Monday, August 28, 2006

Zoo Sunday

A trip to Melbourne doesn't seem complete without a trip to the Zoo. Mr & Mrs MB carefully planned a tram trip to the zoo, using the directions from the Melbourne Zoo brochure. This entailed a walk over the Yarra River footbridge to Flinders St station, then cutting through the underground tunnel to Elizabeth St. At the tram stop there was a sign from 2005 directing zoo visitors to the No. 55 tram in Market St. This is the tram line one block from the timeshare apartment, so much for forward planning.

The animals at the zoo were all a bit slow, must be the chill. The Meerkats were the stars of the zoo, very cute, all standing up on their hind legs, facing the sun. Being Sunday the zoo was overrun with strollers, families and pregnant women, that baby bonus sure is working.

Sunday dinner was a great find, MDR suggested a visit to the Golden House Chinese restaurant just around the corner from the timeshare. MB was a bit indifferent to this suggestion as it was very unchartered territory. The restaurant was filled with Chinese patrons (always a good sign) and specialises in hotpot meals with Peking Duct (looked and tasted like Duck). MDR ordered the combo hotpot, a pot split in two with a mild soup in one side and a super spicy soup in the other loaded with chilies. A plate of very interesting vegies, fungus and some unrecognisable stuff appeared, along with platters of fresh seafood, lamb, beef etc with bowls of sesame dipping sauce. This was the perfect dinner for a cold winter's night in Melbourne, great value too, only $25 per head.

The casino is very close by but still no game of blackjack yet. MDR & MB did a walk through, there must be thousands of people in there at one time. It's a complete assault on the senses, all MB could feel was the faint aura desperation and disconnectedness of the gamblers, they seemed to be in a trance like state. MDR spotted 3 huge screens telecasting horse racing, AFL and NRL side by side. Luckily there was an eatery nearby so it was lunch there while MDR watched the Cowboys thrash the rabbitohs.

Monday will see MB escaping the couple thing to sack the city shops.

2 comments:

blues buffett said...

I wonder if you had a statistical bent and decide to note how many kids were in locked cars outside the casino, while their parent(s) were attempting to reduce the family mortgage inside?

Anonymous said...

What a good idea, a tour of the carpark, now that would be an eye opener I'm sure