Frolic: the toys are out to play!

My older boys have begun their summer holidays yesterday. The little one still attends preschool 3x weekly until the 17th. Since the weekend, they've been dashing in and out, playing their backyard version of hybrid baseball-cricket. It's only the second day, and I'm already tired.

Imagine, I have about 2 more months of this. For now, I am steeping in non stop humming of the Jurassic Park, Sound of Music, and Transformers movie themes; endless arguments about what the next (third) Transformers movie storyline would be (one son bets his ass that it will take place entirely in Cybertron and I shudder at the ordeal of having to watch that in the cinema!), the stop-start practicing of violin Christmas duets to prepare them for busking in the streets next week, etc.

Although, I get to sleep in, too. I haven't cared about Mr. Nest's packed lunch at all. What gets to me though is the bickering, the boy-grunting and sly shoving, the hairsplitting defense about "it wasn't really hitting;" the arguing about every little thing. They need to be constantly moved, herded somewhere, fed. Worse is that Mr. Nest has grounded them for a week from the Wii so they are just antsy. But then again, I can cuddle anytime with them now, because they're home!

First 4 photos are mine; the rest were taken by the 5 yr old.

Enthuse: hello, yellow!

Blogging about the Seymour Centre 2010 season programme which I received in the mail weeks ago. Maybe the youngest hatchling will want to watch "The Gruffalo" again. It could be a boys' day out while I frolic along Broadway next year :)

Love, love, love the color and print. Ah. the '70s seem to be making a comeback in the design world, despite the fashion retail industry being neck deep in the 80s.

Want another yellow design hit? Check out next year's Sydney Festival brand/design concept and note esp the yellow balloon leitmotif. I'm talking to you, Scribbles at Tumblr.

(2010 Sydney Festival links via Australian Edge

Frolic: playing with iPhone's CameraBag app

Late spring vignettes

Thrift: finder, maker, giver

Now that Christmas presents are the current concern, here are some images of thrift finds, which I've already used for Mr. Nest's aunts' birthdays. The pretty vase I used for the yellow flowers is actually a sugar bowl.

One of the best places for containers/bric-a-brac is the annual Indian Bazaar at Riverview, for the benefit of the Jesuit Mission's charity work. The small plates above cost me 20 to 50 cents each. However, I regularly browse Vinnies for small containers, trays or pretty plates, worth a dollar or two, for presenting any of the (most requested) food I make for presents: rich chicken liver paté, chewy chocolate chip cookies, Argentinian empanadas, small pastel de pollo (chicken pies), and brownies.

I have been often frustrated that despite giving a wishlist (for my family) of what we want individually at Christmas, we give relatives the option of simply giving us even 5 dollars to contribute to buy that toy or item. Instead, we are given dollar store items which we don't really need or like, or huge toy sets of poor quality and worse, these cost more than the five or ten dollars we ask.

Have you been in the same boat? I mean honestly, if I expressed a need for pillowcases a month before (or a bit of money towards buying that), would you flood me with a huge scented candle, or figurines and weirdly shaped serving platters that cost more? And sure, it's the thought that counts, but doesn't that betray the lack of it? I suspect a lot of us recycle and give out the presents we don't want. Yet if we abide by consideration and sensitivity, really, we could halt that punishing cycle of receiving something we don't need and passing it on out there to someone who doesn't want it either.

I'm now ranting. But I'm hopeless. Mr. Nest tells me to give up on people, when I insist on giving them or their kids something with a message about halting rampant consumerism, bigger is not better, etc.

I am suggesting that this Christmas, MAKE IT COUNT. If you can cook, give food or drink as presents, and reserve the buying from shops for kids' toys. Make IOU cards where you promise something for friends and relatives--babysitting, cooking or cleaning service, a coffee or lunch date at a specific cafe, a picnic, etc.

Now for those who mentored my son all throughout his stay at the junior school, I am gifting them each with the KeepCup, an amazing product from Melbourne. My son's teachers and school staff love their coffee and they buy their daily dose in a takeaway cup from a cafe across the school gate. So this will not only be handy but truly helpful. Check it out here. It's so worth it and it speaks volumes.

Tread gently, buy less, reuse and reduce.

Frolic: the "new" Taronga Zoo

We must have been sleeping, but we've woken up to find that Taronga Zoo, has had a makeover, and it's not yet over. Well, to be fair, we haven't renewed our Zoo Friends membership for the past two years. Moreover, we obviously haven't been reading the quarterly magazines they've been sending us.

Before my sister left, and in anticipation of more family coming over for a visit soon, we renewed our membership and gave my sister one last twirl in the neighborhood. We should do the Zoo more often, especially that it's really just a five minute drive away. And now, I've no excuse, what with an annual membership of over 200 dollars (with a guest pass) that has proven to be so worth it. And so, I'm bringing the little one and his friend next week, before the hordes come during the summer/Christmas holidays.

As you start walking down soon after the zoo entrance, you head to the excitement and shivers of the Reptiles section. Walking on, you see the tall, stately giraffes. They are a welcoming, majestic sight; a rush of gladness overcomes you and you feel thankful you came to the zoo. I am glad they kept this same layout as when we visited the giraffes soon after they arrived over two years ago.

What's new? Here are the highlights: A multi level parking facility; we used to park in a sprawling dirt carpark where chaos reigned. Another wonderful change is a large area for the chimpanzees, which if I recall rightly used to showcase a couple of tigers. Now, it offers everyone a look at chimpanzee communication/dynamics, even up close (a glass walled room you see through, where they can take refuge from the heat and swing along a "playground").

Another similar laid out space houses the gorillas; I had to sit fascinated for a long time and simply observe them thumping their little ones' backs, pushing and shoving each other. Finally the big boss (the biggest gorilla you could ever imagine) hunkered over and everyone else cowered, crept away and ended what seemed like a snowballing argument.

They also improved on the koala enclosure and one can go up a wooden deck that goes around so you can see the koalas who are often too shy, from any angle. Another new feature is the newly built elephant breeding facility, thus effectively offering two big areas where you can see the elephants.

mountain goats looking out at the city, at the African Waterhole area

Best of all is a new complex called Great Southern Oceans, below or past the big food court nearly at the bottom or end of the zoo (beside the elephant enclosure, and souvenir shop), which showcases the seals, walruses, penguins, etc. in big tanks. It also features an ampitheatre for the seal show, which is very well produced--the script was well thought out, tricks were delightful (even if you are against the animals having to be taught to "perform"). The message was all about how human activity can destroy sea creatures' habitat and how every person can prevent doing damage to the oceans.

Save for the absence of a wide variety of fishes (that you would otherwise see at the Sydney Aquarium), this complex is very much like a mini Seaworld. It goes all the way down with steps and a lift to and from the ferry at Bradley's Head Road. Consequently, the walk to either the ferry and Sky Safari (cable car ride) is shorter, and well designed.

But the best thing in this area is a small "beach" for little ones--a fountain on one side, and decorated with a boat and rocks. It offers water fun--toddler knee-deep at its deepest-- where they can frolic on a hot day. It offers an amazing view of the ocean for the parents to catch their breath.

ampitheatre for seals show

going down to walk to the Sky Safari, a cable car ride, all the way up to the zoo entrance

I missed the "petting zoo" enclosure, which was the first thing from the zoo entrance, where you can touch and walk among the emu, wallabies, kangaroos, etc. But I suppose spaces for them (and lions and tigers) are still being renovated. There are obviously a lot of improvements in the works, as you hear loud earthmovers doing their job.

Yet even with only the Great Southern Oceans complex as a new offering, Taronga Zoo in Sydney would have to be a must see, again and again.

Thanks to my sister for the first 3 photos of this post.

(Click here for a PDF file of the Taronga Zoo map in Sydney to see what animals and tours you could see.)

Ponder: The handful of things I need to read

Had a date with second son on the weekend and we ended it at Borders. I just couldn't resist buying the Christmas issue of Inside Out, what would probably be my favorite Australian magazine. I'm after the recipes and the simple, tenderly styled stories. I devour The Australian online, and want it to have more challenging and diverse voices; I also borrow The Monthly, if I can find it. On lighter fare, I love flicking through Frankie, very different from the demographic I belong to, yet utterly delicious.

Otherwise I may be called "un-Australian" in my reading. (I am aghast at the gossip/tabloid and "women" magazines which are on offer everywhere in Oz, and how unhelpful it can be as one's daily read. But I suppose it is not much different everywhere else in the world, with numerous gossip magazines everywhere.)

Since my youth, I've loved thumbing through The New Yorker and Vanity Fair; and in the late 90s, latched on to the online publications, Slate and Salon for current events, reviews and great opinion pieces (and life's conundrums and reflections, from Anne Lammott and especially Cary Tennis' "Since You Asked" column). Another regular web visit would be to The New York Times and I never miss its Home & Garden features. One other recently acquired fave from the local library is a gorgeous British publication called, Living Etc.

Meanwhile, Domino magazine readers everywhere mourned its demise early in the year, and although I've never bought an issue, I've seen enough of its breath taking spreads, creative styling and stories pasted on numerous design blogs to make Martha Stewart Living pale in my eyes. Last month, I feasted on this online magazine, produced by the former Domino team and other style gurus, called Lonny. I loved the story on former Domino editor Deborah Needleman's garden. The first online issue is a feast for the eyes and offers infinite creative ideas.

Go on, and visit the site. It's breathtaking and definitely worth more than a click and a long browse.