The Chinese are among the most pessimistic people.. Growing up, I would hear things like 'Don't climb up the stairs by yourself, otherwise you will fall and break your head', or 'Don't drink your soup too quickly, otherwise you will choke to death'. To a little kid, it seems like every corner is harbouring Death and Doom.
So when I was invited to a bilingual Chinese/English Good Friday service this year, I was not surprised to hear that the translation for Good Friday means 'Day of Suffering'.
Surely the words Good and Suffering cannot be more different (unless you are Silas the monk in The Da Vinci Code). On a more serious note, I do think that Good Friday is more aptly described as the Day of Suffering (hey I was brought up as a Chinese after all!). Good Friday is the day Jesus suffered immense agony and sacrifice for our sake. Because of His suffering, we are freed and have hope.
This Easter, I will remember His sacrifice for me.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
Busy Melbourne
What can $3.50 buy in Melbourne? Quite a lot actually. On Sunday, I took the train to the city. Weekend travel on public transport is capped at $3.50 on Saturdays and Sundays.
First, I watched the first participants of the annual Run for the Kids cross the finish line at the Botanical Gardens. There were a huge crowd there that morning. Some of them wore identical tops, some were sponsored by companies, others just a desire to be known as running for the same team. I spotted about 10 people wearing purple tops running for Karli who, according to the dates on the tops, lived for just 3 days. I felt really sad but at the same time, happy that her memory lives on through the team of family members running for her.
Then, it was a short stroll to the Government House where I had registered for a free Chamber Music recital. The Liutenant Governor welcomed us on behalf of the Governor of Victoria to the Grand Ballroom of the Government House. After that, we were treated to 50 minutes of chamber music by the Firebird Trio who played 5 pieces of music on the piano, violin and cello. We were also served refreshment after the concert!
The architecture of the building and the Ballrom was beautiful. Chandeliers hung like stars from the high ceiling of the ballroom illuminating the gold on the wall and ceiling.
A short distance away at Federation Square, Viva Victoria Multicultural Fest was on. There were stalls selling knick knacks and food from the countries such as Spain, Nepal, Indonesia, Germany, etc. There were also entertainment lined up for the whole day including singing, dancing and drums.
What a busy weekend!
First, I watched the first participants of the annual Run for the Kids cross the finish line at the Botanical Gardens. There were a huge crowd there that morning. Some of them wore identical tops, some were sponsored by companies, others just a desire to be known as running for the same team. I spotted about 10 people wearing purple tops running for Karli who, according to the dates on the tops, lived for just 3 days. I felt really sad but at the same time, happy that her memory lives on through the team of family members running for her.
Then, it was a short stroll to the Government House where I had registered for a free Chamber Music recital. The Liutenant Governor welcomed us on behalf of the Governor of Victoria to the Grand Ballroom of the Government House. After that, we were treated to 50 minutes of chamber music by the Firebird Trio who played 5 pieces of music on the piano, violin and cello. We were also served refreshment after the concert!
What a busy weekend!
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Old Kingdom Surrey Hills
A modern decor and contemporary paintings on the wall sets this branch of Old Kingdom apart from the branch in Collingwood. The Old Kingdom in Collingwood being the original branch and has a dark and old interior with teapots to match (on our visit there, we were served tea in the teapot with a chipped spout as black as a chimney. It must have been the same age as the restaurant itself). Surely the Surrey Hills branch with its new modernised look should be called the New Kingdom.
We ordered two Peking ducks which came with thin pancake crepes, scallions and cucumber for the famous wrap for $55 each. The skin was crispy and as the breed of duck used for Peking Duck dish is different, it had a relatively low fat content.
The bones are used for a spicy preserved vege soup with pieces of tofu. The soup was clear and not oily, and not too spicy either.
The duck meat was stir fried with bean sprouts but we also added two serves of noodles, one ramen and the other chow mein for an additional charge of $8 each. There seem to be more duck meat in the dishes here compared to the Collingwood branch. The noodles were tasty too. But the service leaves much to be desired.
We were waiting for the waitress to finish splitting the ramen dish into six equal portions for all of us, when she realised she had made a judgment error and there was not enough for six portions. She continued to scoop up the last bits in the dish and and presented us five bowls of noodles instead. So what's the sixth person on the table supposed to do?? Wait for us to finish our ramen while he stares at the creepy painting of amalgamed red babies floating in mid air above a city skyline?
At one point in our meal, one of us requested for a pair of chopsticks, and then quickly added a request for our empty teapot to be filled. The expression on the waiter's face was as though we had asked him to walk to Darwin and back.
I think one of the most common complaints about Chinese restaurants is the customer service. The restaurants often have the mentality that people will keep coming back if they serve good food. Unfortunately as I prefer the much more fragrant Cantonese roast duck better and do not care for waitresses who leave out a patron when serving out portions, they will not be seeing me at their restaurant again.
We ordered two Peking ducks which came with thin pancake crepes, scallions and cucumber for the famous wrap for $55 each. The skin was crispy and as the breed of duck used for Peking Duck dish is different, it had a relatively low fat content.
The bones are used for a spicy preserved vege soup with pieces of tofu. The soup was clear and not oily, and not too spicy either.
The duck meat was stir fried with bean sprouts but we also added two serves of noodles, one ramen and the other chow mein for an additional charge of $8 each. There seem to be more duck meat in the dishes here compared to the Collingwood branch. The noodles were tasty too. But the service leaves much to be desired.
We were waiting for the waitress to finish splitting the ramen dish into six equal portions for all of us, when she realised she had made a judgment error and there was not enough for six portions. She continued to scoop up the last bits in the dish and and presented us five bowls of noodles instead. So what's the sixth person on the table supposed to do?? Wait for us to finish our ramen while he stares at the creepy painting of amalgamed red babies floating in mid air above a city skyline?
At one point in our meal, one of us requested for a pair of chopsticks, and then quickly added a request for our empty teapot to be filled. The expression on the waiter's face was as though we had asked him to walk to Darwin and back.
I think one of the most common complaints about Chinese restaurants is the customer service. The restaurants often have the mentality that people will keep coming back if they serve good food. Unfortunately as I prefer the much more fragrant Cantonese roast duck better and do not care for waitresses who leave out a patron when serving out portions, they will not be seeing me at their restaurant again.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Fiesta Malaysia 2013
Silat, satay, batik, cucur udang, kuih - what do all these have in common? They were all at Fiesta Malaysia! It was on at Federation Square this Saturday and I was there to show my support. The fest was organised by the Malaysian Students' Council of Australia, Victoria (MASCA Vic) and sponsored by the Aust & M'sian governments and other corporate sponsors such as Mamee and Signatures Wedding.
There were performances such as silat cekak, gamelan, and lion dance which makes the homesick heart twinge. Add to that rows of stalls selling satay, murtabak, kuih, nasi lemak, cendol and it's enough to make one sniff. And salivate.
The turnout might not be huge, and information on the website regarding the event just a little sketchy but it is a tremendous effort by a student council and it is enough to transport me back to good ol' M'sia.
There were performances such as silat cekak, gamelan, and lion dance which makes the homesick heart twinge. Add to that rows of stalls selling satay, murtabak, kuih, nasi lemak, cendol and it's enough to make one sniff. And salivate.
The turnout might not be huge, and information on the website regarding the event just a little sketchy but it is a tremendous effort by a student council and it is enough to transport me back to good ol' M'sia.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Et tu, Tutu?
This exhibition is on the second level of NGV International and showcases about 15 costumes used in various ballets. Some were designed by designers such as Akira Isogawa and Valentino, most of them were simply marvellous and out of this world.
My favourite one of the exhibition is the Black Swan tutu - classic yet different, a little daring, so beautiful!
What's that I hear you say, tutu? You too, think the same? :)
Monday, March 11, 2013
Fried Chicken Chickillia Style
Gaz and I tried out a restaurant at the back of a Korean grocery store in Glen Waverley last week. We would never have picked out this particular store for harbouring a fried chicken cafe at the back if not for Urbanspoon.
It's a cozy place, with only about 30 seats.
It's boast to fame is it's twice fried chicken with Chickillia spices. From what I can gather, the Chickillia brand originated from Korea, and this is the first franchise in Melbourne / Australia. The owners' daughter was giving another customer the spill on the cafe and the brand, and the rest of us in the cafe listened quietly. There was a friendly family atmosphere in the place when she was talking.
We ordered an egg pot, kimchi pork stew and a small serve of Chickillia wings, spicy soy and garlic flavour.
The egg pot was steamed egg in stock topped with some slices of mushroom served in a clay pot. We enjoyed this dish very much. The egg was silky and slides well into the trap!
The kimchi pork stew ($24) came in a large clay pot and was heated throughout our dinner on a portable burner. There were thin slices of tofu, thin slices of pork belly, kimchi cabbage and chopped garlic in the soup. The size of the pot was big but disappointingly, it seemed to hold more soup than solid ingredients. There were probably about 20 thin slices of pork belly the height and width of two segments of my index finger and 1/6 square of a tofu block in the soup.
The plate of fried chicken arrived last on our table. This had been pre-empted earlier, as we were informed the chicken are made to order and the cooking process would take about 20 minutes. The chicken was fried with skin on without batter, was not greasy and was coated with Chikillia seasoning. The seasoning tasted good - sweet, spicy and salty on the chicken however I suspect it contained some MSG as I felt quite thirsty afterwards.
Naughty foods like fried chicken are usually delicious, but somehow the star dish of that night for me was the healthy egg pot.
It's boast to fame is it's twice fried chicken with Chickillia spices. From what I can gather, the Chickillia brand originated from Korea, and this is the first franchise in Melbourne / Australia. The owners' daughter was giving another customer the spill on the cafe and the brand, and the rest of us in the cafe listened quietly. There was a friendly family atmosphere in the place when she was talking.
We ordered an egg pot, kimchi pork stew and a small serve of Chickillia wings, spicy soy and garlic flavour.
The egg pot was steamed egg in stock topped with some slices of mushroom served in a clay pot. We enjoyed this dish very much. The egg was silky and slides well into the trap!
The kimchi pork stew ($24) came in a large clay pot and was heated throughout our dinner on a portable burner. There were thin slices of tofu, thin slices of pork belly, kimchi cabbage and chopped garlic in the soup. The size of the pot was big but disappointingly, it seemed to hold more soup than solid ingredients. There were probably about 20 thin slices of pork belly the height and width of two segments of my index finger and 1/6 square of a tofu block in the soup.
The plate of fried chicken arrived last on our table. This had been pre-empted earlier, as we were informed the chicken are made to order and the cooking process would take about 20 minutes. The chicken was fried with skin on without batter, was not greasy and was coated with Chikillia seasoning. The seasoning tasted good - sweet, spicy and salty on the chicken however I suspect it contained some MSG as I felt quite thirsty afterwards.
Naughty foods like fried chicken are usually delicious, but somehow the star dish of that night for me was the healthy egg pot.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
A Balletful Friday
It has been a while since there was free to public ballet performance. After a hiatus of 5 years, the Australian Ballet finally performed at Melbourne's Sidney Myer Music Bowl again. Thanks Telstra!
I went with some friends to the concert. Luckily we managed to reserve adjoining seats for the rest of the group when we arrived at 6pm. While the Bowl filled up rapidly, there were many people who were equally happy to lay a mat down on the lawn.
My friend had invited several other friends to the event and I had a good time getting to know them better while perving at the male dancers on dancers doing their warm ups! We all agreed that the dancers have wonderfully defined muscles...
Hopefully we get to see them in action again next year!
Thursday, March 7, 2013
People's Market Collingwood
Last weekend, we visited the People's Market in Collingwood. The area has changed wuite a bit from the last time we were there. Now, there are hip restaurants next to small newsagency and fruit shops. There is a big hole opposite the old building housing Kathmandu, no doubt ready for development of an ultra modern apartment building which seem to mushroom from the earth overnight these days.
Back to People's Market... Located at Stanley Street, off Smith Street, this little vacant block of land has been transformed into a bustling little community hosting artists and vendors selling food and wares. What I found really interesting was the use of discarded materials such as old shipping containers to create shops from which vendors sell items like stationery and books. They have also used milk crates, pipes, and planks to create a bridge and an enclosed area to exhibit works by artists. I like the concept of using discarded materials to make them useable again, and to see this accepted and work so well is wonderful.
While we were there, we tried some dishes from several stores. They were all delicious! We tried fried zucchini flower and twice cooked lamb on yorkshire pudding from LBD, meat dumplings topped with caramelised onion and bacon from another stall, ham and gruyere cheese toastie from the Melt Shop and banana waffle from the Waffle Club all washed down with an acai berry smoothie. The market was definitely worth checking out!
Back to People's Market... Located at Stanley Street, off Smith Street, this little vacant block of land has been transformed into a bustling little community hosting artists and vendors selling food and wares. What I found really interesting was the use of discarded materials such as old shipping containers to create shops from which vendors sell items like stationery and books. They have also used milk crates, pipes, and planks to create a bridge and an enclosed area to exhibit works by artists. I like the concept of using discarded materials to make them useable again, and to see this accepted and work so well is wonderful.
While we were there, we tried some dishes from several stores. They were all delicious! We tried fried zucchini flower and twice cooked lamb on yorkshire pudding from LBD, meat dumplings topped with caramelised onion and bacon from another stall, ham and gruyere cheese toastie from the Melt Shop and banana waffle from the Waffle Club all washed down with an acai berry smoothie. The market was definitely worth checking out!
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