A Newtown Festival, Sydney

Every major suburb in Australia tries to offer one special day in a year, when its residents and visitors from near and far, gather in a community spirit of mingling, browsing and patronising its unique produce, products and businesses. Call it a spring festival, market day or fete, such occasions showcase a neighbourhood's pace, uniqueness and culture. In November this year, I had the opportunity to sample the flavours of Newtown on a warm and welcoming day.

Innovative businesses in Newtown do offer unique tribe culture experiences like Replenished Records, BurgerFuel (offering lamb steaks!), The Mexican Guzman Y Gomez, Correllis Cafe and the Campos Coffee outlet. Outside on the pavements, the atmosphere is casual, bohemian and relaxing. There is an anticipation in the air and in the hearts of strollers that one can chance upon something interesting, something unexpected and something delightful. There is literally music in the air.

Iconic Aussie pub hotels like the Coopers and Marlborough do provide relief from the new fangled
outlets like Max Brenner, Kunetos Bar, Crumpler, MagNation and the Dendy. The awesome variety and choice of meals range from African at Kilimanjaro's, through Macedonian and Argentinian meat grills, to lighter stuff like the chicken pho soup(above) offered by Tnanh Binh.

Above: There are quiet residential neighbourhoods behind the main strip, where

daily life is played out with family, mates and loved ones that contrast

with the hype and reality of shopping, dining out and alternative lifestyles that Newtown may project to some.

Above: Hanging out at a key junction in Newtown, soaking in the

buskers, street players and just taking it easy on a Sunday arvo.

An Evening in IndoChine

La Mint is nestled away on a hidden corner of Riley Street, with a nearby cul de sac that adjuncts Sydney CBD's William Street.  William is the very street that serves as the main thoroughfare to the giant Coca Cola sign that signals the start of the Kings Cross precinct. Standing in front of La Mint, and its neighbouring La Spoggotti, one can see the top of the Westfield building. From the restaurant, though, our eyes wondered across the road through louvred wood blinds to an unassuming residential block called the Hyde Park Apartments.

We had gathered for a birthday meal, organised by Ely and Ray. My best palate sensation was the five spice infused duck confit, followed by the melt-in-the-mouth crispy skin of the Saigon styled roast chicken. I am a fan of duck done in whatever cultural cooking style, from Austrian through French to Beijing and Espanol.  I must confess that the La Mint duck has influences of my own Cantonese heritage, so I am not impartial on this judgement.  The La Mint version was moist, spoke of the aroma of spices and yet was different from the Hong Kong inspiration.

Three outstanding guzmania plants,with their eye-catching red blooms, prettily poised against a wall at the back of the restaurant -and they were so easily spotted under focus lights.  Three obvious French expats gathered on another table, smartly dressed but suited to the humid Sydney summer climate, reminiscent of colonial times in 19th century Saigon or Hanoi. Fashion Tv channel played on mute from pay tv on the large lcd screen. The partitions surrounding the dining area was possibly made of teak, a sweet reminder of South-east Asia and more elegant times.

                                Above, the entree variety platter; below, the pork ribs with a spicy garnishing.

Deep fried ice cream after being flambeed and accompanied by fresh strawberries.

My group of six persons first tucked in for an entree variety platter of the usual Viet favourite selection of finger food,but this was surpassed by the delicate omelette's pancake as second serving.  The dining experience was topped by a flambee of fried ice cream. In between, the lows were the rather salty taste from the soy doused pork belly,which was otherwise perfect in texture and presentation. Another dish of  pork ribs were rather thin and looked more like deep fried calamari, but that was more than made up by the
barramundi, which was deep fried to a perfect crunch.  Overall, the menu we had were skewed towards Asian rather than French,but there was a viable variety of wines and the ambiance was enhanced by French inspired tunes and decor.

I would return.

Dialogue with a Good Mate

How does one “get on with life”?


I reckon it is not an easy option, as if you were trying to join the fast streams of vehicular traffic along the LA highway. Keeping up with expenses is the first practical challenge. To get on with life literally means to be able to be self-sufficient, not just in the spiritual and physical sense, but also to settle on-going bills, not over spend and find ways of increasing in-coming cash flows. Once we are able to do that, we more than get on with life - we begin to savour more possibilities of what life can offer.

For one to fully get on in life, there must be opportunity. When such openings do not come to us, we have to seek them. To seek them, we may .have to change our mindset. At times, we have to let go of preconceptions or ideals, and temporarily divert our track in the woods to eventually reach our goal – and have a target time, like by sunset when one is in unknown woods. At other times, one has to go into partnership to attain mutual goals. The choice is ours.

The human mind is habitual and thrives on familiarity. To jump into other options, or try different trails, one must be driven by a passionate desire to succeed. To leave the known for the unknown is not natural.  It is most effective to be driven by the lure of possibility and reward, the promise of practicality and the option to do so. Then one truly “gets on in life”.


It is not always useful to however get back to the drawing board.

Whatever back- up plans we have, they are only to be used in the last resort. John Lennon wrote as part of his lyrics for his young son Julian that “Life is what happens while we are making our plans”.

The drawing board can be compared akin to an insurance policy. It provides relative peace of mind, but we never plan to actually utilise it. Such a board is just a good tool while we are making plans for the future, not usually to revert when our plans do not work out.


Never use the study option as an on-going path.

The purpose of education is to use it. Many of Australia’s CEOS of top corporations never had an MBA.
Education also includes working on the job, doing the nitty-gritty and not just acquiring paper-based qualifications. Okay, I recognise that one has to get that job first.


Envisaging oneself to be where one would be based in a career in the future.

Nobody knows. Plans reflect what we know in the present. Not all changes in the future can be anticipated.
New means of doing things lead to possibilities that we may not figure out today. More efficient means of transport can offer us more choices in terms of physical or virtual workplace locations, they are only one factor in the scheme of things.

You may take a chance in dabbling in a new industry or occupation – just to try it for a while, you may convince yourself – which you then may enjoy for years to come. At the same time, HR professionals expect more changes in role, job location and industry for the younger generations,but they do not elaborate to us on the details.


The employee of the future can expect to experience several redundancies in his or her career.

Work life and environments are in for a radical change – many of the assumptions and parameters of the past are rehashed, modified or simply obliterated. Where one does work, how one delivers, whom one interacts with and/or how rewards are parcelled out will change like a transforming creature from Nature's wild environment, affected by the search for niche talent, the flows of available resources, the right pricing, the enabling technology and radically emerging customer markets.

Loyalty to employers and organisations were dead long ago, and in its place a different nature of loyalty – perhaps to lifestyle, inner personality and self-preserving careers – has long made its impact on role and career choices, commuting patterns and balancing adjustments for family, self and community.

Can I please share the best quote I read recently , thanks to a mate Henry Quah:

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." -USA President Obama

Molto Baci

I woke up early to savour  a variation of the omelette - this one lovingly made with  a dash of truffled oil, served with thin slices of ham and carefully laid on crisply grilled Italian bread.   The rain was pouring outside the Federation terrace in the heart of Wollongong city, with visibly enlivened plants soaking in the moisture. Coupled with the sensations of freshly made latte, I could not have asked for more. Staff at the Lee & Me cafe were bubbly - and Lee was wardrobed in striking white, over a grey-blue cargo pants.

This evening, Rick Stein was enjoying his Australian adventure, cooking in a Balmain house and meeting up with cuisine writer Charmaine Solomon, courtesy of pay tv.  An hour ago it was the Discovery Media Singapore Corp take on Malaysian food, featuring, amongst others, the experience of Carol Selvarajah;  the fact that Indians do not normally take fish head and the Chinese do not otherwise indulge in curry, yet there is this remarkable fusion dish called curry fish head;  how so much banana leaves are harvested outside the town of Seremban each day, fresh from the trees themselves, to cater for the unique experience of banana leaf eating; and an observation of what turkey is to Christmas, rendang is to the Malays.  I reflect on my most recent weekend, indulging in home made curry laksa in Carlingford and having glass noodles stir-mixed with seafood in a non-soup but tasty combination somewhere in Bankstown.  And then I recall some cooking of soy stewed pork to be eaten with pickled vegetables, ala Vietnam.

In the middle of October, on a sunny day, Roberto the waiter showed the strain of catering to the lunch time crowd at a Napoli-themed restaurant.  As the hour passed, there was a unusual queue for pizza, lengthened by the street side passer-bys who came to have a taste of the annual Haberfield street festival.  Peter and I had to patiently wait for an hour before our choice of a simple dressed pizza arrived at our table.  In the  meantime, we relished in rissotto,a  variation of which Peter had not an opportunity to enjoy for many years, and of which I thought was especially unusual.  After lunch, we had hot choc at Colefax, seated next to  an intensely- in- love couple, starring a very stylish leathered guy with olive coloured  skin and penetrating eyes looking into the target of his affection - a beautiful teenaged lady,  who seemed captivated and terrified, all at the same time. Outside, Joni from Paesenella  exuded his natural passion and energy in formaggi - making, taste, serving and presentation - at his shopfront along Haberfield's Ramsey Street, in the inner west of Sydney.  Joni's peccoroni cheese creation is both heavenly and so easy on the palatte.

After having your coffee from a dedicated Campos Cafe located along Missenden Road in Newtown, you can adjourn to chicken pho soup or deep fried pork and vegetable rolls at Tnanh Binh, just round the corner along King Street, Broadway side.  In addition, you can have the choice of two different burger styles from outlets of Burger Fuel and Burgerlicious.  There is strong stuff in Argentinian or Macedonian barbecued meats at the other end of King Street, Rockdale side. And the Portuguese-inspired delights of Petersham are not too far away.   Such is Australia food-wise in spring.  And this is just about the greater Sydney area.

I think of Australian capital city cuisine variety as offering truly molto baci - many kisses.

The Summer Calls

The aroma of slowly but surely ripening mangoes from Queensland permeates my house in summer.  Just as sure as the cool breezes from the ocean blow in after dinner time in Balgownie, these fruity sensations remind me of a childhood growing up in a tropical airy place, where seasonal fruits make up for the lack of changing climate seasons, and where the variety of such produce can also mean the fruits of long term labours.  It takes gestation periods, monsoonal changes and planning ahead to arrive at the grin on the faces of darkened fruit growers, their tan resulting from days walking on their orchards udner the intense equatorial sun.

Summer officially arrives on a Wednesday this year, but the last Saturday of November already gave a good show of what it can be. The sun was up too early, as expected, and I felt too excited for the day in chilling out and now feel so bad texting a mate so early. As I write this, there seems to be a synchronisation of temperatures up in the northern hemisphere - it is precisely minus one degree Celsius in Moscow, London and Toronto.  In contrast, the singlets, boardshorts and thin t-shirts of blokes and light fabric dresses of women underscore how fortunate and moderate Australian weather can be.  There can be the risk of bush fires flaring up, especially when one is not at home, and there was a strange smoky presence over Parramatta this afternoon - but otherwise it is a season of forgetting about schedules, laundry not drying or just about time itself.

End of year can also mean stocking up on favourite movies for the home or lazy afternnoons on trips away; waiting for cherries to reach just the right taste and maturity; re-affirming personally what it was that we were rushing at work for; pondering how electronic stuff for the lounge and kitchen seem to get cheaper, whilst petrol prices, gold and utilities get more costly; remembering to do the annual things like changing the water filter catridge; catching up with mates and relatives to show how much we appreciate them for their company, communciation and things they do for  the rest of the year; and throwing never used items to allow room for the new. It can offer a hiatus, but it can also be a time to look forward to the future.  Heck, it also means everyday one can feel the salt in  our faces and legs as the ocean winds cocoon us in a magical time.

Back to Parramatta for me and my mate today. There was a market day along Church Street Mall, with the ubiquitious stalls  offering almost the same things like in Windsor near the Blue Mountains last week. I could not resist the outlets with plants, and this time there was dear Gary with his bonsai-like creations of succulents and cacti on little lovingly made wooden holders. Okay I got three - a prayer plant, a bears foot and a miniature pine tree.  Okay, they are all names anyway - the miniature creations caught my eye.  I finally got to taste the curry laksa at Oriental Tucker along George Street - and they seem to have nice curries, snacks and desserts on offer as well. I got into summer mood and mode - do things unplanned, allow the delightful unexpected and after all, it already feels like what summer should be.

Oh yes, the mangoes.  They are R2E2 and not even related to the Star Wars trilogy. Such fruits are best eaten slurpy, with their nectar flowing easy and flesh melting in our mouths.  They complement the body heat from too much barbecue and keeping up with the sun.
Mangoes also reflect the essential spirit of summer - let it be, relish the juicy growth built up in the past year and enjoy the rewards.
We can let our hair down - and let the drool create a little mess.  We can take it easy with the clock, for sunset is late and tommorow is another day.  And make sure we create the postive childhood memories for the next generation - and our mates.