Asian Food, Puppets

Midweek Update:
One thing to learn quickly is that Sydney might rival Chicago with their spring & summer festivals. With the weather just having turned for the better (dust storm gives way to rain, gives way to sun), there’s something happening every week/weekend…with no end in sight.  Endless summer, true to form.

The most recent of these happened to be the Sydney International Food Festival.

A quick note on Asian food:

- There is Thai. food. everywhere.

- Chinatown is legit. BBQ king is 30 seconds from my corporate apartment, and open ominously till late night. 

- Dim Sum isn’t dim sum. It’s called Yum Cha. Dim sum is a dumpling. Yum cha is dim sum. If this sounds dangerously like me speaking Chinese, it might be because…it’s all chinese.  Think tapas, except pushed around in baby strollers from table to table by little asian women in green aprons.  I have yet to experience this fine dining experience but have blocked off a Sunday morning in the near future to stuff face with shumai. 

Last night, post work, several of us walked over to Hyde Park to gawk at about 100 food stands of noodles & dumplings as part of Night Noodle Markets. Having already eaten more thai and asian food than when I was living at the St. Pierre household, what better way to spend a nice night in Sydney than gawking at food stands of noodles and dumplings.  The queues (lines) were, in some cases, outright ridiculous. People waiting ~30 minutes to order, then ~20 minutes for their food. [Insert comment about Australian ineffciencies here].

Some stage with dancers, whilst crowd eats noodles:

Having stuffed our bellies with pad thai, it was then time to stuff our cultural knowledge base with a little live theater.  Avenue Q is in its last week here in Sydney, so we were able to get discounted tickets.  This is like no other puppet shows I have ever seen (and I’ve only ever seen maybe one more in my life). The best way to describe it is….the things you’ve never said but have thought. Take this, add some puppets, and you’ve got Avenue Q.  The show opens with:

What do you do with a B.A. in English,
What is my life going to be?
Four years of college and plenty of knowledge,
Have earned me this useless degree.

I can’t pay the bills yet,
‘Cause I have no skills yet,
The world is a big scary place.

Which is followed by other such songs as:
It Sucks to Be Me
Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist
The Internet is For Porn
I’m Not Wearing Underwear Today

…and finally:
You Can Be as Loud as the Hell You Want (When You’re Makin’ Love)
…which, yes, portrays puppets engaged in puppet sex.

This was, without saying, awkward for the mother sitting next to us and her three kids (clearly they didn’t read beyond ‘play with puppets’), however absolutely hilarious for the rest of us.  

 

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