But you also have to be very persistant to survive the Australian Open as a spectator, battling the ever-changing weather: being drizzled on in the late morning, being incubated by clouds in the early afternoon, being fried by the sun in the late afternoon, and of course, it would never be a perfect day in Melbourne without being froze in the evening.

Yep. I’ve done it all in one day.

For those of you who don’t know my thesis topic, it is on Cycling and Women: a comparable case study of City of Bayside and City of Hobsons Bay. I chose this topic mainly because of my exchange in Lund, Sweden where biking is life and everyone cycles (including toddlers, skinny men and women, big men and women, and old gents and old ladies who all bike faster than I do…). But when I came back to Melbourne, the scene is completely different. Majority of the cyclists are men in lycra who race for their life. Therefore I decided to investigate the underlying cause of this phenomenon… and have it completed today:

I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to:

By extension, I would also like to thank Vic who taught my how to bike before I went to Sweden when I was 21 years old… and everyone who had involved in a bike crash with me, especially… Simon. You all made me a better cyclist. :)

Lastly, I would like to draw your attention to the beautiful cover which the main picture is not my work but Marc of Amsterdamize.com. Marc granted me the permission to modify and use the picture for my thesis. I picked this picture because the mother was teaching her daughter to cycle which symbolises a sustainable future which could only be achieved if both men and women help minimising the carbon emission by adopting non-motorised transportation; and we can ride in casual clothes as oppose to lycra! In my eyes, this picture is exactly what I want for Melbourne’s future and is a magical fit for my thesis! Thanks Marc :)

Now, if Inner North Melbourne public transport planning assignment can get out of my way, I can’t wait to bike again!

If you are interested in the topic and don’t mind reading 15,000 word of academic writings…. please feel free to use the contact form and ask for a PDF copy – I’d be happy to share my findings with you!

By National Ballet of China @ State Theatre, Melbourne Arts Centre

香港有幸，公共交通之發達己發達至不用擔心其速度及可靠度。（不是說它完全沒有問題，但除了其價格高昂外，真的沒有甚麼可以挑剔。）

可是香港人也無福享受火車站的浪漫﹣火車站經常人頭湧湧，行人如梭，有浪漫先奇。再者，香港的火車密度一班又一班，跟地鐵的班次密度無異，實在是世界唯一。可又，每隔五分鐘的嘟嘟嘟嘟以及月台廣播真的將所有閒情一掃而空，有浪漫都變無浪漫。

火車站的浪漫在於火車那種依依不舍的速度和親密感。火車和飛機的速度不同，你可以追火車看著你要說再見的人徐徐隨火車開動而離去，但你不可以追飛機。再加上如今的機場自９１１以來就有如驚弓之鳥，ＳＥＣＵＲＩＴＹ要ＣＨＥＣＫ呢樣ＣＨＥＣＫ個樣。在禁區前流躂多一陣都會惹來保安哥哥的好奇，實在諗起都掃興。

我想，我心中理想的火車站應該是歐洲的（大）火車站：倫敦ＫＩＮＧ’Ｓ　ＣＲＯＳＳ車站的古色古香，柏林車站的摩登和井井有條，馬爾墨車站的安守本份，哥本哈根和斯多哥爾摩車站之堂皇，一一都教我難以忘懷。我亦曾在隆德車站管接管送，在米蘭車站被追火車。那情那景絕對是我想牢牢記著一世的。

當然，凡事總有例外，因為我真的不能由衷的覺得我漏了往米蘭火車的巴黎里昂車站浪漫，我只記得它很大很大，大得我趕不上去米蘭的火車。我也不覺得捷克的ＰＬＺＥＮ車站很美。我只記得自己獨個兒在三七吾識二十一，又冷的地方在凌晨等了兩個鐘頭接駁火車往ＣＨＥＢ．．．

那麼，墨爾本的火車站呢？

應該是受到了本地城市規劃教育的影響，我對它火車站的感情無從入手。我只想到它的髒，它的誤點和不安全。

Good times.

“Hey Nikki!”

“Oh my God Janice I am in Tokyo right now!!!”

“Oh, do you know Peter will be going to Tokyo tomorrow?”

“Yeah hopefully will be able to catch up with him”

Conversation 2

「喂家豪？」

「吓？！！！　ＪＡＮＩＣＥ？！？！」

「係呀，做咩？？」

「我同ＰＥＴＥＲ同埋全部人食梗飯呀！！！」

「嘩！！！　乜咁岩。」

（以下家豪開始發癲．．．）

「你做咩吾黎？！？」

「你做咩吾通知我！？？！？」

Indeed, I don’t think any birthday is going to top last year – which is kinda sad. But I guess every birthday is special in its own way. And this birthday signifies an evolution of me…

I didn’t organise anything real… No, hold on, I organised a world-wide ‘thinking of Janice’ party – it should still be carrying on as of the moment I am writing this, given the time difference between Australia and the Americas. I suggested a list of activities that willing participants can do with the theme of party (thinking of Janice), such as, making pancakes, drinking tequila, and rolling on the grass under the sun. So really, what happened is just that the approach has changed: Instead of a top-down party planner where activity is centralised and controlled, I have empowered participants to create their own party central to the main theme. So, I guess, from last year to this year, I have… been totally indoctrinated (or poisoned) by all the planning theories!!!

Anyways, back from the non-sense to something more solid. Wishing for a birthday with good weather is harder than I thought – Melbourne’s weather had been absolutely flaky lately! I couldn’t be sure that I will be graced by a day with warming sunshine until I see a clear sky from my room this morning. Because BOM kept telling me that today will be partly cloudy – and partly cloudy definitely does not constitute as good weather – at least not in Melbourne winter… But at last, I did get warming sunshine and had taken advantage of it: I went to Carlton Espresso for a really yummy brunch. Then I met up with Irene and bought finally bought a pair of jammie pants – ripped my old pair last night and it was definitely too big a rip to be repaired. I also got to have cup cakes which I had been craving since two weeks ago! But that’s not all, my birthday celebration actually started the night before – my twin cousins came to my apartment with flowers and cheesecake last night… on orders from my aunt!

Ahhhhhhhh all the indulgence, how am I going to jump back into the 5000 word research proposal tomorrow?

Tack för din birthday wishes och stor kram och puss til dig :D

Ah… all the wicked goodness. Now off to listen to the Wicked sound track… it’s not the same, but musical tix are expensive!