So, I decided, as a start, let's get back to updating my blog. The initial key thing to success from my perspective is self-discipline and perseverance. Once you start something, you have to maintain it or finish what you started or so they say. So there you go, a bit of Zen moment from me and I hope somebody or you people will find it a bit of a reality check moment. In the meantime, I balance it off with a bit of play time moments such as going to the beach, spending time with your close friends, enjoying good food and breathe in the awesome spring weather and absorbing plentiful of sunshine with the caution of UV light. It was such an Aaaaaaahhh moment just the past weekend because the weather was amazing. After what seems like forever winterland, the sun has finally come to rescue us miserable creatures who've yearned for the warm touch of sunrays on our skin (remember to slap on some sunscreen). It was a lovely day to visit the beach so off we went to Bell Beach in Torquay. It depends on where you're coming from, from Northwest, it took us one and a half hours to drive down to Torquay. Bell beach is popular for surfers during summer preferably because of the strong waves.
Isn't it such a beautiful weather???? The colour of the ocean in Bell beach is extremely blue and clear unlike the beach near metropolitan melbourne where it is grey. I know I know, the colour is the reflection from the sky not from the sea but honestly, st kilda beach is now getting really dirty. I don't enjoy going there anymore except for a run. Geelong and Torquay are heaps better.
Me in my candid model mode. Failed attempt. I know some of you must be like... What the heck was I wearing to the beach. There is a story in that, after I finished work on Friday, I had to straight away pick up my stuff and met my friends at the train station because I was staying over at a girlfriend's place that night. I didn't think I'd be going to the beach the next day so I was wearing the same clothes I wore the day before and it certainly was inappropriate attire considering how hot it was too during the afternoon. We looked like typical Asian tourists. If #ootdmagazine saw me, I would be shamed to death but well, do I seem to care? Not really.
Candid photo #2. Love the beach so muuuuuuuch!!!!! We didn't stay too long because we didn't bring our bathers. It was such a shame but there is always next time eh?
Candid photo #3 with Le BFF. Just in case you're wondering how candid photos are taken, just ask your friend to take lots of photos of you walking down the stairs or forward and you can choose the ones you like later on. I took 27 photos of 1 person and only selected a few nice shots. It does take a bit of an effort and make sure you have plenty of storage in your camera. I just used my old iphone5 to take these shots and not being sarcastic at all, they are not bad at all.
From there, we went to Geelong town centre for lunch and we decided to try Baveras Brasserie even though it looks expensive from the outside but hey, you gotta treat yourself sometimes especially when you have bad days and when you're depressed. Retail therapy, food therapy, travel therapy all in moderation I believe. Baveras Brasserie is located right at the pier and from inside of the restaurant, if you're lucky enough to get a good seat, you may be able to enjoy the view of the ocean.
It feels like you're dining in a cruise, except for a fact that it is stationary. The last time I did dine in a cruise, it almost made me sick when I went on Spirit of Tasmania a couple of years back. I did finish my food in the end but it wasn't easy to be honest. If you wanted to see the post, it is in one of my older posts about my Easter with Spirit of Tasmania.
We decided to share the seafood platter for 2 which comes with a pricey price tag of $130. There were 3 of us so it wasn't that bad. However, we were in the midst of deciding whether we should lock in the decision because we thought that if the seafood platter is for 2, that means there will only be 2 scallops and 2 oysters. The staff did confirm our fear but Le BFFS decided to order it anyways. We also order some bread as well although I must admit the bread was very average. The seafood platter though, was a whole different story. So from my past experience, often than not, seafood platter for 2 is not too big of a serve at all. It usually is enough for 2 but for 3 people, not sure about that. I had a seafood platter in fish market back in Sydney with La BF and although it didn't cost as much as this one, the serving was tiny and the platter was filled with chips. I also had another seafood platter experience in a more upmarket restaurant in Sydney and it was not comparable to this in any case. This one, broke my stereotype attitude on seafood platter and proved me wrong.
When I first saw a man who came out with these trays which initially looked more like high tea trays, I was gobsmacked. Well our jaws literally just dropped to the floor and nobody spoke a word for 2 seconds looking at each other. This is obviously THE champion of seafood platter that beats what's out there at the moment. On the bottom tray, we have chips with 2 dipping sauce, one of the dipping sauces was super duper yum, then we have oysters which they kindly gave 6 instead of 4. Not sure if it is part of the 2 persons deal or they put something extra. We'd like to believe it is something extra because there were 3 of us. We'll stick with that story because it would be disappointing otherwise. There was fish fillet, calamari and a small bowl of garden salad.
The oysters were super yum too and the fish fillet and calamari tasted super fresh. I think everything tastes fresh when you're eating at the pier. On the top tray, there are crab, more fish (fried this time), mussels and plenty of salmon. Again, I was not disappointed. One of my Le BFFS was already full halfway through so Le BFF and I had to finish what we started. They were so generous with the amount of mussels that we were struggling to finish it but we did because we didn't want to waste any of it. The salmon given was so generous too that it felt like it was growing more and more rather and less and less. I must say the crab was okay, wasn't the best out of the bunch. It was lightly seasoned so it retained the fresh ocean flavour. Overall, I super love the whole presentation and every bit of it was worth the money we spent. We did get the value of our money in this wholesome experience. It was definitely one of the biggest seafood platters I've ever seen and eaten in my entire life so far.
Click here to check out their website. In the meantime, I need to get back to my exercise routine because I've gained more weight than ever. Nooooooooooooo!! I need to get ready for my 4th year 5 km run this October, in 2 weeks time! Wish me luck and people, start doing something nice for yourself and/or others, will ya?
