25

25 - A significant age, some may say. Distinctive. Worthy of note. The age where car insurance premiums drop off, and car rental companies let you hire 4WDs and sports cars. The age where you transition from the 18-24 to the 25-39 category on surveys

Over the past week, I've been celebrating my twenty-fifth birthday, my quarter-century, half of fifty, yadda yadda yadda. Picked two very cool venues for drinks with friends - Mink Bar in St Kilda in Melbourne, and Klassroom in Surrey Hills in Sydney.

How many hours did you work last week?

Turns out my weekend work effort has a secondary benefit. The 21 hours I put it on Saturday and Sunday means I'll be answering this question on the Census form tomorrow night with a figure of 70 hours. I normally work a 45 - 50 hour week, but last week's effort means I'll be pushing up the Australian average considerably.

Actually, a quick calculation reveals that my weekend work effort will boost the average Australian working week by a grand total of 0.004 seconds.

e'cco - a classy meal in brisbane

While in Brisbane earlier this week, I went to e'cco bistro for dinner on a cabbie's recommendation. The wine list was extensive, the menu enticing, and the decor funky in a very mod kind of way. One of the great features of e'cco is that the prices for entrees and mains are fixed. This allows you to peruse the menu and decide purely upon what you feel like eating, rather than matching your tastes to your budget. Our selection - mussels in a thai lemon sauce for starters followed by grilled baramundi with roast potato, fennel & ligurian olives. Wash it all down with some good conversation and a bottle of Happs semillon chardonnay - very nice for a 'house' wine. Add it to your must-do list next time you visit sunny Brisbane.

The Computer Game movies

For something different last weekend, I went to see Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy at the huge Hoyts Village Greater Union complex on George St in Sydney. Angelina Jolie is sexy, sensational, and fun as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider. This movie is an absolute hoot. All the guys exit the cinema raving about Angelina Jolie, and all the girls come out saying "I want to be Lara Croft".

The fully computer animated Final Fantasy is very impressive. The story line is pretty pathetic, but the quality of the animation is incredible - better than anything I've ever seen. It's not quite lifelike (a few more years yet methinks), but you can tell how much effort has gone into the production. Definitely worth seeing on the big screen.

Just finished another road trip - Sydney and Brisbane this time. First day back (it's a Saturday) and I'm at the office. Damn I need a break. I have 230,000 frequent flyer points and about three weeks leave stocked up. I was planning on saving it all for my RTW trip next year, but maybe I should take a week off sometime soon and cash in on some of those points.