Froyo in Melbourne

Merry Christmas from Melbourne!

This is where Steven and I will spend our holidays.

While we haven't really fallen in love with Melbourne, as we have with other cities, Steven and I found mochi balls in Australia!

It's froyo, coffee, and desserts--all organic! 

The downside is, it's not a self-serve froyo bar. That means you get as much yogurt/toppings as they give you, not the 1:2 yogurt-to-mochi ratio that Steven and I usually go for.

But at least they had mochi! First place in Australia that we've found with mochi balls!

We got Mango and Green Tea froyo with kiwi, strawberries, and mochi!

I can't describe how pumped we were to get our mochi fix.

Until we ate it...

It's passable, but barely. It lacked the plump, chewy goodness of Menchies mochi. The taste was almost artificial, or preservative-y.

But the yogurt was as good as Steven has had, which is the good news.

We discovered (through extensive research aka back of the napkin) that Cacao Green is somehow connected to Red Mango...and Koreans... We're guessing Koreans bought the Australian rights to Red Mango and renamed it Cacao Green. I know a simple wiki search would settle this, but I am FAR too lazy to do that.

We walked away pretty happy with this, the latest of our FroYo adventures.

Random cool tourist picture:

This was taken at Hosier Lane, a famous graffiti landmark in Melbourne.

The Big Decision

I bought an airplane ticket to Sydney, Australia.

The visa is for a year-long duration.

Scary?

A little.

But at least I get to go with this brain-freeze face:

True froyo mochi ball lovers won't let hoodie weather stop them from getting their Menchies.

Ready for some random photo-ness? 

Aroma Espresso Bar at Shops at Don Mills is a crowded place on a Sunday morning. And this is one of the reasons why: a really, really good breakfast.

I know it looks simple (who can't cook 2 sunny-side-up eggs, right?) but it's really fresh and delicious.

The dog has taken to jumping on laps and insisting on some unscheduled Love-Times.

She is too big to fit into laps comfortably. As you can see, her front paws hang off, and her two hind legs were completely off the lap. She's also getting heavier. What a cute fattie.

Australia research time!

Race Day

It's race  rain day.

Thanks, weather, for the wet dog.

She's scared of peeing in the rain.

I'm scared of running in the rain. And in the dark.

Energizer, you're killing me.

I guess we'll see how the day goes. If it clears up by mid-afternoon, tonight's run should be do-able. But if it's pouring like it is now...I'm going for froyo.

A new froyo place opened up at Bayview and Eglinton called Yeh!

It's interior had seating for children and big bean bags!

They had watermelon and pineapple water.

To be honest, it all just tasted like water...

The topping selection was goooood! Four buckets of fresh fruit, and the all-important mochi balls.

These are legit mochi balls, and that was one good brownie.

But both Strawberry-Jam Boy and I thought the yogurt tasted a bit bland. We got mango, and by the end, could hardly taste it anymore under all the toppings.

Sigh. It looks like Menchies is still on top.

Garlic is good for digestion?

Today, I set out for an ambitious "Let's go as FAR as I can go" run.

It turned out to be 4.68 miles of increasing agony.

When people say their run felt like a shark gnawing on their legs or a grizzly was chasing them, believe it. Because it's your responsibility to grab a big stick and knock the shark on it's big fat head, or tackle the grizzly American-football-style and go to town on some animal a$$.

Without causing irreparable damage, of course. Ahimsa and all that shiznaz, right brothas and sistas HOLLAH.


Did I mention that I'm tired, and it's 11 at night?

That's why I sound like a crazy person.

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER, HERE IS MY LIFE TODAY:

 My dog got a hair cut (ok, this is a lie, she got the haircut yesterday).

 I went to the grocery store and bought my favorite store-bought veggie burgers.

I made a dinner of tzatziki, spiced rice, roasted zucchini and salad. It gave Steven a stomach ache. I think it was the raw garlic in the tzatziki.

Raw garlic seems to cause indigestion in some people, but I really think it's just the way garlic stimulates the digestive track to move your shit out, or peristalsis, if you like your big fancy words (cuz I really do). And there is nothing wrong with clearing out the pipes.

I took him for some froyo because I made his tummy hurt.

We grabbed Steven's friend, Jess, the mochi ball virgin, and deflowered her.

Can you guess who wrote that?

Lastly, a Big Decision has recently been made. I will update you on what exactly that is when more plans are made, but it's something that will affect the WHOLE WIDE WORLD (not really), so stay tuned!

Amy's here!

My friend Amy is here on a 2-week visit from our homeland, Taiwan.

She has missed Canada and our foliage.

So I decided to wash my Vibrams in honour of her arrival. Just kidding. That makes no sense.

I was running through some rainy weather last week, so it was a disgusting chore. Luckily, I don't have a picture to share with you. You're welcome.

That's my excuse for not running today. That, and that I was busy doing stuff like this:

After lunch with our working girlfriends, we had dessert at Prairie Girl Bakery.

The artistry in my iPhone photo astounds you? Yes, it astounds me too.

Being the addict I am, I had to have Red Velvet Cupcakes with Classic Cream Cheese Frosting.

There is nothing in the world like a fresh cupcake. My only fault with the cupcake was that it's severely top-heavy.

 

Amy and I gave up on the grab and bite method and asked for forks. Much easier. I polished off every drop of cream cheese frosting. Oooohhh baby.

By the time I got home, my Vibrams were STILL wet, so naturally, I took Steven out for a nice dinner at Pizza Nova. Then, we walked to the Yonge/Sheppard Yogurty's. 

Steven and I are big Mochi Ball hogs, and both of us immediately noticed that the Balls at Yogurty's are not as chewy and bouncy as the ones at Menchies. Plus, Steven's yogurt melted really fast (maybe because he gets supermodel-on-a-diet portions), so that was annoying. The mango pieces tasted weird to me, but maybe that's because I mixed it with hazelnut froyo...and my tastebuds exploded in confusion.

Hello Interwebs! How did you spend your Wednesday?