Why I love Footscray

Footscray...whenever this suburb in Melbourne comes up in conversations it is usually.."the suburb where you see junkies everywhere, the siren of ambulance almost every day or the grotesque view of a druggie OD-ing on the street"....where loud yells of "Du Ma" are heard, Vietnamese and Africans everywhere...to the point where you wouldn't believe it is in Melbourne. Nowadays, it goes more by the name "Footscary"


To emphasise my point, here's a picture of a typical day in Footscray (btw, my bf was the only white guy there)

But I'm in love with Footscray, for all its junkies and drugs. For starters it was the place where my career as a pharmacist took off, where the first two years of my working life was spent. Whenever I step off the train at Footscray station it feels as if I'm transported back to Brunei, which I still call as home. The old footpaths, the painted walls, the tiles..the pavement..and above all..the people...remind me of my birthtown, Kuala Belait. You've never seen so many Asians concentrated at any one place in Melbourne, nor hear so many conversations spoken that are not English. The pushing and shoving to get service first at the vege market, the dirty floors, the bargaining for already ridiculously cheap meats...I learnt quickly that there's no need to exercise good manners or queue in line when you're at Footscray, otherwise you'll end up still being there when everyone's finished off for the day. And people aren't going to thank you for letting them go first. Footscray truly brings out the "Asian" in me, from the cheap thrill of securing good bargain meat/fish, to enjoying a huge bowl of Vietnamese rice noodles for only $6.50. And 1kg oranges for only 99 cents! You can't even find oranges that cheap in Brunei!

Anyways, we went this weekend for the Chinese/Vietnamese Lunar New Year Festival, to experience the hubdub during CNY (Chinese New Year) that I sorely miss in Brunei.

Here's a snapshot:

I tool Paul to eat this popular Vietnamese delicacy - a boiled duck egg with a half formed chick inside. Apparently the Vietnamese eat this like Chinese people drink tea. You're supposed to chip off the top bit of the eggshell (and not peel the whole shell off so the juices are still contained in the egg), mix it with Vietnamese mint leaves, sprinkle a bit of salt, and you eat all the insides of the chick (the eyes,beak and half-formed body) together with the yolk. Tasty, huh?

So, duck egg, anyone?