Street art down a dark alley

Came across these while out in Chinatown for Chinese New Year. In Croft Alley to be specific. Pretty cool eh? I love the integration of really good graffiti artists into everyday urban life. And I must say that alleyways fascinate me, having grown up in the country these were never encountered, and they are actually pretty rare in the likes of DC or New York despite contrary depictions in movies. I am surprised to see so many in Melbourne cause it seems like such a waste of space in this town where real-estate is sky high.

Chinese new year photos

Happy Chinese New Year - Bringing in the year of the Tiger

It was also Chinese new year over the weekend. We needed to get out of the house on Saturday so we decided to spend our going-out fund the night before Valentines on something I've been craving for a long time. I've actually been dying to try Hu Tong Dumpling bar that everyone has been raving about, but they were only offering a $100 pp special New Years Banquet which was a little too much for us. So we settled on a more budget option just for an experience, at a recommended place on Urbanspoon. Shanghai Village Dumpling in the middle of Chinatown.

The place is nothing special, a quick chinese food causal hangout offering gobs of the same ole dumplings any way you like - steamed, fried, soupy - at cheap prices. We were definitely not complaining, I was commenting on how the simple concept is not common in the States, and it should be. Its would be so easy and so cheap. (I'm sure there are places like this in the States and I have just been too sheltered until now. Tell me where they are.) Lots of people seem to frequent the place before a night out, which is a great idea. They also have main courses of popular chinese food, but I have never had success deciphering the menu - being accustomed to American version of Chinese. Never heard of a General Tsao here. I was hoping for Spicy chicken in a brown sauce and instead got fried, crunchy dry chicken and rice - (no sauce). Still good though. And we ended up with way too much dumpling in our faces so we took the rest home. Photos are post dive-in with a fucked camera phone (I couldn't figure out how to un-zoom the touch screen til later on in the night - Its a 3 finger tap guys).

Caught the dragon blessing all the restaurants along the street and got some video that I can upload later. Firecrackers, and parade. Far from a New Orleans Mardi Gras (Which I am sorely missing by the way), but we were entertained for the night.  

Bringing in 2010

Uncle Richard reading Esther 'Wombat Stew', she was very concerned that the wombat was going to be eaten and wouldn't even consider making stew out of her wombat-baby brother.

Isn't he just the cutest little wombat baby.

New Years was spent in the Hollow. We packed up our warmest clothes and headed up to Northern Baltimore to visit with L & B and their little ones. Their little house in the hollow is quickly filled with the wild antics of a crazy 3 year-old and and an 11.5-month old wombat baby. We confined ourselves indoors to escape the cold (we have turned into tropical beasts) and enjoyed the familial environment, just chilled. Played with Libby's new deep fat fryer, we made maple-glazed donuts, yum. Represented Oz by forming them into shapes of Australia and crocodiles. Now I want a deep fryer, though I don't know how often I would end up using it for just the two of us, and we probably don't need the extra fat. I must admit though for most of the visit my mind and temperament just wasn't present. I've been really struggling with a new life in Australia, and now to be displaced once again for the holidays, really shook me. My emotions go up and down like a roller coaster and its really tough to stay in control and positive. Not really good for social interactions. Sorry for being such a downer. This was the theme of New Year's Eve unfortunately and I hit the pillow at 11:30 PM and brainstormed New Year's resolutions with my love just before we passed out.

Resolution for 2010: Seize the day and think positively - which can be translated to: stop being such a scaredy cat and get up off your ass to actively get yourself out of this almost-self-inflicted rut.

New Year, New Life, New Blog

I am feeling the need to scrap my previous amateur attempts at blogging and start anew as I embark on a new adventure in a new land. AUSTRALIA here I am! And I am determined to make the most of this new life. This blog will be my way of enhancing what will probably be everyday mundane experiences, living in the moment and savouring every aspect in a positive light, because unfortunately, lets face it, I have a tendency to focus on life's miseries and pain - despair and anxiety in everything and that is no way to get through life, I am probably aging prematurely because of my outlook. Revamp, which I guess is my New Year's resolution for 2010 (one of many).

Last year was a difficult year, one of many hardships and challenges. But as I think about, the previous years were much the same as well which makes me think that I am repeating mistakes and not learning my lessons that would help me improve my life. Another reason for taking this opportunity to improve my blogging so that I can really take time out to reflect on my experiences and get a little bit more out of them and possibly share them with interested persons because despite my moanings I lead a pretty interesting life. From Africa, meeting the love of my life in a romantic whirlwind, working in Asia, and now living and playing in Australia, there were a few other excursions in between. If only I could depict it properly in writing. 2010 is the year for self development starting with this blog...