Mental Blabberings

Mates from work. This is a few days late but I just got a couple hours of alone time to allow me to write in isolation -- more on that later. This past birthday for me is one of the most special ones I've had so far because of a few things. I feel like the past year for me has gone way too fast having a lot of things happening between July 2010 and July 2011. This of course is the obligatory birthday post which I do outline things that I find interesting and even some things that I find annoying. Here goes nothing.

The Stark Cup by El Gris It's been a week into our new place outside the city and there are a few noteworthy things I'd like to share with the world at large. These may be useful reading for people who might think about moving to Sydney from a country like the Philippines (or anywhere there's no winter). It may have done me good if I heeded the Stark saying that "winter is coming" and prepared better -- unfortunately now I'm in a situation where winter has got me. Here are a few observations and insights you might find useful or amusing.

Tonight is our last night here at the Somerset Darling Harbour right at the heart of Sydney. This location is so convenient that everything interesting and worth going to is just a short walk and maybe then a short train ride away. Walking to work takes at most 20 minutes for me at a leisurely pace. I've grown to like the sounds of the city here and have felt comfortable walking the Pyrmont bridge to work on a daily basis. Tomorrow though will be the first night at our newly rented place half an hour away by bus and 15 minutes away by train. There have been a lot of "firsts" in the Somerset for me. First time I've ever lived in a place paid for by someone else longer than a week. First time to use an oven to cook meat. First time to use a dryer without having to put coins into the machine that's located in a private bathroom. First time feeling like it's all getting real. See, it's been almost exactly 90 days since we moved into this combo two-bedroom

Identity 2.0 by tychay The past couple of weeks have been abuzz about Google+ 's field trial. The past few days I've seen people come in (and out) and conversations that circled around content that people post or share. It's really great that there's an alternative to Facebook where I personally can put my data in and know that I can pull the data out anytime I like. It also feels better that I'm using tools that the company I work in is building. Loving your own is a value that I definitely give weight to. So I've decided to move my namesake blog out from Posterous which doesn't let you easily export your data out into other blogging services. It was cool to be able to post through email but even then writing is not usually about being easy -- it's about having something to say. It just so happens that Blogger is as good as -- if not better -- than Posterous for the kinds of pieces I want to write. Wordpress might be a good idea for a while beca