Roaming

Friends, I don't know if you have ever considered it, but I recommend unemployment. Get up out of that cubicle, step away from that boardroom table, and come out into the light! (So long as you have money in the bank to tide you over that is.)

Oh man, I had such a great day yesterday! We were treated to an unseasonal blast of Spring, and I headed into the city to make the best of it just as everyone else was settling into their cells in the cubefarms. Ok, smug? A little.

I had made arrangements to meet up with Mikey (the lovely ex) for lunch, so I headed into the city early and deciding to get off the bus on the fringe of the city, walked and walked. For me walking through the city inevitably = Retail Therapy so I popped into my favourite big book discounter and scored a fab book of 400 knitting stitch patterns for less than half price. One of the first pleasures of the day! (If you're not a knitter, just gloss on over the excitement.)

I still had a couple of hours to kill, so I strolled through the city, bought a discounted DVD and popped into Kinokuniya where I bought a couple of inexpensive Japanese knitting books. Ages ago I signed up for a Kinokuniya membership card, so everything I buy there is 10% off. See the recurrent theme? Not just any old Retail Therapy, but thrifty Retail Therapy! As befits a person of unemployed status. ::smirk::

Lunch with Mikey (tle) was lovely, inside the dark clubby environs of Pendolino. The fitout of the restaurant is really nice, but there was something a bit odd about having lunch on a bright sunny day in nightclub dark gloom. Especially given the fact that one entire long wall of the restaurant is (heavily shuttered) windows. The service was a bit patchy, it took us quite a while to get menus for example, but once we scored French Emo Haircut Boy as our waiter things improved. I couldn't fault the food though, it was absolutely delicious and designed to feature the fruity olive oils that are a Pendolino specialty. Nummy. Best of all it was great to catch up with Mikey, and we had a lovley chat over our lunch.

Afterwards I strolled over through Darling Harbour and into Ultimo, to stop by the science and design museum The Powerhouse Museum. I had brought along a small sketch book and some pencils, to check out the textiles and sketch some ideas. I have a love/hate realtionship with The Powerhouse. It has a fabulous collection which is displayed in a somewhat idiosyncratic fashion.

Sometimes it works to great effect, like the ...Never Done and What's In Store? exhibitions, but sometimes it falls a bit flat. Mostly because everything is so dark. Particularly with textiles, it's a fine line between lighting them sufficiently and conserving the fabric from fading. The Inspired! Design Across Time exhibition had some stunning clothing and other textiles in it, not that you could really see them in much detail. Gripe.

Anyhoo, a fun day. Catching up with Mikey (the lovely ex) was definately a highlight, as was having the freedom to just roam at will.