After work on Friday, I took Josiah on a dinner date at Chin Chin and then to a Burlesque ball. As if dinner had set the mood for us for the night that was to start, we had an XXX R18+ Adults Only drinks menu at Chin Chin, located at Flinders Lane. We sat at the bar of the Asian Fusion restaurant and watched chefs prepare meals. We were undoubtedly a tad overdressed for the restaurant environment; Josiah with his top hat and suspenders, me in my cheongsam with laced gloves and my very own top hat but hey, it’s Melbourne. Anything goes because people love dressing up here.

Josiah has an obsession for Lanvin pants; they seem to fit his 27-inch thigh (each).

We were ready to feast our tums and eyes that night.

To start, we shared a wagyu salad. They had cooked it with what I presumed was cincalok (made of fermented small shrimps served as a condiment together with chillis, shallots and lime juice. It had a lot of flavours so I immediately asked for rice to complement the taste.

The next dish that arrived was curry vegetables. It was just right. Presentation of food was lovely. The curry was not too thick and was a decent share between the two of us with white jasmine rice.

The thing about sitting at the bar is that we get to automatically scrutinise the way chefs work and it seemed as if they really take pride in their job; their plating was such a joy to look at (I am a huge fan of plating my food), they were clean and practised extra care while working swiftly. At 7pm, the restaurant was fully-packed.

Walking down Flinders Lane, Josiah and I decided to have a little fun and took advantage of a good background for photography, as if it was set in the 50′s.

Now let’s travel back in time, to the 50′s.

Burlesque Ball 2011

The Burlesque Ball 2011 in Melbourne was an annual affair and has evolved greatly since it’s debut event in 2006. There was an incredible all-star lineup from the USA, Canada and Australia with this year’s new overall theme – The Exotic Garden. Hence, the floral cheongsam on me. I tried googling Chinese burlesque but it returned “Chinese Opera” results instead. So, I put on a mini top hat over my bun, slipped on a pair of laced gloves and had red lipstick on me. Uhuh, burlesque (I think!).

Many were dressed up that night wit corsets, stockings, hats, fascinators, can-can skirts and etc. It was just so fun and entertaining, although I don’t do burlesque myself. It’s a very popular dance type in Australia, a real trend among women, kind of like a dance sport altogether in its own way, like how it is with pole-dancing, except more to do with showbiz; lights, glitters and glamour.

Held at the Palace Theatre on Bourke Street, the location itself was well-suited to the 50′s atmosphere with its lighting and decorations.

It was a vulgar night, with lots of F’s and V’s, definitely not for the underaged. It was loud. It was burlesque – and you would expect sexy burly women who were proud of their bodies with great dance talent to boot. Some of the names of international and local burlesque stars included:

Catherine D’Lish (Seattle)
Melody Mangler (Vancouver)
Imogen Kelly (Sydney)
Lola The Vamp (Melbourne)
Rita Fontaine (Sydney)
Bella de Jac (Brisbane)

…and one very vulgar male emcee Tawny the Tigger from New York, apparently known as the Godfather of Boylesque who had introduced himself in a dress and stripped himself down to a few leather strings on himself and later had a new change of clothes with his face through a Sunflower head dress and another Sunflower at his vital area. He was entertaining, with a bottle of wine in one hand and a microphone in the other, alternating between a few bottles of wine throughout the entire night, encouraged patrons to drink and be merry, occasionally teasing patrons when he was on ground – definitely not for the faint-hearted! Come on, it was burlesque!

It was funny on Twitter #burlesqueball, when someone mentioned that there was “too much balls, not enough tits” going on. Mind you, there really was enough tits going around.

Here’s an introduction video for the night.

It really was that kind of 50′s mood, where you would find one random Dick Tracy in the crowd at the bottom. As if the detective was around to protect his showgirls.

Lola the Vamp. Their outfits were absolutely incredible!

Melody Mangler. Then, there was this performer who looked like Jessica Rabbit!

Not forgetting Imogen Kelly as Tinkerbell. It wasn’t really meant to be like that by the way, but somehow my camera caught sight of it the way it is, like your favourite cartoon characters! She was almost naked here by the way.

Now, that’s Tawny the Tigger with his bare back speaking to organisers Jac Bowie and Cassandra Jane.

Before our time, we were already together. Nothing breaks us even in our afterlife, it only enhances us.