soul under the moon

This past Sunday after our morning yoga class we drove up to Mt. Cotton for brunch at Sirromet. Instead of fine dining at the restaurant like we usually do, we opted for the more casual but equally cultivated Tuscan Terrace. We ordered the pork hock (which was my favourite), mushroom spaghetti, marinara pasta, marinara pizza (we love our seafood), and pollo pizza. After a week of long working hours, it was a relief to finally enjoy a tasty lunch overlooking a pristine view.

After lunch we made our way back to GOMA, where my sister and I had registered to participate in the "He Korero Purakau mo Te Awanui o Te Motu: story of a New Zealand river" exhibition by Michael Parekowhai. The exhibit is essentially a beautifully carved Steinway grand piano, complete with an accompanying chair. Because of the fragile nature of the artwork, it has to be handled extremely carefully- which means that you cannot play it unless you have exclusive permission. For example, either because you are part of the Griffith Conservatorium or because you have met certain criteria and applied prior online. And then before playing, you must to wash your hands to ensure the protection of the piano. 

It was the first time in at least four years since I had performed in front of any sort of audience who was not family or a close friend, so I was extremely nervous (and hence made countless errors). Even long after I finished playing my hands were still uncontrollably shaking from nerves. Overall, though, I am incredibly lucky and grateful to have had the opportunity to play on such a beautiful and unique piece of artwork.

Afterwards, because we still had some time before closing, we inevitably had to check out the 'Soul Under the Moon' exhibition again.

You can try to register here to play, but I have just checked the site and all sessions have been sold out.

the sun will rise with my name on your lips, cause everything will change tonight

After arriving just in time for our 12 o'clock lunch booking at Varias, Stanthorpe, last last weekend, we were able to enjoy a relaxing lunch of spatchcock, steak, fish and chips, coconut sorbet, and honeycomb sorbet, among a few other delicious dishes.
En route to our favourite walking track/top-of-the-world view a.k.a the Pyramid at Girraween National Park, we stopped by a countryside fruit market for a box of the freshest local apples, while also making a pit stop at the [not-that-Big-Apple] Big Apple for a big box of local Sutton's apple juice. Our favourites (deduced by the serious task of taste-testing) were the Granny Smith, Fuji, Pink Lady and ginger-infused blends.
While the juice taste-testing chased away sour memories of our last batch of Sutton's juice all those years ago, the mouth-watering larger-than-the-size-of-my-head apple pies displayed in the Shed Cafe brought up bittersweet memories of the best apple pie we had ever tasted in Tasmania. So much self control was practiced whilst telling myself that second dessert was not necessary. And just as well, because otherwise I would have had to crawl/roll my way up the rocks of the Pyramid track an hour later (not that I still didn't need to…).
As usual, though, the breathtaking view at the end of the track made the whole pain-staking trek worth it. Unfortunately, the time for us to admire the view this time was cut short, since we needed to make our way back down before sundown.

Can't wait to go back soon and hopefully not die halfway up; however, the next time we make the trip up may be a long while yet, considering I will be starting full-time work in the next few weeks and will only have Sundays off. Goodbye sleep-ins. *cry*

oakridge (melbourne, part two)

Shot on Nikon Df with 24-85mm lens and 105mm lens

No matter the duration of the trip, every time we visit Melbourne we allocate a whole day to exploring the vineyards and wineries of Yarra Valley. Unlike previous years when we would walk-in to at least four wineries before lunch time, this year we only managed to visit two or three in total. However, similar to last year's trip, we enjoyed a three-course lunch at the Oakridge winery, overlooking the spectacular view of the vineyards and its mountain backdrop. 

As usual, the quality of the food was exceptional, especially when the chefs managed to convince me that medium rare steak is more-than-just-acceptable, and that all other steaks I had sampled up to that point were poor excuses for culinary excellence.

Max (the 105mm lens) was also given the opportunity to exhibit his potential, capturing many of the textures in such crisp detail and vivid colour. Very proud moment for me. If these photos still don't inspire you to visit Oakridge then there is something very wrong with you.