Brighton Beach

Today I woke up and made pancakes (I'm loving being able to actually cook things) for breakfast.  In this process I learned that Australian syrup is different than what I would usually think of putting on my pancakes.  It's more like the consistency of honey and doesn't really have that kind of maple flavor that I love.  It wasn't bad, just different.
After finishing up, I lazed around for a little while longer before deciding that I did in fact want to go somewhere today.  I got dressed and walked to Flinders Street Station to take the metro to Brighton Beach.  I learned that there was a detour, due to who knows what, and I ended up having to get off and catch a bus somewhere down the line.  I eventually made it to the beach, after driving through some nice looking towns, only to realize that I couldn't see three feet in front of me because of the fog.  I was kind of disappointed because I thought my trip was going to be a bust.  However, in between the bus stop and the beach were a couple of cafes, so I decided to sit down and have lunch while I was there.  I had brought along some of my study material and I ended up enjoying a nice warm toastie (panini) while studying the physics behind MRI and ultrasound.  Before I knew it, an hour had passed and I looked outside and found the sun shining brightly and the fog dissipated.  I was so happy!
 I walked back down to the water and took my time looking at the sea shells in the sand and listening to the water hit the shore.  I had picked this beach as my destination because of its famous changing huts, which are really colorful and fun.  I ended up finding them before sitting on a bench for about 30 minutes, just soaking up the sun (even though it was cold outside) and looking at the Melbourne city center from across the water.  It was a nice afternoon getaway.

I made it back home, went on a mini run, and then decided to make dinner.  I went to Victoria Market yesterday to buy some fresh produce and poultry, and I used them in a baked macaroni and cheese recipe I found online.  It was actually a lot of work, but I just had my first helping and it was soooo good.  And it's all worth it because the recipe makes 4-6 servings, so it lasts me at least half the week.  This comes after the chicken and rice casserole that I made, and it's a pretty tight competition when it comes to which one was better.  The novelty of cooking will probably wear off, but I'm going to ride the wave until that happens because right now it's a lot of fun.  One of my roommates finally dug in to the cake that I made yesterday...good thing because it's going to be bad news if I end up eating it all myself.