Pooey getting married!

So the reason for my return to Melbs after being there so recently? Pooey and Smee were finally getting hitched! Despite the best pleading from various (married with children) women who will go un-named, Pooey put her foot down and said no strippers, no nudity, and no novelty phallic objects. And so, to celebrate, we had the tamest hens (bacherlorette) party in this history of the world. 

To start off, we did something delicious - cupcake decorating!

Pooey in her apron

mmmm, cutters and sprinkers

Very important - don't spill your champagne over icing sugar. The result is nasty.

Everyone decorating away...

and the end result - decorated cupcakes!

Pooey was given a goodie box of baking stuffs as a memento

And a last mouthful of icing to go with it!

I'd actually really recommend cupcake decorating as a fun activity. Eating all the cupcakes and icing afterwards was a bit of a struggle though (everyone gets 6 cupcakes each). 

A shopping and coffee break was taken in between the cupcakes and dinner. Dinner was at Shoya...where the staff actually expressed surprise that everyone was dressed so stylishly and there wasn't a tiara or pink sash in sight. We assured them that the dwarf sumo wrestler stripper was coming later. For dinner, we had the degustation menu consisting of 10 courses and dessert...

...but we kicked off dinner with a tumbler of choya!

CHEEEEEEEEEERRRRRSSSSSS!!!!!!!

First two courses! Salmon tartare monake (in wafer) and yasai bagna fredda.

Next! I can't remember what this was but it was some sort of fish with fish-flavoured mousse. I do remember that it was delicious.

Next was individual chawanmush served in eggshells with tempura scampi. We all sat there wondering how they cup open the eggs without cracking them.

Our waitress had a strong Japanese accent but joked along with us. Here she is fresh-grating wasabi for us...

to have with our sashimi bowl!!!

We also sat there wondering how they created these ice bowls. Clearly to get the answer, we have to get jobs in the kitchen.

There was some wedding mischief in the midst of the tameness - lymbo shows off the undies we bought Pooey as a present for her wedding night. Check out Pooey's face!

HAHAHAHAHAHA

The second half of dinner! Ox tongue wrapped in spinach souffle

Spider crab leg tempura. Delicious but messy (in a good way).

Kingfish steak - getting a bit full now!

Wagyu steak with truffles. IT WAS SO YARM!!! I had mine rare and devoured it. Lymbo said she was full so I ate the remains of hers as well. YOU CAN'T LET FOOD LIKE THIS GO TO WASTE!!!

Hitsumabushi - rice and eel in a fish-based broth. Light in flavour but a bit too much after eating 1.5 steaks. 

Still...I gave the assorted japanese-style cakes a good shot.

Despite the moderately sized portions, I didn't eat again until 4pm the following day! I just wasn't hungry! All in all, we all had a good time and were looking forward to seeing each other again at the wedding. 

Bridesmaids and bride - ready to go!