Picnic!

Another thing to tick off the list - re-create my post-submission picnic, otherwise known as the day we got mega-wasted in the park and under the sun. 

Mmmm, look at that sun-powah!

And that clear, blue sky *sigh*.

The mission was achieved although I'm pleased to say that we got nowhere near as wasted as the last picnic. I think last time around, we managed to polish off a jug of pimms and 7 bottles of wine. This time around, we did a mere jug of pimms and 3 bottles of wine. Still, good effort people *thumbs up*. 

That is disgusting

Something I find really amusing when I first saw it in Germany, were the strategically positioned racks to put away your trays in fast food joints, and the dirty looks people would give you if you didn't put your tray away. I mean, we're not children - we can clean up after ourselves. Well, a trip to the Swanston/Flinders Macca's for a post-tennis cheesebao showed that, actually, Aussie can't clean up after themselves.

This was what greeted us. I think I actually said, "OMG!" when confronted with that mess.

Seriously, even accounting for the fact it was past 1am on a hot summer's day...that's disgusting.

Wading through the garbage, we eventually did make it to the front counter with all the other night owls to find that someone had spilled their drink the area where you were supposed to wait for your food, and so the floor was unbelievably sticky. It was really hazardous to people wearing ballet flats like us, or worse, people with thongs. 

Also, what's this?!

Yep, we were on CCTV for maccas!

And I was highly amused to find that it was branded *Macca's*

Aus Open 2013 - Men's Final

I ended up scoring Pooey's extra ticket to the Aus Open Men's final - HOORAY! We were sitting about 5 or so rows back and saw such people as Jamie Packer (who would often disappear) and some Channel 7 celebrities whom Pooey could identify but who I had no idea about. Doesn't matter - we were all there to watch Novak Djokovic take out Andy Murray.

The two finalists gearing up for the match.

Coin toss...

followed by a friendly, "Good luck", between the players.

Nice night for tennis - check out that moon!

The match was pretty gripping - I was going for Djoker over Rat-face but it seemed he made as many mistakes in the first set that he made in the entire match against Ferrer. But it all came good in the end! The tension of the match was duly reflected in the relatively small number of photos I took of the actual play.  

Too bad, Rat-face!

Raquet thrown in relief!

The final score. 

Recognise that chrome-dome? That's Andre Agassi giving Murray a pat on the bum!

Looks like Andre also gave him a wedgie!

Winner!

Winner and not-Winner!

He then did a lap of glory and let these people actually take the trophy off him!

Flashing lights.

As Pooey and I were leaving, we came across a giant crowd of Serbs in the garden and realised they were hanging around for the post-match interview. Two small Asians duly joined in!

Interview in progress!

And then he came out and shook the trophy at us while everyone cheered before going onto an interview with Eurosports!

This guy was shaking his baby around trying to get on tv hehehe. But also >:( to baby shaking!

Dinner and Dessert

While Spu and CuzJen were at the women's final, me and Pooey decided to hit some new places in the city while scratching a cuisine itch of mine - we had Japanese food at Akachochin down at South Wharf. 

The sashimi bar.

The wait staff noticed me and Pooey sniffing the two sauces to try and determine what they were. We were informed that one was normal soy and the other was gluten-free. I can't remember which was which though.

Located inside a converted shipping shed of some sort, the place had a cool vibe that was duly reflected in the prices. Pooey and I were told that the serving sizes were made to be shared and so we decided to order 5 dishes in a variety of types.

First dish - seared tuna tataki with some sort of jelly sauce. This was quite nice and refreshing. I'd definitely been craving raw fish.

Umm...I can't remember what these were called so I'm just going to call then *California Rolls*. When I complained about the serving size to cost ratio, Pooey pointed out that it was packed with 3 different types of fish (tuna, salmon, and I think kingfish). In that respect, it was definitely one of the better California Rolls I've ever had!

Sashimi Salad. Also nice and refreshing but it made me sad for the Horoki version (although I've been told that Horokes has changed their chef and has since gone down in quality :O)

Grilled wagyu beef. An incredibly wonderful dish that had amazing texture and flavour, but at this point, me and Poo were still kind of hungry - Pooey even said that the dishes we'd had had whet her appetite but was nowhere near close to satisfying it!

Luckily, our last dish, chawanmushi, was pretty big (at least, in comparison to the other things we'd had). Very light in texture and liberally dotted with pieces of seafood, I was very happy with it.

Nonetheless, by the time our meal was finished, we were feeling sated but not particularly full. That's not necessarily a bad thing but for I think $45/head (and drinking only water), we declined the dessert menu and decided to head to Rockpool to get a dirty mac & cheese to get that full feeling from a load of fat and carbs. Un/fortunately, Rockpool told us they were full so we decided to amble down Southbank to try out Trocadero.

We also go this view outside the Concert Hall.

Chocolate Pudding!

The oozy centre - Pooey said , "Hold on, isn't this a fondant?!" to which I replied, "But if they overcook it, they can't call it a fondant anymore." Score one to me. 

Caramel cooked cream with pear and popcorn. I LOVED THIS. Even though were sharing, I think I ate about 3/4 of this. Pooey didn't mind though, she was happy with the chocopud.

Trocadero had a small 'tennis' set up outside the restaurant. We were watching the tennis while enjoying our desserts.

And then later we went outside to watch the Australia Day fireworks.

All in all, I was pretty happy with the two places we'd visited, although not so pleased with the prices. I mean, I loved the cooked cream and caramel, but it was $16 for a large layer of blitzed popcorn that costs next to nothing. I guess that's one lesson I'm re-learning while being back in Melbs. We have some pretty damn nice things but you better be ready to pay for it. 

Panorama

Some shots of Melbourne city over the Yarra river.

On the footbridge looking north towards Princes Bridge.

At the lower level of the Concert (Hamer) Hall looking west towards the CBD

On the upper level of the Concert Hall, looking west and trying to manipulate the program so I appear multiple times in the same shot!

And the Men's Semi :P

Aus Open 2013 - Mens Semi 1

One of the great things about being back in Melbs at this time of year is indulging in one of my favourite activities - going to the Australian Open tennis tournament! Something even better happened this year though...POOEY GOT FINALS SERIES TICKETS!!! :O :D :O :D So here I am, going to the first men's semi-final of Novak Djokovic of Serbia versus David Ferrer from Spain with Spu.

Happy happy with our giant novelty tennis ball!

Having the ticket to the men's semi also allowed us free rein to the general courts, and we were able to watch legends Martinas Navratilova and Hingis vs. Nicole Bradtke and Rennae Stubbs of Australia.

This is not the final scoreboard but the Martinas won quite handily. They've still got it!

Eventually we made it in to Centre Court where Spu and I posed with an inflatable crocodile hat that Pooey really wanted us to wear to increase our likelihoods of turning up on the television. 

Yes...

yes...

After a short amount of time, it was consigned to the our bag for the rest of the match and I made happy again with the big ball.

Unless there is a serious delay, e.g. a preceding match goes on forever, players make it onto court around 7:30pm, with play starting around 7:45pm. 

Novak and David post-coin toss to determine who serves first. 

Novak warms up.

David gets ready...

...and errrr, the match was going by very quickly....

and David was pretty much out outclassed and it was over by 9:30pm.

Novak's post-match interview with Jim Courier. 

All in all, it was a pretty unsatisfying match to watch. Ferrer is great at returning shots and keeping the ball in play until his opponent makes an error, but this didn't work because Djokovic was pretty much making no errors. Luckily we had a great legends match to follow - Guy Forget and Henri Leconte vs. Pat Cash and Goran Ivanisevic! 

Lining up for the pre-match photograph with two photograpers!

The sartorially resplendent Frenchies, Guy and Henri.

Goran and Pat take it easy. 

And taking it easy was the name of the game. These are guys who clearly just play for the fun of it now and they were not only having fun with each other, but also with the crowd! Here was Goran showing off his sexy legs. 

But while Goran had sexy legs, Henri had tired legs and he had to call an injury time-out...

And Dr. Djokovic came out to give the treatment...

which included some massaging

Because this was an exhibition match as opposed to a *real* one, most of the other spectators cleared out. This just meant that I was able to move to a different (read - even closer!) part of the stadium. 

When the match finished (won by Cash/Ivanisevic) the players spent a leisurely time signing autographs and I managed to score Cash, Ivanisevic, and Leconte on big ball. Score!