Friday, July 25, 2014

TGIF

This week has been semi-mundane, with lots of chores. Peter spent over an hour on the phone with the internet company trying to connect service before finally just canceling and signing up for a cheaper service through our apartment building. It was a hassle for him, but turned out in our favor. At home, paying for wireless means unlimited access, but here you have to buy a plan based on usage, like a cell phone data package. We have no idea how much data we will need, but luckily our first month with the new provider is unlimited, so we can look at how much we use during the month and pick an appropriate package later. Our usage basically depends on whether or not there is an Australian equivalent to Netflix :). 

We also had the dishwasher repaired yesterday, but when the guy pulled it out of the wall space to check on some parts, we found a bunch of dead roaches, one alive, and a big mess of crumbs and food spills. No wonder we're getting bugs! Who are these people that lived here before us!? I'm no Martha Stewart, but at least buy a freakin swiffer. Anyway, I was far too grossed out to touch any of it, but Peter cleaned the whole area until it was spotless. What a hero!!! I knew it was too soon to declare victory over the roaches...we are still waiting on the apartment management to send out an exterminator. Speed is not their strong suit, we are learning. They apparently weren't too moved by my dramatic initial phone call about the roaches. Their response was essentially "buy some traps and be thankful they aren't as big as the ones in Queensland."

Now for the fun stuff!! We went up to the Queen Victoria Market yesterday to look around. It's HUGE and has everything-food, clothes, even chickens for sale. We didn't buy anything due to our current lack of a fridge and bug issue, but I plan to go back-food was priced much lower than at the store. Here are some pictures. 
This is the entrance to the main market building. 
A meat stand. 
We haven't tried kangaroo yet but now I know where to get some! 
Clothing vendors 
Chickens! I was tempted to buy one but we don't really live in an environment conducive to raising chickens, so I sadly passed. This lucky lady was taking one home, though! 

My friend Sara works for General Mills and let me know that they were running a month long taco stand in one of the arcades (mall) near us. We decided to go check it out for lunch. The tacos were really good-and really cheap ($2.50 each). It was the least expensive meal we have had since we've been here by far! I took a few pictures but accidentally deleted them, so all I have left is this one:  
My taco!  
You'll just have to believe me when I say it was cool! 

We then looked at TVs at an electronics store down the road. They seem to be more expensive here, but not terribly so. As predicted, I picked out the smaller, cheaper one and Peter was willing to spring for something bigger. We didn't really settle on a compromise and left empty handed. I'm not even convinced that I want to have a TV at all- although Bachelor Australia starts next week sooo we'll see :). 
We then stopped into an H and M store that's near us. It was amazing. Prices again were higher than at home but there were still some items in the $15-$30 range. It also had a home section that was really nice and something I had never seen before. I'll probably be back when we start to decorate a bit more. 
Here's a view of the first floor. 
The bath section of the home store. 
Most of the bedding choices were pretty girly, which I liked. Peter didn't :). 

Last night we headed over to the Docklands-an area on the water that mainly consists of office buildings and apartment complexes. It took us about 15 minutes by tram to get there. I get the feeling that they are trying to attract more people to the area for purposes other than business. For example, during the winter they shoot off fireworks every Friday at 7 pm. We went last night and the show was pretty impressive! 
We sat on the water- here is our view across the bay. That's a Ferris wheel lit up in the distance, behind some apartment buildings. 
So far, it's been a fun weekend! Peter is at work today- I slept in and will run some errands here shortly. We plan to attend a football game later this weekend, so I'll report on that in the next couple days! 

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Welcome! I started Laura and Peter Down Under in July 2014 when my husband and I moved from the States to Melbourne, Australia for his job. I blog about expat life, our travels, food, and whatever else comes to mind. Follow along on our adventures Down Under!

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