the first agenda of the day was food. a&e took a slow drive along the dandenong ranges into a suburb called sasssfras. i like the name of that place, it certainly has character. booked a table at the always-full miss marples, then took a stroll around the shops around that area. stepped into a tea shoppe that had the quirkiest range of teapots!

miss marples was a very english tea house and i had the best scones on earth. it was, the best scones ever. with homemade raspberry jam and fresh cream. hot soft fluffy scones. had them by a fireplace. that was not lit.

after the wonderful scone experience, a&e drove up mt dandenong to skyhigh for a panaromic view of melbourne. it was quite a sight as everything else seems flat, and suddenly melbourne’s central business district seem to rise above like a concrete jungle. very gotham city like in fact. strolled along the grounds. loved the autumn flowers. and the air had a distinct eucalyptus scent.

our next activity was one of my must-dos in melbourne. we visited two vineyards in yarra valley. the first was yering station. tasted their range, enjoyed the experience, strolled their grounds then left to visit rochford wines. rochford had a great moscato - i bought myself a bottle. however, most people buy by the dozens. rochford wines had a lovely view of the vineyard.

we drove back and stopped at giant step and innocent bystander. tried their gourmet pizza (very very delicious) with beer (i drank little creatures on the tap, it is now one of my favourite beers). sampled some cheese (their gorgonzola piccante blue cheese was a knee shaking experience, super good!) with innocent bystander pinot gris (also a very very good white).

two excellent gastronomic experience in a day. i was definitely loving melbourne. and the people are nice. i can’t get over how nice they are. the waiters check to see whether you are getting along fine, everyone says thank you and greets you good day. etc etc. i love it!

before going home we had porridge, fried quail and some taiwanese beer. by then i was stuffed to my nose. it was definitely a good day, spent with good friends.

pictures coming later :) sunday’s plan - get into the city and wander about! tell you how it goes at the end of today. have a rockin’ sunday people! say hi to a stranger today why doncha.

miss marple’s tea room in sassafras among the dandenong ranges

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inside the tea room - always packed

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a&e before our food arrived (fireplace in the background!)

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the best scones in the world….with homemade raspberry jam and fresh cream, accompanied by tea that was voted as england’s best. and some of miss marple’s famous grilled fingers.

had this in koko black. i have always wanted to try hot chocolate aztec style - spiced with chili. when i saw it on the menu i immediately ordered a cup (should’ve ordered two!). it was so very SO good. yes, so very SO good!!!! the chili certainly packed a kick and a punch, but it was so very so gooddddddddddd. totally craving for a cup right now.

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everyday at slightly before noon, a mobile espresso bar visits our office. we get email notifications and anyone who fancies a cuppa will hop downstairs and order one from the travelling barista!

she serves all the usual variations of coffee as well as hot chocolate, marshmallows and several types of cookies. i heart bean genie!

had dinner with a&e today. we had vietnamese food at springvale. delicious! nothing quite like sipping hot soup on a chilly night. i find myself, yet again, stuffed.

here’s some pictures from my saturday trip!

yering station

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rochford wines

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rochford wine’s catalogue of wines for tasting. i bought their moscato, it’s lovely! the description itself urges you to get a whole crate - lifted floral aromas of violets and honeysuckle, sweeter style wine, with refreshing spritz.

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rochford vineyard on a beautiful autumn’s day

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cheese tasting platter in Giant Steps and Innocent Bystanders accompanied by some excellent pinot gris.

it’s five am. i am up at this ungodly hour because i think it’s fun to get up at five am during your holiday. kidding! i’ve booked a day trip to ballarat, gold mine town in victoria. should be fun.

groggy from only three hours of sleep, so this post probably will sound disjointed as heck. here’s what i did on saturday:

a&e took me out for a lovely breakfast at replete where i had the most awesome corn fritters ever. so awesome it was that all four of us had the same thing. yum yum yum. after that i popped into the city and went over to victoria market and again was flabbergasted by the amount of choices melburnians have. walked to lygon street, had a cup of coffee the hopped onto a tram back to the heart of the city to have my fix of chili hot chocolate. mmmmm! it was every bit as fantastic as i remembered it to be.

strolled to regent theatre to collect my tickets for wicked then whiled my time away at federation square. wicked was funny, very current and entertaining. in short - wicked is totally wicked! a&e joined me in the city and we strolled to chinatown for supper.

that, is my saturday! gotta dash off. be back with pictures! have a great sunday people.

meet gaytime the icecream. i’m betting a lot of mummies and daddies cringe when their kids tug on their sleeves and ask whether they can have a gaytime.

on a completely different note, i woke up to the craziest wind ever. almost felt i was dorothy in wizard of oz. a quick check on the weather forecast tells me its the southwesterly wind building up to about 65km/h. crazy windy!

have a good wednesday everyone! or at least try to have a gaytime! am off to work. ciao.

the sunset was awesome today. saw it from the office window - which really isn’t the best place to enjoy such a glorious display of the sun’s departure. am taking things slow, trying to stretch the moments i have left in melbourne. i will be back home by friday, and already i’ve made plans to get out of kl by the next weekend - i guess my nomadic instinct is on overdrive.

on a whim i decided to have take away pizza for dinner. stepped into this old shop, and scrutinized the menu. saw an aussie flavoured pizza - ham, bacon, cheese and egg. they crack an egg on top of the pizza just as they take it out from the oven, how cool is that? decided i can’t leave melbourne without eating some authentic aussie inspired food such as that!

carried the delicious smelling pizza home. threw my clothes into the laundry (yeah, it’s laundry day today. tomorrow’s packing day!), poured myself a big mug of apple juice and a long glass of riesling. diana krall crooned at the background. i sat myself down at the balcony and had me a little solo romantic dinner. read while i ate (currently reading dark star safari by paul theroux).

i find myself sleeping later, and later these few days. subconsciously elongating the hours i suppose. there really isn’t much to do in melbourne on a working night, except eat. or maybe catch a movie. everything else is practically closed. i was looking for some live music to watch at the city tonight, and my only option was jason mraz. even that was too early - 7.30pm. so a quiet night, dinner at the balcony with wine, was my next best option.

will be uploading pictures soon!

i’m having the weirdest dinner - malteser chocolate cake and extra creamy vanilla yoghurt, with orange juice and one last glass of oyster bay sauvignon blanc. how i came to whip up such a meal - well, i have a fridge to clear. that, and mostly because i’m shunning logic and surrendering to the whims of my appetite.

in three weeks, i’ve sipped through seven bottles of white. and boy did i have some excellent whites. also countless coffee and hot chocolates. i don’t know what withdrawal symptoms i will be suffering from most when i’m back in kl, or which i will miss severely - the full bodied life-roaring coffee, or the flirty so-good-mood whites.

diana krall is crooning.

i am not sure whether the sameness of kl has dulled my senses, or whether melbourne is just a place that inspires. i’ve had so many ideas running through my head in the past few weeks. silly notions such as, wanting to work in a vineyard for a year. or a fruit orchard. wanting to busk in the graffiti decorated streets or along st kilda beach for one entire saturday, just to see how much i’ll earn. they are silly, yes. but something tells me if i followed these ideas through, i’d live a more fulfilled life.

my thoughts are behaving like mexican beans, jumping all over the place.

i’ll tell you why i love melbourne - it’s the balance. these people have got it on the dot’s dot. they have the warmth of country people, living in the city. they get off work with plenty of time to go for a run, or hit the beaches. the usual ills that plaque other major cities - pollution, crime, rubbish, corruption, traffic - is absent in melbourne. the food, the wine is fabulous. the arts scene is so rich and diversified. the city is such a lovely mix of contemporary modern buildings and old european architecture. gosh i am rambling and gushing.

but here’s another solid point - i didn’t feel like an outsider here, not a single second. i felt like an equal. an equal. something not even my own country gives me.

and i love how casual and warm everyone is. no airs, no nonsense. strangers smile at you when you pass by them. everyone asks how are you and waits for the answer. not only is it first name basis in the office, you are given a nickname, and immediately you feel all chummy with your co-workers (first day at work and already everyone’s calling me jules). the waiters say “see ya later” as you leave. people go the extra mile to help you. store keepers check whether anyone has “sorted you out”. so unreserved with their warmth, it’s great! why can’t everyone be this friendly?!

ah melbourne, it’s so difficult to leave you. here’s a mark i left in one of my favourite melbourne spots: