Everything I know…

Let it go
…I learnt from Madonna! I went to a Midsumma event last night, a one-man show by a fellow Madonna fan, obviously, who wrote and acted in a play about his life, work, lovers, and told the story through a number of quotations taken from Madonna’s extensive song catalogue. It was funny, sad, touching…. The Queen […] Read More

Australian Open

Let it go
The Australian Open are on. You can’t ignore it, the advertising, the public viewing screens, the fans… it’s a fun atmosphere. I sat on Federation Square at the public viewing a couple of times already, eating something and watching a couple of balls being played over the net. Tickets sold out fast, especially for the […] Read More

Tales of my city

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I woke up and checked my emails, I had one from my credit card, stating that Amazon had charged me with a purchase over night. What? I was asleep… Then it dawned on me: my download of the latest Tales of the city novel had arrived. I read the Tales in 2005 I think. A […] Read More

Patio drinks

Let it go
The weekend was alcohol infused, to say the least. Saturday night saw me drinking a couple of beers at the Laird’s back patio again. Sunday I met up with Rajiv and Will, the friend of Sven who was so generous to host us in our first 9 days in Melbourne. We went to The Railway […] Read More

Out of time

Let it go
After one final, ultra hot day – spent at the pool, but in the shade – with temperatures reaching an amazing 44 degrees, the evening has brought the long awaited cooling down. Within an hour, temperatures dropped by 15 degrees as predicted. I was expecting something more drastic, it sounded so dramatic – but temperatures […] Read More

Lentil as anything

Let it go
After another day at the Fitzroy pool, my new friend Kieran, a fellow swimmer, took me to the Abbotsford Convent, on the Yarra river, just a bit west of the centre of Melbourne. During the 19th and part of the 20th century, it was one of the largest convents in Victoria. Today, it is a […] Read More

St. Kilda beach sunset

Let it go
Blistering heat. I spent all day in the pool, unfortunately my shoulders are a bit red now…. In the evening, I met up with friends in St. Kilda at the beach, for beers, to watch the sunset over the bay and have dinner afterwards. St. Kilda is bustling at that time of day, everyone is […] Read More

Moonlight

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After a super hot day, and a splash into the pool again late in the evening, I rode my bike around Fitzroy for a final beer in the moonlight. The night was hot, thanks for Kate’s air fan I managed to sleep though. Today the program will be similar. A splash in the pool, then […] Read More

Heatwave

Let it go
It’s been announced for several days, and now the heatwave that has torched Perth and Adelaide has arrived in Victoria. Yesterday the temperature in Melbourne hit 34 degrees, but it’s a dry heat and you could actually bear it. I spent time at the pool again, doing only a couple of laps, because it was […] Read More

Meet St. James

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I have a bike! It’s called St. James. My friend Colin has a foldable bike that he does not use at the moment, so he was so generous to lend it to me for my time here in Melbourne. Colin is a man with many talents – he’s the one who got us into Shandong […] Read More

Midsumma Carnival

Let it go
Sunday saw the launch of the Midsumma festival, with Midsumma Carnival held at Alexandra Gardens. I went there relatively early and roamed the stands, free goodies and enjoyed the show. Midsumma will run into February and host dozens of events: shows, music, poems, exhibitions, sports, shows… I seriously need to plan this so I get […] Read More

Fitzroy

Let it go
Living next to the pool is real great. I swam 10 laps on Friday and even 15 on Saturday. It was a bit overcast first, so the pool was empty and only the swimmers were there, I had a whole lap to myself. When did that happen last time…? Then I explored Fitzroy for a […] Read More