MICF 4th year (day 5): laneways, Melbourne Zoo, Impromptunes again and Joel Creasey

Posted on April 21, 2019 by Mel

Another lazy lay in was followed by a laneway breakfast and a wander up Hosier Lane to see the artwork.

I then gave B two choices for the day: Melbourne zoo or Queen Victoria Markets. He chose the zoo which also seemed to be a popular spot with every single annoying family in Melbourne. So many people, so little concept of queuing. So many parents, so little control of the screaming offspring. At least the animals were cute – well the ones that weren’t hiding from the badly behaved kids anyway. Poor little platypus.

This evening we had our shortest gap between shows – just 30 mins – and we also had to make a 17 min walk between venues in that gap. It was a bit too hectic for me and I don’t think I would do it again unless the venues were closer together!

Impromptunes at the Trade Hall were excellent as always. I yelled out my suggestion of “platypus assassin” but they went with the title of “…and then I found $50” for tonight’s one night only show! I can’t recommend seeing these guys enough, we usually go to 2-3 shows every visit. We were front row again next to the musical director.

We then walked aaaaaallllll the way down to Flinders Street (way too quickly for my liking, I am not a runner) to get in line for entry to Joel Creasey’s “drink, slay, repeat” show at the Forum Theatre. As always he was a massive bitch and the show was hilarious.

Dinner was later than usual (9:20pm) and we were lucky that China Red agreed to feed us as long as we ordered quickly. Mmmm dumplings.

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MICF 4th year (day 4): Rice Paper Scissors, Wil Anderson and Circus Neon

Posted on April 20, 2019 by Mel

Today started with a well earned sleep in before lunch at Rice Paper Scissors. We booked online beforehand (highly recommend) and were seated second because of this. There was quite a crowd of people without bookings waiting for them to open up at midday. We have eaten here before and love the tapas style, use your hands and shared plate approach.

Today’s share plates were bettel leaf prawns (B failed to eat the leaf and got told off lol), pork belly, steamed pork buns, marinated chicken thigh and wagyu steak with citrus sauce. Our highlights were the Bellini with pear and berries and the steamed buns!

After lunch we had a nap to allow all the food to wear off before it was time for tonight’s comedy shows – Wil Anderson and Circus Oz: Neon at the Melba Spiegeltent in Collingwood.

This is our third year seeing Wil Anderson live and his shows always draw big crowds, are always funny and are always topical. Our top tip for his shows though: don’t be late and don’t be in the front two rows! He picks on the audience lol.

We then had a snack and a Moscow mule at Locanda which is the bar attached to our hotel. Rydges on Exhibition Street does the whole “veto your room being serviced and get a $10 food and beverage voucher per day” so we had $40 of room credit to spend on pizza and booze. Mmmmm pizza. Circus Oz NEON was out at the Spiegeltent in Collingwood ($9 Uber ride).

The show billed itself as “an unapologetic, funny, and downright dirty dancing cabaret where circus meets comedy and song in an unforgivably big shoulder pads night out. This is Circus Oz as you’ve never seen them – adult, uncut and celebrating the gloriously gaudy and glitzy 80’s” which was for 18+ only. Once again, this venue and show were a highlight of the festival for us! So many catchy 80s tunes and some amazing acrobatics. I have also quickly become a Geraldine Quinn fan despite not having heard of her before this years festival.

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MICF 4th year (day 3): Healesville Sanctuary, visiting Denzel and The Impromptunes

Posted on April 19, 2019 by Mel

Finally, after three years of trying I managed to book the wade with the platypus experience at Healesville Sanctuary! However, the only day I could book it was Good Friday. This left us with a transport issue because getting out to Badger Creek is a real pain in the butt without a car. On a normal day you can go train, train, bus and it takes 2hrs. On a public holiday, and with the current track works in place, the suggested route was train, bus, bus, bus, walk 2 hrs. Hmmm. So, our options were:

  • Private transfer
  • Uber or taxi
  • Book a tour
  • Hire a car

Hiring a car was out due to the public holiday and I wasn’t prepared to risk refusals or surcharges from Uber or a taxi – apparently this is very common when wanting to head out that far. The tours were a great idea in theory but there were very few that made it out to Healesville by 11am which was our allocated platypus cuddle time. In the end I went with Black Bow Chauffeurs to get us out there and it was about $50 more than an Uber but fully guaranteed. We were very lucky that our former foster dog (Denzel) has a lovely furever family who live locally and they offered to drop us back into the city after our sanctuary visit and Denzel pats, which meant we only had to transfer one way.

We arrived just before the 9am opening and it was totally dead. For the first hour we hardly saw anyone but then as it progressed towards the platypus show time (11:15am) the crowd picked up a little. It never felt busy to us though and the volunteers said it didn’t feel busy. The animals were all very active in the morning as it was feeding time so we got to see lots of movement and furry butt wriggling.

The wade with the platypus experience was AMAZING! We got to pat Kami the female platypus, tickle her belly and feed her some worms. Definitely one of the more hands on experiences we have had with meeting different animals.

After visiting Healesville Sanctuary, Debbi kindly came to collect us. The traffic as we were leaving was totally nuts! They had blocked roads as the car park, overflow car park and overflow overflow car park were full! Debbi took us to a local look out and then to visit our former foster doggo Denzel who we hadn’t seen since he moved to Healesville with them 16 months ago. He is so happy now and his family is just a perfect fit for him ❤️

After Debbi and Simon kindly drove us back to Melbourne CBD, I enjoyed another lovely bubble bath and then we headed off to the evenings showing of Impromptunes: A Completely Improvised Musical. This is the third year we have been to see their shows and they are always excellent, I usually try to get to 2-3 each year if I can as they are different topics each night. Tonight’s musical title was “French Tuck” and included hits like the closing song “Mullet”. I plan to yell out the musical suggestion “platypus assassin” when we go again for their final show on Sunday 🙂

Dinner after the show was at my favourite Melbourne dumpling place China Red and once again we got a seat with the electronic ordering so I hardly had to interact with anyone. Glorious. Their vegetarian dumplings are the best.

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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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