My Aunt the Carnivorous Moose: Hands Full of Glitter and Tofu : 2011 Day 23 : Dumplings, and Plastic and Big Screens

A full on day!

Thankfully we did have the chance for a decent lie-in - very much needed after my back spasmed badly at 4 a.m. and as I screamed in pain, I woke both my boyfriend and I up! - but once we were up, it was all systems go, run like you're on Ritalin, do not Go etc etc as had Yum Cha with close friends Jeff & Jane (partly planning Jane and my joint speech at a wedding of a mutual friends in Melbourne in February) at Palace Restaurant, Sydney City before quickly shopping for a suit at Politix, and heading down to the Opera House where we met close friends, Warren and Jonathan, Ian & Ingo,and Fahmi for...

... an innovative walk through inflatable art installation called Mirazozo, which relies on sunlight hitting coloured strips across it's structure to create an ethereal, otherworldy and very colourful 'maze' inside where you are encouraged to sit and reflect and absorb it all. Of course, the number of small kids having fun did rob the experience of any zen-like calm, but the colours and effects were captivating and it would have been easy to spend far more than the allocated 20 minutes taking it all in. Truly beautiful and unusual.

From this awesome piece of art, we walked around the cove in the Botanic Gardens to Mrs Macquarie's Chair and the first of my Open Air Cinema nights. Tonight's movie was Please Give, a character-based New York-set ensenmble movie which speaks to how hard life can be, no matter how well intentioned you are, and while I found it a little depressing, it was nonetheless engrossing, and coupled with a perfect fine night - no rain (despite earlier threatening clouds) and a cool breeze, the company of the close friends (see above) + Peter who arrived near 7pm, great food and wine (although my fish and chips were a little over done) with views out to the City, Bridge and the Opera House, made for a wonderfully relaxing, very chilled night.