A visit to the Melbourne Aquarium

One of the much spoken places to visit in Melbourne is the Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium and my recent visit there, marked the place from just 'Places to visit' to 'Places you shouldn't miss in Melbourne'! Its extraordinary exhibit of over 10000 aquatic animals left me spellbound!
As we entered in, we came across a huge aquarium which was a home to uncountable species of fishes. Their attractive colors, shapes and swift moments was a treat to the eyes! It felt awesome to observe them intricately and see a shoal of fishes swim close by the glass.  

The aquarium was divided in four floors, each having a designated layout and every section residing a distinct set of aquatic fauna. Of all, I loved the Mermaid Garden and Penguin Playground! It literally gave a feel of being underwater, in those blue waters and being one among those beautiful fishes!

What stunned us further was a note saying, "All animals look 1/3rd smaller than their actual size due to the conical glass effect". Inspite being 1/3rd we felt they were huge! I cant imagine how scary and gigantic they look in their original size! 

We then made our way to the the Penguin Playground and it was in the true sense a "PLAYGROUND"! I was a first timer to see the yellow chested penguins. Both, the Antarctic and Gentoo penguins were engrossed in their own world: some standing still without slightest of movement for minutes together, some were mischievous and splashing out water from the penguin pool with their rigorous moves (The speed of the Gentoo Penguins is up to 36km per hour!) and some just walking around in the snow (It was far too adorable to see the much heard 'Penguin Walk'!). 

We also got to experience a 4D Ice Age movie which was superb and made to perfection! 

This post I feel, doesn't even go halfway to the excitement that we were gripped with as we saw the entire place. It was an amazing and unforgettable experience and I am waiting for a next visit with our next guest!  

Lindt Cafe

Melbourne is to coffee is like a stamp to an envelop. In every corner of a street, you are sure to find a cafe. Lindt Cafe holds a definitive place in each person's list of cafe's to visit and so was it for us!
The cafe was grand with a spacious seating space and offered a range of desserts and signature beverages. We chose to order the Lindt Favorites sharing Platter, Chocolate Hazelnut Gateau, Lindt Dome of Decadence and yes, Hot Chocolate.

Everything served was magnificent and masterfully crafted just the way it looks. The taste, look and presentation was exemplary proving that they are solely the 'Master Chocolatier'!

Much awaited guests!

It was since the past two months, that we were eagerly waiting for Prasanth and Madhuri (Praveen's elder brother and his wife) who had planned for their Australia visit sometime in May. Days have flew by and its a pleasure to meet them today!
We look to have a wonderful time with them in the next few days! 

First Bites!

The first solid food introduced to infants is a special occasion in our culture and marks a transition into the next phase of infant-hood! To celebrate the special day (4th day of her 4th month as they follow) for Anvitha, we all gathered at Viswesh's house.

Anusha had prepared a variety of items and everything looked so very filling and tempting. It absolutely felt like a homely function with lots of chit-chat and delicious food.

The afternoon was memorable and the cheerful smiles in this picture makes a clear evidence of the fun we had!

New prints

It was since long that both of us wanted to print new pictures for the photo frames sitting on the storage organizer which stands exactly in front of our sofa. Its often that we take a glimpse of them unknowingly and if not replaced, feels boring to see at. 

We decided to print two individual pics (the ones we feel good to see at!) for the smaller frames and our favorite wedding picture for the bigger frame. Like it happens in every two people, the common pic took much longer to settle down on! 

The change is feeling worth it and most importantly we are satisfied the way we look in them!  

Nicely made Bed

'A delightfully soothing, artfully dressed bed is sure to add a winsome look to your bedroom'. This is absolutely true! We purchased a new quilt and pillow cover set and the small change has transformed the appearance of our bedroom. 

The pillows arranged on the smooth sheet with the elegant quilt cover design is so very captivating. A perfectly made bed is making us feel as if we are on a vacation and we are enjoying every bit of it! 

The Haunted Look

We often get to experience this horrifying look outside our house on full moon days which even worsens during winters with the trees having shed all their leaves!

The picture doesn't showcase it to the desired extent, but it really feels scary to walk alone on such days! 

Pradeep's Visit

Praveen's elder brother, Pradeep visited us yesterday evening and it was fun like always to have him with us. Praveen picked him up from his hotel on his way back home from office.

We enjoyed chatting on a whole range of stuff from family till politics with having dinner along side. He loved my preparations and complimented by saying that it was the best Indian food that he has tasted since long! 

Me and Praveen had picked up two sound books for his kiddos, Max and Miles. We had often seen pictures of theirs glancing through storybooks and hence felt it would be the best buy for their age! Pradeep too said they would love these with inturn made us feel nice on our choice! 

 
It was a great evening with family which ended with this cute selfie!

Chocolate Sandwich

We tried making chocolate sandwich with our newly purchased sandwich press and it turned out a successful side dish reminiscing us of the yummy sandwiches that we get in Pune!

I made the chocolate sauce by melting a pack of Cadbury milk chocolate buttons available at one of the grocery stores. The sauce was just perfect in taste and had the right consistency like a spread. We tried having one sandwich topped with grated cheese and one with chocolate topping but loved the later one more. The design of the chocolate topping was by Praveen with me trying to figure out the hidden meaning behind it. I asked him whether it resembles the alphabet 'S' and he replied that its a mixture of all of them...!!

It made for a 'chocolaty sweet evening' munching on the hot grilled sandwiches!

Anusha's Birthday

It was Anusha's birthday yesterday and we had a total blast celebrating it! We decided to take Blackforest cake from Brunetti for the birthday girl as I knew she loves chocolates. We reached their place around 7 in the evening and she was all decked up in a beautiful dress. Anvitha also wore a cute frock and it felt like a real birthday party which I have attended since ages!

They had shortlisted Thai and Mexican cuisine for treating us, of which we decided to go for Mexican and chose 'Trippy Taco' a vegan mexican restaurant. The food was absolutely flavorful and we enjoyed all the dishes that we ordered and repented why we hadn't come here before!!!

After reaching home we cut the cake and had the 'Feast No-2' biting into the yummy layers of creamy dark chocolate! Anvitha was staring at us with her eyes speaking "Why am I not being offered a piece of cake??!!" Anusha made her taste some grated chocolate and she loved licking it making her irresistible not to have more! We four burst out laughing looking at her reaction and finally decided to keep the cake away from her sight!

It was a cheerful evening with our favorite people to mark the happy occasion!

The Nothing Box

This video by Mark Gungor which illustrates how women and men think differently is the best till date. Me and Praveen laughed our heads off viewing this one! 

Resource Allocation!

 Never thought of this dimension of how studying Economics would help!!!

Plastic Bag Dispenser

I had a voluminous plastic bag which was full of another 50-60 small plastic bags (the ones we get from grocery stores) collected over a period of time. The big bag used to be hanging on one of the hooks in the kitchen and would give a shabby look when seen from the living room. I always thought of how I could approach this problem and give it a creative and permanent fix! The idea of a 'Plastic Bag Dispenser' was exactly something that I was looking for!

Its a simple DIY dispenser. I folded all the bags uniformly from both ends like this:

Then twisted and rolled the upper end of the bag:

Kept rolling the bag till it reached halfway. Place the next bag over the first one and start rolling again:

 Make a roll of all bags:

To hold the roll tight, I squeezed it in an empty badminton shuttle cock box:

 

I punched in two big sized holes at the centre of the plastic seals at both the ends which would be the actual dispensers:

Pulled out the twisted end of the bag through the hole and fixed the seal in its place:

As the size of bags that I had were small-medium I could fit in two rolls at both ends of the box:

To make the box look attractive, I could have wrapped a gift paper around. But as its going to be in the drawer that doesn't really matter I thought! It has been an incredible DIY activity which I never thought could closely match to what I was looking for as an improvement since long!

Philips SBH5500

We got this Bluetooth headset to make hands-free calling enjoyable coupled with the ease to do brainless tasks simultaneously! The mike and speakers are of excellent quality and give no trouble with regards to hearing or being heard. They are cozy when worn and have a long lasting battery life with me having performed the regression test for three hours!
The best and a much recommended device for ladies!

Getting Organised Part-2

Me and Praveen were curious to take up the 'Kitchen Project' since long. We desperately wanted to get suitable pantry boxes where we could store grains/pulses/dry fruits properly in air tight containers. We researched different types and sizes of products available in-store as well as online to best match our requirements and then decided to buy the 'Clip Fresh' brand storage boxes. They are light in weight and their transparency makes it easier to find quickly what we are looking for!

This small change has transformed our kitchen cupboards into a neat and convenient closet which we are totally loving! We are often appreciating our effort by saying "Woww it looks soo good!"

Getting Organised Part-1

Having the household stuff neatly arranged feels good see as well as is handy when needed. It was on my housekeeping calendar to get things arranged and I gave it a go!
I thought of completing the task in parts and decided to take up the washroom cupboards today. It took me while to check the products and then arrange them according to the frequency of their usage. Finally its all set and looks tidy!