Melbourne Icons: The MCG, Bars, and Ducks

Despite having lived in Melbourne for over thirty years and despite most of that within a few train stops, I have never been to the Melbourne Cricket Ground for any reason. On Saturday, that changed. Courtesy of Robin M. and Matthew W., I made my inaugural visit and thanks to the former, within the members' stand. It was a game of Australian Rules Football, and like anyone who lives in Victoria, you have to support a team. As a migrant from the western lands, I'm a quiet Fremantle supporter, and they've had a pretty good season. They played against Melbourne on their home ground, and after a game where the lead changed several times, Melbourne won by just a kick; not a bad game at all. In general, I quite like AFL as a sport; it's dynamic, athletic, skilled, and with just a bit of chance. As a teenager, I was actually a reasonably good player, taking a role as a half-back defender and occasional ruck-rover. But as much as I enjoy the game, I really dislike football culture, and my attitude toward it has not changed because of the experience. This said, the "G" is a truly monumental structure; it is quite extraordinary that Melbourne has a venue with over 95,000 seats, and is one of the largest stadiums in the world. One can certainly see why it also serves as a notable concert venue.

After the game, Robin and I made our way to "Life's Too Short" wine bar in East Melbourne for the last night at the current location, and caught up with Anthony L., who has hosted numerous events there in the past, most of which I managed to attend. The bar has a great history, and has won a few notable awards, including Restaurant and Bar of the Year for Australia in 2024, and Most Romantic Wine Bar in 2025, both of which seem quite appropriate. This staff are friendly and very knowledgeable about their product. The bar is not closing for good, thankfully, and will be moving to a new location in neighbouring Richmond. On a related note, I must quickly mention that the Murdoch Alumni event at the Duke of Wellington, one of Melbourne's oldest bars dating from 1850, went very well on Thursday night, despite the weather, and was helped again by excellent customer service. Despite significant variation across ages and disciplines, there is a strong and enduring sense of community among alumni and a deep attachment to Murdoch's profound educational objectives.

Following "Life's Too Short", Anthony, Robin, and I ventured to another icon in Melbourne's history, in this case Old Kingdom Chinese restaurant in Richmond. Anthony and I used to visit the original restaurant in Fitzroy, run by Simon Lay, a Chinese-Timorese master and innovator of the Peking duck, an absolutely delightful human being who, apart from being a brilliant chef, was also the sort of magnificence you get from a person with such a diverse cultural heritage and life experience. We always had quite a few Timor issues to discuss. Eventually, Simon opened a restaurant under his own name in Box Hill, which we would also frequent. Whilst Simon passed away several years ago, his legacy lives on both in the restaurant that bears his name and with the name of the restaurant he started.