BBQ and zumba with Leandro and Melilbaba

Melibaba is a Japanese meetup group and Leandro invited us to go. And so we did for better health. We went to the beautiful Albert Park where we saw the ducks and swans. It was a lovely, beautiful day for all the dogs and people to be out.

It was Melbourne Cup day where racegoers flocked to the races. Well here we flocked to Leandro's Zumba class. He had his twenty minute class which was intense and lively.

Bean mix

Salad

Veggie burger

Bbqing lots of meat

Meat from Costco

We brought our own food. We brought beans, cucumber, red onion, feta, dips, veggie burgers, olives, haloumi and wraps. We made and enjoyed a tofu wrap. All the things were bought from Aldi except for the wraps and the veggie burgers which were bought at Woolies. It all came to $32. The olives were the least favourite with this group but the bread and the onions and salsa everyone liked.

We made this easy salsa of mixed beans, cucumbers and tomatoes. Everyone seemed to enjoy that. They also seemed to enjoy easily grilled tofu and haloumi. Haloumi is a cheese that needs to be cooked before being eaten and it is an Australian cheese.

There was too much meat and sausages and not enough bread. Maybe next time we can suggest that people bring a plate or two on top of their $5 fee for the food and soft drinks and juices which ran out earlier on. What we can also suggest is to bring water. We are not drinking enough water.

AFIS's Amazing Race

As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015

AFIS has done a few Amazing race events where we had lots of fun with our teammates finding out lots about Melbourne and walking around. Here we went to eight stations (some of us only went to seven stations as we had other places to be).

It was $3 to get in but we got complimentary McDonalds burgers to start the race off with. We had not much time for lunch so I suggest packing your own. And you do need your own water bottle.

The first stop was the Botanic Gardens. This one was the hardest of all as it involed lots of walking and burning those unwanted calories.

Right near it was the Shrine of Rememberance. And the silly posing.

At Batman park it was all about food and trying out the wasabi and vegemite sandwiches. The wasabi one was so spicy but I did enjoy a snack or two.

Then it was over to Ross House for cards. This was quite challenge as we had to build a pyramid and ours kept on falling over.

Then it was over to Flagstaff gardens and Carlton Gardens for more fun.

Then it was over to Bourke St Mall and that's when I said my goodbyes. Later on I found out that I had burned 950 cals and burnt off my 600 cal burger by all that walking.

Many thanks to AFIS for having me. And do join their next one which will be sometime soon!

The BBQ Meetup

RNIS was invited to the BBQ Meetup 
As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015

The clean BBQ

 This was organised by the Couch and one of the guys bought stuff from Victoria Market. It was a really nice day for this in Melbourne. It was sunny and a little bit windy.

Cooking the vegetables

We met at the Southside of Docklands park and this started a little late say 2pm. And it went on until 10pm that night. There was a lot of cooking and mingling and seeing weird eggplants.

All the foods were fresh especially the vegetables.

Eggplant

I tried the mushroom- yum. Also the fish and prawns were lovely.  They were coated in beer and oil with a lovely dose of pepper and salt.

Also the squid was really big and that had to be cut. The girls did that job and they also gave it a good wash.

There was a very spicy sauce which was too spicy for me.

There was also a lot of drinking going on as well as merrymaking. Other people brought stuff in such as the cookies and the drinks

Many thanks to the Couch for the invite. 

So Frenchy So Chic

As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015

So Frenchy So Chic is an event that is run every summer in Melbourne and in Sydney. It is an outdoor concert where you can bring yourself, your picnic rug and loads of food to be enjoyed. This years event is sponsored by Renault.

Champagne and beautiful trees

Flowers

Lovely park. I wish I could walk my dog here

Beautiful pond

What a pretty car

Mr Calamaro's menu

Having a good time on the grass without a care in the world

Here we came around 12:30pm and the line was moving fast. But when we were on the bus later the huge queue of cars was very slow. Public transport around this area is so bad so everyone decided to drive.

But having a picnic on the lawn and listening to the music was fun and very relaxing just watching the world go by and everyone sipping on champers. The hampers are very expensive (about $34 for a small box and baguette) so we have made our lunch which is salad and tomato and cheese sandwich. We even threw in some crackers for fun.

We wandered to the childrens area to see what fun they could have. And fun they did in terms of the puppet show and photographs inside the car and outside of it with flowers.

The two feature acts: Franck and Emile Simone was just great. The music was really pumping. I couldn't really get a word of French but the tunes were rocking. We all danced along.

An old building. Gosh I love them

Thanks Study Melbourne for the invite.

A relaxing Saturday in St Kilda and Botanic gardens

 As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015

The team at RNIS took some time away from their studies to talk about two lovely places to visit in summer.

St Kilda
I went to the beach that day and smelling that waft of seabreeze was really relaxing for me. St Kilda beach is free for all to visit and its packed in summer.

They do have lifeguards on duty so if you wanted to go for a swim you could provided its where the red and yellow flags are at as the water is safest there. The lifeguards will look out for you and help you if need be.

My Gelato

We stopped by the Peter's ice cream shop not knowing that they have Hagan Daaz ice cream. Stopping by for ice cream in St Kilda is a must.  My sorbets were just alright although I loved the lemon one as it was not too sweet.

You can take the number 96 tram from the city

Botanic gardens
Here we enjoyed a lovely walk and picnic on this beautiful Melbourne day. It is free for all to visit and it is great to take your mind off your studies by looking at the different trees

Under the oak tree

 

Lots of people come here during the summer. And we saw heaps of cute dogs.

We took along some salty olives from Emerald hill deli as well as biscuits from Costco and
  our cakes from Monarch cakes. Which was just divine. We also got some Turkish bread from South Melbourne Market for $2.50 and it made a very lovely afternoon tea.

The picnic rug we got it as a gift.

Do come here to relax. You can take the number 8 tram from the city.