First blog post from Downunder in 2015

If anything defines the Chinese/Indian/Fijian/Australian relatives, it's food. There are endless conversations about arcane (to me) fruits and vegetables that were in markets and on the family dining table in Fiji years ago. Half of the conversation is in the family's Loong Too (made-up spelling; I'm sure to get a correction on this soon) southern Chinese dialect. And a family meal here isn't complete without at least 3 kinds of meat, plus fish, and several Fijian and Indo-Fijian dishes. Throw in Yi's Tiramisu dessert, and you have fusion plus menus. Something for everyone. Tonight, I've offered to make coq au vin; not sure how it will go over with this foodie savvy gang. We had reduced numbers at the The New Year Day lunch; only about 18 or so in attendance. But we had music by Wadan, Albert, and Sugata--covering a range of traditional Fijian songs, and more familiar tunes like the Beatles, Credence Clearwater, Elvis, some Motown, Donovan, Cat Stevens, and others.

Wadan and Wei after a few bowls of kava (NB. Photo taken under kava influence). Kava drinking symptoms start with tingling on the tongue, with progressive numbness traveling down, eventually to arms and legs. And it's a social, ritual drinking, often accompanied with music and singing.

Raymond & Albert with their mom, Mun, youngest Virginia's siblings, and Yau, one of two brothers.

Virginia (aka Sin Yi) preparing food at the New Year lunch

Sugata and Wadan playing guitar and singing. Sugata is Wadan and sister Joan's middle son. He's studying for his PhD in climatology at Monash Uni. Albert was playing guitar also.

Flash forward to the evening meal of New Year's Day, with leftovers from the big lunch. It was a pretty light dinner at Ling and Ron's house in Mooroolbark (our Downunder headquarters). 

Wei, Ma, Yi, and David...tea after New Year Day dinner.

Sin Ling, Sin Han, and Yau in Mooroolbark after New Year Day dinner (or as it is often called Downunder, "tea". Even if no tea is actually served.

On Friday, the day after New Year, we hopped on the local commuter train to go to Melbourne proper. We're card-carrying "Myki" members...it's the public transport card that you can top up after you've finished your initial amount added to the card. It costs about AU$ 4 for a 40 minute ride into the cdb (central business district...another essential acronym to learn). The main events for the day: a visit to the NGV and the Esplanade at St. Kilda. The origin of St. Kilda is unclear since no saint named Kilda has ever existed. No worries mate; there is an archipelago off the west coast of Scotland named St. Kilda.

First stop: the Jean-Paul Gaultier fashion exhibit at the NGV. Would you believe it? JP Gaultier himself was there to greet visitors. Well, sort of. A model of JP was there, wearing a creation from his sailor series. I'd hate to spoil the fun for you if you ever see this exhibit, so I won't go into more detail about how this model pulled off a likeness of JPG. But let me encourage you, in the strongest terms, to see this exhibit if it is at a venue near you; you will be totally enthralled and dazzled at what you'll see, hear, and feel. The themes of the exhibit include the aforementioned Sailor designs, Muses, Madonnas, Mermaids, Punk, Metropolis, Skin Deep, the Boudoir, and Urban Jungle.

Gaultier "Sailor" series

Gaultier "Madonna" series

Gaultier "skin Deep" Corset & Conical Bra design

Gaultier  "Odessey" Feather design

We finished the 102 degree F (41 degree C) day at St. Kilda beach in an outdoor restaurant with pizza, salad, and beer. There were heaps (Aussie for many) of beach-goers on the beach, strolling the boardwalk (looking for shade), and in the water. A tram ride back to Glenferrie,then the train to Mooroolbark with a pick-up at the train station by Ron ended the day's journey.