Mozzeenet

Wishing all friends and family a happy Christmas and a wonderful 2006. I am heading up to Sydney tomorrow for four days. Looking forward to meeting up with some friends and seeing family.

It has been a great year and I’m sure next year will also bring lots of happiness and fun.

What a gorgeous day - the first really warm Summer day I’ve seen here. Andrew’s Mum gave us a voucher for Christmas for Donovans restaurant on the St Kilda promenade, overlooking the bay so we went there today for lunch. It was great food - we had oysters and a tasting dish for entree and I had pork and Andrew, lamb for the main with a nice glass of red wine. It was a very popular place and good service as well as relaxing.

After that we we went to see a ‘to scale’ exhibition of the planets along St Kilda beach, starting with a yellow, satin globe representing the sun then we walked for a couple of kilometres to see some of the other planets which were miniscule in comparison including Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and Jupiter. The exhibition went further round to Port Melbourne but we went back after Jupiter.

It was nice to go for a walk after eating all that food. The beach was packed as you can see in the photo. Nothing like Sydney beaches in terms of waves or size of the beach but a really nice atmosphere with Luna Park in the background, ice-cream stalls and people roller-blading, cycling and walking along the paths.

Yesterday was fairly stressful looking for units - the one in Prahran last week didn’t work out. Someone else got their application through before mine I’m guessing although the real estate agent never got back to me. Some real estates are very professional and helpful while others are really frustrating because they don’t call back.

However I may have found another one at Balaclava which is at the southern end of Chapel St in a very convenient location near a train station, trams going in every direction, shops and cafes. Andrew went to see it on Friday and so we went in at 9am on Saturday and went to look through it again then I put an application on it. It is in excellent condition, very light and sunny and has ample space with a modern kitchen and bathroom. The street isn’t as leafy as I’d like but that’s OK. It is close to the St Kilda botanic gardens so that will be good for walking.

I’ll hear tomorrow if the application has gone through. They were going to start processing it on Saturday. You never know with these things as there may be other applicants and sometimes it could just be pot luck who they choose. Otherwise there are a few more to look at this week. Next weekend we are going to Port Macquarie for Katy and Gavin’s wedding so I’d like to have something sorted by then because the following weekend is already Christmas and I am heading to Sydney for that.

Last night, Andrew and I found a fabulous little Greek restaurant called The White Village at Elsternwick. It’s so homely and intimate. They’re food is simple and it’s basically a set menu but they tailor it to your likes and dislikes and the size of your appetite. It’s just like the serving staff are going back to the kitchen to ask their Aunty Voula to make the meal. We really enjoyed it and finished it off with a strong, viscous Greek coffee. Buzzing!

Was having a coffee and a toasted ham, cheese and tomato sandwich in a cafe attached to a second-hand bookshop on Swan St in Richmond this afternoon and feeling a bit miserable. I have a cold and every time I walked into an air-conditioned shop, I would feel like sneezing and start sniffling.

Richmond is renowned for having all the factory outlet shops and discount clothes. I had walked all the way up Swan St, along Church St and then back along Bridge Rd looking at the shops but by the end, I was not feeling so excited by it all and was glad to sit down in the bookshop / cafe for five minutes for something to eat and drink.

It was a hot day but windy and I was switching between mega-hot and slightly chill. I didn’t buy anything except a box of tissues and an orange juice. Oh and my bag kept setting off the security alarms when I walked in and out of shops. I hate that - you feel like everyone is looking at you and wondering what is in your backpack and you know it’s going to go off when you walk out.

There are some interesting places around there though - like the window display pictured of a big skull on black background and christmas decorations below it - very colourful and artistic. On one corner, there was a pub playing live music. Across the road there was a jazz bar and second hand music stores. I also went into a shop selling all kinds of Indian clothes, accessories, jewellery and ornaments. It was great. Then there’s the usual high street chain stores as well.

I caught the train there and back from Glenhuntly and the tram from Andrew’s place to the station. I was lucky again with the connections - only a couple of minutes to wait each time. Ripper!