Free coffee at Donut King

RNIS recieved their latte free but they paid for the donut.

This Donut King is in Highpoint. In fact there are two Donut Kings in Highpoint. One which is near the cinema and the other one is near Crunch. They both are in a food court.

Donuts on offer

I have wanted to take a break from study.

Here the coffee was milky but burnt and unlike what Facebook said about the hot chocolate they did not actually offer hot chocolate. The barista was friendly and she put an artwork on top of my coffee. It is important that the barista is friendly and knowledgeable about their coffee.

But their traditional cinnamon donut was good. It was piping hot and was only $1.20 each.

Do buy the Entertainment book here and you'll be helping the Salvos. Moreover there is a buy one coffee get one free for Donut King in the book.

The Pancake Parlour in Highpoint

RNIS got a voucher for a free short stack and did not have to pay

The Pancake Parlour is a franchise and some Pancake Parlours do their short stacks worse than others.

I had been wanting to try out this Pancake Parlour for some time now and when the chance to get a free voucher came along at Melbourne Central I jumped at it.

I didn't have any drinks due to the Febfast program which I am taking part to learn about what sweets can do to someone's health and their life. Every year too many Australians eat a lot of sugar that they don't need. Thus this is why I did not add any ice cream to my pancake.

Instead I had whipped butter and a little squirt of syrup. In hindsight the pancake is much better without the added sugar. This pancake was moist but a little on the small side. Luckily I didn't pay $12.50 for this so I am grateful.

Many thanks to the Pancake Parlour for the voucher and do try the short stack out with the whipped butter and a little squirt of maple syrup.

Nandos at Melbourne Central

RNIS got a free voucher to try their Peri Peri chips but paid for the spicy rice.

Nandos is in Melbourne Central on the same level as the cinema. I have never tried this Nandos before eventhough I have seen it. That's weird because I try almost everything that I see. Maybe its either because Nandos is full of meaty things or because its expensive. Or I have never had the chance until now when I went on that treasure hunt and picked up a free chip voucher.

Sauces

You go up and order and you pay. If you are eating in they will give you a number. But be prepared to wait if they are busy like they were on Friday night. But I did not have to wait long for my food. The service was friendly and they were attentive.

Their peri peri chips are pretty good. And they are not too spicy which is great. I tried a couple of sauces such as the three bell pepper one and the mildly spicy one. I liked them both and the three bell pepper one worked better on the rice than on the chips. The peri peri one worked better.

The wild rice was al dente and it was very spicy so mild lovers may not like this.

Rating: 15/20- great. Do come by and try this place out before a movie. Or after one.

40 years: 3RRR's exhibition

To celebrate 40 years of being in Melbourne 3RRR has a free exhibition and pop up bar going on at the State Library. The pop up bar is only on selected Fridays.

The 3RRR exhibition was rather interesting. Here they had some of the works from RMIT University a leading uni in radio and television. RMIT have their own student radio and TV channel where students can practice what they have learnt. It was good to be transported back  in time to where nightclubs and bars were more popular. I remembered those years at RMIT especially at the student union where I was helping with their weekly events. Their weekly events had beer for their members and then afterwards we would sit and enjoy that beer. It still happens to this day but not as much because of the move to a smaller space.

Then on selected Friday nights there was the pop up bar which was free entry. It was also a chance to let guest mingle with each other over wine and cocktails. There wasn't much in terms of snacks except for pretzels so I had brought my own and added in a $10 RRR cocktail which was vodka, ginger beer and mint. It was presented in a takeaway cup and it would have been nicer in one of their fancy glasses. But oh well- it had that hint of sweetness from the ginger beer and the refreshing taste of mint.

Other drinks were $4-$8.
The music at the pop up bar was electric and cool. It was the true spirit of RRR and people enjoyed
it.

Do go and see the exhibition in the State Library before they close on the 26th of Feburary.

Royal Stacks

I have walked past it but have not visited it. When I heard from Weekendnotes that they were giving out free custard with their burgers I thought that I would try. And try I did.

About 44 other bloggers wrote about it. Some wrote good things and others wrote bad things about their chips and burgers. Just recently Yelp had a free burger party there but due to training requirements I could not come.

Here I had their cheeseburger. It was really nice and I enjoyed the patty and the gherkin. The bun was really great but sweet. It was $9.90

The chips were more like the McDonalds fries. I got a small serve of them for $2.90.

I did however enjoy the free frozen custard which was a nice touch but I had to remind them about their birthday freebies. Several others did not get their free custard with every burger purchased. They should have made a sign about it and asked about it. The free custard was minty and tasted like a mint slice. Normally it is $4.50 for one.

Still it is all good for me. No complaints from me.

Yelp's free Lounge party

Every month Yelp has free parties for all to go to provided that they check in on the Yelp app.


This was a wonderful party where everyone got some free stuff and lots of food and drinks. But some people got a bit too drunk though. I went with my friend Brenton from the Plus ones and bumped into David from the World Loves Melbourne.

The food took a while to come. Luckily I had something at the Fed Square Ice rink. People came at 6pm and only got the salmon dish to start off with. Then more things came at 7pm. As such I enjoyed the pumpkin soup with pancetta on top. It was nice and creamy and does work well by itself ( with no drinks that is).

Beer

Lounge are known for their beers and last time I was here I did not get to try a beer.

There were espresso martinis on offer and most people tried everything. But I only had one drink in mind: beer. With that I tried the Hawthorn Golden Ale which had that light appley flavour to it. It worked really well with the burger. It would have worked with the chicken wings but I had to leave soon after to catch the train home.

The artworks on the wall were fun. Pity I didn't get to take a photo of them.

Make sure that you download the free Yelp App and then get invited to events like these. Many thanks to Yelp for the invite

Krispy Kreme's Original glazed

Krispy Kreme is a doughnut chain store and there are a few in the city. I had always wanted to go to the Southern Cross one as it is bigger and cleaner. And there is seating.

Today was free Doughnut day and so with this I got a free Original glazed doughnut. Here they were small and are normally $4.50.

This one was not sickly sweet like some of them are. But I did feel a little bit greasy afterwards.

The store was clean and big and its right near the train station. They do have milkshakes for the weary country travellers waiting for their connecting train or bus back to the airport.

The service was fast and friendly and there were two lines- one for the free doughnuts and the other for the paid stuff.

Thanks Krispy Kreme for the free doughnut and make sure to stop in on your way home for that occasional treat.

St Kilda Festival and Pidapipo

We talk about this year's iconic St Kilda festival and the excitement that it brought to people. This was a free festival for all by the way and many Internationals and locals came to this event by tram

Entry

Fried food at $5.50 at Hare Krishina

Premier's Active April is on again this year and we signed up for it.

This year the St Kilda festival was on again and it was better and bigger than ever. Here there was no balloon artist but lots of games and a huge carnival. Here there were a few live bands and the one on the main stage sung a anthem about Australia Day. Here we were reminded about Ansett and other Australian icons.

It was on a nice sunny but not too hot day.

Many International students came and supported this event. Unlike last time when I went during the day, the twirlight was really busy and everywhere there were queues. Even the food trucks/stalls were busy so instead we went to Lentils as it was quieter and we loved the burger and green tea.

Cheap dinner but there were huge lines there

Watermelon for all

This time too there was free watermelon. And free fruit and patting the dogs I enjoy. There were a few freebies such as free tea and froyo. But the froyo wasn't that great. It was heavy and really sour.

In fact I preferred Pidapipo's ice cream which was balsamic strawberry flavoured gelato. Yum. It was light and flavoursome. In fact they have a store in Lygon st which I am yet to check it out.

Is there anything that you enjoyed at this year's one? Or hated?

Snippet: Free tacos at Federation Square.

Last Friday there were free tacos at Federation Square courtesy of Broadsheet and Super taco. Super Taco wanted to promote their super healthy tacos. Here there was a huge line to get the tacos but no one wanted the fish and the beef taco so I got them.

They were tasty as although I wished that they had habenaro sauce as I love mine super spicy. But oh well. I thought that there would be black beans but no such thing. My fish one had a healthy amount of fish in there and same as the beef one.

I can't wait to try the cactus one next.

Ping Pong party at the Library on the Dock

RNIS was invited by the City of Melbourne
As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015

The City of Melbourne along with AFIS had decided to put on a Ping pong partyas part of their aim to keep students healthy. About 40 of us turned up for free pizza and playing. The free pizza was from a place in Docklands called La Bene.

These pizzas had thin crust and are not like the other ones. They really kept the health conscious in mind. The fatty bases often have lots of sodium and too many carbs in my opinion. I like the thin bases better and the ingredients were fresh. I really enjoyed my vegetarian pizza as that was yum.

I had heaps of fun just watching the game and cheering people on. Although I did not win this was good.

Many thanks to AFIS and the City of Melbourne for such an event

Indian night at the Couch

RNIS was invited by Chai Junction to this free event

The event was held on a windy Thursday night at the Couch where 200 people turned up for a night of fun and dancing. And eating.

Indians love to eat and they love their spicy food. Here the food from Delhi Rocks was not too spicy and in fact Delhi Rocks had a discount for students which is half price meals at their café in the city (deets are down the bottom).

Sadly Melbourne doesn't have that many Indian places in the city. They are all either in the west, south and north of the city.

I really loved their samosas without the sauce. The curry in there was really good and I'm glad that Delhi Rocks catered to the vegetarians that night. I also enjoyed the fried onion.

Who could say no to sweets? Certainly not I and I enjoyed the gulab jarmun (which is a round sweet in syrup). The Asians from China might not get it and the other things but they were good.

But first up was spring rolls and mini samosas which by 6:30pm everybody seemed to favor these.

Then came the Bollywood dancing which was fun for all and many students participated.

Many thanks to the Couch and Chai Junction for having me.

Free sausages from Davey's baked potatoes

Via Commbank
RNIS attended free as they had the Commonwealth bank app.

The Commonwealth bank app is really easy to use and you can use it like Paypass where you simply tap and go. If you forgot your card then this is a good option. It is free for students to download.

The sausage was lovely and the roll was fresh. I have known Davey's for a while now as they come to many o week events.

Many thanks Commonwealth bank and you should sign up for their free app via iTunes and Google play. It requires Android 4.0+ phones.

A Global Gathering

As part of this year's Melbourne Food and Wine festival.

A Global Gathering is all out foodie event which is spread out all over Bridge Road. From free food to $5-$10 tasting plates there is something to please everyone. Even the pickiest of eaters. There was free face painting for the kids.

My four stamps

Free popcorn

Free face painting

It is only a short tram ride away from the city. At the Information hubs we collected our passports and stamp form and off we went. If you got four stamps like we did then you would be in the running to win a SMEG kitchen pack from Harvey Norman, which leads us to our first stop for free food.

1) Harvey Norman
Harvey Norman offered free chippolatas and tastings of their stir fry. We couldn't stay long but they did offer free cooking classes and the bake off at 12pm.

I really loved that sweetness in the stir fry and the onions. The sales rep from SMEG said it was 4 mins to make the stir fry and it worked a treat.

The stir fry for everyone

2) Three One 2 One café

The entrance

Salt and sugar

This place was just literally across the road from Harvey Norman, but due to the heavy traffic it was hard to cross. Maybe they should have closed off that whole road and then have lots of roadside stalls.

The café is pretty homely and they make their own jams and have about 21 varieties of sauces for people to peruse on their dishes. I had the mushroom arachini which had that subtle taste of mushrooms and it was not too overpowering. I also loved having the chilli jam on the second ball= yum

3) Bouzy Rouge and their salt cod ball ($2)
What attracted us to this place was the paella and the look of the balls. It was on the way to Osteria. The balls were full of flavour and many people got attracted to the paella. The paella smelt good but we had to leave room for other things.

Wine lis

The cod ball tasted like cod and cheese, match made in heaven.

4) Osteria la Passione 

This café is just a few blocks away from three two one and here we had the cold meat plate for $5. It was $10 just to add the drink as well. We loved the cold meat platter as it was yum and the meats were very fresh. I think it was lamb. We also enjoyed the baked bread and the balsamic vegetables which were drizzled on top of the meat.

Before going in we tried their extra virgin olive oil samplings and bread and gosh it was sooo strong.

This café was very homely, it reminded us of regional Italy and we loved the products on display.

Before we got to number 5 we checked out all the BBQ displays with Gypsey and Mosquito barbequing wallaby and Big Boy's special of $7 for their special chips.

We also checked out Slowpoke's free masterclass.

5) Laikon Deli
This place has been going strong for almost forty years and they sell heaps of fresh Greek food in which you can take home or eat outside.

We got the cone and loved the olives and the freshness of the salad. Yum! I say. And the man that served us was very friendly.

By then the street was getting busier. Oh well only one more stop.

BBQ at Gypsey and Mosquito

6) The Groove Train

This is the last stop and I was really disappointed with my eggplant chips. Although nice it was a little bit bland and it took waaay longer than I had expected. The service was very slow for a not so crowded place. I had always wanted to give this place a go.

I had expected stellar chips as that is what I got everytime I had been to the other Groove trains. But these ones were not even crunchy.