Royal Melbourne Show!

On a gorgeous day promising of warm sunshine, four friends met up and made our way to the Royal Melbourne Show, an annual event during spring break in Melbourne. Where all the kids go wild, even the older ones, spelling nothing short of adventure and fun.

Rusteze was the epitome of the coolest kid in town. He was quite the favourite with the youngins.

For someone who feels proud of herself when she bakes, say, a chocolate cake, imagine my 'lost for words' face when I saw these displayed. I assure you, they are nothing short of real.

Sore feet and all, we had an absolutely great time at the end of the day. There is just so much to see, feel and hear at the Royal Melbourne Show. It's not just a kid's idea of heaven, but a great place for a day's out for anyone, of any age.

With so many to choose from, my favourite part of the day was seeing these piggybacks from thoughtful daddies. I smiled as I heard one say to his child, "Now you can see everything, can't you?"

What a week...

This week I:

- Experienced the most unpredictable of days. A thunderous night, followed by heavy, heavy rain in the morning, then sunny, then down comes to heavy rain again.

- Had a good solid six hours of sleep amongst the thunder and lightning.

- Walked home in the rain, drenched, realising I haven't felt so good in weeks.

- Loved the weather, until headaches decided to surface. Still, no complaints.

- Realised what a true gift being healthy is.

And today:

- Marks the start to spring break.

- Oh, two weeks of break is just what I need. Am truly, truly grateful for it.

- Perhaps it's time that I give some thought to my bucket list?

The photos featured in today's post were taken in the city. The first few were of the historic Royal Exhibition Building and the rest are of its lovely surroundings and the spacious area outside the Melbourne Museum.

What I've been up to

1. Gorgeous architecture opposite Imax and the Melbourne Museum

2.  On a morning walk before work in the city

3. Found a stack of old magazines and more when clearing out storage. To the recycling bin, you go.

4. With springtime on our side, bloomin' flowers sure make a great addition to one's day.

Putting these pictures together has made me realise what a colourful week I've had. Not to say that it's outwardly different from other weeks, but looking at the photos, it's definitely made me reflect upon it. We haven't had the greatest weather here, in fact, just last week, we had a day where it started off with rain, then it was sunny, then it rained again, then the sunshine washed over, and not much later, the strong wind came by and gave us a sky full of clouds. I assure you, I am not exaggerating.

True enough, I've had a good week. It's not often when you have the vivid (and warm) moonlight shining upon you, while you lie in bed, for the first time in months before one in the morning. Both at the same time. And then morning comes with the promise of a sunny day. Of course, it could be a total letdown due to the inborn genes of Melbourne, but hey, some sun is better than no sun.

Happy Friday friends. I hope you have a lovely, lovely weekend.

Cuckoo Restaurant, Melbourne

Today, I went to Cuckoo Restaurant, a 'smorgasbord' restaurant at Olinda, among the Dandenong Ranges.  With a little research, I discovered that a 'smorgasbord' is a type of Scandinavian meal served buffet-style. It was my first time at Cuckoo, and I absolutely loved it.

Can you believe that the picture above is of a painted landscape with houses, dolls, shrubs and the works beautifully positioned in front of the painting? True work of art, isn't it?

I really enjoyed my time at Cuckoo. The food was great (I wish I could've taken more photos), and so were the people. There was a live band playing German folk music throughout our time there, and they were warm and outgoing people with a great sense of humour. The atmosphere was absolutely wonderful, and that's what I enjoyed most about my first time at Cuckoo today.

I would definitely head back there for the second time, and I truly recommend Cuckoo to those of you who may visit Melbourne in the future, or is a local but have never been to Cuckoo before. They may not be a five-star or the best German restaurant, but they definitely will give you a five star experience.

'Daddy daddy, that's Dora!'

I was at the shampoo aisle, when a little boy behind me caught my attention. He was sitting in the trolley, his head turned one hundred and twenty degrees, and his index finger repeatedly pointing to the toothbrush rack. 'Daddy daddy, that's Dora!' he kept saying. He was so fixated on the toothbrush, and would not stop pointing to the "Dowa toothbrush!" until he got his dad's acknowledgment.

It wasn't soon after that he started pointing to a hair brush, and left the toothbrush entirely. It's amazing how kids can remain so fixated on something, but within a blink of an eye, their attention can switch entirely to something else. Sometimes we're not any different, centering our attention on one thing and becoming attached to it, but finding it hard to 'switch' to something else. That's the difficult part.

Regardless, watching the young man swing his head at his daddy, and being ever so persistent until he captured his daddy's attention, my heart just couldn't help it but go all warm and leap a little.