Melbourne Town Hall & its lavish history tainted with social prejudice

The façade of Melbourne Town Hall is an interesting study of numerous architectural branches: a fascinating combination of marvelous Corinthians pillars with intricate motif engraved at the capitals, beautifully symmetrical Tasmanian freestone’s body seated above the darker foundation of bluestone plinth, paired windows with repetitive design separated by brown mullions, round Roman arches, a clock tower with sloping mansard roof, and a French-style balustrade at the balcony.

The Town Hall was designed by Joseph Reed and Barnes in the French Renaissance style, with Reed being the same architect that created the State Library of Victoria, Royal Exhibition Building and the Melbourne Trades Hall. 

The Melbourne Town Hall was built in an era where the sight of carcasses scattering at the front steps of premises, and unbearable stench of rubbish discharges permeating the main streets were day-to-day common occurrences. The sanitary condition was awful, underground sewerage was non-existent, and clean supply of water was a rarity. Yet despite the imperative issues of contagious epidemic and appalling hygienic situation, Melbournians of the higher hierarchy were engrossed with fancy dress balls and frivolous entertainments, thoroughly enjoying the limelight of publicity and media.

The opening night of the Melbourne Town Hall in 1870 was celebrated with a grand concert, followed by a night of lavish formal ball for the aristocracy where large quantities of fine delicacies and over hundred crates of best French champagne were served. All expenses were personally funded by the very popular Lord Mayor at that time, Samuel Amess.

For the next few decades, Melbourne Town Hall was embroiled in a series of controversial administrative decisions tainted with discrimination and social prejudice. The so-called “people’s hall” had on numerous occasions rejected the applications of its unfavourable organizations to use the Town Hall: the anti-consriptionists, the socialists, the communists, and the Irish Catholics were some of those groups that were included in the Town Hall’s invisible blacklist.

Today, the Melbourne Town Hall is a popular venue for people to gather for a wide range of activities, festivals and celebrations. It was the place where Beatles greeted its massive congregation of fans from the balcony in the 1960s. It is a favourite location where public can enjoy various theatrical performances and comedy shows, where weddings are held and banquets are served, where numerous musical concerts are conducted frequently in its impressive auditorium. The exterior of the Town Hall would be dressed up extravagantly in awesome Christmas lights and moving animations, in accompaniment of delightful music performances during the festive season in December. It is also a popular spot for the public to observe extraordinary artworks and amazing nightlights on special occasion such as the White Night Melbourne in February. Today, the Town Hall is the perfect venue for entertainments and all things fun. Any controversy of its past is, perhaps, history best to be forgotten.

Location:

90-120 Swanston Street, Melbourne

Free tour is available on weekdays. See here for more information.

References:

Plutocracy at Play: Social Activities of the Melbourne City Council. - by David Dunstan

The Melbourne Town Hall: The City’s Meeting Place? - by Graeme Tucker

Fed Square Book Market - the ordinary amidst the extraordinary?

It’s like an unbreakable ritual. Week after week, since time immemorial (pardon the exaggerated expression), a group of passionate book vendors gathered under the marvelous glazed roof of Atrium to create a literature’s space for the serious bibliophiles and casual book browsers.

Pause here, for I have a confession to make. I am struggling, at this very moment, to come out with the right words to describe a book market of such kind.  Sure, it is a precious little place for book lovers to perform some explorative exercise, and if luck strikes, you might stumble on a few gems or two. But apart from that, the book market is just so ordinary, that I am almost at a loss of words.

Does the book market offer the best bargain in town? No, it does not. Sure, there are plenty of second-hand books with reasonable good condition available. You might even discover a few surprising finds of brand new books with relatively cheaper price than your regularly frequented bookstore chains. But most of the time, a simple online search will yield numerous results providing better options to obtain the same products with lower value.

Does the book market offer anything unique, such as certain inaccessible vintage or archaic books that have long been disappeared from the popular bookshelves in town? Maybe, but highly unlikely, especially in this era where online bookstores are ubiquitously prevailing in the cyber world.

Is the collection of books so massive that you can almost guarantee to grab one home in delight by the end of the visit? Not quite. The number of stalls are limited and it will probably take you less than an hour to complete your books hunting trip. Sure, the selection of books is amazing, with wide array of topics and types ranging from colourful children books, antique picture books, cookbooks for the busy mums, specialty books for the serious learners, intriguing fictions, and timeless classic. But is there any exclusively special characteristic that sets the book market apart from any ordinary bookstores in town in terms of the book genres offered? Probably no.

Having said that, does the book market worth a visit? A “yes”, for sure. There is certain inexplicable charm to this book market held within the modern arcade of Atrium. Take a stroll along the stalls, speak to the vendors, and get personalized recommendation from the veteran booksellers on some good books. These might be the very few elements missing from the contemporary retail bookstores nowadays staffed with casual workers and part-time students.

So pay a visit, form your own views on this weekly book market, and correct me if your opinions differ.

Location:

The Atrium, Federation Square

Swanston Street, Melbourne

Date and time:

Every Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm

Dainty Sichuan at Lonsdale Street- the art of pungent spiciness

Long gone were the days when Chinese food was synonymous with just crispy battered pork fillets coated with sugary ketchup sauce, or stir-fried thin egg noodles with sticky dark oyster sauce in a party of finely chopped carrots, beef mince and baby pak choy. The dynamic city of Melbourne has come a long way since then. The gastronomic palate of Melbournians has well expanded beyond the ordinary Cantonese Siu Mai, or the slippery Shanghai Xiao Long Bao. The city of Melbourne is consistently permeated with global aroma of the most exotic types, people are now demanding for authenticity in taste and texture. The usual Chinese dishes packed in cubic-shaped take away containers might soon be superseded; Chinese food is now an art, a specialty culinary of distinctive taste based on its respective originating region.

One of the most popular entrants into the diverse Chinese food market in Melbourne is the Chongqing or Sichuan cuisine. The Chinese simply sums up the Sichuan culinary experience in two words: “Mala” (麻辣), or “tingly numbing” and “spicy” in their literal translation. Originated from the Sichuan province in southwestern China, the Sichuan cuisine is well known for its insanely liberal use of chilli peppers and chilli oil. Any first-time challenger of Sichuan cuisine is well advised to brace yourself in anticipation of some excruciating numbing sensation (which might also leave you shedding a tear or two). Definitely not an experience for the faint hearted.

The Dainty Sichuan at Lonsdale Street is highly recommended if you are craving for some piping hotpot within the central business district. The flavoured soups are tantalizing and the ingredients are fresh- the two “musts” for a quality hotpot experience.

The consistently long queue, endless waiting list and docket numbers being handed out, the large presence of Chinese customers – the combination of these might be your good indication as to the popularity of the restaurant and its genuineness of flavour. This centrally-located restaurant is one of the many specialty restaurants under the Dainty Sichuan umbrella group, and is by far the glitziest and largest to date.

Although well known for its ferociously red chilli broth that can easily send anyone perspiring profusely in swollen lips, the restaurant has very graciously inserted a variety of flavoured soup bases in its menu as alternative choices for those lacking of Sichuan courage. Your personalized hotpot will be heated and kept simmering in metallic vessel placed on your individual induction cooktop inlaid into the table. You then place the fresh raw ingredients into the pot and wait for the fragrant stew to work its miracle and turn them into edible cuisine of intense flavour.

The sliced meat, mushroom, tofu, meatballs, seafood and egg dumplings are painstakingly displayed on serving dishes of different sizes and shapes, a true pleasure to the visual sense. The massive selection of sauces and condiments for you to mix and match, and to produce your individualized dipping sauce of bespoke quality is another real plus that makes the hotpot experience a truly enjoyable one.

I am desperate to go back for more!

 Location:

149 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne (Between Russell and Exhibition Street)

Opening Hours:

Daily 11.30am – 3pm, and 5pm – 10pm

The AC/DC hard rock band & and ACDC Lane

Human beings despise changes; What’s more when a change is unilateral, unpredictable, and involves a legendary rock’n’roll band famed for its unchanged high voltage, thunderous music.

So when news broke that AC/DC is replacing its lead singer of 36-year, Brian Johnson with Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose for the remainder of 2016 tour dates, fans went berserk. The earthquake-equivalent reaction was probably unanticipated when the rock band issued its polite gratitude statement to its near-deaf lead singer on Sunday. After all, no one batted an eyelid when its former drummer Phil Rudd quitted after being embroiled in a scandalous legal suit in New Zealand. Even its Scottish-origin founder Malcolm Young’s retirement announcement in 2014 was met with only momentary sadness, without any exaggerated outcry from emotional hardcore fans.

But this time, things are different. AC/DC fans are unable to live without the image of the 61-year-old Augus Young strumming its guitar hysterically in his schoolboy uniform outfit, beside the inimitable screaming beat of the raw-throated lead singer Brian Johnson. The possible last gesture of this old-time band of 43 years has finally crossed the line of its millions of staunch fan base.

Despite the uproar in news column and social media in the past two days, the ACDC Lane in Melbourne remains serene and completely oblivious to the hullaballoo faced by the Australian rock band that it obtained its name from since 1 October 2004.

The relatively short and narrow laneway is still having its private concert within its much-neglected confined space of arts. The schoolboy in his awesome dark green uniform continues to strum his guitar and sending out waves of visible electric shocks to his vibrant surrounding. The peculiar purple gorilla is still holding the black and white keyboard levers in its mouth, joining the weird symphony and heavy metal music produced by the myriad of strange creatures and instruments.

Unlike the popular Hosier and Union Lane, and some of its other counterparts within the city, ACDC Lane felt like an abandoned laneway amidst the various trendy bars and restaurants hidden within it. The artworks are bold and vivacious, yet at the same time, gloomy and foreboding. Numerous miserable-looking, faded posters are occupying one of the walls in a condition of despair. ACDC Lane circles back to Flinders Lane via Duckboard Place, another much forsaken laneway now colonized by repetitive and uninteresting graffiti.

ACDC Lane stands for everything unconventional and distinctive. Like its originator of name, the lane is obstinate and firmly sticks to its belief of uncompromising rock’n’roll regardless of the changes of time. Yes, it might be deserted and unkempt, but the concert continues. 

Location:

Off Flinders Lane, between Exhibition and Russell Street 

(Photos taken in April 2016)

See my updates at:

http://www.soinlovewithmelbourne.com/2016/09/acdc-lane-in-sea-of-regal-purple.html