This meet up was held at a library in the Docklands, on Mother’s Day. I’m a pretty big anime fan and the people I’d be meeting were also, so I knew I’d have something in common – perhaps we could talk about our favourite series.
I should say that my mother came with me to this anime screening, as it was mother’s day, strange as it may sound to bring your mum to such an event. The anime they showed was called “Death Parade”, a very interesting show where people who have just died enter a bar called Quindecim.
These people have no memories of their past lives and are unaware of their passing, and the bartender, Decim, informs them they must play a game and the outcome will reveal their true natures and whether they become reincarnated or are sent to the void.
So, back to the journey at hand. Well, the walk to the train station was pleasant, for one thing we came across almost nobody along the way, except for some people waiting at the bus stop. Noticeably the wind began to pick up as we hit the main road approaching the train station, because that road is directly facing the ocean where we live. Then it became very blustery.
Unfortunately it was a bit awkward finding a good seat on the train. At first I was jammed up against this woman’s legs for the first few stations, and I didn’t have a good view out the window. Then shortly afterwards some people got off so we moved up and we had more leg room. I guess there’s not much to say about the remainder of the train ride, except this Asian guy had a really cute girlfriend and I checked her out a few times. I hoped her boyfriend didn’t notice. She was on her smartphone the whole time.
At Flinders St Station I met up with a familiar face as my mother was in the loo – I saw my brother [also leaving the toilet]. I called out to him, actually it took quite a few shouts for him to hear me, I wondered if he was playing deaf and hoping to escape me, but when he saw I was persistent, he realized there was no escape… nah I’m being crazy…
Anyway, he was in the city to do some shopping, and also to see a very interesting Ukrainian film told entirely via sign language, called The Tribe. Incidentally, later that night when he told us about it, he said there were several walk outs and one woman feinted in the theater.
I’ve got another busking story to tell, though it’s not quite as memorable as the others. After getting off at Flinders St Station, we spotted this guy playing his guitar, and my mother wanted to give him some change. She sifted through her purse, but she had no spare change. Indicating as such to the man, she told him we’d be back after she got some. Then we headed to McDonalds for a snack, as we had loads of time to kill.
At first we just ordered cheeseburgers for ourselves, and damn they tasted good. Then my mother got herself a coffee. Then she asked if I’d like to share some fries with her, and I said yes, why the hell not. When she returned, she went on this little rant about the girl at the counter asking if she’d like an apple pie, when she didn’t ask for an apple pie. “Why did she ask if I’d like an apple pie if I didn’t ask for it?” My mother demanded in outrage. Later on my mother ordered an apple pie. I ate most of the fries and gave the rest to her. Then we left.
Now that we had some change, we remembered the busker, but upon returning to the spot he’d been performing at, he was now gone. We considered he may be in the bathroom, or maybe in another spot, but we couldn’t find him. So we gave up the hunt, and headed for the taxi rank.
The meet up was taking place in the Docklands, which is quite an isolated part of Melbourne, lots of building and construction going on there, and actually the anime was being screened at a library called “The Dock”, but it was quite a sophisticated library that had lots of different sections, when we got there we saw a lounge with two people playing ping pong. I wasn’t sure who to approach and ask whether they were part of the group.
By the way, something quite creepy happened with the taxi driver when he drove us to the Docklands. When we got out of the car and he was bidding us farewell, he actually called me Jeff, and afterwards I’m wondering, how does he know my name? Then my mother says she must have used it during the cab ride, though I couldn’t recall… but my memory is bad.
Of course, I was the only one to bring my mother, though the other people thought it was cool of me to do this, as it was mother’s day, and on the page it did say “bring your mother’s” day!… The group organizer was Rebecca, an attractive Asian woman wearing all leather.
Halfway through the screening we played Charades. I was the worst of the lot, I basically just stood there like a schmuck. My mother was the one who held up the cards. I actually felt quite miserable during charades. I just wanted to watch the anime again, which I really enjoyed.
After the anime finished, the rest of the group went out for some dinner, though me and my mother declined, saying it took a while to get to our place. I felt like some sushi and maybe a bento box so we searched around Flinders Lane for a Shuji Sushi, but it appears they’ve closed up after 10 years of business. Instead we found this pizza shop, Pepperoni’s, and I ordered a BBQ Lamb pizza, all I’ll say is that it was delicious. They had flat screen TVs in there and we saw that my father’s AFL team, Carlton, were getting beat by fellow cellar dweller’s the Brisbane Lions.
I should mention, prior to reaching the pizza place, we saw a man standing blindfolded on Elizabeth St, arms raised wide, and beside him was a sign that read, ‘give me a hug, I trust you. Do you trust me?’ What would you do?
We were satisfied after our meal and quite tired, so instead of a train we got a taxi all the way home. Interestingly there was a television on the back seat of the taxi. Nothing interesting worth watching, though.