"I feed my dogs steamed vegetables every day. It keeps them healthy, and their poo is a pleasure to pick up." Only someone like my friend Maxine Williamsom would say such a thing. She's entirely serious—but very funny as well.

One of the great things about travel is you learn about lifestyles so different from your own, and it makes you re-think ways of living and being. I'm in Australia to select nominees for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA), given to the best Asian and Pacific films from 70 nations. And Maxine, who is Australian, is like no other friend I know. She's a visionary and solid at work, former Associate Producer and Film Director of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, and much more. Solid integrity. Very generous spirited. Vegetarian. Mindful of the planet. Thinks out of the box, and unafraid what others think. She lives in Brisbane with her children Buddy, 15, and Dusty, 13; Peter Moyes, ("he's not my husband, he's the father of my children,") and has adopted two rescue dogs, Buster (who is three-legged) and Maggie May. Buster behaves as if he never noticed a dog needs a fourth leg ("Oh, that, bah," is his general attitude), as he energetically gambols with Maggie May.