Which is what happened so at least that's authentic.
You know when you see something or hear about it and you don't know if it's "cool" because it just is, or if it's "cool" because it's ironic-cool? Melbourne is all about that. For example...
These are legitimate adidas shoes in an adidas store. The bear has arms. Or how about this, Cookie Monster playing bagpipes on the wharf?
I could post another ten examples but you catch my drift. If you think there are a lot of bearded guys in Hintonburg, you should see just one lane way in Melbourne.
Today was a day of lane ways (terrible segue, sorry) as I toured through the arcades and countless shops. This city is a shopper's paradise! Melbourne seems to support its local talent, whether designers or artists or craftsmen, in tangible ways. The little pop up shops around the city let people rent out space temporarily to sell their goods. It's like a cooler farmers market that isn't just on a weekend.
A random collection from today's tour...
Worth a special mention is this chili hot chocolate.
We stopped at Koko Blacks mid-tour for a "morning tea break" which was actually a morning chocolate hit via truffles and liquid cocoa. Koko Blacks has become a bit of an Aussie institution. I finished this drink no sweat, only to hear one woman say "just a few sips is enough for me, that's so rich!" and the others nodded in agreement. Umm. If I'm given a mug of chocolate I'm going to have all of it. Chocolate should not go to waste.
My favourite street art.
The trees have knitted sweaters in the city square! See, only in Melbourne. Instead of cutting down all the ash trees in Ottawa that were killed by ash borers, we should knit them outfits.
Im fighting a cold so my plans for a great run along the Yarra were squashed. It was more of a lazy plod. But the new shoes are great and don't smell.
The highlight of today (or the first, I'll get to the second) was dinner. Rice Paper Scissors was on my hit list for the trip. I showed up an hour before it opened so I checked out a couple shops in the meantime. I didn't want to be the guy who shows up the minute a restaurant opens, so I waited until 6:01 to arrive. Good thing I did because in one whole minute, the place filled up.
I was squished in at the bar where the food gets handed to the wait staff. It was a perfect spot for a solo diner, almost awkwardly close to the chef. I was stealthy with the picture taking.
Oh, but the food. The food!
For you Ottawa person(s), if Supply & Demand and El Camino had an Asian baby, this would be it.
Every bit of it was perfect in the truest sense of the word. Several times I thought, I wish so and so, and so and so, and so and so were here, because they'd love this spot.
The place is co-owned by two head chefs, both of whom were working like animals. I was tired just watching them. The less chefy-chef said they normally have a third guy in the kitchen but not tonight.
I left there happy. The food was just so good it made me laugh.
The second highlight of the day was getting on the right tram the right direction, for free! They have a zone where you can hop on and off the tram system without paying. That zone covers a good chunk of the city so it's perfect for tourists - and locals living and working downtown too, I'm sure.
Before I called it a day, I watched a couple street performers. I generally don't watch these shows for long because I have a true fear of being called onto stage/forced to help/audience participation. Shudder. But this guy was funny.
Tomorrow is koala/penguin/wombat day! Yes! All three better show up to the party - with friends.
