Thai Restaurant

An advertisement for my Aunty Warakhun's Thai restaurant in Belgium. It's called Siam Cafe located in a suburb of Brussels. She's a partner in the business she bought over earlier this year. The website's mostly in Flemish and they don't do deliveries unfortunately. Otherwise my brother and I would have a standing order for every week.

She's the chef and a great cook. She works very hard but when you watch her cook, it seems so effortless. No, that is not her chef's hat!

Signs and Symptoms - Pike Place Market, Seattle

American brashness perhaps. Or just a different sense of humour. To protect their beautiful produce.

This and that - Portable ATMs

Saw this at the Richmond Night Market, Vancouver. One would think that this would be a robber's dream come true. No need to blast the ATM off a wall or drag it off with a truck. Just wheel it away...

None of this happened. Not that I'm trying to put ideas into anyone's head of course.

Wild Mushrooms

It is winter in South Australia. With recent rains the mushrooms are out. These are pictures of various wild mushrooms taken in Kuitpo Forest. Most are probably poisonous especially the red one, the introduced Fly agaric (Amanita muscaria).

I have to find out the names of the others. Some are tiny like the ones growing on a pine cone. And some are enormous, bigger than a hand span like the one in the top photo. The photos don't give a good sense of scale though.

Can you imagine little Smurfs hiding behind one? Smurfs are originally known as Les Schtroumpfs by their Belgian cartoonist, Peyo.

Victoria, British Columbia

Went to Victoria with my family. The highlight for me was going to see the Orcas, also known as Killer Whales of Free Willy fame (never actually watched the movie). Saw a female with a newborn calf too. The calf leapt up in synchrony with its mother each time. Also learnt that some of the matriarchs can live to over 90 years!

They are actually more related to dolphins and I found out that there are 2 different sorts around here. Not sure whether they are considered separate species. The more placid 'resident' ones that feed mainly on fish, largely Chinook salmon in these waters. And the more predatory 'transients' which appear in the waters around Vancouver Island from time to time. These are the Killers which feed on seals, other dolphins and occasionally humans mistaken for seals.

Also had a nice seafood dinner in Victoria. Didn't have time to visit the famous Butchart Gardens though. Oh well, for another time. Maybe.

Signs and Symptoms - Kangaroo Crossing

The quintessential Aussie road sign.

Seen along Australian rural and outback roads. Kangaroos are a real driving hazard especially at night. Hitting a kangaroo, apart from feeling awfully guilty about it, can do serious damage to one's car. Driving at night in the Australian outback is often not recommended for this reason. Many four-wheel drives have 'kangaroo bars' to protect the vehicle, not the poor roo unfortunately.

This and That - Seattle pigs

Seen around the Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle. Very similar to the ones in Rundle Mall, Adelaide but bigger. And I only found two wandering around rather than the four grouped together in Adelaide.