Friday 7 February 2014

Quickie in Melbourne over Chinese New Year - Kung Hei Fat Choi!






Melbourne is a beautiful city bursting with phenomenal food, culture and fashion, and only a short plane trip from Brisbane scoring it the perfect destination for a weekend getaway. Leaving on a Friday night after work, Mamma BellyBlogger and I land in Melbourne and are ready to check into our apartment and get a good night’s sleep before an action packed weekend.

The apartment is located on Collins Street in the heart of the city, and only moments after checking in, the keys turn in the lock and we are unexpectedly greeted by two half naked men inside the apartment demanding  to know what’s going on. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” is all we could reply followed by a speedy escape down the hall back to reception, bypassing woken and worried fellow guests.

Following sincere apologies from reception and an upgrade to the VIP level, we made our way to an empty apartment and made sure to slide the latch across as the door closed.



The morning sun welcomed a heatwave over the city that endured the entire weekend creating the perfect atmosphere for a Brisbanite to take a stroll to the bustling Queen Victoria Markets.  Make sure you get a bag of sweet chilli coated macadamia nuts, or honey coated if you prefer it sweeter, these moorish delights are a must have and great for grazing while shopping and sightseeing.



For doughnut lovers a trip to doughboys is imperative! All the way from America, Doughboys is  a cool place to hang out and you won't find fresh doughnuts oozing with exotic flavoured icing like these anywhere in Brisbane. The Double D was my favourite, with the Maple Bacon a close second followed by the Peanut Butter Strawberry. If you dig ribs and pulled pork there is an American place right next door where you can feast on these savoury sins before indulging in doughy deliciousness.



Two of my favourite foodie destinations are St Kilda and Port of Melbourne, however, on this occasion I spent lunch at a family friend’s place, which was something pretty special because it’s not often you have an Australian Actor / Film Producer / Chef make you an authentic Italian lunch followed by a delightful white chocolate and berry cake. Mirko and Amanda Grillini used to own a restaurant in Brisbane known as Nonna Pia and used to teach cooking classes at the Black Pearl. They have moved to the big city to work on many interesting projects, stay tuned to find out more!




After an afternoon of chatting and relaxing, it was time to head to the Yarra River to check out the festivities for Chinese New Year. Check out the multi-coloured dumplings!!



Sunday morning brought about another bright sunny day and a short walk over the bridge down to Southbank promenade led us to breakfast. We stopped at Bear Brass and I was surprised at how cheap the options on the menu were. Given the prime location, I assumed it would be expensive and I was pleasantly surprised to receive a quality meal for an affordable price.




Walking off breakfast back through the city to Southern Cross station, we purchased a sky bus ticket to the airport and were on our way home. Public transport is fantastic in Melbourne, the trams are everywhere and it’s really easy to get around. Purchase a Myki card from any Seven Eleven for $6 and you can top up with required fare - $6 for a whole weekend! It would cost you that much for one trip through the city in Brisbane.

I’ll be headed back down to Melbourne in a couple of weeks for FitX - the feasting is going to be of schwarzenegger proportions.