Hamilton

Since it is now spring and the weather is warmer when it is not raining, we are going out more often. One of the weekend, we went to watch Hamilton as a special treat. Gaz got some tickets from Lasttix at a very good discount. We did not have high expectations for good seats, because the nature of the discounted tickets are that one cannot choose their seats. So when we got into the Majesty's Theatre and found our seats, we were very pleased with the seating and the view. It was in the centre of the fifth row of the dress circle. The view was wonderful and we had ample legroom because there was the passage in front of us. It was literally the best seats in the house. 

The last musical we watched was The Book of Mormon which has been quite a while, so it was nice to be at a musical again. The set was quite plain but the music and plot was all one needed to be entertained. The two main catchy numbers for me were the Alexander Hamilton and My Shot.

What I did not like about the plot and this may have been a true life event was how senseless the duels were. To think that his advice to his son failed ultimately resulting in his son's death, only to follow the same advice resulting in his death is also a mystery. Should have changed your strategy, Hamilton!

I particularly liked the follow up story of his widow Eliza Hamilton's legacy post his death. She established orphanages and helped children in need. She was also a strong protector of her husband's works and legacy. 

Hamilton will be at Her Majesty's Theatre until Jan 23. 

The Week

Here's what I've been interested in this week: 

1. Self help books

The last 2 years have been a roller coaster ride. There have been so many changes to lifestyle, work, how we even function as a society and all those have affected me to some degree. I found myself feeling really low lately, and crave for some positive change in my life. Gaz borrowed How to Be Fine by Kristen Meinzer and Jolenta Greenberg, two popular podcasters and author in the US from the library for me. It is an easy book to read, and summarises their year of reviewing and living 2 weeks of their lives on 50 self help books so in a way I feel like I'm already getting the best advice from all the self help books available. I am conscious that reading will only get me so far, the next challenge is to actually put things into gear and actually make the change. 

2. Sally Capp's comments

The Mayor of Melbourne Sally Capp gave a TED talk this week about how Covid had made Melbourne stronger and better, which has drawn ire from many people. Melbourne's foot traffic is still 15-20% down from pre-Covid, and office occupancy is only 45% the lowest among major cities in Australia. A recording of the talk is nowhere to be found so the other side of the story remains to be told. I'm not sure if the city has indeed become stronger and better and it is definitely a different world altogether.

3. Hotpot dinners

I've been trying to cut down on time spent on household chores including cooking. Now that we are required to return to the office for more days of the week (eventually we'll probably have to go back full time), it should be easier if I can cook and freeze meals in advance, or cook a fuss free dinner. Enter the hotpot! It is so easy to prepare a hotpot meal, and healthy as well because there is no extra oil used. I usually prepare ingredients like sliced fish, fishballs, tofu, vegetables and noodles which are less processed and fast to cook. I would like a grill pan for Christmas to cook on the electric portable cooker so I can also grill meats on the table next.

Rone, Flinders St Station Ballroom

When Rone exhibited in Burnham Beeches in the Dandenong Ranges, the tickets were sold out so quickly that we didn't get a chance to go. This time, we booked early and last weekend we went to his exhibition in the Flinders St Station Ballroom. As the name suggests, the venue is above Flinders Street Station, and partly refurbished. The ballroom is accessed via a narrow corridor so it does detract a little from the grandeur of a function held there. I can imagine line dances and rock n roll dances held in the place and less waltzes and other ballroom dances. 

The exhibition is called TIME. There are 12 paintings each exhibited in a room, besides the freebie painting (last picture) in the gift shop on the ground floor. We took about 1.5 hours strolling through the space but there is so many little details to take in that you can easily spend more time here. But be warned,  there is a lack of seating unlike a gallery so it might be tiring to be on the feet all that time. 

Rone started painting his signature young women faces in shades as a graffiti artist, on walls with irregular features like windows and pipes. He has done the same here except the paintings are on not only walls but also cabinet doors, books, and posters. It reminds me of Red Hong Yi's paintings which amazed me with its versatility of the medium used, much like the versatility of the canvas used here.  

Besides the paintings, he spent 3 years on curating furniture and materials used in the exhibition. Everything from old chairs, antique china, typewriters, old books and magazines, old newspapers that pappered the windows in the corridors were meticulously collected and displayed. They were 'aged' and arranged like Chernobyl happened in the middle of a normal work or school day. 

The intention of the display is to express the passing of time, which it did very well. There were even fake cobwebs and mould. As a clean freak, I felt compelled to get the vacumm and mop out. 

If you are wondering about the girl in the paintings, she is model Teresa Oman. Like in Burnham Beeches (actress Lily Sutherland was his muse in the project), every painting is of the same person. I wish I looked that good when not smiling. 

At the end of the exhibition, there are opportunities to buy merchandise including books, ivy in a resin block and prints at the gift shop on Level 2 and ground floor. 

TIME by Rone will be at Flinder Street Station until 23 April 23. Tickets can be purchased via Rone's website. 

Coolart Wetlands and Homestead and Hastings Foreshore

Coolart Wetlands is a large park and wetlands run by Parks Victoria located on the other side of the peninsula, opposite site to the more well known tourist destinations of Dromana, Arthurs Seat etc. Parks Victoria ran guided tours to some of its parks and this was one we had never been to or known about so we decided to take advantage of a guided tour. 

The tours were ran by two 'friends of the park' who are both very knowledgeable and despite being much older than us, walked quickly and surely through the paths both beaten and unbeaten, of the park. We were told little tid bits of information about the occupants of the wetlands, observed the many types of wildlife and birds in one of the hides (structure with slits for windows to watch birds) and enjoyed our walk to a secluded beach. Overall it was an easy walk with plenty of interesting sights. 

I tasted New Zealand spinach (thick, not as silky as English spinach) and heard pobblebonk frogs (they sound almost like swarms of bees, but what a cute name!!)

We saw the endangered blue billed duck (below) swimming and diving for food.

Two birds that flew straight into the hide where we were observing their kind. Instead of building their nest in the outdoors, they had the brilliant idea of building it in the hide. A ready made 'nest'!

There is a homestead on the property, but a pity it was closed for renovations until further notice. It was built in 1895 and changed hands in 1937 whereupon it was declared a sanctuary for wildlife. There is a lovely garden near the homestead, where one can picnic on the lawns on a sunny day like the one we had when we were there. It was such a change from the La Nina weather we had been having. 

After lunch, we went to the Hastings beach foreshore where we found this (below), a Port Jackson shark egg. It looks like a screw made of seaweed. The mother shark picks it up with its mouth and screws it into the crevices of rocks so that it will be wedged safe and sound until the baby shark hatches. Isn't that amazing? Only a few types of sharks lay eggs and I had the privilege of seeing an empty shark egg casing that day to learn something new. 

There were some some pelicans on the foreshore hoping for fish meat from people who were filleting the fish they caught out in the sea. 

Colourful gerberas growing on the beach at Hastings. I don't think they're wild flowers, but they look magical, like something out of a fairy tale. 

Somers and Hastings is just about an hour and a half from Melbourne and is well worth the visit.  

Edwin Wine Bar, Southbank

I'll start off by saying that the food at Edwin Wine Bar is delicious, the service is good and the mocktails even better but it is a classy and pricey place to dine at. Luckily, thanks to the Fork and discount on food, we were able to experience fine dining without the price tag. 

We ordered the beef ($54) which was very tender and melted in the mouth. The sauce was thick and delicious.

Some greens as a side dish - peas ($14)

Blue eyed cod, pancetta ($45). The pancetta was crisp and salty which provided a contrast to the fish. This dish is good, but I prefer the steak which was very tender and thoroughly infused with flavour.

We also ordered a mocktail which was very refreshing, with elderflower. 

The restaurant is at the ground floor of Peppers Hotel so it is convenient for hotel residents to dine at. I saw a few tables where the customers seem to have dined there before. Most tables ordered multiple small plates to share, tapas style. The popular dish seem to be croquettes and salmon wings, and of course the steak.