AFL for Dummies

Australian Football League (AFL) is a pretty much big deal here in Melbourne. Even Mr. C's workplace has a pool of bets whereby each week, if I am not wrong, there are 7 to 8 matches. One chooses the team one thinks will win and write them down, the following week, for every team win predicted, you get points for each winning. And at the end of the whole season, the person with the most points WIN! Winning prize is approximatly AUD1,000. Pretty cool right?

He has had colleagues fight over him to choose each of the own teams they support - Collingwood Magpies vs Essendon Bombers!

And due to all the buzz, I have been wondering what is all the hype about AFL though I never bothered to really find out more on it. Yesterday at the library, I saw the above book and decided I should borrow it to gain some knowledge of this sport that has garnered such fierce loyalties and support from most Melbourners!

Who would have thought that today, Mr. C would called me to say that we're going to out FIRST AFL match tonight, courtesy of his company! How awesome is that?!

Honestly, I am not sure if I am going to enjoy watching the match BUT I am determined to add this to my experiences-to-have-in-Melbourne! AND it's FOC! Who in their right mind would complain about freebies?! Even if it turns out to be a boring match, at least, I'll be able to say that I've been to an AFL match and determine for myself if I like AFL.

Basically, the below picture is some basics about the game...

And this is how much points you get if you score a goal IN BETWEEN the goal posts (the taller poll) and subsequently and a point each for scoring at the outer posts on the left or at the right.

You can pass the 'ball' up an down the field by...

I'll blog more on this match in another post. For now, if you are interested for more info, here's the BEGINNER'S GUIDE.

Toodles... Mr. C just called and said that they're (they being him and his colleagues) on their way back to fetch me. Gotta run!!

Daylight Saving Time

Just early Sunday morning, we had to change our clocks back by an hour. Before that, we were three hours ahead of Malaysia and now, we're two hours ahead. That means, we had an extra hour of sleep before church on Sunday!

But that also meant Mr. C goes to work one hour later starting from yesterday and will come home an hour later, leaving just a mere hour or so before the sun sets! Bummer!

Yesterday as we watched 'The Gala', a line up of stand up comedians on tivo, both our eyes were drooping by 10.30pm. It felt like 11pm ish and yet the clock only showed 10.30pm!

This made me decide to google up on daylight saving time since I've heard SO much about it but no one can really explain what it's about. According to the Australian Government site, Australia is the world's 6th largest country and has three separate time zones.

(The below is extracted from the Australian Government site)

#1 Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST)

Covers the eastern states of Queensland, New South Wales (with the exception of the town of Broken Hill), Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory.

AEST is equal to Coordinated Universal Time plus 10 hours (UTC +10).

#2 Australian Central Standard Time (ACST)

Covers the state of South Australia, the town of Broken Hill in western New South Wales and the Northern Territory.

ACST is equal to Coordinated Universal Time plus 9 ½ hours (UTC +9 ½).

#3 Australian Western Standard Time (AWST)

Covers Western Australia.

AWST is equal to Coordinated Universal Time plus 8 hours (UTC +8).

So what is Daylight Savings all about?

Apparently, it seems to be the practice of changing one's clock an hour forward during the warmer months of the year and is observed only in some states in Australia- New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and the Australian Capital Territory.

This means that Daylight Saving Time begins at 2am (AEST) on the first Sunday in October and ends at 2am (AEST) (which is 3am Australian Eastern Daylight Time) on the first Sunday in April.

So that means come October, I'll have to switch my clock one hour back, thereby losing an hour! Bummer yet again!