On Friday, Kyles and I went to catch the ABC Young Performer's Grand Final at Hamer Hall. Three soloist were vying for the title and the grand prize of $25,000. We had a superachiever violinist who's a doctor in her day-job (and I'm complaining about tutoring), an oboeist/oboist?, and a quirky pianist complete with the requisite crazy hair.
Violinist, Rebecca Chan played Erlich Korngold's Violin Concerto, while Jessica played Strauss's Oboe Concerto. My favourite, Maxwell-crazy hair, played the amazing Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1. Rebecca was good- unfortunately the bottle of wine Kyles and I shared over dinner was better. I found myself doing the embarrassing nod-nod that I usually do while on any form of public transport, and/or seminars. I think the girl sitting next to me was getting concerned at one point when I swayed dangerously close to her shoulders. I just hope she thought I was getting into the music!
After a loo-break, which I supposed got rid of the alcohol, I was able to stay awake to watch Jessica show off her amazing lung powers with the Oboe Concerto. Can't say I'm an oboe expert, but the piece kept me awake. Well, that or the amusement derived from watching Jessica play the oboe like the Hulk would. As Kyles says, "It's a little lacking aesthetically".
My favourite little pianist, little because he's a baby, came out, sat the the grand piano and whipped out a hanky to wipe his face. He proceeded to do that during the pauses in the entire piece! But oh, what a magnificent piece. He's not older than 18, but I think he played with maturity, not perfect, but pretty good. I feel like I can comment because this piece is actually in my Best Classical Album.. EVAH, also in my 100 Best Classics of ALL TIME. Oh not forgetting also, QuadroMANIA- 4 FAVOURITE PIANO CONCERTOS. With expert ears like mine.. surely I know what I'm talking about.
Saturday morning started with Breakfast at Gas Eatery in South Melbourne. My current favourite just because they have a varied menu for breakky! Tapas and chipolatas for breakfast? I had Spanish Eggs, with chives, chorizo slices and feta. Like the eggs, but disliked the feta. But that's just me. Maybe my Asian tongue still needs education in all things cheesy. It came with bacon and delicious, fresh bread. So that's ok (bacon is like fried chicken- it's the solution to everything).
After a siesta, headed out to Victoria St, Richmond for a bit of cheap eat since breakfast was a splurge. Oh, what a find! Charlie, Ken and I decided to be adventurous and wanted to pick someplace that's not Pacifc House, or Minh Tanh 2 (staples). Thought maybe Binh Minh, since people at work talk about it always. But BM was suspiciously half-filled, and worse, by Whities. So we went walkabout, searching for a new restaurant, guided by our 3 criteria:
i. Must be sufficiently full.
ii. Patrons must consists of at least 50% Asians (well, you wouldn't go to an Italian restaurant full of Asian would you? Although, you can almost be guaranteed that it would be cheap).
iii. Must not have wanky, Whity names like: Oriental Spirit.
We found one, Thanh Ha 2 that fitted the above criteria- better, it had the tacky deco, cheap plastic chairs and pictures of food displayed on its mirrored wall. The food was so yummy! Steamed Rice Pork and Prawn Roll that had very authentic flavours, Crispy Five-Spice Chicken with sticky rice and XO Beef with Claypot Rice with a KICK. The sweetest of sweet: it costs us each $9 only.
And continuing from our adventurous theme: we had Coopers Extra Strong Ale with 7.5% alcohol content and German's Shoeferhoffer that tasted surprisingly like sausages. Weird.
Sunday: woke up at a disgraceful hour of 12 pm. Had Roast Pork and Duck Rice and Combination Hor Fun at Pacific House (told you it's our staple) for lunch, and then gelato at Lygon. Dinner was a Middle Eastern fare at Jordanian labmates' house. OMG. The food was enough to feed 20, and so good! I wished I remembered the names of the dishes, but my Arabic isn't at its best. I struggled to pronounce even some of it. A truly cultural experience, as we ate while watching a Bedouin soap drama, featuring jaw-droppingly beautiful Arabian men and women.
Now, sufficiently full and two hours of very minimal work- I'm going to sleep.
Oh, Maxwell-Crazy Hair won!!
Violinist, Rebecca Chan played Erlich Korngold's Violin Concerto, while Jessica played Strauss's Oboe Concerto. My favourite, Maxwell-crazy hair, played the amazing Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1. Rebecca was good- unfortunately the bottle of wine Kyles and I shared over dinner was better. I found myself doing the embarrassing nod-nod that I usually do while on any form of public transport, and/or seminars. I think the girl sitting next to me was getting concerned at one point when I swayed dangerously close to her shoulders. I just hope she thought I was getting into the music!
After a loo-break, which I supposed got rid of the alcohol, I was able to stay awake to watch Jessica show off her amazing lung powers with the Oboe Concerto. Can't say I'm an oboe expert, but the piece kept me awake. Well, that or the amusement derived from watching Jessica play the oboe like the Hulk would. As Kyles says, "It's a little lacking aesthetically".
My favourite little pianist, little because he's a baby, came out, sat the the grand piano and whipped out a hanky to wipe his face. He proceeded to do that during the pauses in the entire piece! But oh, what a magnificent piece. He's not older than 18, but I think he played with maturity, not perfect, but pretty good. I feel like I can comment because this piece is actually in my Best Classical Album.. EVAH, also in my 100 Best Classics of ALL TIME. Oh not forgetting also, QuadroMANIA- 4 FAVOURITE PIANO CONCERTOS. With expert ears like mine.. surely I know what I'm talking about.
Saturday morning started with Breakfast at Gas Eatery in South Melbourne. My current favourite just because they have a varied menu for breakky! Tapas and chipolatas for breakfast? I had Spanish Eggs, with chives, chorizo slices and feta. Like the eggs, but disliked the feta. But that's just me. Maybe my Asian tongue still needs education in all things cheesy. It came with bacon and delicious, fresh bread. So that's ok (bacon is like fried chicken- it's the solution to everything).
After a siesta, headed out to Victoria St, Richmond for a bit of cheap eat since breakfast was a splurge. Oh, what a find! Charlie, Ken and I decided to be adventurous and wanted to pick someplace that's not Pacifc House, or Minh Tanh 2 (staples). Thought maybe Binh Minh, since people at work talk about it always. But BM was suspiciously half-filled, and worse, by Whities. So we went walkabout, searching for a new restaurant, guided by our 3 criteria:
i. Must be sufficiently full.
ii. Patrons must consists of at least 50% Asians (well, you wouldn't go to an Italian restaurant full of Asian would you? Although, you can almost be guaranteed that it would be cheap).
iii. Must not have wanky, Whity names like: Oriental Spirit.
We found one, Thanh Ha 2 that fitted the above criteria- better, it had the tacky deco, cheap plastic chairs and pictures of food displayed on its mirrored wall. The food was so yummy! Steamed Rice Pork and Prawn Roll that had very authentic flavours, Crispy Five-Spice Chicken with sticky rice and XO Beef with Claypot Rice with a KICK. The sweetest of sweet: it costs us each $9 only.
And continuing from our adventurous theme: we had Coopers Extra Strong Ale with 7.5% alcohol content and German's Shoeferhoffer that tasted surprisingly like sausages. Weird.
Sunday: woke up at a disgraceful hour of 12 pm. Had Roast Pork and Duck Rice and Combination Hor Fun at Pacific House (told you it's our staple) for lunch, and then gelato at Lygon. Dinner was a Middle Eastern fare at Jordanian labmates' house. OMG. The food was enough to feed 20, and so good! I wished I remembered the names of the dishes, but my Arabic isn't at its best. I struggled to pronounce even some of it. A truly cultural experience, as we ate while watching a Bedouin soap drama, featuring jaw-droppingly beautiful Arabian men and women.
Now, sufficiently full and two hours of very minimal work- I'm going to sleep.
Oh, Maxwell-Crazy Hair won!!
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