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There were all together 22 fishes in W’s aquarium - 6 zebra danios, 6 neon tetras and 10 platies. Actually a few too many. We used to only need to change the water once every 2 weeks.

I fed the fishes today, as I normally do everyday. However, something different happened. On first sight, I thought I saw a piece of fish waste sank and slipped underneath the fake mountain. Although I was sure it didn’t really look like fish waste, I didn’t pay further attention, as I couldn’t see what slipped into that opening, and I was busy observing the playful danios searching for any left over fish flakes on top of the gravel.

If it wasn’t the marmite jar, I suppose I wouldn’t have the headache I’m having now. It all started a month ago when my colleague’s 2-year-old son decided to be on a mission to "free" the fishes and hurled a marmite jar at his aquarium. It broke a big hole at the lower corner of the aquarium and  all the fishes were flushed down onto the carpet, except one algae eater fish, which thought it was a good plan to stay stick-on to the glass.

Two days later on a Monday morning, my colleague offered me the fishes, around 7 apparently still healthy platies according him, or else these tropical fishes won’t survive in the bowl in his home for too long. Seeing that these poor fishes would most likely not survive if they were not put in a proper aquarium, I took the challenge to rescue them. Actually 11 of them, which I found out only when my colleague arrived at my doorstep, to my horror.

As if the aquarium is not crowded enough, now the platies are getting comfortable and start giving birth to baby platies! Yes, that wasn’t a piece of fish waste. Like D, my colleague’s son, who blamed the marmite jar for breaking his aquarium and putting his lounge in a mess, W, I am going to start blaming the evil marmite jar as well.

Art was never a subject I enjoy. I’m not a patient man, really, though I may appear to be one. Maybe not all the time, oh well. I can still remember my calligraphy homework, awful, absolutely awful. Drawings, oh, you must be having a laugh. School time was really memorable. My this friend submitted an art homework on any subject, a very simple  drawing, in fact too simple. In it was an open book, with a shiny yellow colour house standing out of the book. I would say only two colours were used in total. But the idea was so obvious that even with such poor execution, nobody could really miss it, unless one didn’t know this famous chinese phrase in the first place. It was good laugh, even the teacher couldn’t help it.

W and I went to Musee D’Orsay last Christmas. It wasn’t my idea, as I didn’t even know it exists. Somehow it was top of W’s list of places to visit in Paris. Don’t think I have paid too much attention to impressionism art before until W asked me to get her a replica modern art painting from Kandisky, and some books on impressionist art. Though I have read bits and pieces about impressionism art then, think I only remember a few names, particularly Manet, as it’s also the name of a working group, Mobile Ad Hoc Networks, that I have interest in. According to my french colleague some americans try to pronounce the  working group like the french artist’s name, which he thinks is wrong. I can understand why.

In a museum, usually I will just stroll around, "try" to appreciate the famous few by paying them a visit and then leave. I don’t like renting audio guide, as it tells me very little things meaningful to me about paintings. So I might as well not pretend. I, however, know that I enjoy listening to museum tour guide, as I have overheard tour guides explaining about paintings before in other museums. The theme of the tour for that month was about impressionism. After weighing up the "options", it was a no-brainer really, as W likes impressionism art and I was also curious to understand more. It was money well spent, as it proved. I wonder if it was because I had low expectation. But it certainly was my best experience in a museum.