Monday, December 12th, 2005

Today was started off with some "Coco Bombs" that Sea bought in Balnarring because he had to have some sort of non-healthy cereal. Hard thing to do in Oz. Regardless, this stuff was gluten-free and tasted like nothing with a hint of cocoa. Not all that impressed. I spent my morning doing some laundry, and wrote to my MySpace friend, dSTAR, who resides in Melbourne and I hoped to meet up with down here. Another highlight of my day was trying one of the oranges off the tree. It was very sweet. But they're a bit high to for me to pick.

Had to run out to get laundry soap, so I explored Glenferrie Rd. a little more. I was also looking for a gift for my mum (who might be reading this, so I can't say what it is. ;) Worked my way to Malvern Central Shopping Center and checked out some of the shops around. I got an extra key cut and found some frames to make Christmas presents (paintings) and a place with some nice Australian cards to send home.

The day probably isn't too interesting. We went out for coffees at nearby Giorgio's and talked a little shop while swatting away flies. It was hot and windy, but once the wind dies down, the flies move in. Oh, and plain old coffees with milk here are called "flat whites."

That evenings I stuffed myself on spaghetti and apricot cake for dessert. We watched this "Grumpy Old Women" show that Gabby likes and I went to bed early completely shattered. I think it was the heat. It can be quite sapping, especially when you just got used to winter. At some point it broke with a tremendous thunderstorm.

Tuesday, December 13th, 2005

Unfortunately, these few days probably aren't all that interesting. On this day we had a couple of meetings to talk about potential work for Sea. I'll skip the details, though we did enjoy it. I guess we're hopeless workaholics.

I had to postpone meeting up with dSTAR till the next day because I meeting in the afternoon that ran quite long (though it was quite a fascinating discussion about technology. Well, for us anyway. I imagine Euan was bored senseless.) I was pretty wired on caffiene when we got back home. We set up Gabby's computer for me to work on and not a lot else happened that afternoon.

We had steaks for dinner which were delicious compared to the ones we have at home. They don't have as strong a taste, if that makes any sense. Maybe it's all the growth hormones we have... I don't know, but they were nice. After dessert we were chatting away as usual when I spotted something large flying over the house. It turned out to be fruit bats or flying foxes, which I was told about upon arriving. We went outside to watch them fly over. There must have been hundreds of them - absolutely massive. Amazing. I will try to get pictures of videos of these.

I didn't get any good pics of them, but I did try unsuccessfully to get
video one night. Instead I managed to find someone else's pics of them
at the Botanical Gardens (which is probably where they were coming from.)

Wednesday, December 14th, 2005

I started getting a bit lax updating my journal on these days but mostly I was helping out with computer-related stuff. Wed. morning was spent installing software and trying to get online. This was getting a bit frustrating, so I left at 1pm to meet up with dSTAR on Chapel St. for 2. It was hot and almost took me the whole hour to walk there, but I was glad to be out and seeing the area along High St. It's like a cross between the Danforth with all the bridal shops and cafes; but with fewer restaurants and Queen E. with all the antique places and several more galleries. The lower part of Chapel St. reminded me a bit of Yonge, but not really like any other street.

dSTAR had just got to Bridie O'Reillys (a big Irish pub in an old church or courthouse or something) when I had and grabbed us a couple of pots. I downed mine pretty fast because I was so thirsty after my walk. We sat on the patio and chatted and had another, then he suggested we go check out a couple other places. We went back down Chapel to a backroom-type place called "Revolver." It was very large and decorated with old sofas and interesting things hanging around on the walls and ceilings (including some unusal paintings and posters.) The lighting was all lampshades hanging from the ceiling. There was a dj booth and a restaurant at the back. This might be the reason it's able to stay open at odd hours (all night.) It this point it was mid-afternoon and somewhat dead. There was a guy passed out and someone had drawn a phallus on his face. Other than delighting in tormenting those who can't handle their booze, the staff seemed pretty cool.

After that we headed to Brunswick St. in Fitzroy in the North suburbs. Apparently, the best places to go in Melbourne are all outside of the CBD. The next couple of stops were hotel pubs which seemed quite busy. Of course it was probably happy hour at this point. I think it was Fitzroy Hotel (?) that I was told had good food. Memory got a little hazy at this point.

The last stop was a place called Bar One. It was small but quite nice with an open air area in the back. Very kind of alternative-like. I nursed my last beer (which is usually a sign I am done) and dSTAR gave me a ride back home. I had a great time, and dinner was nearly ready when I got in. I was starving! (Didn't have much for lunch.) We had some schnitzel with pink potatos. No room for dessert.

Thursday, December 15th, 2005

Had a bit of stuff to work on today and the computer was working better. It was also quite hot and I was fighting a headache (and likely dehydration) most of the morning. I jumped at the chance to go out with Sea & Euan when they went to get Sea's phone card for the mobile. I decided to get the frames and checked out the St. Vincent de Paul's (which I didn't realize was an international thing and thought the one in Belleville was the only one!) I got myself a cute little bag (much needed) and skirt for $10 total. When I returned, I wasn't sure if the boys were back and didn't remember the alarm code. I was going to wait at the front but figured they would have been home by now. Sure enough, I set off the alarm, but at least they were just getting back and I didn't have to wait long with that excruciating noise. My nerves were frazzled from then on, and at one point I ended up breaking a part of the fridge in my stupor. But at least I won't forget the code now.

I shut myself in the back room and work most of the afternoon, except maybe for a half hour that I passed out from heat exhaustion.

We had plans for dinner at Kate & Jason's that evening, and Jason came around to pick us up about 5:30-6pm. He was quite entertaining even with the twins acting all fussy. We had a very nice talk with Kate - mostly about family and had a terrific dinner of lamb chops, sausages, salad and some fabulous roast potatos (*Must* get this recipe.) We tried to help Jason with his laptop, but it's pretty buggered. Eventually Kate went to bed - she looked pretty tired - and Jason drove us home, telling us stories about meeting Prince Charles.

When we got in, Euan and Gabby were cleaning up after their dinner with the neighbours. They brought over poppers and the place looked like NYE. Gabby had streamers in here ears. It looked like a lot of fun and I was a bit sorry I missed it; but no regrets. We had a good time "away from the olds" as Kate put it.

The aftermath of the poppers.

Friday, December 16th, 2005

The day was mostly spent working on some graphics and putting up this travelogue (finally!) There of course was still a long way to go (to date, it is now after Christmas and I've only got this far!) It wasn't so hot today so I was very productive, other than a trip out to Malvern Central again. We walked back along Glenferrie Rd. then around the park across the street from us. There are some amazing houses in this area. We sat in the park for a bit then went home when the sun got a bit much for me.

One of the fine homes in our area.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful with me obsessively working away at my travelogue photos and failing to get them uploaded. Ultimately I gave up and went out to sit with Sea & Euan and listen in on their rugby discussion. Dinner was this fabulous stew-like dish with chicken legs and chickpeas with coucous. Gabrielle is such an excellent cook. Dinner is always a treat when we visit them. So if I write a lot about the food, you now know why. (Sorry if it gets boring. :) After dinner we stayed up a bit for Resident Evil 2 even though we've already seen it..

Saturday, December 17th, 2005

Woke up today with a bit of an earache and sore throat. I figured I was catching something the previous day when I kept sneezing. Oh well. Got up and wrote and email to Mom and continued working on the travelogue and photos. Tried to do some laundry but it kept showering, so I couldn't hang it outside.

In the late afternoon, we all took an impromptu drive around the botanical gardens. Euan wanted to take us to The Botanical, which we were told used to be a pub but is now more of a wine bar/cafe/lounge. It's a little more trendy and anyway, we had a rather pricy round of drinks and then rushed back to get ready for our dinner at Joan's.

Big trees around the Royal Botanical Gardens.

Jess sitting on the root of one of those trees.

On the way, we picked up a cask of Chardonnay for her. Euan & Gabby dropped us off and went off to dinner for their anniverary while we had some sausages and more of those roast potatos. After dessert, we had these frozen mango and cream bars that were 40% mango. I forget the name of them but they were SO good. We watched a bit of TV and probably kept her up until about 11pm. Then we walked back through a wealthier neighbourhood of billion dollar mansions.

It took us about a half hour to walk back and we got ready for bed right after we did. I killed my first cockroach here. It was slightly bigger than any of the ones I saw at home, but actually quite small by Oz standards.

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