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Anyway, so, the update since Monday the 28th of June. I swopped Monday for Friday and didn't go in to work. I did a few daytime tasks such as taking shoes back to be re-heeled and putting my watch in to get a new strap (Peter Lane 257 Collins street in the Arcade, cute elderly dude who knows his watches!), that sorta thing; and then met Michelle and Kate out of the lovely Virgin gym. We went to a Spanish restaurant with a slightly peculiar waiter, he was handsome and also had a strange awkward sort of manner, quite amusing. Don't remember the name of the place, but it was a Spanish restaurant on Johnson street...that narrows it down. It was a cute evening with Newton and Weir, as always. It's been fabulous having the two of them as my friends to hang around here and spending time in their company is just gorgeous and has made me smile lots on each outing. On Tuesday had our team meeting, my last so I brought in cake - there's some really good flourless chocolate and flourless orange cakes they do on site (almost as good as the two recipes I make at home!) Had our last belly dancing which was sad too and the teacher was extra crazy and kept making us spin round and round, it made me think I hadn't quite got over my cold yet as I started to feel sick after a while! On Thursday I met up with Michelle and Kate and we went to the lovely Anada www.anada.com.au on Gertrude street, really good, definitely one for the list. It was tapas orientated. We had stuffed calamari, beef cheeks, celeriac soup, in the $49 set menu. All the food was really tender and nicely cooked, just great! 
Friday I was finishing off for the handover on Monday and then headed back home and Meg had returned and we both rushed and got ready and headed down to the Docklands for fireworks, Melbourne are doing fireworks down at the Docklands every Friday night for July at 7pm. Impressive display, it lasted just 15 minutes, but it was a very good effort. Veronica had come out as well, which was lovely. We stopped and had one drink down at a random bar and then headed up to Pellegrinis, oh my god! This place is mental, a proper institution, it was an Italian old school sort of eatery, with lots of people eating around the serving counter. The owner was excited to have five girls in his place and was determined to make us feel very welcome, very sweet. Veronica also knew him and he ended up putting us on the table at the back of the place, basically in the kitchen which was pretty cool next to the stove, it's Melbourne so the stove/cooker was very welcome! Also Ken Brown came out, a guy I'd met at Greenman festival last year, he'd helped me for around an hour whilst I was moving gates about for various famous people etc, it was very welcome and then I chatted and mentioned I was coming over to Melbourne and he gave me his email address. I wrote a couple of months ago, but only the week before had he picked up and checked that email account! It was fun to have him at Pellegrinis as apparently his parents were neighbours of the owner too, mental! So he was teased quite a lot. The food was pretty tasty home cooked and all as well. Then we headed off to Madame Brussels, lovely bar: http://www.madamebrussels.com/ and had jugs of cocktails all out on the roof top terrace. It's a sweet place and one of my favourite bars I think. Meg decided she preferred Tennis on late night TV to our company so left at this point. Then we tried to go and watch the football in the Holland bar (they have nominated particular venues for particular nationalities so it's like stepping in to that country for those couple of hours...it was very orange, but we clearly weren't), however, no room for us. So we went off to Canary Club, http://thecanaryclub.com/, been there before too, but it's quite cool with its bed-seat booths upstairs, the music was pretty bad though for a while. Then we headed to Pony Club...aaaaaaagh! Very rock-grunge, lots of moshing, fun, but we mainly went in for the sight-seeing and then left and went to Loop, http://www.looponline.com.au/, and when we walked in the DJs pretty much finished and they finished on a smart song which had the lyrics 'Bitch, you're my breakfast!' and the barmaid repeated the words at us until she was willing to serve us, she was fab! We danced bundles and then Veronica came out of the bathroom saying 'I've got to go, Matt's just called me up asking where the hell am I!?' and we were like 'why what time is it', and were quite surprised to find out it was 5am...so we stayed out a little longer after V left and went to Lounge too, http://www.lounge.com.au/, quite hectic sort of sinister music, but we found a way to dance...then 7am home. The next morn, Saturday, Meg and I got up 11ish and got ready and headed in to town to go pick up my watch and books and bag! We did a fair bit of shopping and got some pretty good finds, which was good luck. We also saw the remnants of a 'Where's Wally' gathering...Then we headed up to Rose street market, as I kept on hearing about it. I'm not so sure what I think, there's a lot of concentration on recycled jewellery and that sort of thing, but the best thing I did find was fork rings, so partly bent forks in to rings, which I thought looked really cool and would make a fine present to my prime dinner and drinking partners in crime whilst I've been here. We met up with Kate at Rose street market and went to a Japanese place with a $10 set menu called Yume (367 Brunswick street). The food was pretty tasty here and it was in the cheap eats guide too. After that we were all knackered and so went home for a rest...it was touch and go with the lack of sleep from the night before whether we would go out...Kate didn't make it. Michelle met Megan and I at the lovely Black Cat for one and then we decided to go to Loop to see DJ Ego and Mr Nice. They did a sweet set, some of the vids of which they've posted up recently via twitter and facebook, fun! We danced lots again and chatted to lots of people too which was good fun and the fun barmaid from the night before was there and remembered us too...and we made it home by 5am this night.
Then up early, well, 11.30am as Di was coming to pick up the futon base I'd been borrowing from her the past few months and we were going out to lunch/breakfast. We ended up going to the lovely Cafe Quince, one of the first cafes Kate took me too. They do just gorgeous breakfasts and I had a lovely polenta dish and Di had some lovely home made crumpets which were really like donughts with lemon curd and mascarpone. Somehow or other Kate had been chatting to the guy that worked there previously and he'd mentioned his prints, we took a look and I asked for his website: http://www.artman.net.au/# . In the afternoon, Meg and I went to the Sunday market down on the docklands and then headed to meet Michelle for the Tim Burton exhibition, http://www.acmi.net.au/timburton.aspx. It was very busy and popular, think it had come straight from New York where it first started. I didn't realise he'd done quite so many films! I want to watch lots I've seen before and some ones I haven't now! He's also obviously quite mental, just to note. After the exhibition we went and sat out in Fed Square on the deck chairs staring up at the sun (despite it being night time) as there was a giant sun/planet thing in Fed Square as part of the winter lights exhibition www.fedsquare.com/index.cfm?pageID=373. Then we went to Transit, a bar near Federation Square, it's cool but a bit concretey and too cold for winter! http://www.fedsquare.com/index.cfm?pageID=239. Then we headed off to the lovely Rock Pool, I had decided that heading home and getting back in would be too much of a hassle, but I kinda wish I had gone home and dressed up, the Rock Pool is deffo somewhere for dressing up, it's really nice warm feel inside and sofas to sit at at the dining table and things. The food was absolutely gorgeous, best meal of all in Melbourne, each forkfull you could taste the food before you'd even barely started chewing on it, gorgeous flavours. Very very nice meal, loved it! And Michelle and Kate paid as well as my farewell which was extremely generous, it's deffo not the cheapest of places. http://www.rockpool.com.au/melbourne/rockpool-bar-and-grill.html I had the lovliest minute steak as well. The eve ended possibly a little later than we all may have liked and we weren't in bed until 1am!
Now, typing this with a cheese on toast breakfast in bed brought in by little Meg, soon we'll be heading out to try and squish as much more touristy stuff in as we can before we leave tomorrow night! The blog is nearly at an end...
