27/08/2010
Last night after work, I caught up with ‘Piro’, an old online>offline friend that I’ve known for about 11 years now – and in fact, it occurs to me just now that, along with RetroSuper, that might be one of my oldest online friendships. Crazy world.
Hailing from Sydney, Piro was in Melbourne this past week for the UX Australia conference. We managed to squeeze in a drink and some eats last night, which was great because I hadn’t seen her in about four years, maybe more… time has some mighty wings, that’s for sure.
We met up at Gin Palace where the organisers of the conference had thrown an open-bar for the attendees (not I, sadly!), but thanks to Piro’s grumbling tummy and a too-loud-to-catch-up atmosphere, we took off for some eats.
A new acquaintance of Piro’s led us to a place just off Tattersall’s lane, allegedly known for its badass dumplings. But, upon seeing the line, our stomachs decided we were heading elsewhere!
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23/08/2010
I’m out too often, lately. Well, not necessarily too often, but being out as often as I have lately has meant that the nice vegies and other eats I buy for a week tends to go unused.
That means that come the Monday week after the weekend I bought it all, I’ve got a fridge and pantry full of items on their last legs.
This afternoon I cooked up some burgers that weren’t going to last much longer (I should have froze them, I know), and tonight I ended up cooking up a huge wok full of vegies – with tofu and falafel, just for kicks – before they ended up in the bin.
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21/08/2010
Yesterday morning, after completing our civic duty in this year’s national election, the good lady Friedy and I headed to Tom Phat for breakfast.
Now, I don’t live in Brunswick, but my impression of Sydney Road is based largely on driving through (as quickly as possible), and one or two stops at specific stores.
To describe the strip as a dump might be a stretch, but I’m not sure I’d consider it as charming as the locals – who’d all probably prefer to live closer to Carlton or Fitzroy – might like to think.
For that reason, Tom Phat can probably be considered something of a diamond in the rough – depending on who you ask.
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21/08/2010
In a bid to play with my new toy some more, I jumped in the car and went for a drive to my nearest suburb still likely to have places open and lit at 9pm – Box Hill.
By the time I got there, I was feeling a bit peckish – my dinner plans were scrapped earlier in the night – and then I remembered that a friend of mine is super keen on a particular burger joint in Box Hill; one of the few non-Asian stores in Box Hill actually, haha.
This friend reckons these burgers qualify for that classic ‘unknown, unassuming burger joint that makes the best burgers ever, and most people don’t even know it exists’ status that some lucky little well-operated places manage to attain.
Jake, it was a good burger dude, but it was far from magical. You need to get out more!
A couple more shots after the jump.
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