old fashion way. I have since Googled them and they look fantastic! Also I found his name and put that into Google and it turns out he is a bit of a bar owner extraordinaire with the internet raving about his work. Me thinks I would like to find him again!

It appears to be birthday season as I am going to two parties this weekend. Tonight was meant to be a picnic but we are having a wet and grey day here so she has moved it to a bar in an area of town I don’t know that well. The birthday girl is a Limey who is sponsored and here to stay. She is one of the many people I was put in touch with when moving out here. Tomorrow afternoon one of the Swedish girls is having a goodbye party as she is about to move to Queensland with her newborn baby and Australian husband. It will be good to see the Swedish kids again as I have not seen most of them since my birthday and the carol service I went to in December. In the evening one of the American girls I get along with from the ‘America Club’ is having birthday drinks at a cocktail bar in the city.

I continue to have a heavy stream of visitors at the moment from London, India and Amsterdam. It has been fantastic catching up and has included some very tasty meals. A particular highlight was the Japanese restaurant johnlast.com, Jemma and I went to in my neighbourhood on Wednesday. We started off with a mixed sashimi/sushi platter with a very fresh selection of raw fish. For my main I had melt in your mouth soft shell crab. This was all washed down with a few bottles of sake. Something I had only ever had once before. I think I like it too now as I believe it is a very mellow alcohol and complimented the food perfectly. I am very excited also because the restaurant advertised starting this weekend they will be serving dim sum every Sunday from 12-3PM.

Have a wonderful weekend readers!

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