Tress and I both left work early on Thursday before Good Friday. It was just 20 minutes or so early for me to pick up the dry cleaning before they close for the 4-day weekend. We then met up with Jason and Mel for dinner at a new place on Middleborough Road. A Singaporean food joint (Newton Circus) had replaced another Singaporean one (Tang’s Family Restaurant) and we used to visit the old one fairly frequently. The new one was ok – not too bad but nothing to shout about anyway. We probably won’t be going back anytime soon anyway.
On Friday I woke early – this despite going to bed only near midnight the night before. We attended the Good Friday service which was very good. The focus was on the cross, and of course, the events leading to the crucifixion – all told from the Bible and songs focused on that theme. On the stage in front was a cross draped with long red satin cloth which flowed down the stage. We were each given a black stone on the way in, and towards the end, we wrapped the stone in red crepe paper and placed it on the satin cloth. Our sins, cold and hard, wrapped in Jesus blood and washed and no longer visible when placed at the foot of the cross, said Jordan Hitchcock one of the ministers in St Alf’s. We had sung Graham Kendrick’s “Come and see” as the first song, where the line Worship at His feet, where wrath and mercy meet” stuck in my mind for the entire weekend.
Sat we slept in, went to Madam K’s for an early lunch, and then went to that home centre place in Springvale (where Ikea is) and looked around for a couch/lounge set. We weren’t successful… we stopped by Strawberry Point to mainly get some flowers which we wanted to bring to church on Easter Sunday. Tress got some roses and on Sunday morning we each placed a rose on the cross at the foyer. After church it was Madam K’s again and then we went home and we took advantage of the better weather (it had been raining for days before that) to clear up the garden. We had wanted to have a go at the inaugural “Sunday@4” service but the gardening sucked me in and by the time we were done it was nearly 5pm.
On Monday Tress and I trekked into the city and window shopped in the newly minted Emporium. As school kids back in Klang, Emporium Makan was affectionately known as “EM” and it is often a rendezvous for groups. I said to Tress Melbourne has finally caught up and has its own “EM” (Emporium Melbourne). We milled around the large crowds, and then trained into MCG for the big game between Geelong and the Hawks. We had the cheap tickets way up nearly at the top where it was windy… The Hawks lost (Tom Hawkins mauled us in the last quarter), we came home and started to reframe our minds for the new working week, after a very relaxing 4 days off. That isn’t all – there’s another long weekend coming up and we’d be heading to Bright in the Victorian highlands (Mt Hotham etc) this time.
Ante 