1st tooth

We noticed Alex's first tooth, a lower incisor, on Sunday. No associated drama, despite all the stories. It's very cute!

The Burning Gates

At Derweze (Darvaza), in Turkmenistan, there is a 60m in diameter crater filled with the flames of burning gas since a Soviet drilling rig collapsed into it in the 1950's.

There are some awesome photographs and videos of this doorway to Hell.

Baby swims

Took Alex for his first swimming "lesson" in the local pool on Saturday. It's not really swimming, just familiarising the children with water, playing games and singing nursery rhymes. Alex took to it like a fish to water, kicking his legs as he has done since before he was born. Exhausted him though, and the poor kid had to meet the cousins for a Malaysian lunch at Abang Sam in Kensington.

He's so much fun. I dread returning to work on Monday as it means being away from the family. Weekends are wonderful for the time spent together.

On my plone

A third acid attack on Hong Kong shoppers, a 48 hour strike on the London tube, windy weather. What's the connection and why do I care?

Today I fly out for London via Singapore and back via Hong Kong. This isn't some long planned trip, but a sudden opportunity to attend a Plone workshop in the British capital.

I'm approaching this trip with very mixed feelings. On the one hand there is the excitement of travel and my first opportunity to fly on Qantas' Airbus A380. There is the eagerness to learn more about what has proven to be a complex system. But there is also the heartache of leaving my wonderful wife and baby for a week. I treasure every moment with them and I know that the time apart is going to hurt.

Part of the preparations for this trip have involved setting up internet video and voice and text communications. It's really the first time I have cared about communicating with home using anything other than email. I recorded a video of me reading a story to baby Alex and he seemed to respond to it.

So, what will I do other than attend the three day workshop somewhere in the centre of London?

The trip is scheduled entirely on Qantas. Friday evening sees me fly out on their new Airbus A380, every other flight should be a 747. It's the wrong way around really, as I would rather have the superior entertainment system (and hopefully greater comfort) on the overnight flights.

I land in Singapore late tonight and have booked to stay in a hotel away from the main tourist centres, but hopefully convenient for food. Eating is my main objective for Singapore, but I will probably look for some cheap computer parts as well. Maybe even cruise around on the MRT rail system if I have the time.

Flying out the next evening I will cross the dreaded turbulence of the Bay of Bengal. I remember an awful flight with British Airways on this route in 2005. Arriving early in the morning I will probably be extremely tired, but I hope to visit some of the free museums and galleries of London.

Another day to sightsee, then the workshop begins. Hopefully the days finish with enough time to catch some more of the late opening sights.

The flight to Hong Kong leaves in the middle of Friday, so there won't be any tourist time after the end of the workshop. An overnight flight to Hong Kong, then a full day there before another night flight back to Sydney. It will be a punishing day in Honkers as I rarely sleep on flights and B has an extensive shopping list for me. The transit rest options are quite expensive too and unlike everyone else (or so it seems) I don't have airline club membership.

As the hour of my departure approaches so too is my sadness at leaving my family behind. Every moment with them is precious. Last night I was forced to stay late at work and I was brought to tears by the thought that Alex may fall asleep before I returned. I would miss out on feeding him dinner, bathing him one last time before I go.

Fortunately, I made it back in time. And now it is time to leave again.

If you fall out of an aircraft

Imagine being blown out of an airfraft high above the land. What would you do?

• How to survive a long fall (Wikihow)
• The more humorous how to survive falling out of a plane (h2g2)
  

Half a year old

It's difficult to believe just how quickly the last six months have passed. We were looking through some old photos of Alex a couple of nights ago and it's incredible to compare his size at birth with his long frame now. He has also lost hair and does a pretty good Dr Evil (or is that Mini-Me?) impression.

Just as incredible is how many adventures he has already had over the last six months. Viewing world-class art exhibitions, two weeks zipping around Japan on high speed trains, carried to the top of a castle, around a ferris wheel, and watched monkeys play in the wild. He's gone on long drives south to Canberra and further a few times now and even attended a Star Wars exhibition.

Last Sunday he squealed with delight as we wandered around Ikea when, for the first time, he was faced forward in the Baby Bjorn.

I don't know what he thought of all of those adventures, but I do know that music brings him a lot of pleasure. If Alex hears John Williams' themes to Star Wars, Superman or Indiana Jones he listens intently. He's started to "sing" along when listening to music or bashing away at the electronic keyboard, he sings to his mobiles above his cot.

We read him books, but one of his favourites we cannot read (yet). A book about the Ampanman train in Shikoku might be written in Japanese, but it has a series of buttons that play various sounds related to the train. Symbols on the page give you sequences of buttons to press and he seems to be able to relate the two.

But what seems to bring him the most pleasure of all is being around his parents. Last night, after returning home from work, I opened the door to see Alex in B's arms. Alex saw me and began smiling and laughing away whenever we looked at each other. Naturally I was laughing just as hard back at him. It is the most wonderful feeling to give love and be loved in return.

Bio war

The Sunshine Project is an interesting website about biological weapons. For all my love of Japan, citizens of that country have committed some terrible atrocities, such as biological warfare and experiments on live prisoners of war.