I’m a big lover of pho (Vietnamese rice noodle soup!) just tried a new place real close to home… Wasn’t too bad! Was funny watching mum try to eat it though:) I guess it is a bit tricky to master…. Mmmm

I was hanging out in Freo again this weekend for the festival. Awesome work by some artists – Reboot is pretty well known around Fremantle. I love this work as well. The other artists were awesome as well. Such a nice day for it.

There was also a “wishing well” for people to add their thoughts on the city’s special south terrace! Here’s on suggestion:

It was this girls first time using spray paint. She did the most amazing drawing. I snapped this one for the paper…

Figure I may as well show off my friend cutie-pie pug, James. World, meet James:

Last night was the launch of the Fremantle festival. It was absolutely amazing!

After speaking with Freo artist Ian de Souza about the event a few weeks ago I had a good idea of what it would be like but this was even bigger than I imagined.

Seeing everyone from kids to adults drawing the various things (and there was a lot) happening was so nice!

One councillor told me it was like being back in te Fremantle he fell in love with in the 80s and I can see why!

Hopefully more fun tomorrow as I’m taking my favorite niece and nephew to the kite festival!!!

Well, today is the day that (apparently) the whole nation stops for a horse race.

I’ll tell you straight up: I stopped, I watched and I wondered why the hell I was watching, but I continued to watch in hope of it getting exciting. Unfortunately, for me, it never did.

So tell me: what’s wrong with me? Why don’t I dig horse racing? I wonder if I missed the point somewhere along the way… or maybe it’s just stupid? I think the latter is probably correct.

After being away in the land of the great north for the last four years, I almost forgot there was such a thing as “Melbourne Cup”. It’s really the Emirates Cup or something stupid, isn’t it?

Given that every person I tried to make plans with today was, attending a lunch or attending a pub or dressing up (stupid hat in tow) and attending some other form of races, I decided to enjoy a day to myself. (Though I did end up working!)

Anyway, I digress. Driving back from Fremantle (enjoying the spectacular sunset) I began to realise WHY it doesn’t appeal to me. Why do I so easily get caught up in the best day of the year: AFL Grand Final Day and why the horse race doesn’t appeal to me.

There’s nothing inclusive about Cup Day. It’s pretty pretentious – I think that’s a fair comment, but tell me if you disagree. Really, even the poshest of posh get OVERLY dressed up to attend a race and walk around on grass (and in the pouring rain this year).

They don’t have a cutesy break in between two races to show off the talent of the youngsters, or do they? It’s not a “team” sport (unless you count the jockey and the billionaire investor)… after the race the media talk to the rich people behind the horse, nobody questions where the horse went, how the horse felt or what will happen to the horse next. (Again, tell me if I’m wrong!)

It just doesn’t feel inclusive. It feels like rich people trying to entice non-rich people to pretend to be rich for the day, spend money they don’t have and pretend to like something they don’t.

But, maybe I’m just crazy… I did win money on the Cup once and I guess I USED to enjoy putting a bet on with my Dad, but that was before I became a well-informed 27-year-old! hah.

What do you like about the Melbourne Cup?