Monday 18 August 2014

Science, smchience...

At 5:30PM on Saturday the 16th of August I was perched on a rock, chin resting on my knees, watching the setting sun colour the sky pink, then red, then dusky blue. I had Frenchman's Cap on the western horizon, the King William range a little to the south and Mt Gell to the north. I could feel the last warmth in the sun on my face and could hear the carrying on of 8 school kids playing in what was left of the winter snow. To me, this was a blissful moment, an accumulation of my passions falling into one single experience. I was in nature, completely aware of how lucky I am to love and live this life and I was sharing that with others who might one day develop their own connection to the raw and true natural world, just as I have.



There was a small part of me that wasn't present in that moment because in that same moment, under different circumstances I would have been wearing a silly hat and a long robe at my graduation. I will instead receive the very important A4 piece of paper via Australia Post in the next few weeks.

While I don't attach a lot of worth to the ceremony surrounding things like graduations, I could see the value of my degree in that moment. Science has shown me how to not only love nature but to know it. It has given me the tools to write and talk about detailed natural processes in a way that resonates with people who wouldn't normally be interested in or able to understand them. My science degree has helped me in my guiding career, makes me feel closer to my Dad, given me endless exposure to amazingly passionate people who are my role models and mentors and continues to be a blessing as I study nursing.

So while I may bitch and moan about the size of my HECS debt and how I will never work in science because I hate data analysis, blah blah blah, this blog hopefully shows you and may serve as a reminder to me in the future that my science degree has been instrumental in putting me where I am today and for that I can only be grateful.

Dee x.

Friday 8 August 2014

Eat. Shop. Sleep. Repeat. The Melbourne Edition.

Once again, too many words, not enough pictures. Sorry, I suck at this, I know. 



After a cancelled flight then some lengthy delays and a hypothermia inducing walk across the tarmac, we arrived in Melbourne early on Friday morning (we're talking 1AM). We went straight to bed only to be woken early by the clatter of construction works next door so we did the only logical thing to do; left the hotel to get breakfast.

12 Claremont St, South Yarra

My favourite cafe in Melbourne. The interior is light and open and they have the most amazing pale aqua coffee cups. Laura was still sleeping thanks to her ear plugs so it was just Alice and I for this meal. We shared the veggie breakfast, a huge plate with perfectly poached eggs, sauteed spinach, haloumi, avocado, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes ($19) followed by the house made crumpets with mandarin curd, mascarpone and figs ($13) which was delicious but totally unnecessary given the size of our first course.

We didn't make it back here (other than for a takeaway coffee) but distance makes the heart grow fonder and there's no doubting that I'll be back. They also have Top Paddock in Richmond and the very new Kettle Black in South Melbourne which I would looooove to check out. 

Emporium Foodcourt (foodcourt does not do this place justice).

On the bottom level of the very new and shiny (and still slightly unfinished) Emporium is a foodcourt that exceeds all expectations. We went in search of dumplings that Alice had read about on a blog but also found fresh rice paper rolls, ramen and thai street food. Yum yum yum. A great option if you find yourself overcome with hunger while lining up in the fitting room queue at Top Shop.

229 Chapel Street

After a bottle of Prosecco and a cheese platter on the floor in our hotel room, we finally ventured out to find some food at around 9pm. Still on Hobart time, I was amazed and pretty excited about the fact that many restaurants were still just warming up! We headed up Chapel Street to Colonel Tan's; a thai restaurant that becomes a bar come 11pm. The steep staircase and the winding corridors leave you with no misconceptions; you are about to eat dinner in a place that has no doubt been the site of many indecent acts but I feel that this just adds to the appeal. The low red light and sticky tablecloths aside, this place is happening; awesome cocktails, great (and very reasonably priced) food equals good times all round.

P.S by the time we left the tables were being pushed back and there were numerous people looking a little bit too comfortable on the couches.

160 Greville Street Prahan

We arrived just before the hordes of lorna jane clad ladies which was lucky because I would've felt a bit self conscious stuffing my face in front of them and their post exercise glow. This place had one of those menus that is hard to order off because everything sounded so freaking delicious. I settled for the thyme roasted mushrooms on seeded bread with smashed avocado and soft Meredith's goats cheese ($16.50) with an added poached egg ($2). It was my ideal meal. I gobbled the first half without thinking then had to savour every bite til sadly, it was over. The girls were wooed by the eggs benedict on potato roesti which was deemed to be incredible. Coffee good, service awesome, vibe wonderful. Go.

Chapel Street, South Yarra

Ah, Darren Purchese, if I was religious I might start referring to you as God but alas, I am not, so instead you are just the King of Dessert. I managed to resist the urge to buy a second jar of salted caramel but couldn't say no to a dessert. I settled on the staff favourite, a plastic tube filled with layers of mint and passionfruit gel, passionfruit custard, a white chocolate mousse dome sprayed with caramlised white chocolate, a mint crisp and finally, coconut caviar. It's a pity I ate this when I was a) full of Kong goodness and b) a little bit drunk. I'm sure it was amazing though.

Kong
599 Church Street, Richmond

So, we arrived at 6PM-ish, well aware that this was a no booking restaurant. We were told there'd be about a 30-40 minute wait so we gave our number and popped down the road for a glass of wine. We headed back before we got a call but quickly found ourselves sitting at the bar, overlooking the kitchen. Our waiter poured us wine and suggested we eat various things and we nodded because we didn't know what else to do. We ate: kimchi 3 ways, wagyu and kimchi dumplings in a light soy dressing, roti roll filled with cabbage, kewpie and lemongrass BBQ chicken, lamb ribs with curry sauce and BBQ chicken. The focus here is on the wood fired BBQ and oven, combine this with the pumping Chin Chin-esque vibe (same owners) then you are guaranteed a good time.

Until next time Melbourne,

Dee x.