Not surprisingly Hannah was freaked out by Santa, but we managed to get a good shot by all of us crowding in for a family shot.

It’s official – Santa prefers Coca Cola over Pepsi, as evidenced by the above photo.

While at the Circuito Magico de Agua, we came across a magical area where you could see where Santa makes his toys, as well as visit his house, and even get your photo taken with him.

Sponsored by Coca Cola, the El Pueblo de Papa Noel (The Town of Santa Claus) attracted hundreds of parents and children the night we were there. We were in the queue for an hour waiting to get in.

Because of the huge number of people, the Coca Cola elves were very keen for everyone to get through as quickly as possible. “Rapido, rapido Senjor” they urged as I ambled past the entrance gate.

As we’ve all heard, Santa Claus was used in advertising by Coca Cola in 1930s, but it’s interesting that in some countries, Coca Cola still uses him in their marketing efforts.

Oh, and if you have any doubts about whether Santa prefers Coca Cola, here’s a close up of the drink in Santa’s hand.

Now, only one question remains, where did they find THAT gringo?

We were a hesitant, since we wondered how exciting can some fountains with lighting really be?

Boy, are we glad we went – the Circuito Magico de Agua (magic circuit of water) at Parque de la Reserva was simply amazing. It was something I would never expect to see in Lima.

Opened about 18 months, the Circuito Magico de Agua consists of 12 spectacular water fountains with amazing lighting in a park close to Old Lima. Some of the fountains are set to music.

As corny as this might all sound, it’s really impressive. According to my father in law, it cost $8 million to build, and I’d believe it.

Funnily, we almost went home after seeing only four fountains, thinking that we’d seen the whole park. Luckily a park attendant pointed out that there was a tunnel that led to the second half of the park.

This park would be impressive if it was in London, Paris, New York, or Sydney – to find it in Lima is astounding. Apparently, the mayor of Old Lima has a program of creating and repairing public spaces, and if this park is anything to go by, he’s certainly having some success.

The park was full of locals, and the odd tourist. A very nice evening out if you ever happen to be in Lima.

Admission is four solace per adult ($AUS2) and children are free.

While in Lima, we thought it might be nice to get a family portrait taken. From left to right, my beautiful wife Rocio, my one-year-old daughter Hannah, my three-year-old daughter Grace, and of course, me (that balding, but still very youthful looking guy on the right).

We had the photographs taken at a small studio in San Isidro, and were surprised at the studio’s brisk business- they were booked solid.

A set of six photos (and one bonus duplicate) cost us $US100, which is expensive for a typical Peruvian, but cheap by Australian standards (Pixie Photo will charge you AUS$200 for a single photo, if you don’t go with the AUS$400 package).

Many people think the kids’ music show Hi-5 is an Australian invention. But as Rocio, Grace and I recently found out, the real Hi-5 is actually located in Lima, Peru.

Today the three of us (Hannah stayed at home with grandma and grandpa) went to Mila Florence to see a Hi-5 show, where local Peruvian actors played the actors from the US version of Hi-5.

Of course, in true Peruvian fashion, the actors turned up late, so the show didn’t start until half an hour after its advertised time.

But then again, the tickets for the show cost 15 soles each (about AUS$7.50) , and the popcorn was 1 sole (about AUS 50 cents), so we were pretty relaxed about the whole thing (you learn to be relaxed in Peru or you go mad).

We sat in the first couple of rows from the front, and there were only a hand full of people in the theatre.

The show itself was really good. The young actors playing the Hi-5 actors put on a really good show – actually sang some songs, and really got into their parts. The light show was also very good.

At various stages the actors came down and asked the kids questions, and there was a good level of interaction.

When the show first started Grace didn’t know what was going on, and seemed quite stunned. But as the it progressed, she started singing and clapping, and really enjoyed it. And at one stage, even though she was desperate to go to the toilet, she hung on so that she wouldn’t miss out on anything.

On the way to the taxi (when we happened to bump into George W Bush) she kept on begging us to go back to see Hi-5. We had to explain that the Hi-5 singers were all already asleep.

PS We found that there’s another Hi-5 show with different actors playing at different theatre – not sure how that works exactly.

Rocio, Grace and I were strolling down a street Mila Florence (Lima, Peru) on our way home to Rocio’s parents’ place after a Hi-5 show, when we noticed a particularly flustered policeman screaming and waving at traffic at an intersection urging it to “avanza”.

We knew something was amiss so we stopped and didn’t cross the road. As the policeman got the last of the traffic through the intersection, we saw that a motorcade was coming through.

With APEC in town, the city is full of presidents, prime ministers (hi Kevin) and diplomats.

When we saw the two motorcycles sporting US flags we knew it was likely that it was President George W Bush.

As his black limousine passed by, President Bush waved by at the people who had stopped to watch the motorcade.

While I’m not particularly a fan of George W, it is quite exciting to randomly bump into the President of the USA when you’re not expecting it.

Oh, and this is not the first time that the Pospisils have crossed paths with a world lead. Back in Sydney, we live in the same suburb as Australia’s former prime minister, John Howard*, who George Bush once described as “bald, ugly, one hell of a guy”.

John Howard often does an early morning walk down the street we live in, so it’s not uncommon for us to see him from our balcony, or to cross paths with him on the street.

It’s well and good bumping into these old have-been conservatives, but I think it’s time for the Pospisil’s to start bumping into the new breed of much cooler world leaders!

*Random coincidence – I take my car to get serviced at the service station in Dulwich Hill that was once owned by John Howard’s father (obviously that is not the reason why I take my care there!)

One of the things I like about living close to the city is that there’s always something on to amuse the kids, and often within walking distance, or at worst, within reach by public transport.

Last weekend North Sydney Council held a Children’s Festival at Civic Park. This involved bands, performances by local groups, arts and crafts, baby farm animals, and snakes!

My oldest daughter Grace, who’s three, doesn’t usually like animals, but she was more curious than concerned by this encounter with a snake, as you can see in the picture above.

Late one night about four years ago, while searching online for information about the old White Bay Power Station at Balmain, I chanced across a piece of creative writing by a man in his early 30s. It described how he and a girlfriend broke into the abandoned power station, explored its bowels, and were almost caught by security guards.

It was quite well written, and provided an insight in this young man’s life; he was obviously a carefree spirit, who lived on the edge of society, rather than within it.

I can’t remember how I found out, whether through another Google search or by clicking a link, but I discovered that the man who had written the story had died from cancer a few months earlier.

He’d been part of a anarchist computer group that he’d set up to provide computer gear to special-issue groups. He was known for his ability to get old computer gear to work, and from what I could gather from comments left on a web page set up as a tribute to him, he was well liked and respected in his circle of friends.

Online, I also found a copy of the diary he kept in the lead up to his death.

I can’t recall many other details from that late night web surfing session; I can’t even recall his name, which is why when I think of him, I call him Cyber Guy.

One other thing I do remember about Cyber Guy was that he was exactly the same age as me.

I still remember the feeling of sadness I felt that night for Cyber Guy, someone I never knew, but who was clearly exuberant, intelligent, thoughtful, and full of unfulfilled hopes and dreams.

Recently I was reminded of Cyber Guy.

A friend who’s a little younger than me revealed he had pancreatic cancer a few years back. By chance on the same day, I also happened to read a story in the paper about a young woman, an aspiring writer, who died at age 31.

While I’m not sure what exactly sparked the memory of that late night surfing session four years ago, I decided to try to find the power station story on the Internet, to see how accurately I remembered it.

It turned out to be a hopeless pursuit. Whatever search term I used, I always seemed to come back to the same Balmain video shop (bloody search engine optimisation!).

With the passage of time, the web page had been deleted, or perhaps its ranking on Google had slipped. Whatever the reason, the Internet tide had come in and washed away the man’s final earthly expression.

So why do still even remember Cyber Guy’s story when I’ve forgotten thousands of other web pages I’ve seen during the course of my life? I guess it’s because it reminds me that time is precious, and Death does not play favourites. We must all make every moment count, every last precious moment.

Goodbye Cyber Guy.

And thank you.

There have been a number of books that have resonated with me years after I have read them. Ernest Hemingway’s The old man and the sea is one of those books.

There’s a passage that always comes back to me when I’ve found myself facing a tough or difficult situation; it comes at a time in the book when Santiago, an aging Cuban fisherman, is trying to bring his catch, a giant marlin, back to the shore, but the big fish is being mauled by sharks.

‘But man is not made for defeat,’ he said. ‘A man can be destroyed but not defeated.’

…

‘Don’t think, old man,’ he said aloud. ‘Sail on this course and take it when it comes.’

…

It is silly not to hope, he thought. Besides I believe it is a sin.

By the way, the image used to illustrate this post is from a painting by John McGlynn, a talented UK artist.

My daughters, Hannah (6 months) and Grace (2 and a half years). That is all.