You're in Clare Country!

View From the Rear

                                                                                   I was in Robina at the Gold Coast last week for a couple of days for work.  I don't care what Steve (old boss) said about Robina being the arse-hole of Australia, the view from my hotel room (Sofitel) on the 21st floor was divine!

I go for a wedding but I stay for the shopping....

       Last weekend Ravi & I flew to Melbourne for Marissa & Kevin's wedding (see previous post for details on the wedding).  While we were there we caught up with Jason & May who have been living in Melbourne for 4 months for work (click here to read up on their adventures in Melbourne).  It was so much fun catching up them them!  On Saturday we ate an out-of-the-way cafe for lunch and an equally out-of-the-way chocolaterie for dessert.  On Sunday we went to St. Kilda beach (Ravi kept saying it was THE thing to see in Melbourne) & did some shopping at the shirt & skirt market in St. Kilda & on Bridge St.

Now, I knew the shopping can be great in Melbourne.  On Saturday morning before we met up with Jason & May, I bought a gorgeous Alex Perry black & white dress, with black slingback hells, immediately opting to wear this number instead of the red dress I had brought from Sydney (photo of dress is in the previous post).  Ravi bought a black shirt (to go with his white pin-striped pimp suit).  But by the end of the weekend I had also bought a necklace, earrings, and 3 t-shirts (with funky slogans/messages on the front).  Ravi bought another shirt, cufflinks & 3 t-shirts.  Thanks so much to Jason & May for spending their weekend with us, hanging out & shopping!  Love your work  :)  Can't wait to see you both on Christmas eve!

Weekend at Western Plains Zoo

                                                                                                                                                          Last weekend we drove to Dubbo with the Nguyens to visit Western Plains Zoo on a 2-day pass.  Starting at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning, we drove the 4-5 hours to Dubbo (with stopovers & toilet breaks inbetween), finally getting there at 3pm.  It was a great weekend away - fun company, cute lodgings, engaging animals!  Highlights of the weekend were:

• Captain Booger Features opting not to eat all his McDs (never happened before) due to sleepiness
• While we filled up on petrol on the way to Dubbo, Ravi was told off by the petrol station attendant for trying to leave without paying for petrol (Ravi thought I had already paid for it when I bought the paper - but I forgot)
• Captain Booger Features & Joss playing wildly at the Hungry Jacks activity gym after sitting tight in the car for a couple of hours on the way to Dubbo
• Arriving at the B&B & finding out the place we were stayng at is called Clare's Cottage!
• During our 1st trip to the zoo, watching a siamang (my favourite animal at the zoo) walk with arms up in the air to maintain balance (but its walk was still somewhat lopsided)
• Relaxing at Clare's cottage before dinner (I was still able to do a sudoku puzzle!)
• Finding out that Tung is just as bad as Ravi at explaining what's happened in an episode of Desperate Housewives ("The woman with the red hair . . . she was talking to a guy . . . then they were fighting . . . then the woman with the kids was talking to her husband . . . you shouldn't have left the room when it came back on again!")
• Taking bikes on our 2nd visit to the zoo the following day (I had a single but Ravi rode in tandem with Captain Booger Features)
• Getting up close with Andrea the Giraffe's long, ladylike eyelashes
• Hearing about how rhinos live every single day of their lives in fear of loud unexpected noises or movement around them (very nervous animals)
• When the rains came, seeing 2 massive elephants calmly bunched together under a tall but small shelter
• Stopping off at an Ugg Boots shop on the way home & buying up big on all things Uggy (Tung, in particular, was grateful for the extra expense at stopping there - no-one forced you to get a vest, beanie, & boots, man)

Picture album called "Western Plains Zoo - July 2006" can be accessed on the right side of this blog.

Bris Vegas - here we come!

                         Last Thursday morning, I flew up to Brisbane for 2 days for work.  Thursday night, Ravi & Captain Booger Features joined me.  It was the captain's first plane trip so he was plenty excited!  We stayed at the Carlton Crest Hotel that first night - 5 star but quite austere.  Then while I attended meetings on Friday, Ravi & the captain explored the city & had their siestas.  Friday night we had dinner with Ravi's friend Doug & his son (who wants to be a rock star) at Decks, before retiring at the Diana Hotel (I could have stayed up all night watching its cable channels!).  Then Saturday we went to Surfers, hired a boat for the afternoon before making our way to Tambourine Mountain.  Accommodation was an absolute hole but the surrounding areas are beautiful.  I especially liked the touristy street we stopped at, with its German cuckoo clock store & other novelty gift stores.  We even had time to squeeze in a bit of wine-tasting (buying up 3 bottles of sweet red).  We drove back to Brisbane, visited Ravi's uncle, aunt & cousins (some of the most accommodating people you'll ever meet!), & then headed to Brisbane airport for our flight home.  Highlights of the trip were:

• While waiting for the plane to Brisbane to go up the runway, Captain Booger Features hears the engine revving up loudly.  The captain turns to Ravi & asks in a loud, clear voice, "Are we going to crash now?"  Not surprisingly, the lady sitting next to the captain's other side looked at him in alarm.
• Me opening the hotel door to Ravi & Captain Booger Features when they arrived at the Carlton Crest Hotel straight from the airport.
• Having lunch at one of Ravi's favourite chinese restaurants - the best shan dong chicken!
• Dinner with Doug (& his son Scott) - extolling the virtues of a life (finally) out of the rat race
• Breakfast buffet at the Diana Hotel (all my favourite brekkie foods - they even did the bacon the way I like it - crisp)
• Captain Booger Features accidentally leaving his backpack behind at a cafe.  When he remembered, he raced back to find 2 big burly security guards standing over it.  You could see the relief on their faces when the captain scooped up his bag.  It didn't occur to us that they had thought it might be a terrorist package!
• Hiring the boat for the afternoon.  It was such a gorgeous day!  We passed so many luxurious houses along the banks of the river.  One even had its own helipad & helicopter!
• Shopping at the German cuckoo clock store in Tambourine Mountain.
• Meeting Ravi's relatives (finally - had been looking forward to meeting them!  Now I have people to visit on my next trip to Bris Vegas)
• The plane trip home with Ravi & Captain Booger Features - future plane trips without them will always be dull

There are more photos in the album titled "Bris Vegas - June 2006."