Shanghai World Expo celebrated its official opening on 1 May 2010. The Expo opened last night on the banks of the Huagpu River which was set a blaze and alight by fireworks which was made in Australia.
The Expo, featuring exhibits from 189 countries, will showcase Shanghai to the world. The most prominent of the pavillion is the China pavillion, a red upside down pyramid, with floor space equivalent to more than 26 soccer fields.
More than 25 million tickets have been sold and a projected 70 million is expected to visit the site. Shanghai has trained more than 1.7million volunteers. I can't wait for my visit to this mega event in a few weeks time.
Here are some facts to be taken into consideration...
China expects about 400,000 daily visitors to consume 547 tonnes of food each day during expo.
The site is twice the size of Monaco and 20 times bigger than the 2008 event held in Zaragoza, Spain.
The expo theme is ''Better city, better life''.
Chinese have been urged to queue better, spit less and not wear pyjamas in public. (I definitely hope I won't have spit on my shoes!!)
The 3500 police on patrol are forbidden to eat garlic or anything else that would make their breath smell. (Yes, the garlic breath could be a bit, err, off putting?)
Shanghai World Expo 2010 - opening
In the news
I was reading last Thursday's (29 Apr) papers and here are some of the articles ...
An 83 year old yogi has suvived with no food or water in 70 years. He said that since leaving his family at the age of seven to wander through jungles in western India, he's had no desire to eat, drink or go to the toilet. His brain also resembled that of a 25 year old person. He will be undergoing a series of tests in the hope ofreplicating his survival abilities to benefit mankind.
Malaysia has launched a pink women-only train carriages to prevent sexual harassment and to give Muslim women the option of travelling separately from men.
An Ohio woman who thought she had found a rat in her can of pasta instead turned out to be a really big, thick, hairy chunk of mould.
Brazil's Minister of Health has suggested his country's citizens have sex five times a week as a solution to chronic diseases such as diabetes.
Scientists have found that eating chillies can make you lose weight by speeding up your metabolism and burninng fat. Researchers claim that heat generated by the spicy food oxidises layers of fat as well as increasing metabolism.
List of markets to check out
I came across a list of the Grower's Farmer's Market in Sydney and NSW and thought I'd list it down for future references:
Camden Farmers' Market - Lower John Street, Camden, second and fourth Sat of the month, 7am - noon
Eveleigh Farmers' Market - 243 Wilson Street, Darlington, Saturdays, 8am - 1pm
EQ Village Markets - 122 Lang Road, Moore Park, Weds and Sats, 10am - 3.30pm
The Sydney Morning Herald Growers' Market - Pyrmont Bay Park, first Sat of the month, 7am - 11am
Hawkesbury Harvest Farmers' Market - Castle Hill Showground, Carrington Road, second Sat of the month, 8am - noon
Hawkesbury Harvest Farmers' Market - Rouse Hill Town Centre, Market Square, fourth Sat of the month, 8 am - 1pm
Manly Farmers' Market - Short Street Plaza, Sats, 9 am - 1pm
Northside Farmers' Market - Miller St, North Sydney, third Sat of the month, 8am - noon
The Rocks Farmers' Market - cnr Argyle and George Sts, Fris and Sats, 10 am - 3pm
Warwick Farm Farmers' Market - Childs Park, Ascot Drive, Chipping Norton, Sats, 8am - noon
Blackheath Growers' Market - Blackheath Community Hall, second Sat of the month, 8am - midday
Mudgee Farmers' Market - Nabiac Showground last Sat of the month, 8am - midday
Young and Region Farmers' Market - Anderson Park, Young, First and third Sat of the month, 8am - 11am
Bieber Fever
I woke up this morning to news that a concert due to be performed live at Circular Quay had been cancelled. Hmm.. who is this performer? Haven't even heard of him prior to this weekend.
This 16 year old Justine Bieber, a teenage sensation, had apparently captured the hearts of many 13 - 14 year old girls who have travelled round the country to hear his one and only performance. He will be performing 3 songs in an open air stage at the Overseas Passenger Terminal.
His fans had camped out overnight at The Rocks. However, despite all the hype, drama and hysteria, his concert had to be cancelled due to the safety of his fans. Never before has there been such mass hysteria since the Beatles. The concert had to be cancelled as the teenage fans would not listen to the directions and instructions from the police.
His fans then converged to various hotels to try to catch a glimpse of Justine but most had camped outside Channel Seven's studio at Martin Place.
Justin Bieber somehow managed to sneak in to the studio to perform his hit song "Baby". This guy with the "flipped" hairstyle and has the ability to cause a 3 year old girl to cry, caused such mayhem this morning is definitely someone to keep an eye out for.
http://www.justinbiebermusic.com/
Hidden treasure!
I was in Bankstown one afternoon and we decided to check out the Bankstown Sports Club. My friend, Kevin and I had to sign in and I was quite amazed at the new technology, one no longer has to show ID and then sign in but you just have to scan your ID and all the information is captured in the form and the machine then prints out all the information - quite cool!
We then decided to walk round the corner and saw the first restaurant, Platform One which is a replica of old Victorian -era railway carriages. This club has 6 dining options -round the corner from Platform One is the Greenfield Bistro, followed by Sizzling Court and then Stuzzichino (for Italian tapas, pasta and seafood), Pizzeria Bellucci, a cafe and the Australian Cellar. The restaurants were all very well set out and offered a great variety for a suburban club.
We were quite amazed at this club and would pay for us to check out one of the restaurants next time we are there.
We then walked around to the "Chinatown" of Bankstown to get what we came here to get i.e. combination clear noodles, It was tasty... although I can't remember the name of the restaurant.
It was time for a drink and we headed to a Vietnamese cafe which was busy and offered a selection of juices and coffees. Good way to relax...
Another Grower's Market
On this beautiful Easter Saturday, my friend decided to drive me in her MX-5 and we headed off to the Sydney Morning Herald's Grower's Market. This market is located in Pyrmont Bay Park (opposite Star City). My friend has been here before and seemed to know where to go and park. We parked at the Casino ($17.00 for a 6hr entry).
The weather was perfect which brought the locals out. The regulars came with their dogs, big and small, their shopping baskets and their kids in their prams. This market has a different vibe to the Eveleigh Markets in that it is surrounded by water and the stall keepers are housed in white marquees which added to the overall feel of the place.
There are quite a good selection of organic foods, cheeses, pasta sauces. You name it, you will be able to find it here, fruits, flowers, organic meat, coffee etc etc.
On this Easter Saturday, Peter Kuruvita from the Flying Fish restaurant was also there to turn seasonal market produce to simple spice fragrant recipes as well as to promote his book, Serendip.
Next time I go though, I will get there for breakfast at this Bacon and Egg stall which had a loonnng queue, then to find a seat under a shaded tree and enjoy my breakfast with a copy of the Sydney Morning Herald - ahhh... such is life!
If there is still time left on the car park, it is very easy to catch the light rail to the Fish Market for some lunch, either at the Chinese Restaurant for Yum Cha or for some seafood.
To Melbourne we go!
Setting two alarm clocks to wake up at 4am on a Saturday morning, I'm thinking, what am I doing??? Have I gone a bit "crazy" to plan this weekend trip to Melbourne and maximising our time by catching the 6.15 am plane to arrive there in time for breakfast. Have I gone cuckoo?? I told my girlfriend to stop me next time I suggest such an early flight after a long week of work.
My prebooked cab promptly arrived just before 5am. By this time, I was already fully awake and starting to feel excited about this trip. With adrenaline starting to pump, it didn't take us long to arrive at the airport. Lo and behold, we were not the only crazy people - the airport, Terminal 2, was already full of people, couples, families, teams wearing the same T-Shirts getting in line to go through airport security. The queue was long at 5.30am but there was excitement in the air. Blurry eyed though we were, we got through security and headed straight to our gate which, by the time we had our loo stop was already boarding.
The Virgin flight we took that morning was full, there were groups of friends in their favourite Grand Prix gear chatting happily away. After an uneventful trip, we finally landed in Melbourne, hooray! We joined the throngs of visitors who were there that weekend, either for the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, the Grand Prix, The Comedy festival or CATS. I was so disappointed that Sydney did not have the same vibe as Melbourne had on this weekend.
We took a cab to Travelodge Docklands which had just been opened. The Travelodge was clearly full as we could not check in as expected. We left our bags and headed off for breakfast.
As we didn't have much time and with fluid plans, we decided to checkout Fitzroy. Fitzroy, I have been told, is the equivalent to our Sydney Newtown. We bought the day pass for the tram ($6.50) and waited for the tram to Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. Not knowing where to stop, we decided to stop as soon as we saw some shops. Most of the shops were still closed but we decided to check out some of the shops to check out later. I had read about this cafe Via Volare and decided to go there for breakfast.
We definitely saw a few interesting shopfronts... and street chairs.
"Penang Affair" caught our eye - here? In Fitzroy? The menu looked authentic enough... maybe to KIV for our next trip. We saw Via Volare across the road and headed there. Via Volare is an art deco, corner cafe with an interesting statue perched next to it. Ravenous, we decided on the big breakfast which gave you the 3 options with any choice of eggs. The baked beans was not canned and nicely cooked with herbs. The Turkish bread was toasted to perfection - crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Totally delicious!
Stomach totally full, we continued with our walk and checked out some jewellery shops. As we were strolling, we were over taken by a couple. They were in a hurry to queue in this Russian cafe, Babka Bakery Cafe. Curious as to why there was a queue in this small cafe, we went in to check out. The hot cross buns looked enticing with a nice gloss over it. Too bad our stomachs could not fit in another morsel. This bakery was nevertheless very very popular. While having breakfast, we could see people passing by with loaves and trays of bread, Now I know where they came from! The breakfast menu looked enticing - definitely to KIV for next trip!
Rose Street Artist Market is on every Saturday and Sunday. We had to walk past walls with graffitti to find this market. Small but interesting, this market features Melbourne's emerging artists and designers every weekend. We happened to be standing around this clothing stall and was listening to this lady explaining her skirt. She was very passionate about her designs as she was a costume designer for musicals. Her designs seek to accentuates a woman's back as she felt that a woman has good looking backs. Her skirts were designed in such a way that they would hide the "bulge". A lady was trying it on and it looked good on her and my friend decided to try it too. It looked good on her and she decided to buy the skirt. This other lady then tried on a wrap dress and the way Sunchana, the designer, described it, I just had to try it on! It was made of wool and the cut was really lovely. A few dollars poorer but happier, we left her stall... By the way, we had to come back to this market again later in the day as my friend decided to buy this wrap dress too.... This Artist market is interesting and we were serenaded by a live band. This market also features artists / photographers, jewellers... all very artistic and clever with their design.
After buying a couple of things from the market, we had to move on... Along the way, we stopped by an eco-shop, beauty shops, Japanese paper shop, kitchen wares and boutiques. We came back to one of the colourful shopfronts we had seen earlier - Jasper Coffee. The front of the shop stocks all the Easter chocolates and bunnies and further down the back, there was a good selection of coffee beans surrounded by shelves of homewares. People were coming in to purchase the coffees and the barista was forever busy. Tucked away in this shop, along a corridor were some tables for sit down coffee. We decided this was a good place to rest our weary legs.
Brunswick Street was a lot of fun - interesting shops to look at and nice cafes. The Little Creatures Dining Hall looked busy and interesting but we didn't venture in (have to save it for our next trip).
Places to KIV for next visit are Gertrude and Johnson Streets and amongst them:
For food
- Cavallero
- Cutler & Co
- Gigibaba, Ismail Tosun's Turkish tapas are turning heads
- The Commoner, a Gertrude Street favourite
Specialty Stores
Brunswick Street, Fitzroy equivalent to Newtown, Sydney...? I think not... Fitzroy has a "smogasboard of experiences... with flavoursome delights for the tastebuds and cultural nourishment for the soul."
Worth celebrating!
The first day of 2010... has come to an end. What a frustrating day it has been, frustrating in the sense that I kept experiencing hiccups with my internet connection, which means that my photo uploads were taking forever. I then proceeded to mow my lawn in the evening but this also took longer than usual as I had to keep fixing the string. Sigh!
The day ended quite well, thank goodness as I made dinner and it turned out well in the sense that I managed to turn some leftovers into quite a good meal. I was then reminded of my grandma who could whip up a meal in no time with what she has in her pantry and visitors were always fed before they left. No one left the house with an empty stomach.
Which brings me to my subject of being a woman...I was reading an old magazine, the Good Weekend, Oct 29, 2006 issue which was The Women's Issue. I thought I'd pen some interesting thoughts and quotes:
- "It's very important to be in charge of our sexuality and our choices, but if the choice is to be powerful by being beautiful in the eyes of men who are only interested in your tits, then there's nothing to that."
- "I'd rather be average-looking and have full control over my intellect than be stunning and stupid. Then again, perhaps you wouldn't know you were stupid and that would be a great thing, too."
- "Everyone blames women for trying to be a mother, a wife and a worker, but that's a seriously tough project, and many women have no option."
- "Female friendships are very intimate."
- "The ability we have to put up with things is probably both our greatest strength and and our greatest weakness. When men don't like something, they make a noise."
- "Some women cling desperately to their marriages not because of the stigma of divorce, ... but because they have no sense of identity other than through marriage."
- the life expectancy (2006 est) of an Australian woman is 83.52 years. The Afghanistan woman has a life expectancy of 43.53 years.
- in a survey conducted by the UK Harper's Bazzar, one in 10 British woman said she spent more than 1000 GBP on shoes in the past year and 8 per cent of women own more than 100 pairs of shoes.
- "Shoes give you instant uplift. It's surgery without the knife. Heels transform the way you walk and carry yourself. You come over all womanly because you are forced to stick your butt out in one direction and your breasts in the other."
- "Growing older can focus the mind and give you the confidence to pursue activities or hobbies that have no concrete goals other than providing a deep-seated feeling of contentment."
I think that women are very versatile but by the same token we need to retain our own identities, love ourselves for who we are, have our own self worth and be surrounded by girlfriends who will inspire us, be honest with us and to spur us towards the finishing line. Go girls!
Welcome 2010! Happy New Year!
Sydney ushered in the new year with a bang! This year's theme is Awaken the Spirit and Sydneysiders were asked to celebrate Sydney's Spirit by wearing a touch of blue representing our blue harbour and stunning blue sky. The fireworks were designed to represent the Stars of the Southern Cross... what a spectacular night!
The day started off being cloudy with expectations of showers. However as the night approaches, there was no sign of rain, however it was very windy. I was at a friend's house at Darling Point. There were road blocks this year and unless you are a resident, cars were not allowed to go through. People were strolling in to the park nearby with their picnic baskets. The park nearby (which families had to pay this year to attend) was an alcohol free zone. There were also quite a few parties in the various apartments in the surrounding area.
I wished I was out on one of the boats which were circling the harbour though... and the usual flotilla of boats parade around the harbour was very appealing.
As usual, there was the 9pm fireworks, followed by "teasers" at 10pm and 11pm and the finale at 12 midnight. The harbour then came alive with colours of red, green... this year's fireworks was apparently the most complex to stage, using computer microchip to achieve the rare blue colour. About 4.500 kg of fireworks were "fired" from 4 barges around the harbour.
As I was writing this, Paris ushered in the new year with less bang on the Eiffle Tower opting instead for a Twinkling Eiffle Tower... on the pretext of saving money as well as for reasons of rioting. Hmm... wonder if Sydney will be able to have as big a party without our $5m fireworks and would our $$ be put to better use? 
