Week 11 – October 4th to October 10th
(Errrrmmmm…awkward situation here. I have run out of picture memory for posting, so this week’s blog will be media-less until I am able to get things sorted out. Just think of it as an exercise in using your imagination…yeah, let’s go with that. Alright, read on!)
Well, getting back into the swing of things after an incredible week in Melbourne was…challenging. With assignments looming and deadlines drawing near, it took every inch of willpower I possess to say to myself, “Steph – get it together!” and snap myself back into a regular school, studying, cooking, and sleeping schedule. Alas, I will admit, the beginning of my week end up being exactly that – school, studying, cooking and sleeping. I must say, after 11 days away from home, I was glad to place a bit of routine back into my life.
Friday, the first day to my three-day weekend, ended up being an extremely productive (and expensive) day. The morning consisted of heading to the CBD in search of big summer hats. Why, you may ask? Well, Saturday a group of us were to go to the horse races, and can you really go to the horse races without a hat, right? Yup. Didn’t think so. Our shopping adventures lead us to Paddy’s Market, known for cheap souvenirs and even cheaper produce, after which we left happy with new $5 sunglasses, floppy hats and approximately 15 kilos of vegetables in hand. Wait, what? Well my dear readers, you’ll just have to wait for next weeks’ blog to find out why we dragged a gargantuan amount of veggies home with us from the markets (but I promise, it’s a really good one!)
That evening, a group of us (now dubbed the Noodle Squad) hopped on the bus in search of delicious, delicious noodles – which ended up being a fairly simple task, since we were headed to Sydney’s Noodle Markets, currently going on in Hyde Park. Walking in was a bit extremely overwhelming. I don’t know if I have ever seen that many options for so many amazing Asian cuisines in one place. It did take a while to decide, but eventually we all grabbed some tasty dinner and sat on the grass to enjoy the sights, and most definitely smells wafting from the various tents surrounding us. Aussie-style Yakisoba ended up being a pretty great decision that evening – I mean, who wouldn’t love chicken, beef and an egg on top of rice noodles and slathered with Japanese mayo? I most definitely did (my plate was SPOTLESS by the end).
And, when you’re at a market with stalls and stalls of food that you’ve never seen before and probably won’t see again, it only makes sense to grab a bite for dessert too. While wandering, I had seen a stall selling cronuts (“croissant donuts” for those of you who haven’t heard of them). But these weren’t your regular, everyday cronuts. Oh no. These were green tea matcha cronuts. How could I say no to matcha-infused flaky pastry? It was just the right amount sweet, crunchy, flaky, melt in your mouth goodness that definitely left me wanting more.
Saturday rolled around and after putting on our dresses and floppy hats, we were off! To the races, that is. Although Vancouver has a racetrack, I had never been to see the horses before. With Melbourne Cup just around the corner, the whole country has racetrack-fever and the whole event was quite the spectacle. Fancy dresses, suits, elaborate headpieces – it was definitely a formal event (maaaaay have been feeling a bit under-dressed in my maxi dress and flats…). We arrived, grabbed a few drinks (at least everyone else did), and made our way into the stadium to see the horses. A few of our crew made some bets on the first race – but horse number 7 just wasn’t able to pull through. HOWEVER – Ruth had bought two tickets – one on 7, and another on 4. And guess which horse won the race. YUP. Good ol’ number-4. Needless to say, after all expenses paid that day, Ruth walked away from her first races with $250 in her pocket. I’m still a bit flabbergasted (can you say ”lucky horseshoes” much?) In the next race, number 8 “Cosmic Cube” did not fair quite as well, and I unfortunately lost $5. Oh well. I couldn’t go to the races without making ONE bet while there – but it was fun to get dressed up and experience the atmosphere of the races, and I thoroughly enjoyed the day.
This week was definitely more laid back than the previous week of travel and vacation – but with three weeks of classes left and crunch time coming up, I was glad for some much-needed R&R. And I still got to experience two events which I never had before, so all in all, a pretty successful week.
Much love,
Steph