I had a drink tonight with a mate who shall remain nameless.
Used with permission is this photograph of the DOUBLE MISTAKE he made in getting dressed today.
Oddly enough, he only discovered this after a day out and about on the town.
“Why didn’t anyone say anything?”, he asked rhetorically.
The location for the Red Lantern has been been a restaurant vortex for a number of years. Ever since the building was renovated in the late 90s – I think it was previously a private residence – none of the restaurants have done terribly well. Although I have a certain fondness for a Middle Eastern themed restaurant that was there for a while, it’s been a virtual black hole for restaurants.
And then, all of a sudden, Red Lantern opened and it became popular. More recently, the restaurant has been featured as one of three restaurants on the SBS TV Show, Heat In The Kitchen. The series has explained it has been an inner-city experiment by a family who run a “cheap and cheerful” Vietnamese restaurant in Cabramatta which specialises and only offers half a dozen dishes.
“Red Lantern” is just around the corner, so it was a little surreal to go from watching the show at home to eating at the restaurant just moments later. We were also pretty excited, because we’d known the history of the place and we were really hopeful that, at last, it would take off as a deservedly great place to eat.
For entrees we had the lightly battered chilli salted squid and the vegetarian rice paper rolls, which included potato and carrot. Both were quite good.
For mains we had BBQ duck and the slow cooked goat, cooked in turmeric and coconut milk. The goat was good, though fairly indistinguishable from lamb, strangely enough. The duck was okay.
Although we quite enjoyed the meals, we were perhaps a little disappointed. Although they was tasty and well presented, the meals lacked a certain “something”.
Or maybe it’s just that Damo and I have been too well fed over a number of years.
Though it’s not the end of the month yet, and I might add to this over the next few days, these are some of my memories/posts from other platforms. Not worth a blog post in their own right, but still lots of interesting bits and pieces, I guess.
October 12 : At my local pub, the barmaid told me she just received a phone call from someone asking for her husband to come home. “What does he look like?”, she was asked, to which she replied “They’re all fucking bald…”
October 14 : Email from a friend in Melbourne. “I expected Virginia might stumble a bit this morning, her first day on air after a long break at the radio mike, but she didn’t and was just brilliant.” @abcmelbourne@LaTrioli
“I have a connection to the pub across the road” I told the woman who was looking after things at St Bede’s Catholic Church in Appin today. “Two of my ancestors ran the pub back in the 1840s”, I told her, referring to William Rixon and Ann Hoare.
“There was a close connection between the church and the pub” she told me, pointing to the family, the Carolls who owned the pub and who ran it as a guest and boarding house, who were buried in the graveyard. “The sisters also used to have rooms there”, she added.
With a strong and long-term interest in family history, I hopped on a train early this morning and made my way to the 200th Anniversary Celebrations for Appin, located about 15km from Campbelltown in Sydney’s West. My ancestral connection to Appin is pretty much confined to the period when they ran The Union Revived. Their main connection was with Campbelltown itself, which is where William is buried, along with his mother, in the graveyard of the Anglican Church. I visited their graves also today, for the first time. Meanwhile, Ann went on to marry a few more times, moved closer to the city, and was finally burried under the name Ann Phibbs at Waverley Cemetery. I visited her grave a few months ago.
After a look around the St Bede’s Cemetery, I made my way down the street to watch the street parade. Mostly, the parade was made up of school groups, sports teams, organisations like the Rural Fire Service and pipe bands. I couldn’t believe there could be that many bagpipes in one parade, but then I guess, the area is called The Southern Highlands and the main town is Campbelltown. My favourites were a young girl, maybe five years old, who was impressively beating her drum in time, and seeing a 16 year old emo girl as part of one of the bands. Later I saw an emo boy dressed up in colonial gear which also gave me a bit of a giggle.
Naturally enough, there were art displays, Aboriginal cultural displays, sausage sizzles, jumping castles, and of course gözleme.
But for me, the most interesting thing was going to see the pub that was once run by some of my ancestors. The building is in a very poor state of repair now. There were no signs to say you couldn’t enter the building, so I just did. But as I walked through I needed to be particularly careful, as I discovered the floor could give way with one too heavy foot-step. “It’s a real shame it’s in such a poor state of repair”, a woman who was doing the same said to me as we passed each other.
I picked up a book about the town which mentions William Rixon’s brief period at the pub, and I placed an order for another book commemorating the anniversary.
And that cleaned me out of my planned spending money for the day which became a bit of a problem as I went to use the ATM at the servo. “It’s empty”, I told the bloke behind the counter. “Yeah, it’s been flat out since five o’clock this morning”, he told me. I reckon it was one of the busiest days in the history of Appin.
The closest I’ve ever gotten to China was a short visit to Hong Kong a couple of years ago. But tomorrow I’m heading off to Beijing for two weeks.
Primarily, it’s to visit my friend Kate who has been living and working in Beijing on and off for the last few years. But it’s also a visit to a country which obviously holds a lot of fascination at the moment.
Thirty years ago, when I was a teenage short-wave radio fan, I used to listen to what was then called Radio Peking. In fact, I think I may still have some “reception cards” from then. I still a strong memory of listening to the station in the wake of the death of Mao. Yeah, I’m THAT old.
And obviously the last few years have shown an increasing importance for China, particularly for Australia. As we go into the next few decades, China will undoubtedly become an increasingly important part of the lives of many Australians.
Yet when my friend Patrick today called me to wish me all the best, and when he asked, “are you excited?”, I struggled for an answer. Yes, I am excited, but also a little confused. I really don’t know what to expect. Unlike other trips which I’ve researched heavily, I’m still quite unsure about what to expect with this trip.
Thankfully, I have a good friend there. And another colleague and friend who in fact wrote a book about China a couple of years ago, and who has given me advice, will also be there. So there’s a already a sense of familiarity.
But at the same time there’s also a sense of confusion. I can’t conceptualise a city of 17-22 million people. I can’t conceptualise not being able to even guess what some of the signs are saying. It’s a step into the unknown.
So I’ve packed, all my clothes are washed and iron, I’ve got all my documents together, all my cords and chargers are ready to go. And the house is cleaned.
I’ve never been this organised before an overseas trip!
After tonight’s Swedish class, I’ve been having a bit of a Swedish pop night on Youtube, so I thought I’d share with you three clips from Frida from ABBA’s solo career. Unless you’re a dedicated fan, you’ll probably have no idea about they exist…
1967 – Frida – En Ledig Dag. She won a national talent contest which launched her career. In this clip she is 21 or 22 years old, and is incredibly nervous in speaking about her life. It’s gorgeous. And she sings beautifully… (the song starts at 1.51, but you should also watch the interview as it’s quite special).
1975 – Frida and Bjorn Skiffs. Frida recorded a Swedish language version of “You Make Me Feel Brand New” with Bjorn Skiffs who, famously, sang “Hooked On A Feeling” as part of the band Blue Suede.
1987 – Frida and Ratata – Så Länge Vi Har Varann: A duet with the Swedish pop group, Ratata. They also recorded an English language version called, As Long As I Have You.
1995 – Frida – Även en blomma. Complete with English subtitles, this is a beautiful song which Frida recorded as part of a Swedish language “comeback CD” called “Djupa Andetag” (Deep Breaths”).
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Graeme?
my first thought too…
Before you know it its a new trend!
I’ve never been one for outing people for fashion faux pas!
OKAY YES IT WAS ME. JESUS!
Can’t a boy do something in a rush and not live to regret it.
I do understand know why people in Leicchardt, Annandale & Glebe were looking at me strangely all day.
Street Cred for Graeme: -10
Was that you!