I suppose I should be grateful for my insomnia tonight - it certainly lends itself to blogging far better than sleeping an a warm comfy bed would...
As I mentioned in my last post, this past weekend was very productive with the both of us getting a bunch of stuff done around the house. We made a trip to Ikea for more furniture on Friday night and then spent the weekend getting it all set-up. I also finally finished re-painting the armoire I had been working on for a seeming eternity...It's pretty incredible having an actual living room full of furniture - we spent so long with nothing that I had almost forgotten what it was like to invite people over without asking them to bring their own chairs with them! I was really in a rush to get all of this set-up this past weekend because Monday night I was hosting my ex-pat book club at my place. I knew it would push me to get more done than I would have otherwise... Quite honestly, if I hadn't been hosting the book club, I think the armoire would still be unpainted...
Monday morning I had plans to go see "Eat, Pray, Love" with my friend Kim. I hadn't seen her in a few weeks and I was missing her like crazy... She had just gotten back from a holiday in Western Australia so we had much to catch up on at our lunch after the movie. I really wanted to sit around and talk to her all afternoon; but she had to pick her son up from school and I had a ton more to get done before book club. It was a resounding success, although I hadn't read the book and those that had read it didn't really like it.
(I have to pause here to add that I had ordered the book weeks before but it hadn't arrived yet. Also, I have to add that I got it several days after the book club meeting, started reading it yesterday, finished it today and I thought it was one of the worst books I have ever spent painful painful hours trying to slog through).
As I mentioned in my last post, this past weekend was very productive with the both of us getting a bunch of stuff done around the house. We made a trip to Ikea for more furniture on Friday night and then spent the weekend getting it all set-up. I also finally finished re-painting the armoire I had been working on for a seeming eternity...Monday morning I had plans to go see "Eat, Pray, Love" with my friend Kim. I hadn't seen her in a few weeks and I was missing her like crazy... She had just gotten back from a holiday in Western Australia so we had much to catch up on at our lunch after the movie. I really wanted to sit around and talk to her all afternoon; but she had to pick her son up from school and I had a ton more to get done before book club. It was a resounding success, although I hadn't read the book and those that had read it didn't really like it.
(I have to pause here to add that I had ordered the book weeks before but it hadn't arrived yet. Also, I have to add that I got it several days after the book club meeting, started reading it yesterday, finished it today and I thought it was one of the worst books I have ever spent painful painful hours trying to slog through).
But, I digress... Tuesday was a scheduled "day of adventure" with a fellow blogger. We talked about doing some walking tours etc; but the day was rainy and overcast so we decided to head down to Chinatown and Paddy's Markets for some Yum Cha (Dim Sum) and some serious shopping. We met around lunchtime so we decided to start with the food and then go from there. Yum Cha was delish and wonderful - fellow blogger had never experienced it before so it was neat to get to explain how it all works. We had a bit of a translation issue at one point and so ended up with a lovely dish of beef tripe (you do know that tripe is stomach lining right?) on our table. As with most odd things that you can order in a Chinese restaurant, the flavour was great; but the texture was quite um... textured.
I was quite impressed with the both of us though - we both tried it and we both actually ate more than one piece each. Actually, when I wiki'ed tripe to make sure I talked about it correctly, I found out that most commercial breakfast sausage in the States uses pork and beef tripe as filler. I guess I can't honestly say that this was my first experience with it! The rest of the food was stellar, and so, buoyed up by a pot of Chinese tea, we headed out into the drizzle in search of bargains. Paddy's Markets were closed much to our intense disappointment; but the upstairs shops were open so we headed up to see what they had on offer. We were figuring that they would be regular places; but they seemed to all be stores that were geared for lower budgets which suited us just fine! I was able to pick up 4 pairs of shoes for only $70 and it felt like I was back in America with such bargains. We had just completed a circuit of all the shops when we noticed one off in the corner called Typo. Fellow blogger and I were helpless - like moths to a flame we went in slack jawed and drooling. I would try to explain the coolness of this place; but I know I would fall very very short so I am just going to encourage you to follow the link and look at the catalogue. While in the shop I fell in love with a rather large black canvas with Australian city names listed on it in an arty sort of way.
I texted Joe some pictures, he liked it, it was a good price so I bought it. Then I realized that I had to carry it home. Yikes... I hadn't really thought that one through. Luckily it was longer than it was wide so I was able to sort of tuck it under my arm and grab the bottom of it with my hard. I got lots of stares on the way home... We didn't end up wandering too much through the actual streets of Chinatown as I now had an enormous canvas tucked under one arm; but I am hoping that our next outing can be truly exploratory in that sense... We did see a bit before we went into the markets and also on our way back to Central Station to catch our respective buses and trains which is when I snapped these couple of pictures. I'd like to give it a go on a sunny day; with my actual camera and not just a cell phone.
I am going to give sleep another chance; but I will write again in the morning - I still have to talk about Night Noodle Markets, meeting more ex-pats, being in love with my husband and our busy social weekend.
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I'm wide awake too...ugh. That store looks awesome! I can't WAIT until I live in the city. I have to live vicariously through your exploring! Hed hed down under
I saw the movie "Eat Pray And Love" with a friend recently, and while the photography of the places she visited was great, I thought the character that Julia Roberts played was an absolute selfish bitch!
We had a great time in Sydney last week - weather was great on Thursday and Friday, and the storm on Saturday had fizzled out by the time our plane left that night, so it was a smooth flight home. "Ben Hur" was sensational. I've read some bad reports about it, well all I can say is some people are just hard to please.
Glad to read that you and Joe are continuing to settle in well and love OZ so much!
@ Hed - that store is very dangerous for my budget!
@ Gina - I think the movie was very kind to her character. I re-read the book this week and I realised how much I actually didn't like that woman. You are right, she is completely self-centred and selfish... Not sure if you read the book or not; but it comes across much worse in the book than in the movie. Also, I love Julia Roberts so I couldn't help but love her in the movie :)
Glad your visit was so good - as you will read in my newest entry the storm on Saturday came though all our open windows and caused some damage; but nothing to serious! It's nice to hear from you... I always love getting your comments!