BreadTop

Sometimes it's the little things.

I had to move hostels this morning, so I was up and about a little early. Since it is a public holiday (Labour Day), I was one of the few, really. My new hostel is in a great location, near this hip street that gets progressively more upscale as it gets further north. My sister and I wandered it on Friday, but today it wasn't raining - in fact it's supposed to hit nearly 100, and it was not far from that at 10 am.

Anyway, so the street is just barely waking up, and this woman - older, a little frail - is walking this huge shaggy white dog that is too big for her, but generally well-behaved. But he gets excited and takes off away from her, weaving through pedestrians, and dodges into a nearby storefront.

He went into a pet store, and sat there staring at the mini lop bunnies, until his owner came and took him along. I love that the dog was smart enough to know where he could go to gaze longingly at some prey.

I also love that the shop had a big bin of hugely fuzzy baby kittens that were just about the prototype for kitten cuteness. They couldn't have been more than 8 weeks, all messy fuzzy long fur, and hugely playful - pouncing on one another, on the toys, on invisible lint. They were going to town, and I wanted to take them all and make room in my pack.

I also watched the Moomba Parade today, the last day of the festival. I don't know what the theme is - the festival is technically a "water fest," but that seems a loose theme at best, and the parade was more of a multicultural group and organization celebration than anything. But it had jellyfish and a Chinese dragon and belly dancers and kids in bands and dance troupes, so it was still nice to see - something very much for the locals, not for tourists.

It's strange what the highlights are. I watched So You Think You Can Dance Australia last night, and found it oddly comforting - it made me excited for the American one that will be playing when I get home. The dancers were good (unlike the kiwi Dancing With The Stars, which is nowhere near as impressive as in the States), and it was just something random to enjoy.

I went to a moonlight screening of Juno in the botanical gardens with my Melbourne friend Julia, and on Sunday we braved the extreme heat to have brunch in trendy Fitzroy before going to some of the Moomba Festival to see the dragon boat races and then to the Australian Center of Moving Image for the video game exhibit. I learned a lot - I am really terrible at Dance Dance Revolution (they have video games from Pong through Wii out to play with) for instance, and i can get NEARLY my whole back with the sunblock when I wear my racerback tank, but there is one little strip I miss, apparently, that will burn like bacon in the heat and sun.

The little things, though, are the ones that I am liking best about Australia. That may change tomorrow, when I go on a day tour down the Great Ocean Road, which is supposed to be spectacular, but for now my favorite parts of Melbourne are the little ones.

Like BreadTop. Why don't we have Chinese bakeries like this at home? They have everything from sweet to savory, it is all excellent and fresh, and it means that me, a single poor traveler, gets to live on sesame bean curd balls and almond custard pastries and pork buns instead of pb&j.

So BreadTop, to you I say thank you for being in Melbourne. Next to the Target.