A weekend of eating and drinking
We've had another one of those glorious weekends full of sun and no wind. Couldn't really ask for more, so spent a leisurely Sunday just bumming and enjoying life for a while. Starting out with lunch at James Squire Brewhouse Docklands. Food was great, beer was great (brewed on site!) and views only available from the 2nd floor. Service was quite crappy though as we waited an hour for our meals, and the fact that they weren't busy didn't help their cause.

After a short walk to have a look at some new apartments that were overpriced and built in some odd pointy shape, headed to St Kilda to have coffee at the newly rebuilt St Kilda Pier Kiosk, at the end of St Kilda Pier. The building looks great and atmosphere is good, but something about the character was missing when the building is new (was burnt down was a pycho), even though they took the time to capture the details of the old building (rounded windows, cast iron poles, timber handrails on the steps).

Then further onwards down the bay to Brighton Beach, where the bathing boxes are for another stroll on the beach. Ended up spectators to a woman trying to get her dog to stop swimming out into the bay and come back into shore. She swam/waded out (its only about 2m deep 200m out) chasing after the dog in full clothing. Eventually the dog made it back in and the (slightly wet and cold) woman followed. That dog was not going to get dinner :D

A bit of a change for dinner, the hustle and bustle of Pacific House Restaurant (review) Best (Chinese) roast duck in Melbourne apparently. :D Overall a quick eat no matter how long you take. In and out in an hour.

The final course, gelato at Trampoline. The flavours of choice were Caramel Pear and Seasame.

Birthday Photos (one week later)

Finally got around to getting the photos off Jenny's camera. They turned up a bit blurred, but you can still see the lobster clearly :)

Before:


After:


Me getting every last bit of meat from the lobster :D

Birthday Part Deux

I mentioned to our sysadmin that it was my birthday yesterday. She then proceeded to buy me coffee and a cupcake. There was a candle (a paper one at that!) but it was removed after I "blew it out". So without further ado, this is my (2nd) birthday cake for this year served very geekily on a CD-R cover :D

The birthday that was. No big celebration, just the four of us, eating at the Lobster Cave (phone photos later). The food was truly excellent, and the price surprised on the good side. :D We had lobster (duh!), scallops, prawns, mussels and steak (just for a bit of variety).

Thank you to those who messaged me wishing me happy birthday, including my future wifey Su Ann and Claud (who doesn't blog anymore :P).

The doughnuts from Victoria Market are simply devine. Nothing better on a fine winter's day to sit outside in the sun and consume 6 of them one after the other. :D

Finally managed to get an appointment today with my "hair artist"... heh... that still gets a chuckle out of me. Everyone asks for him to cut their hair and the other two in the store are basically just helpers (and cleaners) unless it is busy and the customer doesn't know that he is better. :D The best thing about the whole haircut experience is the scalp massage. *two thumbs up*

For the first time in a long time, I was able to come home on the weekend and not have any work with me. It seemed so strange (and my bag so empty) :D Here's to hoping many more weekends of the same.

Is it just me or is reality show the only thing on TV lately? I mean, Big Brother was yet again pushing the decency limit this year for ratings. Hah, and they had to gaul to say that the show does not "edit" to show bits. Get real! Anyways, so the next item in the cycle is Aus Idol, where the underdog will always win in the final two. I was, however, pleased to read this today. So Yasmin isn't getting married. At least not on TV. The whole concept of having people sms to pick her date was just wrong. :(