Back to Back Festivals

Playing the shamisen

Saturday was meant to be spent at a historical homestead called Coolart near Mornington, Victoria, where I was hoping to spot some koalas; however, the weather decided to rain on those plans.... literally. It's too bad because it looked like it would be an excellent place to visit, but hopefully we'll go another time when the weather is more agreeable. I've been in Australia for almost four months and I have yet to see some unique wildlife... but I guess that's what happens when you live in the city. It's funny because I read an article in The Morning Call, which is my home newspaper, that said there

Sumo wrestling

was a wallaby hopping around the Valley, which basically means some people at home have seen more Australian fauna than I have. Major boo.

Anyway, one of the things I love most about Melbourne is how multicultural it is. Last weekend when we explored Eastern Melbourne, there was a Turkish festival occurring near Federation Square, which included ethnic dancing and many delicious-looking types of food. Since our trip to Mornington was cancelled, I ended up going with some friends to the

Iconic entrance to Luna Park

Japanese Summer Festival at Docklands, which was also outdoors, but it didn't require an hour-long drive anywhere. Once we made it to the festival, we watched several performances that demonstrated some traditional dancing and listened to a few people play the shamisen, which is a three-stringed instrument that's plucked with a plectrum. It resembles a banjo, however the body is shaped differently. It was the first time I had ever heard of this type of instrument, but it made an interesting sound.

On Sunday, a couple friends and I decided to go to the

Sports demonstration

St. Kilda Festival since it was the final day it was running. I had heard about it last week and was thinking about going then, but someone had told me it was better to go on the last weekend because there was more to see. It rained and then drizzled for a good while even though I had looked online ahead of time and had seen that it was supposed to be sunny [thanks, weather.com], but it was nice to be there. There were rides galore and tons of activities going on, not to mention that it took place right next to the historic Luna Park, an amusement park that was built back in 1912. I also watched

Concert at St. Kilda Festival

part of a skateboarding and bike tricks demo, which was exciting to see. There were multiple musical performances going on throughout the day, most of which were entertaining to see and hear.

This past weekend absolutely flew so I felt like I didn't have a chance to relax. This week has been a pretty hectic one, but that also means it seems to be going by super quickly, which is never a bad thing. However, I'm happy that I'm working full time again [well, sort of.... haha] so I cherish my weekends.