More pics from the weekend

And I had to share these additional images that didn't fit in the other posts.

Chili soup at Hutong, Oh so spicy!

Look at this cute little guy in suspenders mixing up those cocktails

Taste of Melbourne

Whew! What a weekend. We were unusually busy and cultured this weekend taking in a few different events in the City while enjoying the first hints of Spring. Friday night a delightful late night dinner at Hutong Dumpling Bar with our Melbourne friends, fellow expats, Lisa and hubby. I will emphasize how you have to grab a booking quick at this place, which remains one of the top rated restaurants in the city on Urbanspoon, and weekend dinner spots go fast. I was lucky to get a table at 930pm, a bit late for me so we first stopped at Riverland, a picturesque spot for a pint by the Yarra River. And then gobbled down our favorite dumplings - Xao Long Bao - and ate the most amazingly spicy Szechuan Beef, basically a bowl of beef, drowning in chili. I hear Dainty Sechuan in South Yarra is must try for spicy chinese. I'm game!

HuTong Dumpling Bar on Urbanspoon

Saturday we had a strict schedule: First Collingwood vs. Hawthorne at the MCG arena. Only my second time to witness true Australian sporting culture. It was an exciting game, but I just couldn't watch as Hawthorne only just beat Collingwood by three points in the last 10 minutes of the game. You can see by Richard's colors below, that we were rooting for the other guys. Boo.

Then we raced to the Exhibition Centre over in Carlton to catch the Taste of Melbourne event featuring Melbourne Restaurants, foodies, wine tasting, food & alcohol sellers. We opted to attend the Beer and Cheese Matching event, which was worth the $12. My favorite was the King Island Dairy Ash Brie and James Squire Porter Beer, though they are not meant to go together. I think we saw everything there was to see at the event and tried our best to sample every taste available. Though I will comment that the tasting plates at the restaurant stalls were way overpriced and not worth the money, the event is meant to promote those restaurants and not provide an opportunity for them to profit after we already pay a hefty entry fee. We stayed til the very end having sampled the following:

Stokehouse Restaurant, Wagyu Cigars with Artichoke tapenade and horseradish, Yum! (Thanks for the free ones at the end of the night)

Esposito, Oyster tempura - a paltry single oyster, pretty boring. 

I loved the Vanilla Pannacotta with Blood Orange Jelly from Melbourne Wine Room & Mr. Wolf, just the right balance of creaminess, mixture of textures, and tangy orange jelly and raspberries.

Wallaby tataki from Charcoal Lane was nothing to write home about. 

And I don't know why everyone was lining up to try the Palance Wagyu Burger. It was just a $12 mini-burger. Lame. 

There was lots more to try, but we moved onto booze. Australian Wine, Australian/Fiji Rum, Absinthe finally caught a taste of the very fancy Patron Tequila (extremely smooth, I want my own bottle - but maybe from the states where it will definitely be much cheaper), Sagatiba's rum in a tasty Caiparinha. Mix all that together and you end up with a hangover like the one I enjoyed the next day.

Sagatiba Capairinha

Vanilla Pannacotta  and blood orange jelly

Stokehouse bar's Espresso Martini

Mm, Melbourne Wine Room & Mr. Wolf stall

Beer and cheese matching

At the Taste of Melboure

King Island Dairy Cheese and James Squire Beer.

Not a fan of the moldy blue cheese

Wanted to take home the brie but sadly they were out

Who's that handsome man?

My new favorite beer, surprisingly its a dark, sweet, chocalatey one

Almost Spring in Melbourne

Yarra River, Melbourne

Finally dowloaded the Hipstamatic App for iPhone. I love it!

Catching sights of Melbourne on this beautiful day.

Thats where we are going for the footy

Aussie footy

Despite being so high up, we had a good view of everything

Collingwood Magpie fan

MCG Arena

pre-game

Mini-wrangers. The opposition

Quest for cupcakes

While home for a 2 week stint, The sis also came over for a visit.

What to do when your pastry chef sister is in town?

Seek out the much lauded cupcake shops in the area.

First stop- Cakelove in Silver Spring. A shop I have visited before, and I was craving their strawberry cupcakes - the buttercream made with fresh strawberries. We took half a dozen home to share and were sadly disappointed that they were pretty poor quality fare. The cake part was all the same, boring yellow or chocolate cake - a bit dry and mealy - topped with a different flavor of buttercream icing. German chocolate, red velvet, coconut lime, salty caramel. Nothing really struck us as outstanding and knew that any of us could make better quality cakes any time.

Next day Amy wanted to check out Georgetown Cupcake in Bethesda after seeing their TV show. We get to Bethesda, have to battle through traffic and wander through Bethesda Avenue, Lane, Row in the new shopping centre downtown. Things have changed in just a few years. And we find that that whole side of the street has lost power. But only for the past hour, so they are still doing business with a line going out the door. But apparently the line can run out along the sidewalk, so we lucked out. I loved the preppy, chic atmosphere. Simple and elegant. the display case is classy, they do a good job making the cakes look yummy. We take home another half dozen box of cupcakes. These are pictured below. We just had to snap a few photos because they looked so nice. And the flavors were amazing, leving Cakelove in the dust. The cakes were moist and fresh, each flavor was unique and interesting (not something I would think to make at home). Chocolate ganache, cherry cheesecake (actual graham cracker crust, cheesecake, cherries, and a light cheesy buttercream icing - very decadent), berry lemon, carrot, coconut chocolate, and one more that I forget. They were all good. Each only $2.75 instead of $3.50 over at Cakelove. 

I know cupcakes are a simple concept, and I am sure I would be able to put these together, but the convenience and fancy trend are attractive. Its definitely an idea for a future money making scheme at almost $3 bucks a pop. Amy - you know you want to.

Home for an Interview

Back from a whirlwind 2 week trip home to the States to take part in an interview for a USG Foreign Service position, for which I have since been rejected. That was a quick decision, guess I didn't do so well in the interview, as I suspected. USG - You have made a serious mistake in rejecting me and I really do wonder how you are able to let the fools that you do accept into your bureaucracy. Because I have seen, met and worked with some of the people that get through the vetting process. Makes me very scared for the future of this world that the most powerful nation in this world is staffed by some very naive, incompetent youngsters. Ah well, it was a trip home on the government's dime!

It was nice to catch some of the last vestiges of summer. I enjoyed experiencing all the familiar sensations of being home, the smell of the dirt, sound of the cicadas, dry summer heat mixed with summer thunder storms - all with the idea in mind that this will be my home once again in the near future. All my feelings were mixed up in a jumble and I hoped that I would be able to just enjoy feeling something other than dread and despair, which has been the theme of this year so far.

As usual I took the opportunity to do some American shopping. GAP and Anthropologie and JCrew are my first stops. SOOOo much cheaper in the US than Australia, and I appreciate the clean-cut, classic styles that will last a long time. Oh and don't forget DSW, for good deals on fun shoes. I bought 2 pairs of impractical shoes (total retail therapy) that will do me no good in current Melbourne temperatures. Will have to wait til next summer to bring them out again. I'm so silly, but thats how I got over a gruelling, disappointing FS interview day.

Caught up with friends and family with a busy social schedule once the stupid interview was out of the way. Only Richard was missing at the family dinner. A crab feast just like old times when Bunca was alive. Something we can look forward to repeating during our next few years based in DC. In addition to Girl's Night Out with the cousins, romping around in B'more watching chic flicks like "Eat, Pray, Love" - I hope you guys enjoyed that movie, I got a bit squirmy towards the end. And exploring DC with old and new friends that I've met during my studies and travels. Can't wait!

With the end of the Melbourne chapter looming, I reflect on some of the things of my Australian home that I have come to value: Great coffee, cafe's, foodie places, markets, neighborhood villages, quirky european vibe, modern fashion flare, relaxed atmosphere, convenient public transportation, proximity to city life... There are also plenty of things that I will be glad to escape. I can tell you already as well that I am not excited about replacing these things with the commercialization, crazy, traffic, hugeness, suburbia, Only-Starbucks-on-every-corner America. But with everything there is a trade off. I look forward to family, familiarity, career, wholefoods, ....

MJD Foundation

Latest Newsletter from the MJD Foundation

http://www.mjd.org.au/cms/file_library/Other/Other_300.pdf

I continue to work with the MJD Foundation on the Medical Protocols Project. The project team has been preparing for the online discussions that will commence in September where ideas and information will be bounced around amongst the Medical Reference Group Members, these are interested and knowledgeable medical and industry professionals that will have important insight into the control and management of the common symptoms and complications associated with this disease, ultimately developing a peer-reviewed protocol document that will streamline treatment and services for those affected by Machado Joseph Disease in Australia and worldwide.

Queen Victoria market

Seven Seeds coffee

 Fabulous coffee just on the south side of Melbourne uni. I wandered over one day that I spent at the nossal institute and just had to return with Richard in tow. They roast the coffee on the premesis. Amazing aromas wafting around the warehouse structure. They do tastings on thursday mornings, only 8 ppl max, so you gotta book. The entrance is hidden, looks like just another warehouse on a street lined with them. But equipped with my handy iPhone google maps it was easy to find.

Good atmosphere, good food, though limited menu (no bacon ) it's an interesting menu nonetheless. We were seated pretty quickly, though it was hopping on a Saturday morning. Be prepared to get cost with other patrons if you get seated at the larger tables. Thumbs up from me. Too bad it's a bit too far. If I venture that way again I want to try the new "Pope Joan".

Melbourne quilt and craft

I have a friend, here in this new city. Hi Lisa, Dilly Dally Shilly Shally. And we have the same interests: international development and crafting. Yup, I'm a crafty person with all that knitting I get up to. I hope to have more time one day to expand my crafting abilities. After attending Melbourne's quilt and craft fair a few weeks ago at Lisa's suggestion, I am inspired. Inspired to felt (and quilt after seeing all those beautiful creations, but I don't think I'll be up for any of that anytime soon). At the fair we took a felting workshop to make these lovely flowers which was super fun. I bought a few materials to make another creation at home (which remains pending).
The fair was a huge events with tons of old ladies and fellow crafters pushing and shoving, vying for access to the vendor stalls. It wasn't that bad, but we didn't last long after the venue started to fill up.

I was naughty and bought a few fun items. I don't know when I'll be able to start any new projects. This thread yarn made out of silk and steel which allows the shape of the garment to be malleable. I'll make a skinny/long scarf with that. And I found some bag handles at a good price so I can expand my bag-making skills. Knitted bags. And I just couldn't resist the gorgeous japanese prints, maybe line the knitted bags with them.

Now if only I had some time to do this. You might wonder how I could be so busy while I am in between jobs. Let me tell you. .. Job seeking is hard work (could almost write a phd at this rate) as is keeping house and staying sane. But I foresee a break in on the horizon as progress in these areas occur. More on that later.

Learning how to felt