thankful.

Signs of spring: blossoms, later days, golden sunsets, the smell of freshly cut grass and the associated sneezes, lots of walks – with friends, dogs, and solo.

Nourishment. Taking the time to moisturise my body after a shower, or cook a wholesome meal. The ability to fill my fridge with fresh, delicious produce.

Feeling nostalgic for things as they happen: beer bottling, wine tasting, food market taste-testing, coffee-drinking, adventurous weekends.

Awesome work friends who drink coffee in the sunshine with me every morning and help me talk through big life decisions.

And so, so much time spent with animals lately.

 

I’m very, very happy.

slices of weekend.

Awesome weekend funtimes!






So, despite being on deaths door last week (maybe a slight exaggeration… I had the flu), this weekend was beyond wonderful. Perfect food at Top Paddock for breakfast on Saturday (these guys own several cafes in Melbourne and are just killing it! My toast with (perfectly blanched) broccoli and sugar snap peas, poached eggs, Heidi raclette, avocado, and roasted almonds was just… beyond); dancing, drinking (rum and ginger beer), eating (GREEN SMOOTHIE!), laughing at the expense of drugged-up festival-goers, and standing on tippy toes to see FKA Twigs at Laneway festival – my favourite Australian music festival by far; and a long beach walk with coffee and cookies.

this may be blurry, but Rufus looks so damn happy, so I don’t care.

#fromwhereImanbun

out of focus, but so beautiful.

I’m growing out my eyebrows… can you tell? (Yes, I know you can.)

I love the ocean. It wasn’t particularly hot on Sunday, so apart from a few dogs and their owners, we had the place to ourselves! We met a trooper of a pup with only three legs, fished through the rock pools for little crabs, watched the pelicans and swans take off in the wake of an energetic kelpie, and climbed on top of all the rocks we could find. Life is good.

How was your weekend?

slices of weekend.

A coffee date with breakfast nachos, a sushi run, our best red wine and my new favourite pizza with the Bestbones (feat. lots of laughter, TV talk, and celebrations of our one-year Melbourneiversary), a SHIELD marathon, and a bushwalk.

“jog on”

the most kookaburras I’d ever seen in one place! this guy had a beetle in his beak.

How was your weekend, guys? Hope 2015 is treating you well.

great ocean roadtrip.

The Great Ocean Road was absolutely stunning. The first day of the trip was spent following the gorgeous blue, winding coastline, with only a few stops to see the Round The Twist (man, that website is amazing) lighthouse, the Twelve Apostles, and famous surfing hotspot Bells Beach. We set up camp in Portland, took Jango on a walk on his leash, ate and drank at the local pub, and hit the hay nice and early.

 

At 5am, we were woken by this little jerk. Adorable, yes (I have approximately ten thousand photos of him), but have you ever heard the noise koalas make when *ahem* in heat? I woke up with a huge fright and whacked Rufus next to me, completely convinced that we were about to be eaten by a bush pig.

Koala barking aside, it was a super peaceful, incredibly beautiful trip.

#flashbackfriday Pulau Langkawi

Look at me, being all trendy, using hashtags n’ junk. I thought I’d cash in on this trend and use Fridays to take a trip back in time and reflect on past travels.





Pulau Langkawi was an absolute dream ending to our Malaysia trip last December (previous posts 1, 2, 3). We spent most of our time swimming in the resort’s infinity pool (occasionally drinking face-meltingly-strong cocktails in the swim-up bar), reading in the sunshine, eating delicious foods, and marvelling at the wildlife. The one day we set off to explore the island, we decided to take a ride on the huge cable cart to admire the views from the top of a mountain. Not a great idea, really, considering Rufus is extremely afraid of heights. But man, what a rush! And what a view!

We were lucky enough to score a beach-front room at the resort, so the first thing we did after walking through the door was run straight to the back door to admire our view. Incredibly rude of us apparently, as we disturbed a huge dragon (lizard, like the one below) that was chilling out in the backyard. Sorry buddy! We also saw squirrels, Malaysia’s national bird, kittens, and a multitude of adorable monkeys!

phoning it in.

Some beautiful things, as captured with my phone.

Apologies for any doubles from Instagram.

slices of weekend.

quiet moments.

beauty in strange places.

growth.

A mini-harvest. Featuring one single pea pod, 3 leaves of rocket, and half an un-ripe kale leaf. Those peas and that rocket blew my mind.

A great one, this week! We experienced a real Spring weekend – I was loathe to be inside, and lots of light beer was consumed. Highlights include after-work drinks in my backyard with a favourite on Friday, a solo beach walk (and coffee consumed while sitting in the sand in my good jeans), lunch at our local, shopping for camping supplies, movie night and sweet potato burgers, a sundrenched walk to the local bric-a-brac (/vintage) market; a coffee table score, and time spent studying (less thankful for the study, more for the peace of mind and clarity it brings).

We also attempted to save a tiny possum that had been hit by a car (carrying him, wrapped in my cardigan, as we walked home, and then straight to the animal hospital), but unfortunately he couldn’t be saved. While it was heart-wrenching, and I may have shed a tear or twelve, it was humbling to be part of this animal’s journey, and reminded me of just how much happiness animals and nature (the whole cycle) bring me.

a solo beach morning.

beach boxes.

Cranberry-coconut-dark chocolate cookie – to get me to the Eftpos minimum. Also because it looked delicious.

perfect.

dat face.

perfection in a huge salad bowl.

How was your weekend, friends?

bendigo.

A few weekends ago, I went and stayed with my family in Bendigo (previous trips here, here and here). It was incredibly cold, but my Aunty’s warmly decorated home (along with the fireplace) kept me cozy. I spent time with my cousin, drank red wine and ate vindaloo with my family, reminisced on old photos in the evening, and woke up to pancakes.

In the morning, my Aunty and I donned gumboots, scarves and jackets, and went walking through their 25 acres of land – which I never even knew they had. We saw kangaroos, sheep (both domestic and wild), huge birds, and many-a-foxhole.

spot the kangaroo?

This farmhouse always manages to ground me; return me to myself. I think it’s the quiet.

the cameron highlands.

The Cameron Highlands were absolutely breathtaking. We visited a tea plantation, where we learned about how different kinds of teas are processed (which I found incredibly interesting!); we took a brief hike through a beautiful mossy forest, during which our guide expressed the importance of rainforests and lamented over their destruction; we visited a butterfly farm where we also encountered a pit filled with scorpions; we sat and savoured cups of fresh tea with our newly formed friends from Holland; and we marvelled at the spectacular view.

The weather was so much cooler at higher altitude, which we were so grateful for (even if we did tempt fate during the windy, predominantly blind cornered road up to the highlands)! We stayed in the beautiful Father’s Guest House – which I could not recommend highly enough – and ate delicious Indian food most nights. We were happy little Vegemites.

Next stop: Penang.

kuala lumpur.

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! I hope you had a beautiful Christmas period with plenty of family, friends, and fantastic food – I know I did! It’s been a long time and I’m so excited to share what’s been going on with ya’ll! In my last slices of weekend post, I coyly hinted that we had some big things on the horizon.
Firstly – as you can probably infer from my title – Rufus and I went to Malaysia for a brief holiday. It was absolutely fantastic and I plan to inundate my blog with photos very shortly. Secondly, um, Rufus and I are moving to Melbourne! I was lucky enough to get a job at a Melbourne university (for which I could not be more thankful), and we do love the big, exciting city (as evidenced here and here), so we’ll be leaving early in the new year! I’m so incredibly excited (and nervous, and a little overwhelmed) – I’m looking forward to exploring and eating at a thousand new restaurants and living (and working!) with one of my favourite humans in the entire world, and I fully intend on documenting every single step along the way!

First things first though – Malaysia! Our first stop was Kuala Lumpur.

We ate some absolutely delicious Indian food on the first night, then spent the rest of our time wandering the streets of the city at length, peering through the windows of designer shops in the multitude of fancy shopping malls throughout the city. The food was so wonderfully tasty and spicy – Rufus especially enjoyed eating curry and rice for breakfast every morning! We met some beautiful little animals and saw some awe-inspiring temples at the Batu Caves just outside the city… Oh! And we fed papaya to baby elephants!

That little guy was my favourite! As someone who is very much affected by animal cruelty, I was so relieved to find the elephant sanctuary so environmentally friendly. The elephants are rehabilitated after injuries or run-ins with farmers of the palm oil plantations, and set back into the wild in more appropriate areas, where they are often able to be found by their herd!

We were expecting just another big, dirty city, but we actually had such a great time in Kuala Lumpur! There was so much to do – so many day trips to take – we left feeling as though we could have used an extra couple of nights in the city!

Next up: the Cameron Highlands.