Upon knowing that the British hosts of Top Gear (minus cute little Hammond) were roaring into Brisbane and Melbourne and hosting a live show, we got our tickets early and planned our day as it got nearer. Jeremy Clarkson and James May, here I cometh.
Firstly, I set a personal record by waking up early for breakfast... on a weekend! But shortly after, I was horrified when I switched on the telly and saw what was happening to Japan for the first time. It played on my mind for the whole day, although I did pray and ask for His comfort to be with His people. Sigh.
I was still half asleep whilst driving to Eltham Train Station, to be honest. It was a 25 min drive, and I did jolt awake since I was approaching the tricky consecutive roundabouts, but with the help of Homer Simpson's voice on my trusty GPS and the lack of traffic in the morning, I managed to make my way there without getting majorly lost or getting into close shaves.
Secondly, we left our cars behind and took the train to the Melbourne Showgrounds. It was the first time for me taking the Hurstbridge Line, so that was like a mini sightseeing tour. The northern suburbs were completely different to the eastern ones, which I am residing in. That was pretty interesting since they weren't far away from each other at all.
Thirdly, we got into a tiny pinch when we arrived to transfer trains at Flinders Train Station. We had never taken the train directly to the Showgrounds, as I'd always driven to the venue for the annual Manifest Convention. We looked at the train schedules, but they were all running to the Flemington Racecourse as their final station destinations. So, out came our iPhones as we frantically punched in directions for maps and public transport guides, whilst sitting in the train. There was a racing carnival on the same day, so we were seated with well-suited men (oooh!) and beautifully dressed ladies with fascinators and big hats. It felt very wrong. Thankfully, we spied more passengers coming in, dressed like they were going for a car show, lol. We then realised that the trains would travel to the Showgrounds' dedicated station when an event was running. They were nice enough to appoint people with placecards, standing on the platforms of Flemington Racecourse, with big words informing attendees of the Top Gear show not to alight there. We were on track, it was full locomotive steam ahead.
Fourthly, there were tons of people at the Live Show. Unbelievable. Just hoardes of people, and in all packages too. I half-expected men, men and more men. Maybe burly bikie men, geeky scrawny boys, family men and their sons. Well, y'know. But I was pleasantly surprised by families in full force, i.e. Dad, Mom, Son and Daughter, young couples, old couples, males and females in all ages and sizes. How remarkable! I guess it wasn't really entirely about the cars for some people. It must be the star factor that also pulled some of the demographics in, i.e. us included.
Anyway, it was a supremely hot day - 29°C to be precise. It was nothing short of disgusting, of course. Yucky hot, murky but thankfully not too humid. I did slap on UV30++ moisturiser on my face, but conveniently forgetting my arms. I did pack in a tumbler of water, and I finished it in no time at all. Had to grab a bottle from the stalls, which cost me a limb. Of course.
The Live Show was pretty funny. Jeremy Clarkson and James May sounded exactly the same as I remembered ... I know, that's mightily obvious but it's exciting all the same. We got fire, space ship cars, sexy woman dancing, young bikie guy taking on a mover, sleek cars being introduced by the hosts (and being vocally abused by them as well) and the famous car football too. The Stig made his appearance, so that was nice. I didn't have much complaints, but I felt the show was far too short!
You can watch other videos posted by people with hot shot equipment, lol. I took a lot more videos than photographs during the show.
After the show ended, we walked around to the showrooms where they had these beautiful vintage / modern cars lined up for oglers to drool over. The worst thing you can do, I believe, is to dangle a ravishingly fat carrot before a hungry donkey and leave it
juuust beyond its reach. Yeah, I felt that showroom was designed to make lots of car enthusiasts suffer sleepless nights. Left high and mightily dry. I guess under the circumstances, I should be thankful that I don't really know a good car when I see one. I mean, I heart a Jaguar, I look twice at a Lamborghini, and I loved all the cars there since they looked
so gooood. But well, I wasn't too fussed about it, and began to think of where I should have our lunch, lol.
I really, really don't mind having one of these in my garage. I'll be keeping a lookout for it if I do watch Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift again, someday. Yep, it made its appearance there, and it was up for private sale.
Fifthly, I saw a scene which was rare on all accounts. There was a queue for the men's bathroom. I know the ladies' queue was longer, but hey, there was A Queue for the guys. Yes, how uncommon was that? Well, only at an auto show, it would seem.
We decided to head out towards the city centre to feed our stomachs. Abandoning the train this time, we took the tram and found ourselves in the dreaded time period of 3pm. Most eateries would be closed from 3-5pm. We did manage to find our usual Japanese restaurant open (thankfully), and we rested our sore feet and eyes with lovely Japanese food (which then reminded me of the ongoing disaster and I was itching to get the news feed on my iPhone).
Avocado Calpis - absolutely beautiful on a hot day.
My bento lunch. That 'potato cheese thingy' on the top right-hand corner was just amazing.
We went back to Eltham via the train again, and it was wonderfully pleasant. No jostling, no crowds. The Hurstbridge Line was completely different to the jam-packed Glen Waverley, Belgrave and Lilydale Lines. The suburbs it serviced were more rural, greener and quieter. It makes me sian just to think how crowded mine will be, because I'll be living in Glen Waverley. My only consolation is that it is the last station, so I'll get to have a seat some time during my journey.
Anyway, I was very happy to be invited to Chrissy's new place, as I hadn't seen it yet!! That was absolutely exciting - her own little abode and no more renting. She did a fine job with the furnishing and decorations, and I digged the space. It was fantastic just for herself. I reckoned it was cosy but not too small. Just nice. Her mother was such a pleasant lady too, and so easy to get along with. We had our attention on the telly initially because we really wanted to know what was going on in Japan. I stayed till 10 and decided I should go. Felt bad intruding for so long, y'know, lol.
It was one of those days when I was very contented, and yet, very perplexed by the events happening around me. My heart really went out to the Japanese people. I called up my Mom to ask about the well-being of my cousin and he was fine since he was in Tokyo. I reflected quite a bit that night, praying and asking. It just didn't seem fair, somehow. I recalled the prophecy that Aunty Anne made, with regards to a tsunami someday. I didn't quite believe it when she said it then, but now, I'm not so sure, and I still pray that the prophecy will never, ever happen.
