Saturday night. The heat. Sydney Shop Girl. My Mexican Cousin. Tania Doko.

When the temperature is 38 degrees and I get in my hot car to drive into the city  - fortunately not a long trip - but seems longer with the blistering sun and airconditioning that takes a while to warm up (cool down?) - I know that I've made plans for a good night ahead. Or I wouldn't be going out at all. I much prefer to hibernate at home sitting in my bedroom with my new airconditioner on its coldest setting. But last night I had made plans to catch up with two of my favourite people in two separate events - dinner and seeing a band.

First stop was picking Sydney Shop Girl - I am always embarrassingly early and this trait worked out well as I got to wait for her in the coolness of the hotel lobby, admiring a beautiful bride, and just being thankful I wasn't in the heat. 15 minutes later and SSG came down to meet me, I was calm, and we were set for a fabulous dinner.

We headed on to My Mexican Cousin - which is situated in the Melbourne Recital Centre on Southbank Boulevard (where I won my Yooralla Media Award). Unfortunately there is a big lack of parking in the area, and we had to park around 500 metres away. Ok, it was probably less, but in that heat it seemed a bigger distance. I was pleased to be able to swing my car into a tight spot (I am not good at reverse parking, having only ever done during my driving test back in 2000 - gosh, it pains me to admit that in writing, on the internet, which will be forever - but with SSG's guidance, I made it. And also did another semi reverse park later in the night! Things are looking up for my reverse parking skills. Note - I am pretty competent at driving forward.

It was a good job we parked so far away because we ate So. Much. Food. And needed to walk it off. My Mexican Cousin is not the Mexican I've been obsessed with lately. It is more like home-style Southern American tapas and mains. Which may prepare me well for my American trip.

We were perched at the bar, where the cool kids sat, quipped the barman, drinking wine and starting off with bar snacks.

First up - spicy and sweet popcorn. It had bites of chilli and perhaps honey. I definitely know there was chilli on the popcorn as some of it ended up in my eye and I had to make a hasty trip to the bathroom to dab my eye with water and eye drops. I want to try making the popcorn at home. I promise to be careful with the chilli.

 Entree was salt cod fritters - cod and mashed potato with a side of garlic aioli. The fritters were deliciously fishy.

Our first main course was the Poboy sandwich - shared - deep fried prawns, lettuce, mayo and a semi spicy Creole tomato chutney. It reminded me of eating a Vietnamese Banh Minh. The prawns were big juicy and flavoursome. I could eat a whole Poboy.

The second main we shared was the pulled pork topped with crusted cornbread. While maybe a little too hearty for the temperature outside, it was such a yummy dish. It was served in a hot skillet. The cornbread was just crisp enough, and between the cornbread and pork was a layer of melted cheese. I do think it could have been a touch more salty though.

We had a conference about dessert and decided our tummies could withstand two desserts to share. So we chose chocolate brownies and pecan pie. Wow. Perhaps on this rare occasion, my eyes were too big for my tummy. But I ate for Australia and made it through the not very arduous task of finishing my desserts.

The chocolate brownie was fudgey and dense, filled with pistachios and cardamom. It was served berries in their juice, the most delightful sweetened cream, strawberries and mint leaves. When eaten altogether, the flavours were amazing. 

But it was the pecan pie that won my heart. There were shards of toffee were scattered over the plate was a brown sugary-pecan filling was atop a shortcrust pastry. The vanilla bean icecream was a perfect match - but it melted too quickly for me to eat it with the pie.

We enjoyed sitting at the bar - the staff entertained us with their cocktail skills and humour.

Sydney Shop Girl and I had a lovely chat and she promised me she will give me some tips on eating affordably in London, as she heads off there next week. She tried to convince me to buy that spotted blue dress from Target but I stayed strong.


After getting lost around the maze of streets at Crown Casino (I always do) I said goodbye to SSG and headed to Northcote to meet my friend Melissa at the Wesley Anne. Again I drove around and around to find a park. At one stage I entered a tiny, dark and isolated carpark in a backstreet, and a man looked to be walking to his car. I he waved to me, gesturing me over to his park and I started to turn around, nodding that I was coming. He then ran to my car, shaking his hands around. I got a bit scared, and sped off. Anyway, after driving for about 10 minutes, I scored a carpark right out the front of the venue!

Mel and I were there to see Tania Doko - formerly from Bachelor Girl and She Said Yes. The show was acoustic, and really lovely. Mel and I got there just in time to see Janine Maunder who sang such pretty songs. Janine also performed backing vocals for Tania.

She did a mixture of old and new - it was nostalgic hearing the Bachelor Girl songs. She also did two songs by the Eurythmics which matched her voice perfectly.

Lots of her friends and family were in the room - she told funny stories about her Dad, and gave shout outs to her boss at White Lion where she's a youth worker, and mentioned her Italian teacher.

My favourite part of the show was Buses and Trains where she sang parts of it in Italian, and got the audience to sing along. If you listen closely you can hear me singing at the end. The chorus seems to go on forever and today it is in my head - in a good way!

So apart from the relentless heat, last night was a really good one. Great to catch up with BFFs, eat good food and see wonderful live music.

Bachelor Girl have loved and lost. And now they're back.

(source)

Last night I chatted to Tania Doko from Bachelor Girl, one of my favourite singer-songwriters from the late 1990s - early 2000s. We talked bands breaking up (vale Silverchair), bands reforming (welcome back Bachelor Girl!) and the obvious cheesy - public transport.

Buses and Trains, Treat Me Good, Permission to Shine and Lucky Me are songs that I still sing along to. Buses and Trains was awarded song of the year by the Australasian Performing Right Association in 1999, and in that year, Bachelor Girl was Australia's most broadcast artist. I told Tania that Bachelor Girl was the last concert I saw before I set off on my new life to Melbourne, eight years ago. I met Tania four years ago at a Darren Hayes concert and then on the plane the next day. I have been in contact with her ever since, asked her for an interview, and true to the name of her previous band, she said yes!

Bachelor Girl are back with a new album called Loved and Lost, and are touring for the first time in eight years. They never officially broke up, Tania Doko told me. She and bandmate James Roche went off to do their own things for a while. Tania was in a dance project called She Said Yes with Jack Jones and Karl Lewis in 2007 - 2008. She's had a job as a youth worker. And for the past three years she's been living in Stockholm and Los Angeles, writing songs. James eloped overseas and now has a child. He did some music recording and composing for the screen.

(Now she's lived overseas, I wonder which mode of transport Tania misses more - Melbourne's buses or Melbourne's trains? "Melbourne's public transport is not good compared to Europe. I love public transport - it gives me a break from the traffic and I get time to think", she says.)

So why did Bachelor Girl reform in 2011? "Now the timing is right for Bachelor Girl to reform, release a best of album with some new songs and do a tour", Tania says. When the tour's over, Tania says, she will return to Stockholm, refreshed and ready to write songs. 

Tania's written songs for Australian singers The Veronicas, Ricki Lee and Renee Geyer - she regards them as strong female singers and praises their vocal talent. She dreams of writing for Adele and Katy Perry in the future.

She's excited by touring, but says things have changed since the early 2000s. "I'm consumed by the preparation", Tania says. She does a lot of her own promotion in addition to the record company's. She's used social media to promote the tour. "To be an artist these days is more than just showing up and doing a gig. There's so many more people you can reach with social media".

The new album, Loved and Lost, features their favourites from their first two albums Waiting for the Day and Dysfunctional, plus four new songs. Tania says the new songs are pop-rock, uplifting and free and easy. She says that during rehearsal for the tour, Bachelor Girl's bass player said the new songs are ahead of their time.

I mentioned to her that Buses and Trains is a timeless song - I think it was ahead of its time in 1999. It's still so relevant. She agrees, but she now sings it in a different way. To her the song is no longer only about love. Getting hit by a bus is a broader analogy. "It's about life. It's about screwing up in life and being motivated to take risks. I'm not going to be stopped by screw ups ".

And the new album takes a new emotional direction. She describes it beautifully. "Waiting for the Day was more about break ups, but Loved and Lost is like a love letter to your future love of your life", Tania says.  

Bachelor Girl are touring soon:
28 May - The Forum 2, Melbourne (tickets via Ticketmaster)
3 June - The Basement, Sydney (tickets via Moshtix)
4 June - The Governor Hindmarsh, Adelaide (tickets via Moshtix)



http://www.bachelorgirl.com

 (source)

Music I've been missing - Bachelor Girl, Buses and Trains

Sometimes when I flick the car radio to a mumsy station, I hear Bachelor Girl's Buses and Trains. A classic 1998 hit. I love it, and it remains so relevant.

I haven't driven for a while, thus haven't heard Buses and Trains, but it's in my head. Probably due to affairs of my heart. It's the music I've been missing.

I met the gorgeous Tania Doko, lead singer, a few times. Once, at the Darren Hayes concert at Hamer Hall in 2007.

Then the next day at the airport in Melbourne and Brisbane.

I saw her play at the Victoria Markets with her band She Said Yes.

And also at her garage sale - I have her little letter desk.

Two bits of Buses and Trains resonate:

They're like chocolate cake, like cigarettes

I know they're bad for me but I just can't leave them alone.

And:

A man can kill and still be the sweetest thing

See, I'm still hung up on the wrong guy. I know he's bad for me. But because of this, the good things he does shine like like gold.

And there's the right guy, actually waiting for me. True story.

I need to re-prioritise. And keep the doors to rooms filled with adventure and positivity open. It's the only way to happiness.