• just_kitten@aussie.zone
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    1 month ago

    Well after several delays and 3 flights and a long bus ride, over 24 hours from leaving home we are FINALLY at our first accommodation in Japan and I am ready to eat 50 convenience store meals and then sleep for 50 hours. Trying to bust out the Japanese after so long is breaking my brain. Next few days will be full on soaking up the atmoshere so I might be incognito over here. Thank you all for the wonderful messages this morning.

    I still have some question marks for the second part of my trip but I’ve got plenty of flexible options and I’m not feeling quite so stressed out about it now…

    • wscholermann@aussie.zone
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      1 month ago

      I’m curious as to whether the favourable exchange rate actually makes a material difference. I’m also wondering why it took you so long to get to Japan.

      • just_kitten@aussie.zone
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        1 month ago

        Seagoon had it. Got to MEL early, flight delayed, transited through HKG, second flights was delayed, then some snafus at immigration for one of my friends, then a 1.5 hr domestic flight + 50 min bus to tonight’s destination. Could’ve gotten here faster with a direct flight to Fukuoka or something but we had a really cheap deal earlier in the year with Cathay.

        And the exchange rate certainly helps. Feels like I’m living it up compared to spending the same amount on holiday in Australia.

    • Seagoon_@aussie.zoneOP
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      1 month ago

      My dad changed his name and this was in the 1950s. At home he still kept his name.

      And I’ve moved continents twice, each time locals adapted my name into something more familiar to them. It upset me at first but then I understood it was about acceptance into society and I felt that’s a good thing.

  • Gibsonisafluffybutt@aussie.zone
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    1 month ago

    Alrighty. One referneces down. One to go!

    Still not getting my hopes up because of the police check but who knows, they might be understanding.

    Hopefully.

    • Thornburywitch@aussie.zone
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      1 month ago

      If you’ve been clean for 7 years (I think) you can have your police record zeroed, wiped clean. Might be worth it for just such situations.

        • Catfish@aussie.zone
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          1 month ago

          It’ll still highlight the name discrepancy, but worth doing. Hope your check doesn’t drag for weeks!

          • Gibsonisafluffybutt@aussie.zone
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            1 month ago

            I think it might. Last time it did which really sucked unfortunately. I’m just going to tell them upfront and see what they say.

            Better to rip the band-aid off in one go.

            • Catfish@aussie.zone
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              1 month ago

              Boyo had three valid police checks current at one point. Every employer wanted to use their own check company and not accept the others. Add in a very common name, plus a birth certificate discrepancy, the same questions again, and again… Head desk!

  • TinyBreak@aussie.zone
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    1 month ago

    Shout out to PTV for using a replacement bus driver who doesn’t even know where he is fucking going. Cheers to the passenger who helped him out with google maps. If I didn’t have to fix something in the office I’d have already turned around and gone home.

    • Baku@aussie.zone
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      1 month ago

      So far that’s never happened to me, but it’s always fun when I’m stuck standing and the bus driver thinks he’s in the NASCAR… You haven’t lived until a bloke who thinks he’s Michael Schumacher takes a roundabout at 60 while you’re clinging onto a rubber handle that’s older than your grandmother and disintegrating in your hands for dear life

      • Catfish@aussie.zone
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        1 month ago

        I’m always thankful when my bus turns out to be one of the electric ones because the driver can’t kangaroo it no matter how otherwise shit they are.

    • MeanElevator@aussie.zone
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      1 month ago

      Yikes. PTV ticked the box of having a ‘qualified’ driver, just not a knowledgeable one.

      Still though, as a bus operator, surely you’d be familiar with a map app/software.

  • CEOofmyhouse56@aussie.zone
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    1 month ago

    I’m about to try dragon fruit for the first time. Brb.

    Update: interesting. Not bad. Not flavourable. A bit like kiwi fruit’s mute brother.

  • Catfish@aussie.zone
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    1 month ago

    I have apparently passed the vetting (haha) process to do dodgy art for Pets of the Homeless in a few weeks. If you wish to charitably donate and have your fur/feather/scaled friends artistically demolished There is an FB event thing on the 14th of next. [not linking because FB]

  • wscholermann@aussie.zone
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    1 month ago

    So a work colleague of mine (about 30 years old) said today he didn’t know who Pol Pot was.

    Honestly the general knowledge of the public is abysmal. And by no means do I consider myself a genius either.

    • Nath@aussie.zone
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      1 month ago

      Eh. I had a room full of people all in their 20’s and none of them knew who John Lennon was. They did at least know of the Beatles.

      On the other hand, I had no clue who almost any of the Hottest 100 artists were this year.

    • SituationCake@aussie.zone
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      1 month ago

      History fades fast. But also I wonder what is being taught in school history. I know the world’s a big place and they can’t teach everything, but… not joking someone mid-30s recently asked me which countries were fighting in the Middle East. They meant the Gaza conflict. I explained it’s technically the same country, and that coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians has never really been settled since Israel was founded. She said something like ‘so forever then’, and I had to explain Israel had only existed since world war 2.

      • wscholermann@aussie.zone
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        1 month ago

        And also the news is saturated 24/7 with Israel/Palestine conflict and yet this individual didn’t think to Google at all to answer her burning questions? Sweet, Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Muhammad and Abraham.

      • wscholermann@aussie.zone
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        1 month ago

        In the case of Pol Pot I wasn’t taught that in school. But somewhere along the lines through simply paying attention I still know who is he in very broad terms.

        I really do think some people just live in their own tiny little bubble.

  • imoldgreeeg@aussie.zone
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    1 month ago

    I am full of pasta and regret (that I didn’t eat enough for lunch and then stuffed myself with pasta). Was yum though…

    • SituationCake@aussie.zone
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      1 month ago

      And in breaking news, family in crisis after finding one shred of purple cabbage in their white cabbage coleslaw mix from Colesworth. The traumatised mum said one of her toddlers almost ate it but luckily she noticed in time. ‘This will haunt me for years, how is it not even safe to buy coleslaw in 2024.’

        • SituationCake@aussie.zone
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          1 month ago

          If you or anyone you know has been affected by this story, please contact SaladLine. We now cross live to the truck driver who describes his shock that he may have unknowingly delivered the noncompliant coleslaw the day before. Warning, some viewers may find this footage distressing.

  • CEOofmyhouse56@aussie.zone
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    1 month ago

    I’m thinking of making sweet and sour pork using a jar of Kan Tong. Once upon a time I tried chicken tonight (some sort of “creamy” concoction) and that put me off jar sauces for life but I’m willing to give Kan Tong a go.

    Mama’s making Kan Tong, doesn’t take long for the word to spread around…

      • CEOofmyhouse56@aussie.zone
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        1 month ago

        That’s a really good idea. I’ve got a really good Asian shop nearby but it smells like piss because I think they mop their floors with ammonia and it hurts my nostrils.

    • Eagle@aussie.zone
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      1 month ago

      I used to make pork meatballs with Kan Tong sweet and sour sauce. They weren’t bad from memory.

    • imoldgreeeg@aussie.zone
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      1 month ago

      Wow I just had a old taste memory of sweet and sour fish made with battered flake from the shop + kan tong sweet and sour sauce. An old party staple at my family home growing up. I used to love it!