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.

Walking isn't cardio, Steven

Steven and I spent this past weekend at Surfers Paradise (yes, they don't have very good grammar sometimes here Down Under). 

One of my heart challenges from my sister was to jog 5K up a mountain, 5K on a beach, 5K in a desert and 5K in a city. 

Well, there was plenty of beach at Surfers Paradise! 

My stats: 

21:51

2.18 miles or 3.5 KM

10:02 min/ mile

The verdict: 

Running on sand is bloody PAINFUL. 

My feet, toes, calves, ankles, front of shins, back of shins, insides of shins... everything HURT for days after my run. My feet still feel sore and stiff! 

This is not the work of 2.18 miles... it feels worse than 10K, and it's all because of the shifty sand underfoot. It doesn't help that I run barefoot either! 

Later, Steven and I were on the bus and this happened:

Steven: "I feel like we got a good cardio workout in with all our walking."

(We walked from Surfers Paradise to Broadbeach, just in case you wanted to stalk me with Google Maps or something creepy/sweet like that.)

Sandy: "Walking isn't cardio, Steven."

Steven: LOL "The look on your face when you said that. Let's recreate it and take a picture so you can blog about how silly I am."

That's a totally true conversation absolutely word-for-word it really is.

Later, back in Surfers Paradise, we found Yoghurt City, a self-serve yogurt bar like Menchies or Yogurty's back home.

Unfortunately, the people in the joint never heard of mochi balls.

Aussie-land, YOU MUST LEARN ABOUT THE MAGICAL DELICIOUSNESS OF MOCHI.

YOU MUST!

We got an assortment of fruits and candies and dried banana pieces, which was really all that appealed to us out of their small selection of toppings.

The yogurt (we got a mix of passionfruit and green apple) lost its taste once we added the fruits and banana. This is where Menchies is the KING! Their yogurt manages to stay tasty and tart through the toppings.

Steven rates Yoghurt City 2 and 1/2 kangaroo kicks out of 5.

Don't kick kangaroos. Stay in school.

Hard, long (not really) run

Today's long run was hard.

And not only because the weather was poop: rainy, wet, dark, cold.

It was 5.34 miles of increasing agony. I was supposed to do 6.2, but I figured I was cold and wet and tired so I would just go home.

I was running on 2 muffins and a bazillion cups of coffee, so I'm going to forgive myself for cutting my run short.

After dinner, Steven took me for a romantic Korean dinner (not really...it was crowded and delicious like always, but not really very romantic... not that this is a complaint! Steven, I really do like Soon Tofu!)

Now, it's time to visit our favorite place in the world!

It involves yogurt that is possibly frozen with balls that are possibly made of mochi.

Yup.

See you there!

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!

Full Lotus Morning!

No, that's not my new spiritual name.

But this weekend, for the first time EVER, I got into full lotus pose without any pain.

It's a big moment for me. Really, it is.

I'm so happy I drew you a picture of my dog!

Yes, I know she is sad, but I'm happy! HAPPY!

Unfortunately, dear dog, the answer is no.

I imagine she is angry, and possibly plotting her revenge...

 "Little do you know, Human, that my tail is a high-frequency ANTENNAE. I am sending out an SOS to the mothership. When my brethren return for me, we shall exert mind-control over your SCISSORS contraption and do unto you as you have done unto me. AN EYE FOR AN EYE! EAR HAIR FOR EAR HAIRRRR!!"

And so, the battle between Human and Alien-Dog continue....

Sunday night, I tried my hand at Olive and Mushroom burgers. 

I'm pretty happy that they looked like burgers, even though they tasted like olives.

  

Jenbeans made quinoa salad and na'an-like possibly-pita bread stuff. Delicious! 

Then, Monday night, Steven took me to Menchies and we shared this gorgeous thing: 

  

I love mochi balls almost as much as I love my radioactive Alien-Dog! <3 <3 <3

It's been a good long weekend! What did you do all weekend?