Now and then I travel into town to meet Ann after she has finished work or college. Often as not we stroll down to Thai town (adjacent the Capitol Theatre) for a delicious Thai meal. This is really nothing like the Thai I have been accustomed to in the 'burbs, but much simpler, spicier and bursting with flavours that quite astonish me. Dishes seem liberated from the over-cloying effects of sauces and are high on fresh ingredients. Let me give a shout-out for my favourite cafe, Doo Dee Paidang, in the Haymarket.

Lately I have also been enjoying the walk through that long, straight tunnel at the western end of Central Station, the one which emerges in George St near UTS and is an eternity of tiles and buskers and fast-walking folk. Apart from its relative proximity to Daiso, this once unfashionable end of this important artery bubbles with students and workers and tourists, as well as the odd flaneur. One picks one's way through noodle bars and travel agents, Thai massage clinics and cafes, skirting or sometimes engaging with homeless people, whose presence is now ubiquitous in the contemporary urban landscape.

Swinging back into the Thai town precinct, I have come across Tom n Toms cafe a few times now but have only recently decided to take a photo. My son Tom was relatively disinterested when I showed him which only speaks to my own obsessions, perhaps.