Poker, Movies and Shopping in Melbourne

The last time I played poker was years ago with my cousins and back then we only played with pennies and nickels. Oh and I had a "Poker for Dummies" cheat sheet which outlined the hierarchy of the various hands (e.g., 3 of a kind beats 2 pairs). So when invited to join my colleagues for a fun game of poker, I was hesitant. But when informed all the winnings were going to charity, I quickly joined in... it was for a good cause of course.

Thankfully I also had some very helpful coaches and the Poker for Dummies cheat sheet recreated for me.  So, I actually did quite well lasting until nearly the final round.  Truthfully, I was lucky, making a strong come back after going "all in" and winning "on the river".

So the weekend (Oct. 9-14, 2013) was already off to a lucky start!

My friend Val joined me for a "Conversation with John Landis" which was part of the Melbourne Movie Festival.  It was a great session with John Landis, the director of The Blues Brothers and Animal House was quite funny sharing stories about his peers and how he enjoys 3D movies when done well.

Then it was off to Richmond for some shopping!  I was surprised that Australian fashion designer Alannah Hill had an outlet store - I was able to get two silk tops at a very, very good price.

Melbourne's got amazing restaurants and I finally went to the original MoVida Restaurant.  The newest one opened not far from my place in Surry Hills, but knowing it originated in Melbourne I wanted to try the "real thing".  The lane ways leading to MoVida are heavily graffitied, the one with the Angry Bird reminded me of my nephew Tyler who after a year still loves Angry Bird (which is surprising as the Batman and Thomas the Train phases were quite short).

Nes also took me to a newly opened restaurant that served "Messy" or street food from Greece at restaurant right around the corner from the office called GAZI which was wonderful!  It's one of George Calombaris' restaurants - he's one of the judges on Australia's Master Chef reality TV cooking show. 

We ordered the Pavlova (see right) which looked HUGE but once you cracked the outer shell it was quite a reasonable size as well as Loukaomathes (honey, nutella and crushed hazelnuts) on the left - YUM!

And while I have my favorite breakfast spots in Melbourne (Cumulus on Flinders Lane and this little place across from The Westin), I also love to mix things up and try new restaurants for breakfast.  While the first attempt to try The Hardware Society was stymied by a huge waiting line, when I went back on Monday morning I finally made it in with no waiting.  It was a brisk walk from the hotel, but well worth it.