Friday, November 28, 2014

city2sea, hot air balloons, and other spring adventures.


Year #2 is off to a great start! We've done some cool stuff lately. Here's a little recap:

The City2Sea Race

City2Sea is a 14k race from the CBD (the "city") to St. Kilda (the "sea"). It's part of a fun "City2" series in Australia (Perth and Sydney each have a City2Surf, while Brisbane holds an annual City2South). I registered for City2Sea half a year ago, thinking it would be a nice short(er) distance to run after last month's full marathon. Somewhere between my registration and the day of the race, it got bumped up to a 15k - a whole extra kilometre for the same price! Or, a reason to grumble in despair when running past the 14k mark.

Anyway, I also decided to enter a contest by Adidas and an Australian store called The Iconic, and ended up winning clothes and two free entries to the race! Ben doesn't run much, so I registered him for the 5k, but things got mixed up and he ended up getting registered for the 15k instead. Despite the confusion, he was allowed to run the shorter distance (but didn't get an official time), and ran his very first Australian race, yay! Since it was my first 15k, I had no time goals, and was very happy to finish at a pace close to my first half marathon.
same medal, even though I ran three times his distance. how unfair! haha
The weather was pretty horrid for the Spring season: cold wind, blowing the rain in all directions (much worse than the RunMelbourne half or the Melbourne Marathon, and those were during the Winter months!). At one point during the 15k there was a "misting tent" set up in the middle of the course, spraying gentle streams of cold water on runners, as November weather can often be pretty hot. But because it was pouring outside, people were actually running through the misting station... to keep warm and dry. Whatever works, I guess. And at least when you're running, you're warm: I felt awful for the brave volunteers who had to stand out in the storm, handing out water and cheering us on - but despite the conditions they were all still incredibly friendly and helpful throughout the course.

Also, we got a ton of stuff. Clothes, shoes, gear... and Ben's Adidas shoes actually fit him! This is like the Holy Grail of clothing for Ben - we've dedicated entire afternoons to finding him suitable socks and shoes, to no avail. So, an overall victory!
this is probably worth hundreds of AUD. thanks, The Iconic and Adidas!

We Finally Got a November 18 This Year

To make up for last year (when we skipped my birthday completely for our little international relocation), Ben decided to go all out for my 29th birthday - and surprised me with a hot air balloon ride over Melbourne! It was absolutely wonderful.
Ben took the entire day off, so we got to hang out in the city, exploring and enjoying some yummy food, including authentic New York-style bagels in a little laneway cafe, and delicious gelato in the Docklands neighbourhood.
birthday cards from the fam.

So far, year #29 has been pretty awesome. Thanks to Ben for making it romantic and memorable, and to all the friends and family for the nice texts and messages!

The Night Noodle Markets

The Night Noodle Markets are pretty awesome: two weeks of delicious Asian food stands set up all over Birrarung Marr park. There are a ton of options, from dumplings, desserts, dim sum, stir-fry, and of course noodles. We went twice. So yummy.
this lucky cat would be an amazing holiday lawn ornament.

arriving super early = guaranteed table!

Being More "Social"

Now that Ben's office is finally in the heart of the city, it's easier to meet up and grab some food after work. We had a chance to visit the Victoria Night Market, which offers cuisine from many different cultures and countries. Ben, of course, headed right for the Philly Cheesesteak vendor.
We've also been doing a few more "social" activities, such as hanging out with new friends around the city. We've been able to meet up with some of my awesome Uni classmates, and have gone out a few times with a really fun couple that Ben sat next to during his plane ride to Seattle earlier this year. (Basically, we've spent thousands of dollars making new friends, haha.) It's been really fun getting to know more locals, and with summer approaching, hopefully we'll get to do some fun activities in the sunshine with our new friends!

To celebrate our first year in Melbourne, we decided to revisit the neighbourhood we first lived in, Kew. We had brunch at Percy's Aeroplane Cafe (where I had my very first Melbournian latte a year ago!), walked around the botanic gardens, and reflected on how far we've come thus far.
back to where we started from.

Movies

Melbourne is home to the third-largest IMAX screen in the world, so we thought it would be a great place to check out Interstellar, the new Christopher Nolan film. We LOVED it. I couldn't stop reading articles about it afterwards. I had horrible/exciting nightmares about it for a week. And I can't wait to see it again! But maybe when it becomes the cheap movie of the week, or hits the $1 rental box.
our online ticket. we sure do miss Seattle's $13 IMAX tickets...
We also saw Hunger Games: Mockingjay Pt. 1, which I attended in all my fan-girl glory. We really enjoyed it (despite the whole two-part nonsense - just make a long epic movie, guys), and we're really anticipating/dreading Pt. 2 next year! 

shameless fan, Katniss-side-braid and all.
Also, Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family in the States! I made some yummy stuff for dinner, and then we destroyed each other playing Super Smash Bros. Happy turkey day indeed.
green bean casserole, stuffing, salmon. and cherry coke is a rare delicacy here. no joke.


CK
they don't make American Thanksgiving cards down under, so I had to make my own this year! :)

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