A delightful day indeed.

Started with a early morning doctor’s appointment that forced me to be dressed and set by 8am, and then an hour of sitting in a cafe by the Hampton train station and going through a latte, two poached eggs on toast with salmon on the side here while people watching as tons of families and dog walkers and cyclists made their Saturday morning brekkie pitstop at nearby cafes and fresh food shops.

This, followed by the discovery of by far the best second hand bookshop I have discovered in Melbourne. This adorable place, called Bound Words, is run by an elderly couple, Ailsa and Peter Zerbe. It has old style solid timber shelves, no advertising, and they still use the words “second hand” instead of “pre-loved” which sold me before I even entered. The couple lookout in op-shops and garage sales across the city to find their books, and while most are between $6 and $10, some full sets of classical authors and old style coveted coffee table books and reference books can come at a pretty price. I, of course, wanted everything in the store. I finally came out of there after an hour of deliberation with these four treasures:

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

The Prophet, by Kahlil Gihbran

Oscar Wilde: Plays, A Compendium (mainly to re-read A Woman of No Importance and The Importance of Being Earnest)

And this completely gorgeous 1930 blue faded copy of 1914 & Other Poems with 0.5mm thick pages that are uneven due to non-standard nature of publishing in those days (for only $6, replete with a light blue thick fountain pen writ inscription of “Dear  on the front flyleaf).

The road parallel will lead into Beach Road and Esplanade Road Brighton, through designer houses, and cyclists and joggers. I parked and read for a bit on the beach (lucky I keep a picnic blanket and straw hat in my boot for just such an “emergency”!).

Then it was back home to soak my feet in a pampering pedicure while finishing my current read..but wait, what should be on channel C31 but one of my favorite indie shows: ShelfLife, a sweet show that reviews books, meets publishers and up and coming as well as struggling writers. A real eye opener, this particular episode. They spoke to a independent publisher about the digitization of books. Now this particular lady allows her authors the options of putting a digitized version of the book online after 6 months of publication, with 60% of the profits going into the writer’s bank account, as against the 10% that mainstream publishing houses allow. But here’s the interesting part: to her, this whole e-book craze is but a passing phase. It is transcendent into a open source concept of publishing, if you will, where the readers of today, so opinionated, living in a world where journalism has moved into citizen microblogging (the Egypt crisis being a prime and supremely effective example of why citizen media is far more unbiased and democratic) and where the readers will pay not so much for the book, but for the ability to interact with the book as a media. To be able to share alternate endings, a picture of a place they holidayed at that may have been referenced in the book, a way to write fan fiction around it. This whole experience of a book is what will define its success - its ability to integrate various forms of modern media - facebook, twitter, tv, and the actual book itself, into a complete and 360 degree analysis.  Like the concept of an iPhone is only worth the apps on it, the book itself means nothing, it is what you have done with the experience of having read it that makes it meaningful. It basically takes book clubs and amazon reviews to a whole new level if you ask me. Exciting stuff indeed.

With that, I sign off, quite sure that the remainder of this day will offer more joys in my otherwise mundane week. Sayonara!

At the risk of sounding completely full of myself, I’m rather proud I survived yesterday. At 7pm I decided to go out as it was a Friday. Crazy.

Garage being 5 inches in water should have given me a hint.

Thank God I did, because as I switched the radio on, first thing I heard was - Frankston train lines suspended indefinitely. My sister was stuck in the city with no way to get home!!

Party cancel, mission get to city launched. North Road had nil visibility, after a while my brakes starting taking upto 10 seconds to take effect in the half foot water level puddles. Nil visibilty got worse. Minus something. Made it till St Kilda road, where trams were back to back and being evacuated by police. Traffic lights not functioning meant everyone was just taking it slow and driving when they saw enough space. Dangerous.

Kept ABC News Radio on. Heard St Kilda road been blocked by police seconds before seeing it with own eyes. Firetrucks and police sirens blocked the road, and one by one they let us through. My car got stuck midway in the water and we ( a policeman and a passenger from tram) had to push it through. Engine stalled. Restarted engine, was told by policeman turn back. Said can’t North Road worse than St Kilda road, look behind me. Sister in city. Better to reach city than turn back. Finally reached city, parked at Exhibition since MC roads reported worse off. Walk to MC. Grab sister. Storm subsides by 9:30pm. Start driving back around 10:30pm after roads have drained. Calm drive back. Cannot believe the change in an hour.

Garage now little better in flooding levels but looks like could get worse. Car on road or in garage? Radio says may be hail. Garage it is. Recover what we can from storage in garage.

Come home, fall dead asleep on couch.

What a day.

For my birthday, I was offered a chance to be taken out for dinner anywhere in Melbourne. Now, not that I don’t enjoy the occasional gastronomical extravaganza, but sometimes a girl wants to eat somewhere fun, especially after work on a weekday. Fun, but not cheap. So we were trawling Malvern road, deciding between Il Divo and another similar sounding Italian soprano band name passing off as an elitist restaurant, when I saw Nicosia. 

To be accurate, its not Turkish. Its Cyprioc cuisine (yup, that’s a word, google it). Which, as it turns out, is even better. It combines the good marinated aromas of turkish doner, pide and is-this-ambrosia dips with the fresh Mediterranean crispness of calamari, prawns and a confusingly large array of fish mains and sides. 

Unfortunately for us, at 10pm on a Thursday night, the pizza ovens were off, but the Doner and Hellim pizzas come highly recommended. The sizzlers can be given a miss, for you are better off ordering an array of the entrees.

Before you even look at the menu, order 2 baskets of Turkish bread and their assorted dips platter. You will not regret it. Then, order the Meze, a traditional Persian mixed bag of hot and cold appetizers, zucchinis roasted to perfection, rare mushrooms marinated and grilled, meat vine leaves dolma and an assortment of other local fresh produce put to the test on their barbie. 

Once you’ve tasted these, you can choose between chicken and lamb pides, rolls, sizzlers etc, several sea food dishes including a mouth watering mixed fish plate (I am a seafood junkie) or one of their gourmet pizzas (also made on turkish bread).

Best enjoyed alongside a glass of their red house wine, or for the more discerning, Jacob’s Creek and a couple of other standard Australian fare.

For the little ones, there is everything from mini pides and pizzas to miniature versions of several favourites. This also makes an excellent casual lunch venue, and the slight tackiness of the Cyprioc bayside dock pictures and local handicrafts only adds to the charm, as an UrbanSpooner recently commented.

I was impressed by the excellent service, and medium wait, considering the quantity and variety ordered. The waitress seemed to really know her way around the menu, and much of what we ordered was based on her recommendation. Although this place is more family than romantic, the food in itself is the journey. Fresh, perfect, made with care. And it shows.

We paid $61 for our dinner for two, and we ordered 3 entrees, 2 bread baskets, dips platter, a mains and wine for two. I’d say that’s good value.

If you do happen to visit, let me know how you go. Any other recommended places in the Malvern/Caulfield areas?