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Happy Hour, Markets and St. Kilda Beach

May

I have to say that this weekend is off to a pretty great start. On Friday, Ben finished work a little early so we headed out for happy hour. We live right near the river where there are a lot of restaurants that are connected to the Crown Promenade and Casino. As far as we’ve tried, they’re all pretty great and we intend to make our way to every one. However, the drinks are VERY pricey! Most have happy hour deals listed though, so we started off there. Then we moved on to Ponyfish which is a bar built directly under one of the bridges, sitting on the Yarra River.

At Ponyfish, we had a few more drinks and chatted up with a couple of guys who were in town for business from Canberra – the capital of Australia. They taught us some of the differences between Union Footy and League Footy a well as some good spots along the coast to visit. Afterwards, Ben and I were in need of something to soak up our drinks so we ended up at a sort of fast food chain called Pie Face. They make all types of savory pies in individual sizes. The steak pies were a perfect post-happy hour pairing.

Ben continued the indulgence by stopping at a cafe and getting a doughnut while I bought a second steak pie. No judgement! We got back to the apartment and laughed about the fact that we still managed to be in bed by 11pm. I’m sure others were just starting their nights – we are definitely old!

Saturday morning we got up and headed to South Melbourne Market. We’ve been a couple times now. It’s less than a mile walk from our apartment and sort of like a built in farmer’s market that’s open 4 days per week. Melbourne and the surrounding suburbs have several of these types of markets – another great one a mile in the other direction is Queen Victoria Market (more about that one another time).

Anyone who has come to visit us in SF knows how much I love farmer’s markets. So of course I’m over the moon that I get to do most of our grocery shopping here. There are different vendor stalls both inside and outside for fresh produce, meat, seafood, bread, and even things like housewares, random gifts and clothes. We picked up some groceries, I tossed back a couple of fresh shucked oysters – SOOOO TASTY – and I even bought a rolling grocery bag for future trips since we have no car and are embracing the pedestrian lifestyle.

The weather continued to be nice and warm so I convinced Ben to head out to St. Kilda Beach. I have been dying to get out to the ocean and didn’t care if it was still a little too cold to lay out or get into the water. In my opinion, it’s just great to be at the beach and take in the scenery. Apparently we were not the only ones who had this idea but I managed to get some pictures sans people and it was almost warm enough to make it feel like we should have summer wear on. The water is very clear and I’m looking forward to summer!

St. Kilda Beach is a little like Santa Cruz or the beaches in the Northeast back in the states. There’s a boardwalk that runs along the sand with some nice cafes/restaurants and Luna Park which is a small amusement park with rides and carnival games. We didn’t go into the park but instead walked along the beach and a couple of the piers.  In the rocks, we even got a peak at a penguin!… and a water rat but that was not cute.

Now we’re just resting at home until it’s time to head out for footy!

 

 

It’s Friday and the Sun is Out!

May

It is actually pretty warm today! It is getting towards 20 degrees C though not quite there (upper 60’s F) and with the sun out it feels much warmer… unless the wind blows. It’s a nice break from some of the cold rainy weather we’ve had.

Melbourne is said to be a city in which you can experience all 4 seasons in a single day. The clouds move quickly and the temperatures with them. People dress in layers and always carry an umbrella. All in all, it feels a lot like San Francisco during the colder months, with added rain. However, I’m dreaming of warmer days to come…. you can remind me of that if/when the weather gets above 100 degrees F.

On days like this I excitedly look towards the ocean from our balcony and the water looks so blue. I had to stretch my hand off the balcony to get the attached picture – don’t tell Ben! I hope it’s that blue up close. I can’t wait to explore the coastline but need things to warm up a bit.

In the meantime, the plan is to get out a little this weekend. We’ll do some shopping at the farmer’s markets and we’ve got tickets to our very first footy match! We’ll be seeing the Geelong Cats face off against the Hawthorn Hawks at MCG which is the stadium you can see from our apartment. I tried to take a more close up pic – it’s the open stadium with the big lights to the right of the tower structure.

It’s supposed to be a good match up and rivalry. I’m sure Ben will post more about it along with AFL in general. Footy is very popular here and people ask if we’ve picked a team yet – I guess we better get on it. Perhaps we’ll come out of this game a Cats or Hawks fan. Based on nothing more than the uniforms and logos, I think I prefer the Cats!

Here are a few fun Aussie phrases to carry you into your Friday. They don’t like to pronounce a lot of r’s and if a word ends in “er” then it’s often replaced with an “ah” sound. Stay tuned for weekend updates!

  • Whatta ya after? = What would you like to order?
  • How ya traveling? = How’s it going?
  • Give it a go = Try it
  • No worries = Your welcome or No problem
  • Rubbish/Litter = Trash
  • Fillet = “t” at the end pronounced – sounds like “fill-it”… we both agree, it’s just wrong
  • Coriander = Cilantro
  • Capsicum = Bell Peppers
  • Dinkum = genuine or true

 

 

Ice Bucket Challenge

Ben

I didn’t think this was going to be my first entry for this blog while in Melbourne, but any time is a good time to start I guess.

For those that are unaware of the craze sweeping the internet, the wiki entry for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is a great place to start. Interesting to note that one theory states that this started in New Zealand.  The videos by RDJ, Chris Pratt, and Bill Gates are some of my favorites.

This isn’t one of my typical charities, but the challenge seemed fun.  It’s just a shame that I missed my 24 hour deadline.  I hope my location and temperature make up for that little detail. Also, keep in mind that I had to ask the building manager to borrow a bucket and of course I had to explain why I needed it which prompted a laugh followed by “Of course I can provide a bucket for that.”  Entering the elevator lift on my way back to the apartment, a stranger looked at me and said “Ice Bucket Challenge?”

Enjoy the video and I can’t wait to see the videos from the people I challenged.

[youtube=www.youtube.com/watch?v=773eThBGliQ]

If you don’t want to dump a bucket of ice water on your head, then just donate to ALS!  In the end, everyone will benefit.

Settling into Melbourne

May

Here we are in Melbourne, Australia. G’day mates! So let’s get some of the not-so-exciting stuff out of the way. The first couple of weeks were a bit of a blur fighting jet lag and trying to find a place to live, but we managed just fine.

  • Apartment
  • Cell phone
  • Appliances – fridge, washer, dryer
  • Utilities and Internet set up
  • Furniture….

We’ve moved into our new place and it’s great…except that the only furniture we own so far is a bed (for the guest room). Since our belongings, including our own bed, will not be arriving for another 3-4 weeks, we figured it would be important to have something to sleep on. So to all our friends and family who plan to visit, there is a bed awaiting you – you’re welcome!

Otherwise, we are getting ourselves situated. We’ve ventured out a little bit  in between getting all our essentials and logistics in order. However, with the colder [and sometimes wet] weather, we are looking forward to exploring the area as it warms up in the coming Spring. Among other things, the opposite schedule of seasons will be a new one to get used to.

We’ve embraced city living and have moved into a brand new high rise building equipped with all the bells and whistles – concierge service, large gym, lap pool, sauna, rec room, theater room, indoor and outdoor event spaces with full catering kitchen and outdoor grills, theater room, massage room and even a virtual golf room.  Our apartment is definitely fancier than we are. Good thing they didn’t charge us for the frills.

We are on the 35th floor of the building and have a pretty fantastic view. Our balcony faces away from the city center and looks out onto one of the AFL stadium and sports centers. On the far left, we get a glimpse of the Yarra River and on the far right we can see the ocean.  It’s especially pretty at night when everything is lit up.

Ben has started work and seems to have hit the ground running. The Aussie office has wasted no time in putting their new resource to work. I try to remind him that it’s a positive thing since he has a bit to prove with a new office and region and I have absolute confidence that he will blow them away.

I’m starting to think however that this was all a ploy to turn me into a housewife. I’ve spent the past week doing chores and making meals to be ready on Ben’s arrival. I keep telling him that this is not the “lady of leisure” image I quite had in mind. 😉