Melbourne visit part 2 – Tim Burton exhibition, Sambal Kampung

We flew into Melbourne airport at 2.15 and were booked to enter the exhibition at 4.30. All we had to do was get to our hotel from the bus station, get changed, perhaps grab a snack, and wander down to the ACMI. Not a terribly tight schedule, except…

Just as we arrived at the Southern Cross bus station, the heavens opened up and it poured. This left the taxis in the position to be cuntish nazis to those of us waiting at the rank, and after THREE failed to take us because a) we were too close, b) it wasn’t on their way or c) they were finishing shift, we started walking.

This meant there was no time to change before the Tim Burton exhibition. Lucky I was wearing a suitably spooky dress and stripy tights anyway. Dom and I DID make it just on time (phew!) and here we are in front of the famous Batman car.

For some great pics and a write-up of the opening night and Masterclass Tim held, see Sea of Ghosts, and Super Kawaii Mama.

I found the drawings and little figurines (called “maquettes”) absolutely enchanting, and it inspired me to get my drawing pencils out again! Anyone who is creative will love this, and especially those with dark sensibilities.

I appreciated his quirky sense of humour, and chuckled even at the bad puns.

There’s a funny clip on Threadbanger right before their Mad Hatter costume how-to; it’s well worth a watch! (But that isn’t how the real hat was made).

Afterwards, we went to Sambal Kampung for dinner – yep, it’s Malaysian. At 234 Bourke Street in Chinatown, it was right near our Mercure Hotel.

I failed to get pics of the teh tarik and roti canai, but they were lovely. We had beef rendang with the roti, and it was absolutely gorgeous.

Here is the laksa and sambal veges (eggplant, okra and snowpeas). The laksa was very tasty and had all the fishballs, prawns, chicken, tofu, broccoli, egg, crispy onion etc you could wish for, but I’d have liked it sweeter. The sambal was delicious, but a little oily. You can see I’m not a food blogger 🙂

After a rest it was out to the Blue Velvet Room i
n Collingwood for goth club Heresy – I’d been to this venue last year, for the Circa Nocturna after party. That time it was packed; this time not that many people attended, possibly because Cabaret Nocturne had been on the week before. We did manage to see some bands, have beers and laughs and chat with a few people. 

And when we got home, we devoured the rest of the laksa we’d kept in the fridge. Boy did I sleep well after that!