In New Zealand in the last few years we've been lucky enough to be exposed to some awesome local bands and new music. I distinctly remember there being a huge stigma associated with liking and listening to local music as little as 10 years ago and I'm so glad that has changed as NZ has some really talented individuals and some great bands.
I have been pleasantly surprised by the current lively Australian music scene, particularly in Melbourne. There always seems to be some live music to watch and new bands to follow. Most of these bands I had never heard of but I really like their stuff. Some of my new favourites getting lots of play on my ipod are Operator Please (their new album Gloves is a goodie), Angus and Julia Stone, and Little Red. I'm still loving Empire of the Sun, John Butler Trio, The Temper Trap and Daniel Merriweather.
We'll definitely be making an effort to get out to some gigs soon. Watch this space!
Some youtube links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nlc8yLVPm8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmoOQzZX97c&feature=fvst
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yur15Brfvhs&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OyCEDTeRmI
Sunday, October 3, 2010
The pleasure that is mastication
Last one about the wisdom teeth (I hope)! I had the op on Friday morning and as far as I can tell (I didn't have a debrief by the surgeon afterwards), it all went well. I still have some numbness on the right hand side of my lower lip and chin, which could be due to a little nerve disruption... am hoping this subsides soon. Apart from that, some pain and swelling, everything seems to be ok.
The thing I'm more bummed about is the fact that I can't really "eat" anything. Drinking, sipping and mushing food against my palate and front teeth with my tongue before swallowing do not count as eating. I had never realised how pleasureable and satisfying chewing is and how much I'd be craving solids.
What's preventing me taking the risk of chewing anything is the constant fear of dry socket - when the clot forming over the extraction site dislodges - apparently it's a pain you'd never want to know and goes on for days. Getting any food in the gaping holes which I can only imagine are lurking at the back of my mouth (haven't been brave enough to investigate with my tongue yet and can't open my mouth wide enough to see anything in the mirror) isn't worth it. See "dry socket" comment!
But I can tell you that banana custard babyfood, soup, yoghurt, jelly, mashed banana, avocado and sweet potato, even icecream are getting old fast. Fingers crossed tomorrow is the day I can tuck into something a bit more exciting.
The thing I'm more bummed about is the fact that I can't really "eat" anything. Drinking, sipping and mushing food against my palate and front teeth with my tongue before swallowing do not count as eating. I had never realised how pleasureable and satisfying chewing is and how much I'd be craving solids.
What's preventing me taking the risk of chewing anything is the constant fear of dry socket - when the clot forming over the extraction site dislodges - apparently it's a pain you'd never want to know and goes on for days. Getting any food in the gaping holes which I can only imagine are lurking at the back of my mouth (haven't been brave enough to investigate with my tongue yet and can't open my mouth wide enough to see anything in the mirror) isn't worth it. See "dry socket" comment!
But I can tell you that banana custard babyfood, soup, yoghurt, jelly, mashed banana, avocado and sweet potato, even icecream are getting old fast. Fingers crossed tomorrow is the day I can tuck into something a bit more exciting.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Queen Victoria Markets
Located at the northern end of the city is my foodie Nirvana aka the Queen Vic Markets. I'm not sure why, but on my first visit to Melbourne in 2001 I didn't pay much attention to the food part of the markets, instead focussing all my attention and sparse budget on the cheap clothing and leather-look bags in the section adjacent to the food areas. I blame the fact that I was dating a petrol-head bogan at the time and had a decidedly unrefined, student's palate to match.
In subsequnet visits however, I have rediscovered the delights that lie within those huge green sheds. Mouthwatering eye fillet steaks, tender racks of spring lamb, beautiful fresh whole fish, glistening fillets of fresh tuna, scallops, prawns and every other type of seafood and vibrantly coloured fresh vegetables and fruit. A true feast for the eyes, and grumbling tummy!
The atmosphere is an experience in itself with a cacophony of butchers, deli stall owners and fishmonger shouting out their specials (and they are amazing ones at that!), the hustle and bustle of dozens of people pulling their overflowing "granny shopping carts" (you know the material ones on 2 wheels) along and eyeing up the specials that day, and tourists snapping away at the delicious displays of cheeses, dolmas and goats feta stuffed bell peppers piled high. The deli section is a favourite of mine being a self-diagnosed cheese addict. The selection and smells are nothing short high-enducing!
Might have to pay another visit this week!
In subsequnet visits however, I have rediscovered the delights that lie within those huge green sheds. Mouthwatering eye fillet steaks, tender racks of spring lamb, beautiful fresh whole fish, glistening fillets of fresh tuna, scallops, prawns and every other type of seafood and vibrantly coloured fresh vegetables and fruit. A true feast for the eyes, and grumbling tummy!
The atmosphere is an experience in itself with a cacophony of butchers, deli stall owners and fishmonger shouting out their specials (and they are amazing ones at that!), the hustle and bustle of dozens of people pulling their overflowing "granny shopping carts" (you know the material ones on 2 wheels) along and eyeing up the specials that day, and tourists snapping away at the delicious displays of cheeses, dolmas and goats feta stuffed bell peppers piled high. The deli section is a favourite of mine being a self-diagnosed cheese addict. The selection and smells are nothing short high-enducing!
Might have to pay another visit this week!
Williamstown
After a brief 3 day holiday in Sydney early last week to see my parents who were there for work, my mum came back to Melbourne with me to stay with us for a few nights. It was so nice to be able to show her around and for her to see where we live and be able to "picture" us when we're having our trans-Tasman phone chats.
We thought we'd taken advantage of my mum being here and do some touristy stuff over the weekend. We decided to do a river cruise down the Yarra to Williamstown. Williamstown is a heritage area situated on a point between Hobson's and Port Phillip Bay. It's a quiet seaside village complete with dozens of restaurants, a quaint harbour, lovely park with views of the city and a few knick knacky gift shops. Great for a leisurely stroll on a sunny day, icecream in hand.
Not sure I'd be back in a hurry, but it was a great, relaxing little outing on a warm Saturday afternoon and would recommend a visit even just for the hour long ferry ride along the Yarra through Docklands and past Port Melbourne.
We thought we'd taken advantage of my mum being here and do some touristy stuff over the weekend. We decided to do a river cruise down the Yarra to Williamstown. Williamstown is a heritage area situated on a point between Hobson's and Port Phillip Bay. It's a quiet seaside village complete with dozens of restaurants, a quaint harbour, lovely park with views of the city and a few knick knacky gift shops. Great for a leisurely stroll on a sunny day, icecream in hand.
Not sure I'd be back in a hurry, but it was a great, relaxing little outing on a warm Saturday afternoon and would recommend a visit even just for the hour long ferry ride along the Yarra through Docklands and past Port Melbourne.
GF weekend footy fever
One sport I can safely say I have never followed or understood is Aussie Rules football or AFL. An oval field with 36 players on it, volleyball-"dig"-style passing, basketball dribbling and goal officials who look like judges at a livestock fair? I didn't get it. But being in the thick of it for Grand Final (GF) weekend I couldn't help but get excited by all the hoo-ha.
Melburnians are fanatical AFL fans. The majority of the teams in the competition are from Melbourne and its surrounds so it's without a doubt, the most followed sport over here. Rugby schmugby. Cricket and tennis maybe get a look in in summer, but generally speaking, it's all about "footy".
Surprisingly; although the game, when watched, appears to have very few rules, there's a whole list of them. Too long to type out here, but download this brochure for some compelling reading! All 93 pages of it:
http://www.afl.com.au/portals/0/afl_docs/development/afl_explained/Laws%20of%20Football_2010.pdf
I did my last-minute homework by watching the finals (a precursor to the "grand" final, it's not sufficient to call them "semis") last weekend and got a bit of a taste for the fast-moving, goal-scoring frenzy that is AFL. I adopted S's team, the St Kilda Saints, mainly because they were in the finals and then the GF too and because I like St Kilda as a seaside suburb albeit very touristy - yes I am aware of my "pot" status in this regard!
We only managed to catch the last 3 quarters of the GF in a Southbank bar, and what an exciting spectacle it was! The Pies, as the Collingwood Magpies are colloquially known, were in the lead for 97% of the game but in the final quarter St Kilda managed not only to catch up, but to overtake the Pies for the lead. But the drama didn't stop there and a reply from the Pies meant the match ended in a 68 all draw. Now you'd think that given this was the GF of all GFs (these teams last met in a final in 1966 where the Saints beat the Pies by 1 point so there was a lot riding on the victory), there'd be some extra time to decide the winner. No. These two teams have to play another whole match this weekend crown the champions. I've never seen more dejected looking players in my life. There were also a fair few Collingwood fans in floods of tears. They'd almost tasted victory only to have it snatched from their grasp.
I'll definitely be watching this weekend's rematch from the couch while recovering from my wisdom teeth operation on Friday morning. Who knows, I might even be donning a rather fetching red, black and white Saints scarf and humming "when the saints go marching in".
Here are some cute ode to GF cupcakes we spied at the Queen Vic Markets on Friday afternoon.
And a packed Collins Street for the Grand Final parade at lunchtime, last Friday.
Melburnians are fanatical AFL fans. The majority of the teams in the competition are from Melbourne and its surrounds so it's without a doubt, the most followed sport over here. Rugby schmugby. Cricket and tennis maybe get a look in in summer, but generally speaking, it's all about "footy".
Surprisingly; although the game, when watched, appears to have very few rules, there's a whole list of them. Too long to type out here, but download this brochure for some compelling reading! All 93 pages of it:
http://www.afl.com.au/portals/0/afl_docs/development/afl_explained/Laws%20of%20Football_2010.pdf
I did my last-minute homework by watching the finals (a precursor to the "grand" final, it's not sufficient to call them "semis") last weekend and got a bit of a taste for the fast-moving, goal-scoring frenzy that is AFL. I adopted S's team, the St Kilda Saints, mainly because they were in the finals and then the GF too and because I like St Kilda as a seaside suburb albeit very touristy - yes I am aware of my "pot" status in this regard!
We only managed to catch the last 3 quarters of the GF in a Southbank bar, and what an exciting spectacle it was! The Pies, as the Collingwood Magpies are colloquially known, were in the lead for 97% of the game but in the final quarter St Kilda managed not only to catch up, but to overtake the Pies for the lead. But the drama didn't stop there and a reply from the Pies meant the match ended in a 68 all draw. Now you'd think that given this was the GF of all GFs (these teams last met in a final in 1966 where the Saints beat the Pies by 1 point so there was a lot riding on the victory), there'd be some extra time to decide the winner. No. These two teams have to play another whole match this weekend crown the champions. I've never seen more dejected looking players in my life. There were also a fair few Collingwood fans in floods of tears. They'd almost tasted victory only to have it snatched from their grasp.
I'll definitely be watching this weekend's rematch from the couch while recovering from my wisdom teeth operation on Friday morning. Who knows, I might even be donning a rather fetching red, black and white Saints scarf and humming "when the saints go marching in".
Here are some cute ode to GF cupcakes we spied at the Queen Vic Markets on Friday afternoon.
And a packed Collins Street for the Grand Final parade at lunchtime, last Friday.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Wisdom saga
So it turns out it wasn't as simple as getting the offending tooth, or teeth as I was hoping, yanked. We made our way back to the dentist bright and early (well, not that early... 10am) on Sunday morning expecting to be drugged up and chipmunked up by the time I walked out of there. Alas, after looking at my 180 degree xray for a few minutes, the dentist declared my teeth too close to my mental nerves (I just Wikipeadia-ed as couldn't remember the name of them) which control feeling in the lower lip. If these were nicked or damaged in surgery/extraction, I could lose the feeling in my lower lip either temporarily or in a worst case scenario, permanently.
So back to my mates at Clayray to get a 3D scan of my lower jaw (at another $300 AUD) which will reveal how close the teeth are to the nerves and determine next steps. I'm also seeing a maxillofacial surgery specialist *cue ringing till sounds* next week as had some rather unorthodox council from my dentist about lopping the top of the teeth off and leaving the roots in which didn't sound quite right. So after consulting a family friend in Auckland, who put me onto an orthodontist, who in turn put me on to a specialist, I'm (well, the boyfriend and mother) feeling a little more confident about my pending surgery. We'll see what he says next Friday.
How horrible would it be to lose feeling in your lower lip? I'm envisaging multiple incidences of burned lip on cups of hot tea, applying lipgloss to my chin because I can't feel where my lip ends and worst of all, not feeling my S's kisses. It doesn't bear contemplation!
So back to my mates at Clayray to get a 3D scan of my lower jaw (at another $300 AUD) which will reveal how close the teeth are to the nerves and determine next steps. I'm also seeing a maxillofacial surgery specialist *cue ringing till sounds* next week as had some rather unorthodox council from my dentist about lopping the top of the teeth off and leaving the roots in which didn't sound quite right. So after consulting a family friend in Auckland, who put me onto an orthodontist, who in turn put me on to a specialist, I'm (well, the boyfriend and mother) feeling a little more confident about my pending surgery. We'll see what he says next Friday.
How horrible would it be to lose feeling in your lower lip? I'm envisaging multiple incidences of burned lip on cups of hot tea, applying lipgloss to my chin because I can't feel where my lip ends and worst of all, not feeling my S's kisses. It doesn't bear contemplation!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Flat FOMO
I'd heard varying accounts of what flat hunting is like is Melbourne. Most people have scared me with cautionary tales of 30-people-deep inspections, all with applications filled out and at the ready. Add to that, the dilemma of wanting to settle quickly into some kind of normalcy vs free accommodation for another 3 weeks (I know... I'm complaining why??) and not having our belongings yet and it's all a bit much.
It seems that the lead times are pretty short over here , ie don't start looking until you are ready to move in NOW. Herein lies the FOMO (fear of missing out) problem. All these places are available now and it's hard not to look at them! We saw a great place the other night, opposite the Royal Botanical Gardens, 50m from the Yarra River and all the amazing walking/biking tracks along it. It has brand new carpets, paint, bathroom and amazing kitchen, is light and large and has ample storage... oh and a carpark and ducted heating/cooling. I fell in love with it (and even dreamt about it last night) and then realised it's probably silly to take the first place we like when there are probably dozens of others that'll come up in the next couple weeks when we're ready to move in. Besides, it didn't have any of its own outdoor space to speak of and I'm sure come summer, that'll be where we want to be.
It really is a luxury to have time to look properly and get to know where exactly it is we want to live and I shouldn't forget that. Having said that, we are looking at 5 more places tomorrow! We never learn!
On a separate note, here are some photos we took last night whilst walking "home" from the movies along Southbank. It was a beautifully still night and the reflection of the city lights on the river was quite breathtaking.
It seems that the lead times are pretty short over here , ie don't start looking until you are ready to move in NOW. Herein lies the FOMO (fear of missing out) problem. All these places are available now and it's hard not to look at them! We saw a great place the other night, opposite the Royal Botanical Gardens, 50m from the Yarra River and all the amazing walking/biking tracks along it. It has brand new carpets, paint, bathroom and amazing kitchen, is light and large and has ample storage... oh and a carpark and ducted heating/cooling. I fell in love with it (and even dreamt about it last night) and then realised it's probably silly to take the first place we like when there are probably dozens of others that'll come up in the next couple weeks when we're ready to move in. Besides, it didn't have any of its own outdoor space to speak of and I'm sure come summer, that'll be where we want to be.
It really is a luxury to have time to look properly and get to know where exactly it is we want to live and I shouldn't forget that. Having said that, we are looking at 5 more places tomorrow! We never learn!
On a separate note, here are some photos we took last night whilst walking "home" from the movies along Southbank. It was a beautifully still night and the reflection of the city lights on the river was quite breathtaking.
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