With mum!

Really strange and random food back at Springvale

Asian central!

Mum’s amused with the token white-guy ;)

Dudes paying Chinese chess

Making fresh Vietnamese rolls

We had a lovely one with roast chicken

Checking out all the authentic Vietnamese fare like rice noodles, sweets, etc….

At Prahan Markets…

How gorgeous are these cupcakes?!

They were like $8 each or something though…

Fruit madness

At Soda Rock Diner – a USA retro-themed cafe!!!!!!! WE LOVED IT!!

Decked out with pin ball machines and booth seats

The all-American menu

1940s style (working) jukeboxes that played awesome oldies

Strawberry thick shake ($5.95)

Root beer float ($5.95) – my favourite drink in the whole world, I was thrilled to find it here!

Oh YUMMILICIOUS

Hound Dog – old-fashioned hot dog with tasty cheese, grilled onion, sweet
pickle relish, American mustard and ketchup ($8.95) – was FABULOUS

Hubcap – Our most popular burger, with a beef patty, lettuce, tomato, pickles,
sweet pickle relish, mustard and mayonnaise ($7.45) – juicy and delish!

American Pancakes – Just like Mom used to make! Two light, fluffy
pancakes with maple syrup and extra creamy vanilla ice cream ($7.95) -
they look pretty normal but OMG they were so nice and fluffy!!!

Very happy :) I love Melbourne!

Still at Dandenong.. getting out of the car and fussing around

Okay! All ready to head off

At Olinda Village, how charming!

Sittin’ pretty

What am I taking a photo of??

This cuuuute bumble bee!!

With Chris :)

This little shop was tucked away, and in an actual house.
They gave free marshmallows outside to roast over cedar wood!

Cooling them off quickly before eating. They were goooooood.

The cosy shop, selling all sorts of random home stuff

So I FELL INTO A DITCH trying to get into the car.. and Dad decided to take a photo of it!!! o_0

Dinner at Springvale, at First Taste

Colourful menu

Inside the menu

Ginseng Stewed Black Chicken Soup ($5.80) – most people are freaked out by black chicken
(it’s actually a small chicken with silky pure-white feathers, but black meat/skin!) but I LOVE it.

Intently food-photographing ;)

Chicken and mushroom hot pot, and Black pepper beef hot pot

Wonton Noodles. OMG this was great!

Okay, food photography done. Time to EAT…

Walking around Springwood, you wouldn’t think we were in Australia!

Soaking in the sun

It’s Wonder Woman mum! hehehe

There were Asian shops, shop-signs, and people everywhere! Chris stuck out like sore thumb :P

Yum cha lunch at Fu Long Seafood Restaurant, chosen because it was packed with people.
Strangely, there was a very small selection to choose from and it wasn’t that good.

Crazy packed! Typical super-rude Asian restaurant service.

Awww a nice pic :)

Prawn dumpings. Nice but not ‘refined’ in texture or taste

Assorted dumplings. I really liked them “ham shui gok” on the top-left

The veggies in oyster sauce were actually really really good!
And of course, Xiao Long Bao – these were nice but nothing amazing

Even more food.. and a dirty table

Lovely sweet bean curd dessert. Yum.

We then drove up to the Dandenong area up in the mountains,
and ate at Pie in the Sky, famous for their pies (well, duh) and Devonshire tea

The interior was cozy and busy with people greedy for pies

3 tiers in this cottage-style cafe

Beef Burgundy – chunky beef cooked in red wine and mushrooms. So hearty :)~

Beef Curry – pie base prepared in the traditional Indian method. First the spices are
cooked to release the flavour and then added to the diced meat and cooked til tender.
Rice and diced tomatoes are then added. Mmmmm this was my favourite!!!

Scones!! Incredibly fluffy and perfectly made

Served with fresh cream and homemade raspberry jam – both of which blew us away

Ahhhh…….. this is the life…..