The do's and don'ts of the Melbourne Show

Recently, I went to the Melbourne Show 2013. I have been to the Melbourne Show each year for as long as I can remember and I will share some tips I have learnt over the years.

Do: Visit exhibitions there
This year, Masterchef Australia was filmed in Melbourne, on the show grounds. As a Masterchef fan, it was opportunity not to be missed. 

Rutherglen 2013

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to stay at a farm in Rutherglen for a week.
Rutherglen is a small town near Albury and the Victoria/New South Wales border. 
I have been to Rutherglen a couple of times, during summer and winter and under the impression that the weather is only very hot or very cold. I learnt that spring and autumn are the best seasons to visit, the weather is warm during midday, cool in the afternoon and not too cold at night.

While I was there, I did some jobs around the farm and explored the town. The farm that I stayed at is called Mt Ophir which has bed-and-breakfast facilities, a winery and livestock. The area has great country scenery which makes excellent photos.

Travel Review: Melbourne CBD

About three weeks ago, I went to Melbourne City for five days. As I live outside the metro area and used to seeing farmland, this was an interesting experience for me. This is a journal of what I did. 

Day 1: 

I travelled into the city via train and exited at Southern Cross Station. I was with a group of other country-people who were also exploring the city. We started the day by doing an amazing race-like challenge where we given clues of what we have to photograph. 

For lunch, I ate at Your Thai restaurant. I ordered vegetable dumplings and a green tea milkshake (I had no idea that existed). Then to finish the day, we walked to the Eureka Tower (tallest tower in Melbourne and 2nd tallest residential building in Australia). This gave us a better understanding of how the city is set out. Many people in the group went on the edge, an experience where you a put in a glass box that extends out of the building, this gives you a stronger sense of how high the building is because it has a glass floor. I didn't want to do this for two reasons: I am not fond of heights and I didn't want to pay $10 for a glass floor.
Going on the terrace was scary, because it was so high up, the winds were very strong and when I was taking photos I was worried that my phone would fall out the guard. 

Pay It Forward 2013

Every January, Xfactor Youth has a volunteer camp called 'Pay It Forward' where young people help others in our community (and sometimes in other regional town's - Mildura) who can't help themselves or find difficulties in completing a job or task. 

This camp has two objectives, firstly to share God's love with others by paying it forward and secondly,  growing in your own faith in God in your spiritual journey.

We spent 5 days this year; weeding, cleaning, painting, gardening, mulching, putting bikes together, moving furniture, moving chicken coups, learning, throwing paint, getting our lunches eaten by goats (well only my sandwich got eaten) and pouring water on people's heads. 

These photos have been taken by Ben Young and others.

On the first day, I went to Doreen Primary School to move bricks.

Tom carried 13 bricks. 

We also made a fence of logs.

We also kept finding chicken heads everywhere.

Day 2 - helping the Northern Austistic School

We had a competition to see what group could make the
best dessert for $10 or less in 45 minutes. 

This is what one of the people we helped said.

Day 3 - Cleaning around the church

We also went to the pool

We had paper stuck to our backs and people could write 

things that we like about that person. 

Pay It Forward was a fun experience and I hope to go to Pay It Forward next year. 

Links: 

Xfactor Youth FaceBook (if you want to go to Pay It Forward next year)

Japan Culture and Art Festival 2012

Last Sunday (25th of November), I went to Japan... well not really Japan but kind of a half way illusion. 

I went to the Japan Culture and Art Festival, which displayed traditional and modern Japanese art forms and culture. There was origami, calligraphy, traditional dance, modern music, martial arts and traditional games and lots of Japanese people.

This was my experience there:

Entrance 

Origami - I learnt to make an origami flower

Martial Arts

Kendama (Japanese toy)

Traditional dance

Japanese calligraphy

I learnt how hard it is to do Japanese calligraphy (my name in Japanese).
Left - Neat, nice done by an expert, Right - My attempt 

Ikebana - Flower arrangement

Japanese game - go 

Score -
Opponent = 9 points
Me = -13 points
You know you failed when your score is in negative numbers. 

Pastel Art

Japanese rice ball thing with green soy (very chewy)

Kirigami Lotus (Origami with cuttings) 

Kirigami dragonfly 

Kirigami bears 

A gaijin (non-Japanese) in a sumo suit

The Japan Culture and Art Festival was fun as well as being a bit too loud. I learnt new things about Japan and Japanese culture which I didn't know. I went to many other stalls and places but couldn't take photos due to the large amount of people pushing and shoving to look at what is on the table. :) 

Overall, I enjoyed the day and got to experience Japanese culture that I would have had to fly to Japan to see or research on the internet. 

Links: 
Japan Culture and Art Festival website
Japan Culture and Art Festival Blog

Travel Review: Degani Bakery Café - Photo Blog

Last Friday night, I ate at Degani Bakery Café at Plenty Valley. I visited there to taste for myself the mix grill that many have bragged about.

A normal plate, a normal fork, a steak knife

Chicken, two types of steak and salad

Calamari, prawns, salad and potato

My Degani Bakery Café experience was excellent but other reviews won't agree, I guess I struck a good night out. 

Link:
Degani website