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

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

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

Another trip to Yarra Valley

Took the parents for some wine tasting Yarra Valley because it's always so fun to go there. It was another beautiful day, though a bit brisk now that we are fully into winter. All the vines are trimmed down. The views of the mountains remain gorgeous. First stop was De Bortoli cellar door. I always see this wine in restaurants so I presume that it's a good sample of the region' better wines. I would say that they are pretty good. and We got a good deal on half dozen bottles of the 2008 Shiraz viognier for $50. Its a lighter version of the normally sharp Shiraz. We are stocked, but not for long.

I think the parents enjoyed themselves. Didn't indulge too much. Mom was only into the whites and dad tried a few sweet versions of a reisling. Found some yummy cheeses at the awesome dairy. And then ate more cheese at Domain Chandon restaurant. Not so crazy about the meals there. So if you go, just get the cheese and charcuterie platters with a hefty glass of something tasty. The views and the grounds are amazing. I've already planned my next wedding.

Now that I'm comfortable with the yarra valley, I want to check out the mornington peninsula vines next.