Death Cab for Cutie

Carl texted me some weeks ago asking about getting tickets to see Death Cab For Cutie for their second Melbourne gig, and although I have just one of their many albums, I am always up for being a gig buddy and discovering new music!

I met him and his mate Simon in Fed Square, before we walked down to the Carlton Club for drinks on their balcony, after a walk through the graffiti art on Hosier Lane. I also introduced Carlos to the institution that is dumplings in Chinatown in Melbourne, at Shanghai Dumplings. Always good!

We got to the Palace just as Dappled Cities had started, having seen them at Harvest and being keen to see them again live. They played a fun set of their indie rock, although didn't seen to quite capture the crowd as much as they did at Harvest from our vantage point.

Death Cab For Cutie arrived on stage without much fanfare, and launched into their set filled with songs from all seven albums, much to the delight of Carl!

Having a bra thrown at him as he started the second song of the evening, Gibbard was an engaging lead, chatting and held the crowd's attention throughout the evening. Switching between guitar and roaming around the front of the stage, to the commanding position behind the piano at the back of the stage, he led each song throughout the 2 hour set.

A long intro into I Will Possess Your Heart and the epic Transatlanticism at the end of the encore and night, were set highlights, and this performance and Carl's musical commentary, I will certainly have to check out more of their albums! It's pretty cool to see a band with someone who is so into them!

Cockatoo Island and the Island Bar

Last Sunday in Sydney was a glorious sunny day, perfect for a Sunday Session overlooking the Harbour. Some research by Jessie found the Island Bar, located out on Cockatoo Island.

So after a touristy brunch along Darling Harbour, we caught a ferry out to the island, and walked through the buildings and sites showing the history of the convict prison and working shipping docks of the island. Once back to the city side of the island, we spotted Belinda arriving from a ferry from the rocks above, and so we headed to the Island Bar as it was opening at 12.30pm.

The 7 of us took a table in the shade, and we looked out to the Harbour with the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney skyline laid out in front of us. With sailboats gliding around in the water, and the bar filling, this place is gorgeous!

As the rest of the crew needed to make the dash to the airport for an earlier flight, B and I took up a couple of deckchairs under an umbrella and savoured the view, the sunshine and this amazing spot for a drink for the rest of the afternoon.

Zumbo Treats

Over our weekend we set out to visit the Zumbo Patisserie a couple of times, to sample the much coveted treats of Adriano Zumbo. Having The Star within walking distance from our hotel made this all together possible!




Trying to ignore the fact that we were frequenting a casino, our first visit to the Cafe Court was like walking into a wonderland, with all the sparkle of the decor and the beautiful foods on display. Having lunch, we savoured the trip to the end of the Court, and to Zumbo, for last.

Peeking into the window at the desserts on display in the science-lab like pedestals, and then venturing inside to marvel at the "In Case Of Emergency Break Glass" cases of Zumborons in all their colour and flavour combinations was enough to make our little group of six "grown-ups" act like 5 year olds in a candy store. I mean, that's the point, right!?


While the others each deliberated over a super crazy dessert choice, my focus was on the Zumborons, as I had never had any before! Careful selections of flavours was needed, although at just $2.50 each I am sure I could have grabbed all I could carry! So reasonable!

On that first visit, as I watched the others struggle to consume such a massive sugar-hit in one sitting, I sampled the Watermelon with Orange ganache, and the Musk Stick Zumboron macarons.

Belinda and I returned on Sunday as I was preparing to dash to the airport and home, and I picked up a Raspberry Caramel and the Lime and Mint Mojito, and B added the Milo to the sampled selections. I haven't yet heard how the Milo was, but the Mojito was lovely and a very different confectionery treat flavour combination, but my favourite was the Musk Stick, which was a taste explosion just like it's namesake! Yum!

Est

On Saturday night in Sydney we went and experienced one of the meal of our lives. We totally splashed out, and dined at Est.

Our aim was to soak up the experience of a three hatted restaurant, and with the popularity of Masterchef over the last few years, we have a better knowledge of some of these places and the chefs behind them. Confirming our booking during the day, we were reminded that we had booked back in October - our anticipation had been building since then!

All dressed up, we took a taxi and arrived at the Establishment building, before being transported upstairs by the lift and door greeter. On arrival to Level 1, the six of us were shown to our table, with a sweeping view of the room for half of us, and a mirrored version for the other side of the table.

The head waiter gave us an overview of the menu, even though we had been pouring over it for weeks and had discussed at length our choice of the Tasting Menu, and the sommelier fussed over pre-dinner drinks.

Once our order was taken, with the matched wine option confirmed, we were served our Dom Pérignon to match our entree of Tartare Scallop with Preserved Lemon and Nasturtium Soup. The arrival of the dish to the table had a procession of 6 waiters, all perfectly choreographed to place a plate at each place, and then pour the soup. Magical!

Our next entrees included Lobster Claw, with green peas, mini radish, and black truffle vinaigrette, followed then by Ocean Trout with shaved abalone and ginger, presented perfectly. Upon landing, each dish was facing the same around the table, with the tiny eatable and decorative viola with the claw, the eye-catching detail. Then the Roasted Duck Foie Gras, which I hadn't had before, which was delicious with the flavour combinations on the plate!

I chose the Pan Roasted Lamb Rib Eye, with fresh ricotta and pickled lamb’s tripe - another culinary first for me! I was a bit nervous about the tripe, and wondered about my choice as most others picked the Venison, but was happy with my decision in the end.

The room was filled, and then with some turn over, there was just the right amount of smooth hustle around the tables. Surely there were regulars to this amazing type of dining, whilst the six of us tried to contain our wide eyed excitement and delight throughout the night!

Rhubarb Sorbet, with cucumber and Hendricks gin gel was served as the palate cleanser, before Jessie and I had selected the Passionfruit Souffle over the Cannoli for dessert, much to the menu envy of the rest of the table! This fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth dish of heaven was to die for! We were pretty pleased with our choice!

After coffees and tea, and little chocolates to finish, we marveled at the wines that were carefully selected, presented and explained at the start of each of the 7 courses, and loved the feeling of attention from the staff all night. They certainly made this decadent night even more special.

At the end of our 5 hour feast, we glided out of the restaurant on a high. Encountering two people in the lift coming down from the cocktail bar above, they smelled of booze, which seemed so very far away from the experience we had just had. Spat out of the lift on the ground floor was an assault with the pumping music and rowdy drinking Saturday night - definitely not a match for our evening, so we walked back to our hotel marveling at the meal of our lives!

Roxette

Seeing Roxette live has been a dream of my sisters and I for many, many years. I think this is a band that binds us, across our 7 year age span, as the band that most brings us together for impromptu singalongs, and memories of car trips and video clips on Rage as kids. So when their first Australian concert date in some 17 years was announced for Sydney back in October, a massive weekend was planned around this very opportunity! And what a weekend, and gig, it was!

The anticipation built all day, as it had all week really, and we made our way to Tokio Hotel along Cockle Bay Wharf for per-concert drinks. The four sisters, plus Heath, Hemant, Kelly and Belinda all endured the tunes of this bar before requesting a Roxette song, and loved that half the bar squealed in delight!

Once we got to the Sydney Entertainment Centre, we were informed that the support act, 1927, had finished, having started at the time we assumed was for doors. Oops! And after listening to their tracks on You Tube and discovering that we knew quite a few!

As we took our floor seats, the atmosphere was buzzing inside the venue. When the group behind us sat down we joked with them about whether they were ready for a night of dancing...and were not convinced that they were. But we certainly were, given we had flown up for this show and waited for years for our chance to see them in action!

As the room darkened and then Marie and Per entered the stage, the crowd went wild! Opening with Dressed For Success was a huge start, being a favourite of...well, of everyone's, right?

To be honest, the vocal sound for this opening number was not strong, and I am not sure if the sound guys let Marie down, or whether she took a few bars to warm up, but the crowd carried the song for the start of it, as a room filled with voices who knew every word. Which was pretty amazing!

Hit after hit was then delivered for the next 2 hours, with songs like Sleeping In My Car, and The Big L interspersed with a couple of new tracks. Taking us back 25 years, and to Hollywood, Marie introduced the massive It Must Have Been Love, which again had the whole room singing.

After that initial shaky start, Marie and her amazing voice did not look back, and put in a brilliant performance for the night. She was engaging with the crowd, and her and Per looked like there were seriously having a great time throughout the show. I kept thinking what an absolute inspiration it is to have her even here with us, doing what she does, given her battle with a brain tumour and subsequent treatment and recovery for all those years. So incredible!

The second half of the show seemed to just throw down massive song after massive song, with Fading Like A Flower, Crash! Boom! Bang!, How Do You Do, Dangerous and Joyride all in a row, making this such a fun all dancing, all singing show! We had such a great time! Ha!

The first encore featured Spending My Time and Listen To Your Heart, as the crowd erupted with appreciation of this Swedish duo and their amazing band.

The second encore felt like a thank you and farewell, with a very energetic The Look and then the Church Of Your Heart to finish. Wow, what a night!

(Additional photos here)

Harry Potter: The Exhibition

Part of my amazing Sydney weekend was a visit to Harry Potter: The Exhibition at The Powerhouse Museum, and wander into the magic of the props of the movies that bought these books to the screen.

I had invited myself to this outing with Jess and little Evie, with Nan and Heather and her little one, but thanks to a cancelled flight up to Sydney the night before, I arrived at the Powerhouse as they had finished their visit. But nonetheless, I got to see Jess for a quick hi, and then wandered in under Mr Weasley's enchanted flying car in the foyer to the check out the exhibit.

Ushered in to the dark entryway, and held until there was a group, we were taken into the first room where a live announcer was pacing in costume to introduce what was ahead for us. Our witch also then asked for a volunteer, and one timid kiddie in the group got to sit under the Sorting Hat and be nominated into a Hogwarts House. Once this was demonstrated, and Gryffindor was the choice for the brave, a few more kids were happy to volunteer for such an activity!

The next room gave you a reminder through film-grabs of the journey of Harry and his mates at Hogwarts, plus all the amazing and the scary people he encounters through his schooling, before you reached the room with all the movie artifacts.

This is really well set up, as you walk through early school days at Hogwarts and Harry's school uniform, his and Ron's beds, and then a spattering of teachers and their signature items and outfits.

One of the most amazing parts of this experience for me was the comparison of the outfits Harry, Ron and Hermione wore in the first films, with the grown up sizes for the more recent chapters - we have certainly watched these 3 actors grow up from little school kids, to adults, through these movies!

You can pull up a screaming Mandrake in Herbology class, and throw a Quaffle in the Quiddich area. Plus, you get to walk into Hagrid's hut, complete with a quivering dragon egg on the table. But the little details from the books and movies are the special treats of this walk through the exhibit - takes you back to your vision from your first read!

There are boxes of Skivving Snackboxes, Ron's Howler from his Mum, the moving and animated picture frames along some of the walls, and Dobby is there, as well as pieces from Wizard Chess. The costumes of the Dementor and Voldemort's faces are pretty fear inducing, even still, so be warned! The Great Hall and the floating candles are there, but not as magical as that scene in the movie - my favourite part!

There is timed entry on each ticket, and runs for another month, with off-peak prices during the weekday making it more accessible. Plus, the last part of the exhibit was the merch shop where kids were getting wands and House scarves. Totally worth a visit if you are in Sydney, and a Harry Potter fan!

The Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial

The Ballarat Botanical Gardens is the home of The Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, which catches my eye every time I walk around Lake Wendouree.

The memorial is 170 meters long, and the wall has almost 35,000 names listed, commemorating those Australian servicemen and women who have been a Prisoner of War in conflicts from the Boer War to the World Wars, to the Korean War. These names were complied by the Ballarat RSL and volunteers in the region, growing out of a group of survivors who met on a regular basis wanting to mark the hardship and sacrifice their fallen brothers and sisters made in conflicts around the world.


In place here since 2004, according to the Ballarat Accommodation and Tourism Directory site:

The POW monuments' design uses the basic idea of a journey through and an experience of time and place. The start of the pathway is long and straight heading off into the shape of railway sleepers, a reference to the Burma Railway. Running parallel to the pathway is a polished black granite wall, 130m long etched with the names of all the Australian POW's. Standing in a reflective pool are huge basalt obelisks up to 4.5m high will the names of the POW camps. The columns are out of reach and across the water symbolizing that all the POW camps were away from Australian shores. Further on there is another wall with the words Lest we Forget engraved, allowing for an area of contemplation and reflection after the "journey".

The mere volume of names, spanning the length of the Memorial, is overwhelming. It also includes a section on the wall for the addition of further names, as details are located, researched and confirmed.

Walking along the Memorial without many people around, the design feels meaningful, and so I had to look it up! The reverence with the placement, layout and design is impressive, to incorporate so much significance, and has made this section of the Gardens an important memorial for all of Australia.