We headed south for a few days to visit with Michelle and Tash in Melbourne and with Andrew's family in Ballarat.

Michelle and Tash took us to a great little Italian place that has the best dessert pizza ever. I had a calzone that was filled with a mix of white, milk and dark chocolate. Yum! Thanks for coming out with us Tash and Michelle and thanks for letting us stay over Michelle.

In Ballarat we hung out with the fam and met Tara's little boy Jude for the first time. Andrew was horrified to discover that Jude's nickname was Judie. The Darbys very thoughtfully scheduled in a visit to the Pancake Kitchen, Andrew's favourite childhood restaurant in Ballarat. Thanks Darbys for looking after us in Ballarat. We had a lovely time. Happy Birthday Tara! Happy Birthday Gran! Happy Birthday Roger! Happy Birthday Jude! (Lots of August birthdays in the Darby family)

You may have noticed that it has been a little quiet on FuShMuSh lately. The reason for the lull was a work trip to Melbourne last week. I only had brief internet access during the day, mainly to check my email. Apart from a very short-lived period of access to the net via an unsecured wireless network, I had no access in the evening. So, I apologise for the delay and we'll now return to normal programming.

Once again my work trip to Melbourne happily coincided with BookCrossing meetup. That makes two Melbourne meetups this year; one more than I've attended in Sydney. It seems the Melbournians like consistency. For April's meetup, we returned to three Degrees @ QV Square. Granted, there is a nice area for the BCers to sit, the food is reasonably priced and quite tasty and there is a cheapish parking station under the square. Us Sydneysiders chop and change and we rarely go to the same venue twice in a row (apart from a run of meetups at the Art House last year). It means sometimes our venue is not ideal, but on the otherhand I've been to some great places that I'd like to visit again. Consistency vs. trying something new, a reflection of each city's attitude perhaps?

April's book recommendation:

• Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
  Stevens, an elderly butler who has spent 30 years in the service of Lord Darlington, ruminates on the past and inadvertently slackens his rigid grip on his emotions to confront the central issues of his life. Glacially reserved, snobbish and humorless, Stevens has devoted his life to his concept of duty and responsibility, hoping to reach the pinnacle of his profession through totally selfless dedication and a ruthless suppression of sentiment. Having made a virtue of stoic dignity, he is proud of his impassive response to his father's death and his "correct" behavior with the spunky former housekeeper, Miss Kenton. Ishiguro builds Stevens's character with precisely controlled details, creating irony as the butler unwittingly reveals his pathetic self-deception. In the poignant denouement, Stevens belatedly realizes that he has wasted his life in blind service to a foolish man and that he has never discovered "the key to human warmth." -- Amazon

I used to dread my work trips. I'd get up in the dark at some unreasonable hour, travel to Melbourne, go out to the client site, install the program, train the users, catch a late flight home to Sydney and arrive home and collapse exhausted into bed. It's a very long day when you're getting up at 5.30am and not getting home until 9.00pm. However, it's a different story now. I get to spend a few days in Melbourne so it's a paid-for mini-break. I also have someone cool to hang with and I get to visit all the trendy, hip spots that you only know about if you live in Melbourne.

Last week I was back in Melbourne for a couple of days and once again I managed to dine with the very lovely Michelle. I had previously warned Michelle that I was expecting her to drop everything and come out with me everytime I was down south. When Michelle accepted the offer of dinner, the poor girl didn't realise she was going to have cope with two Daleys! Patrick was also in town so he tagged along.

We dined at Chocolate Buddha @ Federation square; it's a very funky restaurant with a very funky website. I was slightly bemused when they noted the dish number of our order on our placemats (which also doubled as menus). I'm a bit behind the times; apparently it's what they do at all the trendy noodley restaurants (see wagamama).

After dinner we trammed it a couple of blocks up to Max Brenner at QV Square. Yes, we could have walked but it was Paddy's first visit to Melbourne and he was taking every opportunity to ride the trams. At Max Brenner's, we chose to have the trademark Suckao hot chocolate (when I made the order I asked for "three of those doobie-things". The guy at the counter didn't understand my request. I thought I was being pretty clear!) The Suckao pots arrive with hot frothy milk and a small plate of chocolate buds. Drop the chocolate buds into the milk, and the small candle underneath the cup will melt the chocolate. Using the metal spoon stir the melted chocolate into the milk. The spoon is also a straw, use it to slurp up the chocolatey goodness. The great thing is you can add chocolate to taste e.g. dump the whole plate of chocolate buds in at once! It was my first visit to Max Brenner and as a confirmed chocaholic, I was impressed! I'll definitely be visiting the Max Brenner store in Paddington.

Our final stop for the evening was Chloe's bar @ Young and Jackson. Chloe's is named after the nude portrait of Chloe that is prominently displayed on the wall of the bar. Apparently Chloe's is one of Melbourne's popular tourist destinations. After my many trips to Melbourne, I'm ashamed to admit it was my first visit to the bar. (photos)

Note: Michelle took my advice and started a blog too. She's been patiently waiting for me to get the photos up from my Melbourne trip so she can write about our wonderful adventures in her blog!

I think I'm almost a Melbourne local. I was back in Mexico last weekend, this time for Tash's farewell. Tash is moving to Manchester (of all places) for a year or so. She plans to use it as a base so she can explore Europe properly. Afterwards, she'll come home to Australia, buy a house, get married and have babies. Personally, I think Tash has a chronic case of the travel bug; I can't see her staying in one place for very long!

I had a whirlwind trip to Victoria... it went sydneyairportballaratlunchcoffeedinnermelbournesleepairportsydney... phew! I had to have several caffeinated beverages to make it through the day. Unfortunately, this post might reflect the nature of my trip. So many things to write about, so hard to put them coherently together. Let's revert to point form:

• Apparently I have weather bad luck... On Saturday, I left a beautiful day in Sydney to arrive in a very wet and cold Melbourne. On our trip to Ballarat, Michelle had to negotiate slippery roads and heavy fog. Ballarat, only reached a top of 18 degrees... it was freezing. On Sunday, I left a beautiful day in Melbourne to be met with a horrible, overcast day in Sydney. Andrew and I are in the middle of formulating our wet weather / contingency plan for the wedding. Is somebody trying to tell me something?
  
  
• Lunch was at Oscar's, one of Ballarat's newer bar/cafe/restaurants. Highly recommended and well worth a visit next time you're in Ballarat.
  
  
• After lunch I snuck out to have coffee with Jane, Tara, Tim and Bodhi... my new cousins (well, they will be after March). I finally got to see Bodhi again, it's been over a year since I saw him last. So grown up now and just a little bit shy. I've turned into that weird relative that parents always foist on their children... "give Auntie Jessie a kiss!" (he didn't...)
  
  
• Dinner was at the Royal Oak Hotel... very dodgy, not recommended. The boys told us the Oak did a respectable counter meal. They were wrong... Not very hungry, we settled on calamari (although, we were tempted by the ham steak and pineapple... mmmmm, sounds delicious!). I'm not sure what it was we ate, but I don't think it ever lived in the ocean. Suffice to say, my tummy wasn't very happy at 2am.
  
  
• Tash has 3 younger sisters! Three! Count them! I was intrigued and asked lots of questions about what it was like while they were growing up. Annie and I had a few arguments when we were growing up. Can you imagine that multiplied by four? (I'm sure my Mum and Dad are reading this and shuddering). The girls assured me they didn't fight much when they were growing up. Maybe they've just erased the painful memories from their mind... like women do with child birth *G*.

It was a great weekend: I got to farewell Tash properly, spend time with Michelle (my lovely host) and catch up with my new family. Thanks to Michelle for putting me up (and putting up with me) for the weekend. Thanks to Jane, Tara, Tim, and Bodhi for coming out for coffee on such short notice (I rang Jane on Saturday morning and said "guess where I am!"). Thanks to Tash for considering me important enough to invite and good luck with your travels! (photos)

My work trip coincided with the Melbourne BookCrossing meetup. On Tuesday evening, I caught a tram into the city and trundled off to three degrees @ QV Square to meet with the Melbourne BookCrossers. I had a fantastic evening. I caught up with some old friends (Hi Tash, Michelle, Megan, Andrew, Amanda and Kevin!) and I met a bunch of new people.

I'd just like to fully express my appreciation for BookCrossing. Not only has it been a wonderful source for books and recommendations on books and authors, but I've also met so many wonderful people and I've made a lot of new friends Australia wide. After years of Melbourne work trips, I finally have a group of people I can hang out with when in Melbourne. I used to sit in my hotel room and watch TV or venture out to Melbourne tourist spots alone (*sob*). I am a nigel no longer! That's right Melbournians, here is your warning. Expect an email from me every time I head south. (Tash thinks she can move overseas to escape me. Well, you can't run forever girl!)

Michelle, Jess and Tash	Michelle's stash from the evening	Yvette, Robyn, Tash and Michelle

January's book recommendation:

• My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult
  Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukaemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate -- a life and a role that she has never challenged...until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister -- and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves.
  
  My Sister's Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child's life, even if that means infringing upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to discover who you really are, if that quest makes you like yourself less? Should you follow your own heart, or let others lead you? Once again, in My Sister's Keeper, Jodi Picoult tackles a controversial real-life subject with grace, wisdom, and sensitivity. -- Amazon