Kokoro Ramen & Watching Green Balls

It's that time of the year again where people enjoy watching little green balls fly back and forth between two weapon-welding individuals. Yes, the tennis!!  More specifically the Australian Open.  

But first, one must have dinner.  It was on my to-eat list so it was a good thing that Kahunas suggested Kokoro Ramen.  I had high hopes for Kokoro.  I REALLY wanted to like it.  I thought that it would be Melbourne's ramen salvation.  Homemade noodles, a promise of a tasty broth, Japanese spoken in the kitchen. (Real? Fake?  Who knows.  In all likelihood, this is not run by Japanese folk.)  

In short:  Big promise.  Failed to deliver.  

I had the tonkotsu shio ramen broth base with pork belly.  ($13-14??  Can't remember.)

The ramen came fast enough and the egg sure looked gooey and hanjuku-y.  We were able to stipulate the tenderness of the noodles which is an indication of authencity but that's where the positives end.

I have a number of criticisms.  The slice of pork belly was FAR too fatty.  I know it's a fatty cut but this was about 10% meat and 90% fat.  Gross and inedible.  Also where were the ancillary toppings?  Bamboo shoots, black fungus, narutomaki, maybe some bean shoots?  Zilch.  The broth didn't look like the typically milky white tonkotsu pork bone broth either.  The look of the broth didn't bother me as much - how it tastes is what matters.  I could forgo all the extra toppings if the broth made me dreamy.... but it didn't.  Their big claim is no MSG but this was the most bland stock I've tasted.  I've had tonkotsu instant noodles taste better than this.  If  you're gonna claim it has no MSG, make it tasty dammit.  

I'm willing to accept that Kokoro may have had a bad night and will probably give it another bash before panning it completely.  Judging from other reviews, it looks as though I'm not the only one who wasn't impressed.  My ramen search continues....  Somewhat unsatisfied with dinner, I picked up a char siu bao on the way down to the tennis.  

On Centre Court, we were treated to some pre-game entertainment.  Daryl Brathwaite opened Night 1 of the Open with 'One Summer'.  My age and childhood addiction to Video Hits is evident!  It remained a balmy 30 degrees at 8pm when the players stepped on the court and good for us, we were going to watch one of the great players Roger Federer.  Being Night 1, he was playing some Russian ranked 100-something.  

The last time I went to the Australian Open it was 2005.  We witnessed an absolutely epic, four and a half hour, nail-biting semi-final when Safin defeated Federer.

2005 SF Safin def. Federer - match highlights.  Man, I still talk about this match being one of the greatest.  It was so stressful! 

The audio isn't great but a very good on-court interview.  We sang Safin happy birthday!!

Enough about past, onto tonight's matches.

Our view.  Yay! 

Federer serving. 

Three sets later.  Federer with Courier for the on-court interview.  Gracious as usual.

I was also impressed by a spidery camera contraption they had set up on Centre Court.  Aaaaah now I understand how they obtain those awesome panoramic shots and amazing TV angles.  

The women's match was pretty boring.  A woman undeserving of her rank, number 1 Caroline Wozniacki played an Aussie (wildcard?) and it was just a yawn fest.  We ended up leaving after the first set.  What was more entertaining were the actions of a fellow spectactor sitting in the row in front of us.  She dropped her Magnum ice cream on the ground but then picked it up and continued to eat it.  At least peel off the chocolate layer!  

Something else more entertaining than the women's match......

.... what is that on her back??? 

GROSS!  A giant moth!!!!!!! 

Oh well, that's what you get for a balmy Summer's night at the Open.