The anniversary of the Panda looms... I can't wait!

Fly away Anica...

Proof that we really have been doing what we said we have...

OK, yes, we know they're blurry, but it's the best we can do (obviously there's some inbuilt focus-defeater on tickets, so you can't illegally reproduce them... yep...).

So today we gave the surprise thing a rest (except for the uncommonly cheery tram driver we had between Brunswick and the city -- he truly was a delight!) and just had a peaceful day with eating and good company. And Alex went to the arts world and worked out a pitch for some kind of splendid artsy thing. Lovely.

And with these, we'll end the day, as we eat some yummy pasta and Alex kindly drives Anica to the airport...

xxx

PS Have you ever tried beetroot chips? We love the Flinders Organics shop;) Anica quite likes the chips, Christina isn't convinced, and Alex is yet to offer an opinion either way...

Surprise part two.

Best. Surprise. Ever.

Ok, if the phrase "Hands on buzzers, lets play... Spicks and Specks!" doesn't excite you to the point of spine-tingles, maybe you shouldn't read on. But if it does, then imagine Anica's joy (not at all doused by the continuing display of pouring rain that Melbourne chose to put on for me -- surprise!) when, standing in the foyer of the Comedy Theatre, she heard the following:

(That is, after a lot of walking with eyes down, and several stressed moments of "don't look there!" and "don't look up!" and "don't look at the poster behind me!")

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. The theatre is now open. Please ensure your mobile phones are turned off. Tonight's performance of Spicks and Specks is about to begin.

Alex and Christina realised, as the announcement started, that it was probably about to ruin the well-preserved surprise. So they simultaneously tried to stuff their fingers into Anica's ears, through her hat. Anica tried to contribute, but the inventor of the PA system will be happy to know, the sound does indeed resonate. Anica heard the announcement -- surprise! -- but it didn't matter, because the surprise was so damned good.

The show was brilliant, even funnier than the tv version (and that's coming from three hard-co fans!) and was basically two hours of constant laughter. Highlights included Adam getting the year wrong, and Alan's ballet spectacular (accompanied by Myf on keys). A very good night all round.

Bring on the panda.

Surprise! Welcome to the panda world.

Surprise!

So, Alex and Christina had invited Anica to visit them in their new home in Melbs for a special "surprise" (get used to this word). No, it wasn't their secret wedding. No, it wasn't dinner in a dingy little restaurant. No, they hadn't secretly entered Anica in the Melbourne Comedy Festival. Or any of the other ideas that Anica's friends and family came up with.

Anica arrived in Melbourne bright and early (oh SOOO early) and the three of them spent the last official day of uni Easter break enjoying the sights of Melbourne. But the morning had already had its share of big city amusement value.

Are you Jane Fonda, or not?

While Alex and Christina were waiting to meet Anica at the tram stop, a nice (?) old crazy (?) guy started chatting to them.

NICE OLD CRAZY GUY: Which one of the girls was taken?

ALEX: I'm sorry?

NICE OLD CRAZY GUY: Which one of the girls was taken? Was it the blonde one, or the shoulder?

ALEX: Er, I --

NICE OLD CRAZY GUY: Which one would you choose?

ALEX: Er, I --

NICE OLD CRAZY GUY: Which of the three trillion girls would you choose?

ALEX: Er, well, I --

NICE OLD CRAZY GUY: Jane Fonda?

ALEX: Um, I'm sorry?

NICE OLD CRAZY GUY: How about Jane Fonda? Would you choose Jane Fonda?

ALEX: Um, sure.

NICE OLD CRAZY GUY: (Gesturing to Christina) How do you know she's not Jane Fonda?!

Well, he did have a point. We can't say that we actually have any conclusive proof that Christina is who she says she is. She may indeed be Jane Fonda. We'll let you know if we get any updates on that.

We're not really fans of early mornings.

Having all been up very early (Anica for a stupidly early flight, during which they did not turn off the cabin lights, as promised, for sleeping; and AleXina for a stupidly early arrival of the boat into St Kilda), after lunch, AleXinAnica returned to Brunswick Road for a snoozy-quick nap before the evening's festivities. Rejuvenation achieved, great indecision regarding clothing ensued.

You don't actually have to believe the weather bureau.

Finally we managed to leave the flat, and started walking to Tiamo for dinner, and then (surprise!) it started bucketing down, in a charmingly Melbourne-ish way (=not at all charming). Alex proved beyond all doubt (as if there ever was any) that he is a perfect gentleman, and shared his warm dry scarf and his big waterproof jacket and height with Anica and Christina while they waited for the tram along Lygon St.

"Everything is wonderful at Tiamo!"

This is what the guy at the counter said when we paid, in a splendidly un-fake Italian accent. Actually he was right. Best napoli spaghetti, and really fast service.

Surprise!

It was somewhere around this point that we all realised no-one had really milked this whole surprise evening thing for anywhere near what it was worth, so we thought we'd better start catching up. Anica had refused to engage in too much guessing about the evening, just in case she accidentally got it right and ruined the surprise. But this had precluded any false-revelations, which might have been rather fun. But it certainly was't too late to start. The phrase of the evening became "surprise!" (subtext: this is what you came to Melbourne for). As in, "Wow, this rain is crazy." "Surprise!" Or as in "Great, the tram's arrived." "Surprise!" You probably get the picture. You probably can't imagine how many times we squeezed this in though, or how unbelievably funny it got, by about the eleven hundredth time.

Finally, the bit about the panda.

Well there's just no way to explain it. This is what got on the tram in the pouring rain. Surprise!

It really was a panda. And it got on the tram, and it was sad. Poor panda! It was actually sulking, we're still not sure why. But it was endlessly amusing (though slightly upsetting! It kept crossing its arms and hanging its head!) Anica decided that it was worthy of becoming a catchphrase. She'd like to invite you all to use the phrase, "Bring on the panda" in your daily life, as an expression of "well, the day's been pretty weird so far -- let's go all the way!" It could kind of replace "whatever" in a sentence. So, enjoy.

The Bosco Heater
(This is a misnomer. It was COLD in there. Admittedly, perhaps it was actually called the Bosco Theater and there happened to be a branch in front of the letter t. Possibly.)

After walking around Fed Square and ACMI for a while, Alex located the Bosco and we stood by the murky Yarra for a while, under a tree, getting a bit more wet (suprise!), waiting for it to open. Then Anica had to avoid looking at the chalkboard on the way in, so as to maintain the surprise as long as possible. It was completely worth it, when the show started and a woman came out in a horse costume doing a little dance, and after a moment Anica realised it was Clare Hooper (surprise!) and much excitement was to be had. If you haven't been watching Clare Hooper on Sideshow and other tv stuff since her original story to Paul McDermott ("Witty AND appropriate!") then you will probably never fully appreciate the fun that AleXinAnica have been sharing for a while and it isn't worth explaining.

"Better to have enjoyed and made a mess than to never have enjoyed at all!"

So say the serviettes at San Churro, the Chocolateria we discovered in St Kilda -- oh. my. goodness.

So, after Clare Hooper's show (surprise!), it was still early (and still wet and cold -- surprise!) so we all thought a hot chocolate was in order. Anica, blithely enjoying the big city mood, suggested hopping on a tram to St Kilda beach to introduce Alex and Christina to Acland St and the cake shops. She assured them she remembered the way. Actually, as it turned out (surprise!), she didn't, but thanks to Alex's good sense and some collectively well-directed wandering, we made our way to Acland St, and enjoyed the windows of Europa and the others, as you do. Fortunately, we also decided to wander a bit further and discovered the new Chocolateria, which made us all very, very, very happy :) (Surprise!)

The "surprise" joke went a bit wrong when it was bizarrely implied that Alex and Christina were actually siblings (SURPRISE!), but luckily, through sheer persistence, we got it back on track.

Somehow, during the raptures of the chocolate, we decided that starting a communal blog was the only way to commemorate the joys of the day. But when we got home we were all too tired, so we had to wait til this morning -- surprise!

Anyway, stick with us, it'll be fun ;)

Surprise!

AleXina have organised not just one, but TWO evenings! So tonight there is more.

In the meantime, we're off to buy umbrellas. Big ones.

xxx