Melbourne Part 1

I spent a whole week in Melbourne and now when I sit down and want to start to write about it, I can think of so many things to cover. So many things I did.

So I'm going to kinda split this into two or possibly three parts to avoid me writing too long an entry.

Here's what I did in the earlier part of the trip.

1) Spent the first few days spending time in the office meeting with the Nuffnang Australia Nuffies on some things.

2) David brought us out on Thursday night to Chadstone Mall. He brought his new born daughter along: Charlotte.

She's adorable!

Ming at first thought Charlotte was a he... in spite of the white bow on her head.

3) We were there for dinner. I wanted to try something new but Ming and Princess insisted on eating Nandos.

NANDOS!!! OF ALL THINGS!!! They came all the way to Melbourne... just to eat Nandos... *bangs forehead against wall*

4) After dinner we spotted a cute stuffed toy of King Julian from Madagascar in this machine.

Princess jumped in excitement so Ming tried to help her win it. He ended up spending something like RM30 without managing to get it in the end.

5) Then we popped by this candy shop that made tiny cylinder shaped lollipops which started off with this big piece of candy glob.

Then they shape up pieces of it into rods and heat it up to harden it.

The end result is little candy like that.

6) Having seen enough candy, we went for ice-cream!!!

7) Friday came and we spent much of the day in a little workshop our Aussie Nuffies were conducting. Ming and I watched as David gave a presentation about Nuffnang.

David is very very experienced in digital media, having worked in the industry for many years before Nuffnang. Was so interesting watching how someone else presented Nuffnang.

8) After the workshop we opened the doors that led to this nice chill-out area with a fireplace. Just to have drinks and chat.

9) For dinner on Friday night, I met up with my friend Hsin Yi and her boyfriend Brad. She took us to this really really quaint Japanese fusion restaurant somewhere on Liverpool Street. One thing I like about Melbourne is these really small restaurants with only 5-6 tables that you'll find down some alley.

Had a lot of raw food (something I never really eat much of) but it was nice. 

10) The next day was Saturday. Pierre and Lay See came down to Melbourne to meet us too. 

Both Pierre and Lay See studied in Melbourne for years but Lay See is apparently the only one who knows Melbourne well. Pierre apparently spent most of his student life in Melbourne watching free -to-air TV (that's right... not even cable TV). So I guess they complemented each other well. Lay See knew where to go in Melbourne and Pierre always knew what was on TV! I bet he knew his TV schedule so well he knew exactly what time he had to turn on the TV to watch a Dove commercial or something.

11) Lay See decided to take the girls shopping. So shopping we went.

I was enthusiastic at first. But it quickly wore off. You know when you tell people that you'll bring your gf shopping and carry her bags you feel proud of yourself.

Then I would spend like an hour following Princess around while she picks clothes and I soon realize that I lose focus. It's just something the male mind often fails to concentrate on. Especially when Princess asks me a million times about whether I like a particular dress. And when I say "YES". 

She picks the OTHER dress. But she doesn't buy it on the spot. No no... that would make the shopping experience too easy. She would say "Okay let me go look around first to see if I find something better".

Then she goes around to look for something better (and never finding it) and eventually decides to walk back to the same shop we were at an hour ago. By then, probably like 20 minutes walk away or something. Ahh that is.... the National Service experience of following your girlfriend shopping.

Fortunately with technology, men find things to do. I ended up playing Paper Toss on my iPhone.

While Princess browsed through her clothes.

The salesgirl walked past and saw me playing the iPhone. She said "Oh how fun" but deep inside I knew she felt my pain.

12) After a while I gave up and went outside the shop to wait with the rest of the guys. They looked very bored. Pierre was playing table tennis on his iPhone and Ming was looking... well.. angry.

Soon enough, Princess was done.

And we all went for dinner at Pacific Seafood where Ming said he had the Best Lobster Noodles. We all went to bed early that night. Because the next morning, Ming demanded we all be up at 7AM to go for a road trip. We managed to get up that morning... but with Princess feeling so grumpy it looked like she would punch an elf for the fun of it.

To be continued...

Will blog about that soon :)