I'll pass banana for now...

Australia is one of the countries whose currency is in dollars. The value, however, fluctuates a few cents. With this in mind I thought that the prices of some of the commodities Down Under would be a little bit more or less than what we have up in North America. I had a big surprise though when I stepped in a grocery store. Their prices were unbelievable. They are more than double as that of ours back home. Here below are a sampling of what they have.

Click image to enlarge.

Chicken at $5.79 a kilogram (1 kilogram = 2.204 pounds). That makes a pound of chicken at $2.63. I can't complain about our $0.99/lb.

Barbequed chicken at $10.90. I can't tell how many kilograms it is, but, by the looks of it, it's about 1 1/2 kilograms.

A bunch of spinach at $2.50. Bananas at $11.99 a kilogram. Cosmetics are also sky-high in prices.

However, kitchen appliances, electrical gadgets, household appliance are basically the same in prices as what we have. That also include electronics such as flat screen TVs, laptop computers, memory sticks and etc.

Clothings are the same in prices, some are made from other countries. I purchased a couple of blouses and a sweatshirt. Some are on sale as they are making room for winter clothes. It is now their autumn here and soon winter will be upon them. Our summer back in the U.S. is their winter here.

Grilled kangaroo anyone?

Kangaroos abound here Down Under, but I have not seen one strutting before my eyes. I have seen a lot of them on TV though. This is one native animal I would like to see in person alive. But that will be a few days from now as my husband and I were promised by my sister-in-law's friend that she'll take us in the countryside and there'll be some there prancing before us.

In the meantime, my husband being an adventurous one when it comes to cuisine would like to try kangaroo meat. With the help of my husband's niece we found this exotic meat at the Queen Victoria Market in downtown Melbourne.

Kangaroo meat in marinade.

Gil, my husband's nephew, marinated the meat in bolgogi sauce, chopped onion, and crushed pepper corns.

On the grill.

And done, ready to eat.


My plate.

I thought I was not going to eat it, but it looked so good; tasted good I ate a lot. It was...yummy...yummy.

Across the oceans.

Your voice crossed the Pacific,

So overjoyed to hear.

Glad to know you care;

And still remember

Your online buddy

Among so many.

Winter Wonderland

Rarely do we get snow in our part of Southern California. Most of the time they are found in higher places, like Mount Baldy, or Big Bear. The last time we had snow was some 20 years ago.

In any event, snow started falling here on Jan. 2nd, in the early afternoon. It continued on until night time. After midnight the snow on the pavements melted and by morning we had a few scattered around on unpaved ground; and on plants, bushes and grass.

View of the front yard.

The houses across my street covered with snow.

In the front by the driveway.

In the back yard.