Prahran Hotel

We had a Sunday night meal at the funky Prahran Hotel, and it was good:  service was fine, food was good, prices were very reasonable (except for the wine, which was higher than you'd expect in a pub).   You get a choice of places to eat, and we chose the "dining" area, but even here there was a bit of a spill-over of music from the DJ in the bar area.  However,  this is a pub and it didn't intrude on our conversation, so it wasn't a major issue for us. 

It was nice to be able to park close to the venue but at busy times, this may not always be possible.   There's some "permit only" parking in the area (including in the evenings) so care is required.

Spring

Spring's here!   We  had a couple of foggy mornings a few days back (actually, it was still winter then), but then the warm days got the plants into bud.  [Edit - image updated]

 

OH&S....??

At the Elizabeth Street tram terminus.....all nice and cool for the tram drivers while they have a "comfort stop"!

Notice the air-conditioning unit on top of the toilet?

Electioneering (2)

I had a quick word with the team installing the new signage at the local station, and commented that there must be an election coming on!    They tactfully responded that, yes, there had been a little pressure on them to get the work done!

Anyway, the new displays are kinda nice, although I reflect that, even though it's nice to know if the train is late or cancelled, there wouldn't be a need for all this information if the trains could be relied on to turn up when they're supposed to.  Moreover, the signs on the platforms only tell you what trains are running;  they don't 'fess up to cancellations (although they can give messages about disruptions).  You have to work out that a train has been cancelled by its absence on the display.

And Daniel Bowen wasn't too impressed with  the location of some of the signs.....
 

The Abbotsford Convent

It was a winter weekday, and impulsively we decided that we ought to check out the Abbotsford Convent.   Of course, we knew of its existence, but it's out-of-the-way for us and a little tricky to get to (choice of the horrors of Hoddle Street or a circular route through Kew).   The closest I had ever been to it was when I worked on for the tramways during university vacations, when there was a bus yard (long since gone) on the other side of St Heliers Street, which was a meal break location for the tramway buses.


I read that the Abbotsford Convent Foundation celebrated its 10th anniversary this year.   The Good Shepherd nuns sold the site in 1975, although the Good Shepherd Foundation still has a presence at the neighbouring Church and hostel, and the farmland became the Collingwood Children's farm.






The convent itself became part of the Lincoln Institute and subsequently La Trobe University.  The University sold the site in the late 1990s, and a residential development was proposed.    However, with State Government assistance it was returned to public ownership, and the Abbotsford Convent Foundation was established to own and manage it, with a focus on arts, culture and learning.

Convent bakery

There are now numerous studio and office spaces, and what is described as an extensive program of events. We enjoyed poking around the buildings and extensive gardens.   And, of particular interest to us (!), there are a number of eating and drinking venues, at least one of which appeared to the patronised by (may I say?) "artistic" types.    We had a pleasant lunch at the Convent Bakery, and were happy with everything.   But of course, we were there at a quiet time.  I can understand that it must get very busy at times, particularly weekends, which no doubt explains the rather ordinary reviews.

The Cat Cafe

Goodness, a news report about a cat cafe?     I see from the website that you have to book, and that it costs $10 an hour (plus the cost of coffee and food, obviously). 

I had an opportunity to take a walk up that way.  It's at 375 Queen St, right up near the Vic Market.  I went past, but not in.   The cats seems to have landed on their feet, so to speak, as the building is an impressive bluestone structure.  


















Footnote - I see that the idea started in Japan, and that you get 2 hours with the cats  at the London equivalent!

Machi

Inkerman Street, St Kilda isn't our usual stamping ground, but we were with a group that included family members, and went to Machi.   I now know that this neighbourhood includes Mr Wolf and the Newmarket Hotel, (both in Good Food Guide) so perhaps the area might be deserving of closer attention in the future.

Machi gets mixed reviews on Urbanspoon (of course, it's not alone in that regard) and doesn't make it into the current Good Food Guide.   There's a bit of a Western edge to the Japanese menu (slow cooked lamb shoulder?).  As one review puts it, it has "a menu that includes traditional Japanese dishes and imaginative mod Oz creations".  But the Japanese side shone through in other ways, as everything was attractively presented and the service was certainly attentive.


We shared everything and so were able to have quite a range of dishes, but in particular we loved the prawn tempura.  The miso baked barramundi was good too, and there were good reports about everything on the seafood platter.  As for the desert platter......!

But no, it wasn't the cheapest night out we've  ever had - but this was partly because we like to have some wine, and the wines on the list (and other drink prices) are a bit on the pricey side (we weren't there on Tuesday, when apparently you can BYO).

Occupying seats

Noticed on a recent train trip. The passengers concerned quite deliberately placed just a couple of items on the opposite seat as soon as they boarded.


No, the train wasn't completely full.  Perhaps about 50%.    But I wasn't impressed.

Auction technique

Every real estate auction is different, and - apart from knowing what your upper limit is - there's no one rule for bidders that's invariably applicable.    However, as a long-term observer of the auction scene, I do know that agents' usual advice to "bid strongly" is not necessarily the way to go.  It seems to me that often it just communicates to the auctioneer that you're interested - with the risk that the price might drift upwards before the property is put on the market, and that this is likely to more than off-set any possible effect of "scaring off" other bidders.

Be that as it may, we recently attended a nearby auction, where there were two bidders, both quite diffident.  True, it was an executor's sale, but successful purchaser impressed me.  She dithered in her bids, asked for time to consult her husband, suggested a coffee break and generally gave every indication of being indecisive.   Perhaps she was - but I wondered if it was all an act?   Because the upshot was that the auctioneer put the property "on the market" at what I considered to be quite a low figure, and the consensus amongst the neighbours (who watch these things very closely!) was that eventual sale price was very reasonable.

I still don't know whether the "strategy" was by accident or design....but I came away impressed.

Winter

Winter has really caught up with us!

Over the past few days we've had very low temperatures overnight, cold winds, rain, thunder and hail (see images)......but also some wintry sunshine.















Edit:   Perhaps this was the same hailstorm that Daniel Bowen experienced?

Yellow bins

We're used to  wheelie bins of various colours, for recycling, green waste and general waste.   Actually, the colour coding doesn't seem to be consistent across different municipalities, but perhaps that's another issue.   But, around here, we have a few all-yellow bins  in our shopping strips.

Looking more carefully, and we noticed that these are located outside newsagents and are lockable.    We saw the other night that they were being used to provide a secure place for after-hours deliveries of magazines.

Forbidden Fruit

I don't comment on every book I read, but I thought I ought to post something about Kerry Greenwood's Forbidden Fruit.   I can handle Kerry's Phryne Fisher (here, for example), but the "detective" in this book is Corinna Chapman.   I haven't read any of the previous Corinna Chapman books (I see that Forbidden Fruit is the 5th), so it took me a while to get up to speed on some of the context of this story.  Even allowing for this, I'm sorry, but Corinna is just too over-the-top for me.  Yes, there are some familiar place names, but there's too much food stuff, too many way-out characters, too many pets (sorry, "companion animals"), too much over-done description of Melbourne's (largely imaginary) "street scene".

Perhaps there's an audience for all this, but I ended up skimming the pages looking for the "story" - such as it is.  The story meanders down numerous seemingly irrelevant byways and involves highly implausible characters.   The trials and errors in the making of making of glacé cherries seem to get as much attention as the search for the runaway kids......and anyway, there's a recipe for glacé cherries when (nearly 300 pages later) you get to the end.

Electioneering (1): The Frankston Line

So, there's a state election due in November.  Given that our local station is served by Frankston line trains and there are a number of marginal seats along this line, I can see that this going to generate some bloggable material! I've previously mentioned that we've been seeing some money being spent on the line, although how it is that the painting of stations  (possibly at the expense of work needed elsewhere) will win votes, I don't know, but that's politics I guess.

In the meantime, a "Frankston line" election brochure produced by the Liberals has already arrived in our letterbox.  There's a website, too.  The messages are mixed:   things are better than they were and new trains will make things better.    Of course, the proposed airport rail link gets a mention, as well.  But there's a lot of negativity, too, as we are invited to recall that the service wasn't too good when the previous government was in office.   True, and, yes,  some improvements to frequencies were made shortly after the last election (the price being, elimination of most loop trains).   But if we are invited to recall the past, will we also remember the fact that a station at Southland was promised at the last election and is still nowhere near being built (and is being re-announced)?  Or that last January, the services for the whole month were reduced by 50%, with bizarre results during the peak periods?   Or that on a recent train trip, just a few days back, the in-train displays and announcements weren't working properly?
The brochure makes the point that there wasn't much movement on level crossing removals when the previous government was in office.  Well, although there's been some activity on this over the last four years (Springvale and out Mitcham way), the world hasn't exactly been set on fire in this respect during this Government's term, and certainly not around here (although action is now being promised, by both sides of politics).

To state the obvious, the issue is credibility.    Promises, promises.....   And I guess that applies to both sides of politics!

I wonder if similar publicity will be developed for other lines (such as the Dandenong corridor), although my limited googling didn't turn up any dedicated websites.

Rubbish bins at your desk - and spin

So, the Tax Office is removing individual rubbish bins in its offices.   This is being said by some as being a belt-tightening exercise;  perhaps it is.  However, at the office in which I (sometimes) work, individual rubbish bins at the desk disappeared a long time ago. 


It was portrayed as an environmentally friendly move:   rubbish has to be disposed of into various recycling bins in communal areas.    However, individual boxes in which to place waste paper have been retained, which means the outcome isn't too tough as, in the office environment, a lot of the material that actually goes into the bin is in fact paper.

It seems it's all in the "spin".  Perhaps if the ATO  went on the front foot and told the world that the change it is making was for "environmental" reasons, the reaction would be better.

Italian Masterpieces from the Prado

The exhibition at the National Gallery covers three centuries of Italian art, from the Prado's collection.    Of course, Europe was a different place in those days, with Spanish rule extending at times into parts of what is now Italy.

Titian, Salome with the Head of John the Baptist

I can't claim to know a lot about Renaissance art, but I certainly enjoyed the exhibition, in fact more than I expected.  It covers three centuries from Raphael onwards.
  
The captions are comprehesive, describing both the individual pictures as well as the various themes.

Raphael, Holy Family with St John

We attended on the Sunday afternoon of the long weekend, so of course there were a lot of people present.  Even so, it was not over-crowded, but we were glad we'd pre-purchased tickets as there was a long, slow-moving queue to buy them on the spot (this had eased off later in the afternoon).


However, with tickets in hand, there were no delays at the entrance at all.  If you think you may wish to return, ask for a pass-out as you exit into the shop.

Also, on display, just off the lobby, was also a special exhibition of William Blake's works, although mostly etchings.

And, if you go, allow a few minutes to admire the bears in the lobby area.  Kitsch, yes, but amusing.

Upgrading the railway line

There's been some publicity locally about a lot of money being spent on the local railway line.   I previously mentioned this here.  True, I'm aware that some modifications are required on the line so that a wider range of trains can operate on it, although $100 million seems a lot of money.  But there are some marginal seats along the line, and an election is getting closer.  Big amounts of money like this always scare me, but perhaps in the minds of our leaders, big figures are "impressive"?

However, it seems that some of work being undertaken isn't strictly needed, such as painting.  I'm only an observer, but it does appear to me that the paintwork at our local station was in reasonable shape - yet a crew has been here for days, re-painting.  On the other hand, maintenance on other parts of the network is said to be suffering, as Marcus Wong points out.  Is there an issue about priorities here?

The mail to your door (3)

Well, the price of stamps has gone up to 70¢, but it seems that the issue of  the frequency of mail deliveries is still bubbling away.   Some ideas were floated earlier in the year, and it seems that the issue hasn't gone away, although it doesn't seem to have made it to the "Australian Post Monitor" site. However, 3 deliveries per week seems to be occurring after 2015 in New Zealand.

In relation to less frequent deliveries,  The Age reported Australia Post chairman, John Stanhope, as saying, "If you want it fast, you pay for it"  (see also the Skynews report).    I'm not sure how this would work.  It's one thing to pay up-front for express delivery, but the tenor of the comment seems to suggest that the recipient can opt to receive daily mail deliveries.   How would this operate in the sorting/delivery process?   Will the postman still come down the street but miss the houses that haven't paid up?    Would this really result in any savings?

In the meantime, Australia Post is getting on the front foot with their post boxes.  No longer do they state expected delivery times, only the daily clearance time.

However, privatisation is said to be off the agenda - for now.

'If you want it fast, you pay for it .. if you want it more frequent you pay more, if you want it express you pay more,' Australia Post chairman John Stanhope told Fairfax media - See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/national/2014/05/07/city-postal-deliveries-could-be-cut.html#sthash.8aeHDMWF.dpuf

'If you want it fast, you pay for it .. if you want it more frequent you pay more, if you want it express you pay more,' Australia Post chairman John Stanhope told Fairfax media - See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/national/2014/05/07/city-postal-deliveries-could-be-cut.html#sthash.8aeHDMWF.dpuf

'If you want it fast, you pay for it .. if you want it more frequent you pay more, if you want it express you pay more,' Australia Post chairman John Stanhope told Fairfax media - See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/national/2014/05/07/city-postal-deliveries-could-be-cut.html#sthash.8aeHDMWF.dpuf

The Winter breakfast

I attended Prahran Mission's Winter Breakfast launch.  It wasn't quite as slick as the Salvo's appeal launch, and it was down to earth in a number of ways. One of the main areas that Prahran Mission works in is mental health, and they were up-front about the issues.  Mention was made of the new mental health legislation and some good aspects were described (more "one on one" programs) but that this comes at a cost (no funding for "drop-in centres).   We were told about some approaches to (and an experience of) treatment. It was also said that the rate of use of "ice" in Prahran and St Kilda is the highest in the world!  (Not sure how they work this out, but still.....)

Heath Black spoke of his personal journey through AFL football, and the serious issues that weren't being addressed in the recent past (mental health and drinking, with the drinking obscuring the depression and panic issues that some players had).   The audience was certainly captivated. We were left hoping that more attention is now being paid to these matters - but we still see media reports about "incidents".

I'm sure both Prahran Mission and the Salvos are doing vital work, but it seemed to me that they are approaching things in slightly different ways.  The Salvos, even with their corporate sponsorships and neat uniforms, are, no doubt, getting their "hands dirty", but it appeared to me that the Mission is getting fully immersed in the issues they deal with.

Seniors' parking

An interesting idea, reserved spots for "seniors" near the access ramps in a local shopping centre.  These positions were close to the spots for the disabled and the parents with children!

But, is this enforceable, as (at least, to date) seniors don't have a card to display?   Perhaps the idea is that it will be self-regulating!    After all, who wants to admit that they're unable (unwilling?) to walk a few extra metres?  I for one didn't have the courage to occupy one of the spots! Of course, getting a small discount at the coffee shop is a different matter since that's an opportunity not to be passed up.

Mothers' Day

We had a lovely Mothers' Day lunch at the College Lawn in Greville St Prahran.    The food was good, the little extras the venue provided to mark the day were a nice touch, the atmosphere and service couldn't be faulted  and of course the company was great.  We must remember this place
- if only the parking wasn't such a pain!

We're now off to Western Australia for a week, so I'll do my best to post some reports from the West.