F is for the Flemington and Fish Markets and G for Gong yuan

We decided to ignore "E". "E" could be for Epping or Eastwood, but it did seem a bit silly to make that part of our travels around the Sydney area. Anyway, last week we moved on to "F" and headed off to the markets at Flemington. We bought a lot of fruit and six crabs. We then bought a steamer in order to cook the crabs. Sha can cook seafood so well!!

Yesterday we went to see Bran nu dae a very funny Aboriginal Australian film. I've been reading up more on the history of Australia as I've applied to become an Australian citizen. I decided to get hold of the controversial history book: "A short history of Australia" by Manning Clark. The 350-ish page book contains one page on the Indigenous population before the arrival of other groups of people. "The Europeans offered the Aborigines the previous gift of their civilization, abandon the life of the nomad, and become a labourer on the bottom rung of the ladder of Euopean society. But in the beginning the Aborigine resisted every attempt to approach him." and "On 26 January the convict transports moved into their new home as a handful of Aborigines on the shore set up a horrid howl ..." Apparently though such issues are not addressed on the Citizen test (apart, perhaps, for me having to declare that I understand that "the English language is an important unifying element of Australian society".

Today we went to "G for Gong Yuan" or the "Chinese Garden of Friendship". I like the garden. There were lots of big lizards, huge fish and it was very relaxing ambling around. Apparently the garden was made in conjunction with Sydney's sister city of Guangzhou in Guangdong Province, China.

We then jumped on a tram and headed off to the Fish market. We arrived near closing time, but still managed to pick up a heap of fish. This included some salmon that Sha intends to eat raw. I'm not sure yet if I'm going to take part in this or not. Anyway Sha cooked the most amazing scallops with something and something else. They were stunning.