Saturday, April 28, 2007

Greens & Cheese

I found the modesty of the decorations very heartening.
These Greens practice what they preach.

Last night Richard and I ended up at a Greens function in the Marrickville Royal Exchange. We'd met some friends at the Hollywood Hotel in Surry Hills after work, then eaten at Spice I Am and later adjourned to the KB Hotel, so the function was almost over by the time we got there. I still got to talk to some great people though.

Derek Maitland & Margie McCabe.

Derek was the campaign coordinator for Marrickville in the recent state election. He told me "The T-shirt is a joke about being passive. Greens are very passive! I've done it in Latin so people ask me what it means. It's not a hostile thing."

Fiona Byrne, the candidate for the recent state election & member of Marrickville Council, with Colin Charlton from South Marrickville. We chatted for a while & they were both delightful.

John Kaye, Greens member of the Upper House

Richard, who was on his 99th beer,
with Hazel Blunden, the Greens Policy Officer


At the end of the night there was some leftover cheese - after a bit of discussion a few people divided it up equally, wrapped it up & took it home. This further endeared me to them.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Shop of the Week - Ha Noi on Anzac Day

Richard and I thought we'd head up Illawarra Rd to the Marrickville RSL, as it's ANZAC day today (the links are for you non-Australian readers). But it was lunchtime, and we got no further than our favourite Vietnamese restaurant, the Ha Noi. Given that ANZAC day is also used to remember Australia's involvement in the Vietnam war, I think that's kind of poetic & appropriate, don't you?

There was a bit of a queue outside - always the sign of a good restaurant in Marrickville. The Ha Noi is in a strip that has a few Vietnamese places - it's close to the station, directly opposite the Hellenic Bakery, and is the only one with a sugar cane juicer out the front.

Their turquoise walls and other decorations always make me feel happy.

This is something most Vietnamese restaurants have - a selection of condiments on the table, along with cutlery, chopsticks and tissues. Mostly they're different types of chilli, but there's also fish sauce and hoi sin sauce (made from soy beans, chilli, sugar & salt) here.

And perhaps my favourite, whole raw garlic and chilli pickled in white vinegar.

Once we've ordered, I like to make a little palette of chilli - starting with the pickled garlic at the top and going clockwise we have fresh ground chilli, a pickled whole chilli, a dollop of satay chilli (sticky concoction of ground peanuts, chilli, dried shrimp, sugar and oil) and finally Chinese-style salty blended chilli. So many flavours, so many textures!

Richard got some deep fried spring rolls - these are about double the size of most spring rolls, and they come with this beautiful dipping sauce, nuoc cham, made from rice vinegar, fish sauce and palm sugar - it usually has carrot pieces in it.

This was definitely the highlight - chilli salt tofu - it's to die for. I actually dream about this dish sometimes. The tofu is floured & deep fried, then tossed with a kind of Vietnamese salsa made from coriander, lemongrass, garlic, ginger, fresh chilli, spring onion, Spanish onion and lots of white & black pepper. Food for the soul, yep.

Hanoi Quan. 346b Illawarra Rd, Marrickville, ph:02 95591637

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

memes for the night before a holiday

1. PICK OUT A SCAR YOU HAVE, AND EXPLAIN HOW YOU GOT IT
Labour with first and only child seventeen years ago "failed to progress" after 18 hours. Obstetrician, so brilliantly called Mr Pickett-Heaps, came from golf course to perform emergency caesarian section. The anaesthetist, a glamorous older woman, gave me an epidural and I entered a state of great bliss. "You'll hear a ripping sound" Pickett-Heaps said and sure enough I did, like cardboard being torn. Then little Ruby was lifted out of me & the burning indigestion (she'd been pressing on my diaphragm) that I'd had for 3 months disappeared. And, apart from having webbed toes, she was perfect and remains so to this day.

2. WHAT IS ON THE WALLS IN YOUR ROOM?
A few spiderwebs. A drawing of two people walking up separate sets of stairs that lead to a small dark European-style tree with exposed roots. It reminds me of Joan Aiken's The Cuckoo Tree, which if you haven't read yet you should. If I had another daughter I'd call her Dido. Although Sparkle-Pony is hard to beat.

3. WHAT DOES YOUR PHONE LOOK LIKE?
Boring, functional.

4. WHAT MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO?
Antony and the Johnsons.

5. WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT DESKTOP PICTURE?
The lovely Mr Griff.

6. WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING RIGHT NOW?
More than anything? Peace of mind forever more. Guarantee of good health for me & my family. A few grandchildren in about ten years. A windfall to pay off the mortgage. A Thai-style massage. A falafel roll.

7. DO YOU BELIEVE IN GAY MARRIAGE?
Of course.

8. WHAT TIME WERE YOU BORN?
Maybe about 9pm?

9. ARE YOUR PARENTS STILL TOGETHER?
Yes and they even hold hands sometimes.

10. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO?
Scrubs is on the TV in the background.

11. DO YOU GET SCARED OF THE DARK?
I get scared of some things, but never the dark; I love the dark.

12. THE LAST PERSON TO MAKE YOU CRY?
Myself.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COLOGNE / PERFUME?
Guerlain's Nahema, but it's very rare, so I'll have some of Jo Malone Pomegranate or Vintage Gardenia please. My mum used to wear Tabu & I still love that. Also, my first boyfriend gave me Chloe so it brings back very lovely memories.

14. WHAT KIND OF HAIR/EYE COLOUR DO YOU LIKE ON THE OPPOSITE SEX?
Ridiculous question.

15. DO YOU LIKE PAIN KILLERS?
Of course.

16. ARE YOU TOO SHY TO ASK SOMEONE OUT?
No way, I ask everyone out.

17. FAVE PIZZA TOPPING?
Ooooh, potato & rosemary... basil & tomato... mushroom & ricotta.

18. IF YOU COULD EAT ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Just about anything vegetarian. I'm starving, Richard is still cooking dinner. Olive oily smells are wafting from the kitchen. Tabbouleh is waiting on the table.

19. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU MADE MAD?
I'd love to know. Maybe a student whose essay I failed? I honestly don't think I make many people mad, I'm really really nice, or just deluded, but pleasantly so.

20. IS ANYONE IN LOVE WITH YOU?
Of course. Two people, Richard (husband) and Sailor (dog) are both in love with me. Richard tells me so, and I can see it in Sailor's big brown eyes.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Strictly Marrickville

Sorry for ignoring you dear blog, but I've been so busy. I went to Melbourne for a cosmetic surgery conference (yes, really). I had dinner with most of the Melbourne Sarsaparilla folk while I was there, which was enjoyable and interesting. It's strange that you can be quite intimate and comfortable with people online, then - shock - find on meeting them that it's just like meeting a stranger... and what's more, that they have bodies. Later, after a few drinks and a beautiful dinner, things relax & you realise you do actually share something unique with these people.

Okay, I admit I haven't been completely ignoring Marrickvillia, in fact, there is something excitingly super-nerdy in the pipeline. In the meantime, here are a couple of shots you might like.

On a beautiful sunny afternoon this kid stopped his play momentarily to grin at the camera.

I took this photo because of the faintly visible rainbow and the plane, and then realised that the building on the left with the hills hoist on the roof is one of Marrickville's famous landmarks. It was used for the rooftop dancing lessons scenes in Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom.

Sunday, April 08, 2007

And while we're updating things, I'm pleased to see that the English sign that Ms Li put up in October is slowly wearing off the front of her Jin Xin Chinese Video Rental Store in Illawarra Rd.

Easter Sunday

It's a clear still Autumn day in Marrickville - indeed so mild and lovely that I feel some hope for our poor warming planet. Richard's been working hard on the vegie patch the last month or so - paving & planting & staking. What a star. I can take no credit. The patch seems to be on a bit of a rollercoaster and I suspect I could chart its level of order and productivity over the past year in inverse proportions to my own.

Here it was, racked & ruined, in February.

Last September it looked pretty good.

And in August it was just a baby.

Today it looks like this:















Can you see our little cat, Led Zeppelin? We'll sneak up on her...















Hello?















She is not amused.

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Other kids on the block

A little Eastern suburbs bird told me that this blog had been the topic of discussion at a dinner on the other side of George St on the weekend. I'm pleased, and hope I paint a good picture of my beloved suburb.

As real estate in Sydney becomes almost impossibly expensive* more and more people who would once never have dreamed of living somewhere like Marrickville are looking over this way.

Well, that's wonderful, but can you please come with eyes and hearts open to all of Marrickville's charm and beauty as it is, not with mindsets that want to transform it into somewhere with trendy coffee shops and rows of plane trees and fancy wine bars full of well dressed people? Because what you'll get here are bunnies. And pay phones.

*Want to own your own home? Simple! Just make sure you and your partner both earn more than the average wage, then save $200,000, then borrow $500,000 on a 35 year mortgage... there has to be a better way. We need real estate collectives, we need public housing for everyone, we need a communist government, we need oh god I need a panadol.