Melbourne 08: Chatty, Tea & Scones

our first weekend in Melbourne was spent doing what Singaporeans do on weekends - SHOP!! and we hit the biggest mall, chadstone! it was HUGE! just like the american malls with heaps of crazy stores and so  many wings you would literally get lost! my favorite ones were the fairy-tutu kid shop, cutesy stationery shops, candy store and the tea shop! kinda odd shopping with the boy and his parents in tow so after a while i gave up walking into every store!! plus k-mart was a disappointment! i was looking forward to getting more marthastewart sheets but they don't carry that line... booo.

us all excited still parked in the driveway!


daniel, the cutie flowerpod, obviously not impressed by my choice of hair accessory..


and this lead to a whole lot of trouble! but yayy!! more reason to visit melbourne in the near future! it was a shame we weren't too snacky because they had the coolest gourmet section at chatty with fresh pasta, fancy olives, pastries just like the food hall in Harrods in London!!

and uncle bruce, daniel's dad thought it was a nice idea to take us on a scenic (read: long) drive up to dandenong so we can see some forestation, long windy roads and their favorite tea and scones place. mindy had also recommended Mrs Martles Tea Room which sounded lovely! nothing better than to sit next to a roaring fire sipping tea on a cold wintry day!! but on the long (and beautiful from what i remembered) drive there, both me and daniel fell asleep missing a whole chunk of commentary and lovely views! *sigh* just like kids.. but we zipped by a very popular Mrs Martles and headed to Churinga which was a glass room with cockatoos sightings in the day!!


tadah! lovely lush greens , its a shame the only wildlife we thought we spotted was in fact a rubbishman! oh well..


soft scones fresh from the oven and jam served on lace dollies! they were super yummy!!

us!


daniel and his folks! (who do you reckon he looks like more?)

fat juicy oranges from his back yard!!


my silly baby!


and fresh lavender from the front yard! i was very very happy and calm cos i had lavender shove in my coat pockets, clothes, pillow... *ohhmmmm*

we finished off the very indulgent day by having yummy pizza in his neighbourhood palour! which was super yummy! i could finish a whole pizza by myself and i probably did so i could dodge all his parents question to us about 'where you guys going next?', 'when you coming home', 'what do you want to work as'.. so grown up and stressful!! i just happily slurped my sparkling juice, and pick at my olives.. not my place to speak, y'know?

then fat-bellied us packed in our dance shoes and went dancing at The Night Cat in town.. which had an amazing crowd! its nice how in each city they have their own style of dance or interesting moves. we simply loved how fluid and fun they make salsa. but not so much the dramatic hand flailing and did not approve of crowds that bob to the music and stood around taking up precious dance floor space!!

i was also super excited when i found out that my new aldo strappy shoes is salsa-rable!! yippee..

we ended our evening with a whole load of packing for our huge road trip to come the next day! exciting exciting!!!