26/365 AUS Kitty-Hawk

June already. So not making 365 posts within the year. 

Another Who-Who post, this time displaying my cat grooming talent. Grooming usually takes place in a number of locations due to The Who's annoyance at being brushed. It's all good if the brushing is going with the grain. As soon as you get to the backcombing.... well, he was never going to be a goth. This grooming session started on the wall outside the back door, progressed down to the wall outside the bedroom window, round to the wall bordering 'the copse' (The Who's preferred outside 'toilette'), on to the ground in the courtyard then over the gate and into the common area. We finished with an edgy kitty-hawk style, guaranteed to strike terror into the hearts of Bella and Monty, the other third floor dogs (The Who doesn't need a kitty-hawk to strike fear into the heart of Muhammad, the third floor goldfish).

General Sumo recommends:

Avoiding scrambled eggs at Café Segovia

33 Block Place, Melbourne

Grant and I went there this morning, starving after walking out to East Melbourne for a couple of open inspections and then back into the city again. We weren't expecting awesome food but we were expecting some flavour. I must mention, however, that the waiter was very receptive to Grant's complaints so full points to him. However, we will not be going back. For a $17 breakfast, I expect scrambled eggs to be made with dairy products instead of water. And let's not pretend that dairy products aren't added for allergen reasons. Let's call it for what it is: a cost saving measure.

Bengal Tiger

Cnr City Road and Montague Street, South Melbourne

T: 03 9699 4791

Location, location, location. The Bengal Tiger doesn't have it. What it does have is consistently delicious, good quality Indian food with a warm, comfortable interior and friendly, personal service. Perfect for a comfortable mid-week meal or low-key weekend dinner, the only thing missing at The Bengal Tiger, besides a fresh glass per beer, is the people. As that pimply kid on the Bed Shed ad back in Adelaide used to proclaim "it's a pig of a location" and, as a result, it really seems to miss out on the patronage it deserves, at least from an eat-in perspective. But it definitely deserves a visit (or a few). I even felt rewarded for all that time I devoted to reading the Bhagavad Gita when I recognized a scene from the scripture of Krishna and Arjuna preparing to enter battle. That was some hard core reading.

21/365 Happy Hippo Car Wash

A tip for fans of multitasking: whilst doing your grocery shopping in South Melbourne, you can have your car washed at The Happy Hippo Car Wash in the Spotlight Centre car park. 

Grant and I had our car washed there one day and, although I didn't stick around to watch, I'm pretty sure that this is what happens: in that cage, behind the sign, is a really big hippopotamus. Blue, by the look of things. The hippopotamus opens his mouth and the people that you leave you keys with, they drive the car in to the hippo's mouth. Then he closes his mouth and swishes your car around inside, much like you do when you use Listerine. After around fifteen minutes of swishing, the hippo opens his mouth and the peeps back the car out again and park in it specially marked parking bays, awaiting your return. 

I haven't quite worked out how they cleaned the inside of the car but maybe next time I'll stick around and see.

General Sumo recommends:

The Happy Hippo Car Wash

Level 1, car park of the Spotlight Centre

Corner of York and Cecil Streets, South Melbourne

I thought we were onto something new and exciting with the wash while you shop thing but it turns out that my mother-in-law has been doing it for ages back in Adelaide. Clearly, Melbourne has some ground to cover in car wash innovation. Although I'm not sure if Jan has her car cleaned by a hippo, so we may still be forward thinking in that respect.

14/365 Wardrobe Emergency!

You know the feeling: you're off to a special event, you've spent an hour trawling through your wardrobe but you've got nothing to wear. Well, my sartorially challenged friends, now is the time to rejoice! At least for those of you doing the weekly shop. Above is the perfect shirt to wear whilst shopping for fresh produce, as found at the South Melbourne Market. 

Try not to take offence when people comment on your juicy melons.

General Sumo recommends:

South Melbourne Market

Cnr of Cecil and Coventry Streets, South Melbourne

Although the Central Market in Adelaide is still my favourite, the 50 minute plan ride is not always practical. The South Melbourne Market is a damn good substitute. Fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, bread, sweeties and pasta are in plentiful supply as are cute dogs lining the street outside. If you're lucky, you might catch a random butcher singing opera. My only complaint is that it's a little bit vanilla. This is not the place to come if you're looking for anything that falls outside the regular white upper-middle class diet.

T.O.M.S. (The Organic Meat Store)

Stall 30, South Melbourne Market

I'm not such a big meat fan but I've loved everything we've bought from T.O.M.S.  The service is fast, friendly and helpful and the guys can tell you where the meat is from - something that makes someone struggling with the ethics of meat-eating, like me, feel a little bit better.

9/365 Lemon Baxter - You Can't Stop It

On Tuesday during a trip to the South Melbourne Coles to get pasta, Grant and I spied this awesome old building set to be demolished and redeveloped as an office block, with sales courtesy of real estate firm Lemon Baxter. How criminal. The building is clearly begging for someone like us to have enough money to buy and live in it, although those windows might be a bit too revealing in the middle of South Melbourne.

As an aside, I've always thought that Lemon Baxter sounded like a cocktail made up by David Baxter at work, not a real estate company. "I'll have two martinis and a lemon baxter thanks."

General Sumo recommends:

Not getting rid of all the awesome old industrial buildings

Although, to be honest, I'd rather see them destroyed completely than a slow, painful death by executisation. This is when property developers take a great warehouse and strip it of any character on the inside to make it into an 'executive apartment', relying solely on the coolness of the brick exterior to sell the place as 'edgy and urban'.

Drinking a lemon baxter

Mojitos are so passe. I don't know how to do an e acute on the Macbook. Just imagine it.

5/365 Oh no! Oscar?

Somewhere in South Melbourne.

General Sumo recommends:

Keeping this picture away from the kiddies

Well, at least it's a step up from the trash can. I wonder what happened to Slimey?