Flowers along the Sidewalk

August 31st, 2015

Sleeping in is difficult with sunlight in your face. 11am, and I’m up, knowing I won’t be able to sleep much tonight. Lame.

I highly recommend cooking or doing chores while listening to an audiobook you find interesting. Lately I’ve been working through What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars. I make pancakes, coffee, and clean up some dishes from the day before. There's still lots of ice cream taking up space in his freezer - it goes with Belgian waffles, why not pancakes? Can’t be much worse than maple-flavoured high fructose corn syrup. Top it off with some green onion chinese pancake thing that Luke made, and we’re ready to go!

I need to stop at the bank because I realize I haven’t looked into getting my money out of the country. Wire transfer require specific numbers, branches, and all those annoying details. Not sure what route I'm going to take.

"Magnificent, isn't she!?" Luke Exclaimed with Vigor

August 30th, 2015

Today is Melbourne day, and you better goddamn remember it!

...I didn’t realize this was the case until the night before when it was mentioned in passing. Hey, we have no plans, so why not capitalize on the random events that will be taking place.

The Cow Tree Thing

The Docklands market is supposed to be happening, and I wouldn’t mind trying the “Taste of Melbourne” meat pie that they’re selling. The market is a lot of the same vendors from the Queen Victoria Market (day and night), and a lot of them really seem like they’re not having fun. It reminds me of the Chinese proverb “A man who does not smile should not open shop.” Protip: If you have a market stall, don’t look bored out of your skull. That one's for free.

We walk toward a crowd until I realize that everyone is walking in the opposite direction. Whatever main performance that was taking place seems to have finished. 

August 28th, 2015

Look at that fine Charcuterie

Note the top right sign. Now I dare you to find the Cafe itself.
Yes, it is contained within this picture.***

Last night, Luke said that Roommate Leo would be having people over tonight, and had asked us to clean the living room. I wake up before Shimou (as usual), shower, clean the room, make coffee, and settle in before having to wake her up. It’s my fault she’s still not awake - I tucked her in when I got out of bed. Apparently they don’t do that in China. I had to show her what they were missing.

My arm is a selfie-stick

August 27th, 2015

Today the plan is to check out “the nicest brunch restaurant in Melbourne.” This requires us to get up around 11 or so. Really, it requires Shimou to get up then, but if I don’t get up, she won’t get up. Get Vertical!*

We get off at Yarra Station, a rather affluent feeling area of town. It’s a rainy, cold day, but we have umbrellas and it’s only as bad as Canadian fall. The stoic in me reminds myself that any cold is simply uncomfortable, or even beneficial, and not actually causing any lasting damage. Plus, think about how nice it feels to enter a warm location after a little suffering!

The View from Up Here

August 26th, 2015

Apparently Shimou’s house has problems without her there to mediate. Maybe it’s low EQ or just a clash of personalities. A fight has broken out between two of the housemates that resulted in one of them breaking every single plate in the house, and repeatedly stabbing a table with a knife. Shimou is the mom/mediator for the group - the one that seems to tie the group together. She’s been gone for a couple weeks and shit has hit the fan.

Caffe E Torta

August 25th, 2015

“Tā shì zhēn tā mā dē hēn hǎo” I say to Sunny over her shoulder in reference to her cooking. That’s not proper grammar, I probably should have said “zhe” instead of “tā shì” but the message was clear enough. She thanked me because what I said is very casual, and something you shouldn’t say in front of coworkers, strangers, or relatives. Basically “That is really mother f*cking good!” which Shimou had taught me when I wanted to simply say “The weather is nice.” Now I use it all the time because it’s hilariously over the top.

Two Pockets

August 24th, 2015

It makes more sense to have Shimou shower first because she’ll take at least as long to put on her makeup as I will to shower. The problem with that thinking is that I waste time waiting for her to start, which in turn encourages her to waste time. The general mood is not of movement or getting anything done, but of lollygagging. My fault.

The cafe of today is Two Pockets cafe, spotted across the street from Don Don yesterday. It looked nice from outside, let’s see how it is inside. 

This guy is leaving the Library

August 20th, 2015

Well, today its the day that I had planned to leave, and god is chuckling in my general direction. The visa issue is still hanging and the school says they'll be dealing with it tomorrow, then let me know. Just in case, I think I'll head to the immigration office to see how much one of those visa labels for my passport costs. Might as well give the school as much proof as I can get my hands on.

I've said it before: I need too much sleep. Despite usually staying up slightly later, I'm also usually up before Shimou. She makes comments against me staying up later, but has no defense against that fact. Hah!

The State Library
(Goddamn, I love working in this place)

August 16th, 2015

I'm procrastinating a lot, using Shimou as an excuse since she hasn't started moving yet. I know this is procrastination the same way that I know me moving will also spur Shimou to get started.

Luke had suggested Shimou and I check out a cafe called Manchester Press in the CBD, which closes at 5. We manage to find it at 4:40 after taking the train into town and tracking it down the alley of an alley. Nice place, not too expensive, good coffee, and had a menu of bagels as over-the-top sandwiches. Didn't try any, unfortunately, because the kitchen was closed.

August 6th, 2015

The days keep starting later and later. Chicken and rice for lunch, scramble to edit stuff because today is a busy day! Pharmacy, gym, coffee tasting, dinner, AND hanging out with Ricardo back at ye olde share house. Let’s get down to it!

Lemon Heart

July 2nd, 2015

It’s the first Thursday of the month, which means… PRETENTIOUS COFFEE TASTING!!! HHHHHHUZZAAH!! This is also a perfect reason to take the day off and switch it to Saturday instead. At this point, I desperately need a mental break from this job before I snap. Ugh, being a 40-hour a week wage slave seems bad enough, but a 50-60 hour commission slave is so much worse.

Eat, Gym, blog - it’s slipping due to the lack of time, energy, and laptop. I’m really looking forward to this coffee tasting, especially since it’s been given another month to fester and infect me further with the noxious, psychic coffee fumes that I think they’ll be providing. It’s free, and I’ve never heard of something to do with coffee as pretentious as this. I mean, it’s like wine tastings, which are kind of absurd to me already, but with something as mundane as coffee. I want to capitalize on it, which is the main reason this is so important to me. Replicating is the sincerest form of flattery, after all. Love, from me to you, Aus.