Paniyiri Greek Festival, Brisbane 2008

It was time to set aside embarrassment and get into the swing of belly-dancing at this year’s Paniyiri Greek Festival in Brisbane today.

Now into its 32nd year, Paniyiri is a community festival of the 25,000-strong Greek community of South East Queensland. It is a time to feast on Souvlaki, Spanakopita, Haloumis and Baklava; learn Zorba, Sousta, Kalamatiano and Sirto dance steps and celebrate all things Greek.

Rail Travel in Southern Sri Lanka

Bellanwila Rajamaha Vihara, Sri Lanka

“Situated in the outskirts of the city of Colombo, in the village of Bellanwila, just three kilometers from the city limits, Bellanwila temple has a long and hallowed history. The great sanctity attached to the temple is due to its sacred Bodhi-tree. There is authorative literary evidence in ancient texts such as the Sinhala Bodhivamsaya which records that this Bodhi-tree is one of the thirty two saplings that sprang from the sacred Bodhi-tree at Anuradhapura planted in the 3rd century B.C.E.

The recorded tradition is as follows: There were five twigs in the Bodhi-sapling that was brought from India to Sri Lanka and planted in the Mahameghavana at Anuradhapura. When the sapling had grown into a tree, eight new saplings sprang from its eastern side. These are called the astaphalaruka-Bodhi-trees and they were planted at eight different spots on the Island. From the other four original branches sprang thirty-two additional saplings which were also distributed throughout the Island. One such plant is the sacred Bodhi-tree at Bellanwila.”

(Bellanwila Wimalaratana Thera)

Capoeira Angola

Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian blend of martial art, game, and culture created by enslaved Africans in Brazil during the 16th Century.

Mu’ooz - Eritrean restaurant

A woman sitting on a small stool roasting coffee beans on an open flame is the last thing you expect when you walk into a restaurant in sub-urban Brisbane.

The small Eritrean restaurant run by a group of former refugees feels like a glimpse into everyday life in the East-African state. As the scent of roasting coffee and the perfume amber waft through the room to a gentle murmur of Tigrinya and English conversations, coffee is served in long-necked traditional clay flasks.

Eritrea is a former Italian colony ravaged by two armed conflicts since independence, with Yeman and Ethiopia. The country has experience a fragile peace over the past few years but two thirds of its population still receive food aid.

Mother and Child - Fortitude Valley, Brisbane.

Airlie Beach bead shop

A few days before Christmas’ we went back to Airlie beach for a few hours, and I couldn’t resist the colours at the local bead shop.