The kinky toys of Chinatown
These photos resulted from a walk along Little Bourke Street, one gloomy Melbourne evening, last winter. Melbourne's Chinatown extends along Little Bourke Street, between Swanston and Spring Streets. It's know for its wonderful Asian restaurants, offering cuisine from all over the Asian continent. But it seems something else has infiltrated
Chinatown from the East. TOYS! Stuffed and plastic.
As you can see from the above photo, Astroboy is getting nice and friendly with the faceless green bear (I believe that's the Brazilian flag). "Where are your hands, Mr Boy?"
[Above] Heading east along Little Bourke (uphill), the restaurants are on the left side of the narrow street. Don't worry, I think most of them have at least a little English somewhere on their signage.
Melbourne's Chinatown was established in 1851 when Chinese prospectors joined the Victorian gold rush. It’s the oldest Chinatown in Australia the oldest continuous Chinese settlement in Australia.[1] It is also the second-longest, continuous, Chinese community outside of Asia[2] (second only to San Francisco, est. 1848).
[Below] It looks like those two red things on the top shelf are getting it on... with the blue alien watching. Smurfette getting fresh with Super Mario on the bottom shelf, and the spiky tortoise is perving on them from above.
[Above] This is where you get those toys to hang from the rear-view mirror of your car.
[Below] Bruce Lee. Enter the Dragon. Wa, Ooo, Aaaa (Watch this clip and you'll know what I'm talking about).
[Below] You probably think this is a window display, but in actual fact, these stuffed toys are trying to escape.
[Below] I don't even know what these are supposed to be. Cats, lemurs and meercats? I think having toy cats that are shaped like balls is sending out a bad message.