Monday, August 17, 2009

Wedding gowns, the ancestral spirit, and pork rolls

Mum and one of my sisters are in town. Sis is getting married next year in Melbourne and was busy over the weekend shopping around for her wedding gown and looking into possible venues for the wedding reception. I made the mistake of meeting up with them on Friday after work for a wedding gown appointment in the city. Boring!!! I didn't know how long it would take (the answer is 'very') and I didn't want to stray too far so I found myself sitting on the steps of the GPO reading the MX newspaper and gawping at people as they walked along Elizabeth Street for an hour and a half.

I was a lot wiser on Saturday and decided to leave the chaperoning duties to the future-brother-in law. I ended up at an auction preview of early aboriginal and oceanic art in South Yarra. The auction is going to be held in Sydney in a couple of weeks and I am considering putting in a telephone bid on the night for a couple of pieces (one of which is a rather well endowed image of an ancestral spirit carving from PNG). From there, I made my way to a gallery in Richmond where I ended up chatting to the young gallery manager who is refreshingly unpretentious, brutally honest ("I think the painting is shit"), and in the midst of separating from her partner. I was intending to only go into the gallery for a few minutes but ended up staying two hours!

Saturday evening was another Shoya degustation experience (by years end, I would have gone there no less than four times!). The price of the degustation is obscene but I enjoyed my first exoperience so much, I feel like I need to share it with as many people as possible. Thereafter, Nate and I bought the family up to the Sofitel for coffee and a view of the city skyline from their rather breath-taking toilets (if you haven't been, you have to check it out).

Sunday was a miserable day in Melbourne...wet and windy. I went with Nate to the Swinburne Uni open day then, after lunch, took mum and Nate to see the well-endowed ancestral spirit (I needed a second and third opinion). Mum thought it was ugly. Nate loved it.

Today I took the day off. Nate wasn't scheduled to start work until the arvo so we took mum to Footscray for spicy beef noodle soup (bun bo hue), followed by a visit to Williamstown and, finally, pork rolls in Richmond (as you do).

I think I'm re-invigorated and ready to get back to work tomorrow.

2 comments:

Evol Kween said...

Sounds like a great weekend. Have you eaten at Nobu? More obscene pricing, but goddamn it if the degustation wasn't the best meal I've had all year. Maybe ever.

Adaptive Radiation said...

Have never tried Nobu but I think I might have to give it a go!