i know it’s weird for me to suddenly go spiritual over a lot of things that’s been happening in my life lately but i will say this: angels do walk among us. like that filipino family who sort of adopted me at changi airport, insisting on giving me singaporean money to buy dinner while waiting for our flight to melbourne. my aunt who flew down here from sydney to orientate me with stuff from train rides to tram rides to a whole lot of major walking.

and then there’s jeff. and i am suddenly at a loss for words because… well, what can i say? he has more than adopted me over here. he totally embraced me into the australian way of life. like when i complained about doing my laundry or ironing my clothes and cooking microwaveable dinners, he was always there to cheer me up and say, “welcome to australia!”

such a sweet guy.

i remember on the night when i first met him, he almost got me killed. jaywalking. (don’t ask.) but he has A LOT of redeeming qualities that could melt any ex-convict’s or would-be convict’s heart. when he knew i was a huge fan of penguins, he took me to st. kilda breakwater at midnight.

needless to say, that was my first experience at trespassing. ever.

when my younger sister found out the next day after i posted self-incriminating photos of myself breaking the law on instagram, she was like, “don’t do anything stupid over there! who’s gonna bail you out?”

she’s right. i never really thought about bond money til she mentioned it. but then again, aren’t these penguins adorable?!

those are jeff’s photos, by the way. i have to give him credit just as i have to give myself credit for holding that heavy torch over those babies while he took photos.

geek alert. here’s an interesting trivia i found at this website:

The largest and the most beautiful of all penguin species, the Emperor Penguin is known for it’s remarkable loyalty to it’s mate. These penguins can migrate over 70 miles to reach breeding ground in peak winter season. The Emperor Penguin will travel miles in search of it’s mate and then remain faithful to it for life. Even in the largest of their colonies, these penguins will call out to their partner until they find it. (Hence the quote ‘Penguin Love’)

The male and females share duties in order to take care of their offspring. Generally after laying the egg the females go looking for food while the males are left to care for it. Sometimes the females can be gone for two full months while the males make sure that the egg stays warm. While waiting for their partner to return, the male penguins won’t eat at all. Females usually return once the egg is hatched and resume their caretaker duties.

Since the Emperor penguin lives in large groups, sometimes it becomes hard for the mates to keep track of each other. However, nature has bestowed them with a unique ability to communicate with a variety of vocal sounds and at various frequencies which allows them to hear each other.

mushy, i know. but can you blame them?