Samdays in Melbourne

My friend Sam from Vanuatu arrived last Thursday before heading out to her 5 week UK holiday and onwards to  her new job in Fiji.

Living in the Pacific has its perks, but one thing it deprives its lucky inhabitants of? SHOPPING. So when an islander lands in civilisation spending money and buying pretty new clothes is priority. so I took her shopping – Bourke Street, DFO, Smith Street Outlets (for her travel gear).

Port Vila, where Sam and I previously lived, is a teeny tiny town with less than a handful of places you can go out to drink. So we took her out to get wasted too.

Madame Brussels -63 Bourke Street, Melbourne

Meyers Place – 20 Meyers Place, Melbourne

An islander might also be in awe of the cityscape. Port Vila, afterall, cannot exactly be described as a metropolis. In the whole country there are only 2 lifts – at the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu and the Sebel Hotel. Skyscrapers are none existent, so we took her around the CBD.

Miss Jean in Melbourne

Back when I lived in Canberra and had this blog, I used to lurk at other canberran’s blogs. I read Jean’s blog a lot as I could relate to her plight as someone who’s just landed in alien, barren Canberra. One day as I was shopping in Civic (canberra’s city centre) I saw her and introduced myself as the girl who comments on her posts. I felt like I knew her as I’ve followed her through her trials, tribulations and triumphs as a newly wed and she followed my life from Canberra to Vanuatu and now in Melbourne. Our online friendship became a real life friendship. I saw her move from Canberra, Cairns, Philippines and now that she’s back in Canberra she has become friends with my sister!

Well she just started a new job and she had her training here in Melbourne so Mitch (she felt like she knew Mitch too as she’s been reading all the blog posts with him in it) and I her to Southbank for dinner with the Crown fire show in the background and then walked her back across the Yarra to her hotel.

The Hills are Alive…

On Father’s day (the Australian, not American one) Mitch took me to the Dandenongs also known in Melbourne as The Hills to meet his dad, half brother and half sister.

We set out early to pick up his brother Max and an hour later we found ourselves in the pretty surrounds of The Hills where the air is much fresher (and a lot nippier), the roads are zig zag and the forest is right outside your window. Spent the day with his adorable siblings Max and Mira and their hilarious dad. A great day of seeing what lies beyond inner city Melbourne.

melbourne from the top of the hills

into the woods

Puffing Billy

max, mira & mitch

eeire tree where we had coffee

isn't Max cute?

mitch & max

these boots are made for walking …

One night, while walking along Brunswick Street I showed Jack the boots that my heart is aching for through a shop window. I told him how they stopped me on my tracks and made me block the walkway for about  10 minutes while I stared longingly at them. How when I walked away from them with tears in my eyes, I heard them calling out to me. (yeah.. i get a tad melodramatic about footwear and other wardrobe staples)

So he asked (as a boy would) “why didn’t you just buy them”.. I gave him a withering look and commenced a long rehearsed speech that I repeated to myself the whole day to stop myself from running out the door of my flat to the 2 short blocks where the boots were waiting to be rescued with a quarter of my monthly budget in hand. So my whiny retort to his question consisted of these very mature reasons:

They’re expensive ! If I buy them I’m going to have to eat 2 minute noodles for a week!

Winter is almost over. I won’t have much use for them in about a month!

I really don’t need ANOTHER pair of boots (but one can never really have enough pairs of boots. really.)

I’m a big girl. I know now that not everything you want, you get.

He shrugs, continues on and that was the end of that.

Or so I thought…

he came over on his lunch break the next day and told me to open his bag and there my booty babies emerged.

I was so shocked (and secretly ecstatic)!! I couldn’t believe he bought them for me! But I couldn’t accept them 9r could I? I told him to return it, he said he is most definitely NOT going to do that. I said I can’t possibly accept them and won’t wear them, he said fine I’ll throw them in the bin then. I couldn’t let him do that….

THE MAN IS A FRIGGIN LEGEND!!!

They are beautiful… I couldn’t get enough of them! I wear them to Coles, to go to the post office and even to take the rubbish down.

One bright windy wet Friday I took it out for a spin in the city. Jack was paparazzi taking photos of my bootyfull boots. So here they are..

trodding that arcade between bourke & little collins

Gastronomic Delights on Brunswick Street

Jack and I love eating out (or maybe we just hate eating at home.. could it have anything to do with my non existent culinary skills?). Some nights we have full intentions of cooking something for dinner and then get too lazy so we invent a reason to eat out..

Lucky for us there are a myraid of places to choose from 3 flights of stairs down from where we lie prostrate prodding each other to get up and make a half decent meal. But these choices could be overwhelming. I mean there are just so many to choose from on Brunswick Street alone!

Jack’s decision process on choosing a restaurant? shaking his iphone so Urban Spoon could suggest a place..

Me? I fast type it to my two favourite (and my most trusted) review blogs in Melbourne: fitzroyalty and mel: hot or not and let their previous experiences or mouth watering photos make a decision for me.

I don’t do reviews very well. I will limit myself to one line per establishment but I did take really bad photos that you can salivate over. If you want a proper review of any establishment featured below, click on either of the links provided above and it is likely they’ve already given their 2 cents about it.

Akari

177 Brunswick Street

~ good old japanes food done really well~

Mixed Tempura, Wafu Salad, Yakitori

Red Rice

193 Brunswick Street

~Incredible food we couldn’t stop raving about!~

King Prawns, Salmon Spring Rolls, Calamari & Red Rice

Monties, Smith St

Jack’s morning off, the sun shining and my intense craving for pancake brought us to Smith Street via our less trodden streets of Fitzroy.

• A block of flats (at least we think they’re flats) that Jack thought is very reminiscent of Europe on Kerr Street (i think?)
• My chocolate pancake smothered (yes SMOTHERED) in Vanilla icecream
• Jack’s Big Brekky
• and the fine establishment where we had them

busy in the city

Friday is my free day and on this particular one, it was Jack’s too. So we went out to the city to do some things we’ve been meaning to do for some time..

Like …

Go to the music store on Bourke Street to buy Jack’s drum sticks

And then have coffee and some yum lunch at a laneway in Flinder’s Lane

Neighbourhood Watch

Sunday, 2 August

Sundays are made for sleeping in; long, lazy brunch and idle talk. And so we did just that.

Living where I do, we are alway spoiled for choice and I am ashamed to say we haven’t really been exploiting the variety available to us.  We have made it a point then, not to go to a cafe or restaurant that we have already tried, until we have given at least half of the other establishments in this charmed suburb of ours a chance.

Why, it was only last week when we realised that there is a whole area we have yet to explore. So instead of turning right towards Johnston Street, we veered left to get to Gertrude.

And there we were confronted with brunch heaven. We decided to walk the length of Gertrude Street from Brunswick to Smith before deciding on where to eat and this exploration lead us to Arcadia.

Arcadia 193 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy

The place was packed but had a fast turn over and in no time we were led to a table out in the small courtyard. There is no table service, orders are placed at the counter so while Jack and I deliberated over what to eat, next table’s meal arrived and we looked at it wistfully. We knew what we are getting! Who needs menus when you can stalk other diner’s food instead?

The food was fantastic! Service friendly. And for two of those plates in the photo + 2 lattes = $40.50 the price was ok.

back from our sunday stroll

Thanks Gertrude Street, so far you haven’t disappointed us.

gone to gertrude

I met up with Jack over our lunch breaks at Gertrude Street, Fitzroy. The boy got himself a Crumpler backpack as a belated birthday gift and I went to give him advice on what to get. Reckon he made the right choice going by the smile on his face.

I was late to meet up with him, so I was huffing and puffing my way through Gertrude Street, but the vibe and charm of the place did not escape me. Pretty and unique shops, beguiling cafes and intriguing restaurants line the street.

I’ve lived in Fitzroy for four months now but I have never really explored that part of our small suburb just yet. Jack and I are determined to check it out soon. Such a shame that I live in such close proximity to it but have not even been down there til today.

Not being familiar with the fine establishments on Gertrude St., we went to one of the first cafes that we came across which happened to be here

238 Gertrude St., Fitzroy

What a lucky find! We shared these

Pork Barbeque Ribs and Green Leaf Salad

all the while muttering, “this is sooo good” and “ooh yum”.

An exploration of Gertrude Street is imminent and a definite second visit to this fantastic cafe!

Simple Pleasures

Since coming back to Melbourne from Vanuatu, I have had patches of the blues.

Perhaps it is being away from precious family and true friends.

Or being so far from the beautiful beaches and breathtaking Port Vila Views.

Or the winter chill that seeps in to your bones instead of the delicious tropical heat.

Or the fact that I have to pile on the clothes instead of wearing bikinis all day everyday.

Or the gloomy days of ominoues grey clouds as opposed to the spectacular sunshine.

BUT i have been fighting this feeling and finding pleasure in the simple things..

here are just some of the things that made me smile helping me ward away homesickness and rediscovering the beauty in my life in Melbourne.

• Pretty, pretty, sweet smelling flowers from my local flowershop. For a total of $16.50 this beautiful bunch has adorned our dining table to brighten the bleak winter landscape outside our window.

• capturing the beauty of the city on unsuspecting moments. Taken from a park bench in Carlton Gardens.