I just removed the quite amusing men's advice post. Simply because a few people weren't able to get to the site anymore because of firewalls etc. It was funny, but it would be cruel to deprive people of my wit and savvy comments just because of one slightly misogynistic posting.

On to more important things. This Sunday marks the one year anniversary of the Bali bombing. This was as close as terrorism has come to Australia and it has affected the country deeply. This is largely because we realised that our distance was no longer a protection from the harsh realilities of the world. There has been more general support for the war against terror and Iraq than would have been the case should Bali have not happened. Here is one first hand account that I highly recommend a look. 88 Australians died in a premeditated mass murder. 112 others were also murdered including many Indonesians.

I have been twice to Bali. The people are friendly and open. The place itself is a mix of first world resorts and third world slums, with markets and hawkers; plenty of fakes and bars; beautiful mountainside and beaches; a Hindu state within the world's largest Muslim country. Each of our holidays there have been memorable and enjoyable and it breaks my heart that terror could touch such a place. Please spend a minute on Sunday remembering why there needs to be a war on terror.

That said, it is time to focus on the here and now. And that means two things: cricket and rugby. The excitement is huge, especially as it is a holiday in Taiwan today and in Japan and the US on Monday. The lads from work are all heading to some place to watch the game tonight, Australia vs. Argentina. I have created a crude Aussie flag (albeit in black and white) that flies proudly above my PC. Go Aussie! I cancelled my Cantonese lesson because I cannot concerntrate on anything else. Except lunch, which hopefully will be a visit to City Hall Dim Sum, the best in HK. Food and footy....there's only one f missing.

One thing that I love about HK is the TV. At first I thought it was cr@pola, but once you spend some time here you learn to appreciate it. I cannot help but laugh everytime I see an advertisement for ER, with Geroge Clooney speaking Cantonese. He's even got a local accent. I tend to think something gets lost if you cannot hear the actors speaking in the original language of the show. The same applies to movies - there's no point watching a French movie dubbed into English and if you are too stupid to read the subtitles then don't watch it. It leads me to my next thing, which is HK newspapers. On the train yesterday I rubber-necked one of the local rags. They are not afraid of showing the most graphic photos possible of a bus crash/murder/bomb or whatever explicit violent pictures are going. Not for the squeamish.

JC and PB took turns last night. Turns at calling out. I remember 2:12am, but that was already the third time, and there were three more after that. Suddenly the sleeping in the same room idea doesn't seem so good. And PB is only on one sleep now, so she's pretty crabby most of the morning, because she's tired. But there's no reasoning with a 1 year old.

Lastly it seems David Blaine has been tipped off that Arnie has taken away his novelty crown. Suddenly starved of the publicity oxygen that has kept him going through his pointless stunt, he's taken to talking to people. Such an outrageous attempt to hijack Arnie's celebrations is despicable and this blog will not acknowledge it.

Did I mention Go Aussie Go?