Laura and Peter Down Under: A Wild Night and Some Food Pics

A Wild Night and Some Food Pics

We had some wild weather here in Melbourne last night. There was crazy lightning for most of the night and it apparently struck something and caused a power surge that disrupted the Metro Train service. All the trains were delayed or suspended for hours. I imagine the Monday morning commute was a disaster, to say the least. And we had our own mini-disaster last night when Peter cut his finger while slicing a sandwich bun. The cut wasn't too deep, but it wouldn't stop bleeding since it was on the tip of his finger. Those of you who know me know that I don't do well with blood. You may have even heard the story of the infamous faint/vomit incident while working a blood drive in college. Essentially, I am useless in emergencies. Anyway, after seeing the murder-scene-like aftermath, I felt ill and had to lie down. Eventually, Peter got the bleeding to stop and I felt better, so we narrowly avoided an international ER trip and a repeat of the blood drive incident. Success.

On a more positive note, I have some fabulous food photos to share. Yesterday, I met friends for brunch at Hammer and Tong in Fitzroy, a super hipster suburb that is literally packed with amazing bars, restaurants, and shops. I've heard a lot of hype about this brunch spot, so we had to check it out. It definitely lived up! I ordered a crab burger and could have eaten three. Portion sizes are not as big here as in the U.S. Which probably explains the lack of obese people.

I took some pictures of my friends' meals, because they looked amazing as well. I couldn't tell you what this is, something with an egg, but it looks delicious:

Some kind of fruit-mint drink. I had passion fruit and it was good, but not as pretty as this one!

So, Hammer and Tong was a success. We had to top it off with a donut run, of course.

In related news, I stumbled upon a "Top 10 Dessert Stops in Melbourne" article, and I've made it my personal goal to visit all of them. I've already been to Lux Bite and N2 Extreme Gelato, Dessert Story, and Passionflower so at this point my goal is extremely attainable. We decided to try out Pancake Parlour on Saturday night.

It's like a better (and more expensive) version of IHOP and is even open till 3am! This is the first restaurant I've found in Melbourne open so late and I'm extremely happy about it. We both ordered Short Stacks of pancakes, mine topped with chocolate ice cream and hot fudge. It was one of the best desserts I've ever had, which is weird because I don't usually think of pancakes as dessert. But this is the beauty of the Pancake Parlour. Since it's a pancake, I can get away with eating it for breakfast too. Right?