Poor Truffs

I had to take Truffles to the vet earlier in the week because we noticed a rash on her tail from her incessantly licking the base of her tail. It turn out her anal glands were full (eeeww) and was causing her some discomfort. The vet had to squeeze the glands and the smell (eeeww) was terrible. I had to walk Truffs back to the apartment with an Elizabethan collar around her head to stop her from licking her tail. She was finding it difficult to adjust to the collar. Poor girl...at one stage, she walked straight into a lamp post.

Milestone

Celebrated a milestone birthday this past week (shhh....40). Had the day off and took Truffles to the dog park for a run in the morning, met up with Nathan for lunch at my favourite Japanese restaurant, and bought myself some cushion covers from Marimekko. Perfect week.

Korean fired chicken and bubble tea

You know those days when everything seems aligned? Yesterday was not one of those days.

Nathan and I were in the city doing some shopping and we decided to get some bubble tea. We walked past a Korean restaurant and decided that we'd much prefer Korean fried chicken (KFC). We took our seat in the restaurant. Things started well enough.... there was KFC on the menu. Yay.

Unfortunately, when we started to place our order, the waitress informed us that the chicken was boneless. What? Boneless KFC? No way. We decided to go elsewhere.

Now on a mission with KFC on our mind, we walked up Swanston Street to another restaurant I knew that specialised in Korean fried chicken. Alas, it was closed.

So...we walked across the road to yet another Korean restaurant and took our seats. I knew this place definitely had fired chicken on their menu. But...when I started to place our order, the waitress said they had sold out. F*&K!! We left.

By this stage, the appeal of fried chicken had waned (and I did not really find Nathan's alternative suggestion of Kentucky fried chicken particularly appealing...or amusing) so we decided to go back to our original game plan. We ditched the idea of going for fired chicken and made our way to the bubble tea shop.

I started to place our order at the bubble tea shop and was informed that they had ran out of the 'pearls' (i.e. tapioca for making the bubble tea). A bubble tea without the bubble. No way.

Dog day

Today was all about Truffles. She jumped on my chest at 7.30am this morning knowing that it was still the weekend. We took her to the Gasworks Park in Albert Park for a run. I nearly got pissed on by a very old golden retriever who lifted his leg up on the side of the park bench that I was sitting on.

Nathan and I met a lovely woman who was out with her dog. We really hit it off and exchanged phone numbers. Turns out that she works for a big bank and spends quite a bit of her time travelling. She will be in Singapore around the same time as our scheduled visit in early May so we are planning to hang out. Funny how you end up connecting with strangers.

We are now back in the apartment. Nathan is drinking champagne.

Kyneton

It was Nathan's 40th yesterday. We went to Kyneton for a nice lunch at a place called Source Dining. We went to the same restaurant last Autumn (on the day Nathan got made redundant) but it had a different name back then. Not sure why the owners decided to change the name of the restaurant. It didn't matter. The food was as amazing as our first visit. I ordered the roast hare. I've not had hare before and had expected it to taste like rabbit but it was more akin to a very tender piece of beef.

We also visited a funky shop on the same street as the restaurant called Stockroom. The shop had a gallery and there was an exhibition showing by a landscape artist called Greg Wood. Alas, I couldn't resist and bought one of his paintings. I have limited wall space left at home but have just the spot for it when I get it home after the exhibition is over.

After Kyneton, we made our way to Maldon to attend his Godmother's 60th birthday celebrations. I had not been to Maldon before but I think I'm going to have go back. It was a small little town but there were lots of interesting shops lining the main street.

We returned back to Melbourne in the early evening. It started to rain and I noticed the landscape looked just like the Greg Wood painitings we had seen earlier at Kyneton.

Flowers this week

I picked up this Cymbidium orchid after doing the grocery shopping at the South Melbourne Markets. I though the colours were beautiful for an Autumn display.

Cymbidium orchids bring me back to my childhood. I remember the first orchid I ever got was a Cymbidium. It was a dying plant that my grade 5 teacher, Miss Eccleston, gave to me when she really should have tossed it in the bin. Not surprisingly, the plant was soon dead and it would be quite some time later before I got my next plant...a bargain that dad picked up from the local Woolworths. It was the start of my orchid obsession.

Tassie

Nathan and I just got back from Hobart. It was a short trip away with one of our Finnish friends who had not been to Tasmania before. Hobart is a wonderful city and both Nathan and I talked about how we can both see ourselves living there. The houses are so much more affordable than Melbourne. The food is amazing. And everyone seems so friendly. I just need to get a job at the University of Tasmania!

Zaha Hadid RIP

I was saddened to learn that Dame Zaha Hadid, one of the world's greatest architects ('starchitect'), passed away a couple of days ago. Her futuristic designs may not be everyone's cup of tea but they really did push the boundaries of architecture. She was the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize, and was a true pioneer in every sense of the word.

Here are some examples of her amazing work from around the world....

Vitra fire station, Germany

Heydar Aliyev culture centre, Azerbaijan

Guangzhou opera house, China

Corones Museum, Italy

Here is her design for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which was unfortunately canned due to a budget blow out.

She has designed buildings for Melbourne too, but none have been realised – yet.

Here is her short-listed submission for the design competition to revamp Flinder's Street station.

And this is the design for a residential tower on Collin's Street that is still awaiting approval.