Day 76 - Perth Zoo!

My would-be murderer
(Thank you, Glass)

June 23rd, 2015

I prepared a pancake brunch for Shimou and Ella from the store bought bottle of mix. Super easy, but seems like a waste of materials for just one batch. Afterward, we quickly cleaned up and headed out for the zoo. Take two!

We arrive at 3, going through the Esplanade once more. There were a lot of interesting facts posted about, and quite a few animals I’d never even heard of. We had been following behind a group of four friendly 20-something bogans who kept making a ruckus everywhere they went. This would scare away some of the animals. Most notable things: a tiger took a swipe at me; the painted dogs played like normal dogs through the glass; dingos look and act just like dogs who want to be let out; red pandas are as awesome.

Love at first sight!

We arrived back at house Shimou. I was dehydrated and feeling out of it after a lot of “would you rather” and little water. She went to the store to get ingredients to make dumplings, and I took a nap. Today is Lee’s second/real birthday dinner. Throughout the day, I learned a number of ‘useful’ phrases in mandarin, and learned a little more about the grammar through trial and her correcting me. Nǐmen shì gǒu. [You are dogs.]*

What I wrote there, by the way, is called “pinyin.” It’s the alphabetized form of Chinese. How to read it: Ā is pronounced flat; À is pronounced downward; Ǎ is down-up; Á is upward. That’s the first, second, third, and fourth intonation, respectively, and they’re consistently referred to that way.

I am awoken to find that dinner is ready with an assortment of dishes, and two new Chinese fellows, Vincent and Jack. I purposefully sat next to Denis because I knew he also can’t speak mandarin, though he can speak five other tongues. I try to give him tips on using chopsticks, and the Chinese laughed at me because I don’t even do it properly. Whatever works, right?

Painted Dogs

A Cassowary
Half Bird, Half Dinosaur

After dinner, the dishes were done while I helped Vincent with some guitar technique. He had bought it three days ago, was having problems with some chords, and wanted to know what I’d recommend him work on. The house was flash cleaned through many hands working at once. Afterward, Shimou, Denis, Lee, Jack, and I piled into Lee’s car to race over to the theatre for “Minions,” tossing Jack out of the car along the way. Tuck and roll!

Once again, however, we find out that the last time was actually 8:20, and not 9:30 like they had read online. Twice in as many days! Denis’ work was nearby, so we grabbed a drink there while he read our palms. I will work at a mentally-demanding job, I will have a boy and a girl, married only once, and will live a long life. I will, however, suffer from a serious disease at 50, though I’ll recover. Huzzah!

The Majestic Black Swan
Where's Nassim Taleb?!

Back at the house, Shimou began making dumplings while I caught up writing the past couple days. Unfortunate because I actually wanted to learn how to make them. Pretty sure she’s talking about me to Ella as I sit here at the computer. I've learned to tune it out, for better or worse.

After an hour of powering through blog stuff, I help Shimou and Ella finish the dumplings that Shimou had thought would only take her 30 minutes. That sort of food always takes forever to fill all the shells. The three of us ate them, leaving a large plate for Lee and Joy. She is catching a flight back to China in the morning.

Bonus Photos:

That jug of pancake makes one batch.
Just add water!

Siblings

*:Edit: I originally wrote: Nǐmen shǐ gǒu, which, I think, would be: [Your dog shit]. Addressing the multiple owners of dog shit, perhaps.