Clouds rolled in during the early evening last night, so I squashed the QV Market. Besides, the funk band I wanted to see was already half way thru their set. Next Wed. for sure, line up looks kicker.
As I am discovering the weather soon turned favourable. Locals seem to know all four seasons can be expected in a day. Not to waste the day, I hopped on the bike and cruised down the St. Kilda Beach path.
After catching some winks, I woke up starving. I know you’re shocked learning I hadn’t had a morsel all day. Some things don’t change. I figured it was a good opportunity to hit the supermarket for some groceries and whip something together.
I was dumbfounded at the cost of food! Peppers at $5/kg, most fruit priced from $3.50/kg, Chicken breasts were in the $12-$15 range for two small filets. How the hell do people afford to eat here? Everything was grown locally…Holy Shit!
Ok, maybe it was the store I chose. I tried two others, same deal. Now approaching the midnight hour, the options for take- out were getting slim. The Fitzroy strip has plenty of restos, but little in the way of grab ‘n go. Pizza slices were $5 at the portion size of a pan pizza slice and chips and gravy at $7. In anger, I dropped into a liquor store and grabbed a six pack of Cascade Blond Wheat Ale. I popped a couple once back at the pad whilst thinking the ample markets in this town must be able to beat retail prices. I hope.
I decided to set up my iPhone. Mostly went fine, but couldn’t make a call. WTF? Broadband was fine. Signal and registration was good, so it’s unblocked. Great, gotta make another trip to the CBD on Thurs. This day is not going as well as it could have.
I woke up to grey skies and rain. Blah. I checked the forecast online; it called for showers most of the day. I thought perhaps a falling out from the cyclone up in Queensland where 9.5m waves and 120+km/hr winds reigned the night before.
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| Flinders Street Rail Station |
What an ordeal. I was at the store for about an hour with the rep trying to troubleshoot the problem. He was a good dude, not his fault. He tried a number of things from restoring the phone, service plan updates and swapping out micro sim chips. Finally after a lengthy call to tech support, all is sorted out. So call or use Skype as it’s installed on mobile too.
By this time the skies had cleared to blue, with heat and humidity. I guess the weather man sucks down here too. No shades, no shorts and no spf. I was as hot as a pig in sh*t.
A couple of good savvy friends called familiar with Melbourne to say hello and advised me to head to the Fitzroy Precinct (neighbourhood) to stroll down Brunswick St. So, off I went. Bless Google Maps, GPS and various other apps to get me there.
I passed by the Parliament building, local theatre and Fitzroy Gardens along the way. Not to mention countless sushi establishments equivalent to the number of coffee shops we have back home. It appears people either want sushi or sweets because they’re everywhere.
Fitzroy Precinct is a pretty cool ‘hood. As noted by Chris its Queen W, circa 1990’s. A number of grunge, punk peeps on the street hopping in/out lotsa vintage clothing stores, a bar here and there and some groovy looking cafes. I think the buzz at night will be worth checking out.
Now perspired, I sought refuge in Edinburgh Park to catch some shade, a little bit of rays plus give my dogs a rest. At least, I could put that newly acquired beach towel purchased from downtown to use. I now have a beautiful red glow from the waist up. I’m going with base layer.
Surfing the web I found a place to end my 24hr fasting period at Vegie Bar, which apparently has some yummy tagines. Back to the Brunswick strip and walked into the joint. It was like stepping into the Rivoli. The meal came quickly accompanied by a bottle of Little Creatures Pale Ale. The tagine was more ragu with a side of cous cous. It lacked aromatic flavours and clearly wasn’t cooked using the proper device. Nevertheless, I inhaled it to quench my hunger.
All was not lost. As my eyes made their way around the room to the wall of music posters, I was drawn to one particular promo spot. Live, Feb. 4 at the Price of Wales Hotel, Aloe Blacc. Hell yeah! The venue is in St. Kilda, crawling distance to my pad. One can only hope the evening goes as well as Phelps’ did. It was a hard choice to forgo intended Chinese New Year celebrations, but I now have my first drunk lined up. Stopped at the venue on the way home and grabbed a ticket.
Who needs a dollar?
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