Somehow I’ve found myself getting into another relatively expensive hobby. This time I have Arj to thank for it. Thanks Arj…

My brother kept fish when he lived back at mum and dad’s. He had two huge tanks in his room. I on the other hand only had a small one which was primarily a breeding tank for guppies. Now that I’ve got my own place I decided to set up a much larger aquarium as a centrepiece for the living room.

My mate Arj is a complete fish nut. He’s even got his own website/business which you can visit at www.addicted2fish.com. He’s been an infinitely huge help in getting everything together. He even convinced me to try my hand at a planted tank, which means not only having to look after fish, but also live plants.

Elaine’s school friend Catherine also helped out with some fish. Thanks Cat!

(6x) Neon Tetras

(5x) Congo Tetras

(1x) Swordtail

(3x) Siamese Algae Eaters

In terms of plants the tank contains primarily Amazon Sword, Anubias and Cabombas.

To keep the plants alive the tank is lit by a metal halide lamp on a timer and it’s plumbed to a CO2 tank. The tank itself is 4″x2″x2″, which means it contains almost 400kg of water. Including the weight of the glass and the stand it’s well over half a tonne.

Hope the floor is sturdy.

On Saturday we found a great restaurant called Red Spice Road. It’s just off Bourke Street in the CBD. The restaurant serves up modern Chinese food in a pretty damn stylish environment. The main dining room is dominated by two crescent shaped tables that probably seat about 30 people each, and a huge lantern about 5 metres across hanging from the roof.

The “dinner tasting menu” is by far the best value for money I’ve seen at this class of restaurant. We got three entrees and no less than four full size mains… and a dessert. Crazy quality food and crazy sized servings.

Betel leaf with smoked chicken, chilli & lemongrass
Oyster steamed with ginger, green onion, soy & rice wine
Crispy five spice quail

Beef, mushroom, glass noodle and fresh herb salad
Crispy pork belly with chilli caramel, apple slaw and black vinegar

Prawns with tomato, chilli, black pepper and coriander
Lamb peanut curry with lychee and eggplant

Passionfruit brulee with coconut sorbet

Elaine and I have taken to walking in the evenings, either before or after dinner. In fact we’re walking as I’m writing this. We’re averaging 5.7km/h. Here’s a photo of tonight’s sunset.

My good mate Dave makes use of his after-work time better than anyone I know. A few weeks ago he was in a play at the La Mama Theatre, and on just this Friday he performed in Flare Dance Company’s production of Metamorphosis. It was a year in the making, and the best bit was that the proceeds went to Autism Victoria.

A bunch of us headed down on Friday to support him and were treated a two-hour dance extravaganza.

I love that word… extravaganza….