Twas a Happy Birthday!

A few weeks back, I celebrated my last "twentysomething" birthday. And what a week it was! It ended up being a four-day celebration, with friends and family spoiling me with food, and gracing me with their company!

The first night of celebration was spent at Cutler & Co, a two-hatted restaurant. I was keen to sample (read: wolf down) their suckling pig and we thought my birthday would be a special-enough an event to make a visit. I couldn't get a table for the evening of my birthday, so we settled for the day before my birthday.

Pre-birthday dinner [at] Cutler & Co

I decided to take my birthday as annual leave, as I could not bear the thought of being stuck inside at work on my birth-day (My husband would tell you I'm BIG on birthdays). The Husband uhmmed-and-aahed, but decided to take the day off as well (I wasn't expecting him to, but well done, well done *clap clap*).

I had already decided to (with or without The Husband) spend the day in the city; thankfully the weather was brilliant! Sunny, but not hot - days like this I love living in this city!

Caught up with my reciprocal bridesmaid (ie. I was hers and she was mine!) for brunch at Hardware Societe. She was going on holidays the very next day so we thought a catch-up would be great. Ah - the life of the stay-at-home-mums/dads..... Anyway, the catch-up was appreciated, however marred by a telephone call by the stupid builder (Thanks Porter Davis for ruining my birthday!) to inform us that we would have to fork out an additional $6000 for this-and-that. A hilarious incident with my birthday present ensued, which lightened up the mood, at the expense of the integrity of my dear friend at David Jones.



We slowly made our way (enjoying the sun!) to the National Gallery of Victoria, to both St Kilda Road and Fed Square sites. Spent quite a few hours at the gallery; it's amazing how much art can be seen and appreciated for free!!

Part of the "10 Ways to Look at the Past" exhibition [at] National Gallery of Victoria

The time finally came for us to head over to Chin Chin to try and get a table, but was told at 5:45pm that it was going to be a long wait, so we hung out at Go Go Bar downstairs. Eventually we were joined by one of our favouritest couples, and we gobbled/comsumed/inhaled whatever Chin Chin could offer us.

"We are soooo, like, kewl", 'cos we hang out [at] Chin Chin 

The next day, me and my work colleagues, with our partners, and our doggies, made our way to the Abbostford Convent, where the Suppermarket was held. There was a live band, food stalls, and other stalls selling what-not.We had decided to go out that evening in celebration of my birthday as well as my other colleague's, whose birthday was only 5 days after mine.

 

 Suppermarket [at] Abbotsford Convent

The next day, a dear friend shouted me lunch at Albert Street Food & Wine Bar in Brunswick. I don't  catch up often enough with her, so each time we do meet up, the time is treasured.

Albert Street Food & Wine Bar [at] Brunswick

The Husband had organised this little lunch date for me, so he could spend the day shopping and preparing a magnificent Chinese seafood dinner feast that night for me and a group of friends.On the menu were Charlie, Coco and Cameron:

Angus curious about the temporary pets...

The Seafood Feast! [at] home

Thus concluded my birthday almost-week long celebration. Many thanks to The Husband of Husbands (inside joke) for cooking up such an incredible spread and being an even more incredible husband.

I think back on my birthday, of the people I have journeyed and shared life with for at least a decade or two and realise once again I am so incredibly blessed with incredible relationships.

Dog-Friendly: Marriner Falls [at] Apollo Bay, VIC

Almost 2.5 months ago, we spent Cup Weekend down at Apollo Bay, and Angus came along! We went for a couple of walks, but Angus had to stay home as dogs are not allowed in the Otway Ranges (General rule - no dogs in National Parks). We did, however, take one walk to Marriner Falls and Angus had such a ball!

 

The walk wasn't too long; we took our own sweet time - probably took us, maybe, 90 minutes? I may be wrong. Either way, a very pleasant walk.

The interesting thing about this walk, is that, instead of bridges, the only way to cross streams were on stepping stones. Be prepared to get your shoes/feet wet!

When we got to the waterfall, we let Angus off-lead as the waterfall was pretty much enclosed. He had such a ball exploring!

 

I wasn't too impressed when he found himself a jellybean (!). But I'm sure he felt mighty pleased with himself!

Can't remember how I came to know about this place, and that dogs are allowed. Not an easy walk to find online.


DIRECTIONS: At Apollo Bay from Great Ocean Road, turn onto Gambier St and follow along Barham Valley Road. Keep going; the road gets narrower and there aren't any signs until you are there. Doubt you would miss it once you're there.

FOOD-OUT & Dog-Friendly: Alfresco - Le Chien cafe, Seddon, VIC

We came by with Angus a couple of months ago but was told we had to wait up to 30 minutes for a table outside. We decided not to wait that time as they would not take our mobile number and telephone us when a table was ready.

So this time, we decided to try our luck again to get an outdoor table, and only waited for about 5-10 minutes, before we were seated. The Husband ordered an iced-coffee, but didn't fancy it at all - to him, it was way too milky and tasted more like a milkshake. Whatever happened to cold milk on espresso with ice, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream? My cafe latte was fine though - no complaints.

Upon recommendations from a couple of friends we bumped into who LOVE Le Chien (which by the way, is "Dog" in French), we decided to order the Homemade Baked Beans and the Promite Special

Homemade Baked Beans
w/ additional side order of sausages

Promite Special- poached eggs, avocado, tomato on
sourdough bread spread with promite (kind of a sweeter, lighter version of vegemite)

The baked beans didn't impress us too much, but the Promite Special is certainly worth going back for - very very flavoursome! 

Disclaimer: we live in the west of Melbourne, so Seddon is a stone's throw from us. I wouldn't necessarily recommend that someone all the way from Springvale make the trek JUST for the Promite Special!

Dog-Friendly: Melton Christmas Tree Farm, Plumpton

After much year-round convincing from my work colleague, we finally decided to get a real tree this Christmas. We've uhmmed and aahed for ages about getting a real tree, as we often discussed the pros and cons of both real vs fake trees. You can generally argue both ways; about.com has an article on it, and earth911.com certainly advocates for real trees, but certainly there are others who can vouch for artificial trees. But the brief research of randomly clicking websites generated from the search terms "real vs fake christmas tree" on Google seem to indicate that most environmentalists advocate for the real thing.

ANYWHO, we decided to get the real thing, from Melton Christmas Tree Farm. My colleague wasn't too sure if we could bring Angus along, so I thought I'd give them a call to ask. I was so pleased to hear that dogs were not merely "allowed" but Angus was "more than welcomed" to come along and that they also have their dog roaming around the warehouse.

Plumpton is about a 40-minute drive from Melbourne; quite an easy drive. When we got there, there were a wide selection of trees in the warehouse ready to be taken home, but for the FULL experience, we decided that we had to find our own tree.

Eenie-meenie-minie-moe! Rows of Christmas trees!

Any tree with a price tag on is for sale. A tree about 5 ft tall will cost approximately $30-35. Angus had a fun time exploring and helping choose a tree.

 

Christmas tree elf?

After some debating between which tree to get (tall but skinny, or short and fat?), we finally settled on a tree, and the Husband showed off his lumberjack skills and cut the tree with the saw we picked up from the warehouse. Actually, turns out the trunk was very easy to saw (I sarcastically remarked to the Husband as he was sawing, "what are you doing? Filing my nails?") and was very light to carry. 

Tree tucked into the car boot, and ready to go!

Without much difficulty at all, we loaded our 5 ft tree into the boot of the car, with the back seats pulled down. 

We took it home, along with a $40 base that holds the tree upright, as well as a gaudy Christmas tree ornament to remember our first real Christmas tree experience. We slowly dressed it up over the course of a week, shopping for Christmas tree trim the week before Christmas (hurray for 50% discounts!). We had a star, but it kept falling off the top of our tree, so we settled for reindeer antlers. I kinda like the look of it actually!

 

Pretty tree!

The tree will probably remain where it is for as long as it stays green! Fingers crossed for a Chinese New Year tree!!!

Melton Christmas Tree Farm
319 Leakes Rd, Plumpton VIC

Ph: (03) 9747 1078

Dog-Friendly: Alfresco - Mr. Hyde, Geelong

Decided to go down to the Great Ocean Road over Cup weekend with a bunch of mates. A really good friend of mine, E, who came along, travels heaps around VIC and knows her way around cities, towns and their good food. She had been raving about the Wagyu Steak Sandwich so we just had to give it a shot!

Mr Hyde has two outside areas - A verandah, and some benches set up on the big sidewalk on Malop St. We were going to sit on the verandah, but Little Angus decided that he didn't quite like the Rottie that was there, so we went outside. Sat there a bit until Rottie and his parents left, when we decided we would have lunch on the verandah as it looked like it was going to rain any moment. Staff were happy to accommodate and were happy to have dogs on the verandah.

Peeking into the restaurant

Of COURSE we had to have the Wagyu Steak Sandwich, but we decided to give the Wagyu Burger a go too.

Wagyu Burger w/ beetroot salad

The Wagyu Burger was nice, but beetroot salad that came with it was awesome! The Husband preferred the burger, while I preferred the steak sandwich. I reckon I wasn't tremendously impressed with the burger because it tasted very similar to the ones I make at home (A Jamie Oliver recipe, with lots of spices). The Steak Sandwich on the other hand was yum!

Wagyu Steak Sandwich - even Angus agreed it smelled and looked yummy!

Mr Hyde
(The Age Cheap Eats Country Champion 2010)
11 Malop St, Geelong

Dog-Friendly: Alfresco - Duchess of Spotswood

We came by a month or so ago with Angus, hoping to get a seating outside. There were just too many people waiting, and so we left for elsewhere.

Last Saturday, we decided to try our luck again, but without Angus. We were seated in 15 minutes, despite the constant stream of people waiting.

I did think that the menu alone was enough to give you coronary heart disease, but we had to experience it for ourselves.

We shared between us two, the Idle Tongues:Idle Tongues -
braised ox tongue w/ semolina puree and sourdough bread

as well as the fabulous, Duchess of Pork ( I must admit, I was half-expecting Fergie to be served :X )

Duchess of Pork -
pork belly w/ crumbed poached eggs, rich truffle sauce and sourdough bread

Lovely place, and would love to go again, but we might let the cholesterol ease down for a while first!

Duchess of Spotswood
87 Hudsons Rd
Spotswood
 

Dog-Friendly: Macedon Regional Park

We must endeavour to go there again and give it another shot.

We decided to go up Mount Macedon with Angus yesterday, but it turned out to be a bad decision. The weather was forecasted to be cloudy in Melbourne, but we didn't factor in the likelihood that it'd be colder up in Mount Macedon.

Well, it wasn't JUST colder, it was raining too! And misty.

Bah.

Major Mitchell's Lookout point - look out to where?!

Mount Macedon is home to the Memorial Cross, Victoria's most significant war memorial only second to the Shrine of Remembrance:


I reckon if it wasn't wet or too cold, it would be quite lovely to walk.

Oh well, maybe next time!

**Note to self, though - Top of the Ranges Tearooms does not appear to have an alfresco area if you're bringing pooch along, so bring a picnic along next time!

Macedon Regional Park

Dog-Friendly: Alfresco - Social Roasting Company, Flemington

Have been here many a-times for brunch, but it was the first time we've brought Angus. They have about 4 tables on the wide sidewalk, and there was ample space. Some places have tables crammed on the narrow sidewalk, and it can be really quite cumbersome to have dogs around, but this was fine - Angus seemed comfy, and wasn't being pesky to others!

They usually have the most amazing sweet muffins ever, but we were certainly after something way more substantial:


It wasn't an easy choice, as they have an awesome massive brekkie/lunch menu:


What I love about this place, apart from the great food, is their social conscience - in addition to aiming to provide work to the long-term unemployed, they also try to reduce their carbon footprint by delivering their roasted beans (coffee bean roaster seen below!) by bicycle.


Awesome food, good coffee, and wonderful conscience - what is there not to love? Plus, your furry friend is welcomed too!

Social Roasting Company
307 Racecourse Road, Flemington, VIC
Cash Only
Monday-Friday, 7am-3.30pm; Sat & Sun, 8am-4pm

Dog-Friendly: The Slow Food Farmers' Market, Abbotsford Convent, VIC

After searching hard online, I found that the Slow Food Farmers' Market held at the Abbotsford Convent welcomes (well-behaved) dogs (on lead)! I often do feel a bit hesitant bringing Angus anywhere as I don't often know what other people's reactions might be, but right at the St Heliers car park ($2 per entry) someone had already asked to pet him. When we got to the entrance of the market, the lady collecting the entrance fee remarked that Angus was going to have a great time as there were many other dogs at the market.


We spent about $60 (Gulp - more than we had expected), but the produce was amazing.
Purchases:
$14 on 2 tubs of pate (Duck & Grand Marnier, Venison & Muscat)
$ 7 on 160g broken blue cheese
$ 8.5 on a jar of roast pumpkin relish (yum!)
$ 8 on chestnuts
$18.5 on an amazing steak sandwich and snag roll with the works - cous cous, relish, beetroot etc etc etc!

The convent had some lovely, lovely grounds to walk about and have a picnic; we fumbled about our ginormous juicy sandwich and roll on a bench overlooking the grounds - very pretty (the grounds, that is. We were not a pretty sight!)

The market, the convent, and its grounds proved to be an ultra sensory experience for Angus- possibly overwhelmingly so:

Details: Slow Food Farmers' Market

When	4th Saturday of every month, 8am - 1pm
Where	Abbotsford Convent 1 St Heliers St Abbotsford VIC 3067
Entry	$2 entry goes to the Abbotsford Convent Foundation maintenance fund
Booking/Enquiries	www.mfm.com.au

Introducing the Dog-Friendly Blog Label

Not wanting to leave Angus home ALL by himself ALL the time, I try to find places to go or things we can do with our dog on the weekend. Our society, I’m afraid, discriminates between human children and canine children, and many places do not welcome dogs. It hasn’t been that easy looking up online for dog-friendly places, I have discovered.

Most dog-friendly places or activities listed online are either on dog-friendly accommodation, or dog-focused activities (dog parks, dog camp, etc etc). All I really want are things we can do, and Angus just tag along and socialise with other pooches, not necessarily dog-focused activities. If I wanted to focus on my dog, I’ll just take him to my local dog park or oval or nearby river trail.

And so, I have decided to post on places one can bring their canine companions; hopefully it may help someone along!