Sweating It Out On New Year's Eve

I spent the New Year's Eve of 2006 at the local hospital with Joanne, who was down with contact dermititis on both her feet. It was an agonising evening for both of us. Last night was yet another agonising New Year's Eve for us.

No, we didn't usher in the new year at the hospital this time. We were at home, but we might as well had been in a furnace. Dear God, it was HOT! It was hot all day with the temperature soaring past 41 degrees Celcius. It was so bad that at one point, the local authorities were considering banning the annual New Year's Eve firework display in the city. Luckily for the revellers waiting to see the big show, the firework display was allowed to go on.

I couldn't help wondering how those revellers took the heat. The crowd must have been overwhelming. Even in the so-called comfort of our home, the sweltering heat was unbearable. Unlike our Cheras home, which is fitted with 4 air-conditioning units, there is none in our rented home here Doncaster. We have 2 standing fans and a mobile cooler, which is totally useless in hot temperatures.

So we all sweated like pigs on New Year's Eve. I couldn't even watch the TV in the living room because the mobile cooler had been moved to the bedroom. You can imagine what a boring New Year's Eve that was.

We all went to bed early, trying to sleep. I couldn't. I woke up several times to open the windows to see if there were any cool changes. There was none. The air outside was still. There was hardly any breeze at all. So I did what I could to cool down.

I splashed cold water on my face. I sprayed water all over me. I stuffed my little pillow in the freezer for a while so that it would be cool to the touch when I took it out. I even stuck my own head in the freezer a few times!

Luckily the kids have a better fan in their room. Otherwise, they would be wailing too.

Morning came and the temperature was only slightly better. Now, as I'm writing this, the temperature has shot up to 36 degrees and it's not even 11am yet. Guess it's going to be another HOT HOT day.

I really dread summer sometimes ... Thank goodness there are cool changes now and then.

Invasion Of The Flies

Gosh, I detest flies! And there are so many of them around these days. For the uninitiated, flies abound here during prolonged hot seasons. And since it's almost summer and the temperature has been soaring way past 30 degrees of late, flies thrive, making a nuisance of themselves.

They are real pests with a penchant of making pit stops at various points of your face, notably the eyes, nose and mouth. Disgusting! Sometimes I feel like a corpse with those tiny buggers hovering and buzzing around me.

Back in Malaysia, we always joke that if flies buzz around you, that means you stink, literally. Well, you don't have to stink here to attract flies during summer. Apparently, the flies attach themselves to humans and other animals because they are drawn to the moisture in the eye, nose and mouth. No wonder they don't follow the food crumbs I toss about to stop them from harrassing me!

And guess what? There are 10,000 to 30,000 types of flies in Australia during summer. 30,000! What a staggering number of pests. And some of them feast on blood too. Gross! And how do you tell them apart? Apparently, according to one fly expert, they have "different lifestyles". Duh? Flies have lifestyles?? Don't they just breed and cause trouble wherever they go? I can't imagine flies having different lifestyles. It's just too odd.

In the meantime, I'm going to invest in some fly swats. No creature a million times smaller than I is going to bug me without my hitting back.

Summer And Winter In Spring

The weather here in Melbourne is like a bad joke. You never know what to expect. Officially it's now spring but there are days when it feels like something else.

Yesterday definitely felt like summer. The weatherman had forecast a temperature high of 24 degrees but it soared to 30 degrees, apparently the highest since April this year. It was so warm we could wear our usual Malaysian clothes. And for the first time in months, I wore my slippers when I went to pick up Joshua from school. The warmth persisted till late at night. A cool change only occured sometime before dawn I think.

The temperature dipped this morning. It was only 12 degrees when we left for Joshua's school. The kids had to wear their jacket again to fend the cold, very much like what they did during the winter months. There was even a slight drizzle to complete the winter picture.

By mid morning, the sun made a few appearances. There were moments when it felt like spring. It was rather windy though and before long, the sun went into hiding again. Dark, heavy clouds began to loom across the sky. But every now and then, the sun would peek out from behind the dark clouds.

In the afternoon, the sky finally opened and it rained quite heavily for about 20 minutes. It was chilly, of course. Thankfully we were sitting comfortably at a McDonald's restaurant not far from our house.

See how unpredictable the weather is? I won't be surprised if we are hit by hail stones tomorrow. That's why everyone watches the weather forecast closely. You never know when you need to bring an extra jacket or wear thicker or thinner clothing.