Wollongong By Night

A regional town on the eastern seaboard of the Australian continental island, Wollongong may not appeal to some, day or night. Under the night sky, however, the Wollongong city lights do form a layered but flat cornucopia of twinkling electrical lights beside the darkness of the Tasman Sea. When you are in the middle of it, you do not realise or see it, but when you approach the city from the mountain top highway coming from Sydney or inland, the view turns up like a delightful surprise, especially after the pitch blackness of the nearby Royal National Park.

Looking up into the London sky often offers a grey lead colour, but putting up your eyes over the Wollongong area night sky suggests so many possibilities for telescopes, constellation identification and viewing of the moon. To an ex-Sydney sider like me, the heavens after twilight are definitely different and clearer. From Mount Keira, one can make out specific landmarks, buildings and roads.

Essentially a suburban conglomeration, Wollongong can be said to have a one-strip nightlife, centring around food, student life and pockets of night clubbing. Those from further down the South Coast do drive up to the city for a weekend night out, but those in Wollongong are drawn up north to the variety available in the Big Smoke of Sydney. The surf coast and the outdoor lifestyle are not fully utilized for its potential.

Krish, Daniel and I took a night ride after a Japanese dinner. We first came to a pitch-dark point overlooking the harbour, lit only by an imposing lighthouse on a weeknight. We then skirted the Wollongong golf course by the sea before heading out to Port Kembla. Mired in complex contraptions of steel and white belching smoke, the whole complex of Bluescope suggested to me of Gotham City after dark. There were hilly mounds of coal and waste discernible even in the darkness. Yes, there are shady goings-on at Port Kembla at night besides the production of steel.

Warrawong in the evenings look like the statistics it produces - high youth unemployment and deserted streets leading to a Westfield shopping centre. We drove up the road to the Nan Tien Temple even if we knew it had already closed - and just got the last outlined lights of its buildings before they were switched off at ten pm. The guard was friendly but firm in reminding us about opening and closing hours.

A Weekend of Three Restaurants

The Towon Restaurant in Chatswood, Sydney, is run by a Korean family who spent some considerable time in north-eastern China. The cuisine is primarily Chinese with a unique Korean accent. There is Chinese food from Malaysia, Singapore, California, the United Kingdom, Canada, Vietnam and Thailand - so I found it particularly interesting to try such a variation. Presentation from the Towon is outstanding. The serving staff wear a clean dark uniform - the neatness of the dishes presented is more than matched by the taste. At the table in the private dining room, we had Beijing duck with crispy skin so different from the usual fare of the China's capital. There was more than a strong hint of spices and chilli in Towon's creations.

The Metro in Wollongong CBD, New South Wales, offered what could be described as three-course Australian fare. For a mate's fortieth birthday, around 30 of us gathered to partake in the ritual of drinks, dining and birthday cake singing - we took up the street level floor of this one-shop front cozy restaurant that sits across Lorenzo's Diner, one of the regional township's best Italian restaurants. I had a perfect cut of a pork medallion, braised in the most delightful juices, for my mains. My entree of a light spaghetti pasta flavoured by prawn and chili was better than the dessert of tangy lemon tart lets. I could get home in under ten minutes by car.

Hong Fu in Parramatta is an unpretentious eatery run by a family from north-east China. It is neither Beijing nor Manchurian, and I suspect Shandung cuisine. Service is quick but bookings are necessary. Popular with ethnic Chinese, what they are doing right is exemplified by the quality of some of their signature dishes. I love the eggplants stir-fried with capsicum, light and tasty. Vehicle parking is easy on the street side within walking distance. There is no fuss in the ambiance and a good sense of belonging in a community. On a cool evening after some rain, Lin, Joe and I tried the fish and tofu soup, not heavily laden but refreshing with a stock that has foundation but not overwhelming. The dumplings are pretty standard but the vinegar laden cucumber salads stimulate the palate.

Some Things Do Not Change, and Others Do

I had been there countless times for lunch when I was based at the Advance Bank Australia in North Sydney. This was a venue for good memories, for good food and good company. Perched on the top of a slope before the road turns down towards the Sydney Harbour Bridge, depending on where a person approached, one had to climb up a gradient or just stroll on an even path. It must have been sixteen years or more since the owners started there, having moved from Milsons Point. The couple who ran this place now have grown up children, and the husband still maintains a youthful look, despite years of cooking inside the kitchen, for that was his primary job. I am amazed that many of the staff members remained loyal to Irene and her hubby after all these years. On the Saturday I visited aftre so many years, I found out that it was their last day of operation there. The place was crowded - we shared a common table with two radiographer British tourists, Daniel and Liz, who were brought there for lunch by a resident work mate, Lily.

Some things change and others do not. Later that afternoon, I was whisked off to what the Australian media would term an ethnic enclave. This was a mixed business and cultural suburb, with both Chinese and Indian varieties of retail available. I was fascinated by the Indian products and produce on sale, ranging from furniture to bags of basmati rice to festive cakes and freeze-dried sealed ready to eat meals. My mates and I were the only non-Indians in both shops we explored. On the Chinese side, we enjoyed freshly squeezed Queensland sugar cane juice and Taiwan-inspired cold drinks filled with bits of fruits like longans, lychees, jackfruit, palm sago and other such exotic stuff. Janie and I noticed the long queue at a Hong Kong-fashioned barbecue meats shop. We ran into Ming and his friends who had met up for a late afternoon snack. Jennifer went on a grocery shopping rampage, which included purchases from the seafood guys, the butcher shop, the grocery outlets and more. This dynamic suburb was exactly as I remembered it before I moved to Wollongong.

A vegetarian food fair attended by me on another day brought some surprises on how tasty such food can be, when provided with the right sauce, the right company, the right ingredients and the right spices to speak of. I did not find the concocted dishes bland or disheartening. One dish was served even more delicious than its non-vegetarian and original version. I expected to be extremely thirsty after partaking such dishes, half-suspecting that artificial food flavours must have played a part in their surprising tastiness. I did not suffer the post-eating pangs for thirst - to me it was a delightful surprise!

The Long And Winding Road

Between destinations, to and fro, I traversed a continuous road, without turning right or left, but kept on following the curves, bends and the straights.

First, there were passing showers. The drops came down, spot on the windscreen and the applied Rain-X did its work immediately. Upon impact, each sky drop broke into tiny bubbles that then religiously climbed up the glass surface in various splintered directions. The effect on me as the driver and on my passengers was both calming and inspiring. Molecules, components and atoms - these all came collectively to our conscious minds, while our eyes were transfixed on the natural, spontaneous display. We could not really hear the sound of the rain, for the car stereo was on, and the experience was like watching a silent movie in apparent slow motion.

Second, there was this restaurant that we passed by and had a crowd waiting patiently to be seated and served a meal. Maybe it was opening night. Seafood was involved, and it was just after Easter. There was a real sense of buzz and eagerness, even apparent to me just watching while waiting for the set of lights. The food served must be really good, or were the potential customers just acting on word-of-mouth perceptions or hearsay expectations?

Third, there was this route between forests. I did wonder if there were animals, big or small, just waiting to cross the highway or merely eyeing the vehicular traffic from a safe distance. The night sky seemed clearest here, away from the artificial lights made by human beings - and the resulting realization that we were just like ants on a revolving ball hurling through infinite space, like across a field. Everything began to be all relative, just like the relationship in physics between time and distance. Does it matter what each of us does? The cumulative effects appear to be overwhelming, but can dissipate into nothingness as they may cross each other out - good versus bad, small versus big - in the final summation of the ultimate dimension. Stars formed a pattern and the full moon was partly covered by clouds, but it was all a matter of where we were and how fast or slow we were travelling relative to the spin of the planet.

On certain parts of the road, I could see a trail of vehicular tail lights. Like the stars strewn across out corner of the galaxy. Or more so like the seemingly random spread of the water drops on the windscreen as the car climbed up mountain slopes.Or the line of customers waiting eagerly to be fed. Is life structured like the road I was travelling with my fellow companions, or also spontaneous like the sudden down pour from the heavens? Who knows, I just follow my long and winding road, or so it seems.

Penang Island circa 2008

Perth-originated coffee chain DOME operates an outlet in the shipliner shaped Queensbay Mall.


Diverse fresh and dried herbs on sale in an open air Sunday market.





































Handsomely restored front of Pernanakan terrace from the early 20th century.


Romantic getaway in bungalow perched over the seaside near Mouse Isle.


Biscuit varieties on display in traditional storage jars at Belissa Row grocer.