Diversionary Daily

Of course I use the word 'short' with a hint of sarcasm.

1. Italian hot chocolate.
2. Surprisingly good weather -- t-shirts by St Kilda beach! How can you not love it?
3. Great hosts (thanks Daniel and Mot!)
4. Actual, real, useful public transport (as opposed to Perth's not-very-useful public transport, but pretty funky stations)
5. Good food, lots of restaurants and pretty good prices.
6. Laneways in the city. Perth needs more laneways, and more little shops, cafes and clubs along them.
7. Funky cafes.
8. Italian hot chocolate.
9. The concept of post-work drinks in the city. Granted it was post "work" drinks for me, but the concept holds. Especially when said drinks are at Manchester Lane or Hells Kitchen.
10. The Panel, and about twenty giant and vaguely creepy photos of Bert Newton around Channel Ten.
11. The Age -- a newspaper that gets away with having liftouts called A2 and A3, and actually has them at the correct sizes.
12. Fed Square.
13. Actual, real, old buildings!
14. Cool clothes.
15. The Shrine of Rememberance.
16. Suburban shopping -- I spent the whole time a short walk from either Glenferrie Road or Glenhuntly Road.
17. Italian hot chocolate.
18. 7 Apples Gelati.
19. So much culture -- highlights ACMI, NGV, Museum and the Arts Centre Markets (bought some great photos)
20. Greville Records (I forgot to check what was at the back on the left. Apologies to all non-Melbourne-based Music Jamboree fans).
21. Brighton beach boxes.
22. Shops.
23. The second best Parma in Victoria at Khyat's in Brighton.
24. The entertainingly crap but surprisingly addictive free newspaper MX (though any paper with a column called 'Boring but important' is still vaguely concerning)
25. 24 hour supermarkets (be still my 11pm-shopping heart!).

And the one thing that really bugs me about Melbourne every time I'm there? Assigned seating at the movies.

I'm sure I'll learn to deal with it when I move there.

I don't suppose you have managed to find anywhere in Perth that sells the real Italian hot chocolate? I wonder if The Re Store has it?

Posted by: Andrew on September 7, 2004

No joy yet on the Italian hot chocolate hunt, though I haven't really had a chance to go hunting properly. The Re Store's a good chance, and I'll have to go check down in Freo too.

As soon as I find anything I'll definitely be posting about it.

Posted by: Si on September 7, 2004

ALrighty Si, you had me a little freaked out there for a second. Clearly I didn't quite scroll down enough initially and it looked as though you'd become a Spice Girl fan...

(excuse the IE5 and MS Photo Editor dodginess...)

Posted by: mot on September 7, 2004

Very nice post Si. Move to Melbourne while you're still young and carefree.
Do it.

Posted by: Krissy on September 7, 2004

Shameless plug from the one whoom brought you all the best European Chocolate bar none. Ok but I AM biassed. Check the site it has a list of retailers, sadly none in Perth. This doesn't mean that there can't be any, just none right now.

Miro

Posted by: Miro on September 7, 2004

yeah, but...
does melbourne have a cottesloe?
is st kilda cooler than fremantle?
do you know where to find the good parking spots in the city?
can u travel from south to east in less than 30mins?
kings park!?
that five story phallus near the river?
78 records?
pollution?
crime?
serenity?

ok, i'm grasping at straws here... melbourne rocks, but perth has it's good qualities too.

Posted by: mik on September 8, 2004

I know Perth's very cool (it is!) I'm just looking for a change after 20-something years here.

It's the whole grass-is-greener thing. Plus I kinda dig being able to get lost in a new city for a while.

Posted by: Si on September 9, 2004

cottosloe? probably not.
St. Kilda better than Fremantle? You better believe it
Parking in the city? Who needs it, our public transport actually works.
South to East in less than 30mins? How far South and how far East - of the CBD? Sure, although walking's probably quicker than the car. (And you can drive 30 minutes from town and still have mobile coverage)
Kings Park? That's not a fair fight - most cities in the world couldn't compete
Five storey phallus near the river? It's called Crown Casino...
78 Records? Records?!? We use CDs, MDs and MP3s over here in the big smoke
Pollution? cough nothing wrong with the smell of diesel cough
Crime? Last year the Perth media was going on and on about the city's appalling burgulary rates
Serenity Can you say "Bonnie Doon"?

Alrighty, I've amused myself enough for the moment

Posted by: mot on September 9, 2004