Author Archives: Mel

MICF 4th year (day 2): Styled by Sally review + Om Nom Kitchen dessert degustation + Urzila Carlson and Anne Edmonds

Posted on April 18, 2019 by Mel

Breakfast was at the Cafe Court at the Melbourne Emporium. We ate at Earl which was very….hip. I did enjoy my egg pot which was basically toast soldiers for adults. The ceiling was cool, although I have no idea how they would change the light bulbs from three floors down!

I then met up with Anne from “Styled by Sally” who was to be my personal shopper and stylist for 3hrs. I need some help with what to wear (other than oversized jeans and exercise gear) since losing 32kgs….I’ve sort of lost my personal mojo/style. Anne was great and she worked with me to build a base wardrobe around two different pairs of shoes, 2 pairs of pants and a skirt. From there we added all sorts of cute tops, scarfs and cardigans. I also bought my first ever trench coat!

After personal shopping, B came to help me carry all my stuff back to the hotel (he’s a good egg) and we had Betty’s Burgers for lunch.

After lunch, I took advantage of the ridiculous spa bath in our hotel room and once again overfilled it with bubbles.

Dinner was the dessert degustation at Om Nom Kitchen on Flinders Lane which was amazing. All the sciencey bits made the presentation look superb and the food also tasted good. I think they do normal meals as well but the dessert and cocktails were what was recommended to me so that’s what we went with.

Once “dinner” was finished if was off to our two comedy shows for the evening. The first was at the town hall main stage and was NZ comedian Urzila Carlson. We love her style of humour and really enjoyed her show last year as well. I booked the tickets really early for her show so we were front row again.

The second show was a later one (10pm) also at the town hall although on one of the alternative stage areas downstairs and was Anne Edmonds. We haven’t been to an Anne Edmonds show before (although enjoy watching her on Have You Been Paying Attention) and she was also really good.

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MICF 4th year (day 1): Upfront and The Red Hummingbird

Posted on April 17, 2019 by Mel

After we arrived and checked in at our epic room at Rydges (ummm hello giant spa bath) we immediately went in search of a supermarket to stock up on bubble bath and snacks. Mostly bubble bath.

Dinner was at a rooftop bar called The Red Hummingbird and was tapas style – yum. This was only my second rooftop bar experience in Melbourne and it was nice, although a bit annoying you can’t eat food near the edge as it’s a smoking area 🙄 how about you just ban the smokers eh? The house drinks were $6-$7 though and the food was good and well priced.

Out first comedy show for this trip was one we haven’t been to before – Upfront. it’s a 140min recorded gala event at The Town Hall with an all female line up.

The blurb says: The queens of comedy join forces to deliver whip-smart laughs, lip, charm and chat in classic Upfront style! An epic night that sees the scene’s most irreverent comics shattering stereotypes and raising the roof. Strap in for a line-up that has fists held high and fingers firmly on the pulse. Girl power!

Hosted by Geraldine Quinn’s Spandex Ballet and featuring Fringe Wives Club, DeAnne Smith (CAN/USA), Jude Perl, Becky Lucas, Steph Tisdell, Geraldine Hickey, Celeb Five (Sth Korea), Felicity Ward, Mel Buttle, Nikki Britton, Cal Wilson, Anne Edmonds, Sam Jay (USA), Alice Snedden (NZ), Fern Brady (UK), Eleanor Tiernan (IRL), Flo & Joan (UK), Sarah Keyworth (UK), Rosie Jones (UK), Kirsty Webeck, Double Denim and Nina Oyama.

Highlights from the performances for me were: Rosie Jones and her on point delivery about living with a disability…I loved that she had so many great punchlines that worked with her CP delivery style! I also really enjoyed the musical acts including Double Denim and Flo and Joan. This was also a very inclusive, very LGBTQI+ positive lineup and that was reflected in the audience as well which was fabulous to see.

B said he enjoyed himself even though the humour was very female oriented, he didn’t have a specific highlight but said he would certainly go again next year if it was on while we are here….so that’s the equivalent to a rave review from a man of few words!

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Hawaii – some snapshots from B’s phone

Posted on March 29, 2019 by Mel

B has been in Hawaii on Oahu island for work for the last week. I wasn’t able to go with him (teacher life, boo) but he sent me lots of gorgeous photos. I’ve posted some of the highlights below!

Beach location near the hotel

beer!

hiking – view looks amazing

Pearl harbour (main display was closed)

gorgeous sunsets

a traditional luau

He hopefully is due home tomorrow or Sunday….I have missed him. The puppies have taken full advantage of him being gone and claimed his spot on the lounge 😂

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MICF (4th year) trip planning

Posted on March 29, 2019 by Mel

Ooooooooooh I’m so looking forward to this trip! Plans for this 6 day trip include the following:

  • A trip out to Healesville Sanctuary to do the wade with platypus experience. I tried to book this last year but bookings were full 3 months before….this time I booked SIX MONTHS ahead

  • On the same day we go to Healesville Sanctuary we are also going to visit our lab rescue friends Debbi and Simon who adopted one of our most traumatised foster dogs Denzel

  • We are staying in a spa suite at Rydges Melbourne.
  • We are going to see a variety of comedy shows including: the upfront comedy gala, Urzila Carlson, Anne Edmonds, Impromptunes x 2, Wil Anderson, CIrcus Oz Neon and Joel Creasey
  • I have a personal shopper appointment booked for three hours to help me purchase some new clothes that fit my new body shape after a 30kg weight loss

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Day 3: Lake Crackenback Resort

Posted on March 10, 2019 by Mel

Today’s breakfast was a bit more of a shambles than yesterday – it was full! We had to wait for a table and then queue up for hot food which was mostly empty. So that was a little disappointing.

After breakfast we discussed options for the day and eventually we drove 10 mins down the road to the Wild Brumby Distillery where B sampled all their delicious schnapps and we had a wander around the beautiful outside area and sculpture garden. We also had lunch here – goulash – which was yum.

After lunch we both had a relaxation massage at the Lake Crackenback Spa and Wellness Centre which was….well, relaxing! It was also well priced at $100 for 60 mins which is far more reasonable than what the Thredbo spa charges. They also have a really nice (and warm!) lounge area you can relax in while you wait.

I then had another issue with Alpine Larder – the only dinner option at the hotel open – when I went to book dinner as they were fully booked for the evening and the weather had turned so sitting outside was not really an option. They suggested ordering take away which I thought was great except I couldn’t phone it in. So I would have had to walk down, order, wait 30-40 mins outside, walk back. Ummmm no. I gave up in frustration and walked up to the tony supermarket to see what they had available. We ended up having a delicious cheese platter and wine for dinner instead while watching cheesy movies ❤️

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Day 1 and 2: Lake Crackenback Resort & Spa

Posted on March 9, 2019 by Mel

We decided to spend the Canberra March long weekend up in the Snowy Mountains so we could enjoy a bit of a break from work stress (me) and learn a new skill – mountain bike riding (B). We booked online and are staying in the Novotel section of the resort in a studio apartment with gorgeous mountain views.

Check in was easy and we had pre-booked dinner at Cuisine which was DELICIOUS! There are two food options here – Cuisine (fancy food) and Alpine Larder (pub food). We booked a week ahead for Cuisine although it wasn’t full and would still have been able to seat more couples, I had prosciutto chicken and B raved about his steak and Shiraz.

On the morning of day 2 we woke up early and enjoyed the free breakfast knowing we had a big day ahead planned! Mmmmm mushrooms are seriously my favourite food.

We headed off through the national park entry point ($17 day pass) and up to the Thredbo village. Last time we were up here in March was 5 years ago and we had underestimated just how much their mountain biking courses had taken off! There were people EVERYWHERE and parking was a bitch. Eventually we parked in the furtherest car park and walked the 800m to the Kosciuszko Express chairlift which operates all year round for a fee ($39 each).

After a super exciting (not) 15min chairlift ride to the top we started out on our goal for the weekend – to climb to the top of Mt Kosciuszko! It’s a 13.8km walk return and the trip to the summit is about 90% uphill which is a big challenge for me. Last time I made it 2km in to the lookout point and had to turn back. But this time….I made it the whole way! It took us 4hrs and 4 mins, I burnt 2200 calories AND it was over 30000 steps counted for the day. I felt amazing afterward although that last 1.5kms directly uphill to the summit was really hard. You can see from the photos today we picked a beautiful blue bird day for it.

After the climb down and drive back to the resort, we relaxed with some ice cream before giving Alpine Larder a go for dinner. They were booked out but we were able to sit outside. The pizza was $30 and was very….average. So in future I would suggest either booking ahead and paying the $$ for Cuisine or considering a 15 min drive into JINDABYNE to one of their many pubs and restaurants.

As a special treat, on our walk back to the studio we spotted wild deer and some young kangaroos living up to their sign expectation!

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Day 6 Patong Beach, Phuket (Thailand): what I learnt about massages and ping pong shows

Posted on January 22, 2019 by Mel

Today started with my favourite activity: lounging by the beach and drinking pineapple fruit ices.

We then had a free Thai massage at the hotel where I learnt a few things about Thai traditional massage:

  1. They use their fingers, knuckles, hands, forearms and elbows to really get in there! Some people like that, some don’t. So make sure to tell them to go gentle if you need too!
  2. They use coconut oil which feels lovely afterwards but it causes you to sweat a lot more. We forgot to shower before heading back out to the street and literally had pools of sweat dripping off us. It was pretty gross.
  3. Unlike in Australia they get real up close and personal. I had my butt and my chest massaged….B said they came mighty close to his bits a few times lol

After the massage we headed out to Banglor Road while debating if we would attend a ping pong show.

I’ve been reading a lot about the ping pong shows and while it all sounds like a bit of fun I have concerns about both the women in the shows (many have their passports held to ensure they work) and the wildlife that is used in some shows….those poor tree frogs! In the end, I opted for us not to go for these reasons.

Instead we had our last round of street food (I’m obsessed with pad Thai now) a final cocktail and took pretty sunset beach photos before heading back to the hotel to prep for our 26hr trip home tomorrow…..argh. We are travelling Phuket – Kuala Lumpur – Sydney – Canberra with some long waits in between unfortunately.

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Day 5 Patong Beach, Phuket (Thailand): elephant retirement park!

Posted on January 21, 2019 by Mel

We spent the afternoon at an ethical elephant sanctuary today – the Elephant Retirement Park about 40 mins drive from Patong Beach – and it was amazing. Most of our time was spent with Euro, the big male elephant, but we also hung out with an old grandma and some rescued babies. This baby was called Pinky and he was my favourite, even if he was a fruit thief ❤️❤️❤️

I did a lot of research on ethical animal sanctuaries before we came over and I am aware these guys (alongside all the other Thai elephant sanctuaries) walk a fine line with the photography opportunities….however it’s also how they get a lot of their funding which allows them to buy more elephants out of working conditions. Not ideal but certainly better than animals being left in the circus or on ride farms.

They have a no harmful contact and no chains policy here and the animals do seem genuinely happy, our elephant buddy knew when it was mud bath time and happily clomped in and rolled around like an idiot lol. They also explained the ones that display distress towards people due to their backgrounds don’t have to meet anyone – they stay up on the mountain doing their own thing.

During our half day we paid a bit extra to be in a small group for a VIP tour (Mel + larger groups = bitchy Mel) and it turned out we were totally on our own. Woohoo! We learnt how to cook our own lunch of pad Thai and tam som, ate it, took Euro for a jungle walk where he had a great time playing in the waterfall, gave him a mud bath, gave him a wash and then fed him and the grandmas rice balls since their teeth are bad.

They actually grabbed my phone off me (the guides, not the elephants) and took hundreds of photos. Literally hundreds. There will also be some put up on their Facebook page later on which they took with their better quality camera.

Something to be aware of is that we were standing or walking for the better part of 5hrs for this tour and I was in a fair bit of lower back pain by the time we got back to the hotel. Normally, a sit down for an hour fixes it but not tonight…..even a spa and painkillers didn’t help! As a result, we had dinner at the hotel restaurant (Kontok) which was more than double the price of street food but was very yummy. The two curries and two soft drinks cost $37 AUD which is great value compared to Australian costs but quite high for Thailand prices.

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Burasari Resort: Phuket (Hotel review)

Posted on January 20, 2019 by Mel

Well, here is a summary of the positives and negatives of this resort! Obviously this all comes from our point of view.

Link to their website: https://phuket.burasari.com

Cost: we are here in the high season and 6 nights cost us 46000 baht or $1985 AUD. That was for a mood suite though, there were cheaper rooms.

Positives

1. Free mini bar which is refreshed once a day is omnomnom

2. We stayed in a mood suite which comes complete with a 7 foot bed (quite hard though but I think that’s a Thai thing) and a personal spa bath on the deck. The rooms are really attractive and well put together, they also include a bag and beach towels you can take to the beach/pool with you which is super handy

3. Customer service after our asshat party next door neighbours woke us up every 20 mins from 3am was mostly positive. After the initial complaint was poorly handled (see below) we were very satisfied to have our room moved to a quieter part of the resort and to be offered a free massage each at the day spa (4200 baht value). Now to be fair, this offer came with the understanding I would remove my very VERY angry trip advisor review….but I thought that was fair.

4. Pool bar is nice but sadly only open 2 hrs a day which seems weird. Either way….it’s a nice bar and the 2 for 1 drink offers make it excellent value. The resort also has a restaurant with free breakfast and a second bar which served cocktails at resort prices – around $15 AUD.

5. Finally, the biggest positive is proximity. You are a 30 second walk from the beach and a 5-10 minute walk from Banglor Road. There are taxis galore and it’s easy to get anywhere. We ate dinner at a street food market every night and each meal was 50-100 baht, with all beers at 80 baht.

Negatives

1. They had a lot of trouble with the fact they thought I was someone else (same name) and never seemed to quite get past that despite repeated attempts to fix it. I gave up in the end.

2. The noise levels from some rooms are very high due to street noise. The downside to being in the centre I guess!? Having said that, the pool rooms also looked amazing but one morning there was a kid in the pool literally screaming for 2 hours. I was pretty glad not to have a pool room that day! I think I would again book a mood suite but request one away from the street

3. As previously stated we did have a problem with the room next door and the initial handling of it was not good. When I rang down to reception at 5;30am I was told to go knock on the door myself. When I told them I would not be doing that as they were very drunk males who had already told someone else to “fuck off” they implied it was my own problem then. After this, the matter was handled much more appropriately.

4. Not enough pool chairs (maybe 20 in total for a large-ish resort) and despite saying people can’t hold them, they don’t enforce this policy at all. Very frustrating.

Would we stay again?

Yes we would. Overall I give them 4/5 stars with the only deductions being for the initial suggestion. I *manage* the drunken asshats and the limited pool bar and pool chair issues. The food and service is generally good, the rooms are lovely and we went to the day spa twice and thoroughly enjoyed it both times despite the marked up cost. We were very happy and intend to return again at a later date.

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Day 4 Patong Beach, Phuket (Thailand): beachside relaxation

Posted on January 20, 2019 by Mel

Today was all about beachside relaxation. After our free breakfast at Burasari Resort, we walked the 30 seconds down to Patong Beach and nabbed a seat and umbrella. This cost 200 baht but as it was around 10:30am we got our pick of seats.

We enjoyed about 4 hours of reading, napping, frozen iced drinks, getting a henna tattoo, swimming in the ocean and people watching before the sun came across overhead and I started getting sunburnt. We then moved back to the hotel and enjoyed 2 for 1 happy hour at the swim up bar.

After lounging around the pool I made use of the daybed on the room balcony to have a nap while B watched movies. We then headed out to Banglor Road again, this time for some drinks and food. We started with the food market again and I had pad Thai while B had ribs. Excellent quality for 100 baht!

After dinner, we wandered the infamous road for awhile before settling in at the Kangaroo Bar for some good tunes and drinks. Beers were 80 baht and cocktails were 190 baht so all in all, the value wasn’t bad. We were considering going to a ping pong show but the guys doing the advertising are pretty damn creepy and the one guy who wasn’t (I’ve started calling him Bs mate as he remembers us every time we walk past haha) was off for the night! Maybe tomorrow….

cocktails: ummmm I had some trouble counting today! 1 x Singapore sling and 4 x pina coladas I think? Lol

Tomorrow: visiting the ethical animal sanctuary that is the Elephant Retirement Park!

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