Melbourne Trip #4 - Tuesday and Wednesday

Yesterday's post only got me to the end of lunch on Tuesday.  After lunch, I had a bit of downtime while Jeannie taught a really cute little student.  Then, because of my little encounter on the bike, I decided to change before we went out again.

Tuesday Outfit #2: Stockings from Target, top from Dotti, dress is Don't Ask Amanda - bought at an op shop on my last trip, boots Mina Martini from Jeannie.

We headed into town again, this time on the train, and went to the Rialto tower.  This was something I remember from my high school trip way back when, but Jeannie had never been to the top.  I'm not sure, but I suspect it's been swankified since my school trip.  I can't imagine a whole lot of high school girls, on tour, behaving properly in the bar at the top. 

We were the only customers when we arrived (great service!) so had a pick of views. 

We opted for the Albert Park Lake side, and so had drinks overlooking the city.  It was a pretty great view.

We then headed over to Captains of Industry (in Somerset Place) for some trivia.  Yes, I'm slightly addicted to trivia, so I would have said yes to this anyway, but this particular event was a fundraiser for a group doing the Oxfam Trailwalk shortly.  At first it seemed that everyone there was formerly from Brisbane and either visiting Melbourne like me, or had moved there in the last few years.  As it turned out, there were plenty more people who didn't fit into this category, so those people had a distinct advantage in the 'sport' round.  Another fabulously fun evening, and we came not last, or even second last, but respectably in the middle.

Wednesday.  Outfit: green Kinki Gerlinki dress, black Ambra top, black leggings, black flats from Target, Hot Options jacket from Jeannie.  Wednesday was the consumables day.  This was a good outfit choice.  My hair was in a world of its own though, and highly annoying.

First, we walked down to Bread and Jam for Frances, via Bradstreet Books.  Bradstreet Books is a secondhand store by Glenferrie station, and has 2 levels of shelves and nooks and more shelves.  So many books!  I did not buy anything.

Bread and Jam for Frances is a bakery/cafe attached to Readings bookstore.  Really good service.  Really good coffee.  So we had 2 each.  And we shared a pastry.  And then... Then we went to the bookstore side of things.  Having spent many dollars in my life on not great books, I developed a list of authors I was allowed to buy - everyone else had to be borrowed from the library.  I bought one book from an allowed author.  And then I bought 2 new releases.  No regrets!  One I read yesterday, and the other I started today, and my brain is thanking me for it.
Home again, then I was forced to drink a super greens drink.  I know it's good for me... But yerk. 

Back into the city on the train, and by this stage we were both hungry.  We went to Degraves Lane again, this time to TOFWD.  I have no idea what the initials mean, but I felt healthy just looking at the food, and chose a lentil burger.  We then undid all that good nutrition by heading over to Koko Black.  It's still amazing.  I even had a Chocolat experience!  Having decided from the menu what I would buy to take home, I then forgot one of them - the chocolatier correctly suggested an option. 

On the way to our next engagement (free comedy), we just happened to pass Quick Brown Fox.  A free blowdry later, I also bought a scarf and a pair of earrings.  Then we were ready for some free comedy.  At first, I thought "No wonder this one is free" but then it got unbelievably funny.  Not clever funny, not crass or anything else, just people from the audience being asked to act and have props made out of balloons.  I laughed for at least 30 minutes.

We went to yet another bookstore, then were at a loss.  Instead of buying a bottle of water and wandering aimlessly until dinner, we went to the Cookie rooftop bar.  What a find!  Many flights of stairs (how to earn your treats), and you're practically on top of Melbourne.  There was no great vantage point for photos, but seeing dusk gathering over the city was fabulous. 

Dinner at Miss Chu was mostly vegetables.  Definitely an inner-city eating establishment, with house rules (including 'no chopsticks fights'!) listed at the top of the order forms.  Quick ordering process, very little room, vegetarian and vegan options, and plenty of serviettes for all the effects of the chilli.  My greatest delight here though was when I realised what the deal was with the light fittings - inverted rice bowls!

Then - the highlight of the trip.  We went to Arj Barker in the Melbourne Town Hall.  Going to a comedy festival event had been on my to-do list for years and years and years.  I was not disappointed.  Again, I laughed for most of an hour (there were some serious points), and I was relieved not to be the only one laughing outrageously.  I even bought a sticker pack with quotes from the show, and got a sneaky photo thanks to Jeannie.

I had a relatively early flight on Thursday, so nothing exciting happened that day.  And I wore jeans and many layers of tops, not exciting.  I'm very pleased to have achieved some of my to-do list - and I've added at least 2 items to the list for next time.  And aside from everything detailed here, I met many new people and didn't freak out.

Melbourne Trip #4 - Monday and Tuesday

It's that time of year again.  Melbourne trips seem to happen every 3 months.  I flew down on Monday, after very few hours sleep.  One of my goals for this trip was to wear different clothes - not just jeans and a top.  This occupied more of my brain than I anticipated, which was partly why I'd had very little sleep.  I still had a suitcase weighing only 9kg though.  Throughout all the following activities was a much-needed dose of talk.  Of the kind only a best friend can share.

Monday.  Outfit: Jeanswest super skinny jeans, black organic cotton Ambra tshirt, green and grey striped cardigan from Miss Shop (via op shop), black Target flats, graduated grey scarf.

I met Jeannie at Flinders St station, and we went to Degraves lane for coffee.  At Cafe No. 5 we had coffee and a pear and cinnamon muffin, then decided to get lunch.  I can't remember the name of the place we had lunch (Cafe King? Cafe Kong? something like that) but it was an Asian place with great service, mostly Asian customers (always a good sign) and massive servings.  My sizzling noodles with beef in black pepper sauce would have lasted me for 3 meals if I was making this at home.  Because it was so tasty, and I was rather hungry, I ate rather more than I should have. 

I have no regrets.  Then, being after midday, and we were both in that mood, we went to Ponyfish Island.  This is a bar underneath the Southbank Footbridge, and it's like being in Pirates of the Caribbean.  It has a lovely view, too.

I was a little worried I'd brought not enough in the warm clothing department, but Jeannie had a pile of clothes for me to check out.  Just in case, though, we went to 2 op shops (more great finds).  I then had a teeny tiny nap.  I had been warned that Monday nights were swing dancing lessons.  With all the other fun new things we had planned, combined with the immense sleep deficit, my brain was not enthusiastic about swing dancing.  Eventually, I was hauled off the sofa.  I went to swing dancing.  It was my first time, but knowing where the beat is, and a bit of salsa dancing experience, really helped.  I had so much fun, and didn't feel like an idiot most of the time.  So much fun, in fact, that I'm going to check out the swing dancing options in Brisbane in a couple of months.

After swing dancing, we went to Cafe Sofia (2 doors down) for dinner.  Jeannie and Matt have some experience in the meal sizes at this place, so we ordered one pizza for the 3 of us.  I think we managed to eat the whole thing, but only just.  Huge!  This place reminded me of my childhood, a really great family restaurant with friendly staff.  So friendly that we were given free 'cranberry juice' (port) after our meal.  Needless to say, I slept rather well on Monday night. 

Tuesday.  Outfit #1: op shop dress bought on Monday (black and white horizontal pin stripes, not apparent in photos), black Dotti top, colour block stockings from Target, black flats from Target. 

One of the things on our to-do list was to ride bikes into the city.  So, after breakfast, I got on a bike for the first time in approaching 20 years.  A little practice ride around the garage area, and I thought I would be fine.  Then we got out onto the road.  I got a little freaked out by traffic.  I then realised I didn't need to pedal downhill, and that the brakes were there for a reason.  My adrenaline was rather high, and thankfully we eventually got to the bike path.  I won't go into great detail, but I did realise a lot about my brain from this experience.  In those moments I wasn't concentrating on staying on the path and out of the river, it was a picturesque ride of about 15km in to Federation Square. 

We were hoping for more people around and more coffee, but had an okay coffee and muffin at Opti.  We then ticked off another item on my to-do list: seeing inside St Paul's cathedral.  It's rather beautiful.  It also reminded me of St David's, in Hobart.  Many photos later...  So I'll just share my highlights.  The front door is impressive (that's the outfit photo).  The tiles throughout reminded me of so many English cathedrals, and such a lovely feel.

The vaulted ceiling - I always enjoy looking up.

We also rode home.  I had a little incident (again, brain - resulting in jarred finger) and so when we'd completed the bike path component I opted not to ride along the road.  With the parked cars on one side and major road traffic on the other.  Uphill.  I could foresee an expensive disaster.  Jeannie rode on ahead.  Unfortunately, I didn't check the map function (thank goodness for my phone!) until I was quite sure I was in the wrong place.  And how!  It should have been 800m from where I now know I took a wrong turn, but I went about a circuitous mile instead.   Lunch was rather delicious though, and really healthy.  Thankfully.

Outfit #99 - Holiday Brain

Today I had a serious case of holiday brain.  So did many of my students.  Thankfully, they all remembered to put the violin on the left shoulder and hold the bow in their right hand.

Dress: no label (from Jeannie, from an op shop).  Tank: Jeanswest.  Shoes: Target.  Pendant: gift.  Earrings and bracelet: made by me.

Things I left at home today included lip gloss or even lip balm; ear phones; and an umbrella.  I got lucky with the umbrella situation - it rained about 3 minutes after I took the last outdoor photo.

Yes - I like these shoes far more than I expected.  Yes - this is now on my list of favourite bracelets.  And yes - you miss out on a head shot today.  Again.  It's for the best.

Slightly more disconcerting than looming rain clouds was the cat next door watching me as I took photos.  I'm not sure if I prefer a feline or human checking out my activities.

Soul Searching at Sunshine Beach

If you've been paying attention, you might have realised I was at the beach yesterday (that photo was the main clue).  Well, from Wednesday to today - hence the need for the personal hotspot mentioned on Wednesday as well.

It's school holidays (yay!) and, while I had a hankering to visit northwest Australia (I feel a pull in that direction at this time of year), I chose to stay closer to home.  I was going to go with a friend from work, I found and booked a place at Sunshine Beach (after the visit about 10 days ago), and then the friend got sick.  Instead of having a few days of beach and shopping, then, I thought it was about time I took stock of my life.  This is something that: a) I feel I should do more regularly, and b) I suspect most people do more regularly.  I felt this was required as: a) I haven't been all that happy this year, and b) the main protagonist in the book I've been reading (rather similar to myself I think), went through a similar part of life.  I haven't done this for a long, long time, and definitely never spent a holiday doing this.  Rather worthwhile, though.

I won't bore you with all the details.  In short, I noted some things about my life that I like, some that I don't like, some that I need to accept, and some things I can do to keep the good things good and improving, and to improve the not-so-good things.  The process is by no means complete - I might need an Escape Day next week to feel I've had enough thinking time.  I am armed with a To Do list, though.

Other perks of this trip:
Thanks to south-east Queensland's integrated ticketing, free transport there and back.
The beach instantly makes me feel better (which made it slightly harder to get started on the soul searching, but improved my mood and general outlook of life considerably).
Really fluffy towels.
Surfer o'clock.
A lot of beach walking means I am feeling super toned from the ribs down.
Saltwater and sand and sun.
Bad hair days are not so disastrous - I thought Thursday was bad, but then Friday happened.
Friendly accommodation staff.  This was possibly the most relaxed place I've stayed, I felt like I was just staying at someone's place.
The quickest way (and, I discovered a little belatedly, the safest) to the nearest shops was along the beach.  It's a tough gig, this one.

Wednesday's photo:

Sunset from the north end of the beach.  I left it a little late for getting back though.

Thursday's photo:

Getting all arty just after sunrise.

Today's photo:

I found a little creek leading to the beach.  This morning it was so peaceful and undisturbed.

Avant Garde Patisserie and Invitations

Yes, it's holidays.  Some friends I only see when each of us is on school holidays.  This morning, I sent a text to Di (who has a blog too - find it here), asking if she'd have time for coffee today.  I must admit here, I'm a fairly slack friend.  I very rarely take the initiative in catching up with friends, and I'm very fortunate in having friends who will suggest things to do.  So the fact that I made the first move today is (in my head, anyway) a step forward.  I have a mental list of other friends who'll need a connection soon.

The weather today was a bonus too, as it wasn't raining the entire time.  I even had a rain-free run this morning!  However, considering the possibility of rain and parking, we opted for Baroona Rd, Milton.  Well, it was an interesting parking experience, but we had no dash through the rain so I'll consider that a win.  Neither of us had been to Avant Garde Patisserie before.  Very tempting treats - neither of us was very disciplined.... I had the Choc Date Pistachio slice.  I was expecting a mega chocolate indulgence, but it was quite light and chewy.  Dusted with cocoa and icing sugar resulted in me making quite a mess!  Nothing too embarrassing though.

There was nowhere really warm to sit which was disappointing, so I spent most of the time chilly.  And the seats were not superbly comfortable either.  Coffee was in the middle of the bell curve - not bad, but not something to write home about (or recommend to coffee aficionados - aficionadi?). 

Today's photo:

The sun came out for just long enough for me to grab my camera and take 4 photos before my battery died and the clouds hid the sun again.  It was so exciting seeing the water droplets sparkling in the sunlight!

Super Healthy Pancakes

Holidays are wonderful.  Afternoon naps, spontaneous catch ups with friends, duets... And I can take as long as I like to eat breakfast.  I'm a slow eater.

Jeannie gave me this recipe for super healthy pancakes, which I tried out today.  Warning: it's really complicated.  Mix together an egg, a tablespoon of protein powder, a tablespoon of hazelnut or almond meal, and 2 tablespoons of water.  Cook as you would a normal pancake - but take care as they go crispy quite quickly.

I made 2 thin pancakes out of this recipe.  The first one - well, it wasn't very attractive.  When I figured it was time to flip, it refused to budge so ended up looking more like a scramble.  The second one, then, I put a lid on the pan and kept checking it every 10 seconds or so.  Success!  As the recipe only contains proteins and fats, I sliced a pear on top for the carbohydrate component.  I'm yet to work out a good coordination of making coffee, so more practice is required.  Maybe Friday mornings during term time...

These holidays have flown by - but I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's New Thing!