Me!bourne

Yay I'm back from 2 happy happy weeks in Melbourne. Mainly coz I got to spend some time with the family :)

First we had reunion dinner on Chinese New Year's eve at Chinatown. There were celebrations there with lion dances at nearly every turn and firecrackers going off about every 10 minutes. Our dinner was at Kum Den Cantonese Restaurant, tucked inconspicuosly in a narrow alleyway in Chinatown. Yeah, my mom picked it because it said "Cantonese" (with us being Canto and all). But I think also because there werent any Hainanese restaurants around (her being one) lol.

Then the next day we had italian at Lygon Street. OMG I AM SO MAD I WANT TO HURT SOMEONE! Lies! Lies! Lies! Whoever said there is great Italian food at Lygon is lying! The experiences I had there was enough to put me off eating Italian on Lygon forever (sadly, this means missing out on the good Italian restaurants, if any =_=)

The first experience was after I got bullied into a restaurant by a bald Italian(?)  man. Basically some old bald dude with a heavy Italian accent which after a while i realised could most likely be put on. Oh and nearly every restaurant on Lygon has some bully outside their restaurant trying to harrass you into their restaurant while you're trying very hard to decide between the dozens and dozens of Italian restaurants which make up Lygon Street. So yeah. It had the word "Spagheteria" in its name so I thought they probably make decent pasta. Heck, which Italian restaurant doesnt? And they had Spaghetti alla Vongole on the menu! I was dancing in my seat. HAH! Big effing dissapointment. First the pasta was completeyl tasteless, they didnt use ANY salt. And I couldnt taste any hint of wine at all! And the second bit! Omg i want to cry ok. They completely chargrilled my clams into oblivion. I was so lookign forward to nice juicy bits of clam meat in white wine, and all i got were dried, burnt, black little crisps of what were clams, all shrunk into the size of half a pea. WTfreakingF.

Just so you know on a scale of 1-10 i rate it -100000. Michelangelo's back home did it so much better *drools while remembering*. But yeah. Next time we tried another place that did NOT have a big bully standing outside. Pasta was a tad better. Not the best, in fact very mediocre standard, but compared to the disastrous evening before it was way better. We ate with gusto. Oh, and the fettucine was amazingly chewy. Yum.

The next day we moved the Micchus into her new apartment. There I saw familiar face, some guy from SMDU. But he clearly ddn't recognise me. I don't expect him to anyway lol. Rented a car and then we went to Phillip Island. There we saw a koala upclose (it was crossing our path and we went as near as we could without getting into swipe-range), then we went to the penguin parade and saw the peguins! And now was baby season so there were so many fluffy, fat brown baby chicks!!! Or penguinlets, as i like to call them. So cuuuuuuute!! One small one was waddling around waiting for mommy penguin to come back and it waddled all the way up to me!! Just a short wire fence stopping it from hopping into my shoe. I was very tempted to reach out and grab the ball of brown fluff and take it home with me.

Met up with my cousins and took them out for dinner. Then met them 2 days later when we invited them to our place and cooked them dinner. I made carbonara the way it shud be made (without cream >.> *fussy*) and mom pan fried some lamb. Mmm yummy.

Then after a few days loitering around with my parents while Micchy was at orientation (we discovered Richmond, land of Ikea and various Vietnamese goodies... omg beef noodles! *slurp*) it was time for them to say byebye. We spent the day at Richmond, decided we liked one Pho shop better than another, then made our way to the Docklands where I heard from the my cosuin that a Japanese festival was being held. We got there and saw people dressed in yukata. Instantly regretted not bringing mine over to Oz. I heard the Tanko Bushi song being played in the background and quickly grabbed Micchy and we rushed towards the dancing people and joined the line. Ahh.. its been 4 years since my last Bon Odori. I can still do the Tanko Bushi with ease but then they played the Tokyo Ondou and that really tested my rusty bon-dancing skills. The third song was one I never heard of before, but it was very cute. I remember parts where it goes "pon-pon-ponchararin" with rolling hand movements. Google tells me the song is called Tsukiyo no Ponchararin (click for video! its from NHK's Okaa-san to Isshou program). Oh, and again saw the SMDU guy there, camera in tow. Then after 3 days (this morning in fact) it was my turn to bid a tearful farewell to Micchy.

So I got back this morning into my tiny tiny room. Micchy's place is 3 times bigger. I miss Melbourne, the big room space, the countless asian faces (makes me feel at home lol), the city feel, the food. I miss Micchy. But at least I dont feel homesick anymore. I had my 2 weeks of fun. Now i have to get started on real work. Hello assignments. Hello prac. Hello 2010.