Mel's Hens Weekends

Pictures tell a 1000-words for Mel's Hens Weekends...

Sydney Harbour cruise. Saturday 13 September 2008

The Bride to Be...

... And friends

The Desert Flower Crew

A perfect day to be on Sydney Harbour

Massages

Champagne celebrations

Chilling out

Satasia Dinner, Balmain. 13 September 2008

A full table at Satasia

After-party at the Monkey Bar, Balmain. 13 September 2008

Drinks...

... And dancing

Mels Hens High Tea, Darlinghurst. Saturday 20 September 2008

The Victoria Room, Darlinghurst

High Tea

The Bride to Be (in just a week!)

D&M Wedding– Details, details!

Before any big day, a massive amount of time and effort goes into planning and preparing every detail. Here are some D&M details you might not have seen on the day, but were essential in making it everything it was...

The DavidloveMelissa website for information online.


The Tea Ceremony tea set used by Mel and David to pour and serve tea to the family elders, on the morning of the wedding.


The Tea Ceremony dress worn by Mel of red silk, embroidery and beads.


The Bridesmaids's flower bouquet of green and ivory roses composed by Cynthia.


Mother-of-the-Bride's delicate gloves worn on the day by Mel as she walked down the aisle.


A view from Observatory Hill of the Garrison Church, with Sydney Harbour in the background.


Observatory Hill where the congregation gathered on the day to congratulate the newly wed couple and have photos taken.


The hand-made Order of Service books used by the congregation at the Church ceremony.


The wedding rings which were engraved inside with 'D&M 27.09.08' to mark the occasion.


D&M engraved cufflinks worn by the Groom and Groomsmen wore and designed and made by friend and jewellery designer, Shirley Gearin.


The Bridesmaids jewellery was also designed and made by Shirley.


A special Bridal Table bouquet made by Mrs Lo (Herlina's mother) as a gift to the Bride and Groom on the day.


Two-hundred and fifty Lucky Bamboo miniature vases, hand-made as a gift to all the guests from the Bride and Groom.


Two-hundred and fifty cupcakes and a traditional fruit cake made by the Cupcake Factory made for a very special (and delicious) wedding cake.



And finally, to keep it all as memories from the day, a wedding keepsake box.

These are a few of my favourite things...

When you live away from home, you come to appreciate all the things that you love about home- Family, friends, food, places... Here are some of our favourite things we got to enjoy during our time back in Sydney.

Ariel Bookshop, The Rocks
Our favourite little bookshop of rickety wooden shelves and a great selection of books.

Inside Ariel Bookstore

Bondi and Bondi Icebergs
Sydney's most popular beach and and the legendary Bondi Icebergs, with its restaurant, cafe, bar and saltwater pool right on the edge of the crashing waves.

Bondi Beach

Bondi Icebergs and pool

Bronte Beach & cafes
Sitting on the footpath, bare foot, coffee in hand at a Bronte cafe with the beach across the road and the sun streaming down, it definitely made us not want to leave Sydney.

Bronte Beach

Brunches
The perfect Sydney brunch- great coffee, great food, great service, lots of fresh air and sunshine. New cafe/restaurant, Rosebud (Rozelle) satisfied our pallet more than once. Toast (Surry Hills) served up unique Mexican-influenced dishes and we love being right by the beach at the Bathers Pavilion (Balmoral). The desserts are still the best in Sydney.

Brunch at Rosebud, Rozelle

Latte at Bathers

Cupcakes
Nothing, not even the Hummingbird Bakery at Portobello Road, beats My Little Cupcake cupcakes. Where else can you say that the cake is just as good as the icing?

Cupcakes. Yum

Dining
One of our favourite Sydney restaurants, Satasia (Balmain), serves up delectable Asian fusion with great service and an awesome salt and pepper seafood dish- mouthwatering.

Salt and pepper seafood at Satasia

Such simple food, yet so good at Arthur's Pizza (Paddington).

Lauren, Cindy and Jenny (L-R) at Arthur's

The restaurant formally known as Una's (Broadway) serves up massive crumbed schnitzels. Schnitzels are hard to find in London.

Herlina and Mel at Unas

Fine Dining
Wildfire, Sydney Harbour as its back drop, lofty ceilings and latticed lights all make for a wonderful fine dining experience and birthday celebration destination.

Dining at Wildfire

Lunches and Yum cha
We have missed pad thai over here. Especially at Stir Crazy Thai (Kirribilli). It certainly beats the "thai food" currently emerging in British pubs. You've also got to love the tiny and crowded Stir Crazy space with the hot and noisy open kitchen.

Lauren and Anna at Stir Crazy Thai

There is yum cha in London, but it's nothing like a Sydney yum cha.

Mel and Herlina at yum cha in Burwood

Minnie (Geoff's dog)
Fuzzy creatures always bring such pleasure.

Minnie

Sydney Harbour
Impossibly beautiful. Especially on a yacht.

A view of Sydney Harbour from the Harbour Bridge

Sailing on Sydney Harbour

Sydney Harbour Bridge
Walking across the Bridge is such a treat with great views to the east (see picture in section above). I also made a point to capture this plaque which notes the design and construction of the Bridge by a company based in Middlesbourgh, a place in the NE of England that I visited late last year for my research.

Sydney Harbour Bridge plaque

Sydney Harbour Bridge structure

So Sydney

Four-and-a-half glorious weeks in Sydney comes at a price of more than 24 hours travel from London.

On Monday morning I arrived at Heathrow Airport, passing the chaos at the BA check-in and making my way to the quiet and far shorter lines of QANTAS. It all seemed too easy, so of course my flight had to be delayed. Flight delays are dangerous. Boredom leads to coffee, magazine and food consumption, and the most dangerous of all- shopping at the tax-free Harrods.

I have to admit, we must be getting used to plane travel because my flight seemed to go by so quick. It helps massively when the people you are sitting with are the same age as you, are really friendly and all of you just help each other out. It made me realise that in the age of the Experience Economy, there are just some things that organisations won't ever be able to design for you.

I landed, late, in the evening at Sydney airport to be greeted by the family including a bright blue coat-wearing Mel (especially chosen so I'd be able to spot them). It was a refreshingly balmy outside and as we drove through Sydney city, seeing all the familiar sights, one difference noted was the empty streets and lack of people on them. This would be one of many observations of the very different lives of Sydney.


And London.


We named this posting ‘So Sydney’ because we remember one Sydney newspaper having a section titled ‘So Sydney’ to update readers on ‘So Sydney’-type behaviour observed that week. Here’s our own ‘So Sydney’ coverage (from the perspective of temporary Londoners).

So Sydney…

• Alfresco dining: It seemed like every restaurant, café and bar offers alfresco dining in Sydney. A rarity in London, highly dependent on the weather (and one knows you can never rely on London weather!)
  
  
• Rude drivers: We have to say, the Brits are far more courteous on the roads. They never use the horn and always let others in before them (which is usually reciprocated with a 'thank you')
  
  
• The long distance between places: Going anywhere in London by Tube won’t take you more than 40 minutes. Unless you are trying to get to Heathrow Airport
  
  
• Expensive clothes: Wow, we were shocked at how expensive the clothes are in Sydney. The limited number of brands don’t help too much either (Where was Zara when you needed shirt for a wedding and warm clothes because you came back from the UK with none and the Sydney temps early September were freak-ishly low?)
  
  
• Sun, sun, sun: It is SO bright in Sydney. Even when it rains (Often when it rains here, it feels like night time). And the Sydney sun feels like it burns your skin- but that is just such a lovely feeling
  
  
• Exercise and fitness: Sydney is obsessed with being fit. Over here we tend to cover up a lot
  
  
• Thongs and less clothes: The previous point led us to this one. It took awhile to get back into wearing a lot less clothes and thongs (or flip flops as the Brits say) all the time. We lived in our Havaianas in Sydney (which cost a bomb over here, about 20 pounds/pair. That’s about $AUD50!)
  
  
• Sushi: There are sooo many take-away sushi stores and sushi train restaurants in Sydney. They have been slowly emerging in London, but you pay for the rarity. We have also missed handrolls. We are yet to see them make an appearance here
  
  
• The huge Asian population: In 15 months we swear the population has ballooned. Unless you are in Chinatown, the population is predominantly Anglo in London
  
  
• Everything so new: Sydney’s built environment is so shiny and sparkly. London is steeped in history, from its architecture to the events of bygone times which have their legacies in names, ceremonies and retold stories
  
  
• Poor public transport: When you rate the efficiency and price of public transport in Sydney and London, London is definitely better value
  
  
• Coffee, coffee, coffee: The UK is still largely a tea-drinking nation so their baristas have a lot of catching up to do.

Now that’s out of the system. Let’s get to the nitty-gritty of the trip!