Heathcote Winery Tour

I love wine and there is no wine I love more than Shiraz. To me, a Shiraz can be the perfect addition to a hearty meal or a wonderful tipple to be tasted and savoured all on its own. It is full, warm and pounds the taste buds like Tarzan pounds his chest. It makes me feel alive & energised and cosy & comforted all at the same time.

Yes, I do love wine.

As a surprise birthday present, Dan organised a weekend away in Heathcote - an area famous for producing premium Shiraz. You can imagine my excitement. Not only did I get a weekend away with my man, I was surrounded by wine!

Dragon Boat Palace

In my never ending quest to 'educate Dan' (yes I know how ridiculous that sounds), I nagged him to experience Yum Cha/Dim Sum in Chinatown. I know everyone raves about yum cha in the suburbs but I thought a taste of Chinatown would be a more... entertaining first time experience. So I chose Dragon Boat Palace, as not only did this fit my criteria it is also where I had my very first yum cha experience (as a child though).

Looking at the calendar, I was disheartened... when could we possibly have yum cha? Admittedly, this happens when trying to organise most of our outings - everyone is just so busy - but I was determined. Dan and I had booked appointments at the Red Cross Blood bank on a Sunday morning. "Perfect!" I thought. "Yum cha can be a post-giving blood treat."

We arrived at Dragon Boat Palace just before noon and it was fairly quiet. Definitely not the hustle and bustle I usually associate with a Sunday yum cha session.

Dead Man Espresso

I'm not sure if you've realised by now, but Dan is the breakfast aficionado. On many an occasion he has deemed it appropriate to order two meals for breakfast - at the one sitting. So naturally we decided that Dan should write the breakfast blog posts... however, that would require him allocating time to write (instead of perfecting his dream team).

So I bring to you this new post about Dead Man Espresso in South Melbourne. I apologise that it won't have the lyrical quality of Dan's posts, but this place was just too good to not get a mention.

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I have always believed that there is no advice better than word-of-mouth. The blogosphere is full of dedicated and enthusiastic people documenting their own experiences - as you are all well aware. Repeatedly I would see reviews on Dead Man Espresso. Every review raved about it and given its proximity to where I live, how could I not go?

Banana Bread

While Dan and I prefer to document our experiences dining out rather than our experiences in the kitchen, we thought we'd have a little dabble.

Tegan (my housemate) had overripe bananas, Dan had never eaten banana bread before and so I decided it was the perfect opportunity to make banana bread... and a little baking can be fun.

Using the trusty taste.com.au website I found a simple and popular banana bread recipe. And after a quick trip to the supermarket I was ready to get baking.