A chronograph for turning 50

tl;dr After a great deal of research, for my 50th birthday I asked for and received a Sinn 903 St II wristwatch. This mechanical chronograph is a modern evolution of a 1970s-model Breitling Navitimer, but one that was developed and manufactured by the German watchmaker Sinn.

Birthdays, particularly notable birthdays, are a good time to ask for (or buy for yourself) something special that you want but don’t need. For me that special thing is wristwatches and, happily, I’ve asked for and received several over the years.

(My family and friends are awesome.)

A special watch every five years

When I turned 40 in 2016, Nadia and my friends got together and bought me a Seagull 1963 Airforce. This is a dress watch (at least by current standards) with a basic mechanical chronograph complication that was built for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force in 1963.

Close-up photo of a man wearing a relatively small, stainless steel mechanical watch on his wrist on a brown leather strap. The watch has a cream coloured dial, gold coloured applied numerals, blue-coloured hours/minutes hands, and a red-coloured chronograph seconds-hand.

To celebrate turning 45 in 2021, I wanted to get a nice dive watch that could also be a GADA watch (GADA = Go Anywhere, Do Anything). The watch I went with was the 60th Anniversary Oris Divers 65 with a black-and-blue dial. I love this watch and have worn it more than any other watch in the last five years.

Close-up photo of a man wearing a stainless steel mechanical watch on his wrist on a blue-and-black woven cloth strap. The watch has black and deep-blue coloured dial, cream coloured numerals in a retro 1960s typeface, and silver coloured hands.

Now it’s 2026 and I’m turning 50, and this year I wanted to get a nicer mechanical chronograph. This didn’t have to be a GADA watch, but I did want it to be a genuine tool watch and perhaps even a flex watch.

Deciding which chronograph to get

The only mechanical chronograph I own – the Seagull 1963 Airforce that I got for my fortieth – is one I don’t wear much these days because it’s a light-coloured dress watch and I’m usually in dark-coloured casual clothes. [1]

Also, the watch itself is quite basic. It may be shiny and pretty, but:

  • its styling isn’t particularly sophisticated;

  • its production is mass-market;

  • it’s powered by the the Chinese-made ST1901 movement, the cheapest mechanical chronograph movement available; and

  • it’s not even a particularly useful chronograph because, as a dress watch, its legibility-at-a-glance is severely limited.

What I was after now was a mechanical chronograph with:

  • a nicer, more functional, more tool-watch-ey design;

  • much nicer styling, manufacture, and finishing; and

  • a better chronograph movement, like the Japanese-made Seiko 8R48 or the Swiss-made ETA/Valjoux 7753.

So that’s what I went looking for.

Screenshot from the Time & Tide web store showing a grid of chronograph wristwatches that are available.

Creating a longlist

I started my research broadly, by looking at all the chronographs that are out there [2]. I didn’t focus on price, though I did stop looking at anything that cost more than $15k. Watches that cost more than $15k when new weren’t going to be affordable to me even on the secondary market.

All prices mentioned here are in Australian dollars, by the way.

Looking without shortlisting let me figure out what I liked, what I didn’t like, and what I’d have to settle for in a chronograph – like watches that are 14mm thick (or more) where I normally wear watches in the 10-12mm thickness range.

Through this browsing I was able to set a minimum price above which the design and functionality I wanted became readily available. This came to roughly $3k.

Next I created approximate price bands based on functionality, design, aesthetics, and brand premium:

  • Basic chronographs, $3-4k: Basic mechanical chronograph functionality; wide range of design aesthetics; relatively low water resistance (only 30-50m in many cases). Brands like Hamilton, Baltic, Tissot, and Junghans are represented here.

  • Enthusiast/tool-watch chronographs, $4-5k: Better movements (eg column-wheel chronographs, longer power reserves); higher grade construction (eg 100m water resistance); higher brand premiums; and better finishing. Here you’ll start to see brands like Sinn, Seiko, and Hanhart; as well as some Longines models on the secondary market.

  • Quasi-luxury chronographs, $5-6k: Higher grade construction (eg 200m water resistance, open case back); better finishing; and even higher brand premiums. This is where we get into Longines and where we also find some higher-tier Sinn models and some Oris models that are on sale.

  • Higher tier quasi-luxury chronographs, $6-10k: Better movements (eg even longer power reserves); less bulky (eg smaller diameter, thinner); better finishing; and still higher brand premiums. This is where you’ll find higher-tier Longines models and where brands like Oris, Frederique Constant, and Baume & Mercier come into the picture.

  • Entry-level luxury chronographs, $10k-15k: Even better finishing; even higher brand premiums; additional chronograph functionality (eg fly-back chronograph movements). This is when you get to proper “luxury” brands like Omega, Breitling, Zenith, Tudor, and Tag Heuer.

Finally, based on these price bands and my budget, I set my maximum price for a new or pre-owned watch. This came to roughly $6k, with a little wiggle room if needed.

Shortlisting criteria

Based on my preferences and what I learned from my initial research, I came up with a list of requirements that I could use to create my shortlist:

Movement type: Mechanical chronograph of any construction (ie column or cam wheel; vertical or horizontal clutch).

Size: 38–42mm in diameter; as thin as possible.

Price range: AU $3,000 to $6,000.

Sub-dial configuration: Bicompax or tricompax – I think bicompax sub-dials look cooler but the tricompax configuration is more functional.

Graphic showing promotional photos of two black-dial, stainless steel wristwatches side by side. Text next to the first watch reads, “Bicompax sub-dial configuration” and “Omega Speedmaster ‘57”. This watch has two sub-dials. Text next to the second watch reads, “Tricompax sub-dial configuration” and “Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional”. This watch has three sub-dials.

Dial design: Ideally, contrasting sub-dials in a panda configuration or a reverse-panda configuration – though other dial-colour configurations would do if the design is really good (like the Omega Speedmasters in the graphic above).

Graphic showing three things: the photo of a panda’s face and the promotional photos of two stainless steel wristwatches. Text next to the panda reads, “Panda” and “Panda in China”. Text next to the first watch reads, “Panda dial” and “Tudor Black Bay Chrono”. The design of this watch resembles the panda’s face in that it has a white dial and two horizontally-oriented, black sub-dials that represent the panda’s eyes. Text next to the second watch reads, “Reverse-panda dial” and “Tudor Black Bay Chrono”. This watch has a black dial and two horizontally oriented, white sub-dials.

Style: Aviation and field styles watches over dive and dress styles watches – think more Omega Speedmaster, Zenith Chronomaster, and Breitling Navitimer and less Oris Divers Sixty-Five Chronograph, Baltic Scalegraph, and Junghans Max Bill Chronoscope.

Graphic showing two groups of three wristwatches each. Text above the first group reads, “YES: aviation, field style”. Text below this group reads, “L-R: Omega Speedmaster; Zenith Chronomaster; Breitling Navitimer”. Text above the first group reads, “NO: dive, dress style”. Text below this group reads, “L-R: Oris Divers Sixty-Five Chronograph; Baltic Scalegraph; Junghans Max Bill Chronoscope”.

Inspiration: Watches that draw inspiration from, broadly reference, or make me feel how I feel when I look at my dream chronographs.

My dream chronographs

Graphic showing the promotional photos of five wristwatches. Text below these watches reads, “Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph; Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional; TAG Heuer Monaco Chronograph; Zenith Chronomaster Original Automatic; and A. Lange & Söhne Datograph”.

I have five dream chronographs:

The first three of those watches got imprinted on me when I saw them in magazines as a kid in the 1980s – advertising works, folks! – and the last two I fell in love with when I properly got into wristwatches (because I could now afford nicer ones) about sixteen years ago.

Will I ever buy any of my dream chronographs? Yes! My plan is to get the Omega Speedmaster for my 60th birthday, but I don’t think I’ll get any of the others. Why?

  • The Breitling Navitimer is probably my grail watch, but it is very shiny and I’m not sure its something I’ll wear often – which, for me, defeats the purpose of buying an expensive watch.

  • The TAG Heuer Monaco is super cool, but it doesn’t match my usual style – meaning I’d only want to wear it with certain outfits. So, again, I don’t see the point in buying a luxury watch if I’m not going to wear it all, or at least most, of the time.

  • The Zenith Chronomaster is fantastic, but I suspect (hope?) the Speedmaster will have already scratched my tricompax chronograph itch.

  • Unless I win the lottery, and probably not even then, I don’t think I’ll ever buy the Lange Datograph!

Creating a shortlist

Graphic showing the promotional photos of six wristwatches. Text below these watches reads, “Tissot Telemeter 1938; Hamilton American Classic Intra-Matic Chronograph H; Hamilton Khaki Aviation Converter Auto Chrono; Seiko Prospex Speedtimer; Longines Avigation Big Eye; and Sinn 903 St II”.

In the end, these were the six watches that made it to my shortlist (in increasing order of price):

Let’s look at them one by one.

Tissot Telemeter 1938

If you’re wondering after all my talk of requirements and preferences how this style of watch of made it through my shortlisting criteria, the answer is simple: I adore pulsometer watches! Or, more generally, I love watches with spiral or contrasting-colour scales printed on the dial or the crystal.

Pulsometer watches have been around since the early 1700s and the coolest recent release in that style was the 2015 limited edition Longines Pulsometer Chronograph. I would love to get my hands on this watch, but it isn’t available anywhere.

Graphic showing the promotional photos of a wristwatches with text below it that reads, “Longines Pulsometer Chronograph”.

Probably the nicest pulsometer watches available right now are the Omega Speedmaster Chronoscope series. My favourite is the version with blue spiral track, though the panda version with the red spiral track is cool too.

Graphic showing the promotional photos of two wristwatches with text below them that reads, “Omega Speedmaster Chronoscope”.

All this to say that, when the white-dial Tissot Telemeter 1938 ($3,500) came up in my research, it went straight onto my shortlist. The black-dial version is pretty cool too.

Graphic showing the promotional photos of two wristwatches with text below them that reads, “Tissot Telemeter 1938”.

I checked out both these watches in Tissot’s Melbourne boutique. Sadly, they felt a little unwieldy on my wrist. Also, the black-dial version, while gorgeous, isn’t super legible and is therefore not practical as a chronograph (even though it’d be great as a dress watch). I guess this is a case of watches looking cooler in photos than they are in the metal – at least as far as my current taste in watches and my current watch-buying objectives are concerned.

STATUS: Removed from the shortlist.

Hamilton American Classic Intra-Matic Chronograph H

I fell in love with Hamilton’s Intra-Matic Chronograph series many years ago. In fact, when I decided I was going to get a nice mechanical chronograph for my fiftieth birthday, these were the watches I thought of first.

While I love the automatic, panda version from this series, my favourite is the black-dial, manual-wind, reverse panda: the Hamilton American Classic Intra-Matic Chronograph H ($3,650).

Graphic showing the promotional photos of two wristwatches with text below them that reads, “Hamilton American Classic Intra-Matic Chronograph H” and “Hamilton American Classic Intra-Matic Auto Chrono”.

Funnily enough, it was only while writing this post that I consciously realised that, even though they’re parsecs apart in quality, looks-wise the reverse-panda Intra-Matic for me scratches the same itch as the A. Lange & Söhne Datograph!

Graphic showing the promotional photos of two wristwatches with text below them that reads, “Hamilton American Classic Intra-Matic Chronograph H” and “A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Up/Down”.

Time & Tide, our local Hamilton authorised dealer (AD) didn’t have the reverse-panda version in stock, but I did check out the blue-dial version, which is also super cool.

Status: Black-dial version moved to the top of the shortlist.

Hamilton Khaki Aviation Converter Auto Chrono

I think it’s obvious why the Hamilton Khaki Aviation Converter Auto Chrono ($3,650) made it to my shortlist: its converter dial is reminiscent of the Breitling Navitimer.

The black-dial version of this watch is cool, but I think the blue-dial version is cooler.

Graphic showing the promotional photos of two wristwatches with text below them that reads, “Hamilton Khaki Aviation Converter Auto Chrono”.

I have over the years considered getting one of the quartz-based flight chronographs that pay homage to the Navitimer and Speedmaster: watches like the Citizen Promaster Sky or the Islander Calverton Flight Chronograph (which itself was inspired by the discontinued Seiko Flightmaster).

Graphic showing the promotional photos of two wristwatches. Text below these reads, “Citizen Promaster Sky” and “Islander Calverton Flight Chronograph”.

I never got around to buying one of these though, so this could be my chance to get something in that style but with a mechanical movement.

Sadly, when I tried on this watch at my local AD, it didn’t work. Yes, the watch fit physically on my wrist, it just didn’t have the presence or vibe that I connected with. Oh well.

Status: Removed from the shortlist.

Seiko Prospex Speedtimer

The Seiko Speedtimer has a long history. Released in 1970 as the world’s second automatic chronograph (after the Zenith El Primero in 1969) a slightly newer version of this watch even made it into space in 1973 with American astronaut William Pogue.

Seiko didn’t do much with the Speedtimer during the quartz era, but they revived it in 2021 and have since released a bunch of mechanical and solar-quartz versions.

The black-dial version of the Seiko Prospex Speedtimer ($3,900) is my favourite, but the white-dial version is pretty cool too. And there are many other dial-colour variations to choose from.

Graphic showing the promotional photos of two wristwatches, one with a black dial and one with a white dial, with text below them that reads, “Seiko Prospex Speedtimer”.

People also love this watch because versions of it scratch the Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional and Rolex Cosmograph Daytona itch for a fraction of the price – specifically the SRQ055 and SSC911 shown in the graphic below.

Graphic showing the promotional photos of four wristwatches in two pairs, with some resemblance between the watches that have been paired. Text below the first pair reads, “Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional” and “Seiko Prospex Speedtimer”. Text below the first pair reads, “Rolex Cosmograph Daytona” and “Seiko Prospex Speedtimer”.

I checked out these Speedtimers at two local ADs – and I looked at both the 39mm and 42mm diameter versions – but ultimately decided that, if I was going to get one, I’d get a solar-quartz version ($1,150, but currently on sale for $851) at some point in the future.

Status: Eliminated from the shortlist. (Well, at least from my current birthday shortlist.)

Longines Avigation Big Eye

I was very curious about this watch when I first heard about it. Its design feels like that of a flieger-style aviation watch (which is a style I love) merged with the Omega Speedmaster (which is another style I love) but with the added twist of the 3 o’clock sub-dial being larger than the others – hence the “big eye” name.

Graphic showing the promotional photos of three wristwatches in a mathematical equation. Text below these reads, “Stowa Flieger Classic” plus “Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional” equals the “Longines Avigation Big Eye”.

I initially didn’t shortlist this watch because I thought it was out of my price range, but then I realised I was looking at the blue-dial titanium version ($6,500) and not the black-dial, stainless steel Longines Avigation Big Eye ($5,075 full price, but was on a 30%-off sale).

Graphic showing the promotional photos of two wristwatches, one with a black dial and one with a blue/black gradient dial, with text below them that reads, “Longines Avigation Big Eye”.

The black-dial version wasn’t in stock at my local AD or the Melbourne Longines flagship store, but the flagship store did have the titanium, blue-dial version which I got to check out.

Sadly, this watch just didn’t grab me.

Yes, there is a lot going for it: it is gorgeous, very well-executed, and runs on a high-grade chronograph movement. It was also on a 30%-off, end-of-financial-year sale when I saw it, which is probably the best price I’ll ever get for it.

The problem is that I already own two watches that have the same flieger / aircraft instrument panel look. These are the Stowa Flieger Classic 40 Baumuster B and the Techné GosHawk (Techné being a brand created by a former Longines watch designer).

Graphic showing the promotional photos of three wristwatches with text below them that reads, “Stowa Flieger Classic 40 Baumuster B”, “Techné GosHawk”, and “Longines Avigation Big Eye”.

I wanted a special watch for my fiftieth birthday, not one that’s in the same style as two watches I already own. So, disappointingly, I had to let this one go.

This is not to say I don’t think this watch is cool – it is cool, and I can totally see myself wearing it and loving it – but it’s just not the right watch for me right now.

Status: Moved to second place on my shortlist, but with the knowledge that I’m not going to buy it this time around.

Sinn 903 St II

The final watch on my shortlist was the Sinn 903 St II ($5,600). And while its blue-dial version is cool, I think its OG black-dial version is cooler.

Graphic showing the promotional photos of two wristwatches, one with a black dial and one with a blue dial, with text below them that reads, “Sinn 903 St II” and “Sinn 903 St BE II”.

“But Ameel,” you exclaim, “the Sinn 903 looks just like the Breitling Navitimer! Isn’t this design just a blatant rip-off of the watch you love so much?”

Graphic showing the promotional photos of two wristwatches from two separate brands that look almost identical. Text below these watches reads, “Sinn 903 St II” and “Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 41”.

My reply would be a rather irritating, “You’re not wrong; but you’re not right either.”

I’ll let Brice Goulard, writing in Monochrome, explain:

Before you start commenting on the fact that this watch is a copy of the Breitling Navitimer, let me explain why you’d be right on one side, but also why Sinn has the legitimacy to do so.

Some might not know the story behind the creation of the Sinn 903 and why it is so close to a Navitimer in both design and technical specs. The story is that, back in the late 1970s, Breitling (like many other brands) was in a difficult situation due to the quartz crisis.

Parts of Breitling were liquidated in 1979 and the rights to the Navitimer were sold to the highest bidder. This resulted in Sinn, but also Ollech & Wajs, acquiring not only the design and rights to produce a watch identical to the Navitimer (the name remained the property of Sicura, then returned to Breitling) but also stocks of parts, such as cases and dials.

Sinn obtained the rights and parts of the Navitimer 806 and 809 and then produced watches under its own name with the reference 903…a model that has been in the collection for over 45 years.

So, yes, this is the Breitling Navitimer design but, no, it’s not a rip-off because Sinn legitimately owns this design as well.

Now before I started this round of research, I hadn’t seriously considered buying the Sinn 903 for two reasons:

  1. There is no Sinn AD in Australia

  2. I wasn’t a huge fan of the original Sinn 903 because the only way to rotate the slide-rule bezel was through an additional crown at the 10 o’clock position

Happily, while doing my research I learned two new things:

  1. There is now one (1) Sinn AD in Australia: Define Watches up in Noosa, Queensland

  2. In June 2024 Sinn released the 903 St II, and this upgraded version has a directly-operated slide-rule bezel along with a whole host of other minor upgrades

Woohoo!

Still, I had a problem: this watch was all the way up in Noosa, which meant I wouldn’t be able to get any hands-on time with it pre-acquisition.

So I did the next-best thing: I went into the local Breitling flagship store and checked out the 41mm version of the Navitimer :) I figured if that worked well on my wrist, then the Sinn 903 would too. Happily, it did! And I could totally picture myself wearing a slightly thicker, more tool-watch-like version of that watch very comfortably on my wrist. [3]

Status: Moved to the top of the shortlist, with the Hamilton Intra-Matic pushed down into second place and the Longines Big Eye pushed further down into third place.

Honourable mentions

Graphic showing the promotional photos of five wristwatches. Text below these watches reads, “Baltic Scalegraph Classic Panda; Sinn 356 Pilot; Junghans Telemeter; Longines Master Collection Chrono Moonphase; Oris Divers Sixty-Five Chronograph”.

Before I tell you which watch I ultimately got – as if you haven’t figured it out already – here are six honourable mentions that I want to, well, mention but not go on about:

  • If I wasn’t actively trying to avoid 1930s/40s-style watches (opting instead of 1960s/70s-style watches) I would have shortlisted the Baltic Scalegraph Classic Panda ($2,670). Also, I think it was the 1930s styling of the Tissot Telemeter 1938 chronographs that stopped me from connecting with them when I checked them out in the store.

  • The Sinn 356 Pilot ($3,550) is cool but, like I said when I talked about the Longines Avigation Big Eye earlier, I already have two flieger style watches so I didn’t shortlist this one.

  • When I’m ready to buy a telemeter watch (since I probably won’t be able to find an affordable pulsometer watch) I’ll likely get the lovely Junghans Telemeter ($4,300).

  • The Longines Master Collection Chrono Moonphase ($6,400) was outside of my budget but a great-condition version of it became available on the secondary market ($3,900) so I had to go take a look. Unfortunately, this particular watch was on display at the AD’s Sydney store and I wasn’t going to consider it without seeing it in the metal first.

  • The Oris Divers Sixty-Five Chronograph ($6,800) is great, and I might have found a version on sale that was under my budget, but I already have an Oris Divers Sixty-Five and there was no point doubling up.

Making a decision

By this point I’d pretty much decided that the Sinn 903 was the watch I was going to get.

Screenshot of the Sinn Catalogue 2025-26 showing the ‘Series 903’ watch that is described as “The navigation chronograph”. The screenshot shows the blue-dial and black-dial versions of the watch on one page and text about this series of watches on the second page.

“But why was the Sinn 903 even in consideration?” you might ask. “If you love the Breitling Navitimer so much, wouldn’t it have been better to wait till you’d saved enough money to buy the ‘real thing’?”

Normally, I would agree with that sentiment. If you’re pining for the “real thing”, there’s a decent chance you won’t be satisfied with a less costly substitute – whether that’s a replica, an homage, or something heavily inspired by what you really want.

However, this argument doesn’t work here because the Sinn 903 isn’t a substitute, it is the real thing – it’s just a version that’s built and sold by a different manufacturer.

Yes, the Sinn brand doesn’t have the same historical associations that the Breitling brand does, but as far as watches go, I actually prefer the Sinn 903 over the Breitling Navitimer. Also, I very much love the associations that the Sinn brand does have. I’ll explain all this in my next post because this post is already too long.

The real decision I needed to make was about something else.

Which version of the 903?

The Sinn Series 903 comes in two editions (standard and anniversary) and in five dial colours (black, anthracite, dark blue, green, and sunburst blue). I was pretty sure I wanted to get the standard black-dial version, but before committing to that decision I called up the folks at Define Watches to have a chat.

I wanted to ask about the standard dark-blue-dial version of this watch because, while I love a good blue dial, the blue of that dial needs to be a really good shade. My Oris Divers Sixty-Five 60th Anniversary Edition, for example, has a gorgeous, deep-blue outer dial that I adore, and this shade of blue matches, complements, or nicely contrasts with the colours of pretty much every outfit I own [4].

Close-up photo of a man wearing a stainless steel mechanical watch on his wrist on a blue-and-black woven cloth strap. The watch has black and deep-blue coloured dial, cream coloured numerals in a retro 1960s typeface, and silver coloured hands.

The person I talked to at Define Watches was Peter Petzold, one of the two co-owners, and he told me the blue of the Sinn 903 St II B E’s dial is dark blue, and that too a shade of dark blue that looks black in some light. That was great news.

I then watched a lot of YouTube videos that showed-off this dial colour in high resolution, and I came away impressed.

But even after all that investigation and exploration, I decided to go with the OG black-dial version. Why? Partly because it is the more historically accurate dial colour but mostly because this is the dial colour I fell in love with in the 1980s :)

The fact that this dial colour will never clash with any of the clothes I wear was just a bonus.

How do I feel about my decision?

I feel fantastic! And doubly so since Nadia gave me the watch on my birthday morning and I got to see it in the metal.

Looking at this watch on a screen and wearing it on my wrist are two completely different experiences, and the latter is better than I even imagined it would be.

Close-up photo of a man wearing a mechanical watch on his wrist. The watch has black dial, silver hands filled with a luminous material, and three white coloured sub-dials. This watch is a chronograph so it has two pushers on the side that are used to start and reset the chronograph function. The watch bezel is a slide rule that lets the wearer perform mathematical calculations. The man is wearing a button-down shirt with a navy-blue check, the cuff of which is covering one slice of the watch.

I was concerned, for example, that the watch would be too heavy, too bulky, or too thick. It is none of those things. It does have weight and it does sit taller on my wrist than most of my other watches, but by no means does it feel heavy or look bulky on my wrist. It also doesn’t look too blingy, which is important to me. (More on that in my next post.)

Instead, this watch fits perfectly on my wrist – both in terms of its physical size and its wrist-presence – and the gorgeous, black, vintage-style leather strap I got with it is super comfortable and holds the watch snugly at exactly where I normally wear watches.

Another cool thing that I hadn’t fully appreciated till I wore this watch was that its dial has a subtle sunburst finish that makes the dial look more dynamic than a plain matte black dial would have looked.

Close-up animated GIF of a man wearing a mechanical watch on his wrist. The watch has black dial, cream coloured hands, and three white coloured sub-dials. The man is standing outside on a sunny day and is twisting his arm towards and away from the camera, which highlights the sunburst pattern on the black dial of the watch.

I’ve only had this watch for two days, but it already fits perfectly with my entire wardrobe and is spot-on for my lifestyle.

Yes, I think I made a really good decision.

So what next?

What’s next is that, in my fifty-first year on this planet, I get to wear this most fantastic watch pretty much all the time!

Close-up photo of a man wearing a mechanical watch on his wrist while seated in the driver’s seat of a parked car. The watch has black dial, cream coloured hands, and three white coloured sub-dials. This watch is a chronograph so it has two pushers on the side that are used to start and reset the chronograph function.

And who knows, maybe I’ll get the Hamilton Intra-Matic that was in second place on my shortlist for my fifty-fifth birthday :)

[1] These days I wear mostly dark and casual clothes but, ten years ago, when I got the Seagull 1963 Airforce watch, with its champagne-coloured dial and dress-watch looks, my work “uniform” used to be khakis with a navy blue check shirt. In other words, this watch was a great fit for the old Ameel – like in the casual-Friday photo from 2019, below – but its colours clash with how the new Ameel dresses every day.

Selfie of a man standing in front of the floor-to-wall window of an office building that overlooks the city. The man is grinning and giving the camera a thumbs-up. He is wearing a textured maroon dress shirt with its sleeves rolled up. On his left wrist he is wearing a small silver watch with a cream-coloured dial: the Seagull 1963 Airforce.

[2] As part of my chronography research, I read or watched all these round-ups from Teddy Baldassarre:

[3] While at the Breitling boutique, I also tried on the 43mm Navitimer and, surprisingly, I think this size looked better on my 19cm/7.5in-diameter wrist than the 41mm version did. What can I say? Breitling watches are fucking cool.

[4] These days I mostly wear black, dark grey, navy blue, maroon, and khaki clothes, with accents in red, orange, yellow, and white. My Oris Divers Sixty-Five 60th Anniversary Edition watch goes with all of these colours, as does my new Sinn 903 St II :)

Collage of four photos, each focusing on a bald man with a salt-and-pepper beard who is wearing glasses. In two of the photos a woman is hugging this man and leaning her head on his chest. In the photos the man is wearing, respectively, a black t-shirt, a dark grey t-shirt, a grey-and-black hoodie, and a navy blue suit.

Celebrating 20 years in Melbourne

This week marks twenty years since Nadia and I moved to Melbourne to pursue our Masters degrees.

Why Melbourne?

After we got married in Pakistan in 2004, Nadia and I wanted to go overseas to study. When deciding where to go, we picked three cities that were (a) great places to live and (b) had multiple universities that the two of us could apply to.

The cities we picked were:

We decided all this just as the southern-hemisphere university admissions cycle started and, as luck would have it, both of us applied to and got into the University of Melbourne. [1]

This was great because my older sister was living in Melbourne at the time and she had just completed her PhD from the University of Melbourne. Meaning not only did she know the city we’d be moving to, she knew the exact university we’d be going to as well.

With our university acceptances in hand, a guaranteed soft landing in a new country, and the full scholarship I was awarded for my MBA studies, we leapt at the chance to head down under.

So it was that on 12 July 2006, Nadia and I hopped on a one-way flight to a place almost 11,000 kilometers away and in a hemisphere that neither of us had been to before.

Scan of a Thai Airways paper ticket for Ameel Zia Khan, departing Islamabad at 11:10pm on 12 July 2004.

20 years on

We landed in Melbourne on Tuesday, 13 July 2006, and the very first place my sister and a family friend (who was also my sister’s housemate) took us to for lunch was A1 Bakery on Sydney Road in Brunswick.

It was fitting, then, that on 13 July 2026, Nadia and I went back to A1 for lunch to mark the occassion :)

Selfie of a man and woman sitting at a table in a large, warehouse-sized Lebanese bakery. The woman is holding a knife and is in the process of cutting the Lebanese pizzas that are lying on platters on the table between them.

Settling down

Nadia completed her MA and went on to do a PhD from UniMelb as well. I completed my MBA and went into the job market. Nadia did a couple of other things, but eventually made her way back to UniMelb, which is where she now teaches.

I don’t remember exactly when we decided that Melbourne was the place we were going to call home, but a big part of why we decided to stay was the people we met here along the way. Which is why we also marked our twenty years in this city with our friends and family at the Cornish Arms rooftop bar this weekend.

Photo of a rooftop bar on a sunny day, with space that's been set aside for a private function. A sign in front of this reserved area has the Cornish Arms logo and reads, “Nadia and Ameel 20 years in Melbourne, 1-4pm”.

Looking forward

What are our plans for the next twenty years? I have no idea, because Nadia and I plan our lives in four-year increments.

I mean that literally, by the way. Ever since Nadia’s PhD graduation in 2013, when our lives were finally disconnected from the degree-seeking schedule that universities impose on you, we’ve been making and documenting four-year life plans.

Actually, that’s not entirely true. We do have over 26 years left on our mortgage. So, if nothing else, in 2046 we’ll still be paying that off!

But my point is that twenty years is a long time so, instead of planning that far ahead, we’re just going to do what we can and roll with the punches when we can’t. That is life, and we’re looking forward to what the next twenty years in Melbourne will bring us.

[1] Yes, technically I got into Melbourne Business School which, back then, was only half-owned by the University of Melbourne. MBS is now wholly owned by UniMelb.

Summer 2026 events round-up

Like I’ve mentioned before, I don’t take many photos and videos at events like concerts, talks, and comedy shows because I prefer being present in the moment.

That said, I do like to take at least a couple of photos for posterity. So here are some of the event photos and videos I’ve taken over the last few months.

I’m going to skip over one event I attended because this was a rare exception to my take-very-few-photos rule. I’ll cover that in the next post.

Garbage

12 Dec 2025. Garbage is one of my all-time favourite bands. I had to travel for work when these folks toured Australia in 2016, but this time I made sure I was there. Nadia and I attended the concert (and went out for dinner before that) with a whole bunch of friends and we had a fantastic time.

Garbage performing at the Palais Theatre in Melbourne

Photo of alternative rock band Garbage performing on stage.

Elderbrook

14 Jan 2026. Elderbrook is one of my favourite electronic musicians/DJ. He toured Australia as part of the summer music festival circuit and we got to watch him at the Australian Open concert series. (Yes, the AusOpen tennis tournament is about a lot more than just world class tennis.)

Elderbrook playing the drums during his set

Photo of electronic musician and DJ Elderbrook performing at a medium-sized outdoor festival-like stage. Elderbrook is drumming on some electronic drum pads set up on the stage next to his DJ rig. The super wide, wrap-around video screens behind him are displaying a fiery orange pattern.

Here’s a super short video from this concert too.

Gianmarco Soresi

24 Jan 2026. Gianmarco Soresi’s stand-up material ranges from very personal to very political. Your face won’t hurt at the end of his show because you laughed too much – his shows aren’t like that – but your brain will be full of zingy thoughts and unhinged imagery that you were absolutely not expecting.

The Capitol is such a gorgeous theatre

Photo of the a large theatre with a layered, three-dimensional, rectangular roof with hidden white, blue, and purple lighting.

Wet Leg

10 Feb 2026. I’m not hugely into post-punk revival, but I do love Wet Leg. We didn’t have the best spot from which to watch this show, but it was a fun concert nonetheless.

Wet Leg at Northcote Town Hall

Photo of indie rock band Wet Leg performing on stage.

Nerd Nite #67

11 Feb 2026. Since this is probably the first time you’re hearing about this: Nerd Nite is “evidence-based entertainment” – a series of informal talks given at a pub by nerds, for nerds. Started in Boston, USA in 2003, the concept spread all over the world, though I believe Melbourne Nerd Nite is the last chapter still running in Australia.

I’ve watched a lot of these talks online, but this was the first time I attended in person. It is so energising being around that many nerds! Nadia and I will try to attend all these talks going forward.

Nerd Nite at the Howler in Brunswick

Photo of a stage with a cinema-sized projector screen at the back. The screen shows a graphic of a stylised Melbourne tram with ‘Nerd Nite 2026’ written in graffiti on it.

Linkin Park

8, 10 Mar 2026. Linkin Park is one of my all-time favourite bands and the group were performing two shows in Melbourne. Nadia and I attended the first of those concerts together.

Selfie from Linkin Park’s From Zero world tour

Selfie of a man and woman wearing glasses and black face masks sitting in the crowd at a concert.

I’m a Linkin Park Underground (ie fan club) member, so I get access to ticket sales really early. That meant we got excellent seats: right in the centre and just four rows back from the mixing desk :)

Seated right behind the mixing desk at Rod Laver Arena for Linkin Park

Wide-angle photo of a large sports arena with a currently empty stage. Thousands of attendees, especially the ones on the floor of the arena, have their smartphones out and are filming what is about to happen on the stage. In the foreground of the photo are production techs standing in front of dozens of screens and control boards that make up a modern concert sound and lighting control set-up.

I attended Linkin Park’s second show by myself (this time in General Admission) and I’ll show you the photos and videos I took there in my next post.

Laura Ramoso

13 Mar 2026. Unlike Gianmarco Soresi, you do come out of Laura Ramoso’s stand-up shows with your face hurting from laughing so much. Laura did a fantastic job at transposing and translating her online skits and characters to the stage.

Waiting for Laura Ramoso at The Palais Theatre in St Kilda

Photo of an empty stage with text projected on the curtain at the back of the stage. This text reads, “Laura Ramoso” and “Calm Down Tour”.

This has been a really fun summer, and though we have fewer events planned for the rest of the calendar year, I’m looking forward to all of those as well.

21 years!

Nadia and I are laughing all the way to our 21st wedding anniversary :)

Selfie of a man and a woman laughing while trying to take a selfie. The man is bald, with a salt-and-pepper beard. He is wearing eyeglasses and a while linen button-down shirt. The woman has long hair. She is wearing glasses, large gold earrings, a gold necklace, and a dark-and-light green printed dress.

Australian Open 2025

Less than an hour into day one at the 2025 Australian Open tennis tournament and a big thunderstorm rolled across Melbourne.

And the intermittent heavy rain stuck around till late in the afternoon.

Screenshot of a weather app showing a severe thunderstorm warning with heavy rainfall expected for most of Melbourne city and surrounds.

Fortunately, Nadia and I got there just as the gates opened, so we managed to watch at least a little bit of tennis on the outside courts before the rain came.

Importantly, we managed to take our annual Australia Open selfie :)

Here are my photos (and selfies!) from the day.

Court-side camera operator

Photo looking down from the stands at a video camera operator sitting on the side of a blue-coloured, hard-surface tennis court. The operator is wearing a cap and a bulky pair of headphones, and there is a small, blue umbrella over his head. The camera has a waterproof cover on it.

Umpire and ball kids

Photo looking down at the net of a blue-coloured, hard-surface tennis court. Two ball kids are standing on either end of the net, and a tennis umpire is sitting on a raised chair at the far end of the net.

Tatjana Maria’s ball toss

Photo of tennis player Tatjana Maria who has just tossed a tennis ball into the air as part of her serve.

Watching the first round match

This photo was entirely accidental! I was trying to get a photo of the player framed between the out-of-focus heads of the people sitting in front of me (which I managed to do in the next photo). But when taking this photo, I’d mistakenly left my camera on its ‘zone focus’ setting and it picked the wrong subject to focus on. Oh well. Even though this photo was an accident, it was a happy one because I quite like how the photo turned out :)

Photo of the back and side of a woman and her young daughter watching a women’s singles tennis match.

Tatjana Maria’s service

Photo of tennis player Tatjana Maria at full stretch as she serves the ball on a blue-coloured, hard-surface tennis court.

Ball kid retrieving the ball

Photo looking down from the stands at a blue-coloured, hard-surface tennis court. One of the ball kids is running up to retrieve a ball from the middle of the left-side court.

Orange shoe and dropped corn snacks

Photo looking down between the spectator chairs at a tennis arena. The subject of the photo is the foot of a person wearing grey-and-white New Balance sneakers with bright orange highlights. Next to this shoe are two orange corn kernels that have been dropped on the concrete.

Airplane disappearing into the clouds above Melbourne

Photo of a small jet engine aircraft flying above some tall buildings on an overcast day. The aircraft is climbing and is about to disappear into the cloud cover.

Thunderstorm less than an hour into the first day’s play

Photo of the outside of a tennis arena with large photo banners set along its side showing past championship winners. The outside area is almost completely empty of spectators because it is raining heavily. Despite the heavy rain, ushers wearing black pants and yellow shirts are standing under red umbrellas that have been affixed next to each area entrance. A supervisor wearing a black skirt and blue polo shirt is walking between two of these umbrellas with a blue folder over her head to minimise the amount of rain she gets on her eyeglasses.

2025 edition of our annual Australian Open selfie 1/3

Selfie of a man and woman smiling at the camera while they sit on blue coloured seats at a tennis court. Both are wearing straw hats and sunglasses. The woman is wearing a white, sleeveless top and the man is wearing a printed black t-shirt.

2025 edition of our annual Australian Open selfie 2/3

Selfie of a man and woman smiling at the camera while standing outside the entrance to Margaret Court Arena, a tennis arena in Melbourne, Australia. Both are wearing straw hats and glasses. The the man is wearing a printed black t-shirt and the woman is wearing a white, sleeveless top.

2025 edition of our annual Australian Open selfie 3/3

Selfie of a man and woman smiling at the camera while standing outside the steps that lead to the entrance of Rod Laver Arena, a large tennis arena in Melbourne, Australia. Both are wearing straw hats, glasses, and black face masks. The the man is wearing a printed black t-shirt and the woman is wearing a white, sleeveless top.

COVID-19 booster FTW!

It’s been eight months since I got COVID-19, and with some travel planned for the end of the year, it was time to get a booster.

Selfie of a man sitting in a car with his t-shirt sleeve rolled up to show the band-aid placed on his upper arm.

And like I said when I got my flu shot a couple of months ago, does a vaccine even work these days if you don’t take a selfie and post about it? :)

Belinda Carlisle – finally!

In August 2021 Nadia and I bought tickets to go see Belinda Carlisle in concert in February 2022.

Screenshot of a ticket purchase confirmation email that reads, “Ameel, You’re In!”. The ticket is for a Belinda Carlisle concert at the Palais Theatre in St Kilda for 8pm on Friday, 11 February 2022.

Unfortunately, the concert got rescheduled thrice: twice because of pandemic lockdowns and once because Belinda was having knee-replacement surgery.

But three years later it all finally worked out :)

Photo of a man and woman standing in front of a massive poster for Belinda Carlisle’s ‘Decades’ tour at the Palais Theatre.

And the concert was great!

Photo of an indoor concert stage on which Belinda Carlisle and her band are performing.

I thought I’d come out of this with one of her mega hits stuck in my head, but instead it was In Too Deep and Big Scary Animal – both of which I love. So yay!

Flu shot 2024

Do vaccines even work if you don’t take a selfie afterwards? :)

Selfie of a man sitting in a car outside a Chemist Warehouse branch. The man has his t-shirt sleeve rolled up to show a piece of cotton wool stuck to his upper arm using a strip of medical paper tape.

Trip to Pakistan 2024: people

Nadia and I took three weeks off to go visit friends and family in Pakistan. Naturally I took several photos as we travelled from one place to the next :)

Selfie at Melbourne Airport before heading off on our holiday

We had an almost-10pm flight out of Melbourne, so we had dinner at Melbourne Airport right after we checked-in.

Selfie of a man and woman, both wearing black t-shirts, backpacks, and face masks, standing in an airport terminal.

All set to fly from Melbourne to Abu Dhabi

Neither of us minds having seats near the bathroom and neither of us minds sitting right at the back of the plane, so we picked seats in the second-last row of this Boeing 777 since that row has just two seats on the window side :)

Selfie of a man and woman, both wearing black t-shirts and face masks, seated in an aircraft. The two are giving a thumbs-up to the camera.

Selfie along the C-gates arm at Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A

Abu Dhabi Airport’s brand new Terminal A is quite roomy (having been built for future growth) and is a surprisingly comfortable place to hang out for a ten-hour layover.

Selfie of a man wearing a bright orange jacket standing in the middle of a long terminal corridor, between gates C28 and C29.

Selfie to celebrate our arrival at Karachi Airport

Yay Karachi!

Selfie of a man and a woman, both wearing black t-shirts and face masks, standing next to their luggage at the international arrivals gate of an airport.

Ready for the first of our three flights back to Melbourne, this one from Islamabad to Karachi

It took us almost forty hours to get back from Islamabad to Melbourne (via Karachi and Abu Dhabi). This was the start of our first leg.

Selfie of a man and a woman, both wearing black t-shirts and face masks, seated inside an aircraft cabin during boarding.

Ready for the second of our three flights back to Melbourne, this one from Karachi to Abu Dhabi

This was the start of our second leg, waiting in the international departure lounge.

Selfie of a man and a woman, both wearing black t-shirts and face masks, seated in a departure lounge at an airport.

Waiting for breakfast at Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A

This is towards the end of our twelve hour layover in Abu Dhabi.

Photo of a woman, wearing a black hoodie and face mask, leaning on a restaurant table in an airport. Behind her is a floor-to-ceiling window that looks out onto and airport terminal apron.

Selfie before boarding our flight to Melbourne

We’re making sure to stretch our legs and stand as much as we can before our non-stop, thirteen hour flight to Melbourne.

Selfie of a man and a woman, both wearing black tops and face masks, standing in a departure lounge at an airport.

Ready for the third of our three flights back to Melbourne, this one from Abu Dhabi to Melbourne

All aboard and ready to boogie (aka sleep) on this lovely Boeing 787 (yay!).

Selfie of a man and a woman, both wearing black t-shirts and face masks, seated inside an aircraft cabin during boarding.

We hadn’t been back to Pakistan since late 2019, so this trip was very much overdue and it was a great way to start the year.

20th anniversary

On 1 February 2004, Nadia and I got married at the Serena Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Twenty years later we went back there to take a couple of selfies :)

Selfie of a man and a woman in their forties standing in a nook in a hotel lobby.

Selfie of a man and a woman in their forties standing outside a large hotel.

Later that day we celebrated with food and, importantly, with cake.

Photo of a man and woman in their forties standing in a dining room along one corner of a large, rectangular dining table. In front of them is a caramel cake with “Happy Anniversary Nadia & Ameel” written on it. The woman is holding up the large knife with which she is going to cut the cake.

That cake, while delicious, wasn’t quite as fancy as the one we cut at our actual reception.

Photo of a man and a woman in South Asian wedding attire surrounded by their families on their wedding day. The couple are in the process of cutting a large, fancy cake that’s been placed on a table in front of them.

Nor did we make a meme out of the cake-cutting, like we did for our tenth anniversary :)

Photo of a man and a woman in South Asian wedding attire surrounded by their families on their wedding day. The couple are in the process of cutting a large, fancy cake that’s been placed on a table in front of them. The couple and several of their family members are laughing at a joke that’s just been told by someone off-camera. Written in Comic Sans font across the photo in a seemingly haphazard fashion are several phrases in broken English that represent a kind of inner monologue. This type of internet meme, known as Doge, was popular in 2013 and 2014. These phrases are “so marriage”, “much decade”, “giggle”. “wow”, “many love”, “very bliss”, “caaaaake”, “10/10 would marry”, and (bizarrely) “once even flow alive why go black jeremy oceans porch garden deep release” (which is the song list from Pearl Jam’s debut album, ‘Ten’, in case you’re wondering).

Picnic at Kingsford Smith Ulm Reserve

We celebrated a friend’s birthday with a picnic at Kingsford Smith Ulm Reserve in Glenroy.

I haven’t looked up the history of this place, but given it is located just north of Essendon Fields Airport in Melbourne, I’m guessing they named it after pioneering Australian aviators Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm.

Here are some of the photos I took while I was there.

Essendon Fields Airport

Essendon Fields Airport control tower

Photo of the top of an airport control tower peeking out from behind a low hill, in the background of the photo. In the foreground is the rise of a grassy hill, which is part of a reserve, with a road running through it.

The old fire service water tower at Essendon Fields Airport

Photo of the top of an large water tower above a series of industrial buildings at the top of a low hill. In the foreground of this photo is the rise of a grassy hill, which is part of a reserve.

Monee Ponds Creek viaduct on the Albion-Jacana railway line

Moonee Ponds Creek viaduct

Photo of a railway viaduct built across a creek’s valley and flood plain. The viaduct comprises steel girders supported by steel-framed towers. Behind the viaduct is the residential suburb of Gowanbrae.

Moonee Ponds Creek viaduct and houses in Gowanbrae

Photo of a railway viaduct built across a creek’s valley and flood plain. The viaduct comprises steel girders supported by steel-framed towers. Behind the viaduct is the residential suburb of Gowanbrae, and you can see several blue paint and red brick houses behind the rail line.

Play area

Bench in the shade

Photo of a brown park bench in the shade of a few large trees in a park.

Frog sculpture in the play area

Photo of a low, wooden, green-and-brown frog sculpture in a play area at park. In the foreground of the photo are two park benches and several vertical logs that little children can climb over and walk on. A nearby tree is providing shade to this area.

Wooden frog sculpture

Photo of a low, wooden, green-and-brown frog sculpture in a play area at park.

Drinking water fountain

Black-and-white photo of a drinking fountain, with some blurry shrubs visible in the background.

Tree stump

Close-up photo of a tree stump embedded vertically into the ground. There are visible tree rings and several large cracks running through the cross-section of the stump. On the ground around the tree stump are wood chips, placed to soften the fall of children when they’re climbing on or over these stumps.

Another tree stump

Close-up photo of a tree stump embedded vertically into the ground. There are visible tree rings and several large cracks running through the cross-section of the stump. On the ground around the tree stump are wood chips, placed to soften the fall of children when they’re climbing on or over these stumps.

Magpies

Scavenging magpie

Photo of a magpie on the ground next to a picnic table that has a few food bags placed next to it. The bird has a bit of fallen food in its mouth.

Scavenging magpies

Photo of a two magpies on the ground next to a picnic table.

Singing magpies

Photo of a two magpies on the ground next to a picnic table. The magpies have their mouths open, mid-song.

I guess it’s particularly appropriate to be publishing a photo of two singing magpies, given the Collingwood Magpies won the 2023 AFL Grand Final today :)

And, of course…

Selfie!

Selfie of a man and a woman at a park/reserve. The man has a mostly-white beard, and is wearing glasses and a straw hat. The woman is wearing a small necklace and sunglasses. Both are smiling at the camera.

Nineteen!

It’s my last teen anniversary with Nadia :)

Selfie of a man and woman standing outdoors. There is a large number “19” added to the corner of the photo. The man has a black-and-white beard and is wearing a black printed t-shirt and black baseball cap. The woman has long black hair and is wearing a black leather jacket. The woman is resting her head on the man’s chest.

How time flies when you’re having the best years of your life.

Australian Open 2023

It’s time for of our annual Australian Open selfie :)

Selfie of a man and a woman in a tennis court. They are both wearing wide-brimmed straw hats, face masks, and black t-shirts. They have bright blue lanyards around their necks.

Here are some other nice photos I took at the Australian Open this year.

Though this one is probably my favourite :)

Black and white photo of a child watching a tennis match. The child is leaning back in his chair and has his feet up against the railing in front of him.

Win-win

I thought this was a nice, shady spot for a 1 Jan 2023 selfie…

Selfie of a man wearing a t-shirt, sunglasses, and straw hat walking a red/brown dog on a residential street. The dog is sniffing around in the grass of the nature strip.

Evidently she thought this was a nice, grassy spot where she could scratch her back :)

Selfie of a man wearing a t-shirt, sunglasses, and straw hat walking a red/brown dog on a residential street. The dog next to him is upside down and is rubbing her back on the tall, scratchy grass that's on the nature strip.

Win-win!

Walking in the rain

I’ve gotten very good at interpreting the Bureau of Meteorology rain radar to find 15–30-minute gaps in the downpour during which I can walk Maggie.

This photo is from our successful zip around the block yesterday.

Selfie of a bearded, bespectacled man in a yellow raincoat who is walking a red/brown dog that’s wearing a black raincoat. The pair are walking along a residential street.

You can’t 100% rely on the rain radar, of course, so Maggie and I are always dressed for the worst.

This Ruff n Rugged oilskin coat from PETstock works remarkably well, and Maggie is comfortable wearing it.

Photo of a red/brown dog in a black, oilskin raincoat sniffing at something on a nature strip along a residential road.

Today, however, we’ve had short showers followed by periods of bright, warm sunshine — the latter of which Maggie is making the most of.

Photo of a red/brown dog sitting in a residential back garden on a sunny day. The dog is sitting comfortably and has its eyes partly closed because of the bright sunlight.

Fortunately, we don’t live near a river so we’ve avoided all the flooding on the Maribyrnong. The flood retarding basins in Melbourne are certainly earning their keep this week!

Tu chal, mein aaya

Shout out to Nadia for getting me this happy mug for my recent birthday and to Sophie Hurst for the lovely design!

Selfie of a bald man with a salt-and-pepper beard holding up a large white mug. On the mug is an illustration of a brightly coloured Pakistani rickshaw, drawn on a yellow background. Below the illustration is the text “tu chal, mein aaya…”.

COVID-19 vaccine winter booster!

Turns out when you’ve already had three Pfizer COVID-19 vaccinations without any reaction you don’t have to wait around inside the pharmacy for fifteen minutes after your fourth one :)

Selfie of a man inside a car. The man has the left sleeve of his black t-shirt rolled up to show a plaster over the place on his upper arm where he was given a vaccination injection.

#AusVotes2020

The down side of voting just as the polls open on election day is that it’s too early for a democracy sausage. Oh well.

Photo of an empty schoolyard with two unattended plastic tables and a closed barbecue placed in front of the school buildings.

The up side is that we were done by 8:30am.

Selfie of a man and woman, bundled up in puffer jackets, standing across the street from a primary school that’s being used as a polling station.

Walk in the drizzle

Might not be a lovely, sunny day in Melbourne today, but we still had a lovely walk in the drizzle.

Selfie of a man walking a red/brown dog on a residential street on an rainy day. The man is wearing a light grey rain jacket with the hood pulled over his head. The jacket is wet in large patches. The dog is on a grass strip next to the road and is looking at something off-camera.