Chaser weekend

Daniel surprised me on Sat by flying me to Melbourne! The surprises didn't stop their either. Despite my endless pestering, he refused to tell me what we were doing or who we were seeing. I kept trying to get hints by asking if I could call my sister, or if we could go to dinner at the Shanghai Dumpling Restaurant that I like, but he wouldn't give anything away.

We checked into the Hyatt Grand and then walked to the corner of Collins and Swanston and waited for about ten minutes. Then my mum turned up. A little bit more of Dan's plan was revealed when we walked down a few alleyways and found ourselves at the Shanghai Dumpling Restaurant! Yum! While we were ordering plates of the vegetable and mushroom dumplings, vegetarian fried rice, and pumpkin cakes, my little sister turned up from school. I was so excited, I haven't seen my family in ages!

Daniel hadn't been to the SDR before and wanted to order something other than our usual fare, despite our warnings that newbies always think they can stray from our order and are always disapointed. I love that joint but anything other than the vegie dumplings are a disgrace! :o)

We rolled out of there feeling deliciously full after our $11 per person feed.

Now, you might be thinking the surprises stopped there, but you'd be a fool (as I was). After dinner we had a cocktails and chocolate fondue at Madame Brussels. For those of you who haven't been there before it is filled with garden furniture from your grandmother's garden, plastic grass, lattice work and fake plant life. The wait staff where an interesting mix of outfits, and they even give you blankies if you want to sit on the balcony during the cooler months!

We then said good-bye to mum and headed over to the Anthanaeum Theatre (one of the oldest public institutions in Victoria - running since 1839...just a bit of trivia for you). I still didn't know what was going on until we were about to walk in and find our seats and the announcement came over the loudspeaker that the The Chasers Age Of Terror Variety Hour would be starting in five minutes! Woo Hoo, I had missed the show in Canberra and been so sad!

We wandered in to find that our seats were dead centre in the very first row...always a dangerous position! It didn't disappoint, the show was great and we got picked on a great deal. Daniel even got called up on stage to dance with the crew. Afterwards I got to chat to Chas and Julian for a while too.

So all in all, it was a fantastic weekend!