The Heat Is On
Since my last post, the mercury's been climbing and today it hit a max of about 40 deg C. Not only that but the nights have been warm as well & I actually slept in shorts & T-shirt last night & practically threw off most of the doona ( Aussie-speak for quilt or duvet ) as the minimum temp only went down to 26 deg.
There was also high fire alert yesterday as the strong wind coupled with dry & hot temperatures makes for a perfect bush-fire condition. Heard on the news that indeed there were some fires out in the country, which were fortunately, not out of control. The rain that fell in the late afternoon and caused a bit of delay to the Australian Open tennis matches did not serve to reduce the temperature much at all.
Was at my usual Saturday morning church bookshop duty this morning and felt like having a really cold drink, so wandered out at lunch time to Melbourne Central, which is just round the corner from the church. As I was walking out, I felt the wind blowing in my face - it was actually warm ! Such a strange feeling for me, and somewhat distressing too, being used to the fact that winds are supposed to bring relief & refreshment from the heat in Singapore.
So I did what any self-respecting Singaporean would do to escape - I went to the movies ! Bernice, Olive & I just walked over to the cinema in Melbourne Central after we closed the bookshop for the day.
Hurray for the airconditioning, which was comfortable enough for me not to feel hot and yet not need any cardigan to cover up as we are used to in the cinema halls in Singapore. The seats at the Hoyts Cineplex in Melbourne central are quite comfortable & plush, with ample leg room, which is something I really love.
This particular cineplex has been renovated recently & boasts a hall in which patrons are seated in giant bean bags rather the the usual sort of seats. It is known as The Half-Pipe, which is cinema 2 of the cineplex. Apparently the prices are the same as for the other cinemas, and you can even arrange for special hampers of tid-bits & stuff to be sent to your bean bag. We make plans to return to try out the Half-Pipe in the future.
We watched Memoirs of A Geisha, which turned out to be a beautifully shot & scored film. Ultimately, however, it failed to really moved me, so I would have to give it a rating of 3 and a half stars out of 5. Felt that it was too westernised - the fact that the actors spoke in a kind of Japanese accented English was also irritating to me. The few times when they actually spoke in Japanese sounded better to me, even though I did not know what they were saying.It just felt more authentic to me somehow when they did that.
After the movie, Bernice & I had dinner at the little chinese place along Swanston Street where they have a $3.90 crispy chicken rice, which by Melbourne standards, is very cheap for a meal. The chicken is done beautifully, with the skin nice & crisp but flesh still tender. Only gripe I have is the fact that they don't put any vegies on it, so in order to make a balanced meal, I add on a beancurd and vegies soup.
I head home on the number 8 tram after that, which is filled with the usual Saturday night young "crowd" looking for Chapel Street fun. As I enter the apartment & open the window, the warm air outside makes me close the window back & turn on the airconditioning in the apartment for the first time.
Ahhhhh....bliss at last ! Well, I guess I will survive the heat after all. :-)
There was also high fire alert yesterday as the strong wind coupled with dry & hot temperatures makes for a perfect bush-fire condition. Heard on the news that indeed there were some fires out in the country, which were fortunately, not out of control. The rain that fell in the late afternoon and caused a bit of delay to the Australian Open tennis matches did not serve to reduce the temperature much at all.
Was at my usual Saturday morning church bookshop duty this morning and felt like having a really cold drink, so wandered out at lunch time to Melbourne Central, which is just round the corner from the church. As I was walking out, I felt the wind blowing in my face - it was actually warm ! Such a strange feeling for me, and somewhat distressing too, being used to the fact that winds are supposed to bring relief & refreshment from the heat in Singapore.
So I did what any self-respecting Singaporean would do to escape - I went to the movies ! Bernice, Olive & I just walked over to the cinema in Melbourne Central after we closed the bookshop for the day.
Hurray for the airconditioning, which was comfortable enough for me not to feel hot and yet not need any cardigan to cover up as we are used to in the cinema halls in Singapore. The seats at the Hoyts Cineplex in Melbourne central are quite comfortable & plush, with ample leg room, which is something I really love.
This particular cineplex has been renovated recently & boasts a hall in which patrons are seated in giant bean bags rather the the usual sort of seats. It is known as The Half-Pipe, which is cinema 2 of the cineplex. Apparently the prices are the same as for the other cinemas, and you can even arrange for special hampers of tid-bits & stuff to be sent to your bean bag. We make plans to return to try out the Half-Pipe in the future.
We watched Memoirs of A Geisha, which turned out to be a beautifully shot & scored film. Ultimately, however, it failed to really moved me, so I would have to give it a rating of 3 and a half stars out of 5. Felt that it was too westernised - the fact that the actors spoke in a kind of Japanese accented English was also irritating to me. The few times when they actually spoke in Japanese sounded better to me, even though I did not know what they were saying.It just felt more authentic to me somehow when they did that.
After the movie, Bernice & I had dinner at the little chinese place along Swanston Street where they have a $3.90 crispy chicken rice, which by Melbourne standards, is very cheap for a meal. The chicken is done beautifully, with the skin nice & crisp but flesh still tender. Only gripe I have is the fact that they don't put any vegies on it, so in order to make a balanced meal, I add on a beancurd and vegies soup.
I head home on the number 8 tram after that, which is filled with the usual Saturday night young "crowd" looking for Chapel Street fun. As I enter the apartment & open the window, the warm air outside makes me close the window back & turn on the airconditioning in the apartment for the first time.
Ahhhhh....bliss at last ! Well, I guess I will survive the heat after all. :-)
posted by J Wong at 11:46 PM
1 Comments:
which church do u go to?
Where is the chicken rice place?
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