syncopation

Australian Open 2010

There’s no doubt that you have to be a brilliant tennis player to play in the Australian Open.

But you also have to be very persistant to survive the Australian Open as a spectator, battling the ever-changing weather: being drizzled on in the late morning, being incubated by clouds in the early afternoon, being fried by the sun in the late afternoon, and of course, it would never be a perfect day in Melbourne without being froze in the evening.

Yep. I’ve done it all in one day.

Melbourne is not on the list!

I was looking for a Moleskine City Notebook of Melbourne so that I could document all the places I love in Melbourne before I leave – and apparently I have thought too much of Melbourne as a city important enough for Moleskine to publish a city notebook…

Interestingly, neither is Sydney important enough or any cities on the southern hemisphere..!

But I thought I am pretty good at going to important cities :P

And yeah, I know, I know, Moleskine is an overpriced piece of crap.

火車站

除了香港電車上層以及天星小輪下層以外，我覺得火車站又是一個很浪漫的地方。不過呢個ＯＰＴＩＯＮ貴一點，因為我所講的火車站和香港的「火車站」很不同。

香港有幸，公共交通之發達己發達至不用擔心其速度及可靠度。（不是說它完全沒有問題，但除了其價格高昂外，真的沒有甚麼可以挑剔。）

可是香港人也無福享受火車站的浪漫﹣火車站經常人頭湧湧，行人如梭，有浪漫先奇。再者，香港的火車密度一班又一班，跟地鐵的班次密度無異，實在是世界唯一。可又，每隔五分鐘的嘟嘟嘟嘟以及月台廣播真的將所有閒情一掃而空，有浪漫都變無浪漫。

火車站的浪漫在於火車那種依依不舍的速度和親密感。火車和飛機的速度不同，你可以追火車看著你要說再見的人徐徐隨火車開動而離去，但你不可以追飛機。再加上如今的機場自９１１以來就有如驚弓之鳥，ＳＥＣＵＲＩＴＹ要ＣＨＥＣＫ呢樣ＣＨＥＣＫ個樣。在禁區前流躂多一陣都會惹來保安哥哥的好奇，實在諗起都掃興。

我想，我心中理想的火車站應該是歐洲的（大）火車站：倫敦ＫＩＮＧ’Ｓ　ＣＲＯＳＳ車站的古色古香，柏林車站的摩登和井井有條，馬爾墨車站的安守本份，哥本哈根和斯多哥爾摩車站之堂皇，一一都教我難以忘懷。我亦曾在隆德車站管接管送，在米蘭車站被追火車。那情那景絕對是我想牢牢記著一世的。

當然，凡事總有例外，因為我真的不能由衷的覺得我漏了往米蘭火車的巴黎里昂車站浪漫，我只記得它很大很大，大得我趕不上去米蘭的火車。我也不覺得捷克的ＰＬＺＥＮ車站很美。我只記得自己獨個兒在三七吾識二十一，又冷的地方在凌晨等了兩個鐘頭接駁火車往ＣＨＥＢ．．．

那麼，墨爾本的火車站呢？

應該是受到了本地城市規劃教育的影響，我對它火車站的感情無從入手。我只想到它的髒，它的誤點和不安全。

So Close!

Lunch Break at State Library

Sashi don, good company, abundance of sunshine (despite the lack of sun screen…), abundance of water, free time…

What a good day :D

Resettling in Melbourne

I am starting to think my impression of Melbourne is too much better than reality.

When I was travelling in Europe, I thought, ‘Eh, I will be able to find these in Melbourne.’ However, the truth is, usually, a big fat NO:

I couldn’t find good jamon Serrano. Good parmigiano-reggiano isn’t as readily available as in Italy. Proscuitto here tastes nothing. Pesto tastes weird. Good cheese is not as easy to come by as Europe. (I give up my search for Västerbottenost.) Bread is weird too… The collection of müsli isn’t as exciting as the one in Sweden. Collection in bottleshop is overwhelmingly Australian (duh. But is it a crime that I miss Systembolaget – not the price tag though). Grillakorv is a total disaster!!! (Okay, I know it is somewhat unfair as I am picking the cream of every country to compare what’s available in Melbourne…)

Aside from food, student accommodation is a nightmare here and a zillion times more expensive than in Lund. There are hardly anyone biking. Travelling by public transport on Sunday is more difficult than I could remember. Plus everything is so far away. And Melburnians are less chill than I could remember and intimidating in some cases (especially on public transport in suburbs!!! I guess that implies something?!)

But… the café latte in Melbourne never fails me. It truly is the best coffee in the world…! (And the ‘line’ in Castro is just how I remember it.) Soy option is always available in café (yay!). Fruits are comparatively affordable here. Beef and lamb are yummy… And availability of gourmet yoghurt continues to grow… (yummm…)

… So does my energy-intake per day…(!) Off to gym now – vi ses!

xoxo