Money can’t buy happiness but it can buy wine and that’s kind of the same thing…
While we missed out on trick-or-treaters and costumes and pumpkin carving, we had a wonderful time at the Geelong Wine Festival this past weekend. Geelong is about an hour train ride southwest of Melbourne along the coast.
We went with a Meetup group of couples in their 20/30’s. It might seem strange to join a couples Meetup Group – it sounds as if you are going to end up somewhere with your keys in a bowl. We all did in fact joke that it was a lot like the couples’ version of online dating. You don’t know quite how well you all are going to get along but are hoping at the very least it won’t be too awkward and best case scenario you make some new friends.
This group happened to be fantastic. There were 7 couples – all from the UK with the exception of Ben and I. Everyone got on very well and had a great day touring several wineries in the area. The only thing that could have made it nicer is if the sun had stayed out longer as the weather kept shifting from one extreme to the other all day.
The festival is organized in a way that you simply pick a particular shuttle bus route and tour the different participating wineries. The shuttles run on a loop all day so you can get on and off as you please. The wineries all had some sort of food for sale as well as live music and of course plenty of wine – and in some cases cider – tasting. You could also purchase wine by the glass or bottle for consumption if you liked a particular variety or if (like our group) you got tired of waiting in line to get tiny tasting portions.
Our group chose the Bellerine route which is apparently more known for Pinot Noirs, Chardonnays, and Sparkling. Overall, we found some wines that we really enjoyed… we’ll just have to re-trace some blurred memories to remember which they were. But even better, we met some great people!
Sorry for the lack of any type of posts or pictures, at least for those non-facebook followers. May headed back to the states for a wedding leaving me alone in Melbourne to fend for myself for 3 weeks. That basically meant that all of my survival skills went to trying to cook a meal that didn’t kill me and therefore updates would be a luxury. But now that I’m here to give you an update, it just means it is going to be very random. You’ve been warned.
Sydney
Thanks to work, I was sent to Sydney for a week to complete training. While many would view this as a great way to sight see, I ran into two problems: weather and work. Work is the obvious one since I would be in a meeting room all day, every day during the week so I would be left with little time in the evenings to venture out. The weather was the worst the first two days thanks to a storm that rolled in. And by storm, I mean super ultra monsoon of rain.
However, when it subsided, myself and a colleague made our way out. The primary stopping point would be the Opera House (of course) but prior to that we had 3 minor stops that are of interest to point out. The first is Home Thai, a spot for dinner one night that I thought was fantastic. For the price and quality it really hit the spot and I’d offer others to try it out if nearby that section of Sydney. The second is Baxter Inn, a bar that one would never find if they did not know where to look. If you can’t find a whiskey here to enjoy then I believe you might never find a whiskey. Finally, my crocodile burger at Blackbird Cafe. This was lucked upon as the weather was turning poor that evening and we needed food prior to returning to the hotel to end the night. I’ve had alligator before not crocodile. I can’t quite explain the taste as it was different from many other things. The texture could only be described as what you find in a vegetarian burger patty. That will turn many of you off from it but I would easily order it again as it was quite tasty.
Now of course there was the Opera House. I’d have to say that sitting in front of this beautiful structure with the Harbour Bridge occupying the other portion of my view was magnificent. I could have easily sat here all night just looking around at the lights and sounds of Sydney. I’d describe it more but it wouldn’t do it justice. Of course, neither do my pictures as my smartphone’s camera was pretty bad as well. I might have at least one reasonable picture in the group but don’t get your hopes up. May is the one with the legit camera phone.
Random Sydney Shot
Random Sydney Shot
Random Sydney Shot
Random Sydney Shot
Crocodile Burger
Sydney
Harbour Bridge
Harbour Bridge
Harbour Bridge
Harbour Bridge
Harbour Bridge
Opera House
Melbourne Derby
We moved from AFL and Rugby and now we are on to the Football Federation Australia A-League. That means soccer to the normal Americans. Thanks to friends here in Melbourne, we were treated (by paying our way) to the Melbourne Derby between Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City FC. This game lived up to the “hype” as it was a scoring bonanza. While the quality of play was not exactly “A” league material, we did get to see loaner David Villa in action as well as get a taste of the Melbourne Victory fans. The fans were really into the game from start to finish and made me long to sit in their section just to partake in the soccer h0oligan festivities. Hey look, I think they are trying to start a riot fire again.
Melbourne City vs Melbourne Victory
Melbourne City vs Melbourne Victory
Melbourne City vs Melbourne Victory
Melbourne City vs Melbourne Victory
Melbourne City vs Melbourne Victory
Christmas in October?
And finally, its Christmas time in October. In the states, we would always complain about the Christmas season edging earlier and earlier with each passing year, but we’ve never reached the early saturation of October. I see this more as a byproduct of no large holidays to push the season out. In the US, we have Halloween and Thanksgiving. That’s not the same here. One thing to note in the pictures below is the cost of the Christmas tree in the picture. At that price, I can guarantee that we will not be getting that one. If that’s the normal prices, then I’ll be wandering the streets with a hatchet and eyes searching for a reasonable tree.
I had originally thought about writing a post on our first AFL Grand Final experience, but the game was a blowout so that will have to wait for another year. Instead, I bring you something better than the Grand Final and potentially better than gold itself.
It’s May trying Vegemite for the first time.
For those unaware, Vegemite is a food paste that seems to be the de facto standard for known Australian food by those outside of this continent. It is made from yeast extract which should tell you enough to determine if you would actually eat it or not. However, May did not get to choose if she wanted to eat it or not because I determined that for her.
As a result of May’s new found “respect” for this Australian, I believe I need to post the following on ebay or gumtree:
For Sale
One opened, slightly used jar of Vegemite.
No price tag needed as we are gladly giving this “treasure” away as long as it leaves our apartment. I’m sure there is someone out there that would find a way to put its contents to good use.
Yesterday (Sunday) we were able to get a little farther out of the city. We took a group tour to Phillip Island to see the Penguin Parade. Along the way, there was also a stop at a small animal sanctuary where the group had lunch and we finally got to get up close to see and pet some kangaroos!
The tour was organized by a Meetup group we joined online. There are hundreds of different types of these groups for various interests and ages and people in Melbourne seem pretty active in them. We figured it’s a good way to explore the city a little more and maybe meet some new people. This particular group is focused on International Newbies [to Melbourne] and they organize all sorts of events, generally at a discount. Most of the members are in their 20s and 30s. It turned out to be a pretty fun day.
If you’ve never seen the “True Facts” videos on Youtube before, then here’s a little treat for you to learn a little about marsupials. The last bit about the Koalas is the best but now I can never look at them the same way! Disclaimer: the language and video content is intended for a more “mature” audience so I wouldn’t sit down and hit play with your little ones but then again who am I to tell you how to raise your kids 😉
The animal sanctuary was small but had a variety of inhabitants. I generally get sad at places like zoos. I don’t really like seeing animals in cages but I do feel better when I know that an organization is strongly affiliated with a conservation group. Here at least the kangaroos and wallabies are roaming around free. And they are ADORABLE. Aussies consider kangaroos to be the equivalent of vermin – they are overpopulated and can be a nuisance. But to me, it was one of the highlights to get so close. Who doesn’t think of kangaroos when they think of Australia?!
The best part of the day by far was the Penguin Parade. Every day at sunrise and sunset the penguins gather up in groups to cross the beach to get into and out of the ocean for feeding. The penguins are about a foot and a half tall and scurry across together in groups of 10 or so to avoid predators such as sea hawks.
A group of penguins will gather on the beach until they feel they have the right numbers. They hide amid the seaweed and then start inching forward together. Then they’ll make a run for it. The cutest is when you see a scraggler get left behind who then decides whether to brave the trek alone or run back to join another group.
Since pictures are absolutely forbidden once the penguins arrive on the beach, I had to pull a couple from online. Apparently, you can have yourself superimposed on an image of the penguins at the visitors center for a fee but we declined. And no worries, I suppressed the very strong urge to steal one and hide it under my jacket!
Dingo
Wombat
Just laying around
Can you see the little Joey hanging out of the pouch?
Wallaby
Emu
Sleeping Koalas
Younger kangaroos aren’t as intimidating when they hop about
This little one wanted to meet Ben but he wouldn’t bend down to say hello
3 years of marriage + 7 years of dating = a third of our lives together! So that would make us … [if you do the math, then keep the numbers to yourself!]. We celebrated the 17th here since that would officially be the 16th in the US where we were married. The time difference is very complicated 😉
We decided to go low key this anniversary. After all, we did just move half way across the world and we have some grand plans for trips and vacations to come. So in the spirit of celebrating, I stated that I would make a special dinner.
Ben asked what “special” meant. It was a fair question with our belongings – which include the better part of our kitchenware – still in limbo. Apparently, it has all arrived here in Melbourne and has passed customs but still no word on any arrangements for delivery. Grrrrr.
This means that all these weeks I’ve been “roughing it” in terms of cooking. We have a single non-stick fry pan and a small 3-pot kit we bought at Ikea which reminds me of the camping cooking gear you buy to make quick meals in the wilderness. There are no mixing bowls and nothing I can truly cook with in the oven aside from make-shifting a pan from aluminum foil. I have one chef’s knife which I packed in our checked luggage but no utensils other than the two forks and two spoons we bought to eat with. Not to mention I don’t have a single baking instrument.
Even with this however, Ben has gotten extremely spoiled with home cooked meals almost every night. I can get by well enough when I keep it simple and think through one pan for meat or a primary vegetable and another for sides. When the ingredients are fresh and of great quality, thankfully, you don’t have to do much to make them tasty!
So in this case “special” simply meant more thought out. Here was the resulting menu:
Appetizer: seared scallops with an orange-ginger sauce
Salad: spring mix with marinated artichoke hearts, avocado, shaved Parmesan and homemade vinaigrette
Main: pan seared porterhouse steak, oven roasted shrimp scampi, mashed potatos and wilted spinach
Dessert: blueberry apple crumble + cookies and cream cheesecake (both bought from a local bakery)
To add to our “simple life” we still don’t have any furniture (purchased but not delivered). Since it didn’t seem romantic to eat standing up at the kitchen counter alongside the cooking prep, I created little make-shift tables by wrapping appliance boxes with our beach towels.
All in all it was a success and sort of reminded me of what a newly wed couple should be living like if we were in a romantic comedy. Something to look back at fondly when we are old – sitting on the floor eating our anniversary dinner off of appliance boxes.
I think it’s worth mentioning that growing up, I never wanted to get married. I never saw myself with a traditional family. I did see myself traveling the world and taking adventures. That part so much has been true and SO much better than I could have dreamed having my best friend and husband along with me for the ride. Sometimes the things you don’t plan are the sweetest in life – and that’s saying a lot from this type-A personality!
Happy anniversary my love!!! Here’s to designing our life together and making dreams that we haven’t even dreamed up yet come true!
I promised that I would let you know how the Mexican Festival went and so I shall!…. Eh. It was pretty anti-climactic. Ben would tell you that I had let my cravings get the best of me and my hopes were unrealistic. Perhaps that is true but what can I say? I like to hope for the best, even if I don’t necessarily expect it.
Let me start with a little background info so you fully understand the situation. We’ve been in Melbourne for just over a month and a half now. So that is 6-7 weeks it’s been since my last helping of Mexican food or anything resembling it. You may think ‘that’s no big deal!’ … but in fact if you’ve ever lived in California for any extended period of time then you know it is a very big deal.
Please don’t misunderstand me. The food in Melbourne is EXCELLENT. And I’m well acquainted with studying and living abroad in countries where dietary restrictions and simple access to variety is very limited – try 2 months in India. However, when you have such food of such quality so easily available to you that you eat it on a weekly basis or more, then it’s hard not to miss. Melbourne has many choices in wonderful dining options but Mexican food is NOT one of them.
Not that they are to blame. It seems there is a slow and steady movement trending for Mexican cuisine but you can only imagine that with the geographic distance from Mexico and few Mexican immigrants, it’s more slow than steady. This is heartbreaking to me. Oh, I could make do and cook some of my favorite items myself but the ingredients are not so easy to find either!
We’ve finally located a vendor at South Melbourne Market that sells fresh jalapenos and one vendor in Queen Victoria Market that sells black beans. However, I’m still on the hunt for some decent corn tortillas and cilantro coriander that doesn’t taste more like parsley and don’t get me started on finding the right type of chili peppers.
So yes, my hopes for the festival were high. There was a very large turn out of people and food stands – all of the Mexican restaurants that give it a go in and around the city. Ben and I sampled a few different stand. The fish tacos at Mamacitas were bland. A carnitas burrito from Mad Mex left a lot to be desired, though Ben claims that it would do the job if he were badly in need of a fix. We did finally stumble on some authentic and flavorful fair at Los Amantes where we gobbled down the chilaquiles de pollo. We’ll have to find their restaurant location and do some further reviews.
This week wasn’t too eventful. Perhaps one small thing to note is I did some bookstore exploring. It seems that Melbourne has an amazing array of bookstores. I came across a list on Buzzfeed (yes, I’m a Buzzfeed addict) and had to investigate for myself. True enough there are a plethora of amazing bookstores all within a very short distance of each other – everything from discount chains, to independent bookstores to second hand books and even small specialty shops.
I don’t know how they all stay in business but it seems the written word is still alive and well here in this city. I didn’t hit up every store on the list but got to about 5 of them including the adorable children’s bookstore The Little Bookroom and Kay Craddock which houses first editions worth thousands of dollars per book. Though I have surrendered to the convenience of downloading books which can be accessed on any of my electronic mobile devices, I have to say that I am still a big fan of physically being able to turn a page so I may be making some literary purchases in the near future.
Today we kicked off the weekend with some lovely weather. Ben and I headed to Queen Victoria Market to do our grocery shopping and to indulge on some fresh made doughnuts. Queen Victoria Market is much larger than South Melbourne Market and we tend to alternate between the two for groceries. Picture an old time Bizarre with endless rows of stands selling everything you can think of. Both markets are fantastic and we are starting to distinguish preferences among the vendors at each.
In the afternoon, we noticed a bunch of booths set up near our apartment along the river. They were holding a small Lantern Festival with a bunch of different Asian food stalls. We wandered over and picked up some lunch. Then we decided to enjoy the day by walking to Queen Victoria Garden.
Spring is definitely creeping up and it was apparent on our walk through the garden. The trees are just starting to bud leaves and flowers are starting to add color. We made our way through the park to the War Memorial which we spent some time appreciating. On the walk back, we stopped and had a quick drink before calling it a day.
It may not seem too exciting to others to be in on a Saturday night but we need to be up very early tomorrow to watch the UGA game. Go Dawgs!!! Tomorrow afternoon, we are headed to the Mexican Festival! I cannot express how excited I am about the Mexican Festival – I might be persuaded to punch a stranger in the face right now if it meant I could get some decent Mexican food. I’ll let you know how it all turns out!
The first week in September marks the beginning of Spring and with that comes Melbourne Spring Fashion Week (MSFW). Festivities are held downtown all week with both free and ticketed runway shows, workshops, fashion film and of course, lots of opportunities to shop. The vast majority of the designers are Australian and unfamiliar to me but I figure why not see what all the fuss is about.
My interests were peaked even more when I saw Lululemon and Arthur Galan on the week’s program. My infatuation with Lululemon is pretty well noted by my friends. I can’t seem to walk into one of their stores without purchasing something. It’s very dangerous for my wallet. Arthur Galan happens to be the one designer whose store we stumbled into on Chapel street a few weeks back. I basically fell in love with EVERY item in the store and Ben had to haul me out.
While I’m sure Ben did not want anything fueling my Lululemon appetite, it was a free show and he was oh-so-kindly willing to come along and “support me” (a.k.a. see the models perform in yoga gear). We went to the show on Wednesday evening and got there early because it was open to the public. We somehow managed to get seated in the first row which was reserved for certain important persons of unknown identities who ultimately did not show up.
The show was entertaining with all the models performing down the runway with yoga, dance, acrobatics and pole performances. I made note of things to add to my workout wardrobe while Ben made notes of… well, let’s pretend he made note of the men’s running wear for himself. To top it off, we also got to claim goody bags with our front row upgrade which contained generous gift cards. So it was a win all the way around and the next shopping trip won’t worry Ben so much 😉
After the show I made us some dinner – a couple steaks from South Melbourne Market with pasta and salad. In a way, it was to treat Ben for being such a good sport but somehow I think he got the better end of the whole night!
Thursday night came the designer show. Ben played the loving and dutiful husband and dressed up to escort me. I was excited to have another proper occasion to wear my birthday Louboutins. There were 10 designers featured: Akira, Yeonjin Bae, Thurley, Jayson Brunsdon, Arthur Galan, Megan Park, Nicola Finetti, Calibre, Nevenka and Christine.
The show was great and Ben limited his Zoolander quotes. The goody bags were not nearly as exciting as the ones from Lululemon but all in all a fun night – likely more fun more me than Ben.
FYI, I’m making this post at the threatrequest of May. I think its mainly because she enjoyed the story too much, not sure if others would too.
This past week, I had to travel to Sydney for a work related conference. I’ll stop with any boring work reference now and head straight into the true story. The trip was meant to be quick travel as I was flying out on Tuesday evening and returning Wednesday evening after the conference. I arrived on time for my departing Sydney flight so that I could take the very last seat on the plane. I assumed my flight position which means I connected my noise cancellation headphones and started the evening’s movie, The Dark Knight Rises, on my tablet. We took off and everything was great.
Upon our decent, I started to think that it was interesting that I was able to finish so much of my movie before we landed. Maybe the flight was longer than I actually thought it was. Being the last one off the plane, I was able to give the typical head nod to the flight attendants as I de-boarded. One of the flight attendants even made an effort to say “Sorry for the evening and I hope your night gets better.” I thought initially that this was weird, but continued to exit the plane. Upon entering the terminal, I saw a very large line of people at the airline’s customer service desk. I thought “Well that’s weird, I guess we were late and many people had missed their connection in Melbourne.” But thing something really hit me. “Wait a minute, this isn’t the Melbourne airport.” I was back in the Sydney airport. Apparently, we had flown to Melbourne, circled a few times, and then returned to Sydney due to the heavy fog in the Melbourne area.
You may now laugh at my stupidity for not realizingrealising that this took place on my flight. Go ahead. I’ll wait.
When I was finally mentally capable of understanding what took place, I joined the other passengers in the line and waited to determine my fate for the evening. Being the last passenger on the plane, this took awhile for me. Finally, I reached the desk and discovered I was booked on a flight the following morning at 6:30AM. I’d be put up in a hotel for the evening and could return home the following morning. The shuttle service for this particular hotel had stopped running for the night (11:00PM+) so I would need to take a taxi which was not reimbursed. Joy!
I connected with some random strangers from the flight and we shared the cab ride. This is where the story starts to go down hill as the cab driver had never heard of the hotel and was dependent on us to look it up from our phones. When we actually pulled up to the hotel, I traded glances with the other passenger in the backseat. From the exterior, this was probably going to be the worst hotel I’ve ever stayed in. Inside, the remaining passengers were waiting to receive their hotel keys and end their terrible evening.
I’m not going to lie. About 4-5 different passengers returned to the front desk 5-6 times after being given their key because either A) The key would not work on the room or B) There was already someone staying in the room. My key at least worked the first time, but that might have been my punishment upon looking inside. Keep in mind that I’m not a hotel snob like some people we know. I have very low standards and can usually get by no matter what.
This. Was. Different.
This was a hotel that would have been perfect for any cliched horror movie scene. Maybe I should have taken pictures but I’m certain that upon viewing the photos, we all would have found evidence of ghosts in the background or something like that. I setup my suitcase near the door as I was unable to lock the door. Hopefully my would-be intruder would hit this and wake me or I’d go quietly into the night. I refused to sleep under the covers for a plethora of health code violations. Instead, I slept on top of the covers and pulled the cover from the extra bed onto me. Only 4 hours until I could leave for the airport.
In the morning, I took the earliest shuttle possible back to the airport because anything was better than this hotel. While waiting for it to depart, one of the passengers commented “This neighborhood is very interesting. There are houses all around here.” Another passenger quickly responded, “those aren’t houses, they are brothels.” We all laughed and then continued to laugh when I quipped “I bet they have better rooms.”
I did finally make it back to Melbourne Thursday morning but only after being delayed….again….by fog. Funny that after living in SF for many years, I had to travel to another country to finally have fog cause me delays. Hopefully the next trip to Sydney will not result in the same horrific, wild ride. Below you will find two pictures showing how the fog scene looked in Melbourne on the day I was meant to return.
Saturday night, May and I were able to attend our first AFL or “footy” match. AFL is the professional league for Aussie Rules Football which is quite cultish in this area of Australia. You can think of it in the same realm as college football in the southeast but condensed to a much smaller area for the most part. I caught a few matches on television when we first arrived and really took to it. I just had to understand the rules first.
The sport itself, in my mind, is a combination of football, soccer, and rugby. The basic premise is to score points by kicking the football through the middle uprights of the field. That gives you 6 points. If you hit it through the uprights on either side, then you are given 1 point. For those not following that Madden style logic, the team with the most points at the end wins. With teams of 18, your job is to work the ball down the field via kicks, running with it (and dribbling it, sort of), as well as handballing it. This keeps the game in constant action until the end of each quarter, though we struggled to figure out if that was in 30 minute blocks or whenever the screaming horn decided to sound. In other words, watch this video for a better depiction of an AFL game.
We chose this particular game as we wanted to check out the Melbourne Cricket Ground (a.k.a. The G). The G stands as a marvel to behold upon entering due to its behemoth size. To wrap your head around its size, the field of play, fence to fence, alone sits at 173.6 meters long (189.9 yards) and 148.3 meters wide (162.18 yards). It can seat 100,024 people which ranks it as the 12th largest stadium in the world. Its record for largest capacity is 130,000 so true capacity has some room to bend apparently. I do find it quite funny that I’ve been to 3 of the top 20 largest stadiums in the world and 2 of those 3 were due to college football in the south.
Another big reason we chose this particular match was because it was between the bitter rivals: Hawthorn Hawks and the Geelong Cats. As one person from my office informed me, “think of it as the 49ers and the Seahawks”. This statement was quite true as the game went on when one particular Cats player ever touched the ball as the chorus of boos would fill the stadium. Apparently, he left the Hawks several seasons ago to join the Cats. At least that was the version of the story I caught from the Cats’ fans sitting behind us.
To allow us to truly enjoy the game without having a particular team, May and I each decided to pick a team and enjoy the trash talk. With her exhaustive research, May sided with the Cats due to their logo and better color choice than the opponent. This left me with the Hawks and thankfully a W in the Win column at the end of the night, but it was stressful in the first half as Geelong took a nice lead. The second half was a different story though. Here’s a write up of the game to summarize it better than me.
All in all, it was a great time and we discovered many new things about Australia:
Having Lady Gaga one arena over and AFL on the same night made for some interesting combinations of people in close proximity
Watching a game live helps you understand it so much more than watching it on TV
The massive size of the G in person is amazing to see. The field and the thought of running up and down it for 4 quarters makes me tired without taking a single step.
AFL club songs are interesting: Hawks and Geelong.
You have probably read this entire post pronouncing Geelong incorrectly. Don’t feel bad, we did too.
Pronouncing Geelong pails in comparison to Adidas. It will take you half the commercial before you realize it.
And finally, whenever a bird poops on May it is the funniest thing you will ever see and will make your night at the G even more enjoyable.
