Melbourne 5: Finale

Jealousy. The green eyed monster, as coined by Shakespeare in a couple of his works, notably Othello, where Iago says:

Oh, beware, my lord, of jealousy!
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on.

And this was him metaphorically describing jealousy like a cat playing with mice before eating them.

Then there's envy. I have massive problems telling the difference between "jealousy" (吃醋) and "envy" (妒忌) in any language. I often got picked on for my bad Cantonese and using words wrong. Simply put, envy is wanting what someone else have, while jealousy is fearing what you have will be taken away.

In which case, the term "food envy" is when you see someone else order a dish that you really want, and yours isn't as good. This problem can be solved when you go with good friends who don't mind sharing food with you, because then you can try everything. And that is probably one of the reasons why this Melbourne trip worked so well- because we're all single, we can share food like good friends do. However, sharing food can also be quite intimate too, and just imagine if any of us actually had partners, the jealousy it would cause.

From melblog

Overall, we had a near seamless trip, nothing particularly bad happened, nothing that was upsetting... we did have a few moments where we'd speak crudely of reckless drivers on the roads, or of rude people in petrol kioks, nothing serious at all. Loads more laughter than frowns, especially since we came for the Comedy Fest!

6pm

"Get Ready, Get Set... Ahh F it"- Angus Brown

We crowded into The Swamp in the Gin Palace for this- a tiny space in the back of a bar that holds at best 30 people. After S ordered a cocktail (which I stole from), we were entertained for an hour or so. Let's just say this guy knows how to work his small audience well. Thanks B for buying the tickets early and for choosing a good show!

From melblog

7:30pm

We originally had Cumulus Inc. as part of the plan, but we veered off the plan because it was quite similar to Epocha from the day before and S was craving Asian food. Previously, I've been to this Chinese restaurant before and it was pretty good, so here we are.

From melblog

Between then and now though, the menu's changed, so even though I came specifically for their deep fried custard buns, they didn't actually have it on the menu. Easily fixed- this is a Chinese restaurant, their menu is pretty much customisable, so just speak to the waitress and request for it. We ordered some dumplings, fish congee, duck hot pot, and spicy pig's ears as well. Those pig's ears were quite lethal, but it was the kind of spiciness that makes you keep going, despite your mouth protesting and burning.

From melblog

We also had some Taiwanese dessert afterwards, and it was funny because S was the odd one out. Our little group is pretty strange actually, but here's some background:

S is the only Caucasian.

B is the only guy, so yes he was stuck with 3 girls for the entirety of this trip.

S, P and I are the youngest in our family. B is the eldest of his.

In China Town, she may be the odd one out, but when it comes to those little towns we passed by on the roads, PB and I were the only Asians and obviously not local, but that's ok because there's 3 of us. 

From melblog

6am

This place wasn't far from our hotel and it's open 24/7. We packed our bags, dumped everything in the car, and walked to breakfast. Who said we can't have souvlaki for breakfast? And no, we're not talking about faux souvlaki, like bacon and eggs, but the real stuff, like lamb or chicken. Frankly, I don't see what the big deal is with breakfast. It's bad to go without it apparently, and while I understand why, I don't feel it's a higher priority than sleep time, and as for breakfast not being some specific food? I'll ask, why not. Who said you can't have chocolate for breakfast? Or curry rice? Or fish and chips?

The only thing about souvlaki is that there is no glamorous way of eating it. I've never been a neat person, be it cooking or eating, and you'll often find me making a mess somehow, but souvlaki? You can be the daintiest person, but unless you're picking everything apart with a knife and fork, you cannot get to the end and find it all still neatly wrapped up and fillings intact inside.

From melblog

Powering on! Our one stop for lunch on the way back to Sydney. Took a shorter route this time instead of the scenic drive, so it was a lot quicker and no changing of drivers- B shouldered the whole thousand km or so.

1:30pm
S recommended this one and it was a great suggestion. This place was super crowded both inside and outside. There was a birthday party going on with lots of kids outside, they also sold some fresh produce in barns. Inside was packed with a line for ordering food, jars of jams and chutneys, pastas, kitchen utensils, cookbooks, you name it.

From melblog

No complaints about the wait though! My local smoked chicken, bacon, mustard mayo and cheese on turkish toastie was quite decadent, while S ordered a fantastic smoked trout pate which I happily helped myself to. The smoked salmon with cucumber salad was probably a good idea on P's part, considering how this trip was filled with heavy food, that would have been quite refreshing.

From melblog

S ordered their onion jam, cheese and chive toastie, while B had their local smoked lamb, tomato and cheese toasted turkish toastie. Reminded me of the ultimate bacon lettuce tomato sandwich we made because of the crispy exterior of the toastie. They probably used butter, we went another level up and used bacon fat. Hmm taste like artery clogging goodness, but hey, once in a while, it's alright to go all out, just... remember, moderation is the key.

Oh, we also had room for dessert- their apple and walnut cake was a request that S got from her parents to get as a takeaway, so we decided to have a slice right there. I'm usually not a big fan of these sort of cakes (something about raisins in cakes or breads that I'm not a fan of), but it was good.

Then we got back to Sydney. P and I had instant noodles and a packet of jellyfish. Such an anticlimax, but the trip was a good one! What I'm most proud of? Staying awake for that drive back. I don't know how I did it even now, but it was a lot of singing to our playlist, a lot of sports talk and other things which I can't remember now because my brain was probably functioning at less than 10% at that time. I didn't even take any photos of the road on the way back. Except this one:

From melblog

Only because we were squinting to figure out what those words said.

So ends the roadtrip to Melbourne for 2014. Lots of people I know actually headed to Melbourne for the long weekend and I see a couple of check-in places that piqued my interest. Next time... the plan shall be modified for our next visit. Till then~ à tout à l'heure.