The weather in Melbourne has been incredibly unpredictable.  There have been days where it feels like it’s 80 degrees out at noon and then an hour later the temperature drops 15-20 degrees.  Overall it’s been a little unseasonably cool but beautiful.  I’ve gotten two rounds of golf in and plan to get a couple more in before I come back to NYC.  We saw about 1,000 flying foxes at the end of one hole (picture to come) perched on a few trees and these really cool bright green/blue birds.  Have yet to see a snake, kangaroo, or koala.  Apparently there’s a place 90 minutes away where we can see Penguins.

I’ve steadily been drinking beers most days and because the NFL playoff games this past weekend were shown here at 5 and 8:30 AM, sometimes the beer drinking has started as early as 8 AM.  I’m on vacation though so it’s OK.  So far, Fat Yak has been my favorite local beer but the others I’ve tried have been pretty good too (James Squire, Cascade, and Victoria Bitter in that order).

We went out for one of my friend’s gf’s birthdays Monday night and it went from a we won’t be out to0 late night to a karaoke filled, breathalyzer blowing, debaucherous party.  They have breathalyzers all around the casino and you can put in a dollar and check your BAC.  I think I blew a .186 and then .171 a few hours later.  One of DC EP’s hit a .212.  I think it’s funny that the purpose of these things is to make sure you are OK to drive but pretty much everyone I saw checking their BAC was competing with friends to get it as high as possible.

The casino culture here is unbelievably ridiculous.  You are not comped drinks and you are not allowed to celebrate a big hand or the dealer busting and everyone at the table winning.  It’s basically just an anti-fun policy.  If you appear to be having too much fun, they will ask you to leave.

The food has been pretty mediocre.  Melbourne is supposed to be the restaurant capital of Australia and most everyone here has agreed that there have been very few decent meals.  Surprisingly, one of the meals that most people hated was a top 3 rated steakhouse and I had my best meal of the trip there.  I ordered an awesome beet salad, a fried goat cheese appetizer, and some sort of gingery pasta dish.  If any locals are reading this, please please recommend us some good restaurants.

The service has been otherworldly bad with only a couple of exceptions.  At the steakhouse, we waited about 90 minutes before we were even served bread.  The first time the waitress came to take our order, we asked her how many of one of the appetizers would be a good amount for the table and after she suggested a number and we started discussing, she decided to just leave and go take another table’s order.  This would’ve been fine if she waited 30 seconds and then said “would you like me to come back?”, but no, she just left…and didn’t come back until she had served/waited on 3 other tables and 15 minutes had gone by.  Similarly, when she finally started taking our order, someone asked her a question about one of the items on the menu.  Instead of even asking “I can check on that if you’d like”, she without any hand motion indicating she’d be back just puts on a grumpy face and disappears for 5 minutes.  At this point, there is no question worth answering that we’d be willing to wait 5 minutes for.  We are starving.  Communication is good, lady.

I happen to think that tipping culture in the USA has gotten completely out of control and only a few things really should warrant a gratuity.  Tipping for service at a restaurant is definitely one thing that results in better overall service and it has shown most times I’ve been out of the country.

Compared to a lot of other places I’ve been, the locals here have been extremely friendly and it’s hard to really see any sort of anti-American sentiment that we would experience in a lot of European countries.  At one of the two places where we actually had good friendly service, (small cafe w/ 4 tables) the lady behind the counter upon recognizing our American accents explained the different terms they had for coffee here (a long black = an americano, a white coffee means milk added).

We went to the Australian Open yesterday and saw an incredible 5 set match between Juan Martin Del Potro and our fellow countryman James Blake.  Blake took him to a 5th set that he eventually lost 10-8.  We were by far the rowdiest people in the stands and got some USA chants going multiple times throughout the match.  If Roddick faces Del Potro in the quarterfinals, we are preparing to bring the biggest USA flag we can find.

We played some tackle football on the 2nd day there and hopefully can do it again.  Unfortunately we are all a bit beat up with strawberries and sore/bruised spots all over.  My knees ooze after each shower.  It’s not a pretty sight.

I forgot my contacts and plan to learn how to surf so I am going to the mall where I saw an optometrist sign and see if I can figure some way for them to give me contacts.  I will update this some more in a few days.

1) Hummus Place – So my mom will come visit me in NYC every now and then.  Recently she came to help set up my new kitchen with flatware and pots/pans.  Mom stuff.  Anyway, each time she comes, she begs me to take her to a good falafel joint.  Usually we do sit down dinners and I tried explaining to her that most of the good falafel places involve standing in line and eating the food while on the go.  It’s just not your typical mom/son meal when you don’t see each other that often.

I recently went to this new middle eastern place called Hummus Place and they had great falafel and awesome hummus AND they allow you to sit down.  There is one of them that is maybe a 15-20 minute walk from my apartment.  So on my mom’s most recent trip to NYC, I told her we could go there.  Now I am probably the fastest walker in all of NYC so when I say 15-20 minute walk, that is at my pace.  In the 15 degree windy weather, at mom’s pace, we finally made it to Hummus Place.  We sit down and are still shivering even though we haven’t removed our coats.  We are given a menu and I can’t find falafel anywhere on it.  Upon further examination, I see that one of the appetizers is crossed out with black marker.  They decided to take falafel off the menu.  Awesome.

2)  Do you know your apple juice? – So last grocery batch, I got some Red Jacket Orchards apple juice.  It has 47% RDA Vitamin C per serving.  It is 100% juice.  I compared this to Martinelli’s apple juice which only has 2% RDA Vitamin C per serving.  It is also 100% juice.  What the hell?  I feel like I have to be amongst some of the more intelligent and perceptive consumers but I have no answer for this.

3)  New Years Eve -  I am not anti-NYE or super pro-NYE.  I think it’s a sham holiday but one that you get to party on and spend with a lot of your friends.  I think a good analogy would be Thanksgiving is to your family as NYE is to your friends.  With that being said, I think calling family/friends at 12:05 to wish them a happy new year is pretty ridiculous.

4)  Surf Lessons – I want to learn how to surf.  I tried unsuccessfully in Costa Rica a couple years ago.  I am taking a 2.5 week trip to Australia in a week or so and plan to get it down.  Anyone have any advice on good places in Australia to go surfing?  I’m going to be in Melbourne.  Also, general surfing advice would be great.

5)  Halloween – This got put off for a while but I think if you had to pick one holiday that best represents a city, I think Halloween does it for NYC.  The adult-like atmosphere and people watching opportunities Halloween creates perfectly typify some of NYC’s unique qualities.  If you aren’t from NYC but plan to make a trip there for Halloween, I would recommend skipping the parade and instead making it out to McDougal St./Bleecker St.  This is where the true debauchery happens.  While it will get crowded, unlike NYE in Times Square, it’s a fun crowded as you get to gaze at ridiculous and awesome Halloween costumes and see people go nuts.

6) Cooking Rice/Quinoa/ETC. – This advice is for you guys who don’t really cook often.  Don’t listen to them when they tell you to go 2 parts water, 1 part rice.  They are lying.  If you do this, the water will get soaked up and evaporate and your rice will be slightly crunchy.  Now, you will have to go through a really annoying process whereby you add more water and keep cooking and some rice will get cooked and some won’t.  I would recommend 2 1/2 parts water, 1 part rice.  It might take a little bit longer but you won’t get stuck with crunchy rice.

7) Football picks – Baltimore +3.5, GB +2.5, NYJ +2.5, Philly +4.  Let’s go road dogs.