~ Curious Charlie ~

Goodbye August, Hello Spring @ Friday, September 09, 2016

Monday 29th August

Walk the dog. Hair. Shop. Schnitz. Nap. Fruit cup. Dance.

How are we so tired when it was just half a day?

Today we took it slow and explored South Melbourne, though didn't go to the market.

South Melbourne in spring feels like home, by the beach with a city hall and shopping strips. The air is warm with a lazy chilled no-time pressure feel to it all, like a Sunday but with less people around.

We stopped by Sacred Heart Mission to check out the books and found a magazine I recently discovered online, WomenKind. A guide on 'How to Spot a Hipster' lol so Melbourne! Milk bottles and a sold out 2014 skirt on my list! There wasn't much clothing compared to other shops but they were all lovingly sorted into colours and the home ware section was nicely styled.

So many Vietnamese places with strange/puny names...

One of our best dining experiences was at Spitiko.

A late lunch at Schitiz, can you believe we've near been there? Yummy, but needs a salad. Would we return? Sure. I wonder if they're related to paramas?

Dancing involved stepping on toes and auto high pitch squeals, just one of the many noises I unconsciously make. Can we swap partners? Ok. C walks up to morman and asks morman's girl (not his wife by the way, girl with the dog who doesn't like me - the dog, not girl) for a dance. The confidence... something I don't have, to go up to someone and ask to swap, even if they're a familiar.

But then I realized the problem is me, my feet are in the wrong place at wrong time! And now my partner is morman, and all I can see is a solid block of white (he always wears white, we've seen why he isn't/shouldn't be allowed to pick his own colours XD). A barrier to seeing what's on the other side... Ideally you're matched so together you have a 360 view, as you can see over each other's shoulder. Nope. At 5" I see nothing.

Tuesday

Lost in my dreams that involved not one but three poodles! *I'm in love* And a terrarium (we were discussing those last night). B'fast was ice cream, been craving it since last night. I didn't know that it would be how the night would end too :P.

Had my hair done, we did a fishtail braid then that one where it's like a low bun that folds into itself. Forgot to take pictures, as it's something you could find online. But now I don't recall what it looks like... for the same reason we like to work on notes right after the event.

Up to the city for an event at the revamped Curve Bar now renamed 'The Barre' pronounced as the 'bar'. Going to be great when you tell the guys to meet you at the bar, and they ask which one :P.

You can see why it was called 'The Curve Bar', as it's above the ticket box in the spiral building of the Arts Center. The building is round-ish, the bar is within a curve. We're going to call it the 'old curve bar' to make it easier to meet up at.

Wednesday - Time Management

Goodbye August, that was fast! Yesterday Kikki K released their 2017 diaries, and we're planning stuff for next year. I don't know what I'm doing, but I've bought tickets up till 2017's Christmas.

Some days are harder to plan than others I've been finding lately. You need a balance, I used to be a rigid timer, knowing exactly what I''m going to do at what time, for what duration. But then it turned into an OCD thing where I couldn't deal with things going wrong.

Nowadays I have a list and time limit, planning as I go along. But then some days things don't happen as we're so chilled. So rather than setting tasks for the day, we do them for the week. But then what if we plan too much? Lola said that was my problem, that I was doing too much and now allowing extra time just in case. How do you manage your time? Assume all the trams will be early (trains, never) and all meetings to run late?

It was another half day, starting with calls at the desk, lunch, research and checking out the event space for Friday.

Research. I'm looking at investing in a camera, so we're learning everything, as we did with laptops last year. Service can be a challenge, pushy sellers who want you to buy it right now, and then the ones that offer no service. But you need to be objective, and focus on the features of the camera to compare them. One thing I've learnt - they're all heavy.

Friday

Lunch at Curry Camp $8.50 (-1 for TA) was quite good, we had the Chicken Madras - boneless chicken cooked in south indian style with coconut and curry leaves, which was well balanced in flavour with curry leaves and an overall curry taste with a hint of coconut milk.

The second most popular dish on the menu, with the first being butter chicken.

MSFW, the Hub seems to have shrunken each year with less activities and show on. There's a massage lounge (machine), touch up bar (lips/lashes), some photo ops and an gelato bar. Gone are the flatlay comps and free coffee.

The View

This year the Alannah Hill runways was the last one, to conclude the free runway series rather than being on during lunchtime last year, with great lighting. The stage is also on the other side and a theatre style stage at the front, rather than typical runway. Hence we couldn't get any pictures, unlike last year.

After the show we whizzed off to Clayton, Monash for an MSO concert, Mozart's 25th. Student rush tickets were $12! Normally $20, though not all performances offer that price, and we buy our tickets a year in advance.

Dinner on the way, Dal Makhani - black lentil and red kidney beans. There was green chili so it was a bit hot for me, but other than that it was fairly average, though fortunately still a good consistency with well balanced herbs & spices.

Saturday

What's on this weekend?

Showgrounds - 9 to Thrive
North - Wedding Open Day
REB - Wedding Expo
MCEC - Madman

Lunch at South Wharf - Entree no.2 @ Bangpop Thai

Weeknights tend to be full of events, while not much is done on weekends, though this weekend was a case of too many events, not enough time! Luckily we were invited to a luncheon and no decisions had to be made. Shortly after we crashed and died. It was teeth chatting cold and so cold and my body ached. - But only on the inside, the cold that is.

This week is weddings, to whom I have a love/hate r'ship. Why do we go? Out of habit. Why do I hate them? When I see a wedding I die a little on the inside. Hence we try not to go into the city on weekends.