Written by lainie at 09:56 PM on September 22, 2009 in melbourne, Daily Life, Arty stuff.

Selamat Hari Raya to everybody, I hope you had a good one! I wish I weren't missing out on raya food here, but I did have a pretty awesome Indonesian lunch with Daphne. Eat more rendang on my behalf, please.

Random Monday T-shirt drawing. Some people get the Monday blues. I get cravings to do little vector drawings on Illustrator. To each her own, I suppose?

One of the better parts of Melbourne is the reading culture. Bookworms seem to be the norm here.

Guernica, by Dave Boling. A decent novel so far about lovers during the bombing of a Basque town in Guernica; the eponymous historic event of Picasso's painting. My latest read.

There are secondhand bookstores everywhere, plenty of titles, book signings, specialty bookstores, literature festivals; the last time a bibliophile was here I spent a lot of time dragging her away from several purchases (perhaps shouting something like "your budget will die!"). 

(latte from Brother Baba Budan, with Alex)

Pair that with Melbourne's love for coffee, and you have my new past-time. Bumming around for hours in a cafe with a good book and a thick latte (with requisite latte art). This isn't very different from back in Malaysia, except for the latte art part. 

I love that I can get really great coffee near my apartment (at least, before 5pm), and cheap too.

(spot the Sai Baba portrait!)

My loyalties for coffee lie elsewhere, but for lots of comfortable couches, books for reading, cheap prices, being open late on Sunday, the friendly laidback staff, free wifi and attached art gallery (how awesome is the list?), 1000 £ Bend (361, Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne) gets my vote. 

The reason for this post? I am trying to figure out if this is a moment for food (extra spicy beef noodles from Noodle Kingdom), a book, Photoshop, or Illustrator. Book, or random T-shirt monsters? Whichever I pick, there will be Milo.

Milo, om nom nom nommmmm.

I leave you with some graffiti from Melbourne:

(piece by Aerosol Arabic —Pakistani dude from Manchester, UK — and art crew Crooked Rib)

 It's a huge piece, spans across the end of the alley. It's rather different from the graffiti styles I've seen prevalent in Melbourne, especially the buildings. The quote reads: "A Thirst for Change", and "Do not waste water, even before a flowing river" — Prophet Muhammad.

It's partially cropped, I have to return another day to photograph the lower half. Still, pretty awesome piece, ei? And apt for Melbourne too, with its prevalent drought issues.

[ As I type this, Alex is busying himself in the kitchen making supper. Ohai! ]