9th July 2023

 Bonsoir mes amis,

aujourd'hui j'aimerais parler de mon weekend.

This weekend has been quite eventful. I had a busy weekend; on Saturday had brunch with Victor who was back in Melbourne visiting with his fiancé, volunteering for French Bastille day in the afternoon and hang around the city for a bit to spend time with myself. On Sunday (today) I woke up early (-er compared to my usual weekend) to go to Ian Potter centre to see the launch of "Letters from Ger" exhibition at NGV Australia, then back to Bastille day event (had my galletes!) then to celebrate Eid Adha with my queer friends at Victorian Pride Centre.

Friday night after work, went to see Alex to play tennis at Carlton garden, he said the club is good, might fit me if I would like to play there every now and then. We had dinner first at a Korean restaurant near Chinatown, it was pretty good. I have not had Korean food since I had one with James ages ago. I forgot how good it is, we ordered fried chicken to share as well as my beef galbi. We chatted for too long, it was already past 9 PM and we decided to skip tennis (so much for exercising). Finished dinner, then we went for a walk around the city before decided to go to an European night market at Mme Brussels lane. It was alright, the food selection was good but most of them closed by the time we arrived. Walked passed hte pierogi stall and they offered us a free plate full of pierogis to share!! I was full at the time (so did Alex) but we still grab it as it was free otherwise the food will go to bin :(. Pierogis tasted delicious, huge portion, one side seems to be curried pierogi and the other side is more traditional, served with sour cream, pickles and fried onions. Yum! we continued our journey and our last destination for the night is a gelato shop! Yay who does not love a good gelato. The place called "Kariton Sorbetes", had soo many unusual flavours I was so excited to try their pandan and durian ones. Got that and tasted great. definitely will come back, the place also looked aesthetically pleasant, as people says "instagrammable".

Saturday morning I did not feel the best when I woke up around 9AM, I felt like I did not sleep enough, went to bed late (1.30 AM) got home late, then scrolling instagram endlessly (bad habit especially before bed, I need to fix this ASAP) and watching Wimbledon. Anyway, I woke up got a message from Victor where we should go for Brunch, I have not got any idea on where to go yet! I said to him "give me 30 mins to get ready then I will continue the conversation" then I ran to get a quick shower and thinking any good brunch cafe around the CBD area. I decided to drive into the city because it is quicker and more convenient (in other words I got lazy catching public transport). I decided to go to Le Bajo as it is in North Melbourne and I can get parking easier in that area. I parked in the 15 mins zone (got fined for $96!!) because I parked there from 12PM, only 15 minutes more than allowed. That is life, these things happen and I cannot be lucky all the time can I? I was bitter about that for 1 minute then I am fine. will pay that soon this week. Anyway we went to the cafe, waited in line for 15 mins and got a seat at the bar. I ordered magic coffee which apparently it used to be the secret menu in most cafes in Melbourne. I only know this perhaps in the past 5 months after living in Melbourne for 7 years. Visiting cafes makes me want to buy those sexy looking la marzocco coffee machine that cost about eight grands. Waste a money I know - it is looking very sleek, will make amazing coffees for years but definitely a want than a need, scrap this impulsive idea from my head thanks :). Back to the topic, I also ordered the octopus sandwich which I know really good from the past, while Victor ordered mushroom sandwich and flat white. Had a good chat with him, caught up on what happening in our life, he's still working with Rhenus and enjoying work travels to Germany and Thailand every now and then, got engaged and bought his property in Singapore which I am really proud of him!

Saying goodbye again to Victor, he's leaving Melbourne today (bye! I will see you soon hopefully in Singapore next time) I go straight to Bastille day festival and start my volunteering shift. they gave all the volunteers this cute uniform and a red beret! I worked at the bar and I enjoyed it. We had mulled wine, and all French alcoholic drinks. Met some interesting people, getting myself involved in French community in Melbourne will hopefully help me to keep improving my French. my goal is by next year I will be able to understand and speak basic French to survive. Did not have time to had a look around the market but I feel so happy been able to meet these wonderfull people within French community. Then I finished the evening, had dinner at Menya - had Gyutan don (it costs me $23.50 now mind you, inflations really hit us when eating out). 

I will continue this blog tomorrow. it is past midnight now, I promise I will explain what happened on Sunday.

a bientot for now !