Melbourne 2011

October 2011. I flew AirAsia to Darwin and then took a JetStar flight to Melbourne arriving on a Sunday into a clear, sunny and cool city after minimal sleep and a full on day in Bali traffic trying to get last minute things organized...but none of that mattered. I am here to see my girls, hang out with them, study with them, eat, laugh and shop with them. That is all that matters now. Kepsibel met me a Southern Cross Station and we went to my hotel in South Yarra, a place Mick Jagger stayed in, albeit some, many, years ago and where U2 is rumoured to have trashed the penthouse. I intend to behave very well and enjoy the ease of getting in and out of the city, being near a park and enjoying the clean comfortable bed and the heater. Melbourne is pretty and cold, it is October, I feel like I am approaching winter not spring and I don't know if I have enough clothes..but again, who cares I am here to see the girls. Severen met us with Koh and Lyndon and we headed into the funky Chinatown area to eat at Shang Hai Village. A better welcoming meal I could not imagine. A crumbling brightly decorated two storey dining room with excellent food and brusque Chinese service was my dream..steaming plates piled high with tasty dumplings and buns almost thrown down on the table for you and served with never ending hot tea. We followed this by a visit to the Roof Garden Bar where the girls and I shared a jug of sangria and the boys asked for embarrassing stories from the girls' past..we came up with a few favorites but they seem to focus less on the girls and more on me and the wild days of my youth....

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