Auckland Airport has been undergoing upgrades for a while now and all the shops in the Departure Hall have had a makeover. Best part is that there's now a MAC counter so Viv and I had fun playing with the products until it was time to board our plane. We flew Air NZ and went with the cheapest option, ie no luggage or food. I thought we won't get entertainment either but we did so I was pleasantly surprised. The cynic in me thought that this was just an oversight though. More on this later.
Anyway we got to Melbourne on time and as we had no check-in luggage, we cleared customs in no time at all. We then proceeded to freeze our butts off outside waiting for Monica to come get us. Bloody liar told us she was on her way when we texted her and she said "On my way. Wait there." and turned out she texted that while in her driveway!!!!! Forty minutes later, she turned up. Goodie. We could have waited inside the terminal, sipping a hot cup of coffee but nooooooo...
Went back to her place and greeted her wild animals kids and had some lunch. We specially lugged 7 kgs of kompias (bagel-like bread products from Sibu) from Auckland for her so that was what we had for lunch. After lunch, we dropped the kids off at Mandarin School and went off to Chadstone Shopping Centre for a couple of hours.
We headed straight for Igloo - this frozen yoghurt that I had heaps of when I was last in Gold Coast. It was oh so good and they've launched new flavours. Yahooo.... here's Viv guarding our seats while Monica and Haz got the yoghurt.
Clockwise from top: Green Tea, Pomegranate and Mango. Pomegranate remains my favourite.
Latest edition to Chaddie: GAP. Soooooooo boring, soooooo generic, sooooo vanilla. Sooooo Jennifer Aniston.
On the way out I spotted my favourite sushi : soft-shelled crab rolls! I squealed with joy and promptly handed over some cash. Viv looking sheepish as she's caught red-handed cheating on Jase. Tsk tsk tsk.
Mmmmmmmm deep-fried crabby goodness.
After that, we got the kids and went home. I did my workout dvd and Lauren did it with me. She weas then inspired to do some boxing.
Check out her form.
Viv became Lauren's real-life doll for the remainder of our stay. She would dress Viv in pink stuff, clip her hair a certain way, brush it if it becomes messy and arrange Viv in poses that strike her fancy.
Viv sitting on a throne while holding a sceptre, presumably.
Can't remember what we did on Sunday apart from church in the morning and then groceries shopping at Box Hill.
Monica left us to our own devices on Monday so I drove to Bridge Road. We got there just before the shops opened so Viv and I went to Short Black Cafe for breakkie. This was the cafe Olly and I had the best wedges 8 years ago. The relationship didn't survive but the cafe is still going strong. Bahaha.
We got the Aussie breakfast which was basically bacon and poached eggs on toast with a drink of our choice. I noticed that coffee prices here are so much cheaper than NZ. I forgot and asked for trim latte and had to quickly correct myself and said skinny latte.
Bridge Road was boring so we jumped in the car and went off to the nearby Chapel Street. We then wandered around the shops and went into Jam Factory for a looksie. This place is obviously a tourist trap as there are a few gimmickky things/shops here.
Hot....
Pancake Parlour:
Cheap imitation of Back To The Future?
Told you...
We were starving by then so walked into the first eatery we saw : TGI Friday's.
We decided to be good and share a BBQ Chicken Salad...
... so that we can eat this.....
Delicious gooey caramelly hot fudgy glass of pure sin.
Oh so goooooooooooooood.
Then we went off to pick the kids up from their respective schools and spent the rest of the day being nannies. Fed them, take them to the park, bath Lauren, wiped her bum, watched tv with them, etc etc etc.
Mel and Andrew arrived the next day. She didn't want to miss out on the fun so had to come and mix it up too. So Monica had to go to the airport for again and pick them up. Andrew was hobbling like an old man because his knee was infected. I'm still a bit hazy on the details .. there is still a slight chance that Mel abused him and accidentally got too heavy handed this time around.
We went off to Preston, a suburb near the airport which is known for its Vietnamese community and had Vietnamese for lunch. Poor Andrew was on antibiotics so wasn't allowed any. We felt bad for eating in front of him but not THAT sorry.
Combination broken rice...
Lemongrass Beef Vermicelli:
Then we dropped them off at Langham Hotel where they were staying and went off to resume our babysitting duties.
Haz cracking the whip and making the kids do their Mandarin school homework.
Logan is really good.
Lauren on the other hand, is completely useless and has to be dragged kicking and screaming through her writing.
Finally she did her usual thing and said in her heartbreakingly cute voice "Daddy, I'm tyyyyyyyyyyyred." So her dad melted and said ok, you are done. SUCKER!
We went off to the City with Monica and Haz on Tuesday morning. First order of business for the day: best egg tarts in Melbourne (apparently). I was gonna buy 2 but got duped into 3 because I get a box if I buy 3. Oh well haha.
Crumbly:
After that, we went off to David Jones' foodhall for our usual - yoghurt.
Our choice: Fresh fruit salad with a honey & cinnamon yoghurt. Bit rich.
We then headed off to check out the shops and walk off the calories already consumed and it wasn't even 10 am yet!! We then stumbled across Lindt's Cafe around mid-morning. Darn attractive window display that sucked us in!!!
Viv's famous last word: We'll just go in to have a quick look.
Hellooooo, salted caramel macaroon that costed us AUD$2.70.
Totally worth it. Yummilicious. A calorie shared is a calorie halved. So there!
We continued our shopping and Viv found her dream wedding shoes. She took so long checking each shoe for defects that we were late meeting Monica and Haz for lunch. By the time we got to the restaurant, they've ordered and the food had arrived. Perfect timing really, if you ask me.
Fried noodles...
Shanghai Xiao Long Baos..
Wontons of some sort...
Then we snuck off to Brunswick Street as we were done with the City. Mel texted to see where we were and so we got busted. We were all going to go together the next day, ya see.
Thursday morning, we picked Mel and Andrew up after they checked out of Langham and went off to Mel's favourite place for lunch - The Booth. It's a restaurant in Box Hill specialising in Taiwanese street food.
Mel loves this steamed bun with fatty meat for some reason - I can take it or leave it.
I chose this - stewed meat on rice. It was only ok.
Taiwan's version of pop corn chicken. Yum.
Pan-fried dumplings..
Spring onion pancakes:
Some kinda beef within a pancake thingy which the brats love ... me no likey.
That night, Monica went all out and cooked a banquet. I think she was out to show once and for all that Andrew married the wrong sister, food wise. Haz cooked one of the dishes when he got back from his meeting.
Chicken wings which the kids dined on for the next 2 days. Those 2 love their meat with lots of sauce on rice.
Mince on tofu with preserved eggs on top.
Roast lamb - one of Andrew's favourite meals.
Ngau lam - beef brisket.
Chicken curry.
Bittergourd.....
While all this was going on, Monica decided it was a good time to do a DIY home straightening jobby. Viv did it to her own hair last month with good results so Monica wanted it done too.
Here she was with the solution in her hair, looking like she stuck her finger into an electrical socket.
Slavegirl had to iron her hair straight while everyone else had dinner.
Mel looking fascinated by the labour that went into the exercise.
I forgot to take a picture of the result. Suffice to say, it didn't make any difference. haha but at least she didn't look like a chicken anymore as Logan put it so eloquently.
Bittergourd.....
While all this was going on, Monica decided it was a good time to do a DIY home straightening jobby. Viv did it to her own hair last month with good results so Monica wanted it done too.
Here she was with the solution in her hair, looking like she stuck her finger into an electrical socket.
Slavegirl had to iron her hair straight while everyone else had dinner.
Mel looking fascinated by the labour that went into the exercise.
I forgot to take a picture of the result. Suffice to say, it didn't make any difference. haha but at least she didn't look like a chicken anymore as Logan put it so eloquently.
