Where I live

I've been blogging for a while now, and I haven't told you where in Sydney, Australia I currently reside. I often thought of my hometown as boring, because I've grown accustomed to my area. It was only recently that a friend of mine pointed out that those who aren't locals are fascinated by the place I live in.

So, I live in a place where one street shall be considered the equivalent to the CBD. In that 200 metre strip, you'll find there's a recurring pattern which starts out like this:

1. A restaurant which mainly sells this:


2. This:

I never understood why there were seven pharmacies alone in this street. But, if I do get sick, I know there's a prescription drug out there to suit my needs.

Lastly, this:

Bit like the ubiquitous amounts of pharmacies in my area, it's the same with mobile phones. It's great that I could select a wide range of mobile phones with brilliant deals.

However, where I live, it's far from the university I currently attend. Some days, I'll have to get up at 5.30 am, just to make to my 8 am lecture on time. It seems anywhere else in Sydney would be closer to my university.

But then, I think of all things I'll miss. The 6 am ritual of purchasing freshly baked bread rolls filled with pork and salad just makes my mouth water.

You will see old women who make Vietnamese desserts, cured pork from home and selling various Asian herbs and spices on the streets during the weekend. At times, I'll strike up a conversation with some of them - but it abruptly ends as they pack their goods in the trolley and sprint away whenever an approaching Council Officer comes along.

Speaking of food, did I mention how I live in a place that's well-known for Asian food? How could I leave the delicious food from around the world which is literally outside my door step?

Then there's this homeless guy that sits at the train station. His black eyes squinting through his square spectacles, mangled jet black hair and a long beard with patches of grey. His skin is dark and uneven. Last year, I gave him some sandwiches. When I turned around, he gave the sandwiches to another homeless lady, then scavenged the bin to find left over Vietnamese rice paper rolls.

You can get sweeped up with the local drama of my hometown - which restaurant makes the best crispy skin chicken, to whose child has graduated from medicine, whose child is now opening up another pharmacy, to other important issues such as who's gain weight, who's lost weight, who's gotten a divorce and most of all, who went overseas recently to get plastic surgery.

I found it hard to describe my hometown in words, but it is a town with it's own quirks. And in the words of Kenneth Slessor, "You find this ugly, I find this lovely."

Happy reading!
5ft0

Food Review: KFC Mashies

Recently, I tried the limited edition KFC Mashies meal. Here's what it looks like:



I expected the KFC mashies to have a crispy coating, then a soft mash potato centre. Even the advertisements suggested that these mashies would be soft balls of heaven.



Instead, I found that they tasted a lot like deep fried balls of flour. Not even a liberal coating from the little container of gravy made up for that. Their mash potato is passe as it tastes like flour mixed with chicken powder and frankly, KFC should be banned from selling mash potatoes and the latest Mashies, it'll give any person coronary heart disease.

I believe KFC Mashies got this idea from the Dutch meatball snack, bitterballen. It is typically served in pubs and served with Dijon mustard. The outside is crumbed with breadcrumbs, while the inside usually has a creamy meaty texture, with cheese and potatoes thrown into the mix from time to time. Here's what the bitterballen look like:



That certainly looks much more appealing. I shall be trying those soon.

If you're interested in purchasing KFC Mashies for lunch/dinner/afternoon tea - my suggestion? Save your money and purchase a magazine instead.

Happy reading!
5ft0

Apples says to Woolies, "You're new logo is too apple-y".

Greetings 5ft0's,

I want to ask you a question. Does this logo:



Looks similar to this logo?



Good ol' Woolies insists their new logo is in a shape of a 'W'. While Apple thinks, it looks like an apple and they want the 'Straylan supermarket to stop using the logo.

Any reason? Other than Apple believes that Woolies new logo looks way too similar to their nifty little apple. So the question remains, can Apple really claim an apple? Before I go on, here is the criteria for trademark infringements:

- Similarity of the markings;
- Evidence of actual confusion;
- Likelihood of the expansion of the product line;
- Type of goods and the degree of care likely to be exercised by the purchaser;
- Defendant's intent in selecting the markings;
- Proximity of the goods and;
- Strength of the marking.

The last time I checked, Woolworths was well-known for stocking canned food, frozen food, confectionery, delis, dairy...to stationery and toiletries. While Apple sells iPods, iMacs, iPhones, iTouch - well anything which combines an 'i' and technological gadgets.

Personally, I think this is getting ridiculous. But, I'll leave the question to you. Is Woolies new logo too similar to Apple's logo?

Happy reading,
5ft0

What's your opinion on charging online news content?

Greetings 5ft0s,

Rupert Murdoch is going to experience a backlash with this idea. A number of independent research studies show this was rated unfavourably amongst those surveyed last week. Even better, Google rejected Murdoch's plan.

In my opinion, publishers will find it very hard to charge for news content because there is so much free content swimming around the world wide web. Sure, the Wall Street Journal, one of the newspapers owned by News Corp started charging its user to read its news online. Some publishers have argued that once upon a time, we paid for a news content. The question is, would you pay for it again?

But seriously, no one would pay for news content, especially if it's coming from news.com.au or ninemsn. There are plenty online news websites which write better content.

I'm curious to know if this scheme goes ahead, how much will they charge users for their content. Perhaps it's like iTunes, paying it per article basis. Whatever they decide, it won't just affect journalists, it will affect us as well.

Charging audience for online news content when they can receive it for free is like charging people to swim at the beach. Or ocean, and it's a huge ocean out there.

Now, what do you think about this proposition?

Happy reading,
5ft0