Technology: Fit Bit

Fit Bit is a watch that tells you as to how many calories burnt and consumed. They come in a few different styles and designs. This one is a Charge Fitbit. The watch is comfortable to wear. I got this as a present from a friend. Normally it retails about $150-$200 and its a good Christmas gift for gym freaks.

Fitbit Charge 2 from the Fitbit site

With it comes an app that allows you to see how much you are burning and you can log your food intake in.

Healthy International students talks about the Fit bit app.

This is only for people with the Fit bit. This app is really easy to use and it tracks your exercise. Here it will tell you how many calories you have burnt throughout.  The app synchronises the Fit bit so you'll know when the battery is low.

It is easy to use. When you sign up to Fitbit it will automatically sync your devices. You just need to enter your fitbit type in there and then it will show your fitness info

(from https://healthyintstudentssiterubixcomblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/30/fit-bit-app-by-akira/)

Do buy the watch if you are step conscious. You can buy this here

Zouki Cafe and shop

Zouki cafe and Shop is inside the Royal Melbourne Hospital and they are one big cafe and shop. I was on my way to work in the city and as part of marathon training had decided to walk an extra few km. I am doing the 42km marathon in October and as such am raising money for the Salvation army.

Here I had substandard eggs and mushrooms with onion and wholemeal bread. Zouki cafe also does sushi and other bakery items but being a marathoner was in the mood for eggs and brown bread which is good for the iron. I been researching stress fractures online and found that if you don't eat enough for your training you can get a stress fracture over time.

The eggs were the Ikea sort which was rubbery and plasticky in texture. They had been sitting in the bain marie for a while. But the bread was the fresh sort and it was great being toasted. The mushrooms and onions were jut ok but who can stuff these up. The eggs reminded me of hospital food which was very bland.

At least the coffee was good and I can see why there was such a huge line for it. You order and then pay for it and then they call your number. I got a soy flat white as per usual as I am trying to quit having normal milk and I love soy.

Next time I'll come just for the coffee and toast and not the eggs. The service there was just ok.

The comedy festival hits Melbourne

The comedy festival is on again this year and its bigger and better than ever. Here they have their own bar at the Malthouse Theatre and I went along one night to discover just how popular this festival is.

The bar gets really busy on a Friday night but during the weekdays they are pretty quiet. During the weekdays there are food trucks outside to boost patronage. There is a good selection of food inside too.

There are a lot of good Australian and international acts here and many people go there to be entertained. You get your ticket and then relax in the outdoor or indoor bar and then they call you when the show is about to commence. You can bring alcohol in there but no glass. Your alcohol is poured into a plastic cup and the glass stays outside.

Here they have a great selection of wine. Some of the brands are more expensive though such as the Janz. My shiraz was only $7 and it was really strong. It would work well with the cheese plate that they have for $18.

Note it runs until the 23rd at the Malthouse. After that there will be other shows for you to go along to and the bar is always there for your drinks and food. Food is about $10-$26 depending on what you would like to eat. But do come for the drinks.

The Malthouse is on Sturt St in South Melbourne behind the Arts Centre.

UMSU's night market and Xian Foods

UMSU have their annual night market and this was the first time that I have been. Here they have 19 food stalls and all of them was really full except for the roti one. The roti was really good and I did not have to wait long. It was $4 for one big piece.

Most of the student stalls have run out of stuff and most of them had no form of queuing. Everyone just grabbed everything. I was a bit frustrated.

UMSU if you are going to run the Night market next year make it not free (at least a $5 charge and the money raised can go to the International couch). If not free have some security around to check the tickets like the MCG.

And all the clubs should make their stall a cashless payment system meaning that people have to go online to buy a crown card (like Taste of Melbourne) or use EFTPOS only.

But the entertainment was still good though. And so were the decorations.

In the end though I went to Xian Foods which is a few blocks down from Melbourne Uni. They specialise in spicy food and handmade noodles. Although the handmade noodles I got were a little bit on the doughy side. The lamb in my noodle soup was good and so was the broth.

But I was so full from both. And the lady that served me did not understand me one bit when I asked her questions.

Oh well there goes another year of night market.

Animal Orchestra

This place is right outside Melbourne Uni in Carlton. As a student I did not get much of a chance to visit as RMIT is in the city.

The place is in a small old style house which makes it really rustic. Inside it is cool and chic like the 70s.

For a Wednesday morning the place was packed full of students and academics gettings their coffee fix. The barista was friendly.

 Here they have really cheap meals and breakfasts. At a normal cafe a plate of baked eggs with bread is about $18-$19. Here it is $13 and it is filling.

I did need my omega 3's and eggs as a runner doing her first full marathon hence the baked eggs with salmon. This turned out to be a great choice. Here the salmon and eggs were just lovely in  their pan. The souradough was freshly baked.

My soy flat white was great. I enjoyed the really nutty taste of the soy.

Do come by to this cafe when you are at uni or in the hospitals.

MFWF: Script bar and bistro

Script bar and Bistro is in Southbank where Melbourne Uni is and the Arts centre. On a Tuesday night they were not too busy and I was waiting for a tram which was inconsistent to take me to Golden Fleece which seemed far from my running track.

They have been inside the MTC for eight years and love the patronage of the theatre goers.

Here they love their writers and their cheese. I could be in cheese heaven. But they only have a limited menu for dinner and no specials. Although I did spy a $14 burger special.

The atmosphere is relaxed.

So I chose lasagna which is vegetarian with lots of cheese  ($27 for a small piece)and a shiraz ($9) to brighten up a cold winters night.  The bread was good and the butter was very creamy. The salt was lovely.

The shiraz worked well with the lasagna and in the lasagna I could hardly taste the kale. It was overcooked.  There was a lot of cheese and I enjoyed it.

Oh well if you are going to charge $27 it should have been a bigger piece. Oh well I'll probably come for the wine and cheese instead.

MFWF: River Graze

River Graze is one of Melbourne's big events which was free for all to attend. There were many tastings and sales.

Sauces

Tastings

Fed in French

Crossaints

The cider orchard

Free showbag if you sign up to the Herald Sun

Wine tastings

Pork crackle on display

My meal from Hophaus

Ice cream

Strawberries

Nightlife

Charcuterie

Pizza bar

Salami

One type of cheese

There were lots of wine tastings and the one that I liked so far was the pale ale with apple flavour. This was strong and I was drunk easily. It was in a new bar in the Arts Centre.

The French festival was one of the best events with lots of sauce tastings from Carmellicious. And there was also the sweet section. But seeing as I am trying to quit sugar I wasn't interested in it. There was a Kroenburg bar but I wasn't interested in the champagne.

I enjoyed free strawberries and the produce patch as well as the cider orchard. Here there were free goody bags for those who signed up to the Herald Sun.

As per usual I enjoyed Hophaus's pulled pork bun with pork crackling for $10. This was nice but a little bit pricey.

And then on Sunday I went to the Pizza place at Crown. If you want pizza you have to buy a token for $12 and then they give you a small but great pizza. The wine/champers and beers are about $8-$9 each. They only have margherita and the one that I got was from Double Zero. Here they have great pizzas like Gradi's where the dough is soft and its really cheesy.

There was gelato but I wasn't interested.

There was also the balloon fairy but again not interested and I quiver at the sight of him.

Many thanks to the City of Melbourne for this wonderful event. Do go to next years one if there is one.

Ajisen Ramen in Hawthorn

Today there was another big protest at work and I wanted to stay away. It was the one about making education free.

Ajisen Ramen is a chain store and I heard some good things about it from Confessions of a little pigy and other bloggers about their good meal sets.

This store in Hawthorn was run by the Chinese.

Here they have all their meal sets under $15 with some of their premium ones for under $20. They don't come with miso soup- you have to buy it yourself. for an extra $2 per set. This miso soup was worth the $2 as it had generous amount of seaweed and other things.

I had the yasai bento and I have had better at Highpoint where there was lost of seaweed. Here they forgot the sesame seeds on the rice. The tofu for the yasai bento was a bit overcooked. It was a bit soft and it drowned in a lot of sauce.

I didn't really like the corn salad. It had waaay too much mayo in there and I could not taste the corn. The edamame was just ok.

Rating: 13/20-hmm I've had better ok. And Glenferrie has quite a few other places around.

Criniti's in Carlton

RNIS had received a $20 dining voucher from Dimmi and all thoughts are their own.

Crinitis is in Carlton and they are an Italian place. They are featured in the Entertainment book at a 25% discount and if you buy from us you'll be supporting the Salvation Army and the good work that they do with the homeless.

The service was friendly and they were not mean.

Their meals are mammoth and I found that their pasta was hard to finish in one sitting. Their marinara was $24.90 (down from $35). They do have one metre pizzas though but you would have to share them. I could smell the pizzas cooking.

Their pasta was ok. It was not that great and it did smell a little bit fishy. The spaghetti was al dente and it normally doesn't come with bread. But the seafood was a little bit overcooked and they put too much tomato in there to make it like Spaghetti O.

The bread though was really good. It was that great sourdough bread with butter.

Rating: 14/20- its ok. I would come here for a drink though. I still can't understand why they have such a bad rating.

Do buy the Entertainment book from us here.