Good Friday?

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.

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!

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.

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.

Et tu, Tutu?

Being an avid fan of ballet, I was filled with excitement when I read that the National Gallery of Victoria is collaborating with Australian Ballet to exhibit ballet costumes.

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? :)