A Bath of a Time

3 Nov. Saturday.
Reubern is here to bathe with Jovann! :) :) :)

you see, Jovann has this problem with not liking water over his face during shampoo time. so i have mentioned this to my friend Joanne, who does not have such a problem. so she suggested bringing Reubern over to our house to bathe with Jovann, as it is believed peer pressure can be very enlightening to babies! so exciting! so on a Saturday, they came over, Reubern can walk already by the way!

happy bath time in my bathtub.






Reubern exploring the ducky bath mat.


Nope, peer pressure doesnt work for Jovann. he still don't like water on his head. :P

Melbourne playground

Jovann had a lot of fun at the playground opposite our B&B, the last day there. the day before, we strolled along Glen HUntly road leisurely, and got a nice jacket for hubby. thoroughly explored that nice little street, very happy. :)



Daddy resplendent in this spanking new leather jacket.



Hot Chocolat at Handolf's Fine Chocolate, where we had fresh truffle shavings in our hot chocolate, and the steaming mugs were served with a selection of truffles too.









next day, in the morning after we packed, brought Jovann to the playground. weather as usual was lovely, i have never gone to a playground in such cold cooling weather before, and its such a nice experience. Jovann enjoy it so much, that I cannot bear to leave to go buy the books i wanted to buy for him. we put that off, so that we can spend more time at the playground with him.




I love this photo of him laughing at me










Its time to go home....
this is the place we have been staying at for the past 6 nights, and it was such a lovely stay we will truly miss it.

We Love Melbourne - Part 7

Day 5 is a Saturday, and its to Mornington!!! An hour's drive away. while rushing to pack his lunch and dress Jovann up, I accidentally scratched his little face. :( It drew blood, and I was so heartpain. Lucky the cut healed nicely a few days later.

Boy found in luggage..


the 1hour ride to Mornington was very nice, lovely weather. Lucky Jovann napped throughout the ride, else I won't have been able to concentrate on reading the map and entertaining him at the same time. It was a pleasant journey, and when we reached there at 1.10pm, and stepped out of the car, the weather was superb!!! cold and windy!!! LOVELY! We bundled him up in the thickest layers yet and he went all meek and quiet and smiley. hehehee. Daddy carried him, and bounched him all the way down to the beach chanting "my little chao shao bao, my little chao shao bao......!" He does look like one!






While we were all bundled up in such thick clothings, there are some angmohs picnicing there in tshirts and SHORTS! and a boy playing with a toy in the water...goodnesss.....


We then drove around and parked next to the cliffs. Such waves, it was loud and the wind was so strong, I can't help smiling, felt so happy in such weather. The waves here make those at home look so tame.


Went around looking for the famed seafood, and we found one nice restaurant near the sea, names The Rock Restaurant and Cafe, nice cosy classy place. Cool!


This is what we have. Ordered half a dozen of oysters thats out of this world! drizzled with...


Kilpatrick dressing. The fragrance of the bacon added crispness to the oysters, yummy.


Seaweed and sesame, very refreshing and light taste, very different!


And Oysters, neat. with my fav tabasco and lemon juice!

my seafood platter.



Jovann and his friend Poppy.


Then we went to Mornington town itself. nice quaint little shops, with some lovely upclass boutiques. nice balance. But its just out luck, to have come here on the day of the Australia racing big game or something. the shops either close early or not open at all! fume... next time learn also that better come here on Wed where all the crafts shops open their stalls. :)

Nice weather in this nice seaside town! even nicer to be eating hot steaming noodles in a box in. always wanted to try. hehehee.

PHotos of the colourful beach houses....


Had dinner back at our own town Glen Huntly. very cosy diner called Simmers.


Felt like having some fine foods today, so I had Hot turkish bread with grilled eggplant and roasted capsicums, nice! Hubby had his best Falafel till date, second only to those he ate in UK during his school days.


We enjoy our dinner, but not Jovann. he refused his jar food (2nd time I trying, first time that he didn't want). so we had to "tabao back" while I did a quick meal for him.



some caramel looking dessert that I taobaoed back from Simmers. :)

We Love Melbourne - Part 6

So what do we do in the B&B in the hours between eating, shopping and sleeping? :) HOw is Jovann entertained? hehehee....

The B&B is huge, lotsa crawling space for him to move and work off that energy. There's always lotsa of things to do, and Jovann is always happily exploring, learning, making noise. hehehe.

There was this one adorable night...it was on day 2 I think. I was lying on the bed after bathing, and hubby playing with him on the roll out bed beside me... Jovann about to be washed up too for his bedtime...and then he suddenly sat up, leaned forward, and kissed me, fell back giggling, then sat up lean forward and kiss me again, then fell back laughing! It was really really sweet, and wet hahaha. Coz he either kiss my cheeks, or gently mouthed my nose, or just bump his head against mine....love it...love that feeling, that sudden impulsiveness of him to show affection. LOve you Jovann...

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Or sometimes, after we finish dinner, IF we had it in the B&B, he will be crawling to the drawers, trying to pull them open but not succeeding coz these are antiques, super heavy. One night, he busied himself to closing doors. and then he discovered the heater....he kept touching the heater, even after countless warnings by us. he touch, and withdraw, and keep touching. The heater was not very very hot at that time, but we don't want to risk him liking it so much he may touch it one night when its super hot. so hubby wanted to teach him, and pretended to touch the heater himself and "got burned". Our son found that funny instead.

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sometimes we spend time in the drawing room chatting, or just ildly planning the itinerary for the next day. Jovann always try to make a beeline for the book shelves. The ones in the drawing room a bit dusty, while the ones in the hallway is fine. So i don't let him touch those in the drawing room, so either we move furniture to block it, or I play "guard the bookcase" game with him....

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We Love Melbourne - Part 5

Day 4. Its Queen Victoria Market, i love the sound of this place.....sounds so fun and grand at the same time.

breakfast


Jovann trying to grab my food as usualll...


Little boy messing about in the luggage...


The temp is very cold today. Douglas told us it dropped from 15deg to a sudden 9 deg coz of the rain. So bundled up Jovann to the max, and me too. When we reached there, it was just afternoon. Hubby said today's market opening hours the longest, so we took a quick walk through, noted what we wanna buy, and went to have lunch.

but BUT BUT!! HORRORS! When we came back from a leisurely stroll and lunch, realise many shops are packing! oh dear..........lucky I oredi bought all the lovely toys......now was a mad rush for the rest of the shops.....lucky the one I wanted is still open. Then I saw a NICE white long jacket, only at $35....how can I not buy? hehee.

Discovered this quaint little market off the main market, its names Fine Foods...I went ga ga over the stores of pickles, all sorts of cheese, pickled octopus, cabbage...aiyoh, just so yummy! even have Bratwurst sausages (we had one!).....






and there is this organic market off this fine foods market, selling organic produce. Of course, I can't help venturing inside. after all, I do need some more vege...right? hheee. bought an organic zucchini, and an organic xiao bai cai. I deliberately choose the shop that packs the vege in paper bags....always had a soft spot for those things..hehehee...



My loot!


HUbby wanted a leather jacket still very much, so after this, I suggested we go down to Myers and David Jones. Had a lovely time shopping. Myers is HUGE here, they are divided into 2 huge stalls. one block away from each other but kinda connected. I love bridging betw the 2 coz then I get to enjoy the weather. hehehe!

Jovann window shopping...
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When snooping around, found this little quaint lane of shops....nice! Stepped into a shop selling books, and puzzles and games. and spend around $40 there hahahaa. Bought a book on Brilliant brain games for kids, and a box of cute flash cards. Wanted to buy the SNAP but didn't....


Stopped by for a shot of fresh fruit juice, coz I am feeling a bit under the weather, a sore throat has set in since day 3. Have gotten better after gurgling with sea salt water....made using sea salt from Chris's kitchen. Power leH! next day not paiN!


Off we drive back home, on the way, hubby stopped by at Coles to find some distilled water, and some baby bottle detergent (FOUND out later that this is a non-existent concept in Melbourne!, no such thing!!!!). While waiting in the car with sleeping Jovann, observing a lot of customers going in and out of 2 particular takeaway shops. One selling fish and chips, one is Kirala Jap take away. So when hubby came back, suggested we get dinner from this 2 shops since they shld be good! good recomendation from me okie? The jap bento set is delicious! see....not a morsel left....as for the fish and chips, hubby said not bad but not the best....the chips are enough for a meal!